A Quizzical Reality...

It's time for east to rule

2011-02-21T04:18:00.001-08:00

In last century the USA and a century before that the United
Kingdom bestrode the world like a behemoth, the small group of nations
around the Northern Atlantic, 'The West' literally ruled the world. For
two centuries The Westerners have invaded the East (Africa and Asia) but
Africans or Asians have not sent armies to invade Europe. We
communicate in their language, we wear their cloths, we study their
culture and we believe today is whatever date it is because they said
so.

In 17th century many Westerners visited India and China and
they were overawed by the wealth and sophistication of societies in
Asia. But in 18th century many Europeans started to believe the
Westerners were simply superior to rest of the world. According to
French social commentator Baron de Montesquieu Europeans had "- a
certain vigor of Body and Mind which renders them patient and intrepid
and qualifies them for arduous exercises.".

When asked why
Europeans are superior to everyone else they often concluded that it was
their 'CULTURE'. Just look, they argued, at the doctrines of Socrates,
the wisdom of the bible, or the works of Leonardo da Vinci.

In
my opinion they couldn't be more wrong. For example Socrates wasn't the
only philosopher in 5th Century BC. The years when he was active were
also the age of Buddha and early Jainism in India and Confucius and
first Daoists in China. They answered the same questions Socrates dealt
with - The Meaning of reality, the way of good life and creation of
perfect society. Socrates was just the local version of a broader trend.

Christianity was also a local version of a broader trend than
something that set the West apart from the rest. As the roman empire
fell in mid-first millennium, new questions arose - " Is there anything
beyond life? Can I be saved from the aftermath?"
The Christianity
provided the answers (let's not get into the validity of those answers)
and gained over 40 million followers. But in the same years in the wake
of Han Dynasty's fall in China, Mahayana and Buddhism were offering
their own answers to same questions. Soon enough Islam reached to
Africa, the middle east and southern Asia. Leonardo da Vinci refined
wisdom of ancient west to revolutionize everything from aeronautics to
arts but 400 years before Vinci China has produced it's own Renaissance
men who refined ancient wisdom to revolutionize everything. Shen Kua
(1031-1095) published groundbreaking work in field of agriculture
science, archeology and geology etc. Da Vinci would no doubt have been
impressed. The triumphs of western culture were impressive but they
were just local version of a broader trend and not lonely beacons in
general darkness.

So if culture wasn't the factor than what made Europeans superior?
Answer is simple : 'GEOGRAPHY'.
Geography
is unfair - societies evolve with the same sequence of cultural
development. Geography dictates the speed at which different parts of
World develop but the development can redefine geography too. 5000 years
ago Europe was at a disadvantage geographically. It was far from
centers of action Mesopotamia and Egypt so at the very beginning of
recorded history geography made western Europe backward. Fast-forward
to 500 years ago same geography gave western Europe wealth and power.
Geography was the reason that it was Europeans and not Indians or
Chinese who first discovered, colonized and plundered the Americas.
India and China were as developed as Europe but geography placed them
twice as far from American Continent as Europe, so Europeans got there
first. But the western dominance will not last forever. History teaches
that. The back-and-forth between Geography and Social development keeps
on working. By 1900, the vast resources of USA made it the 'top nation'.
In late 20th century the human resources of Japan, South Korea, Taiwan
and eventually China and India made them newer global cores. If the
process of change continues with the same pace in 21st century we can
expect the East to overtake West by 2050.

A story of fate...

2011-01-23T01:18:00.000-08:00

Once upon a time on a sweet december morning, in the beautiful town of Ratlam a boy left his house to buy some groceries. At they same time time in some other part of town a girl left her apartment to post a letter.
The boy headed east, the girl headed west. They crossed each other on a busy street.

When they were 50 feets apart boy saw the girl.

The boy thought "Wish I could talk to her. Half an hour would be plenty: just ask her about herself, tell her about myself, and - what I'd really like to do ".

And when they got close to each other, they stopped...and deciding to start talking. It was a totally natural and spontaneous thing and it wasn't something that these people usually do. It just happened.

And these people just connected with each other on every word and at every level. It was as if, they had already known each other for so long, even though they had only known each other a matter of minutes...but it soon came a couple hours. And the incredible connection these two made was so strong it was as if there was a glowing light between these two people. They were 100% perfect for each other. So it was then that they decided that their meeting must be FATE, they thought people just don't meet "The One" this way, it wasn't magical or like they showed in movies, yes it was fate.

To test this out, the two went on their separate ways...and decided that if they would meet again, they would KNOW for sure that it was their DESTINY to be together. So they departed. They went on their separate ways.

Years passed by, they met 70%-85% perfect people but never a 100% perfect.

One beautiful April morning, in search of a cup of coffee to start the day, the boy was walking from west to east, while the girl, intending to send a special-delivery letter, was walking from east to west, but along the same narrow street in the town of Ratlam They passed each other in the very center of the street. The faintest gleam of their lost memories glimmered for the briefest moment in their hearts. Each felt a rumbling in their chest. And they knew:

She is the 100% perfect girl for me.

He is the 100% perfect boy for me.

But the glow of their memories was far too weak, and their thoughts no longer had the clarity of fouteen years earlier. Without a word, they passed each other, disappearing into the crowd. Forever. And they never saw each other again!

_________________
What I think :
It's not a sad story. It just tell you that fate gives you amazing opportunities and you have to take advantage of that. Once fate gives you something you can't just push it and assume you'll get it again. It's like winning the lottery and ripping the ticket, thinking that if it's in your fate, you'll get it again.

Not time to blog.

2011-01-18T03:52:00.000-08:00

So I thought I would be able to blog in the new year. I even made a new-year's resolution to blog atleast once a week but it's just not possible right now. I am in 4th semester of my post-graduation and I AM BUSY!

I have a 7 days military training coming next week (DAMN!) and extra placement training sessions in college.

I hope I will be able to write something good soon. Till then, adios!

A 'Chatur' inside us...

2010-12-23T01:20:00.000-08:00

'Chatur' can not die in din of three idiots. I am talking about Chatur Ramamlingam played by Omi Vaidya. And i am sure most of us identify with him. A satire on the Indian education sysem, Chatur exemplifies the rote learning education paradigm. The 'idiots' errr... 'heroes' learn the hard way to break away from shackles of unchanging curriculamassumptions outlined in educational scriptures. Kudos to the idiots with which we all identified as explained by the 340 crore business it fetched in just 3 days.
Each one of 'idiot' in movie is unique. Aamir is the child prodigy. Serving a different country using a different name. Idiot? Definitely. Then there is a poor idiot who survives a suicide and still manages to get a job. Idiot? Confirmed. And the third is Farhan- burning with passion for photography buried under engineering books to fulfill parental dream. He represents the ideal Indian son, ready to sacrifice his dreams for his parents.
But 'Chatur' is the 4th hero here. The real 'hero' Chatur carves a success story. Abused and ridiculed by the idiots, he fits himself to his milieu, translate his weakness (ability to memorize) into strength, does no fraud (atleast they didn't show it in movie), makes no suicide attempt (a cowardly act IMO) and remains focussed. Yet we all laughed at him. For, there is a chatur in all of us, wanting to break free from system, be an IDIOT.

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2010-08-19T04:33:00.001-07:00

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