Evaluation and relevant credit without conflating

 It is indeed a great and commendable work as to how we as a nation under a responsible leader handled the pandemic very effectively considering the population, lack of sanitation, lack of hygiene and lack of social concern among public. 

We ensured no one went hungry and toping on the cake was we developed our own indigenous vaccines so quickly and refrained from listening to the media mafia noise and naysayers.

So, definitely politically and economically we did manage and kudos to all who were responsible and maximum credit to the decision makers and those in power but to tag the qualification of Sanatani or being a great Hindutvadi is sheer stupidity. 

What it had to do with those achievements. It is like saying Feyman, Einstein, Faraday or Curie discovered all those because they were devout Christians. 

I think we must learn not to validate real achievements in one domain by mixing irrelevant associations. 

It is like saying that Tendulkar was a great player and the best part is he was not only a great batsman but also a Marathi.

Perspectives

 

Money, wealth, things, products everything we see from human and humane perspective and evaluation.

 

Though these may not be good enough because from a larger perspective universe is not earth centric and earth is not human centric (every species and creature has its own right and space) and human life is not any specific identity or ideology centric.

 

However, even from human perspective everything gets prioritised by ' value' hidden in the term ' evaluation' in terms of any one or some of these:-

 

Utility,

Trade off,

Transactional acceptance,

Inherent values,

Intrinsic values,

Contextual relevance or importance based value,

Environmental impact based (posterity needs an environment),

Momentary value/utility,

Long-lasting value/utility,

Micro level utility/value,

Macro level utility/value,

Regional values/acceptance,

Economic priorities,

Political, cultural, traditional, religious acceptances,

Global acceptance etc.

Evaluation

Criticisms,  analysis, logical counterargument are the warp and weft of the evaluation and learning process leading to evolution. 

Instead of looking at them as part of that process and resorting to tergiversating is a sign of lack of confidence or conviction in what one says or wants.

Don't  presume the ruling party is dismissing anything as any leaning vacuous intellectualism. But the rueing seniors of a party know it is more about both actual and intellectual vacuum due to a whole party leaning on a family.

It is not silence but supply of sensational sound bites by only a particular family to lurid headline grabbing​​ reporters or loitering lobbyists and flying by night not bothering about the plight of the party is what is shackling the party seniors not any other ramshackle or ram shaking the sunken boat.

The bossy insolent, the royal 'we' ( meaning not the party but the family) spilling rodomontade  may condescend to defend provided he or she is able to understand someone who is more keen on parading his  sesquipedian loquaciousness rather than addressing  issues with serious intentions.

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 [30^th 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?”

http://contentwriteups.blogspot.in/2009/04/everything-and-everyone.html

http://contentwriteups.blogspot.in/2009/04/every-age.html

http://contentwriteups.blogspot.in/2015/10/tact.html

The churning process of life 

Data has its own limitations

Data driven studies are important and vital in many domains but they can also be of no consequence in certain cases.

For example a UNNIKRISHNAN or Sanjay Subramaniyam would have rendered ‘Radha samedha krishna’ more than 100 times to a gathering of 500 plus audience and every time would have also got great applause from the audience but GNB would have rendered it only some 20 times that too an audience of some 50 people that does not make GNB’s rendering any lesser or for that matter UNNI’s any greater.

While all data reveals interesting information it may not include all the parameters or multiple verticals. So to data driven conclusions on certain areas cannot give you a correct picture.

I always maintain evaluation must be contextually relevant, based on intrinsic merit or inherent attributes of whatever or whomsoever that you are evaluating.

There was a three generation sprint competition for women at Chennai some years back. One old lady of 75 plus ran at a speed of 4 steps a minute and fell down mid way. Data analysis based on speed indicated she was the poorest runner but she was the eldest of the whole lot.

In sports, especially in team sports, it is impact of a player on a given occasion is more relevant than his individual records.
Robin Singh played very few matches for India he always got a chance to bat at the maximum for 4 overs and got to bowl 2 to 3 overs [he was called an all rounder in the team but not used as one]. Unfortunately, his records are very poor, not even worth mentioning in any book on Indian one day cricket but in terms of impact, in every match he played it was consistently worthy.

So while we may judge the batsmen based on runs they have scored we do not analyze each innings in terms of the situation which includes the strength of the bowler bowling, the field placements and the quality of fielding, climate, country, pitches and unfortunately the dimension of the ground whether the boundaries were 65 meters or 95 meters; whether the runs scored were of nudges and edges [ there was a two test wonder called Hemant Kanitkar who was the top scorer in 1974 first test in against west indies at Bangalore when Andy Roberts was at his best, he scored all shots in nudges and edges but for that India would have been bundled out for less than 100 on that day] or glorious drives or bold classical flicks and late cuts  or cross batted drives and pulls etc.

I feel cricketers must be judged on cricketing merits, the joy of seeing them competing with class, craftsmanship and crisp strokes. The pleasures of watching them do so. There was immense joy in watching the sudden breezy spells of Safraz Nawaz;  Dennis Lillee  and Jeoff Thomason hunting down like a pack of wolf; the generations of  West Indian bowlers do that; the classy calm display of silky strokes of Sunil Gavaskar, Dravid, Sachin, Steve Waugh, Allan Border; the audacious display of taking on the bowlers by Vivian Richards, Shewag, Hayden, Gilcrist ; the smooth flowing drives of Lara, Lakshman, kalicharan etc.

Let us not therefore barter the joy of watching the game or let our judgments be influenced by prejudices based on favoritism.

Players like Arjuna Ranathunga, Javed Miandad, Allan Border , Clive Llyod, Dilip Vengsarkar, Azhruddin   used play the ball in the gaps and scamper through for singles and twos, especially Ranatunga will run like Bolt till he reaches the other crease then stop at once.

 But I would never like to watch someone living on only running between the wickets and playing strokes once in a while when there is a loose delivery or through nudges like Bevan , even if he holds all the best records in the game as a finisher.

http://contentwriteups.blogspot.in/2014/08/is-dhoni-or-bevan-better-finisher-in.html

Astrology, Evaluation, Economics

"In the final analysis, to my mind there is no argument against
granting Ph.D.s in astrology merely on the grounds that it has no
predictive value.  After all, one can still get a Ph.D. in economics,
right?" Dr. M. Vidyasagar has a question for economists

I feel the above referred statement  must deal with two subjects whose bandwidth is too vast, depth is too deep and acceptance is very often ambivalent based on our situation and belief. Both can be termed, based on certain parameters as pseudo science [for want of empirical reference and review with specific given situations/probabilities]. I am not referring to astrology and economics, but to astrology and our process of evaluation of the subject.

First we need to be clear about how we proceed to evaluate any subject. In fact, yesterday I wrote this in my FB for some person who was making a very prejudiced observation with sweeping generalizations about certain relationships. However, here I am pushing process of evaluation to the second position and deal with astrology first.

As for economics is concerned, it is the most misused subject for various political and commercial reason with multiple theories. A much maligned subject as you would know if you read Freakonomics and Super Freakonomics.

1.    Astrology

This science by itself is embedded with wide scope for multiple interpretations, further explorations etc without claiming anything with any axiomatic certitude.  The people who are even a little conversant with astrology know that there is neither unique proposition nor final position. They are many steps for further synthesis in endless steps for the truth and can't be grasped all at one go, especially not by the mind we are equipped with which seeks mostly specific outcomes. It delves into several details sincerely trying to extend the boundaries of our own mind or perception of our position viz à viz other planets and the effect of their vibrations on life of beings on earth, and even out of this, to be more precise, about  one particular species called human beings.

In the process astrology has set certain theories based on observations of certain combinations. Regarding this itself there is still multitude of unending academic as well as biased debates that is going on endlessly.

Is astrology all about only some chart drafted or delineated based on time and place of birth? What is to be determined as time of birth? When the fetus is exposed to the outside world from the mother’s womb? Or when the conception starts taking place in the womb? If it were so, how are we going to decide when the conception took place? Did it start when the lucky sperm and ovum fused together? Or did start when a strong sperm cell formed in the human body to push away other cells and gate crashed to become a fertile egg?

Then which aspect of astrology to be given preference or predominance is it the Zodiac based on Lagna [ natal chart- position of planets] based on time of birth? Or to be interpreted based on constant movements of all planets [gochara]? Are we to go by the static chart or transitory motions?  If everything is determined by fate alone, then, what is the use of freewill? Let us churn up everything. It is an interesting exercise. Are social status and milieu in which one is born of any consequence in astrology? If natal chart is like the small hand of a clock indicating major aspects of time, freewill is like the long hand [minute hand of a clock] and combined consequences are indicated by the underlying seconds hand of a clock [In Tamil there is a verse which describes this as Vidhi, Madhi and Gadhi].

If as per gochara , i.e. transitory movements or some yoga a person is destined to encounter something either very good or very bad, what is the use if that happens when he or she is a very small child or very old and unable to enjoy the benefit or face the difficulties? Then what must be given priority in astrology? There are millions of magazines in many languages which discuss the zodiac based transition every month, every week, every day etc. with some prediction. Can we divide humanity into 12 stereotyped categories? Can all people with sun sign Libra have the same impact or effect in their life at a particular time? The sheer improbability makes us stick on to natal chart and dasa bhukthi, though maximum money is in interpreting gochara based predictions. Because in that case we can say now Saturn is moving to your 8^th house so you will face such and such problems , run to astrologers, worship this or that? Do all these? Can all these stop Saturn from entering your 8^th house or is it meant to not treat Saturn as a guest and ignore? Are we more powerful than planets, if we have such power then do we need  fences around our houses or do we need doors?

The problem is not with the subject but our lack of understanding, lack of data, lack of documented reference material with evidences etc. We have never bothered to fully develop it into an acceptable subject.

Here are some articles, in general about astrology written by me.

http://contentwriteups.blogspot.in/2009/08/astrology.html

and this one by Osho

http://contentwriteups.blogspot.in/2013/06/astrology-science-of-cosmic-oneness-by_8.html

2.    Evaluation.

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, skepticism , 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 so that  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.

This blog posting delves rather deep into the process of evaluation

http://contentwriteups.blogspot.in/2014/08/evaluations-and-tmks-blindness.html

Specifically the link in that http://contentwriteups.blogspot.in/2013/12/story-of-mango-fruit-sambar-and.html

If you have enough time you may go through this as well.

http://contentwriteups.blogspot.in/2013/12/carnatic-music-cockroaches-cars.html

​Is Dhoni or Bevan a better finisher in one dayers?

​Is Dhoni or  Bevan  a better finisher in one dayers?

For sanity's sake any evaluation must take into credit in any field /walk of activity two vital elements first the inherent attributes/qualities/essence of the thing/art/ person evaluated and second the impact that thing or person has created on humanity.

That's why no historian can ever avoid Hitler or Mahatma Gandhi because people who make history or whose names are etched in history are those who had a very great degree of both, namely inherent quality and impact [we are not judging whether they are good or bad which is relative] and manifested that with conviction and clarity and in great quantity consistently. Same is the case with Madame Curie [ everyone must read her entire biography] Cheiro, Benjamin Disraeli, Swami Vivekananda, Adi Shankara, Ramakrishna paramahamsa etc.

I use to give a small example to all adults when I was teaching I used to ask girls in college to write in a few words something important about the class room all of them would be writing about board, chalk piece, duster, windows must be closed to avoid distraction or must be opened for ventilation, comfortable chairs, paying attention to teacher, teacher must be friendly, teacher must be pleasant in presentation etc but none will mention about learning and teaching. Incidentally a classroom is primarily meant only for that. Then I used to ask them to write about kitchen again all gadgets will be mentioned and not cooking. [I used to say crudely do we lit up the stove to warm up our buttocks? So that they will never again in their life forget to give importance to the vital elements inherent qualities/essence and impact and importance]

This a malady that manifests in all spheres at all levels just two days back when I wrote a rejoinder to another nonsense by TMK here in this link, it is a lesson on  Evaluation 

http://contentwriteups.blogspot.in/2014/08/evaluations-and-tmks-blindness.html

 Wherein I would like to quote a small paragraph

“For example if one were to evaluate one’s parents should one do so based on whether they [the parents ] had qualities which had the potential to compare them with great film stars/great sports persons/ millionaires/greats artists/ great musicians/great thinkers/great scientist etc. No, not at all, the evaluation must be how they were as parents in relationship to the concerned person in terms love, care, compassion, emotional attachment etc”.

When you eat Dosa what primarily matters more is the taste and the quality of ingredients more than its shape, size, how it is served, the side dishes, table ambiance etc[ though all these things are also important but they are not primary factors]

Why I say this wrong approach manifests in all spheres and at levels is because of this nurtured negative quality or ignored method of evaluation a very well known and respected music critic wrote something in the Hindu and I did not let it go scot free. Here is what I wrote with a link to the article that appeared in the Hindu too.

http://contentwriteups.blogspot.in/2013/01/dress-does-not-matter-for-carnatic-music.html

As grown up we must also grow out of some unflinching loyalty to any prejudice or person if not through knowledge and wisdom at least through experience and the realization of the fact we cannot carry on like that in life.    

Now coming to the subject Bevan or Dhoni, since my humility or false modesty and lack of time prevents me from writing about the relative merits I have decided to just refer three links:-

1.    http://rjha.quora.com/How-Michael-Bevan-Killed-Cricket

Two interesting paras of that long and nice article:-

a] ​ “The greats like Inzy and Ganguly were ridiculed for not taking singles and running faster (I salute Ganguly for never grounding his bat, yeah, the bat is for hitting fours and sixes, fuckers).

Due to the success of Bevan, the days of percentage cricket had arrived. Like some actor said in Bollywood, I can dance, I can fight, what if I cannot act? Only 33 percent is missing. Hell, forget the cuts and drives and glances. Just run, motherfuckers, just run. Run, run, run. Run and fucking ground the bat. Why the fuck you want to watch a 22-yard dash motherfuckers? I would rather watch Usain Bolt if I am interested in sprints”.

b] “The sheer fucking idiotic monotony of it just kills me. Everyone is a fucking pundit of the game now. No more suspenses. Just look at the number of overs. Hey, over number between 15-35, oh yes, we are going to watch a lot of risk-free, full of singles percentage cricket. No motherfucker will lift his bat. They will just block and run. 

To restore the game to its glory, we need to banish the spirit of Bevan from it. The game just needs one rule change. Just ban the 22-yard mad dash 1-run. No more 1-run and let's see how you bat then!”

2] Statistical performance analysis since I don't have time to make the graph I am mentioning the links the beauty is even in bowling the economy rate of Dhoni is not far behind that of Bevan 

http://www.thatscricket.com/australia/players/mg-bevan.html

3] http://www.thatscricket.com/india/players/ms-dhoni.html

Research and healthy unbiased debate is always welcome and important.

http://contentwriteups.blogspot.in/2014/06/arguments_7030.html

“Everything changes as you move through three stages of awareness:
first, that beliefs are the result of conditions;
second, that beliefs are the cause of conditions;
and third, that beliefs are themselves conditions.”
― Eric Micha'el Leventhal

​

Carnatic music, Cockroaches, Cars, Canteens and Creating Overnight Celebrities

Carnatic music, Cockroaches, Cars, Canteens and Creating Overnight Celebrities

“Get out of your own way… stop the paralysis by analysis… decide what you want, create a simple plan, and get moving!” - Steve Maraboli.

I beg you… to have patience with everything unresolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves as if they were locked rooms or books written in a very foreign language. Don’t search for the answers, which could not be given to you now, because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answer. ~ 
Rainer Maria Rilke.

“Across planes of consciousness, we have to live with the paradox that opposite things can be simultaneously true.” 
― Ram Dass.

I start with these three quotes whose relevance I would like the readers to infer at the end.

The ideology which preaches a comfortable car to redesign itself in speed, design etc to render justice to bullock carts to bridge the gap of disparity is putrefying  growth and petrifying to a 21^st century human being.

All that I write below are merely observations and not judgments on anything as correct or wrong.

Everything is inherently embedded with certain basic and fundamental steps which one cannot by pass [of course this too has exceptions] but to deprive things of these fundamental steps would be emasculating them of their very vitality.

Everything in any process of growth is just a step, important and inevitable, but not a stop. It is so with mother’s milk [our biological aspect of life]; it is so with learning of alphabets, words and numbers [our intellectual aspect of life]; it is so with hugging, kissing and cajoling as babies [our emotional aspect of life]; it is so with our learning and understanding of different concepts [ our philosophical aspect of life]; it is so with all forms of worship, devotion and all its concomitant rituals and religious practices [ our spiritual life] and so on. This is the inherent wisdom. A normal human being has to go through a process to grow in everything or into something. There may be exceptions like a Adi shankara, or a Bhagawan Ramanamaharishi.

We can neither avoid the steps nor get struck to them. That’s why I cannot accept the snobbism of so called intellectuals parroting pet slogans like religion without rituals, god without religion or religion without gods, spiritualism without god or religion etc. In fact I have books titled in each part of the slogan.

This does not mean that we must stop questioning or doubting anything in real earnest to get answers or get further enlightened. Fortunately we are from a philosophical background, I mean Indians, wherein the religion is Sanathana Dharma which allowed also carvaka philosophy which almost advocated atheism when the word atheism itself did not exist in any language.[1]

Incidentally my New Year Greeting for 2014 itself is about questioning.[2]

Here even in the arena of spirituality I would suggest to those who cannot digest the high philosophical exposition of reality as explained by a J.Krsihnamurthy or a Neale Donald Walsch to read Swami Chinmayananda’s wonderful and very simple book ‘Logic of Spirituality’ as it can help us make a true evaluation of what type of human being we are and which type of approach will be appealing to us and make us access our spiritual roots easily. For some it is rituals and devotion; for some it is philosophical enquiry; for some it is pure meditative approach etc. Here are the links but better still to buy the book with CD and gift it to parents. [3] This applies to all fields.

Take for example the food in a hotel. Some may like the food in a hotel just as it is to satisfy their hunger, some may like its ambience , some may get attracted by brand name, some may appreciate the presentation of the food, some may like the hospitality of the waiter, some may like the dressing of the food, some may like the color of the food, some may be interested in analyzing the ingredients, some may be bothered about whether they were prepared in hygienic conditions, some may be bothered about the nutritional content of the food, some also may like the taste  etc. It is difficult to satisfy all these categories and many more such seekers. If a hotel starts analyzing all these factors  in the food that they plan to offer then the hotel business can never takeoff.  

In any evolution in general and in individual in particular certain metamorphic changes could be at times spontaneous, sudden, intense, intermittent, linked to some hidden agenda or ulterior motives etc but nevertheless they create an impact. Sometimes it has produced the greatest souls who have propelled the course of history like a Valmiki or a Voltaire [read Will Durant's story of philosophy wherein he introduces Voltaire as 'Italy had renaissance, Germany had reformation but France had one man called Voltaire']. But mostly when public pronouncements or publicity of such supposed metamorphosis especially when it pops out of  people who merely seek popularity and prominence through short cuts without necessary experience -based maturity, sound knowledge and groping about in irrelevant territories desperately seeking identity it does not augur well either for that person or the cause[s] which he is supposed to be promoting and it could even be counterproductive.

Everything that has ever existed and continue to exist or anything that has happened or continue to happen quiet often has its own inherent logic, principle, purpose, value, strength etc. In addition they are or act as some pieces to fit into the jigsaw puzzle of life.

These two important factors inherent logic and being part of the jigsaw puzzle of life are attributes of everything starting from the various forms and names of Almighty to all things in the universes.  

Unfortunately the whole or complete picture of life is yet unknown to many of us [if we are honest and humble enough to accept] but not unknowable. This unknown mystery is so because of various factors of which the two most glaring are our chronologically limited mortal body frame and the limited abilities and perceptions of our mental frame and this prevents us from simultaneously perceiving anything at both the micro as well as macro level.[4]

But despite the limited existence of our individual body and all the limitations of our mind, we as human beings have explored the unmapped atlas of life enjoying, experiencing and enlightening ourselves in the process. Life as whole has been constantly reciprocating us with both sweet melodies and bitter tragedies in the course of our explorations and experiences.

Life has manifested its splendor through the excellent contributions and developments leading humanity to the zenith of advancements and enhancement of living conditions as well as pushed humanity to the nadir of existence because of some destructive and decadent activities.

The destructive and decadent activities are not only the tangible material ones but the psychological ones too and the purpose of this article is to address one such psychologically destructive activity which is promoted by vested interest groups.

Fortunately, at least in our country, most things and individuals have remained unencumbered by political ideologies formed and framed to homogenize everything and everyone and exercise control over and dominate and rule.

This long preamble is necessary to drive home certain points that I would like to explain now.

For want of time, space and in order to confine myself to the topic I am addressing, I am limiting myself only to a very small area of psychological destructiveness which by itself is too vast staring from catchy slogans which block thinking and reasoning to constant propaganda and brainwashing techniques which prevent perception and many such destructive tools adopted to control a whole population to fall in line with a particular or specific ideology through homogenization. [5]

These ideological invasions are done through various means to curb the manifestation of law of nature which is variety, and freedom of individual thinking which is the natural process of inward flowering of every individual soul expressing itself through the body and mind it has chosen.

Many religious institutions and political outfits have used these techniques to propagate, preserve and promote their vested interests.

From the vast sky of these vague generalized observations let me dive down to the specific clouds.

Persons, things, events are the different clouds that dot the sky of life. What happens is out of  an attitudinal problem when we deal with or resort to apply or evaluate wrongly [6] different clouds then our overall perception[7] of the cloud is clouded and before we realize the cloud either moves away or explodes or evaporates. So, great havoc is created through psychological fallacies. How? Let me explain.

That is, we cannot apply to study things or events out of context however exalted or revered tools we may use, be they the Vedas or bible. To drive home this point let me take a very crude example. Can they [Vedas or bible] explain or do they contain literature about methods and morals of cyber usage? The answer is a definite no. Obviously cyber activities did not exist at the period when Vedas or bible came into existence. So to evaluate them [Vedas or Bible, however great, good and useful they are, or however much you hold them with reverence and sanctity] with reference to their relevance to cyber activities will only make these texts of no use or value. If anyone who attempts to use the Vedas or bible in such a way is resorting to adopting wrong tools of application or using wrong methods of evaluation. We have to only laugh at his ignorance or ignore his laughable behavior.[8]

Cockroaches have their own inherent attributes like being nocturnal creature with a chain of hearts, in all totaling to 13. Some regard it as a single heart with 13 chambers. These are funnel shaped chambers with a pair of tiny holes called ostia. The ostia allow blood into the cockroach hearts. The hearts push the blood forward, in the direction of the head. Beneath the hearts are rhomboid alary (i.e. wing-shaped) muscles. Contraction and relaxation of the alary muscles pulls the blood nearer heart and Suction pressure fills the heart with blood entering through the ostia. We cannot complain about cockroaches having a heart throughout its body with more than a dozen chambers and having an ability to live longer without air or food and even their ability to withstand radiation better than human beings can be explained through the cell cycle. Cells are most vulnerable to the effects of radiation when they are dividing. A cockroach's cells divide only once each time it molts, which is weekly at most in a juvenile roach. Since not all cockroaches would be molting at the same time, many would be unaffected by an acute burst of radiation.

It is these very unique features or attributes that have made them survive, as probably only species over several millions of years. We cannot complain that they have unfair advantages like they are only nocturnal preferable inhabiting dark but dry as well as wet places.

We cannot apply or need not apply and expect cockroaches to fit into our political ideology based on twisted logic and demand that cockroaches must also like many other insects be made to be present at day time, on all environs and so on. We may not like the cockroach’s filiform antennae or its anal cerci and therefore we cannot expect creation to redesign a cockroach’s anatomy to suit our taste or liking.  Cockroach’s worthiness or value is dependent on the above cited aspects of  its own unique features.

Cockroaches and mango fruit sambar have their own inherent logic for existence.[9]

All bubbles and balloons are very attractive spectacles but we can never erect structures using them as a foundation, the Indian brand of Marxist leftist ideology is one such bubble or balloon to which all of us are attracted but trying to claim it as a panacea or use to as a tool to evaluate everything or as a reference manual to explain the correctness or justify everything is to live in a world of delusion and muddying the water. Some migratory birds may fish in these troubled waters whether we view their acts as noble or otherwise [pun] intended.

One can combine the use of the gift of the gab, mastery of language and google’s search engines and produce excellent literature on cardiac surgery and neuro surgery which can put to envy even great cardiac surgeons and neuro surgeons but that does not mean that that person has the least bit of knowledge about either the heart or brain much less can be expected to even witness either a cardiac or brain surgery without shivering, leave alone doing the surgery. There is nothing wrong in such literature or persons producing such literature.

But it would be grave mistake  to give more prominence or importance to such writers over real cardiac and neuro surgeons especially to people who are confused as to which specialist doctor they need to approach for their cardiac problems.

Unfortunate trend is the TV anchors and media promoted personalities are tending to be considered as  experts in all fields and some turn out as overnight celebrities, heroes and even chief ministers.

The platform that gives more importance to such writers is contributing to the psychological decay of the human race. Damage is more if a majority of innocent people look up to such platform.

The subject I am touching upon is a frustrated carnatic vocalist and the prominence given to him by a particular newspaper.

I beg to disagree with you respected author of this article who makes lofty comparisons of a small fry.[ http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-editorialfeatures/an-open-letter-to-tmkrishna/article5494768.ece#]

I can quote a few hundreds of eccentric geniuses like flute Mali in India in various fields and a few thousands across the globe.

Their eccentricities were psychological or emotional manifesting either as inherent natural attributes of their individual self or out of their reaction based on the actual realization or presumed perception that their extraordinary talents were not appreciated to the extent that they deserved or expected.

For those who believe in astrology there are certain combinations of Venus [ sukran]  which endows one with both extraordinary talent and eccentricities.

But then in the case of TMK, with all respects to him [ I too used to enjoy some of his concerts] let me make it very clear, avoiding comparisons [both in terms of voice quality or musical expertise] that he is not even anywhere near many others of his time and of even those much younger to him. They are all far more talented than him.

His eccentricities could be probably out of frustration that he is not able to perform as well as many others or his over ambitious short term prominence seeking and cheap publicity seeking mentality through short cuts or is the result of his having got influenced and getting confused by a totally conflicting and irrelevant ideological fixation based on a social philosophy which has proven track record of colossal failure in actual application even in domains for which it was intended and that ideology needs to be kept in the attic of a Museum, not even anywhere else in the museum, namely Leninist Marxist ideology which has failed even in USSR.

Or perhaps he is consciously aware that he cannot compete and excel among his peers and other great singers that he has resorted to, thanks to his family background and being well connected to some media houses to these tricks.

Incidentally I have written this way back without as much of fanfare or publicity as TMK more or less on same lines in certain aspects with suggestions that my small brain could think of but without trying to pose as a messiah read the link patiently [http://contentwriteups.blogspot.in/2012/08/carnatic-music-too-must-reinvent-itself.html]

Here is one interesting write up I found

“How will a deaf man understand music?

He will bring a sound detector, that might have some graphical intruments. The deaf man will make graphs of frequency vs time, and then he will merely say "THIS IS MUSIC!".

IS MUSIC MERELY "frequency vs time"?

Ask a musician to decode the frequency vs time and reproduce the music. He won't be able to. I compose music. I have tried to record my music on paper(during these vacations!) like a deaf man. Sometimes when I forget my own music, these written texts(that contain in great detail, everything) are of no use. It is dead. You need inspiration to remember the music back.

Sound forms a minuscle part of music. What matters more is the bhava(emotions and expressions) .Music requires inspiration. It requires a connection to the nature and this world. Music is never created, it is ever present, you just need to listen to it.

Music has a soul. The sound is merely its carrier.

There is the same soul within everything. Somewhere its carrier is the sound, while somewhere its carrier is the body.”[ http://prateekraj.blogspot.in/2007/10/charvaka-philosophy_02.html]

[1] http://www.mahavidya.ca/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/gajdostik-megan-carvaka-philosophy.pdf and http://www.slideshare.net/ajitceo/the-carvaka-philosophy

[2] New Year with a New Realization of Reality

http://contentwriteups.blogspot.in/2013/12/new-year-with-new-realization-of-reality_6.html

http://www.scribd.com/doc/189819608/New-Year-With-a-New-Realization-of-Reality1011

[3]http://chinmayasaaket.org/articles/gurudev/LOGIC%20OF%20SPIRITUALITY.pdf and http://www.hinduismworldwide.in/2013/05/logic-of-spirituality-swami.html

[4] http://contentwriteups.blogspot.in/2013/11/micro-details-and-macro-view.html

[5] http://contentwriteups.blogspot.in/2009/10/peace-and-non-violence-harmony-and.html

[6] http://contentwriteups.blogspot.in/2010/12/attitude.html

[7] http://contentwriteups.blogspot.com/2010/02/real-perception.html

[8] http://www.authorstream.com/Presentation/balayogiv-1483224-morality-contextual/

http://www.scribd.com/doc/101199648/Morality-is-Just-Contextual

[9] http://contentwriteups.blogspot.in/2013/12/story-of-mango-fruit-sambar-and.html

Story of Mango Fruit Sambar and the philosophy behind it for Carnatic music

Story of Mango Fruit Sambar and the philosophy behind it for Carnatic music.

 by Balayogi  [balayogiv@gmail.com]

Some people with very high BP or cardiac problems cannot take me because of my saltiness due to salt in me.

Some people with severe peptic ulcer, liver cirrhosis, gerd [gastroesophageal reflux disease] cannot take me because of my sour taste caused due to my Tamarind content.

Some people with stomach ulcer, colon problems cannot take me because of my spicy taste caused due to red chillis and /or pepper.

Some people with severe diabetes cannot take me because of my sweetness caused due to the fructose in the mango juice.  

Some people with dislike for even the slightest bitterness cannot take me because of a few fenugreeks that are added.

Some people cannot take me because of the umami [thuvarpu] taste of the coriander. [1]

Some people do not want to take me because they dislike the aroma of asafoetida.

Some people do not want to take me because they cannot take the dhal in me as they suffer from protease deficiency [2].

Some people do not want to take me because they suffer from various malabsorption [3] related issue.

The mango fruit one of the main ingredient of me [the mango sambar] itself was proud of the fact that it was the only product which has all the six tastes embedded in it from the bitter kernel, to the salty shell cover, to the umami mavadu [small mango],to the sour mango before maturing into a sweet mango fruit unaware of the fact that its destiny is not defined by its proud self but because of its being part of me the Mango fruit Sambar.

So, there were these hoard of people with various unfortunate physical disorders who cannot enjoy or savor me [mango fruit sambar] and those with psychological aversions towards me, well justified after all it is a matter of taste.

But still I have many who do not come under the above two categories could and did and continue to savor me and that too repeatedly.

I also noticed that human beings seldom realize how sense of taste is extremely influenced by sense of smell.

Left to myself I would have preferred people savoring me rather than tasting me. Even most dictionaries define the word savor as ‘have an experience of’. Taste and smell are the senses people confuse. They seem to be inseparable companions. [4]

As my appeal is to the human senses and sensibilities of the body, mind and through them to the soul or spirit [for those who believe in them] I was proud of my excellent combination to provide all the six possibly verbally defined tastes namely sweet, salty, spicy, sour, bitter and umami combined with an enviable mix of aroma created by that whole lot of ingredients.

So, I never felt the need to feed any of the political ideologies, which lead some people to make political statements in almost all spheres of life and living and which gradually disturb the very essence of my identity just to suit a particular political ideology.

I was wrong to have lived in blissful ignorance of getting impacted or influenced by political ideological factors when it has penetrated itself in many areas and castrated many human activities of their intrinsic potentiality or vitality.

Especially, certain political ideologies, which tend to and want to homogenize everything, knowing well or ignorant of the fact that nature’s law is that of manifesting variety and automatic and spontaneous unity and harmony in variety.

So some votaries of this ideology want me to be accessible to and appealing to everyone a la leftist Marxist ideology and in that case you imagine what taste can I retain? What aroma I am allowed to carry? What texture I must appear to be? What is more interesting is that a person who loved, lived and grew through tasting me and savoring me and spreading my flavor to many others has decided propagate this political ideology with which I have no relation and for which I was never created and therefore neither do I have any clue as to what I must become and it has left many of those who have started enjoying me recently in total confusion.

All that I can assure is that all the nature’s bounties that have conspired to create me, the Mango fruit sambar, will always be intact only as mango fruit sambar for all those who can make it and want it. For the rest you can all have Mango fruit sambar without mango, without tamarind, without salt, without coriander and even without mango or sambar and call it still by the same name as Mango sambar.

All beings and things on earth have evolved with some purpose either obvious or not so obvious [ I cannot say hidden or mysterious or esoteric then my motives will be questioned] to enable everyone to experience and explore the unmapped atlas of life and enjoy the journey of life in the process.

Let everyone choose the vehicles or tools of their choice or taste or temperament to engage in this exploration and there are neither any fit all vehicles nor can there be any compulsion to use only certain specific tools to be used. So let no one sit on judgment on any tool or vehicle.

It was these intolerance and restrictions which have delayed the progress of science, prevented human growth through many restrictive religiously imposed rules and rituals and certain political ideologies. Let us not pollute everything with what we think to be the only way to approach anything nor view everything in life through the prism of our ideological fixations.

Everything fits in as some piece in the jigsaw puzzle of life’s purpose and therefore no person or thing can move around in vague inanity without identity nor are there any restrictions from liberating or switching over to other identities.

Yes identities inevitably tend to be labeled and defined and in turn they too define and describe the person or thing that they impact or influence. Each identity has also in its intrinsic fiber some inbuilt sanctity and self defense mechanism.

If I the Mango fruit Sambar can have such worries about my existence due to irrelevant evaluations of my personality I shudder to imagine areas like Classical Carnatic music being subjected to such analysis.

While questioning and doubting are most vital  aspects of growth and development of any field there must not be irrelevant evaluations or judgments popping out of impatience to wait for certain answers.

I sometimes feel like telling certain minds what Steve Maraboli said, “Get out of your own way… stop the paralysis by analysis… decide what you want, create a simple plan, and get moving!”, and also what Rainer Maria Rilke said,  ”I beg you… to have patience with everything unresolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves as if they were locked rooms or books written in a very foreign language. Don’t search for the answers, which could not be given to you now, because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answer”.

Mango fruit sambar and music are the trying to create, influence and impact the symphony of life through rhythm of the body, the melody of the mind, and the harmony of the soul all vibrating with the joy of tasting aesthetically through our senses and sensibilities and not necessarily to satisfy any social theory or ism or ideology.

“The beauty and mystery of this world only emerges through affection, attention, interest and compassion . . . open your eyes wide and actually see this world by attending to its colors, details and irony.” 
― Orhan Pamuk.

[1] Umami is a Japanese word that literally means “delicious” and is used to describe the savory taste associated with oriental broths and monosodium glutamate (MSG).

The stimulation for "umami" on the tongue comes from the amino acid (building block of protein) called glutamate - naturally found in tomatoes, parmesan cheese, and wine, among other foods. This taste is created in foods (like Indo–Chinese) by use of MSG (a.k.a Ajinomoto in India) or soy sauce. MSG is popular as it is a readily available, inexpensive, intensely umami ingredient with no off-flavors.

[2] Protease deficiency : http://enzymes.subtleenergysolutions.com/enzyme-deficiency.html

[3] Malabsorption

http://www.puristat.com/malabsorption/

[4] University of Pennyslvenia professor Paul Rozin did even study with speakers of nine languages including Tamil and  to know more about it read the following book especially pages 34 and 35 ‘Taste: Surprising Stories and Science About Why Food Tastes Good By Barb Stuckey.