Numanuma

Numanuma

This is the funniest thing i've seen in a while...apparently the kid in the video is already really famous, and was even on some TV show. You just have to check it out.

Western Condescension

The whole Ash episode makes me wonder about Western Condescension to anything non-Western. I think that's what bugs the rest of the world about the Um-ericans. I remember having dinner with some family friends and there was an American couple there. During casual conversation, they happened to mention about having heard of the Nuclear tests in India and Pakistan, back in '98, and how they watched with 'concern', over developments in the region.

While the whole conversation might have been innocent, I couldn't help but think, that this 'concern' was coming from the country that had performed the maximum number of nuclear tests, and also, the only country that had ever - used the weapon.

Hmm....so yeah....I just realized I don't have much of a point. But that's it.....my rant of the day. :p

Ash on Letterman

So Ash was on Letterman last night. I expected her to suck so much that when she came on last night and didn't suck all that much, I thought it went pretty well. And then I talk to desi friends the next day, and everyone thought she blew it. She was defensive, she giggled too much, she dressed like a hooker and so on and so forth.....

Unfortunately, I think that's the best any desi actor can get on an Um-erican talk show. Our culture and nature is such that we are going to appear defensive and stand-offish no matter what we do. Desi's really need to stop taking themselves seriously.....

Djikstra

"Testing can establish the presence of errors, but cannot guarantee its absence"

-E.W. Djikstra

Religious divide - or cultural ?

I used to think that cultures are greatly influenced by the
predominant religion in that culture. Though it may still hold to
some extent, I am now more inclined to think that the opposite is also
true - religion being influenced by the predominant culture.

The above may be a no brainer to some, and nonsensical to others.
Nonsensical because, technically, a religion should be the same
anywhere it is practiced. However, when I observe the three religions
I have been influenced by the most - Christianity, Hinduism and Islam,
I find a huge difference in their Eastern and Western counterparts.

Christianity for example, I cannot even recognize out here in the
west. Extremely firebrand and in-your-face. I find myself
disagreeing to many things Christians in the west believe. I did not
even know about the existence of sects such as Calvinists who are
basically believers in pre-destination and pre-ordination. I cannot
say that they are wrong and others are right, but I do know that a
belief like that only creates an "us" versus "them" mentality, which
can never be good. I also cringe when I see tele-evangelists. Either
I quickly change the channel, or stay on to just listen in disbelief
to what they preach. Everything that they do is the exact opposite of
the Christianity I know and have followed.

On the other hand, Hindus and Muslims in the west are far more liberal
than their counterparts back home. The religion is the same, but the
interpretation of it is so different. You would be hard pressed to
find a beef-eating Hindu or even a meat eating one back home. Another
interesting phenomenon is that adherents of a religion that is in a
minority tend to be more liberal and open-minded.