Monday, November 30, 2015
Start ups ecosystem and how we evolve depends on how we evaluate.
Start ups
ecosystem and how we evolve depends on how we evaluate.
The problem is as rightly said is due to ecosystem.
We cannot deny or defy the importance of anything because
sometimes the best things happen from unplanned and unexpected sources. However,
this cannot be taken as a rule to be followed.
But at the same time let us be also open to take suggestions
which come from any source.
A serious entrepreneur cannot afford to ignore the advice by
a non profession uncle/aunt with serious and sincere intention, interest and in
some case intuition too.
Accessibility to information is assumed as knowledge, experience,
expertise, and worse still, sometimes even construed or confused as specialization.
The problem of the ecosystem is because everyone is feeling compelled to mimic media
reporters and TV anchors and try to act as know all or judge all experts on every issue
or individual even without doing necessary
ground work or reference.
At the same time it is also true that professionalism need
not necessarily happen due to mere academic qualification or long time
occupation or association with any particular activity.
It also must be accepted and acknowledged that human beings
in greater number have evolved intellectually to a very great extent,
particularly in recent times with more emphatic awareness on many issues and
this coupled with hugely available and easily accessible material on many domains
has enabled many people to know something about everything though there may be
only a few who may bother to know or really know everything about something. In
short there are many Jacks Of All Trades in the world now than at earlier
generations.
Incidentally today’s [30th November 2015] tweet by
@scientifact is, “The
"Original Thought Theory" states that anything anyone can ever say, has
already been said by someone else.”
So, having got some idea about and acknowledged that the
ecosystem harbors lot of unsolicited and unreliable advises it is upon the individual/promoter/entrepreneur
to have more clarity on what he/she wants to do and make appropriate choices and
decisions based on correct evaluation relevant to the requirement and context
without letting too many extraneous considerations to confuse the decision making.
These words choice,
decision, evaluation etc are indeed difficult to describe exactly
because they have multiple meanings and
are impregnated with immense sense and extraordinary significance capable of
delivering great results when actually applied to the context.
Therefore the ecosystem also offers a positive element, like
information overload, lot of data, various suggestions, many facts, myriads of
documented records of experiences etc.
So most importantly we can avoid these usual traps while exploring the facts we must desist
getting distracted by:-
Mutilating the facts,
Analyzing them with preconceived notions or prejudices,
Generalizing the particular and particularizing the general,
Approaching facts with unloving criticism or uncritical love,
Evaluating facts with our pet isms or philosophies,
Resorting to
statistical justifications,
Unleashing unworkable utopia,
Mask them with logical fallacies,
Mute them in pleasant jargons, and
Give historical justifications
Comprehend with
confirmation bias or pre conceived conclusions
Trying to over
simplify the complicated and over complicate the simple factors/aspects.
On matters of evaluation I have studied, written a lot and experienced
through bitter experiences in many spheres that life’s churning process [which
includes all areas of business as well] is not that easy to decipher nor can we be
assured what it throws up but that does not mean that we have to be passive
spectators or pusillanimous persons relying on conjectures and gamble without
rules, plans, perspectives, methods, measures etc
On evaluation even great research works like the bulky ‘Evaluation: A Systematic Approach‘ by Peter H. Rossi, Mark W. Lipsey, and Howard E.
Freeman first published get
such reviews like ‘There is never any clear instruction about how one should
begin an evaluation or how one should proceed’.
The most comprehensive book on evaluations ‘ Making Evaluation Matter-a practical guide for
evaluators’ by Cecile Kusters with Simone van Vugt, Seerp Wigboldus, Bob
Williams and Jim Woodhill also emphasizes
certain factors repeatedly and predominantly they are context/situation,
situational responsiveness, stake holders, inherent qualities of the project
/program/person being evaluated ,multiple roles, consequence awareness etc
Even this material also throws lot of light on evaluation
‘American Journal of Evaluation-2011-Smith-565-99.pdf
Here I am tempted
to quote, “Friend to Groucho Marx: “Life is hard…” Grouch Marx to Friend: “Compared to what?”
Friday, November 27, 2015
Music season -2015
December music festival season 2015
Wish all the
artists a great season with more rasikas attending them.
I am happy some
artists are honest about it that they would like to have at least one tenth the
number of friends that they have in facebook and whatsapp to be present during their
concerts.
This honest
acceptance and sorry situation must also lead us to some realization to rectify
certain short comings and effect the necessary changes, if possible.
First we need
to set right certain very simple things that are to listen and enjoy a karnatik
music concert one need not necessarily require great knowledge but only sharp
ears and better listening with interest. So there need not be any inhibition.
Do we have any
inhibition to watch movies in India where most often when anyone falls in love
with another person of the opposite sex [ I do not want to misuse the word hero
or heroine] immediately they must dance and run in a beach, preferably in
Mauritius or Australia with a group of at least ten other people changing the
attire every two minutes; or hold hands, safest way to get censor board clearance,
in a mall at Singapore or in front of some internationally labeled monument or
swing near a waterfalls?
Actually till
date, at least personally, I have not understood this type of love making at
all.
Do we have any
inhibition to watch a very angry person with a gun or big sword holding it and
delivering a lecture to his enemy, longer than the ones I have ever heard in my
college days, and then after the enemy escapes jump over buildings, hang on to the
wings of plane etc to catch the enemy to continue the lecture!
I can never
understand these anyway.
Nor do I have
any objection? Who am I to question them anyway? But nor do I see anyone
attempting to do social engineering in these art forms questioning why love
making must be done only in that way? Why shooting an enemy must be done only
after a lecture etc?
There are
consumers and producers so from making films we now manufacture them to suit
the tastes of the consumers or we have effectively conditioned the consumers to
want only such products ad nausea.
So it is not
just about concerts and crowds, lack of knowledge or inhibition etc.
It is a
manifestation of many of our attitudinal problems starting from lack of
patience; unwillingness, ignorance and indifference to learn of art of
appreciation and want of aesthetic sensitivity; confusing and evaluating a
particular art form with irrelevant and illogical comparisons and evaluations; trying
to deprive it of its very essential ingredients; smudging it with clumsy
political overtones; performing most of the things more as a ritual rather than
with real reverence for substance; worst part
criticizing performers/performance on things unrelated to music and indirectly
in general belittle the very art through various means despite the fact that the people who do these
may not ultimately gain any great tangible benefit out if it.
Everything knows
its own evolutionary process, and I think karnatik music is too great to succumb
to squeezing by small minds and smaller crowds.
Classical music and Natyams are not a few sabhas centric
activities, nor are they a few artists centric nor a few media houses centric
nor a few institutions centric.
They are massive universes where in all these are either
significant or not so significant planets moving about either with or without
life.
Excuse me for
trying to over generalize but these are some observations that I made as a naïve
listener who also happen to be an avid rasika with very little knowledge.
The fact is
nowadays there are more performers than Rasikas.
Even the
rasikas are hard pressed for time; traffic is an excuse, many other options
available on audio-visual media and internet etc; besides many do not have the luxury
of attending so many concerts and for long duration. There are also many
genuine constraints.
People want
something of everything in anything; you can call it multiplex mentality or
masala movie syndrome [ I remember a popular but learned producer when asked
why he was making such silly movies mixing everything in a particular theme
said ‘baba Hindi movie mei masala chahiye sab cheese ko thoda thoda aur kuche
bhi nei choda] because we would like to have a short go at everything, a brief
peep into something then a peck at something else.
For example this
is the 20th topic that I am reading or writing in the past 10 hours.
That’s why search engines are more popular than old reference books or library.
The performers
and sabhas all will have to pay more attention to acoustics, here in though I
am tempted to explain in detail many unpleasant things in Karnatik music circuit
I prefer to exercise restraint.
Besides, the distractions
are too many like operating mobiles and lap tops during concerts, in addition
to the usual constant chatting with others etc.
More often many
concerts are performed very ritualistically without substance by some artists who are more conscious about impressing with
rendering of more kritis, more complicated pieces beyond their expertise, capacity
of their lung power, strength of their vocal chords etc which deprives music of its bhava and leaves the
listener dissatisfied.
More than
everything else there are too many programs crammed in a very short span which
has its own share of votaries in the form of status quo addicts who want it for
various reasons some valid some mere justifications put forth/assigned to
vindicate their position.
All said and
done there is a festive mood and there are some who enjoy it.
Too much of
questioning may end up winding it up. So we need to find more ways and means as
to how to not only uphold the rich tradition but also update/upgrade it in such
way without depriving it of its musical richness and make the tradition to an
appealing transformation through a very effective, acceptable, pleasant but
without compromising any component of musical richness through some form of
transition which some senior musicians are already doing or attempting to do.
Emphasis must
be more on expressing the joy that one derives out of music, the experiences that
one has enjoyed through the journey of music rather than exhibiting the technical
skills, though they are also necessary but the emphasis must be more of bhava.
I sometimes
wonder whether artists should be bothered at all about the number of concerts
they perform, time slots of their concerts etc especially during December music
season.
I wish all
artists realize that the greatness of an artist is neither the number of
concerts he/she performs nor the crowd of rasikas that flock to their concerts
or the slot that they get to perform nor even in the awards that they get etc.
I have given below
some links which can/may be used as reference to
1. Can we
deprive carnatic music of its main ingredients? This was as a reply to someone writing
some aspects of carnatic music as being a hindrance to its development
2. What contributes to greatness?
Recently while
writing about science I wrote this small piece and I think this applies to many
domains of human activity. http://contentwriteups.blogspot.in/2015/10/real-greatness-of-science.html
3. Distraction from
karnatic music through irrelevant priorities
4. Why at any
cost we must try to promote carnatic music actively
5. Dress code
is not a major contributory factor to carnatic music
6. 2013 Music
festival
7. There is definitely
a need for transition and transformation without compromising too much on
tradition because in ancient classical art forms tradition acts as a measuring
tool and also set the rules /grammar so one cannot totally deviate with
carefree abandon
8. Carnatic music
will gloriously survive in all its splendor despite everything else.
Page 141of ‘Becoming Indian’ by Pavan K. Varma
“When people are the subjects of their own culture, their
creative expression has self –assuredness and spontaneity, so they create a
unique and effective language of communication even when the grammar is
imperfect. This is because the idiom is authentic. But when people become
objects of a foreign culture, a huge transformation takes place. Suddenly, a
creative work is judged not for its intrinsic value, or for the heritage it is
sourced from or is a part of, but for the degree to which it is comprehensible
and conforms to the outsider’s culture. The process is all the more mutilating
if the outsider belongs to the dominant political or military power of the time
[or a putrefied political ideology-italics mine], and there is necessary
prejudice, condescension and prurience in his gaze. When this happens, spontaneity
reduces itself to self –conscious mediocrity; creativity seeks to qualify
itself [to some irrelevant yard stick]; authenticity gives way to
imitation; self –assurance is replaced by denial. An entire culture attempts to
reinterpret itself in terms that will somehow win the dominant outsider’s
approval. The ‘objectified’ people then thrive only as exotica; their historic
role becomes that of the observed; everything external about them –and nothing
of intrinsic value-is collated, classified and investigated. They finally end
up as caricatures, divorced from their own cultural milieu and perpetually
alien-in spite of their best efforts at emulation-to that of the outsider.” [What
is more pathetic is the hitherto insiders getting converted into outsiders causing
chaos]
Please note: All things written in this quote in brackets and in
italics are mine.
Wednesday, November 25, 2015
Proclaiming intentions better than policy paralysis and pretensions
I have always wondered how all spy stories, theories, actual
spying, security inputs, intelligence gathering and sharing are over powered by
the multi pronged but masked international political manipulations or threats,
enhanced further by advanced technology.
Besides as most people do not have real access to many micro
details of military intelligence, security inputs and therefore any or all
debates by people who are not in the thick of these activities are bound to be
inadequate to that extent and sometimes could at best be possibilities/possible
dreams/wishes weaved around perceptions that one has based on different
narrations and claims.
But having read many political criticisms and analysis and
works by and about Henry Kissinger’s, Churchill, Disraeli, Thatcher and gleaning
through history of politics or politics of history in today’s contextual
perspective some of the old models are still worth adopting but not all of them
because the narrative of international and intra national relations are defined
by various factors and are inextricably interconnected in many ways due to
evolving necessities of civilization and
exigencies of economy.
So any aggressive war as real estate acquisition activity or
even territorial claim /protection with armed aggression may be only
counterproductive and inflict more loss to all sides.
What works more
effectively is of course as always propaganda, power-both economic and
political; in addition powerful pals in international community and activities
like diplomatic wheedling and so on.
The notions of
perceived threats and presumed enemies as being confined in any particular
geographical location is also not always correct as can be seen in many
undeclared wars and attacks from within in many places.
So, no nation is willing to take any obsessive paranoiac
declared stand against any other nation, more so any neighbor, unless it is
inevitable as in some specific cases.
It is always burden
or risk rather than any benefit by being a friend or an enemy of a whole group
of people steeped in tradition and unwilling to adapt to evolving trends of
civilization. This applies to groups on both extremes of the spectrum the
radical and pusillanimous.
Specifically regarding Tibet, as they belong to the second
category indicated above i.e a very timid race. Even in 2014 many Tibetians
were only self immolating in thousands without either bravely fighting or
garnering ideological support from any nation or even realizing that they need
to look at and rectify their short comings in the present generation.
I think psychologically and practically as a nation its
citizens will have to start living in sync with the present times which will be
the only liberating factor for them as a nation.
India cannot afford to be their patron or protector. Morally
we can sympathize with their plight, but practically we have nothing to gain
irrespective of whatever happens to Tibet because if we take it as our task it
will be more of a burden of feeding a few lakh monks and Sherpas who are not going
to be of any use to anyone. They have refused to get updated in a highly
competitive, cut throat, cunning, corrupt world of political maneuvering.
So, in my view proclaiming an intention is an important
step, but obviously not the ultimate goal or even an effective tool which
everyone including those who are proclaiming it, are aware of and they do not
need to take lesson on international diplomacy from any news room reporter.
What is of greater importance is to make other nations change their perception
of us as a nation with dignity and take note of us rather than either ignore us
or look down at us but interact with us with due diplomatic respect and
relevance in larger scheme of things.
At any time in a nation’s life proclaiming intentions, that
too positive intentions, is better than policy paralysis and pretensions.
Saturday, November 21, 2015
Art Of Writing
A need for Swatch Bharath in Literary
circles- Sahitya Academy raise to the occasion- an intolerant appeal from a
tolerant citizen.
In brief language
is the queen of sciences and king of arts because all arts and sciences can be
expressed and explained fully; enjoyed and experienced at least to a certain
extent through language.
Language helps
better understanding of many things.
So there is
no need to explain further as from religious scriptures to political speeches
to all scripts, to research findings to song lyrics are weaved out of words of
some language.
The
greatness of language over any other medium like music, painting, science etc
is its unhindered, unlimited access to any or many or almost all dimensions of
life known and perceivable to human beings. In that aspect language is
omnipotent in its influence and impact.
As a medium
it uses two methods Oral [speaking] and written [writing].
Whether it
is used to express and explain thoughts, ideas, concepts, facts, events,
actions, reactions, feelings, imagination, stories, discoveries, descriptions,
fantasies, social, religious, cultural systems, dreams etc determine the
favorite frame of reference of the speaker or writer.
Whatever is
the frame of reference it is wrong and very narrow to generalize writings, all
writings as having something to do with some political ideology. There cannot
be more degrading view about writing.
One person’s
writings on any subject/topic may manifest a tinge of or totality of some regional
culture; another’s may manifest a tinge of or totality of some local festival; another’s
may manifest a tinge of or totality of the fantasies he/she dreams of; another’s
may manifest a tinge of or totality of rational /philosophical approach in
everything.
So the level
discussion about writing in general in our Sahitya academy reveals a very conditioned
and confined mentality which is not at all healthy for the nation.
As we are
after almost six decades trying to take great strides in economic development ,
scientific activities, technological achievements etc we also need to pay
attention to ensure to revive the glorious literary traditions of our nation
which have been gifted to the world through great literary descriptions of Kalidasa,
the great epics of Valmiki and Vyasa etc; to great philosophical literature through many
scholars starting from Adi shankara through Swami Vivekananda to Shri Auro
Bindou to Rabindra Nath Tagore to Kabir to Kamban to JK to Osho etc and also
synchronize them with great writings of the globe in various languages. Kindly
excuse me for not mentioning many great works in many great languages of India
as the list will be too big and besides I have not savored them in their original
language.
The hall
mark of most ancient literature in India has been the unbiased, unconditioned
and board minded expression in any topic they chose, never shunning anything
out of any bias, that’s why as a civilization, perhaps Bharath was, perhaps the
first country to have a detailed discussion in atheism through scriptures.
So, at any
cost the literary scenario has to be saved from the narrow gutters of political
ideology peddlers, especially the self proclaimed leftists who have appropriated
the label of intelligentsia. It is actually a very good sign that some among them
have realized the need to clean the literary scene by coming forward to return their
awards voluntarily.
It is a good
beginning, let Government of India/Ministry of Culture/Sahitya Academy etc please gracefully accept all the awards
returned back and give it to those scholars who have been denied them for narrow
political reasons.
By doing this we can fulfill the need for Swatch Bharath in
Literary circles.
Friday, November 20, 2015
Drops
DROPS in ocean of sensible political governance sometimes
becomes more visible.
DROPS-stands
for Demonstrations Rallies Opposing Protesting and Sloganeering.
This
mixed with the media mafia nexus with
leftover Left lunatics engineering irrelevant issue to divert voters acted as a
heady cocktail with unpleasant hangover and headache ahead for Nitish from Lalu.
They instigate people
between two extremes of phobia and philia.
The script is basically
this: Leftist ideologies create an atmosphere in all places, in all ages
leaving people culture less, pride less, identity less living a life in vacuous
inanity and nurtured inferiority complex and a sense of victim hood where there
is none.
It was initially used as a political brainwashing technique as a ploy
to play by magnifying the societal disparities to dislodge the Empires in many
parts of the world but then gradually these self appointed leaders of socialist
movements and leftist ideologies gradually replaced the kings and carried on
the same atrocities and enjoyed the same privileges as the kings knowing well
that they could easily intoxicate the masses with catchy slogans, brainwashing
ideological sign posts, selective presentation of victim hood etc and in India
since only this breed was subservient to a particular family and also
clandestinely acted as a conduit of funds to many this breed was promoted with
a label called Intelligentsia and they created their own parasites and parrots
in many institutions and media houses.
They are actually not even interested in
Muslims , otherwise they would helped many Muslims to come out of poverty and
got many more girls well educated .
They just misuse them for promotion of
their own selfish agenda through exploiting them.
But now as more and more
Muslim youth in India are seeing the reality these leftover Left and their
other affiliated and afflicted beneficiaries are undergoing a identity crisis
and holding on,
like a sinking man, to
the last straw the MSM.
Left are so desperate to survive after scripting all
sorts of nonsense and instigating peace loving workers in all spheres of life
through imagined stories of victim hood and illusions of ill treatment.
Ensuring lack of development of Kerala and West Bengal, despite great
scholars and excellent people, is a testimony to their outdated and unworkable
ideological fixations.
Today Karat talks of copying RSS where leaders don’t
nominate their wives and where service is prioritized.
Spirituality and leadership
A great speech /article by jaggi Vasudevji
Is Spirituality Relevant to Leadership?
If remember correctly I have shared two of his interviews in the recent past in my FB wherein he talks in detail about this. Much more in detail and lucid enough for people to understand.
There are very few souls who have the fortune of perceiving most of the dimensions and fewer still who can really communicate with excellent verbal articulation to make people at least get a glimpse of their real wisdom gained through what one may call real communion with the universal spirit.
We can name a few like JK, Osho, Neale Donald Walsch, Ramana Maharishi, Turumoolar [though he is a bit tough to understand]. By reading their works we may at least try to grasp bits and pieces of wisdom and more importantly apply at least a fragment of what we have understood in all aspects of life.
But on the question of spirituality itself as to what it is ? what is soul? can we ever understand it etc involves study of lot of things unless we are blessed with the grace of having a direct and spontaneous understanding.
Here are some pieces on spirituality
Is Spirituality Relevant to Leadership?
Not only leadership ,life in general is made of multiple dimensions and most of which we are not even aware of due to various reasons.
If remember correctly I have shared two of his interviews in the recent past in my FB wherein he talks in detail about this. Much more in detail and lucid enough for people to understand.
There are very few souls who have the fortune of perceiving most of the dimensions and fewer still who can really communicate with excellent verbal articulation to make people at least get a glimpse of their real wisdom gained through what one may call real communion with the universal spirit.
We can name a few like JK, Osho, Neale Donald Walsch, Ramana Maharishi, Turumoolar [though he is a bit tough to understand]. By reading their works we may at least try to grasp bits and pieces of wisdom and more importantly apply at least a fragment of what we have understood in all aspects of life.
But on the question of spirituality itself as to what it is ? what is soul? can we ever understand it etc involves study of lot of things unless we are blessed with the grace of having a direct and spontaneous understanding.
Here are some pieces on spirituality
Time and change
Time and
change have become inevitable part of our life because through them, either as
measuring tools or as describing our observations, we grasp or try to express
and explain the inevitable metamorphosis of life.
The only
reality is life unfolding itself constantly through various manifestations of
metamorphosis.
All the rest
are ambiences of life [as Jaggi Vasudevji says because
there are dimensions of life beyond the logically definable parameters]
or accretions that we choose to understand life.
I am sharing some of my small write ups and some posts in my blog for
those who have time and patience to read.
Various
perceptions about time in brief
Is chronology
an intrinsic part of life
Change and
why it is sometimes not liked / accepted with warmth
Wednesday, November 18, 2015
What needs to be prioritized for India?
The
galaxies of scholars/personalities who have contributed a wonderful write up please
also ensure two items highlighted in this write up in yellow are prioritized
over everything else.
The
issues discussed are not new but the attitude towards them has changed from
that of being passive, mute, meek and submissive spectators to at least starting
to listen to and to be more precise starting to get access to the other side of
the story, which in many cases happens to be true and which would have led
Indians to be proud of their ancestry.
But
unfortunately the other side of the story has been methodically and
intentionally hidden thus for.
There
is no point in doing a post mortem and pointing fingers as to why no one
actively took it up all these years.
However
we need to acknowledge without prejudice all the issues discussed here without
blindly taking sides based on multiple ideological or doctrinal identities.
I
have been upset and squirming like many others with impotent and frustrated
anger at not being able to do much about the blatant lies peddled by massive
forces for more than a few centuries. So it is not easy to undo all that
assiduously developed and enormously funded lies in the name of history with
one common factor that of total indifference or active suppression of India’s
contributions and greatness.
The
great works of philosophical concepts which delineate and describe many vital
aspect of life of individual and his relationship to the society at large as
well his emancipation as soul in its journey for further realization or
emancipation from the works of Swami Vivekananda or Sri Aurobindo or Sri Ramana
Maharishi etc [ I mean /refer to their non religious but philosophical works]
never found any mention in many reference works be it Dictionary of philosophy
of Dagobert David Runes [ a big old volume of which used to be at Madras
University with a dirty red binding and I used to sit for hours and read that
in 1979 to understand various philosophies] or many other encyclopedias
emanating from various popular publications.
So
I used to wonder how come such great and good works went unmentioned or just
mentioned as a passing reference.
Then
I realized that what matters in most matters is the combination of certain
factors which contextually had a predominant impact and formed part of human
evolution as social beings with national boundaries and limited resources to
that extent.
Two among them are predominantly attracting out
attention, namely,
A] Authority and power which makes the world to sit up
and listen to you
B] The extent to which you provide utility value for them
at least through well documented accounts of knowledge you have had in a
language and idiom that they can understand.
This
is obvious in any sphere that is why technological innovations get funded more
than pure scientific research because of
its greater tangible utility and user friendly benefits, though researches in
pure science is the foundation on which technologies are built.
Similarly
the best form of authority and power that was respected and that has ruled the
world in the past few centuries, when human knowledge dissemination,
information sharing etc progressed enormously, has been largely due to economic
prosperity and all its concomitant manifestations which have had such enormous
impact, in many cases, rightly so, because they have enabled human progress
much quicker in many spheres, made life more comfortable and pleasant in many
activities etc.
However
it is also true that they have had their own share of negative influences in
terms of penetration into all spheres of human life.
Our
greatest failure has been paying lack of attention to economic development and
material prosperity both at individual level and as a social phenomenon.
We
assumed that it was not part of or sometimes even deluded ourselves into
believing that it was not one of the sacred aspects of life so why bother about
it.
Regarding
documentation, since we relied so much on oral tradition and imparting
everything only to those interested in knowing we were pathetically short on much
scientific documented evidence for many of the excellence that we had or at
least claim to have had as others put it.
Even
a Swami Vivekanda, Sri Aurobindo, Bhagwan Ramana Maharishi were known to the world because of two factors one their willingness to come out
of insulations of hermitic life, ability to communicate in a Westerner’s
language and also some Westerners who found and felt the need to spread their
invaluable wisdom to the whole world.
In
mathematics Ramanujam was unearthed and announced to the world by a Westerner;
Bose too had to face a similar fact.
So
as the adage goes better late than never, we must now put everything else
behind us or keep them in abeyance as a part of hidden agenda and ulterior
motive.
Please note that hidden agenda has to remain hidden and
ensconced in diplomatic terms and delicate hypocritical posturing as most noble cause peddling NGOs do in most
parts of the world to ensure that they do not end up hindering the main agenda through
adverse publicity by the lunatics who have suppressed our great history and
divert the attention.
Truth
must preferably better not to be presented through any brutal or in any blunt
manner.
So,
we need to prioritize two things now, in the present context of
human evolution.
One emphasize and ensure economic development in all
spheres which will empower many Indians and establish the authority and position
of India as a powerful nation or at least allow the present government of BJP
to do that;
Two establish institutions of governance with
transparency and simplicity which can deliver the benefits of economic
development to percolate to as many Indians as possible so India as a nation
and Indians as individuals are respected and looked up to.
We can achieve all these in a grand manner because we
have innumerable people willing to deliver, immense potential, innovative
technologies, increased opportunities, itching youth who want economic
development.
Once
this is accomplished over a period of one or two decades then all the hidden
agenda can surface safely.
The glory of our
philosophy is so connected with life it will be adopted in any case ultimately
for human welfare.
Having
written all these I would like to share with those who have time to read to go
through some of my write ups on almost most of the issues discussed in the
write up at different times like:-
When
issues concerning left appropriating labels of intelligentsia and liberal
through media is not only aiding and abetting such a crime but also enhancing
it through its tentacles of publicity and propaganda;
Hypocrisy-
how all of us are subjected to it and also manifest it at various times because
we do/follow many great things with a flippant ritualistic attitude just for the
sake of doing it or for social acceptance or for publicity; damages and
destructions by the left and why rightfully it will be left in the lurch by its
own sponsors i.e. the media sooner or later;
We
love gloating too much in our past glory without bothering to live in the
present context with relevance;
We
need to define things clearly and proceed with a definite plan of action.
We
must not jump into anything because it
is sensational, savored by the media, sponsored by some vested interest groups
/individuals who may have their own hidden agenda etc.
Leftist ideologies create an atmosphere in all places, in all
ages leaving people culture less, pride less, identity less living a life in
vacuous inanity and nurtured inferiority complex and a sense of victim hood where
there is no such victimhood.
It was initially used as a political brainwashing technique
as a ploy to play by magnifying the societal disparities to dislodge the
Empires in many parts of the world but then gradually these self appointed
leaders of socialist movements and leftist ideologues gradually replaced the
kings and carried on the same atrocities and enjoyed the same privileges as the
kings knowing well that they could easily intoxicate the masses with catchy
slogans, brainwashing ideological sign posts, selective presentation of victim
hood etc.
The following link carries an article reproduced
These are my write ups on various
issues.
The mafia managers are
The means available with everyone
to fight the above mafia are
We need patience having waited for
centuries at least give a decade to MODI to accomplish the vision and mission
needed for India
Sunday, November 15, 2015
International Day of Tolerance.
International Day of Tolerance.
The What? How? and Why? of Tolerance.
Also what it has got to do with Peace and how can we bring about peace?
Tolerance also requires knowing fully the impact, influence, interrelation of the
entire gamut of religions,identities &evolutionary trends etc
and getting rid off things which are contextually irrelevant .
The What? How? and Why? of Tolerance.
Also what it has got to do with Peace and how can we bring about peace?
Tolerance also requires knowing fully the impact, influence, interrelation of the
entire gamut of religions,identities &evolutionary trends etc
and getting rid off things which are contextually irrelevant .
Saturday, November 14, 2015
Why only few words for smell in most languages?
Why only few words for smell in most
languages?
The reasons could be many, for that matter even for taste
basically is classified only into 6 categories.
When it is a topic with a mixture of linguistics and biology
two scholars automatically come across my mind one Steven Pinker and Guy
Murchie.
The problem gets further complicated because over ‘5
million nasal sensory cells are capable of detecting a few thousand smells
distinctly’ as we infer from The blind Traveller of James Holman and as Tristan
Gooley writes in The Natural Explorer; Understanding Your Landscape, “ smell
becomes a complex tapestry , squares of familiarity mixed with surprise, nostalgia
and intrigue”. Very well said and smell carries with it more of mental
associations with a predominance over other sensations. That’s why in the competition
of the two organs nose and mouth, very often even food is recognized more with the
smell than the taste, or at least the aroma precedes that of taste.
Smell seems to precede announcing either the expectation
or arrival of something. Sometimes even when we read the word coffee we start
smelling coffee, that’s why perhaps the expression ‘smell trouble’
Guy Murchie to my knowledge was the first question the
very classification of senses into a very limited number and went on to write about
Eleven [11] Senses of Radiation and Feeling,
Twenty-one [21] Senses of Chemistry, Mind and Spirit etc.
So I feel it is only appropriate that I glean into his works
as to why the number of words for smell has been limited. The italics and underlining gives out at
least a partial explanation as to why we cannot and do not have many words for
smell.
Guy Murchie in his excellent book The Seven Mysteries Of
life writes,
“The
primary smells, it turned out, are seven in number: camphoric, musky, floral,
minty, ethereal, pungent and putrid, each of them produced by various
molecules approximating a distinctive shape or having a definite electric
charge, and each smellable only when it is received in the right one of seven
different kinds of complementary cavities distributed among seven corresponding
areas in the molecular walls of the olfactory nerve cells. If these are
olfactory lies, it is because smell too is a kind of language.”
Guy Murchie writes further about smell:
“Linus Pauling announced the discovery in 1946 that
"a molecule the same shape as a camphor molecule will smell like camphor even
though it may be quite unrelated to camphor chemically."
And three years later R. W. Moncrieff reformulated the
whole lock-and key concept in modern terms, followed by John Amoore, who called
it the steric theory and, with the help of colleagues, pretty well established
it by demonstrating that odors, like colors, can be sorted into a few primary
ones of which all others are mixtures.”
“Even
though odors can be wafted great distances on the wind and the keenest scented
animals have proven they can detect a test aroma diluted to 10 ̄13 or only one
molecule in ten trillion of average air, it still is hard to believe the
confirmed reports that bloodhounds and other trained dogs have found a lost
wallet, a gun or a vial of heroin under tons of manure, or concealed in a
chemical factory reeking with fumes of sulfur or ammonia.”
“The
explanation seems to be that no smell can completely cancel or camouflage another
smell because the molecules both smells consist of are irretrievably diffused
throughout the air they are in, and any two or more simultaneous odors, no
matter how mixed, are smelled alternately in the olfactory cells and nerves,
even though the alternations may be only milliseconds apart.”
“Furthermore
a dog who has sniffed, say, a man's cap can later recognize any other part of
him and easily follow his trail because there are recognizable olfactory
relationships between body parts as well as between species, races, sexes,
ages, diets, diseases, neighborhoods, occupations or almost any other
classifications of life”.
“If
you want to avoid being tracked by a dog, then the first thing to do is wear
brand-new shoes or cover your old ones with untouched plastic bags, so that the
fewest possible molecules from your feet are left on the ground. But, in an
actual case, even if no telltale molecules from your body get left behind
(something manifestly impossible) an experienced dog may be able to follow you
by smelling
the
freshly crushed grass or disturbed soil where you stepped, for this is the
dog's specialty: he carries his nose close to the ground and the smelling part
of his brain is not only disproportionately large but specialized to detect
tiny traces of substances such as aliphatic acids in sweat that seep through
shoes and diffuse steadily outward in air. In fact smell to him is a little like
sound to a bat, giving him a degree of what we seeing-creatures call
visualization.”
“The rattler, for one, has at least four
"words" in his smell vocabulary. Besides his ambush scent of
cucumber, he switches to a terrifying effluvium when in combat, exudes a
socially somnific savor at hibernation time and wafts a love perfume when
looking for a mate.”
Besides all these the best way to convey smell is to
something that smells like that
Here I am reproducing words connected with smell,
especially adjective from my
Reverse Dictionary of
Adjectives
ABBREVIATIONS USED:
1) UTI – Used to indicate:
This I have arrived at after working for days together to find out a single suitable simple expression to explain or define adjectives and doing away with several introductory words/phrases used by dictionaries in defining adjectives, a comprehensive list of 37 such words and phrases like ‘able to ,apt to, capable of, pertaining to,’ etc are well compiled and mentioned by SIDNEY I LANDOU in the book ‘Dictionaries: The art and craft of lexicography.’
2) N-for indicating all negations be it a noun bearing prefixes –non, -in, etc or suffix –less, or for referring to contrary of an action or condition.
3) V-for indicating all intensities to avoid use of all the following terms such as :very, too, excessive, enormous etc either before and/ or after the noun or verb.
4) F-for indicating any fear or phobia.
5) S-for indicating any science, study, technique, art etc.
6) L-for indicating all likeness and avoid use of words like similar, shaped, like , form etc.
The four columns below indicate
Reverse Dictionary of
Adjectives
Keyword Connective ADJECTIVE Meaning
word
|
SMELL
|
SMELLABLE
|
PERCEIVING ODOUR
THROUGH THE NOSE
|
|
|
SMELL
|
BAD
|
FETID
|
UTI ABAD SMELL
|
|
SMELL
|
GOOD
|
FRAGRANT
|
UTI PLEASANT SMELL
|
|
SMELL ESP BAD SMELL
EMANATING FROM OUTH
|
HALITOTIC
|
BAD SMELL FROM MOUTH
|
|
|
SMELL BAD
|
REEKY
|
UTI BAD SMELL
|
|
|
SMELL BAD
|
RANCID
|
UTI BAD SMELL/TASTE
|
|
|
SMELL ESP BAD ONE
|
SMELLY
|
STH EMITTING BAD SMELL
|
|
|
SMELL ESP BOD BODY
SMELL(F)
|
BROMIDROSIPHOBIC
|
FEAR OF BAD BODY SMELL
|
|
|
SMELL ESP GOOD SMELL
PRODUCING
|
ODORIFEROUS/ODOROUS
|
STH THAT PRODUCES GOOD
SMELL
|
|
|
SMELL ESP
NOXIOUS/POISONOUS
|
MEPHITIC
|
STH NOXIOUS/POISONOUS
TO SMELL
|
|
|
SMELL ESP SENSE OF
SMELL
|
OLFACTORY
|
SENSE OF SMELL
|
|
|
SMELL ESP SENSE OF
SMELL(S)
|
OLFACTOLOGICAL
|
SCIENCE OF SENSE OF
SMELL
|
|
|
SMELL ESP SENSE OF
SMELL(V)
|
HYPEROSMIC
|
ABNORMAL SHARPNESS OF
SENSE OF SMELL
|
|
|
SMELL ESP SWEET
SMELLING
|
AROMATIC
|
STH SWEET SMELLING
|
|
|
SMELL GOOD
|
REDOLENT
|
UTI PLEASANT SMELL
|
|
|
SMELL OF GARLIC/ONION
|
ALLIACEOUS
|
SMELL OF GARLIC/ONION
|
|
|
SMELL OF MUSK
|
MOSCHATE/MOSCHINE
|
STH HAVING MUSK LIKE
ODOUR
|
|
|
SMELL OF OLD
FOOD/CLOSED ROOM ETC
|
MUSTY
|
ODOUR OF LONG CLOSED
ROOM/OLD FOOD
|
|
|
SMELL OFAN ANIMAL
|
CAPRYLIC
|
ODOUR OF AN ANIMAL
|
|
|
SMELL SENSATION(N)
|
ANOSMIC
|
ABSENCE OF SENSE OF
SMELL
|
|
|
SMELL THAT IS
|
PLEASANT
|
PERFUMY
|
STH THAT HAS PLEASANT
SMELL
|
|
SMELL THAT IS
|
PLEASANT
|
PERFUMY
|
STH THAT HAS PLEASANT
SMELL
|
|
SMELL THAT IS BAD/FOUL
|
STINKING/STINKY
|
STHFOUL-SMELLING
|
|
|
SMELL(N)
|
ANOSMATIC
|
LOSS OF SENSE OF SMELL
|
|
|
SMELL(N)
|
INODOROUS
|
SMELL(N)
|
|
|
SMELL(N)
|
ODORLESS
|
ABSENCE OF GOOD SMELL
|
|
|
SMELL(N)ESP PLEASANT
ONE
|
SCENTLESS
|
STH WITHOUT A PLEASANT
SMELL
|
|
|
SMELL(V)
|
OXYRHINE/RHYNOUS
|
SHARP NOSE/SHARP
SCENTEDNESS
|
|
|
SMELL,ESP SENSE OF
SMELL
|
OSPHRETIC
|
SENSE OF SMELL
|
|
|
SMELL,STH THAT CAUSES
|
TUMEFACIENT
|
CAUSING SMELL
|
|
|
SMELL/ODOR PERCEPTION
|
OSMATIC
|
PERCEIVING
SMELLS/ODORS
|
|
|
SMELLING
|
REDOLENT
|
SMELLING/SMACKING OF
|
|
|
SMELLING ESP GOOD
|
DEODRANT
|
STH GOOD SMELLING
|
|
|
SMELLING SENSATION
DISORDERS(S)
|
OSMONOSOLOGICAL
|
STUDY OF DISORDEWRS OF
SENSE OF SMELL
|
|
|
SMELLING SENSE THAT IS
SHARP/ACUTE
|
OXYOSPHRESIC
|
SHARP SENSE OF SMELL
|
|
|
SMELLS ESP STRANGE
ONES AND
|
DESIRE FOR THEM
|
PAROSMIC
|
DESIRE FOR STRANGE
SMELLS
|
|
SMELLS(F)
|
OSMOPHOBIC
|
FEAR OF SMELLS
|
|
|
SMELLS(S)
|
OSMOLOGIC
|
STUDY OF SMELLS
|
|
|
SMELLS,ESP GREAT LOVE
OF/FONDNESS FOR THEM
|
OSPHRESIOPHIBIC
|
GREAT FONDNESS/LOVE
FOR SMELLS/ORORS
|
|
|
SMELLS/ODORS HATRED
|
OSPHRESIOPHOBIC
|
HATRED OF SMELLS/ODORS
|
All these can be found in this link
Or this
On a lighter vein if one were to coin a word for every
smell perceptible to humans, and worse still all the distinct smells that are
said to be perceptible to dogs, then, the dictionary of smell may even exceed
in number of volumes than Oxford English Dictionary.
While writing about smell I cannot resist remembering Lawrence
Durrell who connects and remembers most things with the smell.