RIFLE RANGE BOY

Fritz Haber Of late, some of my friends and I have been engaged in lengthy conversations about religion and science. Many insist that what the world needs is science, not more religious sermons. They surmise that science and rational thinking could change the world into a peaceful place. Anyway, religion has been getting a bad reputation of late as the single cause of mayhem in the world. Logic, critical mind and the courage to question the status quo has been hailed as the only saviour of mankind. This is not the first time in history such a predicament had come to the fore. In the latter part of the 19th century, there was a real concern that the then expanding world population would outrun our the ability to feed them. As the population growth grew exponentially and food production on a linear path, leaders appreciated the relevance of Malthusian theory and foresaw the impending doom. Nutrients in the soil were being depleted and the guano, the natural fertiliser was hard to co...

It is quite comical that how verses from the same book of the Bible is used on either side of the divide in America on the issue of immigration. Quoting the book of Romans, one side claim that leaders are ordained by God. Hence, their decree is equivalent to God's command on Earth, and the people are dutybound to follow.  Paradoxically, detractors argue that it is taken out of context. Texts that were preceding and after that verse that were omitted.  The Good Book reminded the followers of the times when the people were themselves slaves in Egypt and how they were ill-treated. Everyone is a sojourner on Earth, just passing through. Words like 'feed your enemies if they are hungry, give them a drink if they are thirsty', ' do not reap to the very edges of your field, leave them for the poor and the foreigner',  and 'love your enemy as yourself' may denote that one should for the unfortunate. But life is not so simple. Scholars have decided that the pas...

Happy! (Season 1; 2017) What actually makes us happy? It seems that from time immemorial, we go around looking for that unattainable wish. Happiness, Bliss, Utopia, Eudaimonia, we refer to it with different names. What we actually yearn for a state of mind oblivious to things that happen around us and one that puts us in a state not wondering what tomorrow may bring and whether we will be left out from it. We want to feel, experience, the wonder of our brain immersed in the feel-good chemicals, serotonin, dopamine and oxytocin. The question why this drowning is self-limiting, numbs itself spontaneously with tolerance setting in. We need ever more of the same for the desired effect. We are still in search of true happiness if there is one. In the meantime, we divert our attention to other paths and convince ourselves that that indeed is happiness even though most do not buy it! We create stories. We tell ourselves that the Law of Nature is just. Somehow happiness is portrayed a...

Tweet (2016) Isa Kamari We, human beings, like to think that we are unique; that everything that happens around us revolves for us and is about us. Maybe, just maybe, animals just like us, do indeed have a consciousness to aspire things in life. They, like us, have hierarchy and order in life. On top that that, they may want to have big dreams and long to be in an imagined place of bliss. 'Tweet' is a thin book which looks sarcastically at the goings-on at a bird park in Singapore. Concurrently, the story tells the conversation between a grandfather and grandson as well a purported communication among and between species of birds in the park. At face value, the man-boy conversation may seem simple, it is laced with symbolism and philosophy of life. The birds too feel trapped in an environment so alien to their natural habitat. Even though the park promises to be right and fair to its inmates, the whole idea is just to create an aesthetically pleasin...

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 The Persistence of Memory, 1931. Salvador Dali I thought I had found the best way to rejuvenate myself after immersing myself deep into my studies during those long days of uncertainty before the public examinations. I would engage in short slumber breaks. Just as I would feel slowly being dragged into sleep, I would suddenly smack myself awake. I would curse myself for sleeping too long only to realise that I had hardly slept. I would, however, be feeling quite fresh by then and would abandon my plans to snooze. These short power naps were a game changer. They managed to fuel me to sail through all those trying times. I later came to learn is that that state was known as the hypnagogic state of sleep as we transit between wakefulness to sleep. And it was a normal phase of sleeping.  Then one day, a friend who in his own mind thinks he is an interpreter of dreams ala-Freud, tried to analyse that sensation that I felt as the mind's indicator that it is in a consta...

The Ramayana R.K. Narayan (1972) We all know the story of the Ramayana. The original epic poem contained 24,000 verses and 500 chapters, written by Valmiki in 4 BCE. It has many versions as it had been translated into many Indian languages and non-Indian languages. As the Hindu influence spread over the archipelago, Ramayana had been narrated in Thailand, Malaya. Indonesia and Burma. The version that was written by the Tamil poet, Kamban, is said to give plenty of weightage to Ravana's courts' proceedings and Sita's predicaments after the well-fought war against Lanka.  The discourse that went on among the Asura brothers on the days before the Northerners' attack is worthy of mention. It tells us a lot of how civil servants or any member of an organisation would ( ‽  or should) react in a case of a moral dilemma. When Raavan summoned his brothers to help him out against attack from Rama's Army and his band of monkeys, each of them responded differently....

Ju Dou (Chinese; 1990) Just as much as societal norms set the order in a society, they can also be the cause of discontent and chaos. Believe it or not, this is very much like religion. On the one hand, it tries to create a milieu of harmony where all individuals, rich or poor, stronger or weak has a place in the sun. Conversely, to try to enact 'God's Law' on Earth, we see people die, and countries go to wars towards this end.  This classic multiple award-winning Chinese film tells of a tale which is set in a secluded village at the turn of the 19th century. Tianqing is adopted by a wealthy but miserly owner of a fabric dyeing factory. He is forced to work ruthlessly, almost like a slave. The elderly owner, Yang, after a spate of dead spouses, is now married to a young bride. Yang is abusive towards his young wife, perpetuated by his impotence and inability to secure an heir. Tianqing takes pity on the bride, Ju Duo. The feelings develop into a romance, ...

BBC Podcast: Death in Ice Valley(2018) In November 1970, hikers discovered the remains of a lady in the icy cold mountainous area of Isdalen Valley in Norway. This lady, in her 30s, obviously not equipped for trekking, was found charred faced down in a fire with a bottle of barbiturates in the vicinity. This death was unusual to the peaceful port town of Bergen. It created a lot of excitement. The police had nothing much to work with. To start with, no identity could be ascertained. Nobody came forward with the report of a missing person. The labels on her clothes were cut off. A nationwide alert pinpointed to left luggage in the railway station. It seems she possessed multiple passports, multiple identities and many wigs.  With not much evidence to work with, the police soon declared her case as suicide and were buried in a zinc cast to enable further test if necessary.  Her burial was a low-key attended only by police officers.  46 years later,...

We carry the burdens of our ancestors. At least, that is my understanding of how life works. In my simple mind, we suffer for the mistakes of our ancestors and the misdeeds or inaction of the past leaders. Conversely, we prosper and enjoy the reason for our existence from their farsightedness. I was taught to believe, as the picture of life painted by my mother as I was exposed to the lessons in life, that when we do 'good things', we will be rewarded in due time. Somewhere somehow our good deeds will be returned, directly or indirectly. Then I discovered that you do 'good things' because it is the only humane thing to do. Later came the talk of karma and its nuances of how 'evil' actions, like Newton's Law, has a correspondingly counter re-action which may affect your descendants. Now, these people tell me that every person is an island. Everyone is responsible for his own actions or inactions and his 'soul' has to answer for it in this life o...

Why am I a Hindu? (2018) Author: Shashi Tharoor Most of us grew up following blindly the rituals and practices shown to us by our parents. By default, we became Hindus by birth. We questioned naively our elders of their seemingly animistic practices, to which we were given explanations that appeared too simplistic and like an after-thought.  When we asked our parents why we should not taste the food that was to be offered to the Gods, the reply was that the Gods must savour it first. A more prosaic but practical answer would have been that it is to make sure that the offering does not finish before making its way to the altar. Along the way in our childhood, we were exposed to other religions as well, specifically Christianity. Schooled in mission schools, the institutions ensured that its mission was openly displayed, if not immersed in the teachings of the Book. Evangelists around the housing estate also extended their ever-helpful hands to open our hear...

Lust Stories (Hindi, 2018) There used to a time in history, it still exists in many fringes societies, where people just take their respective places lying down. The people who benefit from such an arrangement would provide justification of this set-up to a decree so old predating human civilisation. God's name would be dropped for good measure. Fear would be instilled to shirkers. Not wanting to upset the order of Nature and fear of retribution in the afterlife, many just toe the line. Others, on the wrong end of the bargain, accept it as a probable punishment for their past actions in a previous birth! Snap out of it. In this new world, it is all about the individual. One lives and does things for himself, not for the world, not for the community, not for familial expectations. It is about self-fulfilment, living a full life for oneself. Is it self-indulgence? Is it hedonism? One is given one life, only one, cherish it. It is now or never. Or is it? The members of ...