Post on Bollywood

I read this article on the web about Bollywood.  The article is a review from the New York Times for a Bollywood film called Koi Mil... Gaya.  The film is about a special needs guy who is helped to become cool and smart by a blue alien.  The blue alien has special powers, and is looking for a way back to his mother-ship.  The special needs guy is helped by the alien, and then helps the alien find his ship.  It is basically an exact copy of Close Encounters of the Third Kind, except it is set in a musical with random song and dance.  Although Bride and Prejudice is not a Bollywood film, Koi Mil... Gaya is very similar to it in many different ways.  Both films are very much like musicals and both of them also involve love stories.  They both involve villains(bad guys) and there are many struggles in both films.  I actually saw Koi Mil... Gaya at one point in my life and I thought it was extremely cheesy mainly because it copied all the main ideas from Close Encounters of the Third Kind.  Secondly, I'm not one who is really into musicals.  I'm sure I would have different opinions if I grew up in India though.  Gates, Anita.  "FILM IN REVIEW; 'Koi . . . Mil Gaya'".  The New York Times.  28 February 2009.  28 February 2009.  < http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0DE4D81431F93BA3575BC0A9659C8B63 >.

Post on Culture

  I read this article from the internet.  The article pertains to Indian Culture and what it inspires its members to accomplish in life.  Being born into Indian culture is not better nor worse than American culture.  American culture just happens to be more technologically advanced.  In Indian culture, a girl is a liability and a boy is an asset.  Boys are able to help work in the fields, where daughters will require dowries to marry off.  Elders are a huge part of Indian culture, along with treating guests as deities.  Elders are respected not only out of culture tradition, but also out of pure love.  This is because the elders make the villages work.  The culture respects guests because they feel it is always their duty.  This can be seen through Nectar in a Sieve by Kamala Markandaya.  Whenever Kenny comes to Ruku's village, Ruku always praises him and worships him.  Sometimes Kenny even tells Ruku to stop because he does not feel he deserves it.  Kenny feels he has done minimal to help the village in their times of suffering.  Although the American and Indian cultures are very different, the Indian culture seems much more loving and caring than the other one.  " India Culture."  Indian Child.  2008.  22 February 2009.  < http://www.indianchild.com/culture%20_1.htm >.

Post on Change

I recently read this article about change on the web.  I decided to pertain the change theme to an Obama related event.  When Obama won the presidential race for the United States of America, he left a vacant senate seat open in Illinois.  Governor Rod Blagojevich had the opportunity to appoint a person to fill Obama's place in the Senate.  Then shady business began happening.  As everyone knows, Blagojevich tried to take offers for the senate seat which Obama left empty.  Then he appointed Roland Burris, a fellow liberal, to the seat.  Burris was then found to have been planning on raising money and lying under oath.  Fellow democrats want him to resign because it is polluting their image.  I want to relate this to Nectar in a Sieve when all of the people with the tannery come in.  It seems good at first because wages rise for workers, but then prices also go up with pollution.  People think Obama is able to fix everything.  Even if he would have had a perfect transition, he could never have fixed everything.  The moral of the story is that change is not always good.  Brown, Mark.  "Transcript has Burris dancing around the truth."  17 February 2009.  21 February 2009.  < http://www.suntimes.com/news/brown/1434129,CST-NWS-brown17.article >.

Post on Hope

  I read this article recently.  It is about the effects of Hurricane Katrina.  It is estimated that hurricane Katrina caused $25,000,000,000 in damages in Louisiana alone.  Although many victims from Louisiana had insurance, many were also without it.  The victims without insurance have many expenses because most are not able to live in their homes.  Although the government gives some money to these people, it is not nearly enough for some.  Many are hoping that the government will come through and bail them out of their bills.  This relates to the book Nectar In A Sieve.  Nathan and Rukmani both wait for the rains to fill their fields.  Everything is out of their control and they must rely totally on hope to keep them sane.  The Katrina victims were more fortunate than Nathan and Rukmani however.  In America, the government steps in and helps those who are unfortunate.  In India, you die if you are not fortunate.  Kuti ended up dying because of starvation, and Rukmani almost died herself.  People definitely cry out for help more in America than in India.  Powell, Eileen.  "Katrina Victims Hope for Emergency Grants."  Firehouse.  14 June 2007.  17 February 2009.  < http://cms.firehouse.com/web/online/Photo-Stories/Katrina-Victims-Hope-for-Emergency-Grants/45$44384 >.

Post On Religion

I read this article about religion.  The article is about the Spanish Inquisition.  The Spanish Inquisition was created in Spain in the 15th century to keep the population of Spain devoutly Roman Catholic.  The rulers at the time were Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon, whom were embraced by the Pope and the church for their loyalty.  They took dire measures to enforce Catholicism.  Many people were burned, drawn and quartered, and beheaded for simply not being Catholic.  This makes you think about the freedom you have in America, on many levels.  We seem to complain about discrimination in the US, when in reality we have come a very long way.  For instance, we complain about the word God being mentioned in school.  Just compare that to being burned at the stake.  We take more for granted than we could ever comprehend.  In America, people complain about everything because they cannot compare their life to something worse.  This ignorance has gone as far as cutting funding for disease nonprofit organizations because certain diseases pertain mainly to certain racial groups.  We should be thankful we live in such an uncensored country and not constantly badger about how women should get more government money if they have more kids than they can support.  Kamen, Henry.  "Spanish Inquisition."  Wikipedia.  11 February 2009.  14 February 2009.  < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_Inquisition>.

Post On Gender Roles

I read this article about gender roles recently.  The article is about the sport rugby.  Rugby is conventionally thought of as being a very manly sport.  A group of women have started playing rugby for San Jose State University.  They say that it is a sport equally fit for women and that they have plenty of fun playing it.  They always go home respecting the other team, and even men sometimes come to watch their games.  Even though this is in America where women have more rights than most countries, it still reminded me of Codi in Animal Dreams.  The stories are kind of opposite tales.  Codi, being a woman, could not find it in her to pass the boards and finally become a doctor.  The women on the Rugby however, found a way to rise above gender expectations and make their own sports team.  I think men would not make such a big deal of feminism if women would undertake more and complain less.  DeBolt, Daniel.  "Rugby women not afraid to get dirty." Spartan Daily.  29 April 2004.  10 February 2009< http://media.www.thespartandaily.com/media/storage/paper852/news/2004/04/29/Sports/Rugby.Women.Not.Afraid.To.Get.Dirty-1498903.shtml>.

I read this article about Mexican Discrimination in American education.  The struggle goes way back to when the US annexed Texas from Mexico in 1848.  Many Mexicans immigrated to the US when a call for a large sum of cheap labor was heard.  In 1930, almost all schools were still segregated.  Short education and cheap instructing separated Mexican students from American students.  Not until the 1960's did Mexicans achieve equality in education to Americans.  This reminded me of the book Nectar in a Sieve.  It kind of works backwards in my example.  The English saw demand for cheap labor in India.  Therefore they went and built a Tannery there so they could pay their workers very little money.  Even though the Indians helped the English, the English still saw themselves as superior.  One of Rukmani's sons was trying to steal a calfskin and the English ended up killing him because of it.  They did not give him any rights at all before they punished him.  "Fighting Discrimination in Mexican American Education." History Matters.  02 December 2000.  08 February 2009.  <http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/6584/>

Post on Overcoming Obstacle

I recently read this article online of a person overcoming a struggle.  British army captain Bernie Bambury bravely served six months in Iraq.  When he returned to Britain, he shattered his leg below the knee while sledding 80 km/hr on a tobogganing course.  Although his leg was still connected, he instructed the surgeon to amputate his leg in hopes that he might recover faster.  This reminded me of The Diving Bell And The Butterfly with Jean Dominique Bauby.  He had an incident which left him with locked-in syndrome.  Although his syndrome was very depressing, he learned to live with it.  He even started writing a book with his eyes.  He eventually even started to improve and make sounds.  Unfortunately, he came down with a case of pneumonia  and died soon after partial recovery looked possible.  Both of these stories tell us that anyone can overcome obstacles if they work at it.  "Army captain loses his leg on Cresta Run." Telegraph.  06 March 2008.  02 February 2009.  <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1580733/Army-captain-loses-his-leg-on-Cresta-Run.html>