Shake In India

Dear all

India’s intelligentsia consists of an equal proposition of liberals, moderates and conservatives. Among them, I was proud to call myself a moderate because  I always tried to advocate a balanced view, away from the leftist lineage of our liberals and the conservatism of the right wing. I believed that extreme positions, be it from the right or left, emanated from an intellectual conservatism which is antithetical to the existence of a complex society as like ours. Hence my strong conviction was moderates occupy a saintly position in our intellectual discourse balancing the extremes.

The current debate on the ‘’Porn Ban”’ made the moderate in me to respond as I found that the frenzied lamentations of  sex starved liberals have gone overboard forcing the  government   hitherto recalcitrant,   backtrack  under pressure . While conservatives feel that porn is against Indian culture and viewing it denigrated and disparaged their value systems, the liberals feel the ban infringed their personal freedom. So where does the moderates fit into. Let us see…

Surveys shows that digital India stands fourth in the world in terms of porn traffic of which 35 percentage comprises of women. The vociferous lamentations of women in the social and print media prove that women too were affected parties and pornography is not just a male thing. So when one conservative from the civil society got his Public Interest Litigation  heard by the Supreme Court the moral police was quick to act and these men and women pulled up their underwear and came crying out against the ban. Victory of the liberals

Pornography and Prostitution are nothing but the software and hardware of a sexual release system developed by human beings to balance out the stress erupting from an unnatural monogamy necessitated on them.

While the former gives a virtual experience the latter gives a real experience to satiate the cardinal desires of millions of men and women on earth. 

Pornography like Prostitution existed from the beginning of society if not in digital format but in sculpture and paintings. However whenever society became conservative they banned it and closed their eyes saying that it does not exist while liberals accepted it as a social necessity. 

Both ways the fact is,  that it is a social dichotomy and an unavoidable nuisance. Inculcating a culture of discipline and control is necessary where instead of banning it, advocating the ill effects of it on our individual and social persona is the need of the hour. This is my moderate view. 

After all along with MAKE IN INDIA we too need to SHAKE IN INDIA.

Historians the Great

Dear all

In their search for Greatness our historians  till now have identified only three Great rulers, viz Alexander, Asoka and Akbar. Alexander was considered great because he conquered the world at a young age; Asoka became Great became he became an apostle of peace after the bloody war at Kalinga. But what for Akbar?.  Maybe he tried to create an integrated Hindu- Muslim society through his cocktail religion called  Din-i-llahi. However now when our home minister says that Maharaja Ranapratab singh was also great, questions ponders my mind, on what makes a ruler so great. Is it war or its spoils?

Professional historians have told me that a king is considered great when he has made exemplary achievements   including victories and displayed path breaking leadership initiatives benefiting humanity. Even if I accept this argument from the left leaning historians, my conclusion is that only Asoka fits into this  slot because of his dedication  to the cause of Buddhist  Dhamma ( non-violence and righteousness)  which eventually spread the religion of Buddhism in the Indian sub-continent . On the other hand the motive of Alexander and Akbar was mere strategic in nature. Akbar according to me had to display  a ‘’ secular ‘’ mindset as a strategic reason to align the Rajput’s to his side.

While on the right side of the debate, is the new set of scholars  from the Indian Council of Historic Research who after taking cues from the Home minister, is trying to portray the valor of Ranapratap Singh to be christened as Great. Well , then we have a list of warriors who showed remarkable valor and determination from the annuls of history.  Maharashtrians will call for Sivaji the Great, Punjabis will say Maharaja Ranjitsingh  the great and the humble Malayalee in me  will shout Veluthambi Dalawa and Pazasi Raja the Great.

So why open up a Pandora’s box and historians taking positions  and in the process becoming  politicians . Because  historians re  Great…

Sanyasi

Female Attire: Food for Thought:

Dear Friends

 Few months back, playback singer K J Yesudas opined that,    women by wearing jeans disturbed men .His statement sparked a controversy in Kerala resulting in an FIR filed against him.  Recently , a similar hullabaloo was created  in Gujarat when a female mayor of Rajkot   suggested , to some  girl students,  not to wear tight fitting jeans as it is against  ‘Indian Culture ‘. Prior to such comments from noted personalities, there were instances of right wing fringe groups making similar remarks, on the female attire and its link to rising incidence of rapes in India. The female jeans and the issue of moral policing have always been food for fodder for feminists and liberals flocks. Their   TV debates    resembling   the fish markets of sub urban Mumbai, are almost a daily feature.

The female attire precipitating carnal desires on weak  veined men, resulting in the insensible among them loose control and attempting rape is  not just the fear of today. This issue confronted all patriarchs   since time immemorial. During  medieval times   women in India wore   loin cotton cloths paving way for their abduction and enslavement by invaders. The tradition of women from northern India covering their face sideways was  imposed by society as a safeguard from such abductions. Even the sari clad women were deemed ‘’sexy’’ by men of yesteryear and this  eventually resulted in the entry of the safe Salwar Kameeze into the Punjab plains. Unfortunately this loose drape have conquered the lands beyond the Vindhya mountains , into deep forests  that  even the adivasi  dames  from attapadi  in Kerala wears it -forbidding  the chance of seeing  those black beauties  with their bare  boobs -

There was a debate among the social circles of 19^th century Malabar , on whether   nair and other sudra  women should be allowed to wear rouka - a  loin cloth covering the breast - as hitherto upper caste  namboothiris  never allowed them to cover their breasts . In a caste ridden society of those times only the upper caste namboothiri  women were allowed to wear  rouka  which was the ancient version of  our present day braziers. The lower caste women were not allowed to wear the rouka apparently as a matter of discrimination and differentiation not to mention of the plush and lascivious sights it provided to upper caste Hindu men.  From studying  the ancient frescoes it is amply  clear that the present day female jacket is a new social construct based on those hidden sensibilities echoed by Yesudas  and others.

In the western world, till the Victorian times, women’s clothing were poised to be elegant and grand , aimed to  communicate  a social standing and generate  respect from men . The women depicted in Jane Austins’s  novels conveyed such a   value system . The post 20^th century consumerist culture connected women’s dress to male desire for the promotion of goods and services.   Recollect the panty clad IPL cheer girls and chinki models adoring  Japanese cars during an Auto show . Recollect your peeping between the legs of that defunct Kingfisher air hostesses from your aisle seat. It is a fact that knickers always gave that kick and modern day women's  clothing is meant for creating desire in men and envy among fellow women. If this  is the change seen today why not we accept it rather than creating a   rape psychosis and a moral debate

While coming back to bulging buttocks of  jeans clad bharatiya nari  and its carnal effect on men , please accept that  rule of a changeless attire  never applied to women’s clothing . It always changed in a patriarchal society the way men felt about it. At this  time when there is a conflict between tradition and modernity such moral debates shall  continues to exist.

Finally the bulged bottom, whether it is a protruded septic tank, or a piece of art or an object of desire depends  on the beholder and let us leave the choice to their  eyes. Social  changes are  ceaseless and no one can stop it .The debate ends there …Period:

Sanyasi

My Post Partum depression

To all new dads

A study conducted in the University of Virginia and later published in the ‘’Journal of American medical association’ claims that nearly 20 percentage of depressive disorders among men are post- partum. Technically, psychiatrists called this as Post natal depression (PND) and it shows an increasing trend among men.

Nowadays our traditional notion of parenthood is undergoing a massive transformation and simultaneously social expectations from ‘new dads’ have also changed. Breakage of the traditional gender roles with both husband and wife working and sharing the house hold chores have also , created a piquant situation where now men can’t think traditionally. The distancing of the joint family system and non-acceptance of husband’s mother as a support base by his wife -who is an   empowered working women-   have also added to this. Today the ‘new dad’ faces  a situation that he has not experienced  before and slowly  dips into depression,  nappy in hand..

I remember way back in 2001, few months after being blessed with a daughter, I was not able to respond to the pleasantries and best wishes of friends. I found that I have jumped into some form of melancholy. I was somewhere in a future world. It was not changing the nappy that worried me, but being far away from home and not being able to change my child's nappy was my cause of worry. With an inexplicable sense of responsibility and looking into some wary future, I quit my Job and came home.

My PND cost me my job.

Today  I keep my head high as a successful dad and  that cradled baby who gave me blues, has now turned up as my best friend . As I looked  back into that epoch of uncertainty,I thought of writing  to all young fathers, and make them realize this malady and take professional help as and when needed.

As I tell my daughter, that there was a period of PND , in my life as well, she giggles and says “Dad it’s time now for the mid-life crisis ….and get ready for the  next bout of blues

Sanyasi

Book Review: The Road Less Travelled

Hi,

Prof Scot peck was an American professor and psychiatrist who died in 2005 and I just finished reading his most famous book  ‘The road less traveled' which  deals with an in depth analysis of the most astonishing element of human life which is LOVE . Well before that , let me bring in few of the key concepts that he explains .

In the first chapter he describes the culture of discipline which an individual needs to bring up in his/her life as a personal quality. For this we need to  master  four skills. Firstly the skill of delaying gratification. This is an attitude of scheduling our pain and pleasure, such that you accept the pain first to know the value of pleasure. Isn't it true?  Haven't we experienced pleasure in the backdrop of pain. For example when we have the pleasure of a good family or a good relationship, we are unaware of the pain that we will have if  we don’t have it.  So on the  reverse ,  first we should  undergo a process of pain , of not being in a good relationship and then understand its  value   . Prof Scott says that if you have an attitude of delaying your gratification or if life gives you pain in the beginning, you enjoy the pleasure later by knowing its value. 

The second skill is in developing an attitude of owing up or what he calls as taking responsibility. We have all blamed somebody else or the  circumstance for our  painful situation. Have we taken responsibility to the circumstance which gave us pain  .  We need to build up an attitude where we first blame our self  for a painful event, and not blame another individual for its cause. 

The third skill is on our ability for dedication to reality.  Our view of reality is like a map to negotiate the terrain of life. If we set our reality perfectly, then we reach the destination. This is nothing but   self-acceptance and clarity on what we really are , beyond those masks that you wear in your work place or even at your home. In a society filled with a show off culture,  this is an important skill,  to be learned. 

The fourth skill is balancing which is our ability to look at our ups and downs with composure. No elation of your emotions when you are in pleasure and no depression during pain. ( This quality echoes verse 38 in chapter 2 of the Bhagwat Gita, which reads  sukhaduhkhe same krtva labhalabhao jayaajaya;  ( look at pain and pleasure with equanimity) and in verse 15 ,where it says  sama dukha sukhaam deeram  ( the brave looks at pleasure and pain equally)).

Prof Scott concludes his chapter on discipline by asking us to  develop these four skills and  face any challenge in life. His second section is on love where he critically analyses the feeling of  love, contrary  to the way we have considered it to be . For Prof Scott LOVE IS ANY THOUGHT,GESTURE OR DEED which will result in progress in  the life of the person whom we love . When I say I love my child, I mean I am in a continues process of thinking and doing for the child’s material and spiritual progress. The same applies when you say that I love my friend or my nation.

He says that love is not just a feeling but commitment and the exercise of wisdom in a relationship. To quote from the book ‘’ genuine love is a self-replenishing activity as it enlarges the self rather than diminishing it and is  a process of judicious  giving and judicious  taking ’’  Note the word judicious which means making judgement  with wisdom. This tempts me to quote  Swamy Chinmayananda who’s central theme of talk in his Gita discourses were  on ‘’ developing the faculty of intellect without being misled by emotions and feelings ‘’ -a hard fact indeed-. Exercising  this intellect is what Prof Scott means by being judicious.

Having said what love is, he goes on to define what love is not. He says falling in love is just a misnomer and this experience is nothing but a sex-linked erotic experience where there is  breaking up of our ego boundaries which is nothing but a naturally induced brain effect and not love. So he questions the whole western phraseology of making love and goes on to say that this experience does not last long but results in rebuilding of the ego boundaries eventually making you falling out of love. Here  he breaks the myth of romantic love. 

Prof Scott has also touched upon the fact that love is also not dependency. To quote him ‘’ Two people love each other when they are quite capable of living without each other but choose to live with each other’’, He says passive dependency in a loving relationship is a disorder and is the cause of many Psycho somatic disorders.

Through this book Peter Scott have made an in depth analysis on the practicality of Love, relationships and personalities and it is indeed one of the best books that I had read recently. Needless to say the book is still a ten million copy bestseller.

Sanyasi 

Book Review: The Quest for Identity in 21st century:

hello

The book I just finished reading was Susan Greenfield's pioneering book named ‘’ The Quest for identity in the 21^st Century.’ One among the  key points that she addresses is on the pervasive nature of the new age technologies, and the impact of the two dimensional world of cyberspace on human lives. The sensory experience from the cyber world is affecting the neural networks of our brain functioning,  changing the way we think and behave . The development of a culture of instant gratification among the new generation is one such attribute of this change.

The subsequent chapters are on the functioning of the brain and the analogy of the brain’s synaptic functioning to human relationship and societies. She argues that mind is a construct of the brain and is an identity created by it from the interplay of various electro chemical agents called neurotransmitters. She explains on the neural networking which gives us the sensation of love, hatred and other emotions, and the way modern day drugs play a pivotal role in modulating these networks, in particularly on serotonin and dopa mine, the vital neurotransmitters which control our feelings and well being. 

Another area of discourse is on the emerging threat of neuro degenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson disease. While explaining the chemistry and pharmacology of these diseases the author is vary of the consequence of these diseases on human life and the need to develop technologies which can arrest such neuro-degeneration .

In addition she touches upon the concept of plasticity of the brain which is called long term potentiation (LTP) , where synapses reacts to the repetitive environment , beliefs and practices and mutes  its neural networks accordingly . It helps us heal from prayers, change our mind set and manage pain. The music that you hear, relationship which you nurture and the way you think and live is managed by a series of neural activation.

 She also touches upon creativity and brain chemistry, citing the example of VanGog the insane painter who cut his own ears. People with psychic disorders like Schizophrenia which is induced by excessive dopamine in certain regions of the brain and that of major depression which is caused by serotonin deficiency,  shows a higher level of  creative thinking . In fact most of the creative thinkers and scientists have had episodes of depressive disorders.

This pioneering book  brings into focus the need for mankind to prepare for a change induced by the interplay of the brain and the environment, and set the tone  for the new ‘evolution’ of the human race.

Sanyasi

World cup football -Where is India?

Dear friends

As Argentina plays  Germany in this world cup, it is a fight between the individual centrist Latin America and the team run European football.Germany, Argentina, Brazil, Spain and Italy have proved to be the greatest football nations based on the previous  world cups.  Latin American food ball, like the Indian cricket during the Sachin era was always centered on one individual. Whether it was Pele or Maradona of the yesteryear or the Messi of today, the victory for the Latin American  teams were  always because of an individual. The loss of Neymar making  Brazil getting into a corner with a fourth place is a testimony to this fact. On the other hand European football was always based on team effort but not necessarily based on a name. Today’s match for Argentina is centered on Messi while for Germany it is game as usual. A few hour from now we will know who are the world champions again an individual or a team.

While Europe and Latin America leads in this game, Asian countries are never near the post. With occasional appearance of Iran or South Korea the Asian land mass with the greatest population is always away from World cup not to mention of India. Indian football has always made itself present in the Olympics during the 50s.  However, we still remain a non-entity among the comity of nations in the world football arena. Even since the times of Chuni Goswami to the present day sensation Sunil Chhetri we have had many names like Baichung bhutia, Bhaskar ganguli, I M Vijayan to name a few , adding glory to the game in India since independence. The Santosh trophy football match and the glory of the Bengal Clubs -East Bengal, Mohammedan sporting, and Mohanbagan- have all  been lost. As we watch today’s world cup it is a shame that an emerging economy like India is nowhere among the comity of footballing nations. It is not health or wealth which makes a footballing nation but dedication and support to the game. Our over emphasis on cricket and by making it a national madness, we have ensured that the greatest game among humankind is nearly dead in India. In the eve of this world cup football final, we need to think that it is high time that we revive this game. But the question is even if the government take policy initiatives will the commercial interests around cricket give it a chance?

Sanyasi