Exception to the case of 'Repellent likes'

Physics being the denominator of all science, is based on the fundamental fact that 'likes repel', whereas 'unlikes would rather attract', when put in a very blunt manner. Without trying to repeat the obviousness of the presented factual statement, and presuming that my audience is able to comprehend it in full context, I would be already delving to the point of contention in this post: Exceptions to the case of 'Repellent likes'.

The exception being dealt with is not necessarily bound by the laws of Physics as we know today. And this makes this case of exception abstract in nature to a certain extent, as it operates at the intersections of the mental and social spaces.

Quite many of my posts and conversations would regularly aspire for, and invoke a sect of like-minded people. In one such interaction with one other like-minded friend, I happened to state "Like minds do not repel". But, even before I had completed saying it, I felt necessitated to justify 'the almost grueling friction' which is so inherent to the interactions amongst, for instance within my own limited diaspora of resonating minds.

With some extra contemplation on these lines, although I was convinced of the friction prevalent, I did realize it was no repulsion that is manifested. It is more of the inherent attribute of such a diaspora, which culminates to become a process of refinement. If i were feeling poetic right now, I could go on to use the simile, and say,
Like the tough abrasion necessary to bring out the luster in diamonds

Apart from this friction that yields betterment, such interactions facilitate freducheying, churning out some of the most wonderful by-products, in the form of sparkling ideas bouncing off each other's adamant convictions.

The seemingly repellent interactions amongst like minded people are actually synergistic in nature, and churn out ideas: Ideas that are immortal. 

ಪಂಚರಂಗಿ ಮಾತುಗಳು

ಬಹಳ ಅಂತರದ ನಂತರ, ಒಂದು ಆಹ್ಲಾದಕರ ಕನ್ನಡ ಚಿತ್ರವನ್ನು  ನೋಡುವ ಅವಕಾಶ ದೊರಕಿತು. ಯೋಗರಾಜ ಭಟ್ಟರ 'ಪಂಚರಂಗಿ', ಒಂದು  ಸರಳವಾದ ಮನೋರಂಜಕ ಚಿತ್ರ. ಇದರಲ್ಲಿ ಬಹಳ ಗಂಭೀರವಾದ ವಿಷಯವಾಗಲಿ, ವಸ್ತುವಾಗಲಿ   ಪ್ರಸ್ತಾಪಿಸದೆ, ಸಣ್ಣದೊಂದು ಕಥೆಯನ್ನು ಒಳ್ಳೆಯ ಸಂಗೀತ, ಸಂಭಾಷಣೆಗಳ ಅಭಿರುಚಿಯಿಂದ ಸೇರಿಸಿಸಿ ನಿರೂಪಿಸಲಾಗಿದೆ.

ಇಂದಿನ ಕರಾವಳಿ ಕರ್ನಾಟಕದ ಕಲಾಚಾರದಲ್ಲಿ  ನಡೆಯುವ ಎರಡು ದಿನಗಳ ಘಟನೆಗಳನೂ, ಎರಡು ತಾಸುಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಅತ್ಯಂತ ಸೌಂದರ್ಯವಾಗಿ ಸೆರೆಹಿಡಿದು ಆಹ್ಲಾದಕರವಾಗಿ ನೀಡಿದ್ದಾರೆ ಭಟ್ಟರ ತಂಡ.
ಹಾಡುಗಳಿಗಿಂತಲೂ, ಚಿತ್ರದ ನಾಯಕನಟ ನುಡಿಯುವ ಸಂಭಾಷಣೆಯು, ಆಧುನಿಕ ಕವಿತೆಗಳಂತೆ ರಂಜಕವಾದ್ಗಿದ್ದವು. ಎಲ್ಲಾ ಮಾತುಗಳಿಗೂ 'ಗಳು' ಪ್ರತ್ಯಯವನ್ನು ಸೇರಿಸಿ ಆಡುವ ಸಂಭಾಷಣೆಯು ತೀವ್ರ ಕಲ್ಪನೆ, ಹಾಗು ವ್ಯಂಗ್ಯದ  ತುತ್ತತುದಿಎನ್ನಿಸುತ್ತದೆ. ಇದು, ಈ ಚಿತ್ರದ ಬಲವೆಂದೂ ಹೇಳಬಹದು.

ನನಗೆ ಇಷ್ಟವಿರುವ ಸಂಭಾಷಣೆಯ ತುಣುಕುಗಳು:
"sslc-ಗಳು, puc-ಗಳು, cet-ಗಳು,
ಇಂಜಿನೀರಿಂಗು,  ಪಂಜಿನೀರಿಂಗು,  ಮೆಡಿಕಲ್-ಗಳು,
ಹಲ್ಲು ,ಕಿವಿ,  ಮೂಗು,  ಬಾಯಿ,  ಡಾಕ್ಟರಗಳು
ಕೈ ಬೀಸಿ  ಕರೆದು,  ಕೆರದಲ್ಲಿ  ಹೊಡೆವ syllabus-ಗಳು
ಪಾಸು  ಮಾಡಲು  ಮನಸೇ  ಬಾರದ  ಕೋರ್ಸುಗಳು;
ಕಷ್ಟದ  ಸೀಟುಗಳು, ಗುತ್ತಿಗೆ donation-ಗಳು ,
ಸತ್ತರು parents-ಗಳು, ಇದ್ದರು  students-ಗಳು ."

"ಕಣ್ಣು ಹಾಯಿಸಿದಲೆಲ್ಲ ತೆಂಗಿನಮರಗಳು, 

ಅಪ್ಪಿ ತಪ್ಪಿ ಕೆಮ್ಮಿದರೆ ಕುಸಿದು ಬೀಳುವ ದೊಡ್ಡ ಮನೆಗಳು, 

ಹಾಗು ಅದರಲ್ಲಿ ಬದುಕುತ್ತಿರುವ ಜನರು;"

"ದೀರ್ಘ ದಂಡ ನಮಸ್ಕಾರಗಳು,

ಅದೇ ಲಂಗ-ಬ್ಲೌಸುಗಳು, ಕುಂಕುಮಗಳು-ಬಳೆಗಳು,

ಭಾರತೀಯ ಹೆಣ್ಣು ಮಕ್ಕಳುಗಳು, 

ಆವಾಗ ಇದ್ದರು, ಈವಾಗ ಇಲ್ಲ "

The ever eluding change

Most of us profusely talk about change. It has come to be inherited in our social behavior. We feel compellingly necessitated about change, or at least to talk, or to be part of a talk about change. The problem herewith is the extent, quality and feasibility of the change we are envisaging, and how we intend to accomplish it?

Before answering these questions,let us try to be honest:
Most of the times, all of the talks we hear about 'Change' end up being merely self-approving, and/or pretentiously show that we are somehow concerned about the events around us. With some help from deep introspection, we would easily arrive at the cognizance of it being plain superficial.
Unfortunate as it is, we cannot afford to disregard this behavior, as there is a huge section of the society affiliated to such a school of thought.

When change is what we aspire for; be it within or outside oneself, it eludes us. It is the nature of change to be elusive. To bring about the change we really want to, beyond the captivating speeches and obscuring ideas, it takes a clear vision backed by immense efforts:
Focussed efforts directed towards a clear vision.

Talking is good, but only talking is catastrophically bad.
We need to transcend from the monotonous monologues of the verbal sphere to the actual action sphere. We need to firstly, and most importantly dissect our own belief system, to see what we aspire for.
If we are able to endorse ourselves to an already existing like-minded sect, very well. Else, we need to necessarily build one such sect. The power of individually identical but conforming thoughts, coupled with synergistic actions have never failed to shake up the world.

Aspirations to bring about change come as a reaction to the extremities we impulsively observe in our daily life. Without grooming our understanding and/or without equipping ourselves with the quintessential implements to enable us in persistently holding on to our convictions, there is no hope of bringing any substantial change. To counter the elusiveness inherent to change, we need to strengthen our convictions as well:

Focussed efforts directed towards a clear vision emanating from strong convictions, 
else change shall continue to elude the pseudoers...

Eluding...

NCAR-2010

Read the entire post here,
http://fossphosis.blogspot.com/2010/12/ncar-2010-hyderabad-by-fsmi.html

IDE-Ideating Development Environment

Well, the title might seem a little unnatural to the post, as has been the case for the recent few posts. Nevertheless, the content of this post does converge really well with my thoughts right now. I am contemplating the infrastructure and dependencies for an individual to ideate.

A frame of reference derived from the society, to gauge any work we do is the measure against which the society values our work.
Everything is relative when seen outside us. On the contrary, the value we give to our creations such as ideas/art/work from within is 'absolute', and at the zenith of the self evaluation scheme, unless, someone is bitten by an inferiority complex-inducing bug. 
Once these creations from within are let out, away from the creator, to the outside world, that is when the societal evaluation either degrades or betters the value of it, in a manner relative to the external frames of reference.

The challenge for an individual is to be immune to this external evaluation, both during the creation and after outputting the same.
There might be some instances when we do seek such references, and these must be in congruency with the quality and depth of the individual's mind and character. Charlatanry would be the obvious weed, and one must grow to recognize and differentiate it.

Personally, I try never to look for, or look at the external frames of reference, while I churn out the best in me. Seeking inspiration from outside the individual is different from seeking recognition, even before creation. Always, I presume that any external frame of reference would stand intimidated within the realms of my ideation.
This mustn't be interpreted as ego, or over-confidence: I can go on to say that there is nothing called as over-confidence; Confidence is one thing, we either have or don't.
Never mind, talking further I have inculcated this trait in me consciously - To be oblivious of the frames of reference, and output my ideas in an independent manner.

I must admit that most of the times, the result is far superior than in comparison with the rest of the frames of references, whereas, there are a few instances which due to the inherent lack of multitudes of perceptions within one mind, end up being trivial. And, these are the conditions which seldom necessitate that we do consider the other frames of references, but restricted to a trusted diaspora.

PS: To understand this post better, think of the external frames of refernces as 'mental apparatus' of (people) minus (the individual).

The Corruption Saaku Campaign - Bengaluru

Bengaluru is witnessing one of the peak periods of protests and campaigns as a result of the reckless attitude of the Government ,here in Karnataka by the BJP, and then at the Centre by the UPA-2.

While Karnataka is being branded the 'Most Corrupt state of India', from being the 'Haven for IT and development', Citizens seem to have finally started bothering about it beyond their coffee discussions and newspaper reads.

Manifesting their concern today, a whole bunch of e-networked tax-paying professionals, students from a set of colleges, few NGO's and the organizers together held the "Corruption Saaku Campaign", as a part of the National Campaign Against Corruption.

I came across this initiative in a mailing list, and was following up their developments for the past week.
Today, I did participate in the Corruption Saaku Campaign to voice my opinion, and more so to see what solutions were being churned and presented in this initiative.

The turn out was really good: There were about 400-500 of us, and the Walk from Kanteerva Stadium to Shantinagar Grounds did make the rest of the public attend to. The T-shirts, posters, stickers, handouts, slogans and banners did convey the intentions of the rally in an attractive manner. The walk lasted about an hour, and at the end of it all of us gathered at the Shantinagar Grounds. I was more keen on the propositions that would be presented at the venue by the Organizers of this event, to get insight into the future actions.

Before analyzing the objectives and measures, and their feasibility presented here, it would be of interest to analyze the variety of people gathered for this campaign.
As mentioned earlier, major portion of it were tax-paying professionals and students, with a few activists from the various NGO's organizing this event. It definitely did not represent all the sections of people who are being affected by this "Multi-headed and tentacled demon called Corruption", as put by one of the participants.
Given that this is the start of a prospective mass movement as portrayed by everyone, it would have been appropriate to include people from all sections of the society. As for today's proceedings, I see no initiatives on those lines happening.

Further, the course of actions, future objectives, which are of more import did end up disappointing me.
The speakers were hinting at empowering the vigilance institutions, increasing the powers of Lokayukta, citizens abstaining from giving bribes, and other measures which I believe would only act at the superficial level. There were no clear measures discussed as to how the "Rotten system"could be cleansed.
It appears that the inherent flaws in the system which invite Corruption to breed would be left untouched,  as a temporary solution the weeds would be chopped off only from the surface.

And no agenda or course of actions were presented which would guide this movement to grow and take a better shape in future.

I am not complaining about the efforts put today. These were genuine enough, but without the long term vision of eradicating a deep rooted parasite like Corruption entirely, it wouldn't bring about any real and permanent change in the system. Attempts to tackle such perils from the surface will only give temporary solace and will be infested again.

All the passion shown today by the concerned citizens should be enveloped together, bringing together people from all sections of the society.
They must be guided with a vision to cleanse the system from its roots. That is when protests, campaigns and attempts to bring about movements such as today's can sustain, and, at the least embark upon the path of salvaging people from the current hostile conditions of the society.

Dawkins dawns Darwin upon me

Of the few important people who have had substantial influence on me, Professor Richard Dawkins is the latest addendum. He comes late, but will certainly have (had?) a profound impact on my frame of thought. I am the most and wholly conformed to him than any other intellect I revere. And I have reached that state of conformity after checking up all the arguments he presents in a convincing manner, as encouraged by him.

I am yet to read him ( will soon start to), but have watched almost all of his talks and certainly all of his documentaries. While watching him talk in the convincing attempts of elucidating obvious facts about life and nature, which are easily ignored under the blanket of religion and other correlated fallibilities; And also while tackling the absurdity spilled by ignorance; I can recognize a portion of my own longing and aspirations in him. Prof.Dawkins has already inspired me to take up the cause which he has worked his entire life: To stand up for the truth, substantiated by reasoning and evidence.

Personally, I have gradually grown to be an ardent atheist in the last few years. The obvious conflicts of reasons like the supernatural, destiny, after life and miracles were long conquered by my own attempts of understanding, facilitated by Science all along. But, the usual conflict any atheist would have to face: Hurting the 'feelings' of the believers in quest to cognizance, was keeping me from taking a strong public stand.

Prof. Dawkins has guided me through this process of equipping myself to take a strong stand, even if I supposedly hurt the feelings of others. These 'feelings' weren't to be there at the first place; People who realize it and shed the carapace of irrationality would not feel hurt.But, the adamant and reluctant ones who fail to understand and comprehend the grand truth professed by Science ought to be brought out of the delusion, and if it takes to hurt their unreasonable feelings ,then better we shatter those.

Facts, sometimes are obvious with all the evidence scattered all around us. We still fail to recognize them and stay blind. This sort of voluntary blindness, would transform to become the foundation for a deepening state of ignorance. This is a peril which would not only affect the individual, but will go on to hamper the entire society.
Tackling such atrocities from the root would require the activated ones, or the atheists to spread their religion of truth and reason; And as Prof.Dawkins calls it, we need to endorse Militant Atheism, by which he implies that we go out and speak up, take a stand and counter the religious fanaticism with loud truths, facts and reasoning of Science.

Clarification: I was a Darwinian even before Prof.Dawkins happened to me. The post title seemed better put the way it is.

PS: Some of the best things ever said, and here's all of my favorite by Prof.Dawkins

“After sleeping through a hundred million centuries we have finally opened our eyes on a sumptuous planet, sparkling with color, bountiful with life. Within decades we must close our eyes again. Isn’t it a noble, an enlightened way of spending our brief time in the sun, to work at understanding the universe and how we have come to wake up in it? This is how I answer when I am asked—as I am surprisingly often—why I bother to get up in the mornings.”


"Religion is about turning untested belief into unshakable truth through the power of institutions and the passage of time."


“Dawkins’ Law of the Conservation of Difficulty states that obscurantism in an academic subject expands to fill the vacuum of its intrinsic simplicity”


"We are all atheists about most of the gods that humanity has ever believed in. Some of us just go one god further."


"By all means let's be open-minded, but not so open-minded that our brains drop out."


More on http://richarddawkinsfoundation.org/

Blinding power of solidarity

I was lucky enough to witness the sheer magnificence and grandeur of Music Choirs yesterday, in Bangalore. It was scintillating, and  a sublime musical experience. Live music is always more powerful than the recorded counterpart, and this was manifested to me in full strength in a reputed institution's annual Christmas event.

While the music was intoxicating, I was also witnessing an undercurrent of a very very powerful human devised tool - Faith.

Not only in yesterday's event, but all the grand religious and spiritual events of Hinduism,or Islam, the power exalted by the solidarity and  bonding, centered around the unrealistic Hope as the reason is mind boggling.
It is almost unfathomable to me, to understand how people are convinced beyond doubts about the hope they exhibit in the divine powers! Although, it is very pleasant to witness such events of solidarity, with bubbling love and hope, I am forced to think of the consequences of such activities, which drift people away from the reality, deluding them all life.

Not to mention the narrow mindedness and seclusions which are inherent to religions. Although, each boasts of secularism and coexistence it has been evident in various points of time in the history, till the present day how faith and religion ultimately take up the shape of fanaticism, hampering the society in a profound manner.

At this juncture, I find it timely to clarify a standpoint which a certain few of you have been asking me:


I am not 'for' any of the religions, but against all of them. 

People must be able to live lives which are not fake based on lifelong hoaxes!
We, being the so called 'rational' beings must exhibit this trait not individually, but as a combined entity. In this direction, we have lot of work to be done.

Finally, not to  blame the music; Music is an intoxicator, and an efficient one.  To use such a beautiful thing to convey permanent unrealism is disheartening.

Focussed to distract

Focus and distractions are another pair of coexistent conflicting opposites, I should concur.

It must have been a few minutes since the post title, and while trying to contemplate content for jotting down here, I find myself wandering in the cyberspace, away from my draft board.
This has been the case with me for all the time I remember about myself,with respect to all the work I have done. It might seem that my activities emanate out of strict or near disciplined focus. But, seldom has that been the case. Intermittent, but regular impulses of involuntary focus is what I can attribute myself with.
By which I mean,


Personally, it has been tough to get me to do what I do, for, all i want to do is not always what I get to do. 

This seems quite natural, and correlative to most of our mindsets.

Inculcating focus and attention is subjectively relative. As in, it is absolutely independent of individual and the subject, but has all to do with the relation between the two. The intrigue or, the incentive an individual aspires out of the interaction with the subject is what would decide the extent of focussed attention he/she would allocate to all the entities around.

Nevertheless, if one wants to analyse the psychological algorithm behind the switching mechanism from being focussed to distracted, or vice versa, a personal, ironical experience might help:


The moment I get conscious of either being focussed or distracted, I am involuntarily found switched to the other mode. 


PS: Focussed to distract, and vice versa

'Sense' of 'humor'

I remember writing a similar post, or something remotely on these lines. Nevertheless, I again feel it imperative to elucidate to a certain portion of my acquaintances that

Being silly ain't humor,and talking sense is not somber!

Adding to the already persistent, vast gamut of misconceptions, people tend to think that if one is trying to communicate ideas or information in a simple and sensible manner, either the content, or the presenter, or both are emanating from some gloomy or hideous origins. This adds to the poor reception amonsgt the people, to the matters of immense import.

But contrarily, people get hooked onto silly, frivolous and futile attempts of some empty heads
(the TRP ratings of the TV shows people watch would prove the contradiction I am trying to etch out here).

Charlie Chaplin as the Little Tramp

Humor, in daily life is not about being silly, but about taking things lightly, and responsibly. And, the Greatest Comedian of all times manifested it to us in his work.

If humor was only gimmickry, or sarcasm, or plain mockery, we wouldn't have recognized and remembered Charles Chaplin as the Greatest Comedian ever. He used humor as a tool to convey all the tough messages he wanted to. He showed humor to be one of the best ways to lead one's life, lightly and responsibly. But, if people have had it confused with just being silly, he'd be very upset with it.

Likewise, if people attribute sense to somber, it is highly unfortunate, not to the sensibles, but to the rest of the dogmatists.




PS: This speech from The Great Dictator by Charlie Chaplin is one of the best ever.

Ruthless criticism of everything that exists!

Firstly, the post title is derived from the letters written by one of the groundbreaking thinkers, who added a new paradigm to the world as seen today- Karl Marx.

I shall not be concentrating on him, or his letter as yet. But, would like to revolve around this radical sentence : Ruthless criticism of everything that exists.


One of the main objectives of our existence is to validate the existence of everything else by our own critical faculties;  In pursuit of this validation is when many paradigm shifts have been unleashed on the world.

We might tend to accept, with many generations of like minded people having lived before us for centuries, the need to criticize everything ruthlessly might not be necessary; But, chances that the most obvious of the things as perceived by the humanity are the ones which need the most criticism. For, given the obviousness of the entity, the chances that it has bypassed the scrutiny of the critical faculties of  many generations is very high. To quote a few scantly scrutinized percolations of obvious human wisdom are God, Religion,Traditions,the Social fabric, the educational, economic, and political systems.

It naturally is our responsibility to put such percolations of supposed human wisdom under the lens of scrutiny with the bettered tools of criticism. And the word ruthless criticism is to be taken positively, which implies, it must be carried out with no prejudices, biases and compromises. Only then, the society with all its components can sustain and perpetuate based on reason, with incessant validations.

Remember to,
Ruthlessly criticize everything that exists! Move on, only when convinced.

The Ten commandments for an Atheist (v 0.1.1)

I  Thou shall always tread the path of reason: Scrutinizing every step taken. 

II Thou shall seek truth in its entirety by scientific means, using the tools of questioning, reasoning and verification.

III Thou shall and must think freely ( free as in freedom); and question with no fears or apprehensions, whatsoever. 

IV Thou shall sustain the natural curiosity, by incessantly pursuing the quest to understand everything, scientifically. 

V Thou shall openly accept flaws, once proven; Then learn, correct and better oneself. 

VI Thou shall tackle the absurdities propelled by blind belief emanating from ignorance, in a passionate and dialectic manner, by perpetuating the cognizance of truth, substantiated by reason and evidence. 

VII Thou shall not impose one's views, but shall put it forth in the most effective technique making imposition needless. 

VIII Thou shall grow and perpetuate the genetically inherent social morality of the Homo sapiens, arbitrated by our critical faculties. 

IX Thou shall naturally die; With no delusions of after life to be confused with, shall make the best out of  the lucky tenure of being a grand conscious part of the Universe. 

X Thou shall never follow, but can always improvise. 

The coexistence of Conflicting opposites

The term Contradiction is not something of a rarity in the Universe. The way Universe has come to be, as far as our understanding spans, is a consequence of conflicting opposites, coexisting at every instant of, all the time that has passed; Let us for example consider the naturally occurring,
Nuclear Fusion vs Nuclear Fission.

Avoiding the debate of the Big Bang and the subsequent immediate speculations, allow me to start from The virtually eternal hydrogen cloud that there was: Simplistically put, Fission produces sufficient energy to trigger Fusion. Then Fusion has/is converting the hydrogen to become all the elements known to us today. Fission and Fusion are conflicting opposites -One breaks, while the other makes. But, both together struggle and coexist, synthesizing all that is we are and we see today across the Universe.

If analysed thoroughly, there is for everything that exists: A thesis and an antithesis. The sedimentation of existence is the Synthesis of the conflicting Thesis and anti-thesis.

Let us consider further such ubiquitous, universally true and coexisting but conflicting opposites depicted in the graphic below.

And at personal levels, each and every decision we take at every instant of our lives is a synthesis of choosing between two coexisting choices. At this instant, I am faced with the choice of either continuing this argument or to Stop.
The synthesis of this dilemma is for you to see, as I complete this post.

The concept of the coexistence of conflicting opposites is something that can be observed ubiquitously, and scrutinized thoroughly at every walk of our lives, and every interaction in the Universe.

There perpetuates an infinite struggle between the coexisting opposites (thesis and anti-thesis) to leave behind sediments (synthesis), which might appear as cognizance, impact, logic or change to us.

Resuscitate the dying Democracy!

First the facts:

At the Centre:

•  The 2G spectrum licensing scam by the Telecom Minister amounting to 1,73,000 crore rupees! An unrelenting and defiant minister playing his dirty politics tricks in the safe haven of coalition government.
• Common Wealth Games embezzlement, nepotism and other corruptions which cost the mediocre infrastructure for the games a whooping 70,000 crore rupees. This scam seems to be at the verge of oblivion, for there have been newer, bigger and better scams surfacing up, for the media to chew on.
•  As a crowning notoriety to all the scams hitherto, comes the Adarsh Housing Society scam, where the land alloted for the widows and family members of war martyrs has been grabbed by the influentials, to convert it into a posh apartment with flats for all the accomplices. What a shame!

In Karnataka, here:

•  The never ending saga of the horse-trade of MLA's;  An over-expanding cabinet where the ruling party is at the fix of handing out minister posts to all their legislators!
•  The false majority at the Legislative Houses, which has been successfully manipulated by luring and enticing the legislators with the raw power of money!
• Another mega-scam at the verge of oblivion - The Illegal Mining Mafia ( remember the tussle between Lokayukta vs the State Govt.?) Studies show that this scam has cost the state of Karnataka nothing less than 23,000 crore rupees!

With a discomfortingly revelatory prologue such as this, and with the facts about the deep rooted corruption plaguing everywhere, there is a strong requirement for all the responsible and sensible citizens to take a call and cleanse this sickening, parasitic trend of politics, which is eating into the country, feeding on its people, ultimately nullifying the revered ideology of Democracy-By,Of and For the People!

I apprehend, if there is any hope at all for the citizens to expect anything for their good in this rotten system! Corruption has come to be a mandatory prerequisite to become a politician, and in the real sense of it.
Is there a chance that these leaders could give any heed to the real and basic needs of people?
They are super busy spending all their time and all our resources either in filling their personal treasuries, or saving their arses from the fire behind them!

Political morality, if there is anything like it, has to be inculcated/reinvigorated in this chaotic system filled with corrupt highfalutins. This sorry state of the state and the country, with the not-so sorry politicians making people feel sorry by the day has to be rectified.

People have to regain their conviction: They must demand and work towards resurrecting the miserably failing ideology of democracy here in India - The world's largest Democracy!

Miracles, we are

There are two ways to live: you can live as if nothing is a miracle; you can live as if everything is a miracle

-The genius of Albert Einstein

I do realize this is a clichéd quote, but, how many of us have really got to feel the essence of this statement? 

Haven't we all started living the first way, with no awe and admiration for all the small, little, important things in life?

If you ask me, I'd stick to the latter ideology. 

Everything is a Miracle!

Forever, until this moment, the simplicity and the grandeur; the scale and the variety; the comprehension and the obscurity; the beauty and the serenity, pertaining to each and every, small and big creation and manifestation of Nature, coupled with the interaction and interference of us humans has kept me at the zenith of awe and admiration, or at least I hope to be there soon. 

Every simple facet of existence exhibited by Mother Nature and Father Time is attributable to nothing less than miracles.Without digressing into the obvious miracles, like the vastness and eternity of the Universe, or the existence of life on the Earth, let us unleash the subtle ones. 

Personally, The Clouds still remain the most fascinating and intriguing manifestation of the exact quality we are discussing about. I can never stop wondering about the indefinite patterns spread over the blue canvas of the sky. This is just one of the marvels, which despite the science, logic and reasoning gives a kind of incomprehensible bliss to the other marvelous existence in the Universe, i.e.,Our Minds, projected by the NNN-Natural Neural Networks headed by the Human Brain. 

Although the brain is what is prompting me to jot this down, I do not think it is a narcissist, for, it promptly attributes these qualities not to itself but the culmination of millions of years of trillions of small changes as directed by Time. 

The boundless imagination, the seamless creativity, the never depleting resource of thoughts and ideas, the vivid world visualized within the mind are the things which we seldom stop to savor and be awed with. 

So near, yet so far...

Often, if not always, it is imperative we stop and look at everything around, including ourselves and recognize the miracles that we have come to be, and celebrate in the spirit of Nature by trying to emulate her with a polite mimicking of her manifestations. 

Imagine, Ideate and Create:-)

Wonder, Awe and Admiration will keep us inspired to do more than what our un-instigated mind would usually want to.

As a final thought, isn't it marvelous that the scattered and scrambled thoughts emanating from my mind have been communicated to you, and that my mind has just now touched yours?
Miracle, it is:Miracles, we are;

PS: imagine, ideate and create

The Liberation Triad

Music does convey all emotions in the most efficient way. But, as a listener I have until now been dependent on music instruments coupled with vocals to enjoy the tracks, irrespective of the artist or the genre.

Instrumentals haven't been the most appealing pieces of music in terms of emotional conveyance to me, as is the case for a lot of audience. There have been a few extraordinary pieces of music which would stick to my mind and linger forever, such as the Bombay Theme by A R Rahman.

Now again, one other masterpiece by A R Rahman for 127 Hours is on the verge of becoming one such musical mind-block. With my amateur guitar experience, I seem to connect with this piece of music very well.

Liberation triad from the Danny Boyle movie by A R Rahman is one of his recently composed defining pieces of music. With "Liberation Begins", "Liberation in a dream" and the crescendo "Liberation", he transcends into different levels of emotions progressively and hits the right chords, stimulating all the emotions as intended. When these three tracks are listened sequentially until the crescendo,they manifest the increasing power of each guitar chord being played.

Yet again, I am being taken into the deeper realms of music by A R Rahman :-)

Festivals, to the ones like me ;-)

What could be better than a day's off from work, substituted by relaxing at home, with lots to eat and feast on, while watching some special TV, apart from the warmth of the togetherness, with the added amusement provided by the skeptical participation in prayers and rituals?

A friend had raised a question if rationalists and atheists should be celebrating festivals at all!

And, as I am privileged enough to be a novice of both these elite classes (ignore the jargons;), I strongly feel even rationalism and atheism cannot prevent one from getting together with family and friends, to eat and celebrate the togetherness. That is what any Festival is meant to be, more than emulating any ancient traditions which make little sense in the contemporary world.

As I intend to keep this post positive as a whole, I shall save the critique on the customs and traditions of all religions for elaborations in future posts. 

So, 'Festivals minus Rituals' is a must have for everybody to feel the power of celebration in the spirit of life, to increase joy, happiness and to savor the periodic special days.

With Deepavali/Diwali at the horizon, let this Festival of Lights,
enlighten the minds of people, fill it with sparkling ideas, blasting off prejudices and ignorance. Hope there is lesser pollution this time, as the trend has been off late.

Happy Eco and Future friendly Deepavali

ದೀಪಾವಳಿ ಹಬ್ಬದ ಹಾರ್ದಿಕ ಶುಭಾಶಯಗಳು

दीपावली त्यौहार   के शुभकामनाएं

தீபாவளி பண்டிகையின் மனமார்ந்த வாழுத்துக்கள் 

ಕನ್ನಡ, kannada :-)

I would have wanted to write this post entirely in Kannada, to symbolize Kannada Raajyotsava. But, I wanted to mention some interesting facts about Kannada, which I wanted the non-Kannadigas to know as well. More than the non-Kannadigas, there is an urgent necessity for the Kanndigas themselves to refresh some facts such as these, and reclaim the pride in the language and heritage, which seems to be depleting these days.

1. Kannada language has a script known as the 'Brahmi Script'. It comprises of 35 consonants and 14 vowels. Each written symbol in the Kannada script corresponds with one syllable, as opposed to one phoneme in languages like English.
2. All Indian languages are phonetic when compared to other world languages. And, Kannada is the most phonetic amongst these. Both spoken Kannada and the script comprise of all the syllables. With its 49 characters Kannada is the most phonetic language in India able to produce vocal sounds of all forms used for communication. 
3. Kannada is one of the oldest languages in the world still in use. In India, with the exception of Tamil and Telugu, there is no other language older than Kannada in use. The Halmidi inscriptions date back to 450 AD, whereas the oldest existing literary work in Kannada- Kaviraajamarga (The name means literally "Royal Path for Poets" and was used as a guide book for poets and scholars) by King Nrupathunga dates back to 850 AD.
4. English has absorbed some bit of Kannada. For example, the word 'Market'. Etymology experts attribute this word to have been derived from the Latin word 'mercatus(buying and selling)',but, we cannot ignore that in Kannada "Maarukatte" means precisely what the word market stands for. 
5. Kannada script is also used by two other languages spoken in Karnataka -Tulu and Konkani. Kannada and Telugu share almost an identical script. 

The rest will be in Kannada :)

ರಾಜ್ಯೋತ್ಸವಕ್ಕೆ ಹೇಳಬೇಕಾದ ಸಂಗತಿಯನ್ನು ಆಂಗ್ಲದಲ್ಲೇ ಹೇಳಿಬಿಟ್ಟೆ. .ಈಗ ನಮ್ಮ ಕನ್ನಡ ಸಾಹಿತ್ಯದ ಇಬ್ಬರು ಮುಖ್ಯ ವಚನಕಾರರ, ನನಗೆ ಹಿಡಿಸಿದೆ ಒಂದೆರಡು ವಚನವನ್ನು ಇಲ್ಲಿ ನೆನಪಿಸುತ್ತಿದೇನೆ.
ಸರ್ವಜ್ಞ :

ನಿತ್ಯ ನೇಮಗಳೇಕೆ | ಮತ್ತೆ ಪೂಜೆಗಳೇಕೆ ?
ನೆತ್ತಿ ಬೋಳೇಕೆ? | ಜಡೆ ಏಕೆ ಮನದಲಿ 
ಸತ್ಯವುಳ್ಳವನಿಗೆ ಸರ್ವಜ್ಞ ||


ಗುರು ಇಲ್ಲದ ಮಠವು| ಹಿರಿಯರಿಲ್ಲದ ಮನೆಯು |
ಅರಸರಿಲ್ಲದೂರು ಇವು ಮೂವರು ನುಲಿಹರಿದ |
ಹೊರೆಸಿನಂತಕ್ಕು ಸರ್ವಜ್ಞ ||

ಬಸವಣ್ಣ :

ನಿಮಿಷದ ನಿಮಿಷಂ ಬೋ, ಕ್ಷಣದೊಳಗರ್ಥಂ ಬೋ !
ಕಣ್ಣು ಮುಚ್ಚಿ ಬಿಚ್ಚುವೈಸುಬೇಗಂ ಬೋ :
ಸಂಸಾರದಾಗುಂ ಬೋ ! ಸಂಸಾರದ ಹೋಗುಂ ಬೋ !
ಸಂಸಾರದೊಪ್ಪಂ ಬೋ !
ಕೂಡಲ ಸಂಗಮದೇವಾ,
ನೀ ಮಾಡಿದ ಮಾಯೆಯೇಂ ಬೋ, ಅಭ್ರಚ್ಚ್ಹಾ ಯೇಂ ಬೋ !

ರಾಜ್ಯೋತ್ಸವದ ಶುಭಾಶಯಗಳು... :)  

The Halmidi scripture

Let's talk Irony

We grow up amongst people who never grew up;
We learn to study, but never study to learn;
We pretend to be someone else, even to a mirror;
We seek freedom, but get bound by the same;
We talk, talk, and only talk;
We call out an 'A', while meaning it to be 'Z';
We can do, but we wouldn't do;
We pursue the next, without holding onto the first;
We work hard, but are ever lazy to think;
We greatly value things, but all done wrongly;
We want the one, but ask for the other;
We love this other, while seeking some other;
We believe in the unknown, without trying to know our own;
We pray, but forget to back it up with efforts;
We know we're wrong, but would still go on to fight against the right;
We call it to have lived, whereas what it is is mere survival;
We call all of this irony, while these are simply true facts;

The Definitely Detached Diaspora

Urban life these days has turned out to be a haven for all of us, who are deeply engrossed in our own hectic schedules and overtime slogging at work, with almost zero concern towards all the other crucial proceedings in the society.

When I say the other crucial proceedings, I do not point at that the 'Breaking News' of the urban paparazzi; But, about the section of population that is beyond the margin of the elite vision, or the press and media, in the words of P.Sainath. I mean the real lot of people who are below all possible lines the elite could describe including the Poverty line.

The present state of our personal well being, as individuals is mostly a matter of chance - Circumstantially favored to have born in our families and in the amicable conditions of society that we are in. Imagine yourself in one rural corner of India, or in a tribe on a remote forest edge; I bet it would have taken a couple of lifetimes to struggle and reach the state we are in, in an upstream struggle also against the perfectly imperfect system.

When we do visualize scenarios such as these, it becomes important to place ourselves in these frames of reference and choose the roles we would want to play - Whether we would want to aggravate or neutralize the growing discontent and disparity.

We are that small diaspora of Indians who have had decent education, other basic and not so basic facilities at our disposal. Happy as we are in this kind of a secluded ambiance, it is also of prime importance that we should be the ones who will work and make the society grow even. We have the tools at our disposal- education, cognizance and a human network waiting to be used. These are the tools,which we can use with a little added effort and increased consciousness to bring some change in the conditions of the sections we have secluded ourselves from.

We have our excuses of being exhaustively utilized at our jobs and careers; And that is what the system wants you to do, so that you do not interfere with the flowing mechanisms of exploitations it has ployed around you, using you as a collaborator. By breaking out of the carapace of this seclusion, we can do small wonders if not major changes in the society as it is today.

Instincts vs Inhibitions

We can consciously ignore the fact that, there is still a lot of suppressed carnal instincts in us humans which have been, and will remain unquenched, or, we can deny it altogether under the mask of civilization.

By carnal instincts I refer to all the traits which are natural to the human beings, and of all of which only a few are openly given sanctity in the society, and by the society. The rest are suppressed as much as possible by placing the heavy weight of prejudices and superficial morality practiced by the society as a whole.

The constant and ubiquitous suppression of the natural human instincts, subsequently culminate to become a strong negative force from within the individual, increasing the animosity between the self and the rest of the world. When such is the case with respect to each of the individual, who is part of the society as a whole, the entire synergy between the two is lost.

At this verge, the individual and the society are facing each other in a diametrically opposite perception levels.

In almost every encounter of this kind the Individual has succumbed to the mounting pressure from the rest of all, and is subdued to live in an Inhibited state, without the gratification of having lived the way he/she wanted to!

But, there have been a few rare humans, who have stood up and against the system to claim that which the rest of the society has become consciously oblivious about. And when we do find such rarities we tend to disparage their worth and claim our cowardice to be superior than theirs.

In this struggle between the Real humans and the Pseudo humans, the pseudoers are left inexplicable and unattended, as the tribe of the Real heroes go surpassing in their journey, which is beyond the realms of comprehension of all the rest who are left behind....

Let's Talk Ideas

The title of this post emanated out of my Sunday's activities, throughout the day. I've been talking and doing the talking of the kind one yearns for - profound, true, motivating, sweet, sensible and balanced with a tinge of responsibility.

Now, let me assure you, this has of course become a rarity these days: Conversations which make sense, and which convey something at the end of it ?
Not very often you hear about such rarities.
What we do get to hear is bundles of blabber, futility of monologues and noisy rumblings, in the 4-D Universe!

It is of utmost import for a sensible mind to have a decently sensible talk once a while, if not always. The quality of the conversations have dipped to the lowest ebbs, with most of it concentrating on the rest of the irrelevant topics of the world, than the important ones concerning the self.

Talking ideas: Or popularly Brainstorming is that one ecstatic exercise each of us should undergo to rejuvenate our perceptions and the agility of the mind. Unfortunate that, this isn't a culture anymore amongst the lot many of us.  But, I have consciously perpetuated an exclusive set of like minded individuals with whom I can have two levels of brainstorming, in a symbiotic manner.

Firstly, the one where it is more of a barter trade of ideas, where we share and grow ideas; Improvise on the perceptions each has come to arrive at and churn sense out of it.
Secondly, a more selfish level, where each of us has already frozen on the framework of ideas, but is seeking refinement of the same by interaction.

One of the best things of being the Homo sapiens we are: Thinking and communication; the latter of these essentials has become scant, but not as much in scant as the former itself !

PS: If you aren't a part of the elite club I've mentioned about, and would want to be a part of it, contact me offline and convince me ;)

Lessons not to be forgotten from the CWG

Well, the magnificent Opening and Closing ceremonies, sandwiching the best of the games for twelve days in India have been stupendous for the 19th Common Wealth Games,India.

The spirit of the games and the organizing efforts of the teams in India were generously hailed by everyone, as soon as the Opening Ceremony was a grand success. An acutely sharp transition was observed in the perception of CWG held in India, until the Opening ceremony - basically, a paradigm shift was triggered instantly.

Needless to say how beautiful the shows were, and what an experience it has been to revive the much needed Non-Cricketing Sports spirit in India ( We at least get to hear chanting of some non-celebrity sports people!) It has been an unprecedented success, agreed.


We need to talk about the making of the games, and the supreme embarrassment our organizers had invoked, with the very generous help of media, as if to strip oneself naked in public, and that which brought disgrace to the entire nation facing the rest of the world.
Let it not be perceived that I am trying to dig open some bitterness from the past, which is better forgotten! These are the concerns about the proceedings just before a fortnight, and we still have to analyze, even after the grand success of the games.

Two aspects need to be thoroughly evaluated: The gambling-like attitude towards the lethargic organization of the games; And also the role of media in these proceedings.

Organizing hurdles are inevitable, and I am not targeting the last minute tweaks which had to be performed, for, it is well known that work expands itself to fit into whatever time is allocated to it. The events preceding CWG have proven this axiom at the largest scale possible.
If our feeble memory would care to remember, there was also a big scam of nepotism, embezzlement and other varieties of corruption attributed to the CWG-2010. The success of the games should not eclipse these black holes of atrocities, and must still be borne in the minds of people, as to how the greed of a few people had put the entire nation's pride at stake!And now, we need to insist and pressurize by all means to try all those involved in the mishandling of the games at all strata, with the fullest rigor. Else, this shall become a lesson of immense import, which we Indians have missed, and as a consequence such leeches would dare doing it again. This shouldn't be allowed to happen, and all the rage which was/is in us must be channelized and we must seek justice on behalf of the entire nation.

Secondly, the entire country was easily made to forget that such a low phase had preceded the games. Thanks to the impulsive media, and the shallow, volatile perception of the population!
Just one single day of incessant reports contrary to any subject can make the opinions of people contradict their own yesterday's opinions. This is the power of media today, and CWG yet again has manifested this malicious syndrome. Given that almost the entire population gives heed to the media, it is the responsibility of the few of the remaining independent minds to sustain the balance of the opinions in people.

A friend repeatedly says that We Indians, as a nation have the least consistent EQ(Emotional Quotient);
And certainly we do: It does reflect in all the drama that goes on, day in- day out, amidst the great population of India, which is poised at making India mediocre!
With hypocrisy and untrue nationalism, we are taking ourselves and our country nowhere!

Flora, Fauna, Fantasia and Femina :)

Flora, Fauna and Femina : These are the three gifts bestowed by Mother Nature upon mankind. The aesthetic ecstasy and their sublimity are unparalleled experiences, which cannot be emulated by any human endeavor, but one - Fantasia.

An appropriate picture I found at this link 

While I was reading and responding to a friend's blog post about Nature and Music, I realized if there is one means of human excellence that can reach up to the grandeur and satisfaction of the Nature's three marvels, it is none but Music;
To achieve phonetic congruency I shall attribute music by calling it Fantasia.

Fantasia, or Music is that unique divinity which emanates out of the best of the creativity in the human population, which transcends to match the aura,grandeur and gratification rendered by Mother Nature. Although man has learnt music from Nature, this time undoubtedly the student did exceed his abilities.

Music is a subtle but strong force, which bonds oneself to the best of the things in the world.

I can go on about the august traits of this fantastic fantasia;
I have a dedicated post which I keep updating at intervals, after euphoric and revelatory experiences with music.

Ultimately, a life without The Flora, The Fauna, The Fantasia and The Femina - would become worthless :)

ಏನ್ರೀ ರಾಜಕಾರಣ ಇದು ?

ವಿಧಾನ ಸೌಧದ ಸುತ್ತಲೂ ಮಾಟಮಂತ್ರ ಮಾಡಿ, ನಮ್ಮ  ಎಡಿಯೂರಪ್ಪನ ಸರ್ಕಾರವನ್ನು ಉರುಳಿಸಲು ಷಡ್ಯಂತ್ರ ರಚಿಸಲಾಗಿದೆ ಅಂತೆ ! 
ಇದನ್ನು ಪರಿಹರಿಸಲು, ವಿಧಾನ ಸೌಧವನ್ನೇ ಮೂರು ದಿನಗಳು ಮುಚ್ಚಿಟ್ಟಿದ್ದಾರೆ.  ಅಲ್ಲದೆ, ವಾಡಿಕೆಯಾಗಿ ಬಳಸಲಾಗುವ ದ್ವಾರವನ್ನು  ಈಗ ಮುಚ್ಚಿ  ,ಬೇರೊಂದು ಸುರ್ಯೋಮುಖಿ ದ್ವಾರವನ್ನು  ಮಾತ್ರ ತೆರೆದಿದ್ದಾರಂತೆ.

ಇಂತಹ ಜನರು ನಮ್ಮ ಮುಖಂಡರು, ನಮ್ಮನು ಅವರ ಆಡಳಿತದಲ್ಲಿ ಭದ್ರವಾಗಿ ನೋಡಿಕೊಳ್ಳುತ್ತಾರೆ ಎಂದು ಕಲ್ಪನೆ ಮಾಡುವುದೂ ಸಾಧ್ಯವಿಲ್ಲ. 
ಏನೋ, ವಯಕ್ತಿಕವಾಗಿ ಪೂಜೆ ಪುರಸ್ಕಾರ ಮಾಡಿಕೊಂಡು ಇದ್ದರು, ಈಗೀಗ, ನಮ್ಮ ರಾಜಕಾರಣವೇ ಪೂಜೆ- ಪುರಸ್ಕಾರ. ಮಾಟ-ಮಂತ್ರಗಳ ಜಾಲದಲ್ಲಿ ಸಿಲುಕಿಸಿ , ಒಂದಿಷ್ಟೂ  ವಿವೇಕವಿಲ್ಲದೆ ನಡೆಸಲಾಗುತ್ತಿದೆ. ಇದನ್ನೆಲ್ಲ್ಲ ಪರಿಗಣಿಸಿ ನೋಡಿದರೆ ಭಯದ ಜೊತೆ, ಅಸಹ್ಯ ಅನಿಸುತ್ತದೆ!

ಇಂತಹೆ ಹುಚ್ಚಾಟ ಏನೋ ನಡೆಯುತ್ತದೆ ಅಂತ ನೋಡಿದರೆ, ಜೊತೆಗೆ, ಟಿ.ವಿ ನಲ್ಲಿ ಹೇಳುವಂತೆ ಶಾಸಕರನ್ನು ಕುದುರೆ ವ್ಯಾಪಾರದಂತೆ ಮಾರಾಟ ಮಾಡುತ್ತಿದ್ದಾರೆ.  
ದೇಶಾದ್ಯಂತ ಪ್ರವಾಸ ಹೋಗಿ, ಚೆನ್ನೈ, ಗೋವಾ, ಪುಣೆ, ಅಲ್ಲಿ -ಇಲ್ಲಿ , ತಮ್ಮ ಬೆಲೆಯನ್ನು  ಹರಾಜು ಹಾಕುತಿದ್ದರೆ! 

ಹಣದ ಹಿಂದೆ ಬಿದ್ದಿರುವ ಶಾಸಕರು, ಮೂಢ ನಂಬಿಕೆಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಮುಳುಗಿರುವ ಮುಖಂಡರು, ಊಸರವಲ್ಲಿಯಂತೆ ಬಣ್ಣ ಹಾಗು ನಿಲುವುಗಳನ್ನು ಬದಲಾಯಿಸುವ ನಾಯಕರು, ಇದನ್ನೆಲ್ಲಾ ಮರೆತು ಇವರೆಲ್ಲರ ಹಿಂದೆ ಹೋಗುವ ಮೂರ್ಖ ಜನರು - ಬಹಳ ಚೆನ್ನಾಗಿದೆರೀ  ನಮ್ಮ ಕರ್ನಾಟಕದ ರಾಜಕೀಯ  ಅವಸ್ಥೆ !

Re-contemplating the existence of a Principlist..

"Principles are like lighthouses. They are natural laws that cannot be broken."
- Stepehen R Covey in his book Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, the first book to have left some crux of it with me.

I like the concept of principles being the lighthouses which guide us through times of personal turmoil, and which facilitate us in tending towards the right direction.

And the part where he says principles are natural and cannot be broken - I disagree.
For, principles evolve with the individual. As one grows in the society, the principles applied by the individual to the society would have to evolve as well, unless, the person has been mimicking someone else.

Talking in this regard, and getting a little introspective, I have been an ardent principlist, if you would want to call me so, but only until recently.

It just hit me before a few hours - I have stopped being conscious of whether I am a principlist or not! And,in retrospection the turn of events during this particular phase of my recent past, it so seems that I have had a momentum which has taken me this far, through the various ups and downs.
But, what I do have missed is that evolution of the principles, which would have made me a self approved and updated principlist.

People with a dormant mindset, adhering to adamant principles are prone to bring ill-health to the individual's persona. Evolving principles with the metamorphosing world around is acutely necessary to swim through the world as it is today. Rigidity on these lines, would eventually make the individual brittle,ultimately succumbing to the mismatch.

Patience enlightens and pays

My recent explicit expressions of being victimized by deep dilemma, which I made glaringly public by my own narcissism have finally hit the avenue of mellowing down.
Although these were troubling me; In almost a masochistic manner, I found an unknown pleasure in boasting them off.

I am not sure if  "Time Heals" is the right phrase to use. But, "Patience enlightens" is much better to envelope this condition of mine.

The time I have given myself on this dilemma has slowly elucidated the nuances and intricacies of it, and has elevated me to a vantage point, from wherein, I am privileged enough to observe all the pros and cons of both the extremes. This being the case, I am more than happy to have not hastily taken up any of the choices.

I do not know, if it was the "Self healing" attribute of the dilemma, or the "enlightenment by my virtue of patience", which have helped me save myself.
Nevertheless one additional lesson is clear
"Patience enlightens and pays!"

The debate on the Gandhian Debate

My observations pertaining to the Gandhian debate, for all the time I have been absorbing it turn out to be 'pretty disappointing', at all strata.

Either the pro-Gandhians are not passionate enough, and the ones who oppose are ill informed. Another wide diaspora of the community tries to engage in this debate just for the sake of having to make or oppose a stand, without they themselves having a stand about the issue of contention, like in numerous other scenarios.

I admit that my know-hows about this debate are very minimal, and I do not think I am equipped enough to even take a stand with the little of the cognizance about this issue.

In this post I shall not be expressing my own views for/against Gandhi, but only meticulously try putting forth my observations of the people who get themselves drawn into one such debate.

By the way, this entire discussion is about Mohandas Gandhi and not his pseudo descendants.

Coming to the point, there is a lot of obscurity about the genre of people who call themselves Gandhians.
Who is a Gandhian?
Any person who adheres to "the main principles of non-violence, austerity and sacrifice as means to bring change in oneself and hence in the world", as preached by Gandhi is whom I interpret to be a Gandhian. With the increased scant of the very sense of non-violence, austerity and sacrifice exhibited as a whole by the society, it would be a rarity to come across genuine Gandhians. Although, we could very well stumble upon hypocrite Gandhians who would suddenly appear on the eve of Gandhi Jayanti, make statements to the media and disappear soon after. Also, the Indian society as it is today has outgrown the Gandhian principles which it is supposedly based on. As a consequence,the little pragmatics of the arguments made by this category of people is irrelevant in relation to the realistic conditions of the contemporary world. Much attributable to the intermittence and inconsistency exhibited by the Gandhians.

Well, coming to the opposites, the non-pro Gandhians (in attempt to avoid anti!), base their disgruntle as mere reactions to the impulsiveness of the moment, without most of the times considering the circumstances in retrospection within the frame of time of its occurrence.

I am not questioning the righteousness of the means pursued by us to gain freedom, but the ones who oppose it now have what traits in them to take such a stand without really being able to do anything in the current scenarios? People with such a temperament should have the real mettle in them to be part of the transformations in today's world, which is as bad, or worse when compared to the state of affairs in pre-independent India.

The point being made here is: A mere debate ( a futile war of words) from both sections have no value, whatsoever, if the concerned are restricting themselves to words alone!

Gandhi was a great man; maybe, not that a great statesman, or maybe he was. The point is, we should grow and improvise on the legacy handed over to us, by imparting our traits into them, tailoring it to fit the world as it is today rather than trying to mimic the past.

"It is better to be violent, if there is violence in our hearts, than to put on the cloak of nonviolence to cover impotence" Mahatma Gandhi

fossphosis: My tech blog

After two years of mixed blogging, and with lots of opportunities to publish the confused jugglery I perform in GNU/Linux on technical grounds, I have streamlined the posts by channelizing GNU/Linux related technical posts to a new blog at the url
http://fossphosis.blogspot.com/

net-works-by-gnu-linux @ fossphosis

fossphosis, is a an abbreviation of two different terms, which I came up with for use in a different but related context. Nevertheless, for now, I shall be using it as the URL to this blog.


free and open source software (foss) + metamor(phosis) -> fossphosis; 

Well, let me clarify that I shall not be logging very geeky posts out there, for my abilities with respect to coding are minimal. I shall be chronicling mostly details pertaining to minor tweaks and variety of applications, targeted at consolidating the rich and fascinating FOSS tools I come across and personally use to perform my work (related to computer networks).

The motive behind this new blog is primarily selfish - for, I forget the nuances of the configurations and applicability of tools in an almost volatile manner. It is mainly to facilitate my short term memory in retrieving these details, that I shall be blogging at fossphosis.
In turn, I also believe these posts will be helpful to at least a small set of people to ease their tasks of networking using GNU/Linux.

net-works-by-gnu-linux :)

It's only a profound mumbling...

I lay afloat, but still drown in a sea of impulsiveness,
My body is tired, but my mind is bubbling in randomness;
Inhibitions are set free, made unconditional, with no boundary,
Thoughts emanate,surpassing the aura of the smelting iron within a foundry;


The day's life slips me into a shield of cowardice,
Making me grow numb and blind towards my own real needs;
Undaunted questions recursively haunt me,
For, all of this I did, to please me, or the rest of thee?


When I'm lost, and unaware of my existence,
That is when I see the futility of all thy acceptance;
I don't boast of any possession abnormal to humankind, 
Not an open heart, or not even a fearless mind.


All I own is a struggling mind and a compromising heart,
And this realization has what made me rise and start,
To push the envelope beyond the obvious,
While striving not to make my reality oblivious.


Filling the flaws within, with and with alone my passion,
Knowing it's done, only when it turns to be an obsession;
For, the best of me is not what I now confess,
It is more to do with what I shall go on to possess.

Godly Chauvinism: Who is to be blamed?

Ubuntu logo: Humanity to Others:: Tweaked Ubuntu Logo; Humanity amongst Indians! (colors symbolize 3 major religions in India)

I have spoken furiously about the highfalutin mobs who are observed consistently in all sects, more appropriately communes of people. I used to believe that education would better this dreadful and communicable logic/reasoning deficiency disorder of the masses, but the recent Telengana issue proved me wrong, where it was the students who went berserk.

Religion is one of the wisest creations of man, which was initially invented to wrap up the ignorance he was shameful to admit, by attributing it to God. Subsequently, with increased use, he discovered the potential of a weapon which he had unintentionally invented. A weapon that could directly attack the mind, and collapse the ability to reason in the person's belief system, replacing it with a fabricated tell-tale story of legends and myth (true to all religions being practiced). This was so successful in masquerading the truth that it has made people to believe the 'untruth' more than their own reality and existence. Yeah, Inception works, and well on large scale!


Talking about how this became the 'Magic Weapon' of the power-seeking leeches is a known and clichéd reality, which we have grown blind towards.

From the Ignorance of softheads breeds fear, and this fear is transformed into havoc by the wiser softheads.

Except for in text books, I have never seen compelling and consistent public instances of India being secular or tolerant. Forget about being tolerant, people can barely bear each other (other as in, other religion/caste/state/or any trivial segregative clause). And, that, my friends is the reality.

Prejudices, media-fed opinions and zero self reasoning are the main causes for this deteriorating state of affairs in India. The ultimate winner though is the power-seeker, who successfully capitalizes on the stupidity of his subjects and further uses them as assets (? or stocked ammunition !) when need be, by instigating or encouraging more of atrocities.

The eternal losers are the people, who fail to live a life, but forever remain pawns in the hands of exploiters.

Amidst all this chaos, if there was a genuine motive ( I believe, there was at least one), behind the conception of God and Religion, those noble ideas are being lost, after having swollen with the increasing events of disgrace to these identities due to the ruckus created by the morons and mindless maniacs.

When the reality is so clear in front of people, with their life and a universe of opportunities at their disposal, I cannot still, and maybe never fathom the need for people to go wayward, ruining their own lives and the society as a whole.

Just an open and shrewd mind is what is needed; A shrewd open mind....
The question is how each of us could  get to possess one such rarity!

Why Software Freedom?

This is one question not many of us, who are not involved with the Free Software Movement would be even aware of.

When knowledge becomes a commodity, the society built around such a knowledge market is prone to grow diametrically polarized. This in turn, perilously reflects on the economic status of the involved sections of people. Depriving knowledge from people puts them in a handicapped position, and renders them a life, which is more of a struggle against unequal opportunities for survival. This, on a prolonged period of time, culminates into a society which has nothing but a glaring disparity in the conditions of its population, staring at a bleak future. 

India, is the best example that can be taken into consideration. 

With the Digital revolution at its zenith across globe, and also in India, the knowledge we just spoke about has/is being digitized. Apart from the commoditization of knowledge in its real form, the extra commoditization of its digital form inherently has been more successful, only in a capitalistic point of view.

In a nationalistic. or a humanitarian perspective, all that has come to be of Digital Knowledge is that, it is a costly commodity, like a sports car or a posh flat. 

In India, or any developing country, enabling people by imparting them skills that will help them lead a decent life is what is most required. In today's world, it naturally converges to using technology. But, when the knowledge behind the technology is being used to create a gradient in the society, as it is a commodity in the hands of profit makers, it is imperative that all the knowledge is brought back into the community, and used for the betterment of the community. 

Free Software Movement, has this far succeeded in its attempts of setting this knowledge free, free as in freedom (also in monetary terms, either zero or little cost).  When the society owns the knowledge, it knows what it has to produce for its growth, rather than some monopoly deciding what the society might need. 

Talking on these important lines, Freedom in the Digital world is very much necessary for the society to grow equal, so that we do not allow deep opportunity gradients created everywhere.

Freedom at a user level in terms of privacy and security are also facets of the movement. But, in an Indian context this Freedom makes more sense in the 'gradient lessening' aspect. 

Freedom Matters with Eben

Prof.Eben Moglen, Founder, Director-Counsel and Chairman of Software Freedom Law Center, and also the architect of GPL v3 is in Bangalore doing a series of talks and interactions pertaining to the freedom in the digital world.

Today, Prof.Eben visited St.Joseph's College, Bangalore in an event organized by FSMK. FSMK has come up with a Free Software course of 120 hours with an elaborate introduction to the world of Free Software in an application oriented approach. The syllabus can be found at this link.

Prof.Eben delivered the first lecture of the series, and hence inaugurating the program officially.

In his talk, Prof.Eben introduced the concept of Free Software to the keen but novice audience, drawing analogies from Free Science to Free Software, with emphasis on the Freedom aspect. Talking about the course proposed by FSMK, Prof.Eben said that it was the best course currently in the world for such a cause, which can be emulated world across to incorporate Free Software in the education system. He urged students to take up this course, for it would also prepare them for the industry.
This talk went on for 20 minutes.

In his second stint, during the interaction with the audience, for my question about "Monetizing Free Software", he ended up by saying "Put some free software into your brain, and that brain is much wanted by all major players!".

Later on, when asked about the Google-Oracle law suit, Prof.Eben dramatically elucidated the case going on, the benefactors, the temporary allies and the losers of the lawsuit. He apprehended about a prospective Oracle-IBM lawsuit on JAVA lines, for that would hurt the freedom of users.

He also spoke about the reasons for the current state of M$( failure of Windows Vista, 7...), which has grown obese with its baggage of proprietary applications. He also touched upon the architecture specificity(/rigidity) of M$ which hasn't been able to compete with omni-architecture supporting GNU/Linux.

He gave insights into the Intel Atom and the Nokia 'cynical' deal that is going nowhere, and the troubles Intel is facing with its Meego and Atom projects.

Most importantly, Prof.Eben also spoke about the cause he is batting for, with respect to 'securing privacy of users', with the OpenPlug,GNUplug like devices with a Free Stack, to curb the privacy infringement by the cloud and cloud application developers.

It was an amazing experience, witnessing Prof.Eben; As one of our FSMK activists mentioned "He is one of the 100 Most Influential Speakers of contemporary world" ,and not surprisingly he pleasantly overwhelmed us, by getting us acquainted with the different facets of the Freedom Struggle in the digital world. Every interaction with Prof.Eben transforms into a strong motivation, which would drive us to take up the Movement further, in creating a "Free World( Free,as in Freedom)"

Software Freedom Day-2010

Dear Friends and Patrons of Swatantra Software,

Software Freedom Law Centre, New Delhi(SFLC-ND) and Free Software Movement-Karnataka (FSMK) are celebrating Software Freedom Day, by organizing Talks and events by one of the mavericks of the Knowledge Freedom campaigns and an affiliate of SFLC-ND - Prof.Eben Moglen,Founder, Director-Counsel and Chairman of Software Freedom Law Center. SFD with FSMK

In this visit to Bangalore, Prof.Eben Moglen will be participating in three separate events organized by FSMK.

1. Inaugural Lecture of Free Software certificate course at St.Joseph's College,Bangalore on the 15th September 4 p.m.

St.Joseph's College, Bangalore has incorporated 120 hours of free software sessions to be handled by FSMK and other like-minded Free Software Enthusiasts. 

2. Prof.Eben at Ambedkar Community Computing Center (AC3) at 5pm on the 16th of September

Before two years, RMS and Prof.Eben visited AC3 with only a few students who were being taught computers using Free Software. Today, these handful of young free software activists from the community are running three other Community Computing Centers completely on their own. Prof.Eben will visit AC3 for a community discussion.

3. Interaction with Prof.Eben Moglen on the Freedom in the Cloud at Indian Institute of Science, on 17th September , 3p.m – 5 p.m, faculty hall IISc. 

Abstract:

Everyone wants a piece of you these days: Google, Facebook, Flickr, Apple, AT&T, Bing. They'll give you free e-mail, free photo storage, free web hosting, even a free date. They just want to listen in. And you can't wait to let them. They'll store your stuff, they'll organize your photos, they'll keep track of your appointments, as long as they can watch. It all goes into the "Cloud."

How we got here is quite a scary story. But nowhere near as scary as getting out again. This talk will discuss how much worse things have become since the pre-cloud era and explain what you can do to reclaim your freedom in the era of Web 2.0.

I cordially invite you all to come and celebrate Software Freedom Day along with us at FSMK and SFLC-ND during these events.