Desi In Toronto

Why did America invade Iraq? Because it was to get the WMDs? Because Iraq and 9/11 were linked? Because a dictator responsible for massive deaths of Iraq’s citizenry needed to be removed?

NO. It was all about the politics in America.

America’s political landscape is quite strange to someone used to a multi party system like I am. The country I was born and brought up in has a multi party system as does the country I am living in now. Basically in these two countries, there are two (or three) main parties who can actually form governments BUT they cannot do so without the support of the smaller parties. In other words a consensus is required to implement a policy. That’s what democracy is all about. A consensus. In other words, even though you know you are right you need to change the mind of the opposing person/party to proceed with your idea, . You have to convince them that the idea is good for all. That’s democracy. Of course, the opposing person/party can be brought out as we saw in the last vote of confidence in Canada but that’s another post. The idea of democracy still remains intact.

I have been following American politics from the Reagan years and as I understand it, in America, there are only two parties. Each party has representation in the Presidential office and the senate. However, the party that has majority in the Senate has the control of the reins of the government. So if a party gains the majority they will essentially decide which policy the president can implement and which he has to let go. This form of a relationship worked well in the Reagan, Bush I (democrats held the majority) and the Clinton (republicans held the majority) years. So any radical policy by the President was kept in check by the “other” side.

But ever since Bush II came into the picture, the relationship has totally skewered into the republicans’ favour as the republicans are the majority in the senate.

The basic idea of any party is to stay in power, be it in Canada, India or USA. And all parties, when they reach the helm, will do anything they can to stay in power including, and not limited to, twisting a few arms.

In Canada and India this can be a little difficult. If you do not satisfy all the parties and persons involved you are going down. BJP could not form alliances with the small (but strong) regional parties in the last elections in India which is one of the main reason why they lost. Tories in Canada could not maintain their cadre and the Liberals took advantage of that fact and they overrode the vote of confidence a couple of months ago.

Similarly, the Bush II team is now slowly twisting arms of everyone to ensure that the republicans always stay in power. The idea is to convince the populace that they are the better choice than the alternative. In the early months of the first term of the Bush II presidency we learnt that the Bush II team (I firmly believe Bush II has little idea what goes on in his administration. He is basically the face to which we minions can relate. The actually work is carried out by his team) was searching for a reason to go after Saddam Hussein. The theory was if Clinton could drop a few bombs and raise his poll numbers, a war would do wonders for Bush II. There was no reason to start a war, so it was always in the background.

Then 9/11 happened. After this there was no reason for the Bush II team to hold their punches. Booooom there goes Taliban. And the American crowd, which so far was vary of Bush II administration, gave full kudos to them. All of sudden the Bush II team had all the reasons they wanted. They declared that Iran-North Korea-Iraq were Axis of evil thinking that the populace had now given them a solid backing to wage any war they wanted. And as long as the populace was kept in fear, they would back any administration. It worked like charm from 2001 to 2003. Each bomb dropped in Afghanistan and Iraq raised Bush II’s poll numbers and he peaked at 80s and 90s percentage.

Bush II’s administration and the republican dominated senate, with quite a few toe-the-line democrats, were passing policies like crazy : arrest any Muslim without a lawyer, introduce the Patriotic Act, create Homeland security department, change social security set-up, threaten Europe at will, encourage Christian right grass root movements to ensure rock solid support, override judges (as in Schavio’s case), let proven crooked republicans off the hook (Frist, Delay, Santorum etc.), support the eradication of evolution theory and replace it by a pseudo God-created-everything theory and on and on and on and on.

Iraq was central to all this plan. Iraq was to be the model democracy, nurtured by America, and with each election in America, the populace was to be reminded “See!?! See what we did there? Democrats could never do this.” But the problem, of course, is now WMDs, no Al Qaeda links and no democracy in Iraq. Moreover, a big section of the populace is beginning to see that the policies of Bush II are doing more harm than good. The same populace that Bush II took for a ride is now beginning to see the light.

Here is what has happened from 2001 to Aug. 2005 :-

2001 to 2003

• American imperialism was touted as the best thing to have happened, and the crowd cheered.
• Saddam Hussein was evil and had WMDs and had to be bought down, and the crowd cheered.
• Al Qaeda and Iraq were responsible for 9/11 and should be bought down, and the crowd cheered.

2003 to 2004

• When no weapons were found, Bush II says Iraq needed to be invaded because Saddam Hussein was evil and the crowds clapped politely.
• Iraq needs a democracy (while it was sold in bits and pieces to American oil companies without so much as a say by the Iraqis) says Bush II and the crowd nodded politely.
• We need to concentrate on the terrorists in Iraq so that they don’t come here to America, and the crowd nodded politely

2005

• raq is now stable and has a constitution according to Bush II, and, now the crowd is scowling.
• We need to concentrate on the terrorists in Iraq so that they don’t come here to America, and the crowd in London and Iraq begins to jeer.

Bush II stands with the second lowest poll numbers for a president, ever, at 44% (Nixon was lower at 42% when he was about to be impeached). Iraq was a boon the Bush II administration and now it looks like Iraq will be a big headache for this administration. Time will tell what happens to Iraq but the republicans need to be reminded what happens to a party when the populace is taken for a ride at the next election.

We went to a Peach festival with friends yesterday. It was a pleasant few hours except Rhea did not have a good time at all. I have noticed that whenever she is upset, I get upset too. Actually, my wife notices it more than I do. She usually reminds me of it by saying “I can’t handle two sulky kids at the same time!!”

Rhea also got her first haircut yesterday!! She looks cute as a button (I am biased, though). The haircut experience tells me that I will need to work out a lot more if I have to take Rhea to more haircuts. I had her on my lap and locked her arms and chest while my wife held her head!! It was like wrestling except Rhea was winning most of the time. Her screams invoked the living dead in the area (Tom of Slayer, I’d like to introduce you to my daughter) and her accusing glare made me cringe. She did give up after a little while and the barber was pretty good…sip, sip, sip and she was done!! I will be linking her pictures soon on this post for all of you to see how cute she now looks with her Laloo Prasad Yadav haircut.

Summer’s going by. Early Saturday morning there was a blanket of fog everywhere. I could hardly see my car outside. A fog is always a sign about change in weather (it’s not an exact science, I know). Winter is always a bleak thought and with Rhea always obsessing about going outside, it’s going to be quite difficult to manage. I guess we will have to do what Canadians do, don on heavy clothing and step out. I have always enjoyed winter except when I have to shovel my driveway or when I have to watch my neighbour’s kids, in their swimming trunks, jump into the snow and then into the hot tub. I hate it when these kids do this….especially where there is no way in hell I could.

Well, break over and back to work.

Chris Rock.

Oh my god….what language, what topics, what toilet humour. I loved it all!!

A neighbour lent me Rock’s CD “Never Scared” and I could not put it down until I had heard it all. The guy is totally crass. I mean he will not complete a sentence without putting in M*ther F*cker, B*tch, Assh*le etc. He talks about black people, the current political situation, rich people, rappers, his wife, his kid and the list goes on and on. No subject was tootaboo.

He was especially critical of white people.

A lot of the comedians tend to do this. I have been to a few comedy clubs where I have seen that the black comedians make quite a lot of fun of blacks and white and there are no lines that they will not cross. At the same time the white comedians need to tread waters very carefully. They cannot talkabout blacks at all without being labeled red-necks or racists.

I remember I was in this comedy club in the US which was quite packed. Sitting in front of us was a black couple cheering away at the comedian whose routine included a take on the way white people dressed. Of course the guy was making fun of white men because making fun of women (unless the comedian is a woman) is off limits for everyone. This guy berated the whites
on the way their trousers looked, on the way their shirt looked, on the way their shoes looked and on and on. The next black act did the same and the couple was on their feet. The act after that, a white guy, did the same except he made fun of white people from a black’s point of view and the couple was on their chairs cheering away!!

After a few more acts, the main act came on. A black guy (can’t remember his name but I have seen him on very small roles on TV) came on and, almost from the beginning, he started to make fun of black people. I mean he picked every stereotype of blacks and made fun of them. Everyone was intears………except for the same black couple seating ahead.

They were sitting with their arms folded and looking at this comedian scornfully. A few skits later after another black joke, the girl shouted out “don’t forget you are black!!” Her voice was drowned out in the laughter. As the skit progressed, the comedian turned his jokes into making fun of Asiansand East Asians and the couple was back on their feet, cheering away.

When I think of this scene I can’t help but think that blacks can be quite racist too. Why? Have they not seen what racism can do to the other side? Have they not seen enough bigotry in their lives that then must “seekrevenge”?

I think that the past 50 years or so of trying to educate everyone on the “wrongs” of racism has given a green signal to the blacks especially the kids of those on the receiving end to say what they want to the whites. They feel empowered because they know that the media and “politically correct”populace is on their side.

Take the movie “Be Cool”. Although the movie was about a producer helping a woman break into the musical industry every so often you would see a reference made by the actors on how blacks were better than whites.

Chris Rock and his contemporaries need to refrain from white-bashing. A little fun is fine and subtle fun goes a long way but to indulge in this kind of humour is a ride on a slippery slope which could cause a lot ofsocial problems especially in the populated sections of the society.

Here is a clip of Bush’s salute to the press. The file is about 1.6 mb so avoid it if you are on a dial up.

The morning show on Q107, Derringer In The Morning, is truly a funny show. The show is anchored by John Derringer and his troupe (Ryan, Rosco and, periodically, Maureen Holloway). The chemistry between all the DJs is quite outstanding. The show is obviously built around Derringer who then governs the direction of the discussion. Derringer sounds like a very strong personality, who likes to be in command all the time and will take no shit from anyone. He seems quite well versed in day to day, local and global, topics. And let’s face it, to control the airwaves of a major radio show for 4 hours (from 5am to 9am) and keep the reins of the show firmly in your hands requires a lot of b.a.l.l.s. and not many people can do that.

Having said that, whenever he starts to give his opinion on a political issue, I just tune him off. Take the example of blacks.

Recently when the Toronto councilor came out in favour of racial profiling by the police in the city, Derringer was all for it. Specifically, he said that he has no problems in police stopping all the black youths in the area of the crime where a black is suspect.

To me that is not only stupid but also completely ignorant. According to his off the cuff statement, all the blacks should be stopped REGARDLESS of how tall the suspect was, what the suspect might have been wearing, what the suspect looked like, how old did the suspect seem etc. So, Derringer wants the police to stop ALL THE BLACKS as long as they are black. This is utterly dumb.

And then he tried to put himself in the blacks’ shoes with the example what if the police started to profile the bikers and all the bikers were screened because they might belong to a gang.

He, of course, misses the point. A biker is not being stopped because he is Black or Asian or Arab. There is huge difference being stopped for what you are drive than what you are. If I were pulled over because someone committed a crime in a white Altima I would not be offended but if I were pulled over because the criminal is a south Asian man, that would really piss me off. The police is basically putting forth the idea that because of the colour of the skin of the criminal, I am guilty until proven otherwise. What if the tables were turned and the police started to profile white people? Each time a white criminal is loose, all the white drivers should be stopped and screened regardless of their other characteristics. A pandemonium would ensue.

Before anyone starts pointing fingers at me and saying I am just nit-picking, I must say thatthis is what I have felt about this major radio personality, with a huge fan base, for quite sometime. Time and time again Derringer has shown subtle hints of racism in his conversations but this time I think he has out done himself. Why? Because the councilor who is in favour of racial profiling is black. So, I think Derringer has come out of the closet and piggybacked on this councilor’s opinion. He must be thinking that if a black government official thinks this way then it must be ok for me to climb out of my fox hole.

Why am I obsessing about this one guy? After all, it’s a radio show which I don’t have to listen to if I don’t like it. Possibly because I’d loved the show and would spend my hour’s commute listening to it. Now when he utters the words “here’s what I think…..” I run to change the channel. The banter between the DJs is still too good to miss but the opinions of the host are now getting on my nerves. I hope the producers will try to rein in this guy’s opinions.

The other day while disembarking the train at Union Station at Toronto, I accidentally bumped into the guy ahead. I mumbled a apology and gave him a weak I-am-sorry smile. The guy gives me a dirty look and stepped aside and very patronizingly, with a flow of his hands, motioned me to go ahead of him. I got really pissed and flipped him and muttered under my breath “stupid desi”. He was obviously a south Asian and he looked at me as if I had caused him bodily harm and his soul now had to be cleansed because I hadthe audacity to bump into him.

This kind of incident happens more than I care to admit. Not only have I called fellow south Asians “stupid desi”, I have seen other people do the same thing. If a guy cuts me off on the road, me and my wife’s first reaction is “oh, he must be a desi”. If a woman jumps the line at the Indian grocery store, our reaction is “oh, she can’t help it. She is a desi”. Andso on and so forth.

Initially, I used to get quite disturbed at my reaction. This immediate impulse of mine to blame a south Asian as a blight on the face of thedeveloped world made me feel like some kind of racist.

But when you think about it, is my (or other Asians’) reaction unjustified?

I have seen (as, I am sure, countless others as well) that in India etiquette simply does not exist. Oh sure, we are taught to respect our elders and other citizens but the reality is that India is truly a dog-eat-dog society. The competition levels being so intense in India, I think an average Indian has little time for things like “being nice to yourfellow human being”. For example :

As soon as a bus arrives at the bus station in India, no one gives a damn about the line, you just jump in and trample over everyone around you even though the next bus arrives after a few minutes!! This leaves women andchildren at a disadvantage…but who cares.

When driving, might is right!! Cut across anyone, overtake at will….that is the norm while driving. And use your horn liberally even though the lightmay JUST have turned green.

When stopped by a police man, slip him a hundred and go on your way even though you may be at fault.

When a person arrives in the developed world from such a society, he/she has to adjust their respective attitudes. So when bus arrives at the station, wait for your turn to get into the bus. Do not drive rashly or you will get punished severely for it. And police may take bribes here in Canada but it is not the norm. You offer a bribe at your own risk because you might landin even more trouble if the bribe is refused.

So, what happens when two desis confront each other here in Canada? They are immediately reminded of how things were like in India. The gloves are immediately off. The competition wired into our brains in India suddenly kicks in and we want to show this other desi how much better we are than him. We either push ahead determined to put the other person down or wepatronize the other person and remind him that he is not in India now.

I assume that’s what the person whom I bumped into thought. When he saw that it was another desi, he immediately assumed that I was trying to push my way through and get ahead of him not realising that I had actually lost my step. And I knew exactly what he was thinking which is why I flipped him as a way of telling him that it was a mistake on my part and not deliberate.

I don’t think first generation Asians can ever get over this attitude towards other first generation Asians. I hope this attitude changes with thesecond generation.

What a stupid post that previous post was!! I don’t know why I wrote it except that I have been reading too many of such stories lately. Myapologies.

I have never been a big fan of Jazz. I have always thought about it as a form too complex & loony for me. A colleague who is big on Jazz had tried to convert my attitude towards jazz but to no success. This weekend we (my wife, me and my daughter) and a few friends went to the Oakville Jazz festival for lack of anything else to do. We arrived there about 9pm and it took us about half an hour before my daughter, suffering from a diaper rash, finally settled down. We then went to the Lakeshore road where the festival was being held. There was a huge crowd everywhere so I couldn’t really see or hear much and our immediate concern was our daughter. So when we finally got the chance to see a band start their performance we jumped at it and waited for the band to start. As soon as they hit the first note, I was hooked!!

The saxophone, trumpet, accordion all of these instruments all sounded so strange and so new!! The music had such a flow to it that for the next 10 minutes or so I could not help but smile and tap to the music. My daughter liked it too but not as much as I would have thought as she did not get off her stroller and dance around as she normally does. Maybe it was the fact that we were very close to the band and she had her hands covering her ears!! But the performance by the band (I think they called themselves the Dirty South) was awesome. After the performance we went ahead and in the main square there was another performance which again captivated me and my wife. The voice of the woman singing was enough to halt everyone in their path. And before we left we came to another performance (actually they were wrapping up) which made me a full convert. I think the Bass solo had just finished and the drummer started his solo. His performance and the fervent way in which he performed was, simply put, OUT OF THIS WORLD!! He brought the entire crowd to it’s feet by the end. So much so that there was a demandfor an encore which was met by the band.

Jazz is something I will be looking into now. I think I’d better contact my colleague again for guidance!!

Went through this article today and it got me thinking. What would I do if my child died for an unworthy cause? Would I fight the unworthy cause? Would I kill myself? Would I be strong for my wife and family? Would I get into a depression?

After becoming a father these question hit you with a force that knocks the wind out of you. It is now my life’s ambition to watch my daughter grow into a woman (previously it was to own a Ferrari). To the parents who have to endure watching their children die before they do, I just don’t know how you pull through.

What about the parents who deliberately kill their children? I think they should be executed. A child comes to this world and places his/her complete trust in you and you betray it by killing the child? No. I have no sympathy for such people. They should summarily be executed.

Is that harsh? Yes. To each situation there is no black or white. There are always shades of gray. Why does a poor Indian farmer kill his newborn daughter? He does so because he wants a son who will grow up and help him with his farm. He does not expect a girl to help him. That is not murder but ignorance and such a person needs to be taught the reality and not the pseudo-reality from the last 50 years.