The struggle continues...

Leila (Miniseries, Hindi; 2019)
Netflix

Many Indians have accused this miniseries and Netflix as being anti-Hindu.  They even called for a boycott of the channel. Some suggest that the setting of the show, a dystopian India of 100 years after its independence, reflects many things of the present. Detractors assert that this fictitious 2047 India, which worships one man as a demi-god cannot get more real than the present. They insist that the division of the nation along religious and class lines already exist. The film tries to imagine a future when the schism along these lines goes overboard. The rulers of the day want to purify the race, separating couples of mixed marriages and of their offspring.

India has been renamed Aryavarta, with an apparent reference to its Sanskrit roots. In Aryavarta, the rich have swapped places with the working class. A new nationalist leader has taken charge. An ultra-conservative stance is revered by all. The people who used to be amongst the upper echelon of society are vilified and sent to labour camps. Western ideas are scorned upon, and there is a penchant to go back to the traditional values of the community. In the midst of all these, civil society is broken. People live in fear, and the country is a big garbage dumpster. Water is a rare commodity and citizen kill each other for it. The air is severely polluted, and rain is dirty.

The protagonist, Shalini, is a Hindu woman who married her Muslim husband. Their 'decadent' lifestyle is 'punished' by government vigilantes. Her husband is killed. She is incarcerated for purification, and her child goes missing. The story revolves around the story of a mother who is trying to find her lost child. To do that, she has to work with the government resistance forces to beat the system that is hellbent on punishing its citizens who flout the seemingly just law.

Leila is India's version of 'Handmaid Tales' of a bleak future. Shalini's character is representative of the much-loathed liberal, an upper-middle-class young English-speaking urban-dweller. Despite her outlook of modernity, she has been ingrained over generations of caste and class consciousness in her daily life. This is what the new regime had promised to overturn.

What many fail to realise is that there is a lot of difference between the Hindutva political movement and Hinduism. Hindutva can be viewed as a governmental entity that seeks hegemony of Hindu practices over other religious beliefs, whereas Hinduism can be construed as a way of life as practised in the Indian sub-continent. The supreme leader referred to in the miniseries is none other than Modi himself. The motifs and colours used by the ruling junta have an uncanny resemblance to BJP's and Hindus' use of the colour saffron in many of their auspicious functions. No wonder the conservatives allege that there is a concerted effort by the West (or liberals, or leftist - pick your poison) to discredit anything positive developments in the post-colonial economies. When science and technology are emphasised, they are accused of sidelining poetry and literature. When history is retold from an Asiatic viewpoint, they are attacked for rewriting history to suit their political agendas. 

A particular sect of champagne-drinking intelligentsia and socialists who benefit from overseas grants from institutions with specific agenda would continue spewing hatred towards anything Hindu, they say. One way to achieve this is by creating false narratives of victimisation. But, surely there is work to be done in many areas to improve society. There is no perfect solution to the problems of the world. And the struggle continues...

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The question of Random Chance or Intelligent Design

Signature in the Cell (2009)
DNA and the Evidence for Intelligent Design
Stephen C. Meyer

Take the instance when you receive a fax. You marvel at how a message at one end of the line is transmitted to the other many miles away. You think you know it all when you discover the nitty-gritty of how a facsimile machine works. You forget all about the composer of the document.

Learning about the essence of life, DNA is something like that. When Watson and Crick suggested the double helix model as the prototype for DNA in 1953, the world thought material science could explain everything. Delving further, later scientists came with theories after theories of how internal milieu of the cell worked.

The author posits that the possibility of creation of life from the Universe's 'pre-biotic soup' just by chance - by random 'trial-and-error' is merely impossible. The probability, in statistically sense, of Nature coming up with the correct combination that can sustain life, from zero, is simply very remote.

Meyer, a self-professed staunch Christian, a Professor of philosophy and a scientist, came to the fore when in 2005, a school board decided that students should be exposed to intelligent design as a possible origin of life. American Civil Liberty Union chose to sue the school board for teaching something counter to the accepted theory of the origin of life.

Meyer, being a scientist, does not bring in the story of Genesis as the beginning of time. He instead, postulates that perhaps there must be an intelligent designer who orchestrated this potpourri of life forms. There are simply too many hostile or destructive forces in Nature that against life formation. He does not create argue in the fashion of a theologian who goes on bringing in the word divine in his answers but instead tries to give scientific explanations to his reasoning. Whether the scientific fraternity accepts his argument, that is another question. They mostly consider his accounts as pseudosciences. Meyer insists that science makes many conjectures before concluding something. Hence, intelligent design can be presumed.

The exciting thing about science is that it accepts new ideas. All the scientists have to do is to prove their finding. With time, their theories are open to debate and maybe disproved altogether. Perhaps, they would be a template for further developments. This must surely be better than shutting our minds to new ideas and accepting that the human race has nothing new to learn but to depend on age-old scriptures. Nobody knows the whole truth about our origin and the purpose of our existence. Only our intellect remains the last bastion to bring us there, at least a little remotely close there.

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It is not a race!

S2B: Seoul to Busan 
Episode #1: It is not a race.

They say marriages are made in heaven but finding the right friends with the same mental illness, in paradise. After delving in many different recreational activities, this motley crew of six friends have found common ground in road cycling.

Three of the members are experienced cyclists, having cycled at a recreational level for over 5 years. The other three are relative newbies who got dragged in, probably unable to bear the persistent nagging of the rest. The common thread that keeps these middle-aged men together is their fixation on keeping their minds and body going strong. Previously, we all had our own safe cocoons to get our adrenaline high. By a twist of fate, the clashing of the orbits of the stars, our paths crossed. 

First out of town adventure

The initial reluctance to partake in a new sport was probably the comfort one found in his comfort zone and the fear of venturing into unchartered waters. I heard excuses like the high incidences of cyclists being run over, sustaining fractures and of them being at the mercy of uncivil Malaysian drivers. Probably the most original explanation must be the one where he described cycling as a down-grade. His immigrant forefathers had to contend with cleaning other people's cars and felt happy owning a rickety bicycle. Over the generations, his parents started owning motorcycles and cars; which he considered mobility upward. So, to go back to pedal power is spiralling down was his lame excuse.

To cut a long story short, they found common ground. After a fun-filled two-day outing to The Penang Bridge to Bridge Cycling Race and a previous five-day trekking trip to Dharamsala, somebody came up with the idea of a cycling expedition. Incidentally, two of the members had had experience cycling in Melbourne. And pop someone discovered of a dedicated cycling trail between Seoul and Busan. Before we knew it, everybody was booking their tickets and doing their research.

Seoul to Busan, the Four Rivers trail... here we come... 5th October to 13th October 2019.

(T-44)

[Next: The P * Stars]

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There is no one truth!

Badla (Revenge, Hindi, 2019)


Dhritarashtra, the blind king of the Kauravas, wanted an up-to-date account of the war. He summoned his charioteer, Sanjaya, who is said to have telepathic powers to describe the events in Kurushetra. 

The narration of the battle is from one person's perspective (i.e. Sanjaya). It is told in a version the listener wants to hear, i.e. how his army is doing. The truth is not something so clear cut. It is akin to a blind man describing an elephant, standing at one end of the animal. The understanding of the whole picture depends on where he is coming from. 

If Bhagavadgita were told by Draupadi, it would be a description of revenge and justification of violence on the grounds of humiliation and protecting one's dignity. As arbitration to avert war between cousins, the Pandavas and Kauravas, was on-going, Draupadi was all out for a clash to settle the score.

Influenced by how one tells his story, his body language, his persuasive skill, and how much he can use his sophist skills, he can manipulate the situation as he wants. It is not about fighting for justice or fear of retribution that seems to be the correct thing to do. In the modern world, it is rhetoric, deviant criminal minds and lawyers in expensive suits who will save the day.

In the cerebral battle of the minds, the truth can bend, and a lie may turn white. Forgiveness may become an act of revenge, and the truth may lie in the details. 

This Hindi crime drama is a gripping tale of a high-flying award-winning businesswoman who is embroiled in the murder of her lover. The successful woman is under house arrest and may be imprisoned in three hours. The whole movie is about her conversation with her new appointment, hot-shot lawyer. Yoyoing between truths and untruths, both try to find a sure way to save her skin. What awaits them at the end is the crux of the movie.

Nice one. 4.5/5.

The adage 'truth will prevail' is a fallacy. It just a lullaby song to pacify losers. The truth is determined by the victors who would cast it in stone as the ultimate truth.

In the end, the truth will prevail. Good and evil keep at war.

Whichever wins, future will believe it as the prevailing truth.”

― Toba Beta, My Ancestor Was an Ancient Astronaut

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Chicken and Egg Conundrum

Did biology come first before divinity? Or did Divinity decide on biology and quantumly spark the first flint of life in the Universe?

Or is Divinity independent of biology - Divinity would go on doing its job while biology evolved as and when it deemed necessary? The splinter of life that was created had a life of its own to improve its own existence. To stay relevant and to be competitive, as species variation began to evolve, biology experimented with its offspring. With the luxury of time in its hand, with trial and error, sometimes with a fear of extinction, it chose the most viable options and laboured on through.

After aeons of exploration, selection still is ongoing. Along the way, some species developed specialised neural cells and the ability to appreciate consciousness. Soon this consciousness began the process of introspection and started wondering if it is really part of the Master Intellect that governs the ongoing of the Universe. 

That sprang another enigma. It came to a stage when the invented became associated as the inventor. The by-product thought literally got into the mind of the creator. The design proffered his own attributes to the designer. It was as if the design knew what the architect wanted. The end-product deciding on how the conveyor belt should run or should be run.

The story of Genesis has reached a quandary - of biology killing Divinity and assuming the role of the Creator. Even though he does not have perfected the art of creation, he has already set rules and regulations that he is cocksure that these were heaven-sent. And he is hellbent to carry it out till the end of time.

Now the invention has to combat competition from his own creation to stay relevant. The Artificial Intelligence (AI) that he invented is far more superior than the inventor. AI has superseded his inventor in terms of reliability, relevance, discipline without the unnecessary baggage of emotions. The egg and chicken conundrum spins once again. 

(Special mention to EsKaySK for sparking my neuronal axon potentials for the later ranting of the post). 

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What is the cost of lies?

Chernobyl (2019)
Netflix miniseries

I could not help it but compare the disaster at Chernobyl to the fall of the Malaysian ruling party of 61 years in the last general elections. 

Everything was going wrong in 1986, Russia. In 1917, when the peasants were starving, and the Romanov family was perched in their castles oblivious to the people's sufferings, it seemed like the best thing to do. Singlehandedly, the people defended their Motherland from external aggressors. The propaganda news suggested that they had the best leader in the world. In the field of science and technology, they were beyond compare. Proof of their achievements was evident in the area of space travels. Communism took care of everybody, they were told.

But happy hours do not last forever.

Communism never lived to its promise. Somehow, from the word go, the lure of human desires always superseded the need to do the just thing. Under the cloak of grandiosity, lay beneath a corrupt system which was hellbent on suppressing citizen dissatisfactions and punishing them. Improving the system was last on the agenda. Every economic transformation system has a shelf-life, I guess. 

Back at home, a similar scenario was occurring. Immersed in 60 years of unabated power, they thought they were invincible. Accountability and people-centred programs were forgotten. Fattening one's own and cronies'  wallets became the order of the day. Racial and religious issues were fanned to keep citizens self-absorbed in self-defeating exercises. 

The thing that befuddles me is why, of all the elected and non-elected leaders of the executive, legislature and judiciary arms of the country, none had the gumption to stand up against the shenanigans that were happening under their supervisions. Did the system stupefy them or were they like mere obedient servants like Adolf Eichmann?  Mind-boggling indeed.

This five-episode miniseries narrated the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in April 1985. It re-creates the events, as told by the local population. It describes, with the liberty of poetic licence, through the eyes of a fictitious nosy (or conscientious) scientist the real shortcomings that led the accident in the first place and at their lousy handling of the aftermath of the mishap.

The Russians were not cordial to this show. They have decided to make their own show with their version of the truth. Even the mortality figures are disputed. The official Soviet figures put death at 32, whilst Western journalists estimate 4,000 to 93,000 fatalities.

 Memorable quotes: 

“Every lie we tell incurs a debt to the truth. Sooner or later, that debt is paid. That is how an RBMK reactor core explodes. Lies.” 

 “the gift of Chernobyl: where I once would fear the cost of truth, I only ask”—“what is the cost of lies?”

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The politics of food!

Veggie Burger - Not the real McCoy!
Credit: bonappetit.com

We all know how hunger can change governments. History has shown us again and again that hungry people become angry. Think Bastille and 'give them cake', there went the French monarchy. Look at starving Russian peasants, and poof went the Romanov dynasty, the brutal killing of Rasputin (of the lover of Russian Queen fame) and the Bolshevik Revolution.

We also know that people can be controlled via food and eating practices. As early as antiquity, the Pythogarians, who believed that everything in the Universe has a mathematical calculation behind it to make them work like clockwork, had peculiar eating habits of avoiding certain foods. Their rationale is that that practice would ease their quest in discovering the 'Truth'.

Potatoes were never a staple diet in Europe before the 16th century. Having depended on cereals for food, famine was a common occurrence as harvests were unpredictable. Sir Walter Raleigh, yes of the chivalry fame, introduced a new plant from South America to Ireland in 1589 to solve this problem. Potatoes were hardy and grew fast. People were sceptical, however. Potatoes as food were never mentioned in the Bible, they said. It, being a tuber, was considered the domain of the dark world. Witches were known to use roots as their working paraphernalia. Then they said, potato consumption causes leprosy, as its external appearance reminds one of a leper. Can you imagine continental food without potatoes?

It is the same with tomatoes and Italian cooking. Even though the Columbian Exchange brought this exotic Aztec plant to Europe, it was viewed as poisonous by the Italians. Spanish conquest of Italy and the escalating spice cost drew them to experiment with tomatoes to infuse flavours into their cooking. Now it is unimaginable to think of Italian cuisines without these flavonoid-rich additions.

Like that, economic circumstances,  geographic locations and epidemic of the time determined what people ate.

Cricket fritters anyone?
Credit: vietnamnews.vn

The latest inclusion must be ecological considerations. We have been bombarded with vegetarian burgers which have the flavour, textures and taste of premium meat. There is also talk of supplementing our diet with insects as they carried 'wasted protein' which could be put to good use. The conventional method of the raising of livestock depletes the national resources, emits extensive green-houses gases and leaves a big carbon footprint.


Not to forget the allegations that the mega multinational companies with their GMOs out to destroy small farmers in the third world countries. These farmers resort to mass protests and even self-immolation to state their objections to their respective governments as their lands become barren with gross contamination with lethal chemicals. The MNCs use their effective means through the media to make a paradigm shift in people diet. Eating rice and rice-based foods is not cool anymore. Wheat seems to be the hype thing to eat. With that probably comes metabolic syndromes and food allergies, maybe.

It might not be surprising if we were caught in a situation like in Soylent Green or Snowpiercer to save our civilisation.

(N.B. Point to ponder - Perhaps what needs to be drilled is overconsumption. But then, consumption generates business which stimulates the economy. And money makes everybody happy.)

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