The Hancocks of India

India is like no other country. We are different. We are complex. We are so many things in one.  

We are all HANCOCKS.

The best place to prove all of my above theories is right in the midst of any road in India.

By Definition a road is ‘A wide way leading from one place to another, esp. one that vehicle’s can use.

The part of such a way intended for vehicles, esp. in contrast to a shoulder or sidewalk’. But since us Indians are different and complex we walk on the roads and drive on the footpaths.

I am always amused when I see people walk in between the road, lift their hand and wave like a traffic cop signaling to stop and then with that intense look in their eyes stare at the driver as if the driver is driving inside his/her house. And if the driver doesn't stop and keeps driving, albeit slowly (I usually do this to transfer my annoyance ;-)), they stop in between the road with their hands on their hips – Exactly like Will Smith in Hancock.

What do they have in their mind – Shit?...No may be Bull Shit.

No wonder that accidents kill more people than any other killing machine. 

Pakistan Flag in Hindustan

As my car halts at the signal, I notice a flag above a house, not very far. A millisecond is all it took for me to recognize that its the flag of Pakistan. I wondered, why? Why is that our own people, living in this country which is as much theirs as its yours and mine would want to hoist the flag of Pakistan. I am sure you would agree, no matter how liberal you are that it is kind of disturbing. Just yesterday I read this article about a locality in Mira Road being Called Chota Pakistan and another being called Chota Bangladesh (I don’t think its right to name areas like this – not a secular practice for sure). Hence may be my mind stuck to this flag for a while longer than the other thoughts I have had today.

While my thoughts grew around this, a flash took me back to something that one of my Muslim friends had once told me. He had mentioned that its a coincidence that the flag of Pakistan is similar to this. The color green is traditional to Islam and so does the symbol of the moon and the star. Its obvious that people perceive it to be the flag of Pakistan but in reality the Pakistani flag is a subset or a product of this.

It wasn’t long before I moved on from this thought and started to surf the FM channels, that I reached this flyover before the domestic airport in Santacruz, Mumbai. To my right, towards Kalina, I saw this absolutely amazing site. I saw on top of a big advertisement hoarding there were 3 flags. First flag was orange in color the second was white and the third was green. They all had the symbols of the star and the moon – the traditional Islamic symbol. They were close to each other and fluttering graciously in the pleasant warm yet cold breeze. Yes you got it – They looked like an Indian flag when combined together with the Islamic symbol.

It was so heart warming and I knew that very instant that I was too quick to judge.

I cursed myself. I wasnt carrying my SLR. I really wanted to shoot this sharp

But nevertheless I used my phone camera to click the below pic – not very clear but it tells the story, isn’t it

Yeda Banaya, Bada Mazaa aaya

This ones dedicated to the Naivety and unawareness of one who was made a Yeda (a fool); only recently (name revealed later - unless u r smart to guess it in the first paragraph)

Buying a house isn't such a headache but getting carpenters and electricians to make up the home is, I have noted. You know when you buy something new you have that warm awesome feeling inside which pushes to take care of it nicely (though mostly it’s never beyond a week), keep it in the cover always, wipe it on the slightest inch of dust on it, get expensive accessories etc – The same with a higher level of intensity and higher durability is what I have. It’s a house for god’s sake, the feeling has to last.

I have had bad experience with carpenters before. They give you an appointment at 11 am and you end up calling them back to back till 5 pm and then an hour later they arrive - 'fas gaya tha' is their explanation - 'Mar kyon nai gaya' is what I don’t blurt out. Pune is a villainous place (No I am not even going to mention about transport) unless you have your family carpenter, plumber, electrician, bhaji wala and the chai wala.

I wanted to put up curtains in my house, place some mirrors and cloth hangers - that was all. The shop from where I bought the hangers and stuff offered me the services of the guy who will help me put up the rods and drill holes and shove some nails in the wall. I was happy - I didn’t have to chase anyone. I met the guy. Asked him how much he will charge. He said 550. I thought maybe he is really efficient - a high charge is high quality, isn't it. Atleast for my new home it made sense.

He arrived at my flat in 30 minutes of me reaching - impressed. He started work in a jiffy. He had a helper also along with him. If a job is done in one hour by one worker, it’s done in half an hour with 2 workers - my logical mind spoke. In about 45 minutes they were done.

Result - a shoddy job. The curtain fixers were not in the same line on one window. One end was slightly heading north. In one window they cut the rod so short that it was rendered useless and I was asked to exchange it and fit it myself - wow! I was unhappy. The Villainous Pune gets back at me once again. I argue that I will pay less and gave then 450. They sat down saying that they won’t leave unless I pay what was agreed upon. I pay another 50 and get rid of them.

I call my Mom and tell her that I have put up the curtain rods and asked how much she pays in Mumbai. She says 100 bucks. I was zipped and didn’t mention the cost I paid – to avoid is better than to bear. A couple of days later, a friend visited me. I asked him how much he pays for such work in his house and he said 10 bucks per hole. And I rushed to the bedroom to count the number of holes drawn and that was 15. 150 bucks, shit!!

Somewhere far, very clear to my ears, I feel this April fool’s day rhyme playing – Yeda Banaya Bada Maza aaya.

Mind is the Satan

Book of Genesis – Chapter 3, Verse 4, 5:

But the Serpent said to Eve “You will not surely die. For God knows when you eat it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.

I always wondered if snakes spoke in the earlier times. If not then why does the bible speak about a talking serpent? I read quite a bit on world mythology and that’s when I was introduced to the metaphorical way of tales in the ancient times. So it was clear to me that the talking serpent is some form of a metaphor used to refer about something deeper, something that isn’t elaborated much and may be rarely pondered upon.

Chapter 3: Verse 1 says – Now the Serpent was more crafty than any other beast that the Lord God had made.

This also clarifies that mind is created by god and he made it crafty.

The eastern mythology talks extensively about Mind. It talks about controlling your mind, the wavering thoughts. Meditation. That’s when it struck me that Mind could be the talking Serpent referred to in the Bible. Because when that is out of the limits/control it leads one to analyze things and categorize them. If mind is in control – that is if Satan is kept at bay, you live a simple, clear and pious life.

I am no scholar on any religious subjects but this inference crossed my mind this morning. It may be because I am reading ‘Brains and Realities’ by Jay Alfred and also ‘Autobiography of Jerusalem’ by Simon Sebag Montefiore. Both are absolutely amazing books. The former is a scientific evaluation of mind and how science keeps proving eastern philosophy of mind; for Example – the emergence of quantum physics. It is believed now that we live in a world that is multidimensional (time being one) but our brain is capable of only processing the information it receives in 3 dimensions - Hence what we see the world as is really not how it actually exists – or in other words, everything is Maya.

The book by Simon is a historical account of emergence – destruction – emergence of Jerusalem and the war and love that this most important city of all the 3 Semitic religions has experienced. The Jews consider this as the holy city given to them by God. Assyrians, Egyptians, Persians, Greek, Roman all have captured Jerusalem and drove away or killed Jews and then miraculously time after time Jews got back and held Jerusalem. Then came the Christians, Muslims, Crusaders, Bedouins, Arabs – all fought and killed and destroyed the previous legacies. The wars were ugly and fought politically to rule more and more of the nations in earth. Religion was used by the rulers to bind their subjects in a common thread. Language and culture used to be this common thread when the rule was restricted within a limited geography but as emperors eyed other regions and countries, language and culture didn't hold on as a strong connect and hence religion.

My subject of the blog is not Jerusalem but some rituals that the Jews followed to please God. They used to walk to the temple of god as a way of showing devotion (similar to the east). They used to give their hair as offering to God (again similar), animal sacrifices etc. This indicates that there is some lost connection between the east and the mythology of Middle East or the more recent west.

I will leave it at that and move on to read and understand more – not to critic anyone but increase my awareness and not be constricted in my views.