Ideas are Immortal

A day without today’s gadgets and the cyber ‘social’ network seems almost impossible to cope up with.

A couple of days ago, I had forgotten to carry my cell phone and the repercussions of that act of amnesia are being felt even today 😀

These gadgets have deeply penetrated into our lives, percolating to reach the very core of our being.

There are different levels of dependencies manifested by each of us, at different periods of our lives. Allow me to analyze myself in this context, and you might well feel very related to these description of events.

When I was 10, maybe that’s when the craze for the first of the gadgets had started(for our generation): Hand held video games were hitting the market, and like everyone I too owned one, and eventually lost ‘myself’ in it. Taking it to the next level were the TV video games; I remember two novice: me and my cousin shopping for it with a few hundred rupees, going to distant places ( when you’re twelve,going alone for 5 km is really far!).Then, within an year or two, computers were getting ubiquitous, and computer gaming in the Cyber Parlours, paying 40 bucks for one hour of Roadrash and Skyroads caught me up. I could never get enough of it, and spent almost all the pocket money on gaming.  Then, there was also the advent of internet, chat, mail and the natural progression into some obscure cyber fantasies (which seem to make sense now!). 

These days, kids are much more ‘gadgety’: I’ve known three year olds who fluently operate computers and use combination of remote controllers to operate their satellite TV!

And, today, when we are living lives,in a manner as if we were driving on the fast lane, these gadgets and cyber space play the roles of both friends and foes to us, simultaneously.

Recently, there was a statistic in the newspaper saying netizens spend about 2 hours per day social-networking,and I wasn’t surprised, for, my own average time on the social networks, including blogging and microblogging would easily exceed two hours.

Personally, a day without cellphones,computers, internet,music player,digital camera,and other e-gadgets give a feeling of isolation and detachment from the rest of the world (I guess this is what all philosophies have been craving for:P)

At the same time, this extent of intervention by these distractions has reduced the quality of personal interactions,and has made a drastic impact on the relationships between people,making them hyper sensitive and vulnerable.

These e-things have invaded too much into our lives, well beyond the threshold, up to the extent that now, there are friendly robots being manufactured to share our emotions with, and a few to which you can make love to!

As, portrayed in numerous Hollywood flicks like The Matrix, Bicentennial Man, iRobot, we might have to face such situations if we do not get detached from this extra e-bondage.

For now, we are all stuck together with the e-glue!

Lots of instances, not just one or two, have manifested compelling reasons on my side to retract from this obsession of mine. I feel convinced at that instant, to just repel away and forget the existence of such a possibility within my realms of reality. But, within a matter of time, not before these things have settled down in me, I seem to, as if in a recursive loop, tend back passionately towards this possibility.

It operates subconsciously, bypassing my boundaries of logic and reason. And, when I do reach this state of zero-logic, I am not afraid to say: I’m boundlessly happy!
Yes, boundless…

I’ve been in this dilemma numerous times, and I can’t explain the reasons to myself of this swinging of my being. At one instant, endorsing it wholeheartedly, almost immediately I see myself repellent.

Sometimes, it is not even the boundaries of logic and reason which put me through this, it is something more than the act of the efforts of my thoughts.

It is a delusion of a kind, and I seem to kept drawn deeper and deeper into this, irrevocably…

The formal curtain call has been made for the first generation team members of Team Studsat, by the second generation propellers.

Yesterday, there was a sweet and intimate send off to all the veterans of the team, i.e, the members who had passed out B.E last year, but still associated with the project. With loads of fun and reminiscence, it was  a really special event for all of us yesterday.

The various Tag names which popped out for team mates was hilarious: names like TL/shop (Angadi), Damager (Dixit), Mom (Mamatha), JJM(Shwetha), Toodle-doodle(vichu) and Doodle-Toodle(vikku), lungi/chairman(sharath), bucket (karthik), model (arpan), and I was called Blog Swamiji !( i forgot a few others)
It was hilarious to the core.

Then, the games and pranks, anecdotes from experiences of project, dramatization of certain fulcrum points in the journey, which in retrospection seem funny, made the event even more enjoyable. All thanks to the juniors, who demonstrated the same levels of dedication even in organizing such a lovely event like the work they have contributed towards the project:)

With less than a month for launch, this event was well timed to remind us of all the ups and downs we’ve faced for this tenure of India’s First Student Pico Satellite – Studsat 🙂 http://www.teamstudsat.com/

Recently,after work, I was to meet a friend. As, I was early, had to wait near a street corner. It was half past seven in the evening, and the weather in Bengaluru has been impeccable for a past few days- cloudy,with cool breeze and sprays of drizzle 🙂 Such excellent weather invokes the natural trait of any Indian:To look out for hot-spicy snacks.

I was glad to find a roadside Bajji corner, on a push cart, where a man and his wife were baking hot bajjis and serving hot tea. There wasn’t any reason for me to pretend and wear a mask of someone irrelevant to them: So, I straight away headed towards them.

There were varieties of bajjis; Given my non-vegetarianism,I naturally asked for the ‘motte'(egg) bajjis (closest to my needs:)

The thing which was running in my mind immediately after the first bite was: I would have easily shelled out twenty times the cost for the same thing in any other superficial ‘food court’, but still, never could have tasted anything like it 🙂

The two of the hosts were very welcoming and courteous. Not just to me,but,to each and every customer who had come. Each one of us got something much more than what we paid for : A blissful smile, an intimate chat,cheering us up at the end of the day!

The hosts at the shop were people who weren’t in the stablest of the economic conditions, but still the satisfaction they seemed to enjoy with the little they had is remarkable. I’d say a lesson to the rest of us.

This, as I have been observing is true with many ‘common people’ around us, who lead a simple life filled with struggles,but still, who never fail to enjoy the little simple joys in day to day life, on a regular basis. This definitely increases the quality of our lives, reducing the overhead of trying out futile,extravagant attempts at keeping ourselves happy by unnatural means.

PS: This post is not talking about the common people being complacent about their requirements, without craving for what they deserve (i.e.,their ignorance), but, about the extent of satisfaction exhibited by them with whatever they possess, at that instant. This sets an example to most of us, who are never happy with what we have, incessantly craving for something more, missing out on the present!

Almost every coffee time conversation at work, pertaining to the impact and consequences, we, one creed of creatures have made on the Environment and Ecosystem, naturally directs our discussion to the unscrupulous nature of our lives. The rapid consumption of all natural resources, just to meet our highly inappropriate and exaggerated needs, while, having drastically disturbed the rest of the Ecosystem speaks volumes of our so called ‘Concern’ towards the environment.

The immense diversity Mother Nature has developed in millions of years have been consumed in gargantuan amounts, leading to extinction and exhaustion within a couple of centuries, in the name of Industrialization by the biggest misfits of this system i.e, We, the homo sapiens !

There has been a sudden increase in the awareness about the Environment. But, this ain’t something to be happy about. It is more of an alarm for saving ourselves from the deep ditch we’ve dug open. I would like to quote Paulo Coelho in this context:

Save the planet? The Planet must be saying, “Save yourself idiots, I will be fine”


So, the non-idiots who have realized the threat to our own existence, without bothering about any other living organisms, are the ones who are mostly doing the Political propaganda of “Going Green”.

Talking about “Going Green”, what an irony!
Let me take the case of Namma Bengaluru, for instance. As far as I remember, Bengaluru was always green, but only before 4-5 years. I, like most Bengalureans have been the agonized spectator of the transformation of Bengaluru from the Garden City to the biggest Real Estate Project ( The entire city now has nothing but towering apartments and gigantic tinted office buildings)!

So, you talk about planting one sapling or two, after evading into hectares of greenery.Is this going green?

The actual instigator for this post was the Gulf oil spill, and the ghastly impact it has made on the marine life and the dependent ecosystem there. Unfortunate thing though is, and as expected out of us, we are busy suing each other for monetary compensation, for our misbehavior, not on each other, but we against the environment. We haven’t bothered to give any heed to all the creatures who would not even survive this intrusion. Many species, in an accelerated manner, because of this incident would see the face of extinction.

But, sometimes, I am made to think that all these atrocities are heading in the right direction –
Maybe we are acting as catalysts to enable Mother Earth undergo a metamorphosis, to help her consume the world as seen today, and to evolve into something better, without her biggest mistakes:
Us!

Aware of the Mesozoic Era?i.e, The Dinosaurs?
Encore of something similar is what we are witnessing now.

Is there a relevance to the concept of legal justice in today’s world?

The concept of justice is one of the most compelling inhibitions imposed on the individuals, by the propagandist society, to curb their natural aggression, and then to transform this as a commodity into a market, wherein only the elite economic class can afford to buy – As they wish,with full customization.

It is an open secret as to how feeble and manipulative the systems of law and justice is, in our society. Like good food, quality education, necessary health & medical facilities, and all the other essentials which add to a decent livelihood, legal justice is another costly commodity, which keeps drifting away from the common man.

Justice in today’s world, actually, hurts more than the crime itself.

26 years, and now a few scapegoats, not the actual culprits are being sentenced to two years in prison and a meager amount as fine, for taking lives of about 15 thousand innocent people, and destroying an entire community, which still is afresh with the repercussions of the Bhopal Tragedy!

Same has been the case with the Godhra riots, Uphaar Cinema fire, terror attacks, and innumerable other major tragedies, which have prolonged for ages, only to end with agonizingly feeble verdicts.

Imagine the lives of the people who have spent waiting for long painful years, at last, just to witness this silly, so called ‘justice’. Don’t they get a chance to vengeance, if at the least, that would make them feel better.

Talking about vengeance, it is not something evil or inhuman as portrayed by the hypocrite system. If a person has committed a crime, he mercilessly deserves the reciprocation of his/her own actions, with no room for sympathy. But, today’s ironical system does nothing which even hints at healing the victims.

I fail to understand, what is the necessity of such a complex, but still inefficient system of law and justice, if it cannot yield a hint of relief to the victims! Instead, it only succeeds in infuriating them, burdening their lives with more of longing and painful trauma.

If it is said that justice can be made possible only in such excruciatingly long and ineffective methods, then, isn’t it right to scrap this system and adopt a more ‘responsibly responsive’ system?

It would never happen though. For, most of the architects of this system are the ones who are taking shelter, under the umbrella of the loopholes in the system; A system which they have fabricated to fence themselves, while abandoning the rest of the common people!

In today’s world,
He who bids higher has justice in his basket!

Crunching my routine, and, all the other extra activities into my day have been getting a little too tough these days. It ain’t that I’m not able to, but the ease with which it used happen has reduced, and I am somehow left with a hollow and incomplete feeling at the end of the day.

This could mainly be attributed to a certain phase of recklessness I am going through, mainly because of my randomized allocation of time and other resources to the broad gamut of activities I am involved in.

One thing I do have realized is the necessity to press PAUSE for a small duration of time, to serve as a breather for me, and to get some headroom for better improvisation. It is not to be considered as complaining, but a pit stop to better my efficiency.

Although, I cannot deny the fact that I seem to have been witnessing ripples of disturbances from various distinct, but correlated arenas. It might take a little while before I can get ‘uncrunched’ and start flowing as usual.

This is Change: A change that is politely, but convincingly demanding my compliance to it.

I’d argue, it is more than just a ‘paradigm shift’; I am undergoing a metamorphosis: A complete metamorphosis of my relation with the rest of everything, consciously.

It has put me through a phase of confusion, retaliation and reconciliation.

When change presents itself in the most convincing manner, leaving no reasons to complain about, and, daring to numbly ignore it, in retrospection would seem like a huge,self committed vicissitude. 

With my fully operational critical skills in scrutiny in this direction, I have been meticulously elucidating to all my other facets of understanding and reasoning the ramifications of this new Ideals’ Infrastructure,on which the rest of my ideas and decisions would emanate from.

It is very important to base your opinions from a conforming platform of philosophy, unless you are able to create one of your own. And, when you encounter this ‘whole’ of which you have been a part of, it substantiates the stand you would take on all the issues of criticality in the interaction between you and the rest of everything.

But still, transition of this intricacy naturally would take quite a lot of time, for it to get inculcated into my being.
Until that happens:In Transition.

After more than two years of being associated with the Team Studsat, and knowing my mates for that long and having been in various situations together, today again was one fun event: Birthday Bash with buffet lunch. Thanks to the ‘calm and composed’ Chetan Angadi, one of the most important persons in the Team, who happens to be the Team Leader as well. He was treating us for his birthday,
Happy birthday again Chetan 🙂

The lunch was at Canopy, Brigade Road ( my second time there in 30 days :). We all kind of liked the ambiance for it being ‘open’, as it is on the terrace, with good food overall 🙂

Talking about the Team, the warmth amongst the interactions between us is still the same, and feels nice to have seen each other groom in different ways. The kind of constructive team interaction we’ve grown between us can never be emulated in other places, as I have tried to compare it with my own work, or at any other workplace that I know of.

Anyways, we still have lot more special events between us in the Team,including the Launch itself, and more treats soon from the mates who are travelling abroad for higher studies. And, yeah I owe the team one, I too am on the list, and my chance will be coming soon 😉

By Friday evening, the most recurring status messages I find on all the social networking sites is about the ‘respite from a week of work’, welcoming the weekend in a – euphemistically put expectant, or bluntly desperate manner.

This is a syndrome emanating from the work and work culture endorsed by the individuals as enforced by the system.

Let us analyze what is happening in today’s “Corporate” world:
*(All these comments are generic,and there could be exceptions. I am addressing only the majority)

Firstly, in ideal scenarios desperate respite from work is actually unnecessary. We are supposed to be exercising our skills at work,and that actually isn’t supposed to be anywhere close to be burdening ‘work’. On the contrary, it should be enjoyable.
So, what is the problem?
People aren’t actually exercising their natural, and/or acquired talents and skills at work.People are molded rigidly into stereotype laborers as required for a Company, in the Company’s interest. In most cases against the individual’s,of course. There is nothing much to be done about this ‘clash of interests’ in the current Capitalistic system ,for, it is designed to be so.

Secondly, why do people volunteer to get molded into this ‘rigid human products’, to be used as a resource for any company?
To win the rat race,i.e., to compete and cope with the pressure mounted on them by the system of today’s (missing adjective!) society.

To analyze this, we need to go deeper, and look at the causes and consequences.
Catching the consequence is easy: A devotional reverence given to IT and related jobs, starting from the homes of the ‘just-okay-fairing’ families, and also the impeccably mediocre education system, coupled with naturally accumulated peer pressure.

The cause- One unanimous motive: Study and earn money.
Kids are provided with education with slowly, but strongly infused idea of ‘grow up and earn money’, giving no heed, whatsoever, to grooming the skills and talents seen in them.

So, who’s helping them to get to this?
The education system,(keeping in mind the huge number of ‘Engineering’ institutions across the country) it preaches them that getting a job in a haven called the IT sector, irrespective of what stream of engineering you are in is the prime objective of educating yourself.
Huff ! Thats more than enough to doubly brain-wash the bubbling minds to such an extent that, most of us see working for someone else, in something you won’t enjoy as the best thing in the world!

Thirdly, try appreciating the paradox of work:
Most of us are – Thinking expectantly of the forthcoming weekend from the mid of the week, whilst having just recovered the first two days of the week at work from the hangover of the weekend.
So, where is the massive productivity the industry is boasting of?
Oh, yeah. It’s there. But, just look at the quality. Even if there is some little quality attributable to it, look at what price?
By draining out the quality of the lives of all the employees, eventually an entire society!

I know it is already late to blame what has happened. But, how and when did it all get so clumsily complicated?
It happened when all of us were blind, as we are today, towards a peril growing like a monster right in front of us. And, it is like The Earth (not fair to compare to the Earth, but the simile works):

Like we cannot feel ourselves rotating on the Earth, while it rotates,given it’s massiveness and our minuscule nature;
We haven’t been able to observe the rapid pace at which the system around has drained out the very essence of ‘living’,
from the proud diaspora of the IT and related industry, while we were busy living fast, impulsive and unbalanced lives.

There is no climax-like epilogue, or a hint of solution for this post, as I touch upon in most posts of my posts, for,
I leave it to you and your mind to churn something proactive this time out.