Surreptitious Radical Maniac

Witnessing the way party politics work not just in India, but across democracies around the world makes me consider if there's any alternative to Representative Democracy. Abraham Lincoln said, "democracy is a government of the people, by the people and for the people." Is this true anymore? By voting/selecting a candidate and asking them to be your representative actually work? This is just giving voter a 'power' to select a candidate for a certain period of time. By the vote, the 'power' is transferred from citizen to the representative and disconnecting the citizen from the remaining aspects of exercising democratic functions. Moreover, the elections are seen just as an event focused on swing states, swing candidates, and also swing voters. So, is there an alternative? One alternative is partyless democracy. I guess this is something envisioned by our constitution writers as there's no mention of political party in our constitution. The concept is ...

Is emotional pain = physical pain? or vice versa? I read about it earlier learning that both are the same, but didn't agree or disagree with it straightaway. Maybe, I was looking for additional research or proof. Well, I got it yesterday. I met with an accident yesterday and my left leg is hurt. Physically. A major accident resulting in a serious injury under the wheels of a truck was avoided in split of a second. Ironically, nothing can be seen outside. Not even a scratch on the surface of the skin of my left leg. It's internal pain, a bit of swelling on outside, but pain can be felt. Unable to walk, cross, close or open legs, stress on the leg or use it for support. Apparently, MRI scan showed completely torn ligaments. Now, normal walk is few months away while surgery is required in the coming weeks. It's still a physical pain although my leg is hurt internally. As this is the situation, it reminded me of a totally disconnected situation. Emotional pain. I was hurt...

https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/treaty-banning-nuclear-weapons-to-enter-into-force-un/article32939207.ece? “Today is a victory for humanity, and a promise of a safer future,” Peter Maurer, president of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), said in a statement. An international treaty banning nuclear weapons has been ratified by a 50th country -- Honduras -- allowing it to enter into force after 90 days, a UN official said Saturday.  What difference does it make? Which country used a nuke after WW2 or other than US? None. It's a taboo. There are more number of deaths recorded due to conventional warfare than nuclear warfare. And, there would be more number of civilians dead or misplaced than the number of soldiers died. So, what use is this if it's ratified? Does it change anything? The clutch of nuclear-armed states, including the United States, Britain, France, China and Russia, have not signed the treaty. UNSC countries didn't sign it. S...

Are we living or dying? Is there a fundamental difference between the two? As every second passes by, we are getting old and losing every second of our "timed" life. So, in that sense, we are actually dying and not living.  Living is being alive. In that sense, we are living and not dying. Additionally, there's a catch over here. Both living and dying are seen as actions with having the suffix "ing" in the words signifying action. So, I think there's fundamentally no difference in figurative terms when I say "I'm living" or "I'm dying." This reminds me of the words which I heard in a song compilation by Arctic Empire. The words were taken from Alan Watts - The Dream of Life If you awaken from this illusion and you understand that black implies white, self implies other, life implies death, (or shall I say death implies life?), you can feel yourself - not as a stranger in the world - not as something here on probation, not as s...

One of my friend shared the above image referring to the US. Although most people, across the world talk of US and Americans, I really think they fail to understand Americans. Similar to any other culture or group, Americans are unique too. But, often they are stereotyped in certain manner and showed as 'a quintessential American.' So, I wanted to write about one thing. Freedom.  Outsiders fail to understand the level of ‘freedom’ US has or Americans have it. US is often referred to as a place where one prospers, and it is referred as ' American dream', to come to US and have freedom to do anything. The freedom is absolute without restrictions, but limited by certain things for sure. You don't have the freedom to negatively affect any other person. That's almost a given in any society.  The level of freedom which is available in West is somewhat unfathomable to other societies. When people protest against lockdown in the US, it is seen as stupid. B...

Maybe, I'm getting too lazy to write, and just posting memes/info/quotes. Too lazy to write anymore right now.

An interesting thing. Would love to hear more about this. Any one up for discussion? And, this also shows that USA is actually dealing with the basic issues, making it also a 3rd world country. It's not like it's developed enough to deal effectively. Found another meme too. Not a generalization, but it's kind of funny, and could be true on a surface level.

Using my friend's Amazon account, I bought a cube for my student in the name of a TFI Fellow using my dad's card.  There are 5 individuals involved over here. If this process is extended a bit more, you could see the interconnectedness from one to another.  The other people are the delivery boy, the company Amazon, the company which made the cube, the cardboard box company, the person who packed it, the print label, the computer, internet, the design, the cube itself, the credit card company, the transaction processing company, bank, etc. And, on a broader level, it can be extended to numerous people who are involved in it if delved to 4th level connections. It can also be connected to the next level when the purpose/use of the product is complete. Like, it is recycled, discarded, etc. So, what's happening here? Let's take my initial statement of ordering a cube. A simple result is i n such an interconnected world, my student will get the cube, only if everythin...

Stabilization in the hour of need To understand stabilization, let us contemplate on  destabilization of elected government . It is causing unrest of a governing body of the state.  This is an interesting phenomenon as the case of Madhya Pradesh in 2020, which has similarities with Karnataka in 2019 and Bihar in 2017. Can you destabilize the elected government? Yes, you can. Did it happen before? Of course. Numerous examples across almost all states since independence. So, the question of  'can you do it?'  is answerable with  'yes.'   'Should you do it?'  is what leaders and people have to be concerned about. What is the primary concern of a government? To enact policy, deliver services or keep counting the number of MLAs each morning-afternoon-night (or maybe every second) in their party to ensure the government hasn't succumbed to external or internal forces? Right now, it seems like the only concern is to stay in power and worry abou...

This is the translation of Sri Sri's poem 'Kala Ravi'. I tried my best to translate it to English, but it's best read and heard in Telugu. There could be better translation for some words and suggestions are welcome. The word 'pothe poni', which is often repeated in this poem is hard to translate. The literal meaning would be  'let it go if it has to go and don't stop it.'  It is surprising to see such a sentence is aptly said by two words in Telugu. Maybe that's the beauty of it.  Kala Ravi (Oh Poet!) let them go let them go... if they have to go! wife, children, well-wishers - let them go! let them go... let them come let them come... come if they may problems, loss,  anger, thirst, curses - let them come! abuses, friction, hardship - let them come! let it come, let it come... let it happen, let it happen sing, meditate,  smile, dance!  let it happen, let it happen oh poet, best poet!

Recent situation across India made me think of how to bring a change. While there are many methods to do it, there are 2 broad methodologies. One is to bring a change within the system. And, the second is to change the system itself. The current government which brought a change (irrespective of good/bad or right/wrong, it's still a change) through the system. And, if you're against it, do the same. Join the system and change it again.  If you think the whole system is to be changed, then, everyone should be affected by the change. The current changes brought by the government clearly isn't touching many people. So, the second form of change, a revolution is not possible. And, India doesn't need a revolution right now. The system works well. It has imperfections, which have to be addressed. Let's address the imperfections by working within the system. What are protests achieving? I often complain that it should achieve something. Most protests actually was...

If you're able to do unpaid internship, you're PRIVILEGED If you're offering unpaid internship, you're HYPOCRITE (maybe lack of a better word) It's simple. By offering unpaid internship, you're creating an invisible or maybe visible line to weed out applicants who won't work for free. In a random conversation, someone told me Washington DC is a slave city. It's not just for unpaid internships, but also work-salary ratio compared to other professions. By doing as such, you're still continuing and propagating a culture which would further continue to divide society by class than actually break it. It can be considered a form of nepotism as you're giving preferential treatment to people who are able to work for free. Academic credit is often cited by these institutions as a turnaround for unpaid work. But, how many institutions offer academic credit? Not all institutions do it. Very few indeed. Graduate school at Elliott doesn't...