Ajay Kumar Jagadeesh

Writer

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We must take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.

Elie Wiesel

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A memorable evening at Tinkle Sevaa with T. Suresh Kumar and his team, celebrating Anand Morzaria Sevaa Day! (4th December 2021)

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Wildlife lost to human blunder

A week back, three elephants were dragged to death by the Mangaluru- Chennai Express in Navakarai, adjacent to the Kerala-Tamilnadu border near Coimbatore. Sadly, one among them was a pregnant mother. 

It is no stray incident. Many elephants have got killed on these tracks even in the past. 

Whom should we blame for this? The elephants for crossing the railway tracks or ourselves for building them on a reserve forest stretch?

Human negligence and indifference is the prime cause of most human-animal conflicts. Infrastructural developmental activities and even farming within animal habitats are responsible for such mishaps. However, badly, we have allowed human settlements, educational institutions, religious and spiritual movements to lay their foot on forest lands and animal corridors.    

Now, after occupying their space, we call the animals intruders. Indeed, we have sliced large interconnected forest ranges into disconnected islands, disrupted the corridors elephants use for their seasonal migration between forest ends by building railway lines and highways over them. 

With the scarcity of food and water within jungles and human encroachments on animal habitats and migratory paths, elephants inevitably enter areas that we claim as ours but originally belong to them. And in extreme cases, they meet tragic ends. 

How can we prevent such fatalities from recurring? First, there must be a joint effort between various central and state governments' departments to avert human-animal conflicts. 

Nevertheless, the long-term solution would be to free animal habitats and corridors from human occupation. Where it is unavoidable, we must build artificial passages like ramps and underbridges for animals to cross safely. We should also firmly deal with deforestation and poaching to secure our forests and wildlife.  

After this fatal accident, the Tamilnadu Forest Department and the Railway officials, in a recent meeting, have suggested a slew of measures. They include increasing the number of forest field track watchers, equipping them with night vision binoculars and thermal sensor drones, and facilitating direct communication with the railway control room. 

They have also recommended that a forest watcher travel on the locomotives passing through the Walayar-Madukkarai stretch. Other measures include removing all electric fences near the tracks, erecting more speed limit boards, ramps, and solar lights for tracks A and B, and setting up watchtowers and CCTV cameras to monitor Track B.

These ideas are a welcome step towards preventing brutal elephant deaths on these tracks. Nevertheless, everything depends on how rapidly we implement them and look at long-term solutions to end human-animal conflicts.

The elephant corridor

Consecutive jumbo deaths in the western ghats region

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Pregnant Elephant Fed Pineapple Stuffed With Crackers In Kerala. She Died Standing In River

An elephant that was pregnant died in Kerala, standing in water, last Wednesday, after she faced one of the most brutal forms of animal abus

How could people be so cruel?

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Sound perfect language

Speech or the vocal language, which we use for communicating is based on the correlation between sounds and the meaning attributed to these sounds. Sounds by themselves do not carry an inherent meaning. It's we, the humans, who associate a meaning to them. And that's how languages came into existence.

Across all the spoken languages, the basic sound unit is a syllable. In them, a single syllable or a set of syllables form a word. And within the framework of language, there are several such predefined words (set of sounds) with attributed meanings. The moment a speaker produces these sounds, arraying them meaningfully as phrases or sentences, we relate to the message the speaker is trying to convey. Likewise, each time we create a meaningful combination of sounds, we transport a message. And in this way, in a sound language, meaningful sounds are used to carry an intended message. On the receiving end, we recognize these sounds and understand the message.

But, what if we are not introduced to this world of sounds at all? Everything may just sound Greek and Latin. In other words, when we do not know a particular language, we will remain utterly clueless about what a speaker is trying to convey to us through its sounds. Now, even if we know a language, if we lack the clarity of expression, we may fail to communicate properly. And not just that, we may also end up communicating a wrong message, even if we had intended to convey an entirely different one. There can be another scenario, where a speaker is exceptionally articulate, so much so that anything the speaker utters is rhyming and poetic. What should we hail here? The artistic element in the language or the message? Art can be appealing to our sense of hearing, but it's the message that defines the purposefulness of communication.

Nevertheless, it points to the presence of another vital aspect of sound language called intonation. Why poetry appeals to our sense of hearing is, modulation of language, created by way of rhythmic arrangement of words in them produces pleasing sounds. In the same way, modulation of sound language communicates something in addition to words and their intended meaning. A phrase or sentence could convey a different meaning when it is delivered using varying pitches and loudness. It can imply the mood of the speaker and also the intensity of the message. So, modulation of sound language, not only carries word associated meaning of the language but also conveys the emotional state of the speaker.

We saw here two vital elements of sound language; word associated meaning and intonation. By being conscious of both, we can know how we use words in excess and also our energy in delivering a message. Many a time, we also produce meaningless sounds and unwarranted noise in communication. If we desire to make the output of our sound language more precise, we have to become increasingly conscious of our speech.

Now, there is another element to sound language, about which we have to be cautious. It is not part of the language itself. It is rather a part of the speaker, which can stay hidden; that's the speaker's intention. Anyone who is adept in handling the language and is an expert in manipulating one's modulation without revealing one's emotions or intentions can be a master craftsman in rendering a word perfect and pitch perfect rhetoric.

We may see many enigmatic orators in different walks of life. They easily grab the limelight. Some become leaders. A few walk the talk. But who knows what the true intentions of rest others? Only the course of life may reveal. That's why we should never get carried away by the artistic flamboyance of language, instead look for the purposefulness of communication. Sans the veil of illusion sounds can create, sound language can be an excellent tool for communication and also for self-observation if we harness it to create value for others.

Article by Ajay Kumar Jagadeesh

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What should we be: A human or an animal?

Species beings, while hunting their prey in the food chain, target the weakest link first, since after all, it is their easiest prey. But it is also the way of nature to eliminate the weak, leaving only the fitter to survive at every given occurrence in nature. It's an unsaid decree in nature that if one has to survive, somewhere in the food chain, another has to die. But species beings also face the threat of survival from rivals among themselves fighting for territorial dominance or to win over a mate. Some lay siege around an opponent's territory or supply lines to food and water, as a strategy to weaken and win over them. In many species, the dominant among them assume leadership and lord over an army of subservient ones. This trait can be observed in ants, bees to hyenas and lions. Some species beings also resort to violence to tame and wrest control over their mates. Even some birds do this. The bout of life can thus, knock their life out or its challenges can push them to become stronger or subservient to the more powerful, to survive.

In the human world, the threat to survival comes more from within the humans themselves than from any other species or natural calamities. While humans prey upon other species beings for food, they also domesticate the weaker among other species and fight their fellow humans to cast their dominance upon them. They make them subservient and extract labor. Strangely, a lot of things they do are similar to other beings in the species kingdom. Many of their behavior can be likened to similar behavior in other species, like for example, the act of physical abuse and domestic violence to remain a dominant partner.

Even as a group, humans fight over each others' in the name of race, religion, language and so on and so forth. And nations fight over each other to be the dominant player in the continent or the world order. Where then is civilization, if power is used to eliminate another or to dominate and exploit another, how better are humans than animals on the planet? Beneath the sugar coated propaganda of civilization aren't humans just like animals?  

Civilization, therefore, should not end up becoming a cover-up of animal instincts in humans. By draping them with fabricated lies, humans are not going to become evolved beings. Civilization should rather reform people and prevent them from displaying the tendencies to eliminate, exploit or enslave the weak; the selfsame tendencies that are visibly present in the species kingdom and covetously present in the human world.

If humans are distinct from other beings and can act by their free will using their power of reasoning, then the collective endeavor of human civilization should be aimed at transforming the weaker in the society into stronger and self-reliant individuals. But if factors weakening them are not eliminated from the human society, they will, in turn, become an opportune ground for other stronger humans with untamed animal instincts to exploit their weaker counterparts in the community to build their dominance.

Now, as humans, we have a choice between the raw evolution of nature (based on strength and dominance) and the collective progress of all beings (based on strength governed by justice). What should we be, a human of reasoning and justice or an animal of instinct?

Article by Ajay Kumar Jagadeesh

Image courtesy: http://millionpictures.co

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The chastity laws of insecure men

It is an undisputed fact that whatever laws that have come into practice from the ancient and medieval eras are human made. They either found acceptance within various cultures and religions and became part of them, or were created based on prevalent ideologies on life religions were upholding.

Some laws, especially the ones that directly or indirectly revolve around a woman's virginity and chastity, were indeed crafted by men of the patriarchal society. They promulgated these laws and carried out their propaganda in such a way that these laws became morally, socially and even religiously binding upon women.

Family values and social perception on women were subject to moral character analysis and judgment, and any suspected slip from chastity was treated as a permanent taint and an unforgivable sin. Some societies were even promoting chastity belts for women. And these were happening, while men themselves were promiscuous in their social life and right when brothels and trading of women used to be a legal affair. History of many known civilizations vindicates this. Even literature hailing virtues of virginity and chastity of women were indeed promoting them relentlessly.

We can find references in the literature on how a woman was asked to testify her purity by entering into the fire or how a woman of absolute chastity could burn an entire city. Some literature even goes to the extent to say how chastity of the wife empowered her husband. Perhaps just a handful of them speaks about the chastity of men. What are they actually hinting? Is chastity an uncompromisable virtue? Is it just meant for women to observe? Aren't humans promiscuous in their minds, whether it is men or women? For what reason people are fostering this false social imagery?

Now, let's leave aside all the ideologies centered around virginity and chastity. To choose a life partner or to remain with or leave a partner is an individual's choice. While life shared by two people should be governed by their free will, mutual compatibility, and needs and need fulfillment, any imposing idea stemming from within the family or from the society in the name of cultural and religious protocols targeting one gender is something against the right of the individual to choose a partner.

Loyalty as a natural expression of love is different from a commitment that is enforced upon or asked for, in the name of pledges and promises. Promises indeed are sought by those who feel insecure and by those who suffer from poor self-esteem. They fear that those whom they court or live with could ditch them for someone else. The ambit of this fear is not confined just to the fear of losing one's partner, but also to the psychological hurt and social shame attached to it.

Among species beings, the fight for a mate drives them to become competent. Whereas, humans, who are supposed to be civilized to respect their mutual right, create value for each other and support one other by way of a social institution like marriage, unfortunately, seek shelter from laws that bind their mates just to coerce them to live along, even when they are unwilling and incompatible.

Most of the ancient and medieval laws that bind women but not the men are indeed scripted by insecure men of the past, who feared that they could lose their women of interest to other competent males. And by way of culture and religion, they have tried to immortalize such laws and have shut the doors of reformation with clauses of blasphemy. Now, unless we understand that all laws are human-made, subject to the possibility of errors, and as a society, we choose to accept or reject them through reasoning, we may just keep repeating the errors of these men for several centuries more into the future.

Article by Ajay Kumar Jagadeesh

Image courtesy:  The video "Right to choose: Spotting the signs of forced marriage - Nayana," produced by the UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office.

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Uniform civil code stands for secularism

First posted on 25th October 2016

Currently, in India, there is a heated debate on uniform civil code everywhere in the media, especially after the NDA government at the center took a stand against Triple Talaq at the Supreme Court. But then, the key question on whether there should be a Uniform Civil Code or not, political parties including the BJP and all opposition parties are scuttling away with politically twisted answers. Even the so-called secular and rationalistic parties are painting uniform civil code as snatching away of rights of the minorities to follow their religion. If they are rationalists and secularists opposed to religion and the role of religion in politics, should they not be the first ones to object any personal or social laws based on religious tenets? But they will not. With their flimsy rationalism, they may never oppose it, because they would lose their minority vote bank, which they developed over a period by way of political appeasement.

We all know that India is a secular democracy. It is neither a 'Hindu Rashtra' nor an 'Islamic Republic,' or a 'Catholic State.' So, ideally, religions should not dictate terms on drafting the constitution. While as a secular nation, Indian Constitution protects the rights of an individual to practice one's religion, if any religious practice infringes upon the rights of another person or causes hurt to another being, laws of justice should supersede the privilege to pursue the religious practice. Triple Talaq is one such practice. It clearly violates the rights of women. If we as a society argue for equal rights for women in every aspect of life, how can we accept Triple Talaq as an acceptable social practice, merely because religious tenets of Islam endorse it? Will those who argue for it extend the same rights to women to divorce their husbands with Triple Talaq or allow them to marry four men? They certainly will not.

Now, this argument should not be confined to just some Islamic personal laws that are against the rights of women. All religious practices under any religion, enacted in the social sphere, should be brought under judicial scrutiny if they violate human rights or demonstrate cruelty. Everyone knows that even within Hinduism, practices such as Sati and Balya Vivaha (Child marriage), used to be rampant in the past. Hindu widows used to be banished to live a life of social isolation. Even today, if we go to places like Varanasi and Vrindavan, we can see socially isolated widows clad in white, living in ashrams and fending for themselves by seeking alms. Violation of human rights, even some apparent acts of cruelty are overlooked or justified by religions in the name of religious up-righteous behavior. Still, in many faiths, self-infliction of pain and animal sacrifice are in vogue. All these have been going on for ages shielded by social and political laws. So, if we want to uproot them once and for all, we need to empower our constitutional laws with a uniform civil code to enter into the protected territories of religions to fight civil injustice meted against gullible people in the society.

If on the other hand, religions have a perspective to justice, it can be debated upon and reasoned with, and if they are fit to be accepted as a universally applicable idea of social justice, amendments to the constitution can be considered in their favor. That is the only way, laws of religion can be recognized within a secular framework of the Constitution. But unfortunately, religions do not accept amendments to their own laws. They want to remain as they were centuries back. It's not that our state constitution is flawless, but at least it is open to debates and amendments, whereas religious texts are being shielded from reformative discussions and changes by fanatics. And that marks a clear difference between the two. As citizens of the country, we should know that if we want our country to be truly pluralistic and secular, we should vouch for a uniform civil code. It will go a long way in protecting the civil rights of all citizens from the undue influence of any religion.

Article by Ajay Kumar Jagadeesh

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Third-hand smoke can harm your family

Many people smoke inside their homes and cars, and some take precaution not to smoke when their spouse and children are around not to expose them to secondhand or passive smoke. They might think that once the smoke is cleared, the indoor space is fine and safe. Bachelor apartments on the other hand, where the inmates smoke, often carry a strong smoke stench even long after cigarettes have been put off. There are many others, who regularly use their bathrooms for smoking. These apart, closed smoking environs like bars, pubs, and coffee shops are spaces where cigarette smoke can hover around. Can cigarette smoke harm even after the smoke is extinguished, say several hours later or even days and weeks after?

Findings by the scientists at the Berkeley Lab, as part of the study under a research agenda developed by the California Consortium on Thirdhand Smoke, can tell us more on this. Their findings follow a published work on "Formation of carcinogens indoors by surface-mediated reactions of nicotine with nitrous acid, leading to potential thirdhand smoke hazards (2010)," by authors Destaillats, Gundel, Sleiman, and others.

According to their findings, thirdhand smoke is found to carry carcinogenic TSNAs (Tobacco-Specific Nitrosamines). They get formed when nicotine released by cigarette smoke interacts with gaseous nitrous acid and nitrous oxide in the indoor surrounding. Each time a person smokes within an enclosed area, like say a car or an apartment, a layer of nicotine gets deposited in the inner walls and objects of the enclosed space. Say if it's a bathroom, added layers of nicotine particles could get deposited on top of tiles, taps, and other fixtures, over a period. If it's in a study room or living room, particles of nicotine could get deposited as dust on walls, carpets, and curtains. And when someone smokes within an enclosed setting, nicotine also get absorbed in the clothes and the particles could stay over the hands and hairs, well after the session of smoke.

The presence of nitrous oxide, which is said to be higher in an indoor surrounding, due to internal combustion in household appliances, combines with deposited nicotine particles to form Tobacco-Specific Nitrosamines. Experiments carried out in this regard have revealed the presence of dangerous levels of Nitrosamines within cars, trucks, and apartments, where smoking has been prevalent. These carcinogenic toxic deposits can linger around for days, weeks and months together. And exposure to them by way of skin contact or inhalation when they get desorbed as gasses poses the threat of carcinogenic toxins entering the body. Children can get quickly exposed to them as they tend to place their hands everywhere and unknowingly put them in their mouth. And due to their proximity to the ground, they also tend to inhale more of nicotine dust and toxic TSNAs. In the same way, pets too. Women, on the other hand, can get exposed to these toxic specks of dust from their spouses as nicotine deposits over hair, skin, and clothing may persist unless washed off thoroughly.

Thirdhand smoke thus poses a severe threat to both smokers and nonsmokers, and children, in particular. Even pets too face a higher exposure risk. Smoking within an enclosed area and regular smoking within the same area mean objects within the space are unsafe for contact, and the air within the space is hazardous for breathing. It remains a zone of nicotine and nitrosamine contamination. If you are someone smoking indoors, watch out, you may be putting the health of your spouse, children, and pets at risk.

Article by Ajay Kumar Jagadeesh

References:

http://newscenter.lbl.gov/2014/11/03/thirdhand-smoke-toxic-airborne-pollutants-linger-long-after-the-smoke-clears/ http://www.livescience.com/37647-thirdhand-smoke-damages-dna.html https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/what-is-third-hand-smoke/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3230406/ http://www.pnas.org/content/107/15/6576.long https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third-hand_smoke

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Fungal microbes in stored tobacco can kill you faster

Almost everyone who smokes cigarettes knows that 'tobacco kills.' It is always thought that nicotine present in tobacco and toxins that get released during smoking does all the destruction. But studies have shown that as many as 5400 identified toxic chemicals get ingested into the body when a person smokes, and they can result in several cardiovascular diseases, respiratory ailments, and cancer. But there is something more lethal in cigarettes, tobacco in general, and stored cigarettes in particular that anyone who is consuming tobacco, in any of its forms, should know. That is fungal and bacterial microbes that germinate in tobacco.

In chewable forms of tobacco, when the tobacco is left in humid conditions for days, patchy white layers of molds or fungal growth can be seen. Similar fungal growth can be seen on moldy cigarettes - cigarettes too, particularly the ones that are stored longer than their expiry dates in conditions favorable for fungal growth in tobacco. Sometimes they may not be apparently visible. But mostly in expired cigarettes, they can be observed as tiny dots or powdery particles on their outer layer.

Now, when a person smokes them, they not only inhale nicotine and other carcinogenic toxins into the lungs but also biologically active pathogenic compounds (like Aspergillus fumigatus and Aspergillus terreus) and extremely lethal toxins generated when fungal molds are burnt (like mycotoxins, endotoxins, etc.). They also pass through the gas chambers of the lungs to other parts of the body.

Some reports do indicate that these pathogenic compounds do not get killed even when a cigarette is burnt. They survive extreme temperatures, and once they enter the human body, they cause many severe health effects including liver cancer. It can form colonies in the lungs or bronchial tracks, worsening conditions of asthma. And when the pathogenic compounds enter the blood, they can start killing red blood cells at increased rates and the liver may find it harder to get rid of the dead cells, giving rise to increased blood bilirubin levels like in Gilbert Syndrome, resulting in liver dysfunction.  

The presence of bacterial and fungal growth in tobacco right from its harvest to curing, fermentation and even during storage is a fact that is clinically proven through several well-documented studies. Even tests conducted on notable tobacco brands have revealed this. As a matter of fact, tobacco manufacturing companies themselves are in possession of reports that prove the presence of biologically active microbes in various stages of production and storage. Somehow these truths about tobacco remain suppressed or not widely spoken, in spite of the fact that they clearly show a highly lethal angle of tobacco consumption.

Now in cigarettes stored beyond their shelf-life, we may observe gradual and even active germination of microbes. If smoking can kill, smoking moldy cigarettes can definitely kill, perhaps even faster. There are sellers, even individuals who buy and store cigarettes in lots to manage price influx of cigarettes. We can see many duty-paid shops do this. Some even get cheaper expired cigarettes smuggled from the middle east or east Asian countries like Myanmar and Korea. They may look lucrative as foreign cigarettes or even as affordable options. For the stockist and seller, the margins they get from selling expired cigarettes is very high, but for someone who smokes them, health hazards are even higher. This trade is still flourishing, flouting all norms. It may continue until a major crackdown on the smuggling of cigarettes and tobacco is carried out.

The best thing you could do is to quit smoking, but if you can't do that, make smoking occasional or bring it to the least minimum numbers. It may help you stop the practice eventually. And when buying imported cigarettes or any other tobacco products, look for the date of manufacture, and the date when they were imported. If you are not sure, just don't buy them.

Article by Ajay Kumar Jagadeesh

References and recommended links for further reading:

   1. http://moldinspectionpro.com/mold-tobacco/    2. http://moldinspectionpro.com/aspergillus/    3. https://www.industrydocumentslibrary.ucsf.edu/tobacco/docs/#id=pnxp0205    4. https://www.hindawi.com/journals/jo/2011/819129/    5. https://www.hindawi.com/journals/jo/2011/819129/tab1/    6. http://thewhistleblowers.info/effective-smoke-screen-if-you-get-caught-smuggling-cigarettes-blame-the-distributor/

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Rulers and their army of slaves

Tamil Nadu is getting notoriously famous for sycophancy with its cult worship of political leaders heading to new levels of shamelessness. If we look back in time and see the present day, fan frenzy over film stars has always been there ever since cinema was introduced in the state. Since then, the theater has been serving as a corridor to political power in Tamil Nadu. From appreciating cinematic performances to admiring and adoring the stars for what they display on screen as their qualities, deeds, and ideologies, fan frenzy has been fostering a cult system. Today that cult system is in its heightened state in the form of political sycophancy. While adulation for film stars without anticipating any tangible benefit in return could be called a delusive obsession, political sycophancy can scale from delusive obsession to intended submission for the benefits it can earn. It's something like, "I bend before you for the currency you throw at me."

What a shameless way of earning a livelihood? It is nothing but willful slavery. But since it rewards lavishly, by cash, kind and political power, crass politicians are not ashamed about it. What we ought to tell them is, "live however you want, but don't make a mockery out of democracy." There are millions of people in the state, who make their living through hard labor and pay the state coffer, their share of tax in various forms, which political boot-lickers easily swindle through political sycophancy. This form of political slavery has been happening in India for ages now; from monarchy to colonial rule to the present day democracy, and without exception across all party lines. Throughout the history, we can see how such willful slavery has been empowering the rulers, and how the empowered leaders have been holding their subjects for ransom. Nothing seems to be of help in eradicating this tendency. And it may never change until people who display such tendencies develop an aspiration to engage in productive work without pledging their self-dignity or until we start branding such behavior as a crime punishable by law.

Nevertheless, for conditions that may forbid willful slavery of this kind, we need a democracy that identifies no one as a leader and no one as a servant. We need a democracy that will have only able workers carrying out administration like any other profession, not a vulnerable democracy that creates self-declared monarchy with the strength of an army of slaves. Perhaps we should have an electoral system that makes it mandatory for politicians to pledge their accrued wealth and future revenue from their family businesses to the state treasury if they wish to enroll into politics. Elected legislators should be provided accommodation in state housing board colonies with all safety granted and asked to travel with modest comforts. Let them live and labor like ordinary men and women in the society. If the prospects for wealth and luxury in political life is trimmed out, a large majority of them will quit politics. Only people who seek to work for the benefit of people would remain in politics, certainly not those who harbor the desire for fame, wealth, and power.

Today's democracy is symbolic of political power. If it has to transform into people power, according to the true meaning of democracy, the concentration of political power in the hands of a handful few should be broken down, by reforming the electoral process and reconstituting the rights and privileges of legislators.

Article by Ajay Kumar Jagadeesh

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Nature is an imperfect creation

From the viewpoint of art, nature is a symbol of perfection. And art, as we know, is inspired by nature and it correlates anything that is seemingly sound perfect or picture-perfect with expressions in nature, be it objects in nature, its myriad life forms or various phenomena of nature like seasons, climate and weather. Art thus imitates the sight of nature and music mimics the sounds of nature.

Even literature goes in length with voluminous descriptions of nature. To divulge a message, it may cite something comparable in the world. Say to describe beauty poetry may quote elements of beauty in nature and equate it with objects it beautifies. And predominantly, nature has remained praiseworthy to humans. From tiny winged creatures to large structures on the planet like the oceans, mountains, and valleys, everything that we call as nature fascinates the spectator in us. Nevertheless, all of these are just an outward expressions of nature. Whether it is the sight of nature or sounds in nature, what draws our attention, what holds us enthralled, is just a garb, an outer covering. This garb may look beautiful, but beneath it lies the true reality of nature, and this reality, if we reason with, will show how nature is an imperfect creation.

In nature, like humans, species beings too, struggle for their survival. They are subject to the same anomalies of birth and death, aging, and disease. Irrespective of their size, they face challenges that outwit them. Even a large mammal like elephant remains vulnerable. And even the king of the jungle, the ruler of his pride, faces a probable death in the hands of another invading male lion. It's not just predation for food that kills these species in nature, but also the fight for a mate and territory kills them. Ironically, doves, which we always associate with peace, fight among each other aggressively, to invade and dislodge resident doves. Just like how humans are distinct from one other, even within a particular species, species beings are different from each other with regards to both physical strength and behavioral traits. Some are born weaker or with congenital disabilities. Some remain sober, some others more aggressive.

Nature functions with just one governing rule, 'the fittest survive.' That's the only qualifying trait for evolution. Power is the only parameter of justice in nature. There is no room for mercy. A poet who sings the beauty of a peacock, may not say, how it devours a snake for food. And we, who abhor predation among humans, hail predation in nature. We glorify how a predator like tiger hunts, but if the same tiger preys upon a human being we don't accept predation as an acceptable norm. Particularly, when it comes to people, among humans, we are able to clearly identify predation as an unacceptable behavior, a form of crime, an unjust act of brutality. Thus, the same instincts that govern species beings in nature, we forbid humans from, because as humans we know that we must raise above instincts and act by reasoning, so as not to behave like animals. Nevertheless, we too are predators. We prey either plants or animals for food. With predation as the only means for survival, the minimum evolutionary behavior of reasoning we can exhibit is, wherever the trauma of pain is visible as a result of human predation, minimum that which we can perceive through our human senses, we should abstain. And if we can't do that we should at least give up our duplicity of selective condemnation of predation.        

Now, we may accept these inevitable traits in nature as reality but can never justify them. Nature is functioning like an industry that is developing a fitter gene through mass predation. The bloodshed, gore, and pain it churns are despicable. Perhaps, nature is nothing but a summation of all beings, which are fighting their own flaws and of each other to survive and evolve. Like art, even religion may hail nature as perfect, just to attribute the prowess of creation and its so-called perfection to its believed creator, or it may say the world is full of pain to promote a fairy-tale world of bliss, a paradise in no man's land.

Nevertheless, how can nature, that abounds with flaws, ever be called perfect? The reality is far distinct from the rosy picture painted by art and religion. Nature is a flawed creation. How and why it came into being, humanity is still clueless. All we have is half-baked economically driven industrial understandings from science and fantasy stories of religions. How long would we keep killing our need for truth with them? Should we not seek answers rather than justifying reality?

Article by Ajay Kumar Jagadeesh

Image source: www.thesun.co.uk

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Spiritual intoxication

There is just one ultimate wisdom spirituality can teach the human race, that is, life flows in and out of everything. From being potent in a particle of earth, life remains agile in millions of other forms. This understanding is essential for humanity because it will help us recognize that the planet is not an object for personal exploits that we can handle or abuse however we like. Seeing life in everything will help us extend our sense of justice from 'justice for humans' to 'justice for all planetary beings,' which in turn would assist in creating a sustainable world, which will allow species beings to live and evolve freely, without unwarranted human interference. Nevertheless, this wisdom is not a wholesale right of any institution or an individual. It neither requires any extraordinary penance or practice nor initiation and tutelage under a teacher. It's a simple truth one can become self-aware of, through cognition and reasoning.

But then, like how vermin develop in human excesses, some namesake spiritual organizations thrive upon human aspirations, vulnerabilities, and distress. They offer ecstasies, trance, and transit to an alter-world that doesn't exist. Their commodities tagged as spiritual does sell, although what they sell is mere deception. With one day program, ten-day program, year-long courses or a lifetime enslavement, they offer an escape from reality. One may even live in a den hole of a spiritual building till demise, thinking that one would reach a world of no return filled with trance. It's nothing but intoxication of another kind. The intoxication is fed each day or talked into through propaganda by the captain of the spiritual ship, who most likely is someone who is fit for no real work, but good at delivering awe-inspiring speeches. He/she may pretend to be ever at service to humans perhaps just to wash their brains and drug them with fantasies. There are an abundant many with fancy names and fancy dresses, with eyes drooling or half closed, giggling with sarcasm or posturing an outward silence, staging their drama of deception to near perfection. They hijack the simple understanding of spirituality to facilitate their business. Their crooked brains help them. They must have been loafers once with no real zeal to work to earn a legitimate livelihood. The idea of a business of spirituality must have struck them. And that's the enlightenment perhaps they boast of to predate gullible believers. If our laws are sharp enough and law implementation free from the shackles of corruption, these so-called enlightened personalities will be in prison. Unfortunately, we have crooks everywhere to help each other.

The real point that we must understand is an escape from the sufferings of reality through inaction or unproductive ritualistic action that creates no real value is folly. It will neither lead to any redemption nor evolution of humanity. There is only one thing that can lead to self-development or the progress of consciousness, and that is action. Work. But the question is what kind of work? A work that is willfully and cognitively done, progressive in nature and least harmful to the planet and its beings. The basic understanding of spirituality (life is present in everything), untainted by the colored definitions of false spiritual leaders, can help humans to judge and enact labor that will result in the collective well-being and evolution of all planetary beings on earth. Rest all, bottled and sold as spirituality, are just anomalies that we must reason and reject.  

Article by Ajay Kumar Jagadeesh

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Robots are coming to replace men at work

In September this year, Raymond announced that it's going to cut 10,000 jobs over a period of three years and replace the workforce with robots, this is just one open declaration of how robots are entering the manufacturing sector. Robots already are deployed in many industries like automobile manufacturing. They are being used in surgeries, and for carrying out many high precision tasks. Self-driving cars are about to enter the market in the western world. But all these are just the beginning.

Technology today is trending towards a massive second generation of industrialization. In the next few decades, we may witness rapid technological advancement, which will make the machinery and gadgets of our present times look like primitive tools. But what will be the outcome of such an advancement? Is it going to be a boon or curse on humanity?

Earlier from the past, machines have always been replacing manual labor, wholly or partially. If ten men were collectively performing a task, introduction of machinery, reduced the workforce requirement to just one person to operate the machine, this is just an example. Case by case if we analyze, machines have always been seizing work from humans, thereby their opportunity to earn a livelihood. Only those who could augment their skills to meet the requirements of the industry were able to sustain their jobs. Today this can be seen across every industrial domain. Unless an individual augments his skills in coherence with the trending technology he is likely to face extinction from market realities. And if machines were once considered a threat to manual labor, robots are going to be a threat to both manual and cognitive work. Robots could prove themselves better than many humans engaged in similar work. And when the cost of ownership of robots become more competitive than employing people, industries would opt for robots. It will not only increase their productivity but also maximize profit retention.

Nevertheless, this trend, in all likelihood, will expose the darker side of capitalism. When the owners of capital (investors and industrialists), start replacing human labor with robots, it will become evident that the whole industrial operation has always been solely aimed at increasing the profits of the capitalists (a handful of influential people compared to the vast majority of laborers). Today, they are hiding behind the propaganda of development. And every time a large industry comes up or when an existing industry goes for a significant infrastructural expansion, they just say that they want to cater to the needs of the market, create value to consumers and provide employment opportunities to people, etc., although their prime motive is profit. And that's the blunt truth.

Now, with the introduction of robots, the capitalists will start benefiting more. They will witness a steep increase in productivity and a fall in operational costs over a period; this will eventually maximize their profits. And all those who would lose their jobs will have to poise themselves to fit into the evolving reality. Robotics, on the other hand, will become a thriving domain. While men will start making robots, robots will start replacing people in every possible field. Some of the fictitious scenarios we have seen in sci-fi thrillers may even become realities humans have to confront.

Although artificial intelligence may not be able to infuse life into robots, with a self-appending algorithm, robots as machines, may even outwit humans in scripting an algorithm for robots to operate. If today we are amused by the possibility of robotics, tomorrow, there would come a time when we will feel threatened by the same. Industrial civilization is likely to become a victim of its own greed. And these threats are very much real.

What's apparently surging as a labor issue today is an inevitable beginning of a dangerous era of industrialization. If we fail to act today, we may draw humanity close to extinction.

Article by Ajay Kumar Jagadeesh

Image source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk

External link for reading

Raymond to replace 10,000 jobs with robots in next 3 years

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Are Tamil cinemas stalking women to death?

The Tamil movie industry has an almost never ending list of movies that romanticize the social evil of stalking. They portray stalking as a noble means to conquer love. Often the hero in the film goes after a disinterested heroine, and by repeatedly stalking her, he convinces her that 'his love for her' is greater than anything else in the world.

Now, when the whole world is treating stalking as a social menace that needs to be checked, here we have movies that openly portray stalking as a glorious act of our heroes, and wooing women their ultimate objective of life. The justification that movies are based on reality cannot be universally accepted. If they were honestly portraying stalking as a social reality, they wouldn't be showing it as a trait of the protagonist of the movie. They would rather be showing stalking as a dangerous behavior stemming from psychological delusion and obsession. But we know where they stand.

If stalking is a crime and stalkers are criminals then what about those who are promoting stalking? Are they not equally culpable?

Movies have been influencing youth. It is a proven fact. People try to imitate their stars, copy their style and mannerisms. And they psychologically draw parallels between characters and stories shown in the movies to themselves and occurrences in their lives. Especially, during adolescent years they tend to get easily carried away by what's shown in the movies, as during these years of life the attraction for the opposite sex is in its exploratory state. So, movies based on love are made predominantly targeting the youth audience. Reciprocally, we see that the content of love appeals to them. But the fact is, movies with some rare exceptions are bad teachers - a misleading source of information to learn lessons of life from, at least as on date.

Most of the movies don't endorse rational views on love, rather they paint fatal attraction, obsession, and stalking as love. One may realize this, as one grows older and develops a candid vision free from fantasies and obsessions. But the problem is, by then, perceptions influenced by the movies, which may include larger than life portrayal of characters, a dreamy life filled with fantasies, false and dastardly ways to achieve them, would have done enough damage to an individual, and through the individual, many others. The worst part is, when young viewers are fascinated by their movie stars, they start blindly imitating characters enacted by their stars in their real life. Such film stars are a bad influence, whom the society should not only abandon but also seek the course of law to punish.

We have many celebrity on-screen stalkers. Dhanush and Simbu, in the recent times, have proven themselves to be notoriously famous for this. And the latest one to steal the limelight with stalking is Sivakarthikeyan with his current movie Remo. Saner sections of the media are already criticizing the role of the hero and have started questioning how the film can hail stalking, in spite of the recent cold-blooded murders carried out by stalkers obsessed in love.

For the movie stars, directors, producers and the entire film crew, movie making is a profession and a form of business. When they want to make money by selling a commodity to the society should they not think if it would influence the community in a wrong way? Even film distributors and theater operators have never stalled a movie owing to this reason. Together they are all responsible for creating stalkers and innocent victims. Their unrequited love for earning name, fame, and wealth has been killing the life of many vulnerable youths. They just deserve to be tried in the courts for influencing crime in the society, for misleading people and for indulging in unethical business practice. And we too are responsible for patronizing their work. If we are serious about curbing violence against women, we should indeed raise objection to such movies and start boycotting them.

Article by Ajay Kumar Jagadeesh

Image source: http://jfwonline.com

Suggested links for reading:

Dear Tamil Cinema, Please Stop With The Tasmac Songs And Women Bashing

Sivakarthikeyan's Remo to Dhanush's Kolaveri Di: When will Tamil cinema bid goodbye to misogyny? 

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Our fancy for fireworks is killing many defenseless workers

On Sunday, 9th October 2016, an accidental explosion at a fireworks godown at Vanur in Villupuram district claimed the lives of 5 workers, leaving 11 others injured grievously.

News such as this, on accidents in fireworks manufacturing units and their godowns, keep coming year on year. Political parties raise the issue of safety in these units and compensation to be paid to the families of victims and those injured. Eventually, once the heat of the incident settles, no one talks about them. And no one dares to debate the rationale behind using firecrackers to celebrate festivals and occasions because the right wing will term any such argument as ill will towards religious rituals and the left-wing will say you cannot shut down fireworks manufacturing units because it will affect the livelihood of those employed in these units. But neither of them do not want to see the working conditions of laborers in these industries and the threats they pose to their health.

These workers are regularly exposed to hazardous chemicals, and the particulates they breathe, day in and day out, is indeed killing their health. And when accidents happen, they meet a traumatic end. Some even get brutally maimed. Life after such accidents leave the families of these workers severely wrecked. All these things are happening because we want to enjoy the momentary pleasure of beholding the sight of flares going up the sky and hear the thuds, booms, and bangs that strangely appeal to our ears. But we alone are not responsible for these outcomes. There are some who want to capitalize on this desire of ours to erect fireworks manufacturing units, sale depots, and retail outlets. Even the workers themselves are responsible for choosing a livelihood that is harmful to themselves and the society. But we legitimatize all the human errors within this demand-supply equation by painting bursting firecrackers as a legitimate form of social and religious celebration.

But what rationale can justify this practice? Whether it is for Diwali or New year, Marriages or Final rites, what irreplaceable outcome, bursting firecrackers is going to produce? After all, it is a human-made ritual absorbed within - but made to look like an inevitable part of - religious and social celebrations. It may offer a cocktail of momentary pleasure and competitive entertainment at the cost of species, human and environmental health. Other than that it provides no consumable or utilitarian value to people. On the contrary, we see that the high decibel noise firecrackers produce petrify infants, aged people and those diseased. The suddenness and intensity of firecrackers cause immense fear and trauma in birds and animals, which tend to lose their sense of direction and get displaced from their homes, habitats, and families, or meet a fatal end. We also candidly see how firecrackers add up to air pollution levels and result in a thick smog of obnoxious smoke. At the end of the day, it's we who are going to breathe them.

So, cumulatively, the mere existence of this industry is hurting many people. Workers in this industry need urgent rehabilitation, not just compensation when they get injured or killed. They should be migrated to safer jobs, which they can perform in a healthier work environment. For our part, we ought to know that our celebration should not end up as a curse for many. We can always celebrate occasions and festivals through ways that do not pose a threat to fellow humans, other lives, and the environment. The best way indeed would be to share goodness among them and not hurt, anguish and pollution. The choice may not be a hard one to make if we can understand that the choice here is between 'justice for fellow beings' and 'lust for momentary-guilt-filled pleasure.'

Article by Ajay Kumar Jagadeesh

Image source: http://www.business-standard.com

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How unemployment is promoting crime?

What is common between a petty thief and an extremist is, both lack a productive engagement of labor; apart from the fact that both are led by their own misleading ideologies on life. And as they remain alien to the world of work and productivity, they go in search of alternative means to fulfill their needs and desires. It is needless to say that they ought to be punished when their actions harm the society, nevertheless, for the community to stop creating conditions that give birth to unlawful means of survival, it must look for ways to curb unemployment.

Unemployment invokes a variety of response in youth, based on their inherent and acquired tendencies. Some aspirants keep striving through whatever possible means available to them to find employment. There are others who may sulk in self-pity and eventually create an environment that leads them to self-destruction. There are yet others who may develop indifference and hatred towards the society and convince themselves to become social predators for self-survival. Although these outcomes stem from the tendencies of an individual, to reform them may not be possible until the person starts introspecting on his individual actions and seeks self-reformation. But certainly, a social change that addresses unemployment can prevent them from slipping into nefarious ways and from falling into unlawful hands that seek their participation for organized forms of crime.

Apart from individuals pursuing random acts of crime, there are organized cartels of crime, independent of, and in nexus with political parties, fundamentalist organizations and casteist groups that give asylum to misguided youth. They use these youth as foot soldiers to foster their murky ambitions. A young citizen, succumbing to the game plan of a ruthless cartel of crime or its hardcore leader, who has ascended its throne through his ability to manipulate crime as a tool, could have met a different destiny in life if he was introduced to the world of work and productivity.

Work not only pays, but it also raises the self-esteem of an individual. It helps one to discover the potential in oneself. The value proposition is even higher when a person is engaged in a sustainable form of labor. It creates not only consumable value to the human society but also protects other lives and the environment. Such a productive engagement of work will not just benefit the individual, but also the whole of the community. What we need is a relative ease in making oneself 'employable' and finding 'employment,' to start earning.

The biggest stumbling block today, that's preventing this from happening is the business of education. The apparent and hidden evils in the system of education are giving birth to several abominable evils in the society. They create artificial barricades to employment, a condition which they impose upon students to amass money from both the rich and the vulnerable.

What the community needs to understand is, when it denies an individual rightful means to poise himself for a rewarding labor, it is creating conditions that will lead him elsewhere. Those who are strong and determined not to give in to the temptations of quicker and illegal ways of making money may survive any storm in life. But what about all others, who, owing to the conditions in their life, choose a path that destroys themselves and the rest of the society? And it's not only the (successive) governments, and their policies responsible for this, the community and its institutions are equally responsible for creating factors leading to unemployment, wherefrom crime starts breeding relentlessly.

Article by Ajay Kumar Jagadeesh

Image source: http://klcbt.co.za