Thermodynamics of Love

As with Energy, I believe that Love cannot be created or destroyed but transformed from one form to another. This form is not necessarily a person or "one person today, another tomorrow". It goes beyond that. Various types of forms could be adolescence, attraction (physical and mental), dependency, genetic bond, mutual likes and dislikes, and in extreme cases like the Stockholm syndrome, capture-bonding. There could be many more forms here. To each his own.

The reason why I wrote this post stems from varied thoughts I keep having on and off. A few of them include the “stability holds a marriage together more than love” idea from Love in the Time of Cholera, the usual debates about “can love be really selfless? Does selfless love exist?” and the very recent watching of Gatsby, specially the part where they meet after 5 long years and the awkwardness that pervades before the dam breaks.

Love does transform into a lot of feelings eventually - companionship, respect, adulation, habit, friendship, physical bonding, wavelength congruency, adaptability, understanding, and many more. Probably the same feelings that combine in some way or other to create love are eventually isolated. Is that how love evolves?

What probably matters then is how we handle it. Do we acknowledge that love has transformed? Just like the Horcruxes, love is distributed in parts that make up the whole. (What a terrible analogy though!) Or is the loss lamented?

“It is not like it was before.” “Things have changed.”

So have times, so has the world around. The immediate world and the extended world.

Love evolves to survive. Eventually when some of the life-tasks are check marked, there would be moments when the parts come together again to become a whole. And when it does, probably the sum would be greater than the parts.

Till then, is it wise to sustain love’s various forms? Wait till the string of hope ties it’s several forms together again? The glue of faith to bind it together? The togetherness over a timeline cement this form?

Or are these just words and ideas?
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"Does love really exist?"
"The answer is circumstantial."

I am 30 and I know it (most of the times)!

Yes, I became 30 recently. 3 decades and all.

It was a lovely time spent with all the lovely people. What a surprise that was! :)

To top it off in the best way possible, P and Nik were a part of a team working on this endearing project. P compiled 30 lines from Moral Redundancy and tried to match them with 30 photos that I've clicked. She then passed the burden to the talented Nik who designed a classy print book. All this while keeping a surprise! And there I was wondering (and happy) about the sudden rise in visitors to my blog (which on a regular day is rather meagre!) I am really, really grateful for this wonderful surprise.

You can see a digital copy here:

Matryoshka doll and incomplete books

Those of you who have read Cloud Atlas would probably know that the book's overall structure is based on the principle of a Matryoshka doll. The six stories are spread out in such a way that the first one is left halfway to be completed at the end of the book, the second one is completed second last, and so on. The middle story is complete and it has certain elements (am sure I can find some more when I re-read the book) that subtly strings all of the stories together. Very interesting idea, and a rather good book.

Now. What does this have to do with incomplete books?

This year has been a lull period in terms of reading. More than the books I have read, I have left incomplete books. Some of them have been carried from last year. Here is a list of books I have not finished, since last year:

• The Lies of Locke Lamora - Scott Lynch
• Kingdom's End: Selected Stories - Saadat Hasan Manto (Since this one is short stories, it can be read as and when.)
• The Wind-up Bird Chronicle - Haruki Murakami (Yes, I know! Maybe I picked this book at the wrong time.)
• Embassytown by China Mieville (Not this books fault. Though it is a bit hard to get into. People say that it gets better after page 50 or so. The ideas and concepts are indeed mind blowing so far! But, I am simply waiting for Infinite Jest!)

That's how we take the detour to Infinite Jest. Yes. I have been reading so much about this book and it's colossal size in terms of pages and thoughts, and the admiration it elicits from the folks who love it. As soon as I could manage up some more courage over the usual book-hoarding obsession, I ordered this book (Though it can be said that it is an indirect gift. Hint: Voucher).

So, Infinite Jest is on it's way. I am not sure what double meaning this earlier line carries. It also is a reference to Hamlet (Hail internet-scholars!). The book sounds promising though. Very promising. I am equally scared and excited to start it. I know it's huge (about 1000+ pages) and dense, and I know I will have to work towards reading it, with patience, and at this juncture I think I will be able to read it, but the coming days will speak more.

Then after finishing IJ (look at the bravado!), whenever I do complete it, I would like to complete the other books in the order I left them.

How's that? Sounds good right now!

Matryoshka doll made of books,

not as easy as it looks,

Infinite Jest might be the one that binds,

to connect the unassociated minds. 

Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse - Book Review

Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Owing to this being a translated book and almost 90 years old, the language was not as smooth as I expected. Or maybe I expected it to be as smooth as some of the concepts and thoughts put across in the book.

This book traces the changes in Siddhartha's life. From a child to a child. Insert child is the father of man in there somewhere and seal it. Oh, but I digress. There are some really wonderful and big thoughts filled in this small book. Specially in the second half of the book when Siddhartha's thoughts flow like (or with) the river.

Specially the last few pages are really worth it. Though, one can always debate on some of the stated philosophies. Like, yes good and evil, truth and lie, and other binary things (are they really binary) are a part of what makes the whole, but then why does Siddhartha suggests that we don't hate, but love the world as is. Aren't love and hate opposites? On the other hand, they might not be opposites.

My only wish was that I should have come across this book and other similar ones when I was a wayward teenager or a twenteenager. Some things would have made a deeper mark than the breezing touch of the book right now. Still, it definitely is a good read!


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A myopic POV on Sanjay Dutt and the Mumbai riots verdict

“Because I have Muslim blood in my veins. I could not bear what was happening in the city."

Said Sanjay to his father when forced by the police to confess why he had procured the arms. Sanjay Dutt got these weapons from Anees Ibrahim, whose brother Dawood along with a few others, was the mastermind behind the Mumbai (then Bombay) riots.

For how the weapons reached Sanjay, who all was involved, why did Dawood want to arm people, the details surrounding the latest verdict and the reasons behind the disparity in the sentences, read this in-depth Tehelka article that covers a lot more.

If someone “conspires or attempts to commit, or advocates, abets, advises or incites or knowingly facilitates the commission of a terrorist act or any act preparatory to a terrorist act” is treated as a criminal, what about the corrupt politicians who have directly or indirectly caused a lot of anti-social elements to rise to the level where they can disrupt peace? That includes almost every other politician.

Back to Sanjay. He did procure the weapons, but did he use them? What matters is his intention and the proactive manner in which he reached out to gangsters. Gangsters who are waiting for opportunities to make the best of them. Gangsters who are aware that India has corrupt politicians that can be easily bought, lethargic legal system that will delay justice, and people who can be easily swayed or influenced in the name of religion.

It's unfortunate that our nation lacks the leadership that will curtail all the elements leading towards such disasters. It's not about a Bollywood superstar being given an easy sentence, or the fact that the verdict came 20 years after the riots, but the fact the every single such case points towards the failure of our system.

Ah, forget all of this. Let's go beat up some cops because we are MLAs and we can boss around!

Narendra Modi's debut on this blog and other stuff

So this morning, I was watching the India-Australia test match and during one of the breaks I landed on a news channel broadcasting Mr. Modi live. My first time listening to him live.

He knows what is talking about, doesn't he? Modi goes beyond a certain set of beliefs. He seems like he has fine tuned his thoughts and actions based on today's requirement and not the legacy politics. Modi has proved himself in his home state. He does have certain black marks on his career. Black tending to bloody red. But, which politician is not tainted in this country? In India, where almost every politician has a criminal record or at least some not-so-direct association?

Modi has gone beyond basic governance with the support from his state and made changes that we expect from the center as well. When we are paying up so much money to the government through various taxes, isn't it right on our part to expect?

I know this might seem an amateurish collection of thoughts, but it's a basic model. Happens in most of the professionally run organizations. If a person, with a team, proves something good over a period of time, he/she is ideally given a bigger opportunity to replicate changes on a larger scale. State to Nation in Modi's case is but a big step. We are not talking about a city to Nation. The governing dynamics will be huge, but the basic principles as were pertaining to the state just have to be enlarged.

It's definitely better than using a legacy formula like visiting hapless farmers and eating at their place. Definitely!

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I had to write on the rising land-mafiaesque scenario in Pune. What's with these turned-rich-overnight folks, their humungous inept and ugly attitude, their disregard for all things civil, their love for big cars (oh poor Audis and Mercs. I am sure it's hard on these lovely cars to be driven by spitters, garbage throwers, and people who don't know how to respect a fab piece of engineering), and GOLD? What the hell do you want a gold shirt for? Just because of you have money and you want to display all that hollow power?

In the immortal words of Gabbar Hari Singh, "Haak Thoo."

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The other day, we were discussing about rap music (Afro-American, not the half-baked Indian scene) and how dirty the lyrics are, how violent and misogynistic they seem. Yes, sometimes they are. They objectify women at times too.

But, music as an avenue as compared to street violence and actually assaulting people and their values. What's the lesser evil?

People who at times wield guns but make music (and some of it is really good!) too. And if they are successful artists, they choose a better life! But, at least they invest their energy in creativity.

Look at the folks in India. In Pune, we have these katta gangs (not the normal friends getting together and talking ones) who eve-tease, are extremely anti-social, and try to show power just because they are backed by some local corporator (failed or not!) or are paid to create a ruckus.

Sometimes I really feel like taking a baseball bat and hitting these people. I wish we could gang up on these hate-worthy beings just like they gang up on us. What will 50 local gundas do against say a 1000 really angry people who are fighting for a cause?
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Only 42,000 people who have declared income of more than 1 crore rupees in India! I bet the gold wearers are exempted from this list. So are most of the politicians who have most of their assets in the name of their loyal wives (Dear loyal wives, run away with that money and spend it, I dare you!). Where the hell do their SUVs come from?

It's your and my money!

The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler - Book Review

The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

My first Raymond Chandler! The first of many (at least 2 more) to come! (I will be repeating this line for a lot of books this year. I'll be using a lot of parenthesis as well, I guess.)

Before I begin about Marlowe, let me talk about two things that struck me towards the end of this book.

Firstly, about one of my favorite moments in a book. When the author speaks about the reason (implicitly) behind the title of the book. I just love the way some titles are weaved in at the most heightened moments. I remember it vividly with Crying of Lot 49 and The Sirens of Titan. The Big Sleep has this serene moment described in one of the the most well-written passages in a really well-written book.

Secondly, for those who have read this book, here is a little snippet from Raymond Chandler's history: "Having started in 1922 as a bookkeeper and auditor, Chandler was by 1931 a highly paid vice-president of the Dabney Oil Syndicate but a year later, his alcoholism, absenteeism, promiscuity with female employees and threatened suicides contributed to his being fired." Do you see the connection with The Big Sleep? Even though a very meager one? Or is it just me reading too much into it?

Coming back to the book. Meet (at your own risk!) Mr. Philip Marlow, Shamus-extraordinaire! The quick-talking, hard-hitting, Son of a Gun. He is not Sherlock (No shit!), neither of those inducers-deducers. He fights with his own instincts, winning against the others'. He gets out there, dodges bullets, shoots excellent repartee's, and goes home to a drink or five. Man, he has style. Serious style!

Chandler has put in some really great writing. I don't even want to talk about the amazing lines from the book. I'd rather reproduce them as is!

"She gave me one of those smiles the lips have forgotten before they reach the eyes."
"I been shaking two nickels together for a month, trying to get them to mate."

And if you are from the IT sector, you'd know why I love this one:
"There’s a boy that is tough like some guys think they are tough. He does a job for Eddie Mars when Mars needs him - trouble-shooting."
I am going to be smiling every time someone utters that word!

The compilation that I am reading has 3 books including The Big Sleep. I hope the other two carry on at the speed at which Marlowe drinks his Scotch. Till then, If you ever want to question Marlow's manners, here is what he has to say:

"And I don’t like your manners."
"I’m not crazy about yours," I said. I didn’t ask to see you. You sent for me. I don’t mind your ritzing me or drinking your lunch out of a Scotch bottle. I don’t mind your showing me your legs. They’re very swell legs and it’s a pleasure to make their acquaintance. I don’t mind if you don’t like my manners. They’re pretty bad. I grieve over them during the long winter evenings. But don’t waste your time trying to cross-examine me."

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6 years of blogging

6 years filled with posts. Some relevant, some rambling. Every single one of them a wrinkle added to the face of an advancing age. Mine, and the world around me.

183 posts and some unpublished drafts that talk, directly or discreetly, about the temporal rhythms tuned on the radio of time.

Of personal joys, mundane observations, terrible heartaches, and unsaid stories.

Stories. All of us have stories to tell. Few of us scribble them down so that we can read them in the future and do some therapeutic time traveling.

Every word you write today probably has the power to move you, satisfy you, leave you thirsty for more, in more than one inexplicable ways.

It's a free investment that will keep adding to memories in your account, which one day will be of more value to you, than probably anything else.