Yellow night

In the painting of darkness

I found the light

His moon painted yellow

In a yellow starry night

where sun can be imagined....

Imagine the yellow!

it’s a fool’s play

A colour in the frame, that reality betray

Imagine the real, imagine that’s right

The poet thus quietened, the painter crucified.

Neverland

I can never write a poem
but I struggle with one
for the forbidden words 
silenced by shame and shyness
need a cover

I can never paint
but I hold a brush
to sketch the dreams i dare to live
the dreams that find no place
except for the white canvass

I can never sing
yet I cleave to the guitar
for the hope of music i long to hear
the unsung tunes that it will sing
where notes of love has gathered dust

I can never die
for I yearn to live
the million deaths that come to me
to see a bloom in the darkest grave
where we thought it can never be

The Trial

I won’t answer your questions My Lord
I am a criminal at your court
and that’s all it matters
so hang me

I do not justify my cause
as my whole being is unjustified
except for the filth I must carry
that validates my life

I could not claim life
but allow my claim for death
save the words that can bring me glory
spare me the trial

I’ve been tried every moment
at the altar, trembling
awaiting justice in the dusty piles
only to be hanged

I do not plea for justice further
but today I choose to demand
my freedom from your mercy and trials
I repeat thus My Lord
Hang Me.

(following the play- "court martial" and events)

The Preamble and Determinant of a Dialogue

The hall was full, the dialogue was to begin. The fiery take of Ambedkar  against the caste system was to be brought on stage through the pen of Arundhati Roy. The issue probably one of the most important that questions the endorsement of a democratic India. The thoughts inspiring, dialogue engaging. However among all these stood a discord in the sidelines, can Roy introduce the thoughts of Dr. Ambedkar! Roy, an image often perceived as split between dissent and elite discourse is up for the trial.

The question is not however limited to Roy. For a significant section of the citizen who is not born into a cause or apparently do not belong to the platform-may be caste, religion or some other socio-economic issue- the social context and pertinence of engagement remains a central concern. The engagement of citizenship is constantly fraught with the question of “can they”!

The question is not without merit. Often in the vogue of being part of a social cause, there is a penchant for such participation. Not to deny such trend is apparent, rather can be argued is in a rise with the proliferation of social media. The sentiment of the people against it, who are at the receiving end is also perfectly justified.  But as much as it is important to secure the seed of a dissent or resistance, it is problematic if the choice of constituents is determined through the understanding of symbols.

From khadi-wearing activists to black-tie policy makers, the preamble of symbols is entrenched in most public discourse today. Symbols are important as they manifest representation in a collective manner. The red headband does stoke the fire in the darkest dungeons. It is equally true that a climate controlled existence cannot survive the sweat of the naked sun. But it becomes problematic when the perception of symbols become greater than the cause; and as it does so we tend to live through impressions than means. In the process of eliminating perceived weeds, we fall into the same trap of losing out on the cause by the process of symbolic selections.  The possibility of diversity is reduced to singularity possibly feeding into the marginalization.

Dialogues are often uncomfortable as they entail plurality. But the success of a dialogue also lies in assimilation of the plurality. And without such assimilation, however uncomfortable the platform might be to begin with, the triumph will remain incomplete. Certainly we need to be cautious about a movement just being reduced to a drawing room conversation, but we also need to be cautious about restricting its territory. So I say, let Arundhati speak and let the annihilation knock at the door of the protected, even if late. Atleast there lies a possibility (however small) of opening some doors, otherwise there only rests the longstanding divide.

Vanishing islands of Bangladesh | Down To Earth

Vanishing islands of Bangladesh | Down To Earth

Grave yards | Down To Earth

Grave yards | Down To Earth

When Revolutions are Televised

It has been amazing over the past few days watching people celebrate the toppling of the “Mubarak Empire”, an empire whose existence became the most hot-seated issue overnight, but remained barely criticized by the general mass (outside Egypt) until the revolution was televised. As I continued to dissect the Egyptian political structure following the “intense” news updates every moment, few disconcerting thoughts kept passing my mind that will hang on for a much longer period after the revolution-tide subsides. Let me put it this way, do we really honor revolutions, or are they celebrated because they give a kick to our humdrum existence of conformity? Why do we need a “televised revolution” to evoke political thoughts, while our conscience remain complacent disregarding (or being ignorant about) hundreds and thousands of struggle that are not “blockbusters”!

My thought on the celebration of revolution is not mere suspicion. Though I certainly feel that heroic acts (by individuals or the people) needs to be celebrated, but if we reflect on ourselves, how many of us are ready to share a slice of “unconventionality” (set aside revolution) and walk the walk in our everyday lives, from choosing grocers to making decisions about livelihoods! The overthrowing of symbolic “dictators” are cheered, but the faceless forces that dictate our lives are “re-established” on their thrones after the most shameful abuse of power, with little scorn, and a lot of relief (reserving fringe incessant criticisms). Our emotions overflow with the “liberated” crowd in Egypt, but remain dry for the people of Dhinkia Village in Orissa, where thousands just lost their independence and livelihoods to POSCO!

Revolutions are mostly culminations of discontent, discontent towards the oppression by “power”. But following the pattern of recent upheavals around many parts of the globe, it seems that we have significantly narrowed our understanding of power. As our “free” society matures, we grow increasingly intolerant towards the dominance of individuals, while yielding to more complex and far more demanding power structures. That is why we probably choose to contend Mubarak and celebrate his demise, but not Wall Street.

P.S: Please do not confuse me with Mubarak sympathizer

Countercurrets Pieces

Democracy in a Full World

http://www.countercurrents.org/banerjee020311.htm

The March of Refugees
www.countercurrents.org/banerjee160110.htm

Whose Development! The Political Economy of Land Grab under SEZ and Associated Costs
www.countercurrents.org/banerjee150410.htm

Shohor-er Kobita-r Chobi

Poorono oneek ba(n)ka oligoli
khorkhori aa(n)ta janlar sari
rongchota kichu rongeen dewal
moleen tobu aukritrim bhari

Din-er aloi shajeeb hashe
nitya jibon raatri sheshe
kaaj-er majheo okaaj ashe
onyo swad-e, muchki heshe

Coffee-r cup-e toofan othe
sotyi othoba kolpito sur
kalponar-o jaiga ache
swapno taito noi bohudur

Neelche alo ch(n)uyiye ele
onyo roop-e onyo ghran-e
shohor jeno amai matai
mayabi kono pichutaan-e

Communities without Commons

Take Exit “X”, drive for about 10 minutes and then if you make a right turn there’s just our new “community Y”… a great luxurious living with lots of greenery and safety. Or just a few miles or kilometers away from the urban jungle and you are in your enclosed haven of shining highrises: community “Z”, with private pools, golf courses and all modern facilities that makes your world a picture perfect one.

In recent times we are increasingly becoming accustomed to hearing about, viewing and living in such communities. Although such “patterns” first emerged in the developed nations, by far conspicuously in the United States, today the phenomenon remains no more restricted to them. Countries such as China and India are increasingly and proudly embracing such sporadic, enclosed developments.

But there lies a discord within such communities. The idea of community largely rests on the concept of commons, the philosophy of which is that of reciprocity, of social ethics. The principles of such ethics and contingency have developed from traditional ways of life and knowledge and most importantly the simple sense of belonging. Standing at odds with our modern rationality, it does not recognize a homogenous pattern of the globe where each spot on the globe consists merely of coordinates on a grid, or a uniform field where determinants of everyone’s and everything’s rights and roles are prefabricated; but a nexus of human relationships, the right of local people to define their own grid, and the nature-society symbiosis.

The common-ness of suburban communities and their ways of life often eludes such deep-seated philosophy. As compared to organic neighborhoods, it does not only portray the absence of any particular building(s), local shops, or public spaces; but more importantly the absence of the space in between: the social connections that can give life to forms. But barely does this invoke a sense privation or isolation. The insidious erosion of perception, often wrought by economic rationality and social operations “rediscovers” the (lacking) fractions in other sets of common spaces, such as shopping mall or theme parks. Such lifestyle with which a large percentage of the present generation has sought to live or desires to, seems to have confused the needs and necessities of survival with the needs of fulfillment, bolstering the process of “methodical universalism”, that has being categorically engaged in creating “communities” at the cost of “commons” .

Ode to Kolkata

meki ei desh
jodi partam rock-e boshte
adda hoto besh
foockha ar jhalmuri te
shomoy jeto kete
shondhye bela coffee house-er
ghran-er moutaat-e

sumon, dylan, chandrabindoo
chilo cha-er sathe
golpo, podyo , uponyash-o
jute jeto tate
raajneetir-o jhaaj alpo
a(n)tel tho(n)t-er kone
kundera-r madokota
setao khone khone

gariahat ar park street
ar new market ghure
chena golir poth dhore
ghore jetam phire
traffic jam ar dhowa dhulo
hoyto theek-i koshto
kintu oti bilashitai
shomoy aro noshto

Pauls and Peters and the Number Game

Bernard Shaw once said, "A Government that robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend upon the support of Paul". And this remains equally true today. Recently a piece by P . Sainath (Neo-Liberal Terrorism in India: The Largest Wave of Suicides in History, Feb 2009) again proved that how we the fortunate Paul's of the society remain content with our existense and keep on seeking conformity with the dominant model while Peter's continue to be robbed. Alas, global omnivores can seldom understand the problem of market refugees. The number of farmer suicides in India and the creation of refugees keep increasing at the same time when our GDP growth astonishes us. To any sensible and sensitive mind this should be more of a puzzle than astonishment! But often in does not. And largely this is where the number game comes in.

Recently in one of the much celebrated cinema "The Slumdog Millionaire", it has been shown that life is like a game, and a game is somewhat a probability which gives anyone a fair chance to win. As much as we like to believe it, cherish a feel good moment, but is it really so in our real world existence!!! Or is it that, to begin with, the game is set in such a way that probabilities are are nullified! The game of numbers does certainly raise such dilemma.

For years now Sainath has been working with farming communities of India and has been fighting for their cause. He has continued to provide disturbing statistics about the farmers and their suffering, especially which has increased significantly through the waves of neoliberal practices. We see more and more discouraging statistics rather than encouraging ones, and clearly that raises question about the policies that are being formulated or implemented to deal with the issue. Now a lot of academicians have argued that "numbers" are necessary to address a cause or to play the cards of our social and economic policies aptly. Indeed they are at times, but it seems that mostly at times when special interests are involved. Otherwise numbers probably lie within the pages as theoretical and sentimental ramblings. And certainly, until now, farmer suicides does not involve such interests. The uncomfortable parameters are cautiously eliminated in such a way that the game only provides the pleasure of playing or watching it.

Thus the astonishment prevails. In return, we the Paul's keep on offering Governments, policy makers and the game-masters our loyalty as long as they keep providing us our "feel good" numbers.... and the game goes on.

Not Change, But Hope

As I watched the inauguration of Barack Obama this morning, again I realized following the course of the past two months of transition of presidency, that what America really wants, and what earned Obama his victory, is not the philosophical urge for "change" to it's core sense(setting aside the phenomenal win of an African American candidate, which is a change in itself), rather the message of "hope" which has always shored up the American dream.

During a hopeless time as this, when failures, quagmires and dismays all over became too difficult to ignore, what was really desirable and important for the majority was reinventing and rejuvenating the dream and life of prosperity which they have been so accustomed to "may be" and "if" required through change. Ofcourse there was also the emotion of black voters for Obama that added to the vote counts (though they were very much for the Clintons too), and the overwhelming "not Bush" sentiment, but it was largely that hope which Obama apparently brought to the table for them.

And the reflection of this was again found in the audience responses of today's speech. People who gathered in millions in D.C., were more cheerful about parts of Obama's speech, that had the hue and the tone of maintaining the way of life and ideology the nation has been so used to, for example phrases such as "ready to lead once more" or "we will not apologize for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defense, and for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken; you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you". In contrast, the parts of the speech where he called upon for a more humble existence, and if read through lines a little carefully, a more fundamental change that was not just required but inevitable, such as " we can no longer afford indifference to suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world's resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it", received a solemn nod (!!) or applause from a fringe crowd.

In the past 2 months, through new appointees of the new administration we have seen reflection of such expectations. Hope does not need to be accompanied by change to it's essence, rather it can be kept alive, and if possible materialized, through the most efficient operation of the instruments that may or may not bring about change. And that's what we have been witnessing. Is it Mr. Obama's somewhat overstreched bipartisan approach, the lack of courage for a very costly gamble for change at times like this, or a cautious step that might unfold into wonderful surprises in the future (!!), that remains to be seen. But surely a shake-up of policies and visions from the core is not what the nation (in majority) is yet prepared to embrace , and thus "change" still lies largely in the placards of slogans.

The New Face of Theism

I sometimes think that people give into certain ideologies or reject some without really understanding the spectrum and gravity of those. Also some ideologies, and labels associated with them, evolve in such a manner that once a believer or non-believer of those, can become associated with them in different capacities. The issue of theism is one such which recently has strung my thoughts on these lines.

Theism as we generally understand is belief in god (mono or poly), and if a little extended, also involves belief in a force or power which although we cannot experience first hand, do immensely influence our lives (often regarded positively). And to establish a relationship of such worldly faith with such unknown or supernatural power, and to increase understandings, the believers usually look up to priests and gurus; the sages and the great souls.

As humanity started entering modern age, gilded by scientific innovations and enlightenment, such unconditional belief became questionable among the "fortunate" educated population. Those who do/did not regard themselves as atheists, also generally had some reservations about accepting and acting on certain beliefs without giving any thought.

But then that was about God or religion. What's interesting is and what I'm trying to get at is, that our propensity to believe in something that we cannot experience did not really go away. A major portion of the population religiously continue to have faith in gurus to relate to and understand the invisible power(s) of modern times that we otherwise boast to have overcome with our clarity of mind and enlightened existence!! We continue our faithful existence and when our faith does not deliver what was expected, instead of ourselves trying to critically understand the problem, we desperately need the proclaimation of a preacher or a guru. And this is what I suppose is the "new face" of Theism.

If this was untrue, and we were truly as enlightened and critical as we think we are, then why did so many "modern" souls, so-much give into the credence of the invisible hand to direct and dominate our physical realities?? And then when the ideologies took their extreme turns (anti-regulatory, hyper-free market) delivering undesirable and unexpected events, a prominent preacher (Alan Greenspan) was needed to tell that "there was a flaw in the model" that He "perceived as the critical functioning structure that defines how the world works." And the flaw was "really grave". Though some so-called non-judicious, inefficient people did try to question that from time to time, and indicate the inherent problems with such ideology, their sanity became questionable and they were discredited and treated as minorities unable to understand and gather the blessings of the "faith", that appeared to be brilliant. And what is more interesting, is that, such belief is so neck-deep that it is difficult to yet fathom and seriously question it even when signs are so evident.

We are believers... and I don't think there is anything wrong in believing. But if we claim ourselves to be the most "intelligent' among all species, we need to make our thinking a little critical. A critical mind, that is a little more liberated to look into a broader territory, set eyes on the visible reality and does not need a "guru" to establish the connection between our faith and realism.Theism if should exist with a new face, must be one of hope, which is based on and can be realized within our earthly existence.

Sliding Economy, Landslide Victory

I have been planning for a while to get back to the keyboards and start putting my thoughts and experiences here since summer, but something or the other has pushed my desires into the backseat.
Yesterday night's landslide of Obama finally did push me out of my bed and make me sit in front of the computer after a brief 4 hrs. sleep!!!!

It's not the surprise of the landslide that was behind the 4 hours, nor was just a fantastic Obamania, it was the culmination of the events, the causes and effects, the unveilings of the veiled over the past few months which did have a cumulative effect on my hormones.

2008 will be a memorable year not only for the US citizens, but for the global society. From a racial revolution to economic revealation, it did throw a light on a lot of prejudices and our smoke-screen existence. Whatever may be it's duration, but the events did create some watershed moments. Moments when we saw major shake-ups
(and fortunately some acknowledgements) in the invisible economic bubble, when visibility has been sought after against an unreal utopia, when people were made to think twice before uttering racial biases. Yes, facts over faith have gained relevance, and all I can hope is this relevance will make our existence a little more relevant.

Real Estate Shone ki Kokhono Meghamallar

Sedin udbodhon holo south city mall-er, mahanagari-r nobotomo alonkar. charidike utshaho, uddipona, milche aro kichuta seet taap niyontrito enclosure, rongeen poshra ar swapno becha kenar porishor, aro kichuta “unnoyon” (development”. Protidin jonmo nichhe notun kolkata jholmol-e shopping mall, aakash chumbi bohutol (highrises), multiplexes, palte jawa raasta ghat, elaka-r modhye diye. Jonmo niche, kintu jeno dana bedhe uthche na koishor, joubon druto bere othar tagid-e.

Shohor-er ei bhanga gorar tagid biswer bohu jaigatei ekhon. Kolkata sei dol-ei sameel hoyeche. Shudhu onekdin itihaas-er nostalgia-i nimojjito hoye thaka shohor-tai poriborton-er tagid ektu beshi-i chokhe lage. Prithibi jure ekhon nagarayan-er (urbanization) jowar. Biswayan-er jug-e ortho (economies) o projuktir somprosaron o muloto shohorgulite (bishehoto megacities) tader kendribhuto hoya, unnoyon-er khetre ek notun tanaporen-er srishti koreche ja shobcheye beshi lokkyo kora jai tritiyo biswer shohorguli-r modhye. Biswa orthonitite bajar dokhol-er protijogitai egiye thaka o tar sathe sathe biswa-nogori (global city) roop-e protishthito hoyar tagid nirdharon kore choleche ei shob shohor-er (ebong sathe sathe rajyer o desher) rajnoitik, samajik, orthonotik o poribesh mulok niti o porikolpona.

Poshimbonger tothakothito communist sarkar-o ei niyom-er byatikrom non. 1994 saal-e pochimbongo sarkar naya orthonoitik niti grohon koren, jar mool lokhho holo besarkari o bideshi biniyog-er drishti akorshon kora o tar khetro toiri kora, jate kolkata totha rajyo shilpo o projuktite unnoto hote pare. Er jonyo unnoyon-er je model beche newa hoi ta mooloto nabya udarnitir, jar kendriyo lokhho je kono mulye munafa.

Unnoti ba unnoyon ke na chai. kintu sei unnoti kisher jonyo, kibhabe hochhe, ar kojon-e ba tate shamil setai proshno.."Whose development"!!!. Unnoti jodi somoshti-r bodole mushtimayor jiyon kathi hoye darai, tahole sei unnoti oboshyoi shomalochonar jogyo. Bortomaan-e amra unnoyon-er je tothakothito udahoron dekhchi shohor-e ta nishondehe serokom proshner jonmo dei.

Nobyo orthoniti (Neoliberalization), o protijotimuk orthonoitik oboshthar sathe tal miliye chola ebong egiye thakar jonyo rajye je shomoshto unnoyon mulok porikolpona kora hochhe tate nichist kora proyojon hoye poreche segulor jeno jothopojukto “recovery cost” ebong udbritto shongstan-er (surplus generation). Unnoyon-er bhabdhara o tar rupayan tai muloto shohor-kendric, ebong unnoyon-er naam-e sei shob prokolpo o porikolponai swikriti pachhe ja kina biniyog-er bajare jotheshto porimaan-e arthik munafar protishruti dichhe jar protifolon amra dekhchi multiplexes-e, shopping mall-e, daam-e restaurant, bohujatik “chain store”, otyadhunik bohutol, shohor-er raastai kromobordhomaan motor garir modhye. Ar tar pashe pashe ek-i jaigai thomke dariye ache sadharon-er sarbik unnoyon-er porikathamoguli, jemon porishkar jol, sanitation, public transport, modhyo, nimno modhyobitto o gorib manush-er shikkha ba chikitsha-r affordability. unnoyon-er ashwad tai bhog or bhag kore nichhe ekti nirdishto sreni, bere choleche arthik o samajik oshamonjoshyo (social stratification), nishchoyotar sathe palla diye barche onishchoyota.

Ei oshamyo (inequity and polarization) er cheharata aro sposhto hoye othe shohor theke matro kichuta baire, kolkatar gondi periye shohor toil-r dike mukh pheralei. Shohor-er roshnai-er pashe tader bornoheenota, shohure unnoyon-er romromar pashe tader obohela chokhe lage. Tara jeno korun bhabe proshno kore chole ei unnoyon kader jonyo, kisher!!! Eta shudhui bhababeg ba ethical proshno noi, khotiye bhable ei proshno nara dei nogor kendric unnoyon bhabdharar sthayitto (sustainability) ke. Karon jug jug dhore shohor toli ebong tar-o bairer grameen utpadon o poribohon, dharon o bohon kore esheche nagorik jibon. Amra jotoi shilpo o projuktite unnoto hoye uthi na kyano, ei itahaash-ke upekhha korle, amra bortomaan unnoyon-er sthayittoke-r ekti prashongik ongshokei upekhha korbo, durbol kore phelbo.

Kintu ei shomoshto proshno, chinta akuti phike hoye jai unnoyon-er ninad-er samne. Keu keu proshno tulle se tatkhonik deshodhori, unnoyon birodhi, progotisheel noi bole chinhito hoye jai. Shohor-e ekhon notun progotir jowar. Sei joyar-e ga bhashate na parle muche jawai bhobitobyo. Tar jonyo kono kotripokhho dayee noi, dayi thakbe shudhu bhababeg-er nirbudhhita. Majhe majhe singur, nandigram er moto ghotona ekhono kolkatar buk-ke ardro kore, kintu unnoyon-er taap sei ardrotake plabon hote dei na. Real-estate-er orchestra-r kolkatai meghomollar tai kromosho itihaas hoye jai…


The post is in Bengali (unlike the others) because it was originally written for community outreach. I failed to become enough proactive to translate it until now.

Love in the time of Market...

It's mid January... the welcoming of a new year is barely over and stores all around are being dressed up for another celebration.. Feb 14th is approaching. Marks of reds, pinks, chocolates and alike are spreading the warmth, which melt our hearts like the melting chocolate in the small pot where our strawberry emotions are ready to get dipped and drenched. And Hallmarks and roses, produced and hauled over long distnces, are being delivered to our doorsteps to rhyme, sing and express the blooming heart.

A celebration indeed. It seems that all around the world people are waking up to the call of love. Waking up to produce, manufacture, market, sell and purchase the love which has been waiting all year long for Valentines Day. I only wish we could manufacture such love, such warmth in every avenue of "life"....But alas, we still lack the technology, the power and above all the mind to develop such factories. Anyway, I decided to set the sighs aside, and concentrate on the celebrations around. But what a nagging mind I have. It now demands some "gourmet love". Love as in peoms that I read on a sunny afternoon or rainy day, in songs with diffused lights that walks me through romantic dreams, love that flows down the pen like unbound emotions, love that is planted and nurtured carefully in the backyard or the flower pot in the balcony, love that is laid down on the plate by the warm fingers. Yes my mind demands such things, my naive mind...and I can't ignore that anymore. Thus I step outside the marketplace with empty hands seeking my unfabricated love, one which the market failed to deliver....



I would love to dedicate this piece to those minds that sustain the dream of unfabricated love...
A dedication also to the piece http://www.anandabazar.com/14edit3.htm

and

Jatiswar ( Sumon Chattopadhyay)

http://www.esnips.com/doc/3a83f4f6-740c-439e-98cb-fef080833fce/04.%20Jatiswar

It's the Economy stupid

The forthcoming US presidential election has stirred up a big debate among Indians both in US and India based on one prominent issue, the future of outsourced jobs.

A big majority of Indians in both places have a strong support for the republican party in this matter, because they are daunted by the thought that if Democrats win the White House, the much championed (bubble) boom in India which is largely based on the outsourced jobs (IT mainly) will suffer a serious blow.


Although there are enough reasons to remain fearless about losing jobs just because of a Democratic president, such concern does reflect on the worldview and aspirations of a large section of "urban, educated" Indians, the focal point (and by far dominant) of which remains "economic and material prosperity". There is nothing wrong in being concerned about one's economic well being, but what becomes problematic is when this thought becomes so pervasive that it blurs one's vision like a venomous smoke.

When Indian's aspire for an US president (which according to them should be from the Republican party) who will not raise a finger against outsourcing, unfortunately they leave out a few, yet very important points...

1. The matter of job outsourcing is not solely a decision of the republican or democratic party, rather it is a by-product of the economic model of US, which has and is being followed blindly by many world economies. The capitalist model in place , oriented around profit as it's chief goal will look for resources, labors and markets where it can envision maximum profit. Today India appears to be that attractive platter, but the sustenance of such appetite for India can barely be (if ever) guaranteed. Even the most optimists about this system should realize how uncertain and volatile the scenario is just from the fact that if it was so relianble then why US elections are leaving them so restless!!!!!
The democratic party can do very little to alter / reverse this, unless they themselves risk to look outside the system, which in my opinion is impossible at this time, even with their best intentions.

2. From an ethical point, it is ridiculous and extremely selfish for Indians to think that an US president expected to serve the interests of other countries and international community will have prime focus on India. Even for the sake of argument if I think that a democratic president will hurt outsourced jobs as opposed to a republican one, but at the same time shouldn't we also remain concerned about what promises such a president will bring to other economies of the world, our social and environmental health, and the future on a whole!!!
I won't start here delving on issues or giving examples, that's another debate, but it is very much evident that outsourced brains lack that thinking.

3. Another very close to home point this class tends to overlook is that, a primary task of the president of any nation should be looking into it's domestic policies. On this point, I suppose any "rational" person, for whom a nation is more than just a constellation of the corporate gurus, will admit that Democrats offer better options than republicans. The argument that the democrat's policies of increasing taxes of big businesses and the rich for domestic goods will hurt those corporations, and inturn will present obstacles for their businesses abroad does sound very odd.

There are several other points that can be discussed on these lines, scrutinizing policies and propositions but I suppose I have discussed atleast some important ones which are relevant for the discussion. From my observations what I conclude is, we do remain "progressive fundamentalists". It does sound like an oxymoron and it is. I purposefully use the phrase because I think that our contadictory existence and ideologies rightly fits well with it. We like to call ourselves modern progressive, but the signs of our modernity only lies in expensive lattes, latest outfits, yuppi jargongs, floors of discos, chic parties and many such materials, but our souls do remain confined within a few fundamental views. Within such existence grassroots ideologies, ethics remains as slogans, what prevails as the logical fact is the economy stupid...

Ek cup cha-e ami tomake chai.....

There are many things in our everyday life which really makes me wonder what really convenience offers as opposed to little so-called inconveniences. I take the case of a home-brewed cup of tea (coffee for some) versus the coffee (sometimes tea) in plastic or Styrofoam cups sipped during one’s rush to “work”. As simple as it may sound, the leisurely appreciation of a cup of tea sitting in your favorite chair or your personal corner of the couch in the morning, while glancing through the day’s news, or sharing some little talks (I can assure this does not take too much time) actually seems like a holiday activity or vacation luxury to most people. When I talk to people about this habit, which I continue through majority of the days, I am astonished by the stare on many of their faces. Some think that I have been blessed, some think that I’m a stupid or lazy person who can barely calculate the value of hours, minutes and seconds and for a third category I appear to be that super human. But considering it nothing but a small everyday thing, well maybe a pleasant one if you like, is almost absent (with very few exceptions)….

It is really sad that such things are fading away. Some people still regret it, but soon we will stop doing that too. The tea example might be just one incident (maybe not too significant either except for people like me), but as we become “modernized” day by day we slowly tend to give up all those things which does not fit within the modern clock. Such images might nicely fill your nostalgic memories, but in real time, very quick sips while you get dressed or put on your makeup, or more commonly starbucks counters (and alike) best suits one’s morning needs. And the accompaniments just fall in place, physical conversations replaced by cell phone’s or blackberry’s, a short makeshift news in the radio (if you are in a car, but if one can manage to switch from the daily boost of traffic and weather conditions) or the paper you picked up on your way (unfortunately that count is low, newspapers can’t beat your last nights unfinished best seller). Ahh, and see amidst this rush, the stupid coffee, our smart substitute in the disposable container gets cold, “unnoticed”, and finally finds it’s way in the trash, another one in the pile.

Meanwhile, my cup happily smiles in the kitchen or table…waiting for ‘our time” the next morning…

The "No" Factor

Though I do not feel the need to justify the name of my blog (my often enslaved social existence enjoys it's liberty in this territory), I would just like to add a few lines in connection to the "no" factor just for the records.

Putting "no" both in front of logic and logo does not reflect any absolute denial. Frankly I do not believe in "absolutes" too much...I have used the "no" word as a denial of our mainstream/ popular perceptions of certain ways of life and logic.

As for example both material (brand names) and symbolic (often ending in "ists" , "isms" etc) logos typically place us within a class or social strata, the codes of which has been preformulated and we are left with the task of harmonizing ourselves best within that coded system. It is actually often a very convenient escape for us , confused and eternally challenged humans, to find a quick niche that will save us the complicated task of figuring our ways out through nuances. I myself do not claim to be free of logos (I talk here mostly of the symbolic ones), but I do want to continue my struggle to defy them as much as possible.

The part of logic I think is far far complicated. Our whole human superiority is based on the claim that we are rational, we are logical..So it's totally illogical and absurdly stupid for me to deny that, and I dare not make any attempt to do so...
What my logical mind instead guides me to propose at best is to appreciate the logic, which often sounds illogical to our structured existence and set aside the known perception of the word atleast for sometime. I also use it in my defense, so that my ameture thoughts and scribbles are pardoned from a serious trial....