I had been planning to (re)read a few books during this home visit. The books on the list were “The Outsider”, “The Fall”, “The Trial”, “Chronicle of a Foretold Death” and “Myth of Sisyphus”. Sigh… I can not find even one of these books in my library. Not able to trace your books, that is a common problem I guess. I still hope that I will be able to lay my hands on some of these.
A Few Questions About Love
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As a child I always loved being around rivers and mountains. when I grew up, I loved playing football. In college I loved a few of my friends. As I took up an IT job, I started loving programming. These are not the types of Love which I am talking about. I am talking about the love which we feel for a person of opposite sex and which as per Freud is intended towards the propagation our species.
I want to hear some thing about this Love and I want to hear it in a scientific form. Have you yet arrived at a definition of Love which is Observable and Repeatable on a Universal Scale.
Love as a physical process
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Have you formulated the patterns of physical desires which define Love. Given a subject X, and a group of opposite sex objects. Provided all the physiological information about X, can you ascertain the Y from opposite sex group, with whom X is going to fall in love?
Love as a mental state
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When you encounter a low moment in life, why just a mere thought of your loved one gives you an immediate relief? Her face shine through your memories and the pain is gone. Why does love intoxicate, have you yet figured out? Have you yet established a scale, on which the intoxication of love can be measured?
Love as a spiritual connection
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I would not ask you this. Because this is something which I have to myself figure out.
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All animals are instinct driven.
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But when God created men, Or when Men created God … A whole new experiment begun. For men is not a mere animal, it is an animal driven by instinct, and monitored by spirituality.
Will I ever understand the spirituality? Or will any one understand the spirituality?
The inner struggle between instincts and spirituality continues without an end. I am happy and content when I am Animal. Then spirituality creeps in and sufferings begin.
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One of my friend recently asked about how I react when I am angry.
I realized that I generally react in three ways
(1) Cry - When I am angry at some one who is close to me, I tend to cry.
(2) Shout - When I am angry at some one who is either unknown to me, or is distant, I tend to shout.
(3) Laugh - When anger is at the circumstances, I tend to laugh.
It was a sudden realization. It is amazing how our mind works to get the it can.
(1) I cry in this case because at some level I am aware that my tears might change the behavior of the person at whom I am angry. I am an emotional blackmailer in this case.
(2) I shout in this case, because I know that my tears would have no affect on this person. However my shouting might create a feeling of uneasiness or insult in the person’s mind at whom I am angry and he may change his behavior.
(3) Now this is helplessness. I know that things are beyond my control and I really can’t change it. Best I can do is try to take the events as positively as I can. So I crack some foolish jokes and tend to laugh.
I see nothing wrong with reactions 2&3. But reaction 1 is such a grave act of selfishness.
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A few months back I realized the importance of a law degree. The realization matured over next few weeks and I started to look for possible Institutes where I could study Law. Some initial research suggested that NLSIU, Bangalore was the best Institute in India. I started planning about how and when. But after visiting the NLSIU website I came to know that I am too old to study at NLSIU.
Today, I was talking to a friend and told him about my strong desire to study Journalism at JNU. I have told him many times about my interest in journalism, but this is the first time I specifically mentioned “at JNU”. Damn it, “I am too old for it”.
We stupid third world. Why there has to be an age limit on studies.
- to save the old people from pain of futile studies?
- to save the institutes from pain of handling matured and focused students?
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www.kalrav.net
Slowdown, night outs at office, lay offs … Are you having sleepless nights?
This is the best time of your life and you got to enjoy it. Don’t you have the list books which you always wanted to read, Don’t you have the list of movies which you always wanted to watch, Don’t you have the list of places where you always wanted to be, … and you never did any of this because you did not have time. So now is the time, go out and grab your chance.
A few months back I was reading an advertisement about SIP investments (a kind of mutual fund where you invest money every month). The advertisement starts with description of a typical Auto Driver’s business model. On a good day, when customers are plenty, the Auto driver can earn a few hundred rupees in a couple of hours. He calls his day off after earning those few hundred rupees. On a rough day, when there are few customers, the auto driver has to wait for hours without earning any money. So he works till late night, looking for those few hundred rupees. The basic flaw in Auto Driver’s business model is a faulty vision. What auto driver should be doing is to work more on those good days when there are plenty of customers, and go home early on that rough day when there are no customers. With this new business model, the auto driver will earn a lot more money, by spending less hours at work.
I am sure that we have lot to learn from the Auto Driver’s flawed business model. When market is bad, and your job is getting frustrating, call it quits and do all those things which you always wanted to do….
A few days back, activists of a “religious cum social organization” attacked a pub in Mangalore and beat up the girls in the pub. Prima facie it qualifies as an incident of vandalism, and should be condemned. The accused should be put to trial, and punished, if found guilty.
Though the law will take its own course in bringing justice to the victims of Mangalore attack, a debate has started about the legality of “moral policing” by non-governmental organizations. A section of society feels that this kind of moral policing is totally illegal, whereas another section of society feels that such organizations have rights to fight against the cultural attacks on our society.
I have noticed that people debating on this issue fail to address certain critical issues. I would like to raise these issues here and would request every one to consider these points while forming any opinion (either for or against) on this issue.
(1) About the Right of Moral Policing: Is it totally wrong? What if the State police fails (for whatever reasons) to enforce the state approved (constitutional) moral conduct on its citizens? Every Friday night in Bangalore is a scene to watch. Bangalore Traffic police carries out its campaign against “Drunken Driving”, at certain key spots in the city. Though the drunken drivers manage to get out easy by bribing the police men, innocent people are harassed. Some times I myself have been made to pay up bribe, despite having all the papers right. I fail to understand the intention of Bangalore Traffic Police behind such operations. If they are against the drunken driving, why not have their inspection teams outside the major pubs and bars in Bangalore? More than 90% of the people who come out of the pubs and drive would be offenders. Then why to conduct inspections on those key spots, where more than 90% people are not offenders? I would not explicitly state the unholy nexus between Police and Pub Administration, readers can assume it themselves.
BTW, This is just an example which I have quoted from my day to day life. I can see the state approved bastards, harassing my country-men, while I (and all others) can do nothing more than feeling helpless. In such an atmosphere, moral policing should not be totally condemned.
(2) About the Freedom of adopting a new Culture: Every one of us is a free citizen and as per the Indian Constitution, we have freedom to adopt the cultures and values which we like.
I very much doubt that the “pub hopping crowd” really does it (whatever they do), out of their “fondness for it” and out of the “understanding of their freedom”. Most of the times, the young crowd hopping at the pubs, is doing it either “to figure out what it is” or “out of the peer pressure”. The freedom which we (or the people condemning the moral policing) are talking about does not exist in 99% of the Indian Families. No matter, how urban, how educated, or how modern an Indian Family is, they would not approve of their daughters “drinking, dancing and rubbing their hips with strangers” at the Pubs. I would not say that such families do not exist. But I can say with certainty that more than 90% of the “pub hopping girls” do it by hiding it away from their own families. Those who are condemning the “Mangalore Attack” should also condemn the conduct of that “pub hopping crowds” which is doing it as an act of “Stealing and Lies” rather than as an act of Freedom.
(3) About the Mangalore Pub Attack: Before the Managalore attack is condemned, we need to look in to the kind of activities which happen in the Pubs. The organization which carried out the Mangalore Attack, has been alleging that “Obscene Activities” were being carried out in the Pub Premises. The organization had warned the Pub Administration to put an end to such activities. I would not blindly accept this allegation, but I can see some extent of truth in it. A couple of years back I visited a pub in Bangalore (@GarudaMall to be more precise). There was a college crowd partying at this pub. After about an hour, the girls got heavily drunk and they turned themselves in to a wild uncivilized crowd. Very soon, smooching, and indecent dancing [which would qualify as foreplay even in the Western World] started. The most memorable incident of that day is the sight of a girl who force-ably smooched a bar-boy (not sure if she thought him to be his boy friend or just did it for fun). These kind of activities are punishable under IPC. When the pub (or hotel or bar) administration and the local authorities fail to stop such activities, why does no one complain?
Steve Jobes & Bill Gates must be envying the luck of Ramazan Baydan, a Turkish shoe maker. His shoe company has been swamped with orders after an Iraqi Journalist Zaidi threw his shoes (made by the same company) at American President Bush.
Steve & Bill must be wondering, what if Zaidi had thrown an iPhone or a Zune at Bush. I am hopeful that at least some company is planning promotion offers for their products on the similar lines.
Shyam and Trupti broke up. So unbelievable. We jammed at Barista to console Shyam. He was really in a bad shape. He was in relationship with Trupti for more than three years, and she decided to dump him just because she had met a guy with financially better prospects. I instantly passed my judgment, “No surprise. Girls from that place are all for money. You should have thought about it initially itself”.
Vivek did not like my comments. One of his best friend is from the same place as Trupti, and he found my comments very offensive. “How can you generalize people in this way, this is completely unfair”. I found myself in a funny situation. This is the same Vivek who has himself made generalized statements at innumerous times - “You know Italians are big Flirts”. “You know Brazilian babes are too hot”. “You know Americans are so open minded”.
I found myself in a funny situation. Come on Vivek - “A Bhogi trying to be Yogi” … but, Vivek is never in a mode to listen, once he forms an opinion. And in his opinion (at this particular moment) it was wrong to generalize people’s behavior (though at other times he does so himself). I said sorry to him and we changed the topic.
We came back home and life kept moving. In a couple of weeks Shyam started dating Anjali. Apparently Anjali had a crush on him from the college days and she had always admired him. But she could never come in to Shyam’s life because of Trupti. In a month, Vivek left to Mexico for an onsite assignment. I changed my job and moved to this new company. But, one question kept teasing my mind, “Is it really wrong to generalize people’s behavior based on a region or culture”? I am not very sure if this is correct, but personally I have come to a conclusion that it is very obvious. Such kind of generalization is not only natural, but it is also rational.
People in a given region, can not be an identical copy of each other. But, there are certain characterisitcs which are likely to be common amongst them. This characteristics evolve over a period of time and depend on general factors in that region - e.g. Climate, Food Habits, Prosperity, History & Culture. Since these factors are constant in a given region, the people in that region will have certain common characteristics. Again, not every one in that region will have exactly same characteristics, but there is likely to be a similarity.
Consider a few examples
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- Consider a state like Punjab. Punjab has a agriculture based economy and it is known to be very prosperous because of the fertile lands. People in this state are very healthy and jovial. This is a very general opinion - which you will find mostly true. You might find people in Punjab who are not healthy or who are not Jovial. But, because of the stress free life style and an above average economy, people generally are healthy and happy.
- Now consider a state like Bihar - in this state economy is weak and corruption is very high. The common man in this region has to struggle for every small thing - So, people in this region are generally very hard working. They leave their state, come to cities like Delhi and Mumbai, and serve as cheap labour. It is very unlikely that a person from Punjab will move to a big city and work as a cheap labour - the economic conditions in Punjab defy that logic.
- Take the case of Mumbai - Mumbai provides a competetive and cosmopolitan environment - people who grow up in this city are generally ambitous, competitive and they have a broader mindset. It does not mean that no one in mumbai is lazy and unambitious. It does not mean that no one in mumbai is narrow minded and conservative. But, we can still speak of a general characteristics behavior.
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I just came across this interesting article from Paul Graham where he has generalized the character of different cities. It is indeed an interesting article, and his analysis makes a great sense to me. In the modern times, where migrated population in cities is very high, it is even more natural that “similar birds will flock together”.
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PS: Vivek keeps on sending us e-mail from Mexico about his adventures with South American Beauties. Having completely forgotten the fact that he is against generalizing people’s behavior, he writes to us about why babes out there are so hot. He is a real narrow-minded ass hole.
Some times I forget that watching a sports match on TV screen is very different from performing on the field. I can (during a Tennis match) watch a replay (slow moving of course) multiple times and conclude that the guy should have hit a forehand on this, but the guy on the field does not really have that luxury of the detailed analysis. Fractions of a second is what all he has to make the decision - and decision has to be limited by the set of his skills. He can of course do a post match analysis, realize his weakness, and use hard work and discipline (some thing which we call Practice) to improve his game.</p>