The two things that make an " isolation chamber" an instrument for torture are the space that has shrunk around you and the time that has expanded to eternity. I wonder how much of here(dont ask where) looks like that.
I have forgotten how many diwali it had been, and when exactly this happened. But for some occasion like today, there was a vibrant discussion. Diwali it is today, diwali it was, diwali it would be that way too. Only they were hoping to celebrate without crackers, deafening explosions and chocking pollution.
I have been receiving many many e-mails not to celebrate diwali this year. Well, it could be a symbol of cultural dominance, it could also be an instrument of hinduisition of secular institutions but you can not deny the fun and excitement the crackers bring. That brings me, squarely to the question we have debated fervently few years back. "Should we bust crackers ?" I know my stand that time. I was opposed to crackers, and my line of defense were rock solid. I wreck the nerve of the most vociferous pro-cracker and continued hound with facts about crackers/pollutions after diwali too, after the celebration strode his way anyway. Flawed his arguments may be, but right he was about fun. "Diwali is no fun, without crackers", for a lot many.
That refocuses on the concern of the different groups. For those, who see Diwali as malpractice of a secular institution need to recompose the festivities in calender. Amartya Sen says in his book "argumentative indian" Indian definition of secularism is not abolishing religiosity but maintaining a perfect harmony of all the faiths. So it would be grossly improper for a department like ours to celebrate Diwali and Holi in so much fanfare, while we maintain a studied silent on other religious festivals. And have you imagined how subjugating it might sound, when the school prayer is that of a religious majority ? For those, who see Diwali as a mere cultural dominance need to evolve equally pleasurable festivities as an alternate. You cannot just shut the door to the all the glazing and simmering fun outside. And last but not the least, crackers ?
We need to dissociate fun with the feeling of power, crowding noise and amazement of explosives. Not only diwali, we have made crackers inseparable from personal affairs like marriage to national days and new years celebration. Growth of civilization, by which I mean to enhanced understanding of nature, insight into human psyche and enlighted thoughts, do not guarantee that. But I am sure happiness could come through many channels, and constitute many different modes. I also think, all experiences of happiness should be yielded as much as we can, but we can definitely do some load shedding for the sake of pollution, when its so much more demanding.
Friday, November 9, 2007
Monday, October 1, 2007
Queuing up is in Our Blood -I [Puja or Publicity]
Population is the worst problem, isnt it ? Thats the fist inference of any insensitive and misinformed analysis of Poverty, Poor infrastructure, Unemployment or Health care that the green card[1] holders often delve into. Under the influence of this Malthusian myth some iitan, who is about to receive sainthood, even remarked, people not able to ensure their children go to school should be denied parenthood !!. But in a resource-flushed human sanctuary like iit bombay, the twitching realities of India bare our skin. All because of our big brains, short sightedness.
So its Ganesh Puja 2007. One of the biggest festivals of Maharastrian Hindus, and celebrated throughout India by Hindus in schools and colleges as well as in homes. Hostel 1 has erected the idol, a podium and barricaded the prayer area inside the ground floor lounge which housed earlier a dozen chairs and a dozen newspapers, two carrom boards, chess table, a 47" plasma TV and few mattresses. All these are now pushed off to half of the room, some thrown out. And there is an equally aerated, well-lit, bigger and completely empty lounge just upstairs.
The Puja went on for 10 days, with several prayer hours in a day and continuously oozing hymns from the tape. And on the other side of the barricade the plasma TV glittered with skimpy girls and buzzed lewd music. The newspapers were the worst sufferers. The biggest challenge to the mutual tolerance of both sides was the cricket match. It was too important, it went on full volume in the evening prayer session which by its own loud hymns was desperately trying to connect the god and the devotees. Too important cause otherwise devotees would ask the viewers to simply mute or switch off the TV. Usually the whole lounge swells like a gravid belly on those match-days, and the half of it was crying for help now. Some heed it and rushed to the upstairs lounge, to the old 29", abandoned TV. Soon it filled up too.
On the podium where the Idol seated, there was an A4-size mocking at us. It read "Unity in Diversity".
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1. Green card is a benefit offered by one of the eastern state govts. of india for people having 2 children. The children get some relaxation/advantage in admission and so on.
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
doEs iT rEAllY mATTErs
Sometimes, how profoundly difficult it seems deciding good to bad, right to wrong. It must be impossible to prefer good from the better then. Because the line is always blurred. Because man is always disoriented with a prethora of fear both real and percieved. Then again reality and perception are not different, so al what matters is fear.
Those who are adventurous cannot be losers, as they dont stop venturing into every oppertunity. Not all well calculated and profitable but each adding to their glory. Problem is mountanous for cowards. He attachs unduly morality to insignificant modality. He retreats at every single possibility of confrontation, perceived or otherwise. If that is not bad he readies himself to give up his rights in to buy peace for next feew hours. He finds himself in the midst of the ocean, and still doesnt to splash water in fear of inviting danger.
But cowardice, silly-sallying are not even easy. One has to be always dissapointed and return empty handed, depressed and spend nights in alternate planning and most importanly contradiction becomes an unfaithful spouse. While with the courageus fight is fllowed by victory and glory, for the indecisive and timid stuggle is eternal always with a blend of suffering.
Unkowingly though, both are precarious at the self choosen trouble in regards to their ability, mostly mental. Both have to stuggle as hard but somewhere in the process the path bifurcates to produce to different end results. While the weapon for the man with courage is his confidence and attitude to presicely look at the problem, lack of the same confidence makes the other person develop cold feet. The the problem spreads its tentacles, from one to another and within a short span of time the whole world that you are concerned of becomes entangled it. It takes a few finest imagination to give a final horrible picutre and then oblige to it.
At the end of the day, the winner can sleep like a log, the one persistant warrier, the indecisive sleeps on the touble
One may wonder how come i know so much.
Those who are adventurous cannot be losers, as they dont stop venturing into every oppertunity. Not all well calculated and profitable but each adding to their glory. Problem is mountanous for cowards. He attachs unduly morality to insignificant modality. He retreats at every single possibility of confrontation, perceived or otherwise. If that is not bad he readies himself to give up his rights in to buy peace for next feew hours. He finds himself in the midst of the ocean, and still doesnt to splash water in fear of inviting danger.
But cowardice, silly-sallying are not even easy. One has to be always dissapointed and return empty handed, depressed and spend nights in alternate planning and most importanly contradiction becomes an unfaithful spouse. While with the courageus fight is fllowed by victory and glory, for the indecisive and timid stuggle is eternal always with a blend of suffering.
Unkowingly though, both are precarious at the self choosen trouble in regards to their ability, mostly mental. Both have to stuggle as hard but somewhere in the process the path bifurcates to produce to different end results. While the weapon for the man with courage is his confidence and attitude to presicely look at the problem, lack of the same confidence makes the other person develop cold feet. The the problem spreads its tentacles, from one to another and within a short span of time the whole world that you are concerned of becomes entangled it. It takes a few finest imagination to give a final horrible picutre and then oblige to it.
At the end of the day, the winner can sleep like a log, the one persistant warrier, the indecisive sleeps on the touble
One may wonder how come i know so much.
Friday, October 13, 2006
Hang your convict yourself, your honour
In the "rarest of the rare cases", the hangman returns to news. Awarding the capital punishment, after lengthy deliberations, numerous bench hours, THEY strike the sentence through the paper and satisfy themselves of delivering justice to the victims' family and bolstered the deterrent for such dastardly killing. But brutal act of actual killing once again to be executed by someone who is paid for, many times less than THEM; keeping the historical tradition of getting the dirty work done by lesser humans. The only explanations the great scholars of law put forward are death as a deterrent and justice to the victims' survivors(learned from The Hindu editorial). Simply put, to incite fear and revenge.
The whole exercise for revenge seems a quagmire. Someone does a massacre hatched in someone else's mind in response to/to protest someone else decision/policy. Some other awards revenge to be executed by someone else. An act of revenge is a totally individualist mental make-up. So it is understandable if individuals clamour for revenge and dreaded punishments. A deep feeling of grief, insecurity, weakness overcome the better judgement of an individual, which carves for revenge, not always a completely futile exercise. But for a state to honour this sentiment of its citizens simply cannot be progressive and humanist. A state must guard its citizen against crimes and chaos. The best possible way is yet to evolve, detention/prison/even life-imprisonment are not for revenge but as deterrent. Otherwise, the law would sentence confiscation of property in response to theft, sexual assault for rape, tit for tat. Crime control and establishing peace should be the motto of the law of the land not taking vengeance for the victims. In the wake of this argument "capital punishment" seems to be barbaric act rather than an egalitarian instrument of social control.
Argument of death as a deterrent in favour of death sentence to a terrorist or extremist is abhorrent. These unfortunate people have a far better chance of being gunned down in some encounter or drop dead in some custodial interrogation rather than reaching the most sluggish and infamous system( judicial, of course) and being awarded the capital punishment. Most of them are suicidal, while some other take this as a glory to their cause. In return the state gets to kill a pawn in the chessboard while the mastermind tries to fan the passion of other pawns in the aggravated air. Even if the mastermind is being judged, it should be remembered that the cause of conflict is what caused the terror. Death as a deterrent wont either work for rapists. It is a well-known fact that criminal commit crimes cause culpability is not conviction. Otherwise even seven years in jail is no lesser scary for few moments of infatuation or male ego etc etc... But the "Mr. innocent" politians and Law professionals know more.
Finally, nobody has a right to put off a life. Those are disillusioned who carried out this inhuman act. THOSE who sentence the inhuman act on these disillusioned are no less disillusioned. Action is same, primary cause is same, only the belief, the conviction is different. In the former the belief is struggling for a greater cause, for people or religion, conversely the later's conviction is the state enshrined law and order. But if THEY are are convinced of the sancity of their action, let THEM soak THEIR own hand with blood even if in the rarest of the rare cases. No one should carry out the dirty job for THEM. Let not a hangman kill a complete stranger, for a supari of Rs **** per month. Let the Judges come down to the gallow to avenge the killing..
Argument of death as a deterrent in favour of death sentence to a terrorist or extremist is abhorrent. These unfortunate people have a far better chance of being gunned down in some encounter or drop dead in some custodial interrogation rather than reaching the most sluggish and infamous system( judicial, of course) and being awarded the capital punishment. Most of them are suicidal, while some other take this as a glory to their cause. In return the state gets to kill a pawn in the chessboard while the mastermind tries to fan the passion of other pawns in the aggravated air. Even if the mastermind is being judged, it should be remembered that the cause of conflict is what caused the terror. Death as a deterrent wont either work for rapists. It is a well-known fact that criminal commit crimes cause culpability is not conviction. Otherwise even seven years in jail is no lesser scary for few moments of infatuation or male ego etc etc... But the "Mr. innocent" politians and Law professionals know more.
Finally, nobody has a right to put off a life. Those are disillusioned who carried out this inhuman act. THOSE who sentence the inhuman act on these disillusioned are no less disillusioned. Action is same, primary cause is same, only the belief, the conviction is different. In the former the belief is struggling for a greater cause, for people or religion, conversely the later's conviction is the state enshrined law and order. But if THEY are are convinced of the sancity of their action, let THEM soak THEIR own hand with blood even if in the rarest of the rare cases. No one should carry out the dirty job for THEM. Let not a hangman kill a complete stranger, for a supari of Rs **** per month. Let the Judges come down to the gallow to avenge the killing..
Monday, October 9, 2006
Few observations
Standing tall, calling for attention, a boy of age socialising in school. Just few yards outside the Railway station of capital city Raipur, not without reason in front of the chat-masala food stall. Smilling away pleasantly in his tired face smeared with the stains of penury. His attire unmistakably familliar and the legs tied firmly to the long poles speaking volumes of the freedom that graced the Indian subcontinent half-a-century ago. His standing tall on stilt hardly proved anything for him except implying the 'tall order' the society has to come to terms with. Looking up I was hoping if those long leaps can help him chase his dream, if he had any.
Back in IIT, a six-feet Iitian wore a neat t-shirt printed...."sTop staring aT me, I know I am Tall..
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Its a bright morning. A schoolgirl is walking past the numerous vendors on footpath on her way. She stops at one- an woman squating on a pidha( a small legged stool) who does not seem to sell anything. The girl drops a coin, takes out a small boundle of grass from the stack nearby and feeds the bull standing next to the woman. She touches the animal and touches her throat and her won forehead with respect. As her eyes open after she wished something, I see her eyes wishing for more sleep and her face pleasantly plump. Just then a lightening though pass through my head. What happens to the women in the progressively 'de-believing' city of Bomaby....
......what if the woman had a cow, she would get paid to feed grass....
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An old man spreads his stall before or after the Girls' Hostel No.11 on the road paasing by. Not much actually, one or two basket having very few fruits. Options are not much guava, pineapple, grapes, apples, jamun, zizphus many a times mango; either one or two of the variety at a time. There is no crowd, there is hardly any bargain. He sits there with his deadpan face, with his ruffled shirt and dhoti tinged yellow of years of usage. He appears and dissapears at will. On the metallic black street of IIT with silver footpath and with pedestrians chattering away with english, this man sitting quitely on the footpath (before footpath on the road) looks rather adorably antique. Pleasant enough to be framed as a souvenir.
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Back in IIT, a six-feet Iitian wore a neat t-shirt printed...."sTop staring aT me, I know I am Tall..
----------------------------------------------------------------
Its a bright morning. A schoolgirl is walking past the numerous vendors on footpath on her way. She stops at one- an woman squating on a pidha( a small legged stool) who does not seem to sell anything. The girl drops a coin, takes out a small boundle of grass from the stack nearby and feeds the bull standing next to the woman. She touches the animal and touches her throat and her won forehead with respect. As her eyes open after she wished something, I see her eyes wishing for more sleep and her face pleasantly plump. Just then a lightening though pass through my head. What happens to the women in the progressively 'de-believing' city of Bomaby....
......what if the woman had a cow, she would get paid to feed grass....
----------------------------------------------------------------
An old man spreads his stall before or after the Girls' Hostel No.11 on the road paasing by. Not much actually, one or two basket having very few fruits. Options are not much guava, pineapple, grapes, apples, jamun, zizphus many a times mango; either one or two of the variety at a time. There is no crowd, there is hardly any bargain. He sits there with his deadpan face, with his ruffled shirt and dhoti tinged yellow of years of usage. He appears and dissapears at will. On the metallic black street of IIT with silver footpath and with pedestrians chattering away with english, this man sitting quitely on the footpath (before footpath on the road) looks rather adorably antique. Pleasant enough to be framed as a souvenir.
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Sunday, August 27, 2006
The line that is blurred
Himanshu likes to have an opinion, this is what I think. I like to differ, probably Himanshu has already formed this opinion about me. There is nothing unusual, strange or special about the association of two of us. In fact, we knew each other long back, longer than we know each other now, as friends. So its just two guys having have to say something.
We talk and talk nothing really important. Barely two three lines of "Indian greetings" we turn to impersonal issues. This rewarms the ties between two friends fast becoming strangers. One forms an opinion and the other criticizes left and right, while both setting feet on the same basic principle.
Our recently discussed and midway abandoned issue was "objectification of women". Neither of us really are feminists. At least I cannot claim to be one. But as a tenet of social justice we advocate all equal rights and space to women, which is what the dictionary means of feminism. I suppose we would support if special rights were given to women considering their feminine tenderness. Himanshu was highly critical of marriage which traded women like objects for a husband or for a good life. To which I opined women are still object in most liberal cultures. In liberal societies they do so in free will, in Indian society they are imposed upon. I was trying to press the fact there is only some degree of varation and some variation in perception.
Probably there is only one question that we are wresting on and on. The question of whether there is a dividing line.
We talk and talk nothing really important. Barely two three lines of "Indian greetings" we turn to impersonal issues. This rewarms the ties between two friends fast becoming strangers. One forms an opinion and the other criticizes left and right, while both setting feet on the same basic principle.
Our recently discussed and midway abandoned issue was "objectification of women". Neither of us really are feminists. At least I cannot claim to be one. But as a tenet of social justice we advocate all equal rights and space to women, which is what the dictionary means of feminism. I suppose we would support if special rights were given to women considering their feminine tenderness. Himanshu was highly critical of marriage which traded women like objects for a husband or for a good life. To which I opined women are still object in most liberal cultures. In liberal societies they do so in free will, in Indian society they are imposed upon. I was trying to press the fact there is only some degree of varation and some variation in perception.
Probably there is only one question that we are wresting on and on. The question of whether there is a dividing line.
Thursday, August 3, 2006
The courage to stand up and say “no”
This is a moving story of an Israeli soldier who stood up and stood firm against the abuse of humanity by his own force. He refused to join the Israeli aggression and is prepared serve the maximum sentence. Glad, I am, to know that he is not alone. There is also a group who support such thoughts and action.
I believe sane voices, even if minority, are raised and occasionally heard too.
The first Israeli soldier punished for refusing to serve in Lebanon was sent to a military prison for 28 days yesterday.Amir Paster, 32, an infantry captain in the reserves and a postgraduate student at Tel Aviv University, was called up at the end of last week along with at least 15,000 other reservists. Another 10 Israeli soldiers are also considering refusing to serve, according to Yesh Gvul, a support group for troops refusing to fight.Mr Paster reported to his commander on Sunday and said he objected to the war. Within hours he was before a disciplinary hearing and given the maximum sentence."He said this war is against his moral values," said Ishai Menuchin, 48, a spokesman for Yesh Gvul, a group whose Hebrew name means "There is a limit".Mr Paster called the group on Sunday saying he did not want to serve and asking for advice. "It is very hard to go to your commander and tell them you're not going," said Mr Menuchin."He had to go to soldiers he has served with for 10 years and tell them. (published by Guardian)
I believe sane voices, even if minority, are raised and occasionally heard too.
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