A new threat

A shocking development has come into light after the recent state assembly elections in Maharashtra . Some sections of media are demanding candidates to pay for news space for the politicians and parties in the form of coverage packages. Almost like corporate advertise their products in the media the press is allowing themselves to be a vehicle for promotion of the politicians. This I believe was first reported by Magsasay Award winning journalist P. Sainath in his article 'The medium, message and money'. He writes: "The Assembly elections saw the culture of "coverage packages" explode across the State. In many cases, a candidate just had to pay for almost any coverage at all. Issues didn't come into it. No money, no news ". This was reported during the last Lok Sabha elections too but went largely unnoticed.

The role of media is to play a role of a neutral observer by presenting facts as they are to the common man in a form understandable by them and if necessary criticize the undesirable behaviour of individuals or institutions which are against constitution and the interest of the citizens. But in recent times with newspapers and a few television channels being owned by the political parties this has definition has undergone a change. But fortunately until now these party owned media elements have remained in the background with people preferring the more neutral of them. But the challenge that the current situation poses is more dangerous. The so called neutral media is letting them to be taken on loan by the money power. What is at stake is the whole idea of the free press in our country. This unfortunate development is a threat to the democratic setup of our nation. Until now we fortunately have had one of the most free presses in the world, even by the standards of the other democracies. The form of participatory democracy in our country which needs the citizen to take informed decisions and protest based on the information he gets loses its meaning in such a situation. The public which relies on the media to base its opinions loses its source. All they will get is skewed reality dependent on the weight of money packets. An independent candidate who wants to stand for a good cause may get sidelined since he is not affluent as those inside the party system or has been in power for some time. Also the shortcomings of the candidates may also get underreported presenting with him as the ideal candidate.

On one side this issue has got to do with ethics of journalism. By presenting paid for propagandist information as news they are breaching the common readers who take these as facts without further question. The ethics of ones profession should be something that each individual journalist have to stick to at any cost. The various press and media association also should also lay certain guidelines on these matters. The first and foremost priority should be to serve the nation by clean straightforward reporting and not to increase the bank balances. On the other side the candidates may be committing serious electoral misconduct through this. Some have been reportedly paying huge sums, much greater than stipulated by the law, for buying these packages. Such crimes if being done are no worse than other forms of electoral malpractices such as booth capturing, this can be controlled only if the EC steps in and takes stringent action.

With the government mulling over liberalising the press further by allowing, the advent of corporate culture in journalism may act as an incentive to such a actions. If such tendencies continue unchecked, it won't be far away when the media becomes just a propagandist tool owned indirectly by political forces as in some countries in the west. Already the mass media and press is doing much damage  by diverting the public attention from the real issues that they face.Selling journalism is the one of the lowest levels of decency a free media can go. If no action is taken to nip this from the bud it has the potential to spread like a virus to the other forms of media and become the norm. That would be the last thing that a democratic system wants .The civil society and the regulatory bodies need to take notice of this and act accordingly.

The questions that invisible India ask

In a very short span of time, starting last November with the attacks in Lalgarh, Naxalite menace has become a hotly discussed issue from the high echelons to the power to informal chats in every nook and corner of our nation. Everyone seems to take it for granted that the Naxalites are a menace to the nation. But the question we should be asking ourselves is why are these people and why have they became a issue of national importance now, whereas a short time back they were local issues that we dismissed with a fleeting glance.

These people are a part of what Madhukar Shukla calls the invisible India. Invisible lives in the faraway villages, forest areas and the urban slums. They are the people who have almost no control over their own destiny. Only thing that they do is hope and believe. Hope for better monsoons, hope for enough work to earn something for their basic needs, hope for safe health, hope for at least a meal a day. Another they are supposed to be doing is believe. Believe what the babus who come every four years or so believe what they promise and vote.

Why do A a section of people have to live as 'invisibles' in a modern society?  Firstly the media and we the 'visible' society doesn't care for such people and the challenges they face.We are content to live in the a bubble where media acts as an anesthetic to such issues. What most of our mainstream media caters –the news, the advertisements the debates everything –is aimed at the visible India. We who are are a part of visible India are the ones who live in the 'Matrix' like world created for us by the media. We care and hotly debate ceaselessly about India's nuclear strength compared to Pakistan, GDP rise compared to China, Indo –US deal , stock market , cricket triumphs, celebrity marriages etc . They buy the products endorsed by their favourite stars on TV and hangout at malls and cinemas every weekend. The media interested only in keeping this  section of society who are potential consumers for the products they advertise -satisfied .The media and the visible India are indifferent about the Invisible counterparts. They are not interested in the basic issues which they take granted for themselves. In reality the lack of education, nutrition or healthcare, and other services is more chronic than in the picture painted before us by the media. Only when something terrible and unexpected happen does visible India care to turn back and look at the invisible India. From this stems the second reason for the invisible India to exist

This has got to do with the people whom we,directly or indirectly, elect to power, to ensure the welfare of each and every citizen of our nation. India , fortunately,  has brilliant strategists, bureaucrats and statesmen at the helm of various departments and committees that steer our nation's general policies. But somehow their visions have not been executed well and the benefits of crores of money spent on empowering various sections of the society have not been utilised well. There are corrupt and criminal politicians, corrupt officials and in some cases corporates who are ready to woo these people in power for their own benefits. The funds and schemes aimed at the welfare of the invisibles get diluted by the greed of these individuals and forces which are free to continue to do so since neither the media nor the civil society actually notice such malpractices.

These two factors, the apathy of the media and the rest of society and the corruption in the corridors of power, are the root causes of the problems that keep the huge section India invisible even after six decades of the promises that came with our independence. They lack basic infrastructure like roads and electricity and services like hospitals or schools and find it impossible to even dream of living conditions that we enjoy. Few years back an official committee looking into these put it like this "We have two worlds of education, two worlds of health, two worlds of transport and two worlds of housing'' .Add to this fact the rogue ideologists -with or without external help -who still dream of taking over the power through armed struggle and the incompetency of local security forces in nipping such tendencies from the bud. And it easy to see why we hear terms likes 'prisoner of war' and 'war against the state' in such a situation. It is out of desperation that the youth who support Naxalites do so (although the cases of forced recruitment have also been reported).For them they can divert the attention to their long unattended needs only by breaking our comfort zones that . And this seems to be working for them at least on a short term basis. (But whether such a form of protest is justified in a democratic society –even in situations of dire helplessness – is an entirely different  question)

What is the way out of this situation?

On one side there has to be an immediate solution of reaching with peace with the extremists so that no more damage happen to the civilian life and the public property. Government has taken a commendable stance by acknowledging that those who have taken to armed struggle too are also our part of our nation and that no democratic nation uses military against its own citizens. By calling for unconditional talks it seems they are taking the responsibility to fulfill the legitimate demands of naxalites more seriously. On the other hand the naxalites have to understand the fact that their dream of taking over power through armed struggle will remain just a dream and that in democracy it is through dialogue and not through violence that solutions are reached and accept the offer of the government.Secondly the Government have to start taking steps -with the cooperation of states and local authorities and relevant NGOs- for the continued development of the areas which act as breeding grounds for extremism. Back in 2008 government had announced a huge fund for the development of tribal areas to be implemented with the cooperation of other players. More such steps with more focus on infrastructure development and improvement of human conditions must come up in a timely manner .Basic infrastructure needs to be developed along with equipping the security forces in such a way that unwanted elements are unable to spread their vendetta against state .

But what remains to be seen whether such plans for development,as happened several times in the past, remains on paper due to the corruption and vested interests of various forces. Naxalite challenge should act as a wakeup call for the entire nation to ensure that the benefits of various efforts reach the target group's .And the media and the civil society have to play the role of watchdogs by paying more attention to the way these plans are executed.Only then can we prevent such challenges from repeating themselves.

The story of two books

Two books I read about five months back have had a very deep impact on me, they have almost entirely changed my way of thinking and my world view.

First book is 'Freakonomics' written by Steven D. Levitt, a professor in Economics. What he does basically is 'exploring the hidden side of everything'. He answers some apparently trivial questions - like 'What does Sumo wrestlers and School Teachers have in common?' Or 'Why does drug dealers still live with their moms' etc - on the basis of various economic and social data available to him through his research. What is special about the book is that it forces you to question things you have taken for granted and to see them in an entirely different light. How did this book affect me? I believe it has made me more open minded to ideas. It has forced me to ask 'What if I am wrong?'. I have started thinking of the cause-and-effect cycle in an entirely different way. It has taught me to ask questions about even the basic things in our life that we take for granted. For example would the Cola we drink taste as good as it does now, if it were packaged in a different way? Everything we take for granted in our life has a story behind them. And the story what we think are true aren't always true.

Second book is 'The God Delusion' by British evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins (who is regarded as number one enemy of creationists around the world).As the title suggests it is a book on atheism ,he debunks the various myths associated with religion (mainly Christianity and Judaism) and offers an alternate explanation to things we think are rooted in religion. Like morality, does morality comes from religion? Or is that humans, through the process of evolution, have reached upon a certain set of things which are considered good and bad? So what did this book teach me (apart from strengthening my atheism?).Basically it reminded me again that we homo sapiens are just another species on earth. Simple enough. But the thing is most of us don't act as if we are conscious of this fact. In our thinking we have divided the living things into three- plants, animals and human beings. But this book has forcefully reminded me that the divide between animals and humans doesn't exist. We too are a product of evolution through millions of years .But in a blink of time (in about 35,000 years) we have come to control the earth and nature unlike any other species before. And this not because of any divine providence, but because of different physical advantages and skills we achieved through the process of evolution.

Everything around us even the mobile phones or laptops we use, the language we speak or write, the type of food we eat are all products of change of some kind or the other. Even the way we behave and every custom we follow in our society too has undergone this change. They were not like this from the day one of human life (and there was not even a day one). Anything you can see around yourself has a reason for its existence which is rooted in its past. Its only when we understand the past that we will be able to make sense out of our present.

It is not that I have not thought about some of these things before reading these books. But these books have made me think even more deeply about such things. I would recommend these books to anyone who are -as a blurb in Freakonomics says- 'prepared to be dazzled'.

"Over billions of years, on a unique sphere, chance has painted a thin covering of life -- complex, improbable, wonderful and fragile. Suddenly we humans (a recently arrived species no longer subject to the checks and balances inherent in nature), have grown in population, technology, and intelligence to a position of terrible power: we now wield the paintbrush."

Dr. Paul MacCready

Rediscovering the meaninglessness of existence

Four quotes from Woody Allen's new flick 'Whatever Works'

1. "It's not the idea behind Christianity I'm faulting, or Judaism, or any religion. (It’s the professionals who've made it into a corporate business. There's big money in the God racket. Big money).Hey, the basic teachings of Jesus are quite wonderful. So, by the way, is the original intention of Karl Marx. Hey, what could be bad? Everybody should share equally. Do unto others. Democracy. Government by the people. All great ideas. These are all great ideas, but they all suffer from one fatal flaw. Which is they're all based on the fallacious notion that people are fundamentally decent. '"Give them a chance to do right and they'll take it. That they're not stupid, selfish, greedy, cowardly, short-sighted worms." All I'm saying is that people make life so much worse than it has to be, believe me, it's a nightmare without their help. But on the whole, I'm sorry to say, we're a failed species."
2. "Let me teach you something about love. Okay? Naturally, there are exceptions to what I'm going to say, but they're the exception, not the rule. Love, despite what they tell you, does not conquer all. Nor does it even usually last. In the end, the romantic aspirations of our youth are reduced to whatever works. Okay?"
3. "It's amazing, Melody. Thousands of years ago, ancient peoples, Egyptians, Romans, Mayans, were walking home, just like us, discussing where they should eat or making small talk."Hey, we just bought a great house on the Nile with a yard, overlooking the Pharaoh's new pyramid".- Or... or, "My... my physician says..."peacock tongues are bad for your heart”. ....Or, "I'm worried I can't get my kid into a really good Aztec preschool”. What the hell does it all mean now? Zilch. But they thought it was important.  
4. "I happen to hate New Year's celebrations. Everybody desperate to have fun. Trying to celebrate in some pathetic little way. Celebrate what? A step closer to the grave? That’s why I can’t say enough times, whatever love you can get and give, whatever happiness you can filch or provide every temporary measure of grace, whatever works. And don't kid yourself; it’s by no means all up to your own human ingenuity. A bigger part of your existences luck than you'd like to admit. Christ, you know the odds of your father's one sperm from the billions, finding the single egg that made you? Don’t think about it, you’ll have a panic attack. "

Woody Allen explores the meaninglessness of life through the views of Boris Yelnikoff (Larry David) , a retired 'genius' quantum physicist. The movie,obviously, is a well made one,philosophical at times and sarcastic most of the time. Its fast paced movie since it covers almost 2 or 3 years in the life Boris. Yet each scene has its own controlled pace which kept me gripped.The whole thing as has a documentary feel to it (though undeniably enjoyable) since the camera focuses on mainly on the reactions of the characters to weird situations.Infact one of the most humorous parts are the instances when - amidst the regular scenes - Boris turns to the camera starts speaking to the audience directly as if in a documentary, whereas those with him are baffled since they cant find whom he is talking to. I think there is something for anyone who watches the movie. But ultimately Boris is the " only one who sees the whole picture, [and] that’s what they mean by genius.".
Right in the beginning Boris says "This is not the feel-good movie of the year. So if you're one of those idiots who needs to feel good, go get yourself foot massage."
But turns out I cannot agree with him on that, this is the feel-good-movie-of-the-year for me.

Let us give festivals a new meaning

Deepavali-the festival of lights-is here again. As in any festival rooted in mythology Deepavali too represents advent of good and the destruction of evil. To some Hindus it marks the homecoming of Rama after a 14-year exile in the forest and his victory over Ravana, and to some others it marks the victory of Krishna over Narakasura. Whatever is the reason it is an occasion to enjoy ourselves in the warmth of our dear and near and to take a moments break from our routines.

But shouldn't we go a step further from just lighting diyas, cracking patakas, enjoying sweets, attending poojas? I believe it is time for us to rethink the reason and the way we celebrate our festivals -especially the national festivals like Deepavali, Holi and the like. Such festivals -if properly utilized- are a perfect opportunity for us to spare a moment’s thought and renew our pledge towards those better and broader causes which, otherwise in a life otherwise filled with dizzying rush, escape our attention . It should be an occasion to remember we have miles to go to bring equality in various spheres of life to all the citizens of our nation, as guaranteed by our constitution.

Wouldn't it be fitting to take Deepavali -the triumph of light over darkness - as an occasion to remember the Right to Education guaranteed by the constitution? And Holi -the festival of colours and one of the most secular ones - as an occasion to remember that social and economic justice has not trickled down into a lot of sections around us? If the government, the media, the NGOs , influential individuals etc can push forward such positive messages during occasions such as these - when the people across the length and breadth of India celebrates as one -it would go a long way in changing the mindsets of people if .And if such a change in the mindsets of people on issues such as illiteracy, poverty, environment, justice etc can be brought about then, I believe, it would create a positive environment for government to implements its plans related to them and with greater support of its citizens.

So this Deepavali let each diya lit remind us of the millions of our brothers around the world who is yet to be blessed with the light of education and let such thoughts be the primary reason for us to celebrate festivals in the future.

Live as if you are the first man on the earth!

Live as if you are the first man on the earth! Stop thinking about time terms of an average human lifespan.Just know that our ancestors began life on earth millenniums ago and what we will live through is a fraction compared to that. Try doing that and in my experience you'll see everything in a different light.You'll start questioning things. You will tend to think about what caused something before getting trapped by its complexity.And it was the same inquisitiveness of humankind that has helped us to be what we are now.Is it just reinventing the wheel? No I am not asking you to copy what others have done. Its more about being aware of why you are living in the world you are currently in and not something different.Its more about the awareness and idea part I'm talking about and not the practical part which would obviously be very hard and unnecessary too.This task a lot easier than any time in history since we live in the age of internet where any kind of information is accessible without any trouble.
And if you ask me of what purpose all this efforts serve, I would say it will make your world more charming than ever before and every experience you have will be of an entirely different effect than what it has now.

10 lessons from Wake up Sid!

Wake up Sid is a good movie.It is not a masala movie.(Only today did I really think about what 'masala movie' means.I have some to the conclusion that it is one with all ingredients in one.Instead of focusing on a certain theme and the scenes only the plot requires, a masala movie usually tries to include everything romance,comedy,tragedies,songs etc etc.)
So here are the lessons :

1. Love your parents.Whatever the do the do it for their kids good, but sometimes you do not realize it. Even if you dont like/agree with what your parents is doing just don't walk out.Make them realize why you don't agree.
2. There is no place for fear,your life is for you to explore it.
3. Its your fault if you fail at something.Never try to blame someone else for misleading you.
4. Even if you fail it is just how well you come back that matters.
5. Beauty lies in small things and little acts of love.
6. Everyone has his/her share of problems.It is just about how you solve them
7. Do what you love and love what you do.
8. Never underestimate anyone.
9. Look near you for what you seek before looking far.
10. and....Dont keeping studying for night before your exam :D

Konkana Sharma is at her mature best again.I liked the way in which music is used only to set the mood of the plot and doesn't deviate from the plot by going into song-dance sequences.The character of Rishi reminded me Morgan ('best' friend of Chuck) from Chuck tv series.Wake up Sid is worth time and money.Thanks Karan for making my day.

Why religion ?

Has something in our education system got anything to do with the fact that 85% of the world continue to believe in religion (and various ideas of God prescribed them) even when all the scientific facts available points against it? In my opinion a person with even a vague idea that Universe is 13 billion year old and know a bit about Darwins theory will never believe in the Adam and Eve story.(Given the fact that he understands that instead of being wild fantasies such scientific theories based on observation and experiment).Also when it comes to they question of soul (like its is used in gita ) some one who understands that it was an idea which came about when there was no idea of human brain and neural system and hence when body and consciousness was treated as two different entities,will reject the idea.

The problem with the education in this context is that, we are never taught to connect the ideas we learn over a course of time in different levels of learning.Most of us luckily, as time passes does learn to do this.But in case of religion,before the time such connections can take place, the idea would have become so deep rooted in their minds and is part of  his/her identity that it is impossible to break away from it. Still one may argue that there are lots of educated people (even geniuses in their specific fields) around the world who continues to believe in God and religion.I believe this is because they have not spared enough time on thinking outside the box their society has bought them up in.

So ultimately it comes down to a persons bringing up and education he gets which -almost always- decides whether he continues to believe in the obnoxious idea of religion.What could be a solution to it ?Daniel Dennet has a very interesting one-point-proposal to break the spell of religion

"Just as we require reading, writing, arithmetic, American history, so we should have a curriculum on facts about all the religions of the world -- about their history, about their creeds, about their texts,their music, their symbolisms, their prohibitions, their requirements. And this should be presented factually, straightforwardly with no particular spin, to all of the children in the country. And as long as you teach them that, you can teach them anything else you like. That, I think, is maximal tolerance for religious freedom. As long as you inform your children about other religions then you may -- and as early as you like and whatever you like, teach them whatever creed you want them to learn. But also let them know about other religions.

Now why do I say that? Because democracy depends on an informed citizenship. Informed consent is the very bedrock of our understanding of democracy. Misinformed consent is not worth it.It's like a coin flip, it's just not -- it doesn't count really. Democracy depends on informed consent.This is the way we treat people as responsible adults. Now, children below the age of consent are a special case- parents are stewards of their children. They don't own them. You can't own your children. You have a responsibility to the world, to the state, to them, to take care of them right. You may teach them whatever creed you think is most important, but I say you have a responsibility to let them be informed about all the other creeds in the world too."

What such a curriculum can do is keep kids to make connections between what they learn. By noting the similarities and variations in religion all over the world and their beliefs one can see for himself that religions are a product of humans and have undergone a process of evolution to be what they are now.
  

An  after-thought:The way our religions have evolved , most ideas related to God ,creation of universe and life were created when our knowledge of the basic laws of was limited. So we filled in them with wild ideas of our fantasies.Its almost like a three year old getting a sudoku puzzle, how would he fill it? Its obvious that he will will it with random doodles, but what will happen if it is filled by grown up man who knows the rules of the game? As humanity matured our knowledge increased due to our inquisitiveness and observation skills, and now we are in a better position to solve the puzzles we face.But stories of Adam and Eve and the like  seems to have solved the puzzles even before  Darwin or Einstein could catch up, but the problem is that the solution offered by religions are internally coherent but ultimately  a wrong idea.Though science has not solved the puzzle yet at least we are progressing in the right way! 

What drives all of us?

What is the common thing that drive all our actions in our lives? In my opinion it is the urge for satisfaction satisfaction.Every one tries to satisfy himself in some other way or the other.For some it may be physical urges ,for others it may be intellectual or spiritual.From a saint to a criminal, no one can deny that our actions are based on our need to satisfy our desires (even attaining moksha (liberation) is also an element of desire if you think about it).Also people try to maximize the number of choices available to them.The more number of choices they have the more happier they are (though this may apply only to worldly matters).

My top10 Feel-Good-Movies list

These movies are those which gave me a lump in throat while watching but made me feel good at the end of it and made me think after that.These are my antidotes for a bad day :D.

1. A Beautiful Mind -This one is my favourite,actually made me a die-hard fan of Russel Crowe after watching this.
2. The Pursuit of Happyness- "This part of my life... this part right here? This is called "happyness." Had damp eyes for most part of the movie.
3. Forrest Gump-What to say about this one?:) Just enjoy the 'run' with Forrest.
4. Dead Poets' Socitey -Nothing is dead about this movie except its title.I was jumping with joy after watching this one.
5. The Shawshank Redemption-imbd#1 and deservingly so.
6. October Sky-Winning a science fair can be everything!
7. Goal! The Dream Begins-Almost all sports movies are feel-goods (except for a few like Million dollar baby) But this is right at the top of the list for me.
8. Shrek...the whole series-Everyone loves a fairy tale and this one is the 'king' of all.
9. The Family Man- Modern day 'Christmas Carol' and youll feel like christmas at the end of it.
10. Eternal Sunshine of the spotless Mind-Jim Carrey!!!Most probably you'll have to watch it a second time to fully grasp the plot but you feel light hearted after watching this one,guaranteed.