From Karachimag, a webzine targetted at Pakistani youth with its punch line “Everything You Want” here is a picture from their Male model gallery. Arjun Rampal beware.
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The Greatbong Blog & Podcast 
ROFL
Priceless!
I see you and raise you triple with Mian Raja Muhammed here….
http://www.orkut.com/AlbumView.aspx?uid=592173213290830524
PS: You gotta sign into Orkut to see this one.
@Confused: 🙂
@The Wanderer: Awesome ! I fold.
ROTFL!
Suyog
A true mastercard kinda post….PRICELESS 😉
Good Job GB 🙂
This will go long way in finding ; Why people takeup guns or giveup guns !
What really is the motivation ……
Arnab,
The guy looked sad to me. Not mean, not tough. Just sad.
Perhaps the jihadi who took the photo had his shalwar kameez washed with RIN. Bhala uski kameez meri kameez se safed kaise?
Wow….especially for that Raja Muhammed fellow!!! I think my eyebrows have reached my hairline…ouch!
Damn! Right when I wanted to be a model.. Now I will have to start growing my hair all over again.. 😉
when I grow up ….
… I want to be like Raja Muhammed!!
Speaks volumes about the impact on impressionable minds.
Scary!!!
Didnt you guys noticed the bamboo up his arse.
lol
trust u to come up with such priceless links 😀
@Suyog, Gourav: 🙂
@Sam: Indeed.
@Nitin: The sadness is part of the act….this is like the Jihadi Raymonds Man….he contemplates the meaning of the universe…helps an old lady across the street……pumps a full magazine into her back…..
@Nautilus: Stud banda.
@Aravind: And procure an AK47.
@Anonymous Coward: But Raja is only 19.
@Ravindra: Scary so it is.
@Pandit: And why a bamboo up his ass? Do bamboos grow in NWFP ?
@Sameera: 🙂
Where’s the lota?
:O
We are making all these “ooh, its sooo scary” noises ‘cos the pix comes from across the border.
What about James Bond looking utterly cool with that gun of his?
How about Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones with those outsize gizmos prepared to exterminate aliens?
The cult of the gun exists in all cultures and is a direct link with our hunter-gatherer ancestors.
People love that feeling of raw naked power when they handle a gun. As a result, carnages in school happen with depressing regularity in certain parts of the world. In other parts, jihadis are manufactured.
In every paara pujo, every child worth his or her salt, has a cap pistol. And the whole gang engage in mock fights.
QED
@Shodan: He doesnt need one. Blood of victims…
@Teleute: 🙂
@Swati: Difference is that those guns which Bond and Men in Black hold are filmi guns and the men holding them are “acting”. This guy is holding a “real” gun and this is his actual life.
nice post !!
@Swati: The gun that the “heros” hold in the films are meant to save the society, and provide justice to the innocent. We all are familiar with the kind of justice and savior work that the Mujahideens talk about. Its not just a question of show of power – its a question of glorifying an wrong ideology, which unfortunately happens in that part of the world.
goddamn party poopers. Swati should find a job. Its a goddamn joke. Laugh or dont comment.
Hmm.. He seems to be trying to pull the “contemplative youth” thing that is gaining popularity with young models these days. What spoils the wonderful picture is the red duct tape on the gun! Get the composition right, man!
But GB, why are you scourging the net for young boy models? Is there something we should know?
@Twisted DNA: Uff ! Cannot I extend a warm hug of friendship to my brothers across the border without having people doubting my sexuality?:-)
yes, of course.
but pop culture does reflect real society.
you see james bond as ‘mostly harmless’. Try telling that to Mai-lai survivors, if any.
jihadi, mujaheddin, crusaders … all these come from an ethos of might-is-right and saving-the-world-from-scum.
i am afraid that i may be scum to somebody due to the colour of my skin, my religion or my opinion. or that i write in here.
i am afraid i cant laugh. i AM a party pooper.
when young, i used to wonder how the nazis could bring themselves to engineer the holocaust. later i read about the gulags. and now abu-ghraib.
the beast in our nature is never too far down.
@GB Pic is funny.
@The wanderer: That’s some scary s**t dude. I only saw such pics when army or police busts some kind of arms smuggling not from some guy who post it on Orkut.
@Swati: I think something is wrong!! What exactly do you want to say?
i want to say that given the same conditions (poverty, semi and blinkered literacy and food for brain-washing kind of madrassa programs) many of us may have turned into that same kind of gun-toting specimen.
also, in human history, violence has been glorified. after all, history was always written by winners.
do google for mai-lai and more specifically for those pictures published in ‘LIFE’.
they showed vietnamese villagers of mai-lai on the point of being gunned down by the trigger happy americans for allegedly harbouring viet-cong suipporters. what makes those pictures chilling is that the villagers are staring into the camera knowing that they are going to be dead in the next few seconds.
you see, it is the weak that need a gun to prove how strong they are. that orkut link only reiterates my belief.
@ Swati – Its not the gun or might – its the cause that matters. If that guy would have been in Army uniform and holding the same gun, I think this post would not have been there.
“In every paara pujo, every child worth his or her salt, has a cap pistol. And the whole gang engage in mock fights.” But as far as I remember, those fights always ended in police catching the chor, or the bad gang winning over the good one. Or atleast, if we had pretended otherwise, there would always be some senior correcting us.
yes, but the trouble is that ‘the cause’ is always suspect.
to the romans, the rebellous jews were a nuisance, forever disturbing the pax romana.
to modern israel, they are HEROES.
the americans were ‘defending democracy’in vietnam and are still doing so in iraq. They are in army uniform and are very much holding a gun and getting nowhere.
try to read ‘moon is down’ by steinbeck.
if that young man was in lion skin holding an ashanti spear it would be delightfully ethnic. to many westerners this pix is equally the same — a piece of barbaric middle-east/orient.
I agree that the point of view matters – but to us (meaning the people sharing ideas in this forum) Mujahideens and other islamic rebels are NOT a nobel cause. And since we share this common ideology, the picture seems funny to us.
I am unequivocal with you that Americans are going nowhere in Iraq, but I don’t blame the american soldiers for that – because they are not doing the atrocities out of their own choice (leave Abu garib incident, which has been criticized and tried), Its a result of stupid government policies in the Pentagon. The American soldier is still a hero to me.
I don’t support Israel’s aggression either, but definitely, the kind of protest Hizbullah or Palentine is doing (suicide bombs in the name of Allah), donot qualify a civilized society.
In short, if the fact that we are ‘laughing’ on the Model Mujahideen’s photo is hurting you somewhere, then I am sorry, but to most of the people in the forum its funny, because they support a ’cause’ which does not match with Mujahideen’s ’cause’.
yes, the best antidote to ridiculous ideology is laughter.
that is why, in soviet union, jokes were sanitized and a man with a sense of humour would be, as likely as not, an inmate of gulag.
taliban bans songs and merry making– who knows when an unislamic joke will be cracked– and worse, even appreciated?
the early church fathers also had rigid views whether Christ smiled at all!
@Amit – Yup – that’s your viewpoint. You find it funny, and so do I when I put myself in your shoes. Across the border, they have a different viewpoint. You’ll also find similar machismo in Bihar and Naxal affected areas, you’ll see them in areas in Assam, Nagaland, Mizoram, etc. if you care to meet the rebel armies.
You’re lucky – you’re among the privileged minority in the world, who, automatically has a pretty good chance to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. To a large part of the world, you need a gun to have your share of these “unalienable rights”
No, if I pause to think about it, I don’t find the picture funny either- I find it sad that holding weapons should be machismo anywhere in the world.
“And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; It tolls for thee.” – John Donne.
@GB: Seriousness apart, where do you get these links? How come I never see such absurdities when I trawl the net?
@Sayon – I find the other viewpoint funny, not because I donot care for them, but keeping practicality into consideration, I find that they are damaged beyond repair. They have been misinformed and mis-educated and a complete reform is a humongous task. I would rather say that I pity for them, and probably criticism is the best that I can give them. Their concerns might be genuine, but not the policy.
You said “I find it sad that holding weapons should be machismo anywhere in the world” – what about the hindu gods and goddesses. They are always depicted with weapons (may be the most advanced in thier ‘age’) – to eliminate the evil. I would rather say that the use of weapons should be limited to the cases where reform is impossible and extermination is indispensible. I know I cannot reform a suicide bomber, who has lost all of his selfrespect, or the freedom fighters who gets motivated just using the name of religion where as he/she really does not know if that is beneficial for his/her society.
I have always found my bihari friends either emphasising that Bihar has “other” aspects which are good, or joining in the “laughter” about politics there.
@Amit: Be glad you can afford to laugh. You have neither been targetted by them, nor are you part of the lost souls who are recruited to be cannon fodder like the young man in the pic.
Puleeeze – Hindu gods and godesses are not macho. Spare me that shallow interpretation. They are representations of good-over-evil, not of “my gun is bigger than yours,” so associated with machoism. The gun of course acting as a phallic object. In the end that’s all machoism stands for.
No, I do not subscribe to the philosophy of the Mujahideen or the Naxal or the liberation movements in the North East. I do pity them, even when I advocate that the security forces gun them down to safeguard the state. But I shudder to think that but for the grace of god ( or, substitute any deity of your choice), I could have been born one of them. Then my laughter dies out and I find it difficult to write to Arnab and say “ROTFLMAO, GB, great post!”
Biharis – I’m afraid your friends are like us – the urban elite. Of course they would laugh at the rural macho bhumihars and brahmin armies. You are unlikely to find that attitude among the Ranvir Sena.
Hindu gods and godesses are symbols of power – what about the animated arrow contests in Ramanand saagar’s Ramayana, what about the use of brahmastra, what about arjun and his gandiv, krishna and his sudarshan chakra. The use of the word “Machoism” may debated in this context. The point was the justification for the use and show of weapons, I thought.
We all pity for the lost souls who are recruited to be cannon fodders, as you have said. But they are themselves responsible for the choice. They do not want to get educated, be open and liberal. They donot want to communicate with the rest of the world, which probably our fore-fathers have done.
The word “laughing” should not be interpreted incorrectly. I will not mind if you laugh at me and correct me if I am wrong. I would rather thank you. I do not find the same liberal attitudes in Ranbir sena because they are NOT educated enough to care for the development and growth of bihar. Their policies are incorrect and ideologies limited. Look at Dalai lama – example of oppressed and yet educated soul – the tibetians are not holding guns, instead I read about Tibetian beauty contest in Dharmashala few days back.
This might be funny, but I believe that if every Kashmiri is taught the use of internet and information exchange so that they connect with rest of India (and ofcourse including GB ), the kashmir problem will be solved !!! Unfortunately, they are now connected via age old cultural and religious similarities with pakistan.
“Amit: No issue on show of weapons – as long as they are used to defend (against invasion, against evil, against tyranny). I also believe that a show of weapons, if it creates a detente, and stops a war, is also laudable.
I’m against the macho part of it, in the belief that killing someone is not a macho action.
I’m not debating the correctness of all misguided outfits who kill in the name of class, caste, religion, or whatever. My sorrow is that these people firmly believe that this is the correct path and people like you and me are wrong. I grieve that if you and I had been born in their place, and brought up as they were, we too may have thought like them. We too may have thought that a RPG/AK47 is an extension of our phallus.
As a group, I find the extremist path laughable. But for individuals caught in the webs of extremism, its not so laughable – I doubt that if we had been in their circumstances, we would have been able to chose otherwise.
About Kashmir. I second your viewpoint. No, its not funny – if the Kashmiris had not been cut off from the world by Nehru’s foolishness in keeping Kashmir isolated from the rest of India, we would not have been in this mess.
sub: GODS
Is Shiv macho?
He has a trishul and is commonly worshipped as a upright piece of rock (pre-viagra too!)He is a drug addict and has married into ‘high’ society. (Parvati is the daughter of Himalaya, after all.)
And there is Krishna. With a itsy bitsy flute (Freudians, take note) he is the swayer of hearts and is the Casanova of the Indian Pantheon.
What about that god who shoots arrows of flower and has parrots to ferry him around? His wife’s name is suggestive, to say the least. We can squarely blame this couple for the population problem in India.
We want a genuine AK47 toting articulate hunk to write in and tell us why he lugs that thing around. Members of the Ranbir Sena/Hizbul/Lashkar are invited to contribute.
The trouble is that the orkut guy is pretty bad at expressing himself. But what comes across is– “I am a loser. I am no good at school. So my consolations are food-and-more-food and a couple of dozen of firearms so that I can win friends and influence people, preferably of the opposite sex.”
So, if a person follows the AK47 route, it means any one of the following:
1. Hungry and illiterate
2. Rich and perverse
3. Hides his perversity under the shining flag of ideology with the excuse that the end justifies the means.
@Sayon: Let me conclude this – I agree that its a pity that the guy in picture was born at a place where he found that showing his machoism to the society is the only way to survive. And that’s why is had to hold a gun in his hand.
But he and his forefathers, at some point of time, had a choice to make – whether they should follow this extreme ideology or should pursue education and treat entire humanity with equality. They choose the former – and thats laughable. Now if you say that they were not given the second choice at all (at least at the individual level), I would disagree. Not all Afgans are Taliban fighters, not all Iraqis belong to Zarkawi gang. But yes, the impact of society matters. However, the guy (in the picture) had the means to be a model for internet magazine in Karachi – I wont buy if you say he was deprived of the second choice I mentioned above, which led him to glorify terrorist ideology.
“Caught in the web of extremisim” may be a euphemish to justify wrong choices, and lack of education. Of couse I don’t belong to that place, so I don’t have a first hand experience.
OMG! So much debate on a kid with a gun!
@Swati: Hats off to you and your consistently morbid view fo life. You have totally converted me. Fom now my new motto is – “Life sucks and I want my money back!”
Un-freaking-believable! Arnab, posting humour has become a dangerous game nowadays, eh? 😀
Swati has some serious problems in life, that’s for sure.
Before commenting further please remember that the comments that you made on Hindu deities,if repeated for Muhammad(who had a wife aged 7) and Allah would have resulted in more than flames over the net.
You cannot criticise an entire people because of the brutality of some.
I still think that My Alai was an aberration with regard to US Military,but Islamic extremism has become a way of life in many provinces of Pakistan and all of Afghanistan.
I have nothng against Muslims but definitely a lot against Muslim appeasement.
Notice all the Iftar parties hosted by politicians.How many organize such elaborate ceremonis for festivals of their own religions.
We are against a culture of intolerance that is sweeping the world today.Hence,we find the joker with the gun funny.But that doesn’t automatically make us slaves of American imperialism and mean we condone My Alai.
At least some US soldiers had been punished for their misdeeds.But Taliban atrocities were sanctioned by the leadership.Given a choice where will you live-a materialistic free America or a spiritual bonded Afghanistan?
Above everything,learn to recognize a joke when you see one.
@Sourya: Pal you’re the one with a problem – one may be ready to laugh at the chappie with the gun, but you’re the one obtuse enough not to realise that the situation is actually so sad that it is funny. That’s what Swati is pointing out.
Much like a Charlie Chaplin movie, unless you only caught the slapstick part of it.
The sad part of it (I repeat once again), is that in many parts of the world, and not just in Islamic countries, having a gun is a sign of machismo. You think it is funny because you don’t live in that society. I’m just grateful that I don’t have to.
Recognising that does not make one a supporter of the gun wielders. Nor would our preference of America over the Taliban blind us to the faults of the ‘civilised’ world. A lot of the world lives in poverty to keep the ‘civilised’ world genteel and civilised. If you disagree and wish to discuss, mail me at sayon.majumdar@hotmail.com. Let us not clog up Arnab’s blogspace any more.
@Amit: We seem to agree on several points, except on whether one is to blame for one’s forefathers not taking the Western route to civilization. I’m not sure I should praise my forefathers – I don’t think they had a choice to be colonised by the British and exposed to Western civilization more than the NWFP and Afghanistan was. We can dicuss in a seperate forum (e-mail address above).
I am being accused of morbidity and a sort-of-life-sucks kind of attitude. A sort of Ondator from the Moomin Valley.
What I need is a self-help book “Learn To Recognise a Joke–A Visual Guide To All Things Humerous”.
Er, can I too suggest a book “Learn to see beyond a joke and recognise the chilling TRUTH”.
YES, only a spoil-sport party pooper of an Ondator can recommend such bilge.
PS. The Ondator usually took the largest helping of chocolate cake and the most comfortable blanket going in the Moomin Valley.
@Sourya: We obtuse ppl cannot recognize the tears behind the smile, the sadness beneath the slapstick, the truth beneath the comedy, the poor broken victim beneath the gun-toting machismo etc. etc.
See, we lack so much.
And all they lack is a sense of humor!
@Shan:
1. Santosh Singh was just a loveSICK youngster.
2. Manu Sharma’s mom dropped him on his head when he was a baby.
3. Afzal Guru is just a wronged misguided freedom-fighter.
4. Dhanonjoy Chatterjee was just a man missing his conjugal rights.
There are so many hidden stories we obtuse people fail to see.
@Shan/ Sourya: OK, but You don’t get the blanket and the chocolate cake either. Don’t know about you, but I’d choose the cake anyday!
Wait, I DID get the joke, after all.
1. Santosh Singh is a movie buff who loves Darr.
2. Mrs Sharma did not read parenting books and her son is an ubercool guy who flaunts his gun to make sure that his drinks are served pronto.
3. Afzal believes in the number 72.
4. Dhananjoy went for a little ‘spice’ in his private life. In the end, a lot of wimpled jokers ended up praying for his soul.
And it is wonderful to think that this here male model of Karachimag in his glad rags and gladder accessories has managed to generate more words than our competing pair of haute couture shows.
@sayon- don’t disregard the blanket. It was warm and fluffy but the Ondator managed to smear chocolate icing on it.
I think Swati’s entire point to begin with was that we were identifying this guy’s attire with certain images we carry in our heads. Take a look at that picture again and try to imagine the guy in a jeans and t-shirt and a cool pair of shades, with the same squat and gun, but without the skull cap (and beard?).
Would he become just a kid with a gun desperately trying to look cool? If that’s the image that forms in your mind, then yes, you are playing up to stereotypes.
Images of a beard, skull cap and salwaar kameez combined with a gun probably set off certain alarm bells in our minds due to conditioning, relentless exposure to images in the media, even prejudice. In the United States, try going for a walk in the park wearing a Palestinian keffiyeh, preferably covering part of your face in the traditional way. I can guarantee that you will be stopped by a cop within 15 minutes. It’s probably not prejudice…it’s just conditioning, and maybe a little paranoia.
But is there anybody to blame for this? It would be extraordinary if the concept of stereotyping did not exist in human society. It’s a human trait, call it a failing…but it’s there. It’s part of the way we process our knowledge of societies and peoples.
And it’s not always bad. Like in this post.
This was supposed to be funny, and I thought it was! Nobody’s getting killed and I think we are not a bunch of racist ignoramuses. All of us are aware of the real issues, and we are all sensible people. We aren’t going to lynch the next salwaar kameez wearing bearded young man we come across! Yes, we are having a little fun at the expense of the image he portrays. But since when did that start causing so much outrage?
HimessRokes: This one’s for you, Swati, Sayon, Shan, Joy Forever, and the VERY NICE PEOPLE who type in caps, and sometimes in lowercase only on another thread.
Hets off Dood. Capes off also. I am not knowing paverr of Internet till I em seeing your nicknem when I am coming beck after long time to this fentestic website only. You are choosing wery dear to hart nicknem only bhai, or maybe ben. Whether bhai, ben or better, it does not metter (Himesspoetry) because you are true biliwer, becos you are knowing only Himessbhai is beb, he is roking, he is stoking aaver drim (stalking our dreams), he is Bollywood na Caruso, he is diwa (I men like a lemp in Diwali). Anyway I ken go on prezzing Him but I am embrasing myself only. Because Himessbhai is the fountain of all knowledge only. Because he is inspiring discussion that is bringing beginning First Year Electrical Engg to the World in Saas-bahu formet.
Let me only say that at 196 I cannot take the honour upon myself to compile the starcast. It will have to be a cooperative effort because you’ve all been valiant contributors, so no one person should have the honour. Hey, why am I typing this here? Two reasons, one, that you’re all on this board, and two, I want to keep the pristine purity of that thread alive. So in the final countdown, let there be no contamination, only fabulous stuff to take it to 200, then 300. So sorry to make an off topic point, but true Himessbhai fens will understand I am hoping only. Remember, Himessbhai is Dedy of Roke, in fect in mep of World Roke, he is Gibraltar of Roke. Thenk You, Regards, Bye.
@Ranjan Chakravarty: Bah! While we tried to get to 200, with the help of some dear Himmesh fans, you do a disappearing act. Moshai, we were wondering you had gone to the great beyond, where no greatbong laughs at Himmeshbhai.
Get a pseudonym and type some uppercase texts yourself, and we’ll pitch in to reach 200! Jai Himmesh!
#Sayon and All True Rokestars: Thank you for the kind words, but the disappearing act was very necessary. You see, Professor Sparks sent me on a Top Secret Mission to find out how we can mutate into Bumbada and penetrate the secret dungeon of Bhuter Raja, where the real Shreya Ghoshal (what you see is an impostor) is kept prisoner by anti-Bengali forces hell bent on spreading insiduous non-Bengali music in the garb of Shantanu Moitra (note the similarity with Moriarty, no more hints). I will update you on the adventure, but at a later date since the matter is sub judice. Suffice to say for now that dark deeds are afoot, but for you, my friends, I will divulge only this that a lot of information can be found in the fact that Nabakrishna Guin and Bhim Nag are located on the same street but Balaram Mullick stays discreetly away in Bhowanipur. Point to ponder…. But anyway, I divulge too much. I will be back after I recover from the injuries inflicted upon me by the dangerous assassin Sssugaaar, who lurks the very streets I have had to traverse in my tracking of this mystery. In any event I am back and will keenly watch, as we al must, the great issue of the day, HR200.
@ Ranjan Chakravarty: Aaaahaaaa! Welcome back, Master! All is forgiven!
Sorry, I err in my report. Was sent by Captain Sparks, the one and only. In my enthusiasm I confused him with the professor whose name I must not reveal. But remember, not a word to anyone!
Ranjanbhai…what cen I sey? Himess is god and you roke! Many thanks for the nick…it has change my life…I have been born again. I have found my true calling…celebrating all that Himess has given the world…Himess, the Dedy of Roke…
its beautiful