Blistering Barnacles!

Of all the bibulous ballyhoo that emerges from the loquacious lips of politicians, fat cat bankers, investment analysts, plutocrats, businessmen and corporate kookaburras, the weirdest is the idea that the businesses of a company or government is delivery of value to its clients, customers or the people. People all over the world have a credibility quotient and an appetite for swallowing bullshit into their genetic blueprint. The U.S.A. is staring at an economic ‘’fiscal cliff’’ and in India there is a huge fiscal mountain of debt, current account deficits that will take a long time to flatten. As Reagan stated” when your neighbor loses his job it is called recession and when you lose your job it is depression’’. One cannot be enormously wealthy and successful without persuading some politician or government official to bestow favors on you. Nothing succeeds like sleaze, and the ability to “fix” things is the most important attribute. Sleaze is the grease that lubricates the world of big business. Never call a spade a spade, call him a golden toothpick, but if you are against all bullshit tactics and holy cows you can call the spade a bloody bulshitting shovel. In public life use your words carefully.- The Bullshit Quotient-

Gentrified.

The word ‘gentry’ is an anachronism – it is a thing of the past. Aristocracy, landlords or landed gentry evokes a cosy genteel exclusive and somewhat smug world – in which background and family were deemed more important than sheer- wealth and individual qualities. The younger generations has declined this privilege and are scattered round the globe. In those days it was all about land, they had core values of grace, enterprise, chivalry, breeding and honor. Money and conflict were as crucial as blood and family, but character was important and this many times has caused them to lead a life of struggle in later years. A sense of order, sociability, well being and ability were expressed through the landscape and inter folding of people. Land, animals, paddy fields, food, and old rambling mansions, all interconnected with old money and social connections. Many amassed wealth through plantations, business was looked down upon – so too jobs and politics. As the old order changed slowly, big businesses, politics and the government took over of vast tracts of land and pushed them slowly to penury. Some through their achievement, adjustment & adaptation have advanced up the ladder. The beautiful sense of community slowly disintegrated by unkindness, dominance and competition. To struggle with the new world order and corrupt politics was their waterloo. In the faint horizon we can still hear the clink of wine glasses, the clutter of Dresden crockery as the hushed low voices fill the air. Life is a struggle and community ephemeral.

A Serene Journey.

Thou still unravished bride of quietness, thou foster child of silence and slow time! If you listen with your heart, quietening your mind, you can hear the brook and the river gurgling (breathing) in bliss – as they meander on their arduous journey. There is no hurry, she is on her way to the sublime retreat, and she enjoys the experience, and knows she will reach her destination someday. Finally the ocean will claim the river in an epiphanic cosmic sweeping moment merging together and there is only water and river no more.-Vinay- As Lao Tzu states “ Every journey is a search and the pleasure lies in the journey, rather than the destination”.

Dead Senses Come Alive in Nature land.

One evening I wandered beyond the hills into the woods overlooking the city, it was a blend of exceptional beauty and tranquility. A pristine patch of nature preserved within the environs of the town with a bewitching charm. The sun was beginning to set and the modest crimson light seeped through the couture of dark foliage creating a dense evocation. The woods were so dense and there are no pathways, its wild nature whose sheer intensity makes us gasp in awe - desire burns slowly as the details emerge, hitting you with an intense punch. Our senses awaken to the whole story about longing and derail the elemental matters confronting mankind. A hushed silence envelopes everything like in deep meditation. The intimacy of nature demands one to physicall y bend and smell the fragrance of flowers or peer at the texture of a mushroom. These are the minutiae we miss in our daily lives which are revealed in nature- often with an absurd sensibility and require a poetic sense of imagination. We ignore these vignettes because we are immersed in the different aspects of our quotidian lives. A mystic osmosis takes place and a sense of elation overcomes me. I found the woods enlightening and liberating, all my worldly worries disappeared like an illusion as true nature revealed itself in the serenity of my thoughts. Back in the city lights come on, where glass and concrete has devoured mother earth. People despite street lights are walking in darkness, and cannot fit into nature’s landscape…, they have to rebirth anew. They understand nothing in that sense - it is difficult for them to recognize the insufficiency of worldly knowledge. I let out a sigh of relief before setting out to see the sorrier and sordid side of the world–Vinay-

Winds Of Change.

A new world is trying to eradicate old traditions but is not easy, as the old war horse fights back but doesn’t really stand a chance. The old Victorian buildings are being pulled down to give way to monstrous glass and concrete structures. During Asian and Commonwealth games the whole topography of Delhi in India was changed, similarly in cities where Olympic games were hosted. As Bailey and Pattanaik state that even in the eastern philosophy it states “everything must change for better or for worse” It is like someone growing a beautiful cauliflower in the garden to nurture and admire it, then of course, somebody else will come along and eat it. In the old Vedic system a man is supposed to retire from active life once his son has a son of his own - and renounce the wo rld and material activities. His s supposed to eat half of what he ate as the householder, and in the final renounced state eat whatever the wind brought him. The essence is that the old makes way for the new, so that society just as in nature is always taken care of and there is like too much burden on the resources of nature. It is like a career or job where you have given your heart and soul and your self-worth hinges around it. We are terrified of letting go of our identities, you may not let it go, but it has already let you go. Only those who relearn and reinvent themselves can inherit the future.

Sharp Shark Sex.

There is something particularly sinister in a shark’s appearance. The sight of his ugly triangular fin lazily cutting zigzags in the surface of the sea, and then submerging to become a hidden menace, suggests a malevolent spirit. The idea that they are ‘brutish and unrelenting’ goes way beyond perception, yet shark attacks are an exotic rarity the modest threat they pose to us, and the grave threat we pose to them. TheoTait states that many scientists don’t like to talk about shark sex, they worry it will only reinforce the popular perception that these creatures are brutish and unrelenting. Larger male sharks have to bite or trap the females to keep them around during courtship; the process is so violent that, come the mating season, female nurse sharks will stay in sha llow water with their reproductive openings pressed firmly to the sea floor. Otherwise they risk falling prey to roaming bands of males who will take turns inserting their claspers penis in her. Biologists can tell when a female has been mating because her skin will be raw or bleeding. Fear and hatred of sharks are powerful forces - reinforced by movies like Jaws. Sharks were swimming the seas before our continents took shape, while the dinosaurs were still around; They are carnivores, and the ones we’re most fascinated by are the most rapacious predators, right up at the top of the food chain. The big species that prey on marine mammals - the bull shark, which lives close inshore and up rivers, eats everything from dolphins to small sharks and, on occasion, horses – and has ‘the highest level of testosterone of any animal on earth. Meanwhile, to supply the shark fin soup trade alone, an estimated 73 million sharks are killed each year. Sharks are facing an extinction crisis; they will be mostly wiped out becoming little more than a folk memory.. Who is the predator man or shark??

Martyr.

Indians have always been a tribe that makes adjustments and are tolerant of other religions and cultures, as evidenced even during the Mughal and British rule. Martyrdom is when we give up our lives for a religion faith or ideology an indicator of inflexibility and absolute surrender, refusing to budge and dying for a cause. Devdutt Patnaik takes us down the earliest labyrinths of martyrdom which began with the Judaic faith. The Greek Selucid Empire went about “Hell raising” all lands including Judea home of the Hebrew tribe. The Jewish clung to their faith despite pressure to change refused to eat pork or make offerings to foreign gods. Judaism is synonymous with martyrdom as Judas insisted on keeping the Sabbath and circumcising male offspring. In Christianity both Roman slaves and nobility faced the wrath of the establishments. Jesus was a martyr as he refused to give up his faith. The early Christians were burned on the stake or fed to the lions for dissent. In Islamic tradition a martyr is called Shaheed meaning witness “to Shaha da” (there is no god but Allah). The first martyr was a woman Sum Ayyah bint Khayyat. In Shia the observance of Moharram ,where suffering is emulated by self flagellation for Hussain who died in the battle of Karbala. In Indian Vedic tradition there is no Sanskrit word for martyr. Though some saints and Sikh gurus suffered persecution, at the hands of the Mughals. However during India freedom struggle from the British rule ‘Shaheed’ become popular amongst the revolutionaries. Defending ones country is seen as a noble and upright cause. Bhagat Singh become a martyr inspiring freedom fighters when he walked into the gallows singing the song “Mere Rang de Basanti” (Color me saffron, the color of sacrifice) dying for ones motherland. I am reminded of an opening dialogue from the movie by General Patton of the US Army “You don’t win wars by dying for your country; you win wars by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country” Questions haunt us about color of sacrifice.