The emerging mind, and the overwhelming awe

The ability to be able to do Science is the grandest gift that has been bestowed upon us Homo sapiens, during the course of evolution, while we were trying to 'survive'.

To be able to understand the intricate patterns of the Universe, decipher the codes of the nature, reason out the fallacies in our presumptions and to inch closer to rationality: Are we not gifted enough?
Why do we need any more miracles?

My latest read, that has increased my inquisition about neuroscience is the book, The Emerging Mind - a long pending read I must admit, and it comes in at the right time - when I'm all engrossed in an involuntary and obsessive spree of revelation after revelation. Written by one of the brightest of the neuroscientists - Vilayanur Ramachandran, the book is a must read to all Science afficiondos.

A somewhat gratifying compliment while reading the book is the presumption of the author that his readers are all Darwinians (which I so am), and would make zero sense in case you are a creationist or the "magic wand-life happening" believers!

The book has lot of medical jargon. It was quite a homecoming of sorts, after a gap of few years since my pre-university Biology and the little gyaan I assimilated there!

Knowing about the least known thing - The Human Brain, is an excellent appraisal of realizing where we stand today in terms of understanding everything. Although, this book by itself is highly speculative at certain claims, mostly it is convincing and I must add that the book is a lovely read, overall. Interestingly, the book has an equal number of pages dedicated to Notes , which are interesting case studies.

Another important aspect of the many of the arguments presented are that, they are efficient in disproving some of the exaggerated Freudian ideas and approaches using the physiology (if there's anything of that sort) of the human brain.

So, I am lesser a Freudian, and more in awe of the chronicles and adventures of the human brain after having read this book.

As Feynman puts it, "Wondering at the wonder of wondering" - Isn't the idea of being able to ideate, and to be able to contemplate the process of ideation itself something unbelievable.

The awe I have developed about the wonders of nature, and that is growing exponentially on a daily basis now has another element added to it.The human brain is equally diverse and obscure as the Universe itself. It is not just the awe about the human brain, but one step ahead, the ability of these jellies of neurons to contemplate and dig into the secrets of the universe, and almost as a recursion be able to stand out as a separate entity and wonder at itself! Wow, what an exercise!


Aren't we the miracles, we keep looking for in fables and gospels, stories and fantasies!

Advertising genes? LOL!

The incentive for humans to do all that, that is humanely possible to do, has had lots of people speculating in various dimensions. There have been social, economic, philanthropic and biological justifications.

The most entertaining of these, and that is the most convincing as well is the evolutionary perspective.

Organisms, given their conditioning to the law of natural selection, want to transmit the best of the genes  to better the process of evolution and hence playing their part in perpetuating the highest quality genes.

The usual example of peahens being attracted towards peacocks with large, vibrant tails, or giraffes with the longest necks etc... are just the tip of the iceberg of the evidence that's out there in front of us.

Talking about ourselves, the evolutionary gift bestowed on us is the ability to think, imagine and create : Our Intellectual abilities. So, the incentive as directed from the evolutionary force, for each of us to be able to be doing what we do, is to advertise our genes!

This has neuroscientific elucidation; There are certain portions of the modular brain that we are bestowed with abilities to enact the trait of advertising the genes for evolutionary purposes, which end up being subsconscious many a times.

I am so resonating with this idea, that I might concur entirely with this argument ;-)

This makes so much sense, at least to me, or the ones like me: I recently discovered that my saga of amorous infatuations (at least the majority of them), have had a categorization! I wholly belong to a genre of people, coded with a sexual orientation called as "sapiosexual" ( a person who is sexually attracted to intelligence in others)!

And because I see myself as a sapiosexual, the notion of me advertising my genes (although it sounds ludicrous), seems justifiable ;)


PS: Suggested reads - works of Wilayanur Ramachandran, and of course Charles Darwin.

Socially necessary value of oneself

An interesting observation by a fellow rationale was reported to me, about me having a broad network with wide range of people in it (not on Facebook!), but the real people network. Well, even if I was quite aware of this, another aspect of the reporting was about the recognition/id'ing I end up having in this diverse diaspora. As in, the way I value the people in my network, they too I presume value me for some worth in me.

After encountering this idea, I started wondering what is it that makes someone in my network to give heed to my words, observe my actions, and eventually at least pretend that I bear some value to them.

Using a derived idea, I call this "The Socially necessary value of oneself".

Every sect of this network has a commonality between their interests and mine. As long as I am able to cater to the interests of this particular sect, and if I also happen to maintain a gradient, or at least camouflage obscurity as a gradient, the interactions happen in a mutually respectful and responsive manner. The efforts I invest in catering to each of these sects is what I call as the "socially necessary value". This is not me trying to cater to someone else consciously, although that ends up being a ramification. It is more of an exercise of expanding the self.

Now, it might not be a generalization, but based on my interactions for quite a substantial period of time, what I have come to realize is that a gradient helps in getting people to give heed to you. And the more diverse one's realms of gradients are, broader will the diaspora grow into.

The incessant efforts I put in, to keep pace with these other sects conversely are building up my skills and that's not something I might want to complain about.

Top 10 songs in the last 50 days

The last  couple of months have washed away all the music famine, a music afficionado like me was facing. I must admit that for quite sometime, before that there was no music whatsoever,that was even audio palatable! And am I not glad now!

Well, there has been AR Rahman, Coldplay, RHCP, Maroon5, some new bands and even a kannada song as well! Here I just am in a playful mood to index these tracks in a seasonal, personal favorite countdown.

10. Days are forgotten from Kasabian's Velociraptor

Wow! This is one of those songs which hook on the very first few seconds you are into it. I haven't been aware of this decade old band-Kasabian;nonetheless now I'm glad. With this song I am going a little retrospective into their discography and pick out all their best. For now, this song is going to be on my playlist for sometime now. The aaaannn-nnnnaaaaaa-aaaa hum is super haunting, and adding to it is a cool video. Days are forgotten!

9. Kathlalli karadige from Yograj Bhat's Paramatma

Well this witty of a kannada track from the movie Paramatma, has all ingredients except the picturisation to become a memorable one (irony is that I had stopped listening to it after seeing the video!). Nonetheless, the song by itself is full of sarcasm, mockery and unheard kannada slang - I just love it!


8. I don't mind from Superheavy's Superheavy

An awesome duet by Mick Jagger and Joss stone with some deep lyric. I can almost visualize AR Rahman playing the keyboard for this one. A haunting bass goes through the song and is one of the most effective songs in recent times. A great venture by the team of Superheavy to mix cultures and give us some vibrant music. Superheavy the album itself is a great listen. And Joss Stone in this song sounds like Dido in the Eminem version of Stan, while Damien Marley sounds the most comprehensible in this track :P

7. Munandhi saaral ni from Harris Jayaraj's 7am Arivu

First and only Tamil song which has been exceptional in the recent months comes from Harris Jayaraj in this tamil biggie. Karthick, one of my favourite singers renders a magical touch to this deeply romantic track picturised on the gorgeous Shruthi Hassan. Looking forward to the entire video, this time!

6. Satyameva jayate from Superheavy's Superheavy

Second of the tracks and first direct one from AR Rahman is this amazing track titled Satyameva Jayate, and gets on to become a peppy number. The main chorus with all the artists singing to an awesome guitar piece sticks to one's head.

5. Moves like Jagger by Maroon5 and Christina Aguilera

Mick Jagger's third time already :D
Although in this one, he's the protagonist, and not the artist. In a tribute to Mick Jagger, Maroon5 collaborates with Christina Aguilera for this hilariously shot video and a great number, it starts with a funky whistle apt to feature Mick Jagger's clones! Although, Christina's vocal contribution to the song ain't much, I'm not unhappy that she's featured in the video ;-)

4. Sada Haq from AR Rahman's Rockstar

Okay! If this comes as a surprise, as in not to have made it to the top - I guess, then there is something better than this awesome track. One of the best guitar leads for an Indian song, from Michael Jackson's lead guitarist Orianthi Panagaris. The lyrics are just ground breaking and I love the way this track catches its tempo - Keeps ascending through the song. Another masterpiece by the genius. It would be apt to mention another track from Rockstar "Naadan parindey" deserves to be somewhere on the list, and most apt would be along with Sada haq. AR at his best in both the tracks.

3. Paradise from Coldplay's Mylo Xyloto

Audience can be led into the closest sensation of musical meditation in contemporary music only by Coldplay. Is Chris Martin's voice magic? I might agree! Chris Martin singing "para para paradise, everytime she closed her eyes" is as magical as something could get. An amazing song, no one but Colplay can do something like this. A great album overall, better than their previous Viva la Vida, and the track Paradise is my favorite in this album.

2. The adventures of rain dance maggie from Red Hot Chilli Peppers' I'm With You

Talk of groove, funk and jump, there's RHCP for you. The Adventures of Rain Dance Maggie has an impeccable groove through the song and the teasy lyric of RHCP in this song catches on from the very first moment. Further, the classic "Heyyyy noooow" by Anthony is as good as it could get. The casual video on the beaches of California is also something pleasant to watch!

1. Jo bhi main from AR Rahman's Rockstar

Well, if you have not heard this song yet. You might be surprised to listen to it. This is not one of those impulsive songs which you start liking the very first time. This is a classic AR Rahman track which grows onto you, each and everytime you listen to it. Mohit Chauhan's best ever, and a great track in this amazing album. The song gets better with every piece of instrumentation, carried all over really well by Mohit. The song has some profound lyric yet again! This is one of the tracks which will stand the test of time!

Revisiting the JanLokpal debate

For some organizational purposes, friends and myself from ITEC visited Justice Santosh Hegde, former Lokayukta and a core committee member in the "Team Anna", and I was looking forward to meet him in person after all the initial genuine work he did, and the intrigue grew subsequently after the media portrayed him as the lone anti-corruption crusader.

Warm, humble and sensible are the words adequate to define him.

During the course of our discussion, as I was hoping, the discussion did get routed into the Janlokpal debate.

If some of you have been closely watching the Janlokpal (the debate about the bill, not the TV drama!), the points of contention were about who would be brought into the ambit of the bill. And the media was chewing the cud over and over again about the PM being brought into the ambit of the bill. While more saner heads around were asking everyone else to look at the obvious miscreants, and pull the corporates and now the latest threats NGO's into the bill.

But, the media and NGO's both are run by the Corporatocracy, as is most of the Government itself. And the media has hushed up about these two aspects.

While I was certainly endorsing the idea of bringing the corporates and NGO's into the ambit of the bill, I had presumed that Mr.Santosh Hegde would have adhered only to bringing the PM into the bill (my ignorance), and making it 'stronger'. While we were more on making it 'stronger' and 'sharper'.

It came as a surprise today: The first thing he spoke about while discussing the Janlokpal bill was the fraudulence associated with majority of the NGO's, and how myopic the bill was without bringing in the Corporates into the bill.

His frustration about the NGO's and their parasitic nature of thriving on the misery of others was a lot more sensible than whatever TV appearances he's been making. The venting out against the Corporates with all the work that he's been doing is something that few people have given heed to.

It is intriguing to see how we are all made to believe that the real villain is our saviour.  That is, talking about the role of corporates, who are pretending to be
the nice guys, and acting as if they were the ones who could abolish
poverty (ex, recently the Coca Cola -NDTV school campaign!)...
Irony in the first place is that, it is because of such profit seeking monopolies, that the disparity globe across has grown to this extent.

Bottomline: Corporates need to be brought into the Janlokpal bill, if ever it is going to be implemented.

ಯರೂ ಕಾಣದ ಆಪಲ್ ಕಂಡ ಜಾಬ್ಸ್

ಗಣಕಗಳನ್ನು  ಜನಸಾಮನ್ಯರು ಬಳಸಲು ಅನುಕೂಲವಾಗುವಂತೆ ತಯಾರಿಸುವುದಾಗಿ ಹೊರಟ ಆಪಲ್ ಕಂಪನಿಯು, ಗಣಕ ಮತ್ತು ತನ್ನ ಇನಿತ್ತರ ಉತ್ಪನ್ನಗಳ ಸ್ವರೂಪಕ್ಕೆ  ಅತಿ ಹೆಚ್ಚು ಪ್ರಾಮುಖ್ಯತೆ ಕೊಟ್ಟರು. ಈ ಕಾರಣ ಆಪಲ್  ಸೃಷ್ಟಿಸಿದ ತಂತ್ರಜ್ಞಾನವು  ಗ್ರಾಹಕರಿಗೆ ಸ್ವತಂತ್ರತೆ ಇಲ್ಲದಿರುವ , ಅತಿ ದುಬಾರಿಯಾದ ಉತ್ಪಾದನೆಗಳನ್ನು ತಯಾರಿಸಿ, ಗ್ರಾಹಕರಿಲ್ಲಿ ಒಂದು ಚಟದಂತೆ ಬೆಳೆದ ಆಪಲ್ ಕಂಪನಿಯ ಸಂಸ್ಥಾಪಕರಲ್ಲಿ ಮುಖ್ಯರಾದ  ಸ್ಟೀವ್ ಜಾಬ್ಸ್  ,ಇತ್ತೀಚೆಗೆ ನಿಧನರಾದರು.

ಸ್ಟೀವ್ ಜಾಬ್ಸ್  ನಿಧನರಾದಂತೆ ಎಲ್ಲಾ ಮಾಧ್ಯಮಗಳಲ್ಲಿಯೂ ಅವರ ಕೀರ್ತನೆಯು ನದಿಯಂತೆ ಹರಿಯಲಾರಂಭಿಸಿತು. ಈ ವರದಿಗಳನ್ನೆಲ್ಲ ನಂಬುವುದಾದರೆ ,ಸ್ಟೀವ್ ಜಾಬ್ಸ್  ೨೧ನೇ ಶತಮಾನದ ನ್ಯೂಟನ್,  ಐನ್ ಸ್ಟೈನ್, ಎಡಿಸನ್ ಎಂದು ಹೋಲಿಸಿ ಹೊಗಳುತ್ತಿದ್ದಾರೆ. ಅದೇ ಸಮಯ ಹಲವಾರು ಬುಧ್ದಿ ಜೀವಿಗಳು ಸ್ಟೀವ್ ಜಾಬ್ಸ್ ರವರ ಕೆಲಸ ವ್ಯೆಖರಿಗಳನ್ನು ಮತ್ತು ಅವರ ಸೃಜನಶೀಲತೆಯನ್ನು ತೀಕ್ಷ್ಣವಾಗಿ ಟೀಕಿಸಿದ್ದಾರೆ .

ಸ್ಟೀವ್ ಜಾಬ್ಸ್ ರವರನ್ನು  ಹೊಗಳುವುದೇ, ಅಥವಾ ಟೀಕಿಸುವುದೇ?

ಅವರ ಜೇವನ ಮತ್ತು ಕೆಲಸಗಳನ್ನು ಪರಿಗಣಿಸಿದರೆ , ಈ ಪ್ರಶ್ನೆಗೆ ಉತ್ತರ ಸುಲಭವಾಗಿ ಅರಿವಾಗುವುದು. ಒಬ್ಬ ಗಣಕ ತಂತ್ರಜ್ಞಾನಿಯಿಂದ ಆಪಲ್ ಮತ್ತು ಪಿಕ್ಸರ್ ನಂತಹ ಬೆಟ್ಟದಾಕಾರದ ಕಂಪನಿಗಳನ್ನು  ಬೆಳೆಸಿರುವುದು ಒಂದು ದೃಷ್ಟಿಕೋಣದಲ್ಲಿ  ದೊಡ್ಡ ಸಾಧನೆಯಂದು ಪರಿಗಣಿಸಿದರೆ. ಕ್ಯಾನ್ಸರ್ ನಂತಹ ರೋಗದಲ್ಲಿ ನರಳುತ್ತಿದ್ದಾಗಲೂ ಜೀವನದಲ್ಲಿ ಹೋರಾಡಿ ಜನಸಾಮಾನ್ಯರಗಿ ಒಂದು ಸ್ಪೂರ್ತಿಯನ್ನು ಒದಗಿಸಿದ್ದಾರೆ.

ಆದರೆ , ಅವರು ಈ ಸಾಧನೆಗಳನ್ನು ಮಾಡಿದ್ದು ಹೇಗೆ, ಎಂಬ ವಿಷಯವನ್ನು ಯಾವ ಮಾದ್ಯಮಗಳಲ್ಲಿಯೂ ಚರ್ಚಿಗೊಳಗಾಗುತ್ತಿಲ್ಲ.

ಕ್ರಿಯಾಶೀಲತೆ ಮತ್ತು ಸೃಜನೆಶೀಲತೆಯು ಬೇರೆಯವರಿಂದ ಅನುಕರಣೆ ಮಾಡುವುದೇ ಅವರ ಕಂಪನಿಯ ಬೆಳವಣಿಗೆಗೆ ಕಾರಣವೆಂದು ಒಪ್ಪಿಕೊಂಡಿರುವ ಸ್ಟೀವ್ ಜಾಬ್ಸ್ ರವರು ,ಅವರ ಕಂಪನಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಉತ್ಪಾದನೆಗೊಂಡ ಒಂದೊಂದು ಉತ್ಪನ್ನವೂ, ಅದರಲ್ಲಿರುವ ತಂತ್ರಾಂಶವು ಗ್ರಾಹಕರಿಗೆ ಕಡಿವಾಣ ಹಾಕಿದಂತೆ ಇವೆ. ಅವರು ಮಾಡಿದ ಅನುಕರಣೆ ಹಾಗು ಅದರಿಂದ ಪಡೆದ ಲಾಭವನ್ನು, ತಮ್ಮ ಗ್ರಾಹಕರು ಪಡೆದು, ಬೆಳೆಯದಂತೆ ಒಂದು ಕಾರಾಗೃಹವನ್ನೆ ನಿರ್ಮಿಸಿದ್ದಾರೆ.

ಸ್ವತಂತ್ರ ತಂತ್ರಾಂಷ ಆಂದೋಲನದ , ರಿಚರ್ಡ್ ಸ್ಟಾಲಮನ್ ರವರು ಸ್ಟೀವ್ ಜಾಬ್ಸ್ ರವರನ್ನು  ಕುರಿತು "ಗಣಕವನ್ನು ಕಾರಾಗೃಹ ಮಾಡಿದ ಸ್ಟೀವ್ ಜಾಬ್ಸ್ ರವರು ನಿಧನರಾದ ಮೇಲಾದರೂ ಅವರ ಕಂಪನಿ ತಾಂತ್ರಿಕ ಸ್ವತಂತ್ರತೆಯನ್ನು  ತನ್ನ ಗ್ರಾಹಕರಿಗೆ ಒದಗಿಸಲಿ ಎಂದು ಅಶಿಸೋಣ " ಎಂದು ಹೇಳಿದ್ದಾರೆ.

ಗ್ರಾಹಕರ ಸ್ವಾತಂತ್ರತೆಯ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಇಂಚಿತ್ತೂ ಆಲೋಚಿಸದೆ , ಲಾಭವೇ ತನ್ನ  ಪ್ರಮುಖ ಗುರಿ ಎಂದು ಗಗನಾಂತರ ಬೆಳೆಯುತ್ತಿರುವ ಆಪಲ್ ಕಂಪನಿಯಂತಹ  ದ್ಯೆತ್ಯವನ್ನು  ಸೃಷ್ಟಿಸಿರುವ ಸ್ಟೀವ್ ಜಾಬ್ಸ್ ರವರನ್ನು , ಬಂಡವಾಳಶಾಹಿ ಮಾಧ್ಯಮವು ತನಗೆ  ಬೇಕಾದಂತೆಯೇ ಒಬ್ಬ ನಾಯಕನನ್ನು ಸ್ಟೀವ್ ಜಾಬ್ಸ್ ರವರಲ್ಲಿ ಕಂಡು, ಪ್ರಚಾರ ಮಾಡುತ್ತಿದೆ.

ಸ್ಟೀವ್ ಜಾಬ್ಸ್ ರವರು ವಯಕ್ತಿಕವಾಗಿ ಹೋರಾಡಿ ತಮ್ಮ ಜೀವನದಲ್ಲಿ ಹಲವಾರು ಸಾಧನೆಗಳನ್ನು ಮಾಡಿದರು ಎಂದು ಹೇಳಿವುದಾದರೂ, ಆ ಸಾಧನೆಗಳ ಮೂಲ ಆಧಾರ ಎನು? ಎಂಬುದು ಆಲೋಚಿಸ ಬೇಕಾದ ವಿಷಯ.ತಂತ್ರಜ್ಞಾನದಲ್ಲಿ  ಅಸ್ವತಂತ್ರತೆಯನ್ನು  ಸೇರಿಸಿ ಕಲುಷಿತಗೊಳಿಸಿದ ತಂತ್ರಜ್ಞಾನಿ ಸ್ಟೀವ್ ಜಾಬ್ಸ್, ಎಂದು  ಸಮಾಜದ ಮೇಲೆ ಕಾಳಜಿಯಿರುವ ಇರುವವರೆಲ್ಲರೂ ಒಪ್ಪುವರು.

ಹಿನ್ನುಡಿ: ಜನಶಕ್ತಿ ವಾರಪತ್ರಿಕೆಗೆ ನಾನು ಬರೆದ ಲೆಖನ 

Mistrust and Marketing

The notion across the manufacturing and non-manufacturing industries, and more so amongst the consuming end-users is that Marketing in essence is the pinnacle of product development; And that without this piece of gimmickry there would be not much of value that could be associated to the technology itself; This is I must argue the most flawed of the perceptions that is around. This perception, of course has been perpetrated by the current modes of economic models in business.

Marketing is the process used to determine what products or services may be of interest to customers, and the strategy to use in sales, communications and business development (wikipedia).

Because it is from Wikipedia, it gives the average accepted definition of marketing. Nonetheless, the point is how far have we taken this strategy? What are the ethics it is based on?

Putting this question on hold for sometime, let us also analyse a close associate, or a jargon sometimes interchangeably used with marketing : "Advertising".

This facet of product market, which actually is an interface between the industry and consumers has lost its original purpose;

Advertising was supposed to be simply a means of propaganda; While the necessity of propaganda itself is quite debatable, I am on the YES side  of the debate. It would merely, but importantly serve as a means of spreading awareness in its original form. When the market is flooded with products, simple advertising gives consumers a choice. Presuming that there is no fraudulence associated with this information, it presents itself as the entropy using which people make their choices.

Getting back to the question of Marketing, the tricks it engages in are directly oriented at manipulating these very choices, by altering the nature of information entropy, propagated via advertising!
Marketing in today's global markets has gained a definition something on the lines of "verbiage deception, accomplished euphemistically".

If the reader has already noticed there is extensive cynicism that has been exhibited on this post about marketing. The root of this cynicism is something psychological, and only is a special case of mistrust.

When relations involve money, the chances that mistrust creeps in are higher. It is natural for the human psyche to perceive it that way.
A talk by Lawrence Lessig on these lines would substantiate my claims better. 

The unwritten rule of marketing in the current context is to hide flaws and maximize profits. And it is such trickery that has appended this extent of cynicism to the act of marketing!

Over this discourse, an impression of me being highly prejudiced against marketing must have surfaced. This is in no manner a prejudice alone. First hand experience and some rudimentary understanding of the system has what enabled me to argue on these lines.

To see what some of us see, you will need to look through a different paradigm. A paradigm where people come first, and not commodities or profits.

ಸೂರ್ಪಣಂಗು : ಒಂದು ಪ್ರಭಾವಶಾಲಿ ನಾಟಕ

ಹಲವಾರು ದಿನಗಳ ನಂತರ, ಕನ್ನಡದಲ್ಲಿ ಒಂದು ಲೇಖನವನ್ನು ಬರೆಯುತ್ತಿರುವೆನು. ಈ ಲೇಖನವು ಒಂದು ತಮಿಳು ನಾಟಕದ ಕುರಿತು ಎಂಬುದು ವಿಶೇಷ. ಸೂರ್ಪಣಂಗು ಎಂಬ ತಮಿಳು ನಾಟಕ ಇತ್ತೀಚಿಗೆ ಬೆಂಗಳೂರಿನ ರವೀಂದ್ರ ಕಲಾಕ್ಷೇತ್ರದಲ್ಲಿ ಪ್ರದರ್ಶಿಸಲಾಯಿತು.

ನನಗೆ ಹಲವಾರು ಹೊಸದಾದ ವಿಚಾರಗಳು ಮತ್ತು ಮಹತ್ವದ ದ್ರಿಷ್ಟಿಕೋನಗಳು ಈ ನಾಟಕ ಹಾಗು ಅಲ್ಲಿ ಸೇರಿದ್ದ ಜನರಿಂದ ಅರಿವಾಯಿತು.

ಸಮಾನತೆ ಎಂಬುದು, ಬರಿಯ ಪಠ್ಯ ಸೀಮಿತ ವಿಚಾರವಾಗಿದ್ದು, ಇಂದಿಗೂ ಹಲವಾರು ವರ್ಗದ ಜನರು ತಮ್ಮ ಹಕ್ಕುಗಳಿಗಾಗಿ ಹೋರಾಡುತ್ತಿದ್ದಾರೆ. ಇಂತಹ ಒಂದು ವರ್ಗದ ಹೋರಾಟದ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಈ ನಾಟಕದ ಆಯೋಜಕರ ಮೂಲಕ ತಿಳಿದು ಕೊಂಡೆನು.

ಲೈಂಗಿಕ ಅಲ್ಪಸಂಖ್ಯಾತರು ಮತ್ತು ಅವರುಗಳ ಸಾಮಾಜಿಕ ತೊಂದರೆ, ಕಷ್ಟಗಳು ಮತ್ತು ಹೋರಾಟಗಳ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಒಂದು ಇಣುಕು ದೊರಕಿತು. ಅಕ್ಕೈ ಪದ್ಮಶಾಲಿ ಅವರು ಲೈಂಗಿಕ ಅಲ್ಪಸಂಖ್ಯಾತರಲ್ಲಿ ಒಬ್ಬರಾಗಿದ್ದು, ಅವರ  ಅಂಗೀಕಾರ, ಹಕ್ಕು, ಮತ್ತು ಸಮಾನತೆಗಳಿಗಾಗಿ ತಮ್ಮ ಸಂಗಾತಿಯರೊಂದಿಗೆ ನಡೆಸುತ್ತಿರುವ ಜನಾಗೃತಿ ಚಟುವಟಿಕೆಗಳ ಬಗ್ಗೆಯು ಅರಿವಾಯಿತು. ಇಂತಹ ಅಸಮಾನತೆಗಳ ಗೂಡಾಗಿ ಬೆಳೆದಿರುವ ನಮ್ಮ ಸಮಾಜದಲ್ಲಿ ನಮ್ಮ ಪಾತ್ರವೇನು ಎಂದು ಆಲೋಚಿಸುವ ಅವಕಾಶವಾಗಿ ಈ ಅನುಭವ ಒದಗಿತು.

ಸೂರ್ಪಣಂಗು ನಾಟಕವು ಕನ್ನಡ ರಂಭೂಮಿಯೊಳಗೆ ತಮಿಳು ರಂಗಕ್ರಿಯೆಯ ಅನುಸಂಧಾನವೆಂದು ಪರಿಗಣಿಸಿ, ಪ್ರಸ್ತುತಿಸಿದರು . ನಾಟಕ ಗ್ರಾಮೇಣ ಮತ್ತು ಶುದ್ಢ ತಮಿಳಿನಲ್ಲಿದುದರಿಂದ, ನನಗೆ ವಚನ, ಸಂಭಾಷಣೆಗಳು ಅರ್ಥವಾಗಲಿಲ್ಲ. ಮಾತೃ ಭಾಷೆಯಾದರೂ ಇಂತಹ ಅವಸ್ಥೆಯಲ್ಲಿದೆ ನನ್ನ ತಮಿಳು :-)

ಸಂಭಾಷಣೆ ಅರ್ಥವಾಗದಿದ್ದರೂ ನಟರ ಅಭಿನಯವು ಯಥಾರ್ಥವಾಗಿತ್ತು. ಗ್ರಾಮೇಣ ಪ್ರದೇಶದಲ್ಲಿ ಹಬ್ಬಿಕೊಂಡಿರುವ ಹಸಿವು, ಕ್ಷಾಮ, ಬರ ಮತ್ತು ಜೇವನದ ದೈನಂದಿನ ಹೋರಾಟಗಳನ್ನು  ಅತಿ ಪ್ರಭಾವಶಾಲಿಯಾಗಿ ಅಭಿನಯಿಸಿದ್ದರು. ಆ ಪ್ರಭಾವವು ಪ್ರೇಕ್ಷಕರಾದ ನಮ್ಮ ಮನಸ್ಸನ್ನು ತೇವ್ರತೆಯಿಂದ ಬಿಗಿ ಹಾಕಿತ್ತು. ಹಲವಾರು ದೃಶ್ಯಗಳು ನೋಡುಗರನ್ನು ತಳಮಳಗೊಳಿಸಿತು. ಹೆಂಗಸರಿನ ಮೇಲಿನ ದೌರ್ಜನ್ಯ, ಕಾರ್ಮಿಕರ ಮೇಲೆ ಅತ್ಯಾಚಾರ ಇಂತಹ ಸಂಗತಿಗಳು ನಿಜವಾಗಿದ್ದರು ಅದನ್ನು ಒಂದು ಪ್ರಭಾವಶಾಲಿ ನಾಟಕದ ಮೂಲಕ ಕಾಣುವುದು ಬಹಳ ಕಷ್ಟಕರವೆನಿಸಿತು ನನಗೆ.

ಸುಮಾರು ಎರಡು ಗಂಟೆಗಳ ಕಾಲ ಗಾಢವಾದ ಪರಿಶ್ರಮ  ಮತ್ತು ಉತ್ತಮ್ಮ ಪ್ರತಿಭೆಯನ್ನು ಪ್ರದರ್ಶಿಸಿದ ನಟರು ಮತ್ತು ಅವರ ಪ್ರಯತ್ನವು ಮನದಾಳದಲ್ಲಿ ನೆಲೆಸಿದೆ. ನಾಟಕಕಾರರು ಪಡುವ ಪರಿಶ್ರಮವನ್ನು ನಾವು ಉತ್ತೇಜಿಸಿ ಬೆಂಬಲಿಸಬೇಕು. ಹಾಗು, ಇಂತಹ ನಾಟಕಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಹೇಳಲ್ಪಡುವ ಸಂಗತಿಯನ್ನು ನಮ್ಮ ಜೇವನದಲ್ಲಿ ನಾವು ಸಂಧರ್ಭ ಬಂದಲ್ಲಿ ಅಳವಡಿಸಿಕೊಂಡು, ಸಮಾಜದಲ್ಲಿ ಸುಧಾರಣೆಯನ್ನು ತರಲು ನಮ್ಮಿಂದಾಗುವ ಪ್ರಯತ್ನವನ್ನು ಪಡಬೇಕು.

And down grounds the ego...

While it all seems like a frictionless glide, allowing the ego to swell to the fullest and the momentum to go full throttle, there comes a necessary prick. A prick which deflates everything that's swollen and grounds the now helium filled ego down to an equilibrium point. It hits like an unseen obstacle on the forehead; RSVP's a serendipitous encounter with the ever humble, unfaking, simple revelation: The Reality.

When unchecked, the chances of losing oneself in his/her own oneiric world, detached from the roots of reality are extremely high. Such a state is not only temporary, it also erodes the quality of the time to come.

The constant cognizance of the fact that we are nothing but deep voids,and no amount of straw filling can even begin filling up these voids must be borne always. The scale of learning, growing and disseminating each one engages in is miniscule, when compared to all that is yet to be sought.

Vanity in relative superiority is perilous, and there should be only the aspect of pride when appraised with oneself. The metric should always be ourselves; never should we delve into relative comparison. By saying this I don't imply to endorse 'hypocrisy with a tinge of humility', but only the realization of the cliched fact that "Known is a drop, and unknown is an ocean".

Relative comparison either puts one in a deludingly superior position, or a depressingly inferior position; Both of these are unnecessary when one thrives to increase and make positive the rate of growth of the self at this instant, when compared to some recent point in time in the past.

Information gradient

Asymmetric Polarization has been a certain trait of society, as far as all the documented history of human race have revealed. This conscious polarization of the society into one small advantageous section, and a large suppressed section has been true since the times of patriarchal settlements to the current civilized democracies.

Creating a gradient in the society using various manipulable parameters, with an ultimate motive of facilitating oppression has been the unwritten rule throughout. The parameters, which have been manipulated at various epochs of History have been different: Class, Caste, Gender, Land, industries, and today we are at a point where Information is this gradient causing agent.

Controlled knowledge as misinformation, and suppressed information in the form of secrets have become the weapons of 'mass' destruction in today's Information society. While there is information mining on certain type of information using all means possible; there is also an astronomical way of suppressing another kind of information.

Stuck in the middle of this Information Revolution, most of us are the ignorant technologists paradoxically driving the motors of this oppression regime. Like I usually end up saying,
The problem often is not arriving at the solution, but in many cases realizing the existence of the problem itself!

Even in this case, the lack of cognizance amongst us about the perils of the information gradient, that we are very much a part of, is of more concern than even the contemplation on the solution to this threat.

As instances of whistleblowing, RTI's and WikiLeaks in general have shown the ever increasing risks involved with the just attempts of declassifying high level classified information should put us at alert, and we must begin to analyze the inertness of ourselves and the hyperactivity of the suppressors who would in turn manipulate and try disabling us!

We help build the gradient which is favourable to them, while ironically is perilous to ourselves.