Friday, December 19, 2008
Reputation
"One's reputation is like a shadow, it is gigantic when it precedes you, and a pygmy in proportion when it follows," says a wise man.
Friday, October 31, 2008
On a tight leash
A raging debate is on between reason and imagination. The mind has been contemplating relations, however produced. The mind adds colour to the thoughts as they are composed from elements, each containing within itself the principle of its own integrity. In the Utopian world there would have been a perfect synthesis of the two. But with the sheer number of external and internal impressions that are created in a person's head, it is difficult to balance both reason and imagination. The future is contained within the present - there is good reason to believe that. But it is up to imagination to visualise that future. Man with all his passions and his pleasures yearns to be the passion and the pleasure of the other. Imagination has no barriers but reason puts it on a leash.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
In Her Majesty’s Service
Durga Puja is an occasion when the familiar sound of dhaak, dhunuchi nachh and the mild fragrance of shiuli, gives a familiar tug at every Bengali heart. But that's not all about it. The four-day festival brings the unique opportunity to reconnect with friends who congregate every year without fail and always seem to take off from where they left off in the previous year.
These are the friends who didn't go to school with you, were not your neighbours, were not the guys in the park where you played and definitely not the ones who you emailed or called or scrapped. You didn't know what they did the entire year and neither did they bother, but come Durga Puja and the 'hoi-hottogol and haanshi-thatta' that emerged from this group of 'puja friends' was always the loudest. Or so they believed and continue to till today!
Bengalis can never be separated from sport and every Durga Puja did not start with Mahalaya, but sports day that featured events like flat race, lemon and spoon race, throwing the discus etc. And this is where on a balmy Sunday morning, the 'puja friends' would suddenly emerge from different directions. Somebody had grown taller, some broader, but the camaraderie was still the same.
And then from Saptami morning right through Bijoya sammelani, this group of friends hung out together. It still amazes me when I think how this group automatically fell in line for bhog poribeshon, how they knew when the other had to take over at the dhunuchi naach, what exactly was needed to be said to each other's parents so that they would allow them to go puja hopping together and how at bisarjan they combined vision and strength for a fitting farewell to Ma Durga.
These friends grew up, went to college, picked up jobs, some travelled, some settled down and slowly went their own ways. Some went on to do bigger things like find finances for a Durga Puja somewhere, direct a play in another, and some even started pujas in places where there were none.
And then they had children and life came a full circle. The new generation of 'puja friends' arrived - like the elves who help Santa every year; except these were in the service of Ma Durga.
Every year a few get added to this list, a few get subtracted. But you'll never find a year when there are none. And that's my fondest memory of Durga Puja. You too can meet these elves. Sometimes you have to close your eyes, sometimes you have to open them. Sometimes you have to look around, sometimes you have to look within. What a miracle!
These are the friends who didn't go to school with you, were not your neighbours, were not the guys in the park where you played and definitely not the ones who you emailed or called or scrapped. You didn't know what they did the entire year and neither did they bother, but come Durga Puja and the 'hoi-hottogol and haanshi-thatta' that emerged from this group of 'puja friends' was always the loudest. Or so they believed and continue to till today!
Bengalis can never be separated from sport and every Durga Puja did not start with Mahalaya, but sports day that featured events like flat race, lemon and spoon race, throwing the discus etc. And this is where on a balmy Sunday morning, the 'puja friends' would suddenly emerge from different directions. Somebody had grown taller, some broader, but the camaraderie was still the same.
And then from Saptami morning right through Bijoya sammelani, this group of friends hung out together. It still amazes me when I think how this group automatically fell in line for bhog poribeshon, how they knew when the other had to take over at the dhunuchi naach, what exactly was needed to be said to each other's parents so that they would allow them to go puja hopping together and how at bisarjan they combined vision and strength for a fitting farewell to Ma Durga.
These friends grew up, went to college, picked up jobs, some travelled, some settled down and slowly went their own ways. Some went on to do bigger things like find finances for a Durga Puja somewhere, direct a play in another, and some even started pujas in places where there were none.
And then they had children and life came a full circle. The new generation of 'puja friends' arrived - like the elves who help Santa every year; except these were in the service of Ma Durga.
Every year a few get added to this list, a few get subtracted. But you'll never find a year when there are none. And that's my fondest memory of Durga Puja. You too can meet these elves. Sometimes you have to close your eyes, sometimes you have to open them. Sometimes you have to look around, sometimes you have to look within. What a miracle!
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Thursday, August 21, 2008
2 hundred words
A two hundred word sentence, in one’s opinion, does not need a heading or an introduction because even though one is not going to be moving in a stream of consciousness format, there is not much scope to decide on a particular topic and write about it; except maybe one’s own thought about the very exercise that one had wished to be relegated to the pages of one’s English literature class notes and subsequent examinations where the norm for scoring more, as one had been told by the seniors, was content running into scores of pages -- something that one had to unlearn and then learn the art of simple and short sentences to meet the requirements of brevity, accuracy and speed in the journalism industry, where again one noticed, much to one’s discomfort, the agony of having to edit long-winded, mindless, sentences that spoke of the entire event that a reporter had been asked to cover for the day, which made one wonder why one had to learn to communicate to work in an industry that accommodated people like the one mentioned above, but then it’s a strange world and the journalism industry is a very much a part of it so one has to probably agree that it also has the right to be strange at times.
Friday, August 1, 2008
It happened one night (on sms)!
+91-98xxxxxxxx: How mean...you couldn't wait for me...Idiot...I was having a shower.
He: Hi! Who is this?
+91-98xxxxxxxx: Sorry...Err..I mean exactly who is this?
He: I think u sent me the msg by mistake. Btw, am R.
+91-98xxxxxxxx: Seems like you are some call centre guy! R! No offences..Nice name otherwise.
He: Not really. I am a journalist. What do you do?
+91-98xxxxxxxx: Just a minute..What text..Which one did you get. Oh am so sorry.
He: Don't worry madam. I've already deleted the msg.
+91-98xxxxxxxx: Recently joined a corporate at a position in the communications department. Which text did you get! I feel baffled...Whats happening.
He: I got a msg from you calling me an idiot for not waiting for you n that u were in the shower. That's when I responded.
+91-98xxxxxxxx: How do you know am a female!!
He: You called me an idiot. Only a woman can say that. A man would have added something before or after.
+91-98xxxxxxxx: Journalist..Which publication or channel.
He: I am into sports. May I have your name please.
+91-98xxxxxxxx: Oh That way...Well..am sorry.
+91-98xxxxxxxx: Hello good morning. Anyone can use that word (idiot!) irrespective of their sex.
He: Am not a sexist, but a lot of my women friends use that word. Btw, what's your name?
+91-98xxxxxxxx: Whats in a name..That which we call a rose would smell as sweet by any other name.
He: That's pretty Shakespearean. Lit student?
+91-98xxxxxxxx: Graduated in journalism, Did pg in advertising and public relations. :-) did a lot of internships during college days with various media houses.
He: That's one thing in common. A journalism degree.
+91-98xxxxxxxx: See I guess no point telling my name. Am not a sporty person at all you must be so much into sporting..Guess, I won't get along.
He: Am not bothered about getting along. Am already committed.
+91-98xxxxxxxx: That's great take care.
He: You too. Cheers!
He: Hi! Who is this?
+91-98xxxxxxxx: Sorry...Err..I mean exactly who is this?
He: I think u sent me the msg by mistake. Btw, am R.
+91-98xxxxxxxx: Seems like you are some call centre guy! R! No offences..Nice name otherwise.
He: Not really. I am a journalist. What do you do?
+91-98xxxxxxxx: Just a minute..What text..Which one did you get. Oh am so sorry.
He: Don't worry madam. I've already deleted the msg.
+91-98xxxxxxxx: Recently joined a corporate at a position in the communications department. Which text did you get! I feel baffled...Whats happening.
He: I got a msg from you calling me an idiot for not waiting for you n that u were in the shower. That's when I responded.
+91-98xxxxxxxx: How do you know am a female!!
He: You called me an idiot. Only a woman can say that. A man would have added something before or after.
+91-98xxxxxxxx: Journalist..Which publication or channel.
He: I am into sports. May I have your name please.
+91-98xxxxxxxx: Oh That way...Well..am sorry.
+91-98xxxxxxxx: Hello good morning. Anyone can use that word (idiot!) irrespective of their sex.
He: Am not a sexist, but a lot of my women friends use that word. Btw, what's your name?
+91-98xxxxxxxx: Whats in a name..That which we call a rose would smell as sweet by any other name.
He: That's pretty Shakespearean. Lit student?
+91-98xxxxxxxx: Graduated in journalism, Did pg in advertising and public relations. :-) did a lot of internships during college days with various media houses.
He: That's one thing in common. A journalism degree.
+91-98xxxxxxxx: See I guess no point telling my name. Am not a sporty person at all you must be so much into sporting..Guess, I won't get along.
He: Am not bothered about getting along. Am already committed.
+91-98xxxxxxxx: That's great take care.
He: You too. Cheers!
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
How do I?
How do I compliment thee,
When all I know about you
is just the tip of the iceberg.
What's on your mind,
what's in your mind,
all I need is a chance to find.
Conversations is all I ask for,
nothing less and nothing more!
Give me a time and a space
that I can make my own.
Compliments then will flow
from an unknown zone
in that head
that is fed
with your words and thoughts.
Conversations is all I ask for,
nothing less and nothing more!
Till then, How do I compliment thee?
When all I know about you
is just the tip of the iceberg.
What's on your mind,
what's in your mind,
all I need is a chance to find.
Conversations is all I ask for,
nothing less and nothing more!
Give me a time and a space
that I can make my own.
Compliments then will flow
from an unknown zone
in that head
that is fed
with your words and thoughts.
Conversations is all I ask for,
nothing less and nothing more!
Till then, How do I compliment thee?
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
She and He!
She: :-)
He: That's an enigmatic smile. I know it means speak to you later, but...a fool is a fool is a fool.
She: I don't know if you are up to date with my gen, which did As You Like It for class nine and ten. But you definitely are pretty Shakespearean!
Calls...Rings...Silence!
He: As I can see, As You Like It, doesn't mean You can call me!!! I don't know if I am up to date with your gen. I didn't pay much attention in class nine and ten. What I do know is a soliloquy and that's they way maybe tonight will stay.
Silence...!!!
He: I'm mortified.
Silence...!!!
He: That's an enigmatic smile. I know it means speak to you later, but...a fool is a fool is a fool.
She: I don't know if you are up to date with my gen, which did As You Like It for class nine and ten. But you definitely are pretty Shakespearean!
Calls...Rings...Silence!
He: As I can see, As You Like It, doesn't mean You can call me!!! I don't know if I am up to date with your gen. I didn't pay much attention in class nine and ten. What I do know is a soliloquy and that's they way maybe tonight will stay.
Silence...!!!
He: I'm mortified.
Silence...!!!
It's different!
The love I feel for her, this year,
is different from the love I felt last year.
And yet there is no question of admitting it.
Love is not a currency. It's not a coin with a fixed value.
It's an idea that recurs. It dies, is reborn.
Afresh and anew!
And yet there is no question of admitting it.
is different from the love I felt last year.
And yet there is no question of admitting it.
Love is not a currency. It's not a coin with a fixed value.
It's an idea that recurs. It dies, is reborn.
Afresh and anew!
And yet there is no question of admitting it.
Saturday, May 24, 2008
I want a window seat
So I said "picture abhi baaki hai" (the movie is still on).
If I thought my last trip from Singapore alongside a ghaati traveller was an experience, I hadn't seen anything yet.
Annual Conference, Phuket. Delhi-Bangkok-Phuket and back including an airport transfer on the way back. And guess who's flying with me. A friend and collegue who is going to fly for the first time in his life -- he loves trains.
A week prior to departure, he asked me: "If I have to travel all by myself, what do I have to do".
I was going to tell him, "Grow up". But then refrained and said, "But you aren't travelling alone, so what are you worried about. There are going to be another 103 people apart from me and you who are going for the conference on the same flight. Just relax."
But he would not have no for an answer. "Run me through the procedures at the airport please," he said.
I had no choice, so I explained everything to him - right from how to get the baggage screened on arrival at the airport to his personal security check and boarding. He mixed up the two and said, "But why do I have to go through security. Didn't I do that at the beginning."
"That was the baggage my boy. They wouldn't put you through the X-ray machine, would they," I retorted. Aaaah!
So arrived the day and arrive the hour to check-in. "I want a window seat," he said the moment he reached the counter. The lady obliged and I thought to myself this is going to be one hell of a sight.
Well so we got on to the waiting aircraft through the aero-bridge. "Where's the bus?," he asked me. "No bus dude, you just walk in to the aircraft here."
"Wah, Wah!"
Our man took his seat and soon after the aircraft began to taxi. He was fine till then, expecting that the plane would take speed exactly the way trains do - over a stretch of a few kilometres.
Then the plane reached the end of the runway, revved its engine and the brakes were released. It was like a catapult and our man held on to his seat and to his dear life as the plane moved into the zero to sixty in so many seconds mode. His throat went dry, his tounge wet his lips and he almost clutched at his heart as if it would pop out.
As the plane was airborne, he made his last mistake of looking out of the window. At an angle with the lights becoming smaller, he sunk in to his seat. And that's pretty much how he was in the rest of the flight as turbulence completed his initiation into flying.
I must admit though that he was a vastly improved air traveller by the time we took our fourth flight back home (that is if one was to overlook the fact that he misplaced his departure card before eventually finding it). But the reason for his success was a simple one: NO WINDOW SEAT PLEASE.
If I thought my last trip from Singapore alongside a ghaati traveller was an experience, I hadn't seen anything yet.
Annual Conference, Phuket. Delhi-Bangkok-Phuket and back including an airport transfer on the way back. And guess who's flying with me. A friend and collegue who is going to fly for the first time in his life -- he loves trains.
A week prior to departure, he asked me: "If I have to travel all by myself, what do I have to do".
I was going to tell him, "Grow up". But then refrained and said, "But you aren't travelling alone, so what are you worried about. There are going to be another 103 people apart from me and you who are going for the conference on the same flight. Just relax."
But he would not have no for an answer. "Run me through the procedures at the airport please," he said.
I had no choice, so I explained everything to him - right from how to get the baggage screened on arrival at the airport to his personal security check and boarding. He mixed up the two and said, "But why do I have to go through security. Didn't I do that at the beginning."
"That was the baggage my boy. They wouldn't put you through the X-ray machine, would they," I retorted. Aaaah!
So arrived the day and arrive the hour to check-in. "I want a window seat," he said the moment he reached the counter. The lady obliged and I thought to myself this is going to be one hell of a sight.
Well so we got on to the waiting aircraft through the aero-bridge. "Where's the bus?," he asked me. "No bus dude, you just walk in to the aircraft here."
"Wah, Wah!"
Our man took his seat and soon after the aircraft began to taxi. He was fine till then, expecting that the plane would take speed exactly the way trains do - over a stretch of a few kilometres.
Then the plane reached the end of the runway, revved its engine and the brakes were released. It was like a catapult and our man held on to his seat and to his dear life as the plane moved into the zero to sixty in so many seconds mode. His throat went dry, his tounge wet his lips and he almost clutched at his heart as if it would pop out.
As the plane was airborne, he made his last mistake of looking out of the window. At an angle with the lights becoming smaller, he sunk in to his seat. And that's pretty much how he was in the rest of the flight as turbulence completed his initiation into flying.
I must admit though that he was a vastly improved air traveller by the time we took our fourth flight back home (that is if one was to overlook the fact that he misplaced his departure card before eventually finding it). But the reason for his success was a simple one: NO WINDOW SEAT PLEASE.
One mint, One mint
Seen Cheeni Kum?
There's a dialogue in the film that states how more and more people from India were travelling to the UK because the air fares had gone down. Don't know about the low air fares (coz I never get a cheap ticket) but more and more non-air travellers are beginning to fly.
And is it 'fun' to watch them as they make their way from check-in to boarding or what. Also their on-board antics are things that legends are made of. If you haven't noticed it, try the next time.
I don't want to sound classist, but there's no term better than the word ghaati that describes some of these neo-travellers.
On a recent flight back from Singapore, I landed up on a seat away from one such ghaati traveller. The middle-aged man was clad in a white kurta, pyjamas, white pair of socks and black canvas shoes. He landed up on his seat with a bottle of Black Label and a carton of Marlboro cigarettes (Both Duty Free).
The man has tastes (or may be he was following instructions). But that's where it ends.
He sat cross-legged on the aisle seat, which was not his. What followed was straight out of the film Bheja Fry. His passport was wrapped in a transparent plastic with rubber bands around it. He wore a vest that had pockets coz that's where he pulled it out from when the steward asked him for his boarding pass. Thankfully, I had a window seat and the middle was not taken.
But very soon I realised that he was actually the passenger in the middle seat. I began to pray!
The steward asked him to move to his own seat as the other passenger had arrived to claim his aisle seat. "No problem, no problem....one mint, one mint," he said.
I prayed harder and the lord hear me.
His "one mint" (one minute) lasted for such a long time that the plane completed taxiing to the end of the runway. The steward had no choice but to seat the waiting passenger somewhere else. "You can continue to sit here sir," he told the ghaati, much to his pleasure and mine.
Well so the plane took off and it was time for drinks service. Ze man opted for Tiger beer. He got a can and then he wanted another one. Didn't want to miss out on the free booze. The stewardess, who was Indian, then told him in Hindi: "Main aapko ek baar mein sirf ek hi drink de sakti hoon. Main agli baar phir se serve karoongi." (I can only offer you one drink at a time, I will serve you again).
Then he turned to me. How could he tune in to Om Shanti Om on the in-flight channel?
That was the solution. For the remaining part of the flight he was happy watching the film. Seeing him engrossed in the film, reminded me of a stand up comedy tale though.
It's about our favourite airline, Air India.
A man was traveling from the US to India. The flight reached Mumbai and continued to hover over it without making any attempts to land. After 30 minutes the man asked the air hostess, "Why aren't we landing?"
"How can we," she said, "the movie is yet to get over."
True! Just like the line in OSO - "picture abhi baaki hai".
There's a dialogue in the film that states how more and more people from India were travelling to the UK because the air fares had gone down. Don't know about the low air fares (coz I never get a cheap ticket) but more and more non-air travellers are beginning to fly.
And is it 'fun' to watch them as they make their way from check-in to boarding or what. Also their on-board antics are things that legends are made of. If you haven't noticed it, try the next time.
I don't want to sound classist, but there's no term better than the word ghaati that describes some of these neo-travellers.
On a recent flight back from Singapore, I landed up on a seat away from one such ghaati traveller. The middle-aged man was clad in a white kurta, pyjamas, white pair of socks and black canvas shoes. He landed up on his seat with a bottle of Black Label and a carton of Marlboro cigarettes (Both Duty Free).
The man has tastes (or may be he was following instructions). But that's where it ends.
He sat cross-legged on the aisle seat, which was not his. What followed was straight out of the film Bheja Fry. His passport was wrapped in a transparent plastic with rubber bands around it. He wore a vest that had pockets coz that's where he pulled it out from when the steward asked him for his boarding pass. Thankfully, I had a window seat and the middle was not taken.
But very soon I realised that he was actually the passenger in the middle seat. I began to pray!
The steward asked him to move to his own seat as the other passenger had arrived to claim his aisle seat. "No problem, no problem....one mint, one mint," he said.
I prayed harder and the lord hear me.
His "one mint" (one minute) lasted for such a long time that the plane completed taxiing to the end of the runway. The steward had no choice but to seat the waiting passenger somewhere else. "You can continue to sit here sir," he told the ghaati, much to his pleasure and mine.
Well so the plane took off and it was time for drinks service. Ze man opted for Tiger beer. He got a can and then he wanted another one. Didn't want to miss out on the free booze. The stewardess, who was Indian, then told him in Hindi: "Main aapko ek baar mein sirf ek hi drink de sakti hoon. Main agli baar phir se serve karoongi." (I can only offer you one drink at a time, I will serve you again).
Then he turned to me. How could he tune in to Om Shanti Om on the in-flight channel?
That was the solution. For the remaining part of the flight he was happy watching the film. Seeing him engrossed in the film, reminded me of a stand up comedy tale though.
It's about our favourite airline, Air India.
A man was traveling from the US to India. The flight reached Mumbai and continued to hover over it without making any attempts to land. After 30 minutes the man asked the air hostess, "Why aren't we landing?"
"How can we," she said, "the movie is yet to get over."
True! Just like the line in OSO - "picture abhi baaki hai".
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Misplaced
Bonded labours of the world break free!
Bonded by ties and suits
And glass-panelled offices.
Bonded by misplaced virtues
And empanelled hoaxes.
Bonded by the urge to take home more cash
Erring again and again to make that dash.
Getting to the top, pushing others aside
What a place to choose for suicide.
Singularly lonely and cold
Look around and not a soul in your fold.
Yet the urge to bond is strong
No strength however in keeping it at a furlong.
Born to die yet cribbing to stay
Saying aye when it deserves a nay.
Bonded labours of the world break free!
Bonded labours of the world break free!
Bonded by ties and suits
And glass-panelled offices.
Bonded by misplaced virtues
And empanelled hoaxes.
Bonded by the urge to take home more cash
Erring again and again to make that dash.
Getting to the top, pushing others aside
What a place to choose for suicide.
Singularly lonely and cold
Look around and not a soul in your fold.
Yet the urge to bond is strong
No strength however in keeping it at a furlong.
Born to die yet cribbing to stay
Saying aye when it deserves a nay.
Bonded labours of the world break free!
Bonded labours of the world break free!
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Serenity
The picture of the Nigeen Lake, Srinagar was taken while sipping tea in a houseboat. I was told there was once a time when the entire lake had about half dozen tourists. There was a time when it was impossible to cross the bridge over the Jhelum to go from one part of the city to the other. There was a time when people used to return to their homes before dusk - as if they were in prison.
But today things have vastly changed. As the day gives way to the night, the number of lights that go on in the houseboats indicate the growing number of visitors. That bridge is now chocablock with cars. And Srinagar's night life is back to normal. I had a fantastic traditional 'Wazwaan' meal at dinner time and not at dusk before heading back to my hotel.
Time for full bloom! (Pic above - at Mughal Prince Dara Shikho's Pari Mahal)
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Thursday, April 17, 2008
A pilgrimage
People go to temples and mosques and churches and gurudwaras. People go to glaciers and to the mountains. All for a pilgrimage. I went to Srinagar last week and crossed the longest shrine in India - the 2.5 km Jawahar Tunnel. The tunnel cuts through the peaks of the Pir Panjal range - 3,000 ft of mountain stands above over a narrow, dark tunnel that is the lifeline of Kashmir. This picture was taken immediately after crossing the shrine. The only common thing with this shrine and the others is that no photography of the shrine is allowed.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Oh sleep!
I came back and saw you were gone.
I lost you to the world of dreams and bliss.
Of sleep - that gentle thing that slid into your soul.
You resisted it, I hope, but I know that you couldn't.
None can win, when sleep takes over.
Daylight is far, your world is farther.
Only you are near.
I will wait for you to awaken and rise.
Till then, sweet dreams my love. Good Night!
I lost you to the world of dreams and bliss.
Of sleep - that gentle thing that slid into your soul.
You resisted it, I hope, but I know that you couldn't.
None can win, when sleep takes over.
Daylight is far, your world is farther.
Only you are near.
I will wait for you to awaken and rise.
Till then, sweet dreams my love. Good Night!
Being singular...
The coloniser has consumed you and I am shattered
Oh how I had thought that your absence would be celebrated
I would drink to it and make merry
Live life on my own terms
But alas! It was not to be
This poor heart is a fool, the mind a bigger one
It can see, but it doesn't act
It can feel, but it doesn't react
It waits...
It breathes in bits and pieces
It eats but doesn't taste
It stays but doesn't live
Oh how I had thought I would revel in being alone
Of being singular once again
Of being that entity that I so loved
But alas! It's all gone
Singular has ceased to exist.
Oh how I had thought that your absence would be celebrated
I would drink to it and make merry
Live life on my own terms
But alas! It was not to be
This poor heart is a fool, the mind a bigger one
It can see, but it doesn't act
It can feel, but it doesn't react
It waits...
It breathes in bits and pieces
It eats but doesn't taste
It stays but doesn't live
Oh how I had thought I would revel in being alone
Of being singular once again
Of being that entity that I so loved
But alas! It's all gone
Singular has ceased to exist.
I've lost my head
I have no clue of what's in my head
I have no clue of what's on my mind
I am part of a grind
And there's no peace of mind
It's too simple to write these lines
Rhyme them and they sound fine.
When I lay alone on that big wooden bed
It seems I have pots of hashish in my head
No weight to the thoughts I've ever had
It oscillates between from bad to worse and from worse to bad
And then i can hear it go tick tock, tick tock
When will it give way, this chocablock.
Endless wait for an endless explosion
Freedom from the earth's exploitation
No fusion and no fission
And really a man with no mission
I am dead before I die
I am living but a lie.
And all I can do is wait to be led.
After all, I've lost my head.
I have no clue of what's on my mind
I am part of a grind
And there's no peace of mind
It's too simple to write these lines
Rhyme them and they sound fine.
When I lay alone on that big wooden bed
It seems I have pots of hashish in my head
No weight to the thoughts I've ever had
It oscillates between from bad to worse and from worse to bad
And then i can hear it go tick tock, tick tock
When will it give way, this chocablock.
Endless wait for an endless explosion
Freedom from the earth's exploitation
No fusion and no fission
And really a man with no mission
I am dead before I die
I am living but a lie.
And all I can do is wait to be led.
After all, I've lost my head.
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Barefoot victories and stick magic
As India turns 60 and we are reminded of the many red-letter days that marked our freedom struggle, pre-independence India's sporting prowess fails to find a suitable mention.
Long before Gandhiji's successful Satyagraha movement, long before Bhagat Singh and his comrades shook the British Government, long before Netaji Bose's INA took on the British Army, a band of 11 bare-footed men dared to achieve the impossible - defeat the British in their own game.
July 29, 1911 will surely be remembered as the first red-letter day in the annals of Indian sports.
It was on this day that Mohun Bagan beat the East Yorkshire team 2-1 to win the IFA Shield.
An Indian team completely composed of 'natives', trounced the regimental team in Kolkata, capital of British India, on a ground barely one km from the Viceroy's residence.
En route to the finals, Bagan registered two memorable wins. The Kolkata team beat the Rifle Brigade and the 1st Middlesex Regiment. It may seem romanticising the game a bit too much if one were to say that the result of the final match forced the British to shift their capital to Delhi in 1911, but suggestions in the past have been made to the effect that Bagan's win would have given further impetus to the militant nationalism in Bengal at that time. And surely that factor would have played on the minds of the rulers, even though a decision to shift the capital had been approved by London earlier.
At that time, the free press, even in England, had acknowledged and congratulated Mohun Bagan. The Empire reported: "All honours to Mohun Bagan. Those 11 players are not only a glory to themselves, but the whole nation deserves the billing."
As another story goes, during the city-wide celebrations of the triumph, one man pointed to the Union Jack atop Fort William and asked: "When will that come down?" Someone replied that it will come down when Bagan wins the shield again. It may be a coincidence, but Bagan won their next shield in 1947. In between Bagan made it to the Rovers Cup final in 1923.
Thirteen years later, Mohammaden Sporting won the IFA Shield and in 1937 Bangalore Muslims won the Rovers Cup. Md Sporting then won the Durand Cup, previously won only by the army teams, for the first time in 1940 in New Delhi. There were many other red-letter days in pre-independence Indian sports. The Indian hockey team won gold in the 1928 Amsterdam, 1932 Los Angeles and the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Hockey wizard Dhyan Chand was part of all three teams. Legend has it that after seeing him play at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, Hitler offered Dhyan Chand, a major in the British Indian Army, German citizenship and a senior army post. The prolific striker politely turned down his request.
Dhyan Chand's deft stick-work and amazing ball control left fellow players and spectators awestruck. In one of the most fitting tributes, residents of Vienna built a statue of the mercurial player with four hands and four sticks, signifying his unparalleled control over the ball.
Basketball great Michael Jordan wrote in his autobiography: "I wish everybody had fire. But they don't. You have players who have the talent but not the heart, you have players who have the heart but not the talent."
Pre-independence India's sportsmen had both.
(In celebration, In memorium - 15th Aug, 2007)
Long before Gandhiji's successful Satyagraha movement, long before Bhagat Singh and his comrades shook the British Government, long before Netaji Bose's INA took on the British Army, a band of 11 bare-footed men dared to achieve the impossible - defeat the British in their own game.
July 29, 1911 will surely be remembered as the first red-letter day in the annals of Indian sports.
It was on this day that Mohun Bagan beat the East Yorkshire team 2-1 to win the IFA Shield.
An Indian team completely composed of 'natives', trounced the regimental team in Kolkata, capital of British India, on a ground barely one km from the Viceroy's residence.
En route to the finals, Bagan registered two memorable wins. The Kolkata team beat the Rifle Brigade and the 1st Middlesex Regiment. It may seem romanticising the game a bit too much if one were to say that the result of the final match forced the British to shift their capital to Delhi in 1911, but suggestions in the past have been made to the effect that Bagan's win would have given further impetus to the militant nationalism in Bengal at that time. And surely that factor would have played on the minds of the rulers, even though a decision to shift the capital had been approved by London earlier.
At that time, the free press, even in England, had acknowledged and congratulated Mohun Bagan. The Empire reported: "All honours to Mohun Bagan. Those 11 players are not only a glory to themselves, but the whole nation deserves the billing."
As another story goes, during the city-wide celebrations of the triumph, one man pointed to the Union Jack atop Fort William and asked: "When will that come down?" Someone replied that it will come down when Bagan wins the shield again. It may be a coincidence, but Bagan won their next shield in 1947. In between Bagan made it to the Rovers Cup final in 1923.
Thirteen years later, Mohammaden Sporting won the IFA Shield and in 1937 Bangalore Muslims won the Rovers Cup. Md Sporting then won the Durand Cup, previously won only by the army teams, for the first time in 1940 in New Delhi. There were many other red-letter days in pre-independence Indian sports. The Indian hockey team won gold in the 1928 Amsterdam, 1932 Los Angeles and the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Hockey wizard Dhyan Chand was part of all three teams. Legend has it that after seeing him play at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, Hitler offered Dhyan Chand, a major in the British Indian Army, German citizenship and a senior army post. The prolific striker politely turned down his request.
Dhyan Chand's deft stick-work and amazing ball control left fellow players and spectators awestruck. In one of the most fitting tributes, residents of Vienna built a statue of the mercurial player with four hands and four sticks, signifying his unparalleled control over the ball.
Basketball great Michael Jordan wrote in his autobiography: "I wish everybody had fire. But they don't. You have players who have the talent but not the heart, you have players who have the heart but not the talent."
Pre-independence India's sportsmen had both.
(In celebration, In memorium - 15th Aug, 2007)
The three laws of robotics, human cloning and the biological robot
Isaac Asimov, life, the universe and everything else has played a huge role in boosting the imagination of the author for a considerable period of time. At one point, it was believed by the author that the only way to make the grade in school was through artificial intelligence. At other times, he wished someone looking like him could sit for his exams, face his father at the PTA and so on.
These coupled with whatever else he learnt in a managing new media module and some facts became the seed for this article on the three laws of robotics, human cloning and the biological robot. The year 2005 ended on a notable down note when the landmark findings of South Korean cloning pioneer Dr Hwang Woo-Suk were found to be fabricated. Over the past two years, Dr Hwang became a hero in South Korea and an international celebrity. In 2004, he had claimed to be the first to clone a human cell. In 2005, he said he had done the same thing in 11 patients. And for good measure, he said he had cloned a dog as well.It was also a big year for genome decoding. Scientists deciphered the DNA of man’s best friend, along with humankind’s closest relative, the chimp. Such findings are becoming so routine, however, that one might not have even noticed that the genome of rice was revealed too. The ongoing investigation into our own DNA, meanwhile, revealed that identical twins are not so identical. Other researchers reported that about nine percent of human genes are undergoing rapid evolution.
Another kind of an evolution was happening in Japan. A Honda robot was traveling in a suburban train in that country. As the train came to a stop at a station, an old lady got into a compartment where all the seats were taken. The robot got up and offered her a seat. She in turn offered it an apple. The robot got down at the next stop, perplexed what to do with the fruit.But before the author goes any further, it’s important to define what cloning really means.
Clones are two, or more, exactly alike persons, animals or plants. The technique were originally used to clone orchids and other expensive, beautiful flowers. Scientists have succeeded in cloning frogs and other reptiles and Dolly the sheep. But can you clone humans? And should they be cloned?The law states that nothing should be done that will go against public order and morality and therefore, cloning of humans is still not allowed by fellow humans.
But actually, human clones already exist. Agreed, they are created by a freak of nature and not by people in white robes in a laboratory. They are created when a foetus, during a very early stadium, is split in two by the cell division in the uterus. They are called identical twins.Perhaps, this is the time to introduce the concept of environment. When identical twins are born, they are exactly like each other, but if you split them and let them grow up in different environments, they will change. Actually, they change even if they stay together, but then you have to observe them quite closely.The next requirement is to define artificial intelligence. It is the science and engineering of making intelligent machines, especially intelligent computer programmes. It is related to the similar task of using computers to understand human intelligence, but artificial intelligence or AI as it is called does not have to confine itself to methods that are biologically observable.
But what is intelligence? It is the computational part of the ability to achieve goals in the world. Varying kinds and degrees of intelligence occur in people, many animals and some machines.Now begin integrating all these ideas, right from the Honda robot to the apple to artificial intelligence to human cloning.
Also, let us look at what may or may not constitute public order and morality, or what constituted it till very recently and does not do so any more.The generally accepted view is that god creates living creatures and they should act according to what society and law constitute as ‘normal’ and ‘legal’.But imagine a situation, where a couple cannot have a baby for a host of medical reasons. What do they do? Agree that god does not want them to have a child or go in for in vitro fertilization, embryo transfer and artificial insemination as may be required.‘God-like’ fertility technologies are now cheerfully embraced because we have become accustomed to them. The same logic applies to cases of abortion as well. We go against the so-called rules of god as per convenience and requirement. We can’t give life; we can’t take life –that rule doesn’t apply any more.
Next comes the oft-quoted argument that “science must be regulated by firm laws to preserve humanity and dignity.”Till very recently and in most countries even now, a homosexual is not accorded a ‘dignified’ status. They are looked down, treated as ‘abnormal’, in most cases treated as a criminal. In India, homosexuality is still a crime.
But what happened on December 29, 2005 has changed at least in many places the parameters of public order and morality. As Sir Elton John and his 12-year-long partner David Furnish married under a new law in the UK that allows same-sex couples to form civil partnerships, England celebrated on the streets the legalisation of a human’s right to make any choice and have any preference.The couple’s official union took place in the town hall in Windsor, the Guildhall, where Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles had married in April 2005.
The legalisation of a person’s preference of spending his or her life in a civil union with the person of the same sex is a legal victory. Science has opened up options of other victories as well that are fought against society – as all battles have to be – and on some counts within individuals themselves.Truly, “what lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us”. The ability and legalisation of sex change is also a recent victory of humankind’s preferences, to be comfortable with oneself as an individual and be accepted by society and law for what that individual truly exists as.
Founder of advertising agency BBDO, Bruce Barton (1886-1967) had probably had “little things” like this in his mind when he had remarked:“Sometimes when I consider what tremendous consequences come from little things…I am tempted to think…there are no little things.”
Obviously, we have decided not to adhere to all that god and religion had ordained for us.
We have been told by researchers that nine percent of human genes are undergoing rapid evolution. The author would like to believe that a majority of that is directly or indirectly related with either the mind or the heart because those are the two most important ‘things’ that need to accept newer order, newer moralities and newer preferences.
Clones will be more alike than twins raised in separate environments, and the author is certainly not suggesting that twins do not have rights or dignity.What we as humankind require is not a black or white answer on whether to allow or disallow human cloning. When our lives are made up of umpteen shades of gray, all that the law should confine itself to it is to enact organizing principles and unifying themes.
It is important to note here that even as governments across the world are pressurizing or are being pressured to bring in legislation that would ban human cloning, they should understand that all governments have limited powers, those which are enumerated in their country’s constitutions. And nothing in those constitutions grant the governments the power to ban research into cloning, or to suppress other types of science.
If one loses a limb, the technology of cloning and artificial intelligence combined could be the answer in the future. It could make an ‘incomplete’ person ‘complete’ once again and AI could ensure that it is not just another embellishment of the body. The limb would then act and react exactly in the way a real limb would.Biological robots and the technology to create them or any of their parts could be the next frontier in medicine and space research, especially fact-finding missions.
Imagine a virtual physician, a Dr. Robot who can treat us in the absence of our physician. The John Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, US, is working on robot doctors. Urologist Dr Louis Kavoussi of the John Hopkins University undertook a feasibility study of the same and was reported to have said that he was optimistic that the “robot would be accepted by patients as a mechanism to interact with their physicians.”Several ways in which robots, especially those created from a marriage of AI, robot technology and human cloning come to mind.First, the patient would not have to wonder what being touched by “steely” hands might feel like and would therefore be that much more comfortable being screened by infrared sensors, a movable video screen, a zoom video camera, a microphone and a speaker.Second, the robot will help physicians reach their patients across locations. A physician who works among several urban hospitals or who is traveling could use the ‘biological robot’ to connect with patients throughout the city or from a distance.Third, the robot doctor could extend the provision of healthcare in general. Robots could let physicians serve outlying regions much as telemedicines do now.
Finally, the expanded use of the bio robot or robot doctor might just become another entrepreneurial opportunity.So what is the final issue between law and science in the case of human cloning? The answer might be a simplistic one, but the author here aims to present only some of the unifying themes and organizing principles.
Isaac Asimov’s three laws of robotics state:
1. A robot may not harm a human being, or through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
2. A robot must obey the orders given to it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the first law.
3. A robot must protect its own existence, as long as such protection does not conflict with the first or second law.
Based on the above, three laws of humankind can also be put in place:
1. A human should not harm another human, or through inaction, allow a fellow human to come to harm.
2. A human must obey orders, read: laws of the land, except where such ‘laws’ would conflict with the first law.
3. A human must protect its own existence, read: self-defence and fundamental rights, as long as such protection does not conflict with the first or second law.
If humans and robots could be trained or made as may be the case to adhere to these rules, biological robots –formed from a marriage of human cloning and robotics technology, could become our knights of the future protecting cities against attacks, taking on “manned” space missions to the farthest frontiers of he universe and beyond and many more such endevours.
Human cloning is not about creating an ‘adult’ person who can begin to work immediately, without the problem of raising a child but it is about forging partnerships and progress.The question of to what use will the technology and expertise be put to is similar to nuclear technology and those associated with it. The decision to pursue human cloning is an inevitable one, sooner than later, but to what use will it be put to and how much humankind will benefit from it will depend on humankind’s integrity.
Eighteenth century polemicist, philosopher, and essayist, Samuel Johnson once said, “There can be no friendship without confidence, and no confidence without integrity.”The legal, moral, ethical and scientific issues surrounding human cloning will surely test those “friendships” between science and law.
(Meandering thoughts from the beginning of 2006.)
These coupled with whatever else he learnt in a managing new media module and some facts became the seed for this article on the three laws of robotics, human cloning and the biological robot. The year 2005 ended on a notable down note when the landmark findings of South Korean cloning pioneer Dr Hwang Woo-Suk were found to be fabricated. Over the past two years, Dr Hwang became a hero in South Korea and an international celebrity. In 2004, he had claimed to be the first to clone a human cell. In 2005, he said he had done the same thing in 11 patients. And for good measure, he said he had cloned a dog as well.It was also a big year for genome decoding. Scientists deciphered the DNA of man’s best friend, along with humankind’s closest relative, the chimp. Such findings are becoming so routine, however, that one might not have even noticed that the genome of rice was revealed too. The ongoing investigation into our own DNA, meanwhile, revealed that identical twins are not so identical. Other researchers reported that about nine percent of human genes are undergoing rapid evolution.
Another kind of an evolution was happening in Japan. A Honda robot was traveling in a suburban train in that country. As the train came to a stop at a station, an old lady got into a compartment where all the seats were taken. The robot got up and offered her a seat. She in turn offered it an apple. The robot got down at the next stop, perplexed what to do with the fruit.But before the author goes any further, it’s important to define what cloning really means.
Clones are two, or more, exactly alike persons, animals or plants. The technique were originally used to clone orchids and other expensive, beautiful flowers. Scientists have succeeded in cloning frogs and other reptiles and Dolly the sheep. But can you clone humans? And should they be cloned?The law states that nothing should be done that will go against public order and morality and therefore, cloning of humans is still not allowed by fellow humans.
But actually, human clones already exist. Agreed, they are created by a freak of nature and not by people in white robes in a laboratory. They are created when a foetus, during a very early stadium, is split in two by the cell division in the uterus. They are called identical twins.Perhaps, this is the time to introduce the concept of environment. When identical twins are born, they are exactly like each other, but if you split them and let them grow up in different environments, they will change. Actually, they change even if they stay together, but then you have to observe them quite closely.The next requirement is to define artificial intelligence. It is the science and engineering of making intelligent machines, especially intelligent computer programmes. It is related to the similar task of using computers to understand human intelligence, but artificial intelligence or AI as it is called does not have to confine itself to methods that are biologically observable.
But what is intelligence? It is the computational part of the ability to achieve goals in the world. Varying kinds and degrees of intelligence occur in people, many animals and some machines.Now begin integrating all these ideas, right from the Honda robot to the apple to artificial intelligence to human cloning.
Also, let us look at what may or may not constitute public order and morality, or what constituted it till very recently and does not do so any more.The generally accepted view is that god creates living creatures and they should act according to what society and law constitute as ‘normal’ and ‘legal’.But imagine a situation, where a couple cannot have a baby for a host of medical reasons. What do they do? Agree that god does not want them to have a child or go in for in vitro fertilization, embryo transfer and artificial insemination as may be required.‘God-like’ fertility technologies are now cheerfully embraced because we have become accustomed to them. The same logic applies to cases of abortion as well. We go against the so-called rules of god as per convenience and requirement. We can’t give life; we can’t take life –that rule doesn’t apply any more.
Next comes the oft-quoted argument that “science must be regulated by firm laws to preserve humanity and dignity.”Till very recently and in most countries even now, a homosexual is not accorded a ‘dignified’ status. They are looked down, treated as ‘abnormal’, in most cases treated as a criminal. In India, homosexuality is still a crime.
But what happened on December 29, 2005 has changed at least in many places the parameters of public order and morality. As Sir Elton John and his 12-year-long partner David Furnish married under a new law in the UK that allows same-sex couples to form civil partnerships, England celebrated on the streets the legalisation of a human’s right to make any choice and have any preference.The couple’s official union took place in the town hall in Windsor, the Guildhall, where Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles had married in April 2005.
The legalisation of a person’s preference of spending his or her life in a civil union with the person of the same sex is a legal victory. Science has opened up options of other victories as well that are fought against society – as all battles have to be – and on some counts within individuals themselves.Truly, “what lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us”. The ability and legalisation of sex change is also a recent victory of humankind’s preferences, to be comfortable with oneself as an individual and be accepted by society and law for what that individual truly exists as.
Founder of advertising agency BBDO, Bruce Barton (1886-1967) had probably had “little things” like this in his mind when he had remarked:“Sometimes when I consider what tremendous consequences come from little things…I am tempted to think…there are no little things.”
Obviously, we have decided not to adhere to all that god and religion had ordained for us.
We have been told by researchers that nine percent of human genes are undergoing rapid evolution. The author would like to believe that a majority of that is directly or indirectly related with either the mind or the heart because those are the two most important ‘things’ that need to accept newer order, newer moralities and newer preferences.
Clones will be more alike than twins raised in separate environments, and the author is certainly not suggesting that twins do not have rights or dignity.What we as humankind require is not a black or white answer on whether to allow or disallow human cloning. When our lives are made up of umpteen shades of gray, all that the law should confine itself to it is to enact organizing principles and unifying themes.
It is important to note here that even as governments across the world are pressurizing or are being pressured to bring in legislation that would ban human cloning, they should understand that all governments have limited powers, those which are enumerated in their country’s constitutions. And nothing in those constitutions grant the governments the power to ban research into cloning, or to suppress other types of science.
If one loses a limb, the technology of cloning and artificial intelligence combined could be the answer in the future. It could make an ‘incomplete’ person ‘complete’ once again and AI could ensure that it is not just another embellishment of the body. The limb would then act and react exactly in the way a real limb would.Biological robots and the technology to create them or any of their parts could be the next frontier in medicine and space research, especially fact-finding missions.
Imagine a virtual physician, a Dr. Robot who can treat us in the absence of our physician. The John Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, US, is working on robot doctors. Urologist Dr Louis Kavoussi of the John Hopkins University undertook a feasibility study of the same and was reported to have said that he was optimistic that the “robot would be accepted by patients as a mechanism to interact with their physicians.”Several ways in which robots, especially those created from a marriage of AI, robot technology and human cloning come to mind.First, the patient would not have to wonder what being touched by “steely” hands might feel like and would therefore be that much more comfortable being screened by infrared sensors, a movable video screen, a zoom video camera, a microphone and a speaker.Second, the robot will help physicians reach their patients across locations. A physician who works among several urban hospitals or who is traveling could use the ‘biological robot’ to connect with patients throughout the city or from a distance.Third, the robot doctor could extend the provision of healthcare in general. Robots could let physicians serve outlying regions much as telemedicines do now.
Finally, the expanded use of the bio robot or robot doctor might just become another entrepreneurial opportunity.So what is the final issue between law and science in the case of human cloning? The answer might be a simplistic one, but the author here aims to present only some of the unifying themes and organizing principles.
Isaac Asimov’s three laws of robotics state:
1. A robot may not harm a human being, or through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
2. A robot must obey the orders given to it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the first law.
3. A robot must protect its own existence, as long as such protection does not conflict with the first or second law.
Based on the above, three laws of humankind can also be put in place:
1. A human should not harm another human, or through inaction, allow a fellow human to come to harm.
2. A human must obey orders, read: laws of the land, except where such ‘laws’ would conflict with the first law.
3. A human must protect its own existence, read: self-defence and fundamental rights, as long as such protection does not conflict with the first or second law.
If humans and robots could be trained or made as may be the case to adhere to these rules, biological robots –formed from a marriage of human cloning and robotics technology, could become our knights of the future protecting cities against attacks, taking on “manned” space missions to the farthest frontiers of he universe and beyond and many more such endevours.
Human cloning is not about creating an ‘adult’ person who can begin to work immediately, without the problem of raising a child but it is about forging partnerships and progress.The question of to what use will the technology and expertise be put to is similar to nuclear technology and those associated with it. The decision to pursue human cloning is an inevitable one, sooner than later, but to what use will it be put to and how much humankind will benefit from it will depend on humankind’s integrity.
Eighteenth century polemicist, philosopher, and essayist, Samuel Johnson once said, “There can be no friendship without confidence, and no confidence without integrity.”The legal, moral, ethical and scientific issues surrounding human cloning will surely test those “friendships” between science and law.
(Meandering thoughts from the beginning of 2006.)
Forever
I can feel you around me tonight
The stars shiver in the distance, the night wind sings
I hold you in my arms and kiss you again and again under the endless sky
My voice touched the wind that carries all my love to you
Your bright body
Your infinite eyes
I can almost sight eternity in them
Why can't forever come a little sooner?
The stars shiver in the distance, the night wind sings
I hold you in my arms and kiss you again and again under the endless sky
My voice touched the wind that carries all my love to you
Your bright body
Your infinite eyes
I can almost sight eternity in them
Why can't forever come a little sooner?
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