Post 9/11, the words “War on Terror” and “Weapons of Mass Destruction” have been the most used and abused phrases in modern history. Numerous wars (success or failure depends on which side of the war you were on) have been raged. Countries have been toppled (quite literally and structurally).
"Three Cups of Tea ...One Man's Mission to Promote Peace...One School at a Time" authored by Greg Mortenson with David Oliver’s support is a very interesting book that shows a very different perspective of these wars and how best they can be won. I started reading this book at the same time the book got into controversy. But having read the book, I can safely say even if 50% of the book is true and this man Greg has even built half of the number of schools, medical facilties, vocation centers that he talks about in the book, it is still worth it. He still deserves all the accolades and appreciation for having dedicated his life, his family and his entire youth to this self-less cause.
Coming back to the book, Three Cups of Tea (or as the elongated title suggests), is a book of 1 man’s journey towards bring peace in some of the most hostile and “so-called” terrorist regions in the world be it Northern Pakistan – The Baltistan region or the Afghanistan regions. After his failed attempt to conquer the most dangerous peaks in the world (K2 – karakoram), he finds himself spending a month in Northern Pakistan’s most neglected areas and witnesses the people’s warmth and hospitality. This is where the title makes shape. Basically it is a phrase in that part of Pakistan... The first time you share tea with them, you are a stranger. The second time, you are an honored guest and the third time you share a cup of tea, you become a family.
Having witnessed the need for education, he decides to build a school for Korphe region and therein starts his struggle. This need for 1 school slowly becomes a full time job for him courtesy some generous donations and he opens Central Asia institute dedicated to the humanitarian development of the region.
The book comes across as a selfless account of this man’s journey written in a fashion that can allow more donations to flow through the institute. The basic theory remains the same. The war on terror cannot be won by Bushes and Obamas way of unsolicited and unashamed attacks but to enable people to understand the different between a school and wahhabi madarasas. To move them away from extremism to more modern educational system where they can emrace the world and allow a holistic development.
The book might not come across as a fast read as the writing style is documentary oriented but the message is strong and convincing.
The book also throws some interesting insights for an Indian like me who has always viewed Pakistan with just 1 angle. Reading about the Kargil conflict by someone who was in Pakistan at the same time is such an interesting read for me.
Overall... a good book to read if you are interested in modern history and the birth of terror in today’s times.
Showing posts with label pakistan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pakistan. Show all posts
Monday, May 23, 2011
Thursday, March 31, 2011
‘MOHALI’DAY
30th March 2011 is a day that will get embossed in History. It’s the day when India met its arch rivals Pakistan for the 6th time in World Cup. While the past statistics strongly support India for it had won on all previous occasions. But as we all know statistics are just numbers and can be changed anytime. And on top of that, it was a Semi-Final encounter.
While I am not going to blog about the above as by now everyone has gone through an extensive emotional turmoil and a frenzy of excitement, I just wanted to share what an interesting day I spent on this momentous day. So to start with, not knowing the day and the WC schedule (and also at that time not sure if India will reach this far), I had pre-booked some meetings in Delhi with a return flight in the evening (Yes evening, the same time when the chase begins and the entire sub-continent will be glued to TV at their homes (or may be pubs, multiplexes and in some cases even stadiums like the Gachibowli stadium in Hyderabad)
The meetings got over and I did manage to watch the initial explosive batting of Sehwag and some of the dropped catches of Sachin. But the real fun started, when we reached the Delhi airport at T-3 around 6:30pm for my 8pm flight back to Mumbai. First, we were told that the flight has been cancelled due to lack of passengers and now I am shifted to 9pm flight. Well not that bad, I might be able to watch some more overs.
So I got my boarding pass and proceeded to security. Not a single soul in sight. The security check which in any normal day would have taken 15-20 mins was such a breeze... only 2 mins. I asked whether there would be TV inside showing live match, and the security guard very heartily responded "YES... OF COURSE" (as if I just asked for some basic essential services). Infact, he also updated me with the latest score. India had lost its 5th wicket and was struggling (as usual in its last 15 overs).
I was almost through security when I heard some loud screams inside...Not sure what it was, I walked past security and would have just crossed the first shop when I realized what cricket can do to the nation.
There was a Giant screen showing cricket with a whole lot of crowd standing in front of it. Audience included passengers, cabin crews, pilots, air hostesses and even the security guards (so much for our tight security). The power play was on and Suresh Raina was trying to achieve a respectable score for India while wickets were falling at the other end. We started searching for a place where we can sit and watch the remaining few overs of Indian batting but there was not an inch left which could offer us a good view. Finally, we went to a pub and watched the remaining overs from there.
1st innings got over and suddenly the entire space was empty as if all flights for takeoff were just waiting for the break.
We watched the first 20 overs quite comfortably before our flight announcement was made.
With some very heavy heart of missing the action, we started walking towards the gate only to find that there were more TVs near each boarding gates. Some passengers even had radios and were listening to the commentary while waiting for their boarding passes to be scanned. We boarded the plane and just casually asked the air hostess... ‘By any chance would you know what the latest score is?’ She immediately responded “Don’t worry Sir, the pilot will be updating shortly and will give regular updates throughout the journey”. Our jaws dropped...’Can this happen??’ She said “YES...OF COURSE” ... once again as if it’s part of the flight price we paid like the cold meals and the tiny water bottles we were entitled to.
The flight took off and as soon as the initial boarding instructions got over; came the first score update. ... Pakistan has lost its 5th wicket and its 144/5. We were happy that at least we will be able to hear (if not witness) some action and are not totally betraying our nation.
The score updates continued and with each update, India’s chances of winning increased. There were some Ethiopian journalists sitting next to us and they were quite curious to know what this frenzy is all about. They had very little clue about cricket and all they wanted to understand after every update was if India was winning or not. We kept confirming "YES...OF COURSE".
The anxiety continued and the pilot mentioned Pakistan needs 86 runs from 63 balls with 3 wickets remaining. And then for the next 20 mins, there were no updates... We got anxious, worried, eager, tensed and many more such emotions flooded our nervous systems. Various theories started coming in the mind. Has India lost? Has Pakistan utilized its batting power play effectively? During those 20 mins, we must have asked the airhostess at least 5 times. The poor girl said she was also upset and has reminded the pilot many times. If she barge in once more, she would be killed.
Just when all hopes were lost, there was a sound of a throat getting cleared and the update being announced. Pakistan needs 31 runs from 10 balls.
Yeh Dil Maange More... We were now desperate for a ball by ball update but the pilot couldn’t oblige much and obviously we couldn’t let the beautiful airhostess get murdered. Then suddenly as if the prayers were answered. I heard a sound which would have been normal if I were on ground. But in the flight....? Is that by any chance sound of a commentary? Is someone able to catch radio signals in the flight? No it cant be possible? I rushed to the source of the sound and tapped the gentleman? ‘By any chance, are you listening to commentary? Do you know the score?’ And he responded “YES... OF COURSE... 30 runs from 6 balls with 1 wicket remaining ... Zaheer will bowl the last over.” Phew...
Another 2 mins and the pilot announced “INDIA HAS WON”. We all clapped and cheered along with our anxious African colleagues. One of their female journalist asked if that’s all we are going to do? Won’t there be any Victory Dance and we immediately imagined and missed the streets in India at that point of time.
What a journey this was... These memories will remain embedded forever. Last but not the least, for the first time in my life, I thoroughly enjoyed flying with the “Maharaja”
While I am not going to blog about the above as by now everyone has gone through an extensive emotional turmoil and a frenzy of excitement, I just wanted to share what an interesting day I spent on this momentous day. So to start with, not knowing the day and the WC schedule (and also at that time not sure if India will reach this far), I had pre-booked some meetings in Delhi with a return flight in the evening (Yes evening, the same time when the chase begins and the entire sub-continent will be glued to TV at their homes (or may be pubs, multiplexes and in some cases even stadiums like the Gachibowli stadium in Hyderabad)
The meetings got over and I did manage to watch the initial explosive batting of Sehwag and some of the dropped catches of Sachin. But the real fun started, when we reached the Delhi airport at T-3 around 6:30pm for my 8pm flight back to Mumbai. First, we were told that the flight has been cancelled due to lack of passengers and now I am shifted to 9pm flight. Well not that bad, I might be able to watch some more overs.
So I got my boarding pass and proceeded to security. Not a single soul in sight. The security check which in any normal day would have taken 15-20 mins was such a breeze... only 2 mins. I asked whether there would be TV inside showing live match, and the security guard very heartily responded "YES... OF COURSE" (as if I just asked for some basic essential services). Infact, he also updated me with the latest score. India had lost its 5th wicket and was struggling (as usual in its last 15 overs).
I was almost through security when I heard some loud screams inside...Not sure what it was, I walked past security and would have just crossed the first shop when I realized what cricket can do to the nation.
There was a Giant screen showing cricket with a whole lot of crowd standing in front of it. Audience included passengers, cabin crews, pilots, air hostesses and even the security guards (so much for our tight security). The power play was on and Suresh Raina was trying to achieve a respectable score for India while wickets were falling at the other end. We started searching for a place where we can sit and watch the remaining few overs of Indian batting but there was not an inch left which could offer us a good view. Finally, we went to a pub and watched the remaining overs from there.
1st innings got over and suddenly the entire space was empty as if all flights for takeoff were just waiting for the break.
We watched the first 20 overs quite comfortably before our flight announcement was made.
With some very heavy heart of missing the action, we started walking towards the gate only to find that there were more TVs near each boarding gates. Some passengers even had radios and were listening to the commentary while waiting for their boarding passes to be scanned. We boarded the plane and just casually asked the air hostess... ‘By any chance would you know what the latest score is?’ She immediately responded “Don’t worry Sir, the pilot will be updating shortly and will give regular updates throughout the journey”. Our jaws dropped...’Can this happen??’ She said “YES...OF COURSE” ... once again as if it’s part of the flight price we paid like the cold meals and the tiny water bottles we were entitled to.
The flight took off and as soon as the initial boarding instructions got over; came the first score update. ... Pakistan has lost its 5th wicket and its 144/5. We were happy that at least we will be able to hear (if not witness) some action and are not totally betraying our nation.
The score updates continued and with each update, India’s chances of winning increased. There were some Ethiopian journalists sitting next to us and they were quite curious to know what this frenzy is all about. They had very little clue about cricket and all they wanted to understand after every update was if India was winning or not. We kept confirming "YES...OF COURSE".
The anxiety continued and the pilot mentioned Pakistan needs 86 runs from 63 balls with 3 wickets remaining. And then for the next 20 mins, there were no updates... We got anxious, worried, eager, tensed and many more such emotions flooded our nervous systems. Various theories started coming in the mind. Has India lost? Has Pakistan utilized its batting power play effectively? During those 20 mins, we must have asked the airhostess at least 5 times. The poor girl said she was also upset and has reminded the pilot many times. If she barge in once more, she would be killed.
Just when all hopes were lost, there was a sound of a throat getting cleared and the update being announced. Pakistan needs 31 runs from 10 balls.
Yeh Dil Maange More... We were now desperate for a ball by ball update but the pilot couldn’t oblige much and obviously we couldn’t let the beautiful airhostess get murdered. Then suddenly as if the prayers were answered. I heard a sound which would have been normal if I were on ground. But in the flight....? Is that by any chance sound of a commentary? Is someone able to catch radio signals in the flight? No it cant be possible? I rushed to the source of the sound and tapped the gentleman? ‘By any chance, are you listening to commentary? Do you know the score?’ And he responded “YES... OF COURSE... 30 runs from 6 balls with 1 wicket remaining ... Zaheer will bowl the last over.” Phew...
Another 2 mins and the pilot announced “INDIA HAS WON”. We all clapped and cheered along with our anxious African colleagues. One of their female journalist asked if that’s all we are going to do? Won’t there be any Victory Dance and we immediately imagined and missed the streets in India at that point of time.
What a journey this was... These memories will remain embedded forever. Last but not the least, for the first time in my life, I thoroughly enjoyed flying with the “Maharaja”
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