When I heard that there is a place called Beatles Ashram at Rishikesh, I was keen to visit it. I was lucky to have explored the space with Raju Gusain, a friend who researched for 20 years to play a key role in helping restore this historic space.
Huge amount of money is spent on brand communication to influence our likes and dislikes. Targeting children to influence buying decisions is pretty commonplace. Knowingly, or unknowingly, we create a today that consumes more, and is less thoughtful, than yesterday!
Whenever I think about the origin of hate politics in India, I end up concluding that it is wrong to blame any political dispensation for this mess. They do not wield that kind of power even though there is proven relationship between hate and votes.
There are few words that we know well but seldom put to use. For me, oxymoron and paradox are two such words. I have a good connect with the word paradox due to nostalgic reasons. And also because paradoxes in real life are not so amusing.
A heinous crime took place. The perpetrators were convicted and sentenced for life. After fourteen years there was a request for their release. Courts consented. Everything happened within the ambit of law. Except justice!
We often blame the system for the evil we see around. We believe that the evil is imposed upon us. We seldom stop and ask ourselves – who imposed it? More often than not, we get what we deserve. Be it the government or a social hierarchy. They are nothing but a manifestation of our collective worldview.
As a child I used to often wonder about God and had many ifs and buts. I was almost sure that I was not a believer. But I was also unsure about being an atheist. Thankfully there was no urgent need to stake any claim.
Rituals are often seen as the remnants of our undesirable past – a baggage which, as a society, we failed to unload. They are often linked with the continuance of many ills that societies face. But it is important that we understand their context prior to rejecting them.
Though Bangalore is now to be called Bengaluru, but somehow name changes do not go well with me. These conflicts about nouns are nothing but ploys to distract people. But this note is not about distractions. It is about strange observations.
Our conversations about humanity are largely centered on the idea of body and soul. But if look around, what get to see is nothing but identities – some self-defined and some enforced. In the sea of humanity, identity seems to be the omnipresent social tag.
