Monday, November 10, 2008

Freedom, Finally


Six months of detention
One month city, five months immigration
Is finally over
The Tomb a week, Rikers Island a month
Three weeks at Varick, 50 days in Alabama
A week again at Varick, 45 days in New Jersey
Finally they gave bail
Loss of freedom, loss of privacy
Felt unreal
Life went off the tracks
The low point of my life
Now I get to pick up the pieces
And take a second bite
At the big apple
Barack got elected, and I got released
Barack's election has been good for me
I guarantee
McCain did not miss
Me
Three years of living in the city
Thought particle to thought particle
Intense web 2.0
For Nepal, Obama, for a startup
I paid for it with weak social muscles
Now I know intense 2.0
Asks for intense 5.0
One without the other is vacuous existence
5.0 is face time
Call it repackaging hello
The best thing to come out of six months
Now I got an exercise program
For the first time in life
600 pushups on Mondays and Thursdays
600 crunches on Tuesdays and Fridays
600 situps on Wednesdays and Saturdays
Sunday is off
I also got much writing done
I will add a few hundred pages of autobiography
And publish a book online
In a few months
I still got a political asylum case to fight
A company to bring back to life
A residence to seek
For now I say hello, salam, namaste


Catching Up With The News

Obama team works to flesh out staff CNN
Are expectations getting too high for Obama? Philippine Star, Philippines
Will the Congress cede its powers to the Obama administration? Salon
From slavery to Obama Jamaica Observer
Obama steering clear of global economic summit The Associated Press
Obama: The Secrets Of His Success Atlantic Online
Obama inauguration tickets may go for US$40000 New Zealand Herald, New Zealand
Dean Seeks Some Respect (and Credit) for Obama’s Victory New York Times, United States

Aides: Obama Suggests Help for Auto Industry Time
When New President Meets Old, It's Not Always Pretty
How Obama's Win Will Affect Middle East Elections
The Once and Future Hillary Clinton
The Story of Barack Obama's Mother
Will Obama Have to Adjust His Timetable on Iraq?
The Meaning of Obama's Win: How He Rewrote the Book
My Close Encounter With Obama in Hawaii
Why Barack Obama Is Winning Oct. 22, 2008
The Five Faces of Barack Obama Aug. 21, 2008

Obama's Victory Ushers in a New America
A Blue Tide
In Their Words
Will a Black President Really Heal the Racial Divide?
Obama's Agenda: How to Get America Back on Track
World Leaders React to Obama's Win
Do Rookies Make Good Presidents?
The Official End of the Reagan Era
10 Things That Never Happened in a Campaign Before
Doing the Math
Ideas Matter

The Choice: How Obama and McCain Would Lead
Hidin' Biden: Reining In a Voluble No. 2
Campaign '08: The Media's 24-Minute News Cycle
Priorities for the New President
Obama, the Wealth Spreader
The Democrats Drive for 60 in the Senate

The Obama Surge: Will It Last?

America's No. 1 Export: Debt

Where's Obama's Passion?
Obama on His Veep Thinking
The Family Obama
A Leader of Obama's Grassroots Army

The Battle for Michigan
The Recession Election
The Audacity of Bill Gates
Crushing on Obama

NC accuse Defense Minister of misleading the parliament with lies NepalNews
NC in 'wait and see' mode; Koirala stakes claim for parliamentary leadership
OBCs' general strike partially hits life in Terai
Formal parliamentary democracy further marginalises the poor: PM
Defense Minister denies reports he met suspected murderer of Ramhari Shrestha
Minister asks Prez, VP to stay away from public functions
Koirala fears disaster if constitution not written on time
CPN-Maoist, UML express rage over VP Jha's remarks
Obama’s win is a matter of joy for underprivileged around the world: FM Yadav
Referendum 'ultimate weapon' to settle army integration dispute: Minister Gurung
Govt talks team in contact with 14 armed groups
Cabinet changes name of three municipalities
Tharuhat Liberation Army is formed
Maoist running govt in authoritarian manner: Deuba
MJF against wholesale integration between NA and PLA


The Spirit Longs For Freedom
November 8, 2008

I don't know
When they will let me go
Every month since June I have thought
That was my last month in detention
This has gone on for five months
I long to be free

New York City
The first hometown I ever had
I so long to walk
Up and down the New York City streets
I so miss broadband and Broadway, the street

Noodle soup beneath the Manhattan Bridge
In Chinatown, extra spicey, extra hot
Dumplings, momo, like in Kathmandu
In Jackson Heights, the 99 cent pizza place on 41st and Ninth

Random, long walks all across Brooklyn
At all hours of day and night
To drink in the city, crisscross Harlem, the myth and locality
Long walks in Prospect Park

Beautiful women, crisp, curt men
Black, brown, white, yellow people
The homeless and those who call the Trump Tower home
The slimey subway, like serpents sliding through tunnels

I miss work
Being able to pour myself into
My oh so young company
That will define the next era of computing

Detention has been time for exercise and reflection
But for how long does it have to go
I wrote to the Department of Homeland Security
If you can't get Bin Laden, and if you can't recognize
The un-Bin Laden, how do you call yourself
A Department of Homeland Security

I miss freedom
I miss New York
The city longs for me
I long for the city




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