"me no big chief …

Paleocontact – the ancient astronaut theories have never been proved.
Or received support within the scientific community.
Neither can it be disproved.

What if
we are the descendents of
or if we have been visited by ancient astronauts –
life forms, or a race, or a civilisation of galactic proportions
from somewhere, it can be almost anywhere, in this infinite universe
or a parallel; or from a dimension imperceptable to our primitive three-D senses?

They left behind for us to follow,
their ways of life
their rules
in the form of a belief system focusing on a system of laws,
the doctrine of an unseen being considered supernatural, sacred, divine, or of the highest truth.
A God! And a religion.

And they created fear in us – so we followed without questioning.

Fear, The Foundation Of Religion

Bertrand Russell | March 6, 1927 | Lecture delivered at the Battersea Town Hall.

Religion is based, I think, primarily and mainly upon fear. It is partly the terror of the unknown and partly, as I have said, the wish to feel that you have a kind of elder brother who will stand by you in all your troubles and disputes.

Fear is the basis of the whole thing — fear of the mysterious, fear of defeat, fear of death. Fear is the parent of cruelty, and therefore it is no wonder if cruelty and religion have gone hand-in-hand. It is because fear is at the basis of those two things.

What if
we were visited by not one but many of such alien races,
each from a different corner of the universe, each with
different body forms,
different requirements
different mind forms
different principles
different thoughts
different beliefs
different laws
and each of them directed us to follow ONLY their tenets.
Different Gods! As many religions!

What if
these alien life forms
because of their unique xenobiology
had to remain segragated and were/are intolerant of each other
what if in their bigotry they were as bad as one other, if not worse.

What if
they were the Gods or the descendents of
and those they could not tolerate or fought and killed were the evil – the Devil.

What if
ONLY their own home world or solar system or their galaxy was to be our Heaven
and every galaxy outside their domain was
Hell!

What if
what we have done for centuries
is simply perpetuate the bigotry and conflict of galactic proportions.
and without questioning have followed “On earth, as it is in heaven(s)” –
each religion dreaming of a different heaven – of a different galactic empire.

Bertrand Russell
In this world we can now begin a little to understand things, and a little to master them by the help of science, which has forced its way step by step against the Christian religion, against the churches, and against the opposition of all the old precepts.

Science can help us to get over this craven fear in which mankind has lived for so many generations. Science can teach us, and I think our own hearts can teach us, no longer to look around for imaginary supports, no longer to invent allies in the sky, but rather to look to our own efforts here below to make this world a fit place to live in, instead of the sort of place that the churches in all these centuries have made it.

We are now capable of creating monstrous tunnels to recreate a nanoscopic ‘big bang’ – at a staggering cost of €3.2–6.4 billion that would have fed the hungries of this world till kingdom come.

Yet we do not have the courage to apply our knowledge to question or explain the no longer “supernatural” events of centuries ago. Or to shelve our ancient beliefs and practices and form a new religion, that is relevent to what we are now, and where we wish to go in our future.

A code of conduct to live by, a terrestrial religion.
A religion of Earth, created by earthpeople and for all earth’s inhabitants.

religionancient astronaut

what ifs?

are the results of an idle mind drifting laterally
from and along the thoughts and beliefs of the norm, cannot be proved, cannot be disproved either – littleindian

when the future of a state or of a nation is decided by a single individual
democracy goes horribly horribly wrong

Tatas pullout jolts Bengal’s industrialisation drive

Sougata Mukhopadhyay / CNN-IBN

Published on Sat, Oct 04, 2008 at 09:18,

Kolkata: West Bengal’s tryst with Nano is over. Ratan Tata has declared that the Nano plant will be shifted out of the state as according to him the atmosphere in Singur was far from industry-friendly.

Tatas announcement to pull out from Singur is a big blow to West Bengal. For two years, West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and Ratan Tata together tried to build the automobile complex in Singur which would have employed at least 6,000 people to begin with.

However, they met with resistance from just a few people who were to lose their lands. In the end the government and the Tatas gave up the fight.

“I think Ms (Mamata) Banerjee has pulled the trigger,” Ratan Tata said at a press conference in Kolkata on Friday

Tata did give a pro-industry certificate to the Left Front government but the state’s image has taken a beating.

It took TWO YEARs for this project to reach this stage – it had not mushroomed overnight –
but Mamata Banerjee’s seige at the factory gates did.
It changed the future of the project in a matter of a week
It has changed the future of my state, for a long long time, if not for ever.

It is argued Tata and the government should have anticipated a rough ride two years ago –
Mamata Banerjee had two years to think and realise what
a Tata pullout would mean for the state.
I doubt if she is capable.

I remain certain
that with billions of Tatas’ money already invested in the permanent infrastructure
she was convinced Tata was unable to pull-out; she deliberately upped her agitation
convincing herself it was too late with three months left to meet the roll-out deadline.

I challenge her to confirm that
her only aim from the outset was to stop this project from going ahead.

She cannot – and there-in lies her hypocrisy –
and her moronic politics of brinksmanship –
of not knowing when and how to stop.

This was about the future of my state, West Bengal.
I do not give a toss for Mamata Banerjee’s political future.

For this fiasco I blame only one person –
Only one person ‘overplayed’ the game of brinksmanship – that is Mamata Banerjee.

The fact remains, had she, as an honest opposition leader,
fought from the outset for the best possible compensation FOR ALL,
and not started her dharna (seige) so late this project would have been up and running.

Let us not forget 8000 farmers had voluntarily given up land, 2000 did not.
What can Mamata Banerjee say to the eight thousands -that their future was never her concern?

As long as this idiot stays in front line politics, no external investors will have the courage to mention the name of Bengal – forget enter the state. We had the glimpse of a better future after 30 years of a left front government. I hope her name goes down in history as a brainless idiot who destroyed our state’s future with her histrionics.

West Bengal RIP

Added: 5 OCTOBER:
I read my response to another blog on this issue.

I challenge Mamata Banerjee now to declare her vision of the future of the state –
will she stop any form of industry coming into the state
from acquiring land to set up their factories?.

As long as this individual remains in active politics,
her face and her name becomes the symbol of failure of industrialisation in the state
her antics will be discussed by every industrialist and they will happily stay away from Bengal.
If we want industries to return to the state after 30 years of damage already done –
it is the responsibility of all concerned, CPM and Trinamul,
to make it a ‘cake-walk’ for them.

I do not give a toss who takes the responsibility to do so, if it is the CPM –
I’ll say its about time.

We were not doing the Tatas any favour – they were doing it to us by taking the risk.

Many people of Bengal wanted Tata to stay –
if a poll is ever conducted, I am certain it will show a majority
democracy has just died in Bengal – along with all the hopes for our future.

… what kind of a religion, in the twenty-first century
can dictate this:

Top Afghan policewoman shot dead

BBC News | Sunday, 28 September 2008 12:04 UK

Malalai Kakar was not allowed to work as a police officer under the Taleban

Gunmen in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar have killed the country’s most prominent policewoman, officials say.

Lt-Col Malalai Kakar, head of Kandahar’s department of crimes against women, was shot in her car as she was about to leave for work.
Taleban rebels, who banned women from joining the police when they were in power, said they had carried out the shooting.

“We killed Malalai Kakar,” a Taleban spokesman told AFP news agency.
“She was our target, and we successfully eliminated our target.”

Every individual, regardless of religion, has to ask themselves if there is a place
for 7th century rules in this 21st century world we live in –
we have no other option but to share.

Can the excuse of “religious tolerance” overrides an individual’s basic human rights?
Should we, the humans of this entire world, take the blame for this individual’s murder?

IslamTalibanhuman rightslittleindian

Once in long whiles I’ll read a piece of news
that restores my faith in goodness in human beings.

And I feel like screaming it out loud into the empty void – “altruism still exists”.

Probe ordered against hospital

The Hindu | Staff Reporter

Thrissur: The Judicial Magistrate Court, on Tuesday, asked the police to register a case and start an inquiry against a private hospital in the city which allegedly refused to release the body of a woman since the relatives could not remit the hospital bill.

On a complaint filed by the social activist P.D. Joseph, V.K. Mohandas, Judge, asked the Nupupuzha police to investigate the case.

Usha, wife of Chandran from Puthur, had been under treatment in the hospital for four days after being assaulted by her husband’s brother. She died of injuries sustained in the assault. The hospital authorities refused to release the body as Chandran could not remit the bill amount of Rs. 55,000.

Though the hospital reduced the amount to Rs. 20,000, Chandran was helpless.

Constable Aparna of Ollur police station, who was assigned to take the body for post-mortem, came for Chandran’s help. She gave her three gold bangles to him for meeting the hospital expenses.

People from various quarters appreciated the constable’s gesture.

It was the TV
humming in the background.
droning on with a bit of this or a bit of that
a song came on – that suddenly pierced my consciousness,
By the time I focussed on the screen it was a commercial for a butterspread.

But the tune continued to play on in my mind.
I waited for the ad to be repeated.
And yesterday.

It was again the TV humming away in the background.
The same droning of a bit of this a bit of that
and then that song started.
I could not have focused
any quicker.

I got the opening lines of the lyrics before the tub of butter hit the screen,
next hour, tiptapping through Google and the Wikipedia,
I learnt of this song that I did not know,
until now.

I also learnt about Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical.
It had challenged many of the norms held by Western society in 1968.

Growing up in the 70-80s in middle-class India –
becoming a ‘hippie’ was near impossible.
I realise now I was a flower child at heart,
fate planted me where I was considered more as a weed.
(there’s no pun in it – honest)

In my own way, I have rebelled against the
unquestioned norms and traditions
illogical and unfair establishments
My first act of rebellion was
to let my hair grow long.
To the disgust of my dad and
the school’s Prefect of discipline – yes, got sent home too.

So I share it with you from the musical, “Hair” –

“I Got Life:

by James Rado and Gerome Ragni

I got life, mother – I got laughs, sister – I got freedom, brother
I got good times, man
I got crazy ways, daughter – I got million-dollar charm, cousin
I got headaches and toothaches And bad times too
Like you

I got my hair – I got my head – I got my brains – I got my ears
I got my eyes – I got my nose – I got my mouth
I got my teeth

I got my tongue – I got my chin – I got my neck – I got my tits
I got my heart – I got my soul – I got my back
I got my ass

I got my arms – I got my hands – I got my fingers – Got my legs
I got my feet – I got my toes – I got my liver
Got my blood

I got my guts – I got my muscles – I got life
Life – Life
LIFE!

So why did I not know of this for so long?

I find it has never been staged in
“China, India, Vietnam, the Arctic and Antarctic continents and most African countries.”