Killing a Freedom

“Give me the liberty to know, to utter, and to argue freely according to conscience, above all liberties.”

― John Milton, Areopagitica

The Indian Constitution, since its inception, granted its citizens a fundamental right of freedom of speech and expression.The constitution has made it clear that this freedom is not absolute and comes with riders, and that is the way it should be. But, this six-decade old country, the world's largest democracy, has neither been able to ensure that this freedom is used in the true spirit nor been able to protect those that use it in its true sense. Rather, this freedom seems to have become the domain of the political class, who can not only say what they wish to and get away with it but also dictate what people should and should not express; while the common man is left fearing for his safety, even with a casual remark on a social networking site. The problem is that this freedom has been granted without deciding who its custodians are and what can and cannot be said.Who will decide the limitations, scope and act as a guardian for this very basic right?

"I believe in freedom of speech, but I believe we should also have the right to comment on freedom of speech." - Stockwell Day

Sample this. After the 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai, The Chief Minister of Kerala (with reference to Major Sandip Unnikrishnan, who laid down his life fighting those terrorists) retorted that "not even a dog would have visited the house'' had it not been the martyr's. Does this not come under the riders that the constitution mentions? Who will take action against him? Who will categorically decide that he should face some action for this remark.  

“Freedom of speech does not protect you from the consequences of saying stupid shit.”

― Jim C. Hines

On the other hand, when eminent journalist Shobha De casually tweeted, “Maharashtra and Mumbai??? Why not? Mumbai has always fancied itself as an independent entity, anyway. This game has countless possibilities.”; Congressman Rane retorted: “Rather than twitter, Shoba De shud say the same thing on the streets of Mumbai openly after which she won’t be left with any ‘shoba’(means Dignity) forever.” Threats were made against her life and many political activists attacked her home.“This lady will not back down”, replied Shobha De. Very brave of her, but she is a powerful and popular face and can manage private security; just imagine a common man in place of Shobha De. Who would have come to his/her rescue, when  even the chief Minister of Maharashtra, instead of providing  security and defending freedom of speech, blatantly remarked “Such comments are unacceptable”.

"Freedom of speech is always under attack by Fascist mentality, which exists in all parts of the world, unfortunately." - Lawrence Ferlinghetti

The problem with this country is that political parties abuse this freedom but then, cannot tolerate non-violent expressions of opinion. How else do you explain the arrest of cartoonist Aseem Trivedi (infact, charged with sedition) for higlighting corruption, while Congress Politician Digvijay Singh does not need to worry at all about calling a fellow party worker "a 100 % tunch maal (means 100% sexy woman)" in front of thousands of people in a rally. The political class has, leaving behind all shame, started using freedom of speech as a tool to ban books, films, cartoons etc. which it deems go against it, by using terms like "hurting religious sentiments", "causing damage to national fabric" and "causing sectarian violence". To put it plainly, everyone should shut up, while politicians say what they want, without restraint or fear of consequences.

 This is a nation that cannot protect its girls from rapes, it only expresses grief at such heinous acts; but it is prompt enough to arrest a girl who posts her displeasure at the closing down of a city due to the death of a partisan politician, and then arrests another girl for 'liking' that post. We forced into exile creative maestros like Salman Rushdie, Taslima Nasreen and M.F. Hussain in the name of 'hurting religious sensibilities' but do nothing against Praveen Togadia, Akbaruddin Owaisi and Raj Thackeray who deliver hate speeches day in and day out. Films like Vishwaroopam and Madras Cafe are banned by certain state governments despite being cleared by the censor board, despite an order by courts that inability to control reactions of people by a government is no reason to ban a movie or a book. This year, India  ranked a lowly 140th out of 179 countries in the Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Index and nations like Afghanistan and Qatar have a freer press than India. 

 “‎"Freedom is fundamentally the possibility of standig on a street corner and shouting “There is no freedom here!”

― Yoani Sánchez

India, as a nation, is becoming more and more intolerant of contrary perspectives.There is an urgent need to raise voices or soon, we will become a nation of head- nodding conformists rather than the active thinkers that we have always been. With freedom comes power and with power, comes responsibility. We cannot let this dual resultant be taken away from us or be shamelessly abused by political satraps.

“If freedom of speech is taken away, then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter.”

― George Washington

“If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.”

― George Orwell

In Praise of Laziness

Laziness has always been counted as a negative attribute, it always gets the stick. Lethargy, Slothfulness, Sluggishness, Tardiness, Dullness; call it what you will, the image conjured will always be of someone unwilling to work. Is it because we are always told that Laziness is a sin or because the world is full of stressed-out work machines who feel that rest and relaxation will cause the world to fall apart? 

But try to look at laziness in a different light; it is not the soul-demolishing demon it is always made out to be. Laziness teaches how to manage deadlines with minimum fuss. Doing things on time and doing them right might be much better than dragging a task for hours on end without attaining effective results. In fact, it might very well be the path to contentment, a longer life(a fact backed by medical science) and smarter living. 

"I like the word 'indolence'. It makes my laziness seem classy." - Bernard Williams

Lazy people never started wars. Peace and friendliness seemed much easier. Most of the advances in technology, especially the appliances and devices we use on a daily basis owe a lot of gratitude to laziness: think of cars, washing machines, word processors, microwave ovens or even remote controllers for that matter. 

“I don't think necessity is the mother of invention. Invention . . . arises directly from idleness, possibly also from laziness. To save oneself trouble.” 

― Agatha Christie 

Laziness means breaking the routine and taking rest and relaxation that is well deserved. Neither the mind, nor the body are designed to work endlessly, in a pre-set schedule. Life is not just about productivity and efficiency, it is much more about effectiveness. Laziness gives you time to introspect. Consider the impact of the actions that you take, and may be you can eliminate some of those actions and still get the same, or may be even better results.

“Efficiency is intelligent laziness.” 

― David Dunham

'Do Less, but do it smartly': that is the essence of laziness. If you buy less, you will spend less, acquire less, have lesser debt, and have more time for truly important activities. Many people over-manage, the less you do that, the more others will figure out how to do things. Do little things to guide subordinates or team-members, but mostly, back off and let them be. Let communication be limited but sincere, talk less and listen more (lesser effort, you see, laziness at play!). Do Less complaining and criticizing. Do Less planning and worry less about the future. Be Lazy because the future cannot be predicted and it is futile to try and control all the little variables. Do Less judging and expecting, less expectations will lead to more acceptance and that in turn will lead to peace and happiness.

There is a basic tenet in Physics and Chemistry : Actions and reactions take place in the direction that requires lowest energy and least resistance. Do not try to force things and people. Learn to go with the flow, look for opportunities, find the natural path of things, and do what is needed in the moment. It is good to remember that you can not control the outcomes and laziness helps to guard you against this.

                           “Doing nothing to disturb the spontaneous flow of things.” – Lao Tzu

Laziness lets things take their own course and most often, things will turn out much better than they would have, if we would have fretted and fumed about the obstacles and hindrances. I would have liked to write a little more to sum things up, but it seems better to end up with a couple of quotes as I am already feeling lazy after writing all this about Laziness..........

“You gotta know when to be lazy. Done correctly, it's an art form that benefits everyone.” 

― Nicholas Sparks, The Choice

“I will always choose a lazy person to do a difficult job because he will find an easy way to do it.” 

― Ziad K. Abdelnour, Economic Warfare

The Dividing Lines

About 5 million years ago, a tiny and weak creature began its amazing journey on this planet. Braving all odds, it lived on the African plain, in the presence of many mighty and scary predators. Then, rising to its feet, it started an almost unbelievable chapter of survival and consolidation. In the next million years, this species established itself as the dominant master of Planet Earth- a dramatic turnaround from the feeble and vulnerable being that it began its existence as. But somewhere along the way, apart from being a terror for other living forms, a minority from this species created divisions and sidelined many members of its own species.

“Humans were the weakest species. Maybe that was why they could be the meanest animals.” 

― James Patterson, When the Wind Blows

Most species have divisions based on characteristic and physiological differences and these divisions serve many functions as well. However, most such divisions that we Humans created among ourselves (although the intended purpose of some of them was noble and beneficial) turned out to be highly divisive and detrimental, even a threat to our very existence. Some of the lines that we divided ourselves with are: Geographic, Political, Biological, Social, Religious and Economic. All of these are separate and detailed  discussion topics, in themselves.

Geographically and Politically, we scattered ourselves into Nations, States, Territories and Unions. The ever-growing greed of the few, in the garb of industrialization and development, led to wars, rebellions, invasions, slavery and human suffering of a magnitude that is amplified by the fact that more people have died and suffered in wars in the history of our existence than due to epidemics, natural calamities and deadly diseases put together. The Crusades, The World Wars, The Oil Wars and many more of their ilk have brought us to the brink of extinction, at the same time creating such animosity among people of different regions that even dreaming about a united world seems too far-fetched.

"All War is Deception" - Sun Tzu

Geographic and Political Demarcations may have become necessary for meaningful administration and maintaining cultural integrity, but some of the after-effects have been terrible- a new form of which is regionalism, the recent creation of the state of  Telangana (in India) and the rising number of more such demands is a case in point. 

If this was not enough, we also started differentiating ourselves on the basis of Race and Caste. Race is a Biological construct, whereas Caste is a Social one. Black, White, African, American, Latino, Indian, Mongolian, Negro; Kshatriya, Brahmins, Shudras(Indian Castes); is how we identify each other, despite sharing the same skin, blood and organs. Apartheid, Untouchability, Caste Discrimination, Color Discrimination were some of the monsters that raised their ugly heads in different parts of the world and still cause a lot of damage to societal fabric around the globe.

"Racism is not born, folks, it's taught. I have a two-year-old son. You know what he hates? Naps! End of List." - Denis Leary

However, I guess, two more demarcations have caused- and the scary and saddening part is-  much more damage than the above mentioned factors. One of them being Religion. Its promoters will always tell you that Religion teaches peace and kindness. It is baffling, then, that the most bloody and gory wars and riots have taken place in the name of religion. These same religions only serve to instill fear of an invisible power that will punish people if they do not follow suit, and to instill hatred against non-believers and members of other religions. Truth be told, Religion has only turned people against each other, working on a basic foundation of fear and ignorance.

" If people are good only because they fear punishment, and hope for reward, then we are a sorry lot indeed." - Albert Einstein

The other factor, out of the two mentioned above, is Economic. And it should not be treated in isolation. It is, in fact the combined effect of  all the five divisions discussed so far, a sort of an avaricious and diabolical aim to create a chasm between the haves and the have-nots. 

Have a look at some facts:

"The world’s 225 richest people have a combined wealth of over $1million million. Only four per cent of this wealth would be enough for basic education and healthcare, adequate food and safe water and sanitation for all the world’s people. The 15 richest people have assets that exceed the total Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of sub-Saharan Africa. The assets of the 84 richest people exceed the GDP of China, which has 1.2 billion inhabitants." (Source: The Internationalist Magazine)

Need more be said? The greedy few seem to have snatched their share of the resources and that is why, perhaps, these 'Dividing Lines' were devised and executed so brilliantly and ruthlessly over the years.

“We have lost our humanity to the decimal point.” 

― Bryant McGill, Voice of Reason

The Greatest Emotion

“Your emotions are the slaves to your thoughts, and you are the slave to your emotions.”

― Elizabeth Gilbert

“I don't want to be at the mercy of my emotions. I want to use them, to enjoy them, and to dominate them.”

― Oscar Wilde

We wade through the sea of life on a boat called 'Emotions'. Sounds a little melodramatic- but it is not too far from the truth, is it? We are driven by our emotions, guided and molded by them.Our emotions are under the influence of our thoughts and we, ourselves, are at the mercy of our emotions. Of course, we would, like Oscar Wilde, wish to be free from these shackles and lord over our emotions ; control them. But it is only easier said than done.

Start counting on your fingers and you will be able to make a comprehensive list of emotions that engulf our lives: Anger, Joy, Love, Hatred, Agony, Ecstasy, Guilt, Happiness, Inspiration, Motivation, Frustration, Irritation, Hope, Regret and a few more. The first thing that you will notice is how these emotions can be broadly categorized as: Positive and Negative. Another mention must be made to the fact that most of these emotions are similar in their basic nature: they differ only in their intensity.

Coming to the basic question, which of these is the most powerful? For that purpose, we will need to reduce them to a few very basic constructs. Unfortunately, we cannot use a statistical tool like IBM's SPSS and apply Principal Component Analysis to reduce these dimensions. But jokes apart and fortunately, we do not need that. Ponder over it for some time and you will realize that Love and Fear are the two base emotions and all others can be considered as their sub-categories.

Michael Leunig wrote:

" There are only two feelings: love and fear.

There are only two languages: love and fear.

There are only two activities: love and fear.

There are only two motives, two procedures, two frameworks, two results:

love and fear. Love and fear."

Love and Fear, everything that you do is inspired by one or the other. Also, these two cannot co-exist. If we talk in terms of the end results, love will definitely supersede fear, but the question is not of finding out which of the two is better, but rather one of  impact- which of these wields more power over us. It is in this regard that one realizes the greater authority of fear over love. Love can push you in the pursuit of a dream, fear can pull you back citing hindrances and obstructions on that path. Whatever Love can drive you to do, Fear holds the power to put brakes on it.

Fear of loneliness, Fear of failure, Fear of rejection, Fear of humiliation, Fear of death and fear of the Unknown are some of the major forces that regulate our day-to-day behavior. Think deeply and count the number of times we have taken the easier route: not going to speak in front of the class, not taking an innovative approach to solving a problem, not doing the morally right thing, not helping someone in dire need, not saying what is in our heart or what is in our mind, for that matter. All these result from the above mentioned fears which trump the lines of action that Love would have otherwise chosen for us.What our parents will think of us, What our peers and elders think of us, What will the society think of us; all these fears override the love we have for things/people and the paths we wish to tread to achieve our aims.

Certainly, fear rules us and to be honest, it cannot really be done away with. But Again, fear is not all negative and evil. It can be modified, twisted and transformed into a tool for greater self-awareness-- an acknowledgement of our limitations, a realization of our strengths and a driving force to generate determination and courage. Fear is not  something to escape from, it is something that needs to be embraced. Agreed that it is a bad master, but it can also turn into a great servant. After all, it is the greatest emotion that there is.

"I have accepted fear as a part of life – specifically the fear of change…. I have gone ahead despite the pounding in the heart that says: turn back."  -Erica Jong

“Do one thing every day that scares you.”

― Eleanor Roosevelt

"What is needed, rather than running away or controlling or suppressing or any other resistance, is understanding fear; that means, watch it, learn about it, come directly into contact with it. We are to learn about fear, not how to escape from it."

-J. Krishnamurti