It was going to be an excruciating affair, watching things from so close. I had been at the helm earlier, but this time I was the spectator, which made it disconcerting for me.
It was to start from the garden, and then lead through the different area of building. In the garden two men sat on the bench , sprawling their legs on the lush lawn underneath. They seemed to be lost in their thoughts when suddenly a lady, slim and slender, in her youth, came in, blithely, oblivious of the quietude prevailing.
The two men , having been robbed off their solitude so casually, rose in anger, only to be melt at the sight of her. Heat of anger melted the wax of heart and the liquid seeped in their soul. It froze within their soul, and so did the moment around them. But the lady, oblivious of the tumult of the poor souls around her, flit though the garden. Jumping over the lawn, running through the pavement and picking up the daisies on the side walk, splashing the placid stream lying in peace.A song emanated from her heart and she danced on that tune. She was beautiful , she was mine. All of a sudden she turned around, looking in my direction , as if she saw me, yet I knew that she can't, with a cursory glance, she moved in other direction ,with a faint smile sprawled over her lips.
Thursday, 16 July 2009
Wednesday, 15 July 2009
Pain's in your mind...
Where else ? Science, helps in proving this maxim. Skin was being taken off my body and I didn't even grimace , but after I saw it , it started paining. Till the time I hadn't seen it , I couldn't even relate to it , while right after I saw it , mind came into action.
Now if "pain" is in mind only, doesn't that offer a unique opportunity to forgo all pain. It surely does. So next time you feel pained, just believe that its not, by believing that there is no pain mind wouldn't act to the "pain" stimuli and thus there will be no pain.
Imagine the potency of this weapon, no "heart-aches", "hunger-pains" ,"failure-pains". Its awesome. Without any spending on the "pain-alleviation" programs , all the pain would be gone. The only glitch that appears over here is that of the "simplicity" of the scheme marring its significance. I even have the proofs from the real world. Our celebrities, the ever happy people, how do they keep that attitude? MJ took pain killer, Heath Ledger took pain killer, most of the Celebrities take pain killer , and you see the effect , there is no pain. Either they die or they live pain free.
JAM, what did I just say? "either they die". Oh yeah! I guess that there has to be an added caveat, "blowing away all your pain could kill you". This looks to me an indicative of something , I guess of life itself. Pain , acts as your alarm , indicating something is not right. And then we react to that, attempting to ameliorate the pain. When we do that , we actually serve to expurgate the insidious root of pain and thereby reclaiming normalcy. Makes sense, for if you were not to feel pain while someone is trying to take your head off, you would be off to the "last ride" without any knowledge of it. Pain affirms life, of its vagaries and uncertainties and motivates our attempt towards betterment.
All right then, Pain's in mind, but we need it , most of all , for life itself.
Now if "pain" is in mind only, doesn't that offer a unique opportunity to forgo all pain. It surely does. So next time you feel pained, just believe that its not, by believing that there is no pain mind wouldn't act to the "pain" stimuli and thus there will be no pain.
Imagine the potency of this weapon, no "heart-aches", "hunger-pains" ,"failure-pains". Its awesome. Without any spending on the "pain-alleviation" programs , all the pain would be gone. The only glitch that appears over here is that of the "simplicity" of the scheme marring its significance. I even have the proofs from the real world. Our celebrities, the ever happy people, how do they keep that attitude? MJ took pain killer, Heath Ledger took pain killer, most of the Celebrities take pain killer , and you see the effect , there is no pain. Either they die or they live pain free.
JAM, what did I just say? "either they die". Oh yeah! I guess that there has to be an added caveat, "blowing away all your pain could kill you". This looks to me an indicative of something , I guess of life itself. Pain , acts as your alarm , indicating something is not right. And then we react to that, attempting to ameliorate the pain. When we do that , we actually serve to expurgate the insidious root of pain and thereby reclaiming normalcy. Makes sense, for if you were not to feel pain while someone is trying to take your head off, you would be off to the "last ride" without any knowledge of it. Pain affirms life, of its vagaries and uncertainties and motivates our attempt towards betterment.
All right then, Pain's in mind, but we need it , most of all , for life itself.
Saturday, 11 July 2009
Gulzaar - A poet unmatched.
My earliest introduction to Gulzaar was when I developed some sense of life. Until then , it were general melody songs that fascinated me, with Mukesh being my favorite singer. It was often said to me, as long as you are kid you would like Mukesh, but not after you have grown up and it proved very true. For Mukesh was seamlessly supplanted by the likes of Kishore, Asha etc.
But, what gave worth to that music? For me , it started with Gulzaar. His words were like crafted pearls, woven into a long thread finely and yet effortlessly. The fascination started with the admiration of, a mellifluous Lata humming Tujhse naraaj nahi zindagi. And then it was an unending chain of lyrical gems from Gulzaar that drove me to a higher plane. Few remarkable ones were , Mera kuch samaan,Tum aa gaye ho,O manjhi re,Humne dekhi hai,Huzzoor iss kadar,Tere bina zindagi se.
The greatest quality of his songs are that they do not appear to be the work of a contrived genius , but rather of an accidental genius , writing out of careless regard of words,with most of his songs looking into the simple and ingenuous yet unnamed facts of daily life.The variety of lyrics that he has provided could be hardly believed by a casual onlooker. It ranges from such deeply abstract , "Humne Dekhi hai" , to childish hum "Lakdi ki kaathi". I think "Masoom" is symbolic of his eclectic variety. Nonetheless, his song in parichay ,"Musaafir hoon yaroon" , appears as restless yet composed as a lost yet untiring traveler.
However, in non-films category as well, he hasn't been any less active. His album, "Sunset point" , has several gems embedded in it. He narrates the story in his rugged yet silken voice and along with it moves the entire series of events. One of the particularly beautiful piece from that album is ,"Kacche rang utar jaane do", sung huskily yet deeply by Chitra.
In the contemporary period , he has written a whole basket of varying songs. Ranging from "Bidi jalai le" in Omkara, to Oscar winning "Jai Ho" in Slumdog millionaire. Once you have known his quality of work , you could instinctively tell which of the song could be Gulzaar's, but he nevertheless doesn't fail to spring surprises, like "Jabaan pe laga namak ishq ka". Whatever he writes, there is a sort of implicit guarantee associated with it, the guarantee that the song would be a piece of woven literary blanket, where words would play with each other and yet send out something so deep and ingenuous.
To Know more about his songs and his works, you could browse here,
But, what gave worth to that music? For me , it started with Gulzaar. His words were like crafted pearls, woven into a long thread finely and yet effortlessly. The fascination started with the admiration of, a mellifluous Lata humming Tujhse naraaj nahi zindagi. And then it was an unending chain of lyrical gems from Gulzaar that drove me to a higher plane. Few remarkable ones were , Mera kuch samaan,Tum aa gaye ho,O manjhi re,Humne dekhi hai,Huzzoor iss kadar,Tere bina zindagi se.
The greatest quality of his songs are that they do not appear to be the work of a contrived genius , but rather of an accidental genius , writing out of careless regard of words,with most of his songs looking into the simple and ingenuous yet unnamed facts of daily life.The variety of lyrics that he has provided could be hardly believed by a casual onlooker. It ranges from such deeply abstract , "Humne Dekhi hai" , to childish hum "Lakdi ki kaathi". I think "Masoom" is symbolic of his eclectic variety. Nonetheless, his song in parichay ,"Musaafir hoon yaroon" , appears as restless yet composed as a lost yet untiring traveler.
However, in non-films category as well, he hasn't been any less active. His album, "Sunset point" , has several gems embedded in it. He narrates the story in his rugged yet silken voice and along with it moves the entire series of events. One of the particularly beautiful piece from that album is ,"Kacche rang utar jaane do", sung huskily yet deeply by Chitra.
In the contemporary period , he has written a whole basket of varying songs. Ranging from "Bidi jalai le" in Omkara, to Oscar winning "Jai Ho" in Slumdog millionaire. Once you have known his quality of work , you could instinctively tell which of the song could be Gulzaar's, but he nevertheless doesn't fail to spring surprises, like "Jabaan pe laga namak ishq ka". Whatever he writes, there is a sort of implicit guarantee associated with it, the guarantee that the song would be a piece of woven literary blanket, where words would play with each other and yet send out something so deep and ingenuous.
To Know more about his songs and his works, you could browse here,
http://www.gulzar.info/
Friday, 10 July 2009
A zero sum game
For a game there has to be participants, and for the sum to be zero there must be something that would be added. Former is you , but what is latter?
Inasmuch I understand, the components that are to be added are your deeds and their implications , with a positive score for every "success" and negative for "failures". Although , failures are predominant candidates, success pays irregular and unexpected visits, however, when the "end" arrives, both positive and negative scores come at par and the resulting sum happens to be ZERO.
For an end there has to be a beginning, but what I see as the beginning and the end are only consequences of my reasoning setup. If being unconscious is the end and gaining consciousness is the beginning, it repeats for me everyday. Every sleep takes away my consciousness and every morning brings it back. This isn't something right, there is no "end", simply because there is no "beginning".
My consciousness plays truant over here. It forces me to see the world as it understands, but what it understands is something which doesn't seek understanding. Why again I get trapped into the circular traps of my mind? Why does it seek to understand more than what it is?
That which it is , I cant think of, and that what I think , doesn't confirm it. But does my thought fight it? It appears to be so . It fights my existence, it realizes in me sadness and happiness, it leads me to a structure, it plays the part of my guide . Where is my primal identity? It lies not in these words, not in success, not in anything, yet why don't I seem to find it?
Yet, If I find it , how will I recognize it without my mind? How will it be named? How would it appear? I may be asking wrong questions here, but answers are what I seek. Manifest thyself, if there it is , beyond my thinking. I find no answer, yet get a glimpse of it. It reveals itself in the "cuckoo" of koel on the tree nearby, that sings along with me , sharing ourselves. It manifests itself in the green pastures to which I run and the mud I roll in. In the silent whispers of the breeze that furtively sneaks in, and into the sleep that makes all a king.
My primal identity lies not in these words, but they seem to provide me the assurance of its existence. Of the assurance that there is no end, that there is no sum and that there is no game.
Inasmuch I understand, the components that are to be added are your deeds and their implications , with a positive score for every "success" and negative for "failures". Although , failures are predominant candidates, success pays irregular and unexpected visits, however, when the "end" arrives, both positive and negative scores come at par and the resulting sum happens to be ZERO.
For an end there has to be a beginning, but what I see as the beginning and the end are only consequences of my reasoning setup. If being unconscious is the end and gaining consciousness is the beginning, it repeats for me everyday. Every sleep takes away my consciousness and every morning brings it back. This isn't something right, there is no "end", simply because there is no "beginning".
My consciousness plays truant over here. It forces me to see the world as it understands, but what it understands is something which doesn't seek understanding. Why again I get trapped into the circular traps of my mind? Why does it seek to understand more than what it is?
That which it is , I cant think of, and that what I think , doesn't confirm it. But does my thought fight it? It appears to be so . It fights my existence, it realizes in me sadness and happiness, it leads me to a structure, it plays the part of my guide . Where is my primal identity? It lies not in these words, not in success, not in anything, yet why don't I seem to find it?
Yet, If I find it , how will I recognize it without my mind? How will it be named? How would it appear? I may be asking wrong questions here, but answers are what I seek. Manifest thyself, if there it is , beyond my thinking. I find no answer, yet get a glimpse of it. It reveals itself in the "cuckoo" of koel on the tree nearby, that sings along with me , sharing ourselves. It manifests itself in the green pastures to which I run and the mud I roll in. In the silent whispers of the breeze that furtively sneaks in, and into the sleep that makes all a king.
My primal identity lies not in these words, but they seem to provide me the assurance of its existence. Of the assurance that there is no end, that there is no sum and that there is no game.
Its all just a long,endless, quietude.
Thursday, 9 July 2009
Birth & Re-Birth
And I accepted another birth. Squirming, wriggling , and dying to get going. The stream in front giggled over the pebbles , which shone though the light that filtered through the thin layer of stream. Across the river, there was dense vegetation , verdant and lush. I sprinted towards the other shore, one jump was all it took. However, as I landed, darkness loomed over the area, lush vegetation had turned to dark logs. Bewildered, I turned around, only to find the other shore , as desolate as ever.
My claim to life was due, it had to be affirmed by the human in me.However, when darkness drenches the horizon, one can only be left wondering. Not me,however. I was freshly born , unencumbered with the conventional wisdom. I closed my eyes, and shut off the sensation of sight. It was no longer dark, darkness had no meaning now. As I moved further, assisted by my senses, I ran into dark objects, but they didn't deter me , for I couldn't see them. They were all same to me, symptomatic of objects, neither good nor bad.
I walked for , I don't know how long; there was no time. It seemed to be long since I started and yet it was just as near to me as the engraving on my mind. Suddenly , the clamor of surrounding overgrew the silence within. It was disturbing to an infant. How can he cope with it. It worsened. I was the source of common anger. I was the harbinger of change, a change that locked its horns with stasis. I represented something I didn't understand, yet I was never separate from it. Subject and object had colluded and now there was none. An arrogant person threw coconut on my head, and naturally it blasted into two. I stood unmoved, for I didn't know what was on. People around me clapped, there was jubilation all around.
I was unmoved, undeterred, for I was never challenged. My head became the slab for breaking coconut shells, it fell apart on my head, and I sensed a liquid down my nose. It moved into my mouth and I sensed "hunger", it grew, unfettered, unbound. It drove me mad. I needed more of it , my hunger killed me, it drove me down. I sought the public to use me for their fun and give me in turn the "liquid" that I wanted so much now. Laughter turned louder, clamor grew bigger, and the liquid poured faster. I drank it ; kept drinking it. And suddenly there was a deluge of the "liquid". I couldn't swallow it all and I puked. Clamor died down at once, laughter ceased. It was all silent again.I was losing all my senses and out of fear, I opened my eyes. It was still dark all around.
Instinctively I shut them back at once and shed my breath.
.
.
.
"Do you seek re-birth?", a faint voice echoed. I obliged, and here I was once again.
Stream gurgled and I could see the verdant landscape on the other side. I took a jump ....
My claim to life was due, it had to be affirmed by the human in me.However, when darkness drenches the horizon, one can only be left wondering. Not me,however. I was freshly born , unencumbered with the conventional wisdom. I closed my eyes, and shut off the sensation of sight. It was no longer dark, darkness had no meaning now. As I moved further, assisted by my senses, I ran into dark objects, but they didn't deter me , for I couldn't see them. They were all same to me, symptomatic of objects, neither good nor bad.
I walked for , I don't know how long; there was no time. It seemed to be long since I started and yet it was just as near to me as the engraving on my mind. Suddenly , the clamor of surrounding overgrew the silence within. It was disturbing to an infant. How can he cope with it. It worsened. I was the source of common anger. I was the harbinger of change, a change that locked its horns with stasis. I represented something I didn't understand, yet I was never separate from it. Subject and object had colluded and now there was none. An arrogant person threw coconut on my head, and naturally it blasted into two. I stood unmoved, for I didn't know what was on. People around me clapped, there was jubilation all around.
I was unmoved, undeterred, for I was never challenged. My head became the slab for breaking coconut shells, it fell apart on my head, and I sensed a liquid down my nose. It moved into my mouth and I sensed "hunger", it grew, unfettered, unbound. It drove me mad. I needed more of it , my hunger killed me, it drove me down. I sought the public to use me for their fun and give me in turn the "liquid" that I wanted so much now. Laughter turned louder, clamor grew bigger, and the liquid poured faster. I drank it ; kept drinking it. And suddenly there was a deluge of the "liquid". I couldn't swallow it all and I puked. Clamor died down at once, laughter ceased. It was all silent again.I was losing all my senses and out of fear, I opened my eyes. It was still dark all around.
Instinctively I shut them back at once and shed my breath.
.
.
.
"Do you seek re-birth?", a faint voice echoed. I obliged, and here I was once again.
Stream gurgled and I could see the verdant landscape on the other side. I took a jump ....
Friday, 3 July 2009
Identity and Death
This piece of article intends to take a deep dive into philosophy of identity.
I just finished the book Zen and Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. A very difficult read and certainly one of those books which literally enchanted me and I had visions beyond comprehension. However, its something which that book forced me to realize that I wish to jot down. Besides the common fact that Quality is the undefined essence of life, the book questions the objective truths . What does a "person" constitute of ? If looked objectively , it would tend to list organic entities, hand, face, legs, mind and so on. But Objective view isn't the only view,rather its a skewed view. So used to believing ( through the senses of sight and reasoning) the individual as an objective entity are we that we get blinded by our own reasoning. Subjectively an individual is much more than the sum of his parts. He is part of a framework. But, what happens when he dies?
I just finished the book Zen and Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. A very difficult read and certainly one of those books which literally enchanted me and I had visions beyond comprehension. However, its something which that book forced me to realize that I wish to jot down. Besides the common fact that Quality is the undefined essence of life, the book questions the objective truths . What does a "person" constitute of ? If looked objectively , it would tend to list organic entities, hand, face, legs, mind and so on. But Objective view isn't the only view,rather its a skewed view. So used to believing ( through the senses of sight and reasoning) the individual as an objective entity are we that we get blinded by our own reasoning. Subjectively an individual is much more than the sum of his parts. He is part of a framework. But, what happens when he dies?
Monday, 29 June 2009
When your Friend gets a Girlfriend
Contrary to popular belief that marriage changes a man , these days , they are molded much earlier. I had never imagined during my growing up years that, it would be an issue worth writing , however, as it appears, it very much is.
Love , partly a euphemism for attraction and partly unexplained phenomenon stalks youth very indiscriminately these days. It changes the entire dimension of life for individuals and they begin to see and experience much than what they could or would have had with the bare eyes. Biologically , love is just a set of chemical reaction of hormones that makes one irrational for time being and changes the dimensions completely. I don't intend to get into debating this objective view of love , however, its the ramifications of this love that I am concerned about.
Very certainly it changes the perspective and life of individuals in love tremendously , but how much change does it bring to the friends of couples. Friends of couples have been given unfair treatment in this whole episode of love, although their role is no less important . This injustice can be observed both in day to day life and reel life. They are the catalysts of the relationship yet the are sidelined by the focus on couples.
I shall try to square this iniquity in literature at least. To whatsoever extent ,it does change the life of friends . The change however isn't overnight.It progresses in stages, starting with the guy being busy SMSing or blubbering on phone in aloof, portending an imminent expansion of group and alienation of the guy. Well , these poor souls bear this change with equanimity , but it doesn't stop there. One day it gets official and you have a new member in the group and whether you liked it or not, it has to expand. At this stage guy has to welcome the the inclusion of the new member in the group whole heartedly, and even make amends to his ways to make it comfortable for the new entrant. As days progress he gets used to the friend's ringtones and constant litany of "aur batao". It doesn't stop here,however, he is to be, from now, an advocate of his friend's girlfriend, to sort things out whenever there are signs of strains. This is an uphill task when none of them is ready to oblige and you don't know what is the fight actually for. However, even at the cost of looking foolish he tries sort it out.
And yeah, it doesn't end there as well; now things don't happen as they used to be, it changes diametrically. Plans have to accommodate the whims and fancies of new member. The plight of guy is pitiable when he has to act as the adjutant to his friend's girlfriend and her fantastic plans , for his friend's birthday celebrations and other such events . Poor soul, bears it all for the sake of his friend. And then, as the time progresses, things change irreparably, the connection between you and your friend takes a different dimension. Perhaps that's the course nature has attributed to it.
Amazingly, each of the guys in the group feels this twinge when one of the member gets a girlfriend, but all behave similarly in their own case. Its not that I wish to portray it as a nasty encumbrance, its that there are unsung heroes behind all these affairs and who have been completely neglected . Change is the only constant thing in the universe and hence people keep changing with time. So next time your affair crystallizes , don't forget to thank your friend, his sacrifices aren't less worthy than yours.
Love , partly a euphemism for attraction and partly unexplained phenomenon stalks youth very indiscriminately these days. It changes the entire dimension of life for individuals and they begin to see and experience much than what they could or would have had with the bare eyes. Biologically , love is just a set of chemical reaction of hormones that makes one irrational for time being and changes the dimensions completely. I don't intend to get into debating this objective view of love , however, its the ramifications of this love that I am concerned about.
Very certainly it changes the perspective and life of individuals in love tremendously , but how much change does it bring to the friends of couples. Friends of couples have been given unfair treatment in this whole episode of love, although their role is no less important . This injustice can be observed both in day to day life and reel life. They are the catalysts of the relationship yet the are sidelined by the focus on couples.
I shall try to square this iniquity in literature at least. To whatsoever extent ,it does change the life of friends . The change however isn't overnight.It progresses in stages, starting with the guy being busy SMSing or blubbering on phone in aloof, portending an imminent expansion of group and alienation of the guy. Well , these poor souls bear this change with equanimity , but it doesn't stop there. One day it gets official and you have a new member in the group and whether you liked it or not, it has to expand. At this stage guy has to welcome the the inclusion of the new member in the group whole heartedly, and even make amends to his ways to make it comfortable for the new entrant. As days progress he gets used to the friend's ringtones and constant litany of "aur batao". It doesn't stop here,however, he is to be, from now, an advocate of his friend's girlfriend, to sort things out whenever there are signs of strains. This is an uphill task when none of them is ready to oblige and you don't know what is the fight actually for. However, even at the cost of looking foolish he tries sort it out.
And yeah, it doesn't end there as well; now things don't happen as they used to be, it changes diametrically. Plans have to accommodate the whims and fancies of new member. The plight of guy is pitiable when he has to act as the adjutant to his friend's girlfriend and her fantastic plans , for his friend's birthday celebrations and other such events . Poor soul, bears it all for the sake of his friend. And then, as the time progresses, things change irreparably, the connection between you and your friend takes a different dimension. Perhaps that's the course nature has attributed to it.
Amazingly, each of the guys in the group feels this twinge when one of the member gets a girlfriend, but all behave similarly in their own case. Its not that I wish to portray it as a nasty encumbrance, its that there are unsung heroes behind all these affairs and who have been completely neglected . Change is the only constant thing in the universe and hence people keep changing with time. So next time your affair crystallizes , don't forget to thank your friend, his sacrifices aren't less worthy than yours.
Thursday, 25 June 2009
Amitabh Bacchan - A Liar?
Did Amitabh Lie? Seems to be an interesting question. Amitabh Bacchan, soul of Indian cinema in 70s and biggest Indian superstar of all time lied. He did. When and how ? Answer to former lies not on a date , but in a span of years and the very same years explain how .
Monday, 22 June 2009
Reality
Reality , an elusive yet pertinent question for any individual. What could we consider as real? The conception of world, that we have , is brought by our thoughts, which is the domain of our mind and thus points that reality lies in our head. Reality is what we think , and nothing else. Let's pause here for a moment and reconsider this suggestion.
If reality is what is in our head, then , whatever isn't in our thoughts shouldn't exist. It implies, if I don't consider an item , it doesn't exist.
Doesn't sound very true , for there are things beyond our thoughts that exist. Nevertheless, it doesn't play down the suggestion made above completely. That which exists outside of our thought's domain , is known to us as existing outside of our mind, this knowledge of existence beyond thought might as well corroborate its existence. Its very similar so as to say , "I know what I know , but I don't know what I don't know". And this gives the possibility of existence of that which is unknown to our thoughts.
From one of the books that I am reading currently, I found that there are two aspects of thought towards an object, Classical and Romantic. Under Classical thought , lies the answer to why and how. Alluding to maintaining a bike, author says, classical thought is like, being aware of the how and why of the bike, so that at any time bike is under your control. You can repair it for you know about it. Romantic thought, lies with the idea of just seeing things as it is. No questions , no altercations, no research. Just as it is. Like seeing your bike as just a mode of transport and not bothering to know whether it has a chain that needs to be greased regularly. Both variety are nonetheless thoughts and this shapes our vision.
However , the author goes on to describe that there is another important aspect that has been overlooked above. That domain which lies beyond thought. He names it as quality.
Quality is an undefined objective truth. Quality branches to classical and romantic version. Whereas classic version is concerned with reasoning, logic and definitions, romantic is concerned with uninterpreted. He says, romantic quality can be understood as that time lag which, although minute, comes up between sight and understanding. When an object is sighted, it is transmitted to mind and interpreted. There is a time lag. This implies that what we see was in the past and present is never seen. This is the romantic ideal.Thus we dont or cant define things as the romantic ideal suggests.
The classical ideal of quality branches into mind and matter. Mind , through its objective reasoning and logic identifies quality in the matter. Quality is that which exists, irrespective of the viewer's understanding, only that it is understood differently by different person.
However, a pertinent question that keeps nagging me is, whatever thought process we may apply in understanding the reality has to come form the mind itself and thus cannot visualize itself. It requires a vantage point which is beyond our minds. A lunatic isn't lunatic to himself, his world is defined in his thoughts and despite of what a "sane" person may think of him, he is still rational in his own world. If thought is that which defines our world , then one's world has to be exist in his thoughts only. There doesn't have to be an objective reality. However , mind rebels against that and points out belligerently towards the objective realities if the world. Its difficult to rise above one's own thoughts and have an opinion on this issue , however, certainly mind is not the absolute , and that which exists beyond it , which is thus not understood by the same definition, can't be detected by it. Thus, for objective reality there is always mind and matter, but for the subjective reality , I can't say. May be "quality", may be not.
If reality is what is in our head, then , whatever isn't in our thoughts shouldn't exist. It implies, if I don't consider an item , it doesn't exist.
Doesn't sound very true , for there are things beyond our thoughts that exist. Nevertheless, it doesn't play down the suggestion made above completely. That which exists outside of our thought's domain , is known to us as existing outside of our mind, this knowledge of existence beyond thought might as well corroborate its existence. Its very similar so as to say , "I know what I know , but I don't know what I don't know". And this gives the possibility of existence of that which is unknown to our thoughts.
From one of the books that I am reading currently, I found that there are two aspects of thought towards an object, Classical and Romantic. Under Classical thought , lies the answer to why and how. Alluding to maintaining a bike, author says, classical thought is like, being aware of the how and why of the bike, so that at any time bike is under your control. You can repair it for you know about it. Romantic thought, lies with the idea of just seeing things as it is. No questions , no altercations, no research. Just as it is. Like seeing your bike as just a mode of transport and not bothering to know whether it has a chain that needs to be greased regularly. Both variety are nonetheless thoughts and this shapes our vision.
However , the author goes on to describe that there is another important aspect that has been overlooked above. That domain which lies beyond thought. He names it as quality.
Quality is an undefined objective truth. Quality branches to classical and romantic version. Whereas classic version is concerned with reasoning, logic and definitions, romantic is concerned with uninterpreted. He says, romantic quality can be understood as that time lag which, although minute, comes up between sight and understanding. When an object is sighted, it is transmitted to mind and interpreted. There is a time lag. This implies that what we see was in the past and present is never seen. This is the romantic ideal.Thus we dont or cant define things as the romantic ideal suggests.
The classical ideal of quality branches into mind and matter. Mind , through its objective reasoning and logic identifies quality in the matter. Quality is that which exists, irrespective of the viewer's understanding, only that it is understood differently by different person.
However, a pertinent question that keeps nagging me is, whatever thought process we may apply in understanding the reality has to come form the mind itself and thus cannot visualize itself. It requires a vantage point which is beyond our minds. A lunatic isn't lunatic to himself, his world is defined in his thoughts and despite of what a "sane" person may think of him, he is still rational in his own world. If thought is that which defines our world , then one's world has to be exist in his thoughts only. There doesn't have to be an objective reality. However , mind rebels against that and points out belligerently towards the objective realities if the world. Its difficult to rise above one's own thoughts and have an opinion on this issue , however, certainly mind is not the absolute , and that which exists beyond it , which is thus not understood by the same definition, can't be detected by it. Thus, for objective reality there is always mind and matter, but for the subjective reality , I can't say. May be "quality", may be not.
Wednesday, 17 June 2009
Cricket - No Longer a Passionate Game.
We all foresighted this inevitable decay of the so called gentleman's game. However, in our necessity to have a venue which could act as a scapegoat for our daily mundane life, we ignored the onslaught on the cricket culture. Where did this decay begin after all? No such fine line is clearly evident , yet for Indian cricket this largely began during the late nineties when match fixing and other such crime came into limelight. That was perhaps one of the biggest blow to the passion that India had for cricket matches.
However, for a debacle its always a multitude of factors that contribute. Another such debilitating factor was increasing commercialization of the cricket, through endorsements and brand ambassadors from cricket world. When the players started earning unconscionable amount of money , it did affect the game and in particular, the passion of its supporters as well. On the same lines, number of matches played during an year too was increased substantially, which beyond a point, did affect the quality of game and dedication of players.
However, in spite of all these ,marketing prospects for cricket never dwindled in India and thus instead of reinventing its original passion, its underlying structure continually decayed. Now cricket transformed itself from a passionate game to just a game wherein huge amounts of money and advertisement flowed. With the growing pace of the world, Twenty -Twenty cricket, which was just biding its time in the background, arrived with full force. With such a high marketing prospect in India for this version of the game , Lalit Modi bragged the chance with both hands and started the Lucrative IPL. Players started to earn in billions, however, nature and quality of game decayed. Cricket matches, from being an important event into one's personal calendar earlier, became just an another reality show, with added drama and suspense.
Early exit of Indian team from ICC T20 world cup marks a seminal event in the history of Indian cricket. Too much of cricket and money had overwrought and and overwhelmed Indian players. Indian team appeared lackluster from the very beginning and their indifferent attitude worsened the matter. When India was losing against England, I saw Suresh Raina laughing at it. I don't blame him for his attitude , but his laughter appeared to me as a mockery of my passion and of all other cricket fans.
I know I am exaggerating the debacle of Indian team in world cup, and would certainly watch the game in near future. However, one thing has certainly changed for me. Cricket matches are just a thriller tele-serial , no longer a passionate game.
However, for a debacle its always a multitude of factors that contribute. Another such debilitating factor was increasing commercialization of the cricket, through endorsements and brand ambassadors from cricket world. When the players started earning unconscionable amount of money , it did affect the game and in particular, the passion of its supporters as well. On the same lines, number of matches played during an year too was increased substantially, which beyond a point, did affect the quality of game and dedication of players.
However, in spite of all these ,marketing prospects for cricket never dwindled in India and thus instead of reinventing its original passion, its underlying structure continually decayed. Now cricket transformed itself from a passionate game to just a game wherein huge amounts of money and advertisement flowed. With the growing pace of the world, Twenty -Twenty cricket, which was just biding its time in the background, arrived with full force. With such a high marketing prospect in India for this version of the game , Lalit Modi bragged the chance with both hands and started the Lucrative IPL. Players started to earn in billions, however, nature and quality of game decayed. Cricket matches, from being an important event into one's personal calendar earlier, became just an another reality show, with added drama and suspense.
Early exit of Indian team from ICC T20 world cup marks a seminal event in the history of Indian cricket. Too much of cricket and money had overwrought and and overwhelmed Indian players. Indian team appeared lackluster from the very beginning and their indifferent attitude worsened the matter. When India was losing against England, I saw Suresh Raina laughing at it. I don't blame him for his attitude , but his laughter appeared to me as a mockery of my passion and of all other cricket fans.
I know I am exaggerating the debacle of Indian team in world cup, and would certainly watch the game in near future. However, one thing has certainly changed for me. Cricket matches are just a thriller tele-serial , no longer a passionate game.
Saturday, 13 June 2009
Incarcerated
As the sun fades, and darkness looms,
my cell stays the same, although pain blooms.
since how long has that calender not changed
though sun fades and moon wanes.
Time needs no clock here, time needs no time ,
time in this cell is all but time.
my cell stays the same, although pain blooms.
since how long has that calender not changed
though sun fades and moon wanes.
Time needs no clock here, time needs no time ,
time in this cell is all but time.
Why be an Atheist?
Why be an atheist? How could one be so sure of something, when everyone around us is not sure about anything, yet searching tirelessly. Why not be an agnostic and play safe? Why go to extremes? Be a jack of both the trades, just as they say,"believe in god , but tie your camel first". Following this line of thought ensures that we are no longer dependent upon that enigmatic concept of "god", yet we protect ourselves against what we don't know. Am I right?
Certainly not, I define my agnosticism as one which doesn't believe in any god and is unsure about the the truths of this world. I cont know , what I don't know, but I know what I see as the God around me is a falsity contrived by the society which has never been sure of anything but has always managed to create venues to base their "principles" on. Being an agnostic to such falsehood, is equivalent to believing in it. Biggest casualty is approach to life, you start to think of life as a planned event organized by some unknown, or believing life to be made of serendipity . Needless to say that all of us experience this contradiction , yet most of us never try to understand the nature of it , rather describe it as an aberration in planner's plan. Come to think of it and you will know that you think so because of your perspective created by people around you , who , most of them, themselves never questioned the way things were around them, and remaining few who got confused in the process opted for the conventional wisdom.
I would not like to be an atheist, I would not like to restrict myself to any fundamental creed. Nevertheless, If being an atheist means shunning the concept of God , as perpetrated by people around me, I would like to call myself an atheist to that extent, but no further.
Certainly not, I define my agnosticism as one which doesn't believe in any god and is unsure about the the truths of this world. I cont know , what I don't know, but I know what I see as the God around me is a falsity contrived by the society which has never been sure of anything but has always managed to create venues to base their "principles" on. Being an agnostic to such falsehood, is equivalent to believing in it. Biggest casualty is approach to life, you start to think of life as a planned event organized by some unknown, or believing life to be made of serendipity . Needless to say that all of us experience this contradiction , yet most of us never try to understand the nature of it , rather describe it as an aberration in planner's plan. Come to think of it and you will know that you think so because of your perspective created by people around you , who , most of them, themselves never questioned the way things were around them, and remaining few who got confused in the process opted for the conventional wisdom.
I would not like to be an atheist, I would not like to restrict myself to any fundamental creed. Nevertheless, If being an atheist means shunning the concept of God , as perpetrated by people around me, I would like to call myself an atheist to that extent, but no further.
Friday, 12 June 2009
Selling The Wheel - Review
" Selling the Wheel", is a management book cum novel , written by Jeff Cox. The central idea behind the book is the different variety of sales techniques needed at the different stages of technology evolution. He has demonstrated the different facts through a historic plot. A guy ,Max, chances to invent wheel, which was unknown during old Egyptian days. The way this technology then grows, matures and extracts different requirements is the central idea behind the book.
During the Initial stage when the technology has just born or just evolved, people are skeptic towards adopting it. This stage requires a CLOSER salesman. He is the kind of sales person who is very enthusiastic about new technologies. They are not team players and are after percentage in profits. They do not form closer ties with the customers and are not very concerned about them once the deal is done. The primary characteristic of these people is that they have the knack of closing the deal by resolving all the doubts and issues or by threatening to break the deal or so. During the crucial stage of closing the deal they pose the question to the customer and then stay silent, whosoever then speaks first loses. Generally customers brings out his nagging fears and ends up closing the deal.
However, as the technology grows, the demands of the customers change. After the technology has become somewhat popular , customers demand support for the way they could use the technology. At this stage a WIZARD salesman becomes indispensable. The qualities of s Wizard are that he is a technical person as well as a team player. He values rewards in the form of promotions , achieved through his performance. He is a team player and values his customers. He may or may not deal with the same customer twice, but he does seek to solve customers issues. He takes presentations for the large group of the customer organization and could convince all. He would write into journals and thus advertise about the technology by raising the talk about it in the technical circle. However, they tend to overlook some customer requirements and have strong inclination to technology than to exact customer needs.
As the technology matures further, customer starts demanding full support and product develops incrementally. The organizations have to be concerned that the incremental changes do not drive up the prices considerably. Also, the customer prefer to deal with the person whom they could trust and would act as their advocate. At this stage a BUILDER is required. Primary characteristic if the builder is a long term relationship with the customers and act as their advocate in their organizations. They ensure the customers demands are met and get the proper price for it as well . They are Teams players and would deal with the same customer again and again. They prefer staying in the sales itself.
In the final phase when the technology has become ubiquitous, the equations change. The organizations have to change their strategies and diversify the portfolios of their organizations. At this stage a customer doesn't require much guidance , but the best price . A CAPTAIN is required at this stage who would manage the crew of salesmen . The primary feature of his is that he is a team player. They drive out ways to enhance customer satisfaction and push up sales through advertisement and customer services.
After the technology has reached its maturity , its ready to be taken over by another technology and the cycle repeats. However, market is largest at the last stage , around 90%. while at the the first stage the market is smallest , around 1-2%. However the mrgins are much higher in latter case than former.
It was a great book which deftly projected the different type of sales methodology as well as the life cycle of technology. A must read.
During the Initial stage when the technology has just born or just evolved, people are skeptic towards adopting it. This stage requires a CLOSER salesman. He is the kind of sales person who is very enthusiastic about new technologies. They are not team players and are after percentage in profits. They do not form closer ties with the customers and are not very concerned about them once the deal is done. The primary characteristic of these people is that they have the knack of closing the deal by resolving all the doubts and issues or by threatening to break the deal or so. During the crucial stage of closing the deal they pose the question to the customer and then stay silent, whosoever then speaks first loses. Generally customers brings out his nagging fears and ends up closing the deal.
However, as the technology grows, the demands of the customers change. After the technology has become somewhat popular , customers demand support for the way they could use the technology. At this stage a WIZARD salesman becomes indispensable. The qualities of s Wizard are that he is a technical person as well as a team player. He values rewards in the form of promotions , achieved through his performance. He is a team player and values his customers. He may or may not deal with the same customer twice, but he does seek to solve customers issues. He takes presentations for the large group of the customer organization and could convince all. He would write into journals and thus advertise about the technology by raising the talk about it in the technical circle. However, they tend to overlook some customer requirements and have strong inclination to technology than to exact customer needs.
As the technology matures further, customer starts demanding full support and product develops incrementally. The organizations have to be concerned that the incremental changes do not drive up the prices considerably. Also, the customer prefer to deal with the person whom they could trust and would act as their advocate. At this stage a BUILDER is required. Primary characteristic if the builder is a long term relationship with the customers and act as their advocate in their organizations. They ensure the customers demands are met and get the proper price for it as well . They are Teams players and would deal with the same customer again and again. They prefer staying in the sales itself.
In the final phase when the technology has become ubiquitous, the equations change. The organizations have to change their strategies and diversify the portfolios of their organizations. At this stage a customer doesn't require much guidance , but the best price . A CAPTAIN is required at this stage who would manage the crew of salesmen . The primary feature of his is that he is a team player. They drive out ways to enhance customer satisfaction and push up sales through advertisement and customer services.
After the technology has reached its maturity , its ready to be taken over by another technology and the cycle repeats. However, market is largest at the last stage , around 90%. while at the the first stage the market is smallest , around 1-2%. However the mrgins are much higher in latter case than former.
It was a great book which deftly projected the different type of sales methodology as well as the life cycle of technology. A must read.
Wednesday, 10 June 2009
Writeups - How effective?
Why do we find literary world to be so far away from reality ? Idealistic assumptions made in literary works envisions rational process for every action, but that seldom happens. Or to put more plainly, why do , whatever we write , differ so very much from the ground reality ?
Perhaps, a plausible answer lies in the question itself. Writing , assumes human being to be a rational animal , who takes rational decisions 24X7 , although, we all know , how rational we are. A person makes multitude of irrational decisions in his life, for which it has no answers.
A literary piece assumes the world to be made up of a known set of beliefs and patterns, or at least a world which is expected to run in that fashion. In doing so a write up restricts itself to its own limitation of incomplete knowledge of human life.
Nevertheless, literary media is far ahead of other forms of media in being closer to life and it has its own reasons for that. A literary piece doesn't require dependency upon others, its commercially cheaper to pursue, but the most important fact is that , our expressed thoughts, are primarily controlled by our language, and language acts as the guide of the unbridled ride which our mind is capable to take. Controlled by our language, thoughts get a direction to move on paper.
If a piece of writing is so imperfect by its own right, why is it revered highly? One plain reason, is that it provides alternatives to what we see around us. It guides our way towards alternative truths of life, and thus manifesting in itself the implausibility of a single absolute truth. Its for this very reason, I think one should write, howsoever imperfect it may seem to him or her. It always serves to clear up our thoughts and perception of life.
Perhaps, a plausible answer lies in the question itself. Writing , assumes human being to be a rational animal , who takes rational decisions 24X7 , although, we all know , how rational we are. A person makes multitude of irrational decisions in his life, for which it has no answers.
A literary piece assumes the world to be made up of a known set of beliefs and patterns, or at least a world which is expected to run in that fashion. In doing so a write up restricts itself to its own limitation of incomplete knowledge of human life.
Nevertheless, literary media is far ahead of other forms of media in being closer to life and it has its own reasons for that. A literary piece doesn't require dependency upon others, its commercially cheaper to pursue, but the most important fact is that , our expressed thoughts, are primarily controlled by our language, and language acts as the guide of the unbridled ride which our mind is capable to take. Controlled by our language, thoughts get a direction to move on paper.
If a piece of writing is so imperfect by its own right, why is it revered highly? One plain reason, is that it provides alternatives to what we see around us. It guides our way towards alternative truths of life, and thus manifesting in itself the implausibility of a single absolute truth. Its for this very reason, I think one should write, howsoever imperfect it may seem to him or her. It always serves to clear up our thoughts and perception of life.
Monday, 8 June 2009
India - a mythical concept.
Our growth is accompanied by a set of beliefs that we nurture with time. One such belief was a universal concept of India as a nation. Imagining India to be a country formulated out of its own birthright. However, with time the building blocks of this belief eroded. What I found was ; India was a country formulated by the vested interests of middle classes of different regions located in topographical vicinity. India was just an incidental country formed out of the will of varied races to live in peace and prosperity.
And in doing so , India was no different from many other countries of the world. Why then did it hurt to realize this truth about India? Reason for that perhaps lies in the nature of freedom struggle that India undertook. India didn't exist , until revolutionaries came together and when they did come together, they provided and envisioned a uniform and single view of the country despite its vast cultural, linguistic, religious and social varieties. Considerable effort was made to drive home the point that "we" are one nation , and we should come together to face this oppressive regime suppressing our liberties. Literature played its part in enforcing this point,just as, "Jana Gana Man",took care of all the regions of the land. This redrawing of Indian political border, and uniting all of them under it , presented an illusion of a uniform India. I wasn't born in history , and thus I can't make objective remarks on the past, but it appears to me that , "India was united in adversity but is divided in prosperity".
Jingoism,parochialism, chauvinism, aren't new phenomenon to be observed. Mirage of human upliftment through education provides a mistaken belief of extinction of these terms. A non parochial India is an elusive dream, and will remain so , until the economical factors of the region balance out the inequities among different regions.
Shashi Tharoor in his masterpiece work on Indian history has aptly pointed out that India is a collection of minorities. Dividing lines are numerous, and yet it somehow manages to stay together. North and South, Hindu and Muslim, Bihari and Punjabi, Tamil and Kannadiga, the list is endless. And the truth is that it is a reality. Hence ,when those guys out there in Australia decry the attacks on Indian students as racism practiced by Australians, I would urge them to look in their own backyard and understand .Racism comes from the very notion of success and failure. Patronizing one person over another based on certain features acts as the roots of racism.
Why do I write such a wanton piece on India? Its because, its considered too sacrilegious a subject to be discussed, because its a sham to shout at the top of your voice to be an Indian , ignoring the hard facts in your backyard. I can recall what one of my friend, frustrated of racism against Northies in South India said, "India as a nation is a bogus concept. Administrative Jobs are popular because it empowers you over and above the fragile structure of Indian democracy. Common man like us will always have to bear this pain of racism." He was exaggerating for sure, but to what extent ?
And in doing so , India was no different from many other countries of the world. Why then did it hurt to realize this truth about India? Reason for that perhaps lies in the nature of freedom struggle that India undertook. India didn't exist , until revolutionaries came together and when they did come together, they provided and envisioned a uniform and single view of the country despite its vast cultural, linguistic, religious and social varieties. Considerable effort was made to drive home the point that "we" are one nation , and we should come together to face this oppressive regime suppressing our liberties. Literature played its part in enforcing this point,just as, "Jana Gana Man",took care of all the regions of the land. This redrawing of Indian political border, and uniting all of them under it , presented an illusion of a uniform India. I wasn't born in history , and thus I can't make objective remarks on the past, but it appears to me that , "India was united in adversity but is divided in prosperity".
Jingoism,parochialism, chauvinism, aren't new phenomenon to be observed. Mirage of human upliftment through education provides a mistaken belief of extinction of these terms. A non parochial India is an elusive dream, and will remain so , until the economical factors of the region balance out the inequities among different regions.
Shashi Tharoor in his masterpiece work on Indian history has aptly pointed out that India is a collection of minorities. Dividing lines are numerous, and yet it somehow manages to stay together. North and South, Hindu and Muslim, Bihari and Punjabi, Tamil and Kannadiga, the list is endless. And the truth is that it is a reality. Hence ,when those guys out there in Australia decry the attacks on Indian students as racism practiced by Australians, I would urge them to look in their own backyard and understand .Racism comes from the very notion of success and failure. Patronizing one person over another based on certain features acts as the roots of racism.
Why do I write such a wanton piece on India? Its because, its considered too sacrilegious a subject to be discussed, because its a sham to shout at the top of your voice to be an Indian , ignoring the hard facts in your backyard. I can recall what one of my friend, frustrated of racism against Northies in South India said, "India as a nation is a bogus concept. Administrative Jobs are popular because it empowers you over and above the fragile structure of Indian democracy. Common man like us will always have to bear this pain of racism." He was exaggerating for sure, but to what extent ?
Wonderful Wonder La!
A repetitive yet wonderful phenomenon en route holiday trip is the desire to peek out of the speeding vehicle, musing over the nothingness speeding in front. Sight of verdant and undulating landscapes drive the chain of thoughts. Slowly, the veneer of rationality erodes and an irrational peace sprawls over. Sight of world passing away from you, with haste, seeds a poem into the mind. All of a sudden, world seems to have grown beyond what we thought of it.
Trip to Wonder La wasn’t any exception in the way it started. And it wasn’t any different in the way it surprised me later. Surprise offered was peppered with an excellent breezy weather. Clouds hovered over the sky; however they seemed to be in no mood to come down too soon. Right after we stepped in an impulse of energy took control of us. Going ahead with the plan to go for all the high thrill rides we started with a comparatively milder ride. Our energy level had soared and we were raring to go for other rides. Every next ride that we took , exceeded our expectations and completely enthralled us. It was fun to open your eyes and watch the world go berserk around you. One of rides , which rotated and revolved and rotated and so on .. , off course, certainly drove you insane. Viewing world with all the angles affirmed my belief that world is not completely what we think of it , a lot of it is hidden and unknown to us.
After having successfully , won over most of the rides, the best or worst , as you may think, was reserved for the last one. Just after the ride started , I felt I was going to puke, and yeah, I puked at the next rotation , I saw the puke of lays and Tropicana in front of my eyes, and the next moment they sprawled over my face , and over few other unlucky ones' too. I hoped that the ride would stop, but it didn’t and I puked again. Hmm! Bad experience you may say, but I didn’t mind it much. Rather I enjoyed, of course not the taste.
After cleaning up it was time for wet rides but we were a hungry lot now. We took our lunch and I took care to have it lighter this time around, for no matter how much you enjoy puking, you don’t enjoy its taste. Wet rides appeared to be easier , but not actually. It hit you on your back, front, testicles, tummy, and what not . I guess no part of body was left unscathed. Next to come was wave pool, filled all around with couples. Riding over the wave was fun, jumping over the waves was relaxing. Once in a a while you would mistime the jump and , obviously, wave would gush into to your nose and that wasn't anything enjoyable. But if you got caught with it, you were to be ready for an another gush . There was no relenting sign from the waves. Analogies, generally run the risk of being misplaced, nevertheless , I would state it. Waves are like events in life, You take part in every event, jump with it, but sometime you may mistime it and then your are beaten out, but if you don’t get off after being hit soon enough , you are liable to be hit by another wave of life, the secret is thus to keep jumping and once beaten , getting back up to face next wave of life. Ahh!! Philosophy, thou are present all around me , and I leave no chance to take a refreshing sip of thou.
By the end of the day, paradoxically, we were more enthused, more active. After having a good time , we boarded our cab to head back home. We felt lighter and calmer while returning, as if all the burden , if there were any, has been dropped off and has gone for a ride. I peep put of the vehicle again, roads are dark now, but the world still speeds past me. Ahh! The phenomenon revisits me , and I am sure , it would visit again on my next journey.
Trip to Wonder La wasn’t any exception in the way it started. And it wasn’t any different in the way it surprised me later. Surprise offered was peppered with an excellent breezy weather. Clouds hovered over the sky; however they seemed to be in no mood to come down too soon. Right after we stepped in an impulse of energy took control of us. Going ahead with the plan to go for all the high thrill rides we started with a comparatively milder ride. Our energy level had soared and we were raring to go for other rides. Every next ride that we took , exceeded our expectations and completely enthralled us. It was fun to open your eyes and watch the world go berserk around you. One of rides , which rotated and revolved and rotated and so on .. , off course, certainly drove you insane. Viewing world with all the angles affirmed my belief that world is not completely what we think of it , a lot of it is hidden and unknown to us.
After having successfully , won over most of the rides, the best or worst , as you may think, was reserved for the last one. Just after the ride started , I felt I was going to puke, and yeah, I puked at the next rotation , I saw the puke of lays and Tropicana in front of my eyes, and the next moment they sprawled over my face , and over few other unlucky ones' too. I hoped that the ride would stop, but it didn’t and I puked again. Hmm! Bad experience you may say, but I didn’t mind it much. Rather I enjoyed, of course not the taste.
After cleaning up it was time for wet rides but we were a hungry lot now. We took our lunch and I took care to have it lighter this time around, for no matter how much you enjoy puking, you don’t enjoy its taste. Wet rides appeared to be easier , but not actually. It hit you on your back, front, testicles, tummy, and what not . I guess no part of body was left unscathed. Next to come was wave pool, filled all around with couples. Riding over the wave was fun, jumping over the waves was relaxing. Once in a a while you would mistime the jump and , obviously, wave would gush into to your nose and that wasn't anything enjoyable. But if you got caught with it, you were to be ready for an another gush . There was no relenting sign from the waves. Analogies, generally run the risk of being misplaced, nevertheless , I would state it. Waves are like events in life, You take part in every event, jump with it, but sometime you may mistime it and then your are beaten out, but if you don’t get off after being hit soon enough , you are liable to be hit by another wave of life, the secret is thus to keep jumping and once beaten , getting back up to face next wave of life. Ahh!! Philosophy, thou are present all around me , and I leave no chance to take a refreshing sip of thou.
By the end of the day, paradoxically, we were more enthused, more active. After having a good time , we boarded our cab to head back home. We felt lighter and calmer while returning, as if all the burden , if there were any, has been dropped off and has gone for a ride. I peep put of the vehicle again, roads are dark now, but the world still speeds past me. Ahh! The phenomenon revisits me , and I am sure , it would visit again on my next journey.
Thursday, 21 May 2009
Women and Feminism
Inasmuch as we men know, women are not us and thus it makes them "they". How could this riddle be solved. If in the order of nature a complement was required for everyone , and thus manifesting duality, then why did this duality become so perplexing. Throughout animal kingdom , male dominates its female counterpart. This hasn't changed to this date, while with the Homo Sapiens its been a remarkable shift since the times of fabled Adam and Eve.
Humans differ from animals , very remarkably , in their power to think. Human beings could read a situation, analyze it and then act as per their moral deductions. Can we , then, attribute the rise in the status of women in the society to the thinking power of men. It seems to be so . In a very recent debate about the post poll results , M J Akbar, made a point about BJPs failure, "BJP fails to understand why India is secular. It is not secular because it houses so many religions together. It is secular because the Hindus (majority) of India are secular". Drawing parallels from this can we deduce the reason for rise in the status of women in the society , "Men recognized ( by virtue of improved education and other conditions ) that women deserve equal space in the society ".
At least it must have had started this way, and slowly as the wave of change gained traction from different sections , women overpowered the authoritative men and came up in the strata. Even today in the orthodox societies,like ours, women are tethered by authoritative male . However, with the advent of time and educational quality of the large swathe of our population , the trend is almost sure to change , but the resultant effect is going to be quite unpredictable. It could very well be a new way with the mix of traditional value and individualistic freedom, as could be seen to some degrees in our urban populace.
But is feminism all about raising the say of women in the society. It seems to have skewed onto that notion. Women had their own space of favor and respect in every period of history. That still remains as its niche. However, with the growing lure of coming up on the front and be at the helm, feminism has ignored the women in traditional yet significant roles.
Speaking non-politically, in larger part of our society, women is an object of pleasure, care,warmth, love but not of authority. She is not entitled to choose her own way of life. Boys enjoy special privilege since boys don't get pregnant. Huh! what a sham!
But society, in pursuit of maintaining its framework needs to chain the women. What would happen to the existing order if women were to go astray. This specious argument reeks of chauvinism and racism , albeit wrapped in a wool of social concern . In a civilized society , if we could consider ourselves to be so, why can't women declare their own way and their own framework of society . Let the reins of everyone's life be in their own hands, and a society be formed of the individual will and not by forced subjugation.
Wishful as these Ideas may seem to be , for world is not yet perfect , not yet civilized to the extent to accommodate both the sexes with equivalent status, they are very pertinent .World would tale time to mature to the next level,till that time , there will be censures and rebukes on both sides of the conservationists and the feminists , until one day when feminism tips over its bar and stands shoulder to shoulder. Till that time we men continue to shamefully pride ourselves as better race.
Humans differ from animals , very remarkably , in their power to think. Human beings could read a situation, analyze it and then act as per their moral deductions. Can we , then, attribute the rise in the status of women in the society to the thinking power of men. It seems to be so . In a very recent debate about the post poll results , M J Akbar, made a point about BJPs failure, "BJP fails to understand why India is secular. It is not secular because it houses so many religions together. It is secular because the Hindus (majority) of India are secular". Drawing parallels from this can we deduce the reason for rise in the status of women in the society , "Men recognized ( by virtue of improved education and other conditions ) that women deserve equal space in the society ".
At least it must have had started this way, and slowly as the wave of change gained traction from different sections , women overpowered the authoritative men and came up in the strata. Even today in the orthodox societies,like ours, women are tethered by authoritative male . However, with the advent of time and educational quality of the large swathe of our population , the trend is almost sure to change , but the resultant effect is going to be quite unpredictable. It could very well be a new way with the mix of traditional value and individualistic freedom, as could be seen to some degrees in our urban populace.
But is feminism all about raising the say of women in the society. It seems to have skewed onto that notion. Women had their own space of favor and respect in every period of history. That still remains as its niche. However, with the growing lure of coming up on the front and be at the helm, feminism has ignored the women in traditional yet significant roles.
Speaking non-politically, in larger part of our society, women is an object of pleasure, care,warmth, love but not of authority. She is not entitled to choose her own way of life. Boys enjoy special privilege since boys don't get pregnant. Huh! what a sham!
But society, in pursuit of maintaining its framework needs to chain the women. What would happen to the existing order if women were to go astray. This specious argument reeks of chauvinism and racism , albeit wrapped in a wool of social concern . In a civilized society , if we could consider ourselves to be so, why can't women declare their own way and their own framework of society . Let the reins of everyone's life be in their own hands, and a society be formed of the individual will and not by forced subjugation.
Wishful as these Ideas may seem to be , for world is not yet perfect , not yet civilized to the extent to accommodate both the sexes with equivalent status, they are very pertinent .World would tale time to mature to the next level,till that time , there will be censures and rebukes on both sides of the conservationists and the feminists , until one day when feminism tips over its bar and stands shoulder to shoulder. Till that time we men continue to shamefully pride ourselves as better race.
Tuesday, 19 May 2009
Critique of a NYT article "Atheism and Evidence"
Stanley Fish's article http://fish.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/06/17/atheism-and-evidence/?apage=18#comment-84763 on atheism was in bad taste. He says,
Moving further he quotes that ,
Fish's argument above implies that , if you don't look with Darwin-directed eyes, all the evidence appears absurdity, but lets see why is Darwin relevant . He is relevant because he provides a pattern (faith) based on the observation (reasoning) and evidence, which is a step towards understanding the vastly non-understood subject, but what does Fish suggest over here, " I don't believe that the pattern (faith) by Darwin is right" . Fine , then, offer evidences, and if someone has better evidence we would mold our faiths accordingly and not be sulking about the "glasses" as Fish does.
He has seriously mistaken between the faith promulgated by reasoning and reasoning justifying faith. Reasoning doesn't always justify faith, it rather shapes faith. He concludes by stating that atheists (Richard Dawkins) must revisit their arguments, and in stating that he again misses the central point expostulated by Dawkins. In his book, God Delusion, Dawkins provides arguments/evidences against the faiths established by the reasoning given in support of GOD, while at the same time , he stresses on the fact that we don't know all and urges to draw our own conclusions by our own observations.In doing that he stresses upon reasoning through observation , effects of which could be the reversal of faith. There is a single important difference between the Reasoning of Dawkins and Faith of Fish, Fish needs more evidence.
The reasons you must give, however, do not come from outside your faith, but follow from it and flesh it out.which at best appears to be a circular argument. If the above mentioned argument is supposed to be tenable , it seems to imply that reasoning is just a tool to bolster your faith. So, what are we left with in that case ? Faith as an absolute ? This specious argument tries to ensconce itself on the nebulous nature of interaction between faith and reasoning. Faith is not derived from reasoning, at least not in entirety , it is instilled by our environment and blossomed by reasoning , but reasoning goes further than that, it challenges existing beliefs by the way of observation and transforms or expands the existing faith , depending upon the effect of observation and deductions. Thus , we find that reason doesn't depend entirely upon faith , but rather draws in from its observations power and shapes faith.
Moving further he quotes that ,
I “believe in evolution,” Dawkins declares, “because the evidence supports it”; but the evidence is evidence only because he is seeing with Darwin-directed eyes.The evidence at once supports his faith and is evidence by virtue of it.In stating this he has completely missed the bus. We don't believe in Darwin , because we have Darwin-directed eyes. We believe in natural selection because evidence supports it. If evidence points out that natural selection was not correct in entirety , then we would , based on evidence, change our belief.
Fish's argument above implies that , if you don't look with Darwin-directed eyes, all the evidence appears absurdity, but lets see why is Darwin relevant . He is relevant because he provides a pattern (faith) based on the observation (reasoning) and evidence, which is a step towards understanding the vastly non-understood subject, but what does Fish suggest over here, " I don't believe that the pattern (faith) by Darwin is right" . Fine , then, offer evidences, and if someone has better evidence we would mold our faiths accordingly and not be sulking about the "glasses" as Fish does.
He has seriously mistaken between the faith promulgated by reasoning and reasoning justifying faith. Reasoning doesn't always justify faith, it rather shapes faith. He concludes by stating that atheists (Richard Dawkins) must revisit their arguments, and in stating that he again misses the central point expostulated by Dawkins. In his book, God Delusion, Dawkins provides arguments/evidences against the faiths established by the reasoning given in support of GOD, while at the same time , he stresses on the fact that we don't know all and urges to draw our own conclusions by our own observations.In doing that he stresses upon reasoning through observation , effects of which could be the reversal of faith. There is a single important difference between the Reasoning of Dawkins and Faith of Fish, Fish needs more evidence.
Wednesday, 13 May 2009
Happiness and sadness
Is black and white overemphasized and given undue recognition which is out of place? Is duality the nature's de-facto? The precepts have evolved from times immemorial , and although we live in this colorful world, we have a hard time extricating ourselves from a definitive black and white. When the Chinese Ying-Yang incorporates both black and white , eliciting the nature's law, isn't it restricting itself. Any person on earth could testify that he/she experiences himself and his life to be made up of countless distinct colors, even imperceptible at times.
Goal. A Process of Constant Improvement. Review.
The Goal is a management cum novel styled book by Goldratt. In the book he brings forth the idea of arriving a solution to a problem by adhering to scientific method. The method shall entail a series of questions about the existing setup and then arriving at a near-best solution. In the book he very clearly shuns the idea of absolute truths and advises to practice science as process of discovering better truths rather than an absolute truth.
In the book he goes about narrating an issue faced by a Production manager at his plant and how he , with the help of others , through the process of constant improvement arrives at a better production capacity for his plant, and thus saves his plant from closure.
Towards this process of improvement the very first question which has to be identified is, "What is the Goal?" Once that is identified the next set of action shall be targeted towards identifying the factors that prohibit the realization of the Goal.
In the book, related to a manufacturing plant he identifies that the Goal of plant is to make money , and then goes about to identify the inhibitors for that . Towards explaining it he proffers new definitions for the very basic terms used in a production industry.
Throughput- Rate at which the system generates money through sales.
Inventory- Inventory is all the money that the system has invested in purchasing things which it intends to sell
Operating Expense - Operational expense is all the money the system spends in order to turn inventory into throughput.
Along with that he also explain craftily the concept of bottlenecks controlling the throughput and thus sales of an organization. He derives the inferences, by the scientific process of asking the questions and finding the right answers for them. Explaining it he derives the concept of having the slowest operation at the beginning while the most efficient and non-bottle necks at the end. This would minimize the operating cost and inventory as well.
As the solution of deciding the position of a bottleneck may not be possible in a practical scenario, he advises to improve upon the efficiency of the bottlenecks . The efficiency or the rate at which the system releases result would be decided by the efficiency of the bottleneck . Explaining this through a troop scenario, he establishes a constraint link between the bottleneck in the middle and leader in front and thereby achieving the minimum time to move the entire system together. Explaining the theory of these constraints he also elicits the inefficiency of a system generated by the extra work done on non-bottlenecks and thereby positing the maxim that an organization that works all time is non efficient and arrives at a general rule :
1. IDENTIFY the system's constraint(s).
2. Decide how to EXPLOIT the system's constraint(s).
3. SUBORDINATE everything else to the above decision.
4. ELEVATE the system's constraint(s).
5. WARNING!!!! If in the previous steps a constraint has been broken, go back to step 1, but do not allow INERTIA to cause a system's constraint.
The narrative style of the book is very captive . The process of constant improvement is what the book's title says, and adheres to all through the book.
In the book he goes about narrating an issue faced by a Production manager at his plant and how he , with the help of others , through the process of constant improvement arrives at a better production capacity for his plant, and thus saves his plant from closure.
Towards this process of improvement the very first question which has to be identified is, "What is the Goal?" Once that is identified the next set of action shall be targeted towards identifying the factors that prohibit the realization of the Goal.
In the book, related to a manufacturing plant he identifies that the Goal of plant is to make money , and then goes about to identify the inhibitors for that . Towards explaining it he proffers new definitions for the very basic terms used in a production industry.
Throughput- Rate at which the system generates money through sales.
Inventory- Inventory is all the money that the system has invested in purchasing things which it intends to sell
Operating Expense - Operational expense is all the money the system spends in order to turn inventory into throughput.
Along with that he also explain craftily the concept of bottlenecks controlling the throughput and thus sales of an organization. He derives the inferences, by the scientific process of asking the questions and finding the right answers for them. Explaining it he derives the concept of having the slowest operation at the beginning while the most efficient and non-bottle necks at the end. This would minimize the operating cost and inventory as well.
As the solution of deciding the position of a bottleneck may not be possible in a practical scenario, he advises to improve upon the efficiency of the bottlenecks . The efficiency or the rate at which the system releases result would be decided by the efficiency of the bottleneck . Explaining this through a troop scenario, he establishes a constraint link between the bottleneck in the middle and leader in front and thereby achieving the minimum time to move the entire system together. Explaining the theory of these constraints he also elicits the inefficiency of a system generated by the extra work done on non-bottlenecks and thereby positing the maxim that an organization that works all time is non efficient and arrives at a general rule :
the level of utilization of a non-bottleneck is not determined by its own potential, but by some other constraint in the system.In the entire book he stresses upon the fact of scientific temper of questioning and arriving at a solution. The motif being bottlenecks. In the end he formulates a general rule , but leaves it open to the reader to improve upon it.
1. IDENTIFY the system's constraint(s).
2. Decide how to EXPLOIT the system's constraint(s).
3. SUBORDINATE everything else to the above decision.
4. ELEVATE the system's constraint(s).
5. WARNING!!!! If in the previous steps a constraint has been broken, go back to step 1, but do not allow INERTIA to cause a system's constraint.
The narrative style of the book is very captive . The process of constant improvement is what the book's title says, and adheres to all through the book.
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