The long & winding road....

About 1 week ago, Paul McCartney sang the evergreen Beatles ballad "The Long and winding road" as a sobering finale to the hysteria that his band of rock stars had managed to whip up. At that time, McCartney was referring to the road from London to Gleneagles in Scotland which would be traversed by millions upon millions of marchers who would support the call for giving bigger breaks to Africa and other impoverished countries.

Following the upbeat conclusion of the G8 summit in the wake of the pointless terror attacks in London, the world will now be watching everyone of those 8 leaders. How will the $50 billion that they've pledged in aid reach the people who need it the most.

How will the money that the 8 richest countries in the world have promised, reach the people on the ground? How will the 2 million people who die of AIDS each year in Africa benefit? Cheaper medicines or better equipped hospitals? The G8 pledged to end to all farming subsidies in rich nations.. when will that happen? Before another 5 million people die from poverty by the end of the year? Later? The African Union needs to put peacekeepers on the ground to stabilise conflicts across the continent. Can this money help fund those operations? What about the countries in Central & South America? How do they benefit from a deal like this? Will the Banana republics continue to be just that - banana plantations to the rest of the world? Or can their people actually be put to 'more productive' use?

I dont want to belittle the extraordinary efforts of Mr. Blair and his team. They've done more than any world leader has in the past, to put the gross negligence of humankind that is Africa on the forefront of discussions between the only people who are equipped to make a difference. But... but... but...

The most important questions that the leaders of the G8 nations should now answer is when and how will all their good intentions translate into lives saved.. ON THE GROUND.

To borrow a quote from a reuters news article:
Nigerian, Williams Sassou: "We hear about billions here, billions there, but the masses are not feeling these billions. This won't change anything unless the masses can know where the money is going."

Are we there yet...?

I'd written a post about 4 months ago talking about the need for the US to turn around its energy policy. Something that scores of experts have been advising them to do for a while. I'd also written about how Bush, if he was successful in putting together a better energy strategy, would then provide a working model to securing cleaner and longer term energy requirements to the rest of the world.

In one fell swoop, the man would be rid of his his detractors (from Kyoto), American dependence on Mid-East oil and he'd begin to reward the development of cleaner energy sources back home. In the long run, he'd push a democratic agenda in the Middle East not through guns - but by sheer economics! (You take away a sheik's money and you've taken away his ability to silence his people)

Bush is making me a fan of his. (It must be the experience he's gained in office). Mind you it'll be a long while before I put him in the league of really visionary leaders. Someone once said, Bush knows he's not the smartest man - that is why he surrounds himself with smart people. Evidently, someone back at the White House has been doing a lot of deep thinking.

Check out this Reuter's article on the latest that from the US. (You'll have to scroll down to the 7th mini-paragraph for the comments I'm referring to).

Just in case -

"Listen, the United States, for national security reasons and economic security, needs to diversify away from fossil fuels. And so we've put out a strategy to do just that. I can't wait to share it with our G8 friends," said Bush.

My Life - The OST

This is one of the coolest personal exercises I've been through. I found it on the Nomadlife frontpage. It took me a while to go through my collection and find the songs that either matched the moments because of their sound or becuase their lyrics just said the right things to me!

I havent included enough DMB, Simon & Garfunkel or Beatles. No Grateful Dead either. So it seems incomplete - but I had 2 and 3 songs for each moment, so I just couldnt add anymore. This list will change sometime down the line, but until then, This is the Soundtrack to My Life.

I think I'm going to burn these into a nice collection for now (Thanks Dhruv for the idea)!

Opening Credits: True To Myself - Ziggy Marley,

Waking up: Sunrise - Norah Jones, Cotton Fields - CCR

Average Day: My Generation - The Who, Keep on Rocking in the Free world - Neil Young,

First Date: Long Slow Beautiful Dance - Rascal Flatts, Somebody To Love - Queen

Falling in Love: Arms of an Angel, Ice Cream - Sarah McLachlan, Bless The Broken Road - Rascal Flatts

Love Scene: Crash Into Me - Dave Matthews Band, Wonderwall - Ryan Adams version

Fight Scene: Keep Hope Alive - Crystal Method, Mortal Kombat Theme!

Friendship: High Tide or Low Tide - Bob Marley, Me & My Shadow - Frank Sinatra & The Ratpack

Breaking Up: Have You Ever Seen the Rain - CCR, Diamonds & Rust - Joan Baez, The Million You Never Made - Ani DiFranco

Getting Back Together: I Miss You - Incubus, Angels - Robbie Williams

Secret Love: Desperado - The Eagles, Suzie Q - CCR

Life's Okay: Good Times Around The Bend - String Cheese Incident, Soulshine - Allman Brothers Band, Tiny Dancer - Elton John

Mental Breakdown: Strawberry Fields Forever - Beatles; When I Grow Up I'll be stable - Garbage

Driving: Why Georgia - John Mayer, Telegraph Road - Dire straits, Born to Be Wild - Steppenwolf, Free Bird - Lynyrd Skynyrd

Learning a Lesson: You Live, You Learn & Ironic - Alanis Morissette,

Deep Thought: Stop Children Whats That sound - Jefferson Airplane, Bulla Ki Janaa (Indian) - Rabbi Shergill, Chances - Xavier Rudd, Walk Away - Ben Harper

Flashback: Maybe I'm Amazed - Paul McCartney, These Are the Days - 10,000 Maniacs, Those Were the Days - Mary Hopkins,

Partying: Alcohol - Barenaked Ladies, Percussion - The Blue Man Group, Ready Steady Go - Paul Oakenfold,

Happy Dance: Shosholoza - Trad. Afrikaans song, Lucretia MacEvil - Blood, Sweat & Tears, Fanaa (Indian) - A.R. Rehman

Regretting: Stupid - Sarah McLachlan, Amsterdam - Coldplay

Long Night Alone: Release - Pearl Jam, 2 a.m. (Breathe) - Anna Nallick, Horse With No Name - America

Death Scene: My Way - Paul Anka, Knocking on Heaven's Door - Bob Marley (Others)

Closing Credits: My Backpages - Travelling Willburys, Walk On - U2

Step Back... Look in... Grow up!!

I dont like what's happening in India right now. Terrorists attacked a Hindu temple right in the heart of tinder-box city - Ayodhya. This is the very same site where Hindu fundamentalists tore down a Muslim mosque claiming that the site to be the birthplace of Lord Rama. The riots that followed killer over a thousand people.

With due respect to the sentiments of the Hindus, I think that what the opposition party of the government is now trying to do is utterly shameful. I can't believe that they're trying to ignite communical fears all over again. IT IS NOT HINDUS Vs. MUSLIMS AS LONG AS YOU DONT WANT IT THAT WAY!!! IT'S THE TERRORISTS VS. EVERY INDIAN!

Step back now, because India's been down this road many many times before and the results were damaging to our own perceptions of our identity as a nation and they were damaging to how the rest of the world looked at us. A messy, squabbling, immature country who aren't visionary enough to see beyond superficial barriers. Too many people have died before.The New York Times already released an article advertising fears of renewed rioting.

Look in now! Everytime politicians bring up communalism, they're pulling India back hundreds of years. Everytime they claim that a terrorist attack is Muslims trying to establish their control over the country, they're getting it so wrong, they might as well be taken to Antarctica and left there to bellow their conspiracy theories to the penguins.

GROW UP!! Nobody wants to take over our country. On the contrary, the world wants us to work properly, so that they can invest here. So that they can feel secure in knowing that they have responsible and mature trading and political partners. So that they can rely on us to play a mature and responsible role outside our country when we're making decisions of Global importance... like when (and IF! considering the fracas) we're a permanent part of the Security Council for example.