[Reader-list] Change I Can Believe In
we wi
dhatr1i at yahoo.com
Sat Nov 8 11:34:15 IST 2008
Dear Tara & Naeem,
Its is not "bohurupi" but "bahurupa". The word "bahurupa" have indepth meaning and roots. I don't know about the creature "bohurupi", but a type of lizard can change colours as it is exposed to SUNLIGHT. About the usage of "bahurupa" actually it is not a HINDI/DEVANAGARI word but it is a SANSKRIT word. The people used to chant to worship the Adishakti(parvathi/kali/durga like this 1000 names ) and offer their prayers.
Bangladesh(East Bengal) was also a part of India earlier,That's how the word "bahurupa" spread across for people usage. The sacred word is being used for wrong context and purpose. For your courtesy let me quote the hymn and its meaning word by word.
brahmaaNii brahmajananii bahuruupaa budhaarchitaa
prasavitrii prachandaagya pratiShThaa prakaTaakR^itiH||
821. brahmANI : She who is the tail that is brahman; the support for all
822. brahma : She who is brahman
823. jananI : She who is the mother
824. bahu rUpA : She who has a multitude of forms
825. budhArchitA : She who is worshiped by the wise
826. prasavitrI : She who is mother of the universe
827. prachaNDA : She who is full of awe-inspiring wrath
828. AGYA : She who is divine commandment herself
829. pratishhThA : She who is the foundation
830. prakaTA kR^itiH: She who is manifested in the form of the universe
Regards,
Dhatri.
--- On Sat, 11/8/08, taraprakash <taraprakash at gmail.com> wrote:
From: taraprakash <taraprakash at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Change I Can Believe In
To: "Sarai" <reader-list at sarai.net>
Date: Saturday, November 8, 2008, 12:11 AM
Hi Naeem and all.
As I have not read him so closely, I am not sure if your assessment of
Brooks as "bohurupi" or "bahrupia" in Hindi, is farfetched
or no, but I have
read opEd articles by Brooks and Krugman, whose article on Obama I am soon
going to forward, questioning his ability to deliver before Obama clinched
his party nomination. In fact, New York Times had endorsed Hilary Clinton
for the primaries.
It will be nice to hear from you about the piece by this year's nobel
laureate Paul Krugman.
Regards
TaraPrakash
----- Original Message -----
From: "Naeem Mohaiemen" <naeem.mohaiemen at gmail.com>
To: <reader-list at sarai.net>
Sent: Friday, November 07, 2008 12:44 PM
Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Change I Can Believe In
> In Bangladesh, we have a creature called bohurupi, many colored, many
> faces,
> chameleon. Now that it appears the Army is finally giving in and allowing
> elections to happen December 18th and return to democracy, many bohurupis
> will reverse their support of 1/11 and emerge as democrats. In America,
> David Brooks is one such bohurupi.
>
> Brought into the NYT op-ed page in the face of ferocious and relentless
> conservative attacks on the so-called "liberal" bias of the
paper, he
> proceeded to peddle asinine, conservative-lite pap over the last few
> years,
> including many justifications of Bush domestic policy platforms, and even
> some simpering on foreign policy.
>
> Like Thomas Friedman, who will never admit that he was one of the many
> pundits ("we break it we own it" and oh yes "countries with
mcdonalds
> don't
> go to war w. each other"), who rah-rah'ed the train wreck of last
8 years,
> Brooks will reinvent himself as a newborn Obama fan.
>
>
> From: "taraprakash" <taraprakash at gmail.com>
>>
>> OP-ED COLUMNIST. Change I Can Believe In.
>> By DAVID BROOKS. I have dreams. I may seem like a boring pundit whose
>> most
>> exotic fantasies involve G.A.O. reports, but deep down, I have dreams.
>> And
>> right now I'm dreaming of the successful presidency this country
needs.
>> I'm
>> dreaming of an administration led by Barack Obama, but which stretches
>> beyond the normal Democratic base. It makes time for moderate voters,
>> suburban voters, rural voters and even people who voted for the other
>> guy.
>>
>> The administration of my dreams understands where the country is
today.
>> Its
>> members know that, as Andrew Kohut of the Pew Research Center put it
on
>> 'The
>> NewsHour,' 'This was an election where the middle asserted
itself. There
>> was
>> 'no sign' of a 'movement to the left.
>>
>> Only 17 percent of Americans trust the government to do the right
thing
>> most or all of the time, according to an October New York Times/CBS
News
>> poll. So the members of my dream Obama administration understand that
>> they
>> cannot impose an ideological program the country does not accept. New
>> presidents in 1932 and 1964 could presuppose a basic level of trust in
>> government. But today, as Bill Galston of the Brookings Institution
>> observes, the new president is going to have to build that trust
>> deliberately and step by step.
>>
>> Walking into the Obama White House of my dreams will be like walking
into
>> the Gates Foundation. The people there will be ostentatiously
pragmatic
>> and
>> data-driven. They'll hunt good ideas like venture capitalists.
They'll
>> have
>> no faith in all-powerful bureaucrats issuing edicts from the center.
>> Instead, they'll use that language of decentralized networks,
bottom-up
>> reform and scalable innovation.
>>
>> They will actually believe in that stuff Obama says about postpartisan
>> politics. That means there won't just be a few token liberal
Republicans
>> in
>> marginal jobs. There will be people like Robert Gates at Defense and
Ray
>> LaHood, Stuart Butler, Diane Ravitch, Douglas Holtz-Eakin and Jim
Talent
>> at
>> other important jobs.
>>
>> The Obama administration of my dreams will insist that Congressional
>> Democrats reinstate bipartisan conference committees. They'll
invite
>> G.O.P.
>> leaders to the White House for real meetings and then re-invite them,
>> even
>> if they give hostile press conferences on the White House driveway.
>>
>> They'll do things conservatives disagree with, but they'll
also show that
>> they're not toadies of the liberal interest groups. They'll
insist on
>> merit
>> pay and preserving No Child Left Behind's accountability
standards, no
>> matter what the teachers' unions say. They'll postpone
contentious fights
>> on
>> things like card check legislation.
>>
>> Most of all, they'll take significant action on the problems
facing the
>> country without causing a mass freak-out among voters to the right of
>> Nancy
>> Pelosi.
>>
>> They'll do this by explaining to the American people that there
are two
>> stages to their domestic policy thinking, the short-term and the
>> long-term.
>>
>> The short-term strategy will have two goals: to mitigate the pain of
the
>> recession and the change the culture of Washington. The first step
will
>> be
>> to complete the round of stimulus packages that are sure to come.
>>
>> Then they'll take up two ideas that already have bipartisan
support:
>> middle-class tax relief and an energy package. The current economic
and
>> energy crisis is an opportunity to do what was not done in similar
>> circumstances in 1974 -- transform this country's energy supply. A
>> comprehensive bill -- encompassing everything from off-shore drilling
to
>> green technologies -- would stimulate the economy and nurture new
>> political
>> coalitions.
>>
>> When the recession shows signs of bottoming out, then my dream
>> administration would begin phase two. The long-term strategy would be
>> about
>> restoring fiscal balances and reforming fundamental institutions.
>>
>> By this time, the budget deficit could be zooming past $1.5 trillion a
>> year. The U.S. will be borrowing oceans of money from abroad. My dream
>> administration will show that it understands that the remedy for a
>> culture
>> of debt is not more long-term debt. It will side with those who worry
>> that
>> long-term deficits could lead to ruinous interest-rate hikes.
>>
>> My dream administration will announce a Budget Rebalancing Initiative.
>> Somebody like Representative Jim Cooper would go through the budget
and
>> take
>> out the programs and tax expenditures that don't work. If we have
no
>> spending cuts, then we're saying government is perfect. Nobody
believes
>> that,' Cooper says.
>>
>> Having built bipartisan relationships, having shown some fiscal
>> toughness,
>> having seen the economy through the tough times, my dream
administration
>> will then be in a position to take up health care reform, tax reform,
>> education reform and a long-range infrastructure initiative. These
>> reforms
>> may have to start slow and on the cheap. But real reform would be
>> imaginable
>> since politics as we know it would be transformed.
>>
>> Is it all just a dream? I hope not. In any case, please be quiet and
let
>> me
>> have my moment.
>>
>>
>> ------------------------------
>>
>> Message: 6
>> Date: Fri, 7 Nov 2008 12:22:11 -0500
>> From: "taraprakash" <taraprakash at gmail.com>
>> Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Congratulations America
>> To: "Sarai" <reader-list at sarai.net>
>> Message-ID: <A97474AB494B485096668C8E990CDC41 at tara>
>> Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed;
charset="Windows-1252";
>> reply-type=original
>>
>> Hi Naga and all.
>> Yes. You should be on your toes, all of us should be. If the US
considers
>> the entire world its property, the entire world has a right to
consider
>> the
>> US its own. All of us have stakes in this country. Obama's victory
is the
>> first battle won in the major war on greedy capitalism. There are more
to
>> come. And more to be won.
>>
>>
>> As Dushyant Kumar said
>>
>> Ret ki divar pardon ki tarah hilne lagi
>> Shart lekin thi ki ye buniyad hilni cahie."
>>
>> (This wall made of sand has started shaking.
>> But the condition was that thd whole foundation should shake.)
>>
>> Sorry for the bad translation, but yes, all it might be a sweet dream.
>> But
>>
>> sabse khatarnaak hota hai, sapnon ka mar jana.
>>
>> (death of dreams is the most dangerous thing to happen)
>>
>>
>>
>> Let us give Obama a fair chance before passing judgements, or showing
>> skepticism, actually he is yet to assume office.
>>
>> Regards
>> TaraPrakash
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Nagraj Adve" <nagraj.adve at gmail.com>
>> To: "taraprakash" <taraprakash at gmail.com>
>> Cc: "gautam bhan" <gautam.bhan at gmail.com>; "sarai
list"
>> <reader-list at sarai.net>
>> Sent: Wednesday, November 05, 2008 10:38 PM
>> Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Congratulations America
>>
>>
>> Lovely quote at the end, Taraprakash.
>> I was not comparing Obama and Manmohan but that 2004 in India was a
>> changed time - for instance, NREGA, which elites at the local level
>> and limited political will from the centre are trying their best to
>> undermine, would not have come in 1991. The rejection of Naidu in AP
>> in particular reflected this. Yet the Manmohan administration managed
>> to push more anti-poor reforms. The latest area they are trying is in
>> agriculture.
>>
>> One question for me at the time, and since, is how elites manage to
>> undermine democratic processes, as Manmohan did. Again, while I am
>> delighted that Obama has won, a question facing us very soon is how
>> elites in the US will attempt to blunt the message of this US
>> election. And what we can do (I use 'we' loosely since I am
based in
>> Delhi) to make sure they stay honest politically. In a recent
>> interview on ZNet Chomsky has argued that Obama will probably be
>> similar to Clinton's politics in the 1990s. Which is a refreshing
>> change from Bush Sr and Jr. But let us not forget that the Clinton
>> years saw a rise in people without health insurance in the US by 8
>> million (33 to 41 million); the bombing of Kosovo; the Iraq sanctions
>> which his Secy of State Albright infamously defended.
>>
>> So while I'm enormously glad the US has a black president, and not
>> McCain, I'd rather be on my toes politically.
>>
>> Look forward to your response, particularly if it has another lovely
>> quote at the end of it.
>> Naga
>>
>> On 06/11/2008, taraprakash <taraprakash at gmail.com> wrote:
>> > Yes, the hopes are too high. Perhaps nothing generated as much
hope
>> > after
>> > 1968 as did Obama's presidency. I was not born in 1968 but I
am proud
>> > to
>> > be
>> > actively involved in this "giant leap for humanity"
>> >
>> > This change in leadership will definitely change the way the
world
>> > looks
>> > at
>> > the US. It will also change the way the US looks at the rest of
the
>> world.
>> > The hawks will be replaced by human beings. Diplomacy will have
more
>> > room
>> > to
>> > work. I am sure corporate globalization will be replaced by
grassroot
>> > globalization.
>> >
>> > And may be the days of the ideologies that divide humanity in to
two or
>> > more
>> > poles are numbered. But may be we are being too optimistic.
Still, we
>> have
>> > reason to celebrate. The world will definitely be a better place
>> > without
>> > Dick and Bush.
>> >
>> > I don't think we should compare Manmohan and Obama. Manmohan
Singh
>> > mostly
>> > practiced what he preached. If someone ignored the past of
Manmohan and
>> > his
>> > party and took their statements at face value, it is not their
fault.
>> > There
>> > is nothing in Obama's past that gives cause for skepticism.
let's hope
>> > that
>> > his statements about invading Pakistan are nothing more than
verbal
>> > overtures. Let's also hope that he meant the positive things
he said
>> > during
>> > his campaign. It is not good to be very optimistic, however,
cynicism
>> > has
>> > been with us for too long. Let's try to change our outlook
for a while;
>> > yes
>> > we can. As Dushyant Kumar said:
>> >
>> > Kaun kahta hai aasman mein surakh naheen ho sakta
>> > Ek patthar to tabiyat se uchalo yaro.
>> >
>> > (Who says you can't make a hole in the sky,
>> > How about hurling a stone at it with conviction)
>> >
>> >
>> > ----- Original Message -----
>> > From: "Nagraj Adve" <nagraj.adve at gmail.com>
>> > To: "gautam bhan" <gautam.bhan at gmail.com>
>> > Cc: "sarai list" <reader-list at sarai.net>
>> > Sent: Wednesday, November 05, 2008 3:16 PM
>> > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Congratulations America
>> >
>> >
>> >> Dear Gautam,
>> >> Nice piece of writing (as usual) but since I have in recent
times
>> >> acquired a somewhat bleak view of larger political change, I
was
>> >> throughout today thinking of the 2004 elections in India and
what
>> >> heppened thereafter. Manmohan Singh came to power on the back
of a
>> >> emphatic rejection of economic reforms (and the BJP variant
of
>> >> communal politics). He then proceeded to anoint Montek
Ahluwalia and
>> >> Chidambaram (he of the Dow Chemicals fame) in key positions.
His first
>> >> trip outside Delhi was to Bombay where he expressed a wish
that Bombay
>> >> become Shanghai, after which about 3 lakh people were
forcibly thrown
>> >> out of their jhopad pattis.
>> >> I don't know how to say what I will without sounding
arrogant. I too
>> >> am deeply glad that Obama is President and not McCain (and
also that
>> >> Sarah Palin is not VP); Obama's vote if nothing else
means too much
>> >> for black Americans, others in America (as your mail says)
and for so
>> >> many others the world over. But for me he more so reflects
change that
>> >> has already happened in the US and elsewhere, which his
administration
>> >> will try their best to blunt. On foreign policy it is now old
hat that
>> >> Democrats have been little different from Republicans since
Vietnam,
>> >> including Clinton. On this too, Obama will reflect some
change but
>> >> only slightly if I were to believe statements he has made on
Pakistan,
>> >> Iraq and particularly his vice president's views on Iraq.
>> >> The key difference would perhaps be on domestic policy in the
US,
>> >> particularly on the nature of intervention in the massive
economic
>> >> crisis t faces. One hopes rather than lend money to banks
alone, his
>> >> administration might push welfare, public spending, etc.
Quite likely.
>> >> Without letting this mail run on for too long, he is
President because
>> >> people are emphatically demanding more. So let's see how
we can demand
>> >> even more (and also change things more fuindamentally) rather
than be
>> >> easily satisfied. I can say that without being one iota less
happy
>> >> that Obama has won.
>> >> Naga
>> >>
>> >> On 05/11/2008, gautam bhan <gautam.bhan at gmail.com>
wrote:
>> >>> Dear All,
>> >>>
>> >>> I dont usually post on the list, but thought I'd
share a piece I
>> >>> wrote for elsewhere.
>> >>>
>> >>> - gautam
>> >>>
>> >>> Cross-posted from Kafila.org
>> >>>
>> >>> A Letter from America
>> >>>
>> >>> I was out all night in Oakland, California, last night.
One of the
>> >>> most "dangerous" cities in the country, crime
statistics say.
>> >>> Usually,
>> >>> that's always code for historic black neighborhoods.
This one is no
>> >>> different. Close to us are some of the districts and
towns worst hit
>> >>> by the foreclosure crisis: one in three homes in parts of
California
>> >>> are now owned by banks and not people. A generation of
voters in this
>> >>> district remember what it was like not being able to vote
because
>> >>> they
>> >>> were black. This is part of the America that has elected
Obama.
>> >>>
>> >>> My students are predominantly white. This is Berkeley,
California,
>> >>> with some of the most progressive affirmative action
[what in India
>> >>> we
>> >>> call reservation] policies, and so many, many of them are
also Asian
>> >>> American and Latino. There are still preciously few
African America
>> >>> students at the college level, even at subsidized public
>> >>> universities.
>> >>> My students are mostly about twenty. They have the
freedom not to
>> >>> remember Reagan and Thatcher. They use the word
"past" rarely and
>> >>> look
>> >>> only in one direction. They are a generation long
described as the
>> >>> apathetic children of technology. They are an America
that has not
>> >>> easily inherited the arrogance that so easily slips in
with power.
>> >>> This is another part of America that has elected Obama.
>> >>>
>> >>> I saw the election results come in with community
organisers,
>> >>> activists, people who work in everyday America. Their
tears are tears
>> >>> I recognize from the defeat of the Hindutva and India
Shining. They
>> >>> are tears of relief and of belief. Tears that remind you
that the
>> >>> slow, thankless, everyday work of social change has a
horizon that is
>> >>> bigger than our individual lives. This is another part of
America
>> >>> that
>> >>> has elected Obama.
>> >>>
>> >>>
>> >>> There was a different America on the streets last night -
in ten
>> >>> years
>> >>> of going in and out of this country, I have never seen it
like this.
>> >>> Cars were honking, people walking the streets openly
crying and
>> >>> celebrating with strangers, spontaneous gatherings of
people at every
>> >>> corner, public buses lit up, hope and joy were in
abundance. America
>> >>> doesn't do public displays of politics or affection -
it doesn't rush
>> >>> out on streets for much other than sports. It hasn't,
in any case,
>> >>> for
>> >>> a very long time. Jesse Jackson, one of the most famous
black
>> >>> Americans other than Martin Luther King, openly crying
amidst
>> >>> millions
>> >>> in Grant Park in Chicago is a sight I wont lightly
forget.
>> >>>
>> >>> Not everything will change with Obama, but change they
will. Race
>> >>> will
>> >>> not disappear, but it will never be the same again.
Structural
>> >>> inclusion and inequality might not vanish tomorrow, but
its pipes and
>> >>> planks will be made visible. America might not change all
that angers
>> >>> much of the world towards it, but it will not be able to
so easily be
>> >>> so naked in its power. To think of Obama is not to judge
whether this
>> >>> hope will turn out to be real or false — the point is
that it is hope
>> >>> at all. This hope, even if all its promises fail after a
time, will
>> >>> have unintended consequences. Unintended consequences
that, in
>> >>> stories
>> >>> of the everyday, are in the end what help people change
their lives.
>> >>> Leaders come and go, but it is the unintended
consequences of hope
>> >>> that leave lasting, if infinitesimal, change.
>> >>>
>> >>> After eight years of Bush, Sept 11, a financial crisis,
two divisive
>> >>> wars, deepening poverty, and horrid clashes on moral
values, this
>> >>> landslide victory is the story of a scarred, hurt, and
scared nation,
>> >>> shaken from its arrogance by a series of blows, trying to
slowly look
>> >>> inside and heal itself. No matter what we think of
America, its
>> >>> imperialism, its role in global successes and tragedies
alike, that
>> >>> is
>> >>> a process all of us, in every country who have ever tried
to think of
>> >>> change can understand and support.
>> >>> _________________________________________
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city.
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>> >> Critiques & Collaborations
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>> >
>> >
>>
>>
>>
>> ------------------------------
>>
>> _______________________________________________
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>>
>> End of reader-list Digest, Vol 64, Issue 63
>> *******************************************
>>
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