History and Statistics

In my life there is no subject that has given me more grief than these two subjects. And I don't mean the sleepless nights mugging up before an exam. I mean real day to day life in which you bump into people who justify all their pre-conceived notions and prejudices in the cloak of quoting statistical figures about things in the past. Weather it is about a match between IND vs AUS or it is about making sweeping generalisations about minorities such as African americans, and American Indians and for that matter indians.

And I wonder when are you going to meet or interact with any given population as a population. Don't you always interact with people one at a time or two or at the most a few who even if the stats are correct are nothing but a fraction of the said population and can spread over anywhere in the given Gaussian distribution of most things. How does a particular statistic equip me better in my encounter with a person of any origin? Aren't these historical statistics nothing but an excuse to justify our prejudices or lack of really usable information and unwillingness to admit to it.

Nothing infuriates me as much as sweeping typifying of diversity and quirks and everything that makes life charming and worth living and not just reading about!

Spitting Image

Technically the word means a perfect double or counterpart but visually this word reminds me of India, the roads, the transport, the public places. It reminds me of all spit stained walls and corners and all the things that we litter our immediate environment with. It reminds me of the male of the human species using the whole wide world as a giant urinal! The stench that all but suffocates you as you somehow navigate your way through such dinghy corners, pretty much in the middle of the busiest of streets. It reminds me of dhaula kuan- the shady and busy dhaula kuan.

It reminds of the place which is hotbed of eve teasing and worse, In spite of it being such a busy place in the world; in the capital city of the second most populous country in the world. It is a glaring reminder of the apathy that we the living have towards more of our very own kind. A woman (may be even men) can not feel any safety in numbers cos there is no guarantee about anyone else seeing you as one of them, worthy of notice, of consideration, of help….

Its almost as if you do not exist.

Especially if you happen to be in trouble or seem like someone who might need help. And here I am not talking about someone coming brandishing a sword riding a black horse in a shining armour. It is only about being aware of your surroundings, being vocal, being there.

It is simply as simple as that. It does not take a lot. At all.

Why is it that all we do care about it the next bus to hop on and the next seat that we can get and the next place to go to. Why do we not enjoy or experience and just exist in the present. That’s a common psyche… why why why??

This level of apathy I think also stems from this rat race, this feeling of always being behind and catching up to the future. The future will always be in future the moment you catch up with it it becomes your present. So what you are not doing is essentially your present so why run away from it?

Why not soak in it, experience it? Why not be here in the present? Instead of running ahead at such a pace that you miss the view. No matter how dismal, dirty or filthy it is.

Cos only when we stop to notice, will it ever matter to us to keep it clean or to be enraged or outraged about things and injustices around us?! Weather being done to fellow humans or environment or sentiments….

May be just may be it will make the present worth being in, almost as attractive as the future that is always eluding- by the very virtue of its being what it is.

INternet

I love the internet. This is the place where I meet all the people I will not otherwise. This is my window where I chat with my girls, gossip.... share... crib... catch up... bitch.. anything and everything that I did in person when I was younger and then on phone and now through the internet as the distances have grown.

This is what I go to when I have to look up anything and my dad is no longer in a position to answer all my question due to differences of time and space!! This is where I look up when I have to look up recipes, baking times, translations, rituals just about anything. It in one word is my back up and is my back up for all the people that I can no longer surround myself with in reality.

With it I create my virtual world where I talk to and read from and write to all the people with as much detail that I want.

It is also a window from where I surreptitiously observe all those I kind of know and check out just like I would have had we lived in a same neighborhood.

I wonder if it is something that helps me open up more or something that keeps me from opening up to newer things in life. Since I have my comfort zone and the press of a button, I no longer see people and much less talk to the ones who are right next to me in the room. I am so busy typing away my grievances to a friend in london that I dont notice that there might be a potential friend right behind me if I just turn my chair and tap on another desk.

In the same room we are in conversation with people all over the world but with each other. So does it bring people together or keeps them insulated in a world that they are more comfortable with?

New Year New Thoughts

Why is loss more meaningful or poetic than otherwise? Its a new year and it should come with new hopeful possibilities. Why? New year is just another number on the calendar, just another day. Why is there so much of hoopla around it? Why inspite of your better judgement you get carried away in its promise of renewed possibilities and potential that never really does come through?

Its just another day when you lost or gained. Just another hour. Just like any other regular day.

I wish there was less glamour and enthusiasm attached to it.

Its safe to be pessimistic. Is safety over rated? Is pessimism underrated? Does it not over lap with reality? Isnt reality more depressing than pessimism because of its huge overlap with the latter?

Why Do we need to move on? why can;t we just call it a day and put up our boots. Whats the point of moving on when you dont know where you are going? and more importantly why you want to go there...

Movement is just another distraction from what you need to figure out. Just another way from keeping yourself from thinking. Being busy is the perfect form of escaping from everything around you.