SNAPSHOT OF THE DAY

I was in Columbus, OH and couldn't help but marvel at the clear skies we have lost the habit of seeing in New Delhi...

Thought of my day....

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.

A Ghost of Wrong Exits & Turns

Did I tell you about the first time?

It ran like a shiver of love

Running through all of my body

Until it was piercing light in my eyes.

Did I tell you about the second time?

It was like floating in a dream

Through darkness and light, 

Until it was a tearing thirst in my throat. 

Did I tell you about my tenth time?

It felt quite like the sun had run out

And winter and dark was all around,

Until it was time for the next time.

Did I tell you about the last time?

It was like a pain that promises to never cease,

Been burning in your muscles since the last time,

Until there was no breathing anymore. 

Did I tell you of the shadowy streets I wonder?

Amidst the dark and scary memories past,

A ghost of wrong exits and turns,

Until there is only waiting for the next birth.

My God, Broken...

I woke up this morning to a cold wind

No thoughts, no words, no feeling

Into an emptiness, a hollow with no meaning

Like my God, this dawn, had not woken 

I looked out of the window to a sunless stretch

No character, no colour, no shape

A monotonous plain, featureless with no end

Like my God, this day, had not spoken

I looked up at a grey and dull heaven

No streaks, no hues, no promise

A canvas with no paint, 

Like my God, through the night, was broken

The forgotten promise of my generation....

The whole world seems to be falling off at the seams and my country has not been left behind from the winds of turmoil and uncertainty that gradually blows us towards an unseen brink. What lies at the bottom of the abyss beyond the cliff I do not know. But I know that as a generation we have failed. And failed rather remarkably!

Every generation has a promise and every generation fails its promise in some measure. For what is a promise if it is not haughty enough to be an aspiration! I was born into a generation with roots in a murky, hardening and protracted struggle for economic and social identity - whether in the microcosm of our own hamlets of existence or on a global stage. A basis that carried the expectation of great achievements and promise of opportunities for takers. Seeded in ideals of tolerance and equality, we came with the promise to build bridges of confidence and unity over all that divided us. 

And when I look around me today, I cannot help but feel that we have squandered away what was handed down to us from our fathers who toiled hard to put up for us a foundation from whence we could establish identities that would make us proud citizens in whatever room we walked into. Instead we have landed ourselves into self-centered isolated islands with no room to spare, no charity in our hearts, intolerance to our neighbours and devoid of the capability to build and sustain relationships. 

Yes we have made a lot of progress on the chronology of evolution with means and ways to ease every pain and eliminate most basic units of struggle. In the process however, we have managed to increase the distances between our hearts, break down the bonds that held us together and all of this while pursuing individualistic aspirations fuelled by fear and greed. A fear that feeds greed and a greed that fuels fear. Entangled in a vicious cycle that is pushing a generation towards a social and economic reality that has incinerated all that was our rich inheritance. 

We have become more prosperous and pronounced as a people but driven a a blade against the moral fibres to the point from whence we can probably no longer repair. And, unabashedly, we continue gnawing at that which unites us, and continue building more walls that divide us.

Acquisition of wealth and associated potency has become the axis of most of our existences. In this pursuit values of sharing, kindness and civic duty being drowned in an apathy that is so dark and desperate that it has begun feeding on our own self worth. 

But I believe that there is good there in our souls. Buried deep in the reverie of selfishness and self-centredness, there still burns the promise of the generation that was to take the world on a shinier path. From the debate that I hear waging in corners and the unrest that brews within the walls of our homes, I hear hope for a better tomorrow. It is hope worth clinging on to for without a tiny glimmer of hope of some measure, we will end up as a generation that failed our past and failed our future. 

The Outcome Matters Not...

One rather solemn evening in the recent past, my grandfather said something that has stuck with me since. He is a career philosopher with years of research and teaching experience so most of what he says I absorb partially, me being someone grounded in the quagmire of practicality. He said, "you must do what you must do but misery and pain ensue when you fall in love and get attached to the outcome". Now it made sense to me somewhat at first sense as being a derivative of service without the hope and wishes of rewards from the Bhagvad Gita. But the more I thought the miseries and sorrows I encountered, self inflicted or of others, it made a lot more sense to me.

It takes the service without wish or hope of consequence or rewards to a whole new paradigm. Most often in life, we undertake the tasks or initiatives that we do with not just an anticipation of an outcome but with the expectation of a desirable outcome. And that kicks off multiple streams of events that guarantee an equal probability of either happiness or sorrow; both at the end of a path and, many times, along the road.

At the very bottom of the stacks of wisdom that makes up the meaning of life is the axiom that the future is not in our control. We can only control the present and align to the most rational course of action. The deepest flaw in our definition of the rational path is that it is built on the expectations of the rationality or gainful nature of the outcome. If we stop defining the present in terms of the future, it eliminates to a great deal the pressure and compulsions we feel to shape an outcome. And it also opens up a wide array of alternatives based on capacity, capability and level of dedication or passion that is felt.

In my experience of a corporate life I have often stumbled in decision making and execution inhibited by the fear and doubt of the outcome. Inherently therefore is the stress that is caused by the defense of the outcome against naysayers around. We feel so much love and attachment over what we have achieved that we are pained when criticism and, less often, feedback crosses our path and we drown ourselves in the joys and sorrows that accompany the rise and fall of the creation of our labors. Imagine a world in which you could just "do the right thing" that is optimum in terms of effort to execute and honest in terms of the intent. Continued stress and doubt of the future, when eliminated, opens up the space in our overcrowded mind and soul that is burdened by worry and anxiety. And inevitably helps us think and act with creativity and in the end be the best human beings we can.

The Dark Side of the Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid...

Ever wonder why the common man or the much flouted aam aadmi suddenly becomes the talk of the grand political hob nobbers at every election and then forgotten? Why the plague of this strange class of voters are never really met? Is it because they are always complaining (I know we Indians can be a complaining bunch!) or is it for another reason?

A reason that is so dripping of selfish commercial and economic gain of the fat tip of the iceberg, that it makes a lot more sense to let the aam aadmi remain there complaining, crying and being traded for their emotional reaction to the practical problems. Are electricity, roads and water the root of all problems plaguing this vote bank or is it just the superficial countenance of a deeper problem. If electricity, road and water were the only problems, the somewhat khaas aadmi would also be bitching. And maybe they are but no one is listening since the weight of the democracy is with the aam aadmi with their commonplace superficial needs.

Have any of us ever wondered why the aam aadmi remains aam over the years and years of trying to improve their condition? I have a theory or two like I always tend to but what strikes me as odd is that the aam aadmi never seems to complain about living and dying aam forever. Well it is the most visible conspiracy ever! Because they rant and cry, and swing election from one political party to another and with all of the nuisance that they can be, they are the largest generators of money for the very few from whom all of them buy. Yes, that’s right! It is the huge population that is buying the bulk of what is generating the money for the khaas aadmi to get more khaas every day in their swanky urban residences and BMWs, fancy clothes from blindingly lit up malls and all the hype and hoopla.

If only every one of those poor aam aadmi guys could get a world class education and aspire entrepreneurially or get a polished service sector job, who would be sweating to harvest the crop, clean the houses and stand guard while the narrow rich throw around their spoils? And who would by the high volume fast moving products and services that make up the source of these spoils? The fortune at the bottom of the pyramid has many sides and welcome to the dark side.

There is profit to be made by letting the laborer toil and the sweeper sweep without developing aspirations. And all it takes is very meagerly financed (given the stretch of the bigger picture) but well thought out propaganda based on picking on memories, triggering emotional reactions to common problems and yes, remind them of their religious and caste based affinities to ensure that they can be divided and ruled – confined to serving, all the while being micro machines for the incredibly large profit generators.  

And it is the same the world over – except probably in Marx’s dreams. Once the votes are counted and the voting machines put away for the next 4 - 5 years, the common man is better-off at the bottom of the pyramid because if they aspire and rise and claim their share of the potential pie, there would be, well, much less pie to go around because the pie would get smaller and the mouths to feed would grow. So whether they are the leaders of the extreme and conservative right or the super liberal fringes of the left, the hard core capitalist selling the Gujarat story or the communist fascist selling whatever it is that they continue to sell, or for that matter the Aam Aadmi Party – the aim is the same in the end. Make sure that the carrot keeps dangling just out of the reach of the aam aadmi and make sure it stays fresh, colorful and attractive at all times and never really let them have it.

Caught in archaic perceptions....

One of the things that makes India so different from the world and possible the single most powerful adhesive between us and our past is the grip of legacy and often archaic perception driven behavior. a lot of people will call it "our culture" and some will call it "our tradition" but what it mostly is, is a set of practices and an outlook that probably made some sense in terms of practicality a long time ago. But they have stayed on with us over generations and gotten enforced as a tremendous force of inertia that drives the way we think, what drives our beliefs and value systems and how we act.

As a country and civilization, we have come a long way from our past that, while studded with gold nuggets and diamonds, is in no way all great. And while we have uniquely adopted the new realities of the environment around us, a lot of the burden of the past still lingers on creating a very complex and sometimes counter-productive approach to seeing and reacting to incidents and surrounding.

These sometimes manifest themselves in taboos that have outlived their utility. Sometimes these are presented in their associations of religious symbolism - most notably heaven and hell. Most times however this manifests in what it really is - "it is what it has been", a generational treatise that has been passed down from the past to the present.

Every passing day these carvings on the stone are being challenged and in some corners being broken down but the progress is slow. Some would probably challenge me in that any way forward breaking shackles of the past, is not progress at all! But how is breaking away from the disappointment of giving birth to a daughter, or the often frowned upon single motherhood or the taboo associated with relationships outside the wedlock not progress.

If you step outside the neon flashes of the mega cities, as you make inroads into the small town and rural cultures, such practices abound in every aspect of life. And I think that holding on to such prejudices, perceptions and practices thus have very little to do with culture or tradition or any other justifying attribute such. We hold on to these beliefs and customs driven by antique value systems because they provide a corner of comfort and a place from where the practicing individual can wield some level of unjustified influence while being shielded from the harsh discomfiture of having to change.

And more often than not we would rather be exploited for this way of thought and action than change. It is how the colonial oppression succeeded and it is how every eon of ruling class has succeeded. We are so divided in our small universes and in our minds that our effectiveness as a united force is sub-optimal at best.  

The very fact that progress has proven inversely proportional to social rigidity, shows that it is. And as long as we choose to hold on to what our ancestors believed in and continue to explore the world and our lives through those narrow lenses, real progress shall elude us. The time has come for new sets of values and beliefs to be adopted that are more in line with the realities and forces of economics and globalization.

Communal Divide - A tool to divide and rule....

According to Bipan Chandra, in his book “Communalism in Modern India”, communal riots are not caused spontaneously and also that they are rarely caused by religious animosity. They arise due to conflicting political interests, which are often linked to economic interests. While our leaders would like us to believe that communal conflicts in our country, especially the recent ones, are an outcome of religious differences they are not.

Yes, we have religious differences and a past that has some times not been the brightest example of our ability to live united. And yes, the foundations of our boundaries and our culture are rooted in deep-seated and often divergent political beliefs. But we are human beings capable of compassion, tolerance and peace. And yet, our leaders have been able to diminish the functions of our sensibilities and convince us that there is a divide and have been able to trigger hatred of those on opposite shores at each other, profitably to satisfy the power and economic benefits of a political class that is crass and unabashed at methodically deconstructing the dreams of our founding fathers and freedom fighters who gave their lives so that we could be free. Free from the oppressions of colonial rule, oppressive landlords and the unscrupulous laws that sought to divide us as a united people and rule to exploit our weaknesses. 

We have faced Fifty-eight major communal riots in 47 places since 1967, ten in South India, 12 in East, 16 in West, 20 in North India with a total death toll of 12,828 (South 597, West 3,426, East 3,581, North 5,224). This is in the land of many religions with none speaking of hatred, conflict and killing in the name of God. Whichever name you give to your God, no God, in any meaningful interpretation of any scriptures has ever spoken of murder and bloodshed as instruments of a spiritual journey.  

Religion is not about domination or doctrines. Nor is it about erecting temples or building churches or mosques, or attending public worship, or participating in any form of display of rituals. Religion is about intellectual wisdom and a spiritual journey. And for long now our political leaders would not like you to think so. Because in their business, if religion were to become your personal guide to whichever higher purpose suits your souls, there would be no divide between people across religious borders that can be exploited for personal benefits. As long as we as a people can keep fighting with each other instead of focusing on the real issues that need serious national debate, the ruling class can get away with administrative inefficiency, a complete lack of personal values and the most menial forms of corruption.

The time is upon us to question whether this nation needs to be built on religious principles. Is religion the purview of the State? Are our individual guides of religion really so different that the simple matter of coexistence must be the foundation of political and national debate? Are political parties playing us across the board – Congress or BJP, the Left or the Right or the national and regional political parties in the name of religion?

Swami Vivekananda said “religions do not come from without, but from within.” It is in our personal space where our religion resides. And no one, no leader, politician or religious leader can prevail over our own internal thoughts, beliefs and triggers. For till the day that they do, till the day we make decisions and commit to actions based on religious divide that has been inculcated in us from without, we can never be truly free…

Who to vote for…

If you are an average citizen of India, like me, most of you probably are faced with this dilemma every time that you approach the prospect to exercise your democratic rights. And some of you will probably not vote to elect your leaders because either you cannot make up your mind or because you think that there is no point in voting! Nothing’s ever going to change, from the the way see things.

And I am guilty as charged. Most often I do not vote because I cannot make up my mind on who is the better of multiple evils. I promise that I spend time looking through my options and listening through the campaign build up but when it comes to the moment, I get serious cold feet. Because I have a criteria that I use to filter out the candidates and then more often than not, I am left with pretty much a shameful void at the end of the process. Here is how I judge and, this is not really a definite rule book but I think it does two things. One, it will provide an estimate of how bad the prospective leadership has become in this country and two, you may just get lucky and be able to make a decision. And when you do, it is just your laziness that is to blame for the adverse election results.

Sometimes, you expect a set of results and even take the initiative to vote, but the actual outcomes are, well look at where we are today. Here is how I decide and I leave it in the open to critique, abuse and maybe I get a fan following. My conscience is clean either ways…

The first step is to be able to appeal to your self and also to the patriotic personae in you (this might be buried under the  and reflect on the following questions…

1. What really matters to you? – there is no point in pretending to be selfless and self sacrificing because truthfully, at every level of thought, we are serving self interests – there is very little that really classifies as truly selfless.
2. What do you think are are the 3 things your immediate surrounding need for the betterment of everyone around you? – Now based on where you are and your life’s experiences on a day to day basis, this list might be the most difficult to come up with – not because you live in utopia but the list can tend to be infinitely long but must be limited to 3 and must be realistic. We all hope for low fuel prices and free food but that’s not happening anytime soon!
3. What do you think are are the 3 things this country needs for the betterment of everyone around you? – Now based on where you are and your life’s experiences on a day to day basis, this list might be the most difficult to come up with – not because you live in utopia but the list can tend to be infinitely long but must be limited to 3 and must be realistic. We all hope for low fuel prices and free food but that’s not happening anytime soon!
4. What are the kind of people you would like to be surrounded by? – This is a slightly indirect but I will get to it! Again, as before, don’t go for the idealistic or be misled by social conditioning. We’d all like to be surrounded by a fusion of character traits that do not really exist in one person. If you want to be surrounded by honest, selfless, funny, good looking, spiritual and articulate people then you were born in the wrong place, time and probably as the wrong kind of living organism.

This will take some time to achieve but you will get there after a few iterations. Depending on your level of patience and dedication to achieve the outcome, it will take from a 30 – 50 iterations! Don’t worry, you get better at it over time.

Now make a list of the potentials – the potential candidates. This list, typically will be in 3 layers. The lowest rungs will be comprised of the DOGS – people who do not deserve to even be in the consideration set. Not considering them is a no-brainer.

There are then the other two layers. Layer 1 will be based on your own political  and social affiliations and Layer 2 will be based on people you think have potential, agnostic of political or social affiliations. And Layer 1 and 2 may have the same candidates. 

The problem is that most often these will not be the people you will directly vote for! We can all think that Narendra Modi may be the person you would like to vote for but you need to understand that a great leader with a bad ground level machinery is not really a good leader at all. That’s not a reflection on the top guy but just that our democratic system is so complicated that it is often the case that the tail end may not be as great as the top guy.

This, in itself, will take some time – more often because we vote for the symbol and not the person hiding behind it – we are driven by a lot of symbolism as a country.

Once you get to this point where you have your thoughts listed out and your potential options consolidated, it is time to open the news channels, news paper and now the Social Media to look for information. Listen to the campaigns and compile as much information as you can get.

Then, GO TO VOTE.... Chances are you will have narrowed down to 2 or 3 possibilities. If you have followed the steps and been true to yourself, you would not have more than a couple. Hit the button!

Politics, Greed or Just Plain Inefficiency...

  

A bunch of really innocent kids dies and for what? This is the saddest and, at the same time, most aggravating tragedy that that hit the country in the recent years. And the recent years have been tumultous with corruption, terrorism and foul politics affecting citizens across the length and breadth of the country. But the death or children because someone mistook pesticides for oil, is the worst stain of inefficiency on the machinery.

Was it just the usual political foul play, that is so common and frequent in this the World's largest democracy? Was is Laloo or some devil from the Congress that planned this outrageous attrocity to create an agenda to fuel the election debates - especially within a state, that by comparison, is currently one of the most efficient and economically growing in the country? When you take a look at the crazy political mileage that is being exploited by the various parties vying for a piece of the Bihar pie, it is almost a matter of certainty that this is quite possibly the most tragic political chess play in the sad and dirty history of recent Indian politics. Consider this...

- The Congress is grappling with extreme governance issues and corruption clouds. Chances are slim that they will come to power unless there is a complete breakdown of the BJP.

- Laloo, apparently backing congress, realizes that with the level of development in Bihar and his impending judgement day at court, he does not have a winning agenda.

- If Nitish comes together with the large section of the BJP, and its allies, who are not favoring the Rajnath Singh way, BJP will fail miserably in the elections.

Any two of the three driving factors has a winning play in the tragedy. And the tragedy has the plus side too of making Nitish Kumar look like an angel - the suspicions and accusations seem to be arising pretty quickly given the standards of the Indian police force.

The Mid Day Meal policy, much like any of the other socialist and populist policies in this country, is one that is designed to win votes more than do any real good. And the administration of the same is loose at best - with the absence of any meaningful and efficient governance that permeates to the roots where the policy actually gets implemented. And from the days of the rations to the looming food security bill, such policies have done nothing but generate red-tape employment for greedy mediocrity to make a short cut buck. I will not be very surprised if this was a plan to make the extra buck by not using the cooking oil provided for by the government and use the spare fertilizer/pesticide lying free. Someone decided to pocket the money. The plan was to probably mix up stuff (oil with pesticide) and went sideways with the wrong container got used. Greed and/or extreme inefficiency. 

Whatever led to this outcome, it was an unnecessary loss that could really have been done without. The kids will not vote for another 10 - 15 years and the parents will lament bothering to vote for the rest of their lives. Is this the path of our righteous democracy? Is that how cheap the cost of a life is. We can raise our voices in protest and carry candlelights to boost the wax industry but we must ask ourselves this fundamental question - are we voting for these people who, beyond the path to the seat, cannot value life of the voter?    

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.