Religion that is no more about SPIRITUALITY...

I am a tolerant person, well mostly! I believe that God and religion is a bunch of hoopla and hoax created to control the human free spirit. But, I am tolerant to those who find God or find peace in God. What I do find wholly bewildering are the people who hide behind religion when their individual purpose is solved. And I am not talking of politicians and self proclaimed tricksters, er, religious leaders! I am talking of every day idiots who hide behind religion to justify asinine behavior, incompetence and malicious intent. 

A Mark Twain quote comes to mind...

And I live in India. The Motherland of Religious Escapists. Everything impractical and sometimes everything that defies basic logic can be justified by religion. Whether it is fasting yourself to illness or making excuses for not working (the never ending inventory of religious festivals and functions) to shunning basic human dignity. All this can be justified by using religion as an argument.

And there is always a loophole to exploit. At the very least to ensure that all is forgiven! If you commit a sin, no matter, there is always some temple you can ring the bell at or a river you can bathe in to clean up! And then you can go right back to sinning, whatever your choice of sin may be. Every time I go to any relic of religious worship, the number of crooks praying can only be outdone by the number of people exploiting God and the crooks to make a quick buck. 

To say nothing of religious extremities! Some of them are just plain stupid and others are reflections of poor character that is preached in the garb of religion. An extreme example is that of the Aghori Sadhus. These are members of a Hindu sect who worship Shiva, whom they see as the supreme god. Because they believe that Shiva created everything – they consider nothing to be bad. For this reason they engage in a variety of sexual practices, they drink alcohol, take drugs, and eat meat. A perfect example of leveraging religion to eat, drink, fuck and make merry! 

In some parts of India it is believed that ghosts can inhabit certain people of the living world. Most notably, girls who are born with a baby tooth already erupted through the gum and girls who are very ugly or have some facial deformation are believed to be possessed by ghosts. The only way to exorcise the ghosts is for the girl to marry an animal, typically a goat or dog. Even though there is a lavish wedding ceremony complete with booze and dancing, the girl is not expected to copulate with the animal – which is good news!

And how can we talk of religion and it's bullshit (pardon my language but I cannot find a better word) and not talk of the Muslims and their matam and the Sati Pratha among Hindus. Thankfully the latter has not been outlawed. But I am sure if you search deep and wide enough, it is still practiced.  

By all means, pray and be spiritual. But you don't have to burn women, be violent and marry animals to achieve fulfillment. And if you truly find charity in your heart and good will to the world, practice it instead of using it as a facade to commit atrocities.

Intention – the true power of democracy….

 

We have, as a nation and as a people, shrunken to remarkable depths of lack of purpose and a telling vacuum of values. We have been gripped by selfish fear and doubt of affecting good in the world. Not because we do not have the resources or the opportunity but we have come to a fantastic lack of will to make a difference. As Roosevelt says in his inauguration speech in ’33, “our distress comes from no failure of substance. We are stricken by no plague of locusts. Compared with the perils which our forefathers conquered because they believed and were not afraid, we have still much to be thankful for.” And yet there lurks within the corners of our hearts and minds the plague of self-doubt and apprehension that have become hurdles to progress. We have stopped fighting and, more seriously, lost the intent to fight in our hearts. The lack of intent has led to us seeing the ill and inequity in the world and yet not taking cognizance of it. It has led us to hearing the cries of suffering but not listening.

We are the world’s largest and most dense democracy. Being as that may, we have, instead of exploiting the great miracles of it, become victims of it. Our leaders have gone from being humble representatives of our aspirations to becoming the directors of our fate. Stubborn, incompetent and corrupt, our representatives have exploited our lack of intent, our doubts and our selfishness at every opportunity that we have presented them to corrupt them into incompetence, stubbornness and incredible lack of loyalty for the land and the people whence they derive their birth and ascension, the land and labor on which they have set up their empires of tyranny and the people who they have been elected to represent in national decision making and governance.

How did we get to this place of hopelessness? Is it the system that is to blame, or the law of the land, or is it the executive layer? I think the biggest bearers of the burden of blame must be us. Every individual who has sacrificed our sense of ownership of our country, our right to question the people we have elected and drowned in accomplishing narrow goals without a wider purpose, is to blame. What separates us humans from the less evolved is our ability to form intentions that rise above the fulfillment of base instincts and material greed, and act upon these intentions. The Irish tell a story of a man who came to the gates of heaven and asked to be let in, St. Peter said "Of course just show us your scars", the man said " I have no scars", St. Peter said " What a pity, WAS THERE NOTHING WORTH FIGHTING FOR?"

Today, more than ever before, we need to demolish our corners of comfort and rekindle the long extinguished wicks of anger. More than ever before, we need to channel our doubts and fears into a conduit for demanding more – first from our own selves and thence from our leaders if we are to survive as a nation and rise to a glory that is quickly getting covered in the realms of past glory. More than ever before we need to stand up and take responsibility for what is failing around us and fight to rebuild what has fallen by the way. It is only then that we can realize our true place and full potential.

No one is beyond reproach and unaccountable for their actions. No one owns our destiny more that our own selves. No one can do wrong and get away without punishment. Those that seem powerful and untouchable today rose from among us, were poorly chosen by us and must be dismantled by us before their greed and selfishness can dismantle our most prized possessions – our national identity and pride.  Subhash Chandra Bose once said in a speech to the SOLDIERS of India's Army of Liberation, “History had taught me that every empire has its inevitable decline and collapse. Moreover I had seen with my own eyes, cities and fortresses that were once the bulwarks but which became the graveyards of by-gone empires.”

Change is brewing around the corner, waiting for the strength of our collective intentions to call in the forces that will drown the beast who has long fed on our weaknesses and impotence. Let’s unlock our intentions, long buried under, and join to build a better future…

Times of India Screw Up....!

Is this a screw up that is mistaken or intentional..!! TOI has become such a sensationalist media house that they will make news out of any rubbish and when there is nothing, just make something up, I guess...

The JIHAD of Cosmetic Perceptions.....

India’s leading news channel for 3 years in a row was doing a segment on what our silver screen’s leading ladies look like behind the layers of treatment and make-up. Besides the obvious ludicrousness of Anushka’s new lips and the pitiable raggedness of Kareena and Rani without their make-up, the obvious thought that stays behind is the question on what drives the thriving investment in appearance excesses.

   

The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) has projected that the market size of Indian cosmetics industry which is currently (2012-13) estimated at Rs. 100 Bn, will double to be worth Rs. 200 Bn by 2014 due to emergence of a young urban elite population with rising disposable incomes and increase in working women looking for lifestyle-oriented and luxury products. And, According to a global survey conducted by the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, India was ranked fourth in the list of top five countries in the world for the number of people going for surgical and non-surgical procedures to enhance their features. The survey included the top 25 countries representing 75 per cent of all procedures performed by board certified plastic surgeons in 2009. Overall the estimated number of procedures done in India in 2012 was 1.14 million, which amounted to 6.2 per cent of the world’s cosmetic surgeries. It is a big jump for India who was not even in top 20, 10 years ago.

These present a very potent and rich market and the sharks, now having tasted blood, want more. How did we get here and how can this be exponentially grown? India has a female population of 615 million with 50% between 0 – 25 years of age. If we can somehow get all of them to spend at least Rs. 100 a month, that’s Rs. 738 Bn a year in potential revenue. And of course, the more the more the merrier! And, why not! When, all that it takes is the ability to create two sets of perceptions that play with basic human instincts and insecurities thereof.

Most cosmetic marketing is centered on drawing and fueling a male fantasy and thereafter chop away at the female sense of self-esteem. And this is not much of a secret and millions of pages have been written on this. Take a look around at some of the cosmetic advertising – they are all centered on a benchmarking of appearance perfection (dry hair, dry skin, skin marks and the likes) and how you (or your ladies) can get to that image manipulated and make belief perfection enabled by the product or service on sale. If you can make a woman appear, appear being the operative word, as the perceived outcome of your product or service, and make it convincing enough, there are two seeds of doubt you have sown. In the mind of the woman you have successfully sown the question of ‘can I get there’? And, in the mind of the male you have successfully sown the seed of desire ‘that’s what I deserve or should aim for’. In essence you have defined the acceptable standard of beauty, based almost entirely on leveraging perception to manipulate an evolutionary imperative.

Evolution, in many words, dictates that opposites attract based on the desire of the fittest offspring! The fittest that can survive in the big bad world! The process of advertising and marketing focusses on redefining the idea of what is fittest. Once the definition of fittest is penned down as fair and flawless skin and, for some reason, silky long hair, the entire basis for social outlook has been transformed. To survive, you no longer need physical and intellectual acumen and adaptability. You just need to look like ‘this’!

That is the first part of the transformation that will ensure that an origin of ever flowing money is created. The next part of the problem is to sustain and reinforce that belief on an ongoing basis so that, like most broadcasted messages, the desire and insecurity is never diluted – keep that stream alive and growing. The website Heart of Leadership posts a survey report that finds more than 90 percent of girls – 15 to 17 years – wanting to change at least one aspect of their physical appearance. Now that is what represents (with counterparts across age groups) a solid stream of women trying to look better and therefore spending. How do you keep that need and desire alive and growing? Make sure that every target is sufficiently exposed to an endless stream of images that portray the benchmark of beauty and associated success. This is really where our plastic beauties come to play. Surgically appropriately implanted and painted in the right proportions to cover the natural flaws, any woman can be made a goddess of the perception of beauty.

What one fails to notice is the fact that the end product does not exist naturally in reality. It never ever has as against the cosmetic industry that has flourished since the days of the alchemists’ concoctions. After so many pages and sermons of this fundamental wisdom that nature survives through flaws and perfections balancing each other, common sense and truth still loses the battle to the apparent lure of the perception. Small wonder it is that under the paint of cosmetic portrayal hides a monster that is self-destructing with every layer that is added and washed away.

No one is born knowing that fair and flawless skin and long and silky hair do not make a beautiful you. It is gradually fed into your blank slate neurons until you are indoctrinated to the core or eliminated from the race. The pursuit of beauty has, over the years, assumed the proportions of a subconscious religion – something that everyone believes in and it does not take too much depth and intellectual smarts to achieve – it only takes money. And the more money you can spare, the greater the conviction of your religious alignment; most often to the point where the individual loses of the distinction of reality and doctrine. In many ways you can compare this with religious fanaticism. It is a jihad of the cosmetic capitalists against the common sense and natural order of things.

A Script of Indian Politics…

Day 0

MoI Correspondent, Minutes of India, Srinagar May 18 20xx

7 Killed and 12 Wounded in Militant Attack in North Rashmir
"7 people were killed, including 3 military personnel, in a suitcase bomb at Kshitij Plaza in North Rashmir…"


Day 1

Chief Minister of Rashmir– Senior Member of the Wrongress Party

“This is a truly barbaric act that has no basis in Islam and we condemn this unreservedly. We will spare no pains to hunt down and bring the criminals to justice”

President of Rashtriya Righteous Parishad

“We believe that Chindistan Jihad have again gained the upper hand in challenging our national integrity as the ruling Wrongress Party leaders sit back and encourage such attacks by fundamentalist elements from Chindistan to act under the cover of meaningless peace talks”

Prime Minister of Hindistan – Wrongress Party

“This is a very savage act on our soil and we are mobilizing our strongest investigative partners to hunt down the perpetrators and bring them to justice”

Senior Member of Rashtriya Righteous Parishad

“This is a barbaric act. The Wrongress Party must deal a stronger arm instead of playing fiddle to west driven friendship and peace policies”

Party Spokesperson of Wrongress Party

“We have instructed the Chief Minister’s Office at Rashmir to work closely with the military police and civilian agencies to chase down the criminals behind this horrific act”

Chief Minister of Rashmir– Senior Member of the Wrongress Party

“We have had detailed discussion with the Prime Minister and have requested the resources of Hindistan Intelligence Agency (HIA) and Border Intelligence Agency (BIA) to investigate the incident”



Day 7

MoI Correspondent, Minutes of India, Srinagar May 25 20xx
Attack Intelligence was shared with Rashmir Home Ministry
"An anonymous source at the Border Intelligence Agency said that it had shared advance intelligence with the Rashmiri Home Minister that indicated possible terrorist activity in April… "

President of Rashtriya Righteous Parishad

“This Wrongress Government is inefficient and corrupt, and has not been able to deal effectively with any of the past Chindistan Militancy on our soil. We demand the immediate resignation of Central Home Ministry and Rashmir Chief Minister”

Senior Minister of Rashtriya Satyavaadi Party

“This government led by the Wrongress Party and the Opposition leaders of the Rashtriya Righteous Party are all equally inefficient and corrupt. Rashmir should be under military rule.”

Home Minister Rashmir

“I can assure you that no such intelligence was shared with us. This is just opposition tactics to taint the current government”



MoI Correspondent, Minutes of India, Srinagar May 25 20xx
Rashtriya Satyavaadi Party threatens to go on Indefinite Hunger Strike
“Rashtriya Satyavaadi Party President has threatened to organize a peaceful hunger strike and demonstration outside the residence of the Wrongress Headquarters from Saturday unless speedy justice was dispensed on the Rashmir Investigations.”

Party Spokesperson of Wrongress Party

“We have setup a Joint Parliamentary Investigation Commission to investigate the communication failure between the BIA and Rashmir Home Minister. The Prime Minister would like to assure the country that strict action will be taken based on the findings of the report.”

President of Rashtriya Satyavaadi Party

“BIA, HIA, Military Police and Home Minister are all in each other’s beds. We are starting our protest demonstration on Saturday. I shall go on indefinite hunger strike.”

Senior Minister of Wrongress Party on Twitter

“Another hunger strike! ROFL..!! RSP should understand that hunger strikes don’t solve real problems”

Day 12

MoI Correspondent, Minutes of India, Srinagar May 31 20xx
Rashtriya Satyavaadi Party President goes on Hunger Strike
“Rashtriya Satyavaadi Party President has commenced his hunger strike and demonstration outside the Wrongress Party Headquarters.”


Party Spokesperson of Wrongress Party

“The party leadership is not very worried about populist protests – like so many before the RSP will run out of steam when brought to a national debate, away from their fringe attack policy”

President of Rashtriya Righteous Parishad

“We will boycott parliament until a full report of Rashmir Home Ministry investigation report is not submitted”


MoI Correspondent, Minutes of India, Srinagar May 31 20xx
Parliament hung over uproar from opposition – no Food for Poor Bill this session
“The opposition parties led by Rashtriya Righteous Party gheraod the speaker demanding justice. No action marked the day in parliament and the speaker adjourned the house…”


Day 15

MoI Correspondent, Minutes of India, Srinagar June 3 20xx
RSP President continues his hunger strike. Physician says condition stable.

Party Spokesperson of Rashtriya Righteous Parishad

“We will boycott parliament until the prime minister resigns.”

President of the Wrongress Party

“The Prime Minister has our full support.”


Day 20

MoI Correspondent, Minutes of India, Srinagar June 8 20xx
Joint Parliamentary Report submitted. An ASS found guilty

Party Spokesperson of Rashtriya Righteous Parishad

“The Rashmiri Home Minister must resign immediately.”

President of the Wrongress Party

“We are going through the report submitted. Let me assure you that just action shall be taken.”

Party Spokesperson of Wrongress Party

“The prime minister has called for a meeting with the BIA and HIA chairmen to map out next steps.”


MoI Correspondent, Minutes of India, Srinagar June 8 20xx
President of RSP end fast
“The president of RSP has ended his indefinite fast. In a statement to MoI he said ‘we will observe the action taken by the Wrongress Government on the report before deciding on next steps’ “



Day 25

MoI Correspondent, Minutes of India, Srinagar June 13 20xx
Home Minister claims error by Assistant to Special Secretary of Rashmir Home Ministry – ASS of Home fired from job
“The Rashmir Home Ministry spokesperson claimed that the report was classified as insufficient evidence by the ASS and that the ASS has been fired on negligence...”

Party Spokesperson of Rashtriya Righteous Parishad

“The Rashmiri Home Minister must resign. The culture of the ministry is responsible for such misconduct and the Home Minster must take responsibility”

President of the Wrongress Party

“We have read and acted upon the report by firing the ASS in the office of the Home Ministry.”



Day 30
MoI Correspondent, Minutes of India, Srinagar June 18 20xx
Bomb Suspect Apprehended!!

Press Release by BIA Chairman: The BIA Special Action Force, in collaboration with the State Police, HIA forces and the army has apprehended the two key suspects involved in executing the Suitcase Bombing last month….

Press Release by HIA Chairman: The HIA Special Tracking Team, in collaboration with the State Police, BIA and the army has apprehended the two key suspects involved in executing the Suitcase Bombing last month…

Press Release by Rashmir Home Minister: The State Police Special Purpose Team, in collaboration with the HIA, BIA and the army has apprehended the two key suspects involved in executing the Suitcase Bombing last month…

President of the Wrongress Party

“I am proud of the relentless effort of all agencies involved in tracking down the perpetrators of a truly barbaric act.”

Party Spokesperson of Rashtriya Righteous Parishad

“The center must now focus on speedy justice. Anything short of the death penalty will send messages of leniency to Chindistan”

Chairman of a major Human Rights Group

“The prisoners must be given a fair judicial process. Killing them will not make us any different from them.”

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The essential characteristics of an Indian Political Leader…

On any average day we choose to make decisions that affect not only our own lives but the lives and ways of those that we depend on, those that surround us and even those whose lives are not intimately connected to ours in any particularly decipherable way. And very often those decisions do not conclude to the outcomes we expect from these decisions. And when this happens, more often than not, we end up creating our own perceived burden of failure that we live with for the rest of the period that we suffer the outcomes. We make these weighty burdens pins in the cushion of our life; sometimes learn from them and, with a little luck, move forward with corrective and wiser decisions that create positive outcomes for all affected.

There are those among us who do not feel this burden and continue to make whatever there is to make of the resultant situation, and simply move on. Considered in an isolated environment such individuals are very often considered brave and optimistic in their approach. When you consider that their decisions and outcomes affect many lives, they make for extremely selfish and almost social psychopaths – most of them probably end up becoming our political leaders. The ability to reap personal benefits off of every situation and make that the core objective is quintessential to get to a position of power where one can govern and lead. Every other manifestation of evil we see, as we read through the lives of those who decide our fate as a people and as a country, is an outcome of this profitable ability to shrug off the good or bad of any decision made as long as there is a personal benefit.

Take a look around and then take a while to contemplate on the state of the nation. Every day and every newspaper that covers the truth will tell you the same story of leaders who we elected to office have pegged us at the lowest end of the priority spectrum. Somehow these people have been able to convince us of our their genuine intent on helping us develop, progress and get from high to higher, while their every subsequent decisions sink us lower and lower into a quicksand from where there is no recovery. The only high-to-high movement is for their own coffers. And that stems from the complete lack of any possible consideration of outcomes. When you take that look around, ask of yourself this question – who among these clowns is really someone who cares about the condition of the constituent? I have had a very hard time spotting anyone who can restrict the high of power from getting the responsibilities of power drunken stupid.

From a limited internet research, 2012 alone yielded scams worth losses over 3000 billion – about 3% of the GDP. And this is just what has made it to the Wikipedia list. Even if I am very optimistic, I would peg the corruption losses to about 10 – 15% of the GDP of 1.89 trillion dollars in 2012. In 2012 India has ranked 94th out of 176 countries in Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index, tied with Benin, Colombia, Djibouti, Greece, Moldova, Mongolia, and Senegal. Look at the countries we are ranked with and then put the promises and propaganda of progress and growth in perspective. Have our leaders done us proud or pushed us to the brink of shame?

Indian Democracy - A Non-Inclusive Farce

It is surprising how, over a period of time, governance is defined less and less by the long term betterment of the governed and increasingly in terms of the exorbitant greed and narrow perspectives of the unscrupulous who govern. A certain amount of corruption is acceptable in any form of democratic government and it has been proven often that a little bit of grey spotting in the space between the black and white is motivation for progress and helps things move along smoothly. We have however arrive into an eon where the fundamental outcome has become one of extreme greed and power mongering.

It is disappointing to see a nation built on the sacrifice of many thousands and fought for by great leaders, a nation that was the seat of civilization, a nation that has been the cradle of some of the greatest of mathematical and philo sophical doctrines, fall to such stupor over money feeding greed for more power aimed at greater amounts of money. And where there is money, darkness and evil find its way to create an extreme downward spiral that sustains itself while spinning everything that it touches completely out of control.

What have we elected to lead our nation? Or have we elected at all? In a thought proving discussion some time back, I was attempting to define the modal class of voters in the country – who is the single largest group of voters that can be discretely characterized? This single largest group or profile of voters is who decides the fate of the leadership that governs our fate.

Not supported by anything other than my educated guesstimate and conviction born of having read enough statistics from different sources, the average voter is a person who is educated somewhere between incomplete school education and an incomplete college education, struggling to make ends meet for himself and a family of at least two through some form of unskilled or semi-skilled labor – possibly residing without access to most, if not all, amenities of comfort like 24 hour good quality water, round the clock electricity, good infrastructure and without access to a dream or hope of a better future. Whether this exact electorate exists to fit into the profile, I am not sure, but the collective consciousness that is defined thus will decide the fate of the elected leadership. The collective consciousness may be bolstered by subsets of the stated characteristics or be defined by intersections with samples flanking the defined median; it can be represented by any of the hundreds of our demographic markups or geographic boundaries or can be part or full of any cross section of the population that we can study. 

It is at this playing field that fate and future of our country is being bartered through material or abstract promises. It is this population, without access to a source of information surrounding current affairs or the intellect to tell fact from propaganda and without the will to exercise informed macro choices, beyond those that are basic sustenance related, that builds the numbers when it comes to electoral turnout. And therein lies the truth of Winston Churchill’s realizations that the best argument against democracy is 5 minutes spent with the average voter. It is this voter who is building the numbers of electoral turnouts and it is among them that the future and present of our nation is being nickel and dimed by those who have inherited the money and power to buy and sell votes.

While we are proud of the fact of being the world’s most complex and largest democracy, and given the opportunity, holler it to anyone who will lend a listening ear, we are probably one of the worst performing democratic machineries in terms of outcomes – progress, transparency, electoral maturity and the true ability to make a free choice of leadership. And the leading cause is the stark unavailability of decision driving intellect or information with the median voter. To be able to drive true universal adult franchise through informed decision-making, we must first ensure that the average median voter is informed and can comprehend the truth (the facts without prejudice) and be given the ability to drive accountability of the elected. Without media, rules and controls that can separate fact from propaganda intelligibly to the median voter, democracy is largely a non-inclusive farce being sponsored by the taxpayer’s money.  

Phone – Phablet – Tablet….

The era of technology is not running quite the way I had always thought it would. Some of the thoughts were influenced by Hollywood movies, I know, but still! I still have my innocent fingers crossed for a world that would be simulation driven and I would not really have to go anywhere to get anything done – technology would take care of everything. Food would be synthesized from basic element cartridges through a food printer of sorts, To go to work, I would essentially need to put on a headset within a virtual office simulation and so on. However, the current phone – phablet – tablet battle seems to be stalling the progress of technology quite significantly.

Apple made the iPhone and the iPad. And then Google made the android that got adopted to making competitive phones smarter. Now that was the time when we should have started focusing on the next breakthrough! Instead Samsung, Apple, HTC. Motorola and the zillion other knock-off fighters are going from different sizes to shapes to widths. Bigger phone, smaller tablet, smarter device, longer battery, HD, SD, 8 MP, 12 MP and so on and so forth we battle on. We can dock it in the car, into our pockets and carry the world around on it and the cloud. I have stopped getting impressed and will not till my iPad can drive my car! iPhone (n+1) or the Android Potato Salad (or whatever) will, I think, not be the the incremental value of the crores spent on advertising!

WHAT’s NEXT!? And to answer that question, all we have are tales and PR stories around 3D printers, Google Glass and etc. etc. Nothing really is earth shattering, that can fundamentally alter human beliefs and change the way we live anymore. If I get to see only one earth shattering innovation in a lifetime, that I can afford, I am pretty much like my grandfather who saw TV and my great grandfather who was amazed by electricity!! Where are flying cars and shuttle rides to the moon? affordable ones – all I can see is struggles to make the hybrid work feasibly!

Cultural confusion...?

I had to photograph this and wonder, iPad in a poly-bag... I wonder if this is an example of cultural fusion or cultural confusion....?