A Rose By Any Other Name

These days, somehow, the idea of classification, stratification, categorization, reservation-no matter what you prefer calling it, at the end of it, the idea of discrimination-surrounds me.

Aparna recently was on a visit to Korea to present a paper in an(other) "international" conference. Upon her return when I asked whether the idea of living in another country fascinated her, she said that she would like to visit not settle. She felt that the hospitality of people lasts for not too long and lasts up until the natives begin to feel that there is 'some other person' in their territory-talk about guests and meat stinking after three days! What interested me was not about the natives yet about a young western girl (performing the duties of a secretary) who had been assigned to take care of the logistics during the conference. The white girl ensured that the fifth floor, from where the view was the best, was carefully allotted to the whites (only whites), keeping the next floor for the Asians (the browns) and the lower floor for the Africans (the blacks). Except the whites, the rest were restlessly uncomfortable with this logic of separation and everyone's discomfort was choice-fully ignored; and you know why. God! I thought... it must have looked like stripes on the United Colors of Benetton though I didn't think out loud and chose to reserve my comments.

Personally, recently I had a humbling experience learning that the word 'discrimination' is quite offensive and too difficult a 'word' for people to digest if one uses it to communicate a more offensive, difficult and deliberate 'action' of the 'other.' I was soon to realize that, you would be advised-with utmost sincerity by the 'other'-to use more 'diplomatic' words to portray the violence without offending the violent. This diplomatic use of words assures that perpetrators of violence and injustice, remain unoffended and unaffected and receive the required sanction to carry on with what they do sans hurting their ego, conscience and sentiments; meanwhile abolishing everyone who would take a chance with words and offend them or perhaps prompt their conscience and attempt to stop them from doing what they otherwise do with comfort. Safe and sound in their serene shangrila of immorality, assured uncouthed impunity by thrusting the idea of diplomacy on others. While claiming to live in a civilized world, the cowardly few, carry on with their most uncivilized actions with no one to offend, question or stop their cowardly action with nevertheless-words-or perhaps the lack of it. It seems that the want to live in a "civilized" world (whatever that means) applies to only them and no one else...

Just imagine a situation where you are driving on a dark, curvy road at night and you just forgot to dim the car's headlight for an approaching vehicle. Do you think the guy who is driving towards you is going to take it easy, digest your mistake and cheer the idea of being diplomatic and polite?! Of course not! Before the vehicle zips by, your entire family's history, geography, dignity and honor would have completely collapsed with the choicest use of well rehearsed words, leaving you with time for a thoughtful reflection for a while within the comforts of your car and the audience of the ones travelling with you. What emerges out of this (so called) 'filthy, vulgar, impolite and undiplomatic' use of words is that the next guy who will be driving past you, is assured a dimming of headlight as a response sans a reminder or a need for request. An automatic and classical conditioning to respond to a stimulus. Thanks to the unreasonable, undiplomatic and indecent bugger(!) my action becomes more reasonable, diplomatic and decent... isn't it?

Diplomatic communication, I think is a trick on us. While we try to scramble, juggle and trampoline our brain into choosing a 'better' word, like we do in a game of scrabble, those smart cookies who hide their sins under the blanket of diplomacy, play the game with no one to stop them and escape in the cover of diplomacy and claim for civilization. What else will one call that racist, discriminating, secretary from the west-reliving in a prehistoric world with a retarded, apartheid-mindset-who threw people on different floors based upon their colour-anything but... 

'A knave; a rascal; an eater of broken meats; a
base, proud, shallow, beggarly, three-suited,
hundred-pound, filthy, worsted-stocking knave; a
lily-livered, action-taking knave, a whoreson,
glass-gazing, super-serviceable finical rogue;
one-trunk-inheriting slave; one that wouldst be a
bawd, in way of good service, and art nothing but
the composition of a knave, beggar, coward, pandar,
and the son and heir of a mongrel bitch: one whom I
will beat into clamorous whining, if thou deniest
the least syllable of thy addition.'?!* 


Note: ...if anyone has a problem with the use of words, kindly take it to Sir William Shakespeare. *lines extracted from King Lear by William Shakespeare for my lack of 'diplomatic' words to refer to the otherwise wonderful Secretary.

Not For The Religious Kind

Was wondering why people become absolutely "religious" (only/mostly) when there is some sort of perceived trouble in their lives that makes them anxious and consequently makes them perform all those rituals that are monotonous and are plain abnormal repetitions (like ringing the bell "x" number of times or dangling an incense stick in a particular direction around a few particular creatively created objects of mankind at the rate of "y" number of rotations per second or giving "z" amount of tithe to the nearby institution as commanded(by who?!)) that one feels compelled, obligated and impulsive to perform dutifully; hm... could religious ceremonies and rituals-the brainchild of those who created religion-then be a symptom of an anxiety disorder capitalized due to a rising fear that the scientific warlords of psychiatry and scientific temper dare not refer to, name it and slot into their diagnostic catalogues as a certain treatable disorder for reasons quite obvious to the rest of the thinking minds?! 

Most religious people I see are carefully designed, impeccably created, wonderful crackpots-who reveal more of a broken image through their eccentric, idiosyncratic, absolutely mental and finely distinguishable (in the most derogatory way imaginable) acts that they interestingly perform for the rest of the finer world (though small) that still exists and boldly walks up and about and around to see. This small minority of carefree souls sans any religious obligation or ritualistic obsession, strolling on a spiritual journey on Earth-the minority in this aspect-are so much enviably free-that perhaps is the possible bunch that God wanted and created in his own image.

I think these religious, self-acclaimed-sacrosanct-religious creatures (some of them and their strange behaviour that I got a chance to watch up close in an organization I was caught up as a slave recently) believe in papers more than the divine; they are some of the many who believe in papers and bonds to convince themselves that marriages are sealed that way and silently head towards a divorce and would absolutely pretend to be surprized when that happens (thanks to their acting skills born out of their hypocrisy); they are like many who believe in religion than spirituality; these are who are generously referred to as the flocks that need a shepherd all the time to shoo them around and would possibly without the shepherd around be weak, blind and confused all the time; they look around the ground and miss looking towards the sky; these are who often convince me that humans can indeed survive without the grey matter along with the appendix as well; these are the parasites that the other religious parasites suck on for mutual survival; these are the ones who probably would never understand one bit of what I have tried to communicate here and would be disturbed for a while after reading this (truth always disturbs them as you may see); these are the ones that truly amaze me just like those flying insects that are a nuisance when they buzz around your ear that you manage to tolerate when you can't swat; these are the sacrosanct, moral, mad, self-advertising religious mongrels and mongers who would preach love and display hatred; the ones who talk of peace and are walking barrels of poisonous violence; they are disturbed and feel indebted to disturb others... yet, the minority few (the rest of the saner minds living in the free world) may as God would want, not mention any of these and treat them well with kindness (no matter how irritating and trying they can be and may get) as the good One above might call to do. Though unique, strange, absolutely retarded, under-developed and imbalanced they might be, they too are part of His creation possibly left behind to strengthen rationales, liberals and free souls in their reasoning and/or/otherwise walk around avoiding them like a piece of stinky crap that need not be stepped onto if and when noticed lying around... hence, smile, when they pass by or lie around when you walk by; for they are one amongst the several strange creations of God that we dare not name nor define scientifically for diplomacy's sake (Diplomacy as they say is to say "Good dog! Good dog! to the dogs till you can reach for the stones.) 

Well then, "Good dog! Good dog! each and every single one, it is nice to watch you sit, lie, bark and roll over on command to those tunes... go on and carry on-as I search for and reach for the stones (where the #u$! are the stones?!)"