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Absent in the Spring
#113 Swarrier

[I`m not defending anybody. I couldn`t care less about BJ.]

Darn! Just when I was about to enter your name into that honor-roll of ``knights``!

The dame BJ feels so helpless, so abandoned, ......

Alas, poor me! Poor, poor me.....

What will happen to me now?!!

Wait, don`t answer that!

I am afraid of what you will say...

``I don`t give a damn!``

Perhaps you already said that.

No, it was ``yellowbelly``!

Absent in the Spring
#110 (after-thought)

``yellowbelly``, it is too bad you can not see the original Interact #17 (from BeeJay) on the board “The US Democracy Initiative and Israel”. That darn nick is banned.

Chowk staff, can you please unban that nick - at least just for a while - till ``yellowbelly`` can finish his research and develop a more complete picture?!! (Note: it may take him a while!)

Please?!!

Pretty, please?!!

Pretty, pretty, please?!!!

(Or, for short, PP P?!)

Absent in the Spring
#106 “yellowbelly”

Ama yaar, I think I know now what you are all about. First, I thought you were only jealous of me. But perhaps it is more complicated than that!

Perhaps you are merely a plant – put there by chowk-staff!

Planted here to build me up!

To paint that varnish of “legitimate writer” all over protesting me – over every inch of my protesting body!

There is no other rational explanation for getting so much attention to the “choicest” of my interacts!

You should keep digging, there are even juicier bits buried down there!

This one for example,

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Interact #17 (from BeeJay) on the board “The US Democracy Initiative and Israel”

#15 Dost-Mittar:

The culture that we are originally from teaches us to be respectful toward people who are older (and presumably wiser) than us. The culture that I have adopted and surrounded myself with also teaches me to speak my mind clearly on issues that I consider important, no matter how old the ignorant other party is. So, I’ll try to balance the two.

Dear Sir, first of all please stop putting self-serving (to you) words into my mouth. I never said that your conclusions were “brave and speculative”, so stop “agreeing” on that score! What I didn’t have the heart to say in #1, but am saying now in no unclear terms is that your conclusions are pieces of crap and they stink to high heavens! It’s stereotyping of the first order to say that “Jews have this” and “Jews have that”. The “neo-cons” that you refer to so derisively are not one group of people, there is a lot of variety there (mostly non-Jews) and these are very patriotic Americans (I have my doubts that you are one, sir, otherwise you would not reveal such a level of contempt for U.S. ability to make its own foreign policy decisions!) (How about this food for thought – the “Beej” considers himself a neo-con, too, because he AGREES with the neo-cons on a lot of issues!)

Let me put it this way, Sir, the diplomatic niceties that you read so much into – they don’t mean didley! (Have you forgotten sir, how Zia-ul-Haque would come and watch cricket in India during the mid-eighties – and does it not tickle your fancy that during all that time, his minions were simultaneously pumping arms to the Khalistani crowd?! (Who knows, perhaps some of your current best friends were involved in that racket, too.))

You claim to be a policy analyst, I find it extremely difficult to believe that with such a simplistic approach to issues, anybody would take you seriously; I can only imagine what kind of heap of trouble they would land into! Also, I am not surprised that you use a nick to hide behind as an author – with views like this you would probably be run out of town in minutes!

To me, it’s utterly disgusting how whole bunch of “authors” at the chowk web site (with the possible exception of NHK) constantly beat up on the Jewish people. I think a point could be legitimately made that you are one wise “owl” who doesn’t give a hoot about stereotyping, racism, and other forms of discrimination as long your own fanny stays safe. Jews to you sir, are an easy target, because you hope that nobody in THIS crowd will come after you for your irresponsible blanket statements because this crowd only cares about India or Pakistan. Dear Sir, you are wrong as wrong can be! THIS interactor does care and will not let you get away with such garbage, because although I may be younger than you, I at least understand that condoning racism in one form is condoning racism in all its forms! So wake up, Sir!!!

For once and for all, stop beating up on the Jewish people to please some of your narrow-minded Pakistani “friends” (to whom you would probably always be in second-tier anyway – no matter how much of beef-eating you try to impress them with). The Jewish people are a fine bunch, they are hard workers (yes there is no magic wand for them, either!) and Indians could learn a lot from them – especially on how to survive Islamic terrorism!

Sincerely,
BeeJay

Absent in the Spring
#103 (add-on)

PS to chowk staff,

And chowk staff, while you are at it, why don’t you go ahead and make that change in author name here and now? Change the name that appears on top of this page. All you need to do is to change the value of ONE field in that database, for crying out loud!

PPS: I also request you to consider restoring the past nicks “BeeJay” and “Beej”. Although I have no intention of reusing those discarded “clothes” anymore, it will be only fair to the authors of the numerous articles whose interact-logs, through no fault of those authors, now show “holes” currently on account of those two nicks being banned. Just a request! You can ignore it if you wish (and I can always re-post the 702 interacts (but that would be simply a waste of band-width, no?!))

Absent in the Spring
Dear chowk editors, and/or chowk staff,

Let us put this whole issue of my name, being brought up here again and again (the latest in #100) – to rest, once and for all.

Please tell us clearly.

When I turned in this piece, did I or did not I ask you to change my author’s name from “Beej K. Singh” to “BJ Kumar”?

Thanks for getting off that creaky rear you are so firmly (and from all accounts, comfortably and enjoyingly) sitting on.

Sincerely,
BJ Kumar

Absent in the Spring
#99 Zee

Yaar, don’t be wishy-washy about it. On the one hand, you called me (at that time before) with a dirty word – a “plagiarizer” – which attributes a degree of illegitimacy to my “babies” – on the other hand, you say you “accept my explanation whole-heartedly”?

So which one is it?

Do you retract that charge here and now?

Or not?

And my dear, make a clear statement – do you agree with this guy “HP” and his current Sancho-Panza “yellowbelly”?

Or not?!

Or are you AGAIN tied up in knots? :)

The influence of the writer whose name you bring up is EVERYWHERE in my writings – sometimes it is overt – as you bring up in that clause in red (and please DO try to be honest regarding whether that clause is even germane or significant to what THAT write-up is about – be honest now!), but mostly it is invisible to others – and that influence has been there for the past two years in virtually everything I have posted on this site and perhaps elsewhere. It has been acknowledged again and again, on the FP and on the UP. I suspect that influence will be there forever – for life!

I do not wish to change the topic too much here, otherwise I will be happy to discuss it more – and I will be happy to do it anywhere – here or there or any place one chooses to name! (And I insisted then and I insist now that I wrote what “came to me!” and I am absolutely sure that even that other writer will agree of its absolute literal truth – if anybody here had the guts to ask that writer – or if that writer herself were to show up here – a rather unlikely scenario!)

It is highly dishonest of this “HP” character – who once (about two years ago) even accused me of being that particular writer’s “stalker” – to pretend to be ignorant of that simple, well-known-around-here fact. I am convinced this character “HP” is simply jealous of me – not so much because of my writing “skills” or anything else – but because of my being open and upfront with my feelings!

Perhaps YOU, my dear Zee, should not have challenged me on this!! :)

Absent in the Spring
#95 by kaurasach

I personally am a strong believer in the Second Amendment precisely because of the unpleasant reality that you describe here in #95. (How can anybody doubt those accounts when there are real pictures – as seen in #25.)

I am sorry that your acquaintances underwent those horrible experiences.

I disagree with you regarding what you imply – that there is a wholesale dilution of courage in Indian Sikhs – it is simply not true. However, it IS true that most Sikhs are pragmatic and adapt and adjust quickly and are able to ``roll with the punches``!

I am also quite optimistic that if conditions similar to 1984 were to reemerge, the national response would not be that of apathy and also the Sikhs would be able to protect themselves much better than they could in 1984 when everything happened suddenly and nobody was prepared and people got caught by surprise. It should also be remembered that 1984 happened well before the age of the internet – whereas now everybody lives under a microscope and nobody can get away with such impunity like the criminals of 1984 did!

It is an unfortunate fact of life that nobody thinks of preparing for a storm - until they have been in one.

Absent in the Spring
#94 Kaura,

Thanks for your perspective. (I disagree regarding the “government plot” part and the generalizations that you make – but those are your opinions.)

A few questions for you:

(1) Is there a separation of religious affairs from state affairs in the Khalsa panth or not?

(2) Is there any prohibition on the killing of women?

(3) What percent of the Indian Sikh population has direct Hindu relatives?

Absent in the Spring
#84 by Urstruly

[I hardly ever read his posts]

Arrey, array Urstruly sahib, yeh kya baat hui?

Aakhir kaun sa gunah kiya hai mai-ne – ki aapney mera patta hi kaat diya?! :(

Sir, you surprise me immensely. Somehow I always carried this image of you…

Poring over my little nuggets!

Checking out my little babies more carefully than a gawking sarak-chhaap-majnoo does the ladies!

Ah my babies!

My poor, poor babies!

They feel so neglected!

I feel terrible!

rahate the kabhee jin ke dil mein
hum jaan se bhee pyaaron kee tarah
baithhe hain unhee ke koochen mein hum
aaj gunahagaaronkee tarah

daawaa thaa jinhe humadardee kaa
khud aa ke naa poochhaa haal kabhee
mahafeel mein bulaayaa hain hum pe
hasane ko sitamagaaronkee tarah

barason ke sulagate tanaman par
ashkon ke do chhinte de naa sake
tapate huye dil ke jakhmon par
barase bhee to angaaro kee tarah

sau rup bhare jeene ke liye
baithhe hain hajaaro jahar piye
thhokar naa lagaanaa hum khud hai
giratee huee diwaaron kee tarah

Absent in the Spring
#87 yellowbelly

Yaar, are you in love with me because of this write-up?

Or have you always been in love with me?!!

Absent in the Spring
#76 HP

Ama yaar, I think it is about time!

I think it is about time you tell these folks at ``chowk.com`` the truth!

They are good folks and they deserve to be told the truth and the whole truth!

Therefore, HP, go ahead!

Tell them the truth - the whole truth.

Tell them that you are secretly a fan of mine - that you are in love with me (or at least with my work here)....

....but that you are just a bit jealous - only a bit too jealous to admit it openly!!

Absent in the Spring
#70 “yellowbelly”

[Yes, he has a “talent”. His talent is googling, stealing, modifying a little, and presenting as his own work. Given the enormous material available at the internet, it is wide open for exploitation.]

Funny how the above remark regarding the abundance of internet-based resources reminds me of an i-log I did earlier. Alas, it is no more there but just to be nice to you, I reproduce it below (after all, there is no reason why you should miss it simply because you did not “exist here” back then!)

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May 4, 2006
The Body in the Library

“Dad, why do you waste money on the Post? You never read it!”

As usual TYO, the thirteen year old, had a point. Time was when a day could not start without a cup of tea sipped over the morning paper. No more! It is not that one doesn’t read the news – it’s simply more efficient to read it off the web – even if you do buy the paper. News from any world publication – right there on your fingertips! And yet, not too far back, there was a time when you could not get any foreign news except by going to the library and reading what you could find.

So there were those library catalogs to flip through – so manual a way to organize! Literature survey was tedious and a big deal – many a grad students made complete theses of what would now perhaps take only a few hours work.

In our childhood village, there were no newspapers – or libraries. But the adjacent high school did subscribe to some – which were literally dropped from the 2 PM train (no stopping). It was our job to carry those bundles – sometimes soggy – to the high school. This would be accomplished in a matter of hours – after everyone in the family and the neighborhood had a chance to savor those eight pages of newsprint in each publication.

Later in our small-town home, we once tried to set up a library – a project which unfortunately did not get very far because of the considerable effort in creating a catalog – we had other stuff on our mind and we had a ton of books – consistent with my dad’s line of work. Most of these were of little interest to kids. My favorite ones, I might as well admit it, were the cheap detective thrillers. One writer was Ibn-e-Shafie, B.A. The funny thing about his monthly serial novels was that no matter what the plot it lasted exactly 112 pages. The main characters were detective Vinod and his funny partner Hamid, the side-kick. (No last names were ever provided.) We would dream of the characters – trying to imagine ourselves in their boots – coming up with our own stories.

Years later, I would learn that Vinod’s original name was Faridi – yup, he was supposed to be Muslim in his original Urdu incarnation. It would not have mattered to the kid who read those novels – but in retrospect, there was a degree of guile on the part of the publishers in switching the original all-Muslim fare to a mixed bag in Hindi! Perhaps it was an attempt to promote goodwill on one hand while retaining exclusivity within a smaller group. Different strokes for different folks! Or, perhaps the author started out writing for a subset of readers and came up with what “his” group could identify with. Perhaps there was a spirit of segregation – or simple hesitation – a fear of transgressing invisible lines that he simply wasn’t comfortable with because he had no sure way of knowing where those lay – and all he was perhaps doing was to make an honorable living – and if I were to guess, it was not a high-paying way to make a living, either.

But I digress.

The high school did have a library. But the teachers and the principal alike never breathed its name. Its single room was always padlocked – perhaps the administrators were afraid that the books (if any) would start flapping their covers and fly away – or more likely, were simply too chicken to deal with the responsibility.

The college maintained a comprehensive collection – but most books worth reading did not circulate. The two men at the counter would painstakingly write down the name and serial number of each book to be checked out. Sometimes, the books would get stolen – there were many stolen books floating around the campus.

Graduate school was the first introduction to bar codes and computer catalogs. It was also the time to find out about the magnetic strips buried inside the book cover. And there was the interlibrary loan – the first concept of the library as a part of a network. Soon enough, a bunch of workstations would emerge and replace the filing cabinets full of card catalogs.

Now the whole internet has of course turned itself into a single library. Words are everywhere and all words connect, and there is little print. All print media appears to have the same destiny – a state of obsoleteness stares it in face. Present words appear to lack the solidness of those from the past. They form themselves as if by magic but unlike print, have little substance.

It is so difficult to tell the real from the fake because faking is now so much easier and the fakers have better tools and are getting better at the deception. With the right software, it is possible for even the least of the artist types to improve upon the digital Mona Lisa.

The readers as we knew them are becoming extinct – or soon will be. And when the readers disappear, what will happen to the writers?!

Sometimes, I worry about the writers of the world.

The artificially intelligent computer has done more than simplify life – it has wiped out whole segments of the job market. Because, no matter how you phrase it – most time spent on most jobs is wasted time – the time spent doing manual work – the time spent chasing leads, the time doing the grunt work, the time double-checking, the time digging up information, the time spent in getting your feet wet and the time spent in getting down and dirty! Moments of real creativity and original innovation are few and far between for everybody – it does not matter who you are – no matter how low or high your profile.

All of those products of one’s labor and all that they stand for – could simply go away just like that – as if it were “hawai mithai” – like the jobs that keep vanishing as the need for services disappear or are satisfied with unoriginal but less costly fare. And yes, writing is a job, too – only in some cases the needs it fulfills are different, though just as basic!

We live in times when on-line digital libraries are the norm and perhaps soon will be the only ones around – the present collection of books is sure soon to be digitized and destroyed – with specimens perhaps saved for museums – a few more jobs related to the upkeep of the print media going down the drain – but much more important, taking away a little bit more of that margin to operate for folks who are just plain average – which, by definition, is probably the largest chunk of population.

At least that is how it could play out in the developed world - either you come up with something original or you become extinct – or so the reasoning goes! Most of the rest of the world is not affected of course, worried more about such mundane items as the daily bread.

So we are left with islands of creativity amidst oceans of mediocrity. This phenomenon may not be very new – at certain levels it has probably been happening for a while, as evident from the list of Nobel laureates, for example – but its progression to the general population could spell trouble! For, as one becomes extinct – where will the consumers of the future come from?

For something to be appreciated as better than ordinary one needs the benchmark of the ordinary. As the vast middle classes shrink, the newspaper vendors, the mail carriers, the janitor, and yes, even the writer will surely follow the path trodden by the milkman, the cobbler, the furniture maker, and the book-binder from those days not long ago gone by.

And why would one want to come up with new ideas, anyway? Unlike printed paper, virtual paper does not disintegrate – so whatever gets created, hangs around forever. Why create when you can locate a far better version of the same thought more quickly than it would take to even come up with even the first draft? After all, no matter what the thought, won’t some body have already said it in a better way than this nobody could ever hope to? Perhaps even the best way it could conceivably be said!

The library has shrunk – like the rest of our world. It has shrunk in size and perhaps it has shrunk in its scope – even as it struggles to stay alive by doing new and different things.

And therefore, the largest of collections could be right there on our laptops. Instead of us being a small body inside the library – we become the bodies that house THE library – every bit of information carried around with us – and what we don’t carry retrievable in seconds through the wireless pipes connecting all of us. And its words can be the most brutal and unforgiving – especially if they are one’s own.

The body would be no more a library patron – it would be its host in the brave new world – its edifice created on the grave of the beautiful old world so cruelly murdered before its time!

So I intend to continue subscribing to my Washington Post for as long as I can – for the sentimental memories associated with it and for what this beautiful dinosaur represents. And when the inevitable day arrives when they stop publishing its print edition – a part of me will perhaps also be lost forever – never to be regained!

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Absent in the Spring
#73 FreeThinker

Dr. Gill,

It is indeed a great honor for me to host you here. Needless to say, you are and have always been one of the authors on this site that I most respect.

I apologize for any hard feelings that you may have suffered due to the less than “on-topic” remarks which I have been making under my various nicks (most of which are now banned). But I do believe that such remarks add value to an article by raising the interest of others – especially those who are otherwise likely to stay away.

I look at such interacts a bit like spice – not really a source of nutrition from the main course…

But without spices, food would be bland and eating will be near impossible!

Variety is indeed the spice of life. And hey, the ever-watchful Chowk staff can always delete or at least filter whatever is totally “not belonging”!

I exercise my freedoms of expression and others are welcome to exercise their own and yet others (e.g., chowk-staff) are free to exert their privileges – all I ask in the case of the latter that the guidelines be enforced even-handedly and not in a manner showing partiality of any kind.

My usage of multiple nicks in the past is not driven by a desire to deceive others (like the “yellowbelly” character on this board, for example) – but simply a desire to don a different attire at a given moment. There is no secret regarding who the person is (notice, for instance, the selection of the nicks!)

Sincerely,
BJ Kumar
(BeeJay, Beej, BJK, Stan, Delta_High, BJ2, Beej., BJ003, BJ004, CD_Lion, bjkumar. and bjkumar)
……

PS: Although I like the “last name” with which you addressed me, I have no claim to it, as explained in interact #68 on this board.

As far as “attacking” authors is concerned – I believe that an author – any author – must be able to stand up to “tough” attacks. I have no problem taking such attack and I do not hold back myself.

I have always believed that. And I continue to do so.

For instance, please refer to this interact (posted by BeeJay, comment #45 on March 19, 2005, at the board entitled “What is secularism?”)

…The rest of your response raises some interesting issues. You talk about “trashy” interacts. How do you define those, sir? Is there a standardized definition of trash? Is that definition physical or metaphysical? If physical, for example, “something the trash truck comes and hauls away” I am not aware of an internet-based trash truck which would (or could) accomplish THAT job. I won’t even get into the metaphysical part of it (best left to many senior chowkees who seem to have made a life long pursuit of it). The way I understand it, you may see it as one of those things that you know it when you see it. Please note the YOU part of it, i.e., it is highly subjective. To use the hackneyed phrase: one person’s trash may be another’s treasure. Just imagine the filth that passes those mighty and sturdy walls [This reference is to the Detroit Sewer System] mentioned above-the millions and millions of bacteria, microbes, and other lower forms of life running through those waters (if only those walls could talk!) Guess what, Dr. Gill, each of those lowly forms of life, that filth, is a work of art and was created by the same Artist!

Also, if one constructs a strong building, should it not be able to withstand the onslaught of what you call “trash” or “filth”? If someone throws trash at a building and that building comes crashing down do you blame the trash or does it mean that maybe, just maybe the engineer did a lousy job and did a lousy design which was not based on realistic assumptions. It would be called a highly faulty design. Furthermore, if the engineer knew those faults and still certified that building for public occupation (which the internet essentially is) he would not only get fired, but will probably also lose the shirt off his back (at least in the U.S.)

Absent in the Spring
#75 Urstruly

[It is mean, dishonest and ruthless.]

My dear sir, where HAVE you been?!

Welcome to chowk.com! :)

Absent in the Spring
#64 Harish_Hyd

Harish, my dear, thank you very much! Good to have you back.

Absent in the Spring
#63 HP

Yaar, I have always acknowledged that ``Beej K. Singh`` is a pseudonym from days past.

When I sent in this piece, I asked the editors to change my author`s name from the pseudonym ``Beej K. Singh`` to ``BJ Kumar``. But apparently, chowk likes my author`s name just the way it appears – and just the way most people here address me.

But do look at my author`s page also!

And although this may be difficult to understand for some, publicity or recognition for myself were the farthest things from my mind in putting together this piece. Why did I do it then? Read my previous interacts.

And talking of being forthright – tell us here and now – did you log in as “yellowbelly” or not?