What we are seeing is not development.

This is exploitation.

What does it all mean?

The random readings and the resulting ramblings here are not merely therapeutic.  It is not to merely ease my anxieties about the world and the panic attacks that result.  There is a great deal of practical use too, though they are not always immediate.  It might be years before I find "use" for my rant.

I might as well be channeling a pedestrian and secular interpretation of the famous line from The Bhagavad Gita, in which the god Krishna advises Arjuna to keep doing his duty.  

Krishna tells Arjuna:

कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते मा फलेषु कदाचन।

मा कर्मफलहेतुर्भूर्मा ते सङ्गोऽस्त्वकर्मणि॥

(Karmanyevadhikaraste Ma Phaleshu Kadachana,

Ma Karmaphalaheturbhurma Te Sangostvakarmani)

Through that couplet, Krishna says that we need to carry on with our duties without thinking about the rewards.  He goes one step more by cautioning that we shouldn't be motivated because of the potential fruits of the action, nor be tempted to inaction.

This is absolutely contrary to the incentive-driven world in which we operate, right? 

Over the years, researchers and policymakers have come up with various incentive schemes in order to nudge people towards action.  They even reward elementary school kids if they read books!  At home, parents reward kids for doing household chores.

"Do your damn duty" apparently doesn't work in this modern world in which kids and adults alike ask "what's in it for ME?"

I read, rant, blog, because ... that's is it.  There is no because!

But, yes, the rewards always arrive.  (And so will the layoff notice, I fear!)

In November 2014, in those peaceful and joyous days before the twin pandemic of tRump and Covid, my post began with these lines:

All of man's troubles have arisen from the fact that we do not know what we are and do not agree on what we want to be.

I had completely forgotten about those wonderful lines from E.O. Wilson.  Until a couple of days ago.

In an email conversation, I wrote to a colleague:

[You] will also appreciate this from E.O. Wilson, from The Meaning of Human Existence:

All of man's troubles have arisen from the fact that we do not know what we are and do not agree on what we want to be.

I continued that email with this:

It is unfortunate that an undergrad education is no longer about helping students understand the bigger picture: Who we are as individuals, as societies; how we came to be who we are; and where we might end up.  That is what a traditional liberal education was about, whatever the major was.  Now, undergrad education is nothing but a transaction: Students pay $$$ and the university issues a piece of paper :(

If students were given an opportunity to inquire into the big picture questions, then they might also think a lot about another observation of Wilson's:

We have created a Star Wars civilization, with Stone Age emotions, medieval institutions, and godlike technology. We thrash about. We are terribly confused by the mere fact of our existence, and a danger to ourselves and to the rest of life.

From Agraharam to Umrika

Early in my life, when I was beginning to read about "art movies" that I didn't get to watch, I read in the news that a Tamil movie had won the national award for the best Tamil film: Agraharathil Kazhutai (A donkey in a Brahmin street/ghetto.)

Commentaries were written in plenty about the movie, and plenty of people were upset too.  But, it was never screened anywhere for me to watch it. 

Wikipedia reminds me that the movie was banned in Tamil Nadu, and that the government television channel, which was the only one that India had for years, was forced to cancel a scheduled telecast.

To date, I haven't watched the award-winning movie!

Years have gone by since.  Heck, it has been four decades and more.  Now in America, I watched an Indian movie, Umrika, that has never been shown in India!

Why it has not been screened in India is beyond me!  After all, it is not anti-Modi, or anti-Hindu or anything along those lines that might hurt the strongman's vanity.  Umrika is not poverty porn, as was the case in Slumdog Millionaire.  The movie didn't explore same-sex relationships that Fire was about.  Yet, Umrika was not shown in India?

Throughout the movie, an actor playing one of the characters reminded me of an old time Hindi actor.   Wiki helped me track him down: Prateik Babbar.  He is the son of son of late actress Smita Patil and actor Raj Babbar.

Smita Patil was very much part of the art movie world of the India of my time.  I remember her in Satyajit Ray's Sadgati.  Patil and Shabana Azmi in Hindi, and Shoba in Tamil made characters come alive even on the tiny black-and-white television screen.  A tragedy that Shoba and Patil died young :(

Over the years, much to my disappointment, the creative arts have taken a dive in the old country.  Carnatic music performances have become bhajan sessions.  Books are rarely read and discussed.  There is pretty much no audience for live theatre; people are happy with the cheap entertainment that is offered when cricket is not available.  Movies are formulaic.

Umrika was a pleasant surprise.  

Maybe someday I will even get to watch Agraharathil Kazhutai?