Violence of Focus = Pain of Purpose = Life = Apex Predator

 

The universe is the chemistry of equilibrium. It requires energy, the same energy that gets transformed into matter and back endlessly. The violence is eternal, and so is the resistance against it through purpose. 

For us time is linear so death is inevitable. The fear of the end gives rise to survival instinct, the seed of life. That instinct gets morphed into purpose that creates and moulds matter / nature itself and through this act of violence we fight death. But the fear does not go away, sometimes it creates more violence as its justification to survive and grow. Some other times, we accept the inevitable and become fearless, fearless to choose in that moment.

And sometimes the fear creates the joy of nothingness. It gives peace in that moment. That is suddenly the complete lack of energy. That last for that very moment that is perhaps immortal, but it is not the time we know. That realization makes a man fearless. The joy gives clarity of thought that the violence / the focus / the pain / the purpose of life is greater than the energy that created fear itself.

We have called ourselves the hunter-warriors. We are in fact the apex predator. For 10,000 and more years all races of humans have defeated all prey. Now we are bored, we are waiting, perhaps for the next predator from space. Perhaps we are looking for the predator can eat us. We have to die one day, and we want to rage against the dying of our light.

Not yet, Now

Why

An infant’s life is filled with love, joy and intimacy. An adult’s life is filled with everything else. Relationships need work, work needs commitment, commitment needs vision and we are shortsighted needing glasses. The pursuit of an ideal is not the purpose; the purpose is to spend life and hand over the mess to our kids. If the child got a 4×4 vehicle to complete his/her journey of life, we through our inertia have placed it right in the middle of nowhere surrounded by a pond of mud. A great start is on its way a lousy story of increasing loneliness and despair.

I grew up to take responsibility, as those were the stories I heard. Nevertheless, the mess was so bad; I continued to stick to stories on newer devices and newer formats. I learnt ignorance and lazy inaction is bliss from my idol, father/mother. They are my God.

I have to take one of two paths, each equally honorable and worthy. One is living life as it is, nothing more nothing less – it is the divine bliss of nothingness. The other is changing it alone – it is the human condition exploring perfection. Majority make living a social exercise killing the spontaneity of life itself. They mixed both paths and compromised thought & action. Instead they should have chosen one path with thought and acted with conviction. Read on if you feel you are the 1% on the other path – the one exploring perfection.

Not yet

Being worthy of worship and still I feel desperate and lost. My natural instinct tells me to erase all, destroy everything and everyone, cause anarchy and create a clean slate. How naïve.

I contrast this feeling as remember the name of Okhil Chandra Sen. A man from Kolkata, who got so pissed at train coaches with no toilets (in 1909) in Indian trains that he acted productively on it. You are equally pissed off, but unlike him, your name is not worth remembering because you have no clue how to be productive about your anger. You seek to complain and destroy. Good luck with the mess you are creating for your next generation.

I do not advocate being practical. ‘Practical’ is the biggest load of shit indoctrinated by each institution we have encountered growing up. It wastes time, the only resource that is in limited supply. You may argue ethics here, and I would leave the discussion, as my time is more valuable than your ethics. You need a vision but you pretend; pretend to be busy doing things wasteful way.

An ideal humanity is not the vision nor an ideal environment on earth. The vision is of an ideal human, from whose mistakes the child learns. Your first choice as a human is to create your vision of an ideal human. That ideal human may be a hacker running a government single-handedly or a tourist just there to explore the planet. Having the picture of your vision in your mind is more important than what picture.

This picture would take multiple lifetimes and multiple you to achieve it. This is a sign that the vision is grand. There are no limits to this grand vision. Paint your picture or create your movie as grand as you can imagine. This is the dream that plays in the background of your mind each moment of your breathing life. You are getting the thought half right.

Now

I believe the ideal human loves his/her self, chooses his intimacy with people and goals, enjoys the bittersweet fruits of his decisions and actions. (S)He is pissed that the previous generations wasted time and did not work on a vision worthy of intelligence. He doesn’t worry how vision for humankind will shape as a sum of all such actions, he is calm with rage to fulfil his own purpose – the purpose (s)he chose.

The vision picture does not exist in the real world today. Few years’ later parts of it will be, and much of it may be real until your life ends. It all depends on the purpose you choose to put your will to. Break down this vision into projects that you can do alone. These projects are parts of the jigsaw puzzle you are solving. The projects would not be practical, nor ethical but necessary. Work on the “masterplan” to get each project done. Meanwhile life is dangerous so enjoy smallest things in the moment you are living.

For each masterplan that fails, believe that you would have a better masterplan to achieve your picture. The mess around pains you, and in your picture you either love your makers more or destroy them. At the very least, a human is deciding what happens his/her species. Whatever you decide, act on your projects now. There are infinite joys and abundance in your world. Be thankful you have limited time and grateful that you alone are responsible. Pursuing my vision each moment is the perfection I seek in my life. And I hope my child would show me how I could have done it better. This way you are getting the action half right.

Where

A foetus is an unborn infant. It is the possibility of life and yet we have not granted a pronoun like she / he to talk about them. Respect is the only additional layer of social interaction an intelligent being can bring, and we are yet to do it through our language. This disrespect continues by us imposing our views on our kids calling it love. We do not need more unconditional love. Respect your children’s wish to re-write your vision into a better one through their eyes. Respect the other individual’s will to destroy your world and fight him/her worthy of a legend. Give respect so maybe long after you go, your name would receive the respect you gave. Else, you are the animal our species still trying to evolve from. It all comes from the language of your dreams. Let your respect show as you merge not yet (thought) and now (action) into your masterpiece.

Everything between concept to purpose to method

Is there any one who loves a guy asking questions? too many questions? Am I asking too many questions already? No worries, I'll just get down to the two question that are asked most often, but never heard explicitly. 

The two basic questions that the top level that underpins all knowledge are: (1) How did universe come from nothingness and (2) How did life come from non-life? We are yet to find the answers and progress to reach those answers needs to be underway. For now we have to live with an answer that forms the premise of life and belief in world's oldest civilization. The answer is that the cause of both is possibly same, and for lack of a better word, we name the cause/source/power as "God". By causing these, (s)he implicitly controls linear time as we understand it through law of causality/Karma. 

Look at what we have done in the process of exploring answers to our questions. We created the written language (including maths and music and all) without which we are not fundamentally different from a wild monkey (other than the tail for sure!). With it we have cured the incurable, we have seen the invisible, we can hear beyond our ears, we can talk across millions of kilometers and what the heck, we have even come to know how to slow the passage of time! 

It is in the process of further answering these two questions, that we came to know laws of nature and mathematics and are still exploring. Laws of physics and evolution are milestones in our understand of that concept/premise of "God". We experiment and we medidate for these answers and wish we could talk to this omnipotent/omnipresent/omniscient concept. This concept has to knowledgeable and authoritatively talk to the male and female in us. (S)He needs to do what both genders can do. Hence if we try to put a human form to this concept, it will be a being that is half male and half female. Hindus call this imaginary form - "Ardhnaareshwar" (Half man Half woman God) in Sanskrit.

This is where my talk seems to take on the cloak of a bias. Let's perhaps put this aside for a moment and think. What we needed from "God" is a really good conversation. What we got were respected Prophets, Saints, Sadhus, incarnations and more. What we got was more fundamental, we got belief. Belief through very useful stories told to us in order to lead a fulfilling life. We want to continue this conversation further, maybe over dinner close to a fire. 

The basic answer that we are looking for is why were we created as beings with imagination. What is the purpose do we serve? Left to nature we would end up evolving, albeit very slowly. As a group of intelligent minds, we choose to evolve faster than nature. The rapid growth of science, technology and arts is proof of that. Our purpose then ends up being evolving individually to a higher plane of existence.

This is much easier said than done. The process of survival has become intricately complex since we as a species chose to violate the law of the jungle and allowed the weakest to survive and thrive. It is an unending cycle of manifestation of creativity to make things, then make rules, explore more and then destroy what was created to create again. Our curiosity has led to the improvement of not only standard of life, it has also brought us to the threshold of being able to create artificial life and intelligence. What will this uninterrupted increase in standard of life through discoveries and inventions lead to? Very simply, it is again to expedite our evolution compared to nature. 

We have invented machines that are controlled through our mind. Technology to operate appliances in your house with your mind are already available. Let alone anti-aging, by breaking into parts, we have "almost" recreated the most complex machine ever created, the human being. 

So what does this mean for us, you and me? That's difficult to put into words in any language. The world was perfect before humans inherited the planet. Are we simply here to create a "more perfect" world than we inherited? These would be reasons that exist only because we are a being that can think and imagine. We seek meaning when the world was already perfect without it. Perhaps its about meaninglessness of our lives that subconsciously pains us. Is there any bullet that is going to kill me or am I going to live in irrational fear of the inevitable certain death? So again, what do we, you and I choose to do?

You really care a damn about I choose to do, as long as you are able to choose to do what you want. That mutual respect here that already exists between me and you and it will help if we are able to add compassion for each other. Because our questions still remain the same in our minds. 

Why am I here now? What should I do? How do I know what is good/right/best/appropriate? Perhaps there is someone, "Ardhnaareshwar/God" watching us to judge us and our actions. Perhaps its our imagination to search for meaning in our lives. In either case, we can live a worthwhile life by being worthy, by a standard you, I and we choose. As a species with the ability, we will evolve by our will that is given to us by the concept/premise of "God". We always had this same purpose, and you and I can respectfully choose to follow our respective method we deem fit. 

Phew, lots of questions in what I said. I hope perhaps I am leaving you with more answers than questions. 

Who will you be?

An objectionable situation: Assume that by a freak accident that you and your first cousin sister are the only ones left on our planet earth. All the technology and knowledge remains, just the humans perish.
The question: what next will you do?
Let me dampen your “excitement” a bit. The choice has been taken that the human species must live so procreation will happen. Now what next will you create?
I will tell you what I think:
  1. Am I happy that I got to create the world as I want or that I am pissed that I no longer have anything to complain about?
  2. Do I care about what I leave behind, because I am going to be dead even when I own the whole wide world?
  3. Now that I have no options for females, what else must I do so that I still LIVE my life?
  4. Do I really need to introduce the concept of money and property?
  5. Is there a need for me to give names to relationships or see what makes them worth making?
  6. Do I need to create the idea of boundaries and differences, physical or mental?
  7. Is the most important thing to teach my children LOVE OR RESPECT for the others?
  8. Is there any more need for God, for the only species that believes in him/her will go extinct if it believed in his/her “ethics / commandments”?
  9. Do I define my own standards of morality for the world, or do I let the only true freedom, which is the FREEDOM TO REBEL, be the foundation stone of the new society?
  10. Will I now take a stand that I will take a back seat and let my woman shape the society she wanted to build?
  11. Will I leave behind a society that feels what you are deep inside is what matters or will I be an example that it is what I did that mattered, not what I felt or thought? I mean am I going to let revenge and punishment be the pillars of fairness or fiercely push a sense of compassion and responsibility?
This is not the complete list, maybe less that a percent. You will die and so will I, and maybe the entire human species will die. But that is where life opens up. Have we not been sitting waiting for life to happen when it’s all happening right there and now?
Just look at what limitless possibilities you have at hand. Or did you just look at the problems of each? Perhaps you did end up judging me without knowing me. So are you a part of the problem of humankind or the one that is ever evolving into something more and new?
I do not need love or admiration from you for I have received it from my parents who gave it to me, and countless many, even though that will pass. What I demand is only your freedom to rebel, and even if that may be against me, I assure you that you will get the respect you deserve.

‘OM’

Hope of meritocracy returning to India

When a child is born, with him is born infinite possibilities, right from being a fighter pilot to a superstar. The aspirations of the parents and family give it a direction of "go ahead child" or make the child choose among different directions of "my way or the highway". The traditions and norms ask the child to conform to perceptions of "look at her and learn" and his desires ask him to break the norm and do "what feels right". A child outgrows his adolescence and lives like a responsible adult in a nation that allows him to live his path. In his struggles the child achieves his dreams through a route filled with failures. Hopefully he dies content.

Even before I was moving from the adolescent phase, I was coming to know that in our nation birth mattered more than deeds. That was different from what I learnt from my childhood stories of the Upanishads, Ramayana and Mahabharata. The story of Raja Bharat of our land Aaryavrat adopting a son to be the next king because he found none of his nine sons capable of being a ruler, was scrupulously hidden. What was repeatedly told to me was that Yudhisthira was the rightful heir to the throne being the eldest because his father was the rightful king. I was starting to feel comfortable with nepotism and deeply uncomfortable with lack of meritocracy. Our family was becoming smaller and smaller still was I expected to dream. In me somewhere hope was dimming like the profits of a yesteryear corporate.

Today, when we got the election results in four states were declared, I felt alive with hope. Two trends are becoming clear:

1. The right to the throne (if there is anything like that) does not belong to the bachcha of the raja or the family cooks and drivers
2. The regional and multiple "shadow-lines" based groupism disappearing to give way to growth

I am not a man of politics but a man who thinks and believes. I believe that the good part is that unlike what I grew up observing, the future is uncertain. We seem to have found some happiness back as the flame of hope is becoming stronger in the winds of change. I feel our children can live their dreams and I think we too have the chance of dying content, maybe attain nirvana. That humming sound you faintly feel in your head is the Aarambh of Indian awakening. 

Mutual respect is the key to our evolution, not love

I have often wondered about the all healing feeling / emotion of love. It gives me pain, yet makes me feel complete. Love the earth, love your family, love what you have and love yourself. When you give love, you get love back in return and we spread our happiness to the world. Love is what makes life worth living.

I have still not covered love in entirety but three sentences makes me think - Wait! Love is what makes animals better than plants, it gives them the capacity to care even when they have to kill and fight with their own for their daily survival. I watched on Discovery Channel in awe when a even a mother lioness kills a pregnant monkey to feed her children, but adopts the monkey infant delivered right then as her own cub. That made me of what we civilized humans are trying to do even today and still not succeeding as well as the animals. Reminds me of the lyrics of Michael Jackson's song, "There are people dying, if you care enough for the living, make it a better place for you and for me and for the entire human race..."

However, even when we do reach the emotional maturity of the animals, like the lioness, we are yet to do something "human". I mean love is what makes life worth living, but that's setting the level of humanity a little low. It feels as if I am being told, "You are born with intelligence. But keep it aside along with your base instincts. Do what animals do best. Love! Don't think and decide. Just feel the love"

Give me a break! If am worthy of a thinking brain, I would rather not put it aside for love. I would take the first step of compassion for all humans, animals and plants alike. Then for humans, I would develop something called respect. That is the only way I would keep learning from each one and keep growing, as an individual and as a human being. In fact, more than unconditional love, I would promote conscious respect for each of us. If I am able to do that, I would have made life my teacher. And some day, my teacher would have made me someone from whom others can learn. That day respect would reach me and I will know that my life has been worth me. The mutual respect will make us growth continuously, out of our boundaries and fears and beyond technology and anything, even artificial life that we would discover and create. This mutual respect is the key to our evolution. 

Bohemia's legacy and my fallacy: Litost

A couple of years back I remember reading "The Unbearable Lightness of Being" by Milan Kundera. It was recommended by one of my closest friends, and it easily ranks as the best book I have read. Since then I have developed a deep sense of respect for the author who seems have more insights into the psyche of human beings than the best psychologists. 

I was just going through one of his set of articles in "The Book of Laughter and Forgetting" about a feeling called "Litost". It is a Bohemian word, an explains the genius of a feeling that has no parallel word in any other language. Milan Kundera defines litost as a state of torment created by the sudden sight of one's own misery. How true!

Hasn't it happened that we have come across situations that we were within arms reach of something we greatly desired, and then suddenly, it disappeared completely from our sight? And for that we end up blaming ourselves and our bad luck for it? It is the same feeling I am trying to explain by the term "litost". 

It has also happened quite a few times when we try to show possessiveness and care for the other person, even end up shouting at and hitting the person we love, just because they did something we could not do. We try to tell them its our overwhelming sense of care and affection, but all the while we are trying to shut ourselves from admitting that we would have been pathetic in the same situation. To make our point we go to the point of staying hungry and even hurting ourselves, just to make a point. A point that was never so important or critical in any sense. We did all that just to bring back a feeling of equality in our hearts, rather restore the balance in favour of our superiority. 

I have faced the same feeling when I tried to go out of the way and create my own venture. I felt unsure of myself and lacked confidence in my abilities when I was graduating from IIM Ahmedabad, so much that it clouded my mind for over three and half years. This feeling started sprouting in me since my near fatal accident during engineering two years before I got admission into the institute. My will power to live created a medical miracle. But it left my mind far more wounded than my bruised and battered body. I was close to getting married to the girl of my life, and I did not get an ounce of feeling that I WILL be able to care of her, whatever life may offer. Without proof to the contrary, I was not sure if I could be a good son to my parents, a good brother and an admired family member. Time came closer, and at the last minute, I left my well-settled job for a venture that was probably ill suited to my characteristics. What in fact I had really lost, was 15 points in IQ, although even after that my IQ was tested to be higher than that of the CAT topper in the entire country. 

At that time, my thought was noble, and the intention was indeed noble. I have tried explaining to myself that the idea was driven by my need to feel connected to my Indian roots that are long lost in the partition days in Bangladesh. I wanted to do something for my nation and my people, burn hard earned money and put at stake all my relationships and ideals and go full steam to educate the rural youth. I did lose more than I could ever imagine. It was loss of a life. 

As I am writing after long under this pen-name that I so ardently love, I realise that it was my litost that was my biggest motivator. Today I am back on my path to recovery and I am certain that I will be able to make good of the lost time, relationships and money. But I am still aware that my litost is a companion who is unwilling to leave me like my shadow. I am reminded of the poems of Defeat (by Khalil Gibran), If (by Rudyard Kipling) and The Road Not Taken (by Robert Frost) that ignited and stirred in me a sense of passion for something I never understood. Today I found a word for that instinct. For once, a man who has dreamed of modifying language to fit the thought patterns of the human brain, is overcome by the effect of a singular word that changed a paradigm of his understanding of something equally complex yet simple and beautiful - life, my life. 

Towards nature's universal language

Language developed as a means of communication, rather as a medium of exchange of ideas. But how well does and idea get captured in words? And how precisely is it perceived by the intended recipient? The entire collection of books and scriptures of a civilization are a true representation of the society that created it. To put this in another way, language captures the essence of a culture, just like the stock price captures the essentials of a company. Language becomes a determinant in the development of civilization. Societies with languages that are gender neutral, like Bengali and German, the power is shared more “equally” among the genders than other societies following gender sensitive languages like Hindi or English. To understand these distinctions more clearly, let us analyse this objectively.

A language grows as the civilization progresses. New objects discovered and invented add to the language in terms of new words. Poetry adds a visualization element to the grammar of the language. A beautiful poem is able to evoke the same visualizations and emotions across a large section of the population thereby elevating the level of “human-ness” in the society. Similarly new concepts developed and scientific progress made elevate the society to a higher standard of living. But is the language inherently strong enough so that it can adapt to the changing cultures due to technology and yet maintain the existing identity of the society?

Let us see what we mean by some of our basic words, like “leaf” and “demand”. What do you mean by the word, leaf? In botany, a leaf is an above-ground plant organ specialized for photosynthesis. A stem is elongated structure that supports a plant. So does a cactus have leaves or stems? It is not quite so easy to answer as it appears. Similarly let us try to define the word demand. Frequently understood as a requirement, it has a desire aspect attached to it as well. While the calorie intake required per head may be 2000 calories a day, it does not quantify demand as the demand may be for only 1500 calories or 3000 calories a day depending on lifestyle. The synonyms may help explain meanings, but may end up distorting the meaning as well. Even the basic words are not very cooperative for us to develop higher concepts.

What about the scripts that let us express and share our knowledge? Let us take pictographic scripts for example. They may capture an idea in more complete manner and brief manner, but it faces issues of scale. Scientific advancement will flood the language with new symbols so much that a prowess in language becomes essential for the further progress of technology. Moreover the language is phonetically unclear for everyone and dictionary lookup becomes essential for the intelligentsia. A visualization of a symbol as a picture might undergo changes as the knowledge base expands.

The Chinese (Mandarin) script has over 50,000 symbols of which 10% may be in common use. How much of society and science can be captured in just 5000 symbols? Remember that these symbols are not alphabets but words. To read the names of all elements and compounds in that humanity is aware of, we just need to know 26 alphabets in English. But to do the same in Chinese would require knowledge of not only the symbols for “element” and “compound” but also of each of the 108+ elements. This is a very intuitive understanding of a pictographic language. It is a limited language indeed.

Let us come to the alphabetic languages like English and German. Starting with English, we see that it is predominantly male-focused language. Man represents humans and it is the responsibility of the “white-man” to take civilization forward. The language represents a one-god, no goddess faith system that puts conquest above all rest. Germans on the other hand have a precise language where appointments are fixed in a 24hour time format to avoid confusion. The focus is more on the verb than on gender of the noun. Their nation is their “fatherland” indicating that a sense of pride, power and ambition is central to the collective psyche that coordinates its actions through mathematical “precision” of its language.

There is an Indic set of alphabetic languages represented by Sanskrit, Tamil, Hindi and Bengali. Each of them captures the Indian essence equally but each has specific characteristics that make them unique. Their differentiating is the separation of consonants and vowels. Among the four above, only Bengali is gender-neutral like German. Bengali borrows consonants in its script from Sanskrit and vowels from Tamil. Tamil keeps the essence of South India alive whereas Hindi shows how Arabic language influences on Sanskrit have been “Indianised”. But Sanskrit being the mother language of all, has an elegance and beauty that echoes the fundamental characteristics of nature.

This brings us to the central point of this article. Not only should the language be flexible enough to adapt to progress in science and technology but it should also mirror nature’s characteristics in its fundamental structure. The concept of a two i.e. a pair is a fundamental truth of nature. The pairs may be opposing, like proton and electron, good and bad, or may co-exist like two strands of DNA, male and female. This fundamental truth should be allowed to reflect itself as a separate concept in the grammar. Among all known languages, only Sanskrit adds a dual to singular and plural forms in the language. This is of monumental importance. Between one and many, us and them, there is a form that exists called both or together. From conflict we have a state of equilibrium in between. So the Sanskrit based Hindu civilizations did not expand by military conquest, but by including and bringing together cultures of varying geographies.

It has always been out endeavor to capture the knowledge inherent in nature. We know that nature expresses itself in mathematics. Many scientists are of the opinion that a breakthrough in science awaits a revolution in our understanding of mathematics. Maybe that understanding of mathematics is hindered by “sub-standard” languages that restrain our thoughts from infancy. We can start bringing about the change by incorporating the “dual” of Sanskrit and then proceeding to incorporate words with specific meanings and lesser stress on synonyms. A scientific grammar will help science. And maybe as time progresses, we may or may not have a language that is gender-neutral.

~ 3-Jan-2011

This too shall pass away

Once in Persia reigned a King,
Who upon his signet ring
Graved a maxim true and wise,
Which, if held before his eyes,
Gave him counsel at a glance,
Fit for every change and chance.
Solemn words, and these are they;
"Even this shall pass away."

Trains of camels through the sand
Brought him gems from Samarcand;
Fleets of galleys through the seas
Brought him pearls to match with these;
But he counted not his gain,
Treasures of mine or main;
"What is wealth?" the king would say;
"Even this shall pass away."

Mid the revels of his court,
At the zenith of his sport,
When the palms of all his guests,
Burned with clapping at his jests,
He, amid his figs and wine;
Cried, 'O loving friends of mine;
Pleasures come, but not to stay;
"Even this shall pass away"

Lady, fairest ever seen,
Was the bride he crowned his queen.
Pillowed on his marriage bed,
Softly to his soul he said:
Though no bridegroom ever passed;
Fairer bosom to his breast,
Mortal flesh must come to clay-
"Even this shall pass away"

Fighting on a furious field,
Once a javelin pierced his shield;
Soldiers, with a loud lament,
Bore him bleeding to his tent.
Groaning from his tortured side,
"Pain is hard to bear," he cried;
"But with patience, day by day,
Even this shall pass away.

Towering in the public square,
Twenty cubits in the air,
Rose his statue carved in stone.
Then the king, disguised, unknown,
Stood before his sculptured name,
Musing meekly: "What is fame?"
Fame is but a slow decay;
Even this shall pass away.

Struck with palsy, sore and old,
Waiting at the Gates of Gold,
Said he with his dying breath,
"Life is done, but what is death?"
Then, in answer to the king,
Fell a sun beam on his ring,
"Even this shall pass away."

~ Theodore Tilton

The next evolution stage

A view of the future fills us with wonder, awe and usually fear. Mutants might emerge soon who are superior to us and like us they'll rule over all inferior species, including non-mutant humans. If that doesn't happen aliens will come to earth and wipe out all civilization. And maybe we might just not have so much patience and kill each other by developing more and more deadly weapons.

Such kinds of imagination are no doubt creative and tend to fit a particular theory of probability and scientific possibility. We might very well try a different perspective by asking a basic question. What is the purpose of life/conciousness?

The purpose of life is to create beings with supreme intelligence who can adapt to any conditions. Right now we are at the stage where science and technology has brought us to the stage with the following characteristics:
1. Machines having processing / computation speeds higher than the human brain
2. The development of artificial intelligence
3. Machines that can assemble other machines

So what would be we have next? "Smarter" machines that can assemble their "clones" and actually "create" even smarter machines with with better adaptability. Where would we stand in the same world vis-a-vis them?

Intuitively, they would not have emotions nor instincts and hence would act "insensitively" wiping us out or using us humans as resources. Ironically, we think that way because thats the exact way our "civilizations" have emerged. Even more ironically, it was always emotions and instincts that made us "animals" and hence less "human". Maybe we cant take it that machines would be more "human" that us humans!!!

Coming back to the point, we must ask why emotions and instincts emerge, why they exist now and are they required later. Instincts emerged to ensure survival of the body that will house the seat of logic and decision making. It is immediate and local in nature and can handle only simple situations with simple responses. Emotions emerged as a stepping stone towards intelligent consciousness. They also introduced variability in the decision making making them seem irrational. This helped in the being taking decisions that assumed a bigger unknown picture for the decision maker bringing him out of the sub-optimal solution trap.

The emotions and instincts may be required for animals (including humans) probably because they are still evolving. It might also be that they are still required. Maybe both reasons hold. But we started with the assumption that the purpose of life is to create beings with supreme intelligence. It seems we are getting stuck here.

But hold on! We are not getting stuck. The machines may be "smarter", but that is true when they have a task at hand. Will they be able to ask questions? Will they be able to figure out unexpected pattern and perform lateral thinking i.e. be creative? Maybe they need to have emotions and instincts to do so. For that they will need to be living like us humans. The machines need us to be supreme!

In fact we also need machines for their capabilities for us to be supreme. So why cant humans and machines merge? Of course they can! In fact they are already merging. Take for example pacemakers, or for that matter artificial limbs, hearing aids, and even chips that record all that our eyes see. We can clone ourselves and are right now mutating our own species!!!

This outcome is fascinating to say the least. We are creating a new branch of science and even defining what things like evolution and species mean. It does put us at conflict with the supernatural things claimed in all religions. Well except for Hinduism. "Vasudhaiva kutumbakam" means the world is one family. Note that it said the "world", and not all "life".

Maybe the next evolution step is the merging of material and logic at will. Probably it is the same supreme being that will dominate its existence across galaxies. Its happening faster than you feel or think or imagine. Be prepared my friend, be prepared!

(Written on 17-Oct-2009)

Stages of Life

We find it easy to imagine stages of life as the following: Childhood, teenage, youth, middle-age and old-age. Of course, this chronological division is easy to do. A more fruitful activity oriented staging of life is provided by Hinduism as the four ashramas: Bhrahmacharya, Grihastha, Vaanprastha, Sanyaasa; effectively translating into virgin studenthood, family life, reclusion and seclusion. Each phase has been given 25 years assuming a 100 year lifetime.

This is where the ambiguity arises. Neither do we have a fixed lifetime nor do we have fixed times/ratio of times to give to each phase. The transition is gradual yet distinct. Usually we end up not living the last phase of the "sanyaasa" time. But how does that matter?

It matters because somewhere we are trying to classify our life's decisions based on some criteria. These decisions have to be based on some priority order. What is this priority order to take life's most crucial decisions?

The four life phases are better understood if we try to understand what is most important for us in each life phase. In the first phase our parents are most important for us. In the next one it is our life-partner. Following that the most important for us is our children. In the last phase, it is the ambiguous bigger thing that is most important.

In short, the following turns out to be the priority order in our life in the contemporary time, allowing for some redefinition of life phases:
1. Brahmacharya aashram: Student life
2. Grihastha aashram: Initial job life, marriage, till the arrival of the first offspring
3. Vaanprastha aashram: Continues till the end of education/student life of the youngest offspring
4. Sanyaasa aashram: Period till the end of one's life during which one concentrates and acts on the bigger value of his life's efforts

To make the utility of the above distinction clearer, lets briefly look at the boundary decisions of each:
1. Brahmacharya: Learning to choose based on benefit to self and benefit to significant others (eg: friends, parents, elders). First priority is parents/elders/teachers. Focus is on education.
2. Grihastha: Choosing based on benefit to self. First priority is life-partner. This transition of first priority should have acceptance of the earlier priority holders i.e. parents. If parents dont agree, eliminate the transition option. The transition point is discrete and unambiguous. After marriage, other life decisions during this phase are taken in mutual understanding with life-partner.
3. Vaanprastha: Choosing based on benefit to self and significant others. First priority is children. This transition happening during the arrival of an offspring should have acceptance of the life-partner. Again the transition point is discrete and unambigious. If life-partner interferes in proper education of the children, eliminate the life-partner as an option. But this should only be the last method as the children need both parents for proper development.
4. Sanyaasa: Choosing based on benefit to others. First priority is the nation and humanity. This transition does not need acceptance of any other person. If the child(ren) act against the nation/humanity, eliminate that particular person. This decision is the result of the priority order that is no longer considering benefit to self.

Nowhere have I tried to understate the importance of emotions and relationships as that was not my intention. Please do not look at the narrow definition of the word "benefit". What I have written above is a generalisation and a set of guiding principles that have to be appropriately applied to the specific situation and context. Judgements aside, the decision still remains yours.

(Written on 17-Oct-2009)

Sanatan is Eternal

A couple of days ago, i finished reading the graphic novel “The Watchmen” by Alan Moore… Today i finished watching the movie… The plot reminded me of another very well known story by Isaac Asimov, “I, Robot”… Asimov’s VIKI, the super-intelligent and super-powerful robot had to be terminated in its initiative of bringing peace to human society… But Alan’s super-intelligent Adrian Veidt “The Ozymandias” and super-powerful Jon “Dr. Manhattan” were allowed the same liberties of taking human lives for lasting peace… Ethics, is a word that then started to have a new meaning for me… Ethics is then a matter of the circumstance, situation, maybe perspective or just a matter of time…

It maybe just a matter of time that the communication revolution brings me to a point where the only information i need is the one i dont have… the information about my identity, knowledge about the importance of my identity to the human society, the harmony of my identity with the existence of humanity… I turn to the wisdom of the ages, the guiding lights of my life, Hinduism, the “Sanatan Dharma” Eternal Religion… Its the oldest religion of the human world and claims its superiority from its logical foundations…

Sanatam Dharma tells me my identity is defined by the nation and culture i live in… It tells me the only thing beyond my control is time and all things that are consequent to it and hence it is the omnipresence of God… And finally it tells me to maintain my character and control my senses so that one day i might just turn time in my favour… all to achieve the end… So i prepare myself for anything, absolutely everything that might come my way… Life is sorted out and there’s a grand plan in my head… I strike at every opportune moment i can find… And one day, luck will be my say…

It is like the wish to fly… I am standing on a glass floor in an aircraft… I already feel like a bird… But i need to fly… I jump on the glass to break it… I keep jumping… I know it will break… I am prepared for the leap… The parachute bag is my plan on my shoulder… The glass beneath my feet breaks… I am literally falling from the sky… But i laugh… I am flying…

The average intelligence of the human society decreases as population increases… On top of it we are doing away with all natural resources we were gifted… What is the end we seek??? Where is the plan??? Are we really preparing ourselves??? Or is it that we are still struggling to find our identity simply because we cant find time from fulfilling our dear infinite unsatiable wants??? The answers are there in front of us, in my daily life, in our Sanatan Dharma… No, I am not afraid that tenets of Hinduism will die… 1 billion is too huge a number… But things get diluted and dulled… From our solution books, i fear losing some important pages… With time people would rediscover logic and the Sanatan Dharma… Or maybe humanity might not get the chance to know its too late… They were not so smart at all… The calamity struck when the humans were “still evolving”….. Still, the Buddha is Smiling…

Jai Hind Jai Shri Krishna!!!

The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

 

Then took the other, as just as fair

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that, the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

 

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

 

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

two roads diverged in a wood, and I --

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

 

(Another poem guiding me – Written by Robert Frost)

IF

If you can keep your head when all about you 
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you; 
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, 
But make allowance for their doubting too; 
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting, 
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies, 
Or, being hated, don't give way to hating, 
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master; 
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim; 
If you can meet with triumph and disaster 
And treat those two imposters just the same; 
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken 
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools, 
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken, 
And stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings 
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss, 
And lose, and start again at your beginnings 
And never breath a word about your loss; 
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew 
To serve your turn long after they are gone, 
And so hold on when there is nothing in you 
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on";

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue, 
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch; 
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you; 
If all men count with you, but none too much; 
If you can fill the unforgiving minute 
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run - 
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it, 
And - which is more - you'll be a Man my son! 

(One of my favourte poems guiding me - Written by Rudyard Kipling)

The middle path

statis is what my life is now

its a state of lull

so many events happen

in each of them i decide 

to do something that 

will break me from inside

i become harder on the outside

i sense a lack of passion in me

and then a sudden surge

of immense passion

telling me to break down

or break out of the crowd

and suddenly the lull comes 

back again to bring me

to peace

emotionless is what i become

in other's eyes

logic being the culprit

as ever

who would believe

that its always been my logic

that preserved purity

of emotions in me

i am scared of you that

you'll hurt them if i show

them to you

and so i scare the wits out 

of you

in self defence

i wonder why you fail to

realise

that sometimes it takes an 

animal with teeth of logic

in me to save the man

of true emotions inside

(23rd Oct 2008)

God said...

I was sitting today (8th June 2008) after more than three weeks of continuous work... I just wondered, is whatever bad that happens to me the work of "God" (i.e. the ubiquituous "sense" prevailing in matter+energy) or of man... But man is the only animal that has sense, logic, reason... We are god in some way... I had heard there is god in every man and animal and lifeless thing... I had also heard that god is in more things that we can see or feel... And i had this very obvious thought after so long... God is the sum of all sense/lack of it, the sum of parts... the problem we have is that the number of parameters we have to integrate it over is unclear... We are sense/God manifesting itself...

The first question that came to my mind is, what is the purpose of god manifesting his evil through man and then getting rid of it through good in another man? Secondly, is there any need of purpose? Can't all this be natural? Our trouble is that we want to find sense in everything... But aren't we sense ourselves?

Let me come to the point now... Maybe due to some cosmic disturbance, i was unable to have any favourite colour till class 4, unless a friend's question forced me... It was the same disturbance that made me not find the distinction between god and nature... I am not getting confused between ends & means (good over evil & forces of nature) and actor & victim (God & man)... Let's proceed.

Theorem 1. Understanding the means of an actor in a particular scenario may be cautiously applied to the means of the actor in another scenario...
Theorem 2. Understanding of the means of an actor in a particular scenario can be cautiously generalised to the means of the actor in all scenarios...
Premise : Nature = Subset (God)
Hypothesis: Law of nature on earth holds true for events occuring even outside earth. In simple words, the fittest animal/sense... The fittest animal now rules the earth... the fittest "man" of the universe will rule the universe...
Precaution: The law of averages is at work here... The fittest man does not rule his area... So Society = Subset (Nature) & Man = Subset (Society)... but the law of nature does not hold here... Note that man decided to violate this rule when he created a culture that tries to save even the most unfit human...

I will not try to prove my hypothesis here because there is something more important i want to talk about... It is the point about consequence... What will happen/What will we do if we are not the fittest "man" animal specie in the universe???

The second point is about the process of reaching the end consequence... There are two perspectives to this:
1. The progressive concept: The software cycle demonstrates the concept upto a point... It starts with releasing the alpha version of the software which demonstrates the basic idea... Then the beta version is released where the intended functionality is demonstrated, but it is not complete... The final product is free of bugs/errors and has the functionality required... The manifestation of sense is the final purpose of life, the purpose of god... Sense brings with it the ability to make decisions based on the inputs and relevant context... The first manifestation started with the emergence of instincts (alpha version)... Then emerged base emotions and associated inference mechanism of secondary emotions (beta version)... Finally man had logic and reasoning (final product)... Thats about it...
2. The shifting equilibrium concept: While the sense is manifesting itself, there is a sequence of contexts followed by decisions which develop into further contexts and again decisions... As a better sense manifests itself, the lesser sense must give way... but this happens over a period of time... there are times when lesser sense has its way... look at society and man... this is what is giving way to the law of averages...

Now i come to the third point of where do we stand in the process of reaching the end consequence... the progressive concept is working within us to make decisions based on instinct/emotion/logic in the shifting equilibrium concept... cumulatively all of us men work against all other species to follow the law of nature... individually one member of the species is usually trivial and neglible in the bigger scheme of things... similarly, as the "man" specie from earth, there is a great chance that we might be trivial in the bigger things of the universe, let alone being the fittest in the universe... so arent our efforts futile?

The concept of futility is the easiest to resort to and is the most obvious "logical" explanation... But there is more to it... you are a part of the sum of sense... there is a part of god each being right? there is no one sitting and passing a judgement on any of us... there is nothing that says a man who follows emotion is higher or lower than the man who follows his logic or instincts... you are free to choose... but with freedom comes responsibility... problem is no one knows the freedom and hence cannot guide about the responsibility that needs to be exercised... you have people around you and people who care... you may or may not decide for more than yourself...

Rationality or Tradition?

Rationality or Tradition?

I was a good boy till the age of 8, when my nanaji laid the seeds of "rebellion" in my mind. He told me, "Appu, you are intelligent. So never do things till you understand the reason of doing it". I thought what he was saying was right and accepted it without question.

But since that day, that thought persisted in my mind. I never did a thing till my parents were able to convince me by reason or threat that i should. I didnt cry till i understood why i was going to cry and how it will help solve the problem at hand. I was in class 5 and i refused to accept the story that children are brought home by the storks. It did not fit my logic senses. Yes, my grandfather had laid in me the seed of Indian culture, the culture of questioning and arguing. I tried criticizing the Indian culture and tradition as much as I could, but he didnt budge from his stand that the Indian culture is the best possible. I was sort of confused. The man who modified his own marriage ritual to remove rites of child marriage was saying that the same culture was the best possible. And he was always calm, never raising his voice or eyebrow. I learnt i had to think deeper, devoid of any emotion.

Soon by the time i was in my teens, i had started asking too many questions with no satisfactory answers. I knew I had to break the shackles of being a good boy. Give me a reason why marrying a widow is a sin in indian religion. Tell me why a guy who watches movies every day cannot be a good student. Show me how i lose my caste in marrying a girl of a lower caste. God eats prasad, but where does he go to shit? I was asking increasingly difficult questions, more generic questions... and rarely hearing answers. I always heard, dont say like this, dont think like this... what crap!

I was learning to do my experiments with my own life and seek my answers on my own... many were uncomfortable facts and truths... no matter how bad i felt, they had to be right because they followed the laws of statistics...

And it is because of the "rebellion" planted in me by my nanaji, i attend every religious ritual of the family even though i dont believe in god... and this inspite of none of my family members forcing me to attend any ceremony... i learnt that i can live my life by my own rules if i let others live it by their own... if i want others to follow my standards, i should also do some things to keep them happy... i learnt i didnt always have to be right if i can make my loved ones happy... i can talk to them about the right thing when they are more willing to accept it... I learnt that i have to stay in they society system to get rid of elements that i dont like... i am happy that all that happen in my life, good or bad, right or wrong, is all my doing and that even god (assuming he exists) has the priviledge of ridding me of the responsibility of my mistakes... its such a relief!!!

My case shows that the only way of maintaining tradition is to let people challenge it... Give the proper answers... If you cant, get rid of that ritual... Be rational... This is what the nalanda university scholars also practiced. I started doing namaskar to elders when i was told why it is a better form of greeting. You would lose your ego and earn respect from your child if you try to answer his questions. I am not against tradition, i just want to believe that my parents and elders are rational. So tell me, am i a rebel of the modern times?


(written on 15-jan-2008)

The Tragedy of Love

The Tragedy of Love

It was a nice sunny and beautiful morning,

And cool wind was blowing into my face.

I had finally found the girl of my dreams,

One could guess by my slow jolly pace.

Everything in the world and all things around me,

Seemed perfect and simply wonderful,

Was it because of her dreamy eyes, silky hair,

Or her skin so smooth, lips so full?

It simply didn’t matter to me any more,

Now I knew I had found my motivation in life.

I would aim for the stars, at least reach the moon

If not for myself, it’ll all be for my to be wife.

But what has happened yesterday…

Why did everything come to a standstill???

Was it her fault that she married someone else???

But she had said she had loved only me…

From the bottom of her heart…

Then why did she leave me??? I don’t know…

I could see truth in her eyes…

She wasn’t crying while she was leaving her home

But she started weeping just the moment our eyes met…

I was lost then in the in the happy crowd

I had never worked so much in my life

I knew I was running against time but…

I had a goal, just one goal then…

All I cared was for was her happiness

She could just come and tell me once…

Just that moment I was struck by a thought

It was never an eternal bonding she sought

She couldn’t tell her parents, but had she fought

It would’ve been the chance I would have got

I could plead and beg for time that I dearly sought

I would have happily left her if they had agreed not

I could still love her then, even without the nuptial knot

Usual love tragedies that written, read, told and taught

Are just traps of fantasies in which are minds are caught

Lovers there at least tried, and inspiration they brought

But by not giving me that chance, my life’s just a nought

No matter what happened to me, I wont give what I got

I request you my dear friends, please love truly what you ought

Give one chance; tragedy of love is what even one of us want not.

~Som

PS: I wrote this after one of my very close friends told his real life story to me…

This is a naïve attempt to match words and rhyme with chaos and order in the mind…

(April 2005)

We Bengalis

Bangla is the 7th most spoken language of the world, that is more than the number of people speaking russian, japanese or german! So when did this language come into being and who are the people speaking this language? What is their origin and basic culture? These questions were prompted by my nanaji's understanding that bengalis were actually a "lutera" tribe in earlier times!!!

Obviously history coursebooks are the last place you look for such answers. I did some research on this and came across some interesting observations and inferences.


History of Bengal

If we look at history, there is mention of Vanga (South Bengal + Bangladesh) + Anga (North Bengal) in Atharvaveda, along with Magadha (Bihar). They are a part of the solah mahajanpadas (16 great nations of the indian subcontinent) in 600 B.C. ReThe mahajanpadas are the first example of democracy in the history of the world. In hindu mythology epic The Mahabharata, Duryodhan had made Karna the King of Anga. Mahabharata (I.104.53-54) and Puranic literature (Matsya Purana: 48.19) attest that the name Anga had originated eponymously from the name of prince Anga, the founder of the kingdom. Matsya Purana describes the father of this eponymous hero as the chief among the demons (danavarshabhah).

Later, Bengalis were ruled by hindu kings, then buddishts, then muslim kings, and then the britishers. The first buddhist king of Bengal of the Pal dynasty, came into rule by election in 750 A.D., the first resurgence of democracy in south asia. But if you look at the history of bengal, it is not a part of a large empire for the longest times in history. If a large empire was breaking up, bengal would be one of the first to break apart. They had their own territory, often broken into smaller parts.

The fighting spirit of bengalis lived on. The idea of raising an army to fight the huge British empire could only have come from a true Bengali like Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. People just 5 years back burnt an atrocious and exploitative zamindar alive in a bengal village. Even today, there are no pick-pockets in Bengal because if one is caught, the matter never reaches the police or court. The public beats the criminal to death on the spot! As i write this piece, army is being called into the city of Kolkata to control the mobs that are protesting against the communist party ruling Bengal for the past 30 continuous years. This is just the second week of the protest!


Economy of Bengal

The trade was flourishing with other parts of the country and the world. Champa, the capital of Anga was known for its wealth and commerce. The Mughals called Bengal as the "Paradise of the Nations" after being impressed with its trade and wealth. Farming was indeed one of the major activities of livelihood.


Geography of Bengal

Bengal is situated served by two huge rivers, Ganga and Brahmaputra. Both of them meet at the delta and merge with the sea. This is the mix of the marshy and forested area of the Sunderbans. Though rivers formed a major mode of transport in bengal, the terrain was so unique that only the locals of the area could fight a war there and win.


Religion of Bengal

History shows us that bengal on the average had been a hindu state in ancient times, then buddhist in early medieval times. There was a resurgence of hinduism at around 1000 A.D., followed by influx of islam. It is worth nothing that the caste system though observed in bengal, is not staunch at all.

If we look at the calendar of bengalis, we are always a day behind the lunar calendars followed in north india. In fact, the bengali calendar is said to be the only living remnant of the Tarikh-i-ilahi of Akbar the Great. Baisakhi, the new year day comes a day late in bengali. Bengalis do not pray to Lord Ram during Dusshera, but instead pray to Goddess Durga on the same day of Vijay Dashmi. On the day of diwali, bengalis do not celebrate lakshmi puja like the banias of north india. Instead they celebrate Kali Puja on the day of diwali with mutton/non-veg being a compulsory part of the prasad. Interestingly, the bengalis primary pray to war goddesses and the main festivals are to celebrate triumph in war.

It must be noted that it was in bengal that religious reform movements like Brahmo Samaj and abolition of archaic anti-female religious rituals like sati and child-marriage were started in Bengal, notably by Raja Ram Mohan Roy. Even today, liberal view islamic writer Taslima Nasreen lives in Kolkata, not in any muslim country.


Music and Dance of Bengal

Bengalis never had a classical music or dance form. It was all folk music and dance. The formal music emerged only in the late nineteenth and early 20th century with Rabindra Sangeet of Nobel Laureate Rabindra Nath Tagore.


Language of Bengal

The bangla language started emerging at around 1000 A.D., at the same time as that of the resurgence of hinduism. It is worth mentioning that bangla is closer to sanskrit or shudh hindi, not khadi boli. There are probably above a 100 dialects in bengali. But bengali, unlike hindi and like english, is a unisex language. The vocubulary is not very large and the words are sweet sounding. Interestingly, bengalis pronouce 'V' and 'BH' exactly the same inspite of having two different alphabets for it in the devanagari script. It is to be noted that a proper script of bangla was developed by Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar only in the 19th century.

There are two more things to note about the bangla language. Bangla unlike english and like hindi, has three sets of addressing styles, mai, tum and aap. Plus, unlike hindi and unlike english, spitting and throwing has the same corresponding word in bangla. Obviously, there is no epic in bangla!


Sciences in Bengal

If you have heard of Indian scientists, you must have heard of Sir Jagadish Chandra Bose and Meghnad Saha. And if you are well-read, you must have read about Bose-Einstein theory and Bose-Einstein condensate! This emergence of scientific education in bengal started in English, not in Bengali. The bengali script had just taken form, let alone knowledge being present in bengali language!


Households and Culture of Bengal

The Bengali household is unusual compared to the other indian ones. The females have a far greater voice in the house and society. It is only the bengali husband that is known to be beaten up by his wife. This sense of violence is demonstrated in bringing up children as well. How many children would have heard the following dialogues on almost a daily basis from their parents while being disobedient:
1. Eat your food or i'll stuff so much food in your mouth that you will never be able to open it your entire life
2. Come here quickly or i will smash your head into the wall
3. If you do not study hard, i will bang the saucepan hard on your head and break it.
You would agree that such children would only be bengali.

Moreover, even in the early 20th century, Tagore's stories talk of a girl and boy sitting all night in one room and studying together. Too modern for India even now right?


So who is this bengali we all know? He is a human being who is a genetic mixture of aryans, dravidians, chinese and malays. It is the geographical area where all these human sub-species meet and mingle. He is a fierce warrior who has villages named golakaata (neck-slicked), pota-paadaa (buried-alive-colony) and mathaphaata (smashed-heads). He was influenced by many religions and cultures but still managed to stay independent. That is why the caste system of north india/aryan hindus could never grow strong. Bengalis fought a lot among themselves too, that is why even today bengalis are never a good linguistic political force/party. The bengali tribes were brought together by the Britishers who first captured trade and then power. That effect of english education is seen on the formalized unisex language and the modern nature of bengal households. The emergence of music, arts, social sciences and other intellectual activities in bengalis was a result of the primary activity of war being taken away from them. All this happened just about a century ago!!!

(Written by me on 21-nov-2007)

views on reservation

Known funda behind reservations :-
1. Reservation is thought to be the easiest way to enforce all people to get
equal chances...
2. it works on the assumption that given a chance, people who get reservation
would perform almost as well as the others...
3. and hence, we would finally reach a situation where the "disadvantages" of
the backwards classes are removed, and we would no longer need reservation

But there are a few hidden aspects to it as well...
1. i feel that reservation works on a basic assumption that all people would be
honest and fair... to much to assume in this world!!! people use this concept
of reservation and backwardness for their own advantage... once given, its
almost impossible to remove... hence we need to reconsider our assumptions...
2. all people do not get the advantage of reservations due to lack of
information, opportunities and education... so people who have already
benefitted from reservation once, keep on benefitting from it... hence govt
needs to move away from a passive way of improving society by laws to a more
proactive role (eg: opening more schools)
3. some people will always remain "backward"... but the definition of the term
is not complete, and is static... hence, we need to modify this aspect...
4. now in today's age of competition, the non-reserved class feels that it is
losing out opportunities to candidates who are not as deserving as they are...
true... so do we remove reservation??? no, there are still lot of people left
to take the benefits of reservation (plus other "reasons")... so we continue
with reservation or increase it... thus entering a vicious circle... hence we
need to break this circle, innovatively...
5. reservation has never solved a problem... it makes us more dependent on the
"system" to iron out the inconsistencies... but in the meanwhile we forget that
we are a part of the system... what is needed is a will to change the
mentality...

broadly, its all a loop ... nepotism (my child/relative should do well) -->
corruption (minor manipulation for that is okay) --> "casteism" (to maintain
advantage to my friends) --> "chalta hai" (thats what happens here attitude)
--> selfishness (let me benefit from this) --> more nepotism (everyone is doing
it so its probably okay now) .....

i note that most steps taken till today have been to address the first three
issues... but it hardly addresses the two attitude/mentality issues of the
loop... education is the only way out...

Steps we can take are (suggestions are of course invited) :
1. scope : for now, restrict reservation and related benefits to education only
and not expand its radius... the recruiting companies should be barred from
knowing details of whether the person belongs to the reserved category or
not...
2. proactive approach by system : take help of NGOs and social work
organisations to spread awareness... open more schools in backward areas...
promote initiatives to improve economic status... give advantages to people
from backward areas to take initiative to improve their economic condition...
3. concept redefinition : redefine the term backward classes... economic basis
is the best alternative... probably we need a dictatorship in place to modify
required laws!!! but anyways, an alternative can be that once a reserved
category candidate gets education from an A category institute, he cannot use
his reservation any more... opportunities are now open for him...
4. dynamic nature of improvement : progressively reduce reservation
percentages... or maybe we can have reservation for those all those people whose
annual income is below a certain limit... this would increase standard in the
reserved masses, and also reduce excessive competition for the non reserved
people...
5. our contribution : incorporate moral education taught to us into our own
lives... probably do some "social work", atleast after retirement... after all,
the best way to reach heaven is by serving man...

all these steps have to be taken together to get synergistic results... giving
solutions is tough... there are too many factors that are related to each
other... lets try to work to evolve possible solution(s) to the issue we have
here... reservation has to end sometime... and the sooner it ends, the better.....

(written in mid october 2004 on dbabble in response to some posts)