Monochromatic Vision

As I have discussed in my previous vision—“Vision of Eyesight”, there are two types of vision accorded to us—physical, which varies with time & situation. Time, because generally those who have been blessed with great eyesight, find their vision to be faltering with advancing age. Though of course there are many who are not that fortunate—having to use specs from their childhood. This vision signifies the physical vision—eyesight. Another vision of the physical nature, is the one we have of happening(s) around us—perception(s) based on the assessment made by the heart and mind—a deeper vision—akin to ‘reading between the lines’.

Apart from these there is another one, which though has a bit of metaphysical implication(s). Vision, which hits upon the inward eye in moments of solitude, to enlighten with realization.

In this one I shall restrict myself to the physical plane, but at times I might become repetitive, as “Monochromatic Vision” is a continuation of “Vision of Eyesight”. Funniest part is the fact that the precursor was written later!

I am sure the title of the piece must be evoking some vision of colour! But before proceeding, I must acknowledge the grace of God for having endowed us with eyesight, which makes it possible to enjoy the riot of colours on the spreadsheet of nature. Nature is truly polychromatic. We look around us and find innumerable variants (shades), of even a single colour—no two colours are identical. But this riot—of colours—is harmonious!

Talking of colours in scientific terms also yields harmonious dividends—as far as accruing of knowledge with regards to its implications and its application is concerned. Implications and applications in fact keep swapping their position(s) as per the need.

Thus we know that “White Colour”, signifying peace, is a result of the ‘harmonious combination’ of the seven colours of “VIBGYOR”! Could one ask for a better harmony and utility of colours? “An apparently monochromatic quality (colour is a quality) is composed of polychromatic components—seven to be specific.” Another manifestation of unity (unit—single colour) in diversity.

While I am talking of colours, how can I not consider the pigments, as pigments are actually the colouring materials? These can be natural as well as artificial. The latter are the precursor of dyes of various types that find use in our life.

But it is the natural pigments that I shall be concentrating on, being pertinent to my purpose.

To do that a bit of Chemistry needs to be discussed and for that I apologise. Though I am sure the extent to which I would go, in my chemical discourse, that much Chemistry everybody is aware of.

Let us start from the plant kingdom. Chlorophyll, a natural green pigment found exclusively in plants, allows them to absorb sunlight and they use the thus absorbed photochemical energy to prepare their food. The plant(s) absorb the photochemical energy and use(s) it to convert the carbon dioxide that it has ‘inhaled’—the one that we have ‘exhaled’—to convert it into carbohydrate. And this entire process is referred to as PHOTOSYNTHESIS. This sustains them and this sustains life in general, around them, with the lives depending upon them to survive. This way the cycle continues—‘all because of Chlorophyll’. Just imagine what would have been the situation in its absence.

Now switching our attention to the animal kingdom, we are aware of the presence of natural pigment: MELANIN, which imparts colour to our skin, hair, and iris of the eyes and scales of the concerned inhabitants of the animal kingdom. It is even present in plants.

Just as we have been made aware of the utilities of chlorophyll, we need to know what are those, for melanin—so as to appreciate its presence and fear its absence.

In humans, those with darker skin have higher concentration of melanin and those having less of it are light or fair-skinned. Melanin is the metabolic product of an amino acid, Tyrosine, in the body.

Though this information is easily accessible from Internet, there is a purpose behind incorporating them here and enforcing inescapability, from reading it. But believe me, once you read the piece in its entirety you will appreciate my action, and your reaction would be positive.

Utilities of its presence, pitfalls of its absence and vagaries of its presence, but in excess:

Apart from its action(s) as pigment other important effects are as follows:

(i) The photochemical properties of melanin make it an excellent photo-protectant, absorbing harmful UV-radiation and transform the energy into harmless amounts of heat via “ultrafast internal conversion”.

This property enables melanin to dissipate more than 99.9% indirect damage, which is responsible for the formation of malignant melanoma. Though it does not provide complete protection from the sun and individuals with dark skin tones too are still at risk form the sun’s damaging rays. But generally, darker skin tones can tolerate exposure to sun for hours without being sun burnt, while fair skinned people feel the contrasting effect(s).

Sun exposure has also been linked with cataracts; one of the causes that leads to cataract in certain cases.

(ii) In the skin, melanin is formed by cells called Melanocytes.

Defective melanin concentration: Certain medical condition(s), viz., Albinism, are associated with lack of melanin: marked by the absence of a normal amount of the pigment in body. Humans suffer from it. Even plants and animals too can have albinism.

Albinism: It has many variants. Depending upon the type—the skin, hair and eyes—all might be affected. Ocular albinism affects not only the colour of the eyes, hair and skin, but leads to poor vision.

Furthermore, some types of melanin deficiency are associated with increased mortality rates.

(iii) In (i), it has been stated that melanin absorbs UV radiation of sun’s rays and converts it to harmless heat, whereby acts as a photo-protectant.

Now the added incentive of conversion to harmless heat is that this becomes ‘useful heat’ as well. Melanin also thus forms a part of a mechanism for absorbing heat from the sun.

This purpose is of particular importance to cold-blooded animals: snakes, lizards, certain types of fish and a wide range of other animals, which depend on their surroundings and sun’s rays to establish and maintain the body temperature.

(iv) It is also important for sharpness of vision as melanin serves to minimize the number of light beams that enter the eye. Furthermore, it provides for absorption of scattered light within the eye.

Thus, pigmentation allows for keener eyesight.

I owe to Internet huge thanks for providing me these data, in a systematically tabulated manner. Now that the indispensability of melanin has been enunciated, I hope people would really appreciate the gravity of what melanin does for us and fear the wrath caused by its absence.

Apart from the health hazards, imagine what would have happened with a low level of melanin or its complete absence. A completely ‘Monochromatic Nature’ would have surrounded us: white or pseudo white. Our eyes would have cried for mercy from this enforced vision, which naturally would have to be ‘Monotonously Monochromatic’.

So it appalls to see melanin being denounced when we have denounced black & white television to embrace colour television. ‘Coloured vision’, brings us closer to nature, with its myriad of colours—green appears green; white is viewed in its true colour—white. But green appears black, in black & white television. We love to watch colour television as it gives us the true picture of things, with the projection of their true colours. Nature is beautiful because it is comprised of diverse colours. The hue that it projects is a resultant of the complementary attitude these colours have towards each other. They show unity of purpose amidst their diversity and provide us with a ‘picture perfect’. It is a sheer gift and joy to behold—but we would have been deprived of it had there been no variety in colour(s). We have what we have, only because there is variety and these varieties—of colours—are in perfect balance with each other and thus in total harmony. Thus existence of variety is must; otherwise a balance would have been struck with whom?

If the colour of the skin, of humans, has a varying percentage of melanin, is it unnatural then? It adds variety and forms the world in which we live.

In this context, I would like to state an observation from the “Doctors”, a classic by the Late Erich Segal. In it he has described melanin as, “a case of too much of melanin”. And yes, it is as simple as that. So why this furor and fuss over the colour of skin of an individual. It cannot be used as an introduction—primary or secondary or tertiary—ever, of a person.

In this context there are certain things on which I would like to draw attention, like many others before me have done.

(i) The longest surviving example in Indian society, of a fetish for the fair skin is portrayed in the desire(s) for a ‘fair’ bride for a prospective groom, who along with his family members prefer to ignore the colour of his own skin! Though times have changed; and thankfully continue to do so, a complete eradication of this malady is next to impossible. Generally, the primary criterion in an almost endless list of requirements, for a bride, is to be fair-skinned. As if it is in her hands!

The only positive out of this ‘melano-phobia’ is the revenue generated by the various fairness creams that have flooded the market promising a ‘whiter pasture’ in the form of conversion to white(r) skin! Now even the ‘male’ fraternity seems to be hit by the this ‘bug of craving’, for a fair skin as a consequence of which fairness creams, exclusively ‘for men’ are being made available by various companies.

Well in all ‘fairness to the males’, how could they be left behind and that too behind the females, in the race for fairness! Now ‘men’ want to tread the path—an erstwhile exclusive domain of ‘ wo-men’—and become ‘we, the men’!

Amidst all this frenzy for ‘fairness’, ‘melanin’ has very few takers. It is being tried to be profiled out gradually as the first preference of skin colour, which in any case it never was.

Then why do we cry foul when outside our country time and again we are discriminated on the basis of the melanin content in our skin?

If we want to be treated equally and at par with the fair-skinned people when we are abroad, then the attitude towards our fellow citizens should change. After all “Charity begins at home” & “As we sow, so we reap”.

(ii) Affinity for anyone ‘white’ glares at us appallingly in our society. The definition of beauty is in ‘being white’. Anyone white would do! I think this incurable permanent polarization towards the fair skin stems from the fact that we have been ruled, in other words, have been slaves, of the British for too long, rendering the effect irreversible and thus irreparable. Time and again it is a horrifying and humiliating site—doing ‘kurnish’ (bending in respect) to any and all fair-skinned, even if metaphorically with actions that manifest it—fellow-countrymen and foreigners alike—even if that means compromising on our cause.

Let me be very clear—I am not against foreigners or fair-skinned people in general—but what is unpalatable is the abject submission to mono skin colour—white. We need to get out of this Monochromatic Vision.

After all we are inching slowly towards 100 years of Independence! (?). So the residual effect of slavery, which instead of being residual is the major, should dissipate completely, sooner than later. And this can happen if only we can be independent of our foolish prejudices instead of being in-dependence of them!

(iii) What has all this led to?

R---A---C---I---S---M.

Yes, racism. Because racism implies discrimination on the basis of skin colour, and in my own opinion, on the % melanin content.

Anybody who is not fair is treated very poorly, which is very unfair, to say the least, in various parts of the world—even today when we have advanced so much, scientifically. Every other day, new creations come up to help us in multitude of ways—be it in the field of technology or in the very important area of medicine.

I hope that one day “something” would be invented, which would cure the people suffering from this malady—otherwise I do not see it happening. People refuse to awaken to the cause. Thus the cure needs to be enforced, synthetically!

(iv) To me thus, apathy for Melanin is RACISM as it leads to profiling or regimentation on the basis of the melanin content in the skin. All variants of this discrimination (even prevalent in India, as mentioned)— have to be Racism.

(v) Racism is hence, a sort of Communalism. The only difference from the conventional communalism (based upon religion) is the fact that the specific community—comprising of all with skin colour, which is anything but white/fair—is tortured and not pampered. And any discrimination for and against, alike, a specific community is Communalism, at least to me.

Though people acting against a group are called communal and the ones who pamper a particular sect are called secular—when applied to actions with respect to religion. Such has been the distortion of the definition. Even pampering is discrimination, albeit in favour of and racism is discrimination, against.

(vi) We are all creations of God.

I know that atheists or agnostics wouldn’t agree with me, as by stating what I believe in, I have tried to defy them, as this is the thought that they deny and hence defy!

So whatever be your belief (s), I don’t want to impose mine. Would like to simply state that by being against melanin the people concerned are actually behaving against an unseen, overpowering force—be it scientific or non-scientific, physical or metaphysical.

(vii) There is “Theory of Everything”, to use the title of the book authored by Stephen.W.Hawking. I too believe in this Theory of, Theory of Everything. It is true that the reason behind a ‘happening’ doesn’t manifest itself immediately, but it does come to the fore at its designated appropriate time—chosen by the same invisible force—only if we could keep our mind’s eyes and be receptive to our surrounding(s) as a whole we would be able to recognize it.

And it is on the basis of this belief I would like to justify the creation of black colour.

One of the beauties of black colour is that a black body absorbs and radiates maximum amount of heat. It is this very property which saw to the conventional colour being chosen as black for umbrellas—used not only during the rains but equally during the summers, for protection from the scorching sun—in olden times. Nowadays various colours are being used but none can fight the strong rays of the sun, as does the black one—by radiating it back.

Metaphorically speaking, when the people with ‘non fair’ skin colour are called black, the impact can be analogized with the inanimate umbrella—in absorption as well as radiation. When people are addressed as ‘black’ and abused subsequently, these abuses steel them and increase their resilience. Since energy is always conserved, the abuses are absorbed and translated into a commensurate determination (useful heat as mentioned earlier, in one of the utilities of Melanin)—manifest in their action(s)—Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King—to name a couple of them who typify such individuals. And exemplified—glorified as well, and not without reason(s)—most recently by the election of Barack Obama as the President of The United States of America. The more you expose these individuals to unfair treatment(s), the more determined they become to radiate these abuses in the form of power they go on to acquire—deservedly—and exude.

So beware how you refer to the skin colour, black. If it is as a matter of fact then it perfectly all right. But if ‘black’ is pronounced with disdain, laced with sarcasm—then you know what to expect.

I know I have stated the obvious in my preceding, innumerable lines. But it has been for a cause. To sate my own self, couldn’t be oblivious of the obvious!

When we know—the utilities of Melanin, what happens in its absence and we also know the simple fact that it is the content of Melanin in the skin that decides the skin colour, not the person concerned, why this fuss over the darker hue of skin colour.

It is simply a colour, which cannot decide the identity of a person. Thus is it not advisable and logical and most importantly, desirable, that we shed this Monochromatic Vision?

If not, then ‘racists’ of all ‘race’ and ‘variety’ should be rendered ‘albinos’—if only to make them realise the simple fact and appreciate Melanin, irrespective of its content. This would render their vision at last Polychromatic.

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.