No-blogic

Trials and Tribulations of a dictator

I wrote this article in Newsvine back in jan..

Recently, Saddam's execution caused a stir in the media's nest.

He is not the world's only or even the first dictator.. and he will most certainly not be the last! He did manage to find much needed support only after his death... Governments and people protesting his death alike! Not that they resented his rule... Groups expressing concern about the much forgotten human rights! Much forgotten.. just as in Saddam's reign..The righteous mourning the fact that he never got a proper trial! Forget the thousands who died without any trial or for that matter for no fault of theirs but being at the other band of the religion spectrum.

I am not a big supporter of the fast track trial which found him guilty and hanged him... Given some more time I believe that more people would have come forward to claim justice for those wronged under his reign. The trial and the sentencing made it sound as if Saddam's only crime was the massacre of the 120 Shia Muslims.

All those lives unaccounted for in the trial did not even beget the honor of being a part of the statistics. They are those 'scores of men and women slaughtered in Saddam's rule', as the News Agencies have truly reported. Men and women without names, without faces and without a voice, alive or dead. And now without justice. All lives lost and no one officially blamed. Saddam's name would be passed on as the alleged killer but nothing more. The near future would know him as a man hastily hanged in a speedy trial.

Not that I advocate a snail trial.. like that of Pinochet.. The man whom the world accused.. The man who never had to accept any form of punishment for all the atrocities he committed! The man who did not even have to hear himself being indicted as the killer! His death was not just the death of a dictator but also the death of hope! Hope for justice and Hope for retribution...

For those who believed that law would take its right course, Pinochet's trial was a mockery. It stretched their beliefs to the limits of their patience. It certainly made those who plotted his assassination rue themselves for their failure, that is, if they were left alive!

Where does that leave the wronged? At the steps of the courtroom, which filters to its convenience what it wants to consider as right and wrong.. Where the law is not equal.. Where your country's geography mattered than the accused's history.. Whose scales are tilted by the attention the Superpowers bestow upon you...

Justice is never served in haste or in delay... In both the cases justice has been denied.

New York Urangum Neram

Some snaps of the City that never sleeps...

Festive lights near Macy's

View of the river from the Empire state Building

One of BMW Bridges

Adhay Adhay

Another aerial shot of the illumniated city

Some buildings glittering along the coast

Quotopix

I think we must quote whenever we feel that the allusion is interesting or helpful or amusing - Cliff Fadiman

Do not go where the path may lead; go instead where there is no path and leave a trail - Ralph Waldo Emerson

To sit in the shade on a fine day and look upon verdure is the most perfect refreshment. - Jane Austen

If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading. - Lao Tzu

Think in the morning. Act in the noon. Eat in the evening. Sleep in the night. - William Blake

A picture is a poem without words - Horace

Templarshots

Some more lovely pics from my temple trip!

Illuminated entrance of the Temple at Thiruparamkundram

Painted ceiling at Azhagar Kovil - a bit Blurred

Small gopurams at Azhagar Kovil - The diety seems to be gazing at the devotees who enter the temple

The Picture perfect corridor of Meenakshi temple, Madurai

Gopura Darisanam

After bridges and flowers nothing really caught my fancy until I took a trip.. err.. pilgrimage to Sankaran Kovil and Madurai.

My mom and bro were occassionally put off that I spent most of my time near one gopuram trying in vain to capture its beauty in various angles..

Some of my attempts below..

The majestic gopuram of Madurai kovil

Sankaran kovil gopuram from a distance

The intricate work in Azhagar kovil gopuram

Small but detailed Gopuram of Pazhamuthircholai.

More of these on a later date!

Ananya - The Queen

Being the youngest always has its perks!! One of them being undivided attention and a loyal fan following, watching and taking pride in each and every activity, big or small..
and Having the entire family tied around their tiny finger..
This little one is not even a yr old, but she has quite become the center of our universe!!!

She has a penchant for swallowing things both edible and non edible!

Smugly settled on her mom's lap

Her favorite color is yellow.. she goes after anything which is bright..

This is how she looks after her morning bath.. My family is pretty liberal with kohl as you can see!!

Sankaran Kovil

Drawing no comparisons with the Sistine chapel or any other work of art, you dont have to look any further than the temple towns for the indian version of frescoes adorned ceilings!!!