Authority
The world is full of people that are more than happy to show some form of influence over others. They can come in different shapes, sizes and occupations. There are the policemen and the soldiers for whom exercising power is just another day at the job. And there are the ushers at Indian cinema halls or the hostesses at busy restaurants, who grasp on to every possible chance to show off their power, temporary as it might be.
I am the first person to admit that I have severe issues with authority. I do not like taking orders and this might explain why I refrain from giving them. I had an experience last Sunday, served to teach me a good lesson in matters relating to duty and authority.
The other day I had a hangover. A good cure for a hangover is a brisk run. With this in mind, I made my way to the gym. In my mentally deficient, dehydrated state, I had forgotten my ID card. The girl at the reception desk allowed me in, but only after having told me thrice on how she was going out of her way and, "If I ever did this in the future she would make it a point to keep me out."
I smiled and apologized profusely trying to practice being a non-violent soldier. In my mind I wanted to bear no resentment towards her. I
This task was beyond me. The reason?
Every time I though of what had happened, I realized that I was full of righteousness that was sloshing madly within me. In my mind I was this nice, non-violent guy. She, a petty person who could not let go of a single chance to show off her authority.
This train of thought alone is self-defeating if you want to be non-violent.
True non-violence can only result out of complete detachment. That is why if a police officer wants to do her/his job effectively, there is little to be gained, if s/he thinks of himself and his colleagues as the "good guys". S/he must work with complete detachment.
After all policemen and soldiers must remember that the truth they often defend is not truth in its highest, absolute form. The truth they guard is only one that often has its origins in its antithesis.
The world is full of people that are more than happy to show some form of influence over others. They can come in different shapes, sizes and occupations. There are the policemen and the soldiers for whom exercising power is just another day at the job. And there are the ushers at Indian cinema halls or the hostesses at busy restaurants, who grasp on to every possible chance to show off their power, temporary as it might be.
I am the first person to admit that I have severe issues with authority. I do not like taking orders and this might explain why I refrain from giving them. I had an experience last Sunday, served to teach me a good lesson in matters relating to duty and authority.
The other day I had a hangover. A good cure for a hangover is a brisk run. With this in mind, I made my way to the gym. In my mentally deficient, dehydrated state, I had forgotten my ID card. The girl at the reception desk allowed me in, but only after having told me thrice on how she was going out of her way and, "If I ever did this in the future she would make it a point to keep me out."
I smiled and apologized profusely trying to practice being a non-violent soldier. In my mind I wanted to bear no resentment towards her. I
This task was beyond me. The reason?
Every time I though of what had happened, I realized that I was full of righteousness that was sloshing madly within me. In my mind I was this nice, non-violent guy. She, a petty person who could not let go of a single chance to show off her authority.
This train of thought alone is self-defeating if you want to be non-violent.
True non-violence can only result out of complete detachment. That is why if a police officer wants to do her/his job effectively, there is little to be gained, if s/he thinks of himself and his colleagues as the "good guys". S/he must work with complete detachment.
After all policemen and soldiers must remember that the truth they often defend is not truth in its highest, absolute form. The truth they guard is only one that often has its origins in its antithesis.
A song
Today, when we look back at the Vietnam war, more than petitions and marches (not to undermine them) we remember the songs: Blowing in the Wind and the loneliness of Mrs. Brown in Jimmy Cliff's Vietnam just to name a few.
Well what about this time around?
It is sad to say that the Bush government has cleverly put restrictions on free speech. To question their policies is now equated with appearing unpatriotic. I recently read about how the White House asked a website to pull down photos from a website that dared to lampoon Mrs. Cheney. This is but one and perhaps the most justifiable (if that word can be used in this context) of many similar requests from the White House - to list them all is as possible as is futile.
Getting back to the music, the Grammy's went by without a word of protest about the war -on stage and vinyl. I had expected a small percentage of musicians to bemoan the loss of innocent lives. Last evening, I was pleasantly surprised to hear this song by the Beastie Boys that is available for free on their website.
This might be the first of many more that will stand as a testament of our creativity and sanity to future generations.
Today, when we look back at the Vietnam war, more than petitions and marches (not to undermine them) we remember the songs: Blowing in the Wind and the loneliness of Mrs. Brown in Jimmy Cliff's Vietnam just to name a few.
Well what about this time around?
It is sad to say that the Bush government has cleverly put restrictions on free speech. To question their policies is now equated with appearing unpatriotic. I recently read about how the White House asked a website to pull down photos from a website that dared to lampoon Mrs. Cheney. This is but one and perhaps the most justifiable (if that word can be used in this context) of many similar requests from the White House - to list them all is as possible as is futile.
Getting back to the music, the Grammy's went by without a word of protest about the war -on stage and vinyl. I had expected a small percentage of musicians to bemoan the loss of innocent lives. Last evening, I was pleasantly surprised to hear this song by the Beastie Boys that is available for free on their website.
This might be the first of many more that will stand as a testament of our creativity and sanity to future generations.
The media
The Germans invented gunpowder. They also invented printing and set things on an equal footing, putting into play another arena for the combat of opposing forces.
Things however once made move far from the intentions of their maker and take on wholly new forms and functions.
When numbers begin to lie and only the louder voices are heard, then one becomes very much like the other.
And in the absence of an opposing pole, a negative charge or a silencing voice, matters of the world begin to hurtle in one direction.
This is not only dangerous. It is unnatural.
The Germans invented gunpowder. They also invented printing and set things on an equal footing, putting into play another arena for the combat of opposing forces.
Things however once made move far from the intentions of their maker and take on wholly new forms and functions.
When numbers begin to lie and only the louder voices are heard, then one becomes very much like the other.
And in the absence of an opposing pole, a negative charge or a silencing voice, matters of the world begin to hurtle in one direction.
This is not only dangerous. It is unnatural.
Courage
On a Sunday afternoon that barked like spring, but bit like winter I was fortunate enough to see the Cremaster Cycleshow by Mathew Barney. The show is titled after the muscle that drives the male testicular organ in response to external stimuli such as fear, arousal, nuclear wars and the like.
There are 5 movies- Cremaster 1 to 5 all of which explore to varying degrees the theme of sexual differentiation. The show smacks of courage. Firstly Mathew Barney like many of us had these visions. Unlike the rest of us he did not tie a shoelace, put down a book or brush his teeth after seeing these visions. He made elaborate models that are as much a tribute to surrealism as they are to science- there are strange looking lionesses and people leaping around, but they bounce off supports riveted to the walls of the Guggenheim.
Mr. Barney does not appear to be one to pat his back, especially if his hands are perennially covered with petroleum jelly. He then proceeded to use these models in movies that have the fortune to be among the most visually vivid ones of all time. Even when the story is static, it moves too fast for the brain and its faithful senses by virtue of its novelty. To see and do is courage. Mr. Barney's bravery distinguishes itself by virtue of its vitality.
There is more than sheer disregard for the norms here. A common strand of thought running through people is that the more they understand the better things are. In many of our folk tales and newspaper articles, incomprehension and ignorance are but the first steps towards disaster. We grasp on to things happening in the present and try to make sense of them by trying to match pieces we have accumulated in the past. What happens when we are confronted with something so different, that even the very shadow of this new experience does not evoke an echo from the past? Are we able to see that the world is much, much larger and some might say much more terrible than we can ever imagine it to be? Do we come to terms with this "un understanding"? Or do we ignore the parts that lie outside our own Venn Diagrams and cloak the rest with our judgment?
Hanging on to the thin skeleton of a variety of fictional and real tales, Mr. Barney forces us to take the first steps towards acknowledging the blinders on our eyes which ensure that our mind is not unique to our race.
On a Sunday afternoon that barked like spring, but bit like winter I was fortunate enough to see the Cremaster Cycleshow by Mathew Barney. The show is titled after the muscle that drives the male testicular organ in response to external stimuli such as fear, arousal, nuclear wars and the like.
There are 5 movies- Cremaster 1 to 5 all of which explore to varying degrees the theme of sexual differentiation. The show smacks of courage. Firstly Mathew Barney like many of us had these visions. Unlike the rest of us he did not tie a shoelace, put down a book or brush his teeth after seeing these visions. He made elaborate models that are as much a tribute to surrealism as they are to science- there are strange looking lionesses and people leaping around, but they bounce off supports riveted to the walls of the Guggenheim.
Mr. Barney does not appear to be one to pat his back, especially if his hands are perennially covered with petroleum jelly. He then proceeded to use these models in movies that have the fortune to be among the most visually vivid ones of all time. Even when the story is static, it moves too fast for the brain and its faithful senses by virtue of its novelty. To see and do is courage. Mr. Barney's bravery distinguishes itself by virtue of its vitality.
There is more than sheer disregard for the norms here. A common strand of thought running through people is that the more they understand the better things are. In many of our folk tales and newspaper articles, incomprehension and ignorance are but the first steps towards disaster. We grasp on to things happening in the present and try to make sense of them by trying to match pieces we have accumulated in the past. What happens when we are confronted with something so different, that even the very shadow of this new experience does not evoke an echo from the past? Are we able to see that the world is much, much larger and some might say much more terrible than we can ever imagine it to be? Do we come to terms with this "un understanding"? Or do we ignore the parts that lie outside our own Venn Diagrams and cloak the rest with our judgment?
Hanging on to the thin skeleton of a variety of fictional and real tales, Mr. Barney forces us to take the first steps towards acknowledging the blinders on our eyes which ensure that our mind is not unique to our race.
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