Digging for Meaning

When you look at the history of middle east, you realise one thing - The mess we are in today, is in REACTION to impositions of ideas alien to the natives. For example - 1. King Shah of Iran forced secularism on a people for whom their religiosity was important. The reaction was the cultural revolution that overthrew the monarch and installed in its stead a religious leader at the helm of a nation. 2. Erdogan is turning a secular state into an Islamic state in Turkey with fairly popular support. This is in reaction to Ataturk's imposition of secularism in the first half of 20th century. 3. Saudi Arabia's extremist version of Islam is propelled elsewhere, in part because people feel their religiosity is under threat from western imperialism. And obviously, the Saudi monarchs are well aware of the case of another monarch in Iran being ousted who suppressed religion. So they double down on religious fervour and have weaponised the world view. 4. and ofcourse the whole mess i...

In the middle of the maelstrom, the saffron vortex of hatred, The man stands battered, by swirling dust of ignorance eyes stinging from all that wide-eyed and yet blind outraging ashamed by his smallness ready to lash out impotently against his own interest against his own people.  ___ Flag bearers must be blind for if they had eyes, they would desert to join the throng at the sidelines screaming to stop the madness. But how can they stop anything without getting sucked into the vicious vortex? unfortunately the only thing the blind understand is the remorseless fist. and the ones with open eyes at the sidelines can't close their palms into fists without succumbing to that old human malady - remorse and guilt. ___ Who with open eyes will take up the challenge of raising and raining fists in-spite of the remorse and the guilt against the hate engineers, the profiteers of commotion, the instigators of dust storms?

I laugh at Anthony Scaramucci's exit. I get worried at US's implosion with the well written analyses . I know more about the dialysis infrastructure of US than that of India. I see daily show, last week tonight and Stephen Colbert and see their sharp criticism of their governments and I despair. Not for US. But for India. Even when US has armed militias, its liberals are not silenced. If at all, they are more dogged in their determination to shine light on shady deals, powerful incompetence, racial subjugation, and so many other things that matter to US's citizen. But our continent sized and a multiverse wide nation isn't as sharp in its defense against incompetent tyrant's plans. The liberal media in US is so good that people outside of US also start to see the world from American perspective. Recently I saw a senior professor posting about 'our national security' while the article he was sharing was about US. He didn't even realise that he was pa...

I have friends who supports the current majoritarian dispensation in India - the cow-protecting ( killing muslims and scaring poor farmers in the process or as the real motive?), day dreaming (of imagined glories ), women berating (length of skirts and access to phones has again become a topic to deliberate), surveillance instituting ( aadhar is a support to the police state, not to conscientious people), economy breaking ( demonetisation , finance bill, GST mess, deaf to farmer's pleas ) establishment. These friends are film-makers, science educators, bankers etc. And I wonder how these people are supporting a majoritarianism that is killing their own trades, their own careers - Film makers - look what has happened at FTII and with the censor board. Film education is curbed, so is artistic freedom. Censorship is growing to ridiculous levels. It is a direct assault on the very practice of film-making and yet the bhakt film-maker remains blind.   The science educator - So...

Consider these three scenarios 1. A distraught wife - catches cheating husband. Husband outshouts her to the point where she begins questioning her own narrative - maybe she was to blame? She is terrified of ending the relationship. She ' needs to believe that she can trust her husband'. 2. An unemployed graduate who had voted for Modi's promises three years ago - Believed that Modi would usher us in a new world of opportunities and social justice - instead he has remained unemployed and has to prove his nationalist credentials to random hooligans again and again. He  'needs to believe in Modi's acche din promise' .  He is the 'andh bhakt' - the mother of karan and arjun (except for the fact that Karan and Arjun never turn up). 3. Consider a dalit farmer. He 'knows' he is being fleeced by the local strongman/ patil/ landlord... but he can't afford to question him. He is not afforded the freedom to ask questions when the procurement we...

What's the difference between a democracy and a dictatorship? The book says, not much. India, agrees. Current political dispensation especially agrees vigorously. " Soma " of hindutva and past glory + divided impoverished amnesiac masses + legitimised attack on individual rights + tremendous wealth shared among few = brave new world of oligarchical India. Essentially, democracies/ dictatorships etc., are simply variants of the same power dynamic between the ruler, essentials, influentials and inter-changeables .   Interchangeables are the nominal selectorate - the individual voters who have nominal (or cosmetic) power to choose leader - most of us. Influentials  are the real selectorate - the guys who really choose the leader. In US recently, the electoral college famously went against the popular vote and elected a clown as their president instead. In India, theoretically, the system is a bit better in terms of a wider base of influentials - it could be rel...

Ai Weiwei doing what needs doing, even if it is futile Can China exist as a democracy? Is it even possible? If it can't sustain as a democracy, what makes the single party factory-of-the-world system so special to ensure evolution rather than revolutions? Perhaps the ' dictator's handbook' can answer that question better. Today I was listening to the podcast "Intelligence squared", as I do with every evening walk from my office to home. The motion was that democracy perhaps is not suited for China. I thought that debate is preposterous - say that to an Uighur peasant or a miner dying of lung cancer or an indentured labourer at any of the big electronic companies. He/she will tell you the answer. What I was most interested by was the recurring rhetoric about the economic miracle of China, that this kind of economic growth is unprecedented. That it single-handedly brought 70% of world's out-of-poverty transformations. So on the one hand of the deba...

In any relationship, there are only every two possible operating conditions - Trust/ Love Or Power. You need to have either of these two things in a relationship for your own good. If you have neither, its best to walk away if you can. If not, the second best thing is to gather strength to fight for respect.   Ophelia: "incapable of her own distress" Any relationship is either based on trust based cooperation or competition for power. If you are lucky, your life will get entangled with a person who respects you and has your best interest in mind. The second possibility is that the  relationships turn into a game of power - where there are daily skirmishes to gain a leverage between the parties. But both these types of relationships have some sort of balance between the partners. The first is where the presence of love/ trust creates a nurturing atmosphere for both the parties. The second is where there might not be love, but at least there is give and take - some sor...

"Surgical strikes" of Mr. Modi Mr. Modi loves the metaphor of surgical strike - precise, effective, absolute. If surgeries are for flesh-and-bones bodies of living beings, the surgical strikes that Mr. Modi likes to unleash on are bodies of 'terrorism', 'corruption','poverty' etc. In a physical body, a 'surgical strike' can be contained. The target and the weapon is definite and known. The cause-effect are immediately visible. The metaphor loses its meaning when you try to use it on conceptually elastic exchanges such as terrorism and corruption. What I mean by conceptually elastic is - terrorism or corruption are fairly fluid in their meaning and depends on who is defining whom as being a terrorist or corrupt. 'Corruption' or 'Terrorism' is not a thing or a person that we can see, smell, touch. It exists between people as an exchange. Take for example the concept of "Terrorism" State sponsored terrorism is cal...

  21st century Weather report The world is reeling under the hate wave of right wing xenophobia, binaries of ' us v/s them '. The hate wave is projected to continue and expand as people turn their back on ideals of liberty and fraternity which had yielded unequal fruits for the majority in the globalised world of 20th Century. While the globalisation of 20th century opened up the barriers for free flow of money across the world, the flow of people has been artificially impeded creating great pressures at the arbitrary borders. The potential energy arising from the stalled flow is bound to turn into kinetic energy, overpowering the borders - sooner or later. And that possibility of bursting of dam obviously scares people on either side. Uncertain times, Uncertain times. In times of uncertainty, people obviously seek certainty - Certainty of 'walls ' to save their way of life. These hate filled winds have given wings to proponents of wall builders everywher...

Today, UK decided to leave EU. EU itself has now far more ‘far right’ xenophobic  parties in the European parliament than ever before in its history. On the back of very virulent xenophobia, Trump, otherwise a sideshow freak in the branding/entertainment industry, is now a presidential contender in USA – His promise of the ‘wall’ between mexico and USA garnering him followers among republican US citizens. India recently elected a right wing government with an unprecedented majority – putting majoritarian fictions in the central consciousness of the nation, instead of actual issues that need public debate. From Netherlands to Australia to Nigeria to Philippines… people everywhere are electing xenophobic parties and leaders. Are we collectively getting dumber? Or is their something beneath our collective psyches that needs recognition? The fear of loss of control If the last century was about opening the world with fast rails, conco...

JNU students are not stealing money from public banks. The powerful but immoral business men and their cronies in the nation's bureaucracy are. Beef eaters are not stealing your food; subsidizing for the politicians and driving farmers to kill themselves. The culprit are the flawed policies of the apathetic government shaped in no small measure by lobbying corporate and business-politician nexus. The 'Muslims'/ 'Hindus'/ 'Flying Spaghetti Monster worshippers' are not attacking your dignity as a human being. It is the capitalist power centers who would not let you organise and rise as equals. It perpetuates inequality and dreams of 'making it big', a lottery rigged from the start. The 'Anti-nationals' are only really anti-stupor . They are not endangering your survival. Your existence is being endangered by blind corporates and corrupt bureaucrats who subvert moral responsibilities , and who prioritise profit over human life. Jats/ Dali...

The rabid in 21st century do not get a Rabies shot. They get to run the nation. The zombie apocalypse is already here. foaming at mouth. brains rotten . fangs out . Out to destroy the civilisation (as we dreamed of in 20th century), unmindfully. The zombies have worn different colors through the centuries and eons, so don't let the color fool you. Saffron, Green, red, cross.. all colors and symbols are rendered in blood of innocent people. The blood of weak ones who refused to become zombies. Hatred is forced through the empty minds and hearts of the gullible through the television sets and newspapers. The TV set is the scalpel and hammer that is used in the mass lobotomy. The talking heads on TV eat out the faculty of reason and empathy from the brains and hearts of the weaklings. All that remains is a tangled mass of raw twitching nerves.  They rove the country in search of other gullible idiots, whose brains they can infect with sordid tales of imagined hurt sentiments. S...

The only reality is power. and the powerful will always have more leverage with tools. No matter with what intention those tools were made - internet (democratising force), judicial system (equalizing force), democracy (equal voice)... all these tools ends up serving the rich and powerful.  Take for instance the brutal massacres that Ranveer sena assholes kept on perpetrating killing hundreds of marginalised people - Dalits, Muslims, low-caste persons. A decade on, the perpetrators have been declared innocent by high court citing such intelligent reasoning - "When the killers came with intention to kill everybody, how the witnesses survived?"   The high caste judge reasoned that presence of witness is proof of the innocence! and if the killers had been efficient? then in absence of witnesses, killers would have been deemed innocent. Heads I win, Tales you loose. And the unstated rule of land will always remain 'Heads I win, tale you loose' with the r...

1. -isms as wish fulfilment   People on earth followed/ believed in many different '-isms'. Communism, hinduism, capitalism, secularism, dadaism and so on.  These -isms were short cuts . They allowed for the believer to accept solutions without having to engage in empathetic discourse and recognition of an individual as a free yet malleable agent. They allowed them to accept solutions without a clear understanding of assumptions or use of consistent reason. Now we know that it is prudent to be sceptical of all -isms even if one agrees with most wishes that these -isms propose to fulfil. (and now one should not say that everyone should be sceptical, because that will turn into another -ism.) 2. A divided planet In a lazy intellectual divide (because you must divide) people on the planet earth were divided as either 'left wing',  'right wing' or 'fence sitters'. Right wingers were assholes who benefited from the status quo and prevailing inequality. Th...

http://online.wsj.com/articles/book-review-a-time-to-attack-by-matthew-kroenig-1403220920 The link is to a WSJ review of a book written by an apparent trigger happy lunatic. The book in question is called 'a time to attack'. Clue no. 1 about the psychiatric help that the author needs. How should one read this? 1. The conclusion is the title, why read the rest of the book? who wants to read a story without any suspense? who  reads a story backwards? The answer is, the ones who are in agreement, but are either  in conflict with self over that position or want to be able to convince others. So the book is obviously not for people who want to figure things out or understand the very complicated situation that we are in. (Why not 'the Iran problem'/ 'the nuclear question') It is for the ones who are too impatient to appreciate complexities and want simple 'final' answers. People who seek vicarious fulfillment in abstract far away conflicts in a bid to ...

www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/05/26/far-right-europe-election_n_5391873.html?1401104084 The Hindutva party in here and nazi anti-immigrants in Europe. Right wing parties everywhere. no one wants 'the others' on their soil. but that doesn't stop them from looting from 'the others' (colonisation & coupes & sponsored revolutions) and sending drones to kill 'the others'. where will the others go, if you contribute to their misery and downward spiral?  If the last century was about opening the world with fast rails, concordes & the internet. This century would be about making sense of this uncontrollable openness and ensuing vulnerability that individuals & groups perceive. If the last century was about the individual removed from his immediate world, this century would be about a new social consciousness of & want of belonging. The openness of last century does not really benefit the individuals and small groups as much as it does to ...

Ajit Pawar is the deputy CM of Maharashtra. Its unfortunate that I share his surname. He is a symbol of what is wrong with India. Like Rahul Gandhi, he is benefited by his lineage. The only reason people like these get to the 'throne' is because of the horrible nepotism that characterizes Indian politics. Watch this video to understand why people like these should be banished from the country, let alone 'rule' it. http://ibnlive.in.com/news/maharashtra-ajit-pawar-apologises-for-his-urine-remark/383783-37-64.html The deputy CM, angrily reacts to the 55 day fast of 'some Deshmukh' in view of drought in Maharashtra. 1. How he reacted? He reacted angrily. He trivialized not only the fast, but the terrible drought tragedy that is claiming lives and livelihood in Maharashtra. This aspect was covered in media, shockingly so much is left out by media!  2. Reacted against what? The fast. 55 days of fast! I was shocked. Isn't that news worthy by itself? how ...

I caught myself singing along to an English song. again. *stop* I can't go on. Once I realize that I am singing, i must stop. Well, its not that I am a terrible singer (not to my own ears anyways) or that i have any social qualms (quite on the contrary, I might sing loudly in crowded places just because I can) but its simply the fact that it sounds weird coming out of my mouth. You see, my English and the American/British English is wildly different from each other. Inadvertently I find myself trying to ape an accent that's not mine and I feel ridiculous. *stop* So while Indian English is almost my first language, i don't have a single art/ cultural reference to it apart from some stand up comedy. (and none of them unconscious of the accent. instead, more often than not, they are conscious jokes on the accent) I have no songs to sing in my natural English accent and language. I can sing truly to Hindi or Marathi songs. but half the lyrics would be lost on me due to my ...