Paanch, Shaitan and Life

Shaitan was an awesome movie, so was paanch (except for the ending). There is a complete story behind why. To start with, ending of paanch was pathetic because it didn't live up to the expectation of the movie till about the end. The movie started on a very promising note. It brought out the the real emotions and frustration. The ending with a "plot" was something unacceptable. The director could have just left it at bringing out the real individual emotions. But unfortunately, he wanted to justify it all and put a "human" face to it. Totally unacceptable. I can recognize with Luke, Pondy, Gainda etc for 2 hr 15 min, but after that it just became a MOVIE. Comparatively Shaitan had a better ending with no one betraying as a "plot". It just happened.

Back in 2005, when I had interview calls from a few IIMs, I particularly remember the interview at IIM Bangalore. There was a GD before that, which had a small caselet, which described a guy who was caught cheating (The exact details I dont remember). I was quite vocal in the GD (as always !!). In the interview, one professor asked me, "Why do you support the underdogs?". I was taken aback. But he was right. I was quite supportive of the loser. But to put things in perspective, thats how I have always been. I have always loved the guy who comes second. I am still confused whether I like him because I see potential in him and possibility of improvement or because I feel the world has been unfair to him, which has resulted in him being second, while he should be first.

In  Shaitan, I loved the character of Dash. Poor guy, he put so much fight and at the end all that he gets is disgrace, with all his friends testing against him. But that's how the world is. I feel like Dash. In every walk of life.

Gods on earth

Life is so unfair. Some great man said "Life is like a Negro's left eye....Its neither fair nor is it right". At every point in my life, I have always felt this. One thing that my education has thought me is that there is no god ! At least on this earth. When people around me say "look this man is god in xyz", I always meet this with a skepticism. The general population is so devoid of studs that every man around who appears a bit intelligent becomes smart. In a larger world, he would just be at average, but people around him have raised him to such high levels that he starts believing in it and hates people who question him. And that's where I have always suffered. To question "god" is considered unworthy of humanity.

Caste Based Reservation

I have always been opposed to caste based reservations. Maybe since birth. The reasons can well be attributed (or maybe imputed would be the right word and why I use this is something that will be clear by the end of this post) to my environment; people around me, my parents, my relatives (largely) and also my friends. Being born a Brahmin, I presumed that I was the best and this thought of mine got cemented over the years, when around me, I saw most famous and revered people belonging to this "homogeneous" group. When I was a kid, I was particularly interested in history and I used to watch the mini series on Dr Ambedkar that was aired on National TV. During my summer vacation, when I was at my uncle's place and in the evening, when I had switched on the TV to watch the program, my uncle was furious. He switched off the TV saying "What a waste of time. He has screwed our lives".

Over the years I have lived with this prejudice. IIT was dominated by Brahmins, so was IIM. My conviction grew stronger. But all through, somewhere at the back of my mind, I thought I was missing some basic fact, but the environment around me always suppressed the the thought.

Now when I look back, I feel I was wrong, maybe partially, but I was definitely not right on my anti reservation stand. It is important to take a step back and assess the situation.Compare yourself with a backward caste person. The need for reservation is backed by just one factor evolution. Assume two sets of people, totally identical with each other. One is set is made to do A type of work, while the second one is made to do B type of work (which requires a totally different skill set than A with no overlap) . This happens for scores of generations. What do we finally get? First set is adept at A, but a dodo at B and vice versa. Now, to add to the complexity, assume A is a superior job, which evolves and becomes superior with time (basically intelligence driven), while B is a mundane job, which is actually stagnant (manual, straight line job). At the end of many centuries, the progeny of first set has grown exponentially (in all respect - superiority, intelligence etc), while the progeny of second set is stagnant. Now there is, lets say, a competition between two, where the test is on skill set A. Progeny of second set is bound to fail. It is not a war of equals. You can't make Hussain Bolt run against Stephen Hawkings and hope the victory will make Bolt proud.

Now there are two possible solutions to it. First one is to leave everything as it is. But that'll create great inequality and it would be like two different species staying together. The other one is a caste based reservation, where there would be a short term sub optimality, but in the longer run equality will prevail. We are a country, not a factory which looks at only maximizing its profits. The next question is how many years should reservation continue. That is a question to be answered by evolutionary scientists. But definitely, it'll take time for us to wash away the sins committed by our forefathers.

Opening bell

Well....finally it started. After many years of dilemma and laziness finally I have jumped into it. Actually this is still not a public blog. Since childhood, I have always wanted to write...I wanted to write with a pen and paper. That never really succeeded, but with the advent of blogging sites, the dilemma stood between the conventional pen and paper vs e-blog. Since my younger days, I have always been interested in thinking. Even today my favorite pastime is thinking. Sit idle and think. I have spent numerous days and nights with a fag in hand thinking. I prefer drinking alone, 'cos that gives me significant quality time to think.

It has happened many a times when I wanted to document my thoughts. This blog is completely dedicated to my thoughts. The resultant of my favorite pastime - Thinking