Religious fundamentalism : A course paper :P

Religious fundamentalism can be defined as a model for religion that involves going back, intellectually and morally, to the original text of the religion and returning to a time where modernist ideology had not yet eroded the practice of, and faith in, religion. Essentially this is a return to a fundamentals of the religion, and  a more stringent , inflexible origin.

To study Religious Fundamentalism we must understand the spirit in which it was created. We must further trace its development through modernity to understand how within its paradigm, religious fervor and devotion can reside alongside with extremist militancy.

To explain the birth of fundamentalism, I will be using an economic theory of religion proposed by Laurence Iannaccone and Eli Burman (Jul 2006). It strays from other economic theory, by studying carefully the interface between the religious content and the economic framework, to understand better, the relation between the two, and reach better conclusions.

All economic theories of the origin of religious fundamentalism start of by introducing the concept of a market for the supernatural and religious, with consumers and suppliers as natural as they are with gold, or tables and chairs. The idea, for mankind, has always been about improving quality of life, and they will always find themselves combating scarcity in the world, one way or the other. The supernatural/spiritual world, being able to operate beyond this world, while holding the power to alter the flow of events that we participate in, holds boundless possibilities of getting around the problem of the paucity of resources, be it time, money, or happiness. It is like a different form of technology that can be harnesses to achieve many good things, in this life and the next.

Giving the spiritual a chance, simply means performing some rite or ritual we would not do otherwise, that nevertheless has some religious significance and expected gain associated with it. Praying, wearing charms and observing some rituals are only some of these ubiquitous signs associated with a chance given to the supernatural. What is interesting is that it is not just religious fanatics and ardent worshippers who fall in this category, but also hopeful sceptics and careful agnostics, anyone, in short, who does not know ( and believe, for himself) that the supernatural world does not exist. An almost poetic declaration by Berman and Iannaccone at this point would be apt:

Rational individuals seek to understand and influence the supernatural to the extent that they are not convinced of its non-existence.

A not altogether surprising conclusion given the burden of evidence placed on the prosecution in our legal system. Innocent until proven guilty, is all that this positivist principle declares, and it is here that we see the roots of the religious market. Since the demands of consumers stretch as wide as their imagination, there are a multitude of products put on offer by the religious entrepreneurs whether they represent organised religion or stand-alone god men and prophets. The emergence of organised religion from a mostly random and individualistic enterprise, with very few constraints or entry barriers is easily explained using economic theory. With so many products, that too of so many different varieties, a wide range of applications and practically zero guarantee, people are bound to seek some legitimacy in the religious products they would choose to partake in. Organised, religion arises out of this need for guarantees and referrals. If many respected or trusted individuals ‘advertise’ a religion on a personal one-to-one basis, people will have more reason to believe them. If these people have little to gain (and perhaps, a lot to lose) from that referral , it makes the suggestion all the more credible.

With the creation of such religions, there come problems, or rather issues to be worked on for the successful running and propagation of a religion. Primary among these problems is that of gaining a natural credibility for the organisation’s methods, while eliminating free riders and increasing the devotion and faith of true members towards the organisation. This step is the point of departure for the religious fundamentalist sects in the world. One way of achieving the aforementioned goal is to impose certain restrictions on membership, for eg: restrictions on use of technology or modern medicine, recreational activities or modes of dress. Not only does this give the sect a natural credibility, because when one has given something up, one expects to see some results in the supernatural arena, especially from an organisation as respectable as the church/sect. Fundamentalism, seems a viable option here: A return to the fundamental principles of the religion, interpreted by the leader of the sect, stricter and more rigid, designed to pull people towards the sect: Communal religions provide recreational communal events to bring people together which, in the presence of restrictions on recreational activities, would serve the double purpose, of also bringing people closer to the sect. Also, involving children in the community earlier on, through culture and education, religious or otherwise, gives religion a good way of influencing children’s’ family and religious values early on, leading to what is called indoctrination, in extreme cases.

Communal religions also use other methods to increase the faith levels of true followers. They create a communal environment where people could feel safe, and where their social needs were met. Using their credibility to facilitate business deals and a high investment community to facilitate philanthropy and mutual insurance, they could build extremely successful systems of social services like health, education, poverty, land issues etc.

Some statistics bearing out the benefits of communal religions are, American adolescents raised in sectarian environments manifested less deviant behaviour including drinking, smoking and criminal activity. Couples from the same sect have substantially lower rates of divorce as compared to the situation when one spouse is from a different or lower commitment sect. All these statements are borne out by facts in the case of Judaism and Islam as well. Ultra-Orthodox Jewish communities have a far stronger bond with each other all over the world, than Jews from a more liberal community. As Fritsch (200) noted,” the near collapse of public education in Pakistan and Afghanistan, corresponded to a rise in the influence of the madarasas”. When the Soviets retreated and the USA withdrew most of its support in Afghanistan, militant Muslims stepped into the vaccum to provide free education, healthcare, room and board, while training the young boys, later to be called the Taliban. The Hezbollah in Lebanon is another Islamic sect that succeeded in setting up schools and clinics using foreign funds. Especially in the presence of ill functioning or corrupt governments, religious sects are well placed to take on a pseudo administrative role in countries, examples being Middle Eastern Muslim countries. Thus, religious sects can easily expand into the political arena, not only because their resources allow it, but also( and more importantly) because their ideology endorses it, as shall be evident later.

As we see, religious sects are formed to service people’s demands for supernatural goods, like happiness in the afterlife, shortcuts to material and mental wellbeing etc. To improve credibility, eliminate free riders, and create a highly dedicated and loyal community of followers, high investment sects build a rich communal culture, creating a more exclusive environment, with people actively discouraged from a life outside the sect, while their social needs are met within the religion. At this point, one may begin to observe, at least theoretically, a point of departure, for religion, as a paradigm and world view from the rationally defined sects that were just discussed. Changing from an alternative technology that may be used to combat scarcity and bring happiness, religion becomes, to the members who remain ( and that is a substantial number) in high investment sects, something totally different. It becomes a way of life. The high investment credence goods ( goods, whose utility cannot be completely verified by any amount of experience on this plane of the world) that they deal in, makes commitment to the cause a more or less permanent thing, actively rejecting all other paradigms and world views.

It is also important to analyse, the time in which religious fanaticism came to be, and the reasons for the same, for though it may be that its origin lay in rationality, the manifestation of the demand for supernatural goods at one point in history, as also the transformation of religious sects from the rational choice of informed buyers to the visceral need of faithful devotees, can only be the result of powerful movements in human history corresponding to the intrinsic needs in humans.

One of the great predictive failures of modern philosophy and sociology was the death of religion. Many great thinkers like Hume, Comte, Marx, Freud etc. predicted with great gusto, the inevitable demise of religion as a result of scientific progress and improving technology. In their opinion, as people got more and more acquainted with science, they would shed their religious superstitions and various religious cults would disintegrate to the benefit of science and rationality.

What happened, in fact was markedly different from this prediction. With the enlightenment, and the time that followed, modernity certainly managed to highlight it’s key ideas like science, rationality, individualism etc, but what this also did, was put religion as firmly opposed to this paradigm, with several key differences in the basic ideologies of the two, that make them, not just opposing sides, but rather, competing commodities, choosing between which requires an (at least implicit) understanding of one’s own paradigm or world view.

One good way of understanding Fundamentalism ( with special reference to Sunni fundamentalism, though the same discussions hold much truth in case of other religions too) is by positing it alongside the idea of enlightenment rationalism to clearly understand the differences between the two. The rational actor model, a product of modernist rationalism, is a model used to understand economic and political behaviour of humans, by assuming them to be rational and self-serving having entered into socio-political contract with each other for easier fulfilment of their goals in society. The basic assumptions of the rational actor model are:

· Actors pursue goals

· These goals are a result of their perceived personal gain

· Action is a result of conscious choice

· The individual is the basis of analysis

· Actors have stable and rational preference orderings

· Given a choice, actors choose the alternative with highest perceived utility

· Actors are reasonably well informed regarding the different options open to them, their various consequences and utility.

There is also a modification on this model that must be understood, the rational choice model, this changes the rational actor model by focusing on the process of decision making rather than the actual algorithm, if information about alternatives , preference orderings and utility are not very clearly defined, the same model may be used, to satisfice rather than maximise. This would imply seeking an alternative that leaves us with at least some minimum level of satisfaction, thus avoiding some pitfalls of the rational actor model, while retaining the spirit in which it was imagined. A second modification of this theory would be in the case of analgesic cultures, that is cultures which try , not to maximise pleasure, or achieve satisfaction, but rather, avoid pain, allowing that decisions be made at lower standards of rigor and information.

However the basic idea of the rational actor model is the dichotomy between rationality and irrationality (fostered in a very specific Western cultural tradition), and as they were represented as, science and religion; for as science developed, and rationality grew to being widely accepted, it was placed as being opposite to and different from the dark ages that preceded the enlightenment, characterised by religious fervour and control of religion over politics and most other aspects of human life.

Rationalism is said to be the ultimate tool for decision making, impartial and neutral. But who can verify this? Rationality, portrayed as an impartial tool useful for neutral decision making, in fact starts off by rejecting ‘irrationality’ ( defined by itself) as clearly inferior to rationality. Though it may seem believable prima facie, all this does is clearly draw the lines of difference between the two metanarratives, that of religion and modernist rationalism.

Roxanne Euben’s paper on the compatibility( actually the non-compatibility) of Sunni Fundamentalism and the Rational actor model isolates from sunni fundamentalism, some basic ideas and assumptions which form the core of its ideology. I will now, try to show, with the help of ideas from Euben’s work, the clashes between these ideas, and those of the rational actor model.

Divine sovereignty: The Islamic belief is that the supreme being, God or Allah, rules over all of existence, thus limiting human administration and political sensibility to the interpretation of God’s will through religious scriptures. The only way a community can be successful is by following Shariyah ( Islamic law) which is essentially communal, with the government’s powers greatly circumscribed upto execution of religious law, in all speheres of life: public, private, economic , moral and political,. This same constraint upon government action, gives the laws ( the interpretation of which are far from objectively divine) a natural and divine sanction, making control and indoctrination even more effective. In terms of economics, what this means is an economic system geared towards overall growth and prosperity of the community, reinforcing the communal aspects of the religion

The Unity of the Political and the Moral: Islam sees no divide between the public and the private, the political and the moral. The prophet, who received the Quranic teachings was also the founder of the first political community in Islamic history. In accordance with the principle of Divine sovereignty , the moral and political cannot be separated as they are but two interpretations of the same laws of God. Also, communities ( like religion) are judged as a whole, not by individual morality, and This provides a clear indication to religious sects that entering into the political arena is not only possible , but rather called for by their creed.

Modern corruption: This can be seen as the fundamentalist reply to sciences defamation and vilification of the dark ages of religion. Sectarian religion, especially Sunni Islam views the modernist belief in the supremacy of man and the sovereignty of the individual as a direct attack against the superiority of God, viewing these ideas as abominations, heresies. Thus, from the Sunni point of view, modern rationalism is as much of a thing to be countered, as science believes true of religion.

Necessity for action: The necessity of taking concrete steps to counter the modern rationalist paradigm in an effort to bring God’s kingdom on earth, is also a well-established principle of Sunni Fundamentalism, which is also shared by other fundamentalists all over the world. This too, is a very reasonable assumption, given that if one knows the secret that will benefit the user, one wishes for it to be bestowed on all of one’s friends. Religion can treat non followers as threats, or misguided assets, this particular dichotomy giving rise to exclusive versus inclusive religions.

Thus we see, that Fundamentalist beliefs differ from the Rational actor theories(including rational choice theory, and the modification to the same for analgesic frustrated action)when it comes to ideas of morality, polity and human nature. The assumption of actors making rational self-serving decisions to achieve goals in the presence of a substantial body of concrete information to maximise utility, minimise pain, or achieve a certain minimum level of satisfaction, is not only immoral according to Sunni fundamentalism as it elevates the individual human to a very ‘Godlike’ level of judgement, but also incorrect factually, as whole communities of people prove, time after time, that they believe in God, in a fundamentalist and hegemonic religion, governed by the word of God.

Thus, we see, Religion, and specifically religious fundamentalism which has grown to be a powerful metanarrative to explain our world, one in which many people fervently believe, is in direct contradictions with the ideas of modern rationality like : the supremacy of the individual rational human for whom self-interest and maximising utility provide all sanction . Why is it then, that it could pull so many people, away from the rational , impartial call of science to its opposite, and keep them there, for so long. Ironically, the answer lies in the partisan, subjective, and altogether more warm, more communal environment that religion fosters. While science tries to rationalise, deconstruct and impartially judge events and decisions, religion runs to the other end of the spectrum, using anecdotes and stories of a very personal God, to create different narratives that are more long lasting, stimulating and take deep root in the minds of men. Like Jean Francois Lyotard remarked in ‘The postmodern condition: A report on knowledge’, maybe conventional wisdom like fables and stories form a strong believable body of narratives because they are personal and subjective, they can be easily seen at work in everyday life, and being easy to understand, become more amenable to people than the dry science that they studied in laboratories.

As religious fundamentalist sects took up arms to combat the ‘enemies’ of their creed, using their tightly knit community of dedicated followers, and their credibility and moral standing to gain more support, the questions that were to be answered changed, from those about the origin and progress of these organisations, to their morality, and means of stopping them, or at the very least , reaching a compromise to promote peace. Iannaccone and Berman suggest that Adam smith was right when he said that a vibrant community housing multiple sects among several other metanarratives, would serve humanity better by creating a vibrant colourful atmosphere in human society. The key, in their opinion is fostering a secular neutral climate, where several hundred religious communities and sects would compete, they postulated, in moderation (as borne out by the religious climate of Christianity in the USA, as a result of it’s secular non interventionist policy) and religious tolerance would be fostered, if only as a necessity

It is true that there are well organised religious sects that have taken up arms, eg: Al Qaida, Hamas , IRA etc. which cannot just be written off as misguided, or combated through religious freedom and diversification but what I believe is that this is not merely a function of the religion in question, but also equally importantly, of the situation they find themselves in, and the interactions between the two, hence fighting fire with fire, would merely lead to a vicious cycle of poor civic amenities, religious pseudo government and further, fundamentalism.

Whatever the case, religious fundamentalism will always form a part of the body of moral and political study, as long as there are people who are not convinced of the nonexistence of the supernatural and put their faith in an untested , unverified, but also ‘truthful, until proven otherwise’ theory of religion. Who knows, they may be right.

PS : It's a bit long, but interesting, I think.

PPS: Have added my references below in case anyone is enthu to read the original papers

PPS: References:1)When Worldviews Collide: Conflicting Assumptions about Human Behavior Held by Rational Actor Theory and Islamic Fundamentalism

Author(s): Roxanne Euben

2) Religious Extremism: The Good, the Bad, and the Deadly

Author(s): Laurence R. Iannaccone and Eli Berman

War en Pieces

For centuries, people have tried to figure out how to live their life, tried to make sense of the whole human experience, if only to make their lifes more coherent, more livable. A reason to life, a purpose to it all, is something all of us seek so frantically, grasping at straws and clinging on to whatever shreds of direction and focus we find in the world around us. Whether it is an ideal objective or the existentialist charge to take control of one's life, be it a path or a destination, we all want to know that we are going somewhere, with some purpose, with some confidence. Today, the world around us has matured ( and degraded, some would argue) to the extent that there are several layers of structure around us, implicit and explicit, thus making this search for meaning even more tedious. One not only has to trawl through the plethora of choices the world offered us, but also link them to all the options that society affords us, and unravel the ensuing web of causation, to reach a point, where actual decisions can be made. The most commonly accepted parameter used to define success in life, happiness, often simplifies things for people. No matter what the implications and underlying direction of one's path, if it brings one a reasonable amount of happiness, it is good enough. However, it is my belief that most, if not all people feel this simplistic definition inadequate, Occham's razor, is something that most humans can never come to terms with. A simple answer, just seems redundant....why the question then, why the urge to dig, deeper and deeper...Of course, there is a simple argument for the simplest answer in this case. If reason and meaning in life is so fundamentally human, why then, all humans should be able to see the answer and act towards it, to be human in the first place. On the other hand, if, as some may believe, it is our ultimate purpose, as a population to find the answer to The Question, we have an equally strong argument against the simplicity of that answer, 'It is fundamentally human to search for meaning, because our ultimate purpose is to obtain the answer', our programmed objective, so to speak. Whether we are being zestfully scientific or cattily curious, the search for meaning is a very real phenomenon in the lives of all such individuals.

Then again, we must not ignore that section of the populace that primarily strive to further existence( or think they do, for how much is enough ? What life is a merely subsistent one ?), a more basic and visceral drive than that for purpose. This '99 %' , as is argued, have even more reason to strive, subconsciously, for meaning in life than the others. Of course, which section of the population you are grouped under is also a matter of personal choice, as is the pursuit of money and creature comforts. You may choose a 'purposeful' life ( purposeful in your own paradigm, of course) over one that is considered happy and succesful within the framework of today's society. And all of us do try to find meaning, through our own ethics, our small habits and quirks , our roster of duties , desirables and undesirables, our benchmark for life, fragmented and incoherent though it may be. We all do things using our schemas and mental framework, which is influenced by reason and emotion, advice and prejudice, social pressure and angst, opposing forces that mould our beliefs and ideas in ways we cannot imagine, infusing them with logic and authority. And inevitably, we have conflict. Whether it be at the large scale of religious and economic ideologies clashing on the streets and in the stock exchanges, the middling vegetarian debate, or the more mundane altercations over duty and responsibility that take place every day, everywhere in the world, clashes of perspective and differences of opinion shape our society in a very fundamental way.

Small scale arguments are further compounded by anthropocentric ideas like nationalism and religion , Ideas with the power to pull large chunks of humanity to their banner, making debates into wars for survival, for the very essence of our life and ( so we believe) of us. Even the most rational of us, swept up in the majority and the structure are pushed, by the pure ubiquitiousness of these ideas to join their fold, caught up in a life so complex and rich, that there is scarcely time left over for any independent critical thought.
Whether right or wrong, these processes make conflict resolution all the more difficult, in the same way that they compound the pursuit of purpose. In essence, the only thing to be done is ask 'Why ?' again and again, till stripped of all our divine moral authority, we become children again, rational children, neither right nor wrong, but possessed of reasons and goals, negotiating, not warring. On a global scale, such analyses leave us with reasons and paradigms that form a sizable, but managable set which can be worked with, at some levels at least, and if the inclination persists to examine them further and break them down to , possibly an even smaller set of belief structures. What is required of us, is to stop, smell the roses, and then ask it why it has thorns....


PS: It really works, you should try it .. :D

PPS: I am personally interested in working on a similar project. If people are willing to discuss, or even introspect with a view to isolating their paradigmatic affiliations, whether in a comment here, or a mail to me ( at fox011235@gmail.com) I would be very much obliged and would be glad to provide such people with a tabulated form of all the feedback I receive , anonymous or otherwise, according to the author's decision.

Something serious : Caste..

The Varna ashrama dharma system delineated in the Manu smriti cannot be be read separately from the other ideas therein. It is only one part of a paradigm, one tenet / postulate of the larger hindu Meta narrative. The monist Hindu outlook believes the purpose of every person on the earth is, over several lifetimes ascend back to the single entity to which they originally belonged, by attaining freedom from the cycle of rebirths. Ascension in the human plane, can be achieved by following the principles of Varna Ashrma Dharma, not dissimilar to the Christian principle of following certain principles in order to gain entry into heaven after this life.

Looking at the tenets of Caste from this perspective, paints a picture quite different from the oppressive hegemony we are used to reading about. The caste system, specifically the twice born castes: Brahmans, Kshatriyas and Vaishyas can be understood to be arranged hierarchically, not on the basis of some arbitrary notion of Purity and Pollution, but rather purity and pollution as defined by contact with and ties to the material world, which would undoubtedly hamper one’s ability to free oneself from this world. The Vaishyas: merchants ,traders and agriculturists, involved in commerce; the Kshatriyas:, soldiers and administrators, and the brahmans, priests and teachers, who are not to ordinarily concern themselves with the mechanical functioning of human society, portray, in descending order, one’s involvement with this earthly society and it’s goals, and subsequently a difficulty in transcending this world to see the purpose transcending each life span. Endogamy and non contact with the ‘lower’ castes can be viewed as rational, as it prohibits the upper castes from exchanging cultural knowledge and knowledge of the day to day workings of society, as this could be seen as polluting their broader view, with a narrower one, confined to this planet and this life span.

This system, is inherently communitarian, and the harmony and interdependence that it bases it’s orderly functioning upon is quite likely to break down if it were the case that not everyone in that society believed in this paradigm. The prevalent ‘modern’ paradigm, confines all thought and rationalisation to one life span of 70- 80 years, something quite different from, and alien to the Hindu religious paradigm. Shifting individual elements such as caste, from this paradigm, to modern day society, without adherence to, and belief in the inherent meta narrative, would be flawed to say the least.

The paradigm shift, from the hindu meta narrative to the one prevalent today, may be explained by the fact, that the hindu meta narrative requires its practitioners to delay gratification, much like the Christian religious paradigm, but on a much larger scale, which from the marshmallow test, it can be postulated, is not inherent within human nature.

Pseudo Psychology for the romantically insane

Regular followers of my blog ( Yes, I went there :P) will know that my two 'favourite topics in the whole world' are 'Love and relationships' and, 'Society is so screwed up'. Either topic can get me excited and aroused, but when they come together, well, it's like ......... a threesome. Whenever I get to talk about these issues in tandem, I feel like Archie on a date with Betty AND Veronica. It's awesome...Super mega awesome really. . .

In general, People have different ideas about the mechanisms that love is/uses, and subsequently accord different levels of importance to relationships that involve some idea of love.From the most practical, to the cynical, to the most romantic; there is a veritable army of paradigms that populate the earth. But despite this, and also because of it, People cannot help but screw up, or at least imagine that they did so, while in the pursuit of a romantic relationship. The amount of second guessing, double bluffing, and 'hard to getting' that is involved in any form of courtship is enough to drive the sanest of people crazy. And it doesn't matter one bit, whether you're thinking rationally, or just going with the flow; either way you're screwed: racked with doubt and indecision, either because of the multiplicity of possibilities, or just a sheer hormonal flood that takes over your body and mind, forcing you to live in a world of Moonshine and Stardust; or Towering cliffs, Darkness and teen popstar songs , making you bipolar and psychotic.It sucks. And society is to blame. (:D)

Courting or wooing a girl is fraught with endless lists of dos and don'ts. What to say, what not to say, when to say it and so many more . Add to this a backpack stuffed with homemade wisdom, earnestly doled out by friends and well wishers, and you can easily imagine some poor Romeo going schizophrenic, sitting in a corner mumbling to himself. The same course of action, can be interpreted ( and thus by extension interpreted as being interpreted as (basicaly second guessing)) being so many different things. Being perseverant could be seen as romantic by some and stupid as others. You could be inching closer towards a final 'Yes', or you could just be on the hook, either voluntarily orchestrated so by some wily female, or accidentally set up by a girl, who's probably as confused as you. Moreover, one never knows what course of action is the right one, even in an ideal world, because you don't know whether love is something magical, spontaneous and bilateral; or rational and developed over time, through friendship and a set of common shared experiences. So you don't know whether you should/ would want to be with someone whom you asked out 10 times till she finally agreed any more than you know for sure anything about a first glance spark that catches your attention.

Guys competing with others for a girl's affections are faced with another problem, a 'how fast ?' along with the 'What ?'. You never know, who is going to make what move and when; and you don't even know whether making a move early is better, or if you should wait for the 'right' time, whatever that may be.They also face the problem of having to make the move first, which is especially true in a country like India., not to mention the fact that being 'romantic' makes one the object of ridicule, and people have surprisingly long memories when it comes to such things

And the girl, oh poor thing that she is, has to choose between multiple suitors; and being in that spot cannot be an easy one, cause most of the times it's like choosing between watching a romantic movie, a serious drama film or a slapstick comedy caper (:P :D); and god knows we've all been there: you might be in a mood to watch something funny right now, but what about next month ? You see, returns are tough :P :( .Plus, she is faced with deciphering the same conundrums that plague the guys, having to correlate action with thought and intention, and further, thought with perceived goodness in one's paradigm of love, to make a rational decision.But worst of all, is when a girl is forced to choose, when she would rather have not had that opportunity at all. One doesn't always have to want to be in a relationship, but when your host asks you ' Tea, or coffee ?', it's hard to say no to both ( :P)

And when this all comes to a head, when someone pops the question, for some reason people more or less ignore the idea of failure being possible, never once considering the possibility that both you and the girl may want different things from life, and may even have a different idea of what love is and what a relationship should/would entail. This could be attributed to either a) arrogance or b) a paradigm of love as magical, spontaneous and necessarily bilateral, which would imply that she will like you 'cause you like her and nothing can go wrong( Sigh.... :D).Subsequently, this leads to heartbreak, denial, depression, and in some cases, suicide. The competition that boys have to face when wooing a girl lends a very poignantly terrible twist to this story. Having confessed one's feelings for a girl, most rejected suitors find it impossible to stay friends with her, embarrassed by one's lapses in reason and foolish displays of emotion during the courtship, which, though vindicated by a happy ending, are worth a lifetime supply of blushes in failure.

And most of this, happens due to lack of communication. Not knowing what's going on in someone's head lets you make all kinds of assumptions and imagine all kinds of situations( which, when it comes to me, typically involve triple bluffs, double crosses, psychological torture and sadism :P) A normal instance of asking someone out should be as simple as doing it at the outset on the basis of some preliminary attraction, and, in the cases where this primary attraction is mutual, getting to know each other, discussing what one wants from life and then taking a decision as to whether the paradigms that the man and woman subscribe to are reconcilable into a happy life. But , modern day society makes it so hard for people to share their feelings and thoughts and open out to others, that this process is circuitous and all data is encrypted in the form of hints and signs and flirting, where one can believe exactly what one chooses to believe. It not only lengthens the process for a true pair bond, but also fails miserably to eliminate unwanted suitors, thus causing more pain to everyone involved than necessary.

'What's the way out ?', one wonders.
In my opinion: Be rational and calm, but don't be afraid to take the leap. After all, badly encrypted signals can change good to bad as often as bad to good, and you may have a better chance than you think.Love, but don't be afraid to lose. Shakespeare wasn't lying when he said " It is better to have loved and lost, than to never have loved at all". Be brave,Be genuine, Be open; because if i know one thing for sure, it's this: If true love exists, like in the stories and movies, it's worth all the ridicule in the world.......


PS: There are many ways that situations can be purposely distorted by one or both parties involved in a courtship for malicious reasons. My advice: If you're sure, buy a chainsaw....Once again: worth the sacrifice :D

PPS: Male seahorses get to choose their mates, the only specie to be in this position. However, the males also incubate the eggs....

PPPS: Seahorses ? Really ??

PPPPS: 'Chasing Cars : Snow Patrol' is awesome !!

Coffee and comforters

She looked out the window, nursing a cup of coffee, her face almost pressed to the glass. Her hair, clothes and overall demeanor, all had the air of someone who's ,'sure as hell not stepping out of her home that day'. She sighed contentedly, and curled her legs up even tighter for warmth. The incessant rain, pounded against the trees, and the cars, and the street. Only a slight overhang, stopped it from knocking on her window. She wished she could wish the over hang away. She wanted to press her face against the glass, with the rain railing on the other side. She wanted to taunt it, tease it, stick her tongue out to it. Then she laughed, and jumped off the window sill. The marble floor was cold, and her toes curled up as her feet touched the ground.For a moment, she stood there, frozen, her legs stuck together, her arms pressed up against her body for warmth, her palms all toasty and warm from the coffee, her eyes closed, her nostrils dilated as he took in the cold frozen smell of nothing , that one usually gets when one is indoors during a particularly long rainy spell.

Laughing again, she put on her slippers, curling up her toes again in their warm softness.Her walk across the living room and down the hall, was lonely , yet strangely comforting. It was the second best thing in the world, on a rainy day like this. Alone at home,piping hot coffee and shrewsbury biscuits for company. A bed that afforded her comfy coziness, and a view of the rain outside that was just magical. A view of the street, people walking briskly , holding up umbrellas and clutching rain coats to their chin, trying to stay out of the wet and the cold. People looking busy, people looking nostalgic. Kids floating paper boats in large pot holes, and jumping around in the even larger ones. Teenaged lovers walking inthe rain, arms around each other,giggling and cooing.Dogs, sitting in alcoves barely sheltered from the rain,curled up, their fur bristling from the cold. They looked out at the rain dolefully , batting their eyelashes at it, whining at it to make it stop. And all the time, the rain poured on.. . Not malevolently. . Rather like the rush hour traffic....Mildly apologetic in one way, but routine and unavoidable in another. going about it's business, the sun having long since hidden itself behind it's grey prison towel.
She dips a biscuit in the coffee and bites of a large chunk, savouring the feeling as it's buttery goodness crumbles on her tongue, and then slides down her throat smoothly . The hint of coffee in the butter is tantalising. It's scalding hot, but she gingerly takes a tiny sip, her pink tongue still speckled with the light brown biscuit crumbs. She feels warm, and safe, her childhood comforter wrapped around her legs..... She hears a sound and looks up. . .

She smiles up at me as I enter the room, feeling the cold myself inspite of my thick coat. Many days, I would long to take it off, but not today. . Today, it feels perfect.I get up on the bed, and snuggle as close to her as possible, both to take warmth and supply it.She offers me her coffee, but I hate coffee, and all I want is to get inside that comforter with her. She puts down the coffee mug on the window sill, and pulls the comforter over our heads. For a moment, both of us are scrabbling about, trying to stay within the warmth, till both our heads pop out of the comforter, and we sigh as one,cuddling close to each other till we are comfortable. Oh....so comfortable..... She looks up at me and says..'I love you...'

I just wag my tail.

PS : Brrrrrr.....

PPS: I wish ! :D

O synechdoche ! (That's an Apostrophe. . .)

I've been watching the IPL lately. What with the summer vacations, and the joy of lying down on a chaise lounge,unwashed and sleepy, with a bag of chips, and the remotes(Set top boxes have contributed greatly to the megalomania of couch potatoes (Potatos sounds better in this context right?) ) within an arms reach, or at worst, clone enough to be pulled towards oneself, using a newspaper rolled breadth-wise.. . one is bound to end up doing exactly that. . wishing that the se7en fan club doesn't catch up to you :D. .

As i said. . I've been watching the IPL.And have been getting steadily depressed watching the performance of the team i was supporting: The Mumbai Indians. Just the other night, i remember feeling extremely sad watching the Mumbai indians getting their butt kicked by the Kings XI Punjab team..I stopped, and realised what i felt was hopelessness, a feeling as though everything was lost. Never mind that the Mumbai indians had played brilliantly in several matches, that there were several matches in hand and that they had virtually made the playoffs, or that, the fate of the Mumbai Indians had absolutely nothing to do with anything as far as I was concerned. I felt downtrodden, depressed, ashamed even. And the absurdity of the whole thing struck me, hard. . really freaking hard.

How many times has the win/loss of our favourite cricket/football team or Tennis/golf (?:P) player changed our mood for the better/worse ? How many times have we made important decisions in the backlash/euphoria of these emotions ?, and how many times have we wished we had done otherwise ? I mean, I cannot honestly say that the emotional overflow(:D) from some sporting event has not affected my mood and changed my life in a significant way. No one can. And i would be willing to bet on the fact that, yes, sporting events do affect our lives. We do gain pleasure from watching, the team we support defeat their arch rivals, and worse yet, we do get irritated and irritable when our team loses a game. The false sense of achievement and the vicarious disappointment we feel, carries on to the next human interaction we have, which influences the next and so on. We may decide not to work that day because, after all we won the game !, or on the other hand, we may be extremely crabby and snappy, disappointed by the loss. And it is quite rational, i think to9 assume that even neglecting the positive feedback that could decidedly aggravate our 'artificially created' bad mood, the fallout of even one cricket match or football game could effect important, permanent changes in our lives.

But accepting this premise, only puts us in a deeper quandary. . What then ?? This is the eternal catchphrase of the laissez faire. . . accept the status quo, for rejecting(and replacing) it is too time-consuming or difficult, or not worth the trouble. . . I have often tried to imagine (and actually tried as well, for a period of a week and a half), as an experiment to lead a meaningful, wholly productive life sans movies, sitcoms, social networking sites and euphoria inducing substances, and come to the conclusion that it is impossible. . At least, for a person conditioned in and by this society for this long, it is impossible. Of course, the possibility exists, that I , personally cannot pull this off, but then the question still remains, what does man do, the average, normal individual ? How does he live a semi meaningful,or rather pseudo meaningful life ( assuming that this plane of existence is the entirety of life, we can come up with a broad definition of meaningful that can be 'worked' :D) productive life. . Or is he/she destined to lie on the couch watching TV ?

As usual, there are several answers. Anarchy, Spartanism ( well. . you get the idea ... :D) and other ideologies swim in ones mind, wearing two piece bikinis on their flawlessly sculpted bodies, throwing water on you, chiding you, teasing you, begging you to come into the water (Couldn't resist. . Mea Culpa), and lots of people would gladly jump in, forgetting their poor wife(one piece, two kids :D) who stood by the pool. . .

Different is always worth checking out, but then divorce proceedings are always so messy and Spartanism and Anarchism both reeeealy want you :D, so yeah that's a bloody bog in it's own right. .look at your wife and i'm sure she's nice in her own right :D.. What i mean is, there's a way out, a very simple one. . come closer. . closer, i'll whisper it in your ear. . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MODERATION. . . .

It's like eating the whole of your birthday cake. . Okay, yeah, it's yours. . but that doesn't mean you have to eat it all, not unless you want to christen the day after your birthday, Diarrhea day :D. . Just because a system is flawed doesn't give us the license to curse it for every single thing that goes wrong with our lives, which is something, that a lot of us are only too willing to do. Cricket is a drug. . Okay. . understood . . But it has a range of influence. . the time for which the TV is on. .Ok, , maybe more than that. . But. . it's gotta end soemtime. . and that's for you to decide. .

Lots of people live their lives waiting for that perfect system to get established in the world, or for that perfect algorithm that tells you how to live your life. . And that's just Bullshit. . it's our life, and it's doesn't have an algorithm. . We have to change things for ourselves, by ourselves. . every minute of every day. . .

Get on with it. .

PS: Mumbai Indians !! \m/ , Despite today's brilliant game plan which involved Pollard and Bhajji hitting 26 off the last over, just cause Mishra did 23 ( Mommmeee :D)

PPS: People never really think through the algorithm premise. . 9 times out of 10 it points to no free will and determinism. . .

PPPS: THe marriage/hot chicks in the swimming pool analogy didn't work out, going deeper revealed too many complexities.. like your current marriage is a childhood betrothal, that's the same for everybody else too :P

PPPPS: Of course, a rough analogy, disregarding the absurd aspects (:P) would say that man is never satisfied with the status quo, and is always looking out for something better. . .which is true for a certain class of individuals. . Rational Rebels. . But then, what would be the link that joins this particular class of individuals with the marriage/society analogy ??

PPPPPS: enough for now. . If you get any leads, please do call/message/mail

PPPPPPS: Yawn. . .G'night. . .

What's wrong with me :D

I recently set up a webpage on whatiswrongwith.me(www.whatiswrongwith.me/Sumedh), which allows to people to send anonymous feedback about you. Now i received quite a bit of feedback, some good , some bad, some random(:D). Of the two, room for improvement comments that I received, I had already known about those aspects of me and had analysed whether my behaviour was good or bad.One of them was about me talking a lot about things that maybe people around me weren't the least bit interested in.The other was about me not being able to understand my friends needs and being a little selfish.

Now, the first statement, I have heard a million times before. I agree that it can be frustrating when I get into one of my rants and then wax eloquent bout topics that are stupid, inane, random and worst of all uninteresting to others. (main kya lund insaan hoon)In fact, I have been actively trying to be less of a chatterbox, but the fact is, that most of the times, I can't help it ! I get into the groove sometimes, and then there's no stopping me (by me, of course !! Others can of course stop me. kinda like when kids bite their fingernails or suck their thumbs :D)What i suggest my frustrated friends do is say to me, in a firm quiet voice : "Sumedh, you're doing it again. . . ". Kinda like the really nice but strict fathers do in Chicken soup, or Enid Blyton books.. . Of course, don't do it all the time. I mean, i gotta have my fun too, right. . :D Actually even if people do tell me to shut up all the time, i don't think i'd actually do it. I mean, yeah i'd probably get all blushy and guilty and all, but hey, you know what they say ' The ego wants what the ego wants' :D

The second statement got me thinking.I mean, I know I am extremely self involved, but that's just because things are so complicated inside my head,it's hard to stop thinking about....... well. . everything. . Also, recognising people's needs isn't as easy or as clear cut as it's made out to be: Understanding situations, sympathising with the person in case and offering suggestions is sometihng thati can do, in my opinion, quite well, but when it comes to gauging what is wrong by a person's behaviour. . well, I suck. This is primarily because, whenever I try to extrapolate actions/body language to feelings and dilemnas i have a habit of considering every possbile scenario my mind can lay it's hands on, and analysing their possibility. And in an ostenibly stochastic world such as ours, it's not hard to assign almost equal probabilities to all the options. And I, just can't resist. I am off on my way, wild horses pulling me to every every corner of the earth.Also, several times, when I have tried to extrapolate and help, I have broached topics that my friend wouldn't want to talk about.This is essentially another parameter to be analysed, while considering probabilities: whether the other person wants to talk about it, but it is different in the sense, that whether you get the answer is one half of a binary choice:Choosing to talk, or not.To be on the safe side, I don't, and like is possbile in every possbile situation, I get made out to be the bad guy :D !! I mean, how the hell is one really supposed to know what to do and what not to do ?

The way out, as I see it, as I have always seen it, from the time that I first analysed this part of me, is "Tell Me !!!", the only difference being that I didn't really make it so clear, as it felt kind of stupid then(It still does, but I think more good will come out of this than bad) This would also solve the first problem, of me blabbering about stuff that people don't want to listen to me blabbering about.

I reiterate: If you want to talk about something, any goddamn thing under the sun, please tell me. 'Cause if there's one thing, I'm a sucker for, it's being a good samaritan (:D). . i mean seriously, this may sound extremely pious( or Pi, like they say in St Clares !!), but in fact in a morality paradigm that classifies naivete as stupid and 'unethical', I would be the worst kind of sex offender, or murderer :D.

I re-reiterate. This is not a joke. I am not messing with you to get sometihng to laugh about later in my room. I care. I'm just too unsure of what to do. . .


P.S.:Oh god, that was probably the emo-est of them all......

P.P.S.: But worth it, i hope !
P.P.P.S.: The main lund hoon was courtesy achin, the guy who put one of the comments(The less insulting one :D) on my page. . I decided to leave it in. . Seems to fit with the decor :D
P.P.P.P.S. : Once again, classic example of megalomania. . I have to be right, even about me being wrong. . . :D

P.P.P.P.P.S. : I'd make a very interesting psychiatric case ( Re: Hot psychology students :D :P)

The secret (Rhonda Byrne's was a typo :D)

Yesterday, I decoded the secret of life. I didn't realise it then. . That is, of course something to be expected. Knowing is one thing. Knowing that you know, is a totally different ball game. The first rests on your experience and reasoning capabilities, among other tihngs. The second rests on introspection, self confidence and an obsession that forces you to look at things again and again and again..(well, you get the picture..). Sometimes, knowing is enough. However, to know yourself, you must know that you know, what you know and how you know it. You must'nt just be aware of things, you must also be aware of that awareness. Admitted, that taken to the nth level and then (as is inevitable) iterated further to infinity, it gets confusing. Really confusing. But a level 2 awareness is, if you go about it the right way, the definitive step of the series, one that affords you knowledge of the further levels(Of course, to know you know, you have to actually reason out each level separately, which is a simple iterative process, but infinitely so, which makes it impossible (Think about it, and you'll realise this is true)) By the right way, I mean that your mind has to be aware that the transition from level one to level two is actually just a specific rendering of a generic interative step ( i=i++). If done properly, you feel all the levels rush by you and you are aware of them, or at least you are aware of your potentiality for awareness. However, as i said before, to go one level further in your analysis of the levels of understanding, you must go to each level and understand it's implications as a stand alone concept.A very simple example is the famous plot device used to the death in cinema. He knows that she knows that He knows . . .ad nauseam, a good example of which can be seen in Jeffrey archer's 'shoeshine boy', from His collection of short stories entitled 'Twelve red herrings'

Anyway, if i'm done digressing , I think I should move on to the real subject that I was talking about. The secret of life. In life, most of our decisions are based on analyses of situations, based on what would happen if things were to go wrong, of which there is always a good (and to our paranoid minds, overwhelmingly large) probabililty. Now, our confusion mostly stems from the fact, that all the uncertainty has it's source in the caprices of human nature, of people who are deciding on the basis of what they think your decision might be. A very convoluted game, with an infinity of sub games. . Of course, some people may not make decisions after such a detailed analysis of the situation, but not knowing, who is, and who isn't ,making their decisions in a specific way brings us back to square one. Even the most rational and moral individual (The definitions of which I leave to my readers imagination: You know what I'm talking about, even if you can't express it any better than this :P) lives his life subject to the decisions of others, not knowing if the decisions he makes will eventually lead to him being happy.

And Voila ! , I am about to throw open the curtains. . to reveal something, so obvious in its simplicity, yet so cleverly hidden by the inoccuousness of it's paradigm, by how insignicant it seems at the first glance : Blues . . .

The blues, have a very funny way of taking sadness and turning it on it's head, channeling it into something happy and constructive and beautiful. I find it nothing short of magical that when I play the blues, i fuel my music with the saddest and most depressing thoughts that my mind can muster, but inevitably, there is a smile on my face, a crazy, demented smile that is...is just great. . My guitar cries, but my mind laughs, my fingers are tensed with the sadness of a thousand deaths, terminal illnesses and an aching that threatens to suffocate, but my body is joyful, uplifted and quivering with a pleasure that is heavenly and transcendental. . .In moments, I find myself happy again. . So happy, it hurts. . like Magic.

Try it out sometime. Next time you feel sad, listen to BB king, or Muddy waters or The Allman Brothers band, and feel the magic taking you over, washing off the blues,vibrating, bending and sliding it into something crazy joyful. And the next time you worry about things going wrong, remember it'll just make the blues better. . . .

PS: Check out the compilation called chess blues, it's so awesome, they decided to invent a new word for it, but realised that it wasn't possible. .

PPS: Yes, that was a horrible simile, but the problem defies the very basis of a simile, that there must exist sometihng comparable and similar to it.

PPPS: Oh Gawd ! that saxophone.

PPPPS: Was listening to a song called The commisioner , by Arbee Stidham.. . as i wrote this. . .