I Have A Dream.
It was a wonderful swearing–in ceremony of the 44th President of the USA, Mr. Barack Hussein Obama. Thanks to TV facility, I am happy that once again I got an opportunity to witness yet one more US president taking oath of his office. From the interest shown by the people from all around the globe, I can rightly say that Obama’s election to American presidency is loved by most of the people all around the world and not just only in the USA. Though he was elected to rule USA yet people around the globe considered him as dearest to them as well. No president in the history of USA received so much of sympathy, love and affection as Obama did. Not only he was loved but people all around the globe from different religions fervently prayed for his elevation to the presidency and for his success. Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Jews, Sikhs, Jains and others without any hitch asked God for his success. And I am certain God will surely accept their prayers and make Obama the most successful president of USA not only to guide and rule USA but also to guide the world in the right direction.
“I have a dream” uttered the civil rightist icon Dr. Martin Luther King almost half a century back. Dream of what? Dream to see that blacks and whites integrating with one another, walking hand in hand together as one entity. When Dr. King uttered these words, Blacks in the USA were discriminated and denied so many rights they were entitled to as human beings and as children of the same God. It was not too long back that when a shadow of a Black person fell on the White American, the Black was castigated and punished. But what a dramatic turn the event has taken place when we saw with our own eyes how a Black person Barack Obama from the Black African descent with the help of God was elevated thru God’s mysterious hand to rule not only the Blacks but also the Whites of the USA!! Surely God’s hand has played a great role in Obama’s election because the Whites in the USA have disowned the commandment of God by practicing apartheid against His less previlleged children called Blacks.
It was so agonising to see the ferocity of colour bar practiced by the Whites against Blacks that even the House of God and Churches were not spared from performing apartheid. And precisely because of this Dr. Martin Luther King as Baptist Christian preacher in his home town at Montgomery while delivering his homily, told the discriminatory Whites that “If you cannot integrate with the masses (meaning Blacks) then you will never integrate with Christ because Christ is come from the masses”. Dr. King had a dream and his dream has come to reality. Barack Obama took lot of inspiration from Dr. Martin Luther King and thru this inspiration he succeeded a lot. Let the heavenly God keep president Obama safe and sound to deliver the goods. Not only Americans but also people from all around the world pinning their high hopes on president Obama to do justice for those who were denied it and compassion to those who are the victims of inustice.
Following in the footsteps of his guru Dr. King, president Obama applied the system of reconciliation for his presidency by accommodating in his presidency the very adversaries of his. Till yesterday he was opposing Hillary Clinton but today he offered her the warm handshake of reconciliation and appointed her as his Secretary of State while for his main opponent the Republican presidential candidate John McCain he offered the embrace of honour. And so to innumerable opponents of his he gave them an embrace of friendship. Martin Luther King when found his supporters with sticks and other weapons challenging his opponents who came to destroy his house, asked his supporters to “down with their arms” and reconcile because quoting scripture he said “sword beget sword”. By following reconciliatory tone, I am sure with the help of God, Barrack Obama will surely attain success in his presidency, of course with the prayers and goodwill of the people from all around the world. At the moment, he is the darling of all classes of the populace.
Dream is something which everyone of us experiences and not Martin Luther King alone. I too in the autumn of my stay in Kuwait have a dream that we the expatriates mainly from the sub-continent one day will integrate with the locals as never before and move together hand in hand as one. This dream I had after 3 decades of my employment in Kuwait when still I did not find full fledged equality. Equality for what? Not to vote for the local election. Not to demand privileges over the locals. Equality to feel physically and psychologically equal with all others. Inspite of my long years of stay in Kuwait I still feel discriminated by the prevailing system and by many of the locals. If I go to any Government office for any official work, I feel I am discriminated. If I go for soccer match of Kuwaiti League, there too discrimination. If I am found wanting in Arabic speaking, I am discriminated. Even on the road while driving you see discrimination performed by those driving costly cars and also in so many other places where locals gather in big number. If I go to hospital inspite of my Health Insurance Card again I am discriminated because being a non-local I am denied of certain medicines and medical facilities. Discrimination in medical treatment is inhuman punishable by devine wrath. When I face such a situation, I feel grieved and sub-human as Dr. Martin Luther felt half a century back in USA. But he had a dream and his dream finally realized.
I too hope one day during my own life time my dream will come to reality when Kuwaitis and expatriates, their children and grand children will walk with our children and grand children hand in hand without any discrimination. First test of this dream I hope will take place in my Goa at Panaji the capital city of Goa where Kuwaitis came to Goa during the invasion time of Kuwait and participated in our rally and public meeting we Goans organized under my inititative to raise our voice against the invasion of Kuwait. During this rally, without any discrimination I witnessed how Kuwaitis embracing, hugging and holding the hands of Goans in a true brotherly manner. During that time it was out of sheer compulsion Kuwaitis embraced us but now I have a dream that one day Kuwaitis and we will have total brotherly integration not out of compulsion but thru spontaneity and that day is not very far. The prophecy of my dream will surely come to reality, Inshalla, God willing.
A. Veronica Fernandes,
Safat, Kuwait.
January 28, 2009
Leading to India's 15th LOK SABHA ELECTIONS
LEADING TO INDIA'S 15TH LOK SABAH ELECTIONS.
From: goasuraj (goasuraj_29@sancharnet.in)
Sent:Tuesday, January 27, 2009 12:31:24 PM
To: A. Veronica Fernandes (averonicaf806@hotmail.com).
The Goa Su-Raj Party is Goa's (GREEN) Regional Party and as such it has portrayed its views and suggestions on the conduct of the Elections to the Indian Parliament as well as to the State Assemblies to the Election Commission of India as part of the Electoral Reforms India must look forward to in the near future.
This is what we have suggested as we feel that these reforms are the need of the hour if India has to play a central positive and constructive role in the Commity of Nations.
Guidelines for State and Parliamentary Elections.
1. Bar on National Parties contesting State Assembly Elections.
And
2. Bar on State Regional Parties contesting Parliamentary Elections.
In view of (1) above, It is a fact that National Parties are not interested in the welfare of the State and its aspirations. The example is Goa itself. All that the national parties are interested is that Goa become their watering hole and a holiday resort for its more important dignitaries in Delhi. There, exists a criterion for a Political Party to be qualified as a National Party satisfying its presence in 'x' number of States of the Union. A system must be evolved where a National party cannot contest State Assembly Elections directly but supports one or more regional parties in the State Assembly Elections thereby eliminating the presence of the national parties in the State Assembly.
In view of (2) above, State regional parties with their State aspirations, have no national outlook and therefore cannot function optimally in the national parliament with fragmented national vision and more importantly with scarce knowledge of the nation's international relations and commitments. Therefore the State Regional Parties must support the candidates of one or the other national parties during the Parliamentary elections but not be allowed to field their respective candidates, or they must support erudite INDEPENDENTS, who will ultimately choose between one or the other national parties.
Observations:
We see State feuds being acrimoniously debated in the Parliament resulting in a lot of precious time wasted along with a lot of money. The Parliament must debate national and international issues leaving the States to fend for themselves, only coming into the picture when two or more states are at loggerheads with each other. After all the Constitution of India demands that all States conform to its edicts and the states can always fall back on the Supreme Court for directions in case of conflicts within its own jurisdiction or with other states.
Parliamentarians are supposed to be most the most erudite personalities who have the basic understanding of the working of the nation as a whole as well as the nation's relationship internationally and its international policies and commitments.
Since Parliamentary and State Elections are free for all presently, the Goa Su-Raj Party feels that it too must have its acclaimed presence in the National Parliament. Having the above outlook, it's members of parliament would perform better for the good of Goa as well as for the good of the country and its prospects internationally.
As such this party is looking for erudite Goan personalities to come forward to avail of this party's tickets for the North & South Goa parliamentary constituencies.
It is a fact that this party does not wish to fight elections on the basis of 'money' and 'muscle' power, the all preferred ' WINABILITY ' . Also, it does not allow its candidates to spend large amounts of money from their own pockets. As a matter of fact this party prefers that its candidates do not spend any money from their own pockets, but help raise a modest sum of money required to conduct modest election campaigns so that voters at large are aware that such candidates do exist on the ballot paper/voting machine. Increasingly, what this party is interested in is the so called "OBAMA EFFECT, where every voter participates through contributory participation for the good of the state or the country.
This party is confident that the more intelligent and literate electorate of Goa, as well as the Goan Diaspora, will support these candidates should such candidates volunteer to step forward, stand-up and be counted so that Goa may earn the name/fame through the performance of its parliamentarians, utterly devoid of VOTE BANK POLITICS and NARROW national vision.
floriano
goasuraj
Wanted for Goa---honest ' fighters 'NOT honest ' hypocrites ' Contact:goasuraj(The Recruiting Agents)9890470896http://www.goasu-raj.org/
var PS = "96690";
Ahlan wa salhan - a short story by gasper crasto
“Hello..”
“Hi.. hello..” said an enthusiastic male voice at the other end.
“Who’s this?” I asked placing the hands-free between my shoulder and ear.
“Hey dude, haven’t you recognized me?..”
Haven’t you recognized?
Some people have such abysmal, dumb behaviors. Why can’t they introduce themselves when they call over the phone. It is so infuriating. Still, there are others who have the cheek to call upon you and insist to know who you are. I remember once a female voice calling and asking, “Who’s speaking?”
Someone calling your home doesn’t know who they are talking to?
Who’s speaking?
I guess I must have been in a terrible mood when I received that call ‘cause I answered, “Your pop!”
“What!!!” There was a long silence before the line went dead. Slowly but surely I realized it was one of my close friends’ wife. Within seconds the phone started to buzz again. I did not pick it up, I was not at home..:)
“Hey dude.. are you there?” The voice at the other end blurted again. With excitement.
“Yess..” I said involuntarily. I was getting agitated by now!
“Hey.. don’t you know my voice?”
“Hey, hello..” my patience was over the edge by now, “are you some Amitabh Bachchan that I will recognize your voice? ”
There was a gasp at the other end, then a deep breath.
“Hey.. it’s me.. Brian.. your classmate.. remember now?”
It was a familiar voice no doubt. I recalled the glory days!
“Hey Briany.. how you doing man?” I asked, “When did you come to Kuwait?”
“Just a week now... The best person to guide me this part of the world, I thought, would be you.. ..you’ve been here for a while now.. isn’t it? So, I picked up the phone and....”
“Ahlan-wa-salhan.. Welcome to Kuwait!”
For almost an hour we discussed about life here and there, then and now, the weather there and here, the standard and comfort of living in Kuwait and elsewhere, before my friend wished to know the advanced secrets of living abroad.
“Apart from the basic needs such as food, shelter, etc, there is a special package for the minimum requirements of survival in Kuwait.” I told him.
“And what is that, may I know?” he asked.
“To live in Kuwait, you need to have WMDs.”
“Weapons of Mass Destruction!!!?”
“The WMDs I am talking about are for survival in Kuwait!”
“Hmm.. tell me more..!”
“The first one is Wasta. Loosely translated, ‘wasta’ is connections of methods by which we obtain difficult things in an easier manner (and usually outwit the rules). Living in Kuwait necessitates ‘wasta’. Without it, you cannot get anything done; well you can, but it will be difficult. You need ‘wasta’ for paperwork, to get a job - no matter how well educated you are, etc, etc, even to rent an apartment.. and many other things..”
“How do I find this wasta?”
“If you don’t have direct ‘wasta’, you should ask around and associate yourself with someone who does. Using this method, you can obtain second or third-party ‘wasta’, which is just as effective in getting what you need.”
“Alright..I have made a note of this in my mind..What’s the next?”
“Mobile. It is unheard of to live in Kuwait and not have a mobile nowadays. Your mobile number is the equivalent of your social insurance number in other countries. To some people, mobiles are more important than house lines – people can live for years without a domestic phone line, but won’t go one day without mobile service.”
“That’s the first thing I did after landing in Kuwait, buy myself a line.!”
“The last of the WMDs is the Destination you want to be inside Kuwait. For that, a car is more of a necessity than luxury here. Once you get into your car, you rarely wish to get out. From your car you can pick up groceries, laundry, get food, buy flowers, go to church or the Friday football games, go look for a ‘new and cheap’ apartment, etc. Living in Kuwait, even for a short period of time, you get accustomed to staying behind the wheel.”
“Well.. for that I need to first get a driving license, isn’t it?"
“Yes.. use the first of your WMDs to get that!” I answered, “Back on the subject, a car is definitely a necessity to achieve your Destination. Unlike other countries, the transport system here is quite inconvenient. There is no train or metro, so the only public transportation available is the bus. But taking the bus to get to your Destination is like going on a tour of Kuwait. You will pass by many useless streets and areas, and a trip that is supposed to take a few minutes will take a couple of hours.”
“I guess I’ll have to wait for a while to be on the driver’s seat..” my friend said despondently.
“If you can’t get a license and a car soon, associate yourself with someone who has a car. This is transportation by association – a weapon that is required in your situation..”
“Guess what!.. Life doesn’t seem to be an inch brighter here as I thought..”
“It is certainly not.. specially in current times..!” I said, “The global economic crisis has bitten life to an uncertainty and turmoil. Many companies are laying off hundreds of staff, reducing operations and tightening budgets. People have lost their jobs and their homes, and are facing serious hardships..”
“But I see many of you guys celebrating like filmstars when you come down.. I too want to rock when I go back on holidays..”
“Everyone will be forced to change those habits because of the economic crunch and inflation.. Celebrating holidays will be apparently difficult when you can’t pay your rent or feed the family.. This is not a time to boast of one’s earnings.. Just ‘existence’ is sufficient.. to appreciate the blessings we already enjoy, the friendship we possess, and love we already have..”
“Yaar, before I hang up let me thank you for all the information, ..counseling... and ofcourse your time..”
“Ahlan wa salhan, you’re welcome!”
“Idealistic realism...beats my whole assessment of a 'greener' desert..! Hey, tell me something.... aren’t you the same guy I’ve known.. ..who refused to speak anything serious?”
“Well dude,” I replied, “that guy died a long time back.. I am his ghost!”
====================
:::Other short stories by Gasper Crasto:::
“Guess what!.. Life doesn’t seem to be an inch brighter here as I thought..”
“It is certainly not.. specially in current times..!” I said, “The global economic crisis has bitten life to an uncertainty and turmoil. Many companies are laying off hundreds of staff, reducing operations and tightening budgets. People have lost their jobs and their homes, and are facing serious hardships..”
“But I see many of you guys celebrating like filmstars when you come down.. I too want to rock when I go back on holidays..”
“Everyone will be forced to change those habits because of the economic crunch and inflation.. Celebrating holidays will be apparently difficult when you can’t pay your rent or feed the family.. This is not a time to boast of one’s earnings.. Just ‘existence’ is sufficient.. to appreciate the blessings we already enjoy, the friendship we possess, and love we already have..”
“Yaar, before I hang up let me thank you for all the information, ..counseling... and ofcourse your time..”
“Ahlan wa salhan, you’re welcome!”
“Idealistic realism...beats my whole assessment of a 'greener' desert..! Hey, tell me something.... aren’t you the same guy I’ve known.. ..who refused to speak anything serious?”
“Well dude,” I replied, “that guy died a long time back.. I am his ghost!”
====================
:::Other short stories by Gasper Crasto:::
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