beginning of a new era?

had been discussing about how rapid social changes are going tobe in the next decade. i foresee the 2010-2020 to be going thru as rapid a social/moral changes all over the world, as the 1990-2010 period had been.

in here, i see the fasttrack watch adverts (where break up and move on is shown as just another fun thing to do), ND Tiwari scandal (these things are done by even governors/octogenarians!), and many more to come..
happy new decade anyway ;)

what's the difference between these two

What's the difference between these two pictures?





maybe 10,000 more people are seen the 'babri masjid' destruction photo.
ultimately shouldn't both be seen as terrorist, anti-humane activities?
shouldn't these questions be asked to conscience? (these pics are just examples, used to drive home a point).

2 themes:

themes are to think about... something to think about. here are 2 of them.

A1) if 2 ppl / 2 grps meet.. and one is propogating peace and non-violence, and the other propagates violence and control, then guess who will win? - if the violent person/group attacks, the peace loving group/person will have to do something to defend themselves.. right? Thus making them part of the 2nd grp/violent grp.. right?

A2) suppose there is a situation – like its shown in a movie.
A hero is accused of something. Something like a financial crime/fraud… but his intentions are good – he’s trying to bring about a positive change in society thru that.. (or he could be shown as suffering from childhood abuse… or he’s angry and had very negative experiences, unfairly dealt with by system/corrupt politicians, and he’s aggressively responding to that..
There are supporting actors.. like hero’s girl friend… who decides to stick with him (because she loves him deeply, or for another reason – she is scared of independency, and wants to cling on to him, or becoz she sees competition in a pretty girl colleague of the hero…
There’s another colleague who dispite everyone against the hero, goes on to support the hero… (again, becoz, he’s a good guy, or he’s a really bad guy – who wants to nail the hero, so he wants the hero to admit/plead guilty… or becoz his daughter is kidnapped by a criminal boss, who orders him to make the hero look bad…
There’s another colleague, who’s arch enemy of the hero… becoz, he is jealous and hates him.. or becoz he’s just pure evil, and wants to control everything, or becoz the hero’s father is an escaped Nazi, who got settled in usa with an assumed name and nationality – other than german… and enemy of hero is son of a Jew who was killed by hero’s father (well, its very filmy, and seem far fetched… I did that to drive the point home v. strongly).

… I added the reasons behind every characters actions into different things – to show that its not actions, but the intentions behind them that makes something or somebody noble or evil…
Its easy to see through, if you remember just some stories you’ve read, or some movies you’ve seen..
In our real life, things are much more complicated becoz we have no real idea about the real intentions of people around us… so its not easy to judge and label ppl into good/bad categories within seconds.. movies and TV let us do that.. so we get hooked on to them… hooked on to that un-real world, even tho we criticize the artificiality of those shows/media/movies…

What’s wrong with this story?

disclaimer: this is a fictional account, but could be culturally/morally shocking. please do not read ahead, if you detest such boundary crossers.

2 psychiatrists are sitting and casually chatting. Seems like their work is done, and they are catching up with gossip after work. One shrink is sitting in a big chair facing a desk and across the desk, there are 2-3 small chairs. Other shrink is standing near the window, and looking half out and half in.
A youth enters that room, greets and says he wants to talk. The shrink on the chair looks a bit bored, but without saying much, he points the youth to a chair across the desk.

The youth says, he is following up with the shrinks treatment (establishing him as a client), and both client and doctor are familiar with each other. The youth then talks about some of his current problems… the shrink kinda shrinks into his chair with an inevitability and throws a what-to-do-now look at his colleague.

In between the youth’s talk, the shrink on chair motions him to stop… and asks his colleague, who seems half in and out of that room.. “hey, does this sound familiar to you?”. The standing shrink turns a bit more in, and says, “yeah, my client I told you about that other day, he had some of these symptoms.. haha,.. so gay man”… and both the shrinks laugh.

The youth waits few seconds patiently to continue with his problems.. the shrink in the chair also turns towards him to hear the story out till end. The youth hesitates, and then asks, “is this client’s name mr. so and so? “.. the standing shrink turns around a bit, thinks and says.. yeah, that’s his name. the youth jumps out of the chair, and says, excuse me for a minute, and flips out his mobile and walks out of that room.. the shrinks re-start their gossip chat without losing another second.

The youth calls up someone on phone and asks him to be at the shrinks office as soon as possible… the other one on phone seems to agree. The youth sits down in a chair outside and waits.

After some minutes, another youth comes in from outside, enters the waiting room, and greets the youth who was waiting. They shake hands and chat, and then smile and hug.. and hug again.. and enter the shrink’s room.

They greet both the shrinks loudly and say.. hey, we know what was with us two now.. we are together now. See ya later. One of the shrinks says, try to take an appointment next time… and winks at the other shrink.

The youths holding hands, walk out of the room.. curtain.


……from asian cultural perspective, the things that are wrong would be different, and from a western/europian cultural perspective, some other things might seem wrong. There are lots of politically incorrect things happening in this little scene, but what’s acceptable and what’s seen as shockingly inappropriate is based on your cultural background. (this scene is a completely fictional creation, to be aware of cultural and moral influences on all of us, and how they color our perspective, make us snap happy in being judgemental, and for getting insights, and does not mean disrespect for anyone.. jeez man, nobody got robbed or killed… and shut up or get bludgeoned ;)

Enthu

......hey, recently had opportunity to spend time with high school (indian 8th to 10th std) students from poor slum areas, a group had organized a free discussion form/training for them.
initially they were not really enthusiastic... they seemed to have lots of negativity and aggression. it's like - we generally didn't take any favors / free services with 'gratitude'... i think inside them, they are insecure about getting exploited, and as well as, see themselves as demeaned about taking such a free service..
they try to maintain, i am cool, i am on my own/independent, etc kinda shade. (oops.. disclaimer: I am not trying to judge, or stereotype a group based on their economic strata. Just jotting down my thinking process here).

lots of them have dreams of becoming a mafia/criminal don... they come out with such names (some of those people/names i didnt even know.. they connect such people with quick wealth... glamour symbols like - expensive mobile (which is a major craze for them), car, going to five star hotel, etc.. these dreams/aspirations may seem juvenile/infantile to other classes (middle/upper)... but if you dig deeper/unlayer, then you can see that they are absolutely denied these things.. (for example, their aspirations include - taking a taxy/cab, or an A/C cab.. with full confident (that they can pay the fare without worrying about it).

so, it seems bit sad too.

and their role models include the people most visible.. especially in their community/nearby areas... big intellectuals, diplomatic (read boring) achievers/celebrities dont seem to excite them enough.

they seem to prefer louder fashion statements... without really thinking about the influences/causes behind them.. grabbing attention seems to be the funda behind wearing something. (and again, if you think - getting attention is like a basic need.. if you dont have food, you wont be worrying about a classy diner place to have it. so give me attention first.. then later comes respect.. (and i am not even sure i will get respect anyway).
- discussion about 'how media influences' with them was well received ;)

there is anxiety about 'may not be able to perform well in exam/s'. what kind of future /future career will unfold infront of me, worries them as well.

all in all, i guess i learned more... was able to deal with some of my stereotypes... and being non-judgemental.. whew! that's allways tough.. its a new battle with it everytime ;)

and as i heard:
How many roads must a person take
To be consumed,..

How much peace must a person make
To find that detachment…

How many people must a person love
To find the right one…

How much wish should be there
To find a winning lottery…

What must a person gamble
To be finally famous,

Why must a love remain to poke
Coals of lost dreams and pain…

How much more rhetoric will it take
For you to say, shut up.

the goods

Don’t we all love to be fooled into buying something?

And how should you sell?

What if you were asked to plan an ad campaign for an ‘x’ product? Say toothpaste… would you really put in just the basic info, and say – its ok to buy this paste? Or would you like to discreetly add your paste into the dream life style / dream world your buyer wants to be in?

Check out these scenes from ‘the goods: live hard, sell hard’. (spoiler warning – don’t read ahead, if you don’t want to know its story).

The main character, don ready, talks about America and freedom, inside a flying plane, to be able to smoke a cigarette… and gets the whole plane full of people shouting to be free… including the flight staff.

Again, on don ready’s script, a used car place owner, comes on TV and lies, he’s about to die due to cancer, and he wants to sell his cars for the last time… such a claim (or advert) seems stupid… but is a lie about death a lie, and a lie about non-existent quality not a lie? Or acceptable lie? (

[i am not not judging advertisements or people here... if you can keep aside being judgemental about what's happening around us, and see it as a human behavior, (like animal or bird behavior, or just as 'nature'), then you'll see much more of the world and be amused... You'd know yourself better too.. but its not easy, i keep slipping up all the time].

Then, don ready is talking to his enemy in that movie, and manages to talk about his enemy’s dream, and shamelessly plugs in a car he wants to sell – seems impossible? Hmm… think back about what kind of crazy things you’ve brought before… a few months back, or some years back… everybody does it.

Also check out what’s a Nigerian buy back, in used car sales… so similar to breaking up and patching up again.. ;) Couldn’t resist that meanness ;)

Anyway, astala vista for now.

dogma

recently had some discussions, debates with my friends... these were quiet chilled out, and open... stereotypes, what's acceptable and not in today's degrading morale standards, who's a freak in a society, and who are all to blame etc. were some topics opined on freely without worrying about political correctness...

i was stuck by the impact of culture in childhood era, in each one of these opinions... exposure to role models (or in general, other people around them) also seem to leave imprint like beliefs.
there seems to be a growth in rigidity (difficulty in questioning long held beliefs/opinions, and lack of willingness to even listen to new concepts/ideas/opinions... forget trying to learn anew.

for example, a vegetarian from birth, expresses disgust and inability to even think of eating non-vegetarian food... sometime to extend of inability to eat if a non-veg food is near their table.
a non-veg food eater expresses same/similar emotions/effects, when asked about a type of meat (such as pork or cow meat - pork not eaten by muslims, cow meat not eaten by hindu's etc).

i've heard similar strong opinions about various issues.. as if those opinions are 'gods word'... few of these opinions categorized as:-
homosexuality - as a menace to society in general,
gender equality - women should not be given so much liberties/equal status,
casteism - where some or one caste is seen as superior,
racism - degrading blacks (as per their own terminology), even tho the opinion makers wouldn't have met many african descendants, except few cursory glances across the street, that too just on enough occassions to be able to count in fingers.
religion and existence of god/s - and also about un-natural powers of some cult guru
and so on...

one person might hold a logical/rational/scientific view about some aspects, and also hold illogical/irrational/non-scientific views about some other aspects... often these become contradictory... but the beliefs accultured during childhood age (maybe even upto 20 years of age... kinda become foundational structure...

i find this contradictions, and need to have myths to have an identity amazing.
if you have anything to share, please do comment... ;)

holy spiderman

imagine that! it must be the most lousy tv news report ever. well, it was about a guy, who accidentally overheard about a terrorist bombing plan, of a city, was unable to pretend that he hadn't heard about it, and got kidnapped by the 4some gang of terrorists and taken to their lair.

fortunately he was able to escape, to the attic of that building, call up the cops on mobile phone and miraculously the police were able to capture the 4 terrorists, and defuse their bombs from 3 major areas of the city.
that's not the main part of this tv news report...

the guy who thus saved the city from 3 could be bombings is obviously interviewed on tv live, and he says, he was not afraid, and could do all that becoz of blessings of his god 'spiderman'. he even has a spiderman worship area in his house, and spiderman prayer and hymn book... probably the only one copy in existence.

so, if you are to interview him, how would you go about it? deride his belief (religious or comical) or appreciate his heriocs?

scared sadhu

Mid day in the month of June.. from around night 10pm to next day 5pm, I had a whirlwind of experiences…

Thinking about self as a ‘scared Sadhu’ (not sacred;) as my lifestyle indicates, I want to be like an ascetic and think and try to figure out many questions deemed philosophical, but don’t want to totally live like a hermit… I’d like to surf internet, check out a new facebook application like ‘what’s your real age’, go out with friends and travel, enjoy, and still have minimum hassles of earning money and work in a business way etc.

Anyway, got on to a train from middle are of Mumbai to north east direction, in a local train, chatted with a man praying to Allah with beads, and discussed religious practices with him, he was about past his 50’s mostly with a round beard and a square cap.

Next a family of 5, husband, wife, 2 girls (maybe aged 7-8 and 3-4, and a 2 year old boy… made a paper bird and gave to the eldest of the girls, the smaller one wanted one for herself, as I didn’t have paper, another passenger next to me tore a piece of paper from some sheets he had with him and gave to me… it was amazing cooperation and harmony around… I couldn’t believe it’s a local train compartment at 11.30pm at night.. the mother of that family was wearing a black Purdah which covered her face, except for eyes, as well… I was stuck by the differences in dressing up, but the same human vein in all of us runs the same and thus everyone socializes and mixes up so quickly and nicely…

Went to a friend’s house, stayed overnight.. chatted about various stuff, argued and analyzed n number of concepts and things… returned back to Mumbai… chatted about psychology near a tea shop, chatted with a taxi driver who drove me back to another near by area, he told me that he’s been working in Mumbai as a taxi driver since 33 years, and now feeling tired of Bombay and wants to go back and settle in his native village… how people call, ‘hey taxi’, as if they are talking to that taxi–automobile and not to a person, the driver… how respect in greeting someone has gone down over the years along with increasing crowd and population.

Reached home, relaxed, ate a mango for lunch, watched some movie… slept.. another ordinary, ‘nothing happened’ day.. of course, thought of a short story called ‘idream’.. and it becoming a movie… an indie film ofcourse.. bye.

i understand you...

I understand you…
When we say that, we don’t really realize the complexity of emotions..
Let’s harp a bit on those old gender stereotypes… a typical male gesture of denying grief… somebody, let’s a say woman, who has known grief tells him, ‘I understand you’… but she really doesn’t. because a grief-denied is different from a grief-accepted emotional state. Acceptance of ‘grief’ gives it some additional tones (of emotions), and denial of grief may add bit of frustration, guilt, anger etc. in to that state/shade. (we also tend to use other sensory organ words to describe emotions, like a visual, where we say it’s a shade… or say it has a different tone (musical/auditory).

Maybe we really don’t have words to describe emotions in their own category… maybe we haven’t really understood this sixth sensory organ. Of course, ‘emotion’ itself is difficult to define. How much of our thoughts and behavior gets included as ‘emotion’? the difficulty in showing our emotions, like through food (taste), music, paintings, sex & smell (audio, vision, kinesthetic/touch, nose in that order). Maybe smell still remains a bit unknown in definition terms.
We live in a world created by the education and culture etc. to keep us from exploring ourselves. Basically most force is used to learn what’s good behavior (for the society/clan) by elders. Any deviation in thinking/exploring on your own is punished through various systems and emotional blackmails. If subjective reality is not along with THE objective/social/clan reality, then every effort to get them in line through morality to insanity… though I have difficulty in telling them apart ;)
Thus we are taught from early enough to suppress emotions, deny, and most of all not to share and express them. Thus our emotional communication suffers from multiple blocks… sad isn’t it ;)

re-blog

been away long... from blogging..
currently bit at peace with work schedule... getting a breather... to create some own space.. met some old friends, travelled a bit..
watched lots of movies too..
mainly, movie on john f kennedy's brother, "bobby", and movie starring meryl streep and philip seymour "doubt" stands out.
bobby shows the day and night of bobby kennedy's assassination, kind of like oscar winning 'crash', but bobby's passion, and his repeated usage of word 'compassion' stood out... i had absolutely no idea about this 'bobby' guy to much extent than reading it somewhere... this movie is criticised for bit too emotional, but its not over the top, and enjoyable if not viewed with excessive cynicism.

doubt handles a very sensitive issue.. regarding doubt on a priest's conduct with his altar boy... powerful drama, though might seem bit slow to some.. again compassion or lack of it in even christian institutions stands out in this movie.. compassion which is considered as the main theme of almost all religions in the world often remains in the subconscious level when compared with fanaticism of following rituals...

dawn to dusk, there are 3 parts of this movie. but the part one directed by robert rodriguez and written by quentin tarantino stands out... salma heyek's dance in a everything-in-excess-saloon/bar is amazing... the lawless town of mexico, with 'titty twister' bar/saloon exists in everyman's imagination, i guess... but not easy to accept such a fantasmorgaphic (made up word ;) happenings even to self in this moral policed world... the underage kids in the bar is a touch of genius on the writer's part. of course, its not for everybody.. the guitar and music of this movie of course rocks.
cya guys...

indea...

well, its been so long. now i am back in india, mumbai.
so many changes, no blogs. guess it depends on the time you get. when too many things are happening, you are busy doing them.. and when you find plenty of time even to write blogs, then suddenly there is nothing to write about.

anyway, i am back. chill...

globe trotting

something i have dreamt off... going to different parts of the world and experiencing different cultures, get to know new people with vastly different backgrounds, amazed by similarities between human beings from one corner of the world & another corner, and observing differences/variations between pepole from same locality.

globe trotting may seem like an adventure, its not an easy thing to digest. the cultural variations hit you hard... try their best to make you judgemental, flare up anger / hatred at illogical things of 'others'... and really test you.

of course, whatever that doesnt kill me makes me stronger... is a quote that might help to deal with such situations. (The irony is that even Niettze's quote can be used to bring solace).

well.. keep commenting.

Surging Ahead?

The global economy is surging ahead. roughly speaking, if compared with earlier decades, the amount of materials produced or procured in the last 2 decades would be equal to what humans did in a century earlier... just to give an idea of the jump in growth. (Despite current share market fall, increasing prices & inflation).

multiculturalism and global interchange i believe has a big impact on this growth. more than ever we, humans are now trying to develop techniques to make us more efficient - may it be indegenous technology or borrowed / bought from another country.

our working styles (read management styles) also are becoming more eclectical. Management systems which became popular in Japan in the 70's & 80's have now been adopted in many other countries to such an extent that its impossible to identify them as Japanese now. Of course, a management Guru who came out with such management systems Dr. Deming was an American.

But then, why do opposition for using foreign techniques and styles exist so much even today? why often it flares up into xenophobia even? Change is a stressor... regardless of what it brings. Every change brings positives and negatives... or advantages & dis-advantages. (just as Crisis can be read as danger & opportunity in one language script).

Thus often in the initial stage of change, the negatives or dis-advantages loom large. Often exploitative wanna be leaders spread fear by exaggerating the negatives of forthcoming change to group people together. In the last few decades the rationality of human mind has won over such fear mongering. The 2nd world war was the last time when falsly generated hatred lead to world wide damage.

But can we rest on the laurals of the last 6-7 decades? The need to re-assert that we all are one, and need to work together as a team to develop remains. Often such fundamental reminders are neglected by popular media, as entertainment seems to takes over information dissemination.

new country

going to a new country, which is radically different in many aspects...

brings its own versions of goods and bads.

cultural shocks, linguistic shocks too...

- for example, how confusing a totally new language sounds like, and that all others around you seem totally comfortable with those sounds;

- also, how for example, a global language like English is twisted around (accent wise and grammar wise) according to that country population... and how funny and riduculous it seems to you... but at the same time, realizing you are the minority, and thus cannot really laugh at it.

the difference could be in the level of development.
a person moving from a developed country to 3rd world country... or
going from 3rd world to developed world.

lack of systematic or obsessively systematic transportion... train / road / walking / jaywalking.
- for example, going from a chaotic traffic system, where pedestrians walk around vehicles, jaywalking is non-existent concept, honking and shouting at each other at every turn is as common as spitting or throwing litter on the road... CHANGED into... strict systems, where one has to wait for the light to be green to go ahead everywhere, where cars swish past at 100 kilometer speed, which makes you actually think before crossing a road... buses and trains where the doors remain closed (and no hanging out is possible)... pushing others in public transport is rare and frowned upon...

100's of differences... often small ones, but acculturation is not easy anyway.

what's the world coming to?

i remember, a friend of mine telling me: "ohh... look at that house... what's that square thing on the wall?"
i: hmm.. its a window man... is that what you are asking? its an ordinary window".
friend: "ohh!! what will science come up with next?".

hastalavista baby...

another city... country

finally decided to write about my observations about being in a new country, new city. i shifted from india, bombay... (mumbai actually, or to be specific, few kilometers away from bombay, at thane city).

shifting to a country towards far east... and be amidst such a different place... never imagined. .. that's why i guess nothing can beat actual traveling experiences.

compared to bombay, this place is clinically clean.. as different as a hospital ICU is from a crowded market on a holiday... (that's the comparison which i can think of right now).

its not in a negative way or positive way... becoz i also miss the vibrancy and chaos of bombay (i like to refer to mumbai as bombay, becoz when i started living in that place, that's how it was called and i see no reason to change that terminology... (maybe coz i am apolitical).

anyway, i am drifting...

well... see ya next time.

travelling...

when Lynyrd Skynyrd sang free bird (lyrics by - allen collins - ronnie vanzant), never felt that i too would feel somewhat similar a day.. .

traveling to another country... it does give some kind of tension as well.. excitement and self doubts about being able to handle the challenges the new turf is going to throw at you.

will write more later... maybe from another geographical location...

free bird lyrics... those who would be interested.

If I leave here tomorrow
Would you still remember me?
For I must be travelling on, now,
cause theres too many places Ive got to see.
But, if I stayed here with you, girl,
Things just couldnt be the same.
cause Im as free as a bird now,
And this bird you can not change.
Lord knows, I cant change.

Bye, bye, its been a sweet love.
Though this feeling I cant change.
But please dont take it badly,
cause lord knows Im to blame.
But, if I stayed here with you girl,
Things just couldnt be the same.
Cause Im as free as a bird now,
And this bird youll never change.
And this bird you can not change.
Lord knows, I cant change.
Lord help me, I cant change.

and as a post script i leave with "bon voyage... " to self... (and isn't that what blogs are all about? and even everything else that we do?)

emotions...

Does emotions cause pain and hurt? ... On their own? Don’t we interpret them according to our wants (or needs)...

Its like, I don’t want to be angry becoz I might do something aggressive, which might disrupt my goals, or

I don’t want to be depressed; becoz then my schedule will be delayed, as I won’t be able to finish before my deadline... or things like that? (Don’t the emotions basically take away our time we have set for ourselves, rather than anything else?

Its also the cyclic propulsion which the emotions can create - makes us fearful of them.. i.e. if I am feeling depressed, then my actions tend to be passive or inactive, which in turn leads to further hopelessness and helplessness... and becomes a vicious cycle...

This also makes us feel we lose all control over ourselves and that emotions take over us... (Our thinking also gets influenced by the state of emotion we are in... we I can’t think straight, when we are in intense emotional turmoil).

But if we have awareness of the emotion, and can observe their affect on us, as a third person (not completely as a third person, but with some attachment), then can we manage emotions? Does it lead to derealization or depersonalization… where integrity of the ‘self’ gets challenged?

These emotional states, in their different forms, in their different shades are also required for us to deal with everyday life situations.

For example, if i am forced to stay inactive (even though i am feeling very energetic and excited), then i will tend to feel frustrated, and which will lead to helpless and hopeless feeling (an example can be, when you are excited, but you are on a bus, or a long train ride, with nothing much to do).

The helpless feeling which we feel then, downs our energy, and takes us to a mild depressed state, which helps us better to deal with the inactive time period... by making us think and introspect. (So even such a state of emotion can be useful).

faith

Love is faith... And to take that leap of faith, to go into that ‘free-fall’, is not easy, and barriers within the mind needs to be broken to reach that state. (Free fall is what sky divers experience, when they jump from 1000’s of meters above).

It’s similar to faith in god, where that faith allows you to prostrate in obeisance, or kneel with absolute trust, setting aside your ego, giving up yourself… it’s like spiritual and it teaches you to be humble and to face one of our (human) great fear – giving away ourselves, submerging totally into one – one as supreme being in religious context.

Of course making oneself so vulnerable and open like this can lead to pain as well – and in love too the fear of rejection, breakup and the pain that follows is seen as existential crisis. Such a state of feeling insignificant, powerless, angry at letting self be vulnerable, stupid or altogether humiliated is not easy to accept.

But then humbleness is not easy to digest and that’s what we fear of, “what will happen if I am not accepted”? but without such a level of trust, without ‘self’ at stake, we cannot possibly can have acceptance either… whether its love or faith.

But the humbleness make us realize a lot of things, be more aware and open up multitudes of channels, connections, so that you could be more closer or widen comprehension with the world or universe around us… (or maybe its just within us).

This universe is not made of just things or materials, but of emotions, experiences as well and by going through difficult, rare experiences, we mature, become stronger as well.

When will one realize something like this is happening? Some of the symptoms could be:

Willingness to give without conditions, generous to accept another person, care without a care, and accept affection with pleasure and relate without pulling power-strings, but just being.

Did this all happen to me? I am not sure what’s dream and what’s not… and I don’t care to know.

a water color

cool... i had not tried to publish a pic so far in here. so to experiment, i decided to up load one of my water colors.. done long back, which i got scanned recently. its titled village, with some houses, two strange (outside) people walking towards a dilapidated temple or a common structure / building there.

i am forced to draw in an abstract fashion, as i dont have the patience to draw realistically and neatly. But, i guess being able to do such abstract expression is a cool thing as well.

i hope i will feel like up loading some of my cartoon / comic strip type stuff here. Though, i have scanned them, they have to be kept as large files, otherwise the dialogue boxes are tough to read. maybe i should try to draw them on a software and type the dialogues in. i have some ideas for a series of strips... someday maybe?

Fragile

I just don’t get it.. Female’s usually like cute things.. And like small babies and fragile things..
And they really don’t care much about the most fragile thing in the world... the "male ego".
So quoted some guy. Of course, only a guy will say something like that.

But then again... the male – female differences are a reality too… (though I guess I should mention here that, am not saying anything against gender equality, becoz often exposure of such differences is seen as a derogatory thing). So with the disclaimer firmly in there, let me continue ;)

Well, I was watching some movie scenes, and in one, when a disaster strikes, the females in that place act bit differently (not all females will act that way, but in a general way, they have shown some characters who behave in that way).

Anyway, after they overcome the disaster, or a threatening situation, they all hug each other, but in a calmer way than males would have done. Also, they acted less aggressively than males generally would do (or as male’s are shown in movies). But then, there’s the adrenalin as well... maybe it kicks out faster and more in males… which could be one of the reason, along with how they are brought up.

Similarly, I have observed in group settings... such gender differences… girls or women tend to talk more about relationships, care about birthdays… and the fun things that guys consider are more bashful and loud stuff. Females tend to notice and talk about dress designs, jewellary or some such things which often males are unaware about their existence. I guess I am not talking about anything new, and maybe its politically incorrect as well… but it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to observe such behavioral differences. (man, I better stop, I am overloaded with cliché’s right now).

Well, but before I leave, a question (as usual), how much reality do movies portray? Doesn’t movies and real life copy from each other? And my guess is that there are lots of movie buffs out there ready to take it on… ;)

alien

Met these 2 ppl from another country... far far away...
Since today evening, one of my friend was having a show of his drama, which is partly based on indian mythology (or Hindu mythology), i was planning to see it. my friend is the writer, director, actor in this play, and had consulted me to talk about the flow of emotions and mythological aspects... I must have felt flattered as well... (ego & fame are addictions... deadly or not is a matter of debate).

Well, these 2 ppl from another country want to check out this Indian (or Marathi) play as well… and so we go.

The play deals with mythological issues, and how reincarnation and blind belief’s are so prevalent among the population (especially in India)… many of the dialogues are between a husband and a wife.

I was trying to see the play from the point of view of these 2 ppl from another country… and then it struck me that, the scenes between husband and wife depict the wife in a submissive role, from another cultural view point, where gender equality is more common. From an Indian viewpoint, I would have noticed it at all. Its like a natural flow or natural happening from an Indian setting. How many others could see this inequality which was hidden at a subliminal level behind the protruding blind faith images? I couldn’t figure that out.

I had a long chat with these two ppl from outside my country… Many insights about my own reflexive actions and beliefs deriving from my Asian origin (in general) flashed in front of my eyes. Things which I take for granted, without bothering to think or analyze from another cultural view point.

Gender inequality, obsession with sex and purity, traditional blinders, social-cultural conditioning and many many more concepts… how may of us even get a chance to think about them?

Thanks friends... Swedes by the way… and we could also talk about the stereotypes about Swedes in general prevalent all over the world, and how they could have formed were also part of discussion.

Even though I like to claim that I am a global citizen, I realized how difficult it is to go and think beyond your regional (state/country) identity… as well as your gender identity… and so many more segregations and segmentations. Sometimes humans behave so irrationally and illogically, that it has to be viewed in a humorous way otherwise it may become too painful. Like, how many feel that they are aliens in their own culture or country? How many feel that they are persecuted minority? And is there ever a majority? Aren’t we all in some way or another a minority… and persecuted at times? Of course, global understanding maybe a philosopher’s stone (or myth)… but it’s a nice dream.. what do you have to say?

Bye for now…

random thoughts?

Blogs... Its for those people with a need to publish... Shout out at nothingness…

Why cant just play the game without worrying of whether we are winning or losing? Or something like that..

Philosophizing has always been easy.. (for me).

well... wouldn't it be nice, to be like that.. without a care.. just going with the flow?

Trying to make the world a nice place. We remain dreamers.. idealists... But its nice though.. that's true..

Though playing with zest, with jelousy, with vigour to win is also nice... isn't it?

We want to do it in various ways..

The above conversation made me think of a book called 'The diceman' written by a guy called Luke Rhinehart.

A part of it (one page).. was somewhat like this below:
A guy's wish to do everything... win in stockmarket, write a bestseller, do great community work, explore unknown, build big corporate empire, make a great movie, and such stuff.. and then do all these things in various styles... (i.e. carelessly, seriously, like superman, like micky mouse etc. etc)...

But these desires doesn't take him anywhere.. or takes just zaps him all over the goddamn universe without actually anything happening out of it. and as he wants to achieve them all.. so he is unable to do even one of it well... and remains a slave of the social image.. the propogand to be big sucess eats up the free human spirit.

They are social goals... carrots on a stick created by media, society, culture etc. to keep the being on the run, on the race.

The rebellion, or goals which oppose the media images given above... also are in a way product of the same media...

Because, rebellion is the 'anti' of that image.. for example, "I dont want money", or "I dont want to do that".. etc. comments/values/beliefs are are some examples.. they are jsut direct contrasts of it - reactionary rebellions.

But how to break out? break out in a pure form? that's a challenge. Or its a big farce as well.. what is originality ?

Isn't searching for it, itself a big media image of an intellectual? a dreamer?

Is there a way out of this circle? haha.. now the seeker of originality ends up with paranoia as well...

another random thought. Try thinking back about your college / univ. days... or your previous academic year's efforts. How much of it is of actual use? If you try to re-read those books and try to understand or do something on your own, how well do they seem to serve that purpose?

Weren't those academic authorities making you run after false targets by creating false threats? (just like in the military, where obeying a superior officer's commands without questioning them is drummed into the soldier's mind till it becomes almost like an instinct... that obeying seems like the right choice or the only choice?)...

Any random one's from you?

dilbertblog

Scott Adams (creator of Dilbert comic strip) writes fabulous blog. http://dilbertblog.typepad.com/

I wrote this as a reply to his blog (dated 27-1-07), titled, ‘irrational atheists’, and about a 100 comments he had received. So maybe you will have to check out his blog first, before reading this. But even if you don’t, I guess what’s written below will make sense (I hope). This is a topic I have been itching to write, so I decided to blog it as well.

My comments:
First of all, one need not argue about definition of atheism. A-theism formed after theism formed. Just like the term asocial won’t mean anything if there is no society.

Secondly, there is no need to argue against the number 1 trillion, becoz that number is not something provable (I guess Scott pulled it out through his now famous method).

Thirdly, there is no need to prove a god exists or not, because it’s a concept. The belief in god gives us emotional benefits, it doesn’t gives us anything else. (of course, many may not agree to this at all).

The concept of god (a superior being, a father/mother figure) can be understood as part of our survival mechanism. For example, a child after being bullied, runs home with teary eyes – with the belief that his home (and the elders there) will provide security and support he needs. God concept is just an extension of that need, just an extension of that sense of security / hope.

That’s why it’s said that, “there are no atheists in a trench”, the feeling of total helplessness makes us believe in anything which reduces that helpless feeling).

But if we keep our sense of security on a concrete concept (or a living being or a thing), its very likely that within our life time itself, we will see the destruction of that concept… or some weakness, which will (emotional) turmoil – and make us feel un-protected. So we have to base that sense of security on an abstract concept, which cannot be definable, and it has to be all powerful, timeless, and always beyond our comprehension.

The prayer and such meditative techniques also works if we try to focus on such an abstract, incomprehensible concept… becoz we will never understand it fully, and can keep on going till infinity (or endless like a horizon)… there is no fear of reaching an end of that quest.

The atheists are the people who are willing to let go of that security center outside them, becoz they have found it inside themselves. The believers first needs to be emotionally secure enough to leave home, then only they will be able to see outside the box… otherwise, their own mind will keep producing enough proof or reasons for them to stick to their beliefs.

Bertrand Russell once argued back to a creationist, “can you disprove that the whole world / universe was created just 5 minutes ago?” (no point in arguing I have memories of more than that much time, or that you can do carbon testing to show dinosaur bones that exist are millions of years old, becoz they all were created that way just 5 minutes ago).

So in a way it’s a no win situation. But still I try, as I don’t expect a divine intervention ;)

i would recommend Scott's blog. He churns out food for thought everyday, and writes it all with much more humor, and many other spices / masala – which makes him a super word-chef (the old term of word-smith to a writer seems too mechanical). More strength to your pen bud.

openly...

i was talking with a new young friend... about music (surprised? she's that cool!)... well, i started talking about a song i heard and liked, avril lavigne (i still dont know how to pronounce her name properly in french-canadian)...
anyway, i liked her this song called 'so much for my happy ending'... and it flowed out why... becoz she's openly bitching about her recently ex-boyfriend. i liked her honest frankness in expressing such a usually hidden emotional state.
i had written few poem lines based on that song or more like its theme's impact.
i will have to search for it, so i will post it later... haha
back to be blogging...
gooding feel...
;)