south asia

I’m reading the Ramayan right now, and in the story, Hanuman and a group of troupes are searching all over India for Sita. They get word that She was kidnapped by Ravarn, and is being kept in his palace on an island called ‘Lanka’ 600 miles off India’s southern coast. So I was asking people lately if ‘Lanka’ is the same as ‘Sri Lanka,’ or if today’s island was given its name more recently, as part of India’s Hindu-right government’s efforts to make India more of a Hindu-nation. When my buddy at work told me that NASA had captured satellite photos of a natural bridge between India and Sri Lanka, as it’s depicted in the Ramayan, damn, that’s pretty amazing. Check out google maps and the following ‘upside-side’ satellite images.

Hot-damn. Check out these satellite photos taken before and after the tsunamis hit the coasts of South and Southeast Asia. My God, some of the small islands are completely gone, what used to be houses and green farmland is now just DIRT. I didn’t totally understand the full effects of the tidal waves until I saw these photos. Take a look at the roof of one of the houses in the before picture, then the after pictures. it's complete GONE. And that’s someone’s house. My God.

I brought my sitar home this weekend. I played it for the first time in probably three weeks yesterday. Ahhh, did that feel great. Now I can get back into the practice-everyday-thing again which I’ve been missing lately cause of the move and everything. Feels good. All my CDs are at my place now, too. I’ve been listening to shit I haven’t listened to in over a year. It's great.

Stories of the tsunami still continue to drop my heart to my stomach. I heard this report on the world that was an eyewitness telling the story of what he saw and how it all unfolded, and how he’s been dealing with simply being a survivor who saw what he saw. Tragic, depressing shit, man. I couldn’t imagine what this guy and the countless number of people just like him must be going through. Just the sheer numbers alone baffles my every time the body count rises. I remember as a kid, I always had this fascination with tidal waves. I had this image of what it might look like to see one approaching. But even as a kid, I knew what my imagination could conjure up could only be a fraction of what it might actually be like to see a giant wall of water approaching. ‘Giant wall of water.’ Got-damn, what on this world could come close to a phenomenon like that? There’s definitely something to be said about the power that created those waves. It's a reminder of how small we really are in this world, that a four minute natural event could wash away so many lives.

It is the year 2005. The treacherous Decepticons have conquered the Autobot’s home planet of Cybertron.

When I was a kid watching the Transformers, 2005 seemed so far away. But now that it’s here, it either means I’m really old, or I need to organize a force with the Autobots to fight against the “maniacal” Decepticons. According to Family Guy, Optimus Prime is Jewish, so maybe I’ll hook up with him at the local synagogue and start makin plans.

I’m proly hittin up smart bar tonight. It seems to be becoming a total tradition for Paras and I. That’s where we’ve gone for the past two years. This year, make it a third. It's on.

So yesterday a few of the news agencies (Fox being one of them, but we won’t mention any names) were reporting that India was “refusing aid” from other countries, saying that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said they have everything under control and they don’t need anyone’s help. That’s bullshit. He was basically saying they’ve received enough aid FOR NOW, and they’ll ask for more as its needed. They’re proly gettin flooded with support right now, with no good infrastructure to get the help out to the people who need it. So they need a little time before they actually start using supplies and whatnot that they’re currently getting by the boatload. Doesn’t mean they’re refusing other countries aid permanently, and India’s just gonna go at it themselves. Media spins everything into a freakin soap opera, man.

Anyway… Happy New Year.