In a week where another nutcase with a gun licence massacred innocents in their place of learning and the Pope looked like he was duped into a publicity disaster by a Kentucky homophobic bigot.
We all have been reminded of the fickle nature of the human spirit.
I was thinking just this thought when I watched a recording of WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? whilst preparing lunch.
It featured the story of broadcaster and journalist Anita Rani and followed the fate of her grandfather's Sikh family when India was partitioned in 1947. In the sectarian violence that followed the formation of Pakistan, millions of people were relocated and well over 200,000 people of all faiths murdered and the personal story of how a member of Rani's family committed suicide by flinging herself down a well rather than be raped by Muslim soldiers made for uncomfortable listening.
What affected me most, was Rani's emotional journey, for at the start of the programme she came over as rather an ambitious and dare I say false character and by the end, and especially after an elderly Sikh man recounted the stories of how his fellow villagers killed their own daughters in a bid to prevent them being abducted, she was transformed from frothy presenter to a profoundly moved and thoughtful individual....
If you get a chance to watch it, do so...it's a fascinating watch.
Anyway
What affected me most, was Rani's emotional journey, for at the start of the programme she came over as rather an ambitious and dare I say false character and by the end, and especially after an elderly Sikh man recounted the stories of how his fellow villagers killed their own daughters in a bid to prevent them being abducted, she was transformed from frothy presenter to a profoundly moved and thoughtful individual....
If you get a chance to watch it, do so...it's a fascinating watch.
Anyway
It's Sunday afternoon and I want to be reminded of happier things.....at home.
The Prof is asleep in the armchair and has covered himself with a blanket..He's left strict instructions
for me to wake him up with a hot cup of tea and a slice of Gay Gordon's cake just before 4pm.
The dogs are all asleep in untidy heaps about the living room and Albert is watching the sparrows arguing in the honeysuckle by the front door.
I have the lunch washing up to do.....
But I shall leave you with this weeks best innuendo from Bake Off
The Prof is asleep in the armchair and has covered himself with a blanket..He's left strict instructions
for me to wake him up with a hot cup of tea and a slice of Gay Gordon's cake just before 4pm.
The dogs are all asleep in untidy heaps about the living room and Albert is watching the sparrows arguing in the honeysuckle by the front door.
I have the lunch washing up to do.....
But I shall leave you with this weeks best innuendo from Bake Off
"Mel: “Four bakers remain. Two boys, two girls, all ready to tackle the semi-final.”
Sue: “I’m semi-hysterical.”
Mel: “I’m semi-excited.”
Sue: “Let’s get the semis on.”
Sue: “I’m semi-hysterical.”
Mel: “I’m semi-excited.”
Sue: “Let’s get the semis on.”
I feel sleepy just looking at the prof, he looks so cosy
ReplyDeleteYes John, thatis exactly how I felt about Anita Rani -and also it made me think - things never change do they - and it is all connected with religion one way or another.
ReplyDeleteUSA sucks. period. and I live here.
ReplyDeleteGood Sunday, John. Not much to say after that...
ReplyDeleteI tend to agree with Anne Marie.
ReplyDeleteI'm liking the happier things. Everything else is too damned depressing.
ReplyDeleteJust to lighten the world up, after the week that was, I put on the story of the Romanoffs. Why not.
ReplyDeleteWednesday evening; the event of the year.
ReplyDeleteI agree with many who have said to never speak of the shooter, never mention his name....better to talk of those who lost their lives and pray for them and their families to be given strength and peace......
ReplyDeleteI saw part of the documentary. Rani went up in my estimation showing true emotion. You really do spoil the Prof too much. Why don't you have a kip and get him to wake YOU up with tea and cake?!!! x
ReplyDeleteAs of right now, I am the only one awake in my house as well. And its not gone lunchtime yet....
ReplyDeleteSemi means nothing to me so I am bit lost with the joke. Is it peculiar to gays?
ReplyDeleteI`m semi.....nope, I just don`t get it ?
ReplyDeleteGetting a semi on
DeleteIs a british phrase for " getting the start of an erection"
Well, well, you hear something new everyday. I have never heard the expression John. Mind you it is generally not a time for discussing definitions is it?
DeleteI guess one would have to be paying a great deal of attention to catch it in semi, it generally seems to go from nothing to full quickly.
DeleteExcuse me darling, would you mind pausing there, is that what they call a semi?
DeleteIt was an incredibly moving WDYTYA this week wasn't it. To contrast the way her ancestors behaved compared with the way that some people in the world act now.... It has been quite a week hasn't it.
ReplyDeleteIt's a peaceful day here at home as well. We who have that are incredibly fortunate. Have a good week, John.
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ReplyDeleteSo call me a conspiracy theorist, but I think that what happened was simply an act of revenge from within the Church. I have read that the Synod is expected to deal with the "gay situation" - their quotes, not mine - and so the conservatives that cannot wait to put a stop to that, found the perfect way of making a fool of the Pope and of the situation in order to show that "Who am I to judge?" was not a veiled promess but a pacifier and a political move. Of course she was more than willing to go back into TV and the assorted stupid media that will have her. Where is she and her lying attorney now to deny what the Vatican said about the Pope never asking to see her?. There was no private meeting, there is nothing to be found, here or abroad, anything at all to confirm her story. I find very curious - but not surprising - for example that nowhere it was mentioned he met with his former student who is gay and the student's partner as well until the lies began to fly on American tv.
ReplyDeleteBeing from a family of diplomats it is incredible to me that the list of all guests was not shown - with a clear explanation as to whom is whom, what do they do and why the were selected - to the Pope's secretary for approval. But it wasn't it. The question should be why? I suspect many know the answer.
Allegra
PS: the previous message was removed because for some unknown reason the connection was cut and only half of it was there.
It was a difficult week, I suspect that someone in the Vatican will not enjoy his next assignment - it is not a good thing to embarrass the boss.
ReplyDeleteIn much of the US, you do not need a license to own a handgun. To carry it as a concealed weapon yes, but not to own it. A handful of places require that handguns be registered. The last time I bought a pistol, the credit card too longer to process then the background check did.
I've just left a comment on your FB page about Anita. I think she is ambitious but there's nowt wrong with that and I disagree with you that she seemed a bit false. I think she was just excited!. She was brilliant on Strictly last night. See IL Professori is practising the Danish artform of 'Hygge' (Google's your friend). Hope he makes you a cuppa from time-to-time too. Have a great week. x
ReplyDeleteI hope this week has less things to tug on your heart strings, and more laughter.
ReplyDeleteInteresting, I just watched a movie last night on Netflix called Midnight's Children. It covers the war between India and Pakistan all the way up into the late '70's. I enjoyed understanding more about the history of it, as I was there at the time and was oblivious to most everything going on around me. Except that you couldn't board a plane at the Delhi airport for some time because of the bullets...
ReplyDeleteWe're just getting the beginning of Bake Off here. I missed it's silly innuendo and all the tense drama, so fun!
Sadly I agree - the US sucks
Lots of sleepy quietly snoring dogs make life so much better.
ReplyDeletecheers, parsnip
I read that it was the 45th school shooting in the U.S. this year. I hope that's not true. Whether it's the 5th or the 45th, it demonstrates the power of the NRA in my country. Willy Dunne Wooters just had some soup. He's in the chair next to mine, snoring away. I think Gay Gordon's cake sounds as if it would be a great name for a brand, but I understand that Gay Gordon is a villager. Perhaps he'd be willing to start a cake brand?
ReplyDeleteLove,
Janie
I watched WDYTYO on catchup this week as I was out seeing my daughter's new play (a comedy) performed at our local theatre. The point I found most heartbreaking was spoken by the woman who has been collating women's accounts of the massacres. The Sikh man told it that they killed their wives and daughters rather than have them raped and abused by the opposing faction. The women's accounts from those of all faiths said that they had no choice but to jump down the well and those who were taken and abused were henceforth considered outcasts and "better they had not been born" by their original families/communities. To me, to further vicitimise the victims rather than helping, supporting and cherishing them was the ultimate act of aggression and shows a community in its true colours. I've also been involved on the periphery of honour killings where the comment was made, "Never think the deaths inflicted are quick, they will be the worst that can be carried out." Sorry if this goes against the thread but I felt it needed saying
ReplyDeleteSarah, what I liked about Anitia was the way she ralled against the helplessness of the women and how unfair the whole uprising was for them ....they had so limited choices than the men
DeleteI adore Mel and Sue , they always make me laugh .
ReplyDeleteSo many terrible things done in the name of religion. It makes for a sad and destructive world :-(
ReplyDeleteAn excellent andvery thought-provoking programme. Here in Britain we knew Partition happened, but only the bare bones of the awful murder and mayhem which accompanied it. Honour is a truly dreadful word used in this context.
ReplyDeleteI assumed that semis meant semi final. How could I have got to this age not knowing its real meaning?
ReplyDeleteActually I find it irritating that perfectly normal and useful words have been hijacked and can no longer be used without fear of attracting sniggers behind the back by those silly people who only know the secondary meaning. It's progress I suppose.
Anyway, Who do you think, Bake off and Strictly are things that make the weeks pass tolerably at a time of year when the end of summer can make me feel otherwise very gloomy.
I had to go back and read the comments to get the semi joke. In the US, a semi is a large, over-the-road truck. We are one season behind of the British Bake-Offs so I won't catch that episode till next year.
ReplyDelete