Index:

1.-CYBERWIT.NET
2.-IFLAC
3.-UNIVERSAL AMBASSADORS PEACE CIRCLE
4.-BILINGUAL MCA FEBRUARY CONTEST WINNERS
5.-Poems by M C Azcona



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http://www.cyberwit.net/

Cyberwit Publishers-India
To be released soon Maria Cristina Azcona´s first peace poetry book
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Karunesh Kumar Agrawal (CEO)
Radha Agrawal (Managing Editor)

Cyberwit.net
4/2 B L.I.G.
Govindpur Colony, Allahabad - 211004 (U.P.)
India

Telephone: (91) 09415091004

(91) (532) 3095183

(91) (532) 3092248

E-Mail: info@cyberwit.net

cyberwit@rediffmail.com




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TAJ MAHAL REVIEW

An International Literary Journal

VOLUME 4 NUMBER 2 DECEMBER 2005

Edited by: Dr. Santosh Kumar
Binding: Paperback (pp: 516 with a separate section of authors bio)
ISSN: 0972-6004 $25
Availability: In Stock
(Ships within 1 to 2 days)
Publisher: Cyberwit.net, India
Pub. Date: Dec. 2005
Condition: New
Front & Back Cover Art: Louie Levy (JK Cote Premium Art Paper 300 GSM)




From The Editor

Welcome to Taj Mahal Review, December 2005!
London blasts on 7\7 and Delhi blasts on Saturday October 29, 05 prove once again the brutality of terrorism. The ethical poverty caused by a deplorable loss of human values, the unfortunate triumph of consumerism and materialism, worship of money and machine- all these make my heart bleed, yet I hope the bright and luminous artists will one day find an answer to the vices of contemporary reality. What a pity that fascist and terrorist powers and values are rising in such monstrous and terrifying times!

The recent hurricanes in USA caused the death of so many persons. On behalf of the whole Cyberwit staff I express my anguish and sorrow, and pray for peace to the bereaved families. Another tragic incident was a terrible earthquake killing a great number of innocent persons in Kashmir in India. It is possible that the carbon dioxide by increasing the earth’s temperature and thereby disturbing the ecological balance, has resulted in such disastrous hurricanes. Some kind of policy is the need of the present times, so that the tragedy is never repeated.

Congratulations to Harold Pinter (b.1930), British playwright who was awarded the 2005 Nobel Prize in Literature. On October 13, 05 the Swedish Academy remarked "in his plays [Harold Pinter] uncovers the precipice under everyday prattle and forces entry into oppression’s closed rooms." His "comedies of menace" create "Pinteresque" atmosphere where the words and language are ‘rearguard attempts to keep ourselves to ourselves’.

Beware of "unfools of unbeing"! The best elucidation of this line by ee. cummings is by Norman Friedman: "people who are too stereotyped to be eccentric-people who are too dead spiritually to exist at all and who call alive individual fools" (ee. cummings the art of his poetry).

I have found it a rich experience to read the following lines from "The Second Coming" by W. B.Yeats (1865-1939):

Things fall apart; the center cannot hold;

Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,

The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere

The ceremony of innocence is drowned;

The best lack all conviction, while the worst

Are full of passionate intensity.

Poetry is the only panacea to end all the evils infecting mankind. I’m indebted to the authors and artists for their invaluable support and help. I thank all subscribers and benefactors. Without their cooperation, the publication of Taj Mahal Review is not possible.

SANTOSH KUMAR

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IFLAC:
INTERNATIONAL FORUM FOR A LITERATURE AND A CULTURE OF PEACE



Non-profit and non-governmental organization, no.58-035-275-5


THE MAIN GOALS OF IFLAC

To strive toward the promotion of peace and mutual respect between people and nations. To promote social, cultural and religious tolerance between people. To eliminate violence in all its forms. To organize peace culture researchers, writers, intellectuals and friends of literature. To encourage creativity that promotes culture and peace.

PURPOSE OF THE ORGANIZATION

We believe that culture and literature can promote peace, freedom, and the enrichment of the quality of life. On the threshold of the twenty first century, we shall endeavor to pave the way towards the fulfillment of our main ideal “one world and one humanity, all living in peace”. Our goal is to help build a Middle East and a world beyond war in the 21st century, by means of literature, culture and art. This endeavor is in harmony with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights embodied in the Charter of the United Nations.

We strive for freedom of speech and expression, and for freedom from hostile and oppressive violence, whether it is war, or gender, physical, mental or moral oppression. We believe in the right of people everywhere to live in peace, and in their rights to pursue their various cultures, as well as human endeavors, and to obtain equal civil justice.

ACTIVITY

Toward these ends, we organized an "International Congress on Conflict Resolution Through Culture and Literature," in Shavei Zion, Galilee, in June 1999, the Second Iflac Conference, in Sydney in 2001, the third Iflac Conference was held in London in 2002, the fourth one was held in Bursa, Turkey, in October 2003,

The fifth was in L.A in 2005.

"IFLAC", under its former name: "The Friends of Literature Association", was founded in 1985 in Haifa Israel, and was registered as a Voluntary Association in 1987. There are nine branches in Jewish, Arab and Druze sectors in Israel, actively and harmoniously working together. We hold regular literary and cultural meetings including: Lectures, Poetry Reading, Story-Telling, New Books celebrations, Interviews, Literary Weekend Seminars, Cultural Festivals, Symposiums, Congresses, Jewish and Arab/ Palestinian Students Meetings and Workshops.

In 1996 the TENT OF PEACE was set up in the Druze village of Ussfiya, in which inter-cultural meetings and happenings are regularly held. From year 2000, Iflac’s center is in Haifa, in Beit Pinsky, the house of the late poet David Pinsky, where regular Dialogue Encounters and Literary meetings are held.

DECLARATION OF THE IFLAC WORLD ETHOS (2004)

THE IFLAC GLOBAL COMMON PEACE CULTURE VALUES ARE:

1. Respect, understanding and tolerance for other Cultures, Opinions and Religions.

2. The right of every individual to humane treatment and to his/her own cultural values, norms ,cultural heritage and traditions.

3. The principle of freedom from war, terror and violence and respect for life.

4. Equal rights for all women and men.

5. Solidarity between people all over the world and advocacy of a just world economic order.

6. Separation of Religion and the political and public sphere.

The IFLAC Committee: The International Forum for the Literature and Culture of Peace

DEFINITION of PEACE CULTURE

Culture: The Webster New World Dictionary describes "culture" as: "The development, improvement and refinement of the mind, emotions, interests, manners and tastes, as well as the arts, ideas, customs and skills of a given people in a given period."

The Oxford English Dictionary adds that culture is "The intellectual side of civilization."

The definition of "culture" in IFLAC, is based on all the above.

Peace - Webster's New World Dictionary defines peace as: freedom from war, public security, freedom from disagreement or quarrels, harmony, concord, serenity. The definition of "peace" in this article is based on this definition.

Peace Culture -A peace culture is based on all the above, and therefore it can create, mediate and transfer values, ideas, ethics, information, customs, traditions, interests, emotions, developments, arts and intellectual refinement, between: people, generations, nations, and civilizations. It is both a productive and reproductive force by transmitting the cultural patterns of the present and the past, and an important creative and educational influence, by its power to inculcate new values, norms, attitudes, behavior and trends.


Subscribe to IFLAC's Free Newsletter Digest

Almost Daily News about Peace Culture in the Middle East and from all over the World

email to: IFLAC-subscribe@yahoogroups.com




"I destroy my enemies when I make them my friends." Abraham Lincoln

Listen to Ada's radio interviews : Women Peace Poems and Sister Space On : SisterSpace.net

For membership in IFLAC Pave Peace and subscription to the online IFLAC Digest,

please send $25 annual membership fee to the Order of "IFLAC", to:

Prof. Ada Aharoni
Conflict Resolution,
Horev 57 Haifa, Israel 34343 Tel: 972-4-8243230 Donations to help IFLAC promote the Culture of Peace are most welcome.
http://www.iflac.com/ada/ , ada@iflac.com
Books : http://www.iflac.com/ada/books.htm Hebrew: http://www.iflac.com/ada/heb IFLAC PAVE PEACE FORUM

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6th IFLAC International

Mediterranean Peace Conference

INVITATION
By Prof. Ada Aharoni - Iflac Founder President

and Mr. Arie Vangerko - General Manager



Sunday, 17th September – to Thursday 21st Sept. 2006

Haifa - the Meridian Beach Hotel




Dear Friends,



After the great success of the 5th Iflac Conference in Los Angeles, it is with great pleasure that we invite you to participate in the 6th IFLAC PAVE PEACE Congress.

This historic Mediterranean Congress will embrace a range of discourses and topics combining scholarly work with testimonial accounts, workshops, roundtables and discussion groups. It will also include a Poetry Festival, and a Poetry Competition, as well as creative peace literature and stories, and musical and artistic presentations.

The Congress will address the cultural root causes of conflict, violence, terror and war, and will examine the ways and means to promote conflict resolution through cultural bridges, and build a creative Culture and Literature of Peace.

What we read and watch on TV, movies and media, and the basic set of values, attitudes and norms, we acquire through them, affect us and motivate us all our lives.

All wars and conflicts have at their roots cultural causes, as in the case of the Israeli - Arab/ Palestinian Conflict. We will examine them and suggest ways to build conflict resolution methods and bridges of understanding, for promoting the culture of peace, and a world beyond war, violence and terror. We will also examine and offer alternative cultural paths toward a more peaceful and desirable present and future. We will work together to produce useful proposals for research and programs required to "un-violence" national cultures, and to contribute to the enhancement of a peaceful Middle East, and a harmonious world.

Proposals for papers and/or creative work are invited. Half page Summaries of papers focusing on various aspects of Conflict Resolution should be sent to: ada.tx.technion.ac.il before December 1, 2005.

I am looking forward to welcoming you at the 6th IFLAC Congress

Best Regards,

Ada Aharoni

*Information concerning the “Gather The Women Congress” preceding the IFLAC Congress, as well as information on the chosen Travel Agent and the Registration Fee, will be provided soon. The Registration fee will cover: Participation in Lectures, Roundtables, Artistic Presentations, Marathons of Poetry and Story Telling, as well as refreshments, and a Tour of Haifa and its surroundings. There will also be optional Pre-and/or Post Congress Tours organized.

ABOUT IFLAC PAVE PEACE AND THE 6th IFLAC CONFERENCE

IFLAC PAVE PEACE, The International Forum for the Culture and Literature of Peace, is a network of researchers, writers, poets, media, and women leaders, working together to foster joint cooperation and understanding in our global village.

The IFLAC Haifa conference will bring together academics, writers, poets, peace researchers, media, and women leaders, from a broad range of fields, to discuss the impact of the social dimensions of Conflict Resolution through cultural bridges, and its key roles in the development, definition and construction of a world Beyond War.

The themes to be examined and discussed at this conference by participants, will include: Cultural Identity in an Era of Globalization, Women and Peace, The Communications Revolution and Social Change, and the Importance of the Creation of a Peace Culture and Media.

Some of the research papers that will be presented, and topics that will be discussed in the various Panels, Roundtables and Workshops are: How can a permanent peace be established between conflicted partners? How can Culture and Literature develop confidence-building measures and initiatives? Is a World Beyond War Possible? How can IFLAC PAVE PEACE and other NGO's, help to create a world beyond war? Can the global unification of women help to ban war? Should world governments and global institutions do more to promote lasting peace in our global village? In what ways?

Cultural peace research is useful in order for tensions to be eased and for peace to be established in conflicted areas such as the Middle East, and it is useful for understanding the deepest elements and roots of conflict and war, and for suggesting methods on how to solve conflicts and create a better world.

Please check the IFLAC websites for forthcoming further details, and kindly post this Preliminary Invitation above to all your lists, friends and colleagues. Thank You.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/IFLAC

www.iflac.com www.iflac.com/ada



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UNIVERSAL AMBASSADORS PEACE CIRCLE
(M C Azcona is a peace ambassador in the framework of the Universal Ambassadors Peace Circle)

http://philapaix.vdpk.com/ambassadeurs/ambassadeur.htm
http://www.sarah-stragiotti.org/paix_solidarite_universal.php



http://www.sarah-stragiotti.org/paix_solidarite_universal_ambassador_gallery.php

http://www.sarah-stragiotti.org/paix_solidarite_universal_listemembres.php


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BILINGUAL MCA
by Maria Cristina Azcona

Bilingual Poets & Writers for Peace




February 2006

First prize in Poetry: Nikesh Murali



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To college in a traditional sari
by Nikesh Murali




Sunday, May 25, 2003
For all you women out there..my respects and love!

To college in a traditional sari

As eyes as small as mice,
Drip with imprudent jealousy.
In a traditional sari
You enter the realm of dreamy, jilted liars.
You alone, shining like the graceful moon,
Sans the shady ditches;
Its fibrous, creamy arms hugging your dizzying form.
I dream of it,
Of creating a wall of cloth,
So soft, it melts
As sunrays titter
And be the robe that sleeps on your balmy skin.

I wish I were the folds in your sari,
Carefully trimmed and fixed at places
Like the mellowing crest of a wave;
Ripples that hop with stony crave.
I travel like an estranged lover
In the shady realm between the folds;
Phrasing unrequited love,
The muzzy skylines that tilt and sway,
A border with a golden hue;
I wish I were a golden thread
Over which you run your mellifluous digits.
As pungent gazes of desire scan your glowing mane,
My eyes spot your beautiful mind.
Mirrored in your smiles
O! Charming maiden,
How traditional my love is
Like your attire that intoxicates me.
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First prize in Prose:
Francisco Gomes de Matos
Applying the Pedagogy of Positiveness

"Think of the language you use as a peace-building, peace-making, peace-promoting force. Do you challenge yourself to transform your communicative competence into competence in communicative peace?"




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MAILTO:BILINGUALMCA@HOTMAIL.COM
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POEM


PEACE AND HOPE by

Maria Cristina Azcona



Peace needs hope to grow.
Hope is an open window.
Through it, pain breaths.


A sorrowful heart
Needs a mouthful of air,
Nothing more than that.

The North and the South
The West, the East and the rest
To be only one.

An emerald sea,
A golden sun reflected.
Humanity hand by hand.




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Truth Wins-Bilingual poetry
by Maria Cristina Azcona
Friday, May 03, 2002


..



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Truth is a magician trick.

It allways finds the way at least.

It wins the race against the lie,

and kicks the beast.



La verdad es un truco de magia.

Siempre encuentra el camino, al final.

Gana la carrera contra la falsedad

y golpea a la bestia de verdad .



As female salmon is jumping high

While river twists its own backyard.

It does not know the fear´s glance .

It is in love with virtue

Because she never lies.



Como un salmon hembra salta en altitud

mientras el rio tuerce su cauce.

No conoce la mirada del miedo, tiene coraje.

Esta enamorada de la virtud

porque no miente jamas.



The truth is our friend.

Don´t hurt the truth

With little lies or bad comments !

She is the only thing in this fiercely wood

Which you can trust, no matter who are you.!



La Verdad es nuestra amiga.

No lastimes a la Verdad

con pequenas mentiras o chimentos .

Ella es la unica cosa en este mundo salvaje.

en la que puedes confiar sin importar

quien seas.