srahula
Those Little Bits
Rahul Chawra
Most of what I ever came across and made me pause.
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Must Read. via: @flirtingshadows via: @CruciFire via: @quickdraw_46
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If Apple becomes a place where computers are a commodity item, where the romance is gone, and where people forget that computers are the most incredible invention that man has ever invented, I’ll feel I have lost Apple.
Steve Jobs resigning from Apple in 1985. Via Popular Science.
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The disposable tendencies of our culture go beyond the tangible. Old software is abandoned and left to die, its usefulness spoiled by incompatible updates. Pop music is produced not for long-lasting relevance, but for evanescent popularity. Entire media organizations are built on producing cheap, fleeting content that will attract momentary attention and then be forgotten, left to rot in cyberspace in digital landfills, engulfed by the next round of valueless “content.” Tweets are hastily written and released like post-it notes in the wind, most being relevant for a moment (if that) before joining the growing mass of irrelevant, out-of-context and mostly useless digital detritus. Creation is driven not by a desire to create something of lasting value, but by desperate lust for the short-lived benefits of evanescent attention. Pageviews and profit.
Surat Lozowick Via What Blag
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As Time Magazine proclaimed in 2005, there's a new breed of 'twixters' who seem trapped betwixt and between adolescence and adulthood. The cover describes them as "young adults who live off their parents, bounce from job to jon, and hop from mate to mate. They're not lazy...they just won't grow up.
From: The Art of Choosing By: Sheena Iyengar
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Whether considering outcomes worthy of praise or of blame, those from the individualistic society assigned responsibility to one individual, while the collectivists saw the outcomes as inextricably linked to systems and context.
From: The Art of Choosing By: Sheena Iyengar
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In arranged partnerships, marital bliss is primarily gauged by the fulfillment of duties, while for love marriages the major criteria is the intensity and duration of the emotional connection between two people. Whether people are consciously aware of this or not, their feelings and the consequences of those feelings follow from the assumptions they have about how married life must unfold.
From: The Art of Choosing By: Sheena Iyengar
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The only freedom deserving the name is that of pursuing our own good in our own way, as long as we do not deprive others of theirs, or impede their efforts to obtain it.....Mankind are greater gainers by suffering each other to live as seems good to themselves, than by compelling each to live as seems good to the rest.
John Stuart Mill
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It is a mistake to imagine that slavery pervades a man's whole being; the better part of him is exempt from it: the body indeed is subjected and in the power of a master, but the mind is independent, and indeed is so free and wild, that it cannot be restrained even by this prison of the body, wherein it is confined.
Seneca the Younger
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As I often say, for instance, our faith in astrology does not decrease as a result of rising levels of our scientific education; rather, as a consequence, we effortlessly move to computerized horoscope casting!
About Indians by Rama Bijapurkar From: We are like this only
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Looking back, I see my five years of stay in Germany as comprising what Erik Erikson called a 'psychosocial moratorium', a deliberately prolonged adolescence and youth in which I could experiment with different identities, with patterns both juvenile and adult, in the hope of finding a niche in society which was firmly defined and was yet uniquely my own. A moratorium eases the pressure of time and I was lucky to be born in a family and class that sanctioned me a legitimate period of delay 'often characterized by a combination of prolonged immaturity and provoked precocity'. I was lucky that there was no premature conclusion to the process of settling on a self definition. I was lucky that there was no identity foreclosure, a premature commitment to an occupation I did not want and would have regretted for the rest of my days. I was lucky that I could avoid the fate of being beset with a lifelong sadness at all the potential identities sacrificed at the altar of exigencies of life.
From: A Book of Memory By: Sudhir Kakar
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Looking back, I see my five years of stay in Germany as comprising what Erik Erikson called a 'psychosocial moratorium', a deliberately prolonged adolescence and youth in which I could experiment with different identities, with patterns both juvenile and adult, in the hope of finding a niche in society which was firmly defined and was yet uniquely my own. A moratorium eases the pressure of time and I was lucky to be born in a family and class that sanctioned me a legitimate period of delay 'often characterized by a combination of prolonged immaturity and provoked precocity'. I was lucky that there was no premature conclusion to the process of settling on a self definition. I was lucky that there was no identity foreclosure, a premature commitment to an occupation I did not want and would have regretted for the rest of my days. I was lucky that I could avoid the fate of being beset with a lifelong sadness at all the potential identities sacrificed at the altar of exigencies of life.
From: A Book of Memory By: Sudhir Kakar
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My mother was doing only what all mothers must do: first seduce the child into the world through the offer of illusion, and then push him into the world's reality where he becomes acquainted with an essential condition of living his future life, the 'solitude of subjectivity', in which he must learn to tolerate her absence and bear the pain of his yearning for a restoration of their intimacy.
By: Sudhir Kakar From: A Book of Memory
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‘Kissa’ of my Car #3 (when I became the consumer)
This is the third post in the series of entries detailing the mental turmoil I am going through while convincing myself to buy a car. You can figure out the earlier entries if you try hard enough.
After having convinced myself, my parents and the people around me about my decision to buy a car, I experienced this feeling of extreme calm. That night when my parents teamed up with my decision, I dreamt of myself sitting in a 70mm theatre watching myself drive a car all alone on the screen. It wasn’t a slow motion sequence. It was extreme slow motion. I saw my hands on the steering wheel, the road was endless without any sign of any other vehicle and the sky slightly overcast. As I rolled down the windows the heavens wept in joy. Chilled droplets of water gushed inside and touched my face creating a sensation throughout the body.
And since it was a dream, I have no clue when it got over or led to another figment of imagination. When I woke up what remained, was a pleasant memory and a question: what car was I driving?
I tried really hard to recollect. I could afford to spend time on trying to think over my dream as it was a weekend. I took it a step further and decided to sleep off once again hoping that I would dream the same dream all over again. Sadly, I didn’t.
So the question remained. For a moment I felt that my situation was similar to that of those young girls who would imagine their knights in shining armour driving down from the heaven on a white stallion to set them free. In their case, there would usually be a bright white light that would make it impossible for them to see the guys face. In mine, it was just memory lapse.
However, as I kept thinking more about the car that I had seen in my dreams, my vision of the world around myself with the cars in it changed.
As I stepped out of the house for the first time that day and walked past the cars parked outside my building, my speed slowed down. Till now they were just vehicles that belonged to others in my building. From now on, they were cars. They had probably always been in existence, but now they were alive for me. Now they were a part of my world.
Before I reached the end of my lane, I felt that my eyes were moving along with every car that was passing by. It was as if a magnet attracted some piece of iron.
I smiled to myself and looked enjoyed this new way of looking at life. I always thought that I could observe things closely. However, I had never explored this dimension of my faculty. The days that followed, saw me observing more and more cars. Asking questions such as what is a beautiful car and what is an ugly car? While travelling in the bus, I would stare outside the window more than concentrate on my reading. I tried to understand why a car was named what it was and how cars were different from each other?
This new phase of calm was an eye-opener and let it pass slowly. I enjoyed each moment as I always saw something that I had not explored before. This was my trip.
Also posted on: Indianisms
Follow me on Twitter: Rahul Chawra
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Passing Thought
Some passing thoughts on reading The 6pm Slot:
People work very hard to create perceptions about themselves in the minds of others around them. The combination of these perceptions is what defines their identity in this world. Over time, they become more like the perception that they themselves created. However, somewhere inside, they know that they are not what they are showing themselves to be.
People want to break free from this illusion on every single opportunity they get.
Putting up this perception is boring, monotonous and unlike their true self. They can show themselves as someone else but can never completely lie to their own self.
They hate this stereotype and want to escape from it the moment they get a chance.
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My review of ‘The 6pm Slot’ – By Naomi Datta
Being a true Indian at heart, I always yearned for more of quality Indian stories with Indian characters and Indian plots in the language that I have grown up with – English. I have never completely related to the international settings and characters. My appetite for Indian plots that belong to our times had remained unfulfilled for quite some time. However, lately things have changed.
On the one side, there are more writers in this country who have taken up this profession seriously alongside publishers and distributors who have made their accessible and affordable. At the same time and as a result thereof, there are many Indians, like myself, who have woken up to the idea of buying original books off the counter to satiate our appetites.
Having said that, let me move to my thoughts on Naomi Datta’s debut book The 6pm Slot.
The plot is set around the lives of characters who work with television channels and the reality of what goes on behind the lens to give the audiences those titillating moments that capture their imagination. As the title suggests, the plot does revolve around the 6pm slot becoming prime time for the channel. However, on thinking a little deeper, there is much more that this piece of work evokes in the mind.
My personal favourite is the manner in which the book ends, stating that, “Nothing to do with television ever has a logical end. It just keeps coming back in circles.” The television industry in India also never seems to have enough of absurd programming as long as the TRPs keep roaring. These corporate houses are in a mad-frenzy to achieve their revenues while their employees seem to be living in a small world where their only preoccupation is personal growth and career progression. What is lost in the process is the big picture about the impact that their work has on the lives of millions who are constantly consuming their produce. From their perverse production to the ceaseless consumption there is a vicious circle where only the change is in the form of people. The content and its presentation remains the same.
The 6pm Slot apart from being a complete plot with realistic characterization, raises certain deep issues like this which the society needs to take note of and intervene with. There are three such issues, which I would like to elaborate about in this article:
Firstly, people working with television channels need to realise that they command a very deep influence on the minds of the audience. Even with the low penetration of television in India, there are still millions who are glued to watch television each day individually and in groups for hours at length. While this is something that channels should be happy about, they should not forget the fact that this also adds huge responsibility on their shoulders. They need to be careful about what they create keeping in mind the effect that their programming will have on the minds of the audience.
Human beings are driven by emotions. With the modern form of family structures and busy social lives, they seek more and more entertainment from television. It is but natural for them to gravitate towards content high on emotional drama and entertainment. Anything on television with this deadly concoction is bound to gather more eyeballs than others.
However it is the channels responsibility to wake up and realise where the line needs to be drawn. It is but easy to label trash content as something that the audience is looking for. Television channels cannot escape from their responsibility to educate and mature the audiences by producing better quality content.
Secondly, audiences need to questions themselves about what is scripted and what is reality on television. They need to stop acting, reacting and over-reacting to the whims and fancies of what television wants to them to react to and react as. They need to start distinguishing between what is genuine information/ entertainment and shallow foppery.
Sex sells not only in India but across the world. However, as an audience, we need to decide whether we are looking for perversion-only content or entertainment. Without being a moral police here, I feel that at one level, we need to get our butts moving to see the huge world which exists beyond the world of television. We have forgotten that television has occupied our lives only in the last couple of decades and that there were generations before that who had various means of entertainment. We are becoming a civilization of people consuming their need for all kinds of emotions in front of one screen or the other. While television has become an essential ingredient of our existence, it is by no means the only means of entertainment.
Lastly, I would like to talk about a character trait especially with those working in corporates such as the one shown by Naomi. This trait is about the world of perception that people work very hard to create about themselves only to be trapped in their own perception, not realising when to move out of it. This leads to disillusionment and depression in their lives leaving them with a lack of purpose for their existence.
Life today has become extremely competitive. There is a huge amount of performance pressure on everyone. The ones who are smart realise early that managing perceptions around them is just as important as the actual output they deliver. However, ensuring that the perceptions are managed is not an easy task and one is often stretched to the last limits while doing this.
One of the characters in her book captures this though beautifully with this remark his colleague, “Don’t break the illusion, but don’t start believing it.” The character who is being advised has managed to reach a position of significance where people around her are lost in the halo of the illusion that surrounds her. At this point in the book, she is reminded that this is but an illusion for others and not something that she should believe in like others. She can lie to the entire world but not to herself. She needs to remember what she is and that perhaps is the only manner in which she can win over herself and others.
Naomi has captured and brought to life all three of the above issues beautifully with the help of her narrative and an easy language. There is much more that the book has for the readers which I cannot discuss without certain spoilers. I will stop here with a personal recommendation to go out and explore this world by grabbing a copy of the book soon.
Also posted on: Indianisms
Follow me on Twitter: Rahul Chawra on Twitter
This review is a part of the Book Reviews Program at BlogAdda.com. Participate now to get free books!
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‘Kissa’ of my Car #2 (when I became the consumer)
This is the second post in the series of entries talking detailing the mental turmoil I am going through while convincing myself to buy a car. The earlier post can be accessed here: http://srahula.tumblr.com/post/6978858333/kissa-of-my-car-1-when-i-became-a-consumer
By now, I felt that I had convinced myself. Or was it really?
Arriving at a decision is anyways difficult for Librans (that is me). My sun-sign aptly visualizes my mental conundrum using the beam-balance, which keeps oscillating between two opposite sides.
On top of this, taking decisions about important events such as career, matrimony, purchase of an expensive asset, etc. in India; acquires a completely varied dimension. In such cases, your choice needs to be tabled before the family, friends and peers in the social and professional circles for approval. A thorough analysis is then carried out by these experienced and opinionated ones who most often are not even a part of the Google+ circle; yet hold the position of key influencers in your life. The matter is duly considered by them. Somewhere in this process, they also ensure that your choices are conveniently forgotten. Over time the judgement is passed. Usually it isn’t in your favour. And you can do nothing against this ruling.
I have two key sets of audiences to convince: my parents and my friends & colleagues.
My parents felt that buying a car is an eventuality predicted in my charts. However, considering this purchase at the current moment is like throwing a challenge at my destiny. I need to wait till the time is ripe and the stars occupy the apt positions in the sky. I should concentrate my efforts on building assets such as gold, life insurance, mutual funds, house, etc. for now.
I had somehow predicted this response and kept my rebuttal ready. The speech was a mix of emotional drama and functional reasoning. I dropped the emotional weaponry first by narrating my gruelling bus journey to work and back each day in a public bus. At times I would not even get a place to sit. On days with bad traffic, which are common in Mumbai, the journey would last eat into around five hours of my time in the day. The icing on the cake was when I mentioned how I felt like forcing myself to eat dinner after returning home.
Seeing positive reactions on their faces, I decided to launch the functional reasoning. I argued about how I should spend my hard earned money on repayment of loan which I was currently spending on uncomfortable public transport. I told them about how I could drive them over to meet up with various people on weekends and also have a social life for myself which has almost reduced to zero.
I guess they were convinced even before I had launched my functional argumentation. Parents being parents can accept anything other than their seeing their kids in any form of pain. Having completed the first part of my struggle, I decided to initiate my discussion with the next set.
One would wonder why is it important to seek approval of friends/ colleagues while buying a car. I faced the same dilemma, yet I could not stop myself from seeking social approval from people around me.
For me, the reason to do this is because of my faith in the law of karma. I want my progress and success to be perceived as an outcome of my hard work and efforts and not a sudden jolt of luck. As per the law of karma, one needs to do enough of good deeds to be blessed with goodies in return. The perception I wanted people to carry about me, is that my car is an outcome of years of toil and not a sudden change in fortunes. That is exactly how I confided my intentions into the ears of the people around me. I used my collection of stories about hardships and that would leave a long lasting rags-to-riches image in their minds.
Having conquered both the audiences, I had successfully managed to cross the second hurdle to reach my long cherished dream of owning a car.
Also posted on:
http://advertisinginsight.blogspot.com/
Follow me on Twitter:
@srahula
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