Just a thought!

I have often seen that people try and brand the problem of ‘Atrocities on Women’ as a recent phenomenon. Politically motivated rhetoric seems to imply that the concerned problem is a rather modern enigma and hence demands a contemporary approach. Well I would beg to differ there. Atrocities towards women are as old as humanity itself. It probably started the day Cro-Magnon male realized that he is more powerful than his female counterpart. I was reading this Bengali book called Sei Somoy (roughly translatable to ‘Those Times’) penned by the Sahitya Akademy award winning literary stalwart Late Sunil Gangopadhyay. The said book deals with the upper and upper-middle class Calcutta society of the mid and late nineteenth century. The sexual exploits of some of the then scions are horrific and disgusting to say the least. Mind you, it deals with a time when extreme conservatism and social sanctions were the order of the day. There is, however, a significant possibility that a small fraction of the current spate of affairs actually has its roots in the so-called ‘emancipation’ of women and its consequent ‘male backlash’. But the change, as someone mentioned, is too microscopic for anybody’s comfort. In fact, as much as people might disagree with what I theorize, this problem also has its origin in the concept of class. Gender also signifies a class. The traditional relationship between a man and a woman (no matter which country is being referred to) has always been that of an owner and his servant or that of a manager and his employee or that of a landowner and a landless or even that between a Brahmin and a Dalit. This concept of class in turn gives rise to exploitation thus leading to mass social imbalance. Just as Physics prescribes, the only solution lies in redrawing the power equation. Then again, the concept of feasibility buts in! No matter how much we go on talking about it, we have not yet figured out a way that would actually engulf this difference and bring about an egalitarian society, not just in terms of class but in terms of gender as well!!

A reality check...

While the brouhaha is on about the most recent incident of gang-rape in Delhi and its aftermath on the kind of punishment that awaits the accused, let us have a reality check about our own state in the meanwhile. Though it has become more of a fashion to label Delhi as the rape capital of the country and subsequently indulge in a more dangerous blame game involving a certain community, figures prove that the number of similar incidents is increasing at an alarming pace in Assam as well.

According to sources in the Assam police, the number of incidents involving the kidnapping of women or girls in the state has gone up from 1,456 in 2005 to 2,998 in 2011. The number of rape cases has significantly increased to 2,011 in 2011 from a much lower figure of 1,217 in 2005. The number of molestation cases has also jumped to 1,446 in 2011 from 899 in 2005. Now these are only official figures and the number would go up if scores of other unreported cases are included in the tally. The GS Road incident, which was an equally ghastly episode, isn't history yet. The incident involving the poor tribal girl, who was openly stripped and mercilessly beaten by a beastly mob in Guwahati, hasn't really skipped public memory till now. I would also take the liberty here to cite a recent happening where an NRL official was arrested for raping a married woman.

Thus a comment like “North-east is a better place for women” doesn't really hold ground under the given circumstances and is a kind of escapism. While it is prudent to identify areas of trouble and take necessary steps, a one-eyed approach like shifting the blame on a particular city only worsens the already complicated scenario. A causal and not an effects-oriented approach is the order of the day. We got to be empathetic here and not sympathetic. This is not Delhi’s problem alone. This is a problem afflicting the entire country and thus need a single-focussed approach. Although, nothing and I repeat nothing could possibly justify such a heinous act, the fact remains that there are deeper and more intricate social reasons which are responsible for the current milieu. All of us need to find those reasons out and sort them out rather than cry senselessly over a single incident and considering it as the end of the world. The reasons could be the subject of a different discussion that I would be taking up some other day.

Coherent(??) thoughts!

Here I am finally where I belonged, or is it? OK give me a bit of time and breathing space to figure out as to why I am here at the first place. Before I actually scribble an assortment of words that might mean something (or chances are that things might be otherwise), let me jot down everything punctuating my very turbulent mind and entity right now. There are bound to be questions that would ridicule my present effort and rightfully so. Neither am I trying to make a point here nor is this an attempt to increase collective awareness. I am just trying to pacify my rattled and challenged persona. Yes, I am quite aware that the more sensible lot would actually recommend me to write a diary as this in no way would attract public curiosity or contempt or compassion for that matter (important ingredients for a blog to be read). Yet, somewhere somehow, everyone expects to be heard and understood and I don’t stand an exception. With this, I guess, I have tried to explain my position. I wouldn't blame anyone who refuses to believe my version as I myself would have scoffed at a similar attempt by someone else. So, with doubts galore, let me begin my tale (not really, although a ‘writer’ always wants to tell a tale). As told earlier, I would begin my ‘whatever’ with a spontaneous ranting of words (or phrases or clauses), not necessarily in a definite order though, that I would try (honestly) to weave henceforth into a meaningful scribble. Nostalgia, teenage, school life, college life, magical nineties, haunting past, a journey, moments, songs, movies, incidents, deaths, personalities, teachers. I don’t claim to have included everything that I might use in my ‘meaningful’ (or meaningless) rumblings set to follow. OK the story (or the stories) goes (or go) like this.

While, there are people who might have ignored the impact (or should I be more politically correct in using the word influence) of past on their lives, I belong to the more tested (yet unfortunate) group of people who are always drawn towards past. I remember Amrith Lal, my earlier boss and News Editor at the TOI in Chennai, once having told me that nostalgia is a very dangerous proposition that creates a kind of seasonal contempt for the foreseeable future and makes us cling to the past, thus stunting development and natural growth. In fact, he went to the extent of calling nostalgia a negative inertia. As much as I agree with his very erudite interpretation, I have reasons to believe that life is not always governed by what is beneficial to the greater lot of people. So, I am still drawn towards past and nostalgia is still a word to reckon with in my personal dictionary. So, what is it that I am trying to prove? OK to put it in simple terms, I often get enthralled at the prospect of going back in time (although at the hindsight, I really can’t imagine my life without the modern gazettes that I have been sporting for quite a while now). So, I tried reasoning it out with myself and tried to demystify the myth associated with past. So, I surveyed people around (not exhaustive by any stretch of imagination though) and I was astonished to find that my symptoms were neither uncommon nor something that I should be worried about. Although technically we can never arrive at a conclusion (an over-hyped hypothetical word), I am safe to infer that past, more or less, takes everyone into its cozy (sometimes thorny as well) lap.

In fact, we would be astonished to find how often teenage is deeply associated with any nostalgic moment. Again, I am no psychologist to be able to offer an explanation for this. May be (I reiterate, may be), teenage is by far the best time of our life although popular literature and dominant social belief have always given that rare honour to childhood. With all due respects to childhood, I would like to differ. Here, I will tread a different territory to prove my point. For me and a lot of other people, childhood is too dreamy and good to be true. Nostalgia is actually that part of the past that we can relate to and imagine ourselves to be in, rather than a distant hazy and dreamy world that, we know, we were once in. So, see within yourselves listen to those old songs, see those old movies and you would actually appreciate that it is teenage that is coming back to you rather than childhood. And the moment, we start ruminating about our teenage days; things that invariably crowd our mind include a song that we had loved back then, a movie that had given us sweet dreams, that special girl (or boy) who had often jammed our thought process, the youth icon who had inspired us to do something in life (Sachin, Sonu and Nachiketa for me) and not to mention that special individual who was a dear part of our life but is not there anymore (subject to a myriad range of reasons). The thoughts make you at once happy and sad. Again, I fail to give reasons (purely my fault though for not being a behaviour analyst). So, we go back to the moot question. What is it that I am trying to establish? Nothing! Yes, at the outset itself, I had warned that I am not trying to prove any point. Now, as I am churning out this nonsense, I am getting nostalgic listening to an old Indipop number Tera milnaa pal do palka by Sonu Nigam that came out sometime in 1998 (I was a seventh-grader then and was just about to enter the exotic club of teenagers). So, folks (which in any case would only be me), for now, I have to bid goodbye. I would like to continue with my discourse in future blogs (I don’t claim to maintain continuity though).

Good Day!!

Nostalgia and Past

What exactly is nostalgia? It wouldn’t be justice done if it were to be described just as a state of mind when people ruminate (is that the word?) about their past. At least, in my life, it has a far greater significance. For me, past has never haunted, it has always enthralled. Even the bitterest experience of my life when looked at from hindsight seemed to be a cherishing entity. In fact, there is something innate which can be inferred from this. It wouldn’t be exaggerating to state that this implies that every moment has something enjoyable even though not apparent at the very first sight. It is often advised to take lessons from the past and move on. But today, I would hit at the very root of this widely accepted belief. Firstly, there is nothing called ‘moving on’ as we are compulsorily ‘moved on’ by time itself even if we want to hold onto it tightly. Secondly, by the time we learn from our mistakes (although if we consider from a certain angle then we would find that mistake in itself is a mythical term), those moments might not recur in our life.

I have realized over a period of time that every moment is unique in its own terms and each such moment needs to be experienced if not savoured in its entirety. Nostalgia is a brilliant rejoinder to this. We always want to go back to the past. In fact, the fascination for the past always overpowers the penchant for securing a safe future. This in itself suggests that things that have already been experienced are more important than things that are yet to be experienced. My only point here is that past is not as insignificant as some people want to put it partly because of ideological bickering and partly because of the dearth of serious contemplations.

I would just conclude by saying that living in the past has a charm of its own and someone who does that does not deserve to be denigrated (A perfect case in point is ‘myself).

An untold story

It was a calm evening. The wind was gently blowing across the quiet valley enchanting all the living beings in its mysterious path. The twilight all around was only adding to the omnipresent softness of the delicate period. Life seemed to be a treat, a gift to cherish and an entity worth dying for. I, as usual ,was sitting under a tree and contemplating about the intricacies of life in all its varied manifestations. Suddenly, I saw her like a goddess in the isle. Like a starlet in the sky, she was twinkling with mildness; mildness that made her confident, mildness that made her self-assured and mildness that gave her a unique strength. Her light hairs like naughty kids covered her face just as clouds cover the moon during rainy seasons. Her steps were telling hitherto untold stories; stories which if verbalized might very well account for a severe blasphemy. Her sight was dreamy. I looked at her just as Archimedes might have looked at the bath tub immediately after his grand discovery of the phenomenon of buoyancy. Life has its own moments of jubilation; moments which define a person’s life and apparitions. It was one of those moments for me; a moment which took me by a storm, a moment which redefined my convictions and last but not the least a moment which altered my perspective towards life. I knew that I liked her. I also knew that I respected her but I never knew that my liking and respect had actually given way to unconditional admiration; a divine feeling which propels us to the path of self-discovery. For me, my feelings for her were sacrosanct. There are compartments in everyone’s life which are not put up to face public glare. This was one such domain. I tried reversing the universal trend of nature; that of hiding the fire under the ashes. Ishq par jor nehi, he ye woh ali shayar, jo chhupaaye naa chhupe. This song from the film Dil Se catches the exact vive to describe my feelings. I tasted the forbidden water from the golden river for the first time; a taste which almost compelled me to re-prioritize my entire life.
                                                                                                                                          

Tale of a Democracy

He comes, he (more often than not) sees and after that, as expected, he conquers. He transcribes English reports seamlessly into Bhojpuri (yes, you read right, Poor Vajpayeeji would remember). He breaks the box and writes his own scripts of functioning (Did I ever mention representative decorum?). He is blessed with a unique capacity to turn mundane and boring parliamentary sessions into audiovisual wonders having the potential to compel K-serials to come up with freshly baked ideas in order to retain high TRPs. He is a born rebel (Reader’s discretion is solicited). Swapping parties like experimenting with attires is his inborn forte. He is always honest to his electorate (really!) even if that means rallying against his party and endorsing rebel party candidates. Meet Mr. Beni Prasad Verma, a Congress Lok Sabha MP from Uttar Pradesh, who creates controversies at the same rate as that of a roadside Dhabawallah in Delhi doling out Paranthas. Tall, dynamic (always in motion, literally!), handsome (categorically yes!) and visionary (brilliant eyesight to read between the lines!); this gem of a politician has actually ornamented many a Lok Sabha sessions with his oratory excellence. It is indeed a treat to come up across a politician of such magnanimous hue and colour. When we stop and take a look around the hugely entertaining Indian political minefield, we find that there is no dearth of such politicians wallowing their way through the rough political terrains with utter disdain. Mr. Verma is just one of those privileged people (Oh! yea). From this, we can safely infer that our country is in able hands and we can move ahead in our life contented (that we always are!) that there are people who would hold our ever-sinking (never really sinks) ships. True tale of a genuinely realistic actual democracy (emphasizing!). Jai Hind!

Anatomy of Love

We often talk about having a ‘crush’ on a certain girl or a certain guy depending on our sexuality (I am also including the LGBT community in my discourse). But do we actually know as to what we are deliberating upon or more specifically do we actually mean what we verbally express. Now, depending on the intensity of the ‘crush’, it might metamorphose to the next logical step which in popular parlance is called ‘love’. I have tried albeit in vein to go deep down into this whole phenomenon and ascertain the exact anatomy of this process. At one point in time in my life, I used to think that ‘love’ is actually a sugar-coated term for sexual attraction, but then how would you go about defining the phenomenon when it goes beyond the normal sexual relationship as in the cases of our parents. The ironical contradictions start right from here. But would this relationship happen between two heterosexual guys or two heterosexual girls? The answer is a forgone conclusion which is a ‘no’. Then what is it which goes about bonding two individuals? Seriously, I am pretty sure that even the best psychologists would not be able to come up with one single convincing answer. A lot of psychoanalysts have tried to unravel the mystery behind this process. In the course, umpteen theories have cropped up but the sum and substance of the phenomenon has remained an elusive entity. What exactly happens when an individual gets attracted to another individual? Biologists would say that certain hormones work in tandem to create this feeling. But is it really that simple or does it go beyond what is obvious and on the face? In fact, why is it that only one individual from a crowd attracts another individual? I mean, these are certain questions whose answers are not as simple as we deem them to be. If we are to analyze this process in detail, then we have to take some specific examples.

Rahul (Name changed) saw Anita (Name changed) in a wedding ceremony. Rahul for some reason continued to stare at Anita although he had no idea as to who this girl was. After some time, he went ahead and got introduced with the girl and within no time became good friends. The ending of the story is not important. The most significant part of the story is that Rahul got attracted to only Anita amongst a bevy of girls present in the party. So, biologists, how would you guys explain as to what was so special about Anita? If we were to follow the case in its totality, we would be able to appreciate that Rahul continued thinking about Anita even after he was done with the wedding party and it was not all about sex although it might have been a part of his thinking which is nothing but natural.

If we dissect literature from across the world, it can be seen that 'love' has been romanticized and immortalized to the extent that it is viewed as a special creation of nature. According to my very own ignorant interpretation, it has been done to erase the physical aspects of the process and give it a divine form. May be it is inherent in men to castigate all physical processes as vulgar and not worthy to talk about although we do find mentions of physical beauties in ancient Indian literature which have been brandished as erotic scriptures by the western pundits. I vehemently oppose this partial approach to 'love' as it is intrinsically related to physical satisfaction. And there lies the beauty of 'love'. A person can offer his/her body to another individual only when he/she is comfortable with the other individual and that happens only when he/she trusts and thus loves the other individual. Although, skeptics might argue that in the present age of instant gratification, these words are all but idealistic but even he deep down his heart knows this to be true.

A grave saga of injustice

Today is the 63rd Independence Day of India. On this day, exactly 62 years ago, India snatched independence from the imperialist and fascist British regime. The British hegemony came to an end with Jawaharlal Nehru taking over the helms as the first Prime Minister of liberated India. After ruling the Indian sub-continent for over 200 years, the English rulers left India amidst tremendous confusion. The rest as they say is history with India going from strength to strength over the next 62 years. Today, India is an economic superpower with the GDP growth rate next only to China, another oriental power hub in the making. Thus Independence Day is a great event to celebrate for most of the Indians and they do that with much fanfare and jubilation.

But certain uncomfortable questions do raise their ugly heads in the midst of this frenzied merriment. In order to appreciate the root of these questions, let us go back in history and analyze the price that India and a section of the Indian diaspora had to pay to gain this so-called Independence. India was divided into two parts, the predominantly Hindu India and the declared Muslim Pakistan. East Bengal which was all this while an integral part of India and a region which produced the maximum number of martyrs who laid down their lives at the altar of Indian Freedom Movement, became a part of Pakistan and came to be known as East Pakistan. Consequently, a large number of Hindus were evicted like animals. In the process, women were raped, men were killed, all the properties snatched from these helpless families and these families were driven like wild hogs from their own homeland. Not knowing what to do, some of these families caught the jam-packed trains and landed in Sealdah station in Kolkata which became their home for a fairly long time only to eventually land up in refugee colonies and be looked down upon by the local population. A large section of these evicted families actually gave in to the promises of land and livelihood given by the just sworn in Indian government and boarded the ships to Andaman and Nicobar Islands, then a dreaded place because of snakes and poisonous insects only to see that even the basic life supporting systems were not installed there. Fifty percent of these people died due to a myriad number of reasons ranging from snake bites to drinking poisonous water because of the paucity of the universal medium. The ones who were lucky or unlucky enough to survive lived the lives of primitive human beings. Even today, one of the major languages of Andaman and Nicobar Islands is Bengali and two of the MPs elected from that region had been from that community. I am sure; everyone has heard the name of both Monoranjan Bhakta and Bishnupada Roy.

Anyway, let us go back to the original discussion. Some of the evicted families, residing particularly in the Northern block of Sylhet (Srihatta) and Kumilla in East Pakistan crossed over to Assam and Tripura for getting refuge. Thus, a significant demographic invasion took place and the population structure of both Assam and Tripura went for a toss. In fact, Tripura became a Bengali dominated state and Bengali was inducted as the co-state language along with the indigenous Kokborok. In Assam, the Barak Valley in the southern part of the state became a Bengali hub because of the rampaging refugees. Obviously, the indigenous Assamese populace felt threatened by the burgeoning number of Bengalis and thus started the Assam movement in the mid-seventies which saw the cold-blooded murder of many Bengalis throughout the state. Even people who came in before 1971 were branded as foreigners and killed. Thus a group of people who shed the maximum amount of blood for the Freedom Movement of the country became the obvious victims of Independence. Today, being a member of that community, I seriously question Indian Independence and its aftermath. We are living sans identity. Neither the people from West Bengal consider us as their brethren because we are from East Bengal, nor the people of Assam and Tripura take us as their own because they see us as intruders. Just because of some treaties which were signed in New Delhi by the political bigwigs back then, we lost our land, identity and dignity for ever. Even after this, if I celebrate Independence Day, I would be a traitor to my community. For me and lot of us from our community, it is a black day.

Views from the sidelines

We often talk about a state of mind called conservatism and by our very own admissions despise the crux of it on the pretext of it being anti-progressive. But have we ever tried to analyze as to what this concept stands for and why do we think that we are not conservative. The answer lies somewhere deep down inside. Actually, if we go further down, we shall all find that we all are conservative in our very own ways and domains.

Before theoretically going down to the roots of the issue, let us try and understand as to what conservatism accounts for. This is actually a condition of the inner self where changes are viewed with doubt and disorientation and thus resisted with some force. It is a state of mental inertia where a steady state is preferred over changing situations. In fact, we all have it in ourselves to question any change that might be inflicted on even the most trivial part of our life. Thus if we don’t find the comb on the table that we usually brush our hair with, we try to find it and come back to the normal and usual condition. In fact, the eternal sense of insecurity inherent in us masterminds the process to a large extent.

Now if we extend the concept to our social practices, we can actually draw a comparison between our personal idiosyncratic conservatism and the social conservatism which is largely expressed in terms of group behaviour. Thus when we are talking about the existence of Casteism as a sign of extreme conservatism, we somehow seem to be vindicating our very own conservative attitudes. Now for the sake of argument, people might say that our personal sense of conservatism is not holding the society back. The standard answer that might crop up from this argument is that if we are so reluctant to change our simple behaviours, then how can we expect the society to change. In fact, brand loyalty is just another form of classy conservatism. When someone is so rigidly sticking to his personal choices, then how can he expect the society to change so drastically so as to abandon superstitions which have long been practiced.

No, I am not defending the resistance to change; I am just trying to point out that change is not external. We all have to realize that the society is a conglomerate of individuals like you and me and not an external entity which is as eternal as Mount Vesuvius. If we, as individuals, can bring in subtle variations in the way we live and let live, there is no reason as to why the society as a whole would not shred its known avatar and be more inclusive in its approach. In fact, if we analyze the major revolutions of the world which brought in major reformations, we would be able to appreciate the fact that individuals can work wonders and can transform their respective societies.

Confessions from an Atheist

Atheism – Is it a concept or just a belief system? I have been relentlessly striving to decipher the answer to this enigmatic query for a fairly long time. But alas, the answer has eluded me just as light from a torch-light eludes the shaky grip of a little child when he attempts to catch hold of the beam. Before we go and try to analyze this fundamental question, let us first try and comprehend the fine line of difference between a concept and a belief system. If I were to put the distinction in lay man’s language as per my very own lay understanding, a concept is actually a set theory or assumption put forward by an individual or a group of individuals and accepted by another individual or a group of individuals whereas a belief system is actually the creation of an individual without any formal recognition. This mental creation can actually be customized according to the physical and emotional needs of that individual without necessarily intruding on the belief system of another individual.

Unfortunately, although atheism has been talked about and debated like hot cakes since time immemorial, very few people have actually come forward to standardize this phenomenon. Thus the question has sustained itself. Now let us look at a different dimension altogether. Let us try to define atheism as a separate entity. If we go according to popular myths, atheism is a state of mind where an individual denies the involvement of a creator of this universe and thus completely disowns god and its progenies in all its manifestations. Unlike agnosticism, it does talk about divine interventions albeit in the negative connotation where it does so to disprove the theory it is deliberating upon. Thus according to the earlier definition, it can be treated as a concept as all the hitherto known atheists have subscribed to this basic inference. But, the problem arises after that. Different atheists have approached atheism differently as regards following its tenets in their life is concerned. For example, there are atheists who go about propagating their ideologies to everyone they know and try and inflict their opinions on the people they know propagating that only their theories hold credence and the rest are all crafted works of fantasy. Then, there are atheists who believe in keeping it to themselves and democratization of the individual thought process. They don’t believe in spreading and enforcing their opinions on others. Thus, this inquiry would persist till there are theists and atheists.

As an atheist (although I don’t quite agree with this categorization) myself, I have seen that although atheists deem them to be special creations of nature believing in the ‘true ways of functioning’ of mother nature, they are as rigid as their theist counterparts are. They get so obsessed and possessive about their ‘extremely logical and scientific way of thinking’ that they often forget that everyone has the right to express their opinions. As a teenager, I also fell into this trap. I used to ridicule and denigrate people who believed in god and thus found myself completely alienated and negatively interpreted among most of the people I knew. Now, as a matured person, I dread the atheists as much as the theists for their completely stereotyped notion about everything around them.

With passing time and increasing awareness, I have realized that there are many questions to which we would never be able to throw light and consequently people have taken to God to find a universally acceptable answer. We as atheists have never tried to address these basic issues and branded theists as emotional fools. As a human being, I have given up. As long as we cannot explain this universe in its totality and describe all its variations with subtle craft, we cannot expect people to follow science because even science has failed at various levels. As a student of physics, I find it difficult to admit but yes, even physics has given up. In fact, physics can only predict probability and not certainty. This is obviously a retrenchment in its earlier nineteenth century stand but then again physicists don’t know a way out of it. Thus, I have stopped making seemingly very intellectual comments about the absence of god as I know that even if the person whom I am talking to might not be knowing the failures of physics but I, as a student of science, can’t ignore my insecurities about it.

Paradigm Shift - Continued

Deliberating on the concept of  the ‘Frame of Reference’ according to the ‘General Theory of Relativity’ it is indeed an irony to analyze how different individuals perceive this world in different ways. At one point of time, I used to get tremendously charged up when people used to express contradictory opinions even on trivial issues like the value of time in life. Being an ardent believer of freedom and liberty in all walks of life and as championed by the theory of democratic communism, I used to animatedly oppose the infliction of any enforced opinion. Consequently, I used to hit out at any individual who worked according to the whims of others. It was the time, when I was getting highly inspired by the theory of free thinking and liberation of the mind. But with maturity, I have realized that one really cannot judge others by staying in his/her own domain. In order to appreciate the other person’s opinions, it is absolutely necessary to put on the other person's shoes and look through his/her glasses.

Also I have comprehended that there is nothing called positive or negative. It all depends on which side of the benchmark a person is standing, based on which he/she makes his inference. We need to appreciate the fact that, we cannot jump into value judgments all the time; rather we need to take a fuller approach to life which is based on a inclusive perspective. But, unfortunately, we always try and prove ourselves right on the face of others and fight to prove our superiority. The standard excuse that we have for doing this is the presence or absence of logic forgetting the fact that life cannot be rationalized and hence cannot be explained with the help of logic. Life in itself exists and is breathtakingly beautiful because of its enormous diversity and the tremendous irrationality it exhibits in its functioning. But then again, my opinion might be contradicted by someone who might be reading this blog and this is how life sustains. I believe, I have penned down my thoughts and life in a reasonable way for others to understand. This blog is not supposed to offend anyone but to make people realize the beauty of diversity.

Finished

Paradigm Shift

Nostalgia is something that can engulf even the strongest willed person and consequently I can't be expected to be an exception either. There are certain compartments in every person’s coffer of memories which he/she protects from all kinds of infringements and interference. It is indeed a matter of profound irony as to how past draws us in its seemingly cozy arm lock. To be precise, this phenomenon can't be actually branded. It is an ethereal experience which is far beyond the worldly confines of noble and ignoble. I remember that my maternal grandfather categorically tried to sum it up for me ages ago when as an individual I hardly had the capacity to visualize life with its overtly beautiful yet horrific intricacies. But now I realize that the above might be one of the reasons as to why I am a bit more matured in worldly parlance then what my age prescribes.

Anyway that is not what I want to convey here. Born at a time, when slowly but surely, the X-generation culture was wallowing its way to the fore, I had the fortune to have a completely different upbringing. I  specifically remember that during my childhood days,  my maternal grandfather always used to lay more emphasis in bringing about a revolution in the way we think rather than aping the western culture without comprehending its widespread repercussions. He believed in intrinsic changes by virtue of modernizing our thought process and not by randomly overturning our hitherto accepted ways of life. I also remember considering him as my only friend, philosopher and guide. I used to call him Dadun. It is a stark reality of life that our mind gets conditioned to a certain school of thought and thus we interpret everything around us according to that belief system. But Dadun always used to advice me on not closing my mind and be receptive to everything which seemed beneficial and good. Being a victim of partition, he was a hardcore follower of communist ideologies. But he never coaxed me to join the bandwagon. Rather he believed in Socrates’ ideology of shaping our opinions on the basis of independent reasoning and not on the basis of deep influences exerted by someone else whom we adored and respected. But with the gradual passage of time and the accompanying gaining of maturity, I realized that even without my knowledge, I had started believing in communism myself and had actually become a typical communist not believing in anything that is not backed by concrete scientific evidences.

Here we need to distinguish between communists who become so for the heck of it and communists who become so because of ideological sidings. I can confidingly suggest that I belonged to the second category. With the works of Bengali literary stalwarts like Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay (of Devdas and Parineeta fame), Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore and Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay (of Vande Mataram fame) and later Samaresh Basu and Sunil Gangopadhyay inspiring me to the hilt, I got inspired by the 'Reformation Theory'. But the person who inspired all these ideals in me passed away in 1999 when I was in Class VIII. I still remember that dark day. Not delving deep into what happened that day, let me get back to what I was talking about.

With ideologies and a vision of a just society dominating my self identity, I was always treading on a different dimension altogether. In fact, I wanted to take up science in my Plus 2 despite being the best in English in my class not for the lure of getting into the more lucrative professional courses and be a part of the popular culture. The decision was largely inspired by a longing for a deeper insight into the intricacies of our material world. I remember, after reading the Tagore classic Chaturanga, I became so upbeat about the non-existence of God and my atheistic concept that I was virtually searching for people to convince them that God is a mythical concept and the religions are creations of men to actually sustain the deep divide amongst societies. I used to proclaim with pride that I believe in the religion of humanity and my god is self-conscience. But after going through Einstein’s ‘General theory of Relativity’ in my Physics (Honours) classes, I got a severe shock. I actually linked it to our everyday life and understood that the perspective changes the moment the ‘Frame of Reference’ is changed. So, nothing is absolute and everyone is right in their own specific ways.

To be Continued...