Reading List 3rd-7th Nov

First of all Eid Mubarak everyone. I hope you have a great time. Am at Delhi away from it all but theek hai. Parents are on Hajj and mashaallah it is going on well.
So my reading list for the last couple of days
(a) MUST READ- an article exploring both the assembly line and the issues at Maruti’s Manesar plant which has been rocked by violence and unrest. http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article2601780.ece?homepage=true#.TrX_9FaaRsk.facebook . I am reminded of Charlie Chaplin’s Modern Times by this paragraph in the article. For a worker, line acceleration can be a harrowing experience. “When I first began working for Maruti, assembly lines used to run right through my dreams,” said a worker with a laugh, “These days I suppose I'm so tired that I don't get dreams anymore.”
(b) For a change just view these pics http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2011/10/text_copy_block_goes_here.html Some of the pics are so moving. The wasted childhood of the innocent refugees from Afghanistan.(1st, 7th, 17th) The mud caked bodies of the child labourers in the brick facility in Pakistan (5th) .  The Syrian children playing is joyous and the 10th pic from Libya is ambiguous . I cannot be sure if the lady is sad or happy. Her eyes seem so deep and moist. Then the 29th pic is totally exhilirating for it’s the vulnerable kids doing maths( can read the sums). And I realize why I must search for the sublime in life as the obvious can never hold my attention for long.
(c) Good read- In this moving article one of the three American hikers captured by Iran explains why solitary confinement is also torture. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/06/opinion/sunday/in-an-iranian-prison-tortured-by-solitude.html?_r=1
(d) Mildly Interesting http://mashable.com/2011/11/06/justin-bieber-infographic/ Justin Bieber success analyzed
(e) Against all Odds. Story of a woman Egyptian entrepreneur http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2011/11/02/egyptian-entrepreneur-shares-lessons-from-her-playbook/
(f) A pretty good blog with translations of Urdu poetry http://siyaah.blogspot.com/ Must read for poetry fans
(g) Just loved this qawwali sung by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. The lyrics are so beautiful and I identify with them. Lyrics here http://nusratqawalies.blogspot.com/2011/01/barsoon-kay-intizar-ka-waiting-for.html and the qawwali on youtube here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JPb_Dw-N3E. Two of my fav lines from the Qawwali are
1) “Allah, zindagi say kahan tak nibhaoon main,
Kis bewafa kay saath mera naam likh diya”
Allah, how long do I remain faithful to life,
That(life) faithless person whom you have tied to my name
2) “Bikhri padee thee toot kay kaliyaan zameen par,
Tarteeb day kay maine tera naam likh diya”
Tarteeb=give form, organize
"Flower buds were scattered around on the ground,
I gave them shape and wrote your name"

Reading List Nov 1st-2nd

So my reading list series of posts stumbles but continues-
(A) MUST Read- An analysis of the new Middle East. Its important as the world has changed. Mubarak is gone and so is Gaddafi. What will be the new governments be like. In Tunisia a religious leaning but democracy supporting party has come to power. It may scare people especially in the west that the Islamists are coming to power but it may instead be the best thing that ever happened. The Middle East countries have few bogey men and these governments will be judged on their own merits.  Crescent Moon, Waning West( The Economist) http://www.economist.com/node/21534782

(B) The income in equality debate at NYTimes where collumnist David Brooks insists there is a top 1% inequality and then a college vs non college educated inequality. The original article is here http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/01/opinion/brooks-the-wrong-inequality.html?pagewanted=all . A retort in The Economist is here http://www.economist.com/blogs/democracyinamerica/2011/11/inequalities and Paul Krugmans analysis is here http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/01/graduates-versus-oligarchs/
(C) Interesting read on Chaebol in South Korea. Also contrasted to Japan (Olympus’s 36% fee for MnA led me here) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaebol
(D) Toyota Unveils machines to help the sick and old moon( If you have been following the upcoming greying of Japan you would understand) http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/hardware/toyota-unveils-machines-to-help-sick-elderly-move/articleshow/10565048.cms
(E) Some amazing CV for designers http://inspirationfeed.com/inspiration/30-amazingly-creative-examples-of-designer-resumes/
(F) Gaddafi’s legacy at the New Yorker http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2011/11/07/111107fa_fact_anderson
(G) Ad agencies face talent crunch for online advertising http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/31/business/media/ad-companies-face-a-widening-talent-gap.html?src=me&ref=general
(H) Airlines cutting boarding time or at least trying to (Classic operations case) http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/01/business/airlines-are-trying-to-cut-boarding-times-on-planes.html?hp

Daily Reading List

Some time back in a workshop the instructor asked me how did I know so much in depth about a topic. I replied with the truth-“I read”. Of course everyone had a laugh and I also smiled but I was stating the truth. I am not super bright or super intelligent. I just read a bit more than the average Joe.

Anyways sometimes I share the best of what I read, through status’s on facebook but I don’t want to cloud my updates with a stream of articles each and everyday.
So I am going to chronicle my best daily reads in a post everyday. Anyone who is interested can look it up but more importantly I can reference it at my ease too. Bookmarking is just not efficient enough I browse hundreds of pages everyday. I will only list what is worth sharing. I hope you enjoy it too.

(a) Anyways the must read article of the day is this eulogy of Steve Jobs delivered by his sister. It’s a wonderfully wriiten artcile and I just find this line so tragically true. “
‎"We all — in the end — die in medias res. In the middle of a story. Of many stories."
” http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/30/opinion/mona-simpsons-eulogy-for-steve-jobs.html?pagewanted=all&src=ISMR_AP_LO_MST_FB.

(b) As the US withdrawal from Afghanistan and Iraq nears , I have to think a lot. Afterall 10 years ago I was a teenager and in a way I have been a child of the great war years. I felt the pain of 9-11. I cheered the Afghanistan invasion, pretty happy to see the Taliban whom I anyway hated go and in a way thought there was need for dismantling the terrorist infrastructure. And one and a half years later  I opposed the Iraq war tooth and nail being convinced there was no cause for war. Wrote essays  And when no WMDs came and people expressed surprise , I could not help but say told you say. Infact I still remember watching Rumsfields testimony in the UN live on BBC as he scared everyone with a vial in his hand.’This amount he stated is enough to kill anyone’. I had to judge if the evidence was convincing and I thought it was all one side of the story.
However my biggest concern today is the women in Afghanistan. One of the reasons I supported the US war in Afghanistan because the Taliban with their repression of women simply angered me no end. That is not Islam or even basic human decency. What will happen to those gains as the US leaves? Will Afghanistan face another decade of degradation. And the guilty party is the cold war.
Have over the years followed RWA(Revolutionary Women of Afghanistan) organization whose volunteers have risked everything to educate girls.

(Must read about how cynically the women of Afghanistan have been exploited) http://msmagazine.com/blog/blog/2011/10/06/pawns-of-war-and-peace-what-does-the-future-hold-for-afghan-women/

(Good read- USAID and women in Afghanistan) http://msmagazine.com/blog/blog/2011/03/22/dear-usaid-afghan-women-arent-pet-rocks/

(Good read- interview with an Afghani woman heading NGO) http://msmagazine.com/blog/blog/2011/10/25/peace-unveiled-an-interview-with-afghan-womens-rights-activist-hasina-safi/

(c) Poetry and politics a nice perspective http://www.ontheissuesmagazine.com/2011fall/2011fall_browning.php

(d) Quotes of Arundhati Roy ( admire her courage, not necessarily share her viewpoints)
http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/6134.Arundhati_Roy
A good one of the bunch“D’you know what happens when you hurt people?’ Ammu said. ‘When you hurt people, they begin to love you less. That’s what careless words do. They make people love you a little less.”
― Arundhati Roy, The God of Small Things

(e) Another urdu poetry site. Very regularly updated. http://faysalspoetry.blogspot.com/

(f) The story of a reformed neo-nazi or a skinhead. Its very intense and personal. Recommended read. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/31/reformed-skinhead-removes_n_1067431.html?ref=impact&ncid=edlinkusaolp00000009