Triple Century

The map is not the territory. --Alfred Korzybski
Or take this simply. The blog is not the real world but its a route for me to become Neo from Mr. Anderson. I am on rampage enough to publish 300th post on my beloved blog. I congratulate myself in the sense of vanity and proud over this. Driven by basic instinct to compose and compile all crazy ideas at one place seems flourishing now. I could have easily forgotten this triple centurion post like previous centuries but Amit reminded that I was near triple century. And first time someone appreciated that my words are a source of inspiration. Hence celebrating mine minor joy in full pomp and show. Thank you Amit for your kind words...

You Should Write Blogs by Steve Yegge.
It is most most most pushing article that prompted me to write my bakwaas or preachings as a blogger. It explains why should I blog inspite of the fear and anxiety. Most people give various reasons why not to write something in the life .
Reason #1: I'm too busy.
Reason #2: I'm afraid to put my true thoughts on public record.
Reason #3: Nobody will read my blog.
Reason #4: Blogging is narcissistic.

It has ended these speculations and doubts. The trick has worked for drifter like me, hence it will help you also. Let me put up here opening stanza for preview:

"This is certainly the most important thing I'll ever say in my blogs: YOU should write blogs. Even if nobody reads them, you should write them. It's become pretty clear to me that blogging is a source of both innovation and clarity. I have many of my best ideas and insights while blogging. Struggling to express things that you're thinking or feeling helps you understand them better."

My Output:
I also insist that everyone should write: blog or no blog. Originality isn’t everything. In the world of art and design, originality is highly prized, but sometimes the emphasis is a bit too strong. The point of design isn’t to be original, but to speak a message effectively. If a highly original design does it, so much the better. But sometimes you have to reach to the readers by lowering your standards a little bit. I always insist that the message shouldn't be lost between simile and metaphors. And blah blah blah....

Puneet Jain has also started blog - Rehgujar
I am sure that I will left something behind at blogland, not cease like someone who took something away with him. Just wanted to sing: Yeh honsla kaise jhuke, Yeh aarzoo kaise ruke.

Dumpimg Ideas & Weblinks

Talking of ‘IP’, here’s what Krzysztof Zanussi has said about it. (Source)

“Intellectual property, to me, is important because I benefit from it when sometimes, author’s rights are paid to me. However, I doubt it from the moral point of view that intellectual property should ever be protected. I want to be popular and I want my work to be accessible to anybody who wants to read it.

When I saw pirated cassettes of my films in Russia I wanted to embrace the seller because they bhad taken pains to make it accessible. I found pirated DVDs of my films in China and was proud. I probably lost some money, but what a joy. There is a contradiction between my desire to be accessible to anybody who is interested in my work and my greed to be paid for it. I was paid for making the film.

In fact any intellectual who is defending his property has already been paid for it, and now we want something extra. I am not in a position to find a solution to this issue. I have participated in a number of sessions about author’s rights and I have seen pressure being mounted on poor countries like Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan. Steven Spielberg feels victimized because his author’s rights have not been respected in these countries.

I do not feel emotionally towards the law. I am for the people who want to see these films free. They have been deprived of money and Spielberg is very well off anyway. So my sense of justice and my sense of law are in collision. As an artist, I have the right to point out this problem.”

I have seen much of the good works of American and world cinema through torrents. The huge amount of download culture in college has helped me a lot in making collection of pirated dvd gems. I oppose intellectual piracy of the bollywood copy cats, still watch cinema with the help of piracy. As an artist, I have the right to point out this dilemna. I need suggesation in this case from the blog readers (if any) as it is hypocrite in practice. And funny thing is that, I am currently doing a distance learning course on IP rights. Where I stand in this ethical fight of copyright and copyleft (this terminology exist) ? Few noteworthy reading weblinks

1- Rethinking handloom -A look at cotton handloom industry of India. Weavers are children of a lesser god in India.
2- Why Arabs lose wars? - A look from the POV of retired U.S. Army colonel.
3- The return of history and the end of dreams - It emphazises that history repeats itself by looking at current world power order.
4- Unto This Last (1860): Four Essays On The First Principles Of Political Economy by John Ruskin. It is said to have influenced Mahatma Gandhi on his views on economics and society.
5- A take on Sach ka Samna by Santosh Desai.
6- The other side of education and Education's five fault lines .

This weblinks are motivated by line - 'Empty yourself totally, Become a Nothingness, Only then you would feel a sense of Completeness'.

Insight Look of Beautiful Minds

Literacy specialists say that giving children a say in what they read can help motivate them. “If your goal is simply to get them to read more, choice is the way to go.” I am presenting here few interviews and speeches given by beautiful minds who are/were shaping our thinking.

1- Uttarpara Speech by Sri Aurobindo in 1909. Aurobindo made this speech after his release from prison, where he had been incarcerated on charges of conspiracy to murder an English magistrate.

Another speech of Sri Aurobindo when he was requested by the All India Radio, Thiruchirapalli, to give a message for India's independence. This is the message which was broadcast from the All India Radio on the 14th of August 1947.

2- Edward R. Murrow gives a speech at RTNDA Convention, Chicago on October 15, 1958. He is famous for bringing down of 'McCarthysim' in America. A movie 'Good night, and good luck' inspired me reproduce his speech about power & responsibilities of journalism. He has quoted that :

"We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty. We must remember always that accusation is not proof and that conviction depends upon evidence and due process of law. We will not walk in fear, one of another. We will not be driven by fear into an age of unreason, if we dig deep in our history and our doctrine, and remember that we are not descended from fearful men -- not from men who feared to write, to speak, to associate and to defend causes that were, for the moment, unpopular."

Source - Edward R. Murrow:A Report on Senator Joseph R. McCarthy; See it Now (CBS-TV, March 9, 1954)

3- Two rare interviews of social activist and writer Mahasweta Devi. She is Jnanpith winner and committed to the rehabilitation of tribals. The interviews are: By Outlook India and Rediff.

4- A Conversation with Uday Prakash about his works is presented here. Uday Prakash is emerging Hindi writer of current era.

5- Last but not least, I found a useful article written as an 'Advice to a Young Artist' for young scholars understanding the world around him/ her.

Yeh hai mera India

Why people in India die for the government service?

I got the indirect answer of not only this question but few more by an article by Gurcharan Das. It explains our mindset and employment of large amount of workers in unorganised sector.

"India's labour laws protect jobs, not workers. They assume that a job is for a lifetime, and do not allow employers flexibility to lay off workers in a downturn. Thus, Indian companies avoid hiring permanent employees, and 90 per cent of India's workers have ended up in the informal sector without any benefits or safety net. This is one of the reasons that the manufacturing sector has not become an engine of mass employment in India."

One more worth reading page about India's tryst with corruption is available for readers. Your concern and opinions are welcome.

Candid Beauty

Henry David Thoreau, US Transcendentalist author (1817 - 1862) quotes this paragraph in Walden (1854): "I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived … I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear; nor did I wish to practice resignation, unless it was quite necessary. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life, to cut a broad swath and shave close, to drive life into a corner, and reduce it to its lowest terms..."

Every time I watch 'Dead Poet's Society' or read 'Walden', this photo appears in my mind. Sitting under this tree had given me a sense of calmness and sense to enjoy natural beauty. The photo is taken in Germany where I visited for summer internship. I had written my one line poem describing this blog here only.

"दो लम्हे का जीवन है, एक क्षण उन्माद का, एक क्षण आह्लाद का, बस इतना ही जियूँगा!"