Ideas are Immortal

Is it that hard to say what you think, and, to do what you say!
I have grown tired of such anomalous behavior.

I do agree that, sometimes, my expectations from people is slightly towards being idealistic, nevertheless, it ain’t Utopian or unattainable! It is plainly appropriate.

I had vowed before a few months that I wouldn’t waste my efforts in trying to change people. Now, after witnessing the vicissitudes mostly centered around me, I’m afraid it would culminate into a state where, I’d stop expecting ‘anything’ from people.

‘Living a Life’ is about doing things ‘one’ really wants to do. The worst thing to do in one’s life is- To do what others would have wanted you to!

This,contrarily is against the logic of the code programmed into us, rather, it is a bit-flipped execution of the same!
(And,don’t bother about little of the coding jargon I’ve used. I thought, if i’m not using them technically,I’d use them here;)

Coming back to ‘the’ point, I have only two two-worded phrases to say:
Either Grow UP or Shut UP!

PS: Don’t take it personally, if anyone of you have realized that I was precisely targeting at you:)

Last year, the dogma of apocalypse in 2012, which is supposed to undo life on earth had grabbed the attention of everyone, including that of small kids; Very much helped by the wildly imagined movie by the same name ‘2012’. While this dogma was catching up people, most believers were of the notion that it would be like the movie, wherein exactly on a specific date the catastrophe would unfold.


On the other hand, the skeptics, including myself were busy dispelling this dogma. I still disapprove of any such ‘sudden catastrophe culminating into THE END’.


A closer analysis of the climate trend and widespread natural calamities is disturbing. Massive earthquakes in Haiti, Taiwan, now Tibet and China; Last year’s stormy rains in drought-ridden regions of Karnataka;The soaring temperatures (India is 7-8 °C above the usual temperature); Yesterday’s tornado in India has already taken 120 lives;


Now, these symptoms are the gradual convergence of the disasters in store for us. Any number of futile summits of politicians will do no good to the betterment of the environment, unless we people take proactive initiatives to at least stop further deterioration of Mother Nature. 


You don’t need a prediction of a particular date substantiated by a prophecy to see where we are heading towards. The current natural cataclysms are clear symptoms of the destination we are heading towards. 


Take up initiatives and bear the responsibility… Here’s one such important move we can all be engaged in… 


http://www.treesforfree.org/

Of late, if there is one thing that we humans have made perilously ubiquitous and perpetuating, it would be violence against each other!

Wars, terror attacks, murders, crime and all the negativities are now at a high rise.

The recent Naxal attacks,killings by maoists, the terror attacks in Pune,and at a personal level the kidnapping and killing of my physician! It is atrocious, and no matter who gives whatsoever reason-Violence can never be justified as a means to accomplishing anything even remotely positive.

I am deeply anguished, like the many of you, by the growing terrorist activities,including those of the Naxals and Maoists in India . I still haven’t been able to comprehend the real purpose of these attacks. If it is only for the sake of creating havoc, then these miscreants aren’t fit to be called as humans. All these killings, when analyzed even from their point of view would be never be convincing.

I have openly expressed my admiration towards Che and Hitler in numerous posts and conversations. But, never will I approve the methods of violence which they individually practiced in the form of  guerrilla warfare and anti-semitism, respectively. Violence against fellow humans for the sake of accomplishing something ‘supposedly noble’ is never worth it! This actually weakens their entire ideology, but, nevertheless there’s much more to learn from them excluding violence.

Aggression is supposed to be a natural but subdued instinct of us, but these days we seem to trying to quench this libido for the worse of the world!

One of the most fascinating things we humans have unconsciously formulated and actualized, whose origin and development keeps us even now intrigued is ‘Language, Script and Dialects’.

Hypothesizing about the origin of, let alone Languages, but of individual words itself is deeply engrossing. Imagine how the words which each of us have been using generously have come to be!
It makes one wonder about the this marvelous  journey we humans have tread,to have come this far together.

There is more amazement to impact us when we start analyzing the origin and perpetuation of scripts with letters, fonts and grammar!
These are the insignia of our instincts pushing us towards collective progress.

Dialects throw insight into the individuality of every small section of us, by attributing a tinge of the local culture to the language itself, and making it a pleasant variation of the basic language.
In India especially, the dialects are numerous and add value to the diverse culture India has inherited from ages.

As I have mentioned in the post caption – Language, Script and Dialects are the best storytellers, who have inescapably preserved the most preciously assimilated proofs of the extraordinary odyssey of our evolution into complex social beings.

PS: View the List of languages by number of native speakers

Oh yeah, I visited the current talk of the town-The Mantri Square, although reluctantly. To be honest and, at the risk of stereotyping myself I confess that I  feel hostile in ‘big crowded’ places,the only exception being when I’m on the dais!

Talking about the Mall-trend,inherently all the malls in Bengaluru are either big or crowded, with extra toppings of over-pricing and a hypocritical emulation of the ‘West’. I’m not against the emulation part, but of the hypocrisy 🙂

The best reason I have been able to give myself,to visit ‘Shopping Malls’ and shell out extra bucks is ‘All brands-One place’ and more importantly ‘No weird stares when accompanied by intimate company’. Okay, these might sound silly, but these convince me the most.

Now that I have opened up this issue here, I know that a few of you must be thinking
‘Wat da hell? Go and hav funn!’ or
‘Watta knurd he is’

Again,let me reiterate, I don’t enjoy big crowded places, and especially when there is conditioned air saturating me with room sprays!
You know my best hang out place- IISc, nothing in Bengaluru can beat it (I can happily compromise on the aspect of shopping!)

If shopping malls are good in a business perspective(which they really are), I’m ready to maybe – invest sometime soon in one of the stalls. But, I can’t take being a victim there 😉

So, my friends and acquaintances I won’t directly be yelling this at you,but, please have it in mind. Even if you see me enjoying with you in the Malls, I would have only acquired a trait from there -Hypocrisy! So, let me be me 🙂

PS: I like the post caption personally, for, I contemplated the post and the caption as soon as I entered the mall today 🙂

“Right to Education” is late, nevertheless, it has arrived!

A good initiative by the Govt. This is by far the most significant and genuine hint of long term social welfare the Govt has shown. The italicization of the two words conveys the status of this move. But, will this hint at an initiative be adequate to cater to the nation’s requirements?

Personally, I have had a strong conviction in this regard: “Only quality education of the masses can empower them, making them the fuel for India’s future run. Without uniform reach of quality education to every citizen, living in each and every corner of India, the current trend of suicidal polarization of India will take its toll on us, yielding a lopsided country filled with disparity and frustration.”

Implementing the “Right to Education” is going to be an arduous task which will take decades for fulfillment. Considering that this will somehow be implemented in due course of time, although no guarantees, we already have to start analyzing the quality of such a system when in place.

Now, we might want to turn a blind eye towards the current Govt. schools in India, but, in the first place if this system of Govt. schools had been efficient, yielding better education to pupils, at least basic education would not have become a hot commodity in the society, which is accessible only to the what I call ‘circumstantially favored’.


I am apprehensive about the feasibility of implementation of the 25% quota to the ‘weaker sections’ in private schools. ‘Weaker sections’ are determined by a few documents, and the weaker sections who really are in need would not either have the awareness or be in a position to acquire these documents. This is the problem at the ground level, which cannot be tackled only by passing amendments and bills!

As a result, this would be misused, and a living manifestation of perils of this sort is the ‘reservations for the backward classes’ in India.

“Right to Education” sounds good and will be good if it reaches the needy. Now, this right must be bulwarked by other measures necessary to ensure the successful implementation . Each of us do have a role to play in this- just by being responsible and ensuring that our fellow citizens get what they really deserve.

More pictures of the school activity here Avalahalli Government School, Bengaluru

Does it sound arrogant, or is this how you feel too?

Whatever it might seem like, this is how I feel when things aren’t going my way. As a consequence of this friction, firstly, it gives rise to disliking, if further pushed -there is repulsion,and ultimately I ignore the causing instance by turning blind eye towards it.

By saying ‘My Way’, I don’t mean that it is a hardcore individualistic path that I tread on. It is just a pattern of doing things affiliated to some basic principles I endorse, and ideally speaking these affiliations should be found more ubiquitously.

Now,if you are wondering what ‘extraordinary’ affiliations I’m talking about-they’re nothing: Just simple ideologies.
THINK-FEEL FREE-DO IT!

Although these seem simply trivial, in reality, witnessing the manifestations of synchronized synergy between these three is a rarity. Even if one would want to do it this way, the influences trying to convince you do it otherwise are more, and consistent.

Nevertheless, a strong conviction towards one’s principles,substantiated by self-convincing logic and reasoning would be more than adequate to get things done in one’s own way.

On the first day of the National Conference on Free Software,i.e., on the 20th of March,by the end of the evening I was assigned with a task. I was asked to drop the Press Note of the day’s proceedings to all media centres. I was told that an autorickshaw would be arranged for the purpose and that the driver knew most of the newspaper centres and TV broadcasters.

So,I hopped into the rickshaw, and the driver-T.N. Manjunath briefed me about the places we would be going and warned me that it would take a long time.

Once we started visiting the media centres, I was taken aback, firstly, by his cognizance in this regard- he told me that if we had started early we could have reached out to about 70 centres(that’s full attendance!). Nevertheless, in a span of two and a half hours, we visited not less than 40 newspaper and TV centres in the peak hours of Bengaluru traffic.

Out of curiosity I asked him as to how he was acquainted with the MEDIA map of the city. This initiated him to mention about his endeavors apart from being a rickshaw driver.

He is a proactive volunteer and activist of various social concern groups. He is also an active member in a political party and other forums. He and his buddies bring out a weekly newspaper-Janashakti in Kannada and he also lends support to another Malayalam daily. He narrated to me the legend of a Union leader of theirs-his hardships,sacrifices and accomplishments. He spoke about the Women’s day celebrations one of the groups he endorsed had organized and the success of it.

There were a many other inspiring activities he was engaged in, which I might have missed out. But, one thing for sure,if each of us try to emulate a bit of T N Manjunath, trying to do a little towards the betterment of the society ‘proactively’ in our own ways, a lot of the reasons we crib about in the world would evanesce into oblivion.

I am deeply inspired to have met a ‘common man’ showing uncommon concerns towards the society,bundled with tremendous energy and strong conviction.

Now here’s a real Maverick -:)

If civilization imposes such great sacrifices not only on man’s sexuality, but also on his aggressivity, we are in a better position to understand why it is so hard for him to feel happy in it – Sigmund Freud


I think the above statement summarizes the context of the arguments presented in Sigmund Freud’s book Civilization and Its Discontents. 


This pioneer in Psychoanalysis elucidates the intricate interactions between an individual and the civilization. He convincingly conveys the bamboozling civilization  has perverted to the individuals.

Concept of religion, beauty and love, their roles and implications in subduing individuals’ ‘libido’ are explained using general observations, which Freud calls common sense!


The striving of an individual towards happiness in pursuit of quenching his drives of sexuality and aggression, against a system made of entities like himself – wanting to do the same – has been analysed to bare facts, comprehensively, using Freud’s own creations of id, ego and super-ego.


Personally,I appreciatively enjoyed Freud’s analysis of the connection between conscience –>sense of guilt, and super-ego –> remorse, in the context of unsatisfied drives. It was amusing as to how he takes us along to meet the ego, super-ego and to witness the birth of conscience, and their competing efforts to bring joy and sorrow to the id, facilitated by the friction with civilization.

Although, another read would help me digest all the facts more comprehensively, this was an enjoyably revealing read,with a touch of cynicism and constant skepticism.