Nationalism and the utility/futility of argument

Disclaimer: Opinions are like assholes. If you bare them, others find them unbearable.

I was taught history in a missionary school by a muslim . Most of the national history was about the aryans, mouryas in ancient period, mughals in medieval times and independence movement in the modern era.

India is this amazing place which featured one of the world`s earliest civilizations. We had great emperors, philosophers.scientists, physicians (and of course we make excellent subjects anytime). At that age, we were so proud to be be born in a country as diverse and unique as ours. We were not taught many age old customs of our culture like sati and polygamy were outlawed by the British. No one told me then that Bose judged the imperialist England as a greater evil over Hitler`s Germany and Japan. I did not hear of Abha. Tipu was a tolerant emperor then who equally respected all religions. I thought Tito and Sukarno, being co-founders of NAM were more or less similar to Nehru. Life was pretty simple then. Everything was black or white. Akbar was tolerant, Aurangzeb a bigot, Shivaji a patriot, Gandhi the hero,Mountbatten the villain, Teresa a saint, Westerners the looters and India the greatest country. Intellectual orgasms do last much longer.

I would write poems on the greatness of our country/culture, watch movies made on the lives of our freedom fighters and wholeheartedly pray for India`s win over Pakistan in cricket. Kargil war happened and it marked me at my highest patriotic zeal. Newspapers would carry inspiring stories of how our Indian soldiers would brave tough weather and drive back the enemy.

At some point during my graduation, I guess the switch flipped. Today I see country, religion or a caste as mere separations. All of us want to feel proud of ourselves. We want to be associated with someone who is great because we think greatness is infectious. Instead of chasing greatness, we chase the shadows of great people.As we draw bigger circles around us, the number of greats falling in them would increase. We start with family, move on to area, caste, state, religion and finally country.

When someone says the country is intolerant/tolerant, I do not understand. How can a country be tolerant/intolerant? There will always be a considerable number of people on either side. Some might say isolated incidents of intolerance must not lead us to generalize the whole country as intolerant.At what percentage does the scales tip? It is subjective.

Argument and agreement are overrated. It is the tongue of the proponent which decides the validity of the argument often.

What do we do when people raise voice against our constitution? something quick before it is amended for the nth time to suit them. We can be those keyboard warriors who would feed the perpetrators of violence at patiala house with belief. Amongst all this, I forget the values we`re trying to uphold. I try to understand who the taxpayers are, what democracy is and who the parasites are.

Why do taxpayers pay tax? because they`re taxpayers. They expect the government to create a conducive environment for them to optimize their earning potential. The government needs more taxpayers to prosper. It would like to provide education to people so that they could earn their livelihood.

What if the government does not fund the universities? There will be more disgruntled youth who could not afford education and hence could not find employment. They might want to vent out their anger by joining the naxals and fueling a civil war that does not bode well for the taxpayers. It would not be unreasonable to assume the tax paying public are doing themselves a favor by sponsoring the education of this students.

What is a democracy? I`ll enlist the help of wiki here. “a system of government in which all the people of a state or polity … are involved in making decisions about its affairs, typically by voting to elect representatives to a parliament or similar assembly”.  it consists of four key elements: (a) A political system for choosing and replacing the government through free and fair elections; (b) The active participation of the people, as citizens, in politics and civic life; (c) Protection of the human rights of all citizens, and (d) A rule of law, in which the laws and procedures apply equally to all citizens.

Let a person be a host or a parasite, he has the same rights as all other citizens. In India, everyone aged over 18 has a right to vote. Most people under 22  depend upon parents for food and shelter. How would it be if their parents told them “I subject your will to my interest as it is I who sponsor you right now. Vote for so and so candidate.”

Looking at all the furore over not supporting India in a cricket match, one would think every time India wins over Pakistan, our GDP would raise by .1%, the number of women raped in India per day decreases and the aggregate morality of our society raises a notch.

One might think I`m anti-BJP or one of those sickulars. Why should one be either  on this side or that side? It is like being asked who is the better tennis player- 97th ranked Janowicz or 98th ranked Krajinovic? In the search for an optimistic note, what else are we going to do?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Love story of a wave

It started when I saw her from a distance. Until then, my life consisted of my fellow waves and a few flirty fish. My brothers would say,’Get some fish,bro. You need some female company.’ I never took them seriously. There were days when I would flow in a pensive mood keeping no track of the moon overhead. Loneliness would engulf me from all sides. I would look as far as I could to find someone I could love. It was then I saw her- the shore. It was my first date with her. I could feel my heart beating faster and my flow slowing down as I drew near her. She did not move an inch towards me. May be it was disinterest on her part. For the sake of my sanity and existence, I continued to drive forth. As I came closer, I noticed that she was not running away. She was Switzerland as she would be forever. I put on my cloak of optimism and sprang forward.

At the point of contact, I decreased my intensity and spread my arms as far as I could. For a few moments, we enjoyed being at such close proximity. It was time to leave. My brothers pushed me back. I asked her to come with me. She could not. She said she would wait there forever. She would send some of her sand specks to give me company for a while. They would travel for sometime with me and describe my world to her later. I would think of her until our next date. As I grew older, I would have to wait longer. Neither she nor my love for her showed any signs of tear. Every time I meet her, I wish that I would get a chance to see her one more time.

One day I would die probably amid my brethren or hopefully in her arms. Until then, I would flow for miles to meet her or fall just short.

What did I do to deserve this?

Why do we always ask this question in a single sense? Whenever we face a result that is miles away (read away as below) from expectations, we ask this. What do we do if the results are way better than our expectations? We simply let ourselves to think that we had thoroughly deserved them. I, for a change, want to list a few things which I feel I do not deserve but was lucky enough to have seen or given.

In chronological order

1.Lovable grandparents

2. My teachers (at school)

3. 2-3 of my friends

4. My reasonably good health despite my terrible eating habits

5. Watching Roger Federer in full flow

Not many, I guess. Of course I chose to ignore specific incidents like

1. I was felt up by a girl in a bus in Mumbai

2. I passed DBMS course at college.

3. I saw some wonderful movies like If, Rebel without a cause, Papillon, Into the wild, Dead poets Society and many more (facilitated by me having just an internet connection and a laptop). Papillon- amazing movie. I cannot stop talking about it.

Cameraman Ganga tho Rambabu- a review

I had been eagerly awaiting the release of this movie. PK is one star whom I like a lot and Puri is one director who scares me a bit. Still I hoped that PK will be his usual self and finger the script as much as he can. Alas! that was not to be.
I will come to the bashing later. About the positives of the movie, it deserves a 8/10 for PKs performances in the pre climax speech, his high-octane verbal duels with prakash raj and the performances of two of the best artists in Telugu cinema( kota and prakash raj).
Sadly, this was all the movie had. Tamanna`s characterization was awful. The need for a second heroine was zero. One of the fights in second half where the goons dress up as ladies is nothing but an indication of puri turning into posani.
All puri wanted to do through the movie was to take digs at tdp,trs,mns and karunanidhi. The director who has incorporated a scene in the movie on sc-bc feuds to show how caste is exploited in politics added reddy and naidu at the end of names of CM and opposition leader showing the former as a good person and latter as a power hungry politician. And the opposition leader has worked as CM for two terms too. The director is not satisfied with this. He needed to mock “jai telugu desam” and “telugu vaadi atmagouravam” slogans too. He even hints that he is targeting TDPs supremo by making Prakashraj say that politics will leave people with lot of diseases like “bolli.”
Prakashraj`s getup resembles KCR. His dialogues on telugu talli are similar to KCRs version of telangana talli. He is followed by a woman who is always on gutka similar to vijayashanti.
And after all this, the director had the temerity to say it is just a movie and it should not be viewed in political sense.

RGV- I can call Amitabh chutiya on twitter.
Puri- I can make a movie like CGR, call everyone chutiya and say “it is just a movie.”

A dream that greets me every night

I raise my hand slowly,tentatively and cautiously (do all three mean the same? slowly because I want to savour the moment, tentatively as I am going to caress her cheeks for the first time, cautiously considering her reaction). I bring my fingers pretty close to their target. Suddenly, I realize I have not checked if the cracks caused by cold are gone or not. I feel my thumb on the other fingers and am relieved to find them smooth. Meanwhile, in anticipation of my touch, her cheeks have gone in a bit. Her lips are quivering. My fingers are shivering too. I brought them close and as if friends caught in a crime, they become relaxed- as it is not only one of them but all that are dying to feel her skin.

I summon all my courage and in a second, my fingers are there resting on her high cheekbones. I can feel her jaws and as my fingers traverse against gravity, I reached the corners of her eyelids. I can write about her eyes for ever and still sell them short. When she is elated, her eyes become lively and seem to smile. When I compliment her, her eyes become narrow in disbelief and slowly widen knowing I mean every word of mine. What I have encountered in the eyes has completely swept me off my feet and my fingers come tumbling down to her nose- a long nose that somehow gives me an impression that she is of high intellect. Every finger of mine slides down her nose with pure joy and more curiosity to learn what nature has blessed her face with. It is here the dream breaks. My eyes open to reality.

P.S. Some dreams are within so realistic distance of reality that they seem to turn real in the future though they are surreal for now.

What a team could do?

Sachin Tendulkar- a champion player from India . He has all the talent in the world and loads of hardwork and motivation to go along with it. Still he gets undeserved criticism just because he chose to play a team game. He could have easily won over 14 grandslams in tennis if he had wielded a racquet instead of a bat. It is a pity that he chose cricket, a team game, to showcase his skills. He has to depend on lesser mortals to ensure that his knocks came in a winning cause. It is an irony that his followers or devotees has to find arguments to prove his greatness. What does Team India/ Team BCCI do to him? How does it reward him for his choice to excel in cricket? Giving him a bunch of pie-chuckers who can`t defend any total. By bringing him down to their levels of mediocrity. A tail that can`t add 20 odd runs in a test match at chennai. I wonder whether the team has impacted the man more or otherwise. He could have been in Australia/South Africa/England. That would have been a reasonably symbiotic relationship. But here, the team as a parasite feeds off him.

I find it real funny when people say one should support a team rather than an individual. Why should I care about a team which has the dangerous praveen bowling at 120 kph, irfan pathan dishing out full tosses at will and raina who can`t play short pitch bowling? And cliches like “no individual is bigger than the team” suck. Borrowing from Rand, I would say the only purpose of a team is to render the other 10 handicapped members relevant by disabling the sole efficient performer.

 

rama rama

నేను ఇటీవలే ఒక పోస్ట్ చదివాను. ఒక భక్తి పాట గురించి గొప్ప గా రాసారు. పాట ఖచ్చితం గా మంచి పాటే, కాకపోతే ఆఖరిలో ఆ పాట విన్న నాస్తికుల పాపం తగ్గుతుందని రాసారు. దానిపై నా ఆలోచనలు.
“అందాల రాముడు ఇందీవర శ్యాముడు ఇనకులాబ్ధిశోముడు ఎందువలన దేవుడు ……
అందాల రాముడు ఇందీవర శ్యాముడు ఇనకులాబ్ధిశోముడు ఎందువలన దేవుడు ……”
అందాలు ఉంటే దేవుడైపోతే మహేష్ బాబు, అనుష్క కూడా దేవుల్లెనా. మన దేశం లో ఎన్నో కులాలు, కులం అన్న తర్వాత దానికి ప్రభ ని తెచ్చేవాడు ఒకడుంటాడు. కాబట్టి ఒకో కులానికి ఒకో దేవుడు ఉంటాడా, ఆ దేవుడికి ఓ గుడి ఉంటుందా? పెరుగుతున్న భూమి ధరలను అందుకోలేని కులాలు ప్రభుత్వమే తమ దేవుడికి గుడి కట్టాలని ధర్నాలు చేస్తాయి.
“తండ్రి మాటకై పదవుల త్యాగమే చేసెను ……
తండ్రి మాటకై పదవుల త్యాగమే చేసెను
తన తమ్ముని బాగుకై తాను బాధ పొందెను
అందాల రాముడు అందువలన దేవుడు”
తండ్రి చెప్పింది తప్పా, ఒప్పా అని ఆలోచించనివాడు, పెద్దకొడుకు కే రాజ్యం దక్కాలన్న కనీస నీతిని మరిచిపోయి అడిగిన తండ్రి మాట మన్నించిన వాడు దేవుడా? తన తమ్ముడి కోసం తను బాధ పడితే దేవుడవుతాడా, ఎందుకు మనం త్యాగానికి, బాధకి ఇంత ప్రాముఖ్యతని ఇస్తాం? అయినా తన తమ్ముడెం బాగుపడ్డాడు? “అయ్యో మా అన్న నన్ను వదిలి వేల్లిపోయాడే” అని భోరున విలపించలేదా? లేదా తమ్ముడికి తనపై అంత ప్రేమ ఉన్నదని రాములవారు గ్రహించలేదా?
“అంభవించదగిన వయసు అడవి పాలు చేసెను ……
అంభవించదగిన వయసు అడవి పాలు చేసెను
అడుగు పెట్టినంత మేర ఆర్యభూమి చేసెను
అందాల రాముడు అందువలన దేవుడు. ”
నిజమే అప్పట్లో కోర్ట్లు, విడాకులు లేవు కాబట్టి సీత తనతో చచ్చినట్టు అడవుల వెంట వస్తుందని ఊహించి ఆమెను అడవి పాలు చేసాడు. అడుగు పెట్టిన చోటల్లా అర్యభూమా, దొంగ చాటు గా చెట్టు చాటున నక్కి వాలిని చంపినపుడు చెట్టు వెనక పడిన అడుగులు ఆ చోటిని అర్యభూమి చేశాయా?
” ధర్మపత్ని చెర బాపగ దనుజుని దునుమాడెను ……
ధర్మపత్ని చెర బాపగ దనుజుని దునుమాడెను
ధర్మం కాపాడుటకా సతినే విడనాడెను
అందాల రాముడు అందువలన దేవుడు. ”
రావణుడిని చంపటం మంచి పనే, కాకపోతే ధర్మం కాపాడుతకి సతిని విడనాడేనా? ఏమిటా ధర్మం? చాకలి మాటలకి జ్ఞానోదయం అయి తెలుసుకున్న ధర్మం? అతగాడి నాన్నకి ముగ్గురు భార్యలు, అలాంటప్పుడు సీత రావనుడ్ని ఇష్టపడితే మాత్రం తప్పేంటో? మహిళలకి సమాన హక్కులు కావాలని మీరు అనుకోవటం లేదా?

This 30 makes me closer to 30 than 20

Another year passed by. A collection of 365 days- some long, some short, some agonizing and some pleasing. After many years, I spend my birthday at home. I do not get up from bed early in the morning. Not even the sultry Vizag climate and the frequent power-cuts persuade me to bathe before 5 pm. I feel old- No voices ringing between the ears “It is my birthday, it is my birthday”and no pics taken to be uploaded on facebook. Would I love to stand in front of the whole class and present a merry idiotic grinning face when they are singing like parrots? Would I love to have cake smeared all over my face?

I like this paragraph thing. It helps me when I want to abruptly end something. The last year has been pretty satisfying for me. Perhaps, no other year has boosted my ego as much as this one did. I hope the same from the coming year.

P.S.1. One post in September takes the number of consecutive months during which atleast 1 post is published to 9.
P.S.2. As one of the two gods put it, “I would rather be 30 than 20.”

Whom should I look to?

Like all Indians, I need someone to look down upon and someone to look up to. It is as if I can`t treat men as men. I need someone to adore, someone to alleviate the burden that never exists. Even if that someone is a weirdo who encouraged weird practices in his ashram, even if that someone played a joker to the last vicerine, I am supposed to look up to them. I should be supporting a 74 year old man who has just woke up out of a bad dream. I don`t understand the reason for their fight but I should support them. They say something about the welfare of the people. I know by pigeonhole`s principle, some people are bound to be underdeveloped when there are too many of them. But who cares about it? All we need is someone to fight our battle which does not even exist in the first place. It is like we don`t remember if we cleaned our asses after shitting or not and we ask them to check out.
So all these septuagenarians- rejected

How about idolizing the “master”minds behind the premier management institutes of India? Okay, they are not in the top10 in world and I don`t know where Vastrapur is. They were like Pandavas initially but now they are on the way to become Kouravas. No wonder, all the names clutter the Cat site. And, oh their criteria! the government is not exercising proper control over them. There should be quotas for villages as rural students find it tough to bell the cat. How can we expect them to compete on the same scale as the urban students. IIMs must strive for the upliftment of these students. They should consider giving tripling the scores of these people. No, I am not joking. How would people rise up in the ladder of society if they are not given a chance? And more over it will present the IIMs with a diverse batch.

In every sphere of life, the strong and developed must take care of the weak and underdeveloped. If everyone around you is lying low, you must flatten yourself. We must fund the generous intentions of IIMs by buying as many cat vouchers as we can so that these money can be used to fund students with social disabilities.

P.S.1.The cycle of hope begins this Monday

We the critics

This post is a result of a discussion I had with my friend on whether a movie maker should think “Am I abusing any moment of the audience`s attention?”. My views need not coincide with most of you (may be all of you). It is the right of a viewer to decide whether he watches a movie or not. Of course, he pays for it expecting it to be good, expecting it to be liked by him. These days, almost everyone checks the review on greatandhra or idlebrain or some I-fucking-form-your-opinion site. So, you already have a whiff of the movie. Yet, you decide to watch it so that you can ceaselessly rant about it infront of your colleagues or classmates. And if one does not follow any of these reviewing sites but just goes to the movie to enjoy the artistry of the maker, he can see the present plight of the movies and choose not to go. But you go to the movie, talk over your mobile disturbing others, change your baby`s diapers, ogle at the girl at the end of your row and finally rave about how the movie stinks. Unfair, isn`t it that the movie maker can`t point out your diminished (rather nullified) attention.

Above all these things, we take pleasure in the thought of sustaining the whole film industry through our contribution. An interesting thought struck me just now. What type of movie contributes more to our conversation? Okka magadu or Prasthanam. I don`t say a movie is as good as a viewer. The tolerant a viewer gets, the worse a movie turns out to be. What difference does it make to us if a movie is good or bad? We will anyways download it online. For every 3 pirated movies we see, we go to the theater once. Are we eligible to comment on the quality of a movie?

P.S 1. I know badrinath and 180 are utter shitheads but I watched them.
P.S. 2. To be a cool dude covering all your frustration is like doing yoga in a room with Anushka.
P.S.3. “DELHI BELLY success is going to take Bollywood to a different direction, I`m afraid it`s destructive…. I`m puzzled how it got through the censor” is the fb status of a popular music director. My response: Why do we need Censor and Your censure?