about everything, and especially the rest
As I wrote recently, I just finished reading Freedom At Midnight, an amazing account of all events that occurred in 1947 and 1948 in India and in the UK that led to India’s independence and partition.
Continue reading ‘The impact of British colonization on India ? (part 1)’
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Who won the primaries ? |
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It’s been a month that I haven’t written about the campaign, and I wrote more earlier this year about my discovering and understanding of the primaries.
Continue reading ‘Who won the primaries ?’
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What is Sikhism and who are the Sikhs ? |
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 A Sikh taking a morning holy bath at the Golden Temple in Amritsar. By Jingye. |
As for certain things in your daily life that you never think of questioning, I realized reading Freedom at Midnight that I knew nothing about the Sikhs, and their religion Sikhism.
Yet they account to 25 millions worldwide, including 19 millions in India and 6 millions in the rest of the world. It’s the fifth largest religion in the world, and is only 400 years old.
So here is, in brief and for the neophytes like me, what Sikhs and Sikhism are.
Continue reading ‘What is Sikhism and who are the Sikhs ?’
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Freedom at Midnight, and the Partition of India |
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Two weeks ago, I won an photo contest from my company (Air France KLM) with this picture, and the prize was 2 return tickets anywhere in the world. After a few discussions about where we could go (Iran, back to Burma, Philippines, Uzbekistan were discussed) we eventually settled to do what every backpacker has to do at some point, India. And where to “start” in India if not in the Rajasthan (wiki).
The decision was motivated by a recent gift: I am reading an amazing book about India, a best seller from 1975 written by Dominique Lapierre and Larry Collins: Freedom at Midnight (amazon).
Freedom at Midnight is a detailed and novelized account of all events that occurred in 1947 and 1948 in India and in the UK that led to India’s independence and partition. It’s a fascinating stack of 800 or 900 pages that flew in just a few weeks. But especially, it made me realize how little I knew about India recent history, and how much there was to know !
Continue reading ‘Freedom at Midnight, and the Partition of India’
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Yasmina Reza, L’aube le soir ou la nuit |
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I just finished Dawn, Dusk or Night from french writer Yasmina Reza (on Amazon in English / French).
Yasmina followed President Sarkozy during his campaign, trying to find the man behind the candidate. She was initially supporting another candidate from the opposite party (she doesn’t name him, but it might be Dominique Strauss-Kahn, now director of the International Monetary Fund).
I loved the book, I love the writing style, and found the essay very interesting. I won’t start here a political discussion about Sarkozy, even though I like the man, but just note some excerpts that I found thoughtful (note: I read the book in French, this is my translation).
Continue reading ‘Yasmina Reza, L’aube le soir ou la nuit’
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If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand wither, let my tongue cleave to my palate if I do not remember you, if I do not set Jerusalem above my highest joy. (Psalms, 137, 5-7).
Continue reading ‘O Jerusalem, Gaza strip and West Bank settlements …’
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China’s military spending will rise by 17.6% in 2008 to reach almost $60B. China has a 2.3 million-person army, the world’s biggest standing force. Continue reading ‘China shaking up the U.S. military world dominance ?’
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Elections are a much simpler process in a single-party system. Of course. As the president, you designate who you want to succeed to you, and “boom”, you’re done.
You’re allowed to designate your brother (as in the case of Raul Castro), your son (as Bashar Al-Asad in Syria) or even yourself for eternity (as the “Eternal President of the Republic” in North Korea).
In those cases, elections (if any …) are quite straight-forward. Declare who will replace you, have people vote for your protégé (or imprisoned as independent lawyers and judges in Pakistan during the 2008 elections, or killed as some political opponents in Guatemala for the 2007 elections, …), and you’re done. Continue reading ‘Russia’s edge over the U.S. primaries: the single-party system’
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Barack and Hillary should play squash |
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Squash is my preferred sport. It’s a complete burst of energy, it needs agility, strength, endurance, perseverance, and A LOT OF FUEL to burn. The average rally is of 7 to 12 seconds for a normal / pro player, and the average distance is around 1,000 meters/yards per game. I usually play 8 to 12 games in a 90 minutes period. On average, the active part of the game is around 55%. So bottom line, I sprint like crazy for 50mn and cover a distance of 8km to 12km (5 to 7.5 miles) in that period.
Continue reading ‘Barack and Hillary should play squash’
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