Inspiring Lives-47: Aamir Khan

I did not know much about Aamir Khan except that he is a Hindi Film actor, director and producer. There was a mail from Digg in my mailbox about 150,000 farmers death in India. That led me to a video in YouTube, which made me realize that he is much more than that; a warm-hearted, sweet person, who follows his in whatever he does and his concern for fellow human beings. The first video led me to video after video about him. It was all highly impressive.

I have seen one or two movies of his (Rangde Basanti and 3 Idiots) and have seen his song numbers in TV. And of course, Tare Zamin Par directed by him;  he also plays an understanding and sympathetic teacher.  What a movie!  The 45-year old actor still looks like a charming college student. In the videos, I observed his clarity of thought and thoughts expressed in neat language.

Then I went to Wikipedia and read his biography.He has been associated with some critically acclaimed and commercially successful movies as an actor, director and producer and a lot more. Quite an admirable personality and an inspiring guy.  I am providing below links for those who want to know more about him.  Further, I also viewed the six-part videos of Aamir Khan and Hillary Clinton from the program organised by Teach India.  Very very inspiring and interesting videos!

Biography of Aamir Khan from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aamir_Khan

His blog:

http://www.aamirkhan.com/

His Facebook id:

www.facebook.com/aamirkhan.com

Aamir Khan in IMDB:

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0451148/

Aamir Khan Interview Part - 1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnCEjuhHb7o

Aamir Khan in a face to face interview Exclusively on ETC.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzIXg93UOIM

CNN Interview Aamir Khan Q a. A.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iP7El5_sGWg

Interview with Aamir Khan and Hillary Clinton - PART1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NO-ivhdy43E

Interview with Aamir Khan 22,06,2008

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmeiIqrrpgk

Aamir Khan Biography Part 1-1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rVGcKsCy2A

Grateful thanks to Aamir Khan, YouTube, IMDB, Teach India and Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Inspiring Lives-46: Julian Assange of WikiLeaks

Recently I saw an interesting video interview at TED Global 2010. Till that time, WikiLeaks is just a name I knew. I surmised it was leaking out classified documents exposing misdeeds of people in power. Through this video interview, I learnt about Julian Assange, Editor-in-Chief of WikiLeaks. The interview was fascinating. Then I took steps to know more about Assange. Naturally, I went first to Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, and read the biography of Assange and learnt some more interesting facts about him. His parents were running a touring theatre company in Australia and hence they were on the move most of the time. As a result, Assange was enrolled in 37 schools and later six universities!

He was a hacker, free software developer. With the help of Whistleblowers, WikiLeaks exposed the extra judicial assassinations in Kenya, "a devastating portrait of the failing war in Afghanistan" (as New York Times called it) and Baghdad civilian killings. ( video depicting the killing of at least eighteen people, including two Reuters journalist, by American soldiers from an helicopter) WikiLeaks archives contain a huge collection of classified documents, which would be of great interest to investigative journalists. Assange stands for transparent and scientific approach to journalism. He is often called as one of the most intriguing people in the world and Internet's freedom fighter.

Assange has been awarded the 2009 Amnesty International Media Award (New Media) for exposing extrajudicial assassinations in Kenya with the investigation, "The Cry of Blood – Extra Judicial Killings and Disappearances", 2008 Economist Index on Censorship Award, Sam Adams Award for his integrity and ethics and various other media awards.

It is said that the 39-year old Assange never stays more than a week at a place and travels most of the time and hence spends more time in airports.  A very interesting and courageous guy!  God bless him!!

For further reading:

Julian Assange from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_Assange

WikiLeaks from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikileaks

Julian Assange: Why the world needs WikiLeaks

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNOnvp5t7Do

Grateful thanks to TED Global, YouTube and Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.