Snowing like under an evil spell

Well that may be a little bit of an exaggeration, but Seattle and the rest of the northwest is a bit snow struck this winter. This is the fifth cycle of snow in the Puget Sound, where usually it stops at two. Looking out through the window every morning, seems more like looking past the wardrobe and Narnia greeting on the other side. Reality of course, is a little less magical, icy roads have turned even the shortest commute into a nightmare, with many accidents in the road and some in the homes too. On top of that, many neighborhoods have lost power again and schools and work places have lost control over any scheduling.

Ahhh well...it could be worse...this could be Narnia, under the spell, frozen in eternal winter with no Lion and no saviors coming to the rescue!!!

Living in the Driver's Seat

Once, there was a dream
to set all of which free.
Doves, eagles and even sharks,
but back in the alley they stay hungry.

Yesterday, he spoke of it,
Maybe today it’ll rain,
Dark clouds, even thunderstorm.
Then the moon shines – don’t complain.

Today, you’re thinking loud
asking not to regret.
Forget and relax, take the pills,
It’s the future that you have not met.

Tomorrow, I lie sleepless,
counting the seeds,
living in the driver's seat,
except now it just hurts and bleeds.

Sleepwalking back again

The dark cloud lingering over the political sky in Bangladesh just started the thunder storm many of us were afraid of. Even though with occasional lightning in the last few months, things were looking up from time to time but I guess a play is all that was. A State of Emergency has been declared in the country, so right now there's curfew at night, military in the streets and no independent media operating. In a speech addressing the nation, President & Chief Advisor announced his resignation, along with nine other advisers right after UN, EU, US and other political ambassadors to monitor the democratic process were withdrawn by their individual authorities. To think, just when the world's leading political analysts were beginning to say that Bangladesh has a true democratic process in place, one which is more successful than most other third world countries. Granted we have VERY crooked and corrupt politicians but think about it - it's not like Rwanda or North Korea. Bangladesh have had a democratic process for the last fifteen years after the dictatorial reign ended and elected government for more than half of our history. Not that we were doing great but democratically - things were improving, until now.

All this reminds me so much of lines from Pink Floyd's High Hopes...

Looking beyond the embers of bridges glowing behind us,
to a glimpse of how green it was on the other side
Steps taken forwards but sleepwalking back again,
dragged by the force of some inner tide.

So what were the forces this time around? The four party government finished it's tenure amidst mass allegations of tampering with the upcoming democratic process of the independent and interim government to hold the elections within ninety days. Immediately, the polar forces of the fourteen (now nineteen) party alliance placed their demands in order to balance out the scale. Some demands were justifiable, which the interim government should have met immediately but decided to hold the fort strong without giving in. But all it did was put fuel in the fire that ended up burning the commoners. The fourteen party alliance came down to the streets and started an unfortunate episode of mayhem and destruction, which killed hundreds and injured thousands so far, not to mention bringing life and the economy to a stand still. With time, the chaos continued with endless demands that are almost impossible for the government to meet within ninety days, especially since they were spending more days to bring peace to the forum than actually prepping for the election.

There was a ragged band that followed in our footsteps,
running before time took our dreams away.
Leaving the myriad small creatures trying to tie us to the ground
to a life consumed by slow decay.

The rivalry of the two "alliances" have taken us to the brink of democracy and I just hope we don't fall into any perilous cavern that hold nothing but more distress for the people of Bangladesh, like never ending chaos, military regime or foreign penetration.

Since the ringing of the division bell had (already) begun, I hope we don't follow the song to it's end...

Encumbered forever by desire and ambition,
there's a hunger still unsatisfied.
Our weary eyes still stray to the horizon
go down this road we've been so many times.

Smelly New York

New York smelling...or is it New Jersey? The gas-like odor that hung over Manhattan's streets yesterday is gone now, but city officials are still trying to find its source. They're looking at New Jersey and liking what they see...the DEP is pretty sure the source of the smell was along New Jersey's industrialized waterfront, just across the Hudson River from New York.

Flying across the pond

Tinkon