Friday, July 22, 2011

Horrifying-est quote I have come across recently

My latest read has been The Chequebook and the cruise missle: Conversations with Arundhati Roy by David Barsamian, and I came across an awful quote by one of the so called greatest men of the twentieth century.

But first, let me just talk about who Arundhati Roy is...She is best known for being a booker prize winning author of "The God of Small Things". But more than that she seems to be a tireless activist of causes that are most ignored by elite Indians. She has been jailed albeit for a day on charges of contempt of the Supreme Court of India, and also (this is hilarious) for corrupting the morals of society with her book. Trust me the book does nothing of that sort pfft to you stupid backward men of India. Anyway to me she comes across as a tremendously passionate and articulate woman.

Now this book ie The Chequebook and the cruise missle, for those of you who have lost track of what I began this post with (yes my rambling seems to have no respect for readers who have to keep up with my thoughts). Okay so I came across a quote from Mr Winston Churchill in 1937 in this book which has been basically paraphrased as follows, he was talking about the Palestinian struggle "I do not believe that the dog in the manger has the right to the manger, simply because he has lain there for so long. I do not believe that the Red Indian has been wronged in America, or the Black man has been wronged in Australia, simply because they have been displaced by a higher, stronger race."

Churchil quoted in the Editorial, "Scrurrying Toward Bethlehem," New Left Review 10, 2nd series (July/ August 2001), pg. 9, n. 5.

So yes, I went and checked the actual quote, no offence meant to anyone but I just couldn't believe my eyes. I mean to have millions of school children taught that this was one of the greatest leaders ever and for this kind of quote to lurk around in written history and still be teaching kids that this was a great man seems extremely horrifying to me. So phew, I basically wanted to rant and rant about this, living in Australia and having had the opportunity to watch documentaries and read about what happened to aboriginals here it is a shame that people could ever think like this and unfortunately there are still people that do.

So boo to your Mr Winston Churchill...I for one think you are a complete moron.

Oh yes the the above mentioned book is the one in the picture and the ridiculously bejewelled hand is me :D

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Ocular hangover of the blingalicious kind

I am on an interstellar overdrive of planet awesomeness...yes i know that sentence makes no sense what so ever, but I do have a valid reason for blubbering incoherently and putting random words together...I was in a jewellery lovers heaven and I still haven't come back to earth...I am sitting in the midst of the very best haul I have had in a long long time and just basking in the joy of knowing all this preciousness is à moi

Okay so roaming the streets of Pune found this random cubbyhole shop thing full of hidden silver and semi precious stone treasures...And managed to empty the entire contents of my wallet at the said cubbyhole...Sadly I had to take leave of the little slice of heaven because the ancient shop keeper did not accept credit cards and I was starting to have distinctly klepto thoughts...Siggggh

P.S. This was an old post lurking in my to be published folder and is actually dated circa July 2010, when I visited home last.

In a permanent state of to be improved

So...I am organizing my blogging presence, having shut down my other blog and focusing on keeping this one alive and kicking. I am tirelessly trying to bring some order to every aspect of my life and decided to streamline my clothing, footwear and jewelery collections.

Now when I say collections I just mean a haphazard pile of things. I have sadly never been able to afford designer wear and hence have had to get very creative and diy-ish (yes i invent words when my vocabulary fails me) and because of that my already out of control hoarder habits have started bordering on a full blown obsession where I am unable to throw anything out. My regular train of thought is maybe I will wear it someday, maybe I will figure out how to style it better later, maybe it will of some use to my future diy projects. But unfortunately all that has happened is me lugging around enormous amount of completely unnecessary things.

Most of my 'never used because I still haven't bought that sewing machine' pile basically has lots of potential and I have sketched what the final items will look like but sadly I lack the sewing skill and the drive to dive into the pile and start making alterations.

So I decided to try and store everything in boxes, suitcases and give some stuff away and be inspired by what I have to stop dressing something akin to a Christmas tree let lose in an Indian bazaar and more like the grown up with a slight penchant for Christmas tree-ish sense of jewellery lading and colour. Haah but this plan was shot from the word go and the boy came into the house thinking there were at least three people at home because I was channeling some of my clothes and speaking to myself convincingly how these items were truly eclectic and it would be a grave mistake to throw any away. So all in all the whole point of my tedious rambling is that I have managed to organize nothing and now everything is draped over every empty surface and I am sitting in the middle of it and looking for order inducing inspiration online.

Oh yea and since I am not really comfortable posting pictures of the awful mess I have made of my things, here are pictures of Bondi beach in summer :D