Technology can be an enabling tool for human needs, tasks, comforts

Vague fantasies that can provide enough substance for a fiction movie script. Hope the crazy hype does not suck up economies unnecessarily like the imagined Y2K or dot. Com bursts. Any technology, however great and mighty, can be an enabling tool for human needs, tasks, comforts, etc., but those technologies need humans to create, operate, and use them. While the study of other planets is of great value, no doubt, to presume and project settling human beings or preserving human consciousness as if it could be quantified and buried in a time capsule are meaningless dreams.

 https://x.com/i/status/2014541188733534700

Senses blunted by conditioning and conflating without context

In a way most of our senses have been allowed to be blunted by, to use the terminology of JK, 'conditioning of all kinds'; besides, every individual's 'genetic memory' (read somewhere) also may carry certain preferences. 

But modern science, I have observed, through reading highly recommended authors and catchy titles, conflates various factors without contextual relevance, like the brain being used interchangeably with the physiological or neurological and psychological aspects of the brain with mind, emotions, pleasures, feelings, collective consciousness, etc., and in this melee, the individual or personal reactions/feelings-based experiences are pushed to the back seats. 

Of course, connectivities may be included but not overlapped or presumed. 

However, on thinking, the use of the brain in perception, etc., has been very well explained by Pierre Le Compte du Noüy in his wonderful book Human Destiny (a person who deserved a Nobel Prize for both physics and chemistry).

LEFTyeast fermented idiocy-stop indulging in bait and switch' machination

Maybe a good singer; that is it, period. 

Being a popular artist (though popularity is debatable; often the notorious are labeled as popular). 

He was aware that there are hundreds of better vocalists than him, and he presumed that the rest of the artists are too traditional (maybe true to a certain extent), and in case he wanted to break that, he must have, if he was really capable and creative, gotten involved in innovations (classical Carnatic music is the one that offers the maximum scope for individual innovations and improvisations). 

Instead, due to his incapacities, to do that he indulged in abusing the very core attributes of the art (like trying to make kesari without rava and sugar—one can use any oil or any color) and, being clueless as to how even to do that, he resorted to typical LEFT yeast-fermented idiocy of interpreting and extrapolating everything as per some presumed petrified ideology and let the fermented stuff putrefy into a WOKE vocation. 

Similar to what I wrote about ARR's flippant remarks a few days ago, "This is, to use the appropriate idiom, a 'bait and switch' machination often adopted by the LEFT & these folks to let a popular personality, either among them or freely available for lease with monetary benefits from other gullible folks, to intentionally insert terminology easily understood by the public to promote their hidden agendas with ulterior motives through victimhood peddling.

Then, they gradually let the loose cannons—the pseudo and selective seculars, brainwashed and brainless libtards—secrete through MSM selectively about human rights, equality, etc. 

If he wanted to promote Tamil songs, there are enough to render readily available a few crore compositions rather than sing 'Sindhika Sonnavar Periyar' as if no one knew how to think before that.

Then, indulged in adolescent pranks like wearing attires to symbolize a particular dispensation, which ironically considers music haram in many countries, whereas here we had Sheik Chinna Maulana, the great nadaswaram vidwan, as asthana vidwan of Sringeri Mutt for several years, and Bishmillah Khan was welcomed everywhere in Varanasi. 

He could have worn a coat and tie, or jeans and a t-shirt, but instead chose to wear a lungi and use a skullcap. These types of upstarts and pseudos are promoted only in TN; even in so-called communist states like Bengal and Kerala, they don't let anyone distort any tradition or culture irrespective of any religious or political ideologies. 

They may just avoid participating. Will any temple in any part of Kerala allow anyone to spit inside the premises or go in jeans shorts?

If one does not like a ritual or tradition or culture, don't follow it; it is as simple as that, but one has no right to emasculate traditions, cultures, or rituals of their vitality. It is neither your creation nor your toy. You may disagree on many of its aspects, or it may not have any significance for you, but you cannot deny its core purpose, like a dog may use any lamppost for urinating, but it cannot say the lamppost must not have a lamp.

The umbrella of life must have all its ribs

In the hope Europe still may have some souls who are honest, humble, and willing to accept their real position in the world ‘NOW’ and give credit to nations that have reemerged despite Europe’s colonial loot and atrocities.

1] Unless and until nations accept their historical wrongs, address the root cause of the problem embedded in petrified mindsets, and continue to use their sponsored media [BBC] narratives, history will teach very harsh lessons. 

2] The West [meaning Europe] suffers from HOMOGENIZATION MANIA to impose something on everyone else to have control and HEGEMONIZE easily. Most ills of the globe are the manifestations of these attitudes with varying degrees of intensities.

3] If we confine ourselves to past few centuries, be it the Roman Empire’s greed to spread its tentacles [being a Roman in Rome]; Spanish Inquisition; Crusades, Nazism or colonialism, all these were absolutely

4] Inhumane [slave trade – West Africa], genocides [Jallianwala Bagh massacre], artificially created  famines [Bengal Famine],

5] Destructive [native cultures were annihilated and/or humiliated], and where these did not work,

6] They scrupulously created a sort of victim blaming, surreptitiously leading to Stockholm Syndrome and ensuring an internalized oppression mindset. and

7] Daylight robbery [looting from colonies].

8] The saturation point happened when the chaos took place within Europe; they converted even that into WORLD WARS, leading all peaceful geographies across the globe to participate.

9] When colonialism had to end, ‘the divide and rule' concept that they had nurtured came in handy to leave the colonies divided geographically, culturally, and religiously, creating newer identity-based nations.

10] Through this they ensured every prosperous big nation had to live perennially with a smaller inimical or troublesome neighbor.

11] Thus, they have successfully divided civilizations and cultures into fragmented identities.

 

12] History made them taste similar destruction inside Europe itself during the World Wars.

13] Even then, they felt the need to have a privileged club of international administrations, for which they created a multitude of international institutions that were more supranational in character but international when it came to monitoring as umpires, but these umpires were partial, and these institutions had their own selective club of privileged nations. 

14] They labelled political ideologies as Right & Left [with built-in structures like democracies, socialist democracies, etc., more for theoretical ideological discussions and debates and a hidden agenda to check Russia and China].

15] Fortunately, when humanity evolved from collective obsessions of invasions and wars, degrading patriotism into a real estate veneration enterprise, it started diverting its focus into ECONOMY—initially trade and commerce.

16] Again, Europe wanted to make labels and hence classified economies into politico-economic identity-based classifications such as Capitalism and/or Communism [again, to brand China and Russia as Communist nations and hence not business-friendly, though ironically, in economy, China has become the most successful Capitalistic nation].

17] When these labels reached their expiry date, they decided to start new institutionalized control over trade and commerce and started throwing into the socio-politico-economic arena a new terminology called "GLOBALIZATION" with its concomitant international institutions like WTO and policies like TRIPS.

18] So, where were all the concerns when a few wars or fiascos which merely ended up in unwanted destruction and delay of growth of many countries away from the European shores and in some of which Europe and their much-fancied international institutions were either active participants or tacit supporters or were in dead silence as if it was none of their concern or they could not do anything about it? It may be Vietnam, Libya, Iraq, Afghanistan etc.

19] So, when everything else fails, nature teaches when the troubles are near or at your shores along with your [Europe’s] media narratives and publicity-generated selective amnesia and collective indifference based on irresponsible activism, which, in the name of human rights [most ironic joke—coming from Europe], suddenly loves environmental protection—when it was your industrialization, not judging whether right or wrong, that spoiled the environment—then you migrated to a new label, global warming. Now all these multitudes of activisms with their selective concerns, used more as anti-national and anti-human projects in many countries, have been brought under a single name or nuisance called WOKESIM.

20] Europe must learn and accept with humility that only for scientific and administrative purposes UNIFORMITY and some universal measurement-based STANDARDIZATIONS are important and useful.

21] However, in every aspect or domain or vertical of life starting from religion to social engineering tools [political systems] to food to dress to the laws of the land to traditions to culture to arts to literature, VARIETY, DIFFERENCES, AND HETEROGENEITY WERE, ARE, AND WILL BE THERE EVERYWHERE AS PART OF NATURE, i.e., NATURE IS VARIETY AND VARIETY IS NATURAL.

22] Denying and defying reality cannot always work through trying to manipulate variety to 'discriminate' or selectively exaggerating certain existing discriminations as tools of victimhood peddling, and wedge divisions intentionally pitting one against another will haunt in the cycle of life.

23] Thankfully science could not deliver; otherwise, Europe would have made every mountain in Europe only snow-clad and every forest to have only a serried phalanx of pine trees and not any other tree.

24] The West, having destroyed many civilizations and cultures in various parts of the world, needs to learn how those civilizations and cultures naturally assimilated and cohabited in synergetic, lively happiness of mutual appreciation and reciprocal responsibilities—this is not to be confused with the Western idea of tolerance, though it is better to have one rather than none. Tolerance is a tunnel-vision-driven silo and hence a tiny slice of inhibition-free assimilation and synergetic accommodation.

25] The umbrella of life must have all its ribs—family, philosophy, culture, traditions, science, society, etc.—all together supporting the panel of life in its wholeness, with every individual shaft holding on to living safely under the panel.

“In the end nothing less than the whole of everything can be the truth of anything at all." William James

"The spirit of Advaita is not to keep away from anything but to keep in tune with everything." -  Swami Chinmayananda

Nectar of nuances beyond, besides, between and beneath the well defined and labelled Gammakams in Carnatic music

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Ek61jb2G7Q

Excellent and worth listening to Lec-Dem, which reveals one more taste of the nectar of nuances in classical Carnatic music.

Why I have spontaneously liked MMI, as do many others, and did not have a clear clue as to what it was that made everyone like him despite the poor acoustics of those days.

It took me a few years into learning music to notice that MMI had something extra, which was ascribed to mere Sarvalaghu swara rendering.

As youngsters our frames of reference to perceive are often restricted by such labels/terminologies, which we parrot around, presuming as if we have deciphered the sarva laghu or lilting swaras distinctly from others and hence held MMIs music was great.

However, in a highly focused listening to certain minute aspects of MMIs' rendering, one could at least grasp certain nuances in flashes that provided the filigree work to his ornamental rendering. 

To date, despite all the dissection and scientific analysis acoustically, there isn't any specific exact terminology for those nectars of nuances that have to be only enjoyed musically. 

However, here, Prince Rama Varma elucidates musically very well, and this helps to listen to MMI with a renewed, technically better-based experience of his great singing. 

Someone wanted further clarity, and I wrote this: Nectar of nuances beyond, besides, between, and beneath the well-defined and labeled Gammakams in Carnatic music. These nuances are what make a particular rendering of the same kriti with even the same sangathis and even if some copied / imitated kalpana swaras superior to another, like how Tirupathy laddu is superior and different from other laddus with the same ingredients.

Activist stupidity and gender

 https://x.com/SenAshleyMoody/status/2011486000900431973

Dharma in none of its shades of meaning can discriminate minds based on topography as urban and rural.

He cannot misuse a word like "dharma" to explain a distinct collective mindset/attitude (which by itself in the Indian context is a blind overgeneralization). 

There are hundreds of other ways of conveying; I can list at least 25 that come to my mind. 

Even the word "karma" can be used with various connotations to suit an argument/statement/justification. 

But Dharma, in none of its shades of meaning, can discriminate between minds based on topography, such as urban and rural. 

Dharma is from the Sanskrit root 'dhr,' which means to sustain, hold, bear, or uphold certain time-tested or lasting values (it has nothing to do with corporate conduct). The same root gives the words 'Dharti' (earth) and 'Dhruva' (pole star), indicating the connective support or stability.

Dharma in Mahabharata means cosmic laws that sustain life or swadharma-ethical values, which supports living in harmony as per the context/situation. It is well explained by Lord Krishna to Arjuna (when his emotions make him hesitate to perform the appropriate action in that situation) asking him to proceed with the war. 

It is indeed our duty to praise from the bottom of our hearts the bravery, duty consciousness, and loyalty to the corporate BODY; often it has no SOUL. In retrospect one could think of many possibilities but it is difficult to act in an emergency like that when panic and fear are the major reactions

Music spun out of sweet ragas are for everyone like what candy floss is to children and makes us relisten multiple times.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQqV7V7WgVE

Panju mittai suvaiku and nenjuku mitti isai sevikku.

Panju mittai attracts through its color, then its texture, and when it touches the tip of the tongue, the taste, and after eating, it leaves the color lingering on the lips, which no lipstick can give. Except for an elephant, no one can swallow it in its original size. 

We don't know whether to give credit to which aspect: color, texture, taste, or the unswallowable size.  

Music and ragas are like that. 

Which child in any part of the world won't want to taste ' Panju mittai' or 

Buddi-ka-baal is called "cotton candy" in European languages and also called "candy floss" (UK, Pakistan, Ireland, New Zealand, India, South Africa, Canada); "fairy floss" (Australia, South Africa); "spider webs"; or "candy cobwebs." Whatever name we may call it, it is a form of spun sugar made by heating and spinning into thin threads and collected into a mass, usually on a stick. Originally it was supposed to have been only in white, then to my memory and knowledge till some 20 years back it was mostly in attractive pink or rose colors, and of course now it comes in yellow, green, red, etc. with different flavors. Even last year the child in me popped up in Uttarakhand, and I insisted on having the yellow one and the pink one (despite the scolding from my wife). The vendor was desperately looking around for which two children I was carrying them for, only to get disappointed to see me consuming both and then come back to order a green one. 

Why I thought of this is because for a conscious mind, such small and less harmful temptations are an irresistible pleasure. 

Similarly, excellent programs of music spun with sweet melodies create different emotions, producing various flavors and belonging to multiple genres. 

This presentation of such programs requires not only musical knowledge and capabilities but also a lot of rehearsals (etymologically from the French 'rehercier,' meaning 'to repeat or go over again' re+hercier). "Re" as a prefix in most words in English means "again, back, anew," etc. 

Such music spun out of sweet ragas is for everyone, like what candy floss is to children, and makes us relisten multiple times. Kudos and keep it up. 👇

Nuances of music and sweetness of raga

https://www.facebook.com/reel/1213384523488266

Just can't repeatedly listening to the nuances and what a grand finale in violin. Two creative brains at work. It is like watching Shewag and Rohit Sharma in full flow opening the innings

 Excellent and a must listen to more than once. I too feel following the pattern ( many splits possible ) immersed in a raga like Dr. M.Balamuralikrishna and when you render the music that comes out is like gulab Jamun soaked in the sweetness of raga and however you press it or squeeze it still the taste, smell and quality of sugar syrup will come out as well as remain in the remaining gulab jamun ( even dry one) . So, one cannot separate the two raga and layam like gulab jamun and syrap

Filmy style monologues, dialogues, debates, satires and This anti-health care professional stand is a populist whip

 https://www.instagram.com/reels/DTPOkqMif6c/

Usually we get carried away by such filmy-style monologues, dialogues, debates, satires, etc., but...👌👌👌👌 But then there is also a flip side to this: doctors not only need to study a lot but also remember a lot and do a lot of practice to be able to give 'treatments.' Note the word 'treatments'; allopathic doctors never say we will cure (unlike other alternative medical systems).

They say we do surgery and procedures after finding out through diagnosis what needs to be done to give the best 'treatment.' 

Now, coming to the system and money, why is the mindset all over the world about the profits that pharma, hospitals, and doctors make? 

For all their knowledge, works, etc., it is nothing compared to film stars, models (of both sexes), senior advocates, politicians, successful middlemen, etc., most of whom make a hundred times the money for half the efforts, responsibilities, knowledge-based, empirically end-result-oriented methods (for which huge spending is required for R&D), practical feasibility (because human anatomy is indeed, despite centuries of research, a difficult maze, especially when one has illness, injury, disease, etc.), universal applicability (need not be and cannot be 100% perfect), and universal accessibility and availability. 

All these involve costs, and who is going to pay for them? 

From years of R&D to manufacturing to marketing to administration to equipment costs to professional fees, etc., who will pay for them?

Why does no one ever question the exorbitant cost of branded cars, cosmetics, luxury items, and worst of all, unhealthy branded packed food items, both solid and liquid (ordinary beverages) and so-called seasoned wines (a liter costs sometimes a few lakhs)? 

Pharma and hospitals are not a nasty nexus to loot but nice networks to reboot health, which has had some issues. 

This anti-health care professional or anti-health care industry stance is a populist whip used by many, starting from George Bernard Shaw till now. 

Only doctors and patients who are sick and injured know the amount of remedy, repair, and relief they get.

Every human being is personally responsible for his or her health (physical, mental, emotional, psychological, spiritual, legal, professional, use of material comforts, and social).

If one fails to take responsibility or, due to bad destiny, happens to face health issues that need immediate care and treatment, the entire health care industry, starting from ambulance drivers to doctors to hospital owners, comes to the rescue. 

These populist videos and documentaries many can make, but they hide the other side of the story.

Many of those who do such projects, when they have a problem, run to the nearest hospital.

We don't need a mirror to breathe

Correct observation, though I heard only bits and pieces in some videos, YouTube, etc. 

I remembered Dr. M.B., Maharajapuram, somewhere in the late 50s; MS, Semmangudi; and GNB all together rendering that in MA. So as far as lyrical faults are concerned, no one teaches the exact meaning of at least those songs they learn (they need not know Telugu, Sanskrit, Kannada, or Tamil).

Still, while musically rendering, there could be some excuses given for shortcomings if pauses for breathing or getting immersed in musicality (raga) are dominant. 

Even many legends and stalwarts (I don't want to name them) have had some shortcomings in lyrics, but the overall raga bhava-imbued rendering compensated for that, but here many were reciting them as Vaipaadu (multiplication tables). 

Most importantly, classical Carnatic music in general and the compositions of Mumbai Murthy in particular are not meant for ghosti ganam, as the emphasis is more on melody, manodharma, and individual improvisations if the artist (vocal or instrumental); they are not meant for a big harmonic orchestra of collective rendering. 

Carnatic music is rarely rendered (unless old or taught too many compositions) with notebooks or sheets with notations hoisted on a pedestal. 

Even those who know thousands of critiques just render them from memory. 

We don't need a mirror to breathe, close the eyes or open the eyes and see something, listen to something using our ears and mind, open the mouth (unless sitting in a dentist's chair) and taste something, or touch something and feel it. 

Classical Carnatic music's raga-based melodies are meant to permeate into the five senses and also sensitize the five senses in mind, heart, and soul. It is sublime in that aspect. Great itihasas, epics, and certain novels and stories too follow this pattern. See the slide below. 

However, I would be failing in my duty if I didn't mention that Dr. Balamuralikrishna's school, M.S. Subbalakshmi's school, T.N. Sesha Gopalan's school, and D.K. Pattamal's school pay immense attention to the perfection of pronunciation of the lyrics in any Indian language.

Using nations as guinea pigs by the WEST as Global Atlas is a little complicated

                    Using nations as guinea pigs by the WEST

1. After having tried all forms of homogenization, the last one being 90s globalization through the WTO, now there are narratives of decoupling the WEST or Global North.

 

2. This is not merely a good start as many are posturing it to be, but it is inevitable as the cohort [in war crimes and purloining] has realized that in modern warfare, overpowering, colonizing, and looting are not that easy for every one of them everywhere.

 

3. Is the East feeling like Freya Willowray [character in Indiana Rose’s novels Dance of Devils and Daylight and Scars of Salt and Silver]?

 

4. If one were to look at it from a jargon-free, unbiased observer's point of view, the following must be noted: -

Since now they are retreating and talking of decoupling, it gives space for other powers to shape up in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East.

 

5. How much practically can we trust statements of, by, and from the US? 

 

6. How long will they hold on to such stands? 

 

7. US policies like European ones are purely geopolitical and geo-economic expediency driven by authority in terms of command and control through homogenization mania-driven ideologies and labeling like -

Societies and cultures—the Roman Empire’s greed to spread its tentacles [be a Roman in Rome].

Religion, which failed with the Crusades and Spanish Inquisition.

War-mongering and loot—Nazism or colonialism.

Trade and Economics—classifying everything as either capitalism or communism.

Politics as the Right and the Left.

 

 

8. Now, the WEST realizes the harsh reality that the Global Atlas is a little complicated in the sense that, on one hand, technology has shrunk it enough for anyone to have access to any information anywhere, and, at the same time, the Global Arena has become multipolar in reality with voices and space for many countries to follow their own path to empowerment without a few self-proclaimed unruly hegemonies setting rules and controlling the reins.

Hence, whether the WEST likes it or wants it, many countries and nations that ensure security, have natural resources, and prioritize and focus on economic development with skilled and intelligent citizens will get empowered and become strong enough [some already are] that the WEST can no longer try to interfere, loot, and sabotage that easily.

As it is, the WEST has been sustaining itself in the past few years through proxies in the form of so-called international institutions and media narratives, slogans, and sanctions.

 

Chennai book fair and LEFTyeast

As it has for the past few years, the Chennai book fair has become an unfair leftover or left in the lurch, fermented fanatic festival sporting an aura of pseudo-intellectualism or farce fair for literary broth à la confusing any piece of paper for literacy and assuming speaking in English is intelligent. These popular misconceptions are difficult to erase from the mass hysteria of the population. 

One also will find exclusive stalls and statues for Marx (even his family may not care), EVE raw i..., and Che Guevara (check from Vera country) on one side and, on another, excessive abject bhakthi manuals when the public needs to be imparted philosophical thinking, rational perspective, and scientific mindset. In between loads of stalls for children/kids, excess of IIT JEE and NEET coaching manuals, obsessive math puzzle books, and of course the inevitable food stalls. 

Every day some talk shows are on themes totally irrelevant to any walk of life but meant to generate controversies. 

I am restraining with difficulty from unleashing unparliamentary language. What to do? we have not merely divided society on an ideological basis but also sabotaged the fabric of culture in toto

Wings of art and music

Wings of art and music, like colorful birds of various kinds, fly high or dance beautifully or peck or preen or bury their heads in sand or ...are based on the expressions and imaginations of the artist, each having his or her own style or splendor or depth of expressions.

Therefore, unfortunately, purely for the Western academic-oriented thinking, which tends to interpret and extrapolate everything or rather tries to confine everything to dichotomous labeled wings—right wing or left wing. 

Doesn't this stereotyped labelling of anything from politics to trade to commerce to economics to culture and art undiagnosed diseases, which cannot describe anything 'beyond the closed circuits or labels of right and left', prevent people from seeing the glorious splendours beyond, besides, and between these narrow labels? 

Do we need to always label anything and everything? Why not just go with the flow and enjoy? Or everything can be classified under specific labels always.¹

From an artist's perspective, it is to enjoy and express his joy; from a rasika's perspective, it is to enjoy either with or without the technical knowledge; and from a critic's perspective, it is to analyze and to criticize to enhance the art and artist and explain to the public who are going to read those reviews. 

No one asks a film or fashion reviewer in any magazine to classify them as per the standards or labels of any traditional Indian attire. 

Incidentally, many would also like to get enlightened about pure LEFT-wing music. 

Music is music, and like every other art form, it has its own wings. 

Let the hypernarrative manufacturing factories' inspired evaluations refrain from certain unhealthy *attaching of wings (either right or left) to any and every domain, and let the domain and its practitioners soar high in their own way rather than distracting everyone with sour interpretations and extrapolations.

*1.

The following are CURD-based food items in South India, which, hence, may be classified as dairy products, but why should those enjoying these food items with their existing recipes, ingredients, and preparation be keen on trying to classify them as fermented items or dairy products or pre-cheese or post-cheese? 

In South India alone we have the following that come to my mind; if I have time, I can make a lexicon.

Raita

Pachdi

Morekolambu

Majjigehuli Karanataka style

Aviyal 

Bread instant dahi vada

Curd rice Koozh (fermented cooked ragiporridge ) with buttermilk is a popular summer breakfast in Tamil Nadu.

Ragi ambli with buttermilk in Karnataka: beaten rice in curd (mosaravalakki)

Vermicelli in Curd (Mosaru Shavige)

Curd Upma

Dahi sabudana

Masalamajjige (spicy buttermilk) 

Lassi, 

Neermore/neerumajjige (watery buttermilk)

Shrikand from highly fermented, slightly sour-tasting curd.

Tambli

Kachiyamore/More curry of Kerala

Mosarubajji of potato/sweet potato kadi

Majjigesaru

Majjigemenasu or moremilagai (green chili soaked in buttermilk and then sundried and deep-fried in oil like papad)

Taiyrvada/mosaru vada/dahivada

Rava idli,

Poha Idli using curd

Golibaje or mangalore bonda (maida + curd mix)

 

*2. Healthy wings are needed to soar beyond unhealthy narratives of the left wing or right wing.

It is unhealthy to carry on with existing narratives in politics and media.

It is unhealthy if humanity does not realize that it needs sanity more than any particular identity.

It is unhealthy if political and media narratives—while inevitably using some identity-based steps—tend to stop or to slip or to slide down rather than climb up with sanity.

It is unhealthy when debates and discussions resort to visceral vitriol vindicated by the votaries of identity politics of various hues, colors, and ideologies.

It is unhealthy because the self-proclaimed representatives of the masses, through either the left-wing praxis of pseudo-liberal appropriations and assigning of labels or virulent, feverish provocations by right-wing advocates, dominate the narratives.

It is unhealthy to stuff such approaches and extrapolations to everything that the free birds of discourse and the splendorous feathers of aesthetic creations can never take flight and soar into realms of any sane unbiased zones, as it will be left overburdened with the weight of one wing and right away pulled by the overbearing of another wing.

It is unhealthy when both groups slide into snide dismissals rather than direct arguments.

It is unhealthy if we do not realize that the present practical difficulties faced by individuals and societies need solutions and not seeking endorsement by or to be sanctified by any specific ideology, however great or good that may be.

It is unhealthy that militancy without being curtailed is made to move from a mere posture into a well-organized program.

It is unhealthy that radicalism without being admonished outright gets rewarded.

It is unhealthy if we are not aware that in human history to date no single ideology or institution or inscription of an individual can be defined as some panacea that can claim to offer a tailor-made template but with a universal cure-all, correct-all, comfort-all solution embedded in it!

It is unhealthy if we do not realize that the human race is far more than the opportunities it is consciously aware of, as Jean Paul Sartre provides the example of the young man who puts his hand on his first date's hand. She, who does not really know him yet, must either leave her hand there or remove it. Either choice reveals something not part of her consciousness. We are far more than the limited opportunities present in the world.

It is unhealthy when we either deny or defy the importance of anyone or anything or any ideology, as each may have evolved to fulfill a specific need and may fit in some gap in the jigsaw puzzle called life.

It is unhealthy if we are not sensible to not hurt the sensitivities of others.

It is unhealthy not to be open to a wide variety of ideas and observations from a multitude of sources, and nothing stops us from planning to properly relate to everyone and everything to facilitate the understanding of the meaning of life.

It is unhealthy if we do not know that the meaning of life, which is, after all, the result of the churning of the outer world by the inner self or the way the inner self relates to the outer world in all its multiple manifestations.

 

 

 

It is unhealthy if we do not realize that our inner self is a combination of heart (body), mind (conscious awareness), and soul. The heart itself is wonderfully referred to as "HRUDAYA" in Sanskrit, which is one of the most perfect terms to indicate both the physical and psychological functionality of the heart. Meaning of "Hrudaya" from the Bruhadaranya Upanishad: 'Hru' means to bring. This involves bringing impure blood from the body to the heart. "Da" means to give and involves giving pure blood to the body. "Ya" means to set right all the activities and maintain the stability of the body. 

It is unhealthy if we do not realize the inevitable fact of life, and the stark reality is that whatever we may have planned or are planning to plan may not be the plan that unfolds in life in all spheres of life, irrespective of whatever label we may give to such a state of affairs, such as fate or destiny, or we may wish and try to ignore it or work hard to justify it. This does not mean or need not necessarily lead to the conclusion that we must not plan and that there is no use in planning.

Healthy conditions can be planned and programmed if those scripting any political narrative realize to do away with the outdated dichotomy of Left and Right because life, especially socio-cultural and economic life, has many dimensions, each having its own dynamics, and in addition, there are also those emanating from intersectionality and interactions, and all of these manifest themselves with varying degrees of intensity. Fortunately, life and all its concomitant evolutions happen despite and beyond the blinkered narratives peddled by status quo addicts of trite dichotomies and have made visible various options between, besides, beneath, and above those dichotomies, and these may strengthen the wings and enable the discourse to soar into unbiased zones and offer some solutions to many present-day problems faced by humanity.

 

Zig zag currency markets

https://www.youtube.com/watch?si=Qm8Sv1LxiHtqPH5U&v=Uc1Adgk9Czw&feature=youtu.be

Zigzag currency markets of unprecedented and unpredictable levels by so-called financial markets, all due to resource depletion, were well planned over 5 years and timed exactly on 23rd December, the so-called last day of international metal trading while everyone, including the financial market journalists, was busy preparing for vacations. 

Let us dive and dissect the plot. Very interesting video. Don't miss it. Most parts cannot be dismissed as conspiracy theories. 

While the West loves and laps up its publicity cult, the East manifests its silent intelligence secretly. 

When a combo of geopolitics and geoeconomics or partially factual and partly believable accounts has more twists and thrills than a James Bond movie, it is really attention-grabbing stuff. 

It is a long narrative, but it has too many facts and information that cannot be abbreviated or edited further.

But two big failing and falling economic structures (a fall is inevitable) have been working on either diverting or delaying the manifestation of the inevitable fall through certain actions, as usual with specious justifications.

English prepositions, punctuations and grammar

English, we all know, is a language where prepositions are the most illogical part of speech, and that adds more to the inherent scope for ambiguities generated by syntax.

French and German are precise, unlike English. Besides, there are regularities and abnormalities taught with emphasis. French pro.relative (qui, que, & dont) are very clear, & preposition-based pronouns 'y' & 'en' are also very clear. In English as it is, that amount of clarity was lacking, and in addition, many versions and excessive abbreviated expressions have mutilated the language too much.

Like Grammaire Pratique by Larousse, read this; it will be interesting. I like these grammarians as they tunnel into words and expressions to cull out the minute nuances. English; a few years back, Steven Pinker did. Unfortunately, we were fed on wretched Wren & Martin or tossed into Fowler. Thanks to American and Asian English, both outdated structures and unwanted purism were removed. https://www.college-de-france.fr/sites/default/files/media/document/2023-06/1995-1996_zemb.pdf

But parsing is the proper way to learn and understand grammar because it explains the form, FUNCTION, and syntax, but again, thanks to American and Asian versions of English, context was also factored in. In fact, form hardly matters; it is 'function' that determines the word label.

Incidentally, I used to use the word "DANCE" to teach different parts of speech or various avatars of a word, during Grammar classes to indicate that a word gets its label as a noun, verb or adjective based on its function in the context and not on the form/spelling, like

I like to dance (sometimes used in colloquial lingo as I like dancing) with girls.

Dancing gives good shape to the hips.

I saw a person with a dancing stride.

I like Indian dances.

Briju maharaj dances energetically

👌👌👌 True, the best way to avoid ambiguities and misunderstandings is to make statements explanatory.

Rightly so because the basic/fundamental/primary function of communication is to convey something, and that does not require perfection or profound linguistic clarity. Grammar is like the thalamus; it is supposed to enhance and complement, but both can act as a hindrance as well for a free flow or cascade of emotions. That's why Alapana and RTP (thanam) bring out more nuances of musical phrases, and that's why, in language too (in many languages), literature migrated from classical poetry towards free verse, which conveyed a lot of abstract ideas and philosophies. From my limited experience, I feel that, be it grammar, punctuation, or long winding sentences to chop into chunks will provide more clarity to the otherwise complex structures of a language. In fact, one of the projects I had in mind was to write context-based grammatical labels. On punctuation, I have written a few years back the following: -When thoughts, ideas, and opinions gush forth like a cascade or a cyclone, little do they bother about the twigs and saplings on the way. 

The flow and force get prioritized, and the recipient is not even in the scheme of things.

I suggest everyone read one of the world's leading linguists, Steven Pinker’s [of Harvard], 'The Sense of Style'—'The Thinking Person’s Guide to Writing in the 21st Century’—from page 284 on punctuation. This chapter covers very comprehensively the complete width and depth of the uses and usefulness of punctuations.

“The problem for the writer is that punctuation indicates prosody in some places, syntax in others, and neither of them consistently anywhere... Even the sticklers cannot agree on how to stickle…. In 2003 the journalist Lynne Truss, in her wonderful book ‘Eats, Shoots & Leaves,' decries the punctuation errors she spotted in ads and newspapers. 

In the 2004 New Yorker Review, the critic Louis Menand decries punctuation errors he spotted in Truss’s book.

In Guardian …the English scholar John Mullan decries the punctuation flaws he spotted in Menand’s review."

The world functions on actions spurred on by thoughts and ideas and not punctuation marks

History and past

History, records, and documentation are important tools and templates that act as reference manuals, instructions, ready reckoners, or prompters to adopt certain things and to avoid certain others. 

However, to dwell only in the past and to harp on it for everything (even if the past document is a great scripture or a highly authentic evidence-based factual account of history) is likely to hamper or to delay the experience of life with contextual relevance, changes, changing priorities, and prevailing rationale (which may be pleasant or otherwise). It is as bad as living in fantasized dreams of the future.

Ironically, there are excessive debates and discussions on chronologies and calendars (human-invented measurements of time), but life is lived from moment to moment, where the past either fades or lingers in memory and the future leaps about in hope and expectations. 

The past is the cape for navigation and hope the preparation for activation.

China's growth reality.

There is lots to learn from China's growth reality, unlike the West's growth stories, from an unbiased perspective from purely economic development. 

How and why China's economic growth post-90s has been intentionally sidelined by the Western media narrative factories. In a way, it warded off greater envy-based internal sabotages sponsored by Europe and the USA. 

It is high time that we need to acknowledge nations that have achieved economic development, a more vital component of the post-60s world and life in general (it does not mean excluding other things but prioritizing the vital). 

We need to impartially look at China's growth story, sorry, reality. 

The West started to get benefits from real factories rather than media narrative factories from 2005 onwards, at times gradually, and at times very aggressively.

These were the result of more than a decade of policy priorities and perfectly focused execution on economic development—a more vital aspect of this century—rather than trying to engineer conflicts, involving in wars in far-away geographies, rather than resorting to verbal diarrhea on strategy, growth, etc., andmation of ideologies, not letting the population get diverted by or swayed by any religious, political, cultural, traditional ideological fixations, though people were free to observe them as a personal choice rather than making them into mass frenzies.  

All the unwanted aspects of freedom, like frequent riots, dissents, and anti-growth demonstrations, were not allowed or suppressed because no amount of sermonizing or philosophical preaching about giving back to society will work on a large scale collectively; instead, China made citizens that they have to be of functional utility for nation building. 

Besides, they never resorted to hyper publicity; instead, they silently worked their way up as a top economy not only on paper or on the basis of GDP, etc., but also to the extent that most people, industries, and institutions across many countries have become dependent on China. 

They silently acquired most of the vital raw material resources, be it in medicines or electronic devices or lithium batteries.

No one wins or climbs the ladder all of a sudden or by looting (as the colonial West did).

Emotions have always ruled over everything else.

In a way emotions have always ruled over everything else. 

Emotions make human beings involve with total intensity and intense totality. What else other than emotions can have a stronger impact.

Emotions have given humanity religion, literature, arts and even science and technologies get emotionally accepted for the  physical comforts and functionally utility that they provide.

Therefore, social systems of administration or social engineering cannot and need not be an exception. Let us be thankful that our democracy is not dictated by violence or royal family edicts or dynasty-based dictatorship. 

Reference to song please note CULTURAL COHESION  ( not to be misinterpreted as isolation) is important for a COMPATIBLE COHABITATION , renaming is RESTORATION OF CIVILIZATION GLORIES of the past wresting from glorifying the colonial looters and invaders( mass murderers), bulldozing is the way to RECLAIM UNAUTHORISED and illegal constructions.

 "We seldom realize that our most private thoughts and emotions are not actually our own. For we think in terms of languages and images which we did not invent, but were given to us by our society."-Alan Watts.

 

Diplomacy of different dimensions

 

Diplomacy of different dimensions in tune with the present geopolitical context is very much alive, not necessarily under the label of ambassadors, but even the national leaders, be they the presidents, PMs, or external affairs ministers, all assume that role and play the game effectively.

Especially in some Asian and African countries, unlike Europe and the USA, which are gloating in their recent century of global media-driven narrative setting and post-war establishment of certain international institutions (both are getting exposed because their hidden agenda has become evident). 

Now with the access and expansion of information, if not knowledge and understanding, everyone is at least aware of realities on the ground beyond the grand Western media lies.

Language and words

 

Astrology and time

 

words and language and emoticons

 

Calendar and Time

 

Human Intelligence cannot be over simplified -Education

 

Science and scientific research or discoveries and inventions stem from keen observation

Science and scientific research or discoveries and inventions stem from keen observation or scrupulously trying to solve a problem and end up perhaps finding the remote connectivity.

Strength of nose (physical besides the olfactory sense of smell).

After all, these 

1. Elephants' trunks, 

2. Rhinoceros horn (actually it is not a horn but a bunch of hardened fibers of  keratin) and of course, 

3. The beaks of Turkey Vultures and

4. Snouts of many animals. 

5. The glue of a barnacle cannot be dissolved with strong acids or temperatures set as high as 440 degrees Fahrenheit.

In fact, a few things puzzled me, not with their mystery but with the unbelievable functionality.

It was with this curiosity one day I sat down and started reading animal and plant trivia and decided to start a blog which I did but have up soon due to many other priorities.

In particular, I remembered the stories that Kripananda Warriar used to tell: 'Wealth comes unnoticed, like how sweet coconut water is found inside a hard coconut, covered by a hard shell, which again is covered by multiple layers of hard fiber—the irony is only a coconut tree sapling is planted with loads of salt in the ground.' 

Similarly, wealth disappears, unnoticed, like the seeds of vilammphazham (wood apple) eaten by elephants. 

https://chemistrywise.blogspot.com/2011/01/welcome-to-international-year-of.html?m=0

Paradox of Choice-Variety, differences and heterogeneity were and are there everywhere as part of nature.

 

I think this is a cherry-picked generalization and oversimplification. Life is lovely because of the variety it has by nature and in nature, and human beings enjoy options rather than crunching them to only a few. Variety, differences, and heterogeneity were and are there everywhere as part of nature.

"In The Paradox of Choice, Barry Schwartz explains at what point choice—the hallmark of individual freedom and self-determination that we so cherish—becomes detrimental to our psychological and emotional well-being. In accessible, engaging, and anecdotal prose, Schwartz shows how the dramatic explosion in choice—from the mundane to the profound challenges of balancing career, family, and individual needs—has paradoxically become a problem instead of a solution. Schwartz also shows how our obsession with choice encourages us to seek that which makes us feel worse. By synthesizing current research in the social sciences, Schwartz makes the counterintuitive case that eliminating choices can greatly reduce the stress, anxiety, and busyness of our lives. He offers eleven practical steps on how to limit choices to a manageable number, have the discipline to focus on those that are important and ignore the rest, and ultimately derive greater satisfaction from the choices you have to make."

How to normally encounter and evaluate any subject or topic

 Coming to the aspect of evaluation, how to normally encounter and evaluate any subject or topic?

 

It is preferable to  immerse  any topic or subject matter, primarily and basically with its intrinsic elements/components/aspects/attributes intact, into a cauldron which has  a mixture of all these- knowledge based analysis, limited perception based on frames of reference and scales of observation, scepticism , criticism, intellectual scrutiny, compassionate emotionalism, humane socialism, rational thinking, contextual relevance [ which includes too many components] , traditions, practical viability, psychological comfort, aesthetic sensitivity, scientific scrutiny etc and  churn the cauldron without clinging on to any particular restrictive social, cultural or political or religious identity.

 

This process inevitably will bring out lot of outputs. We can exercise our freedom and 

Sometimes,  select and choose some of the outputs.

Sometimes, the outputs will draw us.

Sometimes,  away from all or any of our intended searches and seeking, outside the circle of these known paradigms, almost tangentially serendipity will drag us to an oasis of serene clarity.

 

At all costs, the intrinsic attributes must be the predominant factor. So that, whatever is thrown into the cauldron and however it is churned, the ultimate output must include those attributes to ensure so that our evaluation is not distorted or desperately doctored to fit into any predefined and expected outcome.

So, what pans out ultimately depends on various factors and aspects some of which are explainable within the ken of logical and rational thinking, but some are beyond these.

We can also observe uneasily how the human intellect polished by a rare faculty [compared to other species] of conscious awareness, capacity to think, store the knowledge, retrieve it for reference etc, is mostly, unwilling to take the risk of accepting the uncertain; the intellectually undecipherable and the inexplicable outcomes, even if such acceptance is branded, extolled and promoted as virtues of humility or modesty.

For example if one is evaluating music, one must ensure that music quality/musicality as an intrinsic aspect must be highlighted and then evaluate the other extraneous factors like who renders it, how it is rendered, who is the composer, what is the composition, what is the lyrics, how is the acoustic quality, how the person who is rendering it is dressed, how was the ambiance of the place where it was rendered etc.

 

https://contentwriteups.blogspot.com/2013/12/story-of-mango-fruit-sambar-and.html?m=1

https://contentwriteups.blogspot.com/2013/12/carnatic-music-cockroaches-cars.html?m=1

 

Have your own set of resolutions to make and break.

 Have your own set of resolutions to make and break.

Attitudes are formed because of this ongoing process of evaluations.

We all constantly evaluate everything, everyone and various aspects of our environment. So, to ensure correct attitude we must analyse what are the tools with which/basis on which we evaluate?

The methods we adopt to evaluate.

And how we evaluate?

All these, in turn, will largely determine our attitude in most cases.

This will also give us an idea whether our attitude influences our behaviour or our behaviour influences our attitude.

Evaluate the purpose of life by the amount of happiness you have given to others.

Evaluate the value of life by the extent you have been useful to others.

Evaluate the meaning of life by the love you give to others.

Evaluate the destiny of life by the amount of love you get from others.

Evaluate the quality of your life by your attitudes.

Evaluate the wisdom of your life by the experience you have gained and the lessons you have learnt and the knowledge you have acquired from your experiments and actions.

Evaluate the worthiness of your life by the amount of or extent of realizations you have had.

Evaluate the totality of life not by owning anything or even trying to own life itself but by living life.

But the best way to evaluate life is to live it.

And you live based on what you have and who you are.

Even if you are schooled in irrelevant, inadequate, outdated, useless, erroneous trivia at least do not base your belief systems or thoughts on them because

Your thoughts and beliefs decide your life irrespective of whether you are prosperous, peaceful and happy or the other way.

Because they help you to make the choice. The choices you make decide who you are. What you do depends on who you are and ultimately what you do gets you whatever you have.

But unfortunately, we tend to think the process topsy-turvy.

We want to have whatever we want and think that it will make us and shape us.

Be on your own. Don’t choose for others nor let others choose for you.

So, have your own set of resolutions to make and break.

 

Balance of Mind. Composed mind

Balance of Mind. A composed mind is all about balance. The art of balancing is not the jugglers' or trapezium artists' stuff but to navigate the circus of life.

 

What is a composed mind?

 

The morning's first message I get is about what a composed mind is.

 

Let me put it this way: how do we know it, i.e., a composed mind? We all know it is needed or at least wished for, not merely verbally but as a matter of fact.

 

Lack of it is what is causing ill treatment of senior citizens or derailment of many relationships and increasing the visits to psychiatrists.

 

It does not require great knowledge in any field or any specific spiritual exercise or any philosophical concept, etc. The moment the mind starts to follow predefined specific routes, it is gradually getting rooted into some identity and therefore vulnerable to conflict with a different identity.

 

So, what is or are the acid tests[s] of a composed mind?

 

There was news about a computer program that predicts death: http://www.scienceworldreport.com/articles/30011/20150915/hospital-computer-predicts-death.htm

 

But I can assure you no technology can predict human intentions.

 

The acid test of a composed mind involves basically a question of balance and prioritizing our choices, actions, and decisions with contextual relevance.

 

It is a question of arranging a balance between being firm on certain values and principles and at the same time being flexible and willing to conform to certain obligations.

 

Trying hard to be great in whatever we do but be honest and humble enough to be grateful to whoever has helped us on the way to greatness, etc.

 

Being rooted in certain humane values and not hesitating to uproot anything that goes against those values even if they have been part of our society or culture.

 

Being useful to all others around us everywhere without allowing ourselves to be misused or abused by others.

 

Synchronizing our intentions and actions without pretensions.

 

Being involved without interfering.

 

Living life, enjoying every moment of it rather than merely passing through different motions of existence as if life itself were an obligation made up of several parts.

 

I like Zen principles, which teach many of these things.

 

No matter what we do, we must ensure minimum hurt to others in all aspects, emotional, psychological, physical, etc., especially at least to those who are part of our extended self—our parents, children, spouse[s], colleagues, society, countrymen, and the whole of the human race and environment, and it can extend beyond these too.

 

Everyone and everything are some points of reference in life and not a pointless object to be treated with indifference.

 

In brief, we must ensure that we are the subject and subject matter of life and understand how we are interrelated and interconnected with others.

 

We must not allow ourselves to be looked upon as an object—an object that can perform a certain function—because in that case it is only logical that a better-performing object can always replace us.

 

This is how even relationships are getting ruined; there is nothing wrong with expectations, but what are the expectations and what is the extent of them?

 

Present-day marriages are negotiated like contracts with specifications of one being a decorated doll or ATM? It would be better to have them rather than get into a relationship with another human being. The society needs to rethink.

 

This is also one of the reasons why senior citizens are not treated with love and affection because we feel that as an object they are less useful, less attractive, etc., but fail to realize they were the very substance of our lives; they were the ones who guided us through life; they were the pillars of support on which we grew, etc.

 

We can be engaged in any activity, but ensure to prioritize with contextual relevance, which again is a sign of a composed mind.

 

Contextual relevance must preferably be the predominant feature/factor of our choices and decisions at any point of time.

 

Here is sample on acid test I wrote a few years ago

http://idiomsidiomsalltheway.blogspot.in/2012/03/14ultimate-proofacid-test.html

 

"Test a servant while in the discharge of his duty, a relative in difficulty, a friend in adversity, and a wife in misfortune." - Chanakya

 

 

So, a mind can be composed even amid the worst calamities and catastrophes if only it learns the art of balancing. It is okay for human beings, being a species that is primarily animal, to have certain momentary aberrations, annoyances, and keeping in abeyance certain values, but they must not become a permanent feature of life or culture or society.