I,
Want things that I can't have.
Dislike things that I can easily have.
Like things when they can't be had and dislike the same, when they become easy to have.

Funny me!

It's been two years that I wrote this piece.

[...Geopolitics of Globalisation by Baldev Raj Nayar. A nice collection of facts, interpretations, history and Politics of Globalisation. The author seem to have a bent towards anti-americanism...american hegemony....Hegemon of Hegemons as he calls it....though the hegemonism be true, still it doesn't prevent the author from taking stance.....would we - meaning the Indians be any different, given the chance and the ability to lord over the world...Simple facts like the amount US spent on its defence in the year 2001 (US$351 Bn) is way..infact miles ahead of the next five countires put together...the US's power isn't manifest only in Military...it is there in Hollywood, McDonald's , Walt Disney, Microsoft, Google...everything....one probable reason why US is able to lord over the world is this hidden influence on the way people everywhere think....by creating clones everywhere, US is able to sustain interest in it....there are many grey areas in the development stories of Japan, South Korea and Taiwan...the author provides a nice account of what transpired between the powers that be....how many conditions of America was accommodated..

It's surprising that in the two years, my thoughts had changed little. But I wrote those words, without seeing/verifying things on my own. But now, having seen a bit of US, I know I hadn't been wrong. Yesterday, as we had gone to Costco for some shopping to carry back to India, I noticed something and made a note to my room mates and they too seem to agree.

There is so much of imitation of American way of life in Indian Global companies- it hardly matters if you are in US or in Indian offices of these companies. The companies, though Global, are basically, very much American. It is a fallacy that we call them Global companies. The American hegemony (if I can call it that ways) is all too visible in the way business is conducted across Indian companies. Is there any distinct Indian-ness in any of the companies? Or for that matter is there any distinctiveness in any of the companies that dot the Globe now, except Americanism?

While writing this, I have a parallel thought- is there any distinct Americanism anywhere?- Or is it simply the most efficient way of doing things as we know now? Is it simply because of the American efficiency- which I thoroughly appreciate and marvel at, that we tend to have clones everywhere trying to do things that Uncle Sam had done and done it successfully?

Questions to Ponder- I don't think I would be pondering them while on flight back home!

The latest addition to my luggage- a Canon Rebel XT 350D. Trying to understand the gizmo's functionality and features. First few snaps have been cool ;)

While I used to follow the US press when I was in India itself, it wasn't all that of immediate relevance to me. But when I came here, I started following US new editions more carefully, gleaning for information with their content and context. Enough said about the BBC, now its time for Reuters.

Some days back when I was reading through the daily news, I came upon this article. It's a 3 page article and needless to say, touches one of the most stormy issues in the International politics today. Inspite all these, the flow of the article and the news that it conveys is, IMHO, simply inconsistent with general journalistic judgment.

Sample these:

"The purpose appears not to be to shore up Iran's political partners in Iraq against the Sunnis, but to cause problems for American troops," said a former intelligence official who closely monitors events in the Middle East.

.........

The secretive Quds Force of Iran's Revolutionary Guards has circumvented Shi'ite organizations like the Mehdi Army to enlist individual militants and train them in the use of explosively formed penetrators, the officials said.

These allegations against Iran are all made by unnamed, unidentified "Officials"-there are no attributions to any one. Remember these were the same tactics used earlier before the war on Iraq. Now, its an open secret on who the public opinion was manufactured leading to Iraq War.

The heights of such scandalous attribution comes here:

WARNING TO U.S TROOPS?

Some experts believe Iran has supplied traceable weapons to show the United States what ground troops might face in any military intervention.

"Tensions between these two countries have escalated dramatically since 2003, and everybody has suspected for a long time that Iraq could become a battlefield," said Vali Nasr, Middle East expert at the Naval Postgraduate School.

"I'm sure these (munitions) have been used to let it be known that the Iranians have these capabilities in Iraq."

Added an intelligence source: "They could be saying, 'This is the merest taste of what you would face if you came across the border or bombed us or knocked out our nuclear reactors'."

Here, the sentence structure seems so like that the quote "I'am sure these have been....." can easily me mistaken for Vali Nasr, whereas in reality it is again said by some "intelligence source". What is this, but stroking hysteria? A population already scared with 9/11 and yet to come back to normal doesn't need further than these words to panic.

I have just one question- What Next?