Arab Spring, Indian Summer & European Winter

2011 definitely has been an interesting year so far. We are almost 3 quarters down this year & already we have witnessed a bloody Arab spring & an ongoing non-violent (hope it remains that way too!) Indian summer. With things going downhill rapidly as they are in Europe & US, we maybe on the verge of witnessing an eventful European Winter as well. Talk about hijacking the normally placid seasons!

From Egypt to Israel to India to Greece, Spain & London, young people are coming out & protesting on the streets against unemployment, political corruption, economic scandals & widening income gaps. It is definitely a sign of growing mistrust of the governing authorities & their increasing fear of a bleak future. Many riots have been seen in the last couple of decades,but for once it is great to see people dropping inconsequential  issues like religion & fight against issues that actually matter!

However in the midst of the various uprisings, India's fight against corruption carves a different path. More than anything it implies the strength of the Indian democracy as it criticizes the Govt in a non-violent manner as well provides a constructive alternative to the existing issues. Personally, however, I am becoming increasing wary of the proposed Lokpal structure & the hype centred around one man- Anna Hazare. If too much power is given to the Lokpal (like including the entire legislative, judiciary as well investigative agencies under its purview) without proper checks & balances, we may be just be substituting one type of corruption with another. Nonetheless, it is a good thing that the resilient Indian man has finally woken up from his slumber & is fighting for his rights. 

It is quite interesting to be living in US these days (though not as fun!) The almost-from-nowhere emergence of the extreme-right Tea-party has turned US politics & economics on its head. Its emergence & growth is nothing short of another type of revolution happening in this western part of the world. As we head into an election year here in US, one can see a pitched battle coming forth between two vastly differing sections: one, a unabashed capitalist, the other a deep-grounded socialist. The Ayn-Rand-fan in me will be quite excited to see the outcome.

After years of unabashedly following 'figure-cooking & borrowing' policies, the Greek & Italian govts are not only seeing mutiny by their own people but have also seen consequences of their actions engulfing entire Europe. With Germany & France too reporting a economic slow-down, things are looking to get worser from here. Now the question  remains- are we seeing a double-dip or considering Japan's woes as well, a far darker depression? 

However, one good thing has definitely emerged from all these mutinies.The fight against existing realities has brought the world together in many ways. How else could we have seen an Israeli protestor holding a placard (during a demonstration against unemployment) saying-" Walk like an Egyptian"

Individual, Who?

Saw Delhi Belly yesterday & loved it! Loved it in its full glory too, with all the gaali-galoch & the urban chutzpah. Finally a comic film for the adults, which actually treats the viewers as adults. Had been following the 'what he said, what they didnt' controversies about the movie for a while now & honestly, am pleasantly surprised that the censor board showed the maturity to actually pass the movie without any strategic 'beeps', inspite of scores willing eagerly to point out that the film is not 'Indian culture'. 

The other news I have been following is what the local media here is calling 'a civil rights movement' in India- the Lokpal andolan. While I am completely supportive of the right to a transparent governance, I couldn't help think after the movie yesterday that having some shades of transparency in governance or getting rid of corruption in the upper echelons, could never make our civic society 'liberated'. Many people talk the talk about having a free society- and they define freedom by the freedom of religion, equality, expression etc, but when it comes to actual implementation, one right which is abused more than other fundamental right in our country is the right to individuality. Individuality is the basic tenet of civil rights. And till individuality is not cherished, 'India could never be a land of the free'

Funnily, this is one wrong-doing which we cant blame entirely on the government, as we are wont to do. We Indians are taught  to put the family above the individual right from our cradle- when we are born, the mother who bore the pain for 9mths to bring us in the world cannot name us, the right belongs to the grandparents or the myriad relatives.We start going to school & what we read in school-textbooks is not the truth as we actually see it, but what the government sees fit for us to read (even if the course contents look like they belong to our grandparents era & has as much use as that!). As we finish our schooling, most often than not we are deemed unfit to determine our vocation,  its our parents who do the honors for us. Whichever novels we read/movies we see, we owe that to some 'upholders' or censors of the moral-society, who ever so magnanimously do us the favor of deciding whether something is 'Indian culture' or not. Nd ofcourse whenever we marry, its again the parents & the society deciding who is worthy to be our life-partner. Thankfully, society has left it upon the individuals to have kids & did not turn it into a collective affair!

Ah yes, we owe a lot to the Bhishma-pitamahs of the society. We have them to thank for deeming us old enough to vote, marry, even have the responsibility of kids at 18 but probably not mature enough to consume alcohol till 25. We have them to thank for for raising the population to a cool 1.2 billion, yet immoral for us to see or hear about sex on-screen or even have a meaningful discussion about it with our parents during our teenage years. We have also them to thank for letting us follow the tenets of any religion, but probably not good enough to criticize any. God save us from these morality-spewing collective do-gooders!

Kudos to the writer of Delhi belly for having the guts to show that every movie doesn't have to be about the kid & his grandmother. Wish we had someone scripting the same in our civil society as well.

An ode to Heartbreak Hotel

Not to be confused with the famous Elvis Presley song. Had written this poem eons ago, as an ode to Presley, to Casablanca, to Chaplin, to Sinatra and all the other classics that still fascinate me. Another day, another time, nothing remains now but only a  foot-print in the sand!

Tucked in a far corner of Never-land

People find a way here,

when their dreams turn into sand

Dragged myself & rang a bell
The sign on the wall said ‘Heartbreak Hotel’

"Sir ;May I help you?" 

"One peg whiskey, no,make it two."

Fixing up drinks, lending a shoulder to cry
Staying up late ;cooking fish fry.
Drunken jokes to sadness quell;
Yes, its just another day at Heartbreak Hotel.

.
In a dark corner, sits a silent soul
Ice- cold water splashed on burning coal.

"My dear Sir ,would u like some beer?"
"Get me some rum, I wiIl dilute it with my tears"

In came another fellow-

"Oh my, Sir, you are dripping wet!""
"Walked here in the rain ,what do you expect?
"But why, Sir, walk in the pouring rain"
"So that no one notices me crying in pain."

Stories follow: of hopes raised ,dashed to the ground
Of shattered dreams,heaped in a mound;
Of love rejected or even brutally murdered
Of hearts maimed and cruelly tortured

“Sir,try your luck again ,I feel u can”
“Nay, my friend, her heart belongs to another man”
A song for sadness, a melancholic melody
For the young lovelorn, a moving threnody.

"Sir, should I play another song?"
"No! Play it again Sam, play it all night long."

Thus it goes on and on
Stories of heartbreaks from dusk to dawn.

A soak for sorrows, a sponge for tears
Comforting conversations and a couple of beers.

All is well that goes on well
Between the walls of heartbreak hotel.

Lessons from a Cucumber Seller

The law of inertia has stuck my fingers apparently. Every time I see something interesting, I think about the potentiality of me blogging about it....but then my brain sends a msg to my fingers, nd my fingers say naaah....dont want so much botheration, nd so my half-formed ideas remain at that!

But today I found something, which every part of my body agreed was worth taking the trouble for. This is an autobiographical excerpt from Subroto Bagchi, Co-founder of Mind-tree & management writer. I kinda loved the article for the simplicity of thought presented....a true fact that most of us care two-hoots about the events & fresh ideas unfolding around us.

"At peace with himself and with the world rushing past, this man was dressed in poverty. But in his presence, it was I who felt poor...

On a hot July day, my colleague Moses and I were trying to locate our car on Chennai’s Nungambakkam High Road in front of Nalli Silks when I saw a roadside cart laden with cucumbers. The seller was vacantly gazing at passersby. Clad in a white shirt and a dhoti worn in the traditional Chennai style, he had long hair and an unkempt beard. I did not know Tamil, and asked Moses to find out the price. One rupee apiece, came the reply.

We wanted one piece each. The cucumber seller began deftly slicing them to put salt and the delectable red chilly powder on the neat halves. As we bit into the cucumber, I asked Moses to tell him that his pricing was too low, and that he should raise it. Moses conveyed this. The seller shook his head, and replied that “customer satisfaction” is more important than extra profit. The words ‘customer satisfaction’ were in English. I gulped my patronising comment. At this time, Moses excused himself to find our car. After a few moments, the seller asked me in English where I was from. From Bangalore, I replied. What follows here is our conversation. His statements are highlighted.

Isn’t the Karnataka budget due to be presented tomorrow? Yes, that is true. Living in Karnataka, it was easy for me to concur on this.

I wonder how the governments of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu will ever solve the water-sharing problem. Man cannot solve this problem. It has to be God. After all, it is an issue of how much rain is going to fall! I nodded. I was not sure if I had a view at all.

See the way the monsoon is progressing. It does not look good. The progress of the rains is leaving a ‘V’ of a dry patch as the clouds move north. Bihar, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh and the states up north will have problems. Politicians are the ones who use such problems to create a divide among people. They always do it. They use water, religion, anything they can, to create a divide. Look at the way Amarinder Singh of Punjab is taking a stand. I looked at him, in part admiration and part disbelief.

You’re from Bangalore. Things are going well for you folks. But I don’t understand how people with shady business interests can become representatives of public opinion there. It was part complaint and part observation.

At this point, a fellow peddler arrived — helped himself to some of the cucumber, and the two had a quick conversation on some issue I did not understand. After the other person left, I asked him if selling cucumber was his full-time vocation. He told me that right now it was. Earlier, he sold lottery tickets, the trading of which has since been banned. As a result he had to switch his business to selling cucumbers on the wheeled cart. No complaints and no issues. Meaning to engage him further, I asked him his religion. This drew an instant look of disappointment from him: “Sir, I am an Indian. That is my religion. In my eyes, all people are equal, and it does not matter to me at all.”

The clarity of his response and his conviction took me completely by surprise. His net worth was probably equal to his day’s turnover. The newspaper and magazines he reads, to keep abreast of things, wipe off the disposable income he generates. Bare feet on this busy, dusty road, he sold a low-value, perishable product from a rickety cart. At peace with himself and with the world rushing past, this man was dressed in poverty. But in his presence, it was I who felt poor.

We are not complete if we are not connected. It is only when we are connected that things make sense. Only when things make sense, we can form an opinion. Standing there, I wondered how many in the corporate world know who the chief minister of Punjab is, and about the progress of the monsoon! How many have an informed view on river water politics and budget proceedings of another state.

Soon, Moses appeared with our car. It was time for me to go. I shook hands with the nameless cucumber seller of Chennai. Actually, I wanted to touch his feet."

An Essay on Education

Writing after a loooong time. No, not for paucity of time or motivation, but perhaps the need of expressing myself has decreased significantly now that I have a regular sounding board with whom I can ‘share’ my frustrations and my pet peeves (Poor thing!) Also I am taking time assimilating, absorbing (and appreciating!) the shock of living in a different country. I had never thought I could ever love a city more than Mumbai. But now I am in the throes of a toe-curling extra-marital affair with NY. Talk of being infidel!! :P

One of the things which has really impressed me so far is the American Educational system vis-à-vis its Indian counterpart. No, I am not discounting the lack of security or moral values in the high-schools or the under-grad levels: the bane of every young Indian parent trying to bring up kids here. What I appreciate is the quality of the education itself which encourages a child to have an all-round development & lets him/her study any field of his/her choice without fear of career & future financial security. In short, people don’t need to run after multiple degrees here; you could be an under-grad in Psychology or Sociology, but could easily be employed by Morgan Stanley or Nomura in Investment Banking or Research or Trading! Try contrasting that with the Indian educational system where people have to gain multiple degrees & endless hours of brain-numbing studying to make a break in a career of their choice. Often people in India take inane pride in their string of degrees without analyzing whether those degrees actually are useful for their careers or not. More needn't be always better.

Another major difference between US & Indian educational system is the flexibility in education offered to the students here. Students can choose amongst a host of classes and courses in high school and college. This means they can change their major (i.e. field of study) midway through college. This usually means that students in the US receive more exposure to a variety of subjects and hence, are more aware of their career options and opportunities. On the other hand, the Indian education and social systems are very hard on kids and completely ignore their feelings, opinions and ambitions. Kids are pushed to study from the age of 3 and non-performers are treated as dolts and ostracized by parents and society. The preferred choice of learning and teaching is memorizing facts. These facts do help in the long run; the multiplication tables we learned in primary school keep us ahead of our American peers who need a calculator to find out what 6 times 7 is ! However, the memorization approach to study does not allow and teach kids to think independently. The American school system lays stress on individual ability development and encourages kids to express themselves and their opinions from an early age. As a result, most Americans are way better at getting their point across as compared to people from other countries. As my husband once was shocked when a taxi-driver started intelligently discussing the oil & gas industry, after discovering he was an Oil analyst in a big investment bank!

I remember a conversation with an Irish colleague in London a couple of years ago, about the attitude of the West towards the rapidly developing India & China. One of the topics was the educational system which made possible the emerging of India as IT superpower. I remember my colleague remarking “I admire the brilliant minds from your country, but damn if I make my kid a geek & have him sit in front of the PC programming day-in & day-out. I would rather have him chase girls & drink beer & have a life of his own” A statement I have truly appreciated many times since then, whenever I see the parents & teachers holding the poor kids’ noses to a perpetual grindstone in a quest to get better marks than their peers. India has mass-produced many generations of geeks & nerds, unable to express an intelligent opinion on areas of study different from their own or indeed in many cases, unable to express an opinion at all, because their educational system never required them to have communication skills!

Contrast this to the educational system in western countries, where ‘additional tuitions’ to score more marks are practically non-existent, kids are compulsorily encouraged to take up at least one sport & multiple foreign languages are taught in schools to encourage appreciation of global diversity as well equip them with skill sets to cope with multicultural work environment.

It’s high time our Indian educational system becomes less ‘mindless study’ oriented & more ‘all-round development’ & ‘practical application’ oriented in the context of global economic & social structure. My fear is that the increasing pressure on the kids to perform academically should not result in majority of generations of students facing psychological problems in trying to keep pace with an out-dated system.

The Death of Mr. Common Sense

A forward I received ... called the Obituary of Mr. Common Sense which had supposedly appeared in the London times..don’t know if it actually appeared in London Times but it’s quite pertinent.

Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as: Knowing when to come in out of the rain; why the early bird gets the worm; Life isn’t always fair; and maybe it was my fault.

Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don’t spend more than you can earn) and reliable strategies (adults, not children, are in charge).

His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a 6-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student,only worsened his condition.

Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children.

It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer sun lotion or an Band aid to a student; but could not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.

Common Sense lost the will to live as the Ten Commandments became contraband;churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their victims. Common Sense took a beating when you couldn’t defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault.

Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.

Common Sense was preceded in death by his parents, Truth and Trust; his wife,Discretion; his daughter, Responsibility; and his son, Reason.

He is survived by his 4 half brothers; I Know My Rights, I Want It Now, Someone Else Is To Blame, and I’m A Victim.

Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone. If you still remember him, pass this on.

Quagmire

Stuck on these thoughts- 


Is it in what i feel?
or is it in what i do?

What if i do what i don't feel?
What if I feel and don't do?

Should i do what i do
and then feel it too?

But what if i feel what i feel
and then do?

India shining, but why parents are still whining...

A lot has been made about India stepping into the 21st century. The politicians & community leaders are very quick to give exemplary references to the India shining campaign. Still many of them are gracious enough to espouse the cause of minority reservation to show solidarity to the meteoric & equitable growth of the nation. But when we talk about Indian marriages which are inter caste and inter religious, it seems like a taboo to most of these community leaders. Why a big-deal is made out of an inter-caste marriage in our country?

Forget about the rural areas, even the so-called ‘educated urban’ parents draw a line where marriages are concerned.However loving and caring the parents maybe, when it comes to the question of marriage parents ‘demand’ complete filial obedience. And the problem gets escalated manifold when a girl of the house wants to marry somebody out of caste. Immediate aspersions are cast on the up-bringing of the girl by the community & the fear of the same draws unequivocal rejection by the parents; which in some cases go as far as torturing the girl both physically and mentally. Also the parents ‘wash-off’ their hands from the girl & keep chastising the day the ‘girl’ was born who had the temerity to blotch the family name. Honour-killings, just to preserve the chastity of the family is also not unheard off.

Recently I heard a case in my community where the father & his immediate relatives are blaming the mother (who is supposedly single-handed responsible for the upbringing of the girl) for abetting her daughter in going against her pure-brahminical values; to the extent that the father has threatened the mother with divorce if the daughter goes ahead with her decision.

Such atrocities raise many questions like: Why is caste imposed on couples who want to get married peacefully? In simple words, what is the big deal? Where does the buck stop here? Why is marriage between two individuals made out to be a grave community problem? Why the decision to marry 'somebody else' implies that a person has no respect for his/her parents? Just because a girl decided to get married of her own choice, why are aspersions caste on her upbringing and her character? Why is she not free to like or love someone and live happily with her partner?

As Chetan Bhagat opines, we are taught to love by our parents. Then does love loses its meaning just because it was not bound by geographic, casteist or religious parameters?

God, who?

First a disclaimer: I am not a true devout...nor am I total atheist. My relationship with God, as with many, is sadly based on mutual convenience (i.e. whenever it is convenient to both God and myself to exchange notes at a particular place!) And I often try to hide my lazy nature by claiming to Mom that it is definitely not necessary to go to temples to have belief in God!

But then unlike me, who there are some people who claim to believe in God, but instead of relying on an abstract concept - faith, rely on hard facts to prove the existence of an even more abstract concept- God Himself!

Even while the scientists in CERN are trying to disprove the existence of God by recreating through the LHC experiment what is supposed to be God's biggest miracle- 'Creation of Universe', there is a theoretical physicist who is trying to use science itself for calculating the possibility of God being in existence (using the solid mathematical principles of probability). And the result is...67%!!!

I have just finished reading a fantastic book called 'THE PROBABILITY OF GOD' by Dr. Stephen Unwin who has set out to mathematically and objectively determine what are the odds of God being in existence, without giving an actual 'Yes' or 'No' answer whether there IS INDEED a God. And for that Dr. Unwin started off with an initial 50-50 chance- same as a coin toss- for God having an existence in this world.

Using then what is known as Bayes theorem (apparently, a popularly used probability formula), Dr. Unwin then examines the evidence gathered around 6 parameters ( recognition of goodness, moral evil, natural evil, prayers, resurrection & religious experiences) by assigning them grades s, based on how God's presence affects their existence in this world (If your eyes are glazing over, keep reading. I'm about to wind this math business soon). And viola, he found after factoring these probability of evidences, the probability of God being in existence increases from the initial 50% to 67%!!

But the most interesting thing is Unwin has included everything- from natural disasters to supposed miracles, from existence of wickedness to propensity of suffering, from evil to philanthropic nature of man- by grading the probability of their existence both in presence and absence of God! The theory is obviously a big hit- Considering the fact there are equal numbers of physicists praising & criticizing it :)

Interesting premise, surely. Lolz.

Karmic thoughts

Heard of a cousin's 10 year+ marriage disintegrating today. Kinda shocking to me, because I have known both her and her husband well enough and always considered them to be a cool couple.

When I called her, she left me with a poignant gem...."The worst thing in the world is not when somebody hates you or irritates you; the worst thing is when somebody is stoically indifferent to you."

Sigh. How true.

Also heard of someone who decided to get married after a long relationship.

Just made me think. Is relationship karma also like humans? Does the number remain constant in the world, like energy?

Anyways, Good luck to them both.