Back again!

Well, there can be no real excuse for disappearing once again . . . But it has happened. Wondering if it is the craze to possess every inch available on cyber space. . . To be part of the innumerable social networking sites. With Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin and a host of others at our disposal are we like a capricious child throwing away the old doll at the arrival of the new one. Childlike or childish?

Laugh at Thyself!

This morning a bunch of small kids, all of them my eleven year old son’s friends trooped in to my house terribly excited about something. When asked, the oldest of them exclaimed to my son, “My Dad has bought a pup for me, Kevin we want you to have a look at it…it’s soooo cute.” You know how girls, especially the young make the cute part really sound cute. My son who never misses a chance to be out with friends got doubly excited in turn. Unable to contain his excitement he rushed out only to be told by his ever watchful mom to have his bath first. My son had just returned from his Karate class. The kids said they would wait till then. Not to let them feel bored, like a Good Samaritan I engaged in a polite conversation with them. “So, Varsha, feeling happy you got a pup?” The girl smiled charmingly saying, “Yes Uncle, my dad actually felt bad that we would be bored during the vacation as we are not planning to go anywhere and he thought a pup would be a good company for us.” A pup only to tackle the boredom of vacation ….Sounded a little strange to me. Animatedly, she went on to tell me the colour of the pup, the place where her dad got it from and finally asked me what to name him. I asked her in turn the same question. Another young kid in the bunch volunteered. “John.” I said, “Hey, that sounds cool, but isn’t that your father’s name too Varsha?” Before she could answer, the boy who suggested the name continued, “Yes Uncle…but don’t you think the dog would feel related to the family if it has the same name? That is why we thought of that name.” Although it sounded logical the name certainly didn’t impress me either for obvious reasons. During all this I did not forget to admire the patience of the kids, waiting to take their friend along despite the fact that the cynosure of their talk was elsewhere. My son finished his bath by then and all of them, as elated as before, hurriedly left the house. I could not believe that a small little thing as a pup would draw so much fun and excitement. I recollected a poem by Tagore I’d read long ago about how ‘small, insignificant' things of the adult world mean so much to the kids. My reverie was abruptly interrupted as I saw my son walking back into the house, annoyed and irritated. "What happened? You are back in a jiffy.” At times it pays off to use their kind of language, you see. Hiding his disappointment that was bordering on anger he said, “It’s Fool’s day today, and they all cheated me.” It took some time for me to appreciate the elaborate preparation the kids had made to execute their plan… a very well executed plan, indeed! They did not fool my son alone; they fooled me too in the process… a double whammy! As I sat smiling I could clearly see the hurt in Kevin’s eyes. I comforted him saying it was a harmless prank played by his friends and explained how important such pranks are in one’s life and especially among friends and family members and how one should take it sportively. One of the most difficult things in life is to laugh at oneself, I told him. Perhaps all of us know it but none likes to do it. Absence of this virtue, I’m sure will make everyone’s life miserable. I don’t know how much of it he understood but he seemed a little relaxed. But I was quite confident that he would understand the necessity to practise that virtue one day, if not today.

Back in Action!!

My last post was exactly a year ago...many things have happened in between, good and bad -it depends on how one perceives it i suppose. Like this friend of mine who visited my home recently and commented on a picture of a woman with tears in her eyes as not suitable for a living room while the same picture from another person received positive feedback as being aesthetically appealing. Well, meanings are in people as the cliche goes.

The events of the last few months have taught me many things that i hadn't learnt in the past several decades. It is quite amazing at times, you know how reality strikes you in a second...and the entire worldview changes. I'm learning to take things as they come and approach life with more positive thoughts. I'm also grateful to my friends, colleagues who supported me through the ordeal. I may not have thanked each one of them individually but here's an opportunity to do that, through this medium..A BIG THANK YOU...to all of you. Of course that includes my family and my wife in particular...Thank you to all. Hopefully, in the coming days I'd be able to write more often than before.

Guardians of development!

Recently, at my residence I had a few 'friends' who assumed I’d be as free as they were. Masquerading as altruists, a few attempted glibly to persuade me into doing things they considered society-centered, hinting insinuatingly that I was selfish and self centered. One or two who were loud-mouthed (pun intended) even raised their voice to pressurize me into toeing their line despite telling them I had had enough of their cock and bull stories. And there was one wisecrack who even accused me of being frustrated (with what, I can't fathom) and embarked on a polemic on these terms- frustration and concerns. This "aristotle' had the cheek to pronounce with utmost finality and so intelligently that anyone who expressed or even had concerns about things must be frustrated. Under what philosophical line of thought did he proclaim so is very intriguing, even today. Had he said disgusted, yes disgusted with what was happening around I would have readily agreed with him. May be even grabbed this mumbo-jumbo's hand and said "Yes boss, you are a genius." Sadly, he didn't give that opportunity to me. Anyways, what really upsets me is the assumption that one makes about people depending on the job they do. When someone says, Look, man I don't have the time for you, why can't people simply go? The unwillingness to spend time on things may be for several reasons. May be I don't believe in things that you do, or may be I have better things to do or may be I have more important things to do or may be I simply don't want to be part of this hocus-pocus in the facade of 'development'. What airs, my God with which these roosters strut about! Hope better sense prevails on these society conscious guardians! My appreciation is also due to those who patiently and silently heard me out without uttering a single word; may be they thought I was being unreasonable or unduly critical or who knows they probably thought I was voicing their concerns, too.

trying to catch up

My god! it's been ages since my last post and not that i wasn't aware of it. Needless to say that i was busy otherwise, what with academic, admin and research work. No jokes, i'm absolutely serious. So thought i 'll catch up with you even if it is simply to tell you that i've been busy. I'm envious of my other friends who, despite their work manage to blog. God bless that bunch! The thinking subjectivities symposium organized by the department went off well and i'm glad there was lot of student participation. The symposium brought in several perspectives, which at times were startling as many things in the past we had taken for granted. The discussions, in some enhanced the already existing confusion but i guess that was to be especially when such topics are discussed. On the whole it was a fruitful endeavour and my colleague PK, the convenor really needs to be appreciated. Christ University in Bangalore is becoming increasingly alive with academic and non academic activities and that is a very healthy sign indeed! Credit must go to all, the student community in particular.

'Decent' living....

Had an interesting discussion in class today. The stimulus actually was a question posed to the listeners of one of the many FM Radio stations in Bangalore. "How much money does one need per month to live a decent life in Bangalore?" I was curious to know the responses. The techie crowd that had tuned in to the station did not belie my expectations. Some said one lakh and a few others said two lakhs. The techies were just being true to thier extravagant and flamboyant life style. Reaching college i thought i must get my students' views on this. How much money do you need per month to live a decent life in Bangalore? Inwardly i was hoping to get a realistic answer. As students how much they can spend every month,i thought even if it means an occasional splurge... Again my hopes were belied. They chorussed the same... one lakh, maybe two max...Seems like for today's youth living in cosmopolitan cities thousands don't count at all or may be they don't even exist. What a seachange in the attitude of the generation of today compared to the previous ones! Probably their understanding of the word decent is quite different from the one that i have. The impact of the consumerist culture is so strong among the urban youth that at times one wonders if even talking to them about value systems that we all often talk about like responsible living without being excessively self centered with a strong sense of social responsibility would only evoke laughter and derision.

Kudos to the aspiring journalists

Had the inauguration of the Journalism association of the University. Dr Chengappa, a journalist cum political scientist was the Chief Guest. Students participated in large numbers and it was a refreshing sight. Hopefully they continue and sustain the momentum as oftentimes the initial euphoria slowly in due course of time disappears. Let the students organize more such programmes and let the spirit of inquiry flourish. All the best!!!

Bicycle Thieves

Got to watch Bicycle Thieves once again.,,,.after almost two decades, thanks to the initiative taken by the MSComm students of the University led by Fr.Biju. The movie continues to impact despite the passage of time. Not surprising at all considering the fact that the theme is universal or should I say eternal. Not many of us however brought this up during the discussion – the relevance of the film to our contemporary situation. The agony and anger of post-war poverty, the director depicted clearly and the shame and guilt experienced by the protagonist at the climax- very poignant they were. Who is a thief? What makes one a thief? Who is to blame for making a perfectly decent, law abiding citizen into a law breaker? Still waiting for answers.

Welcome to Christ!

I guess it's time to break the silence. Time to renew the commitment to the profession - at the beginning of yet another wonderful year. Was happy to see so many new, anxious faces in the auditorium- took me back to my college days.

These are beautiful days, you know...one's college days, yes. But some of you will take time to experience that beauty - beauty in the campus, in the teachers, in the chosen course, in the system - in everything that you will come in contact with. My only request to all of you is this ...Take time to understand...be patient and comprehension will not elude you... and beauty will not deceive you. A beautiful quote for you.....

"Learn the art of patience. Apply discipline to your
thoughts when they become anxious over the outcome of a
goal. Impatience breeds anxiety, fear, discouragement
and failure. Patience creates confidence, decisiveness,
and a rational outlook, which eventually leads to
success."

-- Brian Adams


WISH ALL THE CHRISTITES GOOD LUCK!

The 26/11 mania!

There’s so much talk about 26/11 – have we changed as a nation after a year? How prepared are we to face another such attack? – many more such questions are hurled at us by the media - especially by the electronic media. Many channels are working overtime, interviewing students and working professionals- in other words gearing up for the D-day 26th November. The way it is done one gets an impression of celebrating a festival that one has been eagerly looking forward to. Some have started rerunning all the available footage of the fateful day in their prime time programmes with eminent panelists analyzing the sequences threadbare. In all these attempts to replay in our minds the horrendous scenes of that day there seems a vulgar motive. Is the media trying to inform and educate the public so as to help us become more alert, more vigilant? Is the media suggesting to the government concrete measures to avoid or tackle such problems in future? Ideally, after all that had happened one would wish it were so – that our media, the fourth estate would act more responsibly instead of resorting to rhetoric and gimmicks almost amounting to vulgarity. But, unfortunately it is the same old story being played again and again. And mind you, tomorrow the 26th is going to be worse…from morning to night our media is going to feed us on this sickening diet all the time hoping for another such story that would give them yet another 62 hours of non-stop sensationalism. Justice Liberhan’s recommendations for the working of the media are quite relevant in this context. How is the media to be held responsible and accountable? What measures are in place to deal with irresponsible people (Liberhan’s choice of expression for this is yellow journalism) in the field of media? Will the media respond positively to the suggestions made or will it a turn a blind eye to them and continue to live in their ivory tower assuming that all is well with them?