Myopic Lives

When I was small, my mom taught me something for which I will never stop being grateful to her for.

My mother has been a teacher for most of her life, but I have never stopped learning from her. She taught me to keep learning, stay inquisitive & curious. No knowledge is enough. There is always something to learn. Always read the fine print. She always does.

This has defined me. I am forever questioning things, always over thinking things. Sometimes consciously, mostly the process is subconscious now. I admit to being quite annoying as I am forever interrupting and asking questions. And no question is stupid.

However, I have noticed that people get the idea that knowing something in-depth is getting into finer details. Do you really need to know so much? Who really reads the T&C? Why dig deeper?

However, when you step back and analyze you see that it cannot have been further from the truth. When you read the finer print, your canvas is expanding. Like the Universe, it is self expanding to the extent of infinity.

My work as a social media learner steadily involves me being subject matter expert in several different topics, all at the same time. The paucity of time always has us Googling and Wikiing for knowledge base and seeking answers. After all, how much is one person supposed to know, understand, analyze and retain!? Maybe not much. Surprisingly, I happen to know plenty of people who actually do!

While I can go on endlessly about the virtues of the said people who I happily get into pleasant long wounded discussions with about a wide variety of topics and how while I sometimes get annoyed at myself for not knowing enough, it will never stop me from probing how much more of this big wide world I am still to learn about; as much as I would love to, this post is not about that.

So, recently, I came across a couple of individuals who have garnered respect through years of hard work coupled with sheer awesomeness - Mani Ratnam & Ilaiyaraaja. (Just FYI - their birthdays coincide!). While I contemplated aloud, the reaction I garnered makes for the nucleus of this blog. I was shocked and surprised to be asked who they are (If you asked the same, please Wiki it and stop reading this right now!).

Quite frankly, I like being entertained and that is how close I get to cinema & music. Music, I have learnt, is independent of language, it only needs to touch your soul. Apart from that I can't tell much.

Thus, while claiming to be no expert, I believe that if you have spent 20-plus years on this planet, you surely know something about the most popular things around. You would have some hint of what goes on this multilingual, multidimensional, cultural potpourri of a country. Wouldn't you?
That is when it hit me.

Most of us spend our lives skimming through things. Getting things done. Just like newspapers. You read a couple of headlines on each page and if something really catches your attention, maybe you read it or skip it anyways. If you need it, you can Google it!

In short, we live myopic lives. We only care about what we really think might matter to us. If it doesn't, its irrelevant. Where is the time anyways?

There is more to life than just living it. If we have Internet today, if we can commute to work, get our paychecks and food on the table, everything is alright with the world. We don't care about how traders in our very own city were on strike for over a month - not till we couldn't get what we wanted. If we got what we needed, we shrugged our shoulders and moved on. We didn't raise voices with them or stand by them. We didn't ask questions about how the media that can repeatedly show pictures of alien cows could find no time to show how alienated the city's streets got. We didn't ask questions to our over-inquisitive, finger- pointing journalists why they didn't have any questions to ask this time. We didn't do anything.

As long as our myopic lens saw self fulfillment, the world can go to hell.

Somewhere along the line, I have come to respect countries like Tunisia, Egypt and now Istanbul - simply for their people. Even as I write this, people are collecting at the center of the country to demand what they believe is their right. While I can't tell you if is good and who out of the government and people are correct, I can tell that the people care and have not gone totally myopic. If they feel their children need a garden to play in, they walk towards it and fight for it. Maybe they are right, maybe they are not.

Social media has been the winner with Jasmine Revolution and Arab Spring. The idea is to be able to connect with the world outside.See the bigger picture. Bring power back to where it belongs - in the hands of the people.

However, while our technology keeps getting smarter, we seem to know lesser everyday. While we upgrade to 3G, in reality we connect lesser. Our TV screen is larger and sounds clearer but, thanks to our mental myopia, our hearts are smaller. We love less. Mainly, we only love ourselves.

Which brings me back to - why are we myopic after all? Do we really believe that we don't need to know? Or is it window through which we say, it will never happen to us? The bigger question is why do we not choose to see? What is so wrong with seeing the bigger and real picture?

What can be done to break this self-made barrier that stops you from being everything you can be? Why the mental myopia?

Mohallah Committees - An Answer???

Greetings!

It's time.

Time to stop staring.

Time to not let go anymore.

Time to stop shrugging our shoulders helplessly.

Mumbai has never been limited to it's Mumbaikars. We have always been a cosmopolitan culture. We blend onto those around us and they blend into us. For a very long time now this fusion and diffusion has created this beautiful and exquisite kaleidoscope that is a part of us.

This 26/11 has changed more than a few things. It is said that destruction of such epic proportions has never been encountered elsewhere in the world. This scar on Mumbai's face shall remain with us forever. But, I believe, like all great men who have walked this planet, such scars have always made them more humane, more powerful, more unbreakable. I am sure this is true of Mumbai.

Terrorists will come and go. Mumbai is forever. Terrorists surprisingly look like human beings. Really, if they had, may be horns on their heads, they would be so much easier to spot and isolate. But unfortunately they don't.

Now, that we have been hurt, let's not shrug our shoulders and wait for the next one to strike. It's time to take things in our own hands.

There are two important things that go into prevent such catastrophes' - firstly, its our government and security agencies, and secondly and most importantly - ourselves. Even more importantly, both of these can be controlled by us. There is a lot we can do, if we really want to do it.

As far as the government is concerned, the answer is painstakingly simple - use your rights. VOTE. We have the power to ensure who gets control over our security agencies. We have the power to vote for no one. All we lack is the willingness to get up and vote. Most of us feel - what difference does one vote make - it makes a difference. It makes a big difference. It is difference of life and death. Even at the risk of sounding cliche, I must say this - a lot of drops make the ocean. With approximately 40% of the population not voting, what bigger example can one give. If you are wondering about the how-to of elections, it's time to visit www.jaagore.com

Moving to the second most important thing that we can do.

It's called self-empowerment. You cannot always control what the government does, what the army, navy and other security agencies are doing, what the terrorists do, what other countries are planning. However, we can control what is happening around us. We have to keep our eyes and ears open. We have to stay alert. We need to keep a tab on what is happening in our surroundings. We need to stop saying, "Why should I bother?" & "It has always happened this way. Why should I ask?".

Technically, a lot of things can be done. I can leave that to your thoughtfulness and creativity. However I would just like to put forth an example. After the '92 riots, one very important initiative that Mumbai Police had taken to ensure peace in the city was that of "Mohallah Committees". A lot of people may remember what it used to be, many of you may have been active members of such local committees. However, for those you are not sure what it was - here it goes. A mohallah ommittee was constituted of a few prominent people living in building or vicinity. The people in committee were usually those who knew the people living in the building, colony or society or regularly interacted with them.

The purpose here was to create local vigilance groups. Any unusual or suspicious activities could be reported to the members who could look into it. Serious issues could be easily forwarded to the police. This is doubly effective. One the police is actually looking at authentic complains and suspicions. Also, unnecessary rumors can be nipped in the bud. The members can hold monthly or weekly meetings in their respective areas as a method of face-to-face interaction for those who fall in the area.

If we really think about it, such a method is highly effective. Self awareness and self-security aside being a part of such activities will also give us a sense of fulfillment and contributing back to the society.

Since ancient times, we Indians have always have had local self governance. In today's times, we need to take steps to secure our own safety. We cannot endlessly wait for the government to come down and do something for us. It's time to take our own security in our hands. It's time to stand up and do our duties. The rights will follow automatically.

What else do you think we could do??

Stepping into Saturday!

Early morning Earthlings!! I just stepped into Saturday a little while ago.... a tiny, soft-footed step. A thought that has been bothering me for a while now.... and honestly enough, I don't even think I shall have any answers so soon. When do we know a person is a stranger? Technically, the way a human brain functions, or let's say, the way we have been taught - a stranger is a person we do not know. So, how do we know someone? Or when do we truely know someone? Do people who have known each other for years, really know each other? Can one know another in the look of the eye? What is it? What does it take? Why is it different everytime? There can be a million questions just surrounding this... but that is irrelevant. The important thing is the understanding. I now believe, we can never really know someone... Even someone very close, like our parents or siblings.... I have my reasons. Firstly, the true meaning of the word knowing lies in the fact that we should be able to reasonable predict the behaviour in certain circumstances. However, I have also discovered through self experimentation that we can change our behaviours to a certain reasonable extent. Do the unexpected. But then, it must be planned. In moments of true adversity, you mostly do your best. So, coming back to the topic. We can know someone and not really know them. Or we may have never seen that person and yet we can bond like we were never seperated since birth... Why is that so? What is that crucial connection? Why do we feel so comfortable with some people? And why is it that we can't stand some others? Some of our answers may lie in our past. Others are actual indices towards our future. The way ahead. The way that we passed points towards the way that we choice. We say that we always have a choice, but do we really? I am not sure. I have never been very sure about this. Maybe, its Providence that we should discover this in the way of our lives - that is when we truely appreciate the beauty that lies within us, around us. And at that precise moment, we realize how beautiful everything is.... and that is also the moment that we truly, madly, deeply fall in love with our selves!