Harlots of Babylon

Of so many victims of Cobra II, none are less bemoaned than the denizens of Baghdad's red light district. I’d imagine the successors to the famed harlots of Babylon and their patrons are not having much of a good time of late — how does one enjoy the finer things in life with the fear of a bomb going off at any time? Of course for some, violence substitutes well for the other basic instinct. I suspect, when this not-quite-civil-yet war ends, the Shias with their one night marriages will own the brothels as well as the presidential palaces. Just as well, because surely the Sunni huris will have no customers with their men folk lining up for the heavenly virgins.

But need it be this way? President Bush tells us that the decision to withdraw troops will be one taken by his successor. He is of course a man of his words, so it’s probably safe to assume that 150,000 or so American troops are going to be in Iraq for a while yet. One has to wonder what the R&R situation is with these men, and women. I mean, let’s face it, these are people with biological needs. Surely the harlot is a role wandering around Iraq in search of an actress!

And it’s not like one is talking about sex slaves that our own Fuhrer's hosts in Tokyo had. No sir, nothing like that. We’re talking about free enterprise, the American fun ethic and the spirit of capitalism. We’re talking about the American government providing prepaid vouchers to its soldiers. Halliburton’s subsidiaries can run the places. And surely Desi entrepreneurs will be just the people to supply the human resources. This will be the mother of all outsourcing opportunity for Desh.

In fact, if the fruits of globalisation are to be shared equitably, it is imperative that our whores be allowed to earn foreign dollars — why should they screw the lousy truck driver with 500 rupees in his pocket when they can shag the lousy truck driver with 500 dollars? And it’s not like this hasn’t happened before — remember Bangkok during the Vietnam War?

We’d expect an ad like this to appear soon in our media.

Wanted: talented, good looking girls
To work in noisy, uncertain and unstable conditions somewhere in the Middle East. Applicant should be flexible and agile. Job provides 24 hour security and $$$. Accessories provided on the job. Life, accident and injury insurance cover provided.

If this doesn’t happen it must be because of the evil alliance of government interference and fundamentalist superstition! Evil wins if good men (and women) do nothing. So we urge the brave freedom loving American soldiers to demand reinstatement of the services provided by the harlots of Babylon.

Madrasa Zeya-Oloomul Mosque Bodhgaya Bihar India 16.01.2003 His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama

We like this photo so much.

[Photo by Manuel Bauer, from this website: http://www.dalailama-archives.org]

free speech is awesome!

Should you ever happen to be in London on a Sunday morning, I strongly recommend a visit to Speaker's Corner at Hyde Park.

Why don't you lecture those awful Chinese on human rights Mr Bush? asks NY Times

The New York Times can't understand why George Bush won't press Chinese President Hu Jintao on human rights issues:

"The visit's least excusable failure was on human rights, where the pre-existing script would have done fine. When Hu's predecessor, Jiang Zemin, came to the White House in 1997, he and President Bill Clinton held a joint news conference where Clinton publicly urged his guest to expand political freedoms in China. It's an honored ritual of American democracy. But this time Bush agreed to downgrade the news conference to a few questions. He may have thought he was doing Hu a favor, but it is a favor China's repressed people will not appreciate."

We don't understand either, New York Times!

Oskar Schindler and the ruby vintage

Oskar Schindler was the famous German factory owner who saved the lives of over 1,400 Jews during World War II. Thomas Kenneally wrote a book about him that won the Booker Prize, and Steven Spielberg made it into a movie - Schindler's List, which won him great critical acclaim and many awards, including the Oscar for Best Director and for Best Film.

My favourite scene in the film is where we are first introduced to Oskar. Watching it again recently, I noticed something I hadn't before - Oskar's expensive taste in wine. The relevant sequence is as follows:


At a restaurant ordering for his table (full of new friends he has made that evening), he asks the maître d', "Tell me about your cellar."
The maître d' says, "I have an excellent German Riesling. 1937."
But Oskar is unimpressed. "French. Bordeaux? Chateau Latour? 28? 29?" The maître d' shrugs apologetically.
Spielberg cuts to another conversation at the table. Five seconds later, we return to Oskar.
"The Margaux 29? Burgundy then? Romanée-Conti 1937?"

Oskar wants a French red wine, while he is being offered a German white. But he is not merely asking for a French red, he is asking for the most prestigious and expensive red wines in the world.

A bit of history. To decide what the best wines in the country were, the French introduced a rating system for wines in 1855 known as the Bordeaux Wine Official Classification. Wines were divided into five categories, the premier cru (first growth) representing the finest, and then downwards to the cinquieme cru (fifth growth). Only four red wines were given premier cru status, and the original list had not changed the evening Oskar ordered red wine at the restaurant. (The premier cru list has been only amended once, and that was when a fifth wine was added in 1973).

The four red wines awarded premier cru status in 1855 were:
1. Chateau Lafite-Rothschild
2. Chateau Latour
3. Chateau Margaux
4. Chateau Haut-Brion

Now we hear Oskar asking for Chateau Latour and Chateau Margaux. Since there is a gap of a few seconds in between, it is possible he asked for the others as well. It is in my view most likely that Schindler would have asked for the Haut-Brion, but not the Lafite-Rothschild. This is because the latter was, as indicated by the name, owned by the Rothschilds, a famous Jewish banking family. Given it was German Army officers he was entertaining, the Rothschild would have looked out of place and possibly objectionable on the dining table. This view [that Schindler would have not asked for the Rothschild] is somewhat supported by the fact that we don't actually hear him ask for it, though we hear him ask for 2 of the other 3 premier crus.

Finally, unable to get a premier cru, he asks for a Burgundy. The Burgundy region has its own distinct rating hierarchy for wines, and the Romanee-Conti, sure enough, rests at the top of this.

But the restaurant, not surprisingly, has none of these exclusive wines, and we do not know what Schindler eventually settles for. But we are plenty impressed by what he asks for.

lying in bed, looking out the window, here's what i saw

it's that tree once again

spring is here, and as the leaves begin to grow back, the tree will soon have a very different appearance. so it is time for a temporary adieu to this view. see you back in autumn!

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an amazing puddle

photo: double portrait of a city

a study in contrast

This photo juxtaposes and contrasts two visions of the same city. At the bottom-left corner, an advertisement by the city-council portrays how city officials see, or would like others to see, their city. This is an idealised reality. But the wider background reveals the existence of a second , less attractive, reality. The irony in the placement of the advertisement in its current context is probably unintentional.