Over the years, I have always been amazed by Socrates philosophical views. How can something written by a mere human back in the 3rd-4th century stand the test of time, critics et al? As I pondered to find an answer to my question, I came across an article which detailed about the "Socratic Method". The Wikipedia article says and I quote , " Socratic Questioning is disciplined questioning that can be used to pursue thought in many directions and for many purposes, including: to explore complex ideas, to get to the truth of things, to open up issues and problems, to uncover assumptions, to analyze concepts, to distinguish what we know from what we don’t know, and to follow out logical implications of thought. The key to distinguishing Socratic questioning from questioning per se is that Socratic questioning is systematic, disciplined, and deep, and usually focuses on foundational concepts, principles, theories, issues, or problems." Eureka and I had my answer to the eternity of Socrates principles! Truth doesn't change over time but remains constant regardless of situations in life. For example, breaking a traffic signal would be wrong irrespective of the presence of the traffic police officer. The next question arises as to why do we change the "truth" even though we have a clear conscience about it. There can be variegated reasons but the most common reason resides amidst the words in the subject line of this post : prejudice.
A search up on the internet for the meaning of the word prejudice threw up this set to me.
Prejudice (Noun)
1. An adverse judgement or opinion formed beforehand or without knowledge of the facts.
2. Any preconceived opinion or feeling, whether positive or negative.
3. An irrational hostile attitude, fear or hatred towards a particular group, race or religion.
4. The damage caused by such fear or hatred.
As I take my morning sip of coffee and read through the sports section on our beloved Bulletin Board, read the newspapers or watch the news channels the first thing word that come to my mind is prejudice. I spit my coffee into my mug shaking my head in disappointment. How can one explain the vile and vitriolic words used against great sportsmen representing your country? Critical review/analysis, I prefer using this word rather than "constructive criticism", should do a Root Cause Analysis of the problem. Currently, the only thing I can see people indulging is schadenfreude. The very sight of people calling "names" which include criminal, eternal hypocrites, losers et al on public forums, national televisions and print media asking for people's heads makes we wonder the kind of example we are setting for our next generation. Print and electronic media area easily accessible even for teens who haven't reached their puberty. If one still defend the words being used here I am sure you wouldn't mind if your kids use the same words against you or their siblings if they committed a mistake in their personal or professional life.
Have we lost the art of critical analysis/review? Do we really need to indulge in acerbity to criticize someone? Can't we take a cue out of the Socrates Questioning methodology to pen down our thoughts? Can't we accept mistakes as a part of our life and move on and learn from them rather than fretting over each minutiae to dissect the argument till it becomes bland and rot?
I always wonder whom are we to speak against? You may want to analyze/review but indulging in pure spite for the matter of fact that you don't like a particular person is disgusting. I am sorry to use such a heavy negatively polarized word but I couldn't look up any euphemistic term in the dictionary. We are trying to spit venom against a person who has committed a mistake and for the matter of fact has agreed to it. Don't we commit mistakes? I look back at the advertisment Reliance aired during the T20 WC 2007 which started as, India mein muft ki advice bahut milti hai {In India, advice is sold at no cost} and I ponder how hard they have hit the nail on the head. A person and in particular a sports personnel go through a lot. Just to bring in perspective the average life span of a sportsman is 10 years presuming he's a good one at his sport. One can't have a blue marked career. Even great sportsmen have had checkered careers and we've got to accept the fact of life which all in all makes the journey interesting and enjoyable. In cricket, a batsman always wants to hit a boundary/six when he is batting and a bowler wants to take a wicket every ball. In tennis, a player always wants to hit a booming forehand down the line to secure a point or serve a swinging serve down the 'T' to hit an ace. People like us sitting on porches sipping colas derive the pleasure of watching these people play and entertain us. Can you even compare the drops of sweat you lose to the people who are in the middle of the firing line? This is not to say that we can't critically review/analyze but when it gets to a point where we start calling for peoples heads I think we go overboard. Schadenfreude serves it's purpose in soaps and movies but it wouldn't be the best thing you can do when it comes to real life drama.
Prejudice plays a big role in displaying such disgraceful acts. When one reaches some conclusion beforehand with some preconceived notions it's difficult to argue/debate with such people. A logical conclusion is reached when facts/data buttress the points you put up and few people tend to forget it. Also, one can't selectively choose stuff to suit your argument. It's a humble request to people who are trying to gain sadistic pleasure and attention by vilifying national heroes to apply the Socrates Questioning and logical implications of thought shall follow.
Even after 1003 words of philosophy, logic, real life examples etc. if I have been unable to get my point through; I would like to end this post with the subject line:
"It is harder to crack a prejudice than an atom." -Albert Einstein
Friday, December 4, 2009
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
My Hidden Desire
was just gazing through the wallpaper collection i have and suddenly i got stuck to the one which i somehow like a lot. This sudden urge to figure out the reason to my liking made me to plunge a deep dive down to my heart. Well, I said heart coz my sudden bursts of mood dependent acts originate from there only. While i was deep diving and finding out the clues to the mystery, i got hit with something. It was something intangible, something which was omnipresent and shapeless. With self introspection and a lot of thought process, I found out it was my hidden desires .everybody has some hidden desires. Some have one, some have loads of them but no one is there who has lived a life without any hidden desire. Well one of them is to see the end of the world. It’s not that I’m a person with cynical or a devilish attitude. It’s just i somehow want to be physically present at the time of judgment day. I won’t call it as an end of world but would rather call it as a transformation of the world. In other words my last wish would be to be able to live and see the transformation of the world and admire the destructive forces in act, trying to cleanse Mother Nature of all the pollution and exploitation caused by us. The new world would be fresh and innocent as a new born baby, cuddling and crying free from all the bad things celebrating freedom.
As being rightly said by someone "A picture is worth a thousand words”. This particular wallpaper too had a mystical feeling wrapped around it. With the breaking of mountains and comets slashing through the earth's crust i could somehow sense a feeling of renaissance/rebirth as the phoenix rising from its ashes. Soon, this all will be over and with rain this would advent the rise of another world. This time human beings might not be the players of the game. But whosoever survives or originate from the womb of Mother Nature will be the ones chosen by Mother Nature herself in hope that they will treat her as their mother and not exploit her for their own insatiable desires.
Just like what happened to the dinosaurs the Human beings have started their own countdown to doom marching on the same path to extinction. The summits and conferences are all futile if we human beings don’t become responsible of our acts and try to be more considerate, else as rightly said by someone "One reaps what he sows" our carelessness will cost us the human race. If we don’t mend our ways from exploiting the natural resources and polluting mother nature maybe my "hidden desire" will come true.
As being rightly said by someone "A picture is worth a thousand words”. This particular wallpaper too had a mystical feeling wrapped around it. With the breaking of mountains and comets slashing through the earth's crust i could somehow sense a feeling of renaissance/rebirth as the phoenix rising from its ashes. Soon, this all will be over and with rain this would advent the rise of another world. This time human beings might not be the players of the game. But whosoever survives or originate from the womb of Mother Nature will be the ones chosen by Mother Nature herself in hope that they will treat her as their mother and not exploit her for their own insatiable desires.
Just like what happened to the dinosaurs the Human beings have started their own countdown to doom marching on the same path to extinction. The summits and conferences are all futile if we human beings don’t become responsible of our acts and try to be more considerate, else as rightly said by someone "One reaps what he sows" our carelessness will cost us the human race. If we don’t mend our ways from exploiting the natural resources and polluting mother nature maybe my "hidden desire" will come true.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Thursday, June 18, 2009
An inevident choice
If you have to choose between darkness and light, what will you choose?
On one hand, there is light which gives you the power to see and distinguish. It helps us unravel the beauty which earth beholds. From chirping of birds on trees, blossoming of flowers to the change of seasons; one can see it all and can cherish the vagaries the nature has in for us.
While on the contrary darkness makes you blind, it hampers your vision. You are not able to differentiate between the sky and the ocean or the earth. We might loathe darkness for all the falacies and the visual impairment concomitant it, but one must not forget it is the most impartial thing that could ever exist. It doesn’t distinguish between the vastnesses of the sky or the depths of ocean, no matter the how big the difference is, in their appearance or in their nature it treats them equally. Colour holds no meaning for it. It treats everyone equal and embraces everyone with impartial and unseen love. With all the hullabaloo of racisms I tend to think it’s better to be in darkness rather than be in light. What is the advantage to be in light when all you see is a mirage or an illusion? Why is light needed, when we are illusioned by the color of the skin and the countenance of people? It would have been all better if we all would have been in darkness; at least the reason to kill just on the basis of differentiation would have been lost. But , as being rightly said by Socrates "Truth doesn't change over time but remains constant regardless of situations in life”, same applies good for human beings, even if it would have all been dark, then too man would have found some other reason to kill.
Inspite of blaming light i think it’s the human's nature that’s at fault. The light is a symbol of freeing of one’s mind and bringing clear conscience, but see what man has made of light. He has made a mockery of its sole purpose by defying its nature. I guess what’s needed is freeing of one’s mind and cleansing of human’s heart. But this might take an eternity to happen. Till then, for me darkness is blissful. For now I choose darkness over light so that I can remain in darkness and ignorance, the greater I know the world the more sorrowful my heart becomes.
On one hand, there is light which gives you the power to see and distinguish. It helps us unravel the beauty which earth beholds. From chirping of birds on trees, blossoming of flowers to the change of seasons; one can see it all and can cherish the vagaries the nature has in for us.
While on the contrary darkness makes you blind, it hampers your vision. You are not able to differentiate between the sky and the ocean or the earth. We might loathe darkness for all the falacies and the visual impairment concomitant it, but one must not forget it is the most impartial thing that could ever exist. It doesn’t distinguish between the vastnesses of the sky or the depths of ocean, no matter the how big the difference is, in their appearance or in their nature it treats them equally. Colour holds no meaning for it. It treats everyone equal and embraces everyone with impartial and unseen love. With all the hullabaloo of racisms I tend to think it’s better to be in darkness rather than be in light. What is the advantage to be in light when all you see is a mirage or an illusion? Why is light needed, when we are illusioned by the color of the skin and the countenance of people? It would have been all better if we all would have been in darkness; at least the reason to kill just on the basis of differentiation would have been lost. But , as being rightly said by Socrates "Truth doesn't change over time but remains constant regardless of situations in life”, same applies good for human beings, even if it would have all been dark, then too man would have found some other reason to kill.
Inspite of blaming light i think it’s the human's nature that’s at fault. The light is a symbol of freeing of one’s mind and bringing clear conscience, but see what man has made of light. He has made a mockery of its sole purpose by defying its nature. I guess what’s needed is freeing of one’s mind and cleansing of human’s heart. But this might take an eternity to happen. Till then, for me darkness is blissful. For now I choose darkness over light so that I can remain in darkness and ignorance, the greater I know the world the more sorrowful my heart becomes.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
IPL 09-My Take away
Hey man its strange, IPL fever has gone and i have not writen even a single post on it.Just couldn't restrict myslef from writing one for the same,though for most of us it would be redundant info,but for me it will be a flash card for the 09 version.
This version was full of surprises,dramas and a lot of mirch and masala ranging from various controversies on feild and off field.We have the champs ,the one who finished last in 08 has reigned supreme this time around.One could not also forget the much hyped KKR's multi captain theory, to their disastrous performance and then a sudden resurgence which kicked the defending champs out with sober wounds and bleeding egos.To add to all the glamour we had an anonymous FIP (FAKE IPL PLAYER),though anonymous, most of us do have a clue whose hands will be behind it.Not accurately but i can still put my money on the maker of the master plan,another publicity stunt to hype the much hyped event and then we have the highly intellectual people living in india and various other indian diasporas which wouldn't refrain themselves from commenting on its anonymity and the allegations.He hasn't refrained himself from taunting the legends of the cricket .some were ridiculed,some tested and many others were put into some controversies whose autheticity cant be put to test.There was a time when the popularity of the blog would surely be more than the KKR's own performance or i must say their non performance.but the ground reality is whatever we say about him we all followed him religiously.
With the closing ceremony and crowning the chargers the undisputed kings, we have actually opened up a whole new dimension of opportunities.Not only it has given young indian cricketers a whole new experience and exposure but also India has come on the forefront ,not as the richest cricketing board staffing more dollars under their belly but as a mascot of cricket spreading it to other corners of the world.one can now safely say that cricket mania is up on the go and is surely gaining popularity in the world where football has been the most followed up sport.With this thought and lots of memories of IPL 09 im all waiting for the next version.I hope this time around it would again be a dream run for an underdog team and we might see the KKR's ,the number 8 to be next year's champion as it happened this time round.
All the best to them.amen
This version was full of surprises,dramas and a lot of mirch and masala ranging from various controversies on feild and off field.We have the champs ,the one who finished last in 08 has reigned supreme this time around.One could not also forget the much hyped KKR's multi captain theory, to their disastrous performance and then a sudden resurgence which kicked the defending champs out with sober wounds and bleeding egos.To add to all the glamour we had an anonymous FIP (FAKE IPL PLAYER),though anonymous, most of us do have a clue whose hands will be behind it.Not accurately but i can still put my money on the maker of the master plan,another publicity stunt to hype the much hyped event and then we have the highly intellectual people living in india and various other indian diasporas which wouldn't refrain themselves from commenting on its anonymity and the allegations.He hasn't refrained himself from taunting the legends of the cricket .some were ridiculed,some tested and many others were put into some controversies whose autheticity cant be put to test.There was a time when the popularity of the blog would surely be more than the KKR's own performance or i must say their non performance.but the ground reality is whatever we say about him we all followed him religiously.
With the closing ceremony and crowning the chargers the undisputed kings, we have actually opened up a whole new dimension of opportunities.Not only it has given young indian cricketers a whole new experience and exposure but also India has come on the forefront ,not as the richest cricketing board staffing more dollars under their belly but as a mascot of cricket spreading it to other corners of the world.one can now safely say that cricket mania is up on the go and is surely gaining popularity in the world where football has been the most followed up sport.With this thought and lots of memories of IPL 09 im all waiting for the next version.I hope this time around it would again be a dream run for an underdog team and we might see the KKR's ,the number 8 to be next year's champion as it happened this time round.
All the best to them.amen
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Confessions of a dangerous Mind! (Fictious)
The day has arrived again. From the last 29 years, this is one day that i just don't want in my calendar. If god would have bestowed powers in me, the first thing i would do is to remove this wretched day from my life. Specially Aug 15 1980.But the more i think about it , the more I laugh on my innocence. Even if I become god , I won’t be having the courage to remove my b day and my existence from my life and from face of the earth.You must be wondering how can someone abhor his bday to an extent that he doesn't even want to see the date. Seeing it in calendar reminds me of pain, despair along with love and selflessness, quite contrary but a fact.Well, i was born under very special circumstances. God gave me an option, an option to trade my life in place of my mother’s. But as all human beings are greedy, i too guided by my selfish motives agreed to trade with her love.even god couldn't stand such heinous act of mine and hence I was cursed to be deprived from the love of mother.Its then and now that i have everything that a man desires. I have reached to the pinnacle where people idolize you to the extent of god, from this height the view down below looks wonderful but inside my heart desires for someone to whom i can share my achievements. It has always been like this, to all the things i have achieved and all the times i have fallen down i was looking for someone to be there besides me. Someone to whom I can share my sorrows and celebrate my successes. With Every success and every failure my guilt widened and my heart desired more for the motherly touch. Maybe this was almighty’s way to remorse me for the crime I have committed.
Earlier I used to curse God for taking away my most precious gifts, but later I thought maybe it was all I wanted. Maybe god was just giving me with what I asked for. I was the one with a black heart and no soul.Today the whole of the city is celebrating the mayors b day, But I'm here walking in the rain trying to wash my sins and cleanse from the burden of killing my mom. With every droplet of rain i have become more heavy. The drops which i thought would cleanse me is making me more depressed. Maybe even rain doesn't have the power to cleanse the sins of a murderer.
But even if the rains cant cleanse my sins it has cleared my mind though.Now,that I know that I can’t bring back my mom and can’t get to feel the motherly touch of hers, I have made a point that I won’t let anyone in my city to be homeless and remain as an orphan. I will , by all means try to provide to all those unlucky ones like me to get a good adopted family and if not possible not at any point of time to have a feeling of neglect. I, as mayor would not even let the shadow of pain and misery surround my fellow civilians of the city. I know by seeing this somewhere above in the heavens she is smiling over me,maybe by trading her life she has got what she wanted from her child. Among all the corrupted politicians and aristocrats I will be her gem in the crown. She will get what she wanted not by life but by death,not an orthodox money minting politician but a social servant.
With this I returned to the party smiling,eyes with determination and a schedule to be worked upon.
Earlier I used to curse God for taking away my most precious gifts, but later I thought maybe it was all I wanted. Maybe god was just giving me with what I asked for. I was the one with a black heart and no soul.Today the whole of the city is celebrating the mayors b day, But I'm here walking in the rain trying to wash my sins and cleanse from the burden of killing my mom. With every droplet of rain i have become more heavy. The drops which i thought would cleanse me is making me more depressed. Maybe even rain doesn't have the power to cleanse the sins of a murderer.
But even if the rains cant cleanse my sins it has cleared my mind though.Now,that I know that I can’t bring back my mom and can’t get to feel the motherly touch of hers, I have made a point that I won’t let anyone in my city to be homeless and remain as an orphan. I will , by all means try to provide to all those unlucky ones like me to get a good adopted family and if not possible not at any point of time to have a feeling of neglect. I, as mayor would not even let the shadow of pain and misery surround my fellow civilians of the city. I know by seeing this somewhere above in the heavens she is smiling over me,maybe by trading her life she has got what she wanted from her child. Among all the corrupted politicians and aristocrats I will be her gem in the crown. She will get what she wanted not by life but by death,not an orthodox money minting politician but a social servant.
With this I returned to the party smiling,eyes with determination and a schedule to be worked upon.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Ramblings...
You can judge whats going on in a persons life by seeing his status in the social networking sites or in messengers.It ranges from deep personal introspection to celebration of india's victory in a cricket match.
I was looking into my recent statuses ...alas!!...man, they all have been gloomy and confused...ranging from "Life is impossibly Impossible" to "I hate my life" n etc....with this i began my introspection of life and mood of last few months.I was not one of the happy persons in these days.Let it be job dissatisfaction or some can rate it as pure over expectation from oneself.The end result was a unsettled mind and a person you wouldn't like to interact because of all the negative energies emitting from his persona.With this thought i came across another of my status which i used to keep when i recently came to pune .It stated "Who wants to live forever".It might look quite on the darker side of life but yet it had some inner light because of which i used to keep it in my happier times.
I was not cribbing abt my life and wanted a change, rather i was happy with all i have.It meant that i dont want a 100 years of life on this earth if i can manage some years with the quality of time i was spending.I had time to talk to my loved ones and to follow my interests and hobbies,most importantly the fear of future and worries of my career was not looming in my head.But what happened that i had these sudden transformation in my thoughts.How come a man with so much life became so unhappy with himself?
Well i wont tell you how it happened and what caused it but this weekend something happened and maybe i found the answer to all the confusion and frustration that was creeping inside me.
Man is a funny person ,he wants his life to be picture perfect and when he gets somewhat close to it his expectations with life increases.Its good to have expectations as it gives oneself his AIM and maybe ones reason to live.But the most important thing is patience which i was lacking.You don't have to be in control of all the things happening in your life coz some things are just out of control.Just do your KARMA and have faith in god,things might fall the way you have expected,it might take time but it will.The most important thing is celebrate life.Celebrate each and every moment.One wouldn't spoil the present thinking about future.I hope all my statuses from now on will he happy celebrating all the beautiful things that have happened during the day rather cribbing about what went wrong.
Live life to the fullest coz there mite not be another!!!and here im back to one of my old status"Who wants to live forever"
I was looking into my recent statuses ...alas!!...man, they all have been gloomy and confused...ranging from "Life is impossibly Impossible" to "I hate my life" n etc....with this i began my introspection of life and mood of last few months.I was not one of the happy persons in these days.Let it be job dissatisfaction or some can rate it as pure over expectation from oneself.The end result was a unsettled mind and a person you wouldn't like to interact because of all the negative energies emitting from his persona.With this thought i came across another of my status which i used to keep when i recently came to pune .It stated "Who wants to live forever".It might look quite on the darker side of life but yet it had some inner light because of which i used to keep it in my happier times.
I was not cribbing abt my life and wanted a change, rather i was happy with all i have.It meant that i dont want a 100 years of life on this earth if i can manage some years with the quality of time i was spending.I had time to talk to my loved ones and to follow my interests and hobbies,most importantly the fear of future and worries of my career was not looming in my head.But what happened that i had these sudden transformation in my thoughts.How come a man with so much life became so unhappy with himself?
Well i wont tell you how it happened and what caused it but this weekend something happened and maybe i found the answer to all the confusion and frustration that was creeping inside me.
Man is a funny person ,he wants his life to be picture perfect and when he gets somewhat close to it his expectations with life increases.Its good to have expectations as it gives oneself his AIM and maybe ones reason to live.But the most important thing is patience which i was lacking.You don't have to be in control of all the things happening in your life coz some things are just out of control.Just do your KARMA and have faith in god,things might fall the way you have expected,it might take time but it will.The most important thing is celebrate life.Celebrate each and every moment.One wouldn't spoil the present thinking about future.I hope all my statuses from now on will he happy celebrating all the beautiful things that have happened during the day rather cribbing about what went wrong.
Live life to the fullest coz there mite not be another!!!and here im back to one of my old status"Who wants to live forever"
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