Musings of an Iconoclast

2008-09-13T11:34:00.000-07:00

"Unending Love" by Rabindranath Tagore

The favorite poem of Audrey Hepburn, one of my favorite actresses.

I seem to have loved you in numberless forms, numberless times

In life after life, in age after age, forever

My spellbound heart has made and remade the necklace of songs

That you take as a gift, wear round your neck in your many forms,

In life after life, in age after age, forever.

Whenever I hear old chronicles of love, it's age old pain,

It's ancient tale of being apart or together

As I stare on and on into the past, in the end you emerge,

Clad in the light of a pole-star, piercing the darkness of time

You become an image of what is remembered forever.

You and I have floated here on the stream that brings from the fount

At the hear of time, love of one for another

We have played along side millions of lovers,

Shared in the same shy sweetness of meeting, the distressful tears of farewell,

Old love but in shapes that renew and renew forever.

Here is a tribute to Hepburn by Gregory Peck, her co-star in many of her movies (most famously 'Roman Holiday'):

2008-05-15T07:40:00.000-07:00

Identity and Violence: The Mercenaries of Hate

The recent serial bomb blasts in Jaipur have evoked another spate of strong reactions and clamour for dealing with the terrorists with an 'iron hand'. In this maze of emotional outbursts & reactionary jingoism something very important has escaped our notice.
We have failed to realize that these recent attacks have something very different and inherently dangerous as compared to any previous act of terror in the country.

Till few years back, most attacks were more or less solely perpetrated by elements who were sent in from outside the country; but these recent attacks (Hubli, Faizabad, Ajmer, Varanasi, Malegaon, Mumbai Train Blasts, Hyderabad, Jaipur etc.) have a complicit domestic involvement (abetted by neighboring elements on both sides of our border) too and are designed to polarize our society.

After 9/11, Indian and Western commentators used to cite India’s example to the world and projected it as THE ideal secular & progressive society. They were amazed by the fact that there was not a single Indian involved (despite its huge numbers) in any major acts of terror in the World. From the 1993 World Trade Center Bombing (Ramzi Yousef), 1998 Blasts in Kenya & Tanzania, 2000 USS Cole Bombing in Yemen, 2004 Madrid Blasts, 7/7 London Bombings et al.

But all that has changed now. The perpetrators of last year’s Glasgow Airport bombings were well educated brothers from Bangalore who came from a respectable middle class family.

Now the question that confronts us today as a society and as a secular nation, is this: Why are young, educated youth from decent backgrounds indulging in these activities?

The easiest thing would be to say that they have been brainwashed/misled by radicals/extremists. But this would just be a case of gross over-simplification. There has to be an inherent grievance/grudge in the mind of the individual which the radicals are channelizing to their advantage. It can be anything; feelings of injustice, poverty, persecution, victimization, delusions of a new world order (a pan-Islamic state?) etc. There have been many events in our country in the past two decades which have reaffirmed and aggravated the alienated youth’s grievances. And we have failed as a nation to address those grievances (if there are any) and bring these people into the “mainstream” and be a part of our ‘growth story’. Its our collective failure.

How can we confront this issue? We have been witnessing in the world a sustained trail of terror and the more we kill the terrorists & the suicide bombers, they just keep on coming and they will keep coming unless we address the root cause of the issue.

The Bible says that we should hate the sin, and not the sinner. We must reflect & unearth where all this is coming from. There have been voices from the other side which suggest a global conspiracy/persecution against them and the reaction from the extremists (who have their own nefarious designs which they don’t share with those gullible masses) is to go back to a medieval (so called perfect) society. Rational people with progressive mindsets must stand against/reject this and project a better alternative otherwise the whole human society will degrade back into an abyss.

As the recent praiseworthy Pakistani movie “Khuda Ke Liye” tells us: Din mein daadi hai, daadi mein din nahin (the beard lies in religion; religion doesn"t lie in the beard)!

Divide And Rule

The real problem starts when people are divided by projecting an “Us vs. Them” attitude. The hate mongers tell their brethren that he is “different” from you, so u should be scared of him. He is out there to harm u. It’s a play on the evolutionary human tendency of being afraid of anything which we don’t understand.

And the demagogue politicians have been masters at this for ages. What eventually happens is that we end up being divided on innumerable lines (community, state, caste, religion, economic status, affiliations, place, gender, race, history, nationality, ethnicity. etc.).

First u are a Maharashtrian, then a Hindu, then a Brahmin, then a sub-sect, then a peasant, Poor…(where does it stop?). Every elections we see the same old drama playing out. And when the real enemy strikes us, we are too weak and too fragmented to respond.

So pls do stand up when a DMK tries to divide u on the basis of Aryan/Dravidian or when a Raj Thackrey tells u that u are a Marathi/non-Marathi and don’t just be a mute spectator.

Because, as we have seen in the past and as we are now witnessing around the world, HATE, has no affiliations. It is a Frankenstein which eventually comes back to haunt its creator (look at the US in Afghanistan or what the Mujahedeen are doing in Pak). What Raj T is saying is nothing new, those are just the remnants of the hatred spewed by his erstwhile party; the communal seeds (and even earlier regional seeds in the 60-70s) sown by it long back. Now since "that threat" is comfortably neutralized, his mercenaries of hate have found a new victim.

I read this quote in the opening pages of ‘Maximum City’ by Suketu Mehta: "We are individually multiple – Kabir Mohanty". The founding fathers of our nation realized this and understood the dangers of these “multiple identities” with which a man lives. That’s why Gandhi/Sardar Patel et al. put a great stress on “Unity in Diversity”, Tolerance, Secularism etc. Even Gandhi’s quotes like India has Assimilated and made its own, all people who have come here, were in this regard.

We have to define our “Overriding Identity”. Though our ancient texts tell us about the concept of "Vasudhaiv Kutumbakam" (the world is our Home), for a start, lets just be Indians first.

Please avoid knee-jerk reactions. Please reject HATE, though its an emotion which comes more naturally to human beings than LOVE & Compassion. And please understand that hate eventually leads to everyone’s downfall. The challenge here for the leaders of the World is promote mutual understanding of peoples & their cultures, their expectations and their beliefs.What the world needs today, is a little bit of more empathy!

2007-06-13T05:45:00.000-07:00

What's With Objectivism Anyway?

Ayn Rand's 'The Fountainhead' & 'Atlas Shrugged' have probably become two of the most read 'radical' books of all time. They have been idolized & hated by people alike (btw…the name of the former came out from one of Rand's statements...."man's ego is the Fountainhead of human progress".) A 1991 poll rated 'Atlas Shrugged' as the second-most influential book (after the Bible) for Americans.

Somewhat derived from Adam Smith’s ideas on man pursuing his self-interest, Rand propagated her philosophy of Objectivism as the answer to the ills of our times. She hypothesized that much like in Economics, the ‘hidden hand’ will take care of the rest. Well, only if things were this easy!!

Here is an e-mail exchange I had recently with a colleague (Mr SJM)….both of us being ardent Ayn Rand admirers at some point of time.
(irrelevant details have been *ed :) )

**************************************************************************************
From: SJM

Sent: Tuesday, March 13, 2007 12:41 AM

To: Me

Subject: Atlas Shrugged

Hello,

How are you?
First of all - let me commend you for the excellent work you have been doing for *******.

Next - just happened to read an excellent article on our mutual interest: Atlas Shrugged. An interesting treatise on the diverse philosophies from an Economics prof : comparative aspects of socialism vs capitalism, Aristotelian, Randian, Marxian, and Adam Smith school of thoughts. Take your pick !

Incidentally, for quite some time a movie has been in proposition. Looks like Angelina Jolie may be Dagny Taggart. IMDB says screenplay was due for completion this Jan ..
Wonder if this is the first movie version for Atlas. BTW I had seen a Gary Cooper Fountainhead. In fact there is even a ****** version with ****** in the lead !

http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20070306/cm_csm/yskousen_1 (link defunct now)

Regards, SJM

___________________________________________________________________________

From: Me

Sent: Wednesday, March 14, 2007 4:37 PM

To: SJM

Subject: RE: Atlas Shrugged

Dear SJM,

Interesting read….my views on Objectivism have gone through a natural evolutionary phase…from blind devotion (a dogmatic attitude) to a questioning one (critical attitude).

The idea of a 'self-made man'...is essentially a flawed one….and this is the basic fallacy with Ayn Rand's Objectivist philosophy.
My fav scientist of all time... Sir Isaac Newton said once "If I have been able to see further, it was only because I stood on the shoulders of giants”.
Man was designed to be a social animal, and it is from there that he derives his intellectual and spiritual fulfillment. (Speaking about spirituality…I recall an interesting quote…”Religion is for those who believe in hell, and Spirituality is for those who have been there!”- David Bowie...HA!)

Rand made the same mistake as the Collectivists did….of preaching the extreme! The path of extremism, as we have seen and are witnessing currently around the world, leads to nowhere.

So one could very well ask, is there any ‘perfect’ philosophy?
I for one believe that there is indeed one. It’s called the Game theory. And it says that “the best result comes when everyone in the group does what’s best for himself (rational self-interest) and the group as a whole (altruism?).” As Buddha would say, the middle path!

cheers
~Mav

**************************************************************************************

2006-11-15T21:28:00.000-08:00

Duality Of Man

I read the following lines in a book…liked it so much that I wrote it down. It’s by one of the greatest psychologists of all time…

Man is driven by an essential "dualism"; he needs both to be a part of something and to stick out. He needs at one and the same time to be a conforming member of a winning team and to be a star in his own right.

"Society.....is a vehicle for earthly heroism....Man transcends death by finding the meaning for his life....It is the burning desire for the creature to count....What man really fears is not so much extinction, but extinction with insignificance....Ritual is the technique for giving life.
His sense of self worth is constituted symbolically, his cherished narcissism feeds on symbols, on the abstract idea of his own worth.
[Man's] natural yearnings can be fed limitlessly in the domain of symbols"

"Men fashion unfreedom as a bribe for self-perpetuation."

- Ernest Becker (Escape from Evil & The Denial of Death)

Addendum 22/11/06:

Stanley Kubrick's 1987 film Full Metal Jacket features an underlying theme about the duality of man (Carl Jung's theory) throughout the action and dialogue of the film. One scene plays out this way:

A Colonel asks a soldier, "You write 'Born to Kill' on your helmet and you wear a peace button. What's that supposed to be, some kind of sick joke?"

To which the soldier replies, "I think I was trying to suggest something about the duality of man, sir... The Jungian thing, sir."

2006-10-24T05:57:00.000-07:00

WIKIALITY - The New Reality

Well guess what...REALITY just got 're-defined' while you and I were sleeping...!!

WIKIALITY is the new Reality...
So what's Wikiality??....you would ask..
Wikiality is nothing but 'Utilitarian Reality'...or in other words...An opinion that the majority agrees upon..

With the proliferation of online sites like Wikipedia etc. now any Tom, Dick and Harry (read you) can 'edit' Reality!
And if enough Tom, Dick and Harry's agree, then WHAM....you just changed Reality..

Check out the Video for more...

P.S. - I love guys with a liberal bias :D :D...Steven Colbert and Jon Stewart rule!!

2006-06-01T23:35:00.000-07:00

Equality, Marx, Democracy, Reservations et al.

Equality is a misnomer. Socialism is a farce.

I believe Socialism is based on a fallacious premise. It has long been used by demagogues to lure the masses into dreams of a utopian socio-economic system where property and the distribution of wealth would be under social control, where the state or the collective will have the ownership of the means of production. Well, these dreams were just that, dreams!

Marx’s ideas were noble, for his times. He really cared for the working class. During the early days of the industrial revolution, the bourgeoisie did exploit the proletariat. But Marx’s idealistic ideas died with him. And, as it has happened in the past, the concept of socialism was picked up and exploited by dictators and tyrants alike. It’s so easy to sell an idea which captures the imagination of people.

An idea (like most of the things) can’t be a static. Ideas need to evolve too and reflect the realities of the times. And one that doesn’t will sooner or later meet its Darwinian fate.

Socialism/Communism failed because it was based on a proposition that all people are equal and they should be treated equally. Well, that sounds pretty nice in theory, but if that were to be true then humans would still be living in caves.

No two people are equal and they should not be treated as equals, period!

A differentiation in a society which is based on one’s knowledge, skill, ability and function is only natural and logical.

People come in different shapes and sizes, moral values, intellectual abilities, sensitivity & compassion for others etc. We have differing capacities to experience pleasure and pain, to communicate effectively. In short, if equality were to be based on the actual equality of all human beings, we would have to stop demanding equality. It would be untenable.

Some would ask, what’s wrong in treating everyone as equal? Aren’t we all the children of the same god? Then what is the need for differentiation? The answer is, if we treat ‘unequal’ people equally, we are denying people the incentive to innovate. It will stall the progress of human civilization.

Man’s struggle with status-quo is the basis of all human development.
Why would someone want to do things differently/better if his efforts are not being recognized and he’s treated better than others? Ultimately man is driven by self-interest (though it is not always the best way….yeah, Adam Smith was wrong!). It’s a primitive evolutionary necessity. Even altruists follow their interests (which is to help others).

That’s the reason why I admire the Russian people so much more. They competed (successfully) with the might and prowess of America just out of fierce nationalism and love for the motherland. But, after few decades they too became disillusioned and understood the futility of it all.

Redefining Equality

The greatest form of inequality is trying to make unequal things equal - Aristotle

Equality = Equality of Opportunity + Equality of Labor

Equality should be based on of ‘equality-of-opportunity’. Everyone should have access to the means to reach his potential. No one should be denied this fundamental right. But at the end of the day, everyone should be treated as per his achievements/capabilities. That’s the only way of going forward.

We all are just cogs in the giant wheel of this world and everyone has to play his part so that the wheel keeps moving on. In our day to day life we take many things for granted and forget our dependency on them. As someone has said, we only appreciate the value of things when they are gone.

From the doctor to the janitor, we are reliant on every member of the society, directly or indirectly. So, essentially all forms of labor are of equal importance and hence should be treated as equal.

In fact, it was on this very premise that the ancient caste system of India was envisaged (at least in theory). The Caste system was quite an interesting system in concept. It was an ancient form of division of labor. People were divided on the basis of their abilities (core-competence) and not by their birth. A person with strong build and physical abilities became a kshatriya (warrior), while someone with mercantile skills became a vaishya etc. This meant that even the son of a vaishya could have become a priest or vice versa (interestingly, thanks to the High-Court ruling, anyone can be a priest now). So this whole system was quite useful in concept where people were best utilized and resource utilization was optimal.

Of course, as it has happened throughout human history, once people have got power they have abused it ('rational' self-interest?...though morally indefensible), and therefore the caste-system was hijacked by the priestly class and distorted into a system which determined your social standing by birth, not by your competencies.

And so started the oppression, exploitation & the denial of opportunity to the ‘lower’ castes. People from differing castes were barred from marrying into other castes. The society became ethnically segregated.

In fact, I believe that this was the largest Eugenics program carried out in the human history!!

(Recently I was having a discussion with someone when he said something really profound….”Whatever happens, there will always be two classes, the haves & the have-nots”……think about it !!)

The Pandora’s Box

And now the latest stunt from the politicians has come in the form of Reservations. They want to correct the wrongs of thousands of years in one stroke (at least they claim so). I won’t delve into their political motives because it is all too obvious and much has already been said on this matter.

But by opening this Pandora’s Box, they have sparked a nationwide debate on the effectiveness of reservations. We have to ask how effective the reservations have been over the past 50 years.
If the aim of reservations was to bring the downtrodden parts of society into the mainstream, it has failed miserably. On the contrary, it has created a new class of people, a ‘creamy-layer’ within the non-creamy layer, a minuscule percentage of the backward classes which actually benefit from the reservations, for generations.

Hence, it is quite obvious that this ‘experiment’ did not achieve it purported goal.

What is most surprising and deplorable is the fact that there exists a hierarchy in the ‘backward’ castes too. They have created sub-classes and discriminate among themselves! So people who are demanding reservations as a way of social emancipation don’t believe in ‘equality’ themselves. It is quite sad that they are using it as a political tool.

The flaw seems to be more with our political system which encourages this kind of behavior. We elect our leaders. But are they worthy / righteous enough to lead us??

Once they are in power they make sure that they are there for eternity (‘rational’ self-interest again). So they start plotting evil schemes (like the present one) so that people bring them back in power.

It’s the same old policy of ‘Divide and Rule’, in a new disguise. We thought that we could drive out the enemy (the British) and rest in peace but what we forget is that the real enemy is within us.

The actual problem is that democracy has been quite a failure as a concept. What a pity that it is still the best system of governance known to man. It is the least of all evils.

The apparent irrationality of voters in choosing incompetent representatives tells us something very important about democracy: that the majority is not always right!

The Solution

So, what is the solution?

One thing is for sure that two wrongs don’t make a right. But there must be a way. There is always a way. Only thing is that we have to discover it. But the proposed solution is not the way forward for sure.

Einstein said that we cannot solve a problem with the same mindset that created it.

You cannot divide on the basis of caste to undo the discrimination on the basis of caste!

That’s the sad and the ironical part, these so called reservations will end up creating fissures/divisions in the society and lead to the very thing they are supposed to eradicate.

One way forward is to provide free education till the 10th standard to everyone. As a taxpayer, I am ready to take the burden. At least, it will make a far lesser dent in my pocket than reservations will do to the society. To make it a success, make the teachers accountable so that they turn up in schools and produce results.

I have always believed that economic upliftment is a necessary precursor to social upliftment. So, if the children of lower castes educate themselves, earn a decent living, they will eventually move up the social ladder. I have a firm belief that xenophobic attitudes will change.

We must provide every opportunity and incentives to the weaker sections of the society so that they come out of their socio-economic misery. Ultimately, it is in our (the so called upper classes) self-interest only. As game theory has shown us, that the best result comes when everyone in the group (society) does what’s best for himself and the group as a whole. That’s the real ‘rational self-interest’.

It’s time to redefine the rules. It’s time to change our mindsets. It’s time for a paradigm-shift!

Note: The term ‘his’ has been used in this blog for denoting the general populace. The author should not be misconstrued as a sexist/chauvinist based on the same.