Prashad posted:

Always remember this Keffer. The Chinese in China and Taiwan always put their people first.  That is why the Dalai Lama got a sound booing when he went to Taiwan. So be proud to be South Asian Brown.

 

What does 'putting their people first' mean ? If you are suggesting or recommending favoritism or racism, then you can keep that idea to yourself !

It is not about being racist toward another group. It is about standing up for your own culture and history and not adopting some other people identity.  Have you ever heard an Iranian saying " I am a Pakistani or I am an East Indian"  You will never hear that being said.  They always say I am Persian. And some of the politically incorrect Iranian women, if you ask them if they are from Pakistan or India, will say to your face that no Pakistani or East Indian has their white color.  So be proud to be brown.

Prashad posted:

It is not about being racist toward another group. It is about standing up for your own culture and history and not adopting some other people identity.  Have you ever heard an Iranian saying " I am a Pakistani or I am an East Indian"  You will never hear that being said.  They always say I am Persian. And some of the politically incorrect Iranian women, if you ask them if they are from Pakistan or India, will say to your face that no Pakistani or East Indian has their white color.  So be proud to be brown.

Prash, you're not making sense. Why would an Iranian say he/she is an Indian ? Do you say you are a German or Italian ? Of course not; same thing for all other peoples so what are you really trying to say ? 

Keffer posted:

Prashad posted:

It is not about being racist toward another group. It is about standing up for your own culture and history and not adopting some other people identity.  Have you ever heard an Iranian saying " I am a Pakistani or I am an East Indian"  You will never hear that being said.  They always say I am Persian. And some of the politically incorrect Iranian women, if you ask them if they are from Pakistan or India, will say to your face that no Pakistani or East Indian has their white color.  So be proud to be brown.

Prash, you're not making sense. Why would an Iranian say he/she is an Indian ? Do you say you are a German or Italian ? Of course not; same thing for all other peoples so what are you really trying to say ? Tell me; do you speak Hindi, can you read Hindi, can you write Hindi ? You are suggesting that you maintain your cultural practices, however, can you read Hindi, can you write Hindi, do you understand Hindi ? I will not claim that I am fully fluent in Hindi but I am willing to bet; any amount of money, that I can read, write, speak and understand Hindi far better than you can. I have little difficulty in making myself understood when I am in Hindi-speaking parts of India. So where Indian culture is concerned I know what my capabilities are. During my last trip to Guyana, there was a yagna in my village and, given that I knew almost all the adults and a good number of the younger people, I attended several nights and had to correct the pandit with his English translations quite a few times. I began learning Hindi through the auspices of the cultural attache at the Indian High Commission (his name was Yogi Raj) when I was a high school student in Georgetown many years ago. Furthermore, in both the junior and the senior exams, which were adjudicated by the Guyana Pandits Council, I topped the results for the entire country. In other words, I did substantially better than many pandits who sat for exactly the same examinations ! I still have several large Hindi dictionaries and I still use them quite often. I am willing to bet that I far more fluent in Hindi than you are !  In short, do not make the mistake of thinking that, because you are a Hindu, it follows that you know Indian culture better than others.        

Prashad posted:

Keffer posted:

Prashad posted:

Keffer posted:

Prashad posted:

India, Iran and Russia need to keep their relationships and funding with the Northern Alliance contacts. I have said it before. India needs to build a very close relationship with the Tajics.

Prashad, instead of your usual 'saying it before', why don't you provide rationale for your suggestion. How and why will benefits accrue to India as a result of their close relationship with Tajikistan ?   

I prefer not to answer that question.

You are unable to answer because you know very well that there is no basis or reason whatsoever for saying so ! In other words, exactly as you did on several previous occasions, you make statements which are not factual and in doing so you hope that maybe there just be a few readers who are gullible and who will probably begin to think that you are well informed. That translates into dishonesty and will surely destroy your already severely limited credibility. I strongly suggest that it will always be much safer to acknowledge that you do not know something instead of trying to hoodwink others. Don't you agree ?

Why should I answer the question and give China some advantage to get land that my ancestors fought and died for?  I will never be a despicable bottomless traitor. Unlike you, I do not represent the interests of Pakistan and the Chinese people.  Even though I am 20 percent Han Chinese. 

You have absolutely no clue or idea of who I am, what I do and where I work so your suggestion that I "represent the interests of Pakistan' is pure bullshit ! Wherever you got that idea, get it out of your head ! I can tell that you do not know Hindi; written or spoken, you have never been to the Indian sub-continent; neither India nor Pakistan, and are therefore in no position whatsoever to lecture me about my loyalties ! I do not care if you are 20%, 50% or 100% East Indian, the truth is you have never been to India or Pakistan so to make the assumption that I am partial to a particular people or country is a figment of your imagination ...plain and simple, it is bullshit ! The UN does not casually sent its people into environments that are potentially hostile to them so you would do well to ask questions instead of arriving at conclusions based on your imaginations, presumptions or prejudice ! 

You are a nut.  Which UN you ever worked for. Must be the United Nuts. You deliver dry goods. You never were a United Nations employee.  

Prashad posted:

You are a nut.  Which UN you ever worked for. Must be the United Nuts. You never were a United Nations employee.  

What I can tell you is that I do not clean toilets for my livelihood !

Keffer on a serious note here. Now did you learn to speak Hindi and Urdu?  You use to hang around those Muftis and Pandits in Guyana?   

On another serious note Keffer.  I am amazed at your organization's ability to fundraise those amounts of money.  It is truly remarkable. 

Prashad posted:

Keffer on a serious note here. Now did you learn to speak Hindi and Urdu?  You use to hang around those Muftis and Pandits in Guyana?   

You are perfectly free to conclude whatever you wish. I did not hang around with anybody; Muftis or Pandits. There used to be a cultural attache position within the Indian High Commission in Guyana years ago while I was a student at Queens College in Guyana; maybe there still is such a position. A good friend of mine, Raj Ohneshwere (originally from Fyrish, Corentyne and now residing in Minnesota) and I found out that the attache, Sri Yogi Raj, used to teach Hindi at his home three evenings per week. Because of our interest in Hindi film songs in those days, Raj and I decided to enrolled for the classes. At that time we were unaware that the classes were aimed primarily at young and upcoming pandits so we got signed up and started attending classes. The still remember that the first books that we used were called Hindi Kathamala and Hindi Rachna. I understand that the records are still maintained and therefore still show that I obtained the highest marks ever at both junior and senior levels. I still remember when, in the presence of a number of high-profile seniors from the Pandits Council and others from other Hindu organizations like the Maha Sabha and Gandhi Youth Organization, Sri Yogi Raj announced that I obtained the highest ever recorded marks for the junior exam. A few months later, the same thing happened when we took the Senior examination. I actually beat all the pandits in Guyana in those days so for me it was quite an achievement.  In those days it was quite difficult to obtain Hindi study material so the Indian High Commission assisted us. I kept in tough with Hindi and managed to get several large dictionaries after I came away from Guyana. I still have them and lots of other Hindi grammar books. My buddy Raj and I are still in frequent contact as we speak to each other very frequently. My various travels to India and Pakistan have been very helpful too ! I also have a close relationship with Dr. Budhendra Doobay, a leading and highly respected cardiologists, who heads up Vishnu Mandir, one of the largest and most prominent Hindu temples in Canada. Hindi and Urdu have numerous similarities as 1) there are many common words and 2) sentence construction is exactly the same in both languages. The scripts of the two languages are very different and most people agree that Urdu is more descriptive and is therefore more romantic or cultured.  

Very good.

Raj Ohneshwere (originally from Fyrish, Corentyne and now residing in Minnesota)

Never heard of this Raj Ohneswere in MN. Maybe he uses an alias like most Guyanese men.

skeldon_man posted:

Raj Ohneshwere (originally from Fyrish, Corentyne and now residing in Minnesota)

Never heard of this Raj Ohneswere in MN. Maybe he uses an alias like most Guyanese men.

No, he does not use an alias and I know for sure that he is residing in Minnesota because I have visited him and other friends there several times. 

Back in the days when Indian movie songs were Urdu, they indeed sounded more romantic than the songs nowadays but that may be more to do with the times. That said, how come Urdu songs from Pakistan are not as nice as the ones from India?

Keffer posted:

Keffer posted:

Prashad posted:

It is not about being racist toward another group. It is about standing up for your own culture and history and not adopting some other people identity.  Have you ever heard an Iranian saying " I am a Pakistani or I am an East Indian"  You will never hear that being said.  They always say I am Persian. And some of the politically incorrect Iranian women, if you ask them if they are from Pakistan or India, will say to your face that no Pakistani or East Indian has their white color.  So be proud to be brown.

Prash, you're not making sense. Why would an Iranian say he/she is an Indian ? Do you say you are a German or Italian ? Of course not; same thing for all other peoples so what are you really trying to say ? Tell me; do you speak Hindi, can you read Hindi, can you write Hindi ? You are suggesting that you maintain your cultural practices, however, can you read Hindi, can you write Hindi, do you understand Hindi ? I will not claim that I am fully fluent in Hindi but I am willing to bet; any amount of money, that I can read, write, speak and understand Hindi far better than you can. I have little difficulty in making myself understood when I am in Hindi-speaking parts of India. So where Indian culture is concerned I know what my capabilities are. During my last trip to Guyana, there was a yagna in my village and, given that I knew almost all the adults and a good number of the younger people, I attended several nights and had to correct the pandit with his English translations quite a few times. I began learning Hindi through the auspices of the cultural attache at the Indian High Commission (his name was Yogi Raj) when I was a high school student in Georgetown many years ago. Furthermore, in both the junior and the senior exams, which were adjudicated by the Guyana Pandits Council, I topped the results for the entire country. In other words, I did substantially better than many pandits who sat for exactly the same examinations ! I still have several large Hindi dictionaries and I still use them quite often. I am willing to bet that I far more fluent in Hindi than you are !  In short, do not make the mistake of thinking that, because you are a Hindu, it follows that you know Indian culture better than others.        

 

Keffer you got the wrong man here. I have never been to a Hindu temple. Not something that I am proud of. I have been to mosques several times to attend funerals but that is it. Religion and me don't seem to get along.

ksazma posted:

Back in the days when Indian movie songs were Urdu, they indeed sounded more romantic than the songs nowadays but that may be more to do with the times. That said, how come Urdu songs from Pakistan are not as nice as the ones from India?

I am no expert but I know for sure that, if you ask folks who are familiar with Hindi and Urdu, the overwhelming majority of them will be adamant that Urdu is far more discreet and 'cultured' than Hindi. For example, the Hindi word for 'you' is 'tum'; there is no 'tum' in Urdu. The Urdu word is 'aap', which is a respectful way of addressing someone. An old Hindu guy, at whose home I had dinner several times during my visits to Lucknow, told me that, strictly speaking, it is quite difficult to be rude to others in Urdu because there are very few harsh/foul words in that language. While, strictly speaking, this is not perfectly true, it does illustrate this particular element of 'culture' in Urdu. In his opinion, it is precisely for this reason that ghazals are almost never ever written in Hindi. Of course, coming from the Caribbean, I took the opportunity to seek his views on music and singing. I was a somewhat embarrassed after asking him about this because he scolded me somewhat harshly for not knowing that the overwhelming majority of the kingpins of Shastriya Sangeet (classical Indian music) have for generations been Muslims. Being a student of this genre of Indian music, I was familiar with the most of the names that he recited to me but I was not really up-to-speed on the significance of their individual contributions. He scoffed at Pt. Ravi Shankar when we talked about sitar exponents; in his view Ustad Vilayat Khan could have been Pt. Ravi Shankar's teacher. With respect to Urdu songs, I do not share your opinion and Pakistani songs. Over the past few years I have acquired quite a bit of music, instrumental, ghazal and naat from Pakistan and in my view that is dynamite stuff. I would agree with you if you say that Pakistanis seem to have a degree of aversion to music. There are Muslims in Guyana who also feel that way; I really do not know why that is so. I know that Pakistan presently has some fabulous singers and they are quite popular; not only in India but worldwide. What would the Ghazal world be without Ustad Mehdi Hassan and Ustad Ghulam Ali ? You must have heard of Noor Jehan and Reshma (who passed away recently). Present day artistes include Rahat Ali Khan (son of Farid Ali Khan and nephew of the great Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan), Shafqat Amanat Ali, Ali Zafar and of course Atif Aslam who is, in my humble view, a fabulous singer despite what the bigoted, long-time Muslim-hater Abhijeet had to say about him. My dear friend, the late Onkar Singh, who was my music mentor used to tell me repeatedly that no group contributed more richly or significantly to classical Indian music and ghazals than Muslims. I hope I haven't bored anyone with the above ....

It aint my music but was an enlightening read...no way boring dude.

skeldon_man posted:

Raj Ohneshwere (originally from Fyrish, Corentyne and now residing in Minnesota)

Never heard of this Raj Ohneswere in MN. Maybe he uses an alias like most Guyanese men.

Do you live in Minnesota ? If you do or have spent any time there you will surely know that there is a large number Indo-Guyanese there. I was quite surprised to see so many of our countrymen when I visited for the first time. The story is that a university in Mancato accepted a number of Guyanese students many years ago and was very helpful in assisting graduates to find jobs when they completed their tuition. As a consequence, many were able to settle there and therefore never returned to Guyana.  

Keffer posted:

 

I am no expert ....

Keffer, this is a great piece. All the names are familiar and I enjoy their songs.

Thanks for the analysis Kef.

Keffer is a good example for the East Indian youth to follow.

Prashad posted:

Keffer is a good example for the East Indian youth to follow.

Bahut Shukhriya, Bhaiyya !

The tragedy is that, despite the pristine beauty of Shastriya Sangeet (classical Hindustani music) and Ghazal, the combined influence of alcohol and the foul, reprehensible garbage called Chutney have already had a significant negative impact on a large percentage of people in Guyana & Trinidad ...and even here in Canada and the USA as well ! To my way of thinking, it is shameful that idiots like Terry Gajraj and a host of like-minded Guyanese and Trinidadians are now regarded as big stars; despite the fact that they cannot even differentiate 'sa' from 'pa' in the sargam (sa re ga ma pa dha ni sa) ! If any of you have been back to Guyana lately and spent any time in our countryside villages you would understand how substantial the degradation has been. What a shame !    

ksazma posted:

Thanks for the analysis Kef.

Not an analysis, Brother; just my humble perspective of what the current 'state of affairs' presently is. Please keep in mind that some folks will vehemently disagree with my take on the situation, eh !