Politicians and Actresses costumes

This topic actually made me think quite a bit. At first sight, looks like a pretty simple topic to understand. Politicians commenting about actresses’ costumes to gain political mileage and as a questioning generation, we ask whether our law makers are actually doing good to the nation by raising this seemingly trivial issues.

For a change we’ll try and look at the rationale side of the issue. Let’s consider the politician as a human being and we give him the benefit of doubt that he has some sense in making that statement. There are various people who are going to hear the comment as the politician is known across the country. He has a role to perform as a leader of a particular group of people, spread across the geographical conditions. Popular to many beliefs, I believe that leaders are made. The factors that make a leader might vary but I believe leaders are made rather than being born. I would like to quote a small example for this. Invariably in traffic jams in small streets where there is utter chaos, there will be a person who will volunteer to be in the centre of them all and giving directions to the people and the people will follow the man religiously and get out of there. He has become a leader by virtue of us following the instructions he gave. He satisfies the need of the people at the moment and that’s what matters to the people stuck there. Individual view points in the traffic jam might lead to further confusion among the people, so the need of a person to collectively represent a smooth way out of the situation becomes pertinent. Once the leader starts functioning, the group stops reacting, it simply starts acting based on the instructions. Nobody question his credentials whether he is capable person of making those directions. This is why I think that leaders are made and not born. The subject matter might be little trivial but it’s the attitude of the leader which I am mentioning. You might wonder what this has got to do with the fact of politicians and actresses. Politicians represent a group of people who look upto them. This includes urban as well as rural population. In a country like ours, the difference of a rural and urban upbringing is as different as chalk and cheese. I am talking in terms of exposure to things and the general outlook towards varied situations. The politician might be representing the view point of the group of people he might be representing, as individual opinions in this case will be no longer valid. Its like individuals in traffic jam expressing their views, which creates more chaos and more trouble. When a person acts as the leader the group stops reacting and they take into consideration, somebody among them has taken the initiative. So it could be a collective opinion voiced out from a single person. We do things out of pressure that normally we won’t do, like going in the one way in the road due to traffic etc.. and the politician might have acted out of that.

Now it comes to the ethics of the question. Whether the politician is ethically justified in making a comment on behalf of the group he represents, which actually (lets assume) he doesn’t believe. Its vote bank politics. At the end of the day, it matters to the person whether he is in power or not. We can say that the politician must do his duty and not expect these things. But lets be practical. What if he loses out because the group wants him to do a certain thing and he refuse to do it. He will go down in the view of the people who actually matters to him(in terms of numbers). Life for us is full of numbers. How much you earn? How many marks? How many bugs? So to him its how many votes?

We compromise in our professional life. You write code that you know isn’t good, but its pressure at the time that makes you write and throughout the cycle of the code we are going to say that it was pressure which made us write that. Politician cannot publicly say that. (He cannot go back once he has said that)

The aspect of urban and rural upbringing can also be looked in this context. We know that there are things which are beyond the skin of the actresses. We realize very well that there is a line between real and reel life. It is because we have been exposed to things of greater importance some way or the other. Through books, educated parents, friends and self realization. The rural population is getting there but I guess slowly. I like to say that the exposure that we have got is the only reason we are thinking that things like these are trivial and that the rural population is coming slowly to that. I don’t question the integrity or the intelligence of my rural friends.

What I wished to say that every coin has two sides we have to understand that there are certain things which isn’t intended for us and we are not to judge the credibility of the person based on that. There is a zen story with regards to the acceptance and non acceptance of things. A man approaches the zen master, who along with his other disciples is sitting on the bank of a river. The man openly starts swearing at the master much to the shock of the disciples. Since the master kept quiet, the disciples weren’t able to do anything. After the man left, they approached the master and asked why didn’t say anything to the man? The master said that first I need to acknowledge the fact that I am all those things which the man said I was, then only the question of reacting to it comes up? I know myself and that’s why I kept quiet. We need to understand the comments like this aren’t directed at an educated person and the audience for that are completely different. Just like the difference between the Hollywood and Kollywood movie audiences. Kollywood isn’t Chennai alone and definitely not Sathyam alone. We have to judge that person on the basis of the work he does. Its simple to point fingers and say this is wrong but basically the fact remains it is easier to find faults than actually creating it.

P.S: The whole point could be closed with the simple statement that “Freedom of Speech” is available for everyone including the politician.

“It’s not our abilities but the choices, which determines who we really are”. Needn’t say to whom these lines belong to. For the folks who don’t know, its Dumbledore of Harry Potter series. But are we comfortable with choices? The answer might be a little trickier than we actually think. I am not talking about life threatening decisions, like can I drink and drive? Absolutely no!!!. We decide between things based on how we actually feel. If its sad, unhappy then choice is simple, do the opposite of it. But it’s those choices, which isn’t so obvious and clear, the simpler yet exasperating ones. Should I do this or that , when both of them are things which aren’t life threatening. Should I do this exam now or later, is this the right way of going about things or that way.. When do we have choices only when the basic needs are fulfilled. We have a job so we have the luxury of saying I am not getting what I want (Basically what my friends are getting). Since I am not getting things which I want or think I want, I should do other things which might fulfill this void.
Basically what I mean to tell is that most of us if not all, are afraid of having choices, which might lead to responsibility for the choice u are going to make. But the presence of choices in our lives indicate that we have progressed to a better stage than our parents at the age we are now. “To be or not to be”. Life is all about making small but significant choices that comes our way. I think we’ll never know whether the choice is right or not. Just that we’ll have to believe that it is right and continue believing the same. Choices thrusted upon individuals, not prepared for it cannot be pleasant. Its like watching Karan Johar’s movie and suddenly getting Ghosts and scary things on it. Its like the matrix blue and red pill.
Basically I think it’s simple for us to tell others which is right and wrong because u needn’t be responsible for the final outcome. Making a choice asks for accountability and responsibility for the consequences associated with the choices. We cannot have either one without the other.Responsibility and Accountability is something we always say are missing in people but never question whether we have it in the first place. So as we grow up emotionally and physically we need to understand that we have choices we have and take a minute or two to decide and be accountable for whatever happens. Choices represent growth or improvement in one’s life. The more the choices at our disposals the better lifestyle we are leading. I think as a part of one’s life one needs to understand and learn to make choices as permanent fixtures in their day to day activities as not prepared for those might be more exasperating than the thing actually demands. “There are better things that we can do having money than not having it”. Having Choices are good and the earlier we realize this, the better for us I guess. Likewise, having choices in life and making decisions based on that are pivotal in leading a happy life in the current day scenario, where the sudden availability of options to a generation which isn’t accustomed to such a situation isn’t a happy situation. Taking decisions aren’t so straightforward in 21st century J

Having watched Cricket over the past 5 world cups and supported India throughout our rather patchy and occasionally brilliant record, I felt proud after the recent victory in Australia. To be frank, I was happier with the test match performance with the only glitch being our loss in Sydney when we should have drawn it. That fateful 3 minutes proved the difference between drawing the series and losing them. But we might say after the loss only, we regrouped and played well to win the Perth test. But all in all, I think it was a commendable performance. Anil Kumble, the unsung hero of so many famous Indian wins finally got his due. This made the test series special. He didn’t get his due for the services he has rendered to Indian Cricket. We all say that we play well at home and it was true as he was the only man who made the records possible. 600 test wickets and we still have people doubting his ability about taking wickets. Once he is off the scene, the record to my understanding is under threat. Playing at home has been taken for granted and probably we might be in for a rude awakening when he decides to hang up his boots.

The start of the one day series was bad. The manner in which Ganguly and Dravid were asked to go was abominable. You have to respect the contribution they have made to cricket and they deserved a much better send off. They aren’t supposed to know their future through the media. The BCCI and selection committee should have informed them of their decision and I bet them to have taken it in the right spirit. Just because they are supreme cricketers who put their interest after the team’s, they shouldn’t be taken for granted. I am not questioning the selector’s decision to drop them . It was the right now, considering the world cup in 2011. By the same yardstick, even Tendulkar should have been dropped. (Applying the same age yardstick as done to Dravid and Ganguly).Now after the series also, I still say Tendulkar should be dropped. I have absolutely no doubt that as long as he is batting, he’ll score runs, because he is a genius. He’ll score tons like we drink coffee. Having a man close to 35 years in the team and looking forward to the future(when he is going to be 38) is a little far fetched. People might think I am against Tendulkar, but I am big fan of his and the only reason I think that the game is popular in India is because of him. He revolutionized everything about the game including the aspect of media coverage. He bought about the change of cricketers becoming financially comfortable and for all this the game and the whole cricketing fraternity will be happy. He is a true icon and a fantastic ambassador to the game of Cricket as such.

But in hindsight, I think it was poetic justice that Tendulkar was part of the team that won the one day series. For all the runs he scored and all the records he broke, he didn’t have many trophies to celebrate. Our first overseas test series win in West Indies (after a long time) didn’t have him in the side. But we have won in England and performed commendably in Australia, so I think its justice finally. For atleast he'll have a few memorable victories in his otherwise illustrious career.

Rahul Dravid is another man whom I think hasn’t got his due completely, people still brand him as a test player when his strike rate is around 75 and average close to 40. For all we care he has had a better statistic than Yuvraj Singh when he played the one day format. Its sixes and fours which matters to the public and its awful. Dravid as a player has contributed so much in so many aspects to Indian Cricket. For balance of the side he has kept wickets. For balance he has played at 3,4,5,6,7 and even opened the test side for the side to have more options. We could see that he was uncomfortable on this tour, opening the innings, but it was determination and dedication which made him score those runs in the series. I will stick my neck out and say that Dravid and Kumble have contributed more to Indian cricket in the recent years than Tendulkar. I am not talking about numbers but the things they brought upon themselves for the team’s need. Laxman hasn’t got his due. Ganguly got his due but is now being treated shabbily.
This is dedicated to all the unsung heroes of our team who had to be applauded for our ODI victory in Australia.

The facet that is common in most successful people is Passion for something that they do. Passion towards work or Passion towards anything that the person likes.
Again, Success is a very relative term, so we will take satisfaction as the criterion here. Satisfaction that you are doing a good job in whatever you do and also liking it. Taking the cue from my previous post, we all are passionate about something. But the question is how many of us follow our passion? What stops people from taking up something, which they are passionate about?. Fear of Failure. Maybe. But i think fear is one friend who is there with us always. Fear manifests itself in many ways as we grow up. Fear takes various dimensions and sizes, like cockroaches to Math teachers and so on. But as we grow up, the fear about real persons takes back seat. What grips us then is purely psychological. We are afraid of losing, of ridicule, of being outcaste, of being left out of something and of failing. Fear gives us an option to take the easier way out of any situation we are in. So i think we blame it on Fear for not doing something. Fear of losing someone will make us never tell to that person how special he/she is to us? There could be many reasons behind that particular action, but the fact remains we didn't make the effort to move forward. So we use Fear as an excuse for what we didn't do.
Fear stops us from doing things we normally do. Once we face our fear, we realise that the thing that we feared was not worth that emotion. Fear makes our thought process narrow, and in the process makes us overlook certain simple things
Fear is inborn in our system but the thing we fear is acquired by us. Failure is a superficial thing which we acquire psychologically and associate it with the fear factor in us. So how to get rid of things, that is an obstacle from being what we are?
1) Start living with the fear and do things which are safe.
2) Get ready to face our fear and probably realize it wasn’t that bad.
Failure does threaten us. It shakes our system of beliefs and makes us doubt ourselves. Sure enough nobody wants to feel bad. But how it is possible to really value something, if we don’t know the value of not having the same thing? How it is possible to reach a high if we don’t know where the low is? The troughs have to be known in order to appreciate the high. The safe mode of thinking is acquired from our middle class parents. Again, I am not finding fault with them. The same phrase “Ignorance is bliss” is applicable here. Safe is fine as the safe path is successful according to our parents. So by following it, we are leading our parent’s life part 2. If two days of one’s life can’t be the same, how can 2 lives be similar. Again, if being similar makes people satisfied, fine , I have bored you with my blog and there is no need for you to read along.
We actually have fear fighting instincts within us. We love cricket matches going down the wire, we love heroes after being reduced to dumps, come back against the odds and defeat the villain. So in hindsight, every one of us love fighting and coming back. Just that we put the thought “ Doing things the right way” gyan and do not attempt things that we want to do.
Life is supposed to be an art and it can be an art only when it comes from our heart. There is this Greek mythology story, a person attaches wings to his shoulders with wax and flies towards the sun. It defies logic. Agreed. On his journey, his wax melts and he falls and dies. He followed his heart and made an attempt to overcome his fears. History and science calls him a fool. What about you?