The art of not giving a rat's behind!

Is love enough? Sir (Hindi; 2018)

Netflix

The question is this. What draws two souls together in a romantic bond and possibly in the union of matrimony? Is it physical attraction or the ability to see things through the same lens, have the same madness or perhaps share the same dream of how life ought to be?

There used to be a time, perhaps even now in certain circles, of these types of unions being arranged by elders. There are no unique qualities looked for by the involved parties. There is minimal interaction between involved parties, and the marriage is more of a contract to continue the circle of life. One takes what one gets and tries against all odds to hold the fort against time's uncertainties. Come what may, the union of the Gods stand the test of time; only to revoked by death.

Now, is it necessary for the uniting couple to be compatible? After all, it is a biological union for continuity of species of which Nature can make the natural selection. Society determines every offspring of these unions be accounted for and the responsibility of caring for them is cast in stone. Biology encourages the male species to sow their wild oats but the female to be stringent with gametes' choice in a competitive selection of the fittest. Unlike their counterparts in the animal kingdom, Man is expected to provide for his partner and kind. 

Man has also put in another criterion to be locked in matrimony, compatibility.

The romantics in you want to believe that the highly acclaimed movie characters will have a happy ending. The logical mind, however, drills upon you this association is doomed from the word go. A barely educated young widow from a remote village coming to town to work as domestic help is no compatible match in hand for a US-educated architect/writer who has been cradled in luxury throughout his life. The widow may have a chest full of zest and big dreams to lift herself out of poverty with her bootstraps, in reality, unicorns cannot be pink and invisible at the same time.

Ashwin returns to his apartment, heartbroken, after leaving his bride at the altar after finding to be adulterous. Ratna, his helper, over time, tries to cheer him up by telling her miserable life as a curse with early widowhood and being the breadwinner for her family, even though they look at her as a burden. 

The acting is so nuanced, filled with subtle body languages and unspoken dialogue. Despite being a simple story with an ending which is anybody's guess, it managed to maintain its viewers' attention till the end.

The ghost of one's social past will haunt him until and unless one uproots and starts life afresh away from the encumbrances of the web of societal mores and pressures. Alternatively, one can live a reclusive life, giving two hoots to people around him, come hell or high water!

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We matter, we like to think!

We brag, exert our authority, struggle for the course we think is right, and our ego. We fight for our rights and continue to do so. Sometimes we cling on to our convictions till breath leaves us. We do it because we think it is the right thing to do. It is our dharma to act so, and failing to impart our life lessons is sacrilegious. The law of Nature must be upheld at all account, and it is our God-given duty to do so. 

In that process, we break many hearts, we shed many a tear, invoke misery in others. We, however, feel no remorse because we know we did the right thing. Sometimes it kind to be unkind. Being the elder one with greater power acceded by hierarchy means leading others is a given thing. Pandering to the need of the majority and garnering popular votes are just not acceptable. There is a divine decree to uphold, or is there?

Now that twilight has passed, and Sun had set you, all is left are memories of you - anger, dislikes, idiosyncrasies and memory of strict stares. In a way, we miss you as we reminisce the good times and the not so pleasant instances you spent with us in the last few years. Oh, how those twilight years took away your hawkish eyesight, your robust physique, your hearty health, your confidence and your independence. 

That is the story of mankind, is it not? We appear wet, helpless, vulnerable, dependant and garner attention. Our cry creates joy to the ones around us. Then we manifest our reason for being, live in the harvest of our investment, clamour in that joy and follow the path of decline. We end up in a state of bliss to the pains of existence. This time the others are crying. They wail, we are in a state of joy, we like to think.

That it is. Our presence is marked with a single lighting of ‘vilakku’ to honour our death anniversary, to celebrate our footprint in the history of time. We like to think that our existence mattered. In grander schemes of things in the gargantuan Universe, we perceive our presence and our action or inaction do make a difference.

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It had always been self-interest, not altruism.

Buddha in a Traffic Jam (2014)
Written and Directed by Vivek Agnihotri

What would Buddha, being a pacifist, would do when he is caught in a bad traffic jam? Instead of cussing and cursing explicitly or under His breath, He would probably, wait patiently, not to upset the already tense atmosphere, but instead deal the situation calmly. Mere mortals around him would probably jump at the chance to pounce on his non-aggressive way of handling his machine to squeeze to ahead by at least a few cars. For mere mortals that would mean a big deal, they would retaliate, but not Buddha. 

The storyteller is trying to equate the Adivasis (aborigines) to Buddha whilst the capitalists and the communists as mortals try to bribe their way to usurp the Adivasis' rightly owned lands for personal interests.

For a movie that Agnihotri had so much difficulty trying to secure financial backings from the movie stalwarts in the initial stage and abandonment by financiers later, it sure did fan a lot of excitement, protests and even riots. It is said to have popularised the term 'Urban Naxalites'. It was the academia where it hurts the most. For a long time, people in higher learning institutions have been looked upon as socialist, leftists or communists' sympathisers. Many have been accused of joining the breaking India forces to cripple the nation from within. Even during the Raj era, educated locals would wag their tails to the beck and call of their colonial masters. They continued as sepoys, and now as journalists, academics and God-men continue their dog and master relationship overseas and even in India.

Even though this film had repeatedly been dismissed as trash by mainstream media and online reviews, one wonders why it obtains raving reviews from others. It hits out at the leftists who have spread all over the institutions of higher learning. With their revolutionary and anti-establishment way of thinking, the young are the most suitable targets to lay their red agendas.

The capitalists are no different from the socialist in the way they expect the masses in their agenda of making money. Nobody actually cares for the underprivileged and the marginalised. It is just dollars and cents.

The films tell of a group of free-spirited MBA students challenged by their professor to develop a business model to help an NGO sell aboriginal pottery. It is allegedly to be siphoned back to the community for their upliftment. The protagonist realised that the setup is a sham to hoodwink the government subsidies for their private coffers. Helping the tribes is the last thing on their mind.

A refreshing look at the real world of philanthropy. It is filled with revelry, intoxication and hedonistic entertainment at the expense of the poor. It had always been self-interest, not altruism.

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A positive look at caste?

Caste as Social Capital
The Complex Place of Caste in Indian Society
Prof. R. Vaidyanathan

Caste has been looked upon as a curse of sorts to the Indian society. It has been drilled repeatedly by the so-called Indologists as a demeaning curse to the nation. Scores of films and spreads of literature are shreds of evidence of this. It has been used as a stick to beat anything connected to Indian religions, customs and culture in the same way Holocaust has done to Austrians and Germans. Prof. R. Vaidyanathan (RV) is one of those who look at caste quite differently. 

Firstly, 'Caste' is a Western concept. It is a Portuguese word that made its way through the colonists. In traditional Indian varna (caste) system, people were classified not by birth but by 'gunas' (virtue, merit or excellence). The colonialist masters conveniently pigeon-holed the Crown's subject into a hierarchical system for statistics purpose to aid their 'divide and rule' administration. Conflicts usually arise amongst those in the lower rung of the ladder for their piece of the pie in a government job or entry to higher learning institutes.

RV labels advocates for a homogenous India as half baked intellectuals who try to put an individual-centric view of the West to a duty-based system. In the non-government concerns, non-corporate segments and service sectors, caste and community clusters play an essential role in unincorporated or partnership and proprietorship activities. Examples of these are the diamond industry in Surat, electrical works in Bangalore controlled by Mewaris from Rajasthan, etc. He looks at caste as social capital to uplift one's social standing in society. The drive for this 'Vaisyavisation' of India is more pronounced now than ever as the current economic push demands its previous government outlook of India's socialist model.

Prof R Vaidyanathan
India's top 50 most influential management thinkers
His many lectures and talks are available on Youtube

and PGuru's channel.

The Anglo-Saxon paternalistic model for a nation is already showing disastrous effects. The family unit is torn apart as the State assumes the role of father, mother, and stands for what a community would do.  It provides like a spouse in terms of social security, as a filial offspring in providing retirement homes and an instigator to fight for children's rights to sue and divorce their parents. With his legal status as a State member, he stands alone stark naked with only rights as his imaginary clothes to deal directly with the State. The State also does not have the benefit of concentric circles of cushions to deal with individuals.

Rightly or wrongly, politicians are using caste as their tool as a vote bank. Many political parties are caste-based, and it just suits them fine as a means to keep governmental allocations and possible avenues for corruption within their communities. The push to continue this practice is more incredible now as these leaders are old. They want their progeny to continue prospering in the second oldest profession globally, which, is not different from the first.

Caste has played an essential role in the consolidation of business and entrepreneurship in India, particularly in the last seventy years. The economic development that has taken place in India Uninc. or the partnership and proprietorship activities has been financed by domestic savings and facilitated by clusters and caste and community networks. If caste oppression was really severe in the past, then there should have been many caste wars in the last 2000 years! But history does not provide information about large-scale caste wars. 

Something to ponder... Swami  Vivekananda, aged 34 then, in an address at Jaffna in 1897, 

"The older I grow, the better I seem to think of these (caste and such other) time-honoured institutions of India. There was a time when I used to think that many of them were useless and worthless, but the older I grow, the more I seem to feel a diffidence in cursing any one of them, for each one of them is the embodiment of the experience of centuries.”                                            

Excerpt From: Vaidyanathan, R. “Caste as Social Capital”.

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Enough of stereotyping already!

The White Tiger (2021)
Netflix

This is your typical Hollywood's stereotyping of Indian society - that the country is dysfunctional, divided by class and wealth. It paints a picture of a place where humanity had died replaced by a selfish group of people who assess the other from the lens of birth, caste and money. Survival of the fittest is the name of the game. Subservience is kept under check with mystical mumbo jumbo about life's purpose and punishment of previous births' sins. Poverty is endemic, so is filth and need for sadhu-like NRI saviours to save the day with the knowledge acquired from 'civilised' nations, so the film portrays. It showcases a world where only criminals and politicians thrive. The rest are merely accidental to make the numbers.

Again and again, these Hollywood flicks paint a stereotypical paint of the whole of India, one of toxic caste division. They reinforce the idea of the fable of Great Indian Rooster Coop of which all the chickens in the coop can see their fellow occupants being slaughtered one by one, yet they are so subservient that they just stick their neck when it time. No, they do not re-tell the story of The Shepherd and his sacrificial lambs!

An erudite once said this about the existence of caste in India. The division of people by caste was a European construct. The caste is not Indian to start with. It is served from the Portuguese/Iberian word 'casta' meaning lineage. In the Hindu tradition, division of people into caste are birth but by qualities. Even within a family, different children are born with variable aptitude or predilection. One may be a scholarly person (a Brahmin in his outlook), another very outdoors and athletic (Kshatriya in quality) or very entrepreneurial with business shrewdness (Vaisha).

On the other hand, some are just hardworking work-horses. It is often quoted of a Brahmin boy, earning a princely sum, working in a multinational leather shoe company after completing his MBA. How can one define his work by birth? Born a Brahmin, academically sound like a Brahmin is typified, indulged in a Vaisha trade, dealing with leathers - an area designated to the low caste! Caste division is more and more looked upon as a British tool to 'divide and rule'.

The division of people is by no means is a construct confined to the Indian society. It is as old as the origin of civilisation itself. Watch 'The Crown' and see how a privileged family who brings nothing in value to the national gross domestic gets all the special treatment in late 1960 as the UK braced itself with austerity drive, scurrying for bail-outs and devaluation of its currency.  See the turn of events at Washington DC following Trump's defeat and appreciate the disparity in the population of the most prosperous nation on Earth. George Floyd's brutal treatment and demise open a dirty bag of the worms of bigotry and racism. 

Nevertheless, I enjoyed the movie for its entertainment value. I liked its atypical narration and the dark theme associated with the story. A person is nice to another because it is the civil thing to do. Or he may need the job. We love our elders and masters behind a facade of loathing, and we loathe them behind the mask of love. People are like pressure cookers. They take in all the heat and beating until such a time that they explode extruding a magma of emotive aggression.

It tells the tale of an ambitious boy from a village who works as a driver with a local gangster cum influencer businessman. He takes all the abuses and denigration until he is told to admit to a hit-and-run automobile accident driven by his boss' wife.

(P.S. This film is an adaptation of Aravind Adiga’s 2008 Booker-winning novel. With the creative licence, the filmmakers made specific changes to put some stars in a better light to not spoil their image. As pointed by a friend, RV, an erudite critique, the book was written at a time of a different India, in 2008. Much water has passed under that bridge. In the wise words of the Greek philosopher, Heraclitus,  'No man ever steps into the same river twice; for it is not the same river, and he is not the same man'.)

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Smoked out of the foxhole?

Forensic Files (S1-S7)

Netflix Collection

After spending over 50 hours binge-watching 100 over Forensic Files episodes on Netflix, all I say is the idea of a perfect crime is just a pipe dream. With the ever-changing field of forensic sciences, a crime can be solved even without the presence of a body. What used to be science fiction will soon be bread-and-butter stuff in day to day police work in time to come. If the records and specimens of a crime are left intact, the sky is the limit how distant in the future perpetrators will have to do time for their crimes.

I think the most crucial determinant of whether crimes will be solved is the country's financial standing. If one were to look at most of the cases presented in this series, there were cold cases. These are cases where initial investigations hit a stone wall, and the investigators had no more clues at their disposal. They had the resources to set aside time, money and manpower with a fresh set of eyes to look into cases trapped in the annals of time. It may also be pertinent to note that most of the cold cases occurred in a peaceful neighbourhood. To be realistic, the situation may be different in downtown precincts. 

When the population does not breed like rabbits, and the standard of living is comfortable, one can invest in a proper investigation, prove suspect's guilt via science and beat the living daylight out of him to admit to a charge, honestly or under duress. An advanced forensic lab would encourage police officers to treat posting not as a punishment, like a transfer to Siberia, but as an avenue to improve oneself in detective work.

One can pick up a few pointers here. For whatever reason, if you become the person to report a crime, out of social responsibility or otherwise, be prepared to be put on the suspect list and proof your innocence first. But then, if you do not report a crime or move a dead body, you will be accused of tampering evidence. I did not know that they could identify fingerprints from non-rigid surfaces by exposing the specimen to heated superglue. By looking at its unique marking during production, investigators may actually predict when it was made and which store sold the bag from the plastic disposal bag. Entomological studies and knowledge about weather help in identification of time of death of the severely decomposed bodies.   

When you person dies in suspicious circumstances, the first suspect would be their spouse. Come to think of it, the spouse also turns out to be perpetrator is seemingly natural deaths; especially if it a recurrent; e.g. a case of recurrent widowhood could be a serial murderer or serial insurance schemer.

In hindsight, the police are always portrayed as insensitive, and the victim's kin's gut feeling is still right. Most of the time, crimes happen within the family. 

On the other hand, there is the occasional bizarre crime that leaves a very sinking feeling inside. An innocent bystander being at the wrong place at the wrong time, gets killed for no particular reason. It gives the impression that the United States of America is filled with many maniacally serial killers who draw pleasure from systematically scheming and executing the complex and convoluted murders just to fulfil their hedonistic pleasures.

One disturbing thought that I had while watching this programme is how much the jury or the legal system will accept some of the new, untested scientific discoveries presented to the courts. Through their art of persuasion, some of the scientists tend to paint a rosy picture just how cocksure they are about their findings. We all know how experimental results are notoriously poor at reproducibility. Imagine using plant DNA and animal DNA to prove a suspect's presence at a crime scene. To be fair, some of the cases were actually challenged and were rejected after appeal.

Only a deep-pocketed state would finance a crew of a dozen police officers for months to drain a lake to look for biological evidence of the deceased. In one episode, the police suspected that a husband killed his wife pulverised her in a rented wood shredder and emptied the contents into a lake. They had to look for bone fragments and teeth.

Now they have the knowledge to predict how your face would look in twenty, thirty or even forty years later. Interestingly, the Native Americans have similar facial structures with the Orientals, probably supporting the Clovis people's migration from Siberia to Alaska. My understanding is that biological evidence from exhumed bodies is of low quality. Obviously not, it seems. Years after death, pathologists are still able to obtain DNA samples. The tooth canal is the best site to get these. If DNA is too little or damaged, fear not. There is mitochondrial DNA which is of maternal origin. They make it all sound so easy!

Do not ever buy a comprehensive insurance policy for your loved one and make yourself as the beneficiary. It would draw unwanted attention, and invariably, the law would find you guilty. 

After watching all the episodes and seeing all the gun violence, it is mind-boggling why the Americans still think it is their birthright to bear arms to protect their property. Is it not easier to treat injuries from a fistfight than a gunshot wound?

(It is all well and fine that we have all these armamentaria at our disposal. It still does not replace slip shot police work. My dentist friend was robbed at knifepoint by his patient's accomplice whilst the patient seated at the dentist's chair! All the digital recordings and the potential fingerprints came to nought as the cops made a non-show after reporting. Apparently, they were understaffed and had more pressing needs to attend to. Monitoring Twitter, perhaps?)

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