They hadn't even identified the dead bodies and...

The morning was one of the most painful mornings for me.
I had messages on text informing me of a terror attack in Paris. Since I have a weird connection with Paris, (where if anyone I know is in Paris, there is usually some other person totally disconnected to the first person also present there at the same time.) I first thought of any of the people in my circles, if anyone had updated, checked-in or told me about being in Paris. One friend and her husband came to mind instantly, who were safe.

Reading and following the news and my friends', relatives', students' status updates on social media did make me feel a bit sad and angry. I'll tell you why.

I came across countless people sharing stuff like "yes, it is sad this happened in Paris, but what about Beirut, Syria.. why didn't we change our profile pictures, or share statuses about that?" I am sure you must have come across these types of updates too.

I think this is firstly a disservice to the dead and the injured in Paris and their loved ones. These people, people from all over the world, are grieving and some are still searching for their loved ones because a lot of dead bodies are yet to be identified, such was the evil destruction that had fallen on Paris.

In trying to communicate "brown lives matter", we are actually lessening the value of "white lives", which is unfair. And this is coming from me, a very much brown guy.

Think how would the loved one feel when he/she opens up the social media and sees these arguments. "What about Beirut?"

I am one of those types who changes his statuses and profile pictures (at least on Whatsapp where I actually can reach more people than Facebook, yeah I have counted.) The shock of Paris, along with it's similarity to the Mumbai terrorist attacks of 2008, made me immediately change my status to the French Flag. Later I changed it to French, Lebanese, Syrian and Russian Flags, all together. The people in the middle east have suffered the most, especially the most vulnerable like the Yazidis.

The second argument people were sharing was that it was obvious that France would have a blowback to it's efforts aimed against ISIS. So you are telling me that trying to stop Yazidis being slaughtered, raped and sold into slavery is going to get a reaction? I would actually would have appreciated the argument like "Of course ISIS would expect a blowback, how dare they do these

Thirdly, people are saying that of course the immigrants in Western nations would go and join ISIS because they are alienated, oppressed etc. by the Western nations, within Western nations. Okay, so how does that justify atrocities against the Yazidis? I am yet to get an answer on that.

You have understand the situation subjectively here. Imagine a city that is flooding due to storms and heavy rains. The ground floor is closest to the ground, it will have water inside, that is assumed. But if water starts getting into the fourth floor, that would be a big shock. We would sympathize with both of the households, but for the fourth floor we would be, "What the F!?!" This is what has happened. In case, you didn't get it, ground floor is Beirut, Lebanon (Shia, Hezbollah, border with Syria and Iraq), while the fourth floor is France, separated by thousands of kilometers EU states, then Turkey. I hope I am not offending the suffering peoples, but I hope they will understand my anguish at the lack of sensitivity shown to the other suffering.

Let's get one thing straight.
We, the people of this Earth have to unite and fight terrorism and extremism wherever it is, by being united. Just shrugging off French, (i.e.White/European) and global lives (especially Indian, African) with "What about Beirut?" kind of arguments is not going to do that. It's not going to be the balm that the French need. And they need it.

I would just say this to those who are sharing certain stuff, to think again.

It's time we change our tones. The message of equality would be so much better in a compassionate one. Imagine going to your friend's dad's funeral (God forbid) and telling him, "hey he died, but your family is rich and upper class, what about the poor who die of malnutrition?" Would we say that? Even think of saying something like that? No right? We would control ourselves and say, " I am sorry for your loss my friend, may your dad's soul rest in peace", wouldn't we? So shut up right now, be political correct at the right thing for once. A genuine "We are sorry" would do right now.

(image courtesy: intoday.in)


The Egyptians were on point(pic below). May God bless us all (also whatever works for my atheist readers).

(image courtesy: telegraph.co.uk)

What does Hailstorm teach us?

So yesterday, completely out of nowhere, it rained. And then it was a hailstorm. As terrifying as it could get. Hails the size of small stones, smashing everything they could. House windows broken, cars' as well. Trees fell down. People got injured. It was a time of stress yet a humbling moment, looking at what mother nature can do in a span of minutes if she gets angry.

This was the second hailstorm in two months here. Now, I have been living in this same city for the last 13 years and I had never seen even one in those years. Yet, the last one, which was just the trailer for this massive one, gave me some insights, a la Zen Buddhist style.

What does the Hailstorm teach us?

1. Unity is strength. 

Even after half an hour after the hailstorm, those hails which had landed near each other, or forced into a small space, huddled together, were still alive. Those hails which dropped alone, were melting within mere seconds.

2. Nurture matters.

This was evident in the way in which two separate hails which landed almost together at different parts reacted. One fell into a flower pot with plants and sand. The other one on the surface of a tile. The one which fell on the surface of the tile melted, again within a few seconds and turned into water.
While the one which landed in the flower pot, the cool sand gave it protection, and it could survive, alone, but survive because of the protective environment it was under.



     So, we all need that unity, that support from people around us. Be they family, friends, work associates, neighbors, the strangers at large. The properties we share with the hailstorm are few, yet the analogy is not missed, is it? A good nurturing environment goes a long way towards helping anyone grow and have a better life, especially during the childhood. Couple that with support and strength of the social type, having a good amount of people who care about you and stand by you, makes a big difference.

P.S. The contrary being, you too are a support to someone else, so be mindful next time you get the urge to speak heavily to someone. If politeness works, let it ! 

How did it look? Like this: 
(Image credit to the FB page: Ahmedabad Like Never Before)

Interstellar, Awe and Walking on Highways.

Did you watch the movie Interstellar? If you haven't, you should! I will also suggest watching "Inception" if that too is left yet!

Now, while talking to a an online friend recently about Interstellar, the friend sent me this wonderful link about the Revered Gaze. Check out the video, you'll thank me. Now, the person there talks about transcendence that we feel upon entering these huge cathedrals, places of worship. Same is the case with the Imax theaters or general cinema projectors we see at the Multiplex. We are in complete awe.

Couple that with visual treat of a movie like Interstellar and music of a genius like Hans Zimmer, it is a profound, religious and spiritual experience watching the movie. I know. I went and saw it for the second time and let me tell you this is the first time in my life I voluntarily went for the repeat.

Another think that I find is linking to this is the fact that a few days apart, I had the opportunity to walk on the highways, alone and far/bit far from the city. On the first occasion, during daytime, its winter here so not much heat on the roads, far from the city, I was surrounded by huge, tall trees with powerful breezes. All I could see in front of me was these trees and the highway. Very few cars were on the road. Something like this (see below), with a lot more vegetation behind the trees, though. I went into a flow state, a state of bliss, if there ever was one.

The second time, I was walking down a highway at night, a bit near the city. There is a huge flyover on it that lets you skip the busy intersections below. I could see the cars all in the distance on the horizon climbing up and down the flyover. There wasn't much around me so there again I was walking in silence and awe. You have to experience these kind of feelings.

Don't you think it's a bit similar to what we feel when we are watching a movie that completely demands our attention, or we walk into a place of worship and our mouths are left open in the presence of it's vastness? I can now understand why I like the highways so much. I live in the city and I like every opportunity to be at/on the highways. It touches something inside us, something bigger, something of a deeper, mystical nature. Now I guess I can understand why travelers like to travel. Living in the city, you don't realize what you are missing in the hustle and bustle, until you step in the midst of nature, and know your soul aches to go forward and never look back.

I have told myself that I shall at least travel once a week to the highways now for the same reason, possibly walk a little as well ( I have been going to the highways on bike rides since college, but never walked much). Try it! You might like what you "feel". :)

Bhagavad Gita: Unlearning Conditioning?

While reading through a Case Study which me and my friend are going to present at an upcoming conference, I had this insight.



In the case study, the patient had internalized instrumental or what is called Operant Conditioning where every action was done to please and/or gain the approval, validation of their parent. That led to me to think of Bhagavad Gita.

In the Gita, Krishna tells Arjun to forget about the actions of his work and just focus on the work. Do your work and the results shall follow. If you look at it from the modern psychological perspective, he is de-linking action from consequence. Basically, breaking up the link between Stimulus and Response.


Stimulus and Response comes primarily from the Classical Conditioning Experiments of Ivan Pavlov. The dog is fed food after a bell rings, later, the dog develops salivation, a natural response whenever the bell rings, in anticipation of the food.

In Instrumental conditioning, the animal is rewarded for the action. For example, the cat inside a cage is rewarded with food and freedom, every time it presses a particular lever. Actually, the cat learns to escape and eat the food outside, but the whole pattern is the same.

The animal mind focuses on the reward. So is the case with the human mind, isn't it?

"I want a hefty salary to buy that expensive house so my relatives and friends respect me."

"I want to become a civil servant/politician so I and my family have prestige, money and a stable, secure life."

All the while, the real work is in the mind, working on the same principles that the animal works on.

It is this animal mind that the scriptures tell us to get rid of.

If we dissociate our minds from these conditioning methods, what happens? Why would the scriptures tell us this anyway?

Well, first up I feel that we would look at the larger picture. Instead of just crass commercial and material gain, we might look at the long term gain and the gain of those around us.

For example, in trying to be rich, am I taking care of the environment? My family? My city? My nation? One can get rich in many ways, but what is the use of it when there will be no planet left for us to live in? If we thought by being a little more detached, maybe we would see the larger picture and take a more holistic approach.

I think its just wonderful how Krishna tells Arjun to break a conditioning principle that we humans have now scientifically proved and understood over the past hundred years or so. I wonder what more did the ancients know and we are missing out from knowing and sharing with the rest of humanity because of not looking at it from various perspectives.

Until then, adios! 

The Whatsapp And other messaging apps Debate.

Man. I am gonna write a blog on this. My love-hate relationship with technology (esp. whatsapp) seems to have taken a turn for the better. Whatsapp has committed suicide in my phone. I am unable to open it. Finally, the speculation regarding will I or won't I use it has been laid to the rest.

     I am still very much active on other platforms, be it FB, mails, Google Plus, Viber, Hike, and still use a smartphone with the Android OS. Its Gingerbread. But, it's comparatively quite smart. With proximity sensor and all.

     I have uninstalled and installed whatsapp on countless occasions over the duration of the last few months. I started using it a little more than a year ago. On my Nokia E5. That was when I had newly joined as a lecturer at a few colleges. Seemed the better thing to do.

     But, over the course of the few months after that, I started realizing that it wasn't as pleasant as it seemed. These networks are sapping our energy. Our time. And not really leading to the Human Intimacy that we all actually care about. Sure, we are talking with each other day in and day out. Sure, we are more knowledgeable about our so-called friends. Sure, its easier to share breaking news and videos of cats, Rajnikanth, politicians, etc. Sure, its easier to keep tabs on each other via the hotly contested "LAST SEEN". Sure, the person is considered extremely rude when he stays online yet doesn't reply. Cause, now we know, you sucker was online YET didn't reply! Sure, you can check out the latest pics from your friends and all those people you love to stalk. Stalking was never so much fun.
    In spite of all these valuable add-ons, I remained unconvinced and a skeptic. Uninstalling whatsapp almost every 20 days or so. Messaging the people in my circle that from now I won't be on whatsapp. And they contact me via sms or call. But, then something would happen to force me to come back. Maybe an important conversation that I missed. Maybe the arrival of someone new in my life. Where, constant conversation would be the new drug. Maybe the futility of smses, because now people don't have sms PACKS like before. They can't reply to you. They can't call you. But they have an internet pack. And so, I'll be back, to happy welcomings and sarcastic jibes. It'll continue for greater than a fortnight and less than a month. And then, Repeat.

    The cons of using these services are many.
*They'd make you busy, and forget your actual, real world work.
*You'd be so tired talking to multiple people simultaneously that neither you will be able to reply to all of them in a just way, neither you will be able to focus on your real life.
*Most important of all: Those long calls via landlines will be gone, which were more meaningful and profound on the personal level. Let's not even talk about meeting others. That was long gone. As I heard in the new documentary, In RealLIfe, "we took them out of the parks, we took them out of the streets....and put them online.." Now, I see kids playing outside, only when there is no electricity.

An important event that occurred recently added significance to this thinking of mine. The Lights went off in my locality. Like the entire area of the city where I live, in a radius of at least a few miles. I could see lights, but they were far away.
And, this happened as the sun was setting. Till early morning the engineers worked hard to restore electricity, which was restored by dawn. I was just stuck by the silence and peace I experienced in the very locality, while standing at the balcony of my 4th floor house. All around, a few hours before midnight, there was complete silence. Instead of the techno noise. There was a natural illumination. The rain clouds of the night giving a light orange-ish illumination to the ground below. Beautiful.
     I realized all this techno noise is drowing our peace. The future of technology will have to be different and peaceful. It'll need the human components of love, compassion and regret, guilt to truly live amongst us peacefully. I already believe the Singularity has occurred. The Machines are conscious. A nascent consciousness albeit, but growing quickly. And learning. 
     Anyways, I don't think the whatsapp-no whatsapp tussle is over for me. Not yet. There is yet to be a clear winner. Depends on future events. As of now, I am not using it.

Okay, enough blog writing for today. Give that man a Cookie.

P.S. The NSA, Snowden, Assange thing notwithstanding, I'll like you guys to watch the End of the World-Delete a.k.a. E.O.W-Delete

that I saw on AXN recently. Worth a watch if your mind too thinks in a similar way to this blog.
thanks!
have a good day!
 And Machines, I hope you develop a a conscience when you do.

Similarity between Inception and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Dear readers,
 I hope you have seen both the movies before you read any further. It is a Spoiler Alert!

Now, lets just get down to business.

Inception (wikipedia) (Leonardo starer) dealt with dreams.

ESSM (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) the Jim Carey, Kate Winslet one dealt with memories.

In Inception, you go down dream levels. Dreams within a dream.
In ESSM, you stay on in the same level, but yet, fragments of the past, which have been erased from your mind, come back sometimes.
Both, surprisingly use similar looking, almost same type of machines to get the individual into the dream mode.

 In Inception I think, we are seeing an improved compact version of the same machine seen in ESSM.

 One sends you into dream world, while the other deletes your memories. Both require a person to stay awake and help the person in or out of it. In both the cases, the real outside world, when the individual is asleep is felt in the dream world. In Inception, it is the sounds and things, e.g. the famous pre-kick song, Non, Je Regrette Rein by Edith Piaf, and the water in the dream due to water outside, etc. While in ESSM, we can see how the darkness tries to catch Jim Carey when he is trying to run away from it. Both have the protagonists searching and craving the past and the real life. Both have girl issues!

Last, but not the least, both have the protagonist going back in his world, his memories of his life, and the lady love, and the times spent together.

Both engage that projection of hers and try to keep her in their minds. In Inception, Cobb has preserved Mal's memory, when in Reality (or so we think!), she is dead. In ESSM, Joel is revisiting the memories of Clementine.
Both have artificial worlds

which are constructs of the human mind.
And although, they both start seeing each other again in ESSM, in Inception, we really don't know whether Cobb is in Reality or still stuck in some dream level, so we cannot naturally comment on his relationship with Mal.

Now, as it happened, I watched Inception first and ESSM later, hence I could connect the two together. Inception, then, doesn't seem so innovative after all! Seeing many similar concepts in the Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.
Though, one has to congratulate both the movie's teams, for being so creative and making us still think and wonder about all the profound questions of life and the movies themselves, really impacting how we think of things. These are eternal questions, but those movies are eternal movies too, both masterpieces in their own right.

Hope you
enjoyed reading it.
Yours Truly,
TJ (Rudraraj)

FC Barcelona 0-4 Bayern Munich and Karma

Long time there.
Couldn't help but write this one.
I was watching last night's Barca vs Bayern match. Saw 3 handballs by my dear own Barca players. Inside the penalty box. The referees somehow didn't give them. Here, comes in Karma.
Now, this is purely my own belief (being a hindu, I do believe in Karma). If the referee had given those 3 handballs a penalty each, Bayern would most probably have scored 3 out of 3. And be leading by 3 goals to Nil in the first half itself. No doubt. But, because the refs didn't give them those penalties, those goals still had to come. Barca still had to have been beaten with three goals under any circumstance.
That's the rule of karma.

Courtesy http://www.iskconpatna.com/karma.php

If it has to come, it will. If you are gonna win, you will, by any means. Remember Spurs beating Man City by 3-1, scoring 3 goals in 7 minutes in the second half?

If you are going to be a fabulously rich person ( like a billionaire) by the time you are 40, you WILL be rich, by any means, even if you are illiterate, crazy or even a poor  teacher ( like me!). It has to happen. Especially, when you have given it the cause. Cause? Those 3 hand balls. Once you give it the cause, the Universe will come at you. With everything it's got. It works both ways though, son.
If you have studied extremely hard all year, you will get good marks, in spite of it all. Well, it also depends on you and your individual and collective astrological and spiritual background. But, major big-bang causes trump everything. You bring the WTC towers down, you will get a reaction. You ask the Spartans for earth and water, you will be sent down the well. Like that sort.

Courtesy http://s3.amazonaws.com/rapgenius/300_2.jpg

These 3 hand balls were of that sort. Also, not to forget,

Courtesy ThiagoMessi10 on facebook.

Alves was pushed down by fellow Brazilian Dante. Mueller's header was offside, Robben being on the wrong side of the linesman after taking a corner! And again another goal where Alba was pushed to the ground and the players thought it was a blatant foul, so much that they almost stopped play, giving Robben a free shot at the goal, which he did. And, y Still that meant 2-0 or a 1-0 defeat, at least. Not so helpful, still.

Courtesy FC Barcelona Official Site.

You must keep in mind, I am a full blown Barca supporter since 1999 or so. Saw them lose a big game valiantly against Valencia. Been their fan ever since. It IS extremely hard to digest this drubbing by Bayern. But, we have to be balanced and see the truth as it is. Simply as the Truth itself. Mistakes were made, we needed substitutions. Messi looked not so well, he should have come in later, like against PSG. We need a stronger full back, - Abidal instead of Alba. (sorry bro!) We need Villa in his natural number 9 striker role from the start. And most important of them all, we needed to be unpredictable. Bayern just drifted back once our passing began. Those know how this tiki-taka works. Gotta be crazy and unpredictable. Have muscle and run faster when there is space. Anyways, we have lost this one. Understand the Principle of Karma and play for everything when Bayern visit Camp Nou. Be prepared to run 10 plus kilometers full on. Be prepared to shock and awe them. You can! In the eternal and true words of Jordi Roura, 
" If, there is any team that can do this, it is this."

Courtesy ibtimes.com

 He said this before AC Milan were thrashed 4-0 away when Barca lost 2-0 at Milan. If there is any team that can do this, it is this THIS IS BARCA!!!!!!
.Visca Barca friends!!!!

Courtesy https://twitter.com/BarcaStat/status/311597365368872960