SEARCHING FOR GOD IN THE SCIENCES

Back in high school, I was lucky to have a couple of teachers of mathematics and physics who passionately taught much more that what was within the curriculum. As they ventured into the realms of the unknown, elucidating ideas and possible ideas that, in essence, went against what they were actually supposed to teach us, I used to sit mesmerized and fascinated. The world of science which they opened in front of me was a magical world of the universe where one's dreams could become realities, and fantasies could become scientific possibilities through concrete theories. And the fact that these teachers dared to teach, without any hesitation, outside the curriculum within their designated time-frames, revealed their sheer passion in their respective subjects and impressed upon my young mind the beauty and power of Freedom, the freedom to dream, think and hope.

Back home, a middle-class idea of the heavens had always existed freely in my mind since I was a child, as I grew up watching my mother spend her daily share of hours in front of photographs and idols of deities with religious and sincere regularity. I often wondered about the ambiguity that seemed to beseech my thoughts, when I wanted to believe in the Universe that I brought back from school, and in the Heaven where the gods of my mother's worship existed. Not that the ambiguity disturbed me a lot, but it definitely acted as a driving force that used to push me to know more ,about life and about knowledge itself.

It was stimulated further when the explosion of the rebel pseudoidealism (that so typically afflicts every adolescent boy) led me to read Kant, Virgil and Vivekananda, leaving me dreamily wandering in the worlds of metaphysics and theology.(I offer my unconditional apology to the highly respected female mind who might be reading this and recoiling with feminine hatred from the unintentional chauvinism that might expose itself from my boldly declared bias towards the adolescent Boy. Honestly speaking, I had no inkling of how the mind of a teenaged Girl handled the adolescent splurge of idealism,a nd I would be blatantly lying if I said I understand a Woman's mind now..)

Since these magical years, the possibility of a school of thought which could perhaps pan Science and Spiritualism from a single, unbiased perspective continued to fascinate me. I remember how the wonderful discussions about the Vedas and Einstein's dimensions, astrophysics and the Bermuda Triangle used to romanticize my dusky evenings during those early years in medical college with goosebumps and emotional gratification. 

I keep wondering about possibilities, the possibility of possibilities, the moral propriety of possibilities, that might nullify one day, the prevailing anthropocentric attitude of the human race to a degree of fanaticism, about its place and importance of its existential continuity in the known universe. 

A disciplined, analytical study of the history of humankind set in chronological consistency, right from the primitive trees and prehistorical caves to the densely inhabited pockets punctuating today's metropolitan high-rises, reveals One Specific Issue whose urge to be debated seems to grow from strength to strength as man evolves from one era to the next. It has been passionately discussed and exhaustively too, of course in the light of contemporary, circumstantial relevance, by the the ancient Indian sages, the Greek philosophers, the Europian thinkers of the medieval Rennaisscane era, the neomathematicians and neophysicists, and scientist-researchers of quantum science alike. The issue seems to have invaded the mind of the common man too now that theoretical physics keep on peeling the mystery of creation and its relevance layer by layer, asking, "Can Science,Religion and God share a common platform?".  

 The 20th.century saw a profound change in Science as a subject, a change which was qualitatively unique. From the 'discovery' of the wheel to Benjamin Franklin flying a kite in a thunderstorm, man's quest for knowledge grew by leaps and bounds by an instinct which confronted everything he saw around him with the question "HOW?" 
The question, universal and unconditional, was the same when followed in Time through humankind's history, from beyond the Greko-Roman era through medieval Rennaissance period to modern times. Following the passage of history through Space too, from the Indus Valley through the pyramidal monoliths of Egyptian sands to Mayan 'East Indies', the question remained unchanged. That was how science looked unto nature and man looked upon science. In the early 20th.century, an era which oversaw sweeping changes in the basic attributes of human ego, in religions, societies and political configurations, the ontological orientation of man changed too.The Aquarian age of Neo-Consciousness had arrived. Man's initial hesitation to take up the new mantle (after all habits, 50,000 years old, were to be shed for good) had its immediate repercussions too, pitting man against man in two world-wide wars of gigantic proportions. Though the brothers in arms ultimately called truce in episodic, fortunate moments when sense and conscience prevailed, the hesitation had been an expensive one. Seemingly to absolve itself from the sin of this moral indecision and inaction, humankind, in unanimous majority, decided to live in a new world order. The trends of Science changed too.( It would be pertinent to opine here that this change of 'Neo-Science' was as much the effect as it was as the cause of things in its relationship with those changing times -a  point which sociologists should never forget.)

It now asked the question "WHY?" in the face of the common and the mundane, with a bluntly dogged determination never perceived before. It even questioned in the same vein, the perspective of the very science that it had replaced. 

 Mathematics and Physics have always shared an uncomfortable coexistence, a certain dialectical relationship. I don't know who once said,"Mathematics is the language of Physics", but now in 2013, when one can look back on human history to observe how man and his science has evolved, I would like to agree with him. Before philosophers got formally divided into 2 distinct groups-Mathematicians and Physicists, the great thinkers and men of wisdom walked upon our planet, helping human evolution whenever required. After this radical divide, physicists have long claimed that mathematics is a part of physics,and vice versa.

The debate has always been there, but the early 20th.century saw a symbiotic marriage between the two schools, and newly discovered data about us and our surroundings could now be expressed in clear and more comprehensible theories. The concept of the quantum world opened up a world where 'things' followed a radically different set of laws who seemed to nullify the tenets of classical science. Man opened up a new theological concept of himself and the forces of nature around him. This was when the exact status of God and His very relevance began to be questioned by science even though most scientists did not primarily intend to start the process. Man tended to reject mythological religion to embrace a religion of subatomic particles, curved space-time and a seemingly ever-expanding universe whose age was recalibrated, off the pages of religious books. It had a definite impact on the non-scientist common man's beliefs deeply rooted till now in remote antiquity and hazy traditional lineage.

But this temporal landmark in history did not result in creation of subsequent generations with atheist principles and agnostic perspectives. I have often wondered why. The fact that I am personally an atheist does not impact my commentary here as I do not wish to intrude upon the reader's personal beliefs and spiritual orientation - something which is an exclusive right every man posesses by the right of Living, as elemental as his right to Freedom.

Religion is not an aberration.I t is a norm of human society and it has always been so. But it is here I would like to stress upon an opinion (which I believe is a fact which even the deepest religious person cannot evade). We have witnessed genocides in the name of religion. Not to repeat oft-repeated emotions about 'the riots' India has witnessed and been a victim of time and again, and phases of militancy (that has become synonymous with terrorism) which again has,and is proving to be too expensive for India and her citizens. Religion has been historically used to justify waging heinous wars and performing unspeakable atrocities on fellow men. The sheer ferocity of religious fanaticism of holy wars rivals the worst crime man has ever committed.

Believing sincerely in a religion bestowes upon man a responsibility which most of us do not realize or choose to keep silent on. Every religious person has to see that religion does not become an instrument to divide and kill where religion was 'devised' by the prehistoric man to sustain, survive and let live. Though religion, over the millenia, has been carried ahead to signify something totally different from what it was in prehistory, and assume predominant spaces of one's life to influence thought and action, the religious person Has to account for every crime that has been committee in the name of his religion. While the right to believe in religion has never been questioned or even opposed, it is by no means irrelevant to step in and point out when religion as a right encroaches upon a far more fundamental and significant right, the right to Live.

From what I have seen and learnt from life,I  have always experienced a discomforting problem as far as religion is concerned. While priests can continue to chant incantations in Sanskrit and Latin that the common man hardly understands, the word "God" perhaps means many things to many people, and usage of words loaded with hidden, abstract symbolism only serves to mystify the issue more, and against the background of today's world order where genocides in the name of holy war has become a part of life, the existence of abstract cloudy concepts in the human psyche is more detrimental in the long run than whatever good things it serves a purpose for. There seems to be  two Gods, and perhaps the time has come to differentiate between the God of Miracles and the God of Order. While the God of Order can reside personally in individual families, it is the stepping out of the God of Miracles into the streets of society that messes with man's right to personal peace and happiness.

Scientists mean the God of Order when they use the word "God". The atheist scientist would happily want to happily compromise with the idea that there  Is a cosmic order that exists in Nature and the Universe - if it is Divine, so be it.

The upholders of Religion act around a God of Miracles, a God destroys the wicked Kauravas and the Pharaoh's troops, and avenges the True, thePure and the Noble. Well 'destruction' and 'avenge' should not principally be associated with a God that preserves life. This is perhaps the dilemma why religion and science, along with their illustrious representatives, fail to coexist in harmony. Also Science is based on a foundation of rationality that explains the occurence of reproducible events. Miracles, on the other hand, are rarely 'reproducible' and occurs only once in a lifetime, if at all.(I do not intend to hurt the religious-minded by saying so. Miracles do happen BUT they are outside the domain of Science).

I still haven't found out an interface where Science and Religion coexist symbiotically. Science has got the right to know why the God of Miracles favours victors in bloody wars, where it strives to prevent occurence of bloody wars, while it should not have, in principle, any dogma about accepting the presence of a Divine Order in the scheme of things. The God of Miracles has got one powerful advantage over That of Order. It explains all the mythology behind the purpose of man's existence on earth. On this question, the God of Order has remained silent, at least till date.

I am still searching.

THE DEGRADATION OF SCIENTOLOGY

The recent furore over the apocalyptic glacial meltdown in 2035 has caught the attention of the entire world.Frankly speaking it is not at all a pleasant sight when two groups of scientists are involved in a mud-slinging match and shouting hoarse over alleged scandals involving billions of dollars.While I am not a person fit enough to comment on the actual truth,one does feel concerned about two aspects of this unhealthy debate,a debate which is unfortunately forlorn of all the dignity and ethics which is expected of people of Knowledge and Wisdom.As a citizen of our planet,one would like to know whether the prediction is true,after all apocalypse seems to be just 25 years away.If one is relieved to know that the truth is an intentionally falsified one,a grave concern creeps into the mind regarding the short and long term fallouts of this entire episode.To a conscious,responsible citizen of the global village,it appears to be a matter of grave concern regarding the practical relevance of science as a whole.It creates a very unhealthy picture of contemporary science and has got the potential of degrading science as a wholesome in the mind of the common man,and it does foretell the development of a very dangerous mindset with which the common man might arm himself.

While the intentional falsification of scientific data regarding such a sensitive issue grossly demeans the philosophy of science in front of the entire world,the manner of confrontation with which the 2 opposing groups of scientists are going around each other gives a very unhealthy picture about scientists and their honest intentions. 

Debates are not uncommon in the history of science.There have been repeated clashes between the 'Reductionists' and the 'Holisticians' in the last century,where Einstein and Bohr had taken opposite sides when the theory of spatial relativity opened up a world of impossible possibilities,essentially pitting Science against Religion(namely Christianity).In such instances,both sides' arguments have commanded merit.However the debate,when taken to extremes where sobriety,ethics and propriety of Knowledge go for a wild toss,sometimes degrades into a battle of what Michio Kaku described as 'belligerent' and 'know-nothing' science(HYPERSPACE ,MICHIO KAKU,1995).While the former club seeks to win debates in succession by dry logic,the latter has often been attributed with qualities like preaching confused knowledge covering its alleged ignorance under the refuge of pseudo-scientific philosophical gibberish.

Here it would seem perfectly sensical to adopt the concepts which belligerent science preaches when it has always scored over its opposite in one-to-one situations.Yet the heavy and rigid view of the Truths of Nature by the parading of piled-up information under the guidance of learned doctorates can lead to its own destruction.The conceived arrogance with which it wins arguments of a debate,might not help it to win over the audience of the debate which might get alienated by its very approach.

I guess history witnessed the same conflict when the liberated generation of flower scientists of the mid 60s were apalled by the cold use of deadly scientific technology to win a war that the USA was fighting to subdue an agrarian nation.It was not only the dogged determination of the Vietcong guerillas that forced the United States to concede and leave.The clash of logistic and humanistic philosophies that went on during the Vietnam War in the corridors of power in the White House spilled over into the streets and homes treaded upon and run by the common man,and ultimately won over the United Nations Security Council which forced the American militia to withdraw from Nam. The disturbing aspect of this 'victory of humanism' was that the Vietnam veterans,on returning home,were given out a raw deal to negotiate by the government that had pushed them to fight a lost war on its behalf,and by the common man too whom the unsung heroes thought they were protecting.Humanism had won but not before it was mercilessly tortured for 6 years in Vietnam,at the cost of alienating an entire generation of patriotic soldiers that mostly ended in suicides and broken homes.

This type of warring debate has affected Health Care too,time and again.Back in the 1960s and '70s well-paid lobbyists for the powerful agri-business and food industry exerted ill-publicized pressure through belligerent scientists on governments and health establishments,preventing them from thoroughly re-examining potential side-effects of food additives,pesticides,cholesterol,tobacco on malignancy and cardiac diseases.The side-effects have been proved now by the philosopher-scientist but not before millions of lives have been lost during the intervening period whose precious time has been gobbled up by politicized scientific debates that have left the common man nowhere.

A fall-out of an exactly opposite nature was witnessed in the early 90s,again in the USA,when the issue of apples containing Alar pesticides attained scandalous proportions."Scrupulous" environmentalists at the National Resources Defense Council spread panic amongst concerned consumers(and strong indignation within the food industry)by announcing more than 7,000 children could be killed.Even though the scientists were denounced as alarmists,latter investigations revealed that the report had used vital statistical data,qualitative and numerical,from the dark offices of the Federal Government to arrive at the alarmist conclusions.The matter was left at that,and the actors in the bureacracy were meted out punishments(read inter-departmental transfers).I did not follow the entire episode when it had happened.Now in the backdrop of the 'glaciological crisis' which keeps throwing up allegations and counter-allegations every day,when I look back upon the Alar pesticide controversy, I feel alarmed at the 'conclusive' conclusion that shut the case closed.Did anyone,or does anyone think that the timid conclusion actually implied that the Food and Drug Administration was actually sacrificing 7,000 children in the interests of "acceptable risk"?

Scandalous revelations like these is only serving to lower the prestige of science in the mind of the consumer,the common man.The medical profession,the food and chemical industries,the pharmaceutical industry,in fact Science as a whole,are repeatedly earning the distrust of wide portions of our society.

We live in the age of automated emotions and artificial intelligence.Cybernetics and robotics have become essentially synonymous.Informations travel at the speed of light through the world-wide web.The holes in the ozone layer are becoming bigger and bigger.Sea-levels are rising,and melting of polar caps are seeming to be alarmingly imminent.Glaciers are melting with apocalyptic 'zeal' at incredibly fast rates which keep on accelerating every time a new paper gets released by environmentalists.We possess the emotional intelligence and an active conscience that can guide the destiny of our race in the right direction.We have got rich scientific knowledge which we can use as an apparatus to move away from self-destruction.The uncomfortable question that disturbs the security of the evolved human race is: Are we using the apparatus the correct way?

We do owe an exhaustive and conclusive answer of the scientific community,the credentials of which we still place on the highest of pedestals which stand on the firm foundations of Trust and Faith.Belligerent science cannot define these two words,instincts that are so deeply inherent to human nature.We do not expect it to do so because we know its qualitative limitations,and the insecurities it might possibly have.Does applied science understand our insecurities?We do not know but an unhealthy element of doubt is slowly creeping in.Politicization and commercialization of Scientology is the last thing one would want.I pray for conscience and good sense to prevail,and I am sure the whole world joins me in my prayer.
Let Truth Prevail.  

INDIA : THE GLORY OF EMBODIED MUSIC

"Music is the Expression of Art in melody and harmony,both in composition and execution." But of course,it is-the art of expression through melody.
However a common man(I am one),a music-lover who can sensuously appreciate the art and the artist,the melody and its composer,finds this definition a bit chauvinistic.

Let me explain.This definition must have been reached upon from the perspective of a musician or conceived by a musician,the artist who experiences Inspiration at different moments of his daily life,and proceeds,in his inspired state,to express the emotions engulfing him through melody.The common man rarely experiences Inspiration in his surroundings himself with his restricted sensitivity(that is why he is the Common Man),but he,as a music-lover,identifies with those emotions when he listens to the melody.It is the musician who does the expression of emotions for the listener who submerges his soul in the interplay of emotions.
To the common man,music is the Art of Expression in Melody.(An artist creates Art,a connoisseure appreciates the art in his own personalised way).I went into the above-mentioned intricacies of dry definitions,something which is irrelevant in discussions of Art for a reason on which I shall elaborate soon.

In execution of music,only two systems are harmonically possible-the Melodic System in which these is progression by succession of of single notes,and the Harmonic System-where the melody progresses by groups of notes called Chords.

I went into the dry details of definitions because I am an Indian and proudly so when I proudly arrest that it is the genius of India that contributed to the music world,the Raga system which is easily the zenith any melodic system could ever touch to glorify.The outstanding feature of Indian music is this system,in which Raga is a distinct musical entity by itself,possessing well-defined characteristics.The ideal of Absolute Music is perhaps realised in the concept of the Ragas. 

The concept of the Raga and its elaboration-the 'Raga Alapana',are something unique as far as the realm of melody is concerned,only to be found in Indian music.There is no Alapana(elaboration)in any other system of music,particularly Western Classical Music-I mentioned the name because this is a form or system of music which follows a particular creative pattern,and it has thrown up to be savoured by the music-minded,innumerable gems of melodies which have been immortalized by the genius of composers like Brahms,Wagner,Beethoven,Mozart,Handel-the list is exhaustive.It definitely commands a distinctive status of its own in the world of music.An overwhelming majority of the creations of Western Music employ only one Raga,called the Major Scale(which corresponds to Sankarabharanam of the Indian Raga system.Compositions (or Symphonies)with a Minor Scale do exist in Western Classical Music though the usage is sparse.And different schools of Western Music use a slightly different combination of notes for the Minor Scale,so one cannot really describe the Western Classical Music system as compact as ambiguities regarding usage of notes in scales have continued to exist.(Of course my rigid qualification does not intend to deprive Western Music of any of its glory it spans through time or of the greatness it has been concurred upon).Talking about Minor Scales,it commands a great deal of space in Indian Classical Music,and it is called 'Kiravani' or 'Natbhairavi'. So the Raga system is structurally moulded in two distinct formats-the Major Scale,the Sankarbharanam,and the Minor Scale,the Natbhairavi. 

In the Orient especially in China and Japan,the music is sustained consistently by two scales.Yet Indian Music stands out by its intrinsic brilliance that originates from the conceptualisation of melody-something which is solely Indian and has its roots in the Indian way of Thought-Concept or Philosophy which exists in the behavioural genetics of India. 

Indian Music uses not one or two,but some 863(till date,the exact number should be verified by the qualified,expert commentator/connoisseure of music) scales or Ragas.This would seem utterly paradoxical to the Western musician who has been trained within a rigid framework.

Here is where one can connect with the philosophical mind of Indian stalwarts who laid down the infrastructure of music,some 6,000 years ago.The CONSTRUCTION of a scale or Raga is done by using the notes of Sankarabharanam and Natbhairavi,notes of the Major and Minor Scales which resonate together,or is in absolute harmony(here the laws of Acoustics can be mathematically applied through the logarithms of integral calculus to confirm the perfection of harmony).Here comes the gem-the EXECUTION of the constructed scale can be done in 863 ways,or combinations of notes.These combinations were not formalised by trial and error,they were figured upon by the Indian philosophical mind which delved deep into the essence of spirit-the spirit of life around it which manifested itself through the sound of Nature,the sound of her flora and fauna.The concept of 'sound of fauna' can be frowned upon by the Occidental philosopher or even physicist,but even a dewdrop does make a sound,sending ethereal waves of vibration through air-its frequency(units of wave-lengths superimposed on the temporal axis)might not fall within the audible range of a human being(20-20,000 per second).It can be 'heard' on thoughtful meditation into the spirit of beings(unfortunately I cannot prove it within the limits of modern mathematics or physics but that won't deem me as failed!). 

The constructed Scale,during sonic execution of the ancient Indian musician(beginning with elaboration or 'Alapana')touched these ethereal notes giving rise to hundreds of Scales,NAY Ragas.The scale is only the skeleton and it necessitates the incorporation of life,body and musical status.It necessitates the incorporation of 'spirit'. 

These are specific notes in a scale which can be pinpointed to accurate perfection through which the melody travel in high sophistication to touch those ethereal notes of nature with the aid of inimitable graces called 'Gamakas'.The result is a unique flexibility which renders Indian Raga music with Freedom,the freedom of the spirit of Nature,filling up its essence with hundreds of Ragas.Indian Music was conceptualised by our ancient forefathers millenia back by the realisation of the Spirit of nature,through its sounds.One is not surprised when connoisseures speak about the Spirituality of Indian music,while trying to understand it.

With a mind mainly working through the intricacies of the left cerebral hemisphere(I am right-handed),its cognitive feelers conditionally restricted to the 5 'anatomical' sense-organs,I can hardly comprehend the mind behind the creation of music. 

Where Western Symphony is made through artistic combination of notes,the Indian Raga is created by spiritual combination of notes which move from one to the other in endless varieties of curvaceous travel because Freedom of Spirit do not follow archaic regularity,(unlike the Western Symphony,where the progression of consonant and assonant pairs of notes is strictly linear).Adorned and vitalized by the Gamakas,a scale is transformed into a Raga with a distinctive personality and identity of its own.Thus each Raga has a self-identity,a Swarupa.The great music teacher of the 19th.century,Alauddin Khan could visualize the Swarupa during rendition of a Raga-a fact which has been passionately corroboraated by two of his illuminous disciples,Ustad Ali Akbar Khan and Pundit Ravi Shankar.While the former studied to complete 'the course' of 14 years,the latter left training after 10 years-a subject of lifelong regret by his great master(Ravi Shankar married Annapurna Devi,the 'spirit daughter' of Alauddin Khan.)In the forts of Jaisalmer and Jodhpur,we can still find frescos where medieval artists have painted some of the traditional Ragas,portraying them as human beings.I find it mind-boggling to comprehend the level of awareness in India for sound edifices.

The genesis of music can be traced back to the Vedic period.Though three different sounds were used to chant the hymns of the Rig Veda,it is the Sama Veda where notes of melody were conceptually formatted to produce 'Sama Gana' around 4500 B.C,where the Raga system has its primordial seeds.Broadly speaking,a meditation-ritual of the Vedas takes the literature from Rig Veda,the ritual to be observed from the Yajurveda,and the musical representation from Sama Veda.From there,Indian music evolved gloriously and went on to develop a vitalized,embodied form-a form which would continue to mesmerize music-lovers and inspire composer-philosophers for thousands of years,yet retaining its original form to the core.

Essentially,music is the brightest gem adorning India's culture.The fact that history of Music is mutually interactive with the history of human society,is best corroborated while studying Indian Music.I leave the socio-anthropological aspect to the learned and the specialist to comment upon.Like all Indian music-lovers,I shall continue to draw nourishment from the Great Music that India represents in concept,thought and realization-the endless reservoir of vibrant energy with which the Indian mind continues to progress with the stream of Time.

To be Indian is a matter of pride.Truely.

 

Note: I suspect I might have portrayed the face of Indian Music with gross inadequacies.I understand many more relevant informations could have been mentioned.The inadequacy of data arises from the inadequacy of quantitative thought that I might possess.I apologise for that.This write-up was not meant to be an informative commentary on Indian Music.It was the sheer impulse of the moment that compelled me to share my delight with all of you while reflecting upon Indian Music on a beautiful night under the stars.  

DO WE KNOW THEIR ANSWER?

While reading a mail one of my class-mates had posted two days back in the official website of our batch in medical college,I couldn't but feel frustrated.Not because of the message the mail delivered taking a couple of leaves out of the lastest hit movie,"3 Idiots",but of an anguish that a special group of three dozen young men and women belonging to Mumbai could not read the mail when they required to.

As everybody ushered in the new year and the decade with heart-warming hope and fresh dreams,one particular news on page 11 of The Times of India(1st.January,2010) looked like a dampener amongst the positive news and pictures of celebration of the new year which surrounded it.It carried the news of a 18 year old girl who had hung herself on the last day of the last year.As I frowned upon the news scrutinizing the details,a deep sense of morbidity engulfed me.

This is not the first time I am writing about suicides in this forum(I had shared my feelings with all of you,writing about a reality show on TV which had sparked off a couple of suicides-though I vehemently reserve my opinion from that of general public that the show was responsible for them),it doesn't feel normal at all when a strong urge pushes me to comment on the same topic in such a short time.In fact,a couple of not-so-distant relatives had taken strong objection to my earlier post here where I had mentioned my mother's death,as they felt that I had unfairly publicised a shameful episode of the family(a stigma which,I think,shall pursue me to hell,when I try to move ahead in life and time albeit leaving a few bridges burning behind me),I couldn't react to their objections with anything but pity(whose mother was she anyway?).

I am swaying away from what compels me to write today with a heavy heart.An isolated incident does not signify anything.But when a staggering 37 suicides made their way to the papers in the last 20 days in Mumbai blood,one feels something is wrong somewhere.And I wonder what.

 

These 37 young people were not connected to each other in any way-so the media comments while reporting the 37th.episode on 20th.January.If the media,the voice(and the controller too)of the emotions of the public,leaves its comment at that,I am afraid more news shall keep coming in and more families will loose a kid for a reason they won't seem to know.Apart from the mode of death,these kids have got One thing in common.They all read about preceding suicides in the newspapers which the print media seems to be bent on covering in the most graphic of details,dissecting them to the core,showing the anguished faces of the parents and quoting their comments first hand.If the media justifies its actions by declaring that the graphic descriptions will act to deter such episodes by drilling into people's mind the sorrow and mourning they create,it is wrong and horribly so.

Children emulate what they see.The on-going spate of suicides among city-kids proves that it takes very little to push stressed out teenagers over the edge.It is time that journos did some serious reading before carrying on reporting.I give them a cue if they need it-let them check out everything that has been written under the sun,in books of psychology,every little thing mentioned under the capital letter 'C'.I am sure they will hit Copycat Syndrome in no time,if of course they will choose to see the C.Apart from Child Psychology,the syndrome covers Industrial Psychology,Sports Psychology and sadly extends to suicide as well-something which seems to being validated by this string of suicides-I deliberately mention the word 'string' because they are connected,at least so I think.

Copycat Syndrome seems to prevail in situations when somebody identifies with an act,feels a sense of belonging towards the person committing the act,and goes ahead to infer that it IS the right thing to do.Children and teenagers on the brink,take these repeated instances as an act and sign of glorification.They believe that the act(suicide,in this context)will provide definite answers to their existing problems,or at least attract a much-needed attention to their woes.Do I need to proceed further to justify my fitting these unfortunate deaths to this syndrome?

All 37 kids were depressed because of failure(at least so they thought),the failure to pass an examination,the failure to secure good marks in certain subjects,and the failure to make their parents proud and happy.I do not wish to comment on how parents should handle their children when they face rejection and failure.If parents love their child unconditionally with identifying recognition and respect,and are really attached to their children's emotions,there wouldn't rise a situation in the first place when they shall need to be counselled on how to handle them.But as a child grows up,interacts with its surroundings,and comes in contact with 'peers',the element of unconditionality starts to disappear from the parents' affectionate attention.While,in today's digitally controlled globalising world where making successful careers seem to have become synonymous with rat-races,parents themselves feel the social pressure of achieving at any cost,come face to face with competitions(and obvious failures-there cannot be two winners at the same time in the same race),they try to ensure that failure(inconsistent and temporary)shall not exist in their children's lives as they try to feel success and achievements through their children's performances.The harm this attitude causes in the long run may not be intentional in most cases,but the accountability can be definitely traced back to its origin,and that is expectations of Perfection from and subsequent pressurization on their children to achieve the near-impossible.The burden the children thus carry around is very,very heavy,and ultimately circumstances do demand a heavy price from the parent-child relationship.If we do not consciously own up to this fact and want to avoid the morbidity of criticism where accountability for a child's desperate action is traced back to the parents' attitude,we are making a big,big mistake,and an expensive one too.

The media cannot outrun its responsibility either.Reporting the Truth is one thing,while reporting the truth sensibly with a touch of empathetic sensitivity is another.If it cannot prioritize here,it shall have many more such news to report in future-a possibility that is grossly unwanted.The question is : are we prepared to learn?

In these cases,the First Thing that the media should do is to do away with Detailing.In the news reports,if children and young adults read detailed descriptions of the methodology applied,complemented with visuals of parents grieving,it can potentially instigate them the same,as somewhere in their heart if they hold their parents responsible for the pressure they face,they would want to see their parents in a similar situation.When one is under stress and duress,the cognitive section tends to be tilted towards the negative.Also,seeing the victims' names and photographs being covered in the media helps the young minds identify with them,providing them with further encouragement to copy the act.(For this reason,the World Health Organization provides explicit guidelines regarding the extent of permissible identification of victims in media channels).

Another 'trigger' that comes to my mind at the moment,is the prevailing education system.Children today,instead of attending one school for learning,are actually attending multiple schools if one keeps in mind the schools they go to every morning,the private tuition classes,the extracurricular classes,the study sessions with parents-it is a long list.This means compromising with their playtime-something which is one of the most potent antidepressants.I am neither a  clinical psychologist nor a psychiatrist to declare this seemingly sweeping fact,but I AM a doting father who is trying to build a life-long relationship with a daughter who is still toddling and hasn't developed speech yet.I also know that one day she will no longer be with me when she will have her own personal life,build her own relationships and shall try to take on life head-on.If I am not sensitive to my child's fear and insecurity,and do not prepare her for the future in the most correct of ways,who will be?If I am not willing to take lessons from my own surroundings and be honest with it in an effort to guide my child towards the Right and and the Righteous,I do not think I am being a responsible father at all.

While commenting on parent-child relationship and the existing education system,I cannot but state in bold letters that lack of attention and emotional contact with the loved one is another major trigger here.I don't think our education system gives adequate attention to the teaching community or addresses the factors involved in their well-being.Nobody should expect their long working hours for paltry salaries to pay adequate attention to children,not to forget the bursting headcount in each classroom which makes it humanly impossible to give adequate attention to every child individually.It is perhaps time that we took care of our children's care-takers.
Are we burdening our children with our obsessive expectations for high exam scores?We get the answer in statistics(which is not always the superlative extreme of lies and utter lies).India accounts for 10% of the world's teenage suicides.It is time that we conducted ourselves to make our children feel that our love for them is not dependant on success,but our approval is dependant on their effort to success which is itself a relative term.

 

All children possess unique attributes that make them special.As responsible parents we should identify those,perhaps to celebrate with them one day.

TALKING TASTES

Recently these has been a lot of talk about Tiger Woods's unfortunate misadventures in his personal life,a life which he had kept insulated from external attention as he kept golfing on to supremacy over the years..Actually using the word 'talk' here should be a process of gross understatement.I myself was a passive part of this sensationalism,actively keeping alert my circuits of vision and audition,while reading newspapers and watching news bulletins on TV.

The gossip columns had a gala time,churning out newer and saucier revelations by the day and astounding hypotheses on 'what also might have been'.Comments of lesser mortals from the Page-3 World suddenly filled up the usually benign sections of afternoon editions with their own opinions.(I have personally tagged an abbreviation to these malfunctioning thought-processes existing in the obnoxious,alien world of Page-3 :the "SSSSSS",or the Scandalous Sensational Self-proclaimed Serious Significance Syndrome.For 2 full weeks,the audio-visual media thrived on the hyper-hyped hysterical(?HHH!))reactions to the 'revelation of Truth' of Mr.Woods,with lady-newscasters finding an extra zip and smirk to their voices and faces when it came to presenting 'Now The Sports World' part of bulletins.

I was puzzled,shocked,amused,ashamed,sad,bored,irritated and finally outraged(specifically in that order).It is not my intention to elaborate and summarize comments on the entire episode which is still going on strong.My outrage spilt over as I read a write-up,a few days ago in the newspaper,by Mr.Anil Dharkar,a well-known social commentator,popularly recognized in the media houses.The respected man seems to have lost completely,the balance between ethics and indignity,assumably guided by a new set of corrupt values which,on repeated public expressions,might be harmful to public perception as the intelligentsia(at least here in Mumbai)looks forward to reading his articles and columns with eager interest.

 

It looks like Mr.Dharkar,in his effort to keeping his self abreast with the rapidly changing times,particularly in the backdrop of a dynamic global village where serious,impressionable socio-cultural interactions take place within seconds by a simple click of an electronic mouse.While one appreciates the change in the quality of universal consciousness,knowledge,acceptance and tolerance,which constantly keeps on improving on a digital screen,we should be watchful as far the negative aspects of various social and ethnic groups are concerned,and it necessitates the presence of a cautious filter when thoughts and ideas are being exchanged,accepted and shared.It identifies those negative mutations in different social trends and their memes that have the potential to corrupt,making it easier to weed them out of their grassroots.The filter seems to be non-existent as Mr.Dhadkar proceeds to run his social observation and commentary.

He has briefly discussed many famous and successful personalities from diverse fields.It feels nice to be reminded of their glorious feats and exploits that made them popular to the extent of being worshipped.David Beckham,Richard Wagner,Pablo Picasso,M K Gandhi shall continue to live on and inspire us and our future generations.Garfield Sobers,Ravi Shankar,John McEnroe,Serena Williams are exemplaries that make us proud forever.
It is just unfortunate that many famous personalities do not have healthy personal lives which become tainted with immoral conduct,adultery and their likes. Now,does that mean one has to appreciate the negative sides of the bold and the famous,or casually overlook?Does that mean that while I shall be sharing the future feats of my daughter's hero with her,I shall drop my guard of caution when my daughter comes to know of his/her infamous acts,thus indulging her to believe that 'these things happen with my hero' and there's nothing wrong anywhere?

No.I shall guide her to know and identify between Right and Wrong.She should know the thin line across which worship and popularity of a Hero can make him trip,to the zone where conducts of propriety are not valued.

Our social commentator writes,"In all the talk about Tiger Wood's womanising,no one has looked at the possibility that THIS CHARACTER FLAW IS AN ESSENTIAL PART OF MAN,THAT HIS PRIAPISM IS IN SOME WAY RESPONSIBLE FOR MAKING HIM ONE OF THE GREATEST GOLFERS OF ALL TIME. ..... IF TIGER WOODS GIVES UP THE GAME HE HAS ELEVATED SO MUCH,HE WILL MAKE ONE WOMAN AND TWO CHILDREN HAPPY,BUT MILLIONS DISTRAUGHT.WHICH CHOICE SHOULD PREVAIL?FOR ME THESE SEEMS TO BE NO QUESTION."

 

Priapism indeed,Mr.Dhadkar.I purpose priapism has been responsible for your ascent to a position of respect,off which,of course,you just stumbled off.

It would be ridiculous to remind Mr.Dhadkar of Sachin Tendulkar who shares the same ethnicity incidentally(or rather accidentally-a very,very unfortunate one).In his world of distorted tastes and unfortunate mix-up of priorities,where propriety and sobriety have been flushed down the commode,there is no Roger Federar or a Steffi Graf.Perhaps it was Vishwanathan Anand's priapism that made him a world champion.Perhaps the brain and the organ of priapism have exchanged places-the sheer taste of character and thought behind Mr.Dhadkar's opinions and comments makes it highly improbable that he is thinking through his brain and preaching to the literate society.

I think I know where.

Priapism of course.

SPECIESISM : A BRUTAL SCIENTIFIC TRUTH

A particular species of octopus lugs around coconut shells to hide in when threatened.At times it builds potential shelters by joining two shell halves.One biologist will call this "amazing".Another shall dub the octopus "a low life-form,relative to the snail".Now here,do we have all-too-common attitudes towards non-human life-patronising at best,contemptuous at worst?Images of a cephalopod peeping from shell hollows,however,convey three simple truths to me.That life is beautiful to every creature born without asking to be born.That the world into which it is born is hostile(absurdly so)And that survival is a very,very lonely work.(and I am not the conventional biologist,though my profession and personal life revolves around anthropocentric biology alright).

Most scientists wager that using tools to survive is 'special' to humans.I find this awkwardly unfair.Bottlenose dolphins use a fishing tool to make foraging easier.Of course,tool-users like crows and macaques can't think up brandy-snifters and desktop gadgets,let alone dirty bombs and gas chambers.Does that glorify anthropocentrism,as exemplified by Descartis the philosopher for whom animals were machines mimicking sentience.(I would love to be corrected by staunch Descartians here).That was centuries back and we have moved ahead since.Apparently.

Man shares more with non-humans much,much more that he admits:Emotions,Communication,Social organisation geared to prevalently peaceful coexistence,or even Altruism.Yet it seems modern biological research must 'confirm' what was obvious in the 17th.century when cat-burning was still a rabble-rousing sport.Pointing to animal-intelligence,that is when Jean de la Fontaine,the great classical writer,took apart the clockwork animal of Cartesian pseudo-science,piece by rusty piece.

Many scientists advocate a radical rethink on the man-accorded status of non-human life forms,given their cognitive abilities.If nobody is listening to their call,I have got to give unwilling credit to Richard Ryder,the psychologist,who coined the tell-all term 'SPECIESISM'.Speciesists argue that humankind's 'in-born superiority' justifies everything that represents Exploitation in the animal kingdom.Unapologetic Speciesists declare that non-human pain is of moral irrelevance;The apologetic ones profess that humankind's special traits warrants special treatment. 

Yesterday I was reading an lecture-article by Roger Scruton,a well-known philosopher who,independent of Speciesism,seems to fete man's 'inherent mastership'-an opinion which,seemingly unintentional,combines a bit of both the points of views of the speciesists-the apologetic and the unapologetic ones.Surely,as a philosopher,Professor Scruton must learn to know that on the cosmic scale,it is absolutely irrelevant whether man or mastodon anoints himself as the terrestrial king on our planet which is just an insignificant point(to the definition)in the universe-at least the one of whose dimensions man's knowledge covers at the moment.

Other speciesists,apparently out of divine inspiration,say that 'beasts' lack harvestable souls.So their suffering is a theological non-event.I find this concept outrageous.Evidently it must be a political non-event too,with the 'beasts' lacking harvestable votes.Popularly elected leaders ignore non-human interests except when the magic of democratic majority decides otherwise!

If we look back at history of the evolution of humankind's knowledge,it is clear that from Pythagoras in antiquity onwards,Speciesism has been persistently knocked down.Locke and Schopenhauer felt that brutality towards served to cater to pervert human nature.Rousseau saw sentience as a universal bond.Bentham identified Pain as a proof of man-animal kinship:"The question is not,can they Reason,nor can they Talk,but can they Suffer?"..Yes,and horribly so,said Steven Wise,a legal scholar of the 20th.century,while elaborating upon the factual story of disease-injected chimpanzees.Being an animal lover myself,apart from being a proud member of the human species who loves life as well,I am outraged enough to declare that purported inter-species 'differences' to privilege Man stand no scrutiny at all,moral or scientific. 

The reader might,at this point,be irritated by my audacious opinions and my seemingly over-hyped all-pervading love for all life forms-in short,life.Here without trying to defend my myself,I would like to draw his attention towards a hypocrisy that seems to have been well accepted by all.If non-human species,as specially asserted by the speciesist school,are outside the ambit of morality,why do we keep their forced sacrifice out of polite society's sight?Is it because,by a subconscious instinct,all of us answer privately to our own selves what Jainism preaches,"there is no virtue of spirit greater than humble reverence for life"?

In Coleridge's 'Ancient Mariner',the classic piece of verse which puts an artistic,figurative statement on moral chaos,a sailor of a ghost-ship undergoes expiation for shedding blood.He is ultimately redeemed by a liberating vision of the world's spiritual unity.And gazing in awe rather than conventional revulsion,he is deeply moved to exclaim,

"O Happy living things!no tongue,

Their beauty might declare:
A spring of love gushed from my heart,
And I blessed them unaware.."

In Robert Brasson's movie-classic 'Au Hasard Balthazar' which is one of the greatest odes to transcendence,Balthazar,a donkey,the beast of burden,after enduring myriad forms of human persecution and cruelty throughout its life,ends up bullet-hit on a vast field.And the aged animal slowly dies,free at last,yet an unwitting shepherd to the sheep that graze by. 

Few artistic works as mentioned above, have conveyed with more conviction the gratuitous nature of human aggression which is based on an sad assumption of brutal mastery.The world's interconnectedness flows from Empathy,across borders,across species,and across time-as even derided creatures falling by the wayside may teach us by their silent self-sacrifice.That has been the saga since times eternal,of Nature's most wonderful gift to all of us to love unconditionally.Life. 

Let us accept this Absolute Truth,and keep it that way.

ARE WE ZERO TOLERANT?

Voltaire said, "I disagree vehemently with what you say, but i shall defend to my death your right to say it." Today's India might paraphrase that remark to read, "I disagree vehemently with what you say and i shall defend to your death your right not to say it."

 
If a 198-country survey conducted by the Washington-based Pew Research Centre is to be believed, India ranks only below civil war-torn Iraq in terms of 'social hostility and religious discrimination'. It would seem that when it comes to respecting the social and religious beliefs and practices of others, we are a zero tolerance society.The report identifies the Hindutva movement as the main reason behind this social and religious chauvinism.

So what happened to the image we had long fostered about India being an eclectic sponge, capable and, indeed, willing to soak in all the diverse cultural currents that have flowed into it over the millennia? What happened to the ancient concept of 'anekantwad', which has been defined as the willingness to accept another person's point of view, and which has been claimed by some commentators as the taproot of the spreading banyan tree of India's much-celebrated pluralism through the ages? Is that long-enduring tree which for long has given shelter and shade to all, irrespective of creed and custom in danger of withering and dying?

We can, of course, dismiss the Pew report as yet another example of biased, anti-India foreigners who want to paint us in the worst possible light, for their own vested interests, on all issues, be it climate change, corruption or, as in the current case, religious and social intolerance. It is not being paranoid, or xenophobic, to say that often the so-called First World projects a distorted image of India to suit its own ends and to assert an implicit moral, social or political superiority vis-a-vis us.

But such foreign gamesmanship discounted, what is likely to be the reaction to the Pew report? What is your reaction to it? Is it one of the righteous wrath "there go these wicked Americans again, spreading nasty lies about us to cover up their own shortcomings on human rights issues"? or is it one of a more sober reflection maybe the report is prejudiced, but is there even a germ of truth in it?

On the same day that the Pew Research Centre report appeared in the Indian newspapers,there was another report which said that in Surat 1,747 tribals had been reconverted from Christianity to Hinduism by the Shree Sampraday organisation.The organisers of the reconversion camp reportedly did not seek official permission to reconvert, as required by the Gujarat Freedom of Religion Act, 2003.

But that's a minor technical point.A far more significant lapse on the part of the organisers, and their supporters, was that no one seemed to ask why the tribals had converted to Christianity in the first place, and whether they'd converted from Hinduism or from some form of animism.The cruel, and continuing, physical and social dispossession inflicted on our indigenous peoples is exemplified by the episode in the Mahabharat when Dronacharya requires the tribal, Ekalavya, to cut off his thumb as guru dakshina so that the maimed warrior will not be able to match Arjuna in archery.

Why do tribals convert to Christianity? Is it only because those predatory Christian missionaries bribe them with free rice and other goodies, or is there some other reason? Is it the missionaries' carrot or the majority's stick which drives them into the Christian fold? Similarly, when Dalits convert en masse to Buddhism are they falling prey to proselytisation, or are they seeking to escape millennia of persecution by the majority?

Are we going to ask these questions, or are they going to be shouted down before they are raised? If they are, it'll show that the Pew report was wrong. We are not an intolerant lot; we are very tolerant. Of our own intolerance of others. 

ROMANCING THE WHITES

My first memories of school are about white uniforms and a dark blue knotty tie with yellow stripes.There used to be two sets every year(the question of why there weren't three never crossed my mind).I wore one while the other went to be washed by my mother-a part of her daily ritual of household chores).Every pair lasted a year,and new text books for a new class brought in a new pair stitched by the school tailor.My love of white shirts went on unfettered. 

In class-7,when my father bought me my first pair of coloured trousers(navy blue)for high school.The mere thrill of having them opened my eyes to the world outside.I realised,without any sadness,that most of my class-mates were better dressed than me in school as far as the quality of the cloth was concerned,and certainly better dressed in every sense,beyond school hours.But again,I didn't feel any questions nagging my attention in the class-room.I was a happy child.

The mid 80's didn't fail to catch my active attention,as a period of Change all around,the whole world in fact.In retrospection,I am enticed to call it the Age of Excesses.Everything seemed larger than life,and the loner and introvert adolescent that I was,I was absolutely over-awed,the reactions of which I could just confine to my own self,to my relief.Homes of my school-friends became more fashionable,some of them resembling movie sets.Gyms multiplied,so did beauty salons,classes of western dancing,hair studios and spas.I distinctly remember the neighbourhood tailor packing up and going back to his village in UP,after a couple of fancy designers, WEEKENDER and WEARHOUSE set up shop not very far away.I remember my insecurity about dressing up smart when one day I went window-shopping out of curiousity,and my jaw dropped as I strained to read the price-tag of a chequered shirt worn by a mannequine in the display gallery of WEEKENDER.I was sixteen then. 

In two years the acceleration of Change increased even more but I was too engrossed to take an observant note,as I dipped my introvert self in the warmth of early youth,frank,bold and welcoming that my first step in medical college offered me generously.And there I lived the most beautiful six years of my life and to the full,mostly on a couple of pairs of frayed jeans.By now I had become a part of the Change that was going on its own pace.Change did not leave me over-awed anymore as I had come to realise that Life itself is a story of a sequence of changes,from one phase to another.

The Change goes on.It's not just people.Nations are going the same way.We all know that the world can't afford another America.But China seems to be getting there too.They are building cities,highways,factories at such a frantic pace that sometimes it feels a bit scary to note.I think we are doing the same here,maybe not at the chilling pace,but at a colossal human cost.Our climate is changing.We are being hit by psunamis,floods and draughts.The soothing green of our forests are vanishing fast.So are our wild life,mangroves and water resources.Our seas and rivers are polluting to dangerous levels.Our cities are becoming impossible to live in.

And no,it is not just about over-consumption.It's also about showing off,telling the international community and its dominant powers that we have arrived.Most will disagree with me when I ask the question that why shall we spend two billion dollars on a wasted space programme or hire Nilekani to create an Orwellian world of UIDs when we cannot feed our poor despite producing enough food-grains?We waste money on nuclear technology(most of it in the Defence sector)and bullet-proof vests that can't stop bullets.But we cannot stop the 35% wastage of foodgrains every year which has the potential of wiping out Hunger in India.

One of the lessons of the recent recession is that Excess tires and extreme excess is extremely tiresome. So I,for one,have gone back to my white shirt and frayed denims.I find them much simpler to wear and carry where everybody is screaming.And no,it's about austerity,it's about going back to the Classic-the enduring mystique of the white shirt that even Armani celebrates.

 

And I don't have any regrets about either.  

OUGHTS AND NOUGHTS

An entire decade has come to end,and we still do not what to call it.
This dilemma is not new.It comes every 100 years to confuse the mind,and yet after two millenia we still haven't solved the problem.There is no such difficulty with the decades that go from the Twenties to the Nineties.The Twenties can be immortalised in human memory as The Great Depression,the Forties for World War II.In Cricket,the Nineties are always 'Nervous'..
But whatever the association,,these is no confusion about what to call each decade;The years starting from 2020 will be called The Twenties,those starting from 2060 shall be called The Sixties.

By the same logic,the decade that has begun from 2010 ought to be called the Tens,shouldn't it?But it isn't so because of a strange quirk of the English language.If the Twenties go 20,21,22 and so on,the Tens should go Ten,Ten one,Ten two,Ten three,Ten four..etc.
But instead we have Ten,Eleven,Thirteen...

When we enter the age of the Raging Hormones,we are said to be the Teens.So we can call the second decade The Teens.except what could happened to the years Ten,Eleven:)Twelve?

If anything,the first decade is even trickier.Using the logic of the decades Twenties to Nineties,we ought to call the Noughts.Or The Zeroes.Or as someone in the United States suggested using an archaic 19th. Century word-the Oughts.Or even worse,The Nothings!  We have just lived through the Nothings! Ten wasted years for the whole of humankind! Memories of all kinds,some of them deliriously happy,have gone into complete oblivion! Achievements-some of them glorious.reduced to Nullity!So much toil and trouble,all of them wiped away clean! 

'Turn of the century' was used for the first decade of the 20th.century.But it only suggests the first year of the new decade,not the entire decade.If we use human chronology,we would use the word 'Childhood'.But the word 'Childhood Decade' sounds awfully infantile.
Let's explore.. - how's the 'Units'?Too numerical.'The First DecaThe First Decade'?Too prosaic. 'The Toddlers'?-It doesn't seem to sound that bad,but wouldn't we look a bit ridiculous still 'toddling' around in our 8th. and 9th.year?

One radical solution is to shorten the second decade to seven years and called 'The Teens'. And we could increase the first decade by three years and call it 'The Pre-Teens'.Now does that stink? Ok,I give up.You find your own word then..

THE DECADE THAT WAS

As the 52nd. Week of 2009  approached its end to leave ground for the new decade to take control of the times,the Common Man had no choice but to look ahead with a sense of Hope that was restricted with caution. After all, the past decade had been all but times of comfort for him.I represent the Indian middle class common man and I have had my share of troubled minds too.I dare not compare my little troubles with the profound tragedy that had besieged the entire world with failing finances and senseless spillage of blood.As I sit down to pen down these lines,I find myself lost in a maze of frowned thoughts looking back upon the decade that was.And I feel strange,my senses numbed and a heart that refuses to respond to the extreme of emotions as it used to do 10 years back . 

The last decade is likely to go down in history as one of the most shameful episodes of the human civilisation,and specially prominent so as these are modern times,in active and consistent interaction with neo-consciousness,a phase in history where man has made good fruit of everything he has learnt since the time he came down from the trees and walked erect.And it is the vain irony of things that man has drawn blood from his own brotherhood with logic distorted to insanity.The emerging pattern of socio-religious and political polarization in the last decade is transparently apparent even to a conscious child(again a dangerous social trend which gives the common man nightmares about possible resultant forms of future social orders and equations)in the form of hatred-speeches which are televised all over the world,reactionary rhetorics of the highest pitch whipping up mass hysteria in entire nations to cater to vested interests,and the resultant extreme manifestation of the ultimate corruption of humanity in suicide bombers,AK-47s,countries harbouring active terrorist schools with United Nations and the Security Council doing absolutely nothing(kept in hostage by over-zealous human rights organisations who seem to pop up at random like mushrooms every week. 

The truth is that the common man has become used to it all and he continues to exist with an apathy that has grown over his conscience-such was the profoundly negative impact the bygone year had left for him.He does not react anymore.The very fact he continues to live,where his neighbour gets killed everyday by acts of terror,makes him feel comfortable.It is immaterial whether the coward killer is a self-proclaimed Jehadi driven by distorted ideologue from a neighbouring country who is being ripped apart by civil war,or from a perverted political belief that has its seeds in the tribal forests of Central India,that makes man a remorseless demon killing people by scores "on behalf of long-exploited tribals"  which is taking the shape of a civil war that is bleeding India's heart. 

One cannot deny the anthropological fact that in case of human beings,a fraternal bondage continues to exist as an ecological statement of Nature-and that it has long been forgotten(and this progressively increasing amnesia of human conscience seems to be keeping in tandem with his coming of age in our planet,to become the one of the leading ultimate survivors in the struggle for existence,and emerging to be the most developed species in the bid for survival of the fittest.)For us, the hunter and hunted belong to the same genus and species.( It is a sad irony that a discussion on latest patterns of human behaviour should push the common man,to sharp satire reflecting upon Man the Animal). 

I have been slowly exposed to small packets of violence and events day by day by a media that still thrives on yellow journalism(and there is no dearth of 'subjects' to feed upon) exposing the darker shades of the human mind and his community.One day I find myself totally devoid of reactions.My heart does not bleed anymore as it used when I was younger by a decade.I try to hide.Perhaps this represents the utter frustration and a state of absolute inertia of immobility that has slowly taken possession of the common man in me who comments but does nothing constructive. 

I,the common man, try to escape and hide behind defensive walls of calculated intellectualism that tends to impose,to the extent of subconscious auto-suggestion,upon me and through me to my neighbours that man has evolved a long way as far as conscience,philosophy of morality and values regarding the propriety of things are concerned.After sincere introspection I concede that it is nothing but the cowardice of cliched jingoism that I try to pass on as constructive intellectual exercise. 

Yet I don't hold myself solely responsible for my fall in moral standards. 

The common man didn't start the train of events(a non-linear train)that started shaking the world with the impact of violence.Yet it is him who caught in the crossfire.When highjacked planes rammed into New York City on 11th.September 2001,blowing to pieces the hollow aura of security that the city lived in.The Americans just couldn't comprehend that the suddenness of shock,panic and fear of Pearl Harbour could reoccur in the 21st.century.The perpetrators of the Pearl Harbour Attack at least had a justification-that a war was going on,though the fairness of the Code of Battlefield Ethics-the protocol of armed combat that existed at that time was violated,to gross extremes by a conditioned delusion that a war was being fought to be won,win,though Pearl Harbour continues to be one of the most heinous war crimes that have ever taken place).The Attack on New York left every one bewildered with shock by the sheer audacity of the terrorists.And it was just the beginning. 

Around the same time,the Indian Parliament was attacked by Pakistani terrorists.(I have become thoroughly disgusted with the 'non-state actors' excuse the Pakistani government(or is it the army that actually calls the shots?)so I would rather tag these terrorists with specific nationalities.Three years before this,the Kandahar highjack drama had already brought our country to her knees as the erstwhile Ministries of Home Ministry and Foreign Affairs tackled the situation with an apalling decision by releasing terrorists as ransom in exchange of the passengers' freedom.I think That was when the frustration of the common man started to grow-the frustrated confusion over India's weakness in blinking first.After all,he had witnessed the Kargil War-an audacious exercise of aggression on part of Pakistan.A stage had come when the Indian Army was in a position to burge into her neighbour terrible,and destroy for good the infrastructure of
state-sponsored terrorism of Pakistan.We were shocked when India withdrew her military from strategic positions.It shall forever remain a mystery as to WHY it did so when politicians vowed to preach Zero Tolerance as message of political stand to the people.

Bush declared war on Iraq after 9/11-a war that hurt America more than Iraq.The long years of American military presence in Iraq showed loss of human lives and violation of human rights.The result-the Al Qaida still stands as a potential danger,perhaps even greater now.India saw the 2006 train-blasts and finally Mumbai under siege,once again by Pakistani terrorists.And every time the animals responsible for acts of terrorism were shielded by Pakistan,with India failing to arm-twist its neighbour into submission.India's coy Tolerance is simply unacceptable for the common man for whom the nation's pride stands much higher than the cliched jingoism in the name of propreity of diplomatic exercises on the international stage-well that even has gone to dogs if one looks at the the current state of complete anarchy in Pakistan,and these again it is the common man who gets killed a hundred times every week with Zardari,Gilani,Kiyani and the masterminds controlling the LET & AL-QAIDA(apparently  in collisive strategies,or is it actually collusive?)alive and kicking.The USA is fighting the very Frankenstein it had created and sponsored thirty years back-the Taliban,to act against forced Soviet occupation in Afghanistan.

The simple,scrupulous common mind gets into a jumble trying to figure out who had slept with whom,and who had betrayed whom in this bloody game of dirty complexities of international politics.And it is he who gets to suffer on till apathy develops.Apathy often turns to antipathy as these is a limit of tolerance.It would be unfortunate if the common man rises from apathetic slumber to decide matters for himself in the most direct of ways.And that would Disaster.Hopefully the current decade will oversee  a collapse of terrorism-no more famines in Africa,no lost limbs to landmines to blow them away in Central Asia.And maybe no more teenagers carrying hand-guns to school and shooting them dead in the USA,no more violent demands to fracture Indian states-the ridiculous list is endless.It would be imprudent for world leaders to sit back and think of the Common Man.

Don't tempt the Common Man.