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D ecember 27th, 1979 : 700 troops, including 54 KGB spetsnaz special forces troops from the Alpha Group and Zenith Group, dressed in Afghan uniforms seized all major governmental, military and media buildings in Kabul, including their primary target - the Tajbeg Presidential Palace , where they killed then President Hafizullah Amin . By next day morning, the Vitebsk parachute division landed at the airport at Bagram c ity and the invasion of Afghanistan by Russian forces was underway. Around the same time, amidst war cries, a baby boy – named Noor- must have been born to his Afghan parents. I met Noor by chance when he came to start my stranded car .He worked with Indian expatriate owned car garage. I was immediately struck by his tall slender body figure, fair complexion, chiseled long nose. He could easily be camouflaged as a Greek, Turk, Cypriot, or Iranian. With his disheveled hair, sprouting beard, clad in faded tight jeans, full-sleeved stretchable white t-shirt clinging to his b...

Excerpt from " The Ethics and Efficacy of Banning Human Kidney Sales" By Joseph Shapiro , Stanford University : May 2003 Quote It is 106 degrees in Chennai and I am in the palm hut of a 38 year old named Parvi. Nine months ago, Parvi sold a kidney to a dying man from North India. I asked Parvi why she gave a kidney. “We were so poor that my children were about to drink poison,” she said. “We had no income and many debts. I had no choice. “Several years earlier, Parvi accepted government payment for a sterilization surgery; she felt that her experience with the “family planning operation” made her more comfortable agreeing to sell a kidney. For the kidney she received US$800, enough to repay her debts. Parvi has no formal education and no knowledge of the kidney’s function. Until her first conversation with the doctor, she was unaware that there existed body organs named kidneys. Parvi’s daughter, who is sitting next to us, interjects. “We’re content. We repaid our debts and s...

Maya, a young Tibetan lady, was a frequent visitor to our house. We children would stare at her almost-white skin, dove eyes, little flat nose and two longplaits, in awe. Over time, she became my knitting teacher and a good friend. Her visits meant story sessions, knitting and learning about her life in Tibet.For us, Tibet was a foreign land and Maya would describe her country with greataffection. Sometimes she would narrate stories of how Buddhism started in Tibet. "Once upona time, a King in Tibet was kidnapped. As ransom, his enemies asked for goldequivalent to his weight. But the King sent word to the Prince not to waste gold on getting him back.Instead, spend the money to get Buddhist scholars from the holy andcompassionate land of India. Open schools and monasteries for the people so that they can live in peace and knowledge..." My acquaintance with Maya was short, but it sowed a deep interest in Tibet.Recently, I visited Tibet and was surprised to see ...

During my last trip to India, it was Sunil Gavaskar in my emirates flight. This time Mumbai – Ahmedabad Indian airlines flight , it was his son Rohan Gavaskar. He was with his East Zone players minus Saurav Ganguli who were playing west zone in Duleep Trophey finals. It was misty cool evening in November and became chilly when we reached Police officers mess – an open arena guesthouse on the bank of river Sabarmati. Our East African friends were keen on warming up in this pleasant weather. Someone told us that one could have warm up session only in luxury hotel and that too for foreigners with tourist visa. We decided to raid one such place – few block away to Taj hotel but only to be told that one can have warm up permit between 9.00 and 10.00 am. Our Africans friends were bewildered why Govt should force them to have at breakfast time. They reconciled to the fact that this is a holy place and they should banish the thought of alcohol until they reach Mumbai. But surprise was in store...

Indian office goers are familiar with a term ‘office boy - OB'. For developed world, this term is unheard of. In Arabian Gulf, however, companies owned or managed by subcontinent personnel do have gulf version of this office boy Gone are the days in India when OB would sit on a wooden square stool with his folded vernacular language newspaper only to get up after seeing flashing of red light outside the manager’s cabin and preparing Tea at specified hour. Indian OB in 80’s would often be a shy boy in mid 20 migrated from either Konkan or Bihar region with almost no knowledge of English. Gulf OB is often an undergraduate fluent in his mother tongue, Hindi, and familiar with English. In few months, he becomes adept with all office gizmos fax, photocopier, answering machine, and even PC. His skills range from preparing courier parcel/documents to the very assignment for which he was recruited– preparing Tea. You can count on his honesty - He would be the first one to open the office a...

http://www.omshaantih.com/Kedar/Diwali/Diksha.htm Deepawali Contribution by Swami Dikshananda Saraswati Arya Samaj, Delhi, India The following article was written on 17-10-1978. Om asato ma sadgamaya, Tamaso ma jyotir gamaya, Mrityor ma amritam gamaya. Lead us from falsehood to truth; from Darkness to light; from Death to immortality and from Lethargy to Activity... The message of Deepawali According to the Vedic culture, the message of Tamaso ma jyotir gamaya (from darkness unto light) is given through the festival of Deepawali to all peoples of the world. During the night of Deepawali the myriads of little clay lamps (dias) seem to silently send forth Deepawali messages: Come let us remove darkness from the face of the earth. This is not the work to be done by one dia or by one individual. It requires collective effort. In the diffusion of light the question of high and low is forgotten. This is the lesson taught by both small and big dias. The second message of the burning dias is ...