Venezuela IV: Nusrat, Mushy-AQ Khan and my Future

Venezuela Series: Part-I . Part-II . Part-III . Part IV

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“Piya .. Piya..” (Piya = Beloved) Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan singing.. it wasn’t India or the Indian market in Houston but an Italian restaurant in Caracas, Venezuela! This was by far the most interesting moment on my visit to Venezuela.

Finally.. it was time to go back..on February 7…. I got a lot on this journey.. new area of work – Strategic Enterprise Management – where I wanted to be in future, some new friends, some new tastes and a whiff of fresh air! US is a great place to live .. every thing is so comfortable and all the systems are in place. Actually, something that hits one most coming from a country like India is the standardization and systems that everyone can and does follow! But that is exactly what makes the life so predictable – which is both good and bad! In such a society definition of independence is shrunk by the “politically correct” pundits to a point that spontaneity and honesty in expression comes at a premium.

Once a guy – Mr. Smith – was walking down streets of London in ecstasy – shouting aloud “I am a free man in a free country.. I can do whatever I want” and he jumped around hitting people without much remorse or care. He finally hit an old man on his nose who started bleeding. He was caught and produced in front of the judge who asked Mr. Smith for explanation. “I am a free man in a free country.. I can do whatever I want” he retorted back. The judge shot back “Sir, you ARE a free man in a free country.. but your freedom stops where someone else’s nose starts!”. That to me is the right and duty enshrined in a free society but in today’s world the noses have gotten too long. The “right” and the “left” of every society have noses that keep growing such that soon there is not enough space for free action.

The Mushy-Khan affair continues to baffle me! The “exposure” (everybody and his brother knew of these activities for last 30 years!), the admission, the pardon.. the acquiescence of US and the silence of India! Listening to “experts” on CNN makes me wonder – are these guys just plain clueless or class actors! They continue to debate the “truth” in the admission and “how much” the executive of Pakistan knew! Only one person from among the many I heard asked the right question: Forget Libya and Iran… what about North Korea?? Pakistan’s missiles are just North Korean missiles painted green! These came all the way from NK to Pakistan by ground through China and Kashmir to avoid detection in sea. So North Korea has Pakistani Nuclear Technology and Pakistan has North Korean missiles. Hmm.. what does Mushy want me to believe happened? That one fine afternoon he got a Fedex of 150 missiles and the delivery guy just told him that “Don’t worry Sir, they are all paid up – Just tell me where to drop ’em!”???? And the Bush administration seems to be find the entire episode “fine”. And therein lies my greatest discomfort! I understand why and what Mushy and Khan did.. for a close Pak watcher it comes on expected lines. But why in the world is Bush playing ball to lie to American public??? Is there something to hide?

My “janmabhoomi” (birthland) and my “karmabhoomi” (work-land) are going through parallel events but with different results. India and US will have elections in 2004. While the present Indian government looks set to win the elections again – quite a long ways from where they started when they came in – the US Government on the other hand, looks a bit shaky – again long ways from September 2001. I am convinced that actions of both current heads of states of these two countries will echo and shape the world of the next 50 years at least.

I have finally got to doing the work that I always longed to do. I have a philosophy that when you want to get something – want it with passion! Because the waves from your mind wander allover the universe and resonate to finally get all the factors required for your success in the correct alignment. A thought that went out in the Universe from my heart in 2001 for the first time – has finally aligned all the factors in place. The ball of my future success is in the court of my own efforts.

(PS: while Bush won the elections, the then current Indian Government lost its re-election campaign!)

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