Dream, Imagination, Possibility, Reality - Human and Science

Human beings are the most advanced species on this earth. We are the most dangerous species too. Since we are both advanced and dangerous we have been surviving on this earth for a very long time. We have travelled and developed from the primitive stage to the current stage of civilisation, science and technology. Where will we go from here? This is what is dealt with in the book "Homo Deus" by "Yuval Noah Harari" an Israeli Historian. I have not read the book. My husband has been reading it and whenever he finds something very interesting or compelling he reads it to me. It has kindled my curiosity and I can't wait to get my hands on the book. Not until he finishes it. So now my mind has started imagining the world in a different perspective.

One point the book says is the possibility of science finding ways to make "immortality" a reality. I and my husband discussed how would life be in that case? Would any of the things that we do make any sense in such a scenario? Even if we imagine that a human being will live up to 200 years young and healthy, the scenario seems bewildering. Would the education that we get during our schools be any time relevant after say 150 years? Would a marriage which is done in the 30s survive togetherness for a whopping 200 years? Wouldn't you get bored of your partner? And regarding children - if one is hale, healthy and fertile for 150 years, how many children will a woman deliver? What would be the kind of relationship parents and children share when parents are of 150 years and a kid is 20 years old? How would they even communicate effectively? With so many years guaranteed, what would be the kind things people will do in their lifetime? Would the aim of a middle class still be to own a car by 30 and a house by 40? What would they do for the rest of the, say, 150 years? What would the dreams be like for people?

When we were discussing, I had a doubt. Would the earth be able to support the population outburst? How would we feed the long living increasing population? what about the natural resources like water, fresh air? What about all the waste that we generate? With people living till 200 and producing dozens of children, the human population will kill this earth with its demands. What will happen to the earth? But we did find out a solution ourselves. When science will find a way to increase life period by maintaining youth and health, it will definitely find a way for people to survive without food and water. Maybe in such a time, the food we eat today will become irrelevant. And science will find ways for the body to stay hydrated without water. Since long life and youth cannot be achieved without regenerating cells, that kind of a development will definitely push development in the biology of our body and the way the human body works.

And about the waste generation, our imagination was that maybe the waste will be dumped on some other planet. Rockets might regularly be launched to dump waste into other planets. That way another planet would become our dump yard.  Or might be scientists will find out another planet for humans to move into. That way the earth can become a dump yard. Reminds me of the movie "Wall-E". Such a cinematic and fictional dream. But who knows these might become a reality after few hundred years. Science has made leaps and bounds in curing once fatal diseases. Science and technology have created robots who think and work like humans.  Science can create human embryo outside the human body. A baby with DNA from 3 parents has been born(Just now read the article) which has helped the boy escape a fatal disorder his mother suffers from which would otherwise have been transferred to the baby. Science is making advances faster than we can imagine. Hence all these fictional imaginations might very well become a reality in the future. I am sure these things might not happen in my lifetime but it might happen 2 generations down the line.

Oh! how I wish I could live to see such possibilities becoming realities. It would be great if normal people could open up their mind to these kinds of wonderful things happening around us and try to revel in the practical science. We can keep talking and clinging on to a bygone so called prosperous past getting us nowhere or we can walk towards the future of endless possibilities with open hands and enjoy the benefits. It is hypocrisy to want both in equal amounts.

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"My Skin color" - The crisis of many childhood.

What is your skin colour? How much importance do you give to your own skin colour? Let me answer that question from the standing point of a Malayalee brahmin middle-class teenager that once I was. Skin colour is how I measure my beauty and how I identify myself. That much important it is for a teenager that I was. It is one of the many obnoxious parameters that this society has defined for measuring the beauty of a girl. 

To say the least, I was not even a dark skinned girl. I was, what is generally called a brown skinned Indian, a south Indian and that too a Malayalee. Therein was the problem. I did not fit into the fair and shiny skinned Malayalee girl image which was the well-known description given to her. People would not believe when I would call myself a Malayalee. I looked like a Bengali, a Marathi, a Muslim, but never a Malayalee Brahmin. So I always hesitated to show off my Brahmin identity, although I was, by the superiority bestowed upon me by my caste, immensely proud of being Brahmin. I felt ashamed that I was a dark Brahmin girl.

You might be wondering why I felt ashamed. How else would you expect me to have felt when an elderly commented: "You don't look like a Brahmin." So It was a full-scale identity crisis for me. I neither looked like a Malayalee girl nor a Brahmin girl. But I was both. Hence I felt bad about myself. I once asked my mum why she had produced me brown. I believed it was unfair on her part to have produced me dark skinned and my sister a fair skinned girl. She did her best to tell me that herself and dad loved us both equally and that I was as beautiful as my sister. But my inferiority complex never allowed me to see through the haze.

It was exactly the period when India was stepping into the bliss of the fashion industry and the "Fair & lovely" advertisement was the most popular on television. It was the period when the standards of beauty that we see today was just beginning to get defined and products like "Fair & Lovely" and "Vicco ayurvedic" cream were doing their best to set these standards. It was actually the period when India opened it's gate to globalisation. I have seen young girls and women using these creams lavishly applying it on the face along with talcum powder which would look like a white paint. The cream and powder along with the sweat were the grossest sights. These creams were very popular among the young women of Tamilnadu. Tamilians are in general dark skinned and they have always been obsessed with white skinned people. They considered white skinned people to be sophisticated and beautiful and hence there was immense fan fair for such people everywhere in the state. Starting from schools to the cinema, at every level, this obsession was clearly visible. I feel this admiration for fair skin is prevalent even today. Hence it again made me feel bad. I was not fair enough to be beautiful and to be admired.

Today when I look at the young Malini, I pity myself for having felt so bad. Today I realise that skin colour is nothing but a skin colour. It has nothing to do with what I am and what I am capable of. Skin colour has nothing to do with my identity. What matters is what kind of a person I have come to be and what talents I possess. But by the time people realise this, they would have lost their whole childhood buried in the embarrassment of something that they have no control over. How pathetic it is to burden the innocent childhood with such kinds of the wrong definition of beauty and identity. In many people, the effect is so disastrous that they live with inferiority complex throughout their life. They lose their self-confidence and live a pathetic life just because they were born with dark skin. Many people like me do grow out of this phase and learn the reality of life, but many get stuck in it and live a life of self-loath. Today I love myself and I am proud of my skin colour.

I strongly feel that products and companies that propagate wrong ideas of beauty should be banned. Every company has a responsibility towards the people that it caters to. They should be held accountable for what they provide. In this consumeristic society, it is easy for such big corporates to wash their hands off such responsibilities in the name of development and money. But young girls and boys should be brought up in such a way that they respect themselves and others irrespective of their skin colour and physical appearance in general. Fair skin is not an achievement to be proud of because it comes from genes and you have no control over it. Benefits bestowed by birth can never make a person superior. We as a society should start gauging and respecting a personality not based on physical appearance or on monetary achievements but on his/her character, humanity and how they contribute to the society. Every person should be proud about their skin colour. It is what nature has given to you and you should cherish it. You should love yourself no matter how others treat you. This confidence should be given to our next generation.

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Plastic - The boon that is a bane

I read a news today which was shocking, at the same time very painful. A veterinary doctor performed a surgery on a cow and removed around 98 Kg of plastic and other deadly waste from its stomach. The waste included nails, screws, wire, socks and clothes along with lots of plastic covers. The cow was in immense pain and was unable to walk when it was brought in. This news disturbed me a lot. What are we humans doing to this earth? What has happened to us? Why have we become so insensitive? Why have we become so selfish? All these questions started boiling inside my head.

Plastic is the most useful, but the most dangerous substance as it is not bio-degradable. Hence when it is disposed of in the open it just keeps piling up and they stay, maybe forever. It just does not biodegrade. We use plastic for everything. From bags for carrying stuff to plastic boxes for storing things at home, from a small clip to big electronics everything is made of plastic. None of these is bio-degradable. Hence every bit of it has to be collected and treated specially. This is a costly as well as a time-consuming process. It has to be a systematic process. Hence plastic just piles up everywhere, on the roads, fields, in the forests, in the river and also in the sea. Everywhere they just live forever polluting this planet. Some people do try to dispose of it by burning it, but that too is a risky thing to do as the fumes pollute the air and breathing it for a longer time can cause severe illness in humans.

The most affected by this use of plastics are the animals. They are not aware of this substance and when we throw food waste and other things in plastic bags, animals like cows gobble them up thinking it is some kind of food. This plastic it just stays inside their system. Neither does it get digested nor does it get excreted. It just stays. Imagine a plastic bag stuck in your stomach for 2 days. It is shuddering. But these poor things don't know what they have swallowed. They don't know what is the problem with their stomach. Perhaps it just pains and they have to live with it until one day they collapse. Does it sound sad? To me, it sounds horrible. It makes me hate people who produce plastic, it makes me hate people who use it so carelessly. It makes me hate all those who either don't know what they are doing or who intentionally do it. It is so selfish of us to think only about us.

Plastic has been banned in many places most recently in Bangalore where there was a blanket ban. There are strict rules in the country which say plastic below 50 microns should not be manufactured. But how strictly these rules get implemented is a big question. None of the citizens who use plastics has any idea where the discarded plastic items go. We never bother to think where all the plastic waste is taken and what is done with them. We complain about clogged sewage and water logging but we turn a blind eye to the fact that it mostly the plastic bags that we discard which is the cause of this problem. They are so light that they just fly around in the air and land up anywhere. They are not only sour to eyes but also very dangerous pollutants.

The manufacturers seem to have no accountability what so ever in this matter. They manufacture it in mass and earn huge profits. But aren't they accountable too? In the case of plastic bags I understand, it is difficult. Because they have to be collected in bulk and recycled or else it is cumbersome work. In that case, the citizens have to be educated on the ill effects of using plastic bags. They should be educated on how to recycle it and also government/outsourced organisations should set up collection centres in towns where people can bring in collected plastic bags and give it for recycling. The manufacturers should pay some amount to the government for recycling purpose which the government can use in setting up collection points and recycling units. It is the responsibility of each person to leave this world a better place for the future generation. Steps should be taken to educate the uneducated and also to provide them with affordable eco-friendly alternatives to plastic bags.

Right now we are in a period where the life of holy cows are much dear and precious than human lives. But even among all this drama, the real pain of these animals go unseen and unheard of. There are no Gau-rakshas who can save these animals from this kind of silent cruelty. It is a great irony that the same people who kill humans for slaughtering cows cannot make any arrangements for making these animals eat safely. So much of hypocrisy in the name of politics and development.

We cannot completely avoid plastics but we need to learn to use them responsibly and as a system, define steps and actions to process them.

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The Groundnut Festival

We are familiar with various types of festivals celebrated in our place. Festivals in India are very colourful. Celebrations are a big part of our tradition. So when I heard about this unique kind of festival celebrated near the Dodda Ganesha temple in Basavanagudi hillock of Bengaluru, I could not stop myself from attending it. The festival is called "Kadalakkayi Parishe" which literally translates into Groundnut Festival.

Like all other festivals and carnivals in our country, this celebration is also marked by makeshift shops selling colourful toys, bangles and cosmetics and also a lot of eatables. As the name signifies this is a festival of Groundnuts. This festival is celebrated to offer the annual yield of groundnut to Lord Basava (Lord Nandi-Bull god) the Vahana (mount) of Lord Shiva. Every festival has a mythical story behind it and this one is no different.

The story goes like this. It happened centuries ago. The groundnut farmers in this area noticed that someone was destroying their crops in the night. They launched an investigation. They found out something bizarre. They were shocked to find out that a bull was the culprit. In order to please Lord Basava and stop the bull from ruining their crops, they decided to offer the first yield of every year to Lord Basava. After this incident, a statue of Lord Nandi mysteriously appeared in their village. The villagers were stunned to find out that the statue was gradually growing in size. To stop it from growing enormously, the villagers drilled an iron nail on the top of its head. This nail is believed to be the Trishul that is found on the Nandi's head today.

Later , following the instruction of Kempe Gowda - the founder of Bengaluru, a temple was constructed for Lord Nandi in the year 1537 where the statue was found. The temple is known as the "Bull Temple" today. The statue of a bull inside this temple is considered to be the largest statue with its 15 feet height and 20 feet length. 

The festival is a two days celebration which starts on the last Monday of the "Karthick" month ( a month in Hindu calendar). During these two days, many farmers including those from the surrounding towns come in with their first yield of the year and offer it to Lord Nandi in the Bull temple. Later brisk business happens in the temple fair where farmers sell and buy the yield. Various types of groundnuts are sold here during this time. The festival is so famous that farmers from neighbouring states like TamilNadu and AndhraPradesh also participate in it. Lakhs of small lamps are lighted all around the temple marking the beginning of the festival.  There is no doubt that this festival presents a unique experience to anyone who becomes a part of it

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Her Destroyer

Oh! You, hanging in there;

Lashing out at her.

Hang in there, and stay rolled up.

How you slash away;

Splitting budding dreams into pieces,

With your sharp edges.

Stay there rolled up will you?

Out you come killing lives,

no matter how small you are.

Spitting out venom;

freezing the minds of all dumbos;

Riding the horse of your ego.

You destroy lives and families.

Laden with no guilt at all,

You are capable of annihilation.

Stay rolled up and let her live.

You lick away her dignity with no remorse.

Your war can destroy the unborn hers.

Breaking the fighting soul,

you question her morality.

Creeping into her privacy, what is your morality?

She is just a human yearning to live her dreams.

She fights back and you got to roll up and hide.

Live, she shall; you listen, his sharp little tongue.

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Bigger picture of The Sabarimala issue

Seriously I am tired of listening to a bunch of people arguing over few hashtags like "#ready to wait" and "#RightToPray". I deliberately took time out to watch Arnab Goswami's show on Times now which I had stopped watching a long time ago due to the futility of the show and especially the high decibel arguments out of which nothing comes out except Arnab's intolerant and irritating noise and is a stage to show off his macho ego.  But this time, I wanted to watch his debate because I heard he was supporting a certain side which I never expected him to do considering his political and ideological leanings.

Well, as usual, the whole debate was a showdown. Foremost there was complete chaos which I am yet to come to terms with even after watching his shows and getting frustrated a hundred times. Secondly, the "#ReadyToWait" side was too poorly equipped with counter points to justify their stand. Knowing the kind of show and debate they were going to be part of I expected them to be more prepared to argue with the likes of Arnab and well-informed activists on the opposite side. In between all this one thing always surprises me that in a show where Arnab is supposed to be a facilitator and stay neutral, he comfortably takes a side and smashes the enemies with his non-stop questions. I could smell something fishy here.

For the uninitiated, let me explain the topic of debate a little bit. "Sabarimala" is a Hindu pilgrimage centre located in Kerala which is visited by millions of devotees from all over India who come every year after a 41 days penance which includes strict fasting and continence. This is one temple where people from all religions are allowed to visit. But there is one custom here which restricts entry for women between the age of 10 and 50. This is as per the Kerala high court ruling in 1991 stating the age old custom of the temple. Now the Supreme court of India has taken a petition contesting the judgement by the High court preventing entry of women of certain age. And the verdict is expected very soon which has given way to this intense debate on every type of media. While the women's rights activists are vying for the right to pray for women of all age citing equality for all citizens, a group of women and devotees who are against this have come up with a campaign "#Ready to Wait". These are the 2 groups who were involved in the debate on the above show.

Though the argument of the devotees who take shelter behind the so-called belief and custom may sound fair enough, I believe that women should never be restricted from entering a temple just because they are women. Whatever arguments be put forth, the reality remains that it is misogynous to restrict women in the name of beliefs and customs. Would the god who we believe created everyone advice such practices? There was a time when we practised outrageous things in the name of custom and ritual like Sati, monogamy and child marriages. With time and struggle of many, we were able to break away from such practices and make them strictly punishable. We should be able to break out of this practice also. Those who want to wait can wait. No one is forcing them to go. But if there is even one young woman who wants to visit the temple and worship Lord Ayyappa, she should not be stopped because of her age. If custom is so strictly to be followed then let me ask how many men who visit the temple take the complete 41 days of penance? Citing practical reasons and today's living style there is a short form of the penance which is followed by men. When these things can change with time why not other aspects too?

My point here is something beyond all this discussion. A detailed discussion as above was required so that even I could look at this issue from a third perspective. Why would someone whose ideology has been leaning to the right in all other cases try to speak for and take sides with the activists and supporters fighting for equality? This is where I suspect there is some bigger conspiracy being played behind the scenes. The right wing people have always been irritated by the point that only Hindu religion is targeted and questioned by activists. They always counter every argument by raising one question that why these people never question the practices of other communities. By supporting the "RightToPray" group today, I feel there is a possibility for the same person to conduct another debate at another time to instigate the right against such people by raising the same question which would by them have taken the form of a hatred in the minds of righties. This could lead to bigger problem considering the volatile times we are living in. Maybe there is a need to look at the whole issue from a much wider perspective by everyone.

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