Fate is fluid, destiny is in the hand of Man!

The Man in the High Castle (Seasons 1 and 2)

They say that there is no entity as time. It is just a construct made by Man. Life works just fine when the purpose of your living is laid bare for you to follow, and Nature does not put obstacles in your path. It may work just fine if you live in a utopia, a paradise, a land of make-believe! In reality, Nature had to be tamed. The element of predictability needs to be made clear to avert eventualities. This is where time comes in handy, to put a perspective on the cyclical nature of things. Everything in Nature has a mathematic equation to put them in place and time is a denominator.

We have heard of Manzanar, the concentration camp built to place American-Japanese after Pearl Harbour. And the American-German Bund movement which existed before WW2 to promote Nazi in a favourable light. That was it! After World War 2 ended, they were passé.

Imagine an alternative universe where the Germans and the Japanese won World War 2! Well, that is the premise of this miniseries set at around 1962. There is no JFK and no Cuban Missile crisis. Washington, DC had been bombed with a nuclear bomb. The Nazi Army had taken control of the Eastern part of North America and renamed it as Greater Nazi Reich with New York as their administrative capital. The Japanese have carved the Eastern part of US to name it the Japanese Pacific States, to rule it with an iron fist in a delicate balance of power realm between the Empire, Kempeitai and Yakuza. Bordering these two areas is a lawless state in the spine of the continent referred to the Neutral Zone.

Amidst all these, there is the Resistance Army whose freedom fighters try to purge the invaders from American soil.

Embroiled in all this imbroglio are - an Aikido exponent whose sister is killed by the Japanese Military police, her boyfriend, a Nazi agent, an SS officer and his family, a Japanese inspector and an impressive deeply spiritual Japanese minister who could time-travel. The Minister, sometimes, during some unspecified moments, could venture into an alternative universe of what would have been with their own President and the Cold War. The mainstay of the Resistance's activity seems to procure and send reels of films which carry coded messages. Sneak peek into the films which are actually newsreels shows a different narrative to the life that they were leading.

And a senile Adolf Hitler is still alive, perched up in a castle in the mountains, he stays aloof to his surroundings, watching runs and re-runs of old films! There is a power struggle brewing to oust the dictator.

The second season had just ended and the third should more interesting as the plot thickens...

There will come a day when all men must bear the weight of their responsibility!
Fate is fluid, Destiny is in the hand of man.

N.B. There are ports within our plane of existence where we can teleport ourselves into different timelines. Apparently, this is how sages communicate with their gurus to get advice on the further plan of action or inaction. Clairvoyants are also able to communicate with the departed through this loophole. Hey, this is time travel!
Looking at the title of miniseries, one wonders whether the man in the high castle actually refers to Hitler as he is the one in his own world in villa up in the Alps. Alas, it refers to the man who distributes reels of film which show an alternate universe to what they are trapped in!

The other side of the coin?

The Great Global Warming Swindle (2007)
Channel 4; UK.

I thought that it is a given thing, that Man's existence is the reason for nature's degradation, that our carbon footprint is leaving irreparable damage to the ecosystem, that our reaping and raping of its resources for our selfish needs is going leave our descendants cursing at our lackadaisical attitudes, that our mere existence is going to increase the atmospheric carbon dioxide content and raise the global temperature. That was the prophecy that had been pushed down our throats all this while. Well, now a group of scientists say that this is not the whole truth.

That is the problem in the post-truth world where nothing is so clear cut anymore. For any argument, there is always another equally convincing counter-argument. The listeners are left baffled, confused and come to understand that the truth is a multilayered animal that is neither black nor white!

This polemic documentary film is emphatic that the threat of global warming is actually a well-synchronised hoax perpetrated by developed countries with their own self-serving agendas. For a start, world leaders wanted to keep the coal workers unions in check and avert petroleum usage when its price skyrocketed in the 70s. They brought up the idea that increased CO2 levels in our atmosphere may lead to a catastrophic rise in world temperatures. From then on, it became a mantra the world over, to exert domination of the West on the newly developing economies who just wanted to catch up with their past colonial masters.

The opponents of this global warming theory insist that Earth has been going through cyclical periods of warming and cooling over the centuries. It is now going through a 'heating up' period. It is not related to industrialisation as the world actually went through a cooling period between 1940 and 1975 even when the CO2 levels increased. The scientists reviewed old data over the centuries to posit that there is a lag of ten years between the rise of temperature and increased levels of CO2. Carbon dioxide levels increase due to global warming when the oceans release more of them rather than being the cause of warming!

Space probes that had been sent as far as Pluto had shown universal warming of all planets. This is probably due to increasing the sun's nuclear fission activity, as evidenced by visualising more sunspots on its surface. This explains the increase in Earth surface temperature. The correct measurement of global warming is measured in the troposphere via satellites or weather balloons. It shows a low rate of increase.

The film emphasises that CO2 emission by human activity is minuscule compared to the natural decomposition process (like falling of leaves, animal excrements) and volcanic activity.

The vocal scientists in the documentary assert that the whole global warming fiasco is an organised plan by anti-capitalistic, neo-Marxist, anti-US, environmentalists and imperialists to use authentic-sounding authority like Interplanetary Climate Change (IPCC) to put forward their climate research to hoodwink the public, hiding their financial, ideological and political interests.

This film is proof that there are always two sides of the coin. The democratic way is to assess both sides of the arguments judiciously and to draw your own conclusion. 

Talking to ghost?

Source Code (2011)
Director: Duncan Jones

When you switch off a filament lamp, the light just does not go off just like that. There is a temporary time before the brightness disappears. Even life is that. If somehow we can get into the dimension when two people die, one life can mathematically be calculated to get the others and can be made to turn the tide of events. This bizarre time travel where scientists can communicate through a digital interphase to save the world is the theme of this movie.

Capt Colter Steven finds himself trapped in the body of a school teacher and on a train where a time bomb is about to be detonated. Through repeatedly moving to and fro between his old self and new, and communication through his computer, the Afghan-missioned army helicopter pilot is actually dead but is sent on a secret mission to find the culprit behind a train attack so as to avert other future attacks.

His mission was just to locate the information about the perpetrators and pass it to the people in the real world. What he was actually doing is that he is going to an alternate universe to retrieve useful information. What he actually does in this universe, he is told, would not have effects in the real world. If he communicated with his father, his father would not know in real life. If he managed to avert the train blast in the other world, it would still happen! At least that is what he are made to realise...

An interesting watch in the line of Groundhog Day.

It is all point of view!

The Hindus, An Alternative History
Author: Wendy Doniger

Everything that happens in life is seen from a particular perspective. One can say that a cup is half full or half empty, both indicating the same thing. A tiny structure that we see from the corner of our eye over the horizon is actually a mammoth ocean liner that dwarfs everything adjacent to it. It is all in its interpretation. It also depends on our understanding fueled by our past experiences and know how. We see what we want to see. We sometimes are blind to the elephant in the room. And the senses do not appreciate what the mind does not know!

From the outset, the author, a holder of doctorates in Sanskrit and India studies, qualifies her work as an alternative interpretation of the history of Hinduism in India.

Just like the picture of the markings on the moon which is depicted below, the impression on the moon can be interpreted as a man (Cain the wanderer and murderer), rabbit or duck, depending on his background, exposure and culture.

The author explores alternative narratives from the disadvantaged groups of the land, the non-Brahmins, the tribes, the second-class citizens like women and the outcasts of society. The Brahmins and the rulings clans were the privileged groups who had the access to knowledge and wrote the doctrines on how things should run in kingdoms. In essence, they decided what law is and what is divinity.

The kings and members of the warrior castes must have felt remorseful with all killings and the sufferings by people at their hands. The Brahmins, with their vast know-how on how to appease the Divine Forces, must have had pacified their bosses that recourse can be made via prayers which only the Brahmin can handle. In return, they received remunerations in the form of (holy) cows. Cows were revered commodities, and the priests were paid in cows. The success of a Brahmin is measured by the number of cows that he owned. They put divinity on it, prohibiting culling and consumption of its flesh.

Sacrifice, of the animal kind, is as old as politics. And politics is known as the second oldest profession in the world. Horse sacrifice is mentioned in the Rig Veda as the highest form of sacrifice that Man can perform for the Gods. The only caveat is that it can only be done by the King, and only the Brahmins have the knowledge this ritual. One can understand where this liaison is leading. The horse must be a white one, is let loose to roam freely for a year, under the watchful eyes of the royal henchmen. No one (peasants/ landowners) is allowed to disturb the movement of this 'sacrificial lamb' or bear the prospect of having his land possessed by the King's men. One can see where this ritual is going. It appears like a legitimate way to spread the Ruler's influence.

Little juicy snippets like these which easily excite troublemakers must have incurred the wrath the Hindutva movements which have been undergoing a renaissance of late. Hence, this book was withdrawn from the shelf after many legal wrangles. It only created a ready market and demand for it (Streisand effect). Hail internet marketing!

From the Sanskrit scriptures and oral traditions, the author managed to pen down, in a 770+ page paperback, the events that were supposed to have happened in a land blessed with rivers that started a civilisation way back about 4500 years ago all through the Invasion of foreign powers and dissemination of different faiths.

For a person who had been brought in the Hindu tradition who is receptive to logical explanations to the rituals, I found this book utterly enlightening. Some quarters who claim to be guardians of the religion look at the practice from a totally Brahmanic Northern Indian perspective. Lest one forgets that many non-Brahmins have inputs to enrich it. The Puranic movements and even the members of the lower rung of the society, through their the devotion did the same.

Many of the Hindu practices evolved over time in tandem with the change of times. In keeping with the growing influences of Jaina and Buddhists movement which provided an alternative to the Hindu's dogmatic social closeting, its practices were altered as a reactionary gesture.

An interesting thing that crops so often is the escape clause in the pre-destined journey of life. The soul is said to be paying back for the sins committed in previous births, and it cannot be altered. At the same time, the scriptures promise of certain prayers and ritual sacrifices (of milk and grain) that can offset this destiny!

Offshoots from the main way of life sprung in India over time. People who were unhappy with certain practices and explanations ventured to other belief systems. There was a time when kshatriyas started doing what the Brahmins were doing. Siddharta Gautama and Mahavir, both of fighters' stock, renounced their power to find the real meaning of life. Their path gained popularity, authority and wealth for some time till they began too big for their own shoes. Hinduism started modifying their way of doing things to draw back deserters. Even within Hinduism, Shaivaites and Vaishvanites were engaged in a popularity contest. A little later, invaders from the North brought in Islam to join in the foray to enjoy a piece of the action. These quests did, however, has its plus points. They each contributed in their own ways in the fields of literature, architecture, engineering, economy, knowledge, philosophy and much more.

The British Raj era bared open the long lost mysteries of this ancient civilisation. Not only they squandered this sub-continent of its gems and wealth, there destroyed an unusual symbiotic relationship that its people had shared over generations. On the other hand, they brought in industrialisation (?for self-interest) and re-discover lost ancient knowledge. The British archaeologists painstakingly found the lost kingdom of Shakya, the birthplace of Buddha and many Buddhist scripts.

Fast forward into the twenty-first century, the unique relationship that the ancient dwellers of Indus shared with his hostile environment and all the puzzling occurrences around him have changed course. Priorities have changed. From a feudalistic society where there were humans, sub-humans and barbarians existed, we have or try to put up an image of being an egalitarian society. Economic prowess is given precedence over matters like karma and after-life. Their ideology, have, on the other hand, fascinated people outside the subcontinent.

This book is an exhaustive overall of everything Indian. It is written in a very tongue-in-the-cheek way which picked a raw nerve with the ultra Hindutva. They feel that the sanctity of the religion held in high esteem for centuries is ridiculed. What they fail to understand is that Hinduism had never been known to be inclusive or to be over sensitive to barking dogs. Like in the stance of a deeply meditating Shiva, believers used to be turning a blind eye to temptations and distractions whilst trying to explore their own third eye. What gave? In the way of Jesus, Gandhi used to say, "Forgive them for they know not what they do!"

[P.S. It is such a compact book with so much knowledge. I would be doing a great disservice by trying to summarise it. Pick up a book, form your own opinion. You will never look at organised religion the same way again, ever!]