Vision of Eyesight

Those of us, who have been endowed with eyes as well as sight to go with it, are really fortunate. But at the same time those very people—armed with eyesight—are most unfortunate when bereft of vision.

I do not exactly remember where I read the lines: “Unfortunate are those who are gifted with eyesight but not with vision”. The line loaded with truth, because of its inherent philosophy, was given by none other than the incomparably indomitable Helen Keller.

So very true, but normally we end up using sight and vision synonymously. There is a thin line of demarcation, which again cannot be sighted by eyesight but is envisioned by the gift of vision. When we envisage something we are said to have a vision. And vision normally renders one progressive and not regressive. Though a lack of vision definitely draws us that much closer to being regressive, as it has been aptly said that stagnation is death. We need to evolve continuously as human beings. Evolution in the true sense is ‘educational’ progression.

Hence I feel how we graduate in life depends upon the vision or lack of it. Graduating in life doesn’t merely mean academic qualification(s) and financial up gradation. There is more to life—though one can’t do away with either. The most important credentials that we need to have are of a ‘Good and True Human Being’. ‘Human’ is a heavily loaded word. While it accepts as a foregone conclusion the presence of fault lines—we being humans and not ‘super humans’—it most importantly necessitates the innate qualities that are synonymous with ‘human’—the ‘humane’ qualities—empathy, sympathy, helping attitude, devotion…….The list is endless. But I name here the ones, which I find most pertinent.

I might be ridiculed for my observation: “even to possess the humane qualities we need to have vision”. But I would like to prove my point—a bit later! Before that there is something that needs incorporation as a prelude.

At the onset I had dabbled a bit in eyesight and vision. Now I shall come to their physical implications—to me. It is a bit of paradox. Vision to me is in essence an immeasurable quality while eyesight—the sight presented to us through our physical eyes, is measurable. But lo and behold, what does the optometrist say: he is testing our vision—6/6…….Thus vision is used synonymously with eyesight, which is very hard to object to—the definition.

Tied amidst this tug-of-war between my perception of vision—that which sees beyond the apparent, I had a vision of redefining vision (the dictionary meaning too corroborates me!) as being actually a state of sight, wherein we ‘see’ things that are not in the physical plane and are invisible to us, in that sense. Thus there is a difference in the ‘state’ of sight—other than those we see in the physical plane, in our consciousness. It could be mental picture, image, dream, idea, revelation, prophecy as has been enumerated in the dictionary.

The images, at the time we have the vision, are virtual and to make them real we need to take up the cudgels—if they are for a good cause.

That is why I had stated that even to possess the ‘humane’ qualities we need to have vision. Vision allows us to be understanding, show empathy when others are in want of our support the most. The vision would impel us to see ourselves in that predicament, which then would help us to realise what the other person might be going through. Then the human qualities ooze off us of their own volition.

Vision in turn is aided by imagination, awareness and sensitivity. One who is imaginative is automatically sensitive (to the people and surroundings, in general) and the one who is sensitive is rendered aware—to the needs of self as well as else. Needless to say that one who possesses these qualities is blessed with vision. And one who has vision is ‘human’ to the core. It might be an over simplification, but it is a simple chain reaction!

I am talking of positive vision here. Even the perpetrators of crime carry forward their heinous act forearmed with a concrete vision of its outcome. Their vision is loaded with images of spreading negativity and the execution of their vision—though provides them ample satisfaction—renders them ‘inhuman’.

All great men and women have been able to carry out their great deeds with great success, with high ‘effectiv-ity’ quotient because of the purity of their vision. This vision could be available to people of all ages and is free from the worries of being affected by cataract, glaucoma, retinal detachment……the ailments that affect the physical eyes.

Thus vision of an eyesight is desired wherein we would be able to envision things even through our physical eyes—they acting in synergy with the mental eyes—so that one could say that empowerment with an eyesight implies the concurrent existence of vision.

Sushmita Mukherjee,

1st July 2010

Mobile-d Insomnia

When we look around us we find that our world is inundated with problems. And the biggest problem with problems is, at times while they do manifest themselves, clearly there are times we can only feel the existence of a problem. But we cannot fathom as to what the problem is.

The commonest representation is, going down with fever, contrary to a general feeling of malaise. The latter could be due to any physical or psychological irritant(s). It is these non-apparent problems that cause more problems than the manifested problem. Sorry for adding so many ‘problems’ to the already burgeoning problems posed by life! But not to worry--solutions too are aplenty. Only thing of concern is how we approach a problem!

As a teacher I feel there are two approaches towards a curative goal. And I am sure people from the field of medicines too would agree with me, when I state that one is a symptomatic treatment, the other being the causative approach. While my learned Psychologist friends have been advocating and implementing the latter, being rightly of the view that for every apparent physical discomfort their lies an answer which is non-apparent—the cause. The cause for the psychologists though lies in the realm of psychology. And I too try to ascertain and hence assign a psychological cause for the various cognitive problems the students face. Because scolding doesn’t improve their understanding but definitely compounds their confusion. This in turn aggravates their misery and renders us failures—as teachers.

Thankfully, the movies have provided with infotainment and not mere entertainment—making people aware of some of the reasons behind cognitive deficits. Hopefully now the teachers and parents alike would think of dyslexia and autism before spanking a child.

And hopefully the doctors too would widen their horizon keeping pace with increasing elements, of diverse nature, that lead to ailments. Going by the symptoms do not always provide with ‘the’ answer. Symptoms are the reason we proclaim we are ill but causes are the actual reasons behind the illness. Fever is a symptom, but not the reason. There could be many reasons behind a fever.

On failing to ascertain the reason—consequently to treat the patient accurately—merely by symptoms, doctors prescribe pathological tests for a comprehensive diagnosis of the ailment. Pathology is study of diseases that tries to find the probable pathogenic causes—the causes capable of producing disease. Thus the causative approach—trying to search for the reasons behind the symptoms—is a pathogenic approach, if I am permitted to say.

I know I might be transgressing into an alien domain but I am forced to. I do accept that science is a bane too (apart from being a boon). In spite of that I never anticipated that scientific developments had the potential to be pathogenic. My anticipations have proved to be quite myopic! There have been various such cases and I feel pretty soon the society shall incubate many ‘Converted Insomniacs’—people who were not so earlier.

The mobile phone services have revolutionized telecommunication that allows us to stay connected with our near and dear ones. There is no denying the fact that life in today’s world seems improbable without a mobile connectivity. But we being (greedy as) human beings cannot defy the sops offered by the mobile service providing companies. They offer various apparently lucrative offers but these are quite revealing in what they conceal! The reason behind their reason of offering such sops is not what they actually claim. And by falling prey to it we lose on two counts—money (luring us to opt for offers to fill ‘their’ coffers) and health.

Health, because repeatedly, journals have been coming up with information galore on the contra-effects of its ‘excessive’ use. Using it only for a valid purpose is fine but not for gossip—we fail to accept that fact. We fall for those, forsaking rationale.

Thus the offers of ‘night talk pack’ are lapped up. And what they do? Apart from providing immense pleasure?! As one topic begets another, this leads to prolonged conversations—chain reaction—keeping us awake when we should be asleep. This when continued with, over a considerable period of time will not allow a person to sleep—we are slaves of our habits, habits that we form and that get enshrined in the subconscious pretty fast—when we are done with our ‘talking spree’. This very habit gradually becomes pathogenic. Result is a normal person converted into an insomniac—a pathetic condition.

All because of our inability to control our own impulses? Yes, of course. And if we are unable to raise ourselves above the vice of such negative impulse we would soon be suffering from Mobile-d Insomnia. And doctors would do well to diagnose and differentiate between—and treat accordingly—Normal Insomnia and Mobile-d Insomnia.

Sushmita Mukherjee,

29th July 2010.

Oblivious of the Obvious

There are certain things that evolve without our direct involvement, though passively all of us are involved in it. Evolution of mankind is an integration of evolution of every individual—united we stand and divided we fall…..another extrapolation of the ‘collective fate’! While some evolutions are directly dependent on us, ‘We, the people’.

“Revolutions are a product of an en masse and simultaneous evolution of the thought process in human-beings.”

That is to say when this collective evolution is evaluated we get at a revolution; at least that is how the definition of ‘revolution’ has ‘evolved’ to me!

For these evolutions to take place, the intent has to be there. And this is only possible if we are open to the fact that we are not above evolution—in our thoughts as well as actions. Better termed as ‘behavioural changes’ that need to be brought about for our betterment as individuals.

While the faults of others is ‘compellingly obvious’ to us we are quite ‘conveniently oblivious’ of our own faults and hence for the need of rectification is not felt. And when we are impelled to ‘see’ those faults of ours we justify those as ‘human errors’—‘to err is human’. True, to err is human. And this as a corollary proves the existence of faults within us.

But unfortunately we tend to be ‘obviously oblivious’ of our shortcomings. One such glaring example is our being oblivious to things that are obvious. We rather tend to neglect the issues that are obvious and need reprisal—simply because they are obvious? We take for granted—our situation(s), our near and dear ones, friends and people in general who rally around us, no matter what. Instead of appreciating, when appreciation is the need of the hour we behave as, “There is nothing to rejoice about it. I am in this situation because I deserve it. I owe this satisfaction & success to none but to one and that is me.”

And when some opposition to unsavoury incidents is called for we prefer to be indifferent so long it doesn’t affect us. In today’s world of consumerism the overpowering thought working behind this indifference is, “Why should I risk my PR for some body else.” Though I know it would be wrong to generalize but still, as I feel, “Frequent occurrences of coincidences lead to generalisation”. And I too am not immune to such behaviour, as we worry too much about consequences—PR or otherwise (trying to save one’s skin, so to say) notwithstanding.

Whatever be the reason for relegating ‘the obvious’ to ‘oblivion’, it gets extrapolated to negligence and disrespect of our blessings. Don’t we need to introspect what we would have been, devoid of what we have—the people and the environment, instead of clamouring for what we don’t have? How can we be so sure that what we don’t have would have made us happier by its presence? So sure of ‘the uncertain’ that ‘the certain’ becomes insignificant—that too in this life full of uncertainties?

It would be better to spare some thought(s) on the probable consequences of the ‘absence’ of the ‘presence’, which grace our life in the present—nothing short of a ‘present’, a gift.

It really is a demonstration of Newton’s 3rd Law, albeit by extrapolation. In trying to push the obvious—the reality, to oblivion, we are gradually becoming oblivious of the obvious and drifting far from reality to an era of super-ficiality and that is the reality.

Accidental Suicide

Newspapers and various news channels on television in the past week have covered innumerable mishaps. One of them was the unfortunate demise of a very senior Naval Officer—under freaky circumstances. And as it is our collective fate, everybody has incurred the loss—his immediate family, his extended family, the Indian Navy, as well as the country.

An enquiry has been ordered as was reported in a leading daily to unravel the truth, i.e., the mechanism that might have operated behind this tragic incident.

This yearning for the truth is the human nature. We quite rightly want to get to the truth—this is the least that could be done for the aggrieved parties. The truth once unraveled might be able to prevent occurrence of such mishaps in the future. After all, ‘prevention is better than cure’ and in these cases even the ‘cure’ is not possible. How does one bring to life the departed? So it becomes all the more important to get to the bottom of the matter—as a reverence to the departed, apart from being an act of desired humanitarian empathy towards the family.

One could say that it is our ‘Rightful Right of Right to Information’ which when provided is adherence to the laws—of Nature and Court of Law and not an act of compassion extended towards the family. This is what happens, with the feeling being expressed along with the information by the informer (be it a person or an organization): “Be grateful to us that we supplied you with this information”.

We are grateful but the same time it must not be forgotten that it is our ‘rightful right to know’. It is the truth.

But then there is a contra-face to this ‘truth-seeking’. A consequence of a human failing, we at times tend to ‘accept’ as truth what we ‘want’ to be the truth, instead of the ‘actual truth’. One could say the ‘Convenient truth’ or ‘Truth (for the sake) of Convenience’.

The enquiry that has been set up to investigate the circumstances leading to the death of Rear Admiral Jamwal is to provide the answer—was it an accident or was it a suicide? I am not the person to comment on this but whatever I could gather from the preliminary reports in the newspaper, the officer didn’t show any telltale signs of a mental state, which gets manifested in the behaviour of a person in the wake of an impending suicide.

Furthermore, the post mortem report, as reported, fails to pinpoint the position of the head that incurred the fatal bullet injury. It is very peculiar, to say the least. If such a thing cannot be ascertained then how can it be said from which direction the bullet had travelled and the distance travelled by the bullet, which is indicated by the impact and imprint? I am not leveling any charges on anybody. But there is one thing—that is the nature of information that is fed to the people—about which one needs to be very careful. Incomplete and insufficient evidences passed on as information are liable to have consequences of unimaginable proportion(s). Everybody would draw a conclusion of his or her own. After all we have our freedom of thought—as I am expressing mine. But amidst all these, does one spare a second of thought for the bereaved family?

Thus it is being speculated and investigated whether it was an Accident. Or was it a Suicide? Or was it a Suicidal Accident? The last option being that of an Accidental Suicide.

I sincerely pray that the conclusion drawn as a consequence of a, hopefully thorough and true, investigation would lead to the TRUTH and not to an ACCIDENTAL TRUTH or SUICIDAL TRUTH, so as to pamper the CONVENIENT TRUTH.

And the same treatment is desired for all such incidents.

IF ‘JUSTICE DELAYED IS JUSTICE DENIED’, A CRIME IN ITSELF, THEN ‘JUSTICE DEPRIVED IS A DEFINITE CRIME’. PATRONISING ‘CONVENIENT TRUTH’ IS JUST NOT JUST-ICE.

Sushmita Mukherjee,

10th July 2010.

The Mandatory 100 Days

The Mandatory 100 Days

“The test of our patience ends in a pro-test.”

The credibility of our protest depends on what we are protesting for, as it directly stands for what we are for. If the cause in itself is to serve some unscrupulous purpose then quite evidently our intentions come under the scanner. We then manifest the existence of a self-gratifying trait, which quite naturally renders us ‘self-ish’.

But the funniest part of life, as well as tragic at times, is the paradox it shoves at us very frequently. And what I aim to state through this deluge of words, I leave you to interpret—in which category you would want to place it.

To get back to where I had started as regards to protest vis-à-vis purpose, even when the purpose is legitimate the mere way of expressing it at times, turns it into if not illegitimate, but definitely equally despicable.

I think by now you have been able to gauge what I am aiming at it. Yes, it is about the adherence to the “Theory of Bandhs”. It has really become a land of bandhs and about it I have mentioned in my blog, “City of Seasonal Bandhs and Protest Marches”, though with reference to the prevalent theme of, ‘Won’t work and won’t allow to work’, in Bengal—that too in a specific season.

I know Bandhs are the most common, if not most popular, way to protest. But is it the most potent and ethical way to do so? NO. It has the reverse effect and if things continue in the same vain, soon we might have to ‘Protest against this show of Protest’—how about a Bandh for a Bandh?! 

Just imagine, these bandhs do not spare anybody—a daily wager who loses his food for the day along with his family, a critically ill person forced to meet……on being disallowed a passage to the hospital. Are these not criminal acts?

Furthermore, Indian Railways has made it mandatory for ticket reservations to be made 90days in advance. Innumerable trains got cancelled today, the 5^th of July 2010, flights too were hampered. Who would compensate for the harassments? Procuring a reservation is very tough, to say the least, and even after that people are not allowed to undertake the journey—which they plan with some valid reasons—is it just not intolerable?

The parties say the bandhs are ‘for the people’. There couldn’t be a bigger misrepresentation of facts. They are ‘by the people’ but definitely ‘against the people’.

I don’t think this form of protest is patronized in any other country. Does that mean the politicians are insensitive to the issues? Hardly.

In our country, it seems that this Malignancy of Bandh is to continue unabated as also the Atrocities of the Government—which is duping the world with the ‘story’ of a thriving Indian Economy (ref:  my blog ‘Economics of Economy’).

So the only way to fight the problem that arises as far as planning a trip is concerned, is by making it mandatory to announce the bandhs ‘100 Days in Advance’—The Mandatory 100 days.

Sushmita Mukherjee,

5^th July 2010.

The Strangest Stranger

Destiny is Truth.
Truth is Stranger than Fiction.
So Destiny is Stranger than Fiction--by extrapolation and integration.

In fact the Strangest Stranger......the way it unfolds, the pre-destined (not known to us before hand) time it manifests itself, its nature and the ultimate result......none we expect....neither the result nor the timing.

Strange are the ways of life. Sometimes they favour you to the hilt...when you might be expecting just the contrary and at other times even the most well planned effort and intentions do not turn out the way intended.

But yes, both, the good times as well as the bad ones teach us lot.... though only if we are willing students.

Trying times too hold positive intonations.....which we need to distill out. While good times have a high propensity of pushing us to the brink of over-confidence, a precursor of arrogance.

I wouldn't want to get into the argument of what or who shapes our destiny--we ourselves or our environment or SOMEBODY UP THERE. But I would reiterate that Destiny is the Only Certainty--Whosoever or Whatsoever is The Mechanic, notwithstanding--Once it is Attained.

Maybe it is these very "UNKNOWN PLAYER (S)" which/who make Destiny an Enigma and hence a Stranger, The Strangest One.

Sushmita Mukherjee,

30^th May 2010.

Collective Fate

What does the dictionary do actually? Does it provide us with only the literal meaning of a word—which implies the theoretical aspect? Or is it capable of providing us with the correct picture: i.e., the implication(s) of the word(s) by conveying to us the essence of the word? The latter implies practical manifestation, on this physical plane.

To me the two things are more often different, than being same. The dictionary fails to take into account the physical implications of words—the implications are not invariant; are rather just the reverse. The implications and hence interpretation(s) depend entirely on the momentary issues and situations engulfing us. How we react, decides the impact and implications—which might be juxtaposed to the desired effect and ‘intended’ implications of the dictionary. Many a times this juxtaposition is an outcome of intentional distortion and misinterpretation of a word—manipulation it is, hence avoidable. Though there does arise situation when the undesired outcomes cannot be avoided, being totally out of our control.

I do not intend to demean the dictionary. I do not have the audacity to do so. Neither I am blind to its indispensable utility, given the immeasurable extent to which it helps us and in the process enriches us. We human beings would have been devoid of expression, but for it.

What I want to contest is the interpretation and implications of words. The way we interpret a word is not necessarily in congruence with the literal meaning recorded in the dictionary. Actually when the dictionary was compiled, the extent to which the meanings would be manipulated was not known! Otherwise the allowances would have been made, that I am sure of, with multitude of synonyms incorporated for the purpose!

The implied meanings of the word are all relative and not absolute. The environment shapes them.

There are many words (in my average vocabulary), which fit the bill. But the two words that draw me most are Secular and Independence—as must be evident from my earlier blogs. Here, though, I would restrict myself to the latter only.

There couldn’t be a greater misnomer than Independence. Independence doesn’t exist—that is in purest form. What is Independence? It is actually Inter-dependence……as reflected in ‘In Dependence’. The country became Independent from the foreigners but what did it get in return? Dependence on the intentions of the countrymen for a proper functioning—we are actually at the mercy of our own countrymen (read: politicians).

Shiv Khera has rightly said, “Freedom is not Free”. And to it I add, “There is nothing called Absolute freedom. Had it been so we would have been Absolutely Free”.

I know there is nothing ‘absolute’ in this ‘relative’ world. We as students of Chemistry have been taught that “Ideal” behaviour (for gases) is difficult to attain—depending upon various preconditions. And I find similarity between this craving for the improbability of “Ideal” situation and “Absolute-ness”—even if by extrapolation.

But still a nearest approximation of “Freedom” could be striven for and achieved, had it not been for the self-serving politicians. We have attained Freedom camouflaged as Bondage. And the biggest price that we had to give for our Freedom was the partition of the country—a wound, which would never heal as it has served as the precursor of chain reactions in the form of problems galore initiated by our “friendly” neighbour—a fragment once an integral part of India—created by the British in cahoots with a few power hungry Indians—as a parting kick before they had to leave India. They freed India, albeit with a malignant tumour—which was made possible only with the help of people who had their own interests in their heart and not that of the Nation. Partition was an additional tax that we had to pay to win our Freedom. As if the lives laid down by the ‘absolute’ patriots and freedom fighters were not enough.

This proves that the fate of the Nation then, now and in the future was, is and shall remain a prisoner in the hands of the collective fate and intentions of ‘We, the People’.

Even Fate is not Independent, nor is Destiny.

The destiny of an individual leads to certain circumstances that affect the rest of the family members in a specific manner. Then is not the fate and destiny of an individual a reflection of the destiny of the family members and vice-versa?

I strongly believe in my arrived at philosophy of “In this Life full of Uncertainties, Destiny is the only Certainty”. And this made me search for answers every time there was and is loss of lives in large numbers, en masse, that is. Calamities—natural & man-made as well as accidents render so many lives, ‘erstwhile’, at one go, within a span of few seconds and leaves aggrieved families in its wake. The recent incident of the tragic plane crash leading to the death of 158 people is nothing but a consequence of their “Collective Fates”. Otherwise why would they be flying together?

I know the cause of the accident shall be unearthed and corrective measures adopted, hopefully, in the future, to avert if possible, such painful incidents. But these efforts are all in the physical plane. We might come up with various explanations for the cause of the accidents—none that would bring back the departed. We might dole out compensations—but is there any compensation for the loss of a loved one? NO.

Explanations should be sought and given too—this is the least that aggrieved families would ask for. As also to remove any lacunae that might have led to the accident so as to prevent its repetition. I at no point of time intend to legitimize such incidents that actually scar the psyche. We do need to know the errors that led to the ill-fated incident(s), whenever they occur.

But do we ever spare a thought as to why so many lives are lost together?
I might be wrong, but to me, in this case as it is in other such painful occurrences, it is the forceful pull of the “Collective Fate” of the 158 people that caused the recent incident. Just as there is a manufacturing date and a corresponding expiry date mentioned on the strips of medicine, so it is with us. Only thing is that we are not privy to the information. We have been sent with an already activated pre-set timer called life—which stops functioning when the ordained time (up) is attained. These 158 people were destined to leave the world at the same time, together, at that particular moment. Contrary to this the 8 who managed to survive—did not share their destinies with the departed. Hence they are alive today. People say miraculously—but then there is nothing called Miracle. It happened so because it was destined to happen so.

My views might seem to be too destiny-oriented, defying logic with its apparent impractical intonation. But then I haven’t been able to come up with a more plausible answer for such painful occurrence(s). True we might come up with the mechanical reasons that lead to them. But these do not satisfy me. I need to know why they occur, why they have to occur and why they had to occur, in the first place, devouring people from diverse sections of the world and the society. The physical plane provides analytical answers that fail to satisfy me in totality.

I needed to know the non-apparent camouflaged in the apparent. Anguished anger to made its presence felt, with an accompanying helplessness, in the wake of such mishaps.

So I search(ed) for the answers from another plane—I don’t know if it could be called metaphysical or spiritual. Nor the nomenclature matters, but the answer does. I only need(ed) the answers. And it is this quest that has landed me at the shores of the “Theory Of Collective Fate”. It is the Collective Fate that forces—Collects—people from diverse areas of life, to unite them during death of their physical body. The “Collective Fate” in a way thus gets extrapolated to the philosophy of “Unity in Diversity”, on a poignant note.

Having arrived at a plausible (to me) answer, a feeling of peace makes its presence felt within—as if a part of the mystery has been solved with respect to how life works and why it works the way it works.

May the souls of the departed rest in peace. And may the aggrieved families be blessed with strength to bear the irreparable loss and the inflicted pain.

I would love to do something for them but at the moment I can’t do anything else but to only pray for them and I do so from the core of my heart. This is the least that I could do for them as I too am sharing some part of their Collective Fate in as much as inhabiting the world at the same time as they are.