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Anna Hazare never had political ambitions but someone is guiding him towards it, Maharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Chavan has said.

“He was reasonable, worked within the system. I don’t know what has happened now. He never previously had political ambitions,” Chavan said in an interview to TV channel.

“Definitely someone is guiding him towards political ambitions,” the channel quoted Chavan as saying in a press release.

Isn’t it amusing how a politician thinks there is something suspicious about someone else taking part in politics?

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Meanwhile in America, Presidential races are turning into a who-is-more-of-an-outsider-to-politics (that implies who-is-least-experienced) race.

The most recent episode of The Dewarists featured bands Parikrama and Agni with singer Shilpa Rao. (Shilpa Rao is the voice of Ek Lau from Aamir.)

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The Dewarists has cracked the Coke Studio formula that India has been trying for so long (and failing with Coke Studio at MTV and MTV Unplugged India). This one just works.

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I didn’t like the music in this episode. You may well disagree; it is a matter of taste. The reason this episode is special to me is it was shot in and around Pune. You will see the beauty of the Western Ghats (known in Maharashtra as the Sahyadris) in the monsoons. These are the mountains where I took baby steps in trekking and backpacking. This was a mere 4 years ago although it feels like–and it has been in several ways–a lifetime since then.

Even today, I count Sahyadris in the monsoons as one of the most unforgettable and peaceful places I have been to (and I’ve been around a bit).

I vividly recall one trek from those days: Torna to Raigad. Sitting somewhere in my drafts folder is a half-written post about the trek. I do not think it will ever be completed. You may see its photographs for now. While the mountains are as soothing as ever, the photographs and captions embarrass me now; I had to change a few its to it’s before sharing the link. For me, it is a snapshot in time.

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Orissa has been renamed Odisha after President Pratibha Patil approved the State Assembly’s 2008 resolution.

Even reacting to name changes now sounds banal.

Scott Adams:

I’ve always felt that the best balance for happiness is to make sure you’re near the top of at least one reference group in your life. In other words, be great at one thing, even if it’s just a hobby. Any type of success can provide a psychological safe harbor when everything else goes to hell. And success breeds confidence that can help you power through the harder challenges.

To that I’ll add: Keep a backup. You don’t want to be good at hiking all your life, then pick up an injury that doesn’t allow you to hike and feel like a loser. In the best case scenario, let your activities use different parts of your body and/or brain.

Or whatever works for you. I prefer not to be associated with just one thing.

There is more to Afghanistan than terrorists and bombs, much more. The country has been in the daily news for over 10 years now. Yet, this is the first time I’m seeing this other side:

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Every landscape is reminiscent of Ladakh. And it’s not by coincidence: the Hindu Kush mountains of northern Afghanistan are the western branch of the Karakoram range in Ladakh. High altitude desert plains and harsh weather are common. As are handsome men and beautiful women.

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Hold that chest-swelling over Hindu Kush for a moment. Here is its etymology:

Encyclopedia Americana comments on the Hindu Kush as follows:

The name Hindu Kush means literally ‘Kills the Hindu’, a reminder of the days when (Hindu) slaves from the Indian subcontinent died in the harsh weather typical of the Afghan mountains while being transported to the Muslim courts of Central Asia.

Not a proud moment now, is it?

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In a parallel universe, I’m making plans to hike in northern Afghanistan and northern Pakistan as we speak.

I’m hoping you haven’t forgotten that the earth be facing frequent solar flares in 2012. The sun shot off a powerful flare yesterday from a region that is notorious for flares. It wasn’t facing the earth so we were safe. However, the earth will be facing this very region in five days time, for two whole weeks. Hang tight.

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Oh and the flare was gorgeous!

Every year thousands of gay kids are bullied in schools just for being gay. It led to Dan Savage starting the well-known It Gets Better campaign.

Today Michigan state senate passed an anti-bullying bill. The caveat?

The Michigan state Senate on Wednesday passed the “Matt’s Safe School Law,” an anti-bullying bill that contained a last minute addition by senate Republicans that essentially nullified the bill by allowing an exception to the law for “a sincerely held religious belief or moral conviction of a school employee, school volunteer, pupil, or a pupil’s parent or guardian.”

(The bill is pending approval in the Republican-led house.)

This is a deeply flawed bill and I cannot decouple the flaw from the religious beliefs of Michigan’s senators. It says you can bully a gay teen if your religion taught you homosexuality is wrong — which I’d wager a majority of religious people believe and a majority of the population is religious. It will take the death of another teen due to this loophole and/or national outrage to correct this blunder. I’m not very hopeful for this is the crazy wing of the Republican party.

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If you’re religious, do you see now why atheists outrage at the very mention of religion? Religion makes people unaware of the crazy things they’re doing. At the very least, religious people have to stop righteously controlling other people’s lives and infringing upon their rights. Beyond that, nobody cares whom you pray to. Really.

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OR if you are religious, how do you propose one must reach out to such lawmakers/citizens?

This question is like those signals SETI sends into deep space. I don’t expect an answer — it has been suggested to me that I might have scared religious readers long ago.