Long back, when i was still in the habit of reading vociferously, a paragraph from a Robin Cook novel, caught my fancy. My love for words and phrases and concepts expressed beautifully with language leave a mark in my memory. I scoured the internet, since i didn't quite remember the title, and finally fount it, Fever. In the prologue, he elegantly described cancer cells.
The poisonous molecules of benzene arrived in the bone marrow in a crescendo. The foreign chemical surged with the blood and was carried between the narrow spicules of supporting bone into the farthest reaches of the delicate tissue. It was like a frenzied horde of barbarians descending into Rome. And the result was equally as disastrous. The complicated nature of the marrow, designed to make most of the cellular content of the blood, succumbed to the invaders. Every cell exposed to the benzene was assaulted.
After the benzene molecules had been washed away by repeated surges of clean blood, the marrow could have recovered except for one stem cell. This cell had been busy for years turning out an impressive progeny of white blood cells whose function, ironically enough, was to help the body fight against foreign invaders. When the benzene penetrated this cell’s nucleus, it damaged a very specific part of the DNA but did not kill the cell. It would have been better if the cell had died because the benzene destroyed the fine balance between reproduction and maturation. The cell instantly divided and the resulting daughter cells had the same defect. No longer did they listen to the mysterious central control and mature into normal white blood cells. Instead they responded to an unfettered urge to reproduce their altered selves. Although they appeared to be relatively normal within the marrow, they were different from other young white blood cells. The usual surface stickiness was absent, and they absorbed nutrients at analarmingly selfish rate. .
They had become parasites within their own house.
Today when i look around me, i see something very similar. Friends, family and ordinary people, in almost every way, they look or feel not any different from me. In all respect, they look almost a very good duplicate copy. But like the story above, there is something very different in their DNA now. They have been changed into a cancerous being, like the white blood cells that were laced with benzene.
Hindutva is cancer that is spreading in India, amongst the Hindus. Claiming to be exactly the same as Hindu religion, supposedly espousing the dharma of righteousness, these cancerous beings are actually seeking the blood of other populace, be it the Muslims, Dalits or rational thinkers. Akin to the cancer cells within the human body, Hindutva supporters are multiplying at a very fast rate, virtually taking over the thinking space.
How do you cure yourself of cancer? It is a tough fight, where you have to literally sacrifice parts of your own body, even if it only provides a slightly better chance of recovery. Hindutva eradication is possibly tougher and virtually impossible. Nazi Germany had to be cleansed through a world war. Hindutva cleansing will possibly require something very similar within India. The cancer is all prevading and multiplying at a great rate. Ironic as it seems, it only fair to say "God help us!"
I am straight
I am gay
I am trans
I am les
I am homosexual
I am hetrosexual
I am black
I am white
I am woman
I am jew
I am muslim
I am christian
I am buddhist
I am hindu
I am dalit
I am brahmin
I am chinese
I am polish
I am nigerian
I am irish
I am catholic
I am sunni
I am sikh
I am poor
I am illiterate
I am underprivileged
I am ...
I am not ....
I am human
I am you
And when roles are reversed,
You are I
I am what you dont know.
I am not any different, than you.
Know me and when i know you,
We can overcome this I vs You.
Who am i? What am i? Why am i different from you? What makes me so abhoring that you cannot touch me? Why do you hate me so much that you stay away from me? We look up to the same gods, but you keep me away from them. We live together, but you build a wall to seperate me.
Why did i choose to color myself blue? Why in this sea of blue, do i find some solace? Why? Oh why? I only ask for the same dignity to life, that you grant to yourself. Grant that unto me. Jai Bhim!
Lyrics to the Song:
Adaipadum Kadhavukkul Udaipadum Uyir
Vidigindra Pozhuthilum Posungidum Uyir
Paranthidum Paravaiyum Thurathidum Uyir
Poothidum Nilathilum Nasangidum Uyir
Peigindra Mazhaiyilum Erinthidum Uyir
Sirikkindra Manitharum Veruthidum Uyir
Paarkindra Kadavulum Maranthidum Uyir
Varukindra Saavaiyum Poruthidum Uyir
Naan Yaar?
Naan Yaar? Nee Oli…
Naan Yaar? Nee Mazhai…
Naan Yaar?
Rayil Thedi Vandhu Kollum, Naan Yaar?
Pookkum Maramengum Thookkil Thongum, Naan Yaar?
Nadhiyil Sethu Meenaai Mithakkum, Naan Yaar?
Kudisaikkul Kathari Yerindha, Naan Yaar?
Ther Eradha Saamyingu, Naan Yaar?
Unkai Padaamal Thanneer Parugum, Naan Yaar?
Oor Suvarkatti Dhooram Vaikka, Naan Yaar?
Malakkuzhikkul Moochaiyadakkum, Naan Yaar?
Arasan Yendru Solvorumundu
Adimai Yendru Ninaipporumundu
Yer Piditha Vazhvum Undu
Por Seitha Kadhaiyum Undu
Marithapin Udal Engum Neelam Paravum, Naan Yaar?
Pudhaithapin Neela Kadalil Neendhum, Naan Yaar?
Meaning (Not literal, but poetic as per the lyricst)
Child rape all over the place
But Feku’s on a lala trip
Angry people the only saving grace
Tho’ Feku’s on a lala trip
His sangh shouts a god’s name
While Feku’s on a lala trip
Polarizing, its all a shame
But Feku’s on a lala trip
Shah & men execute his evil plan
With Feku on a lala trip
Usurping states, agencies they can
While Feku’s on a lala trip
Baba and Yogi running the roost
‘cause Feku’s on a lala trip
Bhakts ‘n Cows all getting a boost
While Feku’s on a lala trip
Indians now, hating each other
Divided communalized, Brother vs brother
Its becoming difficult to live on,
Blood spilling and being spilt on
Year ago he sucked out the cash
For Feku’s lil lala trip
demonetization, it left a big gash
With Feku’s lil lala trip
Was all that money we made last year
For Feku on a lala trip?
How come there ain't no money here?
Hmm! Feku’s on a lala trip
You know I just about had my fill
Of Feku and his lala trip
Maybe that’s just that magic pill
Join Feku on his lala trip
My poem, inspired and or an imiation based of the song by Gil Scott-Heron's "Whitey On The Moon". The poem or song, Whitey on the Moon, appeared in his 1970 album, in the background of the 1969 Moon landing. It attempted to characterized the achievement juxtaposed with the racial divide on the ground.
Today's India is not very different. Space Launches, IPL, Gold Medals, Thousands of Crores in Corruption, Financial Bungling, Tallest and taller Statues, and Lala Foreign Trips
Jawaharlal Nehru delivered on the night of 14th August, one of the greatest speeches of the 20th Century. I have heard parts of this many times, as they had been played on the old Doordharshan TV.
As i read it again today, i am touched by one of the architects of the Indian polity. And also saddened as we endeavour to squander it away. A nation that developed its constitution, by adopting from the many around the world, choosing the very best from each, and aptly suited to us, now seems to be consumed in a downward spiral. Pitting relgion, caste, gender and everything possible to divide the people. And instead of aspiring for higher levels of individual freedom and a superior inclusive society, we are taking away rights, considered basic civil and or human rights.
Below is the text of the speech i was able to get from the www.
Long years ago we made a tryst with destiny, and now the time comes when we shall redeem our pledge, not wholly or in full measure, but very substantially. At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom. A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new, when an age ends, and when the soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds utterance. It is fitting that at this solemn moment we take the pledge of dedication to the service of India and her people and to the still larger cause of humanity. At the dawn of history India started on her unending quest, and trackless centuries are filled with her striving and the grandeur of her success and her failures. Through good and ill fortune alike she has never lost sight of that quest or forgotten the ideals which gave her strength. We end today a period of ill fortune and India discovers herself again. The achievement we celebrate today is but a step, an opening of opportunity, to the greater triumphs and achievements that await us. Are we brave enough and wise enough to grasp this opportunity and accept the challenge of the future? Freedom and power bring responsibility. The responsibility rests upon this Assembly, a sovereign body representing the sovereign people of India. Before the birth of freedom we have endured all the pains of labour and our hearts are heavy with the memory of this sorrow. Some of those pains continue even now. Nevertheless, the past is over and it is the future that beckons to us now. That future is not one of ease or resting but of incessant striving so that we may fulfil the pledges we have so often taken and the one we shall take today. The service of India means the service of the millions who suffer. It means the ending of poverty and ignorance and disease and inequality of opportunity. The ambition of the greatest man of our generation has been to wipe every tear from every eye. That may be beyond us, but as long as there are tears and suffering, so long our work will not be over. And so we have to labour and to work, and work hard, to give reality to our dreams. Those dreams are for India, but they are also for the world, for all the nations and peoples are too closely knit together today for any one of them to imagine that it can live apart Peace has been said to be indivisible; so is freedom, so is prosperity now, and so also is disaster in this One World that can no longer be split into isolated fragments. To the people of India, whose representatives we are, we make an appeal to join us with faith and confidence in this great adventure. This is no time for petty and destructive criticism, no time for ill-will or blaming others. We have to build the noble mansion of free India where all her children may dwell. The appointed day has come—the day appointed by destiny—and India stands forth again, after long slumber and struggle, awake, vital, free and independent. The past clings on to us still in some measure and we have to do much before we redeem the pledges we have so often taken. Yet the turning-point is past, and history begins anew for us, the history which we shall live and act and others will write about. It is a fateful moment for us in India, for all Asia and for the world. A new star rises, the star of freedom in the East, a new hope comes into being, a vision long cherished materializes. May the star never set and that hope never be betrayed! We rejoice in that freedom, even though clouds surround us, and many of our people are sorrow-stricken and difficult problems encompass us. But freedom brings responsibilities and burdens and we have to face them in the spirit of a free and disciplined people. On this day our first thoughts go to the architect of this freedom, the Father of our Nation, who, embodying the old spirit of India, held aloft the torch of freedom and lighted up the darkness that surrounded us. We have often been unworthy followers of his and have strayed from his message, but not only we but succeeding generations will remember this message and bear the imprint in their hearts of this great son of India, magnificent in his faith and strength and courage and humility. We shall never allow that torch of freedom to be blown out, however high the wind or stormy the tempest. Our next thoughts must be of the unknown volunteers and soldiers of freedom who, without praise or reward, have served India even unto death. We think also of our brothers and sisters who have been cut off from us by political boundaries and who unhappily cannot share at present in the freedom that has come. They are of us and will remain of us whatever may happen, and we shall be sharers in their good [or] ill fortune alike. The future beckons to us. Whither do we go and what shall be our endeavour? To bring freedom and opportunity to the common man, to the peasants and workers of India; to fight and end poverty and ignorance and disease; to build up a prosperous, democratic and progressive nation, and to create social, economic and political institutions which will ensure justice and fullness of life to every man and woman. We have hard work ahead. There is no resting for any one of us till we redeem our pledge in full, till we make all the people of India what destiny intended them to be. We are citizens of a great country on the verge of bold advance, and we have to live up to that high standard. All of us, to whatever religion we may belong, are equally the children of India with equal rights, privileges and obligations. We cannot encourage communalism or narrow-mindedness, for no nation can be great whose people are narrow in thought or in action. To the nations and peoples of the world we send greetings and pledge ourselves to cooperate with them in furthering peace, freedom and democracy. And to India, our much-loved motherland, the ancient, the eternal and the ever-new, we pay our reverent homage and we bind ourselves afresh to her service.
Wonder if we will be able to live upto the ideals expounded here. I know many are trying. We probably need to try harder.
I recall watching the Crossfire on CNN during the early 90s, 1992 i think. There were some good moments and it served a purpose. But you have to agree with Jon Stewart, when he describes the show as a mockery of journalism.
Crossfire, and later MSNBC, and then FoxNews all took to the concept of "show", and slowly but steadily left "news" way behind. Today this has eroded TV News Journalism across the board everywhere in the world.
In India, TimesNow and a boat load of Hindi news channels have adopted the concept of "debate" shows, where less news is produced or talked about, but more noise is created to dumb down the viewer.
You see, news was and is always boring, and without of drama and punchlines would be unbearable to watch. And so enjoy the news.
I love my
country, and I am proud of its rich and varied heritage.
I shall always
strive to be worthy of it.
I shall give my parents, teachers and all
elders respect and treat everyone with courtesy.
To my country and all
my people, I pledge my devotion.
In their well being and prosperity
alone lies my happiness.
These words still ring true in my ears. But when i see what is happening now in the country. I am saddened. Deeply saddened. I wonder if the government yesterday and today realizes what they are doing to the fabric of the nation.
I have hope that we will outcome all this.
One day. Soon!
I clipped this video from NewLaundry's Clothesline program. Its a sad commentary of what news reporting has come to in India. Today the proliferation of 24x7 TV News Channels, has resulted in a dearth of quality news to report. I mean, think about, there isnt enough news in the world to keep one 24x7 channel going for a full day, and then how can it feed 20 or 100 more channels.
Well, then you begin calling each other names. Or as a shameless TV host, you let others call you names on a nationally broadcast news.
Arnab Goswami is known to make a fool of himself, and given his self-indulgent attitude, he probably practices this looking into a mirror. So, it is not unusual to find him making loud mouthed statements and drawing flak on TV. But this is new territory for Arnab himself.
You laugh, but one part of you must seriously think that this sad. Really Sad !
Bhagwan Hai Kahan Re Tu ! Hey God ! Where are you ?
If anyone has any doubts on the sincerity of this movie, and its
position about one religion or the other should listen to this song.
Hai suna ye poori dharti tu chalata hai
Meri bhi sun le araj mujhe ghar bulata hai
Bhagwan hai kahan re tu
Hey Khuda hai kahan re tu
Such a soul stirring songs, that it should remove any hatred that you might otherwise have developed (if at all) while watching the movie. Clearly people who hate this movie, havent watched it. Fake God Men are not the same a God. For that matter, even 'real' God Men are not the same as God. They are, at best, described as agents. They may do good things, they may serve the society and help rid us of evil, but that does not make them Gods to be worshiped.
But that is exactly what we human beings end up doing. We look at these messiahs and then convert them into Gods. We then look around and hurt those who dont believe in these messiahs. People who do not accept one particular messiah are considered non-believers of God! Think of the foolishness we perpetuate.
Before coming to America, i used to think that this evil division of humanity, was a facet of Indian culture. Now i understand that is an universal truth. Education has no relevance, in fact sometimes they are easier fooled than the poor ignorant masses. And we all end up fighting each other. Christianity vs Islam vs Hinduism vs Jewism vs Buddhism vs Scientology vs Atheism. Unfortunately the people who get hurt are Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Jews, Buddhists, Scientologists, Atheists etc. More so the commom folks, who are simply happy worshiping anyone who would deliver to them of their daily bread.
Amma is in jail now. While all the crocodile tears are being shed by her sycophants, its clear that these creatures are probably the most happiest to see her in a confined space.
As part of the Swachh Bharat, it would be nice if the cleanup continued and threw the K-Company crew also into jail soon.
Between the two, my sympathies and support are with Jaya. However, that is no excuse to diminish the punishment. If anything at all, it is far delayed, and far too small a deterrence for the people in high places.
I wish the law would know turn its wheels much faster and quickly wrap up the 2G, BSNL & Aircel-Maxis scams. All said and done, we are so quick to turn politicians into demi-gods (like Modi now), and then soon let them fry in boiling oil in hell, but the money-men and industrialists who fund and finance these are never touched and almost always get away scot-free. Why ? The 2G scam reeks from the foul smell of Reliance, Tata and Airtel, all now dissolved and mostly forgotten in the gray matter we call 'broadcast news'. The Nira Radia tapes also show a conspiracy to appoint a Communications Ministers of someone's liking. Nira is in and out of prison, but others who were talking to her; life goes on.
Praying and hoping for a Swachh Bharat !
In a land (atleast on TV 24x7 News and print media), where people are so used to venerating Narayana Murthy for his ideals and accomplishments, it is difficult to find a dissenting or better yet a sane voice. So it was refreshing to read this piece in The Hindu, recently.
Anything i add to this, will take away its color and disposition. It is best read without my commentary or anyone else's. Form your own. Think tho ' !
The Murthys and the Maoists
Harish Khare
Between the relentless demands of corporate leaders and the capacity of
the underclass to match the state’s violence, India needs a vision for
itself that is morally defensible
In the first week of 2011, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh allowed
himself to be persuaded to accept N.R. Narayana Murthy’s invitation to
travel to Mumbai to preside over a function to give away the Infosys
Social Science Prizes. The Prime Minister even agreed to attend a
dinner that Mr. Murthy wanted to host in his honour after the function
at the Taj Mahal Hotel. So far so good. A few days before the event,
there was a massive behind-the-scenes dust up between the Prime
Minister’s staff and Mr. Murthy. The rub was that Mr. Murthy thought
that since he was paying for the dinner, he had a right to dictate not
only the guest list but even the seating arrangement. However, there is
something called protocol and the dignity of constitutional offices. If
the Governor and the Chief Minister of Maharashtra were to be at the
dinner, they had to necessarily be seated on either side of the Prime
Minister, whereas the host thought he ought to be sitting next to Dr.
Singh. Mr. Murthy, however, was not one to be so easily rebuffed. As
soon as the first course was served, he sought to convert the evening
into a grand intellectual conversation and proceeded to invite his son
to open the bowling. And the young son wanted to know from the Prime
Minister what the government proposed to do so that young men like him
could come back to India.
All this is recalled because the young man is now back in India, as
executive assistant to his father, who in turn has allowed himself to
be persuaded to take charge of Infosys again. Nepotism, did you say?
No; no sir. A private company is free to hire anyone. Fair enough, but
not exactly.
Mr. Murthy is not just a private businessman, minding his own business.
He has often sought to inject himself into the public domain, telling a
thing or two to the political class about how to behave. He has been
serenaded as an “iconic” entrepreneur. During the heyday of civil
society triumphalism two years ago, there was even a suggestion that
Mr. Murthy be made President of India. That was the time when India’s
corporate leaders thought they had the ethical credentials to write
open letters to the Prime Minister and preach virtues of good
governance.
Like other corporate leaders, the Murthys, father and son, represent an
unrepentant ideological approach to the Indian state, its morals,
manners and policies and purpose, but they are not the only ones to do
so. The Maoists — who once again made their presence felt last month
when they massacred the Congress top political leadership in
Chhattisgarh — too have a list of ideological claims of their own on
the Indian state. Both groups are relentless; both are unforgiving.
The May 25 attack was the boldest ideological challenge that the
Maoists have posed to the country’s political leadership. Violence
makes a demand on all stakeholders. It was no surprise, then, that as
soon as news trickled in of the attack on the Congress convoy in
Bastar, the party’s vice-president, Rahul Gandhi, should have taken off
for Raipur. It was a commendable journey of political solidarity. It
would be interesting to find out if the bloody massacre in Sukma has
helped Mr. Gandhi re-set his ideological compass.
Let it be recalled that this is the same Mr. Gandhi who had allowed
himself to be persuaded in August 2010 to travel to the Niyamgiri Hills
in Orissa, where he told the adivasis that he was their “sipahi,” or
soldier in Delhi. Only two days before that visit, the Central
government had pointedly withdrawn environmental permission to the
Vedanta Group to mine the area for bauxite. For good measure, the young
Gandhi had proclaimed that development meant that “every voice,
including that of the poor and adivasis, should be heard.” It would be
nice to know if Mr. Gandhi has resolved his ideological equivocations
in the aftermath of the Chhattisgarh violence.
For two decades the Indian political class has gone about believing
that “development” and “growth” are innocuous and painless. The
prevailing orthodoxy insists that the Indian state has one and only one
business: to get out of the businessman’s way. There is an
unwillingness to acknowledge the basic nature of power: irrespective of
its political arrangement, every society plays host to a ceaseless
struggle over who gains what at whose expense. Growth and development
invariably produce dislocation and dispossession. Good politics in a
democratic idiom can go a long way in ameliorating the alienation and
anger.
Pro-poor initiatives
The UPA’s approach has been to let the corporate marauders run amok
while salving its democratic conscience with a slew of pro-poor, aam
aadmi-centric initiatives. In the process, for the past nine years, the
country has periodically been treated to a mock controversy over
whether Sonia Gandhi’s National Advisory Council was usurping the
government’s space and prerogatives, or, when this or that NAC member
walks out in a huff, whether the government is not being sufficiently
pro-poor. The UPA’s approach neither mollifies the corporate buccaneers
nor satisfies the poor and the disadvantaged.
The corporates, however, have sized up the divided political leadership
across the spectrum. They have finessed their tactics. If a government
is slow to give them the policy breaks that they demand, the democratic
space and its anarchic habits will be creatively used to unleash civil
unrest on this or that pretext. There is always the age old anger
against “corruption” to be tapped. And, as it were, one can always rely
on an auditor or a judge to step in to divert attention away from
corporate misdemeanours of the most serious kind.
Pincer movement
No wonder, then, that the Indian state is caught in a pincer movement.
From one side, the ideologues and practitioners of “growth” are
unrelenting in their insistence that the country’s natural resources
and citizens’ savings be made available to them for exploitation; and,
from the other direction, the state is confronted by a vast underclass
that is unwilling to see any reason to sacrifice its land and forests
so that some others can enjoy the benefit of “progress.” Just as the
corporates have served sufficient notice that they have no qualms in
taking the state on and causing misery to its political functionaries,
the underclass, too, is willing to match the state’s capacity for
violence, bullet for bullet.
Both the Murthys and the Maoists are forcing the Indian state to take a
stand. For too long, the Indian political leadership has refused to
confront the Grand Conundrum: for whom does the state exist, whom does
the state seek to reward and whom does it strive to protect against
whom. The UPA leadership has neither the appetite for a brutal
repression of the angry tribal, nor is it likely to be able to lure the
Naxalites into a democratic engagement without a demonstrable capacity
to stand up to corporate greed. A kind of alternative arrangement is
already on the drawing board: the Gujarat model of no dissent, no trade
unions, no civil society, no Medha Patkar, no tribal resistance, no
protests.
The great sociologist, Edward Shils, once observed that every society
needs grandiose visions and austere standards; the political and
intellectual leadership is obliged to prod society to its own
historical ideals — “elements which must be recurrently realized
without even being definitively realizable, once and for all.” Perhaps
we should be thankful that both the Murthys and the Maoists are
inviting us to find a vision for India that is morally defensible.
(Harish Khare is a senior journalist and a
former media adviser to
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh)
Reproduced faithfully from The Hindu, Opinion pages, dated Jun 6th, 2013.
To get the real answer to this question, all you have to do is watch TV in the wee hours of the morning or night.
And here is what i found.
I am the fairest of them all. See all the girls in my college are dying to tie a friendship band.
It wasnt all this good before. They wouldnt even look at me. And thats because.....
Ya! Thats me !! The same me. Except i am darker. Almost black. Like a different race.
I found the magic, in "FairLook". Its simply some liquid in bottle, that can be applied on my face.
After few days. Just few days. Well i know people have different perceptions of 'few'. But trust me this is few. My face turns white in these few days. However my hands, particularly fingers take a little longer.
See! Now i am all white, a whole different race. My fingers have also turned white. It required a towel.
Well. Some few patches will remain. Just wipe harder with a towel. It will go away.
India is probably the largest market to products that promise a miracle, like this one. Turn a person with a black complexion to white. Micheal Jackson wasted those millions of dollars, injecting poison and other crap to pale out his skin. Poor fellow, may his soul rest in peace now. But products like FairLook are boon from the heavens, it would solved the whole problem of apartheid in South Africa and addressed racism issues in US easily.
Whew!! Now that the elections are over, we can rest in peace. We (the voters) have done our duty. Over 70% came out to cast their votes. Like we do regularly we have shown that we still believe in an outdated system, and repeatedly cast our ballot in the name of hope.
Devil and the Deep Sea Our choices are limited. The one that served its tenure is usually a devil, and the incoming regime, is as unfathomable as the deep sea. We only seem clear that we want someone out of the system, and unsure who we want in.
I guess, given the options we have in front of us, we really dont have the luxury of choice. Not completely true, given that the ballot paper is usually long in every single constituency. Inspite of all this we still end up choosing the same options, we have tried and tired off from before.
Middle Finger. No just Almost !
Hiding it, wanted this badly !
We need to break out from this mold. The answer to this question is on everyone's mind. Many of us educated who are still willing to brave the election day, and cast our vote, do so, only to keep our conscious clean.
So many action forums, fasts, morcha, candle lighting sessions, and capturing the mind of the TV goers, but unable to convert these into a winning combination. And people like us are unwilling to take the risk and waste our votes. And each vote, we try to save, we end up offering to the devil or leap into the deep sea.
Looking forward to the elections in Delhi and the showing of Aam Aadmi Party. Wishing them luck, but more importantly wishing me and wishing us luck.
