Windmills of My Mind: An Important Survey

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Sunday, May 31, 2009

An Important Survey

Romulus and Remus are said to be the twin sons of the Vestal Virgin, fathered by Mars, the god of war. Romulus slew Remus over a dispute about which one of the two brothers had the support of the local deities to rule the new city-state and gave it his name.

As part of our Rewriting History Project, a modernized version of the legend is being considered for inclusion in the Pak Studies Textbooks being prepared for 2010 and, in the interests of our ~~commitment to~~ flirtation with Democracy, a survey is being conducted by the Ministry of ~~Indoctrination~~ Education. Your participation will be appreciated.

You are requested to respond to all 3 items from Section A and at least 1 from Section B.

Section A

1. In the above image, which one is Romulus?

2. Name the local deities who, you think, supported Romulus

3. Who do you think Mars refers to?

Section B

1. Do you think Mars fathered the children against the Vestal Virgin's will?

2. Was the Vestal Virgin, herself, immaculately conceived?

Labels: Activism, Education, Pakistan, Politics, Rant

2 Comments:

Fawad Zakariya said...

Section A
1. Fundamentalism
2. Jamaat-e-Islami, feudal / bureaucratic establishment
3. Afwaj-e-Pakistan

Section B
1. Like many illicit dalliances, the vestal virgin was often a willing partner but periodically recoiled in horror at what the liaison had wrought and wanted to break things off. However overtime, during the break ups, Mars always started to look more and more handsome and so full of promise compared with all those bereft of the shiny sword.
2. The Vestal Virgin herself was not immaculately conceived but it was an unplanned pregnancy. A failure of birth control.

02 June, 2009 22:31

Sidhusaaheb said...

haar-haar-haar-de-haar... :D

22 June, 2009 03:45

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Three passions, simple but overwhelmingly strong, have governed my life: the longing for love, the search for knowledge, and unbearable pity for the suffering of mankind.

These passions, like great winds, have blown me hither and thither, in a wayward course, over a deep ocean of anguish, reaching to the very verge of despair.

I have sought love, first, because it brings ecstasy - ecstasy so great that I would often have scrificed all the rest of life for a few hours of this joy. I have sought it, next, because it relieves loneliness - that terrible loneliness in which one shivering consciousness looks over the rim of the world into the cold unfathomable lifeless abyss. I have sought it, finally, because in the union of love I have seen, in a mystic miniature, the prefiguring vision of the heaven that the saints and poets have imagined. This is what I sought and, though it might seem too good for human life, this is what - at last - I have found.

With equal passion I have sought knowledge. I have wished to understand the hearts of men. I have wished to know why the stars shine. And I have tried to apprehend the Pythagorean power by which number holds sway above the flux. A little of this, but not much, I have achieved.

Love and knowledge, so far as they were possible, led upward toward the heavens. But always pity brought me to earth. Echoes of cries of pain reverberate in my heart. Children in famine, victims tortured by oppressors, helpless old people a hated burden to their sons, and the whole world of loneliness, poverty, and pain make a mockery of what human life should be. I long to alleviate the evil, but I cannot, and I too suffer.

This has been my life. I have found it worth living, and would gladly live it again if the chance were offered me.

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Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible without surrender be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are vexations to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain and bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself. Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.

Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time. Exercise caution in your business affairs; for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals; and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself. Especially, do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness. Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself.

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Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be, and whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.

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