What is valuable

पृथिव्यां त्रीणि रत्नानि जलमन्नं सुभाषितम् ।

मूढैः पाषाणखण्डेषु रत्नसंज्ञा विधीयते ॥
पृथ्वी पर जल, अन्न, और सुभाषित - ये तीन रत्न है । (किंतु) मूढ लोग पत्थर के टुकडे को "रत्न" संज्ञा से पहचानते हैं !

Was Shiva an Alien

Recently I watched a program on “Was Shiva an Alien?” Interesting hypothesis, but not good analysis/reasoning at arrive at conclusion. They missed out on interpretation of the literature on Lord Shiva, which could have made the claim to be more plausible. So here is my take on that ...

One of the oldest description of Shiva, is in Shiva Strotam - composed by his one of most famous worshipper – Raavan.
So let’s try and decipher, how Shiva Strotam (original text below in Sanskrit) describes Shiva.

जटा कटाह सम्भ्रम भ्रमन्निलिम्पनिर्झरी-
विलोल वीचि वल्लरी विराजमान मूर्द्धनि ।
धगद्धगद्धग ज्वल ललाट पट्ट पावके
किशोर चन्द्र शेखरे रतिः प्रतिक्षणं मम ।।
(btw you can listen to this shloka in the starting of the song "Kaun hai wo" from Movie Bahubnali. Click Here to listen to it.)

This shloka, is describing someone who is wearing a helmet with his thick locks of hair giving an illusion of moving milky way. The helmet has a moving wave on a display above it, it has a fire emitting gun at the center of helmet, and a torch light on top of helmet.

How do I come this interpretation? By translating it word by word. Let's do it together.
जटा means long locks of unkempt hair. //  कटाह = कढ़ाई ie a large circular pot.
सम्भ्रम – is सम भ्रम. In this सम =समान means "equivalent to"; भ्रम means illusion.
भ्रमन्निलिम्पनिर्झरी = भ्रमण + निलिम्प + निर्झरी
भ्रमण = Traveling. ;निलिम्प = Godly, heavenly; निर्झरी = River; निलिम्पनिर्झरी = आकाश-गंगा ie milky way.

Next line - विलोल वीचि वल्लरी विराजमान मूर्द्धनि
विलोल = लहराता हुआ, अस्थिर //  वीचि = लहर, तरंग,  किरण , चमक = shining wave.
वल्लरी = बेल ie a creeper   // विराजमान = Seated // मूर्द्धनि = upper part of the head.

Thus first shloka means "The long locks of hair in a pot, give an illusion of a moving Milkyway. An unsteady creeper like shiny wave is seated on very top of the head."

Next shloka
धगद्धगद्धग ज्वल ललाट पट्ट पावके
किशोर चन्द्र शेखरे रतिः प्रतिक्षणं मम ।।

धगद्धगद्धग ज्वल = धक् धक् करके जलता हुआ ie burning intensely
ललाट = forehead ; पट्ट = flat area ; पावके = Fire ; किशोर = young ; चन्द्र = Moon  ; शेखरे = top
किशोर चन्द्र शेखरे= One who has young moon on his top of head
रतिः = love  ;  प्रतिक्षणं = every second  ; मम = I

So the complete translation of both shlokas
The long locks of hair in a pot, give an illusion of a moving Milkyway. An unsteady creeper like shiny wave is seated on very top of the head.
The forehead has an intensely burning fire, and has a young moon on top of his head, - I wait lovingly every second for him.

Could it be describing someone who is wearing a glass helmet (कटाह) that is reflecting the milky way (भ्रमन्निलिम्पनिर्झरी) which has a moving sinewave display (ie unsteady creeper like wave =विलोल वीचि वल्लरी) on top (मूर्द्धनि) of helmet (कटाह ) and a fire emitting gun (धगद्धगद्धग ज्वल ललाट पट्ट पावके) mounted at the center of helmet and a torch light (किशोर चन्द्र शेखरे) on top of head/helmet.

Do these lines describe an alien; or a person from future; or a God is upto you to decide.

Assuming that these lines describe someone from future or an alien, lets see if the description makes sense. Nearest known thing to a torch light to a person few thousand year back would have been moon. Our space travelers as well as miners have a torch on their helmet. A helmet mounted gun that emits fire would have appeared like a third eye which burns when it opens.Now the question is why would anyone mount a gun on helmet’s forehead ? Well because it will help him aim better, and free the hands and also reduce reaction time. Very practical design I would say.

The way Ravana ( or whoever wrote these)  has described Shiva, it appears that he too has not seen Shiva, but is longing to see him.  Based on the verbal description in form of shlokas passed on generation to generation, an image of Shiva has been created. Maybe you can re-imagine the image of Shiva, by re interpreting the same words.

You only see what your eyes want to see

You only see what your eyes want to see...Madonna – from song Frozen.

Some of my friends support Modi all the way and some other see no virtue in any move that Modi makes. Some believe Kejriwal is the most honest person in the world and some believe exactly opposite of that. And they stick to that – against all odds, they are not even willing to consider new information if it is against their stand.

What is the thought process of a Bhakt.
Whats in your head... in your head... Zombie Zombie Zombie.. what's in your head ( Love that Cranberries song... good lyrics) 


Both Modi and Kejriwal had a very high decibel personality based campaign and had polarized the opinion about them. The opposition was shallow, and also had skeletons in their cupboards – and accordingly found it easy to attack personality rather than issues.
The trouble with personality based elections is that it results in binary supporters - either you trust/like someone or you don’t. There is no middle ground in a personality led election campaign.


But then the elections that brought these individuals to power are over. New information is available for both these politicians in terms of how they have behaved over last year or two.
Also why are their supporters/ detractors wearing their support/criticism on their sleeve all the time.
Why are these supporters using facebook / whatsapp to express their opinion all the time – and at times putting their personal / professional relationships at stake? Why are they so charged up and trying to convince others?


 This I believe is result of cognitive dissonance.
(Cognitive dissonance is the mental stress or discomfort experienced by an individual who is confronted by new information that conflicts with existing beliefs.)

In order to minimize the discomfort, they try to deny any and every information that conflicts with their existing beliefs. They go out of their way- and start selling their own ideology / try to convert others. This reduces their dissonance.


People who believed Modi is evil / communal / feku ...are at a loss when they see something good attempted by him. A Modi hater will go out of way and use his/her personal reputation / relationships / friendships at stake - to prove Modi’s good activities are actually very bad. Doing this minimizes their dissonance. Infact if Modi was not doing good work, his detractors might have been less vocal about their opinions.


People who had a belief that Kejriwal is the most educated & honest person, find it very difficult to find fault with his policies / lack of actions now.


What can be done - well, there are tried and tested approaches to reduce cognitive dissonance- well that is a topic for a larger blog post....and frankly not my area of expertise.


In US, Trump also had a very similar personality focused high decibel campaign, and globally almost EVERYONE has a stand on Trump. If Trump starts doing something logical, he will face a lot of backlash / every good step will also be criticized.

Alternate Truth

Today's head line says

Pakistan Taliban: Peshawar school attack leaves 141 dead

So who benefits from this attack?

Don’t tell me you think that Taliban benefits from this sad event.  

Does PakTaliban believe that they can bully Pakistan Army? Can’t they see that they are going to get a backlash?

Could there be more to it than what meets the eye?... let’s hypothesize there is more to it.

Let’s go back in time, and try and to re-create a secret discussion between USA and Pakistan.

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USA : We want you to curb these Taliban folks from operating on your soil.

PAKISTAN: We too want to limit their powers - they are a threat to us. These folks are becoming too powerful and have been able to galvanise the public sentiment. We won't be surprised if they win elections. Once they do that, they will elect the Army head / entire hierarchy of their choice. Once they are in full control, I don’t know what they will do with the nukes, but I am sure it will lead Pakistan to destruction.

USA: Why don't you clip their wings right now, the way we did? If we can come in Pakistan and kill Osama, you can certainly do better- if you want to.

PAKISTAN: Public sympathy is a big problem. They have informers even among Police, Army and Intelligence agencies to help them, Local media highlights our actions as human rights violations. ISI is dominated by Taliban and is becoming independent, they at times keep army and rest of Pakistan in dark. Despite all this if we still attempt a strong action by Army, it can cause rebellion in ranks -and even make public sympathy go in Taliban's favour. If we do a crackdown on them now, it will be seen as Pakistani Army is US slave.

You in US had a 9/11 as an inflection point to justify your actions. Pakistan does not have one.

USA: So you need a 9/11 kind of an event to justify your Army to carry out a crackdown on the Taliban. OK.

Let’s see what that 9/11 for Pakistan should look like - this event should be targeted at Army, so their actions can be justified. It should not be killing of Army men- that is seen as victory in the war they want to be seen as fighting, and will glorify them. The act should be so cowardly that every sympathiser of Taliban / human right activist should get silenced. In should galvanise popular sentiment in favour of action against Taliban. The event has to be big - especially if we want it to change the course of history.

Hmm... Let me see what we can do, we have a few operatives embedded in PakTaliban from Osama times, who can help.

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Coming back to published reality ie news today. The news says Pak Taliban's attack on Army Public School leaves 141 dead - 132 of them Children. This has created massive public outrage.

Killing kids, this act is seen as act of cowardice, not bravery. Public sentiment will go against PakTaliban in next few days from shock to anger. My guess is if Pakistan Army kills even 500 PakTaliban militants in next one week, they can do so without any human right violation noise. Even if they don't kill any militants, this event is likely to reduce volunteers for the PakTaliban, and hence arrest growth in number of militants. This event has changed PakTaliban's label from a rebel - (warriors fighting for Islamic cause, without caring for their life) to a rougue & cowards who kill inoocent helpless kids.

The chances of them/politicians with their support getting elected are lower. This has reduced probability of Pakistan becoming a rougue Nuke nation -which could have led to Pakistan being attacked /nuked/ more bloodshed in any case.

In all probability this event has altered the course of history for Pakistan.

Coming back to original question, so who benefits?

Answer: Pakistan benefits, US benefits, neighbouring countries (INDIA) benefits, & world at large benefits. PakTaliban loses.

(PakTaliban could have benefitted if they had attacked Army garrison rather than a school.)

Cost : 141 lives in collateral damage.

Potential Benefits :

USA - Random attacks will go down, Rogue Nuke Nation avoided

India : Same as USA, more amplified. India could have been the first target.

World at large: Less militants to get recruited for ISIS.

Pakistan : Current regime remains stable, can focus on growth. Individuals may get more benefit / rewards by USA. The event may even help create a future dictator aligned to USA (Zia ul Haq types).

Politics at international level is not about winning wars, but about avoiding wars with minimal bloodshed.

Worst case scenario

Listening to पियूष मिश्रा from Gangs of Wasseypur
Loved the last stanza (last one minute or so)
------------------------------------------------------------
होनी और अनहोनी की परवाह किसे है मेरी जाँ,
हद से ज़्यादा ये ही होगा, के यहीं मर जायेंगे
------------------------------------------------------------
Afterall हद से ज़्यादा यही हो सकता है. "के यहीं मर जायेंगे"

और इसमे कोई हैरानी की बात भी नहीं है-------ऐसा तो होगा ही, "की यही मर जायेंगे," 

afterall ऐसा कोई नहीं जो यही ना मरा हो

 

जो भी हुए पैदा

वो सब यही मरे

 

सो होनी और अनहोनी परवाह की कैसी

The worst case scenario is a certainity.
So stop weighing pros and cons, and take risks.

Business sense of sending Mars Orbiter Mission / Mangalyaan

Today India has created a history, by entering the MARS orbit in first attempt, and that too on relatively low budget of $74 M.There are only three other space agencies that have ever reached MARS orbit.

Did India have its priorities right when they decided to spend this amount on space research?

If you look at spend per person, $ 74 M is less than 10 cents per person in India.
Contrast this with the amount we spent

• In protecting our VIP ($65 M for 340 ppl in 2013 in Delhi), 
• Or the money we lost through corruption(CWG/2G/3G/DLF/Coal/.. each was multiple times)
• Or a as a percentage of the GDP

In short 70 M is minuscule amount for India as a country. 

Still, we have lost money in past/ or its a small amount should not be reason for us waste tax payer's money.

So, for the moment let’s ignore the per person spend and the fact that its a small sum of money for large country like India.

Lets ignore the long term ROI (Return on Investment) for the entire humanity. 

Let’s discount the softer benefits / brawny points scored on the technical prowess’s of Indians, boost to self-respect of all Indians, the bragging rights in all discussions with foreigners, vicarious pleasure in ISRO’s achievements, more jobs for Indians in NASA etc.

Purely from a balance sheet perspective, will India derive any positive Return on Investment (ROI) on Mars Orbiter Mission ?

Yes.

I see the money spent so far as an advertisement for more business.

Yup. You heard it right. MORE business, Millions of $ flowing into Indian economy.  Specifically for one of the Government owned company. 

How and for whom?

ISRO has a commercial arm Antrix Corporation. This lesser known mini-ratna company has been around since 1992, and provides low-cost space solutions, technical consultancy services. This business could be in the form of outsourcing in the space research industry / satellite manufacture/ ground equipment / launch services of satellites / selling satellite services / Consultancy etc.
Most of these services are being delivered already - biggest one being selling satellite services (Transponder leasing mainly) and launch services. The Space Port of India (Satish Dhawan Space Centre) has launched satellites for many other countries in past– check the list here.
http://www.antrix.gov.in/is_launched.html 

If you look at the focus that has been given to the budget of the project, and getting it right first time, the intent is almost that of a sales pitch. The sales pitch is simple - we are the best and cheapest. Mr Customer (France / Germany/UK/Japan/..)  ISRO offers you the most bang for your buck - as demonstrated they can send a satellite to MARS at a cost of producing a Hollywood movie. And they can get it right in the first attempt. The credibility that ISRO has gained via this demo, and Modi as the sales rep, Antrix Corp will certainly reap rich dividends. 

Looking beyond the short term benefits, in mid term today's success will give a big boost for nurturing the space industry ecosystem in India (Colleges, Courses, attract investment,  create impetus for one more space port - maybe in collaboration with another country) .
In long term, this will help bring in prosperity for Indian citizens, boost self respect & pride for Indians in India or abroad, no duplication of effort in rediscovering the wheel for other countries, and overall advancement for humanity.
btw one added beneficiary could be for Modi in next elections - due after five years.
Win Win for all.

Three Idiots - "The End" ke baad

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So what happens to the Ranchoddas Shyamaldas Chanchad aka Chhote aka Phunsukh Wangdu (Aamir). His Girlfriend Pia Sahasrabuddhe (Kareena), his best friends Farhan Qureshi (Madhavan) and Raju Rastogi (Sharman Joshi)

Lets give a twist to the story of the Three Idiots, after "The End"

 

Story in part 2 continues with Farhan (Madhavan) as the narrator. He is still in Ladhakh -where we left him at “The End”.

Farhan starts with a statement, after looking for Rancho for 10 years he has again lost him – for rest of his life – which may last next 48 hours. His hands and feet are tied and he is lying in a room with a very small window for ventilation, the room is located on a isolated hill.

After giving this shocker, Farhan goes into flash back.

Raju (Sharman Joshi) had woken up Farhan last night, and told Farhan he is going into Rancho’s lab. While leaving Raju had asked Farhan to keep a vigil, and given him a number to dial incase he does not return and also told him never to tell this to Rancho incase he does not return. A few minutes later a puzzled and shaken Farhan (Madhvan) sees Raju being murdered by Rancho, while Raju is coming out of the lab.  Rancho notices a light in Farhan’s room going off. Rancho comes to meet Farhan at dead of night, giving no indication that he has just now killed one of their old best friend Raju. Rancho talks in a very normal tone asif nothing has happened, and suddenly catches Farhan unaware, to tie him down. Farhan asks why, Why? Rancho replies, I know what you have seen, I can't help - you are a collateral damage. Farhan initially feigns ignorance on what he had seen, and later comes clean on knowledge of Raju being murdered. He asks Rancho to explain this murder. Rancho explains to Farhan that Raju was a RAW agent, who was here to spy on Rancho’s activities and destroy Rancho’s mission and years of effort.

Farhan asks and what was your mission, Rancho ?

Rancho begins with questioning Farhan’s credulousness – he asks do you believe he ie Rancho was a fresher, when he joined the college with Farhan? Rancho explains that, even then he was a trained commando from Pakistan who was on an ISI mission in India. Rancho explains peeing on electric wire was the way he used to torture captured Indian spies, and that is why it took him no time to set it up during Ragging. He explains the name Ranchoddas and relation with Shyamaldas Chanchad. Shyamaldas Chanchad was an ISI agent with lots of land bordering Pakistan and business interest in import and supply of heroin. Even his son is an agent of theirs, and the story that he gave to Farhan about Chote was a cover to hide him. The reason for him to come to engineering college was the fact that Dr. Viru Sahasrabuddhe (Boman Irani) aka Virus was working on a mission critical defense project from Government of India.  Rancho's mission was to copy the progress of this project, collect additional defence information like Indian army's deployment etc. And it was for this mission that Rancho used to regularly enter the room of Principal, and that is how he knew how to steal the exam papers. Even the  aircraft with cameras was assembeled to help him in keeping a vigil over intelligence file movements.

Rancho further explains that Government of India had got a whiff of the leakage through thier spies in Pakistan. RAW had approached Raju to join to become a counter intelligence spy on campus. Raju's first task was to report on activities of  Virus / Rancho. Rancho tells that the moment he figured it out, he left decided to do his nal act and leave the campus forever. By that time he had gained the trust of professor Virus, and that gave him access to the second copy of all the papers lying at his home. As a part of the project, Virus had only one copy of the key Indian force deployments which he kept at a safe at home. Rancho, used to visit Virus’s home on pretext of proposing to Pia etc. Helping Pia’s sister in delivery gave him unrestricted access to Virus’s home. Rancho made a copy of the same and destroyed the originals. This lead Government of India, to lose trust on Virus – and question his proximity to Rancho, and ultimately cancelling the overall project.

Rancho further mocks Farhan – does he look like a native of Laddakh? How could Farhan believe that Rancho can be a Phunsukh Wangdu? Laddakh is his base as it gives him proximity to the POK, easy access via China and infromation from India.
He further explains in the lab, he has a real scientist who had similar profile as Virus, and now is in his captivity. Raju had gone their and collected evidence of his existence and hence Raju had to be killed. The business deals that he is pursuing with Chatur Ramalingam aka Silencer (Omi) are their way of moving international currencies for their cause. Rancho mocks Chatur, who does not know why his company wants to sign a contract with Phunsukh Wangdu so desperately.

He thanks Farhan for bringing Pia to him. Farhan looks amused, and asks do you think she will not find out your truth one day? Rancho explains love was never his motive, mission was. If Love was on his mind he could have reached out to Pia any time, but since RAW had got alerted it was very risky for him to abduct Virus and Pia. Now using Pia as a captive, he can make Prof Virus come here and complete the research for him.

He leaves Farhan in a closed room with both hand and feet tied, saying he will comeback, in a few years. Flash backover for Farhan.

"The End"

After "The End".

 

After watching a movie, have you ever wondered what could have happened if the story had continued after "The End" ?

कई बार The End देखने के बाद हमने भी ये सोचा, गर इसके बाद कुछ होता...., तो वो कुछ - क्या होता ?

 

सोचने के बाद ये भी सोचा, कि क्यों ना ऐक ब्लॉग ही बना डाले और अपनी इस सोच को आप तक पहुंचाये।
Afterall सोचने के, और इंटरनेट पर पोस्ट करने के, पैसे तो लग नहीं रहे है।

So here is the Blog - "The End" ke baad, literally meaning After The End.
Some of the blog posts here will be in Hinglish, some English.
Avoiding hindi as transliteration is not as easy as typing in English.

कुछ movies का sequel हम लिख देंगे, कुछ का आप लिख देना।
Yes, Reader generated content is encouraged on this blog. So Through comments, post your story of sequel that was never made - just a few lines or a complete script, whatever suits you. 

 

लिख तो ऐसे रहा हू, ज़ैसे कि हमारी ये पोस्ट दुनिया पढ रही हो - और याद आ रहा है
"हम को मालूम है जन्नत की हकीकत लेकिन
हम को मालूम है जन्नत की हकीकत लेकिन
गालिब दिल को खुश रखने को ख्याल अच्छा है।"

सो इस अच्छे ख्याल, यानी कि मेरे अलावा इस ब्लोग को कोई पढने वाला है, इस खुशफहमी के साथ, "The End के बाद" का शुभारम्भ करते है।

 

Love for stray dogs and Rabies

Few days back while waiting for coconut water to be served at a local streetside vendor, we came across a strange sight.

A young lady in her mid twneties,fairly modern in her outlook was feeding stray dogs. She was serving them fresh packets of milk and fresh bread. She was not just feeding the dogs, but playing with them as if they were not street dogs but her pets. The way she was hugging and kissing these dogs was amazing, dogs were very friendly with her almost standing on two hind legs to reach her shoulder.

Typically we had seen last evenings left over being thrown to the stray dogs, but clearly as every dog has its day, and these dogs were having a great day. The coconut seller told us that its not only this lady but a lot of thers who come to this park every morning / some weekly basis to feed the stray dogs. And that these dogs are overfed, and choosy, and fresh bread too will not be finished.

Contrast this with the scene a few hundred meter away- at cross roads, there were a number of 8-10 year olds begging for food.

Maybe this lady was trying to see a long lost pet in those stray dogs and was being too affectionate, but offlate I have seen way too many people feeding dogs, -looks like this trend has caught up big time in Delhi.

Is it because of recent fad among astrologers to say that feeding animals (esp dogs) can change your luck ?
Or because the new age animal rights activists who have more money and resources to spare on the dogs & it is more "in thing". #PETA is trending :-)

 Why should you give two hoots about stray dogs ? well because
 - India has highest number of stray dogs (tens of millions).
- Stray dogs bite millions of people annually in India.
- 20000 people die every year in India from Rabies.(=100 planes carrying 200 passengers each)
- Over 1/3rd of worldwide deaths due to rabies are in India.
- Beyond a certain point Rabies is 100% fatal. There is NO CURE.

The last point is something that most of do not realise.

Btw Rabies infection can occur not only from Dogs, but a wide variety of other mammals- from Cats to Bats. Also these animals can infect you usually 4 to 5 days before they themselves develop symptoms. So becareful when you handle these stray dogs or a pet which has not been innoculated against Rabies.

In India it is illegal to kill homeless animals (Law passed sometime in 90s) , but the law does not prevent us from getting Dogs innoculated against Rabies.

Is nationality the new caste ?

India had a caste system which was looked down upon. Over a period of time concious efforts from a democratically elected goverment, has somewhat blurred the caste lines.

But what has happened to the global caste system? Yes global caste system aka Nationality, has become very strict over a period of time. Nationality is the new caste system - on a global scale.

I know, first thing in your mind is, nationality is not similar to caste concept.
So lets look at, what was caste system anyways, and then try to compare it with Nationality.

• Caste system, to use the classsical definition available on wiki, is "Strict segmentation of society, with the various groups being rigidly defined and membership of them determined by birth." sounds very similar to Nationality. 
• One of the key characteristics of the caste system was "Physical segregation in villages, accompanied by limitations on movement and access, including to religious and educational areas and to basic facilities such as supplies of water." Sounds every bit true for the nationality. 

Nationality is Physical segregation based on birth.

In modern India, as in most of the progressive nations of the world, you are born free. You have freedom of choice. Irrespective of the caste, you are free to choose jobs, educational institutes, area you want to live in, natural wonders you want to visit, religious places you want to go to.

You have every choice in your life - within the physically segregated area called your nation. 

Very similar to the big village of the particular caste, just that the village is big.
The cage is bigger, does not mean you are free.

Even value of human life depends on which nationality you belong to, very similar to caste system. Subconsciously the entire society has accepted it. Life of a US citizen vs a Bangladeshi Citizen - do you see them as same? Check the coverage given by any newspaper for a news related to kidnap/ killing  of these two nationalities and you will realize.

You have freedom within your Samaaj or sub society to marry and had to change the caste of the spouse, if marrying outside the caste - for which you had a big clearance process. Same true for marriage between people from different nationalities.

So you say changing your nationality is possible and changing the caste was not? Think again. religious cleaning process, marriages into higher cast, people faking their castes, did allow people change their castes, though not from lowest to the highest. People in the higher sub caste had this choice.Sounds very similar to process for changing nationality, and granting the new nationality is still very similar to a religious caste change ceremony. Application for immigration from one developed country to another is easier rather than from third world. 

 

Nationality has every bit of the character that the caste system had. Are we mature enough to realize this and grow up from Nationality?

 

Why do we need nationality ?

Life of Pi

Life of Pi.
Dark and opaque subplot.
I am sure, many would prefer not to acknowledge the true story, even if they logically understand that it is the only story plausible.

 So what was the story, as in real chain of events?

Ofcourse the one Pi tells in the end in very few words, as the alternate explanation given by him to the Japanese insurance guys.
Clearly all what Pi narrates about the tiger, hyena and zebra was a lie - euphemisms to the true story.

The true story is that the cook killed the Japanese sailor and Pi's mother. Pi killed the sailor. Pi ate a rat and human flesh, and survived for 227 days in the ocean.
For surviving 227 days, there was no way Pi could have been choosy about what he wants to eat. He had no option but to opt for the custom of the sea - ie survival cannibalism. Pi was to ashamed to openly admit but this was the only way.
Btw Richard Parker was also the name of the sailor in the  1838 novel of Edgar Allan Poe, where Richard Parker suggests to his fellow sailors to use one of them as food for others to survive. They draw lots and Parker gets canibalized in that novel. Btw a real life Richard Parker got cannibalized in 1884, and the name has come to remain closely associated with cannibalism. 

Coming back to Life of Pi, Pi turned cannibal, in the story it was his alter ego ie Richard Parker that killed and ate humans. 
When Pi was on brink of starving to death, he comes across a floating island, that provides him everything that he needs to survive. The island is of the shape of a human. It was a euphemism for a floating corpse. Pi discovers that the corpse that he is eating is that of a cannibal.(he discovers a tooth inside that island ie body)and fears other cannibals near by. He leaves the body once he understands that the water in that island has turned acidic ie the body is decaying. He ties his holy thread as a mark of his respect/ last rites that he can do on the ocean for a body.

 In the hospital, after breaking down over grilling by the Japanese insurance guys who do not believe the tiger story, Pi breaks down and tells Japanese insurance guys- what do you want to hear - you already know it. (Appealing to their logical reasoning) and tells them the truth. Japanese guys find it too dark to report, they would rather report a cock and bull illogical story, rather than a uncomfortable truth.

 "'So tell me, since it makes no factual difference to you and you can't prove the question either way, which story do you prefer? Which is the better story, the story with animals or the story without animals?' Mr. Okamoto: 'That's an interesting question?' Mr. Chiba: 'The story with animals.' Mr. Okamoto: 'Yes. The story with animals is the better story.' Pi Patel: 'Thank you. And so it goes with God.'"
Both the investigators agree that the story with animals is better one. In short they have started believing in miracles. 
The question is essentially do you want to believe an uncomfortable truth Or A soothing lie. A story which narrates a miracle ie an act of God is a soothing lie.
In any case Miracles are a way of putting a garb of respectability on uncomfortable truths. (Virgin mother-?? Must be a miracle... Sita swallowed by earth... Hello...)
 so it goes with God.

माया माया रे, ठगनी माया रे

Listening to Maya - a collaboration between Indian Ocean and Mohit Chauhan. Song is good, but somehow Mohit Chauhan was missing - I mean, it was more of a guest appearance for Mohit and did not appear to be a collaboration at any stage.

btw माया क्या है

अच्छा सवाल है
एक कहानी सुनाता हूँ, बचपन मे पढ़ी थी, याद नहीं कहाँ .
इस कहानी को कई तरह से सुनाया गया है, कभी कृष्ण सुदामा तो कभी विष्णु नारद और कभी कृष्ण और नारद के बीच हुई बातो के तौर पर.
कही सुदामा पानी लाने की जगह एक लड़की के प्रेम में फँस जाते है तो कही वो खुद एक लड़की के रूप में जन्म लेते है ..

जो हमें ज्यादा बढ़िया लगी, वो कहानी हम आप तक पहुचाते है - अपने अंदाज़ मे, यानी थोड़े फेर बदल के साथ

सुदामा जी को कृष्ण से कहते है , प्रभु हमें भी समझाओ तो सही की ये माया है क्या आखिर.
उनकी जिद के आगे कृष्ण भी झुक जाते है और कहते है माया को समझा नहीं जाता अनुभव किया जाता है. खैर कोई बात नहीं एक बार नदी मे एक डुबकी लगा के तो आओ, फिर तुम्हे बताता हूँ की माया क्या है.
सुदामा जी जैसे ही डुबकी लगाने लगते है, उनका पैर फिसल जाता है. नदी मे एक घड़ियाल होता है जो उनका पैर खीच के उन्हें गहरे पानी मे खींच लेता है और सुदामा कृष्ण को आवाज़ भी नहीं दे पाते, और मृत्यु को प्राप्त होते है.
सुदामा कुछ सोचते उस से पहले ही उन्हें दिखता है की उनकी आत्मा पुनरजन्म के लिए नगर सेठ के घर की और चल पड़ी है. सुदामा जी का जन्म नगर सेठ के घर मे होता है, मगर जब तक वो कुछ बोलना सीख पाते, वो कृष्ण और अपने पिछले जन्म को ही भूल जाते है और नये जीवन मे रम जाते है. जैसे जैसे समय बीतता जाता है , सुदामा युवा होते है, नगर सेठ बनते है और एक सुन्दर सी कन्या से उनका विवाह होता है. जीवन अच्छे से व्यतीत होने लगता है. पुत्र पुत्रियों के अलावा पोत्र पोत्री, प्रपोत्र, प्रपोत्री भी बड़े होने लगते है, और एक दिन उनका यानि नगर सेठ के शरीर का अंतिम दिन भी आ जाता है. मृत्यु के बाद सुदामा को अपना शरीर जलने के लिए ले के जाता दिखता है और वो अपने शोक कुल परिवार से अलग होने के बारे मे सोच कर बहुत ज्यादा दुखी होते है, जैसे ही राम नाम सत्य है का कोलाहल उन्हें दूर से सुनाई देता है, अचानक उनका शरीर ऊपर उठने लगता है. सुदामा यानि नगरसेठ अपने परिवार को जोर से आवाज़ देंना चाहते है, मगर अचानक देखते है की वो तो नदी मे है और कृष्ण उनके बगल मे खड़े मंद मंद मुस्कुरा रहे है, तभी उन्हें सामने से आता हुआ अपना यानि नगर सेठ का परिवार दिखता है. वो सब नगर सेठ के शरीर को जलाने नदी किनारे आये होते है, सुदामा उन्हें आवाज़ देना चाहते है मगर उनका गला रुंध सा जाता है. उन्हें समझ मे आ गया होता है, की एक पल मे, एक डुबकी लगाने जितने समय में वो एक पूरा जीवन जी चुके होते है.

यही माया है.



.

न अपनी खुशी आये, न अपनी ख़ुशी चले

Listening to an old ghazal of Jauk (contemporary fo Ghalib), sung by K L Sehgal.

लाई हयात आये, कजा ले चली चले
न अपनी खुशी से आये, न अपनी ख़ुशी चले

बेहतर तो है यही के न दुनिया से दिल लगे
पर क्या करे जो काम न बेदिल्लगी चले

दुनिया ने किस का राह-ए-फ़ना में दिया है साथ
तुम भी चले चलो य़ू ही, जब तक चली चले


हयात - Nature, existence
कजा - Death

चिंता ता की कीजीऐ, जो अनहोनी होए

रामु गइओ रावनु गइओ जा कउ बहु परवारु
कहु नानक थिरु कछु नही सुपने जिउ संसारु

चिंता ता की कीजीऐ, जो अनहोनी होए ॥
इहु मारगु संसार को नानक थिरु नही कोइ

- गुरु तेग बहादुर

अर्थात
राम भी नहीं रह सके, रावन को भी जाना पड़ा - चाहे जितना बड़ा परिवार था - कोई नहीं रोक सका - जो होना था वो हुआ. कुछ भी हमेशा के लिए नहीं है, ये संसार एक सपने जैसा है.

चिंता ता की कीजीऐ जो अनहोनी होइ, अर्थात
चिंता तो उस बात की करो जो की न होनी हो -
This is deep, I like it - He is not asking us to start worrying for things that are not supposed to happen, but asking us to realise that there is nothing like अनहोनी - or "not supposed to happen".
No event can have a tag that "it was not supposed to happen".

Whatever will happen, was actually supposed to happen, and hence not unhonee.
इहु मारगु संसार को नानक थिरु नही कोइ - on this road called world, Nothing is permanent. It will change.

सो इस संसार की हर बात बदलने वाली है, कुछ भी ऐसा नहीं है जिसे देख कर आप कह सके की यह तो अनहोनी थी. जो भी होगा वो तो होना ही था. और जिस बात के बारे मे आपको पता ही है की ये तो होनी है, उसकी चिंता कैसी.

Somewhere it resonates with the Geeta Saar.

or if you relate more with the man who knew too much -
Que Sera, Sera,
Whatever will be, will be.

Cognitive dissonance & BLIND support for Anna

Would Lokpal change everything in your day-to-day life? Any rational thinking person would know the answer, still why there is the kind of BLIND support for the movement
I think the reason is that we want to minimize the cognitive dissonance.

We all have been guilty of promoting corruption in some form of other, but our ego defense mechanism says that no you were a victim, you have always wanted this corruption to end. By supporting Anna you are externalizing this problem of corruption, a malaise that is not being promoted by you but you are a victim.
Think again, how many times you had the choice and still chose to bribe to take a shortcut (remember the last time traffic police caught you when you were on phone; or the time when you had got on to the train on a RAC ticket ; or the time when you took your kid to for admission or ….) You never demanded bribe, but you yielded to take an easy route and promoted corruption. Now the moral values book that you teach your kids, the stand in debates that you take, does not go well with what your actions. This has been troubling you at the back of your mind, and the moment someone (Anna) brings up the issue, you feel caught red handed. Ego self defense mechanism kicks in and says, you are with Anna, you have been a victim who has yielded to corruption because of the corrupt system, now with Lokpal it will all end, afterall it’s the panacea to all kind of corruption.

Gandhi said, Be the change you want to see in the world.
Make a choice not to support/promote corruption in day to day life.

I think once you get rid of your guilty conscience (by self awareness) , you will not be blindly supporting the Lokpal, you will try and analyze have realistic fact based discussion on pros and cons of Lokpal, how to increase its efficacy, rather than blindly support it. You will also be able to make your ego collect the courage to exercise the choice of not promoting corruption.

ग़ालिब

मुझ से मत कह तू हमें कहता था अपनी जिंदगी
जिंदगी से भी मेरा ज़ी इन दिनों बेज़ार सा है !

उम्र भर देखा किये मरने कि राह,
मर गए पर देखिये दिखलाये क्या ?

पूछते है वो कि 'ग़ालिब' कौन है ?
कोई बतलाओ कि हम बतलाये क्या ?
- ग़ालिब

Behavioural changes and War

Just reading Locust and grasshopper are same species, its just that grasshopper change shape & form and behaviourally on crowding.
Hmm.. So the enviornment and esp crowding has a lot to do with the behaviour - atleast for locusts.

There are behavioural switches in humans as well, maternal behaviour or PMSing behaviour change is something genetically hardwired in human females (this one deserves a separate blog post for sure). The secration of harmonses changes the person so much, tat it is diffcult to believe that you are dealing with the same individual. There are other non violent behaviour changes driven by environment - I am given to understand that we are even genetically hardwired to reciprocate after being given something.

Speaking of hardwiring of human brain, we are hardwired to survive - at all costs. Even if it means killing others. We kill others to ensure our survival with a utter disregard for their right to survive - (eggs or chicken on day to day and other humans during war times). This is not unique to humans, all animals have this trait, which is is a manifestation of life's most basic instinct of Survival.
This fight for survival is at the base of every fight for territory among animals, or wars that humans fight. War waged by western world for democracy in Libiya or Iraq or against AlQuaida is not all about eagletarian objective - deep down it is a fight for resources , fight for ensuring survival.

So this brings me to the question - are some cultures more violent than others - is it possible that they are more violent because of the kind of genepool that they inherited ?Specifically does this mean Islam is more violent due to what they inherited in gene pool. I dont think so.Evolution is a very very slow process. Islam or any religion for that matter has not been around for enough time to have impacted the genepool.
But then why ar so many muslims all over world sounding like fanatics - not only in Afganistan or kashmir,but even in UK or Delhi for that matter? Even more surprising is the fact that the same person who was a liberal is changing .. becoming somewhat more hardened.

Does it have something to do with crowding - or behaviour of mobs.
War too is a behavioural switch - we (or for that matter any other animal) are not fighting at all times. They are fighting in regions where they are threatened for their survival. Afterall we are genetically programmed /hardwired to fight when we are threatened for survivial. The problem is accentuated all over the world because western world tries to put all muslims in one basket. When fighting against AlQaida in Afghanistan, it should be projected as a fight against the terrorist in a particular region, rather than be projected as a fight against the muslim world.
So any religion / any genepool would behave in the same fashion the way current muslim world does, if they are put in the same situation.

Any thing that really sets "them" apart.. anything that makes western world feel threatened from muslims? yes the fact that their numbers have swelled suddenly, that means your genepool would have lower probability of survival over next few thousand years. You may not take a concious call on it, but you are hardwired for it.

So why was there a sudden increase in population?
One of the precipitating factor that I see, is the fact that muslim world was relatively backword/mired in poverty till recent times. and that meant you have to have more kids for a fair chance of having a offspring surviving to give birth to next generation ( or preserve your gene pool). Sudden discovery of oil meant prosperity coming to the middle east, predominantly to muslims in that region. This meant access to medical facilities, better nutrition and better chances of survival. Since muslims were being clubbed in basket, it meant the middle east muslims start supporting other muslims countries (this would increase thier chance of being able to fight back and survive - incase there is a fight for survival).

There have been wars whenever there has been overcrowding, and a fight for resources. The muslims too fight among themselves, shia vs sunni. For that matter I am told among Hindus as well Shaiv vs Vaishnav riots were common in ancient times. Christians to have had spilled the blood of their fellow christians- religion has got not much to do with our cruel ways.
Infact discovery of America / Australia have taken away the overcrowding from the Europe in a big way.

The behaviour of a mob is very different from the behaviour of individuals. During peace times we all trust each other, during a riot - and esp if there is a possibility of you being impacted, your response would change dramatically.

Just wondering what does this mean for
- India, whose population density is among the highest in the world / and overcrowding is making the resources scarce.
- USA/ developed world - whose territory is being claimed by others.

Gazetteer of Ulwur

http://www.archive.org/stream/gazetteerofulwur00powliala#page/n5/mode/2up
Now this is a wonderful piece of History, written at a time when Alwar was still referred to as Ulwar.

(btw Alwar was formerly known as "Ulwar". This placed it in last position in alphabetically ordered lists, so a king renamed it to "Alwar" to bring it to the top.)

This book happens to have information which I would not ave found on Wikipedia or any other place otherwise.

The future is yours, it belongs to you,

This beautiful verse was on the best of luck card sent to me in 1998 by my Elder brother.

The future is yours, it belongs to you,
And with faith in God
and in yourself, too,
No hill is too high,
no mountain too tall,
For with faith in the Lord,
you can conquer them all...
And all that you wish for
that is honest and true
The Lord will certainly give to you,
Not always the way you most desire
But always He gives
what you most require.

These words inspire a lot of confidence - "Future is yours, it belongs to you".. kind of makes you feel that whatever you are attempting for your future is already yours, all what you have to do is, just claim it.

I also love the way it makes you prepared to accept the results - even if they are not what you had attempted.
"Not always the way you most desire
But always He gives
what you most require."

Accept what has been the result - don't get disheartened - this may not be what you desired but, it is what you actually required - (As judged by God - so don't question that).

विस्तृत नभ का कोई कोना, मेरा न कभी अपना होना, परिचय इतना इतिहास यही, उमड़ी कल थी मिट आज चली

मैं नीर भरी दुख की बदली!


स्पंदन में चिर निस्पंद बसा,
क्रंदन में आहत विश्व हँसा,
नयनों में दीपक से जलते,
पलकों में निर्झणी मचली!

मेरा पग पग संगीत भरा,
श्वासों में स्वप्न पराग झरा,
नभ के नव रंग बुनते दुकूल,
छाया में मलय बयार पली!

मैं क्षितिज भृकुटि पर घिर धूमिल,
चिंता का भार बनी अविरल,
रज-कण पर जल-कण हो बरसी,
नव जीवन-अंकुर बन निकली!

पथ न मलिन करता आना,
पद चिह्न न दे जाता जाना,
सुधि मेरे आगम की जग में,
सुख की सिहरन हो अंत खिली!

विस्तृत नभ का कोई कोना,
मेरा न कभी अपना होना,
परिचय इतना इतिहास यही,
उमड़ी कल थी मिट आज चली
- Mahadevi Verma.

I am very impressed by the last two stanzas.
I identify myself with these two stanzas - as a cloud which is here for the timebeing, though not as a "dukh ki badli".