A Bohemian's Blues

Man is the product of his environment. (Masculine is only a generalization here).

In my search for an individuality, environment is what has caught my fancy of late. Re-wording it as culture makes it a huge ocean in which I rest for a while as it flows through as thoughts that were heard and resonated.

Culture more in behavioral and literary terms has been moulding generations of humanity across geographies. Like chunks of rocks being turned into ordered and dimensional bricks while constructing great pieces of architecture - it also serves a similar purpose of building a behemoth of a civilization.The awe that these monuments of human perseverance and imagination kindle, even for the mason who had been instrumental in shaping it - is similar to the sentiments experienced by the people of a civilization too..the awe which is inspiring at times and intimidating at others !

On a wider base this word looks all-encompassing, but as it gets broken into silos - every individual seems to be defining some and confining to others. I don't see the generalizations of Protestant and Catholic cultures as they have come to be defined in recent times. Intriguing it is though, that some patterns do lend  our existence as predictable.

90% of world trade happens through the sea-route. And in that sense, most of the countries of the eastern hemisphere have been naturally disadvantaged. With a majority lying huddled together, they are void of passages in between, necessary for the proliferation of material and thought. And these have been interestingly the nations which are known for a Catholic culture - one that lays emphasis on 'self' and it's matters, with bare minimum emphasis on the physicality of being. Leading them to a natural consequence of material inferiority.

The other half - the western or protestant cultures, which are the pioneers of 'individual' thought - are visibly the fairer and better-off cousins. Materialism finds an agreement with them. The number of researches and innovations for lifestyle improvements are vindictive of the fact. On the flip-side, that makes the oriental - a mystique, a birthplace of major religions and a spiritual mecca..
 
As an aside, there are parallels that can be drawn with the human mind too. People governed more by the eastern(feminine/right) brain - dealing with the softer side of a personality, emotions, feelings et al.. and the others with the western(masculine/left) brain - handling the logical, statistical ability of an individual. More or less their dispositions are predictable and so is their material well-being. Men and women with dominant left and right respectively have been understood on similar lines.

Sometimes I am amazed at the extent of amalgamation that an individual undergoes under influences that are mostly beyond his/her control. And to think differently than an accustomed pattern becomes quite an impossibility. In that sense, all of us are prejudiced, beyond our understanding of ourselves.There have been tenets laid down which are meant to be a torchlight, of how things should be done and how the motivations be directed. But what bothers me is whether it's (for the sake of a contrast) the 'American  profit' or the 'Japanese growth' (the two divergent theories) which can deliver us ? Or is it something else that we're looking for, which is neither of them..

In the context of human relationships too, the lines between right and wrong, just and unjust, love and hate are hazy. The contours they define keep varying with time, space and people. And sometimes that renders into hurts that are never intended and pain that is inflicted unknowingly..

If rebirth is a possibility or if I'm the maker of my own destiny - I'm floating cluelessly !


      

It's all gassss..

Now that's been a job for a while for me !

So, Australia considers culling its camel population - around a modest 6000 out of the 1 million - for offsetting the carbon emissions/earning carbon credits by getting rid of the farting/burping animal ! As curious as it gets, on an average, a camel apparently produces methane equivalent of 1 tonne of carbon dioxide every year- making it one of the biggest emitters of the greenhouse gases. And Australia, by some measures, is the highest emitter in the world.

Another interesting fact from the story is that, Camel is not a  native specie of Australia.. It had been brought there to navigate through the sprawling mass of the continent. Its deserts - to be more specific. But the ingenuity of human mind has given more robotic, tireless and comfortable options for travel today. And unfortunately that has made these creatures redundant for human consumption. They are even being considered as a threat to the desert ecology - and this wisdom has dawned after a 100 years, since the camels were first brought there !

I wonder if any mortal cared to know as to why the animal had been emitting so much ? Was it a change for it too ? Had it also been undergoing the pangs of a 'culture shock' that translated into a messy abdomen and would a rehabilitation help ? I could agree on economic terms, that the animal has lost its opportunity cost, but that would be valid if I could survive by eating dollars..!

This could just be a trigger for the many disturbing questions that crowd out my reasoning mind...What the hell is the hullabaloo about sustaining ? And more than that, how are we addressing it.. or dressing it maybe !

Countries emitting more carbon can offset it by buying carbon credits from countries engaged in projects to reduce them and effectively emitting less. But climates are locale specific. No doubt Westerly winds, Trade winds etc. will continue to revolve around the globe and there will be climate change - but how would it ever happen that the Amazon forests ('the lungs of the world' ) would convert the Sahara Desert into a wetland ! The onus of natural fecundity would always rest with the populace of the specific geography..

It seems businesses are running out of ideas. After failing miserably with some financial instruments, based on fictitious money in the recession of 2008, which I see as a superlative of greed (not profit, really) - they are on a lookout for a face-lift - so, the wool in the eyes is not cleared ! Yesterday it was - Product,Price, Promotion and Place. Today it's the innocuous 3 more - People, Planet and Profit. We got to sell, you know ! And among the howling noises of the activists(social, political, animal,environmental, gender etc. etc. ) who have got a new life of late, this would be given room, in all  likelihood..

It's about 'gas', no doubt..but why does it have to be 'all gas' !


        

The Walk..

Onwards into the horizon,
Where the sun of my hopes and dreams,
Rises every morning,
And shines on my life's streams.

Beautiful is the oasis,
From which I sip the nectar of life,
And rejoice my fortune,
Which is swelling ripe.

But somewhere I love misery too,
More than what it spells for me -
For I feel hungry on a full stomach,
Tired on a restful day,
Engrossed, when the mind is in disarray.

I marvel at the shadows, I befriend,
And the pain I feel at their loss !
And still sleep in anticipation of finding,
Something new, something dearly sought..

         

Much ado about something !

Mother's/Junior Horlicks with DHA - A product for healthy mothers and healthy and 'smart' babies.

IIPM - rated to have the maximum 'intellectual impact'.

Happened to listen to a spiritual guru who explained about 'FSP' (Fixed Stimulus Plan, if I recollect it well!) To expatiate a little, an ostrich would love a doll if it could make the sound of its young one and would fail to recognize its own offspring, if it doesn't produce the sound. And human beings also more or less respond similarly defying their logical and emotional abilities. That is - compliments and warmth evoke compassion and joy, contrary emotions are evoked by criticism and hate.

Another interesting event happened, when a consultant called up for a job opening at a software development firm. While discussing the practices and processes at the represented organization - he mentioned 'peer programming' and 'test programming' among a few. A little bit of a detail would tell any programmer that that's a way of working for her/him, even otherwise, sans the terms !

On a different note - young individuals seeking partners have come up with a new dimension of a 'mental/emotional fit' along with other parameters that they look for in a matrimonial alliance. 

So the point here is that when there is a talk of consumer driven or consumer driving markets - I see abstraction as an idea - an emerging trend. One can't quantify smartness, intellectual impact etc. or validate it scientifically, and thus it can't really be challenged or met absolutely. People associate differently with any/each of these, and so it becomes a safe bet. Would like to spare a thought on why and how a consumer has started thinking this way - which gives life to such campaigns..

In these times of seamless connectivity - knowledge has become a commodity. There's an avalanche of information available on a few movements of the fingertips. And when we talk of the sources of power - knowledge has it's own undisputed claim. Intellectualism has been a revered trait since times immemorial. But years ago, any act qualifying to belong to that category had years of research and perspiration going into it's making. Perhaps, that was the reason why there were few intellectual giants..

Today most of the educated crowd has access to the pertinent repository in a matter of milli/micro seconds - thanks to the very efficient search engines ! This is giving rise to a different genre of consumers altogether. To drive him/her or be driven by his/her needs, an appeal beyond the utility of the product has to be made. An exclusivity is desired by every owner of perhaps even the same product. Abstraction and some 'intelligent' terms make it attractive in a many-of-its-kind market, as every owner has a right to interpret in his/her own way.

But this triggers another debate of sorts. If our age is busy producing intellectual pygmies in search of a two-minute fame through similar tools of quick gratification, then this should suit just fine. But if the audience is knowledgeable now, then we are maturing towards a different age - for which, can this be a sustained strategy ? Because if not well complemented with the tangibles- this trickery could prove to be the death-knell in the long term.

Alive ?..really ?

Sun's rays dispersed carelessly on the placid waters of the river, emanate peace and calm as myriads of souls cross over the bridge above it everyday. But so much like the view is variously the life of many or all perhaps.

 'Underneath your clothes, there's an endless story.. ' (well only that much from the song for now !)

I cross this bridge everyday like so many others, for reasons that I don't comprehend too much, but here believing comes first !

The other day, I stopped by a TV channel showing the 'Great Migrations' of different species across the earth. One specie following the rains, the other following the forests, the third their prey in these two, the fourth the water current etc. etc. And it was as if they were all destined to migrate as an integral part of sustaining the food chain.One eats the other and both breed more and man eats all (well almost ! thanks to the gray matter which works for just about everyone)

Not that mere distance would evoke such philosophical sentiments, but from a bird's eye view, all the locomotion apparently fits us also somewhere in this race for survival.And for the many of my clan - who by all major parameters of survival, would survive - ironically look the most lifeless.

Survival takes its toll too !

Quiet a few quit for want of more or less from life. Many became the unsung heroes whose obituaries were written in the sands of time. The others - of whom I know through preserved inscriptions in stones, books and world literature. Not sure whether they would agree with these accounts about themselves, if alive or if only destiny was the rightful scribe. Because as I have seen it, when you're assuredly about to sing -  'All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go..', life tells you to sit down, loosen up, take a deep breath in, breathe out and Relaaxx ! And just when you're footloose and fancy-free, it hits you hard and makes you wake up to reality..

Personally I'm an ardent fan of the theory of Karma, but somehow I'm missing the inferences from the practical experiments. Its a Neti, Neti (not yet, not yet) for me so far..