Monday, March 31, 2014

Amidst Illusions and Reality

To put the idea in one sentence, I will use - “reality is a bitch”. You might think whats so fuzzy about reality? Actually, reality is an illusion that you can experience in life. In a more precise manner, reality is the epitome of all illusionary perspectives. You might have heard about the wave function collapse phenomena. According to the dual
theory of matter, everything have two facets. An electron cannot be singled out and picked up using any method possible (without destabilizing the structure of atom). Because, electron spins around the nucleus as a wave. When we try to measure the speed, location, or anything related to it, the wave function will disappear and electron will put on the cloth of matter. This is a tricky observation. When we try to observe, wave function collapses. This is quite fantastically portrayed in 'double slit experiment'.
Here comes some big questions. What is the purpose of life? Where did this universe comes from? What is the role of man?

Well, one thing we can assume from all these observations is this - universe is here in this form, because of us, because we are here to observe it. We are the reason behind the rotation of kalachakra. If it wasn't for us, this universe might not be here. Wave function collapses when someone is watching. This is a rough idea, not scientifically proved, but it is possible that we have a symbiotic, 'mutually beneficial' relationship with the universe.

Thursday, March 27, 2014

കവിതയുടെ തലച്ചോർ

കല കലയ്ക്കു വേണ്ടി, കല സമൂഹത്തിനു വേണ്ടി എന്നിങ്ങനെയുള്ള വ്യത്യസ്ത വാദ  മുഖങ്ങൾ ഘോരഘോരം പ്രസംഗിച്ചു തളര്ന്ന ഒരു തലമുറ ഉണ്ടായിരുന്നു നമുക്ക്. യഥാർത്ഥത്തിൽ കലയുടെ ചരിത്രപരവും സാമൂഹികവുമായ ഒരു അപഗ്രഥനം നടത്തുമ്പോൾ കല ആസ്വാദനത്തിനു വേണ്ടി എന്ന വാദമാണ് തെളിഞ്ഞു കാണുക. ഭാഷയുടെ ബാബേൽ ഗോപുരങ്ങൾ പടുത്തുയര്ത്താൻ തക്ക കരുത്താര്ജ്ജിക്കും മുൻപ് തന്നെ മാനവരാശിയുടെ ആലയിൽ കലയുടെ പണിയായുധങ്ങൾ കിടന്നു തിളച്ചു മറിയുന്നുണ്ടായിരുന്നു.
പകലന്തിയോളം പണിയെടുത്ത് തളര്ന്നു, കൂരയുടെ തണലിലേയ്ക്കണയുന്ന ക്രിഷീവലന്മാരുടെ നാടൻ പാട്ടുകളും, നാടൻ കഥകളും, ചുവടുകളും എല്ലാം കലയുടെ അടിസ്ഥാനപരമായ ആസ്വാദ്യതയെ നമുക്ക് മുന്നിലേയ്ക്ക് തുറന്നു കാട്ടുന്നവയാണ്.


കവിതയുടെ പണിശാലയിൽ കരവിരുതിന് പണ്ടും സ്ഥാനമുണ്ടായിരുന്നു. പ്രാസവാദവും, വൃത്താലങ്കാരാദികളുടെ നിഷ്ക്കർഷയും സൃഷ്ടിച്ചത്  എണ്ണമറ്റ തലച്ചോർ-കവികളെ ആയിരുന്നു. ആസ്വാദ്യതയ്ക്കപ്പുറം, ആത്മാർഥതയുടെ മറ്റൊരു തലം  കവിതയ്ക്കുണ്ട്‌. യഥാർത്ഥത്തിൽ ആത്മാർഥതയുള്ള കലാ സൃഷ്ടികളേ ആസ്വാദ്യകരമാകൂ. ഇവിടെയാണ്‌ വിമർശനാതീതരെന്നു സമൂഹം കരുതുന്ന ചില കവീന്ദ്രന്മാരുടെ രചനാരീതി സംശയകരമാകുന്നത്.

 

Thursday, March 20, 2014

Why Kejriwal Should Beat Lord Kamdev With a Broomstick

Why Kejriwal Should Beat Lord Kamdev With a Broomstick

"If it wasn't for him, we shouldn't be enjoying all these facilities. 2G auction gave the telecommunication sector a hard push towards development...."

Don't be alarmed, it's just a promotional title I created to grab your attention and increase my page view. However, there is an eminent and distinct connection between Kamadeva and a groundbreaking corruption case occurred couple of years ago...
Let me give you a brief outline of what people think about 2G scam. “2G spectrum license is an important license. Telephone companies need this license to provide services all over India or something like that. Mr. A. Raja, the then tele-com minister made crores and crores of rupees by selling this spectrum license to really bad people. He invested all this money somewhere in Switzerland. Government lost a lot of money from this deal. It has something to do with Kanimozhi, second coming of Jesus Christ, CIA, and the Ambani family”
Grab on tight, because I am about to shake some wrong believes out of you.



2G scam never looted money from government's pocket, at least in a direct sense. Government never lost a single paisa from its account. Then why are you hearing people bitching about all those uncountable currency notes? The answer is simple. Government account might have been credited with a huge amount of money, if there wasn't some corruption involved. 2G denotes a special range of frequency, required to carryout tele-communication services. Comptroller and auditor general of India (the designation 'comptroller' is ornamental. He is just an auditor general. I will tell you that story in another occasion.) estimated the exact amount of money, which should have been in our pocket, if everything was perfect. I don't know how, but the CAG did calculated the exact amount – 176645 crore. Kapil Sibal's zero loss theory infuriated many people, but its a fact.
I am not trying to reduce this scam as a mere case of recklessness from authorities. Supreme court countered Sibal's argument, by saying that there was some loss. Mr. A Raja was sent to jail on 9th may, and released on bail 5 days later. Many bureaucrats and politicians were accused and some of them are now spending their leisure time counting the bars.
Now, let me come to the point. I don't think anyone can easily forget those good old days, when you could talk to your loved ones all through night. The sky was overflowing with saccharine dripping SMSs. Every lover in the country was happy during those glorious days after the spectrum auction. Isn't it obvious that the telecommunication companies used their capital gain to gave people free talk times and messages.
These new generation Robin Hood companies began to wet their underwear soon after the discovery of 2G corruption. I don't personally blame Mr. Raja or Kanimozhi for their illegal acts, because I thing there was some other forces involved. Some people might find this as absolute nonsense, but it defenitley seems like the work of Indian Cupid. He somehow managed to broke the security of Raja and shoot an arrow to his heart. He did it for the sake of humanity, for tender heart beats, for love. If it wasn't for him, we shouldn't be enjoying all these facilities. 2G auction gave the telecommunication sector a hard push towards development.

"We, the shameless beings will continue searching for him as a criminal. We will hunt him, because he can take it. Because he is not our hero. He is a silent guardian... a watchful protector... A Dark Night..."

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

An Evening With Shiv Shankar Menon

An Evening With Shiv Shankar Menon

Shiv Shankar Menon, the security advisor of India landed securely on the podium adorned by planning board of Kerala in Mascot hotel Trivandrum yesterday. Though there were many intriguing things  about that evening, plum cake and salad require special applauds. Planning board proved their potential beyond any doubt, by planning such a wonderful evening coupled with a cup of cold coffee (ordinary coffee, filled in cup 20 minutes before serving).
There were many Hi-Fi government officers, chief secretary Bharat Bhooshan, DGP, and Divya Iyer IRS with a new hair style. Mr. Menon started his speech on time. It was interesting, compassionate, comforting, humanitarian – in a political sense, but less informative. He completed his speech with a sense of satisfaction (or relief?), but when former foreign ambassador Sreenivasan pointed out some issues which he missed, suddenly the eve became bright.
A security advisor has his limits. He cannot touch sensitive areas of foreign and domestic affairs, without thinking thrice. The audience could not care less about this fact, so they asked, asked, and asked about Crimea, Malaysian Flight, Chinese dam in Brahmaputra, submarines constantly going under water, and SreeLanka. Indeed he gave answers in a politically correct language, but it felt like the speech of a politician. He attacked the mindset of people, who want to enlarge and create a mass hysteria out of every minor issue.
His opinion about water security might not be agreeable to all, but some people found it fascinating (including me). He said that, 2/3rd of Earth is covered by water, so we don't have to worry about water scarcity. We can always make the sea water drinkable, with the effective utilization of energy. So, the fundamental issue at hand is about clean and green energy.
Divya Iyer, as usual, asked a great question about the democratization of national security. The concept was well received and appreciated by Mr.Menon. However, some people (alright! Alright!, not some people, just ME) doubt the practicality of that idea. Democratization of internal security is indeed a great concept, but we have many things to consider before implementing it.
So Mr. menon in a nutshell will look like - "India is in good relationship with Sree lanka, Japan, Bangladesh, China, and Asia pacific neighbors. Not only we are in good terms, but also our relationship status is at its peak, like never before."
With all due respect sir, I am bound to agree with your opinion. And ofcourse, it is good to have a handful of friends with benefits.

Monday, March 17, 2014

Assholes of Indian History - Intro

There will always be a Ravan for Rama, a Kamsa for Krishna, and an Amjad  for Amitabh. History is so filled with assholes and douche-bags. Some of them wanted to conquer the world, some of them wanted to watch the world burn,
and some assholes are just in the list for no particular reason. From the planes of harappa, to the general elections of 2014, Indian history is immersed in bucket-load of douchebaggerry...

Assholes of Indian History

How a penis managed to change the course of Indian history - (Part - One)


Humans are mere witnesses of divine interventions. Hi-story is filled with such bizarre incidents and shitty developments. Now, let me tell you the story of a foreskin, which managed to change the history of India, once and for all.
It all started with a diplomatically ridiculous move by Dahir, the king of Sindh. No one can actually pin the consequence on Dahir, because it is quite natural to have an intolerant curiosity about the peculiarities of the neighbors, even in this modern world. One day, when Dahir was swimming in Indus, he saw one handsome man on the other side, bathing without even a single strand of cloth. He was fair and tall, with broad chest and thick beard. As many of the history students have guessed by now, it was Mr. Hijjaj, the viceroy of Baghdad.
King Dahir looked at this man's manhood again and again with amusement. It wasn't the size, but the absence of foreskin that made Dahir's balls bulge out (eyeballs).... The king was pretty surprised and wanted to know more about this strange character of neighborhood penis. King Dahir summoned all the nobles to his court and asked them to peel out this penis issues. Though there were some arguments about the hands of evil spirits on the penis, an elder member told him about the ceremony of circumcision.
The story of skinless penis made him curious about the internal affairs of the people on the other bank of Indus. In an intention to know more about this, he captured a ship, filled with Muslim soldiers and citizen. There were many children, women, and wounded soldiers returning from holy Jihad war. Some dorky historians also say about the precious gifts on board, which was sent to Caliph by other kings. I personally don't think Dahir had any intent to touch the valuable gifts wrapped for Caliph, other than unwrapping the foreskin issue.
However, the capture of innocent civilians made Caliphate angry. Blood began to heat up, and the manliness of Hijjaj started to throb up.. (to be continued)

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

State Administration - Part 2

Part Two – Side effects of being a Governor

For the smooth running of a state (well ,not necessarily smooth), we need a constitutional head, a legislative head, a legislative assembly, and state judiciary. As we know, Governor is the constitutional head of a state, an agent of President. However, a supreme court ruling in 1979 states that, the office of Governor is neither subordinate, nor under the employment of central government. Office of the Governor is a separate, independent constitutional body.
Being a Governor is awesome, but when it comes to job security, you might wanna change your opinion a bit. So many cases can be singled out from India's political history, which depict the agonizing stories of Governors.  No one ever going to shed a single drop of tear for those Governors, who were abandoned by the ruthless political agenda. Nor does any political Snoop Dogs going to rap for them...
All kidding aside, there are some peculiar cases of mass removal. 1989, is such an year, the Governor community wants to forget. It was also an year of interesting political phenomenons in Indian history. In the general election of 89, ruling party (Congress) had to fight with Bofors and LTTE, along with their usual rivals. The result was obvious - Congress failed to secure successful majority in Lok Sabha. National Front government came in force. Their new prime minister VP Singh requested a neatly written resignation letter from Governors, from ALL governors, that too in good handwriting. VP Singh, being a kind hearted PM, allowed some of them to continue. Reason was simple. The National Front Government wanted to do away with Congress-appointed Governors from power, and establish a strong chain of command. As we discussed earlier, stability is the one thing we need most in a democratic system.
Next thing we know is the collapse of National Front and Bam! Congress is back in the throne. It was in 1991, one of the most controversial and eventful year in Indian political history. Narasimha Rao became prime minister of India, after a move believed to be THE most cunning move ever made by a politician (I will tell you the story in another occasion). Congress Government then requested resignation letter from a number of Governors, appointed by the National Front. According to Mr. Brij Kishore Sharma, that number was 14 (Its the name of the guy who wrote this wonderful book on Indian constitution – how the hell I ever going to know about these boring things).
In India, we believe that, when adharma begins to came out of the scrotum of politics, there will always be someone with a cork to close it tight. In this case, it was Mr. Singhal, who came as a guardian angel for depressed Governor community.
Since childhood, Mr. Singhal was very fond of Governors. His mother used to tel him stories of great Governors, who worked faithfully as constitutional head, especially when he refused to take his rotti and dal. When he became a man, he couldn't resist his urge to file a petition in court, about this unnecessary removal of Governors.
Its all started with the decision of First UPA government to request resignation letters from a number of Governors appointed by the previous BJP Government. Mr. Singhal filed a case against this unnecessary removal, which has been referred to constitution bench in 2005.
Supreme court verdict was in favor of Governors. Court instructed that, there MUST be a valid reason for the removal of a Governor. A Governor should not be removed from his office before completing his 5 year tenure, without a strong valid reason...
And, all the Governors in India ruled happily ever after: Except Mr. ND. Tiwari – he is the only one who got removed from his post after this important Supreme Court ruling (Google about this incident if you want your head to explode with more irksome facts). Thanks to Mr. Singhal, now, no governor needs to carry emergency resignation letters in his pocket.
I think at the end of part one, I said part two will be about the job-features of Governors. I mean.., who gives a damn. Right!?

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

State Administration - Governor of India

Governor
United states of America conducts all-encompassing election preparations to fill the voids of state governors. Have you ever wondered why we don't have an election for the post of governor? The answer is simple. Governor is just a mere guardian of the state. He is the constitutional head of state government. In a poetic sense, he is the guardian angel of people. He is the side kick of president. Just like the comic book side kicks, he doesn't get many appreciation from the crowd. A state cannot function without a governor. Constitution says, there must be a governor as the head of state. The reason why we don't conduct election for the governor post is, constitution makers didn't want the following things to happen.
  1. Election is always a clash between different groups of people. If we elect a governor through public elections, there is a swollen possibility of him being biased. A state cannot function properly, if the chief minister and governor represent two different view points on most things. It will be like the fight of Jack sparrow and Barbosa on the bed of that dead-old king.
  2. Elected governors might not have the same kinship with the president like that of nominated governors. Remember, A governor is someone the president can count on. He is like an integral part of the central governance. The power of central administration will loose its knots over the state legislations.
  3. And this ofcourse- Election is too damn expensive.
May be this is why, when the first Union ministry of National Front came in force (1989), VP Sing requested the resignation of all governors. After two years, congress party won the election and Narasimha Rao changed 14 Governors, who were appointed by the previous government. However, this is not considered as unconstitutional. Obviously there is nothing unconstitutional about it. A well organized, well equipped, well maintained governing system in the root is essential for the stability of a powerful central government.

So, what exactly is the job of a governor? We will discuss it in the next class :)