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Editorial
Volume 1 | Issue 3 | October 2006 | 









Editorial
 

From the ruins of war

I write this editorial note with self contempt. I am part of the so-called humanity which has founded its civilization on the philosophy of extermination! And I am all the more unhappy because on this day when the Israeli forces are said to have begun cease-fire, they hit human agglomeration in Lebanon as predefined targets. God knows why man does this to man. Cities after cities have become morsels of debris in Lebanon. Beirut, Sidon, Tyre, Byblos etc are converted into ruins. Rains of bombs and ruinations have made the places uninhabitable for at least decades to come. I have added a few pictures from the debris and ruins of Lebanon. And the people of Phoenicia have been suffering this for the last nearly four thousand years. They were fighting, robbing others and marketing what they got, the Phoenicians were in ancient times!. It was through Byblos that papyrus leaves were sold and bought; it is thus book got its name Bible; it is from this, the name of the Holy book, which even George Bush claims to follow, originated. Very often history is a funny affair. It will be certainly funny for those who claim that history has ended, civilization has ended. The Jews of Israel want to exterminate the Palestinians that had been inhabiting their land for more than many thousands of years. A skirted woman called Condoleezza Rice is readily willing to support the aggressors. The audacity to declare that it is unwise to ask a winning country to cease fire is a novel diplomacy. But the lady is ignorant of the fact that there are millions in the world who could not digest this diplomacy. The lesson from this is that the US diplomacy is still immaturely skirtish. The western powers captured Jerusalem from its natural people and gave it to Jews who put a claim on it just on the ground of a religion. And funny again, they shed tears and bombs on innocent people on grounds of democracy when it suits them. The famous Malayalam poet Vyloppilly had, in the wake of Suez war, written his poem “Two Winds”. He asked in the poem:

Do they smell the blood of hundreds of innocent men?
Do they chant the story of cruel, inhuman attacks?
And now tell me, Mr. or Mrs. Something, what do we smell, blood or burning corpse?

The sad aspect is that terror does not end terror. We are unable to learn this lesson. Killing people from behind is not bravery; still it is killing. Is not war the most terrific crime? Why do the innocent young men of the United States get killed in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere? And why do they kill in places where they have not even a border? This is globalization of death and destruction. This is defrontierization of cultures! Why do the Israelis get killed in Lebanon and kill hundreds of thousands? Or is it that what Vaikkom Mohammed Basheer has said is true: There has always been war, now there is war and then in future too there will be war! If it is so, why was man evolved?

When will we see the doves of peace in stead of corpse eating eagles? How do we regain peace in Mumbai and other Indian cities? When will we be able to travel in trains and planes without fear and hold our heads high with the glee that we are part of humanity? When could we write the song of immortal unity of mankind in prose and verse without fear or scare, in blogs or webs?

This issue

This third issue of thanalonline prospers with abundance of poetry. A number of nationals have contributed their poems to thanalonline with love and a sense of cooperation. Many contacted me offering to help with their writings. The main feature this time is an interview with Blaga Dimitrova’s poetry by Farideh Hasanzadeh (Anahita Irani). The former was a Bulgarian poet who died of Apolepsy in May 2003. The latter is one of the most read poets of Iran. She had translated Blaga into the Persian language. This interview is not with the poet, but with poetry. Perhaps it is the first of its kind ever written. Farideh has been kind enough to contribute this piece of artistic interview , besides a telling poem, revealing her outlook and vision. Fide Erken and Uzeyir Lakmen Caycee, dimitris P. Kraniotis, George Trialonis, Steven Manchester, Agro Spier, Ananya Guha, Joneve McCormick are all contributors in this issue. Poems have poured in from several continents. I hope, had I been able to rise to the level of expectations that my writers posit in me!

This time the editor’s choice includes Gandhi by Joneve McCormick and Naughty Love by fide Erken.

The existence of thanalonline.com

The site will certainly survive the financial adversities; what after all is required to publish a web magazine? Still, I would solicit financial assistance from well-wishers and advertisers so that it will not become a heavy burden on my dearly meager incomes. It is hard earned money; pension, income from a few classes, and a bare minimum level of remunerations to writings!

The comments from readers are welcome to editor@thanalonline.com, cpaboobacker@gmail.com, cpaboobacker@thanalonline.com, http://cpaboobacker.blogspot.com/ and http://thanalonline.blogspot.com/


C.P.Aboobacker, Editor


 
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