"Thou Shalt not kill"

Thoughts inspired from discussions with Swapandeep...a budding writer...

Was just browsing back my high school moral science teachings, and I came across the "Ten Commandments". and yes there was what I was finding "Thou shalt not kill, Man shall reap that which he has last sown. So be it the Law of Justice". So religion teaches us not to kill. If this teaching was given by the GOD as per various religious beliefs, then has GOD gone to sleep or is GOD ashamed of the deeds of his creation. In fact history proves that the maximum number of killings in the world has been in the name of God. Jews were killed because they were Jews. Pre-medieval era witnessed a time of Afghan invaders invading India and forcing their religion on others. India witnessed and witnesses a communal clash frequently and every time innocent people are killed in the name of religion.
The frequency of killings and tensions in the name of religion and faith sometimes lead me to a different reason that there may be different GODS and they may be power hungry, so that to get more people come under their faith. I guess it seems logical as had there been one GOD the criminals would not have gone Scott free. So I guess the commandment changes to "Thou shalt not kill unless the person prays to a different invisible GOD than the one he prays to".

A recent trouble in Punjab over religion and faith caused major clashes in the two groups of people killing one and injuring many and bringing the political and law-order machinery to a stand still. A one day "bandh"(strike) was called in Punjab on May 22nd. Sporadic cases of violence were reported , State transport services were jammed,educational institutions closed, exams cancelled. Fruits, vegetables and milk from rural areas could not reach major cities and towns of Punjab due to the bandh. While people in certain parts of the state, particularly in the rural and semi-rural areas, went without their morning papers.
The news channels say that the "Bandh was peaceful". Peace again has a different meaning for different people. My thoughts go out for those who wouldn`t have been able to even eat yesterday because they could not drive their rickshaws, do their construction labour,market their rehris or simply those who could not beg. Is it really peaceful for them, is somebody not encroaching upon their happiness and their peace. "All in the name of religion". and I read another commandment "Thou shall not trespass upon others things". I don`t intend to support any particular group in this issue, just because if one misguides your faith, the other trespasses your right to live.
A friend of mine Swapandeep who hails from Jalalabad in Punjab was equally moved and wrote to me "I think there is nothing to be got from all this. If this is the meaning of religion, all non-believers will go to heaven......"

Foodie Evenings

Atlast after almost an year in Singapore, I have started discovering my tourist side of personality.And there is I think only one person (amongst the ones i know) in the whole cohort who believes in Epicurean Philosophy of life. Usman Ashfaq was the first one to agree at just the wink of eye to my plan of trying out all the hawker centers in Singapore. So we decided to start off by treating our taste buds at Esplanade Hawker center.
Getting off the MRT at City Hall , we bid good bye to Vikas and Ravi who were keen on some vegetarian stuff from Little India(mind you.. India is much better than Little version). I think it was the first time when me and Usman had gone to Esplanade and we were amazed at the beautiful sight of CBD which was embellished by Fullerton Hotel`s brightly lit building. After having a stroll across the bay we entered the hawker center. The first thing we noticed people having some thing from clay pot, we decided to try that. One thing which is good to hang-out with Usman is that he is not at all a difficult person to convince anything about. He would always say yes for non-veg food at any time of the day. So I wanted to have the mix of Satay`s and the Clay pot thing, and the nest minute we were right in front of the Satay Shop. Another thing good about Usman is that he always orders a lot of food. So we ordered 20 Satay Sticks with a mix of chicken and beef. By the time the order would be ready we went to check out the clay pot thing. and We found that indeed it was a very popular thing. As the lady of the shop named "Happy Pot" explained, the dish is prepared just on the table in front of you (sorry not like famous Japanese restaurant Benihana of Tokyo). The mechanism of preparing is that there is a pot of clay (or Handi in Hindi) which contains soup. The soup can be of your choice like Tom Yam, Chicken broth etc etc. The pot is fired by a small fire arrangement at its bottom (like a traditional angithi used in North India). You are served with marinated meat, sea food and vegetables of your choice with addition of rice and noodles. We ordered for one Non-Veg set (just 10 SGD) and spicy Tom Yam Soup. We put the meat in the boiling hot soup and it was ready on 3-4 minutes, meanwhile enjoyed Satay in the backdrop of Merlion park. The lady at the shop was so cute that she would come everytime to us and help us out with some exciting tips to eat good Thai food. She also told that the soup helps in burning fat.........:) I think if this happens then this is the best way to reduce weight.
So all in all a very good Sunday evening spent and a good experience having Thai food. Now I am waiting for the next Sunday to go to another food court of the world`s food capital- Singapore. By the time I was writing this blog Amarpal has also got convinced with the idea of trying our foodie adventures. So lets see how far we go in tasting what Singapore has to offer.