50 shades of grey

The movie-maker’s premise that the world needs a ‘hero’ to save the ‘innocent’ from the villainy of an evil mastermind is time tested. It’s not too bad for the bottom line either as long as the idea can be repackaged to make it more appealing for the masses. And of course, the audience is already sold on the concept. After all, most in the audience have nurtured the self-notion of being a saviour at some point in life. If not a saviour, at least the notion of being the ‘affected’ one – be it by the tyranny of their bosses or some government/political outfit. What many don’t realize is that the binary take of the world, sold by the studios, has profound implications on their perception of the world. A person starts categorizing every other as black or white. Anyone who is not a hero ought to be a villain.

We all know human beings are too complicated to fit that bill. And therefore, it would be more appropriate to see them as a shade of grey. That too, not as a constant shade such as black and white but as a shade that changes throughout their life depending on circumstances. In theory, this behaviour seems to be a very simple observation that has been mentioned by innumerable psychologists/behavioural experts. Although, this behaviour is equally challenging to grasp on a day to day basis during interactions with the outside world. Why?

Because of our tendency to stereotype.

Stereotyping by humans has already been extensively researched and its importance recognized, by behavioural experts. It helps in quick judgment, reduces the decision making load and is congruent with flight or fight response.

It is also responsible for our binary view.

Human nature differs so wildly among people that one can spend an entire lifespan understanding a person and yet be occasionally stymied by that person’s nature. Considering that an average human comes in contact with thousands of individuals in his life span, he does not have enough time to understand the other and too with certainty. If Y knows that he has been improperly treated by X or has heard of X’s mistreatment toward someone else, Y is better off avoiding X for Y does not know whether X can be approached for help in times of adversity and what X’s reaction would be.

This makes sense and is perfectly acceptable. But for someone seeking a greater understanding human behaviour, he needs to accept that an act of black does not make a whole person black. Only after this will one realize that this understanding has infinite practical applications.

Encore

It’s been 4 years since I last penned my thoughts; infact, made any comment whatsoever on a public domain. One might think that given the quantum of time passed, the writer in me would have plethora of events and issues to write on. Yet, here I am. Struggling for every alphabet. Maybe, it’s the cautiousness in me that is afraid to let out any unchecked word in this age of heightened social vigilance. Or maybe, it’s the personality transformation, set into motion few years back, that has truly crippled my ability to connect with people outside my professional sphere. Either way, I am tired of status quo and this is my road to recovery, built letter by letter, word by word. 

2010 in review

The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here’s a high level summary of its overall blog health:

The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads This blog is on fire!.

Crunchy numbers

A Boeing 747-400 passenger jet can hold 416 passengers. This blog was viewed about 9,500 times in 2010. That’s about 23 full 747s.

 

In 2010, there was 1 new post, growing the total archive of this blog to 34 posts.

The busiest day of the year was January 6th with 269 views. The most popular post that day was Why India doesn’t need a Superman..

Where did they come from?

The top referring sites in 2010 were indibloggies.org, google.com, multivote.sparklit.com, search.conduit.com, and twitter.com.

Some visitors came searching, mostly for superman, capitalism vs socialism vs communism, socialism vs communism, communism vs socialism vs capitalism, and socialism vs communism vs capitalism.

Attractions in 2010

These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.

1

Why India doesn’t need a Superman. June 2009
9 comments

2

Capitalism vs Socialism vs Communism January 2009
16 comments

3

In the Land-Of-the-Blind, the One-Eyed Man is King. January 2009
3 comments

4

Who wants to be a Nobel Peace Prize Winner 2008? December 2008
6 comments

55 Fiction is Back.

Ok.. Its been 2 months of hell for me which should explain my absence (I hope so!). And since the devil doesn’t serve newspapers (Btw he does serve tea and coffee… Only its too hot out there to drink it :D), I am here with my 55 fiction..

Still don’t know what is 55 Fiction?? God help you.. For others read on..

It was him.

She found it hard to believe that it’s already been 2 years ever since they met.

Time flew by like a gust of wind.

“I miss you”, was all she could say to him before he hung up.

She lay awake for a while and cuddled into the arms of the “V”arlet.

What is 55 Fiction? It is a fiction story, with all the basic elements of a narrative (plot, characters, setting, conflict), in 55 words or less (A non-negotiable rule).

Why India doesn’t need a Superman.

Alright, Lois Lane! I humbly apologize for doing an Anu Malik on the title of your article in Superman Returns. I know it won’t fetch me a Pulitzer Prize but surely I can try for a Padmashri, eh?? 😉

So lets see, is Superman really going to be helpful in India??

First and foremost, he would be busy protecting his Lois Lane from crooks, thugs, eve-teasers, rapists, drunk colleagues, likes of Pramod Muthalik and Shiv Sena. With all the hectic work, where will he find the time to protect the common citizen?

Secondly, he would have to change his costume a bit to suit the Indian conditions. I mean have you seen that underwear over pants? He would be slapped with charges of obscenity! And what about a mask?? Yes, a mask!! Assuming that he can fly all over the place and a crime can be committed anywhere, what if he has to fly over Dharavi or for that matter, a Municipal waste dumping ground. Surely he can breathe out cold air but can he breathe in those toxic gases?? And with the amount of pollution in our cities, surely he can’t do without it. Another change would be letting go of his garb. What if it gets entangled in so many electric wires all over the city and Superman gets electrocuted!! Hmm, would make quite a lot of headline.. (I can already imagine BREAKING NEWS flashing all over the news channels)

Next, how will he fly?? I mean as it is with the amount of air traffic congestion we have in this country due to lack of ATC controllers, who will supervise his flying and landing??

And most importantly, which caste will be support? I mean he surely can’t be without a caste. It must be acceptable in his planet Krypton or for that matter in US. But no sir, not in India!

What do we need right now? Some rain!! 😀

55 Fiction on 05/05

What is 55 Fiction? It is a fiction story, with all the basic elements of a narrative (plot, characters, setting, conflict), in 55 words or less (A non-negotiable rule).

The Rogue Journalist

Its confirmed. Indians (OK, OK Chinese also) are unimaginative.

A Sikh journalist  today flung a shoe at home minister P. Chidambram protesting against the clean chit given by the CBI to Congress leader Jagdish Tytler accused in 1984 anti-Sikh riots case. The inspiration was clearly taken from Muntadhar al-Zaidi, an Iraqi journalist who performed the same feat over Bush. Even when it comes to imitation, these Indians are behind Chinese people considering this same feat has already been emulated by them. Talk about world dominance!!

However, in the aftermath of these attacks, both India and China have played towards their strength and have given birth to industries in Service and Manufacturing sector respectively. Indians have started a course to teach politicians various techniques of dodging shoes and this course has become mandatory for all politicians prior to elections. Shoe industry, on the other hand, has gained momentum in China and custom made shoes of all shapes and sizes for all types of politicians are being made and exported all over the world.

In another story, 38-year-old Rashid Malbari, alias Rashid Hussain Sheikh, a close aide of  gangster Chota Shakeel had planned to kidnap a Dubai-based businessman returning to Mangalore for a ransom of Rs 5 crore. The ransom amount was to be used to assassinate Varun Gandhi and Pramod Muthalik, Malbari confessed before the Mangalore police.

Related News:

Sri Rama Sene leader Pramod Muthalik was taken into preventive custody as soon as he landed in Mysore, police said.Muthalik had come to visit Kyatharamanhalli suburb, where group clashes took place recently following which prohibitory orders were issued under sections 144, police said.

Varun Gandhi booked under NSA by Mayawati’s Government for his inflammatory speech at Pilibhit. Would remain jailed for some time.

Both heave a sigh a relief and thank God for jails!!

Deception Point.

The best creative job in the world?

Advertising?… No

Painting?…. No

Music?…. No

Its the job of a Conspiracy theorist!!!

I pity those poor advertising agencies, painters, and sometimes even musicians (barring some) for the mind slogging and weirdness they have to do to come up with great ideas. The problem is, they have to build completely new themes based on pure intuition.

Now look at a conspiracy theorist. Grab the most sensational news and well.. sensationalize it more!! All they have to do is to identify a missing piece in the puzzle, import that piece (no.. not from China) and lo behold, a conspiracy theory is ready to rock and roll!

Some traits of conspiracy theories:

1. They always come from reliable sources of an unreliable source.
2. They involve the citizens of not only earth but entire solar system like aliens, martians etc.
3. They always end up being made into documentaries.
4. Their number is directly proportional to the size of the issue.

Some ludicrous theories (in order of stupidity) –

1. US 9/11 conspiracy theory – The US government carried out those attacks in disguise.
2. Barack Obama deception – Democrats started the economic crisis to help elect Obama ( ❓ ).
3. Apollo Moon Landing Hoax – Apollo 11 never landed on the moon but the whole scene was staged in a NASA room.
4. Mumbai 26/11 terror attacks – The Hindu extremists are responsible for the attacks to denigrate Muslim citizens.

Now, the obvious question that arises is why do they exist at all?

Well.. some less weirder ones really turn out to be true thus giving the benefit of doubt to the issue. But it is this benefit of doubt that turns out to be the most potent weapon for the politicians to twist and turn the issue ruthlessly against their opponents; and it goes on without saying that politicians turn out to be the best conspiracy theorists.

The upcoming news channels aren’t complaining!!