Mr.Modi's speech at FICCI 2013

although possibly unintentional, but his speech was highly patronizing and never once did it budge from the stereotype roles and image of women. why call women 'maa and behene' (mothers and sisters)? do our identities depend solely upon our social/biological role?   i know, i know. many of you will say -ah, that's only a polite way of addressing you people. well, won't you take a woman's opinion into consideration over how she'd like to be addressed? or you alone will decide what the right word is for us? your 'polite' ways have become too hackneyed and come with a lot of prejudice. just call us women,already! (aurate, if you wish) that's short and easy, too!!


we are individuals first. women second. mothers and sisters somewhere down the line, if we are indeed someone's mother and a sister, that is! according to your 'polite' ways of addressing, is an infertile woman still a woman? woh to maa nahi hai?

And why tell women what their gender has done and achieved when your audience happens to be empowered women themselves? however, this is not Mr.Modi's fault. it's the women who invited a man and requested a man to talk about women's empowerment. the choice of topic beats common sense. here, women have stereotyped themselves.

however, looking beyond the words and tone, his speech was not bad. a few good points, occasionally funny. however it sounded too well rehearsed and nothing crackling new on offer. I'm saying this because I expected much more from Mr.Modi.

All in all, a good speech that could and should have been better!

Why am I so angry? No more angry posts from my side! I have felt the power of calmness just a few days ago and I want to stick with it.

Deep breath
....1..2..3...




Exhale slowly..

Hm..That feels great :) :)

posted from Bloggeroid

Believing in Beliefs? (Part 2)

It's alright to allow unproven concepts a recognition into your consciousness, unless you are feverishly defending them. I mean, why not? you are not hurting someone by believing in ghosts/spirits/past life/karma/destiny etc. When beliefs are held at an individual level, it's a perfectly harmless practice. But I am not concerned with that. I see what this kind of thinking gets projected into on a larger scale. When such fascinations, these 'beliefs' become so widespread that people who are not in the habit of thinking for themselves start believing in such concepts immutably. It's not the good part, the 'honey and roses' side of believing that concerns me. It's the bad part. The exploitation, the control over people, the money minting business and sometimes infliction of pain, injuries and even death that disturbs me.

E.g. Religion practiced in your homes is harmless, but when it spills on the streets, meddles with government procedures, that's when it becomes dangerous.

Past life is an interesting concept. It's the respite of a tired soul that has fought in-vain against the still unexplained areas of our existence. But look at the sway it holds on people! There's a whole industry that claims to introduce you to your past life to cure your present day problems.  There was a TV show on this aired a couple of years ago. Scamsters mint money feeding on people's insecurities. Someone claims to be the  reincarnation of some baba and fools take it seriously and queue up to get his blessings.

Is there any evidence to prove that such a thing exist? NO! Are these things causing a menace? YES! So, what to do about it? GET RID OF IT!!

Why is it that a skeptic like us is always so meek whereas a scmaster is always so firm on his/ her beliefs and so boastful of them? Is our duality of thought causing us to stay meek? Then I reject this duality. I speak of evidence. I firmly reject these beliefs until evidence props up. It would be nice if the proponents of such beliefs undertake serious research in these topics and I would be very happy to have been proven wrong, because it doesn't matter whether we are right or wrong, what matters is that truth gets uncovered. But till that happens, I will keep my personal crusade against this sham up and alive.

Science isn't boastful unlike beliefs. It does take into consideration a hypothesis, then works on it, tries to prove/disprove it, collects data that is statistically significant and only then accepts its own hypothesis.

Just because life seems unexplained now and we've our own ways of understanding it doesn't make us right. Our gaps in thinking make us prone to internal conflicts. What courage do we have then to stand up against a conman claiming to be the incarnation of some xyz god? We may think, "oh, it is possible. 0.0000000001% possible." (that means nothing, statistically).

Why does the need of thinking about past life and god and karma arise in the first place? Life may as well be meaningless, purposeless, we die and nobody in the universe gives a flying fish about it. No soul, no balance sheet of our good and bad deeds is kept. So why not hold onto what we know for sure till new evidences come up, no matter how bitter life appears in the process devoid of its embellishments.

By all means, do imagine, make hypotheses, try them, test them, but don't accept them unless proven. The loopholes in logic have time and again proven what a terrible harm they can bring. It's our duty to plug them, for ourselves and for the sake of this society.

Believing in Beliefs? (Part 2)

It's alright to allow unproven concepts a recognition into your consciousness, unless you are feverishly defending them. I mean, why not? you are not hurting someone by believing in ghosts/spirits/past life/karma/destiny etc. When beliefs are held at an individual level, it's a perfectly harmless practice. But I am not concerned with that. I see what this kind of thinking gets projected into on a larger scale. When such fascinations, these 'beliefs' become so widespread that people who are not in the habit of thinking for themselves start believing in such concepts immutably. It's not the good part, the 'honey and roses' side of believing that concerns me. It's the bad part. The exploitation, the control over people, the money minting business and sometimes infliction of pain, injuries and even death that disturbs me.

E.g. Religion practiced in your homes is harmless, but when it spills on the streets, meddles with government procedures, that's when it becomes dangerous.

Past life is an interesting concept. It's the respite of a tired soul that has fought in-vain against the still unexplained areas of our existence. But look at the sway it holds on people! There's a whole industry that claims to introduce you to your past life to cure your present day problems.  There was a TV show on this aired a couple of years ago. Scamsters mint money feeding on people's insecurities. Someone claims to be the  reincarnation of some baba and fools take it seriously and queue up to get his blessings.

Is there any evidence to prove that such a thing exist? NO! Are these things causing a menace? YES! So, what to do about it? GET RID OF IT!!

Why is it that a skeptic like us is always so meek whereas a scmaster is always so firm on his/ her beliefs and so boastful of them? Is our duality of thought causing us to stay meek? Then I reject this duality. I speak of evidence. I firmly reject these beliefs until evidence props up. It would be nice if the proponents of such beliefs undertake serious research in these topics and I would be very happy to have been proven wrong, because it doesn't matter whether we are right or wrong, what matters is that truth gets uncovered. But till that happens, I will keep my personal crusade against this sham up and alive.

Science isn't boastful unlike beliefs. It does take into consideration a hypothesis, then works on it, tries to prove/disprove it, collects data that is statistically significant and only then accepts its own hypothesis.

Just because life seems unexplained now and we've our own ways of understanding it doesn't make us right. Our gaps in thinking make us prone to internal conflicts. What courage do we have then to stand up against a conman claiming to be the incarnation of some xyz god? We may think, "oh, it is possible. 0.0000000001% possible." (that means nothing, statistically).

Why does the need of thinking about past life and god and karma arise in the first place? Life may as well be meaningless, purposeless, we die and nobody in the universe gives a flying fish about it. No soul, no balance sheet of our good and bad deeds is kept. So why not hold onto what we know for sure till new evidences come up, no matter how bitter life appears in the process devoid of its embellishments.

By all means, do imagine, make hypotheses, try them, test them, but don't accept them unless proven. The loopholes in logic have time and again proven what a terrible harm they can bring. It's our duty to plug them, for ourselves and for the sake of this society.

Hurt Sentiments? (Part 1)

So, some xyz person hurts your social/religious/cultural/moral/economic/financial/......(fill in the blanks)..... sentiments that gets you angry. Very, very angry!

What do you do? You demand their persecution. Worse, you hurt that man/woman physically because they said something that you didn't want to hear.

YOU ULTIMATE DOUCHE!! YOU INSECURE, UNDEMOCRATIC, EGOTISTIC, SELFISH, POOR EXCUSE FOR A HUMAN BEING!!!!!


You outcast a painter for drawing things that offended your religious sentiments? You order fatwa on a writer and openly threaten him with impunity because he wrote something that somehow offended your god? You arrest bloggers because they wrote something against people's 'beliefs'? You spit hatred on people who don't have a sexual orientation that the majority has? You instantly call a skimpily dressed woman all kinds of expletives because she is dressed in a way that offends your 'culture'? You mercilessly beat up couples in the street, in the gardens for kissing because kissing in open is 'immoral'? You throw a cartoonist in jail for drawing stuff to vent his anger against the corrupt government? You threaten a teenage girl because she did not keep respect of the man whom you revered? You vandalize shops for not using regional language script? You spread regionalism in a democratic country where every individual has the right to move freely to any part of their country? You kill young men and women in love because they threw away the caste shackles which again offended your sentiments?

Please. Give me a break! If your sentiments are hurt, go see a psychiatrist. Please take a break from work to recuperate and nurse your hurt feeling. But if you are going to deny people their fundamental rights because they did things that offended your sentiments, then you are the most despicable animal of this planet.

.....to be continued

I am what I am and that's all that I am!

Believing in Beliefs ? (Part 1)

If you call yourself scientific and logical, yet strongly believe in something that's supported by no evidence whatsoever, then there is no cure for your condition.

See the thing about logic is, it has to be possessed in entirety. If you leave holes in it, random crap will come seeping in and pollute your emotion-driven mind in no time.You'll wave the flag of science, yet you'll believe in the concept of past life. You'll demand scientific evidence but still believe that our destinies are pre-written. You'll worship logic yet that's the first thing you'll sacrifice on the alters of religion.

Words of truth, even when spoken quietly, make their impact. It is the made up stuff, the sham that needs to be spoken from the rooftops. Wonder why the proponents of illogical, unscientific rubbish are often very charismatic and effective speakers? Because what you can't prove with evidence and logic can only be pushed down people's throats through a powerful emotional rhetoric. Such people will avoid answering a logical question directly, in stead they will take you on a pseudo scientific emotional ride, and will get extremely angry if you show them the faults in their claims.

Follow logic. Completely! So that you leave no room for rubbish to hold any sway on you, no matter who speaks it or how powerfully they speak it. Skepticism is our best ally in times where too much false knowledge is being spread with too much fervor.

Save yourself. Think logically. Demand proofs. Don't just believe in something. In fact, reject all beliefs as much as possible and accept evidence. If you believe in past life, you might as well start believing in flying spaghetti monster. If you believe in the eternal nature of soul then you have no right to ridicule someone who says that we are actually living in the matrix or that you are going in hell because you are not a Christian.

Beliefs are ridiculous when they are held strongly without rational thinking or practical evidence. Beliefs are even dangerous when you are so enamored with them that you even reject the evidence that proves your beliefs wrong.

Mother nature has worked very hard to increase our brain size. Lets not insult her efforts. Think, and think deeply. Be a skeptic. Demand evidence. There are far too many loopholes laid out ahead of you to fall into, and only science and logic can save you from them.

Lastly, no matter how smart you are, if you say to me things like - "oh, i believe in black magic and I believe psychics exist and they can talk to spirits", i would say, in 'django unchained' fashion, "Lady/ Gentleman, you had my attention, but now you don't even have my curiosity". 

posted from Bloggeroid

Saw the first lecture by Prof.Michael Sandel on justice on edx. He talks about a case situation where you are driving a trolley truck that's gone out of control.there are 5 workers in the street ahead and it is 100% for sure that if you continue going straight ahead, you will careen into them and kill them.
Now, You have just one alternative. You see a side track and you can quickly steer to it. But there is 1 worker in that track and if you turn there, he will be killed for sure.

So, whats the right thing to do?

Let the truck ram into five workers and kill them, or kill one person in order to save five others?

My first answer is that I would steer the truck into the side track and save 5 lives.......by killing 1.

But that 'feels' morally wrong. That still looks like killing, rather than saving.

But what if by killing one innocent person, I could save 1000 innocent lives? Would I then take the truck on sidetrack and save 1000 other people by killing 1. Does it feel morally right ? Is that the right thing to do ?


Tough question.


my first reaction was -yes.it's rational and reasonable to kill one person to save a thousand others.

But now my answer is a NO.


Why?

Well, I feel that though your intentions are good, though the result of your action (killing one person to save many others) look logically and mathematically better on paper, it sends out a very disturbing signal in the society. It somehow dehumanizes the worker in the side track. In a split second, an innocent, hard working man became a commodity, he became expendable. His wishes, his rights didn't matter any more and he became your object, which you chose to do away with. His life was somewhat of lesser importance than the lives of five others. And that's what feels wrong.


But what about the other 5 people? Wont they die, won't their families suffer? Didn't they have a right to live as much as the poor thing in side track did ?

Yes. That's all correct. But in both the scenarios, they still have their dignity to live or die as a human being and not as an object.

Let me put it this way. Thousands of people die in accidents everyday, natural or man made. Accidents kill people, but as opposed to act of the killing with motive, they don't leave behind an uncomfortable feeling. One man treating another man as an object can never be right. It doesn't matter what the motive was.

Killing one for saving other can not be right. You wont kill one man and harvest his organs to save five others, even though it might sound like a logical thing to do. But morality isn't about logic it's about what legacy you leave behind. What lessons people get from your actions.

However, if you still choose ti steer the trolley on the sidetrack and kill one man to save many others, make sure you kill yourself right after that. Because only that can restore the balance of morality that you just disturbed.

posted from Bloggeroid

All great deeds and all great thoughts have a ridiculous
beginning. Great works are often born on a streetcorner
or in a restaurant's revolving door. So it is with
absurdity. The absurd world more than others derives
its nobility from that abject birth. In certain situations,
replying "nothing" when asked what one is thinking
about may be pretense in a man. Those who are loved
are well aware of this. But if that reply is sincere, if it
symbolizes that odd state of soul in which the void becomes
eloquent, in which the chain of daily gestures is
broken, in which the heart vainly seeks the link that will
connect it again, then it is as it were the first sign of
absurdity.
It happens that the stage sets collapse. Rising, streetcar,
four hours in the office or the factory, meal, streetcar,
four hours of work, meal, sleep, and Monday Tuesday
Wednesday Thursday Friday and Saturday according
to the same rhythm—this path is easily followed
most of the time. But one day the "why" arises and
everything begins in that weariness tinged with amazement.
"Begins"—this is important. Weariness comes at
the end of the acts of a mechanical life, but at the same
time it inaugurates the impulse of consciousness. It
awakens consciousness and provokes what follows. What
follows is the gradual return into the chain or it is the
definitive awakening. At the end of the awakening
comes, in time, the consequence: suicide or recovery.
In itself weariness has something sickening about it.
Here, I must conclude that it is good. For everything begins
with consciousness and nothing is worth anything
except through it. There is nothing original about these
remarks. But they are obvious; that is enough for a
while, during a sketchy reconnaissance in the origins of
the absurd. Mere "anxiety," as Heidegger says, is at the
source of everything.

(a passage from 'The Myth of Sisyphus' by Albert Camus)

I must never forget that for every selfish jerk out there,there are many hardworking,honest,good people;many of whom are oppressed and exploited by the selfish few.

I can't lose hopes in people for a bunch of jerks again.I can't give them that power over me.

I owe it to all the good people out there.We all do.If it weren't for people like us,Earth would rot.

We are the only hope for future generations and I feel that responsibility now more than ever.I can't again let myself  be overwhelmed by the negativity that this country is experiencing right now.I can't give up.I can't.I can't afford the luxury of being cynical.