The day broke,
May be a bit early today!
"Alas" told the dew drop,
And fell down in silence! 1||
May be it was the tempest,
That broke havoc last night;
That made the twigs so weak;
The green leaf fell with no sound! 2||
May be the throbbing heart missed a pace,
Or, it was lost in some contemplation;
Or, was it broken beyond repair?
Yet, it could dare to love again! 3||
The bleeding heart waited earnestly,
Till the blood drops traversed their course;
And touched did they with no sound,
Then there fell the blanket of silence! 4||
The lost heart waited...
And waited...in case it could bleed more;
Ah! there was no blood left to bleed off!
Then befell a wonderful solace on it. 5||
The most wonderful symphony of silence,
Emerged from the blood-less heart;
The broken and empty heart which was so light,
And glad that it is free to fall in love again! 6||
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Gandhi jayanti special I: Sach ki rahon me chalta chal (satya)
One of my old time favourite song is "madhuvan khusvu deta he", a song glorifying the idea of self-sacrifice for the purpose of others. It was a sweet melody because it sang Utopian stuffs. And anything Utopian, including communism, however infeasible it may be, always sounds so sweet! In that one line it said: come whatever keep on walking on the path of truth. I have never thought of this deeply. But contemplating on it now, I am wonder-struck at the deeper meanings it can bear. What is "truth" or "satya" (as Mahatma Gandhi will coin it)? Is it the bare unpleasant fact about things or is it the Utopian idealistic notions that we think are the best? Talking about the life Gandhijee himself, what was satya? Was it satya that he got craving for sex and went to a brothel or was it satya that he thought of morals and left it? Was it truth that he wanted to have meat or was it satya that he thought of his religion and "successfully suppressed" this craving? I think we are confusing here between "satya" and "morality"! Satya is the barest fact about nature. And my mind my dear friend nothing about nature is utopian! Nothing here is idealistic.Let's say I feel like having alcohol or spirit. Is this craving not "true" or satya? Do you think I will be called truthful if I think of religion and tradition and morality and suppress this feeling? Or let us imagine that my neighbour is a too much irritating for me. It happens sometimes. Some people just stand on your toes anyway! Is it not true that I feel angry when talking to him? Will I become more truthful or satyavan if I control my anger and try to appear calm even though I am really really angry in the heart of my hearts? Is not bigotry or self-deception the worst kind of crime against "satya"? Is not self-control the greatest mockery of the oath taken to keep on walking on the path of truth? Gandhijee himself has told again and again that non-violence in mind is much more important than the same in external actions. And this can never be thrust upon oneself! Then this thrust action simply becomes non-truth! Let's be bold and stand up to face our own selves! If I have short-temper let me accept it first. Everything else and all other lofty feats come after this simple acceptance of truth. If I have some cravings which the society calls taboos or evil, do the hell with society! Let me accept my very own self first, my own self as it is, not the utopian scripture-prescribed self! Let me not try to cremate my own self. Self-acceptance and self-glorification is the first and only step towards a mature society and mental peace. And this is certainly the first and firmest step on the path of truth or "sach ki raah"!
Gandhi jayanti special II: "make love not war" (ahimsa)
Funny though it may sound, this line which I read in a make-shift shop in Hamburg, gave me an instant food for thought. From my limited experience, I am pretty sure that you speak this in India or any developing or undeveloped country, you will get angry and puzzled stares. Why? Why are we scared of "making love"? Why the very word "sex" makes us hyper? So much so that we lose sight of the second part of the line, i.e. "not war". May be because we have not seen a proper war for long? May be because we have lost sight of the importance of living and enjoying life? May be we have had just too much of this culture and customs! May be...
This brings my flow of thought to the next step: what is more dangerous or undesirable: a so called unchaste society or a society in war? And may be we can expand the paradigm of war to mental and psychological war as well, including the war between our own split personalities. I have seen many a so called good and decent family guys, who down their heart of heart still cherish some hidden desires!And our society is full of such people, who are at war with their own selves, who are in the so called morale dilemma. Virtually our society is in deep war internally. Why? May be because we are trying to follow morale or standards which have been set by someone else. We are trying to emulate someone, trying to follow someone, all the time forgetting the simple fact that there is no free-size morale which will fit us all!
Why can't we just forget everything and 'make love'?!? Just mark here that by 'making love' I am trying to point at all the social taboos, all that which stop us from being what we actually are! I will choose making love to making war on any given day and under any given circumstances. May be this is the real definition of 'ahimsa'! "Allow people to do whatever they want to!" "This will cause in anarchy!" Most of my friends react like this when I speak of such ideas. My logic is simple. The more freedom you give, the more individual-space you create, the more mature the society becomes. The society is no play-school needing rules and regulations and above all regulators! Let me take a very tricky topic. Lets say we don't taboo incests. Will it increase the number of incest-cases? I doubt. It may raise for a period but it will dwindle down soon after. I remember to have travelled in Germany in early 2005 when gay relations have recently been given equal place in their society. I could find virtually innumerable gay couples displaying their passion in public. It was like a fashion I suppose. Few years after I was having my recent visit in Hamburg. I was living few streets off the gay-centre of the city. Still I could come across not a single gay couple kissing around! This strengthened my conviction that individual independence and faith give rise to a society more mature and evolved. Lets stop policing around. Lets stop being at a perpetual war or himsa (violence) and start making love!!
This brings my flow of thought to the next step: what is more dangerous or undesirable: a so called unchaste society or a society in war? And may be we can expand the paradigm of war to mental and psychological war as well, including the war between our own split personalities. I have seen many a so called good and decent family guys, who down their heart of heart still cherish some hidden desires!And our society is full of such people, who are at war with their own selves, who are in the so called morale dilemma. Virtually our society is in deep war internally. Why? May be because we are trying to follow morale or standards which have been set by someone else. We are trying to emulate someone, trying to follow someone, all the time forgetting the simple fact that there is no free-size morale which will fit us all!
Why can't we just forget everything and 'make love'?!? Just mark here that by 'making love' I am trying to point at all the social taboos, all that which stop us from being what we actually are! I will choose making love to making war on any given day and under any given circumstances. May be this is the real definition of 'ahimsa'! "Allow people to do whatever they want to!" "This will cause in anarchy!" Most of my friends react like this when I speak of such ideas. My logic is simple. The more freedom you give, the more individual-space you create, the more mature the society becomes. The society is no play-school needing rules and regulations and above all regulators! Let me take a very tricky topic. Lets say we don't taboo incests. Will it increase the number of incest-cases? I doubt. It may raise for a period but it will dwindle down soon after. I remember to have travelled in Germany in early 2005 when gay relations have recently been given equal place in their society. I could find virtually innumerable gay couples displaying their passion in public. It was like a fashion I suppose. Few years after I was having my recent visit in Hamburg. I was living few streets off the gay-centre of the city. Still I could come across not a single gay couple kissing around! This strengthened my conviction that individual independence and faith give rise to a society more mature and evolved. Lets stop policing around. Lets stop being at a perpetual war or himsa (violence) and start making love!!
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Can bad people have good future?
The other day I was considering this interesting question. Can bad people have good future? Can bad people aspire to become spiritual? Can bad people fit into the quota for nirvana? Well, by bad people I mean really bad buggers doing terrible sin. I am not just talking of those committing some social taboo without harming anyone. I am not also just talking of gays or incests having sex secretly and silently without bothering anyone. I am also talking of those who are causing serious harm and trouble to others. Even those who hurt and harm even their near-n-dear ones. And even those who ditch their friends or lovers! Can these people have any share of the pie we call enlightenment? Are they doomed for ever? Sorry for taking so much of space-n-time to just explain the question. I felt it important to make the question and point as clear as possible. In answering the question, I will answer from a first person point of view (presuming myself to be that bad guy!).
** First of all, as we have already discussed, everything and every happening is predestined. Individual choice is but an illusion. Its like reading a book. We discover a page every day. But that page is written long back. So, did I have any choice but to be bad? Was it really under my control to be or not to be bad?
** Every novel has heroes and villains. But for villains heroes are worthless. But for bad things good things lose their charm. So, if I have been chosen to play villain is it my fault?
** Lets say I hurt (physically or mentally) my friend. I did something which hurt him. Or is it that he was destined to get hurt, and I just acted as an instrument! He was destined to get hurt because of his karma! And I was destined to be the instrument in hurting him because of my karma.
** Coming to scriptures, the Bhagwat Gita is one of the most authoritative scriptures of the orient. What I understand from there is that, the God is trying to explain Arjuna to do two things. First of all understand his swadharma. And second perform your swadharma with all detachment. Arjuna's case was simple. In his case his caste and his swadharma concided (he was a kshyatriya, the warrior class and his natural disposition was to fight). But dont make the mistake of taking your social responsibilities as your swadharma. I may be born in a good family with good parents and with good friends. But if my natural disposition is towards the so called bad things, what am I to do? I still choose my natural bearing and interest as my swadharma. And then I perform it with detachment. Detachment here means detachment from the views of others, detachment from the thought of merit-or-sin, detachment from thought of past-n-future. So if I feel my natural inclination is to hurt people, I should do the same with all detachment. Its easy to play hero and get all applause. But it takes real talent to play villain! So am I at fault?
** First of all, as we have already discussed, everything and every happening is predestined. Individual choice is but an illusion. Its like reading a book. We discover a page every day. But that page is written long back. So, did I have any choice but to be bad? Was it really under my control to be or not to be bad?
** Every novel has heroes and villains. But for villains heroes are worthless. But for bad things good things lose their charm. So, if I have been chosen to play villain is it my fault?
** Lets say I hurt (physically or mentally) my friend. I did something which hurt him. Or is it that he was destined to get hurt, and I just acted as an instrument! He was destined to get hurt because of his karma! And I was destined to be the instrument in hurting him because of my karma.
** Coming to scriptures, the Bhagwat Gita is one of the most authoritative scriptures of the orient. What I understand from there is that, the God is trying to explain Arjuna to do two things. First of all understand his swadharma. And second perform your swadharma with all detachment. Arjuna's case was simple. In his case his caste and his swadharma concided (he was a kshyatriya, the warrior class and his natural disposition was to fight). But dont make the mistake of taking your social responsibilities as your swadharma. I may be born in a good family with good parents and with good friends. But if my natural disposition is towards the so called bad things, what am I to do? I still choose my natural bearing and interest as my swadharma. And then I perform it with detachment. Detachment here means detachment from the views of others, detachment from the thought of merit-or-sin, detachment from thought of past-n-future. So if I feel my natural inclination is to hurt people, I should do the same with all detachment. Its easy to play hero and get all applause. But it takes real talent to play villain! So am I at fault?
Saturday, August 08, 2009
The clock work!
Last night I was discussing with my guru on some random thoughts. He shared a wonderful idea with me. I am just rewriting it here.
If you have opened a clock, especially the mechanical clocks, you would have seen numerous tiny gears and wheels working in enchanting unison to make the clock tick. Our life is like that of a tiny mini wheel of the clock. We keep on rotating. We tend to think that our rotation is in our hands, or may be its me who is rotating. However, for the clock maker he knows that the whole clock has to work perfectly and in unison to make that tiny mini wheel rotate.
There are two aspects to this simile. One is that we may think our actions to be independent or determined by our own free will. But its all determined by a complicated set of wheels, gears and spring systems surrounding us! Secondly, we may think that we are menially insignificant. But again as a matter of fact, if at all we succeed in stopping our own rotation, the whole clock stops!
If you have opened a clock, especially the mechanical clocks, you would have seen numerous tiny gears and wheels working in enchanting unison to make the clock tick. Our life is like that of a tiny mini wheel of the clock. We keep on rotating. We tend to think that our rotation is in our hands, or may be its me who is rotating. However, for the clock maker he knows that the whole clock has to work perfectly and in unison to make that tiny mini wheel rotate.
There are two aspects to this simile. One is that we may think our actions to be independent or determined by our own free will. But its all determined by a complicated set of wheels, gears and spring systems surrounding us! Secondly, we may think that we are menially insignificant. But again as a matter of fact, if at all we succeed in stopping our own rotation, the whole clock stops!
Friday, August 07, 2009
Climb of an insect
Few days ago I was enjoying a short afternoon siesta! Suddenly I felt a tickling sensation on my arm. Looking closely I discovered a tiny insect riding happily or sadly (for you see I could not see his/her face) on my arm. At first I felt like crushing it for disturbing my slumber. But then I was already in a bad mood that afternoon and did not want to make it worse! Gently did I lift the tiny one using my fingers and placed it on floor. It took the least heed of what change has happened just then. It went on crawling with a sage like indifference! I was amused and amazed. First of all it did not crawl because it had to go anywhere. It crawled because that's what its made to do and that's what it can do. It knows that food and whatever luxury you may want or need will ultimately come to you as long as you keep on doing whatever you can. Secondly, what drastic changes may take place, it was the least bothered. It knew only one thing to do and it did it irrespective of all the changes that may happen to its surroundings! May be I am not able to express my feelings properly, but believe me it was ecstatic to observe the attitude of the insect!
Monday, July 27, 2009
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Passitheism
Let me first revise my established idea on causality or the rule of karma. Precisely speaking, it says no cause no effect; i.e. all events are preceded by a long chain of cause-n-effect vents starting from the very beginning of time. Tomorrow is determined completely by today and today by yesterday. This means that all the events occurring are predetermined and nothing is out of blue or because of any "free-will". Free will is but an illusion.
Given the above mentioned thesis, what is the role of god in our own life or in this creation? If everything is determined then what is the use of praying a god? Indian scriptures say that even gods are not beyond the rule of karma! So should we pray god? At the outset it may seem that if god is also a follower of he karmic laws and can not change a cause-n-effect chain, then he also is helpless. But there is a very nice catch here. God is helpless if its only your karma that determines your future! I.e. you as an individual do good work, then you get good future and vice-verse. But this is no the case! Karmic rules are applicable for the creation as a whole; its a holistic rule. The creation as a whole follows the cause-n-effect chain. And that's the reason for so many anomalies to he local karmic rule! You never exactly know why you might have a good future tomorrow or a bad future the other day. It surely follows the karmic rule but you can no longer pin-point the cause. Its more or less like the chaos theory! A cat crossing the road in 200BC in Rome might be the reason for which you faced the accident yesterday! Hence, may be, a distant may-be, you had a good luck yesterday because you prayed a certain god a month back. Gods might also have some power. But that's again an illusion as our own supposedly free-will. The bottom line is pray god or whatever power you feel like. But there is no guarantee of any result. And the future is predetermined all the same. This I what to term as passive theism or passitheism. Neither do I deny the existence of god; nor do I accept the same. Its just part of the flow and with no extra power whatsoever to change any predetermined event.
An interesting allegory to this is reading a novel. When you are reading a novel, everyday you come across certain new happenings. To you the reader, its new and fresh. But actually its all written down already. Its just a matter of discovering the event by uncovering the pages of the novel. You may call god as the writer of the novel who has written it and hence knows it all. But once written and passed on to your hands, the writer has no control over the happenings in the novel. Its a god who is passive in our lives, thought he might have created us all!
Given the above mentioned thesis, what is the role of god in our own life or in this creation? If everything is determined then what is the use of praying a god? Indian scriptures say that even gods are not beyond the rule of karma! So should we pray god? At the outset it may seem that if god is also a follower of he karmic laws and can not change a cause-n-effect chain, then he also is helpless. But there is a very nice catch here. God is helpless if its only your karma that determines your future! I.e. you as an individual do good work, then you get good future and vice-verse. But this is no the case! Karmic rules are applicable for the creation as a whole; its a holistic rule. The creation as a whole follows the cause-n-effect chain. And that's the reason for so many anomalies to he local karmic rule! You never exactly know why you might have a good future tomorrow or a bad future the other day. It surely follows the karmic rule but you can no longer pin-point the cause. Its more or less like the chaos theory! A cat crossing the road in 200BC in Rome might be the reason for which you faced the accident yesterday! Hence, may be, a distant may-be, you had a good luck yesterday because you prayed a certain god a month back. Gods might also have some power. But that's again an illusion as our own supposedly free-will. The bottom line is pray god or whatever power you feel like. But there is no guarantee of any result. And the future is predetermined all the same. This I what to term as passive theism or passitheism. Neither do I deny the existence of god; nor do I accept the same. Its just part of the flow and with no extra power whatsoever to change any predetermined event.
An interesting allegory to this is reading a novel. When you are reading a novel, everyday you come across certain new happenings. To you the reader, its new and fresh. But actually its all written down already. Its just a matter of discovering the event by uncovering the pages of the novel. You may call god as the writer of the novel who has written it and hence knows it all. But once written and passed on to your hands, the writer has no control over the happenings in the novel. Its a god who is passive in our lives, thought he might have created us all!
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Flight of a crow
From the very outset let me confess that this essay is inspired by an essay by J.D.Krishnamurthy, an essay named “Flight of an eagle”. During my last three years' of stay in one of the interior parts of the nation, I have seen a huge variety of birds starting from humble Indian Maina to some unique variety of migratory bird. I have seen them flying, dipping in water and praying on their food. Let me confess that I really found nothing special, attractive or grand about the flight of an eagle. Rather, I found the awkward flight of a house crow quite interesting. Crow is a menial bird with almost no extra or feature to attract your attention. Its light is awkward, clumsy and noisy. But so is ordinary life of yours and mine. Our lives are awkward, clumsy and noisy as well! This is not any high pitch thrilling sound attached to our lives, like that made by the eagle. Nor is there any magnificently smooth glide in our lives, unlike that of the flight of an eagle. But look at crow. How similar is our life to the flight of a crow: short spanned, erratic, unpredictable, jumpy and attached with cacophonous irritating sound! But this is what it is: our lives. And good or bad, our lives are our lives. There is no single justified logical point in trying the least to change it an iota. That will be like going against nature. I have never seen any crow trying to look, envy and then imitate the flight of an eagle. So just be what you are. Bad or good is a matter of perspective! Like is a drama where there are no audiences! So why toil to be somebody else There are no bouquets or brick-bats in store for you. Nothing gonna affect you. And even-if anything is affecting you, let it! Who care? As long as we are crows, we have a natural way of flight, I.e. the crow's flight. Lets stop being someone else. Lets embrace our very own crowness! Lets enjoy the crow's flight, and just remember that everything gonna change!
Pretending to be someone
Life is monotonous and mundane; its more so when you go on living the same life for ever. You never exactly come to realise when the life has just slipped off your grip. Not that I have any objection to life sliping off your sleeves. I just am a bit curious to see life from different points of views. But, its always been extremely difficult for ordinary human beings like you and me, to live different lives in the same life time. I have observed in UK that they particularly get this habit of experiencing different lives, or rather life in different set-ups, quite early in their lives. For example most of my British friends would go on vacation at least twice a year. And during that period they will not take their cell-phones with them, nor would they check their emails. Well, let me highlight these two luxuries of today, namely cell-phones and Internet, which have almost made it impossible for us to leave our lives aside even for a split of a second.
Tracking on the same trends, unintentionally of course, I am currently experiencing a new life today. Sitting in a lonely shabby tea-corner in a corner of the Science College of Kolkata University, I am experiencing a strange new life. Before I meet the professor, I am no body here. I know no one and no one knows me. For them I am a decent looking stranger with a particularly familiar broad smile. And for me, they are all my alter-egos. I have been in Kolkata for last two days, in a guest-house where again no one knows me! I have also hidden my identity to some extent , except for the extent which is needed to get some basic things done. Its nice. And I have been traveling in local town bus. More exciting and thrilling. My cell phone, luckily has no roaming facility and luckily again, there are no Internet parlours near the guest-house.
Big cities like Kolkata, London and Bombay have a life of their own! They have a certain strange mass psychology where you soon find your own psyche and ego engulfed. All the people, all the egos, all of them seem to have some strong similarity, similarity that is unique to that particular city. Hence, I find it very exciting to travel alone in such a big city, trying to soak in a bit of its personality. Its a nice feeling, feeling of stopping what you are and getting submerged in a unique personality pool. Its enlightening to live a different life. Its breathtaking and magnificent, to pretend to be someone else, who you can never be in your real life. Well, yes, you may say its self-deception; you may also say its blank pretension; or running away from reality. Say what you may, this is the type of break I would really look forward to again and again in my life. The joy of a vicarious life in real-life is a joy of its own kind!
Thursday, July 02, 2009
Insignificant vs. Singnificant
In my last few blogs, I have been talking about how insignificantly insgnificant is life, creation and all that's here around. Yesterday I came across a wonderful notion. I was reading through an essay by Swami Vivekananda, where he was talking about how creation is created by the merger of Prana (energy) and Akasa (mater); how it comes into being, goes through a cycle and again vanishes, just to reappear again. Even modern astrophysics to some extent supports this view. I.e. the universe was created because of big bang and there are ultimately two possible ends to it, viz. it will expand for ever till it becomes energy less and hence dark; or it may contract again and merge into a black-hole yet again. Its the second possibility which has been supported by Advitik philosophy.
Anyway, my point was something different. Given that its a cycle and given that this world follows a strictly cause-n-effect rule, where is the notion of significant or insignificant? When I breath, I just do it subconsciously without counting and without thinking which breath is better or worse than which other one. Its childish to compare one breath with another. Simillarly its childish to put epithets against events. Events are just events. Lives are just lives. Creations and just creations! Neither significant nor insignificant. We are helplessly parts of it. Whatever we are doing, thinking or speaking, has no novelty to it, all these are just events with no adjectives whatsoever.
Anyway, my point was something different. Given that its a cycle and given that this world follows a strictly cause-n-effect rule, where is the notion of significant or insignificant? When I breath, I just do it subconsciously without counting and without thinking which breath is better or worse than which other one. Its childish to compare one breath with another. Simillarly its childish to put epithets against events. Events are just events. Lives are just lives. Creations and just creations! Neither significant nor insignificant. We are helplessly parts of it. Whatever we are doing, thinking or speaking, has no novelty to it, all these are just events with no adjectives whatsoever.
Saturday, June 06, 2009
Suicide: the philosophical question!
My last blog got a few nice and interesting comments. Some say its the bold decision, the decision to suicide. While some say if you cant do any good while alive what good will you do by being dead?
May be I was not clear in my last blog. Or may be the topic was too touchy in the first place. Because no where did I say that one should commit suicide. Its more about thinking of suicide. Its more about realizing the utter futility of the air we give to our menial silly lives. Its about the folly of our lives.
"Butterfly effect" is a term coined by many who discuss the chaos theory. They say that the flapping of a butterfly in Uganda can cause a super cyclone in Orissa! But the other way is also equally likely, i.e. the flapping of a butterfly in Uganda can stop a super cyclone from materializing over Orissa!
Similarly, from my last blog I wanted to make both the sides clear. There is no big benefit of you staying alive. Neither is there any benefit of you committing suicide. It really makes no sense at all about what you do. Just zoom out (either in space or in time or in both) and you realize it hardly matters if you live or you die or kill or rob or rape or meditate!
May be I was not clear in my last blog. Or may be the topic was too touchy in the first place. Because no where did I say that one should commit suicide. Its more about thinking of suicide. Its more about realizing the utter futility of the air we give to our menial silly lives. Its about the folly of our lives.
"Butterfly effect" is a term coined by many who discuss the chaos theory. They say that the flapping of a butterfly in Uganda can cause a super cyclone in Orissa! But the other way is also equally likely, i.e. the flapping of a butterfly in Uganda can stop a super cyclone from materializing over Orissa!
Similarly, from my last blog I wanted to make both the sides clear. There is no big benefit of you staying alive. Neither is there any benefit of you committing suicide. It really makes no sense at all about what you do. Just zoom out (either in space or in time or in both) and you realize it hardly matters if you live or you die or kill or rob or rape or meditate!
Tuesday, June 02, 2009
Why should you live?
I read somewhere many years ago, "the only truly philosophical question is suicide!" At that time I did appreciate the line. "Why should a man continue living", is a truely amazing question and occurs to most of us some time or the other in our lives. Mostly we avoid or ignore or postpone the question. I did the same. We mostly do so, I think, because we are scared that in case we find the answer to be in affirmative, then we may commit suicide. And that will stop us from enjoying our lives. Life, though confusing, has its own charm. So people discover all types of nonsense rules to stop us from thinking of suicide, e.g. "suicide is sin"!!
Few days back I read "What is Maya", an essay by Swami Vivekananda. So lucidely he has explained about "maya" and how life is interesting. My last blog reflects some of the after thoughts of that essay. As concluded there, life is interesting. But this aint any cause to continue living this life! Do you try all things that seem interesting; like trying weed?
So huge is the world. And so insiginficantly minial is our existence. Its like the life of some bacteria. You remember those scenes in some shows where they zoom-out the camera... till they show the globe! Many times I do the same in my thought process and try to go till the level of galaxy. Who really cares what you do to your friend or how to cheated your brother? Neither it matters how you helped the old blind man. Its all insignificantly insignificant.
One of my friends told, after much of discussion, "man lives for himself". OK, very well. This is like some circle then, "you live because you are alive". Let me cut the circle! If you are dead you are saved the effort to live!
PS: Well, dont think that I am gatehring suicidal tendency! Its all genuine enquiry!!
Few days back I read "What is Maya", an essay by Swami Vivekananda. So lucidely he has explained about "maya" and how life is interesting. My last blog reflects some of the after thoughts of that essay. As concluded there, life is interesting. But this aint any cause to continue living this life! Do you try all things that seem interesting; like trying weed?
So huge is the world. And so insiginficantly minial is our existence. Its like the life of some bacteria. You remember those scenes in some shows where they zoom-out the camera... till they show the globe! Many times I do the same in my thought process and try to go till the level of galaxy. Who really cares what you do to your friend or how to cheated your brother? Neither it matters how you helped the old blind man. Its all insignificantly insignificant.
One of my friends told, after much of discussion, "man lives for himself". OK, very well. This is like some circle then, "you live because you are alive". Let me cut the circle! If you are dead you are saved the effort to live!
PS: Well, dont think that I am gatehring suicidal tendency! Its all genuine enquiry!!
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Discussion with a friend: 1000 lives or 1000 years!!!
sudhansu: Control the controllable, don't worry about the uncontrollable
me: this is a good thing, where you learn it from?
sudhansu: Coach of one IPL team told, "we try to play with new youngster, so that they can play with confidence and give their best"! Hence I thought, we too should give the best shot of whatever is with us.
me: I feel we all give our best shot all the time. In the given conditions anyone of would have acted the same way as somebody else acted. Knowingly why should someone take the second best option? Better or worse; whatever we did was the best we could have done.
sudhansu: I think if one has the "striving for better" attitude, that's the best.
me: But the attitude also wont come to all! Because of history, past, and breeding etc.
sudhansu: Who so ever has not got the attitude, haven't yet realized his best.
me: who defines the "best"?
sudhansu: he Himself
me: If he himself defined the best, then why did he not work for it?
sudhansu: If he thinks later that he could have done that way or this way...means that that was not his whole hearted effort.
me: Once it is "later" its all done! Exactly at that instant he did not do it. Thinking of it "later" is like commenting on cricket live matches: the player should have played like this or should have taken that shot etc.
sudhansu: That's how he learns, next time he knows where he did the mistake.
me: Yes thats all fine; but at a particular instant still he is doing his best.
Lets say i am short tempered. After a spree of anger i think i shoud not have got angry. Then I can do meditation etc etc. But at that moment i did not do anything wrong!
When air flows through leaves no one says its right or wrong; I think our actions are like that.
Each moment we do the best. Even a dog wont take the second best path if he knew tat its the 2nd best.
sudhansu: If he knows that it's the best, then he should gracefully accept the results of his action.... and he understands everything he is going through is for his actions only... and... that's his best action
me: Yes
sudhansu: Then he is always happy!
me: Happy... may be may not be!
But he is certinly not unhappy
sudhansu: Is it, then there shouldn't be any sorrow and happiness!!Some are in that state, but many are not... they feel sad,
me: Yes; but surprisingly we all can be happy... somewhere I read "if u want to be happy, be".
sudhansu: I read somewhere that we are naturally all happy but we created misery around us.
me: That too is a problematic thing! Its basically blaming us, which i don't feel comfortable with!
But one thing I marked: life is interesting :)
sudhansu: People are living as rich and the poor. There must be something. Otherwise all the poor would have drowned in indian Ocean!
me: still they live! Why they live?
sudhansu: Because life is interesting!
me: yes :)
Because we think that their life is not worth living! But that may be true for us; not for them! Even a daily beggar with one eye goes on living...what for?
sudhansu: we have taken so much of a burden to think about others lives rather than ours
our standard is by our means
me: I think yes; this is a good phrase "life is interesting"; I cant say life is blissful or bad or good... yes... life really is interesting! Sometimes i feel very much amused; so much so tat i wish i could live 1000 years just observing life and people and creation :)
sudhansu: But there are 1000 lives around you every year!
me: yes :) That bargain is also fine with me; if i could live all the lives at a time...
sudhansu: that's equivant to 1000 years!
me: 1000 lives either in space or time :) ... Yes; very interesting concept! Great!!
me: this is a good thing, where you learn it from?
sudhansu: Coach of one IPL team told, "we try to play with new youngster, so that they can play with confidence and give their best"! Hence I thought, we too should give the best shot of whatever is with us.
me: I feel we all give our best shot all the time. In the given conditions anyone of would have acted the same way as somebody else acted. Knowingly why should someone take the second best option? Better or worse; whatever we did was the best we could have done.
sudhansu: I think if one has the "striving for better" attitude, that's the best.
me: But the attitude also wont come to all! Because of history, past, and breeding etc.
sudhansu: Who so ever has not got the attitude, haven't yet realized his best.
me: who defines the "best"?
sudhansu: he Himself
me: If he himself defined the best, then why did he not work for it?
sudhansu: If he thinks later that he could have done that way or this way...means that that was not his whole hearted effort.
me: Once it is "later" its all done! Exactly at that instant he did not do it. Thinking of it "later" is like commenting on cricket live matches: the player should have played like this or should have taken that shot etc.
sudhansu: That's how he learns, next time he knows where he did the mistake.
me: Yes thats all fine; but at a particular instant still he is doing his best.
Lets say i am short tempered. After a spree of anger i think i shoud not have got angry. Then I can do meditation etc etc. But at that moment i did not do anything wrong!
When air flows through leaves no one says its right or wrong; I think our actions are like that.
Each moment we do the best. Even a dog wont take the second best path if he knew tat its the 2nd best.
sudhansu: If he knows that it's the best, then he should gracefully accept the results of his action.... and he understands everything he is going through is for his actions only... and... that's his best action
me: Yes
sudhansu: Then he is always happy!
me: Happy... may be may not be!
But he is certinly not unhappy
sudhansu: Is it, then there shouldn't be any sorrow and happiness!!Some are in that state, but many are not... they feel sad,
me: Yes; but surprisingly we all can be happy... somewhere I read "if u want to be happy, be".
sudhansu: I read somewhere that we are naturally all happy but we created misery around us.
me: That too is a problematic thing! Its basically blaming us, which i don't feel comfortable with!
But one thing I marked: life is interesting :)
sudhansu: People are living as rich and the poor. There must be something. Otherwise all the poor would have drowned in indian Ocean!
me: still they live! Why they live?
sudhansu: Because life is interesting!
me: yes :)
Because we think that their life is not worth living! But that may be true for us; not for them! Even a daily beggar with one eye goes on living...what for?
sudhansu: we have taken so much of a burden to think about others lives rather than ours
our standard is by our means
me: I think yes; this is a good phrase "life is interesting"; I cant say life is blissful or bad or good... yes... life really is interesting! Sometimes i feel very much amused; so much so tat i wish i could live 1000 years just observing life and people and creation :)
sudhansu: But there are 1000 lives around you every year!
me: yes :) That bargain is also fine with me; if i could live all the lives at a time...
sudhansu: that's equivant to 1000 years!
me: 1000 lives either in space or time :) ... Yes; very interesting concept! Great!!
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Necessary and sufficient conditions for friendship!
A question cropped into my mind yesterday.
Who is a real friend: one who feels for your in your happy moments or one who feels for you in your moments of need?
Answers were many. Someone also gave the example of how when she was under distress, only a few friends would call her every evening. And that made her feel so much better. I also have my own life-experience, when during one of my calamities I suddenly opened my door to discover three of my long-forgotten friends standing. That did made me feel so much better. Hence, it seems the question is baseless and has but one equivocal answer. A friend is one who stands beside you during your hour of peril.
However, I always believed that a real friend is one who can be heartily happy for your happiness! I thought a bit more and discovered a nice observation!
Agreed that; a friend is one who stands beside you during your hour of peril. But not all those who stand by you during your calamity are your friends! During your moment of calamity many will come out to help you. This is the natural human tendency! We feel pity for one in calamity. Most (not all) will feel an ego-boost to find someone is calamity. Thats why we all get a feel-good tango when we do some social work! It may sound blunt, but this is the fact. We dont feel intimidated by seeing someone in trouble.
Whereas, if someone is prospering our ego feels belittled! We may feel that logically he is my friend and I should be happy for his prosperity. Hence most of us show that we are happy when any of our friends is having more happiness than we have! But in our heart of hearts we know that there is a tinge of jealousy!
Hence, its easy to get people who will be sad when you are sad. But to find someone who will be happy (from his/her heart) when you are sad, is a herculean task!
Mathematically speaking the condition 'to feel sad when your friend is sad' is a necessary condition for being a true friend. But the condition 'to feel happy when your friend is happy' is a sufficient condition for being a true friend!
In other words, a true friend need to be sad when you are sad. But just because someone is sad when you are sad, does not make him your true friend. Whereas if someone is happy when you are happy, then he IS your true friend!
I.e. 'being sad when you are sad' is a quality of true friend; whereas 'being happy when you are happy' qualifies a true friend...
Who is a real friend: one who feels for your in your happy moments or one who feels for you in your moments of need?
Answers were many. Someone also gave the example of how when she was under distress, only a few friends would call her every evening. And that made her feel so much better. I also have my own life-experience, when during one of my calamities I suddenly opened my door to discover three of my long-forgotten friends standing. That did made me feel so much better. Hence, it seems the question is baseless and has but one equivocal answer. A friend is one who stands beside you during your hour of peril.
However, I always believed that a real friend is one who can be heartily happy for your happiness! I thought a bit more and discovered a nice observation!
Agreed that; a friend is one who stands beside you during your hour of peril. But not all those who stand by you during your calamity are your friends! During your moment of calamity many will come out to help you. This is the natural human tendency! We feel pity for one in calamity. Most (not all) will feel an ego-boost to find someone is calamity. Thats why we all get a feel-good tango when we do some social work! It may sound blunt, but this is the fact. We dont feel intimidated by seeing someone in trouble.
Whereas, if someone is prospering our ego feels belittled! We may feel that logically he is my friend and I should be happy for his prosperity. Hence most of us show that we are happy when any of our friends is having more happiness than we have! But in our heart of hearts we know that there is a tinge of jealousy!
Hence, its easy to get people who will be sad when you are sad. But to find someone who will be happy (from his/her heart) when you are sad, is a herculean task!
Mathematically speaking the condition 'to feel sad when your friend is sad' is a necessary condition for being a true friend. But the condition 'to feel happy when your friend is happy' is a sufficient condition for being a true friend!
In other words, a true friend need to be sad when you are sad. But just because someone is sad when you are sad, does not make him your true friend. Whereas if someone is happy when you are happy, then he IS your true friend!
I.e. 'being sad when you are sad' is a quality of true friend; whereas 'being happy when you are happy' qualifies a true friend...
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Free will
The way I see it, we can have two schools of thoughts:
1- God-believing: If we believe in God, then that God has to be omnipotent. Hence there is always a preplanned destiny. Because what use is a God who does not have control over time !! I read somewhere in a book by some physicist from UK: our condition is like a fly crawling upon a dusty picture. As its treading ahead, its deciphering a part of the picture. For it, its all new, its all his choice and all that. But for someone who can see the 'big picture' (pun intended), its all obvious!
2- Atheistic view: If our knowledge till the date is fine, then there was a big bang and the creation (including time) started from there. After that things started spreading out. But the origin is one. And we also know that there can be no effect without a cause. Hence with the cause being the same, the effects are all deterministic. Rather its calculable (but may not be predictable).
Hence, free-will is but an illusion! We just feel that we are taking a free-willed decision! But actually we are not... or may be I am wrong somewhere...
1- God-believing: If we believe in God, then that God has to be omnipotent. Hence there is always a preplanned destiny. Because what use is a God who does not have control over time !! I read somewhere in a book by some physicist from UK: our condition is like a fly crawling upon a dusty picture. As its treading ahead, its deciphering a part of the picture. For it, its all new, its all his choice and all that. But for someone who can see the 'big picture' (pun intended), its all obvious!
2- Atheistic view: If our knowledge till the date is fine, then there was a big bang and the creation (including time) started from there. After that things started spreading out. But the origin is one. And we also know that there can be no effect without a cause. Hence with the cause being the same, the effects are all deterministic. Rather its calculable (but may not be predictable).
Hence, free-will is but an illusion! We just feel that we are taking a free-willed decision! But actually we are not... or may be I am wrong somewhere...
Friday, April 10, 2009
Dejavu: Forbidden Love!
(originally written on 28-Jun 06)
Few years back I read a novel in OdiA, "kahibAku lAja" (tale of shame), which described the love between two cousins! Forbidden love. There are societies where cousin love and marriage is accepted. But where they are not, its a shame, its a sin, its a sabotage of culture, to do it. Surprisingly I found recently a friend who had done the sin of loving his cousin! Might sound disgusting to some. But how can you stop the force of love? It just happens. They might have been close. Then they attend puberty. Find that their ideas match. They get closer at a higher level. And before any of them realized, they are in love....or whatever word you chose for this feeling. (It might sound filmy but it IS the fact.) Then what? In the novel, the lovers finally got married, against the will of the society. Here the reality differs from story. My friend was helpless. He knew they could never get married. What they did was forbidden love. He had started a story with no end!
Same way, depending on the society, there can be forbidden loves of so many types. Every society has its own taboos and rules. Starting from extremes of gay-love to simple thing like loving some one from the same neighborhood, love can be forbidden in society.
My point is, what is it like, to be in a forbidden love? When you know that you cant dream of things like "getting married" or "being together for ever"? When you know you cant stake many for one. When you know running away wont be the best option. When you know love is painful, still you cant NOT do it. Does it make love more pure? Or at least as per the conventional philosophy? Because here you love for the present, knowing very well that there is no future! Does forbidden love teaches you the gist of love, to love with no expectations, to work without any desire for the fruit ("mA faleshu kadAchana")?
Few years back I read a novel in OdiA, "kahibAku lAja" (tale of shame), which described the love between two cousins! Forbidden love. There are societies where cousin love and marriage is accepted. But where they are not, its a shame, its a sin, its a sabotage of culture, to do it. Surprisingly I found recently a friend who had done the sin of loving his cousin! Might sound disgusting to some. But how can you stop the force of love? It just happens. They might have been close. Then they attend puberty. Find that their ideas match. They get closer at a higher level. And before any of them realized, they are in love....or whatever word you chose for this feeling. (It might sound filmy but it IS the fact.) Then what? In the novel, the lovers finally got married, against the will of the society. Here the reality differs from story. My friend was helpless. He knew they could never get married. What they did was forbidden love. He had started a story with no end!
Same way, depending on the society, there can be forbidden loves of so many types. Every society has its own taboos and rules. Starting from extremes of gay-love to simple thing like loving some one from the same neighborhood, love can be forbidden in society.
My point is, what is it like, to be in a forbidden love? When you know that you cant dream of things like "getting married" or "being together for ever"? When you know you cant stake many for one. When you know running away wont be the best option. When you know love is painful, still you cant NOT do it. Does it make love more pure? Or at least as per the conventional philosophy? Because here you love for the present, knowing very well that there is no future! Does forbidden love teaches you the gist of love, to love with no expectations, to work without any desire for the fruit ("mA faleshu kadAchana")?
Tuesday, April 07, 2009
Dejavu: Feline Love
(I thought of reviving some of my old blog postings!! This one was written 02 JULY 2006.)
I was walking today from my flat to the university, and saw a black cat sitting in the sun. I went near her; she was not at all disturbed. I sat with her, she took the pain to look at who this god-damn fellow is! I patted her on her head. She rose. I knew what the cats like the best, a cuddle beside their neck. I did that and she was ecstactic! She mewed, came closer, straightened her tail, and purred! This love went on for a few minutes. I stoped cuddling, and rose. She immediately went back to her original position in sun. I started to depart. Looked back once or twice, only to find Ms.Cat happily enjoying the sun, as if nothing happened. Levae alone coming behind me, she even did not bother to give me a parting look (the looks that you get from dogs!).
This is feline love......detached, mature, and impersonal. Love that happens and only cares about present! No past acquaintance is needed for this love, nor does it leave any mark for future. Is this what seers describe as pure love? At the moment, as if there is nothing more to it, as if there is nothing above it. Just the very next moment, as if nothing has happened! Something to learn from my black cat, whom I loved for a few minutes???
I was walking today from my flat to the university, and saw a black cat sitting in the sun. I went near her; she was not at all disturbed. I sat with her, she took the pain to look at who this god-damn fellow is! I patted her on her head. She rose. I knew what the cats like the best, a cuddle beside their neck. I did that and she was ecstactic! She mewed, came closer, straightened her tail, and purred! This love went on for a few minutes. I stoped cuddling, and rose. She immediately went back to her original position in sun. I started to depart. Looked back once or twice, only to find Ms.Cat happily enjoying the sun, as if nothing happened. Levae alone coming behind me, she even did not bother to give me a parting look (the looks that you get from dogs!).
This is feline love......detached, mature, and impersonal. Love that happens and only cares about present! No past acquaintance is needed for this love, nor does it leave any mark for future. Is this what seers describe as pure love? At the moment, as if there is nothing more to it, as if there is nothing above it. Just the very next moment, as if nothing has happened! Something to learn from my black cat, whom I loved for a few minutes???
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Satyagrah III
This is the third post on this topic, written based on my limited understanding and appreciation of Gandhian philosophy. This time I will give the example of a current day problem prevalent in most of the academic campuses round India. We will try to find a solution to the same following the principle of Satyagrah.
Economy is sluggish, market is down and things are in utterly bad shape. Bad times bring forth the worst in human character! Hence the moral responsibility of the young mass is finding it hard to be up! A common off-shoot of the same in campuses like IITs is found among the final year students. Here, companies come to the campus to recruit students. Lets say you have been selected in a company. Later if a company comes whose salary package is at least 20% higher than the company where you have been placed, then you can appear in the interview of the new company as well. This is allowed once 80% of the students from the branch have been placed. This time companies were few and all wanted to take the brightest few. Lets say Hari is a bright student and have been placed in a company. Given the above situation he has all right to sit for the new company. However when 60% of his batch mates have not been placed, should he sit again and consume one sit? As a matter of fact many do sit. And many others who are sure that they wont be doing job and would rather go for higher studies, are also sitting for the next round. This in my opinion is utterly unethical. Now the question is can we use satyagrah to stop this practice?
Of course while handling this issue the first question that cropped in my mind was is this situation fitting in to the domain of satyagrah? What or which is the 'satya'or truth for which we are displaying 'agrah' or fondness?
I have been thinking on the above question for last two days. But still could not find an answer to it. May be this is not 'satyagrah', rather trying to establish our own vested interest or our own personal idea of morality...!
Economy is sluggish, market is down and things are in utterly bad shape. Bad times bring forth the worst in human character! Hence the moral responsibility of the young mass is finding it hard to be up! A common off-shoot of the same in campuses like IITs is found among the final year students. Here, companies come to the campus to recruit students. Lets say you have been selected in a company. Later if a company comes whose salary package is at least 20% higher than the company where you have been placed, then you can appear in the interview of the new company as well. This is allowed once 80% of the students from the branch have been placed. This time companies were few and all wanted to take the brightest few. Lets say Hari is a bright student and have been placed in a company. Given the above situation he has all right to sit for the new company. However when 60% of his batch mates have not been placed, should he sit again and consume one sit? As a matter of fact many do sit. And many others who are sure that they wont be doing job and would rather go for higher studies, are also sitting for the next round. This in my opinion is utterly unethical. Now the question is can we use satyagrah to stop this practice?
Of course while handling this issue the first question that cropped in my mind was is this situation fitting in to the domain of satyagrah? What or which is the 'satya'or truth for which we are displaying 'agrah' or fondness?
I have been thinking on the above question for last two days. But still could not find an answer to it. May be this is not 'satyagrah', rather trying to establish our own vested interest or our own personal idea of morality...!
Friday, March 27, 2009
Gandhi for current day crisis
The other day I was listening to a welcome address by an octogenarian Gandhian. He was talking about his experience of Indo-Chinease war period. During the 1962 Chinease aggression, he was doing some social work in one of the north-east provinces of India. After the news of Chinese aggression, people started talking of "how Gandhi would have reacted to such a condition". There, this person made a nice remark. "All the time no one ever thought of how things would have been done in a newly independent country had Gandhi been alive. Suddenly when we faced a problem people started thinking of Gandhi."
Hence, in this article we will not talk about how to solve the current generation crisis through Gandhian ways. This will drag down the status of Gandhian ways to that of some pain killer medicine! You have some pain, you take a few pills. Gandhian philosophy is rather like naturopathy, where there is complete thrust on the holistic way of life. This is a way of life, to be led, to be practiced and ,above all, to be enjoyed. This is not a quick solution to some of your personal problem which you have brought across of your own accord!
Still, all is not doomed or lost yet. We may not solve the current problem, but we can always stop making new problems. This reminds me of a nice word from Sanskrit, "sanskara", for which I could find no English equivalent. Sanskara is the set of acquired characteristics that we gather over the years. Sanskara determines our attitude, disposition and our personality. It can be either positive or negative. Building of sanskara takes years and its a Herculean task to break a person's sanskara. However, seers say that with constant practice sanskara can be changed! Similarly, current day problems are acquired sanskaras of our society. We cant suddenly get rid of them. A determined and constant practice can only turn it round.
Hence, as far as my understanding goes, there is no solution for the current day crisis. There is no revolution that can give a not-so-temporary solution. We have to depend upon evolution.
Here, we shall discuss about three of the most easily practicable philosophies of Gandhi, viz. Satya, Ahimsa, and Iswar-bhakti.
Satya or truth is one of the most adored principles of Gandhi. Truth not just only means speaking the truth. Truthfulness, as I understand it, is the lack of hypocrisy. Its a condition where your mind, words and action are in unison. Its very interesting to mark here that if my mind, words and action all advocate some so-called-bad action, then also I am a man of truth. In this I am sure many of you will agree to the fact that a hypocrite gentleman is worse than a sincere, if I may use this adjective, goon!
Ahimsa or nonviolence is an excellent ideology of Gandhi, which I could partially comprehend after reading a book called "Vinoba on Gandhi". Its not simply not harming anyone. Its about loving everyone and everything. There is a subtle difference between not hating and loving. Gandhi's Ahimsa springs from the ideology of loving all. And if you love some one then you cant harm him. Even if you harm him, it will be like a father's punishment to his son, meant for his well being only. Interestingly if you really love everyone, then all other principles follow automatically. A loving person can not be a hypocrite. One particular practice helps me a lot in my tryst of loving all, viz. having empathy. With empathy, you try to be the person or thing you are looking at or are interacting with. Automatically love and compassion will flow of its own accord.
Lastly we come to Iswar-bhakti or bhakti for God. And please mark that I am not telling about Hndu or Muslim or Christian God. God, I am sure, has no religion! I have nothing against my agnostic or atheist friends. However, I feel, at my level, that it helps. I don't care if I can not prove the existence of God or not. As a matter of fact I don't have to! You just love God. And if you love God, how can you hate his creation? And once you love God and his creation, there is bliss and only bliss for you under all conditions! Whatever I do, if I shall do for the good of God's creation, then all my action will be purified. I don't have to fear of any failure or expect any jubilant success. I know that whatever I am doing is by the grace of Him and for His creation. Personal success or failure has no position there! Hence as you mark, Iswar-bhakti is the more subtle principle, after which the above two follow automatically.
Out of many original and innovative principles of Gandhi, I found the above three simplest and practical enough to be implemented in day-to-day life. Of course practicing them again needs the building of new sanskars. It by building new sanskaras only, that we can get rid of the old and not-so-good sanskaras.
Till now, I talked about the application of Gandhan philosophy at a personal level. What about the whole society? I think society is well capable of taking care of itself. Lets fix our own sanskaras. If sanskaras are strong enough they will spread like an epidemic! And believe me or not, if you practice the above three principles, you will find nothing but bliss in this creation. Problems will melt down as if they never existed! Hence, there wont arise any need to search for a solution.
Hence, in this article we will not talk about how to solve the current generation crisis through Gandhian ways. This will drag down the status of Gandhian ways to that of some pain killer medicine! You have some pain, you take a few pills. Gandhian philosophy is rather like naturopathy, where there is complete thrust on the holistic way of life. This is a way of life, to be led, to be practiced and ,above all, to be enjoyed. This is not a quick solution to some of your personal problem which you have brought across of your own accord!
Still, all is not doomed or lost yet. We may not solve the current problem, but we can always stop making new problems. This reminds me of a nice word from Sanskrit, "sanskara", for which I could find no English equivalent. Sanskara is the set of acquired characteristics that we gather over the years. Sanskara determines our attitude, disposition and our personality. It can be either positive or negative. Building of sanskara takes years and its a Herculean task to break a person's sanskara. However, seers say that with constant practice sanskara can be changed! Similarly, current day problems are acquired sanskaras of our society. We cant suddenly get rid of them. A determined and constant practice can only turn it round.
Hence, as far as my understanding goes, there is no solution for the current day crisis. There is no revolution that can give a not-so-temporary solution. We have to depend upon evolution.
Here, we shall discuss about three of the most easily practicable philosophies of Gandhi, viz. Satya, Ahimsa, and Iswar-bhakti.
Satya or truth is one of the most adored principles of Gandhi. Truth not just only means speaking the truth. Truthfulness, as I understand it, is the lack of hypocrisy. Its a condition where your mind, words and action are in unison. Its very interesting to mark here that if my mind, words and action all advocate some so-called-bad action, then also I am a man of truth. In this I am sure many of you will agree to the fact that a hypocrite gentleman is worse than a sincere, if I may use this adjective, goon!
Ahimsa or nonviolence is an excellent ideology of Gandhi, which I could partially comprehend after reading a book called "Vinoba on Gandhi". Its not simply not harming anyone. Its about loving everyone and everything. There is a subtle difference between not hating and loving. Gandhi's Ahimsa springs from the ideology of loving all. And if you love some one then you cant harm him. Even if you harm him, it will be like a father's punishment to his son, meant for his well being only. Interestingly if you really love everyone, then all other principles follow automatically. A loving person can not be a hypocrite. One particular practice helps me a lot in my tryst of loving all, viz. having empathy. With empathy, you try to be the person or thing you are looking at or are interacting with. Automatically love and compassion will flow of its own accord.
Lastly we come to Iswar-bhakti or bhakti for God. And please mark that I am not telling about Hndu or Muslim or Christian God. God, I am sure, has no religion! I have nothing against my agnostic or atheist friends. However, I feel, at my level, that it helps. I don't care if I can not prove the existence of God or not. As a matter of fact I don't have to! You just love God. And if you love God, how can you hate his creation? And once you love God and his creation, there is bliss and only bliss for you under all conditions! Whatever I do, if I shall do for the good of God's creation, then all my action will be purified. I don't have to fear of any failure or expect any jubilant success. I know that whatever I am doing is by the grace of Him and for His creation. Personal success or failure has no position there! Hence as you mark, Iswar-bhakti is the more subtle principle, after which the above two follow automatically.
Out of many original and innovative principles of Gandhi, I found the above three simplest and practical enough to be implemented in day-to-day life. Of course practicing them again needs the building of new sanskars. It by building new sanskaras only, that we can get rid of the old and not-so-good sanskaras.
Till now, I talked about the application of Gandhan philosophy at a personal level. What about the whole society? I think society is well capable of taking care of itself. Lets fix our own sanskaras. If sanskaras are strong enough they will spread like an epidemic! And believe me or not, if you practice the above three principles, you will find nothing but bliss in this creation. Problems will melt down as if they never existed! Hence, there wont arise any need to search for a solution.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
idea of doing!
I was talking to one of my friends. We often end up discussing hypothetical and abstract things. Things went in the direction of love and Radha-Krishna. There he made a wonderful remark. "May be they did not actually like to be together; rather liked the idea of being together". Then I pondered over the stuff and realized that its true most of the times. Most of the times we like the idea of doing something rather than doing that thing actually. For example I like the idea of sitting in an evening and reading through some book. But I never could end up doing it! Similarly if we analyze our life, we will find that many times we like the idea of doing something than doing it actually. And in case of love also things are no different! Many times lovers like the idea of being together than actually being together!
Lalita-mAdhava-katha
We all know of the love between Radha and Krishna. The love hat was tainted, short-lived, blemished yet complete. The life of Radha-Krishna love was not more than a few months. However, length of love has nothing to do with the depth of the same. Few months' true-n-complete love was enough to create the inspiration and hope in Radha to live her whole life. How could anyone lead his/her whole life by the help of a few months' love?
Contemporary love has different priorities. We believe that longer the love more is the pain of separation and hence more is the suffering. By the fear of future suffering many never are able to start loving in the very first case. And things are worse in case of marriage! People keep on thinking that they have all the time of a life-time; they take each-other for granted. And again the result is that they can never start living and loving.
Well, the matter of discussion here is not the philosophy of love; rather the life of another Gopi named Lalita! Many of us might have heard of Gita-Govinda, the famous Vaishnav epic describing the "Mana-bhanjana" of Radha by Krishna. The stage for the epic is like this. Krishna has spent a night with Lalita and came to Radha in the early morning. Radha has waited all night long and looking at the condition of Krishna, she could guess a lot. Then stats the epic. But no-one ever has mentioned anything about Lalita. Lalita, who could get Krishna's embrace only for a single night. A single night's love: was that enough memory for a life? After Krishna leaves, Lalita's mind asks few things to her heart. That will be mentioned in a poem in my next blog! In the poem, each stanza ends with two questions. The second question is actually the answer to the first one!
Contemporary love has different priorities. We believe that longer the love more is the pain of separation and hence more is the suffering. By the fear of future suffering many never are able to start loving in the very first case. And things are worse in case of marriage! People keep on thinking that they have all the time of a life-time; they take each-other for granted. And again the result is that they can never start living and loving.
Well, the matter of discussion here is not the philosophy of love; rather the life of another Gopi named Lalita! Many of us might have heard of Gita-Govinda, the famous Vaishnav epic describing the "Mana-bhanjana" of Radha by Krishna. The stage for the epic is like this. Krishna has spent a night with Lalita and came to Radha in the early morning. Radha has waited all night long and looking at the condition of Krishna, she could guess a lot. Then stats the epic. But no-one ever has mentioned anything about Lalita. Lalita, who could get Krishna's embrace only for a single night. A single night's love: was that enough memory for a life? After Krishna leaves, Lalita's mind asks few things to her heart. That will be mentioned in a poem in my next blog! In the poem, each stanza ends with two questions. The second question is actually the answer to the first one!
Thursday, February 19, 2009
prem!
जीवन की सारी स्मृतियाँ, जन्म जन्म की अनुभूतियाँ
क्या इस जन्म के आगे है कोई और जन्म ?
शायद नहीं,
या शायद है अनंत जन्म,
क्या ये सब जी सकते हो, बस इक दो पल के सहारे?
क्या सागर पार कर सकते हो, इक छोटी सी नाव के सहारे? १?
कुछ पल में बने अपने, लम्हे थे या कोई सपने
क्या इससे पहले किया था कभी प्यार ?
शायद नही,
या शायद आज ही किया प्यार का प्रथम आविष्कार
क्या ये सब लम्हे समेट सकोगे, इस नन्हे से ह्रदय में ?
क्या इतनी सारी खुशबू समा सकेगी इक छोटे से गुलाब में?२?
बीता हुआ कल और आने वाले पल, कुछ भी तो नही था उस पल में,
क्या इसी को बोलते है पूर्ण प्रेम की अनुभूति?
शायद हाँ,
या शायद प्रेम है कुछ और कठिन शास्त्र
क्या इतने कठिन पाठ को जान पाओगे, बस दो पल की अनुभूति से ?
क्या इतनी बड़ी किताब पढ़ पाओगे इक छोटे सी दिए की रोशनी से ?३?
तुम न मेरे हो, न मैं तुम्हारा,
हमेशा हमेशा का साथ न हो सकेगा हमारा,
क्या सारा जीवन तनहा और दुखी कट पायेगा,
शायद हाँ,
या शायद इसी से हो सकता है जीवन से असल परिचय,
क्या ये पूरी जिंदगी झेल सकोगे बस दो पल के सहारे?
क्या इतनी अँधेरा लुप्त कर सकोगे एक दिए के सहारे? ४?
आज हो तुम मेरी बाहों में, तो कल का क्या हे फ़िक्र ?
क्या ऐसा प्रेम फिर नसीब होगा जीवन में?
शायद हाँ, शायद नही
या कुछ और प्रेम भी मिल सके,... कुछ शास्वत और चिरंतन,
क्या इसी से होता है ईश्वर प्रेम का आरम्भ?
क्या इसी से खिलती है जीवन के मरुस्थल में प्रेम की कमल की सुगंध ?५ ?
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Pure-milk
This time I was at home, my father told me this beautiful thing. Here is my version of what he told:
Many a time we all must have heard this phrase: pure-milk. Have we ever wandered what on earth does this mean? Try to think of the meaning of pure-milk. Many of us will finally say that, milk that has not been adulterated. There you go. Milk as such is just milk. You do anything to it, you can only make it impure, you can never make it purer.
Same is the case with this creation, our society, this nation and all this. We all complain about all these. Many of us try to change things for better; and ultimately meddling with it's delicate balance.
Hence, the status-quo is always the purest status. You meddle with it, you make it impure! Just relax and enjoy the show!!
Many a time we all must have heard this phrase: pure-milk. Have we ever wandered what on earth does this mean? Try to think of the meaning of pure-milk. Many of us will finally say that, milk that has not been adulterated. There you go. Milk as such is just milk. You do anything to it, you can only make it impure, you can never make it purer.
Same is the case with this creation, our society, this nation and all this. We all complain about all these. Many of us try to change things for better; and ultimately meddling with it's delicate balance.
Hence, the status-quo is always the purest status. You meddle with it, you make it impure! Just relax and enjoy the show!!
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Satyagrah and terrorism!
Bombay has been shaken, so has been the foundations of Indian democracy. In the last 6 months we have had more than 8 chain blasts in this nation. What are the implications and causes? With these there are other stray violence related to militants, (a)cross-border fire-exchange, naxal movements, mafia-war etc etc. Its as if we are in the midst of a civil war. And no one seems to be thinking about the root cause and how to eradicate this feeling of insecurity. Most of us want an eye for an eye (sometimes both the eyes for an eye). This will leave the whole world blind! So what is the solution?
Lets communicate. Lets talk, lets chat across all borders of caste, religion and region. Let the other not feel insecure.
Lets help out. Swayam-seva eba swaseva! i.e volunteering is basically serving ones own self!
And lastly, lets pray and repent for the fault of our keens (yes you are right, the terrorists!).
And let us spread this news that we stand together against all terror and terroism; terrorists ye be warned!! We will not finish you, we will finish the terror in you and will convert you!
We have had enough of blame game. As Captain Jack Sparrow would say, "there comes a time my friend when you should take the responsibility of your own deeds!" We have been callous and this is the result. Lets act sensible, lets have compassion...
Lets communicate. Lets talk, lets chat across all borders of caste, religion and region. Let the other not feel insecure.
Lets help out. Swayam-seva eba swaseva! i.e volunteering is basically serving ones own self!
And lastly, lets pray and repent for the fault of our keens (yes you are right, the terrorists!).
And let us spread this news that we stand together against all terror and terroism; terrorists ye be warned!! We will not finish you, we will finish the terror in you and will convert you!
We have had enough of blame game. As Captain Jack Sparrow would say, "there comes a time my friend when you should take the responsibility of your own deeds!" We have been callous and this is the result. Lets act sensible, lets have compassion...
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Satyagrah II
There were some nice discussions on my last blog, discussions which were more lucid than the seed-blog. Hence am putting them in this blog:
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deepanshu said... I am sorry to say but I found the blog a bit absurd. (now I might be naive but if you can elaborate, it will be clearer) "To first understand truth, you have to first love all the things and beings" why??
I understand that a rotten thing stinks and I keep away from it. same with people. how can you love someone/somethings when they are not pleasing to your senses be it intellectual or moral. moreover how can i love/like something, it always comes from within. Simulating emotions might be a lie(not satyagrah).
Secondly, loving or granting your sanction to everything is equal to giving someone something what he actually doesn't deserve. And just like currency, if you give it to everyone, it finally has no value. And thus the person who really deserves your love/appreciation gets that hollow coin which everyone already has.Thus injustice.
Personally I believe by doing justice, by giving your sanction to deserving and scorn/criticism to undeserving, keeps the value of your moral currency. Now doing justice is another form of satyagrah, isn't it?
lastly, the basic assumption underlying in the love story is that boy also loves gal and thus he cannot see her suffer. was it really true with Gandhi and British? doesn't self-sacrifice dwell on other's mercy, his wish to care or not. Isn't this weakness. 
Mister Mangu said...You are right deepanshu. But most of these arguments are given by looking at what the other deserves or not; if the other loves you or not. These depend on without, whereas emotions are from within. Certainly you cant fake an emotion, nor should you. That will be fundamentally against satyagrah. A flower emits fragrance. Its its characteristics. It does not matter if its in a forest, or in a temple or in a whore-house. Similarly once we get that stage, we cant but love. This will not depend on what the other deserves .
What is truth? I don't know. But its something I wish to know. Truth about me, about you and about this creation. Its like any profession. Unless I like circuits, I cant understand them properly. Unless I like maths, I can never be truly able to understand it. Similarly when it comes to truth about the creation, I have to first love it all...nay, love should come to my heart of its own accord for all... for the whole creation.
What I presumed about Gandhi and Brits, is just my assumption. It may not necessarily be true. But it may be true as well. When I love, its because I enjoy loving. If I suffer because I cant see my beloved ones doing mistake, then that cleanses my spirit. Its all me. There is no dependence on others.
About weakness... you may have heard Gandhi saying "ahimsa is only for the strongest"! It needs real strength to stick to your principles, even when the whole world is against you, even when your wife may die if she does not take beef-soup, even when you son may die if he does not take brandy... Thats why Vardhamana Jaina is called Mahavir (when all he preached was extreme nonviolence!).
PS: Most of what I just have written is bookish. But may be an iota is there which came from my heart.
Saturday, November 22, 2008
satyagrah!
Some people hate Gandhi, some treat him as a saint. I have been trying to understand what exactly he used to say. Luckily I got a rusty old book from Howrdah station this Puja, named "Vinoba on Gandhi". Reading the book was enlightening. Of course this is one of my first books on Gandhian philosophy. And I am lucky to get Vinoba in my first book.
This is how he explains satyagrahi and the method of non-violence.
One who likes truth is satyagrahi. For that you have to first understand truth. And for that you have to first love all the things and beings. Love and hate are two blinders for us. Both have to be get rid of, to see truth. Getting rid of both being difficult, lets first get rid of hate. One who loves all cant harm anyone. This is ahimsha! Lets say, there is a love duo. Of them the guy smokes. The gal will try to explain things to him first. If that does not work, then she may try to take extreme steps. She may shout at him (but for his own good). And if she really loves him, she may not be able to shout at him. That case she may turtore herself to make him understand. This is nonviolence. It comes from love. Because you love the other person, you can not tolerate that he is doing something wrong. You try to explain things to him and worst case turtore your own self to make a point.
Mark that, nonviolent opposition is a misleading phrase. It can wither be opposition or nonviolent. Cant be both at a time.
So according to this Gandhi had to do fasting etc to make a point to the Brits. Its because of his love and compassion towards Brits. More on this in my next blog...!
This is how he explains satyagrahi and the method of non-violence.
One who likes truth is satyagrahi. For that you have to first understand truth. And for that you have to first love all the things and beings. Love and hate are two blinders for us. Both have to be get rid of, to see truth. Getting rid of both being difficult, lets first get rid of hate. One who loves all cant harm anyone. This is ahimsha! Lets say, there is a love duo. Of them the guy smokes. The gal will try to explain things to him first. If that does not work, then she may try to take extreme steps. She may shout at him (but for his own good). And if she really loves him, she may not be able to shout at him. That case she may turtore herself to make him understand. This is nonviolence. It comes from love. Because you love the other person, you can not tolerate that he is doing something wrong. You try to explain things to him and worst case turtore your own self to make a point.
Mark that, nonviolent opposition is a misleading phrase. It can wither be opposition or nonviolent. Cant be both at a time.
So according to this Gandhi had to do fasting etc to make a point to the Brits. Its because of his love and compassion towards Brits. More on this in my next blog...!
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Education for all!
At home shared auto is one of my favorite modes of commutation. Not only is it cheap, it also gives you the golden opportunity to have fleeting interaction with the hoipoloi of the city.
One of these times I had a small lad of 11 or 12 as my co-passenger. He boarded the auto with a big empty bucket. He was there in the auto with me for some 10-15 minutes. All the while I was observing him. There was a unique brilliance in his face. A typical satisfaction which is atypical of the school-going lads of his age. On interacting with him I came to know that he was going to some place for some wall-penting. So he was a child labour devoid of education. But then he was happy.
This made me think about the contemporary education and if we should make this type of education as compulsory. The education that the Indian government can make compulsory and free, is simply good for nothing! You have to be extra brilliant in numbers to get any benefit from that education. If you are mediocre or less then you simply waste 10-12 prime years of your life. Do we have the right to shatter the lives of so many kids of the nation in the name of "right to education"? May be we should look around for a better education system before making it compulsory and a right. This might sound harse, but then lets stop living in a fool's paradise; lets stop speculating sitting in our cosy rooms, lets come out and look at the problem with proper empathy...
One of these times I had a small lad of 11 or 12 as my co-passenger. He boarded the auto with a big empty bucket. He was there in the auto with me for some 10-15 minutes. All the while I was observing him. There was a unique brilliance in his face. A typical satisfaction which is atypical of the school-going lads of his age. On interacting with him I came to know that he was going to some place for some wall-penting. So he was a child labour devoid of education. But then he was happy.
This made me think about the contemporary education and if we should make this type of education as compulsory. The education that the Indian government can make compulsory and free, is simply good for nothing! You have to be extra brilliant in numbers to get any benefit from that education. If you are mediocre or less then you simply waste 10-12 prime years of your life. Do we have the right to shatter the lives of so many kids of the nation in the name of "right to education"? May be we should look around for a better education system before making it compulsory and a right. This might sound harse, but then lets stop living in a fool's paradise; lets stop speculating sitting in our cosy rooms, lets come out and look at the problem with proper empathy...
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Tale of two blogs!
Blog 1: Village Republic
Went home for Durga Puja. On my way I had a looonngggggggg halt in Howrdah station. Howrdah station can be a mine of lost treasures for book-hunters. I fished a book called "Vinoba on Gandhi"! Somehow I have got tremendous appreciation for these freedom fighters, esp. Gandhi, Vinoba and Gokhle. We know so little about these guys. These people I consider as real polymaths. Anyway, in that book, I discovered a new term: village republic! What a wonderful idea! I often think that USA is better off a part because of the fact that it has a looser federation than India. Independence at local level solves many problem in one go. It makes smaller independnet entitites, encourages healthy compition and lastly it also gives a community identity which lacks so badly in India. This idea of village republic seemed to solve all the problems.
Guru-and-sisya
The sort of relation that we have between teacher and student, is something unique to orient. I am not going to tell you about how great is this or if this is all bullshit! I will just write about a sloka I read this time in home. In my home, I find many old books from no where !! This time I found a book by Pandit Gopabandhu. He was one of the major figures in British OdishA. He was also a passionate educator and along with some others has started the first Gandhian school in OdishA, named Satyavadi-banabidyalaya. In the book I got hold of, he was talking about education. There he quoted a sloka which reads:
"sarvatra jayamanwichhet,
sishyat icchet parajayam!"
I.e. aspire for victory in all fronts; from your student aspire a defeat! I was really touched by the idea. How great the mind might have been which conceived of such a piece of thought...
Went home for Durga Puja. On my way I had a looonngggggggg halt in Howrdah station. Howrdah station can be a mine of lost treasures for book-hunters. I fished a book called "Vinoba on Gandhi"! Somehow I have got tremendous appreciation for these freedom fighters, esp. Gandhi, Vinoba and Gokhle. We know so little about these guys. These people I consider as real polymaths. Anyway, in that book, I discovered a new term: village republic! What a wonderful idea! I often think that USA is better off a part because of the fact that it has a looser federation than India. Independence at local level solves many problem in one go. It makes smaller independnet entitites, encourages healthy compition and lastly it also gives a community identity which lacks so badly in India. This idea of village republic seemed to solve all the problems.
- This will make independent village economy. With proper planning this can be done. E.g. there are many villages in coastal OdishA called Sasana-villages, set by medival kings. In such villages there are few families of almost all clans, some smiths, some farmers, some priests, some weavers etc etc. Hence, this is no new idea.
- This will also make democracy more realistic. Today one legislator represents huge number of people. Hence, Indian democracy has become a mockery. At a very local level things will be more trackable. Even for independent decisions all villagors can be drawn to the assembly hall.
- This will create a bond. Given sufficient independnece this village identity may come over other differences like cast and religion.
Guru-and-sisya
The sort of relation that we have between teacher and student, is something unique to orient. I am not going to tell you about how great is this or if this is all bullshit! I will just write about a sloka I read this time in home. In my home, I find many old books from no where !! This time I found a book by Pandit Gopabandhu. He was one of the major figures in British OdishA. He was also a passionate educator and along with some others has started the first Gandhian school in OdishA, named Satyavadi-banabidyalaya. In the book I got hold of, he was talking about education. There he quoted a sloka which reads:
"sarvatra jayamanwichhet,
sishyat icchet parajayam!"
I.e. aspire for victory in all fronts; from your student aspire a defeat! I was really touched by the idea. How great the mind might have been which conceived of such a piece of thought...
Wednesday, October 01, 2008
Why are we in a mess??
The other day I was thinking why are we in a mess in India? May be the beginning was not so good? May be the starting point was not well conceived? Of course I am not saying that the great personalities of that time did any blunder. I am sure given those conditions, they have done the best thing. Still these are my personal views, dreams rather...
The list goes on. We never had a real independence. We never got that confident outlook that an independent sovereign state should have. And at the same time the short-cuts we took actually has put us in long-cuts... I dont see any solution though!!!
- First of all, constitution of the republic was almost the same as that of the colonial India. Hence, we never had a new start.
- Those officers and police who were serving the Britishers till independence retained their job. So, those who were killing and oppressing the freedom fighters and who were philosophically against the idea of independent India, were suddenly given the right to rule independent India. They should in fact have been treated as prisoners of war and properly tried. And under no circumstances they should have been allowed to retain the power. So basically we drove the foreigners but kept the instruments of foreign rule.
- Next, we forced the complete British India into a single republic. It was made a federation, but the states had little power. Neither was there any proper common thread for unity nor was there sufficient independence for diversity.
- Hence, it was neither like Europe not like America. People may oppose this view of mine. But, we we see it objectively without prejudice, I don't see any reason for including unwilling princely states forcibly. Gandhi's idea of local governance was completely sabotaged!
The list goes on. We never had a real independence. We never got that confident outlook that an independent sovereign state should have. And at the same time the short-cuts we took actually has put us in long-cuts... I dont see any solution though!!!
Sunday, September 14, 2008
The Triology!!
Have not blogged for weeks! Thought of making a hatrick trilogy!!
- Space research: We in IITG had our technical festival few days back. In one of the events, we have organized a student model competition (for school kids). It had a preliminary round and only the selected few had come from all over the country. I was a judge. Many models were on outer space exploration. I remember, in my teenage I also was fascinated by space. So I asked them about ISRO. But to my surprise, none of them knew about any achievements of ISRO. Few even did not know what is ISRO. They all knew what is NASA!! I know its not proper to blow ones own trumpet. But when the world is getting increasingly deaf, we have to blow trumpets. Why is it that media never talks about success of ISRO or the failures of NASA? This makes people think that ISRO has no success and NASA has no failure!
- Kishore Kumar: Its been a habit for me to go to a rickety tea-shop beside the institute campus, almost every evening, for tea and samosa. One day I was alone and there came a guy. From his talks to the shop-keeper I thought he is some gunda! Then I realised its his style! Then he sat beside me and ate something. There was a glass/tubler beside my plate and it was empty. There was also a jug full of water in the table. In India many people like to drink directly from the water jug (it has a different feeling when you are really thirsty!). But mind that they pour the water from a hight so as not to touch the jug with their mouth. Anyway, our friend must have been damn thristy. He took the jug, saw my empty tubler and filled it up and gobbled up the water. This he did as if its the natural way to drink water for human beings, i.e. first feel up the glass of others and then drink yourselves! And I was also not supposed to say any thanks or such after this action. The main show came after that. He was there for almost 15 minutes. In those time he joked and talked with almost everyone in the shop! It reminded me of Kishore-Kumar's movies. May be these are the characters who inspired those filmy characters!
- Natural selection: I was revising some texts on genetic algorithm (GA) few days back. One thing struck me! I have always had this doubt about evolution theory. If its simple "servivial of the fittest" philosophy, then all we should have been left with is a single specis. What then is the cause of diversity in nature? Then I realised that the cost-function in nature (or the fitness curve) is not a smooth one. Rather it has loads of local maximas. And thats why species can settle down at these local maximas and stay for ever in the same state of affairs! These local maximas correspond to niches in natural habitat. So far so good. But then if this is so, then GA should not work. But to my little knowledge GA guides itself by almost all the rules of evolution. Hence, may be the rules of evolution need some finetuning! Bad for GA (that then it wont be able to converge at the global maxima); but we will get a better evolution strategy... more close to nature!
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
India, trend, movies and allies
Just had the chance to view a hilarious song (http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=ja3XCe4e2gc&feature=related). This made me look for other songs from the movie "boot-polish". I came across another touching song (http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=IrSEQpUmq30&NR=1). And this song left me to ponder on many things.
Why do not we see movies like 'boot-polish' now a days? That was an era championed by Raj-Kapoor and his generation. That was an era of the erstwhile USSR and an era of India's tilt towards communist countries. Nehrujee might have preached the philosophy of NATO. But we all know that the USSR was a supporter of India (for whatever reason). May be thats why almost all middle-class family had some books on Communism. Almost all middle class youth had that bleeding heart for the poor. That was an era when seeaigenti (CIE agent) was a foul name to call anyone! That was an era when Bollywood movies professed the moral-strength of the poor, showed half-naked slum dwellers and demonstrated the superiority of the proletarians over the rich.
Has the poverty of the country vanished in these few decades? Have the slums and their dwellers disappeared from the face of earth? Does India now consist of only NRIs and industrialist? Why then I don't see any poor man in any movie from Bollywood? Why all box-office hits in small screen show women with kilograms of golden jewelry on them? Why there is no single movie like "boot-polish" or a TV serial like ham-log? Suddenly it seems everyone has become rich!
I do not know about the reasons. I also don't want to brood on them. But this is what I think its propagating. This is professing market-economy. This is professing all the wealth that you need in a small life. This is professing dis-morality. Lastly if anyone has marked, Indian cinema was based on the poor and suddenly its based on the life of rich. It missed the bridge, i.e. middle class. So this is propagating a race for easy-money!!
PS: And of course in the world portrayed by today's film and media, there is certainly no place for the poor! They are just forgotten, and at the same time all the audience (from inland and abroad) are made to forget them. To think India is shinning!!
Why do not we see movies like 'boot-polish' now a days? That was an era championed by Raj-Kapoor and his generation. That was an era of the erstwhile USSR and an era of India's tilt towards communist countries. Nehrujee might have preached the philosophy of NATO. But we all know that the USSR was a supporter of India (for whatever reason). May be thats why almost all middle-class family had some books on Communism. Almost all middle class youth had that bleeding heart for the poor. That was an era when seeaigenti (CIE agent) was a foul name to call anyone! That was an era when Bollywood movies professed the moral-strength of the poor, showed half-naked slum dwellers and demonstrated the superiority of the proletarians over the rich.
Has the poverty of the country vanished in these few decades? Have the slums and their dwellers disappeared from the face of earth? Does India now consist of only NRIs and industrialist? Why then I don't see any poor man in any movie from Bollywood? Why all box-office hits in small screen show women with kilograms of golden jewelry on them? Why there is no single movie like "boot-polish" or a TV serial like ham-log? Suddenly it seems everyone has become rich!
I do not know about the reasons. I also don't want to brood on them. But this is what I think its propagating. This is professing market-economy. This is professing all the wealth that you need in a small life. This is professing dis-morality. Lastly if anyone has marked, Indian cinema was based on the poor and suddenly its based on the life of rich. It missed the bridge, i.e. middle class. So this is propagating a race for easy-money!!
PS: And of course in the world portrayed by today's film and media, there is certainly no place for the poor! They are just forgotten, and at the same time all the audience (from inland and abroad) are made to forget them. To think India is shinning!!
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
First war of Independence!
August 15th is coming. So I thought of blogging again! Over the years I saw dwindling enthusiasm of people in celebrating the day. We used to get so much excited when this day would come. First of all this brings a holiday and with that a toffee distributed by the school-principal! When TV came to our household, with these two things came the added benefit of watching some nice movie. Once I left my home-town the importance of this day has decreased, so has the importance of a free toffee. Today I find that a free toffee is almost of no value for the current generation of kids. The excitement for watching a patriotic movie has also almost vanished. As a matter of fact I dont think many can link to that past. Take for example Sepoy Mutiny, which some historians call the first war of independence.
Once I was thinking about this war. I think it was after the release of the movie "Mangal Pandey". Why should we call this the first war of independence? Who among the leaders understood the meaning of indepedence? When an action is taken, we have to look at the cause and the desired effect. What was the cause for which all those leaders jumped into war? To me it was the simple motive of regaining their kingdoms or zamindaris. Amongst all the leaders were from royal families and have joined the force because of the "Doctrine of Lapse". They had no direct son and hence East-India Company took over their zamindari. So they did not come for independence. Now look at the Sepoys. They were all Indians. They were mainly pissed off my the Enfield Rifle. And when they saw their own Rajahs leading a war their loyalty made them join force. So these to me are the causes of the war. Now lets look at the desired goal. If we observe the happenings in the war, it tells us a lot. People went till Delhi, captured it and declared the poor Nawab as the Nawab of Hind! This shows the lack of any immediate future plans. With all these pitfalls, I don't see why should we call it the first war of Independence? There were wars fought before this, there were sacrifices made before this. So why this one? Just because there were more Nawabs and Rajas involved here? Or just because Delhi came into picture here? I don't know. ..
Once I was thinking about this war. I think it was after the release of the movie "Mangal Pandey". Why should we call this the first war of independence? Who among the leaders understood the meaning of indepedence? When an action is taken, we have to look at the cause and the desired effect. What was the cause for which all those leaders jumped into war? To me it was the simple motive of regaining their kingdoms or zamindaris. Amongst all the leaders were from royal families and have joined the force because of the "Doctrine of Lapse". They had no direct son and hence East-India Company took over their zamindari. So they did not come for independence. Now look at the Sepoys. They were all Indians. They were mainly pissed off my the Enfield Rifle. And when they saw their own Rajahs leading a war their loyalty made them join force. So these to me are the causes of the war. Now lets look at the desired goal. If we observe the happenings in the war, it tells us a lot. People went till Delhi, captured it and declared the poor Nawab as the Nawab of Hind! This shows the lack of any immediate future plans. With all these pitfalls, I don't see why should we call it the first war of Independence? There were wars fought before this, there were sacrifices made before this. So why this one? Just because there were more Nawabs and Rajas involved here? Or just because Delhi came into picture here? I don't know. ..
Monday, April 14, 2008
Hero-worshipping!!
Whenever I watch any good American movie, I cant but appreciate an almost ever-existing under-current in all those movies. There got to be something towards the end of the movie, which shows the manifestation of human will and determination. Certain deed or heroic act by someone whose circumstances may not have possibly permitted him/her to perform the same. I wondered why it has to be like this in all the American movies? Is it that the movie industry there, is extremely benevolent and is single mindedly producing inspirational movies which give Americans the so called American-spirit? I came to realize that industries are same everywhere! For them, their interest and profit is beyond anything and everything.
Then I was listening to a Bollywood song one day. The very tune told me a lot. Most of the Bollywood songs tell you the tone of the hoi-poloi of Indian populace. Most movies target that. Then I remembered how in American theatres, irrespective of how many weeks a movie has run, everyone claps manically when the hero performs that last heroic act. This is the mass-psychology that the industries target. Americans are idol or hero worshippers. They recognize heroes, appreciate them to the point of worshipping. We in India are extremely poor in this aspect. We almost never appreciate all the small heroes living and breathing around us. Its not that such people are in any less number among us; its just that we somehow have developed this odd habit of ignoring our own achievements and achievers. We have stretched humility a bit too far... I think we need to change slightly; we need to be more appreciative; more impressible... more of a hero-worshipper!!
Then I was listening to a Bollywood song one day. The very tune told me a lot. Most of the Bollywood songs tell you the tone of the hoi-poloi of Indian populace. Most movies target that. Then I remembered how in American theatres, irrespective of how many weeks a movie has run, everyone claps manically when the hero performs that last heroic act. This is the mass-psychology that the industries target. Americans are idol or hero worshippers. They recognize heroes, appreciate them to the point of worshipping. We in India are extremely poor in this aspect. We almost never appreciate all the small heroes living and breathing around us. Its not that such people are in any less number among us; its just that we somehow have developed this odd habit of ignoring our own achievements and achievers. We have stretched humility a bit too far... I think we need to change slightly; we need to be more appreciative; more impressible... more of a hero-worshipper!!
Monday, March 31, 2008
Education
Somedays back, while going through a book in the Discworld series, I came across this statement: "Getting an education was a bit like a communicable sexual disease. It made you unsuitable for a lot of jobs and then you had the urge to pass it on." Very true for the education prevalent in most parts of the country. To this there was this budding desire among some of the students, to do something for the society. This left me thinking of the following:
Many times we think that child labor should be banned. Children should get education as a right. Bit what shall we achieve out of that? Lets say rag pickers or mess boys or hotel boys; we can not give them formal education; evenif we give them a formal education, current educational degrees do not give you life-skills. So can we design a small but effective capsule of lifeskills? Then same course can be given in many platforms, starting from orphanages to our security guards. If it clicks, then it can be listed in a webpage and made into a mass-volunterism activity. Please help us in giving your idea of what should be included into such a course. Some things which i thnk can be included are:
1- spoken english (detailed strcutre needed; may be we can discuss with the eduction dept of any nearby university)
2- useful mathematics!! eg mensuration, interest on money, multiplication tables, time-date-years etc. (again detaield structure to be decided)
3- some moral issues (for this may be panchatantra/fables stories told in english will be fine)
4- life skills and motivation: for this I thnk if we can have a bundle of good movies it will be best; amreican movies mostly say ki u can do it; aau movie dekhu dekhu thy will see western life style and why thy r successful.
Please share your idea, and more importantly some formal and firm structre/idea!!
Many times we think that child labor should be banned. Children should get education as a right. Bit what shall we achieve out of that? Lets say rag pickers or mess boys or hotel boys; we can not give them formal education; evenif we give them a formal education, current educational degrees do not give you life-skills. So can we design a small but effective capsule of lifeskills? Then same course can be given in many platforms, starting from orphanages to our security guards. If it clicks, then it can be listed in a webpage and made into a mass-volunterism activity. Please help us in giving your idea of what should be included into such a course. Some things which i thnk can be included are:
1- spoken english (detailed strcutre needed; may be we can discuss with the eduction dept of any nearby university)
2- useful mathematics!! eg mensuration, interest on money, multiplication tables, time-date-years etc. (again detaield structure to be decided)
3- some moral issues (for this may be panchatantra/fables stories told in english will be fine)
4- life skills and motivation: for this I thnk if we can have a bundle of good movies it will be best; amreican movies mostly say ki u can do it; aau movie dekhu dekhu thy will see western life style and why thy r successful.
Please share your idea, and more importantly some formal and firm structre/idea!!
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Breakfast!
Yesterday I went to a small shop beside our campus, for breakfast. Well, to speak the truth that was my "brunch"! Brunch-shoppies in this part of the world are not that hi-fi. They are mostly single hall place with rickety benches to sit upon and a perenial mild stink meandering all around. But the cook in this place would be working just at the entrance of the shop. You pass by the road, you can see all the meticulous effort he was putting into whatever he was trying to make. And in the morning he will make "parathas" or "pratas" (as the Singaporeans call it). To roll one paratha he will take at least 5 minutes. He will fold it in numerous folds, so that finally it will look like some idol of Ganesh. Then he will spread it and roll it properly into a multi-layered round shape. His devotion to his work would draw me near this shop and once a while i will come to this place for a brunch.
Well... coming to the main story, this yesterday I was having my brunch when a lad from the next door shop came. And he started his breakfast. Those from India pretty well know this phenomena. A neighbourhood brunch-shop is like your next home where you can popin anytime. But many times you tend to forget to pay him. Hence, i expected our guy form next-door shop to have a decent breakfast and go without paying. To my first surprise, he took to his heart's fill. And then to my second surprise he out-right paid Rs35!
Rs35 for breakfast for a lad whose income may not be more than Rs1000 per month! Strange??!! This is the spirit I found here. Peopl believe in spending...in living life today... in having all the comfort that can be had. No tension for future no remourse for the good old days. Something we all need to learn. Live life each day!
Well... coming to the main story, this yesterday I was having my brunch when a lad from the next door shop came. And he started his breakfast. Those from India pretty well know this phenomena. A neighbourhood brunch-shop is like your next home where you can popin anytime. But many times you tend to forget to pay him. Hence, i expected our guy form next-door shop to have a decent breakfast and go without paying. To my first surprise, he took to his heart's fill. And then to my second surprise he out-right paid Rs35!
Rs35 for breakfast for a lad whose income may not be more than Rs1000 per month! Strange??!! This is the spirit I found here. Peopl believe in spending...in living life today... in having all the comfort that can be had. No tension for future no remourse for the good old days. Something we all need to learn. Live life each day!
Saturday, July 28, 2007
Problems and solutions
I am fresh from a rewarding tour to my native place. Somehow I always find that in my visits I come to discover certain different angles of viewing the problems of life. Thanks to my parents!
This time me and my father were discussing about certain village school, where the good man who set the school, has employed few destitutes as teachers and care-takers. Everything else in the school was very nice. But the problem was the fact that lot more could be done if the people in the school are a bit more pro-active. There I found the refined defiiton of the problem of our land. Its the lack of "proactiveness".
So the real question of development is how to motivate people to be a bit more proactive!
I found something which seemed to me as a solution. Somehow I laid my hands on a book that has been lying in our home for few years at least. It was the explaination of Gita by Acharya Vinoba, translated by Annapurna Maharana. (PS: Acharya Vinoba is one of the true yogis of our era. Those who have heard the stories of AngurimAlA or Valmiki, Vinoba is man who did the same magic in our era. He went to Chambal (the once-heaven for dreadful dacoits!) emptihanded and made them submit for a better peaceful life! Annapurna Maharana belongs to a family which has given all its wealth, both material and man for the land. And please mark that the discourse was made to an audiance consisting of jail-inmates!)
Reading through the book, I got a strange feeling. May be here lies the solution. If somehow we can melt the ideas a bit further and convince people that its an reward in itself to work endlessly with no expectations,.... if only.......
This time me and my father were discussing about certain village school, where the good man who set the school, has employed few destitutes as teachers and care-takers. Everything else in the school was very nice. But the problem was the fact that lot more could be done if the people in the school are a bit more pro-active. There I found the refined defiiton of the problem of our land. Its the lack of "proactiveness".
So the real question of development is how to motivate people to be a bit more proactive!
I found something which seemed to me as a solution. Somehow I laid my hands on a book that has been lying in our home for few years at least. It was the explaination of Gita by Acharya Vinoba, translated by Annapurna Maharana. (PS: Acharya Vinoba is one of the true yogis of our era. Those who have heard the stories of AngurimAlA or Valmiki, Vinoba is man who did the same magic in our era. He went to Chambal (the once-heaven for dreadful dacoits!) emptihanded and made them submit for a better peaceful life! Annapurna Maharana belongs to a family which has given all its wealth, both material and man for the land. And please mark that the discourse was made to an audiance consisting of jail-inmates!)
Reading through the book, I got a strange feeling. May be here lies the solution. If somehow we can melt the ideas a bit further and convince people that its an reward in itself to work endlessly with no expectations,.... if only.......
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Hind Swaraj
History is something which always intrigues me. How would things have been in the past. What made Mr.XYZ to take this or that decision. If he or she would not have done this or that, then what would have happened to us. Well... there are many questions in this world without any proper answer.
After hearing again and again from one of my friends about this title (Hing Swaraj) by M.K. Gandhi, I decided to run a google search on the web for this book. Luckily I got a PDF version of the book over Internet. That evening found me reading through the pages of the book.
First thing that astonished me was the date of publication, 1908. And the second thing to astonish me was the style of writing of Gandhi. It was odd and can in no words be termed as interesting. But still, there were certain discoveries that I made through the pages, which made me to trade further.
After hearing again and again from one of my friends about this title (Hing Swaraj) by M.K. Gandhi, I decided to run a google search on the web for this book. Luckily I got a PDF version of the book over Internet. That evening found me reading through the pages of the book.
First thing that astonished me was the date of publication, 1908. And the second thing to astonish me was the style of writing of Gandhi. It was odd and can in no words be termed as interesting. But still, there were certain discoveries that I made through the pages, which made me to trade further.
- First of all, the idea Gandhi had about Swaraj (or freedom) was completely different from what we have got in India now. This implies two possibilities. Either he was overly hypocritical (which I wont accept); or his figure was exploited by the rest of the Congress leaders to accomplish whatever they deemed to be correct.
- He talks many things which may sense null in today's context. Like he shuns railways, the profession of doctors and lawyers etc. In short he shuns almost everything that is adapted form west. In today's world, can we live a life without the western discoveries? I dont know. May be once a year, we can try to live like that for a month or so and try to observe how easy it is or otherwise.
Sunday, April 01, 2007
Blood donation!
Hold on......I am not going to give you another of those "bhAsans" (oratory) saying that you should donate blood. I will just narrate a story which happened to me yesterday. Yesterday we were having a blood donation camp in our campus. They made me the faculty-in-charge (for the lack of a more fitting faculty [;)] ) So I was wearing a batch showing the same symbol as was there on the pamphlets put up on the notice boards. This was marked by one of our security guards. For those who are not familiar with the security guard system in India, let me inform them that here private security guards are obtained through some agencies. The agencies are paid 3000 rupees per month per guard, whereas they pay just 1800 (~$45) to the guards. From that point of view, these guards are among the least paid employees in IIT.
Anyway, one such guards say me with the batch, and asked what is this thing all about? I told that they are collecting bloods, so that it can be given to some deserving patient. After that I went to my chamber and was resting for a while, when the guy came with one of his friends. And they want to donate blood. They say, till now they have not done any work of merit (as if we have done a lot!), hence let them donate some blood. Moreover, they said they are having a lot of blood which makes them angry sometime, so they should give some blood. Lastly, every evening the wretched mosquitoes suck so much blood, hence let some blood be given for some better cause!!
I contacted my student and arranged a slot for them. So delighted were they that they thanked me in profusion and said they will bring a lot of "laddus" (a sweet dish) from their village, the next time they visit home.
This is not just for blood donation. I think this is becoming the norm of the day. The more we are provided, the less charitable we become!
Anyway, one such guards say me with the batch, and asked what is this thing all about? I told that they are collecting bloods, so that it can be given to some deserving patient. After that I went to my chamber and was resting for a while, when the guy came with one of his friends. And they want to donate blood. They say, till now they have not done any work of merit (as if we have done a lot!), hence let them donate some blood. Moreover, they said they are having a lot of blood which makes them angry sometime, so they should give some blood. Lastly, every evening the wretched mosquitoes suck so much blood, hence let some blood be given for some better cause!!
I contacted my student and arranged a slot for them. So delighted were they that they thanked me in profusion and said they will bring a lot of "laddus" (a sweet dish) from their village, the next time they visit home.
This is not just for blood donation. I think this is becoming the norm of the day. The more we are provided, the less charitable we become!
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