And now after three and half years in Mu Sigma

When I joined Mu Sigma three and half years back (yes you read the numbers right), these were my thoughts:

 - I am in a good place with good people
 - I like maths (not sure about love part) but they also ask me to code
 - Man! this is too hectic, I don't know if I could survive
 - There's too much expectation, they raise the bar everytime, i don't know if I can cope up
 - I am shy, not too outspoken, I don't know if I could live with this here
 - Kolkata! I love my place....I can't be far away from it for a very long time

But guess what Mu SIgma accepted me the way I am and I reciprocated the same...
19th December, 2014 I got a mail and read this and asked my team to read to be sure of:

"It gives me great pleasure in informing you that you have been promoted to the role of Associate Manager"...

Yes, I am unable to believe it still...the three and half year journey reverberates in my subconscious mind....

All praise to almighty Allah, I feel happy and I want to share my happiness with you...Knowingly or unknowingly your prayers are with me and it works... Khair to everyone!!!! :)
 

In search for shacks

Prologue

It was 11 PM 1st October...

Hemant: Hey guys! We should be leaving at 4. Shaimoon meet us outside Shantiniketan. Saad will be with me
Shaimoon: From Shantiniketan we will go to Hoodi to pick Tanzeel, Naser and Sajid and then proceed to Tin factory to pick Vishwanath and Vipin

3.30 AM 2nd October

Vipin: F*#@ yaar! I didn't sleep
Shaimoon: You won't ride so don't worry. Even I didn't sleep, had work. I have started to pack now, will be half an hour late....

1st day:

And hence it started. We all converged at KR Puram railway station at 5.45 AM. Sun had started to shower it's sunlight and we had started to give each other our company for the next 5 days which could be the unique 5 days that will be remembered for a very long time.

Leaving the city didn't took much time, we crossed Nice road and we were on the highway. Testing the speed of our bikes and the smoothness of the road we went from places to places crossing many cities and rivers in between. Stopping only when Vipin was about to fall due to the insomnia he had last night. We stopped for breakfast at the foothills probably of western ghats. Puri Saagu was the only meal present and we had it to our hearts (+ stomach) content. We were about to enter the western ghats and we were sure that we won't be getting anything else for at least a couple of hours, a glass full of Mosambi juice gave us hope and we started to meander into the ghat. Waterfalls, river flowing by the valley, the ups and downs were the enjoyable experience.

Riding behind the driver gave me a chance to look around and not to my surprise I saw many Masjids on the way to Mangalore and with striking combination of color green and white they all seem to be similar. By time we reached Mangalore it was already sunset and there was no hope left to go to the beach. We took rooms, gave ourselves time to relax and enjoy the moment. After the dinner we went around the city, couldn't find the beach, came back and crowded the CCD near our hotel till 1.30 AM.

Could only find the local version of Coca Cola

2nd day:

It was Friday and we planned to reach Gokarna by evening. On the way highway after Surathkal we saw a paused for some time for the Friday prayer. Don't the exact name but the locals there were very hospitable. We weren't foreigners but we were given look of some outsiders because of our dresses and luggages. A local family invited us for cold drinks and lunch which was awesome. We took off from there and proceeded to our destination as planned.

It was almost 1 and a half day and we hadn't yet seen the sea. Around 3 PM we were in for a surprise. It was Maravanthe a place were you can see sea and river together with only a road separating these two, a pleasing sight to say the least. Rain and road on the hills pushed us behind schedule. We could manage to reach Bhatkal at around 6 PM and Murdeshwar at around 8 PM. We were hungry as wolves and devoured all that were there in a small fast food restaurant in a local area in Murdeshwar. In doing so we totally forgot the plan and the timing that we needed to stick to. At Gokarna at around 12 at night we were left homeless on the beach. All the hotels had full occupancy and we were nowhere to go after day full of travelling we needed rest. Eyelids were dropping but we couldn't find a shack. We searched the localities in Gokarna, they too didn't entertian us. It was a tragedy although we were told of shacks, dolphins and beautiful Om beach by Vipin and all we could find a sleepy town and hear noisy waves while standing on top of the hills. Reluctantly we reached a dhaaba on the highway, undecided what to do next. There we ate bread omlette and decided we will rest in Ankola and come back next morning to Gokarna. And you know what Ankola too didn't had anything for us. It is said that a plan which is unplanned is the best plan, Gokarna and Ankola had a plan that we didn't think about at first place. A ride to Goa! And we took off.

Masjid were we offered our Friday prayer

Kids outside the Majid

Finally the western shore

Locals who invited us

Maravanthe beach

3rd day

All of us were tired except Shaimoon because he belongs to the same species as Batman. He rode continuously for 2 days, eating and sleeping as less as possible but no hint of tiredness were to be seen on his face. Saad had the pleasure to change his position from pillion to rider. Naser sitting behind him had a tough time as Saad took turns at 80 kph. On the way we crossed a scenic town Karawar in north Karnataka, the last town before Goa. Within no time we were in Goa and with no extra energy to go further we decided we will stop at the first beach we see on the map and it was Palolem beach which was a decent one but the problem was to get a resting place. After few searches and waits we got a not so decent place where we had to accommodate 4 in one room. One thing worth mentioning here would be that we saw a school of dolphins in the sea which was a unique experience.

Crossing Karawar - hills cut to make the road

Hemant at Palolem beach

4th day

We said goodbye to Goa and met with other group of bikers from Pune and Belgaum. We traced back the same road we came crossing Karawar once again but this time in daylight which made it look all the more beautiful. We visited a warship museum that was placed near the sea. After much traveling we stopped for a stomach full lunch at Honnavar. From there to Jog falls was ride of almost couple of hours. The road was a bikers paradise with no potholes or undulations whatsoever. The pathway that lead to Jog falls had a mesmerizing views. It was that time of the year when there were not much water in the fall. But it was the thing of beauty that would make anyone appreciate Almighty's creations.

We had already learnt form our experience in Gokarna and this time we didn't want to be homeless so a 3 bedroom was already booked at Shimoga. A drizzle on the way made the travel more beautiful.

From left to right - Shaimoon, Hemant, Me, Sajid, Vipin, Naser and Vipin. Saad was the photgrapher

Saad and others

Jog Falls

5th day

It was Eid day. Any place away from home is any other place. So for me it didn't matter if I was in Bangalore or in Shimoga but the adventure of celebrating Eid in a total strange place was coming true. I woke up early morning and went out to see where are the people moving to know where is the Eidgah. Came back with some news, got ready and went towards the Eidgah with others. Mysorepak along with with local biryani and customary calls to families and friends made my Eid that day. It was midday and it was time to go back. A ride of 300 kms was still be to completed. We met with heavy rain, water logging and traffic jam due to the fallen trees on the highway. The meal of the day was still to be taken and it was at Tumkur were we took a last big break. A dhaba with hot maggie and tea inside and slight drizzle outside made our last day of the adventure a moment to remember. Hemant's papa poka pant (don't know what it means) was the reason for our laughter. We took speed once we touched the highway and in no time we were in the city. It was around 12 in the night when we were at our places, Bangalore was shivering as it had experienced rain in the past couple of days.

On the way to Eidgah

Mutton biryani and chicken kebabs

Hemant with papa poko pants

For me the journey was full of visiting new places of worship, went to many Majsids, offered Namaz on the highway and near the flowing river, celebrated Eid in total strange land. Never had I covered 1350+ km by road in 5 days, our bike touched 110 kph, met with 3 seasons within 2 hours, etc. etc.

Our route followed the path as like this:
Bangalore - Hassan - Sakleshpur - Mangalore - Surathkal - Udupi - Maravanthe Beach - Bhatkal - Murudeshwar - Honnavar - Gokarna - Ankola - Karwar - Canacona - Palolem Beach - Gersoppa - Jog Falls - Sagar - Shimoga - Bhadravati - Tiptur - Tumkur - Bangalore.

Some of the posts that were put up by us:

“Travel makes one modest. You see what a tiny place you occupy in the world.”

Something that will make me proud till the day I live!..
Everyday came with new set of unexpected challenges...
and we just Rode and rode and rode.. 
From Mountains to jungles to coasts....
Felt like the Hobbits for a moment....
‪#‎LivedMyDream‬

Some beautiful paths can't be discovered without getting lost.

What is wrong with Israel?

Someone had the courage. I found this answer on Quora.

So, I've noticed that a couple of the other answers here allege that the Arab-Israeli conflict is easy to explain because the only reason it exists is that "the Arabs want to kill all the Jews."

What a load of complete and utter drivel. 

A Relatively Brief Introduction to the Arab-Israeli Conflict

In order to have even a basic understanding the Jewish-Arab conflict, and the resulting Israeli-Palestinian conflict, we have to jump back about 150 years, so bear with me.

The formation of Israel was founded in Zionism, a movement that called for the formation of a homeland for all Jews (i.e. a return to Zion) so that Jews would have a place of their own where they could avoid being persecuted. During the mid-to-late 19th century, Zionists purchased plots of land within Palestine and, after a few failed attempts at creating settlements, succeeded in prompting the First Aliyah ("rising" or "ascension") where Jews began to immigrate to Palestine in larger numbers in 1882. Initially, Zionism was seen as a radical ideology even within the Jewish community, but as anti-semitism grew in Russia and Europe, it became a much more popular notion. 

It is really important to understand the system of land ownership in Palestine at this time :

“[The Ottoman Land Code of 1858] required the registration in the name of individual owners of agricultural land, most of which had never previously been registered and which had formerly been treated according to traditional forms of land tenure, in the hill areas of Palestine generally masha’a, or communal usufruct. The new law meant that for the first time a peasant could be deprived not of title to his land, which he had rarely held before, but rather of the right to live on it, cultivate it and pass it on to his heirs, which had formerly been inalienable...Under the provisions of the 1858 law, communal rights of tenure were often ignored...Instead, members of the upper classes, adept at manipulating or circumventing the legal process, registered large areas of land as theirs...The fellahin [peasants] naturally considered the land to be theirs, and often discovered that they had ceased to be the legal owners only when the land was sold to Jewish settlers by an absentee landlord...Not only was the land being purchased; its Arab cultivators were being dispossessed and replaced by foreigners who had overt political objectives in Palestine.” (Rashid Khalidi, “Blaming The Victims,” ed. Said and Hitchens)

That is, while the process of buying this land was technically legal, it was not done by negotiation between the prospective owners and the inhabitants, but rather through negotiation with other entities who had claimed the land as theirs thanks to newly-formed legal loopholes, with the intent of selling it for a profit. 

As the number of Jewish settlers increased, Palestinians became increasingly uncomfortable with being evicted from their farms and began to consider Zionist ambitions a threat. They filed complaints with the Ottoman authorities, who consequently banned all land sales to foreigners in 1892. 

In 1903, the British government issued the Balfour Declaration, establishing the government's support for a Jewish homeland in the Palestinian mandate. By 1914, the Jewish population in Palestine had risen to over 60,000. In 1922, The League of Nations adopted the declaration and gave Britain the Palestinian mandate to use as a Jewish national home. Another 90,000 Jews immigrated to Israel between 1919 and 1926 in reaction to growing anti-semitism. 

By this point, there had been several Arab riots in reaction to the growing Jewish population, as many Palestinians were now displaced or landless due to the selling of their land by feudal landlords. These riots included the Jaffa riots, the 1929 Palestine riots, and the 1929 Hebron massacre.

Death toll in 1929: Israelis - 317, Palestinians - 203

Hitler came to power in 1933 and enacted a number of anti-semitic laws shortly thereafter, creating a wave of stateless Jewish refugees who were searching for a new home. However, Britain had recently implemented the White Paper of 1939, which had restricted the immigration of Jews into the Palestinian mandate. The Jews who did try to enter Palestine were intercepted by British authorities and imprisoned/detained. In reaction to the public backlash, Britain handed the situation off to the newly formed United Nations.

# these short paragraphs hardly do justice to the political intricacies
# of each of these conflicts, but this answer is already going to be 
# hella long anyways, so please forgive my brevity.

1936–39 Arab revolt in Palestine 

Meanwhile, between 1933 and 1936, more than 164,000 Jewish immigrants had come to Palestine, bringing the total Jewish population up to 370,000 people, or 27% of the total population. By 1936, the Palestinian farmers who had been displaced by Jewish immigrants, now jobless and landless, had begun to join militant organizations. Palestinian national sentiments had also increased sharply in reaction to the Jewish nationalists now residing on their land. The militant groups comprised mostly of these displaced farmers attempted various levels of revolt over the next two years, but they ultimately failed.

Death toll in 1939: Jews/Israelis - 732, Arabs/Palestinians - 5,203

In 1947, the United Nations Special Committee on Palestine was formed to address the question of a Jewish homeland in the Palestinian mandate. On November 29th, 1947, the committee recommended the adoption of the partition plan that would divide the Palestinian mandate 55/45 in favor of the Israelis. 

1948 Palestine war 

The Arab states rejected the UN proposal, instead calling for the removal of Jewish settlers from the region. Fighting began directly after the proposal was approved. This war included the Deir Yassin massacre, in which Zionist paramilitary forces attacked an Arab village, killing between 100 and 250 civilian men, women, and children. After the war, Israel had expanded well beyond its assigned borders, now claiming 78% of the Palestinian mandate. Jordan occupied and annexed the West Bank and Egypt took control of the Gaza Strip.

On May 14th, 1948, David Ben-Gurion proclaimed Israel an established state. 

Around 700,000 Palestinians fled or were expelled from their land, many forced to leave the country altogether. Most of them, or their descendants, are still living in refugee camps today. Around 856,000 Jews were displaced from the surrounding Arab countries during this time, as well. 260,000 of them had reached Israel by 1951, and 600,000 had done so by 1972.
  
Death toll in 1948: Jews/Israelis - 7,105, Arabs/Palestinians - 15,203

In 1959, Fatah was founded by refugees in Gaza. In 1964, the Palestine Liberation Organization was founded at the Arab League Summit, and Fatah joined, becoming the PLO's largest member group. 

Six-Day War 

In 1967, Israel decided that "the best defense is a good offense" and launched surprise attacks on Egyptian air-fields (in response to the mobilization of Egyptian troops due to faulty intelligence reports given to Egypt by Russia). God, politics are messy. The resulting war was fought between Israel, Egypt, Syria, and Jordan from the 5th through the 10th of June. At the end of the war, Israel had seized Gaza, the West Bank, the Golan Heights, and the Sinai Peninsula. 

Shortly after the war ended, Israel decided that it would return the Sinai Peninsula and Golan Heights in exchange for peace with Egypt and Syria, respectively. 

Death toll in 1967: Jews/Israelis - 8,112, Arabs/Palestinians - 36,503

War of Attrition 

Egypt wasn't as keen on the land-for-peace deal as Israel was (at least in the beginning). Hostilities between Egypt and Israel resumed in mid-July. Golda Meir, Israel's Prime Minister, decided that the proper way to go about any sort of conflict was through an "asymmetrical response", a policy that Israel seems to stand by to this day.  Hostilities continued until 1970, when a ceasefire was agreed upon.

Death toll in 1970: Jews/Israelis - 9,536, Arabs/Palestinians - 41,503

Yom Kippur War 

In 1973, Egypt and Syria led a joint offensive against Israel on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in Judaism, effectively taking the entire state by surprise. Syria worked to regain the Golan Heights while Egypt attempted to take back the Sinai Peninsula. After two days of the Arab states making steady gains, the Israeli military had organized itself enough to push back - they quickly pursued the Syrians back to pre-war lines, and then some. On the Sinai side, however, it took a week of heavy fighting to repel the Egyptians, and both sides sustained heavy casualties. Two ceasefires were attempted, the second of which, on October 25th, was successful. 

Death toll in 1973: Jews/Israelis - 12,224, Arabs/Palestinians - 60,503

1982 Lebanon War 

Remember those 700,000 displaced Palestinians? Well, there are about 6.5 million of them today, around 455,000 of which currently live in Lebanon. I'm sure those numbers were slightly smaller in 1982. (I'm having some difficulty finding exact refugee statistics for 1982, but would be overjoyed if someone could point me to them!). Anyways, the large refugee population close to the border gave the PLO (Palestinian Liberation Organization) a decent place to operate out of.

Israel, however, was less than thrilled with the situation, particularly the political ties that had developed between the PLO and the Lebanese government. They intended instead to oust the PLO and form a peace treaty with Lebanon. To do so, Israel invaded southern Lebanon, occupied Beirut, and bombarded the PLO forces until they fled. At this time, the Israelis also facilitated that Sabra and Shatila massacre, in which Israeli guards and tanks monitored checkpoints around a camp while Phalangists killed 700 - 3,500 unarmed Palestinians and Lebanese Shiites over a 14-hour period. 

However, due to a combination of factors, Israel's intent to make peace with Lebanon fell through. Israel overstayed their welcome in Lebanon, not fully withdrawing troops until 1985; Hezbollah formed as a result.

Death toll in 1982: Jews/Israelis - 13,440, Arabs/Palestinians - 81,328

First Intifada 

The First Intifada was an unarmed, grassroots uprising that began in 1987, "as a protest against Israeli repression including extrajudicial killings, mass detentions, house demolitions, forced migrations, relocations and deportations". The protest was set off by an Israeli tank running into a row of cars containing Palestinian workers that were held up at a checkpoint. Four people died and seven more were injured - over 10,000 people attended their funerals, and demonstrations began shortly thereafter. There was widespread throwing of stones and Molotov cocktails at Israeli military tanks and trucks, but no coordinated or weaponized action. 

Rabin, the Prime Minister, opted for the route of "might, power, and beatings" in reaction to the Intifada, through which 1,100+ Palestinians were killed, 241 of which were children. The First Intifada died out around 1993. 

Death toll in 1993: Jews/Israelis - 13,640, Arabs/Palestinians - 82,490

As the First Intifada was coming to a close, Rabin and the PLO had begun to engage in secret peace negotiations: the Oslo Accords. In these agreements, the PLO officially recognized Israel's right to exist and publicly denounced terrorism. Israel and Palestine began to work towards a two-state solution. On September 28th, 1995, Rabin and Arafat signed the Oslo II Accord. However, Rabin was assassinated by a right-wing Jewish radical shortly thereafter, which interrupted peace negotiations rather severely. There were attempts to reinvigorate progress towards peace for the next several years, but after the failed 2000 Camp David Summit and the subsequent rise in violence, negotiations were left by the wayside. 

Second Intifada 

The Second Intifada began at the same time the Camp David negotiations were breaking down in 2000. They were triggered, in particular, by Ariel Sharon visiting the Temple Mount, which was perceived as a provocative action by the Palestinians. This Intifada was much more violent than the last, resulting in around 5,000 Palestinian deaths and 1,100 Israeli ones.

Death toll in 2005: Jews/Israelis - 14,740, Arabs/Palestinians - 87,397

2006 Lebanon War 

I think The Onion sums up this war rather nicely: Israel Bombs Anti-Semitism Out Of Lebanon. All jokes aside, Israel decided to bomb the organization whose formation it had precipitated in the 1982 Lebanon War, and wound up killing about 1,300 Lebanese civilians. Israel still has troops stationed in Lebanon.  

Death toll in 2006: Jews/Israelis - 14,904, Arabs/Palestinians - 89,351

Gaza War 

The Gaza War was a three-week military operation from 2008-2009 where Israeli forces first bombarded and then infiltrated Gaza with the intent of decreasing the number of rocket attacks from the region. 14 Israelis were killed (4 from friendly fire), as well as 1,166 - 1,417 Palestinians.

Death toll in 2009: Jews/Israelis - 14,918, Arabs/Palestinians - 90,785

Operation Protective Edge (Summer 2014)

Israel and Gaza are launching rockets at each other because 3 Israeli teenagers were murdered, and Israel blamed Hamas. Israeli authorities have offered no evidence of Hamas involvement, and Hamas denies any knowledge of the incident. Israeli police subsequently killed 10 Palestinians in clashes as they went around re-arresting the people they had released in the latest prisoner exchange. After the funerals of the 3 Israeli teens, Jewish extremists kidnapped and murdered Palestinian teenager Mohammed Abu Khdeir in retaliation. 

That's just the trigger-event, though - in the long run, Israel likely decided to execute this operation to target Hamas activity in the Gaza strip. 

At least 187 Palestinians have been killed so far, 77% of whom are civilians, according to the UN. 

So, the Arab-Israeli conflict only exists because the Arabs want to kill all the Jews, huh? 

Total death toll in from 1860 to 2014: Jews/Israelis - 24,845, Arabs/Palestinians - 90,972

Geez, from these numbers, you would think the opposite was true. 

So, here's a quick visualization of what this land loss has looked like for the Palestinians since 1947:

If that's not some crazy rapid expansion, I don't know what is. 
I know I provided death tolls from before Israel's official establishment until now, but let's take a look at some of the more recent statistics, most of which are taken from B'Tselem, an Israeli organization that focuses on human rights in the occupied territories:  

For more information on the breakdown of rates and causes of death for these children, please see Katie Hoban's answer to Why does it seem that children are always the victims in conflicts between Israel and Hamas?

I think the one of the most enlightening comparisons in these deaths is that three times as many Palestinian children have been run down by Israeli vehicles as Israeli children have been killed in Palestinian rocket attacks.

Israel is wreaking havoc on Palestine, and on top of the deaths and injuries, Palestine is suffering other consequences too:

Who's providing the cash for all of this? We are. Or, America is, at least - we provide Israel with $8.5 million a day in military aid. 

TL;DR - An Even Briefer Introduction to the Arab-Israeli Conflict

When people don't know much about the Arab-Israeli conflict, I see a lot of sympathy directed at both sides, à la "Oh my god, it's so terrible that people do these things to each other. Why can't we all just be friends?" and they're right: it is terrible that this conflict has been going on for such a long time, and it is terrible that it is continuing today. However, we need to take a step back from the "everything is terrible" standpoint and think about this conflict a little more critically.  

When we look at Israel today, we are looking at a nation formed from refugees, who is now creating refugees instead. I believe that Israel has a right to exist (within '67 borders) - I just don't think Israel has the right to crush Palestine into the dust because they're so enamored with the concept of asymmetrical warfare. The whole "I'll shoot twelve of your children for every one of mine" (the ratio of Palestinian:Israeli children killed) just isn't a philosophy I can get behind. I hope you feel the same.

So, to sum things up, The Israeli-Arab conflict is a long, complicated hodgepodge of land struggles, assassinations, nationalism, signed treaties, broken treaties, rocket launchers, and a whole number of other things, and I hope my little spiel helped you gain a better understanding of Israeli history and international relations in the Middle East as a whole. 

#FreePalestine