The burden of culture

Just last week glorifying Indian culture and traditions in mains and now being cynical about same culture and traditions, boy oh boy what a turnaround, Let me just give brief background about origin of these seemingly divine things to show in reality how divine they are.

Religion was a tool invented by primitive man to appease nature which scared him and he was awed by its might, which showed its manifestation in the form of storms and thunder, this along with spirit worship gave rise to animism and naturism, which eventually grew to become modern day religion. What I mean to say is man created God and its not the other way round, religion was a tool created to bring solidarity between people, reduce anxiety, through rituals provide some time to get out of routine mundane activities. Religion was created for comfort of man.

Caste as a system of practice finds its first mention in purush sukta of chapter 10 from rig veda, it talks about four-fold division of society into brahmin, kshatriya, vaishya, shudra. It was intended to create self-sufficiency and interdependency among members of society. Caste was just for divsion of work among members so that all the essential jobs are performed by concerned persons, it was not a rigid system and people could change caste based on merit. But over a period of time the system created for comfort of humans itself became an evil system.

Language as everybody knows is a tool for communication, thus developed differently in different geographical locations.

Culture, Customs, Traditions etc. were all created, modified depending upon needs.

Gender is the most cruel form of social construct by this patriarchical society. In the name of culture, suffocating a women curtailing her very identity.

Man created all these for his own comfort, but these very tools of comfort have now become so independent of their creators that they have gone beyond control of man himself. All these traits have become so heavy that humans are crushed under its very weight of carrying on with them, feeling suffocated, killing personal liberty.

Wise man that he was, Ambedkar called for annihilation of these cultural traditions which are against spirit of humanity itself, bringing in rationality and some sense into activities, making every person equal.

Every person should be judged for their individual abilities, and not primordial identity of religion, region, caste, language. Hope this change happens for the good.
This reminds me of a story. Long time ago there was person who used to perform early morning prayers and a cat used to come and drink his milk which he kept for prayer. This continued for many days, finally the man decided to catch the cat and put it under basket while he was praying, this practice of putting cat under basket while praying continued daily. He had a small kid who used to observe that his father puts cat under basket while praying, father dies and the child grows up. To continue what he thought was a ritual, his son used to go out daily catch a cat, put it under basket and pray. Next generation thought it is tedious to catch a cat daily so they purchased a cat and put it under basket. Further generations, the offsprings could not afford to buy cat as cats became very costly. Then they made dolls of cat and put it under basket while praying.
What started as a solution to the problem of that time, blindly followed by future generations without going into rationality of that act, is what is the state of traditions and customs in present day India.
Am i a athiest??  No, absolutely not. I am firm believer in divinity. But my divine is that infinite cosmic energy that is the source of all life and matter. My divine can be realised in meditation, it is present in all matter but human mind clouded with superstition cannot see it.
As kabir had rightly said if a piece of stone is your God then i shall pray the mountain..

What an awesome quote!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Poverty and pride are devoted blood brothers until one, always and inevitably, kills the other.

A grand salute to the Nobel Peace Prize laureates 2014

A truly inspiring day today as one of our fellow citizen is recognised for his tireless efforts in fighting for and securing children's rights in countless cases, there are many such unrecognised persons who do tireless work for others rights and in return expect nothing. A true inspiration for me as an aspiring civil servant, selfless service to the society is and should be a civil servants true calling, come what may this basic necessitiy must never be compromised.
  I remember a quote by James Thurber " It is not enough to be industrious so are the ants. What are you industrious about". Earning to lead a comfortable life is almost every bodies goal, but that's it?? there must be higher ideals than this to lead a meaningful life as  Abraham lincoln said " I want it to be said of me by those who knew me best that I always plucked a thistle and planted a flower where i thought a flower would grow ". The craving for purpose propels us to make choices that will bring us most joy and satisfaction from life, this principle i have always applied in my life and intend to apply it always in search of meaning.
                                                   

  Coming back to the today's recognition of work of two of the tireless workers in promoting education amongst children, let us be inspired by the great poem of guru Rabindranath Tagore

Where The Mind Is Without Fear

Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high
Where knowledge is free
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments
By narrow domestic walls
Where words come out from the depth of truth
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way
Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit
Where the mind is led forward by thee
Into ever-widening thought and action
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.

And even if the path for striving needs us to walk that extra mile alone let us be again guided by the great song again written by Guru Rabindranath Tagore. " Ekla chalo re". Striving hard now and need to strive even harder to get inside the governance, the civil services, to do a meaningful work in whatever little way i can do, i am motivated to contribute my share. With that note i would like to sign off with a final salute to the two most deserving  Nobel Peace Prize Laureates of 2014.

Odyssey “UPSC CSE” begins.

 With an eerie of silence amidst a tsunami of thoughts, I have finally begun my preparations for “The Mother of all exams”. True to its billing, there are no second thoughts that this exam is the most dynamic exam.  Having just passed through a few days I can daresay that the preparations require tremendous sincerity, perseverance, dedication and impeccable honesty towards oneself and towards the preparation.

 What I have learnt by now, to put in simple words you either enjoy the preparation stage or it will be a too big task to sustain throughout. The examination preparation is unique in itself, as in we get to actually know our self, and we get to discover our self. Every day I get to learn so many new things about our country the world and almost about everything. The more I understand our society the more it is inspiring me in my dedication to be there in the decision making, be there in the system.

 My thoughts are clear now as to why I want to join the services and that in itself has relieved my anxiety and uncertainty. Having said that I am aware that there will be great testing times ahead, but it will be worth the efforts, because only then will my personality shaped into something meaningful.

To sum it up about what requires, a poem written by Shri. Harivansha rai bachchan comes to my mind, the title of the poem is “koshish”

लहरों से डर कर नौका पार नहीं होती,
कोशिश करने वालों की कभी हार नहीं होती।

नन्हीं चींटी जब दाना लेकर चलती है,
चढ़ती दीवारों पर, सौ बार फिसलती है।
मन का विश्वास रगों में साहस भरता है,
चढ़कर गिरना, गिरकर चढ़ना न अखरता है।
आख़िर उसकी मेहनत बेकार नहीं होती,
कोशिश करने वालों की कभी हार नहीं होती।

डुबकियां सिंधु में गोताखोर लगाता है,
जा जा कर खाली हाथ लौटकर आता है।
मिलते नहीं सहज ही मोती गहरे पानी में,
बढ़ता दुगना उत्साह इसी हैरानी में।
मुट्ठी उसकी खाली हर बार नहीं होती,
कोशिश करने वालों की कभी हार नहीं होती।

असफलता एक चुनौती है, इसे स्वीकार करो,
क्या कमी रह गई, देखो और सुधार करो।
जब तक न सफल हो, नींद चैन को त्यागो तुम,
संघर्ष का मैदान छोड़ कर मत भागो तुम।
कुछ किये बिना ही जय जय कार नहीं होती,
कोशिश करने वालों की कभी हार नहीं होती।

  Exciting and testing times lay ahead and I am hopeful that I will remain dedicated and sincere throughout. To sign off on optimistic note….. Lal Bahadur Shashtri National Academy Of Administration, Mussoorie. Be prepared to welcome me…

Adrenaline rush for "the beautiful game"

In India, a country obsessed with cricket, the rise of football is worth noticing. The jerseys of Rooneys, Drogbas and Persies are no more a rare sight. Is it their love for the team and its players or just for fashion, the point is people are getting to know about football and it is no more just about teams like Brazil and Argentina and individuals such as Pele and Maradona.

 I am amazed to see this. Football, the world’s beautiful game, is still looking for a strong foothold in India, apart from places like Bengal and Goa where it is followed like maniacs due to its history and cities like New Delhi and Bangalore, where people are aware of the teams. The small towns of India are still to get to grips with it.

Whenever I sit down to watch football, I sometimes wonder what makes cricket more interesting than this game. A true team sport – this most watched sport over the globe has not gone beyond cricket in India in terms of popularity. Off the context, I am not a cricket critic and I know that throughout my life, I have played more cricket than football but bizarrely, I believe I can analyse and write about football better than cricket.

Football is not cluttered like cricket – a game with different formats of different durations and different players for different formats. Since its advent, this game has been played for 90 minutes between 22 men, fighting for the ball, waiting to hit that kick that will take them to levels of ecstasy compared to none. Each player gets to see the ball for 4-5 minutes on an average per game, the rest of the time they run around and still, with just one kick, they become a hero, a legend, a name that will never be erased from the memory of the fans and the coming generations. When you succeed in football, you become a name for generations to remember and worship. In cricket, the legends are not as influential (unless you are Sachin Tendulkar).

Those sublime one-touch passes that split defences leave you awe-struck, those delightful direct balls that sail over helpless defenders and right at the feet of the striker and the disturbing of the netting behind the man with the gloves. To top it all, the roar of thousands behind you for 90 minutes throughout,  the display of emotions and those unorthodox and trademark celebrations – all are a part of the game. You can change the game and your life with just one touch in the match. The rush of blood for a second clubbed with sheer talent can outsmart the strategies and plans made in the dressing room for hours before the match. An 18 year old can give a seasoned 100 time capped player the blushes with a class display of footballing intelligence he possesses.

This is a game which has maximum scope in terms of creativity and innovation. You can never say this game a typecast. In cricket, chances for innovation are few, now that game has grown. In creativity, it has almost reached a saturation point and may be that is why, innovation in the formats is being brought to make them game interesting.

This is a sport where not only do the scorers matter but those who toil in front of their goal defending the ball are also appreciated. Those hard tackles that bring the opponent to the ground, kissing the lush green grass: nothing satiates a defender more. He derives pleasures in kicking the ball from right under the nose of striker. The slides on the watery outfield in a rainy London night to block the wet, heavy ball, taking blows on body and head throughout and still standing rock solid with the same aggression in every tackle without shivering the least bit – this is what a footballer is made of. Cricketers do not get involved physically. There are no clashes of body and the aggression level is far below. A true gentleman game, isn’t it?

Then there are midfielders who are the most celebrated part of the game. The vision to create goals and assist scorers makes them stand apart. They score, attack and defend and yet are calm about the game. They gather energy and motivation from their passes being converted into prolific goals and are the creative backbone of the team. And then there are the strikers, who have an eye for goal every single time. Passing and dribbling through a crowd of defenders and curling the ball beyond the goalie in the far corner: this is what they play for. Sometimes, the yell of the fans indicates the ball going in before it actually crosses the white line. The cunning dip and sweet curl, and then running to the fans instead of the team-mate who passed you the ball. Nothing makes the adrenaline in a fan’s body run faster. He locks eyes with those who matter to the club the most and screams, screams his heart out, beats his chest and kisses the badge on his shirt. In cricket, this never happens. You rarely celebrate with fans, with those you play for.

And the best part about this game is the uncertainty. Even teams which start as clear favorites and are expected to win by good goal margin could be handed an embarrassing defeat. You do not play this game with reputation and past results; it is about the confidence on that day. The form and display decided the game and not the head-to-head record in previous 10 meetings. In cricket, in a match against a solid and weak team; you know the result, the audience knows the result and the stands are empty. Upsets in cricket take place once in a blue moon.

To quote Arsene Wenger, manager of Arsenal Football Club, “The game of football is like a beautiful woman. You have to keep telling her she is beautiful or she forgets it.”

I couldn’t agree more. This game is meant to be played in a beautiful way, where you do not dive to earn a foul or penalty. You are a footballer, you have to stand strong. Divers can go and dive on the road side, or in pools. The pitch is about the talent you exhibit to repay a fan’s faith in you. Those people who invade your ground week by week are to be obliged by playing the game that they love to see. A good game is what everybody wants: when creativity is unleashed and those moments of spark are the order of the day, when passing of the ball is a treat to watch, when a blistering shot kisses the back of the net, when hard but sensible challenges are made to win the ball; when the game is played in the spirit of the game.

It is disheartening to see Indian football way behind in comparison with peers around the world. What’s more disheartening is that not enough is being done to ensure that the game gets what it deserves. For a population of more than 1.25 billion in this amazing land, watching and playing sports is just not about cricket where you can play close to 400 international matches as are still never remembered for your contribution (like Ajit Agarkar). Agreed, I am no one to compare these two games. Each has their separate merits but it does not matter how hard I try. Cricket can never outscore football in for me.

India, you need to move past cricket. Indulge yourself in this game and in a very short time, you will be able to feel for it. As for cricket, I am sorry mate. It does not matter how popular you become in certain parts of the world. You can never be as beautiful as the game of football.

The god delusion

I was just wondering if god exists. Or rather, whatever was the train of thought that followed can be related to a very simple question 'Does god exist?'. I mean it is one of the questions which can have the train of thought that I had to find a solution. There can be many, but I haven't thought of others.

There are two things that one would say when asked a question 'Does god exist?

1. Yes he does
2. No he does not

Let us consider the first case which is kind of trivial. The triviality can be addressed by people who are reading this post themselves. If I see so many things on this planet and there exists certain relation between these 'many' things. Effectively we see things here. As said before, there is some relation between these things, which I am not able to define satisfactorily. But then, as there exists a relation between things, and by our understanding of time and other dimensions alone, there must have been things before these which lead to the things that exist now. Hence, there have been things before the ones that we are seeing now.

Now for those things to exist, there must have been things before them, so on and so forth. This is an infinite loop, and when we want to see the limit. There must have been 'something' that sprang up everything. That something itself is god.

There by the first case stands true.

Now coming to second case, we say 'God does not exist'. In which case, there must be 'nothing'. So if there exists nothing we can say god does not exist. But for that 'nothing' to exist, there must be 'something' that defines that 'nothing'.

Again we have two train of thoughts:

• I mean, for there to be nothing inside you, you need to be there. Similarly 'nothing' to exist beyond you, your existence is essential. Hence you are that something which exists.

• Similarly, for 'nothing' to exist, there has to be 'something' previous in line with it which was 'nothing'. This again ends up as an infinite loop.

Here the first case we considered an individual and proved that something always exists, and in the second case we considered the infinite loop. Hence we proved that 'something' has to always exist. But the result of the thought process is a contradiction with respect to the assumption. Hence, the assumption is wrong. In which case, god does not 'not exist'. Hence we come to a conclusion that god exists even in the second train of thought.

Hence god does exist.

P.S.: There can be flaws in the theory proposed above. I do not say that it is flawless. I hope that with better realization of things around me, I will someday be able to tell whether god exists or not, and if I am able to do that it would clearly mean that god does exist.

People should learn to shut up!!!

What is it with people and talking? Is talking a basic necessity of life? When I look at some people around me, that is the impression I get. And in most cases, the chat would be about something so insensible, that it's nothing but disgusting. And this happens non-stop, that's why the complaint! But not everybody's non-stop chatter is annoying. It's just these stupid, dumb people. Isn't there a limit to how much a person can take in at a time??

As if this wasn't enough, there are people who move from place to place looking for more such people to talk to. They don't even give a thought to the fact that there are other people around, and they should, at least once in a while, mind their manners. It doesn't occur to them that it's not okay to barge in on someone's privacy. The sad thing is that, they think (like, that's possible!) this silly behaviour of theirs is normal.

It's not just the amount of talking these people do, it's about the level of crap talk they are capable of. They surpass themselves everyday! Most of their tiny little brains don't have control over their crap and their noise levels. They have these black and white brains, with too much of colour concentrated at one point! It's time they learn. But since this seems to be the norm everywhere, they never will.

Looks like schools should have compulsory classes for this - "Know when to shut up"!!! People, please give me a breather!