pippala leaf

:-)

2010-12-05T10:47:00.001-08:00

the thing about indians

2010-07-25T11:41:00.000-07:00

"the most certain thing about Indians is their uncertainty"

in an antique land

2010-06-22T21:26:00.000-07:00

He makes us travel to rural Egypt of twentieth century. There, among others we come across Abu-Ali, the rich influential man of the village; Young Nabeel, who has gone Iraq to make a living, but stuck in a war; Ustaz Sabry, the well-read scholar who is the role model of the rebellious youngsters in the village; the conservative Imam Ibrahim; the street smart women of Lataifa. These are familiar faces we often stumble upon in our native village. They reflect our personal and social life, our land’s transition struggle from ancient civilization to the modern age. They become pointers to our own shriveled world view, our closely guarded but outdated believes and attitudes.

Then he suddenly transports us back in time, 900 years back. We find ourselves in medieval Tulunad (Mangalore), standing on the shores of Arabian Sea, gaze into the blue horizon for the merchant ships of Abraham Bin Yiju, the Jewish trader, to arrive from old Egypt.

From the fragments of history (collection of thousands of paper fragments discovered by historians from Geniza of an old Egyptian Synagogue) he weaved together an amazing story of Abraham Bin Yiju , his trade between medieval Egypt and Malabar, his loyal slave Bomma , his Hindu Nair wife Ashu and his children.

This fine travelogue by Amitav Ghosh enables us to see that we are all made from the same mold. Whether we live in Muslim Egypt or in Hindu India, in 12th century or in 20th century, we are same. Even our prejudices are same. Amazingly, we have a striking resemblance, to that frog in the well.

choices are limited...

2010-04-01T22:57:00.000-07:00

yesterday they ruled against my choice of food, today they dictate against my choice of spouse and tomorrow ? my freedom..who knows!?

on second thought..probably they might have forgotten the preamble of nation's constitution that resolved to constitute a SOVEREIGN SOCIALIST SECULAR DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC and to secure to all its citizens: LIBERTY of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship; FRATERNITY assuring the dignity of the individual...

well dude dream on ....

oh... BTW..did anyone read this ?....if not please ... you will have peace of mind when you enjoy that delicious beef fry and porotta. at least i had.

spooked…for nothing.

2010-03-10T21:21:00.001-08:00

after completion of ‘Spook’ , the so called ‘science tackles the after life’ book, where do i stand ? the same place. did i gain any new insights? nope. did i lose any? nope. would i recommend it to anyone? i doubt it.

Gang Leader For a Day

2008-04-24T17:03:00.000-07:00

The gulf that exists between life and facts about life is vast. The facts about life seldom reveals the real. It gives a different perspective, a perspective that carved out from tones of statistical data and complex mathematical methods. After being squeezed out the real essence: the human life with all it's situations, struggles, aspirations, dreams and emotions; this quantified version seldom has soul of it's own. However for all practical purposes, business as well as political , such perspective is indispensable. But to see and experience the life of a community in all it's essence, the above mentioned perspective is grossly inadequate. Researchers, when they study a society, often fail to see both perspectives. This could be either of inaccessibility or the restrictions imposed by the scientific method they adopted. But Sudhir Venkatesh was courageous enough to take a different route that most of the researchers dare not even dream about.

This young Chicago university student broke conventions and flouted the established rules to learn and experience life in the most violent, dangerous communities of Chicago gang world. As Stephen Dubner phrased, with "an overdeveloped curiosity and an underdeveloped sense of fear" Sudhir walked into the crack gang infested life at Robert Taylor Homes in Chicago. Under the protection of gang leader J.T. he spend his next seven years living, observing and documenting life in the ghetto; Or to put in his own words: "how does it feel to be black and poor ?".

The harsh life he witnessed there made him realize how inadequate and out of touch were the standard tools and social policies that sociologists had been employing to prevent hardships of the poor and unemployed. He found life in the projects were "too wild, too hard and too chaotic for the standard prescriptions that the social scientists could muster". He observed how scarce resource availability pushed people to believe in the principle 'end justify means'.

During his life at Robert Taylor Homes project he faced other problems as well. Once in the middle of a gang shootout he had to dodge bullets to save the life of a gang member. On another occasion he joined other gang members beat up one of it's member. The legal implications of his association with gang members, his knowledge of their activities, wrath of corrupt cops, his fall out from the community's trust when J.T. double crossed him, made his life altogether extremely risky. His luck was very strong. Undoubtedly it enabled him to complete his research work and came out of there without getting hurt.

The book provides great deal of insight on how such communities function, their social structure, their power hierarchy and economics. A good read.

Gandhi my father

2007-11-16T22:11:00.000-08:00

They say every being moves on it's determined path and destiny. As actors in the play, each one has a definite script and role to play. Heroism, villainy, comedy, love, hatred, insignificance, all would act out on the stage.

This mysterious phenomenon, life, has always managed to defy anybody’s understanding. Something that had never existed before had came into existence for a brief period of time. Then it disappeared forever. How can one explain that?

Why did this happen? It is futile to ask such questions about life. Each question would lead to further questions, and finally, all of them would remain unanswered. There is no "if" in the history. Things just happened the way they happened. That is the only explanation one can give. Equally futile is the attempt to blame the actions of any one actor in the play. No person is an island. No action is an isolated event. Every event, every action is interrelated and interdependent, like a river. Mahatma Gandhi said his life was all about his search for the Truth, the Reality. For him everything else was secondary. His actions, decisions were all made according to the light he had received on his journey. Harilal Gandhi had a different journey. Were they wrong, in their motivation and actions? Those roles had acted out on this stage in the way they were meant to be. Who can judge? In life where there are no absolutes, where everything is relative, judgement is futile. We all travel according our convictions. So were Bapu, Ba, Gulab and Harilal.

The events that unfolded on the stage between 2nd October 1869 and 18th June 1948 had stirred up myriad emotions among the spellbound spectators. Then the play came to an end. The stage became empty. The actors departed. So many questions in the play were left unanswered; many things were left unsaid. The spectators were left behind moved, confused and disturbed in mind.

Gandhi my father was very touching and unforgettable experience.

Mahabharata - The story of contradictions

2007-10-07T17:28:00.000-07:00

Malayalam literature is blessed with so many brilliant writers. The short piece ‘Sita continues to be abandoned’ by Sri N.V.P Unithiri brings to mind two Malayalam masterpieces based on Mahabharata: Randaamoozham by M T Vasudevan Nair and Ini Njan Urangatte by P K Balakrishnan. Former was written from the perspective of Bhima and later of Draupati. The essay ‘Mahabharathathile dharmma sankalpam’ by Yati is an excellent critical analysis on the concept of ‘dharma’ in Mahabharata. These works encourage the reader to look into these epics from a different perspective.

If one strip off the divinity from the characters Vyasa and Valmiki had created, one would invariably see one's own reflection in them. The characters of Yudhishtira and Rama tell the tragedy of egoistic human nature: his craving for social approval, his blind faith, his fanatic adherence to the social, religious, cultural norms and rules that were set by his ancestors, his distorted interpretations of the scriptures without any understanding of underlying fundamental principles and finally his tragic end. At the end of Mahabharata one witness the very dharma that Yudhishtira has been ardently following, fails him. It brings him nothing but misery and pain. The very thing that meant to bring happiness made him pitifully helpless and miserable. He becomes a prisoner of his own ‘dharma’. At the end of the tragic war everyone loses. The dharma of Yudhishtira and Duriyodhana had failed them both. Apparently the dharma that had been practiced throughout Mahabharata was not the dharma Vyasa had in mind when he proclaimed ‘yato dharma tato jaya’ – victory is where dharma prevails. Yudhishtira and others understood it rather differently.

Rama of Valmiki also suffered similar fate. Happiness evaded him throughout his life. He was busy following the path of dharma. Every one of them missed that essential 'knowledge' which is sublime and subtle. They all missed except one. In Mahabharata only one character had lived his life in full – Krishna. We never saw his eyes wet at any stage of his life. Instead Mahabharata says ‘he smiled’. When he faced defeat from his formidable enemies, when he lost his kingdom, when he was forced to retreat and hide in mountains, his countenance never faded. When Gandhari, from her heart wrenching pain cursed him, he smiled. When he witnessed the annihilation of his own family before his very eyes, he smiled. Like Rama he also suffered immensely in his life, but he always stood like a rock. And Rama wailed throughout his life. In their approach to life, one may say, Rama and Yudhishtira were idealists. Krishna, who saw the truth of life, was realistic and pragmatic. Interesting are these characters and their outlook towards life.

Often I wonder - why did Vyasa tell that story, the story of contradictions: the dharma that no one can ever follow, the bunch of people who had tried to follow and failed? Krishna Dwaipayana Vyasa has been trying to tell us something that we tend to miss always.

The Legend of Santiago

2007-10-07T17:17:00.000-07:00

Paulo Coelho's Alchemist tells the story of Santiago, the shepherd boy, who set out to discover a treasure that would forever keep him happy. In his dreams Santiago was told about that treasure - hidden somewhere in a very distant exotic and mysterious land. But the journey would not be smooth. The great desert, where danger lurks around, had to be crossed. Local ballads sung stories of brave souls who attempted and never returned. Then there are bandits who would rob and kill anyone who cross their path. But those challenges did not deter him for he knew such a treasure could make him happy forever. He sold his sheep and began his journey. On the way he met people, did business, fell in love, fought war and found the Alchemist, who holds the key to that secret. Finally he reached the mysterious place only to found out, after much digging, that there was no such treasure. The realization dawned on him. The treasure was never kept hidden in the caves of Egypt or in the busy streets of Cairo. That kind of treasure did never really exist. This world could never have such a treasure. He could never found it outside because the treasure, the source of his happiness, lay buried within himself. He always had it within himself. He only needs to know how to dig within himself. And no Alchemist could do that for him. He had to do it himself.

In fact, in a way, all of us are Santiagos..searching for that 'Treasure' outside among names and forms, travel in great length, encounter troubles and hardships, in the hope to get hold of that 'thing' which would wipe out our miseries and relieve us from our painful existence forever. Searching for something permanent and everlasting in this transient world. Sometimes we come across, on the way, a bright glittering stone. We grab it with frenzy and hold it so dear to our heart, convinced that this is indeed that Treasure which will quench the thirst of our heart for everlasting peace, pleasure, happiness and satisfaction. We start to enjoy it's warmth, the pleasure it invokes in our senses. It begin to sooth our troubling mind with peace and tenderness. We push back, into some remote corner of our mind, that ever lingering sense of uncertainty, insecurity. We feel at the top of the world and we sleep soundly. Then one morning we wake up with a heavy gloomy heart realizing that familiar sense of uncertainty, that insecurity has returned. The stone has lost it's brightness, it's glittering has gone.

In desperation and hope we start our search again. On the way we come across many who claim themselves as “the Alchemist”, the one who possess the secret knowledge of the treasure. Some of these wise looking ones dressed in three piece suits and carry laptops. Some of them have long white beard, adorn beads around their neck, hands and carry a bundle of books. They confidently map the way for us and offer their expertise, most of the time with a price tag. We buckle up and travel through their way. We trek through Wall streets, climb the peaks of mighty Himalayas, looking inside every glass doors and caves for the treasure. Then somewhere in the middle of the desert, under the fire star, when every one feel tired, thirsty and lost, they tell us, “ ....sorry I thought this was the way, at least that was what my computer calculated for me...that was what I read from my ancient book of wisdom....I am not very sure now”.

Guruvayur Sree Krishna temple and purification ritual

2007-05-28T17:55:00.000-07:00

My dear friend, you seem to be very much agitated? Oh! because of the temple entry issue?

What did I think about temple entry for non-Hindus? Well it doesn’t matter what I think. It does matter what the resider thinks about someone entering his house…. in this case Sri Krishna because He is the deity of the Guruvayoor temple. Did you bother to check with him…?

My friend why did you scoff at what I just said. Why there is sarcasm in your voice? Oh you think He did not have any opinion on this matter …only His servants - Tantris, Community leaders and Kerala Yogakshema Sabha have an opinion?

Did you say this was a matter of faith? I dont agree. I think faith should be based on reason and fact.

Well if my memory is correct Krishna already discussed and settled these issues with his long time pal Arjuna. It was a long time ago and the transcript of that dialogue is widely available for anyone who bothered to look into it.

Yes my friend, I am talking about Bhagavad Gita.

Oh you were saying Tantri might be right when he ordered purification ritual after the entry of a non-Hindu? You mean the Supreme God got defiled or polluted by the presence of a mere human being and His power got somehow diminished by coming in contact with a mere mortal? Well in this case Sri Krishna, the resident of Guruvayoor temple, did not seem to agree with the you or the Tantri. He said:
"This all-knowing Self is never born and never dies. It has no cause and undergoes no transformation in it's essence. It is unborn, eternal, immortal and ever existing. Weapons do not cut this Self nor does fire burn it; water does not wet it and wind does not dry it up. This Self is eternal, all prevading, unchanging, un-moving and ever existing. He who considers this self to be the killer and he who considers this self to be killed - both do not clearly see the Truth".

(so much so for a purification ritual which include water that wet. What good it will do when you sprinkle purification water to something that never get wet ?)

Very wise, you agreed. But you seem to be little confused.
Okay now your argument is God's power is manifested more in certain places or personalities and therefore it should be protected and revered more. Well, you my dear friend, may not want to know what Krishna think of people like you - He calls your type : "persons of poor intellect".
"All this visible universe is filled inside and outside by Me. Persons of poor intellect, not knowing My supreme casual form, which is the support of all the universal factors, misunderstand Me as having taken a human body".

I noticed anger in your face and your hands clenched into a fist. Sorry, I can't help it. If you still adamantly hold that the rituals and customs should be strictly adhere to, even when one thinks they make no sense, then it will come of no relief for you when I say Sri Krishna call your types "the ignorant ones":
"the ignorant ones find pleasure in the sacrificial rites and their heavenly fruits described in the Karma-kanda of the Vedas; they hold that there is no greater truth than that and no other liberation".

Still if you think Sri Krishna have some soft corner towards your types. Oh brother…He disappoints you again:
"I am the Supreme Self, remain equally in all universal beings. To Me, no one is specially an object of anger and no one is specially dear. Those who worship me with pure love reach Me and I too shine in them".

Dude...bottomline.... it’s upto you - who you want to believe. Bhagavan Krishna ? or Tantris, Community leaders, Kerala Yogakshema Sabha etc ?. You decide.

Catch you later.

The Middle of the World

2007-01-26T13:04:00.000-08:00

Odyssey of a poor Brazilian family on four broken-down bikes travelling 2000 miles towards promised land - Rio de Janeiro. It is a simple story beautifully told. Director Vicente Amorim never attempts to display any degenerated sentimentality or negative display of poverty and misery. The beauty of this movie lies in it’s honest portrayal of inner dynamics of the characters - their interaction, their spirit, their love, the values they hold despite their hardship, their vulnerability and poverty.

There are so many interesting conversation happen among the characters. One such dialogue take place when the eldest child Antonio challenge his parents and refuses to travel any farther:

Father: Let’s go. It’s a long way to Rio de Janeiro. Antonio take Rodney.

Antonio (defiantly): I’m staying here

Mother (with anger and frustration): Listen I’m your mother. I tell you what to do. You have no choice. Stay alone here? Do you think you’re your own boss. You are not.

Father: Yes he is. A son must respect his parents but parents don’t own their children

Mother (protests): But man…

Father: A mother gives life, but she doesn’t own her child.

A beautiful movie.

Rule of this game

2006-04-12T20:51:00.000-07:00

World politics was, is and will be played by just one rule: "POWER". It could be financial, military, trade or any other. Those who have it lay down the rules. Others just play along. There is no role for idealism in this game of power play..if there is any it is again "POWER". Those who have power always rule. Long ago Rome had power over the world. Then came British. Today it is United States. Tomorrow it could be China or someone else. But the rule of this game remains the same whether one likes it or not. All the struggle, as an individual or as a nation, is just to have more power..power against their opponent(s). Jo jeeta wahi Sikander. Prove me otherwise.

The Book of Tibetan Elders

2006-02-20T19:17:00.000-08:00

"When the iron eagle flies and horses run on wheels, the Tibetan people will be scattered over the earth and the dharma will go to the land of the red man" - Tibetan prophecy of Padmasmbhava (eighth century ).

In the course of Time the things that are destined to happen happens. The prophesy fulfilled in 1950 with the Chinese invasion of Tibet. It marked end of an ancient-wisdom culture. The red-robed people of the east lost their land and scattered over the earth. In 1991 writer Sandy Johnson was assigned, by her editor, to wrote a book that records the life stories and wisdom from the existing spiritual masters of Tibet. She traveled to India, Tibet, Europe and America to meet Tibetan elders - the ones who are the embodiment of the ancient wisdom, power and practices. In this book the reader gets a glimpse of that lost world that strived to attain the highest state- the buddhahood and it's current struggle to preserve it's valuable traditions.

From the book:
"I hear that people in the outside world live comfortable lives with tables and chairs and carpets in their homes, and have everything needed to be happy sugar and rice and all that. I have only tsampa and tukpa (soup) to eat, but I am happy; I have no teeth in my mouth anyway. I see you in your fine clothes, and I am in rags. Yet I hear there is much unhappiness in the outside world. Can you tell me why that is ?"

"No I can't", I admitted. "Do you have some thoughts about why that is so?".

She shrugged. "Maybe your fine clothes and all your furniture and riches take up too much of your time and leave you no time for prayer. May be your riches have taken more away from you than they have given. But I don't know about these things..." She yawned, bringing the conversation to a close.

“We are not going to gain anything out of his death"

2006-02-11T05:47:00.000-08:00

This family choose to forgive than going for “an eye for an eye”.

Regarding capital punishment , in certain countries, relatives of the victim have opportunity to witness the execution. It is difficult to comprehend the benefits of such practice, since witnessing death can be more traumatizing. It possiby could not provide any long term relief for the victim's family. What could be the basic principle behind this legal provision?

Postscript: - It is interesting to know that capital punishment was abolished in the princely state Travancore, India, in 1946. It was re-introduced in 1950 after independence.

Thanmathra (Molecule)

2006-01-29T15:44:00.000-08:00

There was nothing extraordinary about Rameshan Nair's life. He had similar dreams and ambitions of any middle class government servant. His goals in life revolved around his family. He was blessed with a loving wife and two smart kids. He knew that his dreams had every possibility of their fulfillment. He was so sure and he was so happy. So was his family. Then it came, with kind of foot steps of a cat, silent and sneaky. Though he was little anxious, it amused him when he forgot his childhood sweetheart's nickname, because she was his lost love. Then it struck. Struck hard with a kind of forcefulness of thunderbolt. It took away his small world, twisted it with tragic consequences. And he was ruthlessly unaware of that. He did not see his little world tumble like a pack of cards. He did not care and in a most cruel way he forgot his family, his dreams and even himself. He did not respond, his mind did not melt at his family's plight. But then, he had no mind, because he had Alzheimer's.

Blessy crafted this movie with precision and well defined craftsmanship. The narrative style and realism he portray in each frame brings an undeniable identification of events that had happened or have been happening in and around our family or friends or neighbour. The film brings to mind a very forceful reminder about the uncertainty and transient nature of our life and how precious is each moment of our life while we have it. Above all this movie has tremendous academic value. Social awareness of this disease is very much absent and many misjudge Alzheimer's disease for lunacy.

Total credit goes to director Blessy. His films may result in the resurrection of parallel cinema in Malayalam. Performance of the entire cast was remarkable, especially performance of Master Arun as Rameshan Nair's son. He is natural. The main character Rameshan Nair, played brilliantly by Mohanlal, is undoubtedly his best performance to date. Meera Vasudevan, as his wife, is also outstanding.

Thanmatra is a remarkable film that moves you and leaves in your mind a very long lasting impact. This classic film should not be missed by those who love Malayalam movies.

Who is qualified to be a priest ?

2006-01-04T21:37:00.000-08:00

The current controversy over the appointment of non-Brahmins as priests in temples is a classic example of distorting basic principles of Hinduism (Upanishad principles) for vested interests.

Regarding caste and duties this is what Bhagavad Gita says:

caturvarnyam maya srstam guna-karma-vibhagasah
tasya kartaram api mam viddhyakartaram avyayam

The four varnas have been set up by Me considering the natural gunas
and works of everyone;
know Me to be the author of those varnas;
know Me also as the changeless one,
who changes or eliminates them according to each one's desires. (Bh.Gita 4:13)

From Bhagavad Gita (Sivaravindam Mahabhashyam-commentary): “ ..all are subject to nautral gunas and helplessly working according to their gunas.... The Gita declares that the division of the human race into these four varnas also is on the basis of these gunas and works. The Lord here completely refutes the idea that birth alone is the basis of the division of varnas. If birth (janma) had to be given a place in the scheme of varnas, the term “guna–karma–vibhagasah” could have been substituted, without any difficulty, by “janma-karma-vibhagasah”....One would be subject to it (law of varna) or free from it only according to one's gunas and works and the power of the Lord which bestows appropriate results...It has been made clear earlier that one who performs works as yagna, maintaining the spirit of enquiry into the Truth and dedication to the Divine, can gradually change the composition of his gunas and even totally discard them. Hence in this very life, one can change over from sudra to a brahmana or vice versa or, discarding the guna – structure, become a sthitapranja, beyond the four varnas and asramas”.

"....we kill for peace.."

2006-01-01T16:40:00.000-08:00

A Man lived here for some years. During that period, among other things, he came to thought of a piece of land as his own and he imagined he would inherit it forever. He argued, fought and killed for that piece of land. Sometime he won and sometime he did not. And after some years he died, and lo, he could not take with him the land he fought for. The land, and all other things that he considered his own, based on which he defined himself, had taken away from him on his death. Now with whom he would fight ?

He would argue with God (if such a being exits): "Those were mine..my wife..my kid..my family...my land...those were mine..You gave it to me"

God would reply: "Just your imagination dear. Everything is mine as always".

Vengeance breeds vengeance breeds vengeance......and at the end no one remains.

Those were the thoughts surfaced in mind when I watched Spielberg'sMunich

Bookshelf ....Non-Fiction...2005

2005-12-23T15:54:00.000-08:00

An odyssey of an orphaned Vietnamese boy, Quang Van Nguyen, set during the time of French and American war that ravaged Vietnam. Quang was adopted by a Vietnamese monk who practiced an ancient form of Chinese medicine and manages to raise him against all odds. He became his father and mentor. He imparts in Quang the esoteric wisdom and knowledge of the ancient world. Through the eyes of young Quang the reader could see life in it's innocence and simplicity, also in it's arrogance and tragedy. In the book reader could witness the end of an old civilization and it's transition to the new world. One would see the simplicity of the former and the complexity of the latter. This is also a story of magic, sorcery and spirituality – a real life Harry Potter story. In this book the reader would meet a fascinating world of magic, sorcery, spirits, ghosts and spiritual giants. Some of the readers might reject them as superstitious. But as I see it, the possibilities of mind, it's potential and capacity are endless. It had been studied and mastered by ancient Buddhist and Hindu yogis and sages, and yet to discover by modern science. The life of Sri Ramakrishna, Vivekananda and Paramahamsa Yogananda are ample proof for this. This story is also about Vietnam, it's culture, it's people, the war, their pain and longing. This extraordinary journey starts from a remote village in Vietnam and ends at New Hampshire in United States. FOURTH UNCLE in the MOUNTAIN is a simple but extraordinary story of a boy, of a nation and of a way of life that became extinct.

Based on a series of discussions and debates that took place between five leading physicists and the Dalai Lama. The subject of the debate varies from Quantum Physics, Relativity, Time and space, the relation between scientific knowledge and human experience, Buddhist view of those and to many more.

In his comment to one of my post Sunil wrote :”you'll find a remarkable openness to new ideas (including complete acceptance of evolution) when you hear eastern religious leaders (like the Dalai Lama) speak....”. I think this remarkable openness comes from the fact that unlike semitic religions Buddhism is not tied down to a set of theology. Here experience supersedes any kind of scriptural authority. And a seeker could reject any authority or scripture or argument that contradict reason. In his reply to one of the physicists in the discussion Dalai Lama says:
“It has nothing to do with God. The Buddhist position is not a theological argument at all. It's purely philosophical and logical argument....”

With regard to the current popularity of Buddhism in west, probably this could be one of the factors of Buddhism that appealed the western mind

This book tells the international diplomatic drama that unveiled between the Clinton administration and Indian Government under Vajpayee. The highlight of this book is Jaswant Singh. His personality, his diplomatic skills and the way he represented India, had made a lasting impression on the author of this book – Strobe Talbott, secretary of state under Bill Clinton. It also tells the missionary kind of zeal with which American administration pursue India to sign CTBT and NPT and the skills employed by India to avoid it. Author shows, without much bias, the US perspective and Indian perspective on this issue. Reader gets a detailed look at the behind-the scene actions that happened among India, Pakistan and US during the Pokhran Nuclear test and Kargil crisis, especially the part played by former President Bill Clinton. The book also highlights the fact how mutual friendship between diplomats could reward positively to the relation of two countries without compromising the objectives of their mission.

Cinema and society

2005-12-18T10:14:00.000-08:00

Sunil writes the disturbing trend in Tamil cinema - men beating their wives or daughters or even mothers on screen with dialogs saying its ok to do that. Cinema, I think, reflects the society as in the case of any artistic medium. I believe this is especially true in the case of Malayalam cinema.

The 1970's and 80's were considered as the golden age of Malayalam cinema. From 90's onward it began to deteriorate. If one observe the social, cultural and political scenario of Kerala during this time period, one could very well see the paralells. By the beginning of 90's most of the gifted writers and poets (Muhammad Bashir, G. Shankarakurup etc), political geniuses (like EMS, Achutha Menon etc ), film personalities (Padmarajan, Bharathan etc) were all gone from the stage. Creativity of the remaining gifted personalities were all seemed to be dried up. Quality of literature and films began to deteriorate. Instead the remaining prominent writers began to wash their dirty linen in public through the press and public podium. Film industry continued to churn out films that absolutely had no artistic value (there could be one or two exceptions here and there but apart from that the well seems to be pretty much dried-up). The political scenario became more corrupt. Organized gang crimes (which was unheard of before) and communal violence (Kerala was once immune to this epidemic) began to show up their ugly face. The society became more insecure and more polarized on the basis of religion.

In the economic scenario Kerala had missed the IT bus. The state government treasury became empty. (As per the 2005 Kerala state budget the state revenue is Rs. 16623 crores and expenditure is Rs. 20696 crores. 91% of the revenue income goes for paying salary and pension). Development initiatives remained in papers. Tourism industry and expatriate money were the only two dim bulbs left. And then, finally, Kerala was officially anointed as Gods own country.... when it became not.

Pitfalls and roadblocks for 'The Rising'

2005-12-05T08:18:00.000-08:00

Some of us in this "Flattened" world need a very very long ladder to climb up. A more realistic view of India's "rising" by Pranab Bardhan in YaleGlobal Online.
Snippet from the article

The total number of workers in all possible forms of IT-related jobs in India comes to less than a million workers – one-quarter of one percent of the Indian labor force.

India is as yet a minor player in world trade, contributing less than one percent of world exports.

No safety net exists for the poor against the major disruptions and hardships of restructuring

Slow processes of democracy in India

Intelligent Design and Eastern Mysticism

2005-12-04T16:04:00.000-08:00

In these paradoxical times where sci-fiction becomes non-fiction and shallow religious beliefs zealously push Intelligent Design into academic curriculum, the article on panspermia hypothesis in Scientific American magazine seems interesting. "The panaspermia hypothesis posits that living cells or their precursors could have emerged on another planet or moon billions of years ago and hatched a ride to Earth on a meteorite".

This echos the Hindu scriptures like Yogavasishtam which describes the existence of other 'earths' in the universe. Parallels to modern science can be found in eastern mysticism, especially in Advaitic and Upanishad thoughts and Buddhism. Advaita school of thought ultimately rejects any kind of creation or Intelligent Design theories. It even reject the idea of re-incarnation. It teaches this world that we experience through our senses forms out of Vishwa Pranan or Cosmic energy. Similarly the resemblance (was it a coincidence..?) between the theory of evolution and the sequence of Dashavataram of Vishnu in the Bhagavatha Purana is fascinating.

The book Einstein and Buddha: The Parallel Sayings by Thomas J. McFarlane attempts to provide clues and hints regarding eastern mysticism's attempt to understand reality and similarity of it's finding wih modern science. It is a thought-provoking book for a sckeptic who refuse to believe there exists a common ground between modern science and mysticism.

Thanksgiving - mind of Turkey and Tom

2005-11-22T16:48:00.000-08:00

Complex problems , simple explanations.... from "Maximum City"

2005-09-30T21:16:00.000-07:00

It's a brilliant book. If one wants to understand Bombay...Mumbai, this is the best source. Few interesting conversations from the book:

********

“How can a man kill ?” I ask Amol. “How can he bring himself to do it?”

“You are a writer. After drinking you will say to yourself, now I must write a story. If you are a dancer, after drinking you will feel like dancing. If you are a killer, after drinking you will think, Now I must kill somebody.”

********

I ask them why there is more unity, more fellow feeling, in the chawl.
Common toilets, explains Sunil.

*********

“What is a gentleman?” Mickey wonders.
“A gentleman is one who kills his heart’s every desire, who doesn’t have guts”, says Satish.

Children of the world

2005-09-02T16:25:00.000-07:00

Children..they are beautiful and therefore this blog too..

Random Thoughts

2005-08-01T20:45:00.000-07:00

Can it ever exist - a perfect socialist world or a perfect free market economy or a perfect democracy? In reality they simply don’t exist. They exist only in the mind of an idealist. What we have is something of a cocktail, something lesser than the ideal. Any kind of perfect system simply cannot exist so long as there is a ‘you’ and ‘me’. Similarly, can there be everlasting peace in this world? No. Pursuit for a peaceful earth is like chasing a mirage. Great many of them attempted from time immemorial. But none of them succeeded. From Krishna, to Jesus, to Gandhi - no one succeeded. The catastrophe Krishna tried to prevent ends with the complete annihilation of his own lineage. The next two were crucified and assassinated. The peace they achieved was momentary. The world soon fell apart again. Similar with the other unknown millions who had tried. Conflict is inherent in the nature, even in the sub-atomic particles. One cannot stop it. Once it is stopped, the world, as we know it now, will cease to exist. But man’s pursuit for his ideal will never cease. For him it is far away, but at the same time, he knows that he must have it somehow. Knowingly or unknowingly he run after it like a deer run after a mirage to quench it's thirst. This is what I observed from the life so far. Correct me if I am wrong.

Timeless indeed...

2005-07-23T22:31:00.000-07:00

Nancy in her reply to my comment wrote: “one thing I continually notice about living in India is that it's very easy to get into a conversation about - literally - matters of life and death. It's a topic of interest, not one to be avoided”. I believe, looking inward is in the blood of every Indian. He or she never gets tired of pondering over one’s true identity. (Some are of the opinion that it is this precise trait -looking inward - of India is the cause of her down fall, which I do not believe, because even after the disappearance of so many great world civilizations India still stands. Ofcourse she had her share of ups and downs, but she still stands. Somehow she have this innate ability to withstand, survive and bounce back).

I could not found a reason not to believe that I would not exist after death. Precisely because of the fact, in the very absolute sense, that existence cannot rise from non-existence. What exists can never cease to exist. What is non-existent can never come to existence. So far I have not come across anyone who can disprove this. I had to be existed in some form before I was born (could be as sub-atomic particles or energy or as awareness absolute). Therefore I can reasonably conclude that I would exist even after this body disappear.

I recently came across two books that beautifully portrayed birth and death. First one is Yaticharitham - autobiography of the late Nitya Chaitanya Yati (I believe it is available in the English also). This is the story of an extraordinary person who led quiet an ordinary life. And the second one is Graceful Exits by Sushila Blackman. Both these books had greatly contributed to my understanding that we are truly timeless.

Paheli.....a beautiful Indian folktale

2005-07-18T21:29:00.000-07:00

Paheli reminds me the Malayalam film ‘Njan Gandharvan’ by the late Malayalam director Padmarajan. Both these films derived their themes from local folklore. Stories of Yakshi and Gandharvan were indispensable part of my childhood days. Kottarathil Shankunni’s classic Ithihyamala introduced me to the world of spirits, ghosts and exorcism. Like any other child I stood in awe of these extraordinary world of celestial beings and great magical powers. Their adventures fascinated me. The stories told by my mother of her real-life encounter with the ‘other world’ filled me with fear and excitement.More than fear these Indian spirits invoked in me a curiosity about them. I found them more or like human beings. For Indian mind nothing exists as an ‘absolute good’ or ‘absolute evil’. Good and evil are relative terms. Therefore Indian gods and ghosts have human like qualities. They think like any other human being. They also have limitations and their worlds have their own rules. I learned that even Indra, lord of the heaven, is not above these rules. Indra is a position with a fixed term (like President of a country). Once the term is completed the current ruler steps down and another eligible one takes the position as Indra. As in Paheli, in the Malayalam film

a celestial being falls in love with a mortal. The film depicted the predicament of the celestial being who was torn between the love for it’s beloved and the rules bound by the other world. For a while Paheli took me back to my childhood fantasies.

And thus began the voyage...

2005-07-17T12:04:00.000-07:00

Preparing for a launch in 1966....The humble beginning of India’s space odyssey through the viewfinder of the late Henri Cartier-Bresson

Old witch and Bastards

2005-06-30T16:59:00.000-07:00

'Indians are bastards anyway'. As an Indian, what would be my response?

Once a man abused Buddha using ugly words, obscene words. When the man had finished his abuse, the Buddha asked him, saying: "Son, if a man declined to accept a present made to him, to whom would it belong?" And he answered: "In that case it would belong to the man who offered it." Buddha said: “In the same way I decline to accept your abuse, and request you to keep it yourself. If I don’t accept your obcenity, your ugly words-if I don’t accept them, what can you do? What are you going to do with all this garbage that you have come with? You will have to take it back to your home. Insulting me is your problem, and I have nothing to do with it. I can simply listen and go on my way”.

Therefore I would say: "I am cool man, keep it with ya".

Stem Cells, Cloning, Abortion, Tsunami .....God, ethics, morality, values

2005-06-04T08:35:00.000-07:00

Sri Aurobindo wrote: The elemental gods of the physical universe know nothing about ethical distinctions, but only the bare literal rule of energy, the right track and circuit of the movement of a force, its right action and reaction, the just result of its operation. There is no morality, no hesitation of conscience in our or the world’s elements. The fire is no respecter of persons and if the saint or the thinker is cast into it, it will not spare his body. The sea, the storm-wind, the rock on which the ship drives do not ask whether the just man drowned in the waters deserved his fate.

The confusion begins when one starts to attribute one's notion of morality and ethics to the Nature.

2005-04-30T08:43:00.000-07:00

The abandonment of Nikhil by his own parents was shocking and terrifying. That brought into surface a question: For whose happiness a child is being born ? – For the happiness of the parents or for the happiness of the child? The same question that Yagnavalkyan asked Maithreyi long time ago…”Maithraiyi tell me, is the husband dear for husband’s sake or for the sake of the self ? Is the wife dear for wife’s sake or for the sake of the self ?”. Parents give away everything for the child...wealth, riches, property…anything. But the child is being given away for something else…. Self. On that Self the child is sacrificed. Man cannot love any thing for it’s own sake. As soon as ‘it' does not serve the interests of him, 'it' will be abandoned. Onir depicts that fundamental human nature very well in this film.

Globalization: Technological superiority

2005-03-13T10:42:00.000-08:00

As more and more Western corporations shifting their manufacturing and R&D’s to Asian countries, will the West lose its edge on technological superiority? Not in near future, but eventually it may, as soon as the innovation starts residing in the suppliers. For the time being those "left brain" routine intellectual tasks would outsource to the East and "right brain" creative tasks would remain with the West, mainly US. There are two main reasons for this: One is proximity to the consumers. According to Azim Premji, Chairman of Wipro, "to be a successful product company requires intimacy with the customer. That is very hard to offshore in fast-changing markets". As the customer market increase in the Asian countries this trend may reverse. One small example is Japan. Many of the latest electronic gadgets available in the Japanese market are not yet available in Europe or North America. Second reason is the intellectual property ownership, which is directly proportional to a company’s value. Investor’s may not willing to put all their stake in a company which pay much of their profit as licensing fees. But the eventual Asian domestic market growth, subsequent fierce market competition along with technological advancement of Asian companies may force the western companies to further downsize their spending on R&D.

But again the world goes hardly the way I think….

The DaVinci Code....

2005-03-07T19:03:00.000-08:00

David Brown’s novel starts like a Hollywood thriller and ends with a Bollywood hangover. I like the novel regardless. Surprisingly no sex, so much unlike an American thriller. As expected the portrayal of Jesus ignited fury of the Church. A friend once told me, "histories are lies". Some of the observations made by the author in the novel echos my friend:
"….history is always written by the winners. When two cultures clash, the loser is obliterated, and the winner writes the history books – books which glorify their own cause and disparage the conquered foe. As Napoleon once said, ‘What is history, but a fable agreed upon?’…. By it’s very nature history is always a one-sided account".
As the historian Romila Thapar said: "there is no absolute objective history".

The mystery of …death

2005-02-27T16:47:00.000-08:00

Last week two of my relatives had completed their journey on this earth. As the wise said "only one thing that is certain in our life, and that is death". Journey towards ones death starts the moment one is conceived in mother’s womb. Is death the end of a living being? I am of the conviction that it is not. I see death as a point where ‘It’ (that which dies) changes ‘It’s’ name and form - just like a piece of paper we burn transforms into ashes. 'Something' was existed as a piece of paper and now as ashes. Modern science agrees with my conviction:

The sum total of energy remains the same, irrespective of the changes in it’s name and form.Therefore nothing is lost forever in this universe. Everything is here.
"Men of knowledge do not grieve either about the dead or the living…. All of us have ever existed in the past and shall ever exist in future too." – Bhagavad Gita

Sania Mirza…the symbol of secularisation and modernity of Indian Muslims

2005-02-19T08:17:00.000-08:00

A very interesting article by Praful Bidwai in Rediff.com about Sania Mirza shows the very positive side of Indian society…where people are recognized and appreciated not based on their religion or cast but based on their personality, achievements and contribution to the society. Starting from our honorable President Dr. Abdul Kalam, Azim Premji - Chairman of Wipro and the richest Indian, A R Rehman – one of the best music composer, and now Sania Mirza – an icon for youth, the list of Muslim achievements is endless. It is very exciting and heartwarming to see the Sun of secularist nature of India shines out of the dark clouds of Gujarat riots, Narendra Modi, and other religious fundamentalism.

Where else in the world one can witness the display of secularism like this: President of India is a Muslim, Prime minister of India is a Sikh, Finance minister of India is a Hindu, head of Indian intelligence agency (RAW) is a Christian and above all the leader of the ruling political party is a Roman Catholic, an Italian by birth, and a woman. I am proud of my India.

Patents, developing countries and develpoment

2005-02-13T12:43:00.000-08:00

A democratically elected government supposedly should protect and look after the interest and welfare of it’s people. In the name of globalization the actions of the United Progressive Alliance government’s are doing the very opposite. As part of fulfilling India’s obligations under WTOs agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), government recently tabled a new Seed Act. When implements it require compulsory registration of all farmers. According to the new law any farmer growing his or her own traditional varieties of seeds and selling his or her own seeds will be treated as illegal. This virtually ends the farmer’s right over his seed, which he has been enjoying for centuries.

With another proposed amendment of Patents Act, thanks again to TRIPS, the prices of medicines will sky rocket making them inaccessible to ordinary man. This change will replace the current process patent system with product patent system...virtaully the death of generic drugs. For example in India a generic drug for cancer treatment curretly cost Rs. 298.27 whereas equivalent patent drug cost Rs. 9809.76. Imagine the impact of this on India where 35% of the population lives below povery line.

Prof. Graham Dutfield of the Queen Mary Intellectual Property Research Institute at the University of London said: "First the developed countries are being hypocritical in demanding that the rest of the world adopt their own patent and other IP (Intellectual Property) standards before many of them feel they are ready. Second, and much more important, in doing so they are preventing the developing countries from adopting appropriate patent standards for their levels of development, a freedom today’s rich countries made sure not to deny themselves when they were developing economies."

God's own country and a Saturday night debate...

2005-02-06T16:52:00.000-08:00

We friends had an interesting debate yesterday. The debate was mainly about Kerala’s economic and social condition vis-a-vis other states of India.

One group of participants in the debate argued that the yardstick of ‘progress’ needs to be measured in terms of the standard of living of a society’s lowest common denominator. On that, Kerala fare much better than the other states. For example, statistics shows that Kerala has the largest cell phone users and car owners in the whole of India, an indicator of a high standard of living. One reason attribute to this is the high labor cost. A carpenter in Kerala may charge Rs 300 for one day, whereas in other states it is way much lower. With high standard of living comes high labor cost. Some of the debaters compared this with the high standard of living, high labour cost and outsourcing scenario currently exits in United States. In fact from the last twenty years Kerala has been "out-sourcing" most of the manufacturing to other states. In other words Kerala has been importing pin to peacock from other states.

But the major debate point was whether Kerala economy could sustain further. Major source of Kerala’s revenue comes from Liquor and Non-Resident Indians (mainly from gulf countries). But that source is drying up fast. The traditional export industries are facing fierce competition and many of them faces huge loss and close down. The educated and skilled people migrate to other states and countries seeking employment opportunities. The government does not have money in treasury. (As per the 2005 Kerala state budget the state revenue is Rs. 16623 crores and expenditure is Rs. 20696 crores. 91% of the revenue income goes for paying salary, pension, interest etc.). Given the track record of corruption and inefficiency, some of other participants in the debate expressed their doubts about the ability of the govt. to generate new sources of revenue. External investors shy away from Kerala due to the fear of militant trade unionism (which is an offshoot of the awareness generated in the common man about their rights by the communist parties).

Conclusion of the debate: One group saw no light in the tunnel while the other group laid their expectation on the income that generates from the ‘traditional’ export of skilled labour force.

Future will tell the fate of God’s own country.

Why I am a Muslim.....a good reading

2005-02-05T08:27:00.000-08:00

In my attempt to understand Islam, I came across this book. Beautifully written by Asma Gull Hasan. Born in United States to Pakistani immigrant parents, she is a graduate of the New York University School of Law. Simple and profound presentation of Islam. She successfully articulates the inner meaning of Islamic principles and traditions. The stories and experiences she narrates from her own life give the reader a unique spiritual perspective to the much-misunderstood religion. Reading the book is a pleasure. The language is simple without any intellectual jargons. As a reviewer said "you'll feel that you're having a conversation with her, not reading at all ".

Zoo.....it's nothing but a prison

2005-01-29T13:25:00.000-08:00

Zoo represents the height of man’s selfishness, his cruelty. Zoo - it is a place where living beings (other than Homo sapiens) are locked up for life time for entertaining and "educating" this “ highly evolved” species called Homo sapiens. If that is not cruelty…..then I don't know what cruelty means.

Thus sung Kabir

2004-12-30T21:31:00.000-08:00

The night you passed in sleep
And the day in visiting your false friends;
Alas! Thus have you wasted The diamond of your life on naught.
You will die one day, perhaps tomorrow;
Grass will grow on your tomb,
And your friends will forget you.
Therefore know your soul soon.
Whom will the son of a harlot call his father?
Worship God in your being And do not waste your life.
Your body is like a jar of unbaked clay;
It may break to pieces any moment And all will be over,
Nowhere is there delight except in God.
This world is a house made of wood,
And, lo! it is burning furiously;
He who stays in it dies.
The Yogi withdraws from it in meditation And he is saved.
Thy birth as man is a ripe fruit Which is seen only once;
Make the most of the practice of devotion and compassion
And the acquisition of true Knowledge.
O Kabir, there is a way out of this illusory world:
Know the soul at any cost.

Institutionalizing Hinduism

2004-12-04T05:05:00.000-08:00

Expressing concern over the rise in the population of Muslims and Christians and decline in that of Hindus, Sudershan said, "If this trend continues, Hindus will become a minority in their own country by 2061" ' - RSS chief K Sudershan in Express India Friday, December 03, 2004.

Anything that fails to provide practical value in a person's day-to-day life will certainly lose it's significance and ultimately fade away. This is true to any religion. Today the essence of the Hindu religion (the Upanishad principles) got lost from the collective Hindu mind. It has been replaced with caste wars, meaningless rituals, ceremonies and harmful beliefs that defy commonsense and reasoning. The "Hindutwa" forces augment this destructive process by promoting institutionalization and politicization of Hindusim. Those are completely alien to the true Upanishad tradition.

The uniqueness of Hinduism over other religions is that it never enslave ones mind to any person, book, institution or idea. In the true Hindu tradition one is free to be a skeptic or a believer, a materialistic or a spiritualist. One is free to question and disagree. What many of us today fail to understand is that the Vedanta is an experimental science like chemistry.

The enemies of Hindus are they themselves and need not blame "others" for it's present or future state. Today's "protectors" and "saviours" of Hindus need to follow the footsteps of the great sage Sri Narayana Guru. He never blamed "others" for the state of Hindus which they were in. He recognized that the problem was within the Hindu psycho-social framework. One who is eager to save Hinduism need to realize Upanishad principles in ones own life before step out to reform the world.

Thus sung Kabir.....

I laugh when I hear that the fish in the water is thirsty.
Man wanders about without purpose to Mathura or Kashi
Without the knowledge of the inner spirit,
Like a deer that runs listlessly from forest to forest
In search of the musk which lies within its own navel.
All men of the three worlds, even sanyasis, munis and yogis
Are infatuated by desire and a slave to the mind
Just as a large bee is infatuated by the buds of a lotus in the water.
The immanent and unmanifested 'Hans' is in my heart,
Which is worshipped by Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva and 88,000 munis.
God is within but people think that he is somewhere outside.
O! Irony of ironies!