Farouk Gulsara's Blog, page 20

Everyone loses in a war!

Once a war starts, nobody can control its trajectory. The promise of a swift surgical strike with minimal casualties is anything but a fallacy.

We have more than enough examples to tell us this wisdom in our present times, but we just refuse to listen. The Kuwait War and Iraq Wars were just propaganda wars attacking something non-existent. It also proved that there is no such thing as precision bombing with zero casualties. It is no use telling us it is just collateral damage. 
The Vietnam War showed how elections can be lost. When the body count piles up, and the disadvantaged fraction of society bears all the sorrows of seeing their sons returning in body bags while the elite dodges their way from drafting, the public knows they have been taken for a ride. It happens because, like a broken dam, war has a mind of its own that cannot be reined at will.

An episode in the Mahabharata tells us a thing or two about wars. All the war ethics were closely followed until about day 12 of the Kurukshetra War. With the battle heating up, casualties piling, and almost reaching a standstill, the Kaurava side decided to play dirty. Maybe the Pandavas, too. Krishna and Arjuna (of the Pandava clan) were steered away to fight with another faction. At the same time, Arjuna's son, 16-year-old Abhimanyu, was lured into a complex military calyx devised by master strategist Drona. As skilled as Abhimanyu was, he had learned about the military formation. He knew how to get in, but he was not taught how to escape from it. When Abhimanyu was caught in the maze, he was trapped and was unceremoniously killed from the back. On learning of Abhimanyu's death, Arjuna took revenge the following day.

Legend had it that Jayadratha, who masterminded Abhimanyu's assault, had a special boon. His father, Vriddhakshtra, had learnt about Jayadratha's fall at war by beheading from his birth charts, had done severe penance and subsequently received a boon from Brahma. Whoever drops the son's head on Earth would have his head explode into a thousand pieces. With his unparalleled expertise with his bow and arrow, Arjuna shot Jayadratha's head to land right on the mediating Vriddhakshatra's lap. A shocked father instinctively moved his thigh, causing Jayadratha's head to fall on the floor. Vriddhakshtra's head broke into a thousand pieces as he wished/cursed. Be careful what you wish for; it is one lesson learned from this fiasco. 
Another lesson from this turn of events happened long before this episode when the Pandavas were exiled for losing a game of dice. Jayadratha had acted ungentlemanly with Arjuna's wife, Draupadi. Instead of severely punishing him for his misdeeds, Arjuna and his brothers let him off with a slap on the wrist. If not nipped in the bud, a minor wrongdoing would morph into quite a monster difficult to curtail. Hence, lesson number two is to nip evil in the bud. Do not let it branch out and grow deep roots. 

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Only when you need!

Indian 2(Tamil, 2024) Director: S. Shankar

Even though his movie did not live up to its predecessor, which came out in 1996, there are a few instances in the film that make the Indian diaspora pause and reevaluate their behaviours.

Forget what is happening in India. It would be irrelevant for a person residing in India to assess and enumerate the changes in India since the original Indian movie came out 28 years ago. Let a Malaysian of the Indian diaspora look at what has changed since.

The theme of Indian 1 was to highlight how the system was broken because of rampant corruption and the lack of willpower of civil servants and public figures to change the status quo. It took a pre-independence freedom fighter to re-don his combat gear to highlight the rot to the public consciousness. In his own psychotic ways, Indian Tata (grandpa) brought the people in charge to task, even killing his own son approving the permit of an unroadworthy school bus, which killed many school kids.

That is when the sequel fits in. Corruption never really went anywhere. The police, who were supposed to be the last bastion to uphold law and order, are blatantly on the take and kowtowing shamelessly to thugs and politicians. Court cases are progressing nowhere. Dishonesty and untruths rule the day. The general public is getting hot under their collars. A group of vloggers who fight for social justice reminisce about the time when Indian Tata was around to save the day. As he was never caught, the public suspects he is still alive but had gone underground. They pleaded for Indian Tata to return via social media, of course.

It seems that Indian Tata is all well and hearty in Taiwan, living incognito and minding his own business. He is cajoled to return to India.

After returning to what he does best with ancient Indian martial arts, Varma Kalai, he soon realises that the table has turned. When an apparently wrong person is arrested, Indian Tata becomes India's most hated person. People start chanting, "Go back, Indian! "
The film hits you at two levels. You soon realise that the world and all its affairs are too intertwined. No one saviour can come and save the day. A slash-hammer approach to right the wrong is too simplistic. It is naive to think people do not want to be good and do the correct thing. They simply cannot. Like a Jenga structure, the whole system is maintained in position by complicated ad-hoc, haphazardly placed Jenga sticks. It stays intact as long as the sticks are well placed. Forget about getting it in symmetry or making it aesthetically pleasing. It is what it is.

The phrase 'go back to India' or its Malay translation 'oi, balik India!' has a familiar ring to those who grew up in Malaysia. Quite often in our childhood, we have hurled abuses like these from mobs or groups of young Malay boys all riled up in the spirit of, say, football or hockey games. Even though no one who is non-Indian would tell it on the face of a fellow Malaysian Indian, offensives like these are tolerated.

It is also a lesson that I learned in life that people will hold you in high esteem only if it suits them and would not have a second thought to drop you like a hot potato when your services are not needed anymore. So do not gloat in the praises of others. The same mouth that uttered niceties, in no time, will be cussing you, maybe spitting at you too!

[P.S. An episode in the Mahabharata comes to mind. While travelling from Dwarka to Indrapura, Krishna and Arjuna overheard a fellow traveller singing praises of Karna, Arjuna's arch-enemy. The traveller was talking about Karna's philanthropy. An incensed Arjuna told Krishna that his statement was unfair. After all, Karna's wealth was not his as he had inherited them. He did not earn them. People should be praised for what they have earned or worked hard for. Arjuna had worked to be the great warrior he was. People should be praising Arjuna, not Karna.  In his great wisdom, Krishna put Arjuna to the test. Arjuna was shown a mountain of gold to be distributed to the needy. He was given a whole day to complete the task. Getting meticulous in the task, Arjuna tried to divide the gold according to people's needs. He gave halfway as none of the recipients were happy. Those who got less, whom Arjuna thought deserved less, wanted more. Those who got more wanted even more.  Soon, Krishna assigned the same job to Karna. Karna completed the task in a jiffy, and everyone was happy. What Karna did was to get someone who was already in the charity business to finance him to continue doing his good job with Karna's assistance. The moral of the story is that there are people assigned to do certain jobs. Let them handle it. Do not think you have to solve everybody's problem. Not everyone is cut for the job. You will end up unhappy, and so will others.]

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

I need informed consent!

Golam (Sphere, Malayalam, 2024) Director: Shamjad.
This is an exciting whodunnit that fans of Agatha Christie would love. The only thing is that the story is not told in an investigative manner. True, it starts off as a perplexing case where a high-flying entrepreneur is found dead in the office washroom. When the inspector tries to write it up as an unfortunate accidental death, the young investigating just-out police-college ASP, Sandeep Krishna, is cocksure that he smells homicide.  
The ASP finds it difficult to understand how the victim could slip and fall to get a fatal head injury on a dry floor. Forensics do not discover any toxins or foul play. 
The initial interview with the office staff, CCTV, and good old police work failed to go anywhere. The only thing unusual is a box of tranquilisers in one of the staff's handbags. She claims she has insomnia.
An interview with the doctor who prescribed the tranquillisers shows that all the workers in the office suffer from some kind of ailment one way or another - miscarriage, alopecia, deteriorating eyesight, memory loss and others. After looking at their cases, the doctor proposed they could be guinea pigs for the Pharma company they work for. In collaboration with their US partner, the Pharma company developed a virus. At the same time, they were creating an antidote. The good doctor suspects that the workers were fed with vaccine-laced drinks. Skin sampling is done to gauge their response to the vaccine when they fingerprint themselves and report to work. The fingerprint has an adequate DNA sample for the scientists to analyse their response to teh virus, codenamed Red Virus.
The ASP came up with a complicated plan how all the ~14 workers could have devised a devious plan to kill off their boss for vengeance, dodging the CCTV camera, locking the boss in the washroom, fuming the washroom with CO₂ gas, drowning his COPD-diseased lung, falling and succumbing to hypoxia. A clever plot! 
What happens next is the clincher. The protractor is apprehended, but instead, the ASP goes on a witch hunt against the Pharmaceutical company. He goes solo, in commando gear, to infiltrate their high-security plant in the interior to expose the company's shenanigans. The filmmakers decide to end the movie, paving the way for a sequel.
The building where yellow fever experiments were conducted to prove that it is not transmitted  using   infected clothing (fomites). Camp Lazear. The story of avoiding infections is the story of mankind. As in HG Wells 'The War of the Worlds', the only thing that protects the human species from total annihilation is their protection against common pathogens, not modern weapons. In the process of developing this immunity, many have to sacrifice. The story of Yellow Fever in the 1900s comes to mind.
Yellow Fever was a pressing problem in southern tropical areas of the USA. Although it was common in Cuba, periodically, epidemics broke out in the US. It was thought it was brought by bad air, poor sanitation or infected bodily fluids. It is said that a Confederate Officer tried to assassinate Lincoln by sending him old, dirty garments of patients who died of Yellow Fever, hoping that he would die of Yellow Fever. He obviously did not.
Dr Carlos Finlay of Cuba toyed with the idea that Yellow Fever was spread by mosquitoes, but he was laughed at. In 1900, Dr Walter Reed of the US Army introduced the idea of controlled studies. By using human volunteers who were willing to endure being bitten by mosquitoes for science, he proved that Yellow Fever was transmitted by certain mosquitoes. An army personnel, Jesse Lazear, died from Yellow Fever after contracting the hemorrhagic form of the disease. 
Now, would anybody make such a sacrifice in this age and time? Is it even legal? The Pharma is more than willing to conduct these experiments for us, all in the name of saving mankind. The reason, however, which is not even printed in the fine print, is that of monetary gains. Sure, they would pay off their guinea pigs handsomely. This is, however, just a drop in the ocean for these conglomerates. It would hardly jolt them.

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Reality TV in Hindi?

AK vs AK
Director: Vikramaditya Motwane
At first look, it looked promising. The idea was revolutionary. The layout gave the feel of reality TV, an idea that probably arose from the makers of ‘The Blair Witch Project’. This is where the camera person is not stationary but will be running with the actors, how a paparazzi would chase its prey.

The characters used their original names, and it looked like the audience would have a peek into their private lives, which they did, to a certain extent.

Trouble brews when Anil Kapoor shares the stage with Anurag Kashyap during an interview. In the course of their conversation, Anil (an actor) and Anurag (a director, mostly)  argue about whose role is crucial in the success of a movie. As they defend their respective stands, things start becoming personal. Anurag accuses Anil of being an ageing actor on his decline, while in retaliation, Anil downplays Anurag’s directorial skills and success in the film industry. It leads to a bust-up, much to the excitement of the media and the general public.

The public takes Anil Kapoor’s side. Anurag is treated like a pariah and struck off the inner circle. He is refused new projects, and the old ones are canceled. Anurag devises an elaborate plan to get himself in the limelight and rejuvenate what he perceives as Anil’s flaying career.


Anurag writes a script where Anil’s daughter is kidnapped. Whilst an irritated Anil tries to shed off the irritating Anurag, he soon realises that the whole set-up is not merely from a script but something more sinister. Anil had to rescue his daughter before sunrise, or she will die. The police cannot get involved, and he cannot get help from friends and relatives. All phone conversations must be on speaker. To top it all up, it is Christmas Eve and Anil’s birthday. He had to put up a straight face with his family. Throughout the debacle, Anurag and a camera woman were to follow Anil and tape his every move.

The movie progresses well with its meta approach to filmmaking. Although dealing with a serious subject matter, there is dark comedy all around. To keep it real, the film goes on to show performers having to kowtow to the tunes of their fans, sometimes dancing monkey acts just to keep them happy despite the inner dilemmas they were embroiled in, but it soon becomes draggy. As in most Bollywood offerings, the filmmakers also become guilty of overdramatisation. The movie ends in an unceremonious dull thud.

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

A biopic or fiction?

IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack (Hindi, miniseries. Ep1-6) Director: Abhinav Sinha

It was the last Christmas season of the 20th century. The airports had not started instructing passengers to remove belts and shoes before check-in as the Twin Towers had not gone down yet. A simple wave of hand would suffice to get one across to the boarding area. That was the situation in Kathmandu airport on Christmas Eve 1999 when Indian Airlines flight IC841 left for Delhi at around 4pm. 

40 minutes into the flight, as they were entering Indian airspace, a masked passenger entered the cockpit (yes, it was not a security zone then) when a steward entered to serve drinks, put a knife on the steward and announced that the plane was hijacked. Indian air traffic control was informed. The information, however, did not descend through the chain of command appropriately. Bureaucracy and apathy were to be blamed. After all, India had just fought a war in Kargil a few months previously, and security was supposed to be on high alert. Many high-ranking officers supposed to be on the heels of things only heard about it from the media. 

The hijackers wanted the plane to be diverted to Lahore, but landing rights were outrightly refused by the Pakistanis. Even the Indian High CommissioCommissioner'sproved futile. With critical fuel levels, IC841 had to land in Amritsar to refuel. The plan was to keep the plane on Indian soil while negotiators cut a deal with the hijackers and maybe incapacitate the machine. Sensing something was amiss, the hijackers scooted off before refuelling, and the Indian officials were left staring at an empty tarmac. 

In the meantime, pandemonium was the order of the day on board. Passengers were cowed into submission. Two passengers were stabbed, one fatally. The flight captain pleaded with Lahore to land with hardly any fuel on the Airbus. It was again denied. The lights on the runway were switched off. Only when the pilot was about to land on the national highway did the airport allow landing. Again, Indian representatives failed to arrive on time to negotiate. After fueling, the plane left Lahore. 

Now, the hijackers wanted to go to Kandahar in Afghanistan. As we remember, Afghanistan in 1999 was a pariah state. Ruled by a ruthless Taliban administration, many countries, including India, did not recognise its Government. Kandahar Airport could accept any night landing as it did not have the necessary facilities. So, the hijackers' request was denied. IC814 was hovering around the Arabian Sea, hoping any Gulf states could take them in. They stopped in a Dubai airbase. They refuelled in exchange for 27 hostages, including the 2 stabbed passengers, one dead and left for Afghanistan. 

The plane finally landed in Kandahar on Christmas morning. The next seven days saw intense negotiations. The process proved complex as India did not recognise the Taliban government. Hence, it could not send its representatives there, so it depended on the Indian High Commission in Islamabad and the United Nations. Mediation was complicated with the Taliban as they were not in total control. Osama Bin Laden and ISIS ruled over a large of the country as well. They had a say in the running of Afghanistan.

The dilemma faced by the Indian Government and its bodies was to balance between giving too much to the terrorists and bringing home the passengers unscathed. 

For the safe return of passengers, three dangerous terrorists in the Indian jails had to be released. The five hijackers were never captured. The released terrorists (Masood Azhar, Omar Sheikh and Mushtaq Zargar) were later found to be monumental in many terror activities in India and the world over **. The eternal question is whether releasing these close to 200 passengers in exchange for freeing the three infamous crooks was worthwhile. The crooks ended up killing so many more innocent people, causing so much destruction, and being the seed for all the chaos we face in the world today. In 1999, with so much pressure from the media and public, making a deal with the hijackers seemed the most logical thing to do.

Since this web series was released, Netflix has been on the receiving end. Even the Netflix Head of India was called by the authorities to answer specific queries. The general Indian public has been up in arms over two issues. Firstly, intelligence work into the whole incident suggested that the entire hostage event was masterminded by the ISI of Pakistan. ISI fingerprint was all over in the planning and execution of the act. Nowhere in the series did ISI or Pakistan were depicted as the bad guys.

Secondly, it is common knowledge that religion played an essential basis in the hijacking. The hijackers were all Muslims, and the demand was to release Islamic extremists. In the eyes of the viewers, the filmmakers downplayed this fact. The hijackers' religion was shadowed by using their codenames throughout. Surprisingly, Bhola and Shankar overtly refer to Lord Shiva, the Lord of destruction, while other codenames, Doc, Chief and Burger, were secular. Are they trying to tell the unassuming, ignorant audience that the hijackers were part of the Hindu terrorism that the opposition to BJP's rule is trying to promote? Later, Netflix published a disclaimer listing the hijackers' full names in their credits. But then this notice was only put for the Indian audience. The rest of the world can go on thinking that the whole thing was part of the Hindu terror that the leftists are propagating. When their co-conspirators were changed later, the court documents mentioned the hijackers' code names as one of their many aliases.

Also, the series tries to humanise the terrorists. Imagine the hijacker lending a worried flight attendant his phone so she could call and check on her ailing father in Delhi. In another scene, there is a hint of a romantic vibe between a stewardess and one of the hijackers. After witnessing two of the passengers stabbed in front of their eyes, it is illogical to see, in one scene, the passengers and hijackers clapping and singing together in a game of antakshari. (It's too early for Stockholm Syndrome to settle in, right?)

The producers claim the whole offering is based on actual events and have no qualms about using footage from yesteryears. Yet they thought it was essential to change the name of the airline crew and the government officials. ISI comes out squeaky clean from this whole fiasco. They bask in depicting a grossly incompetent bunch of bumbling Indian bureaucrats awkwardly trying to defuse a volatile situation. Anyway, the experience of handling such situations was lacking in that era. The director failed to show urgency in their efforts. Some are even comical.

Furthermore, the event was in a hostile foreign land unrecognised by the Government of the day. Is it a coincidence that the ruling coalition then is the same one ruling today? What are they saying, that the present government is also weak?

**  2001 Indian Parliament attack, 2002 kidnapping and murder of Daniel Pearl, 2008 Mumbai attacks, 2016 Pathankot attack, 2019 Pulwama attack, Azhad later founded Jaish-e-Muhammed (JeM) in 2000, which gained notoriety for the death of hundreds of people and armed forces personnel. Sheikh was arrested in 2002 in Pakistan for the abduction and murder of Daniel Pearl and played a role in planning the September 2001 attacks in the U.S. Zargar has played an active role in training Islamic militants in Pakistan-administered Jammu & Kashmir.

P.S. The story's production value needed to be more compelling. The urgency felt by the hostages' fear and apprehension was not transferred adequately to the screen. The desperation of the whole event was not palpable.

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

How they converge and diverge?

Lady in the Lake (Miniseries)
Season 1, Episodes 1-7.

An intriguing miniseries set at a time when Black Americans had an understanding with Jewish Americans. Even though Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation to declare all slaves to be free, in reality, the Blacks still received the short of the stick. In so many instances, they were discriminated against. The law was not in their favour either. The Blacks had to prosper by themselves despite the restrictions. Some beat the systems and joined the mainstream, while others prospered through an alternative economic system. The evidence of their successes includes the Harlem Cultural Renaissance in the 1920s and the numerous legislative gains through the efforts of the NAACP (North America Association of Colored People).
Many of the African-American associations worked in tandem with many Jewish bodies. The Jews also felt the discriminatory vibes of the predominantly Anglo-Saxon majority of America. The earlier interactions between Jews and Blacks were not cordial. Many Jews became land owners and were ruthless businessmen who earned the wrath of the poor Blacks. Things changed later. 
During the Civil Rights Movement, many of the laws of the day, including the Jim Crow laws, were challenged by the movement with Jewish lawyers. Jewish leaders participated in numerous marches organised by Rev King and others. The 1955 to 1966 era is sometimes called the Golden Age of Black-Jewish relationships.
After 1966, the cooperation turned cold as the Jewish community moved higher in the economic class whilst the majority remained poor. Another possible explanation for this rift is the popularity of Islamic-based groups like the Nation of Islam, Malcolm X and the Panthers. The 1967 Six-Day War in the Middle East made many Black leaders and personalities, including Malcolm X and Muhammad Ali, express solidarity behind the Palestinians and condemn Israel and the Zionists.

Set in the 1960s USA, this miniseries is mainly the story of two ladies trying to prove to themselves that they make something out of their lives. A 40-year-old Jewish lady who had to give up her writing ambition to get married and raise a child in a conservative, suffocating Jewish household gets an epiphany of sorts to break free from all this bondage. This happened after the much-published murder of an 11-year-old Jewish girl. She itches to investigate the case on her own accord. Through the episodes, we see the challenges she has to face to break from the mould of what is expected of a mother and a lady of the era.
In another parallel story, a young, ambitious black lady of about 30 tries to break from the clutches of poverty and the mob to make something out of her singing and provide a promising future for her kids. She needs to extricate herself from the crime-inducing society and the lure of the gangsters and their promise of a good future.

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What do people want, really, really want?

Dhal Lake, Srinagar. A few weeks before my planned cycling trip from Srinagar to Leh, Ladakh, unrest occurred in Jammu. Stone pelters went into action but were swiftly put under control by police. That did not stop any of my naysayer friends from forewarning me of the worst.

Others quickly blurt that one needed about a week to acclimate to high-altitude sports. We had a one-and-a-half-day acclimatisation before climbing the hills for about a week. On top of that, we had acetazolamide to help in that aspect.

The plan was to cycle from Srinagar to Leh (Khardunga, optional), covering about

500km and an elevation of over 7,200m in about 8 days. So it was Srinagar to Sonamarg, Sonamarg to Drass, Drass to Kargil, Kargil to Budkharbu, Budkharbu to Nurla, Narlu to Leh.

Contrary to what I had heard, I did not feel hostility. The only semblance of possible unrest is the military presence throughout the journey. People were seen doing their daily chores. Construction was everywhere, a sign that the political climate was conducive. Lorries were seen transporting local produce. National highways have been tarred recently and are in different stages of work in progress. Vans and SUVs were aplenty, with tourists thronging this region, another proof that everything was in order.

Lovely in Ladakh Guest homes, lodges and motels are filled with foreign and local visitors.

So, I asked myself, what does an average Joe want in his life? He wants so many things in his life; the more, the merrier. The bottom line for all these to happen is peace. He should be confident to work hard, knowing well that he can reap the

benefits of his hard work for himself and future generations. He must have peace of mind and know that tomorrow will not bring unexpected maladies. He has to be confident that there will still be a roof over him when he gets up tomorrow. He would

want his offspring better than what he is, which must be a notch better than his forefathers.

He does not care who is his leader. He is interested in something other than whether his race is superior to that of his neighbours. In his mind, everything starts from nothing and goes to nothingness. For him, religion is a mere guide to pave his life. He does not need to prove to others that his religion is the true one. For each, his is the way. Just need to live and let live.

So, all this desperate madness to race and religious supremacies mean nothing to the man on the street.

What he really wants is peace and to provide for his loved ones

Sunset at Lake Dhal
Over Zojila Pass, Srinagar to Sonamarg.

Sonamarg, Kashmir. Elevation Profile
Fotula Pass

Leh, Ladakh. Evening market

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

What Do People want?

 

From Berita MMA, September 2024.

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On Assimilation and Integration

I am not ashamed to say this. As I was growing up, I used to ask myself why I was born an Indian. In Malaysia, the stereotypical casting of an Indian was that of a poor, unkempt, poorly educated, loud, smelly, hot-tempered and drunk. They are assumed to be dark-skinned and occupy low-ranking menial jobs. They were often the butt of jokes in social circles and even on the national TV.

Our perspective and values are formed by the association we keep with, so thought Amma. Coming from a Tamil school background but cutting short her studies after primary school for being born into the wrong gender, she had a very negative opinion of vernacular education. In her mind, the way forward is mastering the lingua franca of the most expansive Empire of her time, English.

My sisters and I could only speak English when we stepped outside our flat. We were not to show others that we knew Tamil, as that would, in her own words, draw unsavoury characters. These people would skew our minds away from our one purpose in life: to secure excellent academic results. She did not want us to know about the latest Tamil movie star antics or the latest fashion in India. By mixing with non-Indian peers, she thought positive values on education and self-improvement could be inculcated.

On the other hand, within the confines of our home, as if having a split personality, she would insist that we converse in Tamil, practise Indic practices, and be well-versed in Hindu culture. She was quick to condemn others of other ethnicities and races as being lost. In her mind, our ancestors had it all right, and we should follow without asking too many questions.
As curious minds, my sisters and I would not consider all her nonsensical practices gospel truths. Once, we were told that it was a time of lunar eclipse. Amma told us to finish dinner and go to sleep early. We should not be outdoors or engage in strenuous activities. Questioned why, she told us that the Goddess who had been holding the planet for so long had become tired. She wanted to take a breather, hence the temporary darkness. So, we should refrain from mocking the Goddess by doing work when she is exhausted.

Rubbish, I told her, as my teacher had taught me the day before about planetary positioning and eclipses. It was one of her relaxed days. She did not get upset but told me and my sister that we were all too smart for our pants. Our ancestors were not stupid.

Of course, we grew up imbibing the best of both worlds—learning the sciences and trying to scientifically explain the seemingly unscientific ancient Hindu traditions.

EV Ramasamy, at a time when his social reform lectures pushed the South Indians to earn self-respect, made a working trip to Malaya. In his address to the migrant Indian workers, he told them to leave all their traditional beliefs behind and learn from the locals and progress. He said, after all, their motherland had failed them. She could not sustain them and pushed them away to new shores. Rather than be sentimental about the whole thing, he advised them to emulate the other ethnicities from Malaya in earning self-respect, women empowerment and wealth.

It even makes sense in the 21st century, specifically in 2024.  
The world has not changed much since the last time terrifying sirens were heard over Europe, followed by bombarding warplanes. It is still not a peaceful place. Economic migrants are still floating as they have been throughout the years. Wars, famine, and persecution push people from their borders. After settling down amidst many difficulties in host countries as guests, one would expect them to be eternally grateful to their host nations. Heck, no, at least the current wave of immigrants.

Like Amma, who thought her newfound country and its inhabitants were a notch lower in the civilisational hierarchy, these 21st-century immigrants run down their host. Instead of appreciating their kindness for helping set home in a new place after creating a cesspool of their country of origin, they sing praises of their motherland and their own civilisation, creating unrest in their host countries. Essentially, they want to bite the hand that feeds them. Like vultures scraping every sinew and cartilage off the carcass, they want to leave their host nation a barren wasteland as they did theirs.

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A problem many would like to have...

While scavenging around for the next topic to ponder, I came across a conundrum a friend of a friend was going through. Not many would find it a big problem. Many would not mind inheriting that problem. Others would say, "What problem?"

After working all their lives engaging with various businesses to pull themselves out of the shackles of poverty, they can say they have arrived. No, thanks to the governmental racially discriminatory policies, and despite this, they had managed to give their three children an overseas education. Again, the children had opted to settle overseas because of the national social re-engineering policies. The roots are so deeply embedded elsewhere that they find it pointless to return to the roost. Their occasional summer vacation and digital connections would suffice for family bonding.
The couples are left to fend for the coop and the empty nest. To complement that, there are multiple landed properties, real estate assets, various incomes, and a stash of moolah to lubricate their silver years.
None of the children are keen to take over the legacy the parents will soon leave. In the minds of the foreign-educated liberty thinking, socialistic minds of the offspring, they do not want anything with their capitalistic parents' money, which they would be thinking was earned through the blood and sweat toiled by the bodies of the working class. And they want none the part of it.

So, the elders are left with a dilemma. How will they will off their legacy when none of their kids want to inherit it. In a world where siblings and relatives clobber and murder each other to get a piece of the meat, here they have to deal with no one wanting their hard-earned.

Many individuals with apparently noble intentions (?really) have no dearth of suggestions and avenues on how to dispose of their wealth to the world. There is no shortage of NGOs willing to put their money to good use, more than a hundred orphanages and homes that are always short of contributions, the house of worship with their bottomless pit of donation kits and private entities that could set up trusts to aid the needy. Yet, they decided to spend it all with close friends, fine dining, rewarding their palate and seeing all the things that they could see in this lifetime. Who knows what holds for them in the future when this life is through? An abyss? A new beginning with no recollection of what transpired here and now? Or…
I attended a friend's 80th birthday recently. It was a celebration of a man's life who had every right to show and motivate others through his slow journey of rags to riches. After a fulfilling life in the civil service, corporate world, and academia, he is engrossed in spirituality. He took it his life's mission to pay back to society. He finances needy students and also engrossed himself in social activities. His secret to success and happiness is his outlook on life. He shields off every hurdle that comes his way with a smile.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.