The Nobel American and the Noble Indian!

The one most dreadful trait of the common Indian has come to the fore yet again. And this time, for the Nobel prize. I was reading a post on similar lines by a fellow blogger, and felt that this “dangerous mind” should express its views on the issue too!
I simply can’t find a reason why we should celebrate Mr. Venkatraman Ramakrishnan’s achievement, just because of the trivial reason that he is of “Indian Origin”. And I am very clear in my views- I am not undermining the work of the Nobel Laureate. I just do not want people to feel happy as if the prize was won by a citizen of India. The man is a complete citizen of the United States now. Mr.Venkatraman would take the prestigious Nobel prize to the US of A or the UK. He most definitely won’t give it to India. But we, as benevolent Indians, laud him with praise and give him a cover story on papers and a headline on TV! The situation is nothing short of pitiable!
I simply cannot digest the fact that a person, who grew up with the food, drink, clothing, education, what not from India, gives all the laurels to another foreign country, which gave him just money and a career.
This is not the first time that we witness such a thing in India. We took privilege in Kalpana Chawla’s lunar voyage for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration of the US of A, and rejoiced at the occasion of “Slumdog Millionaire”- a British movie winning at the Oscars. We lack clarity. Is it very rare for an Indian to achieve something? Are we suffering from a nation-wide inferiority complex? Because that would be the only acceptable reason for hailing and commending a man of Indian origin.
Wake up India. We invented the Zero, we calculated the value of Pie, we computed the length of the year, we performed the world’s first cataract surgery, we gave the Raman effect. The feats of our own, ‘completely Indian’ scientists are astounding. "We owe a lot to the Indians, who taught us how to count, without which no worthwhile scientific discovery could have been made!" – these are the words of the greatest scientist- Albert Einstein. Take pride in this. And not on an American’s achievement.

Living the Lie

I was wondering for more than an hour, confused a propos what to name this post as!!
Eventually I decided that this would be the apt title for it.
If you look up the word “lie” in wiki, you would find diversified kinds of lies! But as far as this topic is concerned, I only muse upon the masks we wear on our day by day chronicle of life.
I was very much worried with myself for having to live multiple lives almost everyday.
Just then “Dexter” came along. If at all, there is one ‘close to the real life’ show on TV, this would be it. Only then it struck me, that not only ‘me’, but each soul in this world has the compulsion to put on masks just to continue their existence in this rapidly evolving world of ours.
Why do we wear these masks? Is it to make others around us happy? Are we such ‘good good’ people who wear these masks with utmost difficulty, just to see smiles amongst the people we spend time with? I really doubt it! Masks are the only things which make us ‘civilized’ human beings in this world. If a person ever has a chance to live by instinct,
there is absolutely no qualm that his entire way of living would turn on its head!
Is wearing a mask bad? I still don’t have an answer for it. And I am pretty sure I would never find it. But still, this is the question which keeps ringing in my mind! Till I find it, I will continue Living the Lie!

Change

It’s been a real while since I scribbled here. So, I’ve decided to scribble more frequently henceforth! So here goes! It’s been nearly 3 months since I moved to Bangalore for work. I didn’t have much expectations about corporate life, and living up to that belief, corporate life isn’t much. You just have to act as if you are a very decent and ethical person! An act which so many people manage to put on with an uncanny ease!
I have always believed that being myself is the best way to live life. And I sure believe that this new life, has not changed me a bit. Of course the money factor is there, but I am talking bout the inner self.
The common man always seems to live for others. They bother more about what others may think about him/her, rather than bother about their mental comfort. Just hearing rock music, which doesn’t impress you at all, and putting on an awesome American accent won’t make one a so-called “Corporate”! You may impress people, but you wont impress yourself!
But people always ponder upon the phrase “Change is the only thing which is constant in this world”. I have nothing against this. Without change, the world will never manage to survive. But change must be towards the good. Change must be true. It must not be an act, -an illusion, a mirage!

The First Impression!

Something Interesting I found whilst I was doing my usual purposeless web surfing! Solomon Asch is a psychologist who pioneered the study of impression formation. He conducted an experiment where a bunch of people were divided in 2 groups. Both the groups were asked one question.

Group A is asked:

John is envious, stubborn, critical, impulsive, industrious and intelligent. In general, how emotional do you think John is? (Circle your answer.)

Not emotional ~ 1 ~ 2 ~ 3 ~ 4 ~ 5 ~ 6 ~ 7 ~ 8 ~ 9 ~ Very emotional

Group B is asked:

Mike is intelligent, industrious, impulsive, critical, stubborn and envious. In general, how emotional do you think Mike is? (Circle your answer.)

Not emotional ~ 1 ~ 2 ~ 3 ~ 4 ~ 5 ~ 6 ~ 7 ~ 8 ~ 9 ~ Very emotional

The Results:

Folks in group A marked John as a very emotional person. Most rated him as 7 or 8.

Folks in group B marked Mike as a not so emotional person. Most rated him as 3 or 4.

The Twist (if you haven’t found out already)

John and Mike - both were described using the same 6 characteristics! The only difference is that the order of the characteristics was reversed. The first characteristic for John is envious and the last one is intelligent. Where as the first characteristic for Mike is intelligent and the last is envious.

Because envious is an emotionally loaded characteristic, most people marked John as being emotional. And because intelligent is not emotionally loaded, most people marked Mike as not being emotional.

So, Always , the FIRST impression is the best impression! Nothing serious bout this post. Found it worthy of posting. Don't accuse me of plagiarism! I have given you the bibliography!! :)

Is this the end of an Era or the beginning of a legacy?

The above sight is one of a kind in the world. -The LTTE cemetery. The world will never again see an organisation so badacious, insurgent and stalwart like the LTTE. The SriLankans are rejoicing their moment of freedom, but as a responsible Tamil, I would like to analyse the Lankan scenario right from the beginning.
Let's get a bit of history first. The dimunitive island, at the base of India was under kingdomatic rule for many years, mainly by the Sinha rulers, Cheras, Cholas, Pallavas, etc.,. The advent of Tamils into Lanka grew prominence when the Britishers decided to infiltrate the island because of its rich tea, cinnamon,rubber,sugar and coffee plantations. Thus Lanka happened to have a considerable number of Tamil inhabitants.
But within a few years of the British departure in February 1948, Sinhalese politicians were banging the drum of ethnic chauvinism. Sinhala became the island's official language and discriminatory laws affecting entry to university and the civil service alienated moderate Tamils. Their were denied education as well as basic amenities. Velupillai Prabakaran was one of the very many, who were affected by these inhuman acts. He was a revolutionary right from his school days.Unable to rein in his activistic nature, he started the LTTE in 1974, with the primary motive as the creation of a separate Tamil State in the north and east of Sri Lanka.
Prabhakaran was one of the best leaders the world has ever witnessed. A single leader commanding the entire organisation for a period of over 30 years is truly amazing. I was reading bout his leadership on a Tamil daily, and every line kept amazing me. His word had so much respect amongst his commandos. A single nod from the leader, and the entire 'black tigers' (the suicide bombing wing of the LTTE) were ready to sacrifice themselves for the cause. Before the Iraq war, LTTE had the most suicide bombing incidents recorded in entire world history.
Their modus operandi was one of the best planned. Mr.Prabhakaran was believed to have operated from Madras(now Chennai). It was here that he designed the famous LTTE crest, a roaring Tiger atop two crossed rifles and a halo of bullets set against a blood-red background. The Tiger was the cherished symbol of the Cholas.
The discipline in the LTTE camp was nonpareil. There were strict implications on the use of tobacco and alcohol. They were completely banned from their camps. All LTTE commandos were supposed to wear a cyanide vial on their necks, to use in case of capture. Celibacy was strictly practised. Prabhakaran was also a devotee of Hollywood. He watched action movies for inspiration, often using them as a training tool in Tiger camps. And he cited the Legendary Clint Eastwood as his favourite.
The Tamils were made sure to get the best of education in many foreign countries. The LTTE had members in many foreign countries including Netherlands and the UK. The foreign Tamils were the believed to be the primary source of finance for the community. An Anti-government group, to have its own ground force, Air force and navy is fascinating for many. The LTTE credits the formation of the Air Tigers air-wing to Vythialingam Sornalingam, a graduate in Aeronautical Engineering from a reputed university in India!. The LTTE's brain power was well planned out, and was unmatchable.
One of the main reasons the LTTE was branded as a major terrorist organisation in India was the Rajiv gandhi killing in 1992. Though the killing of a country's former Prime Minister can never be justified, the reason for this outrageous and infuriating act was the sudden decision of the Indian Government's IPKF to turn to attacking the LTTE when the purpose of its formation was to protect the Tamils. In an LTTE press conference, Prabhakaran said that the incident was 'tragic'.
Form the procurement of weapons, to the maintenance of secrecy and hierarchy, the LTTE almost benchmarked the standards for even a national Army. They had once run a mini-government in Kilinocchi making it as their de-facto capital, with Prabhakaran as the chief.
There are numerous disputes concerning the death of the leader. The primary reasons for doubt being his possession of an ID card, and the government's claim that he was killed when he was trying to escape in an ambulance. Prabhakaran, being such a devoted and nationalistic leader, would never have committed such a cowardly act. He refused to leave Lanka, though he had numerous opportunities for it, in times when the Lankan army surged into their territory. Aware such a daring personality, does not deter the Lankan government's mockery of his death, calling it as an escape.
Whatever might be, let's pray in unison for the well-being of the Tamils in Lanka. Our solidarity in supporting their cause, would be their only source of happiness and consolation in this dreadful phase of time. "We have sowed the seed of an ideal, we grow it by irrigating with the blood of our martyrs. This seed will grow up into a luxurious tree and make our martyr’s dreams a reality." - Velupillai Prabhakan (November 26, 1954 – May 18, 2009) RIP.