The Hogwash school of Bizarre-dry and Bitchcraft

In the last decade nothing has gotten people more gung ho about books than the Harry Potter collection. It has no doubt re-introduced the habit of reading in a generation that makes use of summer vacations playing XBoxes rather than read books such as Enid Blyton, Nancy Drew or Hardy Boys. These books were not just a healthy past-time for us they were our lifeline. Anyways this post is neither about books, no is it a critical review of the Harry Potter series.

This post is about the creator of this phenomenon - JK Rowling. No doubt she has managed to capture the attention of the generation with the shortest time span and indulged them into reading thick tomes. One must simply appreciate her skill at reviving the idea of wizards, magic and demons and weaving it nicely into today's context. She has achieved massive success and also triggered a series of Hollywood blockbusters which simply added to all the hysteric atmosphere around this subject. It's no doubt that such success - full of glamor and limelight would get to anyone's head, considering which her recent despicable actions can be forgiven.

Instance one, Durga Puja is a mega festival celebrated in East of India ( Bengal and the likes ). The celebrations usually involve erecting huge pandals or shamianas for a period of ten days. Over the years ( comparing with my childhood memories ) these pandals have begun to enjoy enormous proportions not just in size but they have become elaborate, expensive and beautiful pieces of modern day dismantable architecture. From huge palaces to world wonders like the Taj the Durga Puja organizers spare little to create a sensation. Catching onto contemporary emotions and interests one of the committtees decided to build and did build a replica of the Hogwart's school! (Now come the two Wows!) Wow!! Now that's something u didnt imagine. Anybody in their right senses would simply be awed by the construction.( I have seen pictures clicked by a friend of mine )
But no!! Some people are just the old whiny whiny. And who is this?? None other than our JK Rowling. It seems that the committee violated her intellectual property in doing so and so she happily sued them for a sum of 20 Lakhs. Wow!! Now that's something u didnt imagine. I have several points to lambast her on this.

Why would any creator ( I'll be generic ) sue someone for appreciating and propagating their own creation. It's certainly not an act of disrespect. The pandal was for religious reasons and no community shows any form of disrespect atleast to their own religions. Neither has the use been commercial. The committee wasnt earning any money out of it. It was only to draw attention. More importantly, they were at the end of the day only encouraging and propagating her own creative ideas. Would Walt Disney come and sue us all because we ever as kids wore Mickey Mouse costumes? Would Dinsey come and catch hold of the thousands of people who wear costumes of their favorite characters to cheer littel ones at amusement parks and malls? Definitely NO!!
No creative professional in the world does that. It's only those who are full of folly and have had success get to them too fast do that. It's become the age of mindless commercialisation. How can an author do something like that and even claim to uphold values of morality, goodness and ethics she so much propounds in her books. She is nothing but a con artist who has repackaged an old idea in a new bottle. Wizard's arent her creation, neither are flying brooms, witches or demons. So do we sue her for "borrowing" ideas from somewhere else? Do we call upon the medival writers and dig up their graves or trace their ancestors to sue her for royalty purposes. No we dont!! cause we arent like her and importantly, it's not right. People always need objects for inspiration. It comes from things around us itself. If we start placing restrictions on what we can use for our imagination and thoughts, how do we progress?? It's right that we should have a system for protecting intellectual capital but not when its not being misused. Its very trivial to filter out the cases. Having said all that I feel at the end of the day its nothing but another publicity stunt by a lost soul who no finds no more ways to retain her success.

Well for instance 2, she called one of the most liked characters in her books a Gay! Well you yourself can figure out the mental state of someone like that. What more so I say. I pity such people. God give them wisdom. Or better maybe she can invent a potion for improving herself!!
It's gonna be tough what ever it may be. Till that happens you enjoy ur books and keep imaging and inspiring. Dream On!

WWW: World Wide Whackos!

WWW: This extremely popular and ubiquitous acronym for the biggest phenomenon in information, collaboration and knowledge empowerment in the history of mankind! A wonderful invention and one of the most powerful tools existing today; a force that not only is driving economies but also engaging individuals in every possible act of creativity and innovation.

But sadly like all technology having its pros and cons the internet also has its. I would not describe the very well known benefits of the internet, which each one of us could promptly recite. The obvious negative impacts are also equally well known. The sad part is that like every other technology the negative usages always are more prevalent. For example, the latest phenomena of YouTube which allows online upload of video content whatever it may be. I would have imagined it to be used for sharing content such as educational content, historical clips, legendary videos, music videos and useful personal experiences. My mistake!
YouTube has become just a huge repository of content which is utterly useless. Even bloopers, movie clips, trailers etc. would have been agreeable to be put up but in the current state of affairs people use it to put up just anything that can be grabbed by a video camera.

This is not just the despicable state of affairs for video on the internet something that is acknowledged as a revolution by the associated corporate beneficiaries, but of most technology and empowerment provided by the internet. More than 90% of the traffic online consists of downloads and no prizes for guessing the nature of the content.

The question to think about is that if empowering people leads to misuse or rather ineffective/ non-contributing usage is it worth empowering them? Is censoring content the way out? Or is a method to monetize activities a method to discourage trash from being propagated on the internet? Or a way to decrease the priority of activities which mostly account for denigration ?
Definitely, technology is in place to permit all of these options but its upto the internet autorities and perhaps the corporates themselves to ensure the sanctity of this revolutionary medium. Giving this revolutionary medium a progressive direction is of utmost importance at a time where the internet is becoming more widespread and ubiquitous. Time to take some quick steps before things get out of hand.

Wisdom in(a)box

All of us have certainly received a deluge of emails ( provided you have existed on the web long enough) dispensing us bits of 'wisdom' as they could be called. I am talking about the kind of mails forwarded to every other person around, being circulated a huge many times a sign of which would be the length at which you'd have to scroll down to get to the actual part!! Anyways, I refer to those mails which intend to make us smile or maybe feel sad, make us feel fortunate or otherwise. Fundamentally, serving a purpose to bring out a contrast in our lives to highlight the ironies and hence instill a mixed feeling of emotion, even momentarily.To give an example here is one about which a recent article also featured.

"The Paradox of our Time

The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings, but shorter tempers; wider freeways, but narrower viewpoints.

We spend more, but have less; we buy more, but enjoy it less.

We have bigger houses and smaller families; more conveniences, but less time;

We have more degrees, but less sense; more knowledge, but less judgment; more experts, but more problems; more medicine, but less wellness.

We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry too quickly, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too seldom, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom.

We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values.

We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often.

We've learned how to make a living, but not a life; we've added years to life, not life to years.

We've been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet the new neighbor.

We've conquered outer space, but not inner space.

We've done larger things, but not better things.

We've cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul.

We've split the atom, but not our prejudice.

We write more, but learn less.

We plan more, but accomplish less.

We've learned to rush, but not to wait.

We build more computers to hold more information to produce more copies than ever, but have less communication.

These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion; tall men, and short character; steep profits, and shallow relationships.

These are the times of world peace, but domestic warfare; more leisure, but less fun; more kinds of food, but less nutrition.

These are days of two incomes, but more divorce; of fancier houses, but broken homes.

These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throw-away morality, one-night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer to quiet, to kill.

It is a time when there is much in the show window and nothing in the stockroom; a time when technology can bring this letter to you, and a time when you can choose either to share this insight, or to just hit delete."

This above mail circulates on the net as a sermon by the Dalai Lama, but is actually an essay by a pastor of a Christian Church. Although, several others have been attributed to have scribed it. But that's an altogether different issue. The origins of the essay would not conflict or be of importance to my concern.

Let me stop beating around the bush now. As I mentioned this appeared in a recent article in the edit page of a national newspaper and the writer disregarded this as captivating us in paradoxes and contradiction and suggesting a lack of deeper understanding on the part of the reader and writer. I beg to differ.

What exactly is the significance of these accounts? These definitely are not words of wisdom or even useful advice. These no doubt are a delightful way to substitute for reflective thinking and analysis. But then isnt every other piece of wisdom and advice. What every advice simply does is provide a different perspective to something we already know. Similarly, wisdom is also truth and facts wrapped in a digestible capsule so as to say. By virtue of it being dispensed by someone we assume the discourse to be useful and insightful. That is after all human nature. But dismissing such a piece because it apparently doesnt provide an insight and only appears to blabber about the ironies of our lives would be wrong. After all how much wisdom which has been spoken or written has actually any practical significance as far as helping out in case of tough situations goes.

When we have to make decisions regarding choices that would be life determining factors and comparisons such as the ones made above would certainly come into picture. Imagine a person planning to move to another city or adopting a new profession. The person would invariably ponder about matters that affect him/her many of which would be on the lines of what is said above. In such a case why couldnt this be classified as wisdom. It guides you in choosing and further helps you to determine and at times give a quick glimpse of where one's life is headed. What one has lost or gained. If it can be a tool for introspection and the mention of which could foment nostalgia, it would also act as an inspiration to bring about a positive change in one's life. Think about it!

The harmless mail which we see so cursorily may actually be holding a mirror, it may actually be a source of positivity and much more. Simply dismissing it as mere fact and rhetoric wouldnt be a valid or logical act. So next time you read such a mail, give it a couple of minutes of thought. Who knows when these string of words may turn into pearls of wisdom for you.

The Count of Mounting Crises!

Just today I happened to read a very true and interesting article on the paradox of the modern Indian woman and the traditional one. The target was the apparent ironical difference in the mindsets of the people when it came to dealing with phenomena related to modernity. It set me of ,to in a way, revolt against this -

Most people traditional and socially acceptable as they consider themselves to be revel in certain so called aspects of modernity. For instance most people believe that frequenting malls, wearing branded or even better designer apparel portrays their level of modernity at the same time not being bold enough by indulging in something taboo. Usually, however they require periodic (read daily/weekly) doses of escapism from their concept to a world of “extreme” modernity; a world where people are immune to current affairs or anything theoretical or practical for that matter and importantly distant from what they themselves are influenced by. These characters dwell in their own worlds with a different set of problems pertaining to ancestral inheritance, being one up over their own family, avenging certain deeds that may have caused them humiliation, loss et al. These people are nothing but figments of imagination of certain story tellers who by the way quite resemble their own creations. But that’s a different story altogether.

I am talking about the daily soap operas on the boob tube something that has enthralled an entire population which claims to have to one of the best education systems in the world. That is certainly contestable. Anyways, our whole country of wide spread diversity seems to be taken into these not sparing the educated youth or the ‘wise’ old ones. All seem to be so addicted one would feel they’d have withdrawal symptoms if their ‘dope’ was taken away. These K serials have made people so self centric, so base and probably venal that there is a whole undercurrent of a rotten culture that has evolved. The effect becomes more and more visible as time progresses and intermittently one gets exposed to it. At those times it arouses pity and a feeling of helplessness. Sometimes a need for hope!

General awareness are longer words that can be used together. Question a person about Indian policy, Indian history, geography, world events and they either blank or end up replying the daftest of answers as if a protagonist from a B grade slapstick movie. I doubt the number or range of topics that anyone of them could talk about would require a second digit in the decimal system! Alarming as it is, the problem is still unnoticed and is not treated as a problem in the first place. The reason being that this commonplace ignorance hasn’t become an issue demanding any thought or action and worse it’s socially acceptable.

Thinkers or non thinkers all agree that the brain is the most powerful part of our body. It is the source of invention, innovation, novel concepts, the wheel just everything part of our modern civilization. Even spirituality I would argue. In such a state of affairs when we have a mass of decadent brains incapable of any productive activity wouldn’t it be a right and sensible thing to arrest the cause of the disease. We have laws in place for prosecuting criminals who damage property, harm citizens, cheat and for all contemptible acts as there are. But does any law prosecute people who destroy the brain, people who decide to decay it and turn it into an inane consumer (a dump yard or sorts) for any crap they can cook up? People who’ve turned ‘entertainment’ into mindless pulp fiction packaged as good as it can be. Apparently one must not, at the same time, disregard their sophisticated and adept skill at doing so and it certainly deserves appreciation. Applause! A brilliantly executed crime to pollute the brains of a whole generation and many more to come! Are we not going to prosecute these producers/ directors and story tellers? Collectively they do more damage to us than any terrorist or religious fanatical organization. The crimes go unseen because they are intangible and all talk about free media and free expression gives them the license to go ahead. Is this where and why moral policing is required? Probably less, for destroying the most important asset a human being possesses. Thought! Brain! Mind! Let’s hope the upsetting trend is stemmed. But I bet only a miracle can reverse the trend. Most likely, a hero from these serials brought into reality could do the trick. Poison kills poison.

Our brains the Next Gen Supercomputers

Moore's law an empirical observation stating that the (in 1965) number of transistors in a chip would double every 2 years. Basically, computing power available at the cheapest cost would go on increasing exponentially.

But there is a limit to this imposed by the emitted heat etc. So does it mean that there are no alternatives to increase computing power? New upcoming technologies like multiprocessor architectures and nano transistors are constantly pushing the limits of scalability. But all these efforts are like maintainence work on a vintage car!

Is there a better solution to our ever increasing computing demands, our need to cut on power and to miniaturise... Yes the answer could lie right on our top - 'our brains'. Yes, everyone agrees that our brains have immense raw computational power with its billions of neurons and heavily connected neural network. It arguably is the best computer around. But is there a way to use it? My answer is yes.. and how goes like this..

Imagine a simple computation like 2 times x where I say x is 5. Before the brain gets to the computation part what goes on would be something like semantical processing to understand the inputs and determine the steps needed to acheive the result. It would first associate 2 with being a numeric entity and then the tougher part would be to build a logical map of the unknown x; assigning it the properties of an abstract entity and then using the brain's contextual ability gained through experience and learning to define the abstractness into a "tangible" quantity or logical parameter. Once that is done 'simple' - but not so simple computation would be done for the result. The brain with its super- developed network of trained neurons would get into the act of multiplying the two. All this for a simple 2 * 5 which a computer could do billions of times a second! The why look on our brain as a supercomputer?

Simply because if the same process(exactly the same as the brain) be carried out in the computer would require groundbreaking techniques to be able to simulate the brain in this regard. Instead lets take the example of a ball thrown from one side of a field to the other and you running to catch it. Your eyes view the trajectory of the ball gauge its speed, calcualte the speed you require to run at to catch it, estimate when to open your hands and when to close them and volla the ball sticks in your hand. The same cannot even be imagined to be emulated by our machines. We are even today way backward in getting them close to doing something similar. Imagine getting the machine to solve the complex differential equations to calculate the trajectory, determine the running speed, time the extension of the hands and their closing and opening. A mathematician would be testimony to the fact that the equations involved are just too complex to compute manually or get the computer to do so. But the brain does it!

So the key finally lies in trying to simulate a given differential equation, a linear equation, a complex formula, a forecasting problem or anything for that matter into a real world scenario. Something like a ball to be catched. Given that the brain does this the best than anything around. We get our solution in the fastest and most efficient manner. Basically, we translate the problem from a pure mathematical equation to a real world situation like juggling balls, catching a ball, opening a door, walking, running, crossing a road just about any general physical activity involved. Each of these activities may entail a separate set of mathematics to be dealt with. Formalise and create the problem situation and feed the corresponding impulses into the brain. The brain treats it as just another event and does the needful. We have our output in no time since most of these actions are impulsive and involve lot of involuntary actions they are quick. Another machine similar to the translator called the inverter which basically does the opposite job that is to convert the neural impulses sent from the brain back to those mathematical equations which are nothing but solutions to our problem.

Although its a little far fetched the idea is certainly thought provoking and considering the advantages demands serious attention. Absolutely no dearth of resources, no power, no wastage, no bio hazards, immense power and scalability, its hard to think of any cons. Moreover one could use the brain of a lesser developed species such as even rats for example since every species knows how to move around, dodge, and fend its food. It's brain surely has all the required neural networks in place to tackle the best of what can be thrown at them!

The Also ran!

This is my first(rather second) attempt to start writing a blog. The first rather unfortunately did not live beyond a single post but managed to give me something that will last a lifetime. Anyways, not to digress atleast on my maiden attempt.
I have been an alsoran all my life. The person who you would see in a photograph standing behind the hero, the person who would be there so that the winner could win, the one who would do everything to win but would just not. I heard the phrase first time in school and ever since fell in love with it. It was the name a quizzing team had used and believe it or not they came second after the kind of photofinish finale i did talk about. Apparently, one of the judges asked what it meant and I caught its meaning while leaving the auditorium in a haste. "The person who always loses"!
Does it in anyway mean that I hate losing? Or that I am writing this out in the depression of not winning? No, its nothing of the sorts. I love the way I am, more than anything else I know of. I have over the period of my life become a jack of all trades and a master of none. Be it any aspect of life I am just never there at the top. In a way I love it because I it has helped learn so much from life. Had I been exceptional in any particular field, I would have become a master at that and a jackass at others. But then why is it that I try to win when I know that I am happy even if I lose. Why do I want to win? But before I ask that question do I really want to win?
It puzzles me if I ask myself that and I realise that I myself dont know what would be better. Breaking out of the habit of an alsoran or being a winner. Hmmmm that would be a tough one!
The truth is I do not want to win. I want to end up in the search for that elusive thing that will get me victory. I as always will keep learning, keep experiencing and keep looking at life from all the possible angles it allows you to. I hope that this way there wouldnt be an experience I wouldnt have had, a thing I wouldnt have done or a stone unturned. Some years down the line when I lie down and am close to my death I would be able to look at not only one type of experiences and moments I cherished but hopefully thousands of them. Compare that to the thoughts running through the mind of a musician or a rocket scientist. What would they be thinking of? About some concerts they performed at, some path breaking discovery or invention that he/she did? At such a time I would just smile, because I have with me something of the everything that life has to offer. From music to science and all so much that I'd be inundated with thoughts and more thoughts. At that time I would also ask myself Who won the final contest? The Game of Life. Them or me?? Surely it would be me. Finally I would experience victory and join them, no longer an alsoran. But a one who lost everything but won the most important contest of all.Life! So I guess it's not bad to lose and its certainly not bad to be an alsoran. Think about it. Life is great-Life is the greatest game! Win it! Live it! Be an alsoran...