Pain, be it short lived or excruciating, always leaves behind a scar in its place. Something to remember the dark emotion. There is sweet pain- pain you feel from reliving the memories from a long lost friend. And there is crushing pain- the deepest level of depression. But like the wound that heals, the pain must subside. In the recent past, whenever things have gone really wrong, I have been told, and I have in turn told others including myself – ‘Its ok, things will get better. The pain will go away and happier days will come again.’ Physical pain can subside with medication. The emotional tugs – constant tugs at your heart are tougher to handle. Sometimes we even camouflage our pained feelings – with anger or worse, normalcy. And then when the feelings well-up like the septic wound, we hunt for the immediate solution. We try to subside the surface pain but leave the wound exposed. Reaching out for a pitcher of beer or a tub of ice-cream or worse a combination, will only cause serious health problems hours after the immediate ‘mood up-lifting’ experience is over.

If you drink the morning after your hung over – your head-ache only gets worse. We know this but somehow we tend to repeat the same mistakes we have made in the past and keep experiencing the pain over and over. Soon the pain is something you get used to. Something that becomes a part of your life. You know you are in deep trouble when you cant acknowledge that life is precious – life‘s moments are precious.

Pain is an anomaly. A deviation. One way of dealing with it is – you tell yourself it won’t happen again. You have learnt your lesson. You will move on in life and forget your past so that the sunken feeling goes way. But before you find ways to move on you need to first believe you can. And for that you need to introspect. I have fought introspection. Just could not do it. Now it has caught up with me. I know I want to hear myself aloud. I want to ask myself questions I don’t want to hear the answers to. But these answers put everything in perspective – get me the reality check I want to avoid. I want to introspect now in between work- at the expense of work even. And work was my excuse earlier to not have time to introspect! I think dealing with pain is similar to dealing with fear – face it, accept it and then you can fight it.

Knowing that I have dealt with pain in the past gives me the faith that I can cross the bridge when I come to it. But I’d rather feel pain than be numb. Lets me know I am alive. And normal.

Picture a 69 year old prisoner of war brought into a dungeon by sinister hooded men and hanged to death. Now picture an ex-ruler going through the same. Justified?? Not at all! In fact, right from the devastating war waged on Iraq, the way Saddam was tried and the final execution- nothing was justified!

Let us look at the series of events that took place leading upto the hanging. The Bush government for its own selfish interests launches a large scale and organised attack on Iraq claiming the country had vast weapons of mass destruction- a claim widely refuted today. The result- more than 6,60,000 innocent Iraqi’s lose their lives. The President of the country was captured and the whole world saw humiliating images of the erstwhile Head of State with an unruly mop of hair visiting a dentist- apparently he had cavities!! This was part of the U.S. strategy meant to portray the taming of the lion- the end of Saddam’s power.

Post his capture the U.S. government took the decision to give Saddam back to the Iraqi government – so that he could be punished for his inhuman practices by his own people. Since an international criminal court is in existence, Saddam being a prisoner of war, should have been tried according to international laws. It would have ensured that Saddam got a fair trial which is exactly what the U.S. government did not want! It wanted him dead! Because dead men tell no tales! Why else would a U.S. sponsored court be set up in Iraq? If Saddam were tried according to international laws, he would have inevitably put forth the defense that the greatest crimes for which he stands accused namely- the Iran-Iraq war and the suppression of the Shiites, were carried out with the support of the Bush administration. Besides, the International courts consider the death penalty as a barbaric punishment.

So the U.S. government was left with no choice but to set up an Iraqi puppet court and put Saddam speedily to death claiming it was merely doing the will of the Iraqi people. There were many instances during the trial where the injustice was apparent-

1. When the Coalition Provisional Authority drafted the original statute of the Iraqi higher criminal courts, they limited the mandate in two crucial ways-
a)The court was given jurisdiction only for war crimes committed between July 1968 and May 2007.
b)The court could try any natural person whether Iraqi or not suspected of committing the grave offences provided he/she was a resident of Iraq.

Both the above limitations were laid to protect the U.S. government because any legal process that assigns criminal liability to Saddam would naturally run the risk of assigning criminal liability to others who committed similar acts.

2. Saddam was denied access to legal counsel in the first year after arrest.

3. There was inadequate protection of witnesses and defense lawyers leading to three of them being assassinated during the course of the trial.

4. Saddam’s defence was only allowed two weeks instead of the usual 30 days in which to read and respond to the trial judgement. When they did appeal, the Iraqi Appeals Chamber took less than 21 days to quash the appeal. The Iraqi government’s orchestration of Saddam Hussein’s trail and execution contravenes Articles 10,12,13,20,23 and 84 of the Third Geneva Convention which is supposed to protect captured military personnel like Saddam Husein. The trial was a mockery of International laws and of some of the most basic and fundamental rights like Right to Fair Trial and Right to Life.

Saddam Hussein may not have been a martyr and it is undisputed that he deserved to be punished for the atrocities endured by the Iraqi people because of him. The Bush government has been trying to justify the hanging of Saddam by stating that he was a dangerous man. But the American troops have caused too much devastation in Iraq for the Americans to take a moral stand on the issue!

Mr. Bush, in fact does not seem to value human life. I will substantiate my claim with the following facts-

a) As the Governor of Texas, he presided over 152 executions – more than any Governor in U.S. history.
b) After becoming the President, he ordered the execution of a Persian Gulf war veteran on the very eve of launching war on Iraq. The federal death penalty had prior to this been imposed in the U.S. back in 1963.
c) The widespread killings of the Iraqi people as a result of the baseless war is also indicative of the American President’s ruthlessness.

The apparent virtuous stand of the American government on Iraq was actually a veil disguising its hatred towards Saddam and the control that it had and continues to do so on the Iraqi government. The premeditated judgement given by the Iraqi court on the basis of evidence that establishes guilt not beyond reasonable doubt was only honouring the American principle of ‘Give him a fair trial and hang him. It is a squandered opportunity for the Iraqi people to come to terms with the crimes of the past. The selfish interests of the Bush-led American government ensured that neither Saddam Hussein nor the Iraqi government got any justice!!

Reach for the sky!
Follow your heart!
Never say die!
Make your own path!

The future is unknown.
But you are not alone.
Believe in yourself.
It’s not all about the wealth!

What greater crime than lost time?
A stitch in time they say saves nine.
Its not work that kills but worry.
So be slow and steady; dont hurry.

Actions speak louder than words.
It’s the bold and not the timid that are heard.
But too far east is west.
So being moderate is the best.

God gives the milk, it’s for you to get the pail.
Without the pain there is no gain.
Every dark cloud has a silver lining.
So it’s about time you stopped the whining.

Pride goes before a fall.
Don’t be sleeping when opportunities call.
Never trouble trouble until trouble troubles you.
And what you don’t know won’t hurt you!

Let God show you the way.
Every dog has its day.
Try, try, try till you succeed.
Cause the fruits of suffering are sweet indeed!!

Is there magic in this world?
And what about super natural power?
Do lucky charms really help?
Can our luck change by the hour?

‘All hogwash! ’ you may say,
But I am not so sure,
Because it was only the other day
That I visited Mrs. Grow.

She is an old friend of mine,
And she was so sweet.
She had called me to her’s
For a treat.

We spent the evening talking.
Suddenly we heard somebody at the door knocking.
Mrs. Grow went up to the door and opened it.
And who should come in but li’l Twit!

He was sad,
And there were tears trickling down his face.
But he wiped them off quickly
With his hanky made of lace.

He said “Dear Mrs. Grow please help me.
It’s my mom’s Birthday tomorrow,
And I wanted to surprise her u see…
I wanted to give her roses…red and pretty roses,
Grown in the garden by me.

I know my mummy would have hugged me,
And would have said they were the loveliest she had ever seen.
But dear Mrs. Grow,
I am so sad.
Nothing’s worked out as I had planned!
I tended the garden,
And watered it too,
And removed all the weeds and did all I could do.
But the roses didn’t grow!!!
Dear Mrs. Grow, I’ve come to tell you of my woe.”

Dear Mrs. Grow listened to all that li’l Twit had said.
She then got up and ruffled Twit’s dark head.
“Don’t worry child, all will be fine.”
“Oh! Mrs. Grow you are so kind!”
Said Mrs. Grow, “Come with me and I’ll see what I can do “
She turned to me and said,
“You can join us too.”

All was forgotten about our treat,
As we got out into the cold, windy streets.
I felt sorry for l’il Twit and worried too,
I wondered what Mrs. Grow was up to!

We stopped outside a gate,
And looking beyond we could see,
A small cottage in dire straits,
Old and desolate but at the same time cozy.

Li’l Twit took us behind the cottage.
And we couldn’t help but stare,
The garden was totally bare!
Now I could understand l’il Twit’s plight.
But wondered what Mrs. Grow would do to make it alright.

She seemed to be looking
Up at the sky.
I tried looking too,
But nothing could be seen to my eye!

And then she muttered a few words,
Not easily to be heard.
She stood with her hands raised,
As though showering God with praise.

Suddenly I saw a shining ray of light,
Which was directed by Mrs. Grow with all her might.
And before my eyes I saw,
The most spectacular event I had ever seen!
Roses, red and pretty roses,
Sprouting from where nothing had been!!

I turned towards l’il Twit who seemed overjoyed!
He hugged Mrs. Grow and cried,
“Thanks Mrs. Grow, Thank you very much.”
And I couldn’t help saying, “Her kindness is such!”

So now my friends,
Now do you believe me?
If you don’t,
Go for yourself and see…

Visit l’il Twit’s garden,
And dig beneath.
The roses wont have any roots ,
Mrs. Grow shared this secret with me.

The roses stand,
Held by the roots of love,
All storms and gales they withstand,
All due to the magic of love.

So pass this message around-
Love is magic, love is pure.
Believe in its power,
And it will change your life for sure!