Last night
Television is getting very popular in the Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire). If I were ever to run for Presidency in this country, I would not want to the victim of a virulent TV campaign orchestrated by my opposition, people who are devoid of conscience and who probably devour their young for a living on full moon nights. So I must be sure to have a clear, blameless past at that very crucial juncture in my life. And what happened last night might not be very becoming of a wannabe future President. So let us change the subject and not speak of me.
Let us speak of him.
He was out drinking till the wee hours of the night. He is not a heavy consumer of beverages and indulges once in a while. He had had a busy day and save for the odd egg on a roll had not satiated his appetite. Did I mention the fact that he is getting older nowadays (I know everyone is, but if he wants to, he will be able see the horizon on the other side of the hill). The only time he exercises nowadays is when he has a running nose.
At 3:00 in the morning, he was with a small group of friends in a lovely bar called n’ (Enya) on Crosby between Grand and Broome. At this late hour, he should have eaten his first meal of the day. He should have been dreaming of coffins floating down a river as his wont, he finds that he is in a nice discussion with a girl who is as beautiful as is intelligent. She points out that he is sweating. He walks up to go to the restroom to wipe this sweat off, even though it flows down an honest brow. Then he faints. Knees buckling and all. This is the second time that it has happened to him (the first time being when he was in the august company of a good person from Columbia, his girlfriend and the great Billy Preston. They were not drinking then, he just hadn’t eaten anything). As then, his first instinct this day was to feel embarrassed. The bartender, God bless her, gave him many glasses of water. She opened the kitchen and got him food. She said that she was not normally this nice. He was sure that she was.
Net result being the exhibition of most unGandhilike behavior. As I have pointed out Gandhi was not the biggest advocate of alcohol. He didn’t meet Churchill over Brandy Alexanders. As Gandhi said, “Alcohol makes a man forget himself and while these effects last, he becomes completely incapable of doing anything useful.”
True.
Let us assume for a second that I am this “he” we are speaking about. Do I even deserve to “try to be like Gandhi”? I speak all the time of productivity, eliminating idleness, being in control and all that in this blog. But Gandhi would deem this exhibition of behavior intolerable. My (his) exhibition of unfettered and uncontrollable emotions would be even appalling to the watchman to his ashram.
However, it is true that alcohol binds together the social structure of modern cities. I mean, if I start saying, “Yes, Saturday night, meet me for a coffee over a laptop at Bryant Park”, it wouldn’t be the same. Lack of nice music for one thing.
But I think of a desk. It lies in a cubicle. I don’t want to keep visiting it for the rest of my life. I want to write this frigging book that is in my mind and not on paper. I cannot be “utterly incapable of doing anything useful.”
There is a middle way. There always is. I shall tread it. I hope he does too.
Television is getting very popular in the Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire). If I were ever to run for Presidency in this country, I would not want to the victim of a virulent TV campaign orchestrated by my opposition, people who are devoid of conscience and who probably devour their young for a living on full moon nights. So I must be sure to have a clear, blameless past at that very crucial juncture in my life. And what happened last night might not be very becoming of a wannabe future President. So let us change the subject and not speak of me.
Let us speak of him.
He was out drinking till the wee hours of the night. He is not a heavy consumer of beverages and indulges once in a while. He had had a busy day and save for the odd egg on a roll had not satiated his appetite. Did I mention the fact that he is getting older nowadays (I know everyone is, but if he wants to, he will be able see the horizon on the other side of the hill). The only time he exercises nowadays is when he has a running nose.
At 3:00 in the morning, he was with a small group of friends in a lovely bar called n’ (Enya) on Crosby between Grand and Broome. At this late hour, he should have eaten his first meal of the day. He should have been dreaming of coffins floating down a river as his wont, he finds that he is in a nice discussion with a girl who is as beautiful as is intelligent. She points out that he is sweating. He walks up to go to the restroom to wipe this sweat off, even though it flows down an honest brow. Then he faints. Knees buckling and all. This is the second time that it has happened to him (the first time being when he was in the august company of a good person from Columbia, his girlfriend and the great Billy Preston. They were not drinking then, he just hadn’t eaten anything). As then, his first instinct this day was to feel embarrassed. The bartender, God bless her, gave him many glasses of water. She opened the kitchen and got him food. She said that she was not normally this nice. He was sure that she was.
Net result being the exhibition of most unGandhilike behavior. As I have pointed out Gandhi was not the biggest advocate of alcohol. He didn’t meet Churchill over Brandy Alexanders. As Gandhi said, “Alcohol makes a man forget himself and while these effects last, he becomes completely incapable of doing anything useful.”
True.
Let us assume for a second that I am this “he” we are speaking about. Do I even deserve to “try to be like Gandhi”? I speak all the time of productivity, eliminating idleness, being in control and all that in this blog. But Gandhi would deem this exhibition of behavior intolerable. My (his) exhibition of unfettered and uncontrollable emotions would be even appalling to the watchman to his ashram.
However, it is true that alcohol binds together the social structure of modern cities. I mean, if I start saying, “Yes, Saturday night, meet me for a coffee over a laptop at Bryant Park”, it wouldn’t be the same. Lack of nice music for one thing.
But I think of a desk. It lies in a cubicle. I don’t want to keep visiting it for the rest of my life. I want to write this frigging book that is in my mind and not on paper. I cannot be “utterly incapable of doing anything useful.”
There is a middle way. There always is. I shall tread it. I hope he does too.
Case study
I read of a woman who lost her significant someone at the WTC. She then went to Afghanistan to spend time with people who lost their relatives in the bombings.
That is a indeed a case to study.
I read of a woman who lost her significant someone at the WTC. She then went to Afghanistan to spend time with people who lost their relatives in the bombings.
That is a indeed a case to study.
The temptation
You get in from a tiring day at work. The TV set stares at you. The temptation is immense. Our mind fed on a spate of negative news events since childhood, craves for more.
But hold on to that thought. Resist it. Do something else.
The victims of September 11 need to be honored. Not be viewed as a gruesome spectacle. It would be doing them a great disservice.
Even Gandhi would agree. He advocates active contemplation in great tragedies of this magnitude. Contemplate. Pick up the phone. Talk to a friend.
Think of people who have died needlessly as a result of hate. They could be in America. Or in your country. Why do you feel it happens? Is there anything we can do to better the situation? Is this the world we want to leave behind for our children?
Can we do something about it? Or will we wait for that "somebody" (Rambo, The President, Mr. X) to make a difference?
Can you write something about it? What upsets you and why you feel other people get upset? Maybe you can mail it to your elected representative?
Can you think about why people commit acts of violence, as opposed to a genial fellow such as say, yourself? Can you see such circumstances in your immediate neighborhood? If so, can you do something about it (feed a dog, educate a child, make screenings of 'First Blood' not compulsory every Friday).
Can you try and understand the true meaning on non violence, which is a very active state, different from "non - action". Can you see the meaning of the term inertia and the different times of the day that you are inert and idle?
There is a lot to do. Resist that temptation. Let sleeping remotes lie.
You get in from a tiring day at work. The TV set stares at you. The temptation is immense. Our mind fed on a spate of negative news events since childhood, craves for more.
But hold on to that thought. Resist it. Do something else.
The victims of September 11 need to be honored. Not be viewed as a gruesome spectacle. It would be doing them a great disservice.
Even Gandhi would agree. He advocates active contemplation in great tragedies of this magnitude. Contemplate. Pick up the phone. Talk to a friend.
Think of people who have died needlessly as a result of hate. They could be in America. Or in your country. Why do you feel it happens? Is there anything we can do to better the situation? Is this the world we want to leave behind for our children?
Can we do something about it? Or will we wait for that "somebody" (Rambo, The President, Mr. X) to make a difference?
Can you write something about it? What upsets you and why you feel other people get upset? Maybe you can mail it to your elected representative?
Can you think about why people commit acts of violence, as opposed to a genial fellow such as say, yourself? Can you see such circumstances in your immediate neighborhood? If so, can you do something about it (feed a dog, educate a child, make screenings of 'First Blood' not compulsory every Friday).
Can you try and understand the true meaning on non violence, which is a very active state, different from "non - action". Can you see the meaning of the term inertia and the different times of the day that you are inert and idle?
There is a lot to do. Resist that temptation. Let sleeping remotes lie.
Wanted: A few women to step up to the plate
It is now nearly a year after September 11. There is not a silver lining to be found on any cloud good enough to float by. All around the world, perfectly reasonable people are still living in fear. Yesterday there was a glimmer of hope, when I read the Times of India. The headlines said that India would agree to the Line of Control as the international border, as far as Kashmir was concerned. There would finally be peace in the land where the lakes are as clear as glass and have goggle eyed fishes swimming in their depths. Then I remembered that this was the same online publication-whose print counterpart is one of the best newspapers in the world- that has spent the better part of last year acting as cheerleaders for the US (save for the very funny Dubyaman). I have very low regard for their credibility, since they had published a snippet about “Osama being spotted on a camel in Afghanistan heading towards Iran.” Maybe Osama died and the camel was deported to Iraq, which is why they want to bomb it.
The point is that this might well be a fabrication of someone’s imagination and we are no closer to a solution of any kind. Iraq will hog the headlines and 14 million people in Southern Africa, relegated to the back pages will die of starvation. If there ever was a time for a radical solution, that time is now. I propose that the following countries elect women as prime ministers/presidents/leaders: USA, England, Israel, Palestine, India and Pakistan. It will be the first step in the path to reducing violence.
Gandhi might have agreed with me. He says that woman is the embodiment of Ahimsa. To call a woman the “weaker sex” is libel, according to the Mahatma. If the woman lacks the brute instinct of the man (bloodlust is the word I think he was looking for) or does not possess it in the same measure, it makes her the nobler sex. Gandhi was always worried that society would destroy itself with nations waging war against nations and still more insane wars on its moral foundations. A woman, he says, should play her part in these times of crisis by behaving womanfully and not manfully (which is why perhaps feminists, portraying themselves to be equal and not different than men, have done more disservice to their cause albeit with the best of intentions). Gandhi advises women that it is their privilege to “wean the erring man away from error, which will envelope in his ruin that of woman also.”
I think you get the general drift. Men and women are different. Even in relationships, men are often stupefied at the woman’s chain of thought. This is because women think of five different ways to arrive at a solution (the number five has no scientific backing and should be treated as random). This path of thought is always not straight and narrow, like that of a falling bomb, or an imminent break up. In addition to this, inherently possessing maternal instincts, women are more liable to see the starving child or their destitute counterparts in other countries and will be able to factor these visuals into their solution.
Gandhi says that there is no reason for women to depend on men for protection. He advocates self-defense as compulsory training for very woman, which would add to their already immense inner strength. (He then goes on to deride them for acting as ornaments for men and for “painting themselves” and for being Juliets to half a dozen Romeos (another random number, I suspect), but that is another story for another day.
Gandhi says that a woman’s occupation must be more conducive to peace than to war. Equality of the sexes does not in any way equality of occupations. Nature has created sexes to complement each other. Their functions are defined, as are their forms. We all know that woman is the embodiment of sacrifice. She will never seek out a violent solution. It is against her instinct. Then what better job for a woman at this point to modern history than to be the leader of a nation?
As far as India is concerned, the leader of the opposition Sonia Gandhi might not be the best bet at this stage. She is Italian and might be forced to go to great lengths to prove otherwise. Her daughter Priyanka is ideal for the position, but losing her father to a mad suicide bomber might have made politics an unattractive proposition for her.
Each country needs to begin that search for that “ woman who is always the embodiment of Ahimsa.” After all, Ahimsa means nothing more than “infinite love”. Which is what we all we can do with a little bit of.
It is now nearly a year after September 11. There is not a silver lining to be found on any cloud good enough to float by. All around the world, perfectly reasonable people are still living in fear. Yesterday there was a glimmer of hope, when I read the Times of India. The headlines said that India would agree to the Line of Control as the international border, as far as Kashmir was concerned. There would finally be peace in the land where the lakes are as clear as glass and have goggle eyed fishes swimming in their depths. Then I remembered that this was the same online publication-whose print counterpart is one of the best newspapers in the world- that has spent the better part of last year acting as cheerleaders for the US (save for the very funny Dubyaman). I have very low regard for their credibility, since they had published a snippet about “Osama being spotted on a camel in Afghanistan heading towards Iran.” Maybe Osama died and the camel was deported to Iraq, which is why they want to bomb it.
The point is that this might well be a fabrication of someone’s imagination and we are no closer to a solution of any kind. Iraq will hog the headlines and 14 million people in Southern Africa, relegated to the back pages will die of starvation. If there ever was a time for a radical solution, that time is now. I propose that the following countries elect women as prime ministers/presidents/leaders: USA, England, Israel, Palestine, India and Pakistan. It will be the first step in the path to reducing violence.
Gandhi might have agreed with me. He says that woman is the embodiment of Ahimsa. To call a woman the “weaker sex” is libel, according to the Mahatma. If the woman lacks the brute instinct of the man (bloodlust is the word I think he was looking for) or does not possess it in the same measure, it makes her the nobler sex. Gandhi was always worried that society would destroy itself with nations waging war against nations and still more insane wars on its moral foundations. A woman, he says, should play her part in these times of crisis by behaving womanfully and not manfully (which is why perhaps feminists, portraying themselves to be equal and not different than men, have done more disservice to their cause albeit with the best of intentions). Gandhi advises women that it is their privilege to “wean the erring man away from error, which will envelope in his ruin that of woman also.”
I think you get the general drift. Men and women are different. Even in relationships, men are often stupefied at the woman’s chain of thought. This is because women think of five different ways to arrive at a solution (the number five has no scientific backing and should be treated as random). This path of thought is always not straight and narrow, like that of a falling bomb, or an imminent break up. In addition to this, inherently possessing maternal instincts, women are more liable to see the starving child or their destitute counterparts in other countries and will be able to factor these visuals into their solution.
Gandhi says that there is no reason for women to depend on men for protection. He advocates self-defense as compulsory training for very woman, which would add to their already immense inner strength. (He then goes on to deride them for acting as ornaments for men and for “painting themselves” and for being Juliets to half a dozen Romeos (another random number, I suspect), but that is another story for another day.
Gandhi says that a woman’s occupation must be more conducive to peace than to war. Equality of the sexes does not in any way equality of occupations. Nature has created sexes to complement each other. Their functions are defined, as are their forms. We all know that woman is the embodiment of sacrifice. She will never seek out a violent solution. It is against her instinct. Then what better job for a woman at this point to modern history than to be the leader of a nation?
As far as India is concerned, the leader of the opposition Sonia Gandhi might not be the best bet at this stage. She is Italian and might be forced to go to great lengths to prove otherwise. Her daughter Priyanka is ideal for the position, but losing her father to a mad suicide bomber might have made politics an unattractive proposition for her.
Each country needs to begin that search for that “ woman who is always the embodiment of Ahimsa.” After all, Ahimsa means nothing more than “infinite love”. Which is what we all we can do with a little bit of.
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