Burhanuddin's long-term plan

So there has been this suspended tension in the air, even for me, to find out what am I going to write next. Guess what, my 30 day challenge just became more intense. I realized that if I have chosen NY Times as my source then I should bear the consequences. For past 3 days (Monday, Tuesday and now Wednesday), my 5th words have been "a", "any" and "on".


Logic told me go for the very next word to keep my sanity and cool. So here are the 6th words: 
19th Sep - President Obama will unveil a plan 
20th Sep - President Obama insisted that any long-term
21st Sep - A suicide bomber’s attack on Burhanuddin Rabbani


So I decided to write an account by using the following phrase - Burhanuddin's long-term plan - but before even I could start it I realized that the man is no longer alive. How morbid could things get after this???


I am pretty sure I need a new source for my 30 day challenge.

Abbas

I am a bit weary of NY Times's front page news articles. Especially the first one. I am committed to it's fifth word and two times this week - I have got words which make me wince when I saw them. When I started I was worried more about getting pronouns, conjunctions, adverbs and even some verbs. But I am getting hit by the nouns and they are mostly the ones I don't want to deal with.

Today's word is Abbas. Something makes me think that NY Times has more written about the Muslim world. Abbas as in Mahmoud Abbas - no really, I had to look him up in Wikipedia. He is the president of PNA (Palestine National Authority).

But then to think of it, if I am to write, I need words that make me challenge my imagination and thoughts. Not the words that plunge me deep into the miseries of the world. 

"Much" Ado About Nothing

"Some Cupid kills with arrows, some with traps"

One has to watch Much Ado About Nothing to appreciate the deadly combo of Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson. No wonder they married each other. When they come on screen for any of the adaptations of Shakespeare's play, one can actually visualize this is how it was supposed to be.

And it is very much possible to "get interested" in each other, if they are teased enough - if they are put together and shaken well enough by folks and situation around. Watching Benedick and Beatrice fall in love, after they have practically been at war with each other all their life, is very cute!

Beatrice : I wonder that you will still be talking, Signior Benedick: nobody marks you.
Benedick : What, my dear Lady Disdain! are you yet living? 

Shakespeare as usual rocked this play too!

Islamists

Today's word of the day is Islamists, thanks to Gaddafi and his Libya. For a second it crossed my mind that I should probably change my word for the day. It seemed a little controversial. But then that would mean that I broke my 30 day challenge on the 2nd day itself. So I decided for a post on Islamists.

When I started to think about it, I realized I do not know the exact meaning of Islamists. Followers of Islam are called Muslims then what does Islamists really mean? Free online dictionary says it is someone who supports or advocates Islamic Fundamentalism. This brought me to a point where I wanted a clarification on what does one mean by Fundamentalism? Fundamentalism is strict adherence to specific theological doctrines or literal interpretation of any religious text.

Armed with all these clarifications, I am safely at a point where I know where I stand with respect to Islamists. Really nowhere. I believe that every human being is free to believe what they believe as long as they are able to function in the society without getting any one killed. But that is my belief. I have no clue how a fundamentalist would feel about the statement - Islamist or other wise. I can safely say that a fundamentalist can follow what he wants to follow in his own life and speak to the other fundamentalists in same language. But a fundamentalist has no right to impose those thoughts on any one who does not believe in them. If someone agrees to live in a fundamentalist society with his own free will, all of them are totally free to live the way they want to.

Especially religious fundamentalists - they should know that religion is always needed for self. It's just a way to seek deliverance from human life. So they are free to impose any of it totally on themselves but not on any other person or thing - without their free will.

My thoughts apply to Islamists as well.

Signs

Awake, shake the dreams from your hair
My pretty one, my sweet child
Choose the day and choose the sign of your day
The day's divinity, first thing you see.

Now that I read these lines again, for the first time I am even trying to understand what he tries to convey by 'sign of the day'. And that is how I am starting my 30 day writing challenge. I am to open NY Times application on my iPhone and select the 5th word of the very first article on front page. That becomes my word for the day to write about.  

Signs reminds me of a movie, of a Photovine that I recently posted on, of some hand-signs that read Welcome on my daughter's daycare wall and a check that I recently signed! Not to mention the book that hooked me to my favorite conspiracy theory - Signs of the Gods by Erich von Daniken.

I also love the way Chris Colfer makes the Glee loser sign and shoots him in his head - he is too cute to be true. But to come to think of it, the fact that I am taking up this challenge, is this a sign of something bigger than it seems?

Glee

These days I am smitten by Glee, only for its theatrical performances, Broadway treatment, quirky characters and lovely songs renditions. Story line is very predictable. Thanks to the show I am finally even trying to understand why this generation is Gaga over Perry or Beyonce or who is this Bieber guy anyway. Not to mention the classics, rock, folk, country, metal, jazz and all of that! I like performances. Period.

Thrilled to have been remembered. To have understood that it takes one to understand one. It actually works that ways. And had a great giggle imagining an old acquaintance singing a song like only he would have!!