We all live and evolve, apart from physically growing into a man/ woman; our thoughts, desires, aspirations,  & influences evolve. These are also a function of our perception of things. The experiences that we undergo are primarily caused by our desires/ expectations. We want things, materialistic like the latest touchscreen phone, a sophisticated notebook, etc and un-materialistic like career goals, love interests, recognition etc. These wants transform to needs as we transcend across socio economic classes. While a well to do child might want the newest G I Joe toy a child from a slum would need basic necessities like books & education, worst case – food & clothing.


While we pursue these aspirations, how many of us get lucky/ successful first time? I am using lucky/ successful because not everything want is achieved, solely by hard work. The answer to the question posed would certainly be “not every time”. There are mistakes, mishaps, misdeeds and misfortune which end up opening the multiple entry route to these aspirations. We all have had experiences of first time success or second time or third time lucky.

All these multiple entry/ wild card/ joker in the pack cases are a result of we wanting something. We need and yearn for a something that keeps us running in the race, our running speed plays a slight role here. If we are fast, we could get there soon, else if slow we will get there, but at a later moment. It would be altogether a different talk to evaluate the benefits of the timing of an achievement. Imagine someone getting recognition for his job at work after he’s resigned, or getting appreciated for an assignment in school after the results are out.

While motivated, self driven people do achieve their objectives over a period of time, in the process people do go through some backlash/ failed attempts. What could be causing these failures? Is it the want to have those things? or is it some systemic failure that can be fixed? or is it pure luck that zoned you out? If you are looking for answers to these questions, then I do not have them. Is it ever possible to have an objective unquestionable answer to these questions? I do not know!

When you think that you are probably aiming for too many things what do you do? Do you give up on somethings? Do you stop trying? Do you lose? No right! because somewhere down your heart & your mind, you’ve liked something, and nothing should be stopping you in achieving it, provided your expectations evolve with the conditions that surround the aspiration.

While all this happens, here’s what you can expect in the coming days:

1. Conspiracy Theory/ Controversy

Yes, right! A controversy. Every momentous US event on their calendar has sparked a conspiracy theory. Be it the Moon Landing conspiracy or the 9/11 ones, every major US event has attracted a controversy. So make sure you get your popcorn ready before something pertaining to this pops up.

When this comes, all channels will end up behaving like the one who aired the news that a spaceship kidnapped a cow, and that milk supplies in India was threatened!

2. Bunch of Hollywood movies

You can expect a bunch of Hollywood movies on this, with inspirations that would include the actual operation, experiences of some soldier who participated in the operation, decision making process in the White House, the story of the local citizens etc.

While Hollywood movies will be big budgeted, 3 Dimensional with all the fanfare about winning a dozen odd Oscars, small budget movies from Central Asian countries will vie for the “Best Foreign language” film.

3. Flash games, embedded in Microsoft Excel spreadsheets:

The “Cubicle Maharajas” need constant entertainment to keep them busy while their bosses aren’t around. After “Bush Stone throw” & “Paul the Octopus” we can now expect a game on shooting Osama bin Laden, and get a feel of how the US soldiers did it, while we sit in an air conditioned room rather than the torrid terrains of Af-Pak.

Unfortunately, this game too like others will loose out to all time favorites such as “Park the car”, “Gold Miner” and “Football”; the last one allowing only penalty kicks.

4. Sensational, would be “best seller” Autobiographies of those currently in power

Expect sensational, controversial autobiographies from those currently in power, if not on this at least in the chapter that enlists this. These books are bound to be expensive and it is suggested that you make up your mind before buying a few kilograms of potential BS.

5. “Kya hoga Indo-US relation ka” type debates on Indian news channels

This could actually be worse that answering the “Kya Hoga Nimoo ka?” question. We are already seeing a few channels do this, and it could get worse with all kind of speculation ranging from Nuclear security to financial aid to India’s role in Afghanistan.

Why should we be bothered, especially when we are busy burning nights with IPL and repeat telecasts of 3 Idiots/ Roadies.

6. “What about the 26/11 accused?” type stories

People will never get tired drawing parallels between world events and the event’s “deja vu” moment in India. With the main accused of the 26/11 attacks going public about his homage to bin Laden, this is only to get worse, if not bad.

Hope people keep this in mind, India’s and the US’s ideologies are different, strengths are different, strategies are different. We will do what we want, they will do what they want. Period.

Well to conclude, then, needless to say the article was written with a pun intent! Folks, just sit back and enjoy the show! Picture abhi baaki hai mere dost!

This was the scene I stumbled upon & then it sent waves of thought gushing in, in an otherwise desert of lazy grey cells.

Well, how do you define a person in a 10 minute interview? Not really accurately right, and I can go on to provide a laundry list of what to do in an Interview, but then let’s keep it aside for now.

Considering the emphasis on extra curricular and “things apart from academics”, interviews seem to have come a long way, and for the better too. No longer do your mark have to do the talking for you, what you do in a creative/ constructional/ personality development sense matters. All of which, add up to you amassing a lot of knowledge!

Video credit: MaddyBluePrint

Today, as the nation comes to a standstill, it signifies a self imposed bandh, one that has not been dictated by political parties, one that has not been enforced by fundamentalist groups & one that is not caused by a hike in petrol prices. A bandh, whose losses we will be happy to bear and glad to forget.

Today is the day when the mobile phone usage will be equivalent to that on an Indian festival, and no operator will deny you the discounted rates.

Today is the day when sound volumes will not disturb the neighbourhood uncle.

Today is the day when 16 percent of the world’s population will breathe and exhale at the same instant, a billion hearts will beat faster than a formula one car, pressures will rise above levels that the strongest alloy can resist & emotions will soar to a point that no greeting card can accommodate.

Today, it does not matter how much the Sensex changed, it does not mater how the rupee fared against the dollar, it does not matter whether the top lines are top enough, it does not matter if the rickshaw wallah asks for an extra buck.

Nothing else matter as much as the mother of all encounters…

I wanted to see the circle as a square, I tried pushing the corners to the edge but the whirl inside the circle kept me revolving and in constant motion inside the circle. I saw no start, sadly no finish. I always wished that the walls of the circle would rupture at a point and the revolutionary motion would fling me out of this vicious cycle. I wished that the rupture flings me to a point where I can swing the way I want and draw my own shapes, re-shape the circle to a square. But then the walls did not rupture and at a moment I paused to look around my space while I was still revolving. I found that I need not adhere to the wall, I could have swung in the space inside the wall. The wall was a good thing to bank upon, but it confined my movements, in a way it restricted me. It was good security, but it was plain vanilla space, without any flavour or essence.

I had to change my outlook. I unshackled and dislodged myself from the wall, to find my own space, my freedom, my taste, my tune and my dance. I explored the area inside the circle; I saw that the area provided me the same freedom and facility to swing and dance to my tunes. This was a space that I was longing for, this is what I was waiting for the wall to rupture, this is what pushed me to unshackle from the adhesive grips of the walls. As I danced inside the circle, I was pulled occasionally my the wall. I refused to cede to it’s magic. I refused to confirm to the norms, I wanted to explore all degrees of freedom, wanted to taste liberty.

While I did so, I occasionally passed by a beautiful thing called the center. There are many reasons why I call it beautiful. It did a wonderful thing for me. It told me that there was an infinitesimal space which was out of my reach. I could swing, revolve and dance around it but I could never know what was inside of it, what it was made up of? or how does the space inside it look like? It constantly reminded me that no matter what freedom or power or liberty I had, this space eluded me. It was a magical thing, I felt it had invisible strings that maintained the walls of the circle at a certain distance. The distance could be suited to our needs, but a limit always existed. It ensured that my freedom, power and liberty in any direction remained the same. It ensured that I hadn’t had anything in excess or deficit. Every space, need and want was achievable and in equal measures. The wall and the space within became was my sphere of influence and my region of free play. I then discovered the beauty of the circle, this was not possible in a square or a pentagon. Any other shape gave a bias to a particular aspect. Imagining living in a planar space was a Utopian thought. I no longer longed for a square, I started to love the circle. The Circle of Life.

Two economists – Steven D Levitt & Stephen J Dubner had taken the world by storm when they launched their book “Freakonomics – A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything”. They looked at various aspects of the society in a different light, one supported by statistical analysis of huge amounts of data. The result – myth shattering outcomes. Now, they have come up with what they call a “frequel”, sadly the book does not live up to the expectations for a sequel to a block buster like “Freakonomics”.

The amount of insight & study that has gone into the making of the book is apparent in the articles contained. The writers use data through surveys and studies by experts/ researchers to un-prove conventional perceptions. Some of the articles in the book are potentially unnerving – for example the one relating to Nathan Myhrvold, who believes that pumping Sulphur Dioxide in the stratosphere of Earth’s atmosphere would help in reducing temperatures. The implementation aspects do not take into consideration the opinion of other people. I would be jumping the bar, as it is just in the conceptualisation stage. The books goes on to even prove that reducing human activity to cut CO2 levels in the atmosphere, wont do any good, as a majority of the green house gases in the atmosphere is made up of methane, and not CO2. Second unnerving article would be about studying banking behaviours of customers, to track down terrorists. The study assumes that terrorism roots only from followers of Islam. The basis – previous acts of terrorism have been orchestrated by Islamic fundamentalists, but using that as a basis to produce an algorithm that identifies potential terrorists based on factors like “No ATM withdrawal on Friday afternoons” or “Proximity of residence to a mosque” is very disturbing.

There are certain snippets in the book like the business of prostitution in Chacago following the demand – supply law or that of birth dates affecting chances of being selected in a football side were not new to me. The latter one about birth dates and selection correspondence being studied extensively by Malcolm Gladwell in his book “Outliers”.

There are some interesting studies though, like the one about hygiene consciousness amongst doctors, which led to reduce post delivery death rates amongst mothers and children, the study about how the month of birth can affect the health of Muslim children and the one about how the doctor you are visited by has no effect when you enter an Emergency Room in a hospital.

The book is largely is a collection of various studies and researches, some of them taken by the authors themselves. The benefit of it would be that it would be a one stop place to get all the knowledge. Like Wall Street Journal sums it up, the book is more a study of people’s behaviour, rather than new ideas. It’s bold and funny in many ways, and to sum it up it is a good read. The best part of the book would be the research on how the value of money can be taught to monkeys. I do not want to be a bean spiller, so you should read the book to know what’s the outcome of this study.

Cheers!

“Ye re Ye re pausa,
Tula deto paisa,
Paisa zhala khota,
Paus ala motha”

Vinay heard a mother, from his neighbourhood sing out this jingle to her child, as he walked past them in the early hours of a Sunday. It was 7 in a typical Pune morning, empty lanes marked by couple of morning joggers, few drowsy people dawdling in their verandas and the early birds picking up dailies. Returning from an hour long jog, fatigued & drained of body fluids, Vinay reached out for the fruit juice carton in his refrigerator.
“What! Not cold? What’s wrong?” he thought.
He looked around and discovered that electricity wasn’t there. “Gosh!” he sighed, picked the cane stool and walked to the veranda. He glanced through the newspapers and found a piece announcing additional load shedding. The dams around Pune had dried up, the rivers were no good, and water was now a prized commodity.

The effects of Global Warming are here to be seen, temperatures rising to levels that were imagined only in the deserts of Rajasthan a decade ago, are now a stark reality in the overflowing cities of India. The gradual deforestation by reckless expansion of cities has led rampant exploitation of natural resources. Cities that once thrived on rivers have now become their largest polluters. Take a look at the greatest cities that evolved on the fertile soil around rivers – London (on Thames), Paris (on Seine), Delhi (on Yamuna), Cairo (on Nile) and many more. It’s a no brain-er that the reason because of which human civilisation chose to live at a place, is now struggling for life, that largely a case in developing countries. It’s easy to allege as it’s apparent. The unchecked growth and turning of land to concrete shrubs, has pressurised the ecosystem to an extent that it has relented and put the onus on us act sensibly.

Monsoon imbalances and resultant droughts have shown last year on how Nature can affect the economics of the country. For a country like ours, whose economic and social life largely revolves around the monsoon, such climate changes are hard to cope up with. The Economic Survey of India for 2009-10 outlines that sub-normal monsoons added uncertainty to the economic situation post the recession year. So bad was the impact that it was classified worse since 1972, with a monsoon deficit estimated at 23% & the overall agricultural GDP fell by 0.2% compared to the 1.6% increase in the previous year. The double digit inflation in the second half of the financial year has been attributed to supply bottlenecks in agricultural produce caused due to the delayed & sub-normal monsoons. Once inflation sets in, it impacts other sectors as well.

Human Civilisation’ has largely evolved on capitalist and social norms, barely ecological. Right from the early dwellers to the colonial times to the modern ages, our social evolution is based on only one factor – a selfish nature of having things for ourselves. Little did we realise that we are a figment on this earth, but causing ecological imbalances that affect every other living species. Earth is not going to wait for us to take steps to lower temperatures, to reduce pollution, or to do anything “Green”. It is always in an evolutionary phase, constantly evolving to negate imbalances. It is we who should be worried about our future on this planet. We have to take steps that will enable us live better while we do minimum damage to the ecosystem. Cities need to be planned considering the ecological capacity of the place, smarter ways of generating and consuming power have to be developed, and transportation needs to be compatible to the ecology.
A thought flies my mind while I observe the bridges in Pune that the city could have been conceived in manner similar to Venice in Italy. A beautiful, well maintained river could have paved ways for river transportation. There could be boats that could take you from one place to another, via the river and its (bridges’) beautification could have had created Pune a distinct identity. Now, that’s a difficult scenario to imagine today as rivers not only stink but is home to water hyacinth facilitating mosquito growth.

For climate change is not a single handed activity, that one alone needs to resolve to act. If it was the case then the US would have done it by now. It is a concerted act by all citizens of this planet for mankind to live longer on this planet. Theories suggest that dinosaurs were wiped out this planet due to a meteor strike. I don’t know how long did it take for life to resume, but one of the most powerful creatures that ever lived on Earth, fell to the sudden changes in climate, caused by the meteor. This is a huge testimony to the power Mother Nature possesses, and can inflict upon us should we mess around. There are many ways to contribute to climate conservation, which I wont list out here, many of us know else Google it. The message that needs to be driven home is that the time is critical and resources scarce, that we need to wake up and take account.

Epilogue

Vinay was returning home after a demanding day, spent shopping with friends at the local mall. The intimidating heat had already taken its toll on him, evaporating every calorie of energy. One wouldn’t find a tired face smiling, but Vinay’s was. He saw up to the sky, and observed clouds gliding over the city’s skylines. It was soon overcast, supported by streaks of lightning flashes across the sky. He was just about to turn back in, that he saw his neighbour’s child run out to the play field, along with others from the building. And they were singing,

“Ye re Ye re pausa,
Tula deto paisa,
Paisa zhala khota
Paus ala motha”

The rain Gods blessed, and the smell of mud after the first rain invigorated everyone’s spirits. The first droplets of rain fell on happy faces, on muddy leaves, on dirty roads & on polluted airs. Dirt was gone, so was the torridity. The ambience was resplendent, it’s aura was audacious. The feeling was blissful, winsome in many ways.

Vinay returned to his flat, picked up a cup of coffee and sat in the verandah, savouring the moment, while Pink Floyd played on his iPod.

Much needs to be thought about the ongoing fight against the Maoists’ insurgency in the forest areas of Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Orissa, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh. So far I had perceived the fight as a counter agitation operation by the Government of India against the insurgents, but after reading an article “Walking with the Comrades” by award wining writer, Arundhati Roy, my perception has changed. Arundhati adds an interesting human aspect to the saga of war waged in the forests of Central India. The article brings forward the tribal’s side of the story. A direct interpretation would be that the insurgency is a result of years of oppression and sufferings of the tribal people. Roy documents various narratives by people about rapes, burning & looting of villages, fake encounters etc., while giving a brief history on how the Naxal movement started, how the helplessness of the tribal population was tapped by Maoists into making the gravest “Internal Security Threat”.

Any individual who simply goes by the news bulletins would perceive the Maoists as hard hitting terrorists. The sad part, is they (viewers) are not to be blamed. The projection of the violence is similar to the way terrorists are projected. There is hardly a difference in the manner Maoists have exploited the helplessness of the tribal and the manner religious fundamentalists have created the Taliban.

The sad part is that lack of education and associated development has led the forest inhabitants to take up guns and grenades. I have tweeted recently about this and would reiterate that violence does no good. History has witnessed many silent protests for rights, freedom and liberty, that using violence simply doesn’t justify. For instance where violence was used to avenge from autocracies, life hasn’t been simple. Be it our own Independence struggle, rooted in Gandhi’s non violence ideals or Nelson Mandela’s anti apartheid struggle or be it Martin Luther King’s Civil rights movement, time and again it has been proved that peaceful means to attain justice are always viable. In case you want to justify use of brute force; you may want to recollect the fate of Hitler and others.

Coming back to square one, I would like to ask why the tribal had to choose the violent route. Why was it perceived that Che Guevera’s tactics in Cuba would work here in India? One would obviously respond that this is the only way to respond for the anguish of the tribal. It’s natural to expect an oppressed to retaliate through violence. It’s the animal instinct in humans that urges us to behave like that. Try instigating an animal and you will be surprised if it doesn’t hit back. If humans are thinking, rationale animals, why do we feel that that the brawn is better than brain? Why momentary satisfactions are preferred than a lasting peaceful one? We wouldn’t expect the animal to sit back and ask thought provoking questions, would we?

Well, Gandhi had said “An eye for an eye makes the world blind”. You have to forget the bitter past and look ahead for prosperity. The British did a lot bad for India, looted her of her treasures, imposed misery on the people, had unreasonable laws to curtail local trade and many other things, but on attaining freedom from colonial control and being a bird, who is not controlled by a tiny island country, India looked at a bright future. We dreamt of good health care, quality education, providing food and housing security and in general a better life for our citizens. That dream is not complete, a lot has been done and a lot more will be done. If you’ve noticed then, we didn’t have an inch of muscle calling for revenge. Had we started on a journey, which involved us building up resources, to conquer the world by force and justifying it as a tit-for-tat action for all that’s happened in the past, the world would have seen a Third World War by now. One of the reasons for Hitler’s rage against the world was the manner in which Germany was controlled, by the then superpowers, post the First World War. Thanks to the partition and a soul killing poverty, we had our own set of problems. What we did was concentrated on those problems, rather than messing around with others. That act being testified by our championing of the Non Alignment Movement.

It is sadder that the Government too is not putting down arms and calling for unconditional talks. In case the same series of uncalled violence continues once can expect the Government to rout out the problem and flush out insurgents, but that would only worsen the wounds of the past. I know it’s difficult, but the tribal junta will have to swallow the bitter past and look forward to develop their tribe and grow it. Additionally, the Government will have to look at introducing people friendly measures to enable a “healthier” development. But for that to happen, both sides must put down their weapons and start talking.

The insurgency is mainly pitted against the capitalists who want to turn the forest to dry, muddy, grave for the people by sucking out the bauxite underneath. That largely facilitated by the Governments signing up MOUs with industrial houses. One does need to understand that development comes at a cost, largely human and environmental. Development cannot come if people have to let go their habitat and their livelihood. One example is the protests against the setting up of SEZs in Goa. A good number of the projects were approved and investments were to pour in, that the people of Goa roused up against the whole SEZ thing. One of the main reasons was that, this would lead to concrete-isation of Goa’s mountains and loss of natural beauty. The latter being a major source of income for many Goans. After a bitter round of protests, dharnas and morchas, the Government finally yielded and gave up the projects. Unfortunately, that has affected the “Industry Friendly” face of Goa. Only pharmaceuticals has made a foot hold in a state that’s home to tourism and mining industries.

Capitalism can be both prosperous and mean at the same time. Prosperous for those who act with it, reaping materialistic benefits, while it can be mean for those who are forced to change their living for Capitalism to succeed. Ensuring a balance between the two, so that business flourish, in an accepted manner, is a tough ask. The Government needs to ensure that while it allows industrial growth, it does take into consideration the local sentiments. Bad experiences have already occurred in the form of Goa, Singur and Nandigram.

The Maoist’s have an agenda to overthrow the current Indian Government and establish their own authority. They draw their inspiration from Mao Zedong of China. Surprisingly, Mao himself had had ditched the interests of Chinese peasants, whose support led him to controlling China. Corresponding to this issue, Roy does ask in her article on how will the tribal know that the Maoists won’t sell the Bauxite ore, for development, that they claim to protect, once they attain power.

Any Indian would not like a Civil war at this moment and deplete resources while there are larger issues at concern. The onus is on the Government to not turn this into an embarrassment for the country. Insurgency and separatism is not new to any country, we ourselves have dealt with this while handling Kashmir, Punjab (read Khalistan) and many in the North East. This time, the Government has to be smart enough not to fuel the crisis by using brute force. This will only add another dimension to the growing regionalism in the country. The Maoists on the other hand must give up their leftist agenda and understand that violence is no good way to demand justice.

The cartoon series has transformed across ages to stay relevant with the times and keeping audiences hooked for a little gag. Off the Gene Deitch era cartoons and those directed by Chuck Jones, I find the latter more hilarious and witty in nature. Off late, the original Hanna Barbera creation has largely turned slapstick in character. From what had been an act where Tom and Jerry would utilise every possible resource available in a typical American house to get the best out of each other, today’s cartoons have attached the scientific developments that the world has seen, ever since they had been first telecast. Today, the action is more about mad chases rather than smart ones; it’s now one where the humour is derived from rampant hurling of objects against each other, where earlier there was a tinge of fun associated with the same sequence of events. The cunningness in Jerry’s acts is missing as is Tom’s cleverness in pursuing Jerry. The charm and the delight in the duel are lost in the frame.

Although I am not an avid cartoon fan, I do have my favourites and Tom and Jerry feature right on top along with others like Bugs Bunny & Road Runner. The evolution of arts is necessary and it involves a lot of creativity, but what needs to be preserved is the soul of the art. It is the soul and the implicated message that will maintain audiences. Tom and Jerry has survived from early 20th century to the 21st century; the reason behind it being that it has been delighting audiences by re-inventing itself time and again. What we need is a restoration of the hilarity in the short films, the magic and the chemistry needs to be recreated, and Tom and Jerry should not be a jesting cartoon on television screens.

That’s all folks!
Cheers!

Sania and Shoaib’s destiny can be easily termed to associate with the mutual affection that the people from both countries have for each other, a testament that a learned person, not brainwashed, not indoctrinated by BS, can have a rationale thinking that goes against the conventional norm. For 60 years, parents, siblings, friends from each side of the border have yearned for a better day in Indo-Pak relations. A day where sun does not shine to highlight the iron fences and the army tanks but to glisten the minds and hearts of people, cut across by things beyond their control.

I could have proclaimed Sania and Shoaib’s matrimony as one that forecasts a new horizon for Indo-Pak friendship, but doing that will only glamorise and politicise the event. Sania and Shoaib are like ordinary men and women who like others in the past 60 years have gone on to prove that selfish needs and kilometres of fencing is a diminutive thing in comparison with depths and heights of mutual respect and love that commoners across borders have. They are in the news because they are celebrities. How many of us know the plight of many people separated at Independence, who want to meet their loved ones? Those who are well facilitated may meet in safe havens such as Dubai or any other location, but for people like the old man in Times of India’s “Aman ki Asha” ad, life’s come down to nothing but a sign language.

Such a cocktail of cross border love & nations at warring attitudes is a tried and tested formula in Bollywood movies like “Veer Zaara”, “Gadar”, “Heena” and possibly more. With the Bajrang Dal offering drama to this story, it will only match the animation that a Bolly flick showcases.

As for India and Pakistan, one would only hope for longevity in mutual understanding between people across borders. And by “People” I meant, learned, non – brainwashed & non – indoctrinated “people”

Cheers.