A rather stimulating weekend!

As the title indicates, I experienced a rather stimulating weekend. As I was typing up this assignment I had to complete, I was "Wikipedia"-ing in another window. In the span of 2-3 hours, I had expanded my knowledge base about the world and political history. I read about who the ZANU-PF actually are; I read about the Afghanistan and the situation in the country through the 1980's and 90's - and in doing so, began to come full circle and understand who was supplying traning and arms to who etc... ; I read about who the main players were in the Afghan civil war from about 1989-1992: Burhanuddin Rabbani, Gulbudin Hekmatyr, Shanawaz Tanai, Dr. Najibullah, Ahmed Shah Masood, General Rashid Dostum, Mohammed Fahim - to name a few of them; I read about what "actual operations" were undertaken during the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971. It was very worthwhile and fulfulling (to me at least!)

No time to read books! :'(

Leading on from the last post.... it is quite a ridiculous state of affairs.... when I cannot find the time to read books.... some of you know that since I was a kid... I have loved devouring books... The only time that I relish reading.. is when I get a long break.. summer holidays - I read pretty quickly.... 200 pages in a day.. sometimes I finish thick books in 2 weeks only! My mum, on the other hand takes forever to read a single page.... a 200 page book... she struggles to even read that much.... it takes her a month or so to get through it... having said all that.. each person to their own I guess.. as the saying goes! Although, I was able to read about 10-20 pages of a book titled "La Prisonnaire" by Malika Oufkir (this book is about the Moroccan royal family and post-colonial politics and political prisoners - which appeals to me!)

I always believe that you should read any genre that interests you. For kids doing English in High School, you have to read a "specified genre"... I didn't like to told what to read.. By reading whatever books they want, children learn new words/terminology which allows them to express themselves better.

I didn't intend to make this post meaningful about life, but as you can see as a result of my reading, I can always express myself in an elequent way.

Righto, the tutorial will begin in five minutes.. so I will put my mind to it.

What a hectic life I have now! :(

Good morning. Just thought I would write in just before my tutorial at 10.. which is 20 mins from now. Well, I am well and truly into the new semester at uni now.. it is Week 6 and I am still alive and kicking! There was a humorous message sent to all students from the Lecturer of Environment Issues in Business 201.... it goes along the lines of this....

"I am concerned about the number of absences in lectures and tutorials. For the last few weeks, a lot of students are not coming. Please encourage your classmates and friends to come along.... the people not attending will not get exam hints"

I think now that numbers will be up for the following weeks... as when students hear the words "exam hints" they will come running back in hordes!

I have been observing human character, learning about people, how to work together in groups and limiting conflicts... its all part and parcel of the journey of life I guess.

The new ideas for posts are sitting on my table at home.... but just can't get the time to actually sit down, think and write posts. I think I will be doing this... in another 2 weeks time... when I have a non-teaching week.

Right now..... its time to get back to assignmenting and studying for my mid-sems!

Getting back to normal again!

The reason that there are no posts between December 1 and today is that I recently returned from a family trip to India only 2 weeks ago. I am getting back into the Australian way of life - which is very different to India. All in all, it's nice to be back home, but I am still missing the sights and sounds of India.

Here's to a new and fresh 2008! I engaged in complete 'R and R', as they say, so I have got a million ideas in my head to write about. Watch this space for updates!

Despair and Hope

I took an old poem of mine that I composed this year and re-worked it this morning. Happy reading!

Despair and Hope

On a regular basis we hear and read about bloodshed,

Clearly people are not thinking with their head,

To them, fighting seems like the only option,

But still yet, there is another undiscovered direction.

This direction is the path of peace and harmony,

Of which unity and togetherness is the main philosophy,

Many countries have embraced this new door,

But from other nations we are hoping for much more.

This approach to friendship,

Will surely result in a stronger level of comradeship,

Reinforcing to us the notion that the human race is all but one,

Just one big world living under the sun.

Sometimes windows may be closed and doors may be forgotten,

So let us open the window of our heart,

And turn over the page to make a new start.

Will the world suddenly change to a new awakening?

Will someone light the candle of hope?

I dream of an ideal world of pure harmony and joy,

Where children play and flowers bloom,

And a place where there is a minimal amount of doom and gloom.

Written and edited by Paulash Chatterjee

Composed on: 26 July 2007

Edited on: 1 December 2007

Australian Election

I was very happy with the way the Federal election went. Howard, Costello and co. had gone stale and "new energy, new ideas and new leadership"/ the notion of generational change had captivated the Australian electorate. Not many people are giving Kevin Rudd credit, but he will be a great Prime Minister and he will lead a highly successful team.

On the Libs side of things, it is nice to see "civil war" erupting among that rabble of people. I watched Lateline last night on ABC, and Costello was still whinging about the merits of giving him the leadership instead of Howard. Anyway, the Opposition will take at least 6-10 years to get their house in order again.

Some more humorous posts regarding the Australian election are coming up. Watch this space!

Perfect Choice!

I am satisfied with the choice of the next Test captain for India. I had been thinking for a long time that Anil Kumble should be given a chance to do it. He is a fierce competitor and a workhorse for Team India. Let's see how the future unfolds, but it seems very bright!