We do need some education!

Despite all its artistic neatness, the elegantly encapsulated technological sophistication and the very many ways it has twisted the very fabric of our society- changing the way we live our lives- I could never develop much affinity towards the concept of social networking. I think it is deceptive and misleading in the way it is most commonly used, especially in this part of the world. This does not mean that I in any way despise the idea of a digital global society that has made the world so much smaller. On the contrary, I am in utter awe of how well within a decade, a handful of visionaries went on to have an impact on human knowledge that is exceeded perhaps only by the advent of the printing press. What bothers me, however, is the way it is increasingly being used to defeat this very purpose. 

I was lazily spread across a chair in my classroom, sleep deprived, uninterested and aimlessly waiting for the professor to arrive for the next lecture when I came across a post on my Facebook feed-

Despite all my senses forcing me to scroll past it like dozens of other updates, something about this did not allow me to do so. The message on the right seemed like a typically worded pro-Modi sentiment that has swept across mainstream media, especially social networks which have been a major instrument in the BJP success story. The image on the left is in reference to an incident that took place at the recent ASEAN summit where it was alleged that the Prime Minister could not notice the national flag erroneously turned upside down. This Facebook handle lashes out at the faction of the media that brought this to public notice (possibly being referred to as 'they' in the pic) with the justification that the PM had also, allegedly, corrected the flag right side up and asked the photographers to take the picture all over again.

Now I do not know whether that actually happened, for he would also have had to urge his Japanese counterpart to repeat the customary handshake against diplomatic protocol. But what is actually disconcerting is how you have been made to believe something that isn't even overtly right in the first place!

Notice the striking difference in the color of the suit worn by Shinzo Abe in the two pics (some alleged it is because of the flash, but judging by the difference it made to the one worn by Modi, I find it hard to believe). The light intensity in the first pic makes it look like day time. The absolute lack of same in the second affirms it is past sunset. Above all, the bottom left pocket on the Japanese statesman's suit which is visible on the lower pic is absent on the one in the top which is conclusive evidence that the two images are from the same place but at two very different times!

Note that the post has been shared nearly three times as much as the number of 'likes' on it. So you can estimate the number of people it might have eventually reached. Thousands of casual, unsuspecting users like you and me have now been effortlessly force-fed an idea by someone who none of us will ever know. And this is perhaps just one among millions of such propaganda posts endlessly doing rounds on every social media there is, painting, twisting, bending and forming "popular opinions" on everything under the sun- from the Paris attacks and barbarism of the Islamic State to the Dadri lynching and claims of rising intolerance in India.

A 'political enthusiast' on Quora offers the same justification. 60k views, 4.5k upvotes and counting!

It is disturbing to realise how conveniently mainstream media can forge and destroy popular opinions. And it is appalling to see how almost anything that suits some whims can be passed of as "news". Our ever decreasing attention spans and diminishing will to reason will only make it easier for such people to build a world where the very notion of fact and truth is a myth.

Belief, it seems, is a luxury we can no longer afford!

I have the political opinions of a 7 year old who recites the national anthem every morning in his school assembly ground. But such an "Orwellian nightmare" still seems like a genuine possibility. Seeing how uselessly we have cruised past pressing issues like corruption, women safety, bans, beef and now intolerance, all in the past 1 year, it only seems fair to assume we are mere puppets and the strings are wound around the fingers of those who care as much about us as we actually do about these issues.

Another instance of how mainstream media reported one comment taken utterly out of context just to generate a flashy news bite-

And here's what had actually happened. A reporter had asked Priyanka about a solitaire ring she had been wearing recently, to which she had replied- "They (media) made a big deal out of it, but I buy my own diamonds. I don't need someone to buy them for me. When a guy comes into my life it will not be for diamonds, it will be not for cars, it will be nor for homes. A guy will be in my life only when I'm wholly crazily in love. I don't need a guy for anything except a children. Don't jump to conclusions because of my jewellery”

At times I sincerely miss those days when I could trust what I would hear and believe what I would see. The vagaries of life have long deprived me of that innocence and luxury. They have made me suspecting of everything and everyone. But then there are times like these which make me wonder that perhaps it is an enormous virtue which, apparently, many of us are deprived of.

None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free.

The Last Airbender

How can you smash back to back sixes of the first 3 deliveries of an ODI? Or score 280+ runs in the first day of a Test match? Have a strike rate in excess of 80 in Test Cricket? Get to a 300 with a six? Or get there twice and then come agonizingly close to a record breaking third, only to be dismissed caught and bowled by a delivery that you might as well have negotiated with your eyes closed!

And yet that's Virender Sehwag for you- the only cricketer who could remove all the bravado about the game and reduce it to its bare essentials- see the ball, hit the ball. That was as easy at it could get and perhaps all that was really needed.

Watching him take guard for India, alongside Sachin in the 2003 World Cup is not just some of my earliest recollections, but one of my most loved sights in the gentleman's game. For me that was- as someone has said in a different context- like having 'a surgeon at one end and a butcher at the other'. Watching the entire team crumble around him as he worked his way to 85 odd runs in the final against Australia was heart rending. Nearly everything else about his career though has been nothing short of delight.

As a much feared player who demanded singular strategies from opposition, he introduced a distinctively entertaining brand of batsmanship. With him at the crease, you always knew something was bound to happen and this very excitement associated with his game constituted the heart of sporting entertainment. Experts would throw terms like 'hand-eye coordination' to paraphrase his unique abilities. I always believed it had got to do a lot more with the way he approached life in general. As a typical Jat, born and brought up in the outskirts of Delhi, blatant straight-forwardness was his way of life. As someone who always went for the runs without ever worrying about form or conditions or opposition, one could always sense that in his batting. This inherent regret-free-no-holds-barred attitude was as much of his strength as- perhaps- his weakness.

At a time when much unchecked westernisation of societies has complicated relationships, it shouldn't be surprising that we could learn much about life and simplicity from Virender Sehwag's approach to the game of cricket. His devil-may-care attitude on the field, his blatant disregard for the conventional, his near indiffernce to landmarks, his the-ball-is-turning-and-its-too-long-to-get-old-so-let-me-just-send-it-out-of-the-park approach (FYI it did happen- in international cricket!) and above all this near non-human manner to let go of all of that at the fall of a hat are all attributes we can do well to bring into our lives.

Much has been said and much will be as he announces his retirement, in his own seemingly nonchalant manner. As unforgiving as the game is, very few are fortunate enough to say goodbye at their best on the field, fewer still bid adieu amidst all the fanfare that we saw being accorded to the very greatest of the game. Something makes me feel Sehwag was never the person who would have cared much about all of that, for theatrics and drama were never his strong suit. He wasn't a Sachin who was born to play cricket, or blessed with the unflinching commitment of a Dravid, or the leadership and flair of a Ganguly, or the much reserved masterclass that was Laxman. He was Sehwag- distinctive in his own right and yet among the very best of Indian cricket.

Hope he has all the joy and excitement in his life that he gave to all his viewers.

PS- Beta beta hota hai, baap baap hota hai. Par ye beta bhi baap se kuch kam nahi tha!

ख़याल - IV

ले चले हम उनको खुदा के दर पे,
सोचा खालिक से उनको रूबरू करते.
वर्ना इतना ही यकीन होता इबादत पे,
तो बाखुदा मुहब्बत नहीं शिकायत करते.

 
जाने की ज़िद कर यूँ गए वो,

चाह के भी करना इंकार नहीं आया.

हैरत हुई बेरुखी पे उनकी,

एक पल भी जाने क्यों ऐतराज़ नहीं आया.

शिरकत की महफ़िलों में हमने,

बाँटने ये दर्द कोई हमराज़ नहीं आया.

डुबो दिया हर ग़म हर जाम में लेकिन,

अंजाम-ए-मोहब्बत फिर भी कुछ रास नहीं आया.

हसीनो को रुखसत करती रहे नज़रें,

गुस्ताख़ दिल को फिर मगर प्यार नहीं आया.

जहाँ क जान-ए-जहां देखे, हमे-

एक तस्वीर भुला दे वो दीदार नहीं आया. 

ग़ालिब बने शायर, आशिक फरहान हुए,

हाल-ए-दिल जो केह दे वो फनकार नहीं आया.

हटा देता इस दर्द की रेहमत,

ग़मों का बेवक्त कोई कर्ज़दार नहीं आया.

सुनते हैं तनहा हैं वो भी, शायद-

हमसे बढ़ कर उनका कोई हकदार नहीं आया.

हर अर्ज़-ए-दर्द पर 'वाह!' उठती रही,

लबों पे उनके मगर इकरार नहीं आया.

एक 'हाँ!' की गुज़ारिश में ज़िन्दगी गुज़ार दी,

और वो बोले हमें इज़हार नहीं आया.

गुज़ार दी ना जाने घड़ियाँ कितनी,

अब तक करना इंतज़ार नहीं आया.

फ़कीर थे उनके, फिर काफ़िर हो गए,

पर इस जूनून पे उनको ऐतबार नहीं आया.

किसी क लिए जन्नत मुक़र्रर हो गई,

और मेरी तकदीर में इक मज़ार नहीं आया...

The Grapes are Sweet

Nothing reminds us more of the fragility of human condition than the pain of a loss- the instant realization of one’s limitations and the irrepressible feeling of loss of a sense of control that is so endearing to us. It carries the immensity to shatter personas, murder faith, destroy will, smother hope and wreck beliefs- variables that often require ages to replenish, at times even forever. Denial is the first response. There is something else though- in some sense the polar opposite of regret- that is almost as intimately stitched to our passive aggressive alter egos. 

Some of us sometime are no better than the famished fox that wanted the grapes but simply couldn’t have them. Interestingly, when we don’t or can’t get what we want, we often sought to pacify ourselves by diminishing the value of the lost opportunity. It seems so overtly childish on face value that one might be duped into passing it off as a false hypothesis. However, circumstances have recently made be suppose otherwise. 

Life leaves us wanting on several occasions and even from a pure statistical point of view, one cannot always get all that he strives for. But this simple rationalization is too hard to accept for many, more so for a mind ravaged with emotional turmoil. Instead, we often deceive ourselves by blissfully dismissing it under the deluding comfort of retrospection. We pride ourselves in having escaped something as if it was too unworthy for us in the first place! 

Life is a constantly evolving chain of causality. Each moment comes to us with several choices- a choice to reflect, react or reject. Yet, regret, redemption and repentance are the most prolific ties that we maintain with our past, ties that seek to paralyze those of us who choose wrongly. Time is merely a constant illusion of change. Our actions this moment are all that matter. We can choose to chase anything under the sun or simply just let all be.

Either way, the grapes are sweet. Always have been, will always be.