Mixed Doubles

Feature these events that have unfolded over the last couple of months…..

Shilpa Shetty goes to the reality show ‘Big Brother’, a certain ‘Goody’ gets “jaded” with her and throws tantrums at her with a liberal sprinkling of “beeped” phrases;
Subsequent Action --> An entire country awakens from its slumber, cries “foul” and “racism” gets a makeover.

A bomb explodes in the Samjhauta Express killing scores of people and leaving hundreds injured and devastated.
Subsequent Action --> A probe is ordered; Countries hurl/deny accusations; Compensation given to the kin of the dead; the world joins in the ‘We hate terrorism” chorus;

Now compare the above events with these…

Members of a family are brutally raped and burnt down at Khirlanji village in India, the biggest democracy on the face of the planet for the sole reason that the family belonged to the so-called ‘out-castes’ or Dalit fraternity.
Subsequent Action --> A probe is ordered; The remaining members of the family are threatened of dire consequences; The guilty are still at large.

The students from backward sections of the society are shunned by the other classes at even premier institutions like the AIIMS;
Subsequent Action --> The Dean orders a probe; Students confuse their anti-reservation feelings with this; The student from the backward class is left to fend for himself.

A 4 year old kid gets mauled by a pack of dogs at Bangalore and is killed.
Subsequent Action --> The BMP goes on a stray dog culling spree.

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Each of these events seem to portray a character that is inherent in most of us- what i prefer to call ‘Chameleonism’ – the trait of having double standards in things that we profess and things that we do. What is applicable to another man – another family – another race – another country – another species is not applicable to you – your family – your race – your country – your species.

Casteist feelings are still prevalent in 21st century India – more so in the rural hinterland than the urban localities; Haven’t we often come across situations where a person is identified/recognised by his caste/religion/class/profession rather than his name/individuality?

Our pseudo patriotism/ solidarity seems to find no bounds…We tend to become hyper sensitive for trivial issues (the Shilpa episode being a case in point where she ended up as the sole winner – richer by a few million pounds along with global empathy and recognition) while serious issues seem to be getting a miss (the problem of immigrant workers in UK, the Khirlanji killings, the Godhra’s, the Ayodhya’s and the like)

A few stray dogs kill a kid and the repercussions are felt by the entire population of stray dogs;
A few terrorists/ anti social elements kill a few hundred people and the repercussion being the rhetoric, “We shall teach these anti social elements a lesson”. Well, when/how is it going to happen, if at all?

If Shylock were to be alive today and if he were to be a victim of these terrorizations,
this is what he would have probably said

“Do I not have eyes? Do I not have hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions? Am I not fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject to the same diseases, healed by the same means, warmed and cooled by the same winter and summer, as a terrorist is? If a terrorist pricks me, do I not bleed? If a terrorist tickles me, do I not laugh? If a terrorist poisons me, do I not die? And if a terrorist wrongs me, shall I not take revenge? If a dog wrong a human being, what is the human being’s humility? Revenge! Cull the species out!! If a terrorist wrong a normal human being, what should his sufferance be by the example of the dog? Why, revenge it will be!
The villainy the terrorist teaches me I will execute, and it shall go hard but I will better the instruction.”

Well, when we can take a tough stance against the menace of dogs, why cannot we do the same against terrorists? Its simply because the resistance you might face or the effort/will required to eliminate the dogs is negligible when in comparison to weeding out human irritants from our society.

All this is a manifestation of the larger attribute inherent in the human personality – the capability to play “Mixed doubles” – where we have multiple facets to our personality – choosing to highlight that facet/ mix of facets that is most beneficial to us in a given setting while the rest go into hibernation.

A Lesser World

Recently when a Karnataka bandh was announced in connection with the Belgaum dispute, the local papers read something like this “All the cable operators in the city have extended their support to the bandh and have agreed to block all channels except those in Kannada. Theatres, Malls and Restaurants will stay closed. So, it is the best opportunity to spend time with your family and catch up with relatives and friends”.
I was kind of surprised at the order of precedence that the paper chose to give to the various activities that an urban dweller commonly indulges in.

Again, when I was watching the latest blockbuster ‘Lage Raho Munnabhai’ the other day, the film talks about how things have changed over the last few decades, how fast paced our lives have become, how materialistic our lives have become and the like…

These raised several questions in my mind.

Have things come to such a pass that we need a newspaper to remind us to spend time with our families?
Where are we heading? What is our ultimate goal – Wealth, Power, Fame, Prestige?
We are perennially chasing something (or are we being chased?). What is that?
Why do we do certain things and not do others? Do we “really” know what we are doing and for what reason?
What has happened to our lives? Have our lives changed – For better or for worse?
Are we happy? What is happiness?
What am I trying to tell? Am I cribbing? Am I insane?

Are you still with me?? If yes, read ahead…..

We live in a global village where there are virtually no boundaries and 24*7 instant high speed connectivity. But do we connect with ourselves internally? With the people around us?? During my childhood, we would acquaint ourselves with any family that set up home in our street. The street was like an extended family. Today, I do not even know who my immediate neighbor is, what he does..etc. Why this phenomenal change?? Some of the possible answers are that the people keep shifting at regular intervals…in about 3-4 months, they work in a call center...so, our timings don’t match, I am not a kid anymore…running around houses to find if I have got a new playmate etc.
One of the more pertinent reasons is that “I don’t care. I am not bothered who is around me, what is happening around me. I have enough personal and work related tensions. I have better things to do. When I cannot find enough time for myself, what is it to me about people living in my neighborhood?

Technology has undoubtedly made our lives comfortable. But does comfort equate to satisfying?? Has technology or modern way of living enslaved us? How many of us can imagine a holiday without electricity or television? How many of us have been mesmerized by the rising sun, the starry night, the full moon, the rainbow, a butterfly or the rain? How often?

We live life in the metaphorical fast lane, eat fast food, travel at jet speeds, make quick bucks, look out for quick solutions and of course desire instant ‘made to order’ happiness.

A few days back during a typical early morning rush hour, a car in which just the husband and wife were traveling had broken down in the middle of a busy road. The man was desperately calling out for help to move his vehicle to the sideway but help did not seem to come easily. The people passing by had enough courtesy though to sympathize with him through their unrestrained honking and swearing. I do not imply that we live in a big bad world where everyone is callous. It is just that the population that would go out of its way to help a person in distress is dwindling.

Many of us have good friends, a job that incites our interest, sufficient wealth or other “like to have” features. All this notwithstanding, how many of us feel incomplete? Is there a void within us? Is there a craving within us which we have not been able to either identify or satisfy?

What is the solution? Is there something like that? Am I supposed to go back to the woods- live like a saint - have no desires (material or physical) or go back to the Stone Age?

I cannot think of a definite or satisfactory answer to any of the questions that have been raised but all that my inner self tells me is that I need/want to live in “A Lesser World – A world that has enough for everyone’s need, where your pleas for help are heard, you are able to make a difference in the lives of people other than your family, where there is a feeling of oneness, tranquility, brotherhood, mutual trust and unconditional, unblemished love”.

“Ganapati Bappa Moriya”

It is a common practice to undertake any new activity by invoking Lord Ganesha. Keeping with this tradition, here is my first blog dedicated to him.
Long gone are the days when festivals in India were a time for families to spend quality time with friends and relatives, a time when children understood the significance of the customs and practices followed in their religion, a time when people sought the blessings of the elderly and the Almighty. Today, festivals are reduced to times when you get to view the best programmes on TV with your favourite stars visiting your drawing room, a time to demonstrate your buying capacity, a time to flaunt your latest wares, a break from your daily grind and not to forget, a time when you observe rituals more for the heck of it than the love for it. I would like to illustrate the same with an experience that was bestowed upon me during Ganesh Chaturthi this year.
As always, I had been to Ulsoor Lake on the evening of Ganesh Chaturthi to bid goodbye to the Lord whom I had brought home that morning after some hard bargaining. With the morning papers carrying advertisements of the City Corporation giving instructions regarding idol immersion and the arrangements that were claimed to be made for the same, I thought I would be able to give a honorable sendoff to my Good Lord. On reaching the venue where thousands of people had assembled, I found idols that were probably revered a few hours back as Gods being dumped on the roadside and to make things worse, people were virtually walking over them. I always believed that it was the human body that was made of dust and will finally be converted into that form but I realized that God was no exception. To add to all this, the saffron headband clad disciples of the Lord who appeared to have treated themselves to a generous dosage of ‘heavenly drinks’, kept swaying to the tunes of the latest item numbers chanting ‘Ganesha Bappa Moriya’ and bumping into anything that resembled a female.
Having witnessed all this and escaping a near stampede, I managed to get to the the edge of the lake where young boys on the other side of the protective grill were helping God reach his final destination. I was in for a surprise here too as the immersion of the idol was dependent on the amount that the Bhakta was ready to shell out for his God’s sake. A twenty rupee note would mean that the kid would handle the idol with care and immerse it in the lake with utmost devotion while anything less than that would mean that God would have to perform a bungee jump right into the lake.
God would have felt more honorable if I had immersed him in a bucket in my house and used that for watering my plants.
It aches to see such acts being performed in the name of religion. This festival, conceived with the notion of fostering communal harmony and building a sense of social bonding has now turned into a festival where the local hooligans pester households for donations weeks ahead, blast loud music, block all roads with pandals and indulge in drunken revelry.
What else can I say but “Ganapati Bappa Moriya”