Some good links for the weekend:
Excerpts from the Pak army and the jihadi’s second coming: Read in the context of recent incidents of ceasefire violation along the LOC and the controversy surrounding Gen Kapoor’s remarks.
Excerpts from [The Islamist-Leftist] Allied Menace
and how California alone uses more gasoline than any other country in the world (including India and China!)
.

This is a post from more than three years ago but bears repetition…I was harshly reminded of this in the course of a recent conversation with someone about the trek to Mata Vaishnodevi’s shrine in Jammu & Kashmir….It is also very topical in the context of land for conveniences/facilities for pilgrims to Amarnath-ji.
***
A few weeks ago, I came across a thought-provoking commentary on Hinduism and Bharat by Shri P K Kulkarni titled, “Ek Aswastha Hindu Man(a)”
Amongst other things, Shri Kulkarni put forward some suggestions regarding how Hindu temples and pilgrimage …

Great article by Tarun Vijay in today’s TOI: Reclaiming India.
*** Excerpts below (emphasis mine) ***
“None should say Omar is not allowed in Jammu. Let him come, listen and speak. Like any other Indian should feel free to visit Kashmir or any other part of the nation. He is welcome to visit my home even if he denies me a piece of land in Kashmir. Why should a few words uttered by him make me change my Indian-ness? If he spoke in Parliament as a Muslim, asserting his Islamic identity, let …

Some of you may know that cell phone (or mobile) recycling is now a *major* business in the developed world (- playing on people’s sense of guilt of throwing things away which they know may be useful but are probably old, worn or no longer fashionable)…
I was therefore pleasantly surprised to come across this post which mentions how we (in India) are one step ahead than everyone else…
What sets these (emerging market) locations apart from cities in more ‘emerged’ markets?
Aside from the scale of what’s on sale there is a thriving market …

Amidst the outpouring of years of pent-up anger in Jammu, I came across this vivid, very sad and intensely poignant first-hand account of living in the shadow of terror and the forced migration of Kashmiri Pandits from the Valley… Please read and circulate widely…
*** Cry of the Valley ***
A cold winter night has fallen outside and the power cut makes it all the more gloomy inside. Huddled together in the warmth of blankets and a kerosene lamp we just sit silently watching each others expressions. I am too young a kid to …