Why are many often in a dilemma?

​                       Why are many often in a dilemma?

 

Too ambivalent to clearly choose between the practical and idealistic that they cannot object either approaches;

 

Too bickering for petty benefits that they cannot afford to object to beneficiaries of certain entitlements;

 

Too caring about being cocooned in their personal comforts that they cannot advice others to come out of their comfort zones.

 

Too discursive in debates that they cannot find fault with others diverting from context;

 

Too easy going to object to expediency or opportunism that others seek;

 

Too fond of dabbling in too many things with a cursory interest without serious focused persistent pursuit of any particular thing that they cannot find fault with superficiality of others or get intimidated by the specialist;

 

Too greedy that they cannot deny others' aggression to acquire more;

 

Too hypocritical that they cannot criticise double standards of others;

 

Too immune to insults and insinuations they cannot object to others' compromises;

 

Too judge​mental that they cannot avoid being evaluated;

 

Too kinky that they cannot find fault with aberrations of any sort in others;

 

Too laid back in their attitude that they cannot accuse others of not taking things seriously;

 

Too manipulative that they cannot accuse others of misusing them;

 

Too narcissistic that they cannot accuse others of selfishness;

 

Too overbearing that they cannot accuse others' bossy behaviour;

 

Too passionate about certain things to the exclusion of other things that they cannot object to others' strong prejudices;

 

Too quixotic in disposition that they cannot question others' choices and decisions;

 

Too radical to object to any others' opinions; 

 

Too sensitive to object to others taking offence at certain comments;

 

Too thick skinned to get offended by any comments and hence cannot accuse others' indifference;

 

Too unforgiving that they cannot question others' intolerance;

 

Too vainglorious that they cannot accuse others of vanity;

 

Too xenophobic to object to ethnocentric protectionism in others;

 

Too yearning for everything that they cannot object to unrealistic desires of others;

 

Too zigzag in life's path that they cannot suggest any path to others;

 

Too wobbly is the whole life with all actions, emotions, recreations, thoughts, ideas, reasoning, rewards , rich experiences and all winding paths which makes it clear that 'wisdom is always a work in progress' and hence, we need to accept others for what they are worth without trying to act wise or attempting to give advices. 

 

 

Editor’s dilemma

Editor’s dilemma is in determining the length of a sentence and extent of elaboration of any idea.

When I saw this post about the problems faced by editors I was travelling with very low battery but noted that I must debate on this issue.

Editing is important, some cases inevitable too and in certain cases renders a work more interesting through fine tuning and chaffing of the unnecessary frills covering the important substance or subject.

But how much is too much and who gets the privilege of deciding that.

Whether editing must be used as a nail filer or as a vegetable or fruit skin peeler or as a surgical knife or as a lumber jack to fine tune a presentation.

All artists in all forms of art create or render their works as a flow of their creative expression involving the romance between the medium with all its techniques and tools and what the artist wants to express using them.

We can see this romance in alapana [elaboration in music], a painter splashing multiple colors , a photographer taking photos from various angles, a writer weaving multiple expressions to express ideas, thoughts, descriptions and so on.

Every phrase in an alapana, every line or colour in a painting, every expression in writing, even the redundant ones or synonyms may have popped out of certain nuances that must have struck a chord in the mind of the artist/writer.

That’s why editing is a very delicate job like tight rope walking- the emphasis of focus is on balance than on exuberance or exhibition and ultimate aim is to ensure that final output is enjoyable or useful to the intended recipient.

When I see a movie like PINK PANTHER I am in total admiration of the editor; when I see Sivaji Ganesan’s over acting I feel that both the director and editor have failed miserably; when I see excessive, unwarranted, repetitive long winded dialogues in Indian movies it is irritating.

However, when Semmangudi elaborates a raga in alapana or a Madurai Mani Iyer repeats certain kalpana swaras, when J.Krishnamurthy or Osho repeat certain intrinsically valuable philosophical truths in different ways , when Shakespeare’s or Kalidasa’s plays delve into multiple descriptions I would love to savor them in all their entirety as many times as I can.

Life after all is a collation of repetitions. Repetitions of various kinds and intensities and which could be categorized as inevitable, interesting and incorrigible.

As in many other realms of life, editing and determining the length of a sentence too, our attitude is, inevitably one that is ambivalent.

Here is what I wrote on three topics of remote relevance to the subject of discussion

1. Length of a sentence

http://contentwriteups.blogspot.in/2015/11/length-of-sentence-in-language.html

2. Need for elaboration

http://contentwriteups.blogspot.in/2015/11/elaboration-is-indeed-important.html

3. Repetition- the predominant factor of life

 http://idiomsidiomsalltheway.blogspot.in/2012/04/23again-and-again-repeatedly.html

Once I had an argument with an editor, I told her , well I thought writing a cheque in your name for hundred thousand rupees i.e. 100,000 but then I edited and removed the four zeros which I felt were a mere repetition.