Thats-so-Raja !

What happens if a frog and a rat are tied to the 2 ends of a rope? One pulls towards the lake and other pulls towards the land. This is Hegelian Dialectics. Everything is made out of opposing forces (the terms are “thesis” and “anti-thesis” ). And eventually, they result in a state of equilibrium, (called “synthesis” ). Now, the road it takes to reach the “synthesis” state varies from simple sighs to heads rolling under the guillotines. Imagine you have a wall to paint. You want it white and your wife insists black. Lets say you give in to her with a sigh (here, your synthesis is ‘its good to be happy than to be right’ ). Now, what if this pattern repeats a 100 times? That’s when you start a revolution. Because you have been oppressed. Hehe, at 2AM, I can’t think of a better analogy. Anyways! The French revolution was started by the oppressed to abolish Feudalism. Similarly, Capitalism created another social divide. Marx believed that the Hegelian synthesis state is where there is no ...

Have you combed an Indian metro recently? What struck you as the blinding flash of the obvious? The shining India? AND also in a few meters, a POOR nation caught in the slip stream of capitalism? An economic divide ? AND hence a cultural divide ? In short, did you notice the Class Conflict ? It’s the same class conflict or “alienation” that Karl Marx saw in the late 1800s. This has been a cause of my reluctance to move back to India. Because common sense and history tells that such class conflicts will result in social unrest and ugly revolutions as small as “mangalore bar attacks” (google it) to something as catastrophic as the French Revolution. What is the cause for this great Indian divide? The answer is “Knowledge Economy” and the “Knowledge Workers”. Let me dummify these terms first. Think of a line (like the poverty line) called the machine line . You are above the machine line if machines are your slaves. For example, a biotechnologist or a banker who uses a computer to get hi...

My last blog question was, “What makes people popular (in facebook)”. I was busy as a dung beetle to post anything about it. Blaming again my father, mother, mother-in-law and my wife for not being rich people, here I am squeezing some time on it. Remember the “7 deadly sins”? If not, let me be the badass to whisk them up - Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Wrath, Sloth, Envy and Pride . Now, I think the 7 deadly sins is a fantastic framework that explains one’s popularity. Believe me, thousands of years of research has gone into this. Let’s take ‘ lust ’ for example. Everybody loves seeing naked bottoms? We invented fire to see them even in the darkness. We invented printing press to enjoy seeing their images too. Motion pictures to see them in action. And, not to forget - The Internet. What is the internet full of? Okay, that’s stretching it too far. But lust plays an important role in making one popular. I am seeing my circle of friends in facebook. The sexier ones are almost always popular (...

I have reached a slump in blogging. Oh, the well has not dried up yet. But, in the first place, why does one blog anyway? Expression of creativity? Making people happy? Contributing to the collective intelligence? Rubbish! Freud and Maslow would say it’s the pure primitive urge for the feeling of importance. Yes, I want to be noticed. I want people to know the depth in me. I want followers. I want to change things. I want to rule the world. Ok, that’s asking loads too much. But you are getting the drift here, yea? But my blog remains crumby and unnoticed. Like a pigeon poop in a crack of a cheap hotel in Mozambique. My muddy soup of cartoons, parody, post-modern elements… All have failed to tickle a little too many funny bones. My cacophony of science, philosophy, economy… All have fizzled reaching a little too many ears. I want to try writing on Karl Marx, world music, Kim ki-duk, non linear and transgressive narration styles… am I encouraged now? Hell, No. Cutting all the hyper-venti...

I was first introduced to Kahlil Gibran’s ‘The Prophet’ when I was 18. The book had a great influence in shaping my personality along the way. Now, double that age, I still find amusing treasures in it. For the uninitiated, Gibran (1883 – 1931) was born in Brazil but moved back to Lebanon when his father died. Studied in US and in Lebanon, he traveled far and wide. His mother dies and his love fails, shattering him. He moves to France and learns painting. He has multiple women in his life inspiring and inflicting pain as well. He writes ‘The Prophet’ when he was 40. One reason why you always find me humble is that I come across men like him and wonder, if I can beat what they did at my age! I can’t help feeling like a tip of their toe hair. ‘The prophet’ captures the essence of life in a poetic conversational style – love, marriage, children, giving, freedom, reason, passion, self knowledge etc. Powerful lines profound with subtexts. I am giving you a snippet from the love and marriage...

Do you have the ‘dragon’ moves that would make a woman open up? Different tricks work for different types… So we settled down in our chairs in Swapna’s room. I had a presentation to make the next day and Swapna had to work on some customer proposal. I finished my work first. Well, it took double the time due to my frequent and stealthy appreciation of her smooth cheeks. But she was concentrating on her work. Swapna has hundreds of men as friends. Even her simplest coughs in facebook would be ardently theorized by tens of them. I had been curious to know what makes her tick, how she keeps these men at fence, her vulnerabilities, her sensitivities, her love life, sexual habits… I asked Swapna if she would like to take a break and see some magic. I was sure that would work, knowing her frivolous inner child. Bingo! She moved away from her laptop and got ready to be amused. Clapping, wowing and cooing, she insisted on learning some of...

Life is one suffocating crowded train. With tamed aggressions and with an indifference, you let yourself moved by a greater force through a long humid tunnel. And suddenly something happens to transport you into a valley of blooming daisies with a cooling shower and a distant rainbow. That’s how I felt meeting her. I shall introduce her to you as ‘Swapna’ When I saw her the first time, I remember having troubles lifting my eyes up her bosom. Dusky in complexion, with full lips and big eyes Swapna can easily make you wear your heart up your sleeve. Whenever she walks with me, all eyes would be on her and on me by association. She would gracefully bag the wide eyed silent compliments like a graceful breeze, dazzling more at being noticed. A cheerful social butterfly, always fresh with high energy that when she is moody, you can spot it like a full buffalo in your soup. I have met her few times in social and business settings but that was the first time I am meeting her outside both our c...