Thanks for voting for me the last few days. I think many of you read my blog for the first time isi bahane. I received the second highest votes, after Saffron Tree. Check out the tally here. Incidentally lost by 2 votes.

Kareem, the Egyptian blogger who got jailed for his views on Islam and Women’s rights, was sentenced with four years imprisonment yesterday.

Drew and others in support of Kareem are going to continue protests and work towards an appeal.

Even one day’s imprisonment for speaking one’s mind is unacceptable. Four years for blogging seems like a bad dream from an Orwell novel.

Also, DI has a new member Joe. Afterall in times like this we free-speechers need to stick together.

Link via Drew .

Many of you probably know I came to Bombay just for the Great Gig made possible by Amit. Waters, my favourite member of Floyd (after Barrett, but then again most of Floyd came after Barrett), decided to make it up to me by playing at a time when I could attend. And this time by playing the whole of the Dark Side of the Moon.

The concert was spectacular, the sound was excellent, the pyrotechnics, the lights, fireworks on stage; everything one expects from a Floyd show was there; including the Pig. The pig is an integral part of Floyd shows and was designed by Waters. When the band broke up, Waters who had the copyright decided to charge the others each time they used the pig. Finally the other members of the band came up with their own pig by adding testicles and changing its gender. I was reminded of the Walrus and the Carpenter where the Walrus asks “And whether pigs have wings”. Well it didn’t need wings, the Helium Pig floated away after imparting the priceless and profound wisdom of Habeas Corpus. Which is when Rishi Iyengar yelled out “The Great Pig in the Sky!”.

Back to the concert. He started with In the Flesh (Wall), Mother (Wall), The Fletcher Memorial Home (The Final Cut) and Perfect Sense-I (Amused to Death- Waters). He also played a new track called Leaving Beirut, with its in your face anti-Bush agenda. I was overjoyed when he played Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun (Saucerful of Secrets) which is not a popular Floyd track, but embodies the psychedelic sound that Barrett was known for; it’s also the only song he played from a Barrett album. And the tribute to Barrett was fantastic. He played Shine on you Crazy Diamond (I-V) and Have a Cigar and Wish You Were Here. Shine on You Crazy Diamond was the first Floyd song I heard many years ago, thanks to him, and fell in love ever since. Barrett’s loss last year was heartbreaking, perhaps more so for Waters than anyone else.

The second half of the show, which was the whole of Dark Side of the Moon, took my breath away. Perhaps that’s why he started with “Breathe, breathe in the air”. Starting with Speak to Me he went on to Breathe, On the Run, Time, Breathe Reprise, The Great Gig in the Sky, Money, Us and Them, Any Colour You Like, Brain Damage and Eclipse. I must have heard the album a few hundred times in the last decade and many references came to mind.

“Money, so they say; Is the root of all evil today.” reminded me of the speech by Francisco d’Anconia in Atlas Shrugged. And then there was the Rabbit and the English Way and Black and Blue and the Paper Boy and the Dark Side of the Moon and the Sun eclipsed by the Moon. And in the trademark cynical Waters style he conceptualises the whole album with “There is no dark side of the moon really. Matter of fact it’s all dark.”

It didn’t end there, though such an end would have been fitting. They pretended to leave but came back with “You! Yes, you! Stand still laddy!” and went on to play Another Brick in the Wall-II. And then Vera, Bring the Boys Back Home and finally ended with Comfortably Numb.

The perfect Waters concert.

Canadian published turns fantasies into fiction.

“Canada-based Book By You says it sells thousands of personalised romance novels each year with titles such as ER Fever and Pirates of Desire, where the reader is the star. It is not Bronte, but customers are going crazy for novels that make them the main characters.

Customers answer 20 to 30 questions about themselves and their beloved, ranging from body type to pet names. Then the details are woven into one of the company’s eight pre-formatted novels. Clients can even have their photos added to the book jacket.

One customer had a marriage proposal included at the end - for $44.79, plus shipping and handling.”

The whole story here. Link via MR.

Tunku Varadarajan, editorial features editor and soon to be assistant managing editor at The Wall Street Journal is one of my favourite columnists. He can write about anything and make it funny, sarcastic, interesting, moving and full of important details.

Two gems from this week. The first on Anna Nicole Smith (link via India Uncut). On Smith and how she embodies America he writes “And one must note that in America–where most adult relations have been recast as transactions–breast enhancement is the perfect meeting of commerce and sex: a means to lay bare the frankness of your opening gambit, and to make plain that it invites a response. What you see is what you get; now let me see how you propose to get it. “

And the second on the excruciating but necessary chore of discarding books.

He is truly wonderful.

Other post on Tunku here.

“Considering the milk situation the cabinet has decided to ban export of milk products till September 30, 2007,” said Mr. Chidambaram.

We will never learn. Or so it seems.

(Link via Shrayana)

Supreme Court has described the banned Students Islamic Movement of India as a “secessionist movement.” More here.

“You are a secessionist movement. You have not stopped your activities,” a Bench of Justice S B Sinha and Markandeya Katju observed while dealing with the special leave petition filed by SIMI challenging the ban imposed on it.

I was wondering if we must ban an outfit even if it is essentially a secessionist movement. If it is a question of the criminal activities that are carrying out and there is evidence supporting it, then undoubtedly a case may be made for the ban.

But assuming SIMI is peaceful, or that it would turn peaceful, would be still want to ban it just because it is a “secessionist movement”? And should we be allowed to ban it for such concerns? (I am assuming there are peaceful, if they aren’t then my concerns would change.)

Imagine a different outfit which was peaceful with the same beliefs, then how would we react? I think this would severly affect their rights under Article 19(1)(a-c) and Article 25. Essentially free speech and freedom to form associations and the right to religious beliefs.

Amit and MadMan have been promising a new website for a long time and we have all been holding our breath for a while now. I have virtually no fingernails left. Well it’s here! And it’s Great!

It’s a whole new look that I love. The website is nicely organised and the articles, blog posts and links are on different pages. And don’t miss the crossword

I’m off to read every word of the new site and drink an imaginary drink to them!

My campaign for votes for the Best New Blog in the Indibloggies web blog awards for which I was nominated. Immense surprise and smiles.

While I cannot match Garibi Hatao and similar campaign gems, I would say the purpose is Stupidity Hatao and Freedom Badhao. The reason for writing Kalachakra was to highlight how each day our political and economic freedom is infringed. If you like my posts, please vote for me here.

I haven’t read many of the blogs that have been nominated but I read Amit and Gaurav’s blogs regularly and they are my pick for the Best IndiBlog (Amit won it last year).