Friday, September 04, 2020

‘Work from home’ - leading to a social pandemic?

Pandemic Covid-19 has forced millions of  young IT professionals to work from home. It was a natural reaction of the industry constrained by the pandemic. But months later, it is becoming a nightmare for many with no prospects of a return to normalcy any time soon. It might also become the standard norm. 


All those who have been following a fixed normal office timing are now being forced to work uninterrupted. Fathers are not attending to their duties at home and mothers are not even feeding their children. Both the elders and infants are ignored for the sake of job security.


The news of redundancy and ensuing retrenchment in the industry are making matters worse for those with less than a decade of experience. Sadly it is the same age group that should be building up their own families. 


Another factor that has affected these families is the lack of space at home. Imagine the problem for those IT couples struggling in major cities with limited space suddenly turning their home into office for meetings and working. There should be no disturbance and sound.


The impact of this paradigm shift on the society at large is far too complex. The situation is worsening because IT industry has become biggest employer in most countries. 

Sunday, August 09, 2020

Virtual Tourism Parlours

If WHO makes another blunder or a genuine pandemic happens within next five years, tourism industry as we know it is dead. Genuine tourists are mostly retired senior citizens and they are the most vulnerable in any adverse health conditions. And only a minuscule of tourists are adventurous.

The relevance of Virtual Tourism Parlours (VTPs) comes in here. Imagine a totally blind tourist and contrast it with a normal one. It is all what he sees that substantiates his experience. VTPs must be able to provide the relevant visual experience by way of all the modern gadgetry.

It doesn’t take rocket science to provide such experiences to genuine tourists who have been handicapped and trapped in time. They must be able to visit all the major tourist spots and even experience wildlife and waterfalls sitting in a parlour for a few hours. And most importantly it must be affordable. A full day virtual visit to London must not cost more than $100.

The business opportunity is unimaginably big, challenging and rewarding.

COVID-19: Much ado about nothing?

After frightening the whole world about COVID-19 virus and its unknown implications, we are slowly wondering whether it was yet another case of much ado about nothing or something insignificant. Only WHO can be blamed for its over reaction about something before it could study in detail.

No doubt a few lakhs the world over have died, but an overwhelming majority of it was primarily due to other major reasons. But the panic created by WHO’s blunder has destroyed the livelihood and lives of millions of people the world over. The number of suicides all over the world will eventually overtake the toll indirectly attributed to COVID-19.

WHO has proven itself to an ineffective organisation to be in charge of the health of human beings in this planet. Whether this immature false alarm was a genuine blunder or as a result of the over enthusiasm of a few to do something huge in their jobtime, remains to be investigated. The one and only positive result of this humongous exercise is that the whole world had a full dress rehearsal for something similar by a fatal pandemic if it happens in the next few decades.

Right now, WHO will disappear from the scene by shouting ‘Honey, I shrunk the World Economy’.

Why not drone mounted ‘Mob’ Scanners?

 All viruses and bacteria have their own specific shapes and we have our own mechanisms to zoom our view into anything to any extent. Also we have adequate AI algorithms which can interpret any virus shapes on target images and alert us.

Then what is preventing us from developing drone mounted ‘mob’ scanners to scan the crowds in public places like Airports, Stadiums and even theatres to identify the large scale presence of dangerous organisms in individuals or areas?

For those who doubt our capabilities for imaging such dimensions, here is a recent invention that can even see viruses. https://lnkd.in/gKdUvjh

Saturday, July 13, 2019

Logic of Moksha


One of the reasons why Sanatana Dharma becomes the most logical and realistic among religious ideologies is its basic belief in the Theory of Karma and Rebirths. It is almost impossible to rationalize the accidental nature of our births and the sufferings of children without these fundamental beliefs. Once we have established the rationale of rebirths, Moksha or Enlightenment or Realisation becomes a necessity to complete the belief structure. There must be some way out to end the repeated cycle of our rebirths based on our Karma.  Moksha seems to be the only way out.

Now how do we achieve Moksha or Enlightenment or Self-Realisation? Our scriptures and Rishis have indicated multiple ways to achieve the same. The method we chose depends (or must depend) on our qualities and capacity. If you are weak in mental abilities, there is no point in choosing the Knowledge path. Similarly those who are good only in learning, Yoga and Meditation are hardly the ways to attain Moksha. But whatever be the path one has chosen, it is absolutely necessary to go through all the phases of a human life. Without this it is not possible to close your Sanchita (accumulated) Karma from past lives.

Human life has essentially four phases - Brahmacharya (student), Grihastha (householder), Vanaprastha (retired) and Sannyasa (renunciate). Every human accumulates Karma in all these phases of life. After each life is over, he or she is reborn with the Sanchita Karma from past lives. Moksha is attained when one can reach the Sanchita Karma of ZERO ie. Papa and Punya becomes equal. So the bottom line is that one cannot aim to achieve Moksha in the current life unless he or she is prepared to go through all phases of human life. If there are Sanchita Karma from Grihastha (householder) phase in the early lives, it is possible to compensate them only during a similar phase in this lifetime.

Hence, I am convinced that none of the unmarried (or those who have never taken care of their wife and children) sages could have attained Moksha in their latest life as we know it. They would have been born again and attained Moksha after completing Grihasthasramam in a later life. This concept must be crystal clear to every one who is trying to attain Moksha by shortcut methods. You must necessarily go through all the four phases of life (in the current parlance), to suffer and enjoy the experiences in each phase, in order to escape from the cycle of births and deaths. There is no easy way out.

Monday, April 02, 2018

Stone Idols are much better than Godsons and Prophets


It was Bertrand Russell (1872-1970), the British Mathematician, Philosopher and more importantly the Godfather of present generation atheists, who stated it so categorically that he does not see any reason to believe in any form of God. Since then, the body of human knowledge has increased exponentially. Many more sub-atomic particles have been discovered, including the God Particle, and space scientists have literally pushed the contours of our physical reach many million times into the Space. But all that we have achieved so far gives a clear-cut idea about the direction of Human development and where we will reach eventually.

Patterns of human endeavor for understanding the Universe is a multi-pronged one and billions of dollars are expended for this every year. The theoretical Scientists (especially Physicists) will continue with their thought experiments and applied Physicists and other Scientists will come up with new discoveries every now and then. Then there is the struggle to correlate the two that will generate more questions than answers which calls for more future endeavors. Whatever be our achievements so far, it is certain that experiments by humans and equipment, with finite capabilities, can never ever find conclusive answers for questions about our infinite Universe. Leave alone all other questions, we have not yet defined the expanse and structure of the Universe, even in the twenty first century. It will never be possible too.

Need of God

When our level of understanding the Universe remains so limited at all times, the need for an undefined infinite entity becomes a bear necessity to fill in the gaps. Since time immemorial, the concept of such an entity called God has been an indispensable part in all the tribes and civilizations that have independently evolved in various parts of our small planet. The reason is obvious. But for such an unknown undefined entity, their level of knowledge can never satisfy their quest for understanding the world around them. As Science and Technology in their times improved and they could understand, explain and even predict more and more natural phenomena, the quantum of unknown undefined areas also grew in equal if not more measure. In such a situation, Religion and Spirituality evolved as natural tools for satisfying their eternal quests in appreciating the unknown God.

At all times, we can easily define God as the sum total of all that is unknown or unexplained so far in this Universe. This is the easiest way to define an unknown entity whose existence is absolutely required to explain our Universe. Quite contrary to Russel’s outright rejection of God, the more we explore and the more we try to understand everything rationally, we are sure to conclude that there is every reason to believe in some form of God to endure our rationality in the modern world. This is exactly why most of the cutting-edge Scientists are ardently against Atheism, which will make them look like fools against the mounting evidence of an all pervading force that is sustaining this Universe. The only doubt in their minds is about its name and form. 

Form of God

There has been no other culture and civilization that has dealt with the concept of God uninterruptedly for such a long time than Sanatana Hindu Dharma in India. In fact the definition of God has undergone a systematic evolution during its discourse in the Dharma stretching over atleast 5000 years. From Dwaita to Vishita Adwaita, the final verdict was in favour of the much acclaimed Advaita Philosophy enunciated by Adi Shankara, the revered Malayali Monk who is considered as one of the most intelligent human beings ever alive. In simple words, Advaita means that an element of God is present in everything that constitutes the Universe and like the physical phenomenon of Resonance, those who can match their resonant frequency with the natural frequency of God can become God itself (attain Moksha).

Now the question comes to envisaging such a God for our day-to-day reverence and worship. There are so many choices, starting with a formless concept (but with an unchallenged final Prophet) as in Islam to a bearded human like form as in Christianity (again with a Godson and countless Saints) to the myriad idols as in Hindu Sanatana Dharma. The first two involve human beings in the form of Godson, Prophets, Saints and are inherently fallible and error prone. Hindu Sanatana Dharma also involves Avatars and much divine Rishis, but all of them ultimately worship and bow down in front of some idols. In the free and liberal frame work of Hindu Sanatana Dharma, the source code of God is freely available to all its followers and they can customize it to any idol form they want for worship.

In Hindu Sanatana Dharma, the believers are actually reflecting on themselves when they are worshipping in a temple in front of their idol God. In their mind they have already attributed all the ideal qualities to their chosen idol forms, which being unliving and non-human are completely infallible and devoid of all forms of negativity, errors and defects. Idol form of our own personal God can be as powerful and ideal as we want it to be. When hundreds and millions believe in the same idol God, it becomes all powerful like the idols at major temples all over the world. Idols make our lives easy and easier for the poor, simple and helpless humans to worship, complain to and even curse. And those whose prayers are sincere, intense and consistent might even ultimately become one with the deity, whom they have already attributed all the ideal qualities to. In Hindu Sanatana Dharma, each temple is a representation of our own body with the presiding deity in the form of the stone idol at the place of our working heart. What can be more representative of God than that?   

Tuesday, February 14, 2017

Venture or Vulture Capitalists?

Many of the many successful entrepreneurs the world over are slowly turning philanthropists and also venture capitalists with the declared objective of extending a helping hand to the next generation of entrepreneurs. But is it true and will anyone sensible enough believe in this lofty ideal of the successful entrepreneurs? Not if one knows how entrepreneurs succeed in a capitalist environment.

Successful entrepreneurs are not only knowledgeable, daring and lucky but also possess an insatiable appetite for wealth. While the philanthropic aspect of their personality is an off-shoot of the basic humanism and empathy, resident in all humans, their never ending appetite for more and more money draw them towards potentially successful ventures which are looking for investment. In fact it is a mutually beneficial arrangement but more in favour of the apparently benevolent capitalist.


What the erstwhile successful entrepreneur is looking for is easy money at the cost of somebody’s ideas and efforts. Each successful entrepreneur knows that he has been lucky to have got the idea first and luckier to have ventured into it. They know the time and effort it takes to succeed in another venture again. So the best way to make more money is to lay their eggs in someone else’s nest. Or to feed on someone’s catch like Vultures. Isn’t it better called as Vulture Capitalism?

Friday, December 09, 2016

Semitic Missionaries and Mosquitoes

The more we think about it, the more we notice the similarities between Missionaries and Mosquitoes. Missionary might have been a noble word and tribe in the West, but now in India, it is almost one of those four lettered ones. There is no doubt they had a space in the bygone era in spreading their new found ideology in distant lands. But now they have far outlived their utility value and have become pests in the midst of development of progressive societies. In this twenty-first century, they are nothing but Ideological Mosquitoes spreading the venom of religious hatred by cheating and luring poor people into their outdated and idiotic ideologies.

The style of operation of Mosquitoes and Missionaries is almost identical. Mosquitoes fly about their victims and settle at some convenient points. Many of their victims are aware of their presence but ignore them in good faith. And once they are settled in some vantage points, with the co-operation of their victims, they slowly and surreptitiously indulge in the most heinous of crimes against humanity – sucking out the blood and spreading the fatal viruses. Missionaries also do exactly the same. Our erstwhile Kings and present day rulers provided them all facilities and in return they spread the venom of communalism by religious conversion of the most vulnerable. Missionary work in Indian sub-continent is destroying this great nation from within and it is becoming a big business for the two Semitic religious invaders.


What should we do with these Mosquitoes? Should we allow their lethal work to continue unabated? Isn’t it time that we started dealing with these Missionaries in the same way as with the Mosquitoes? When the Mosquito population become intolerable, we usually destroy their ecosystem first. If that doesn’t work we use the Mosquito repellents or the nets for protection. If none of these methods work, we take the electric bat or our own hands to smash them on the wall splashing the blood they have sucked out of our body while spreading their deadly viruses. If their dangerous work continues without any remorse, retaliation is the only way to protect our body nation from these Missionary Mosquitoes. 

Saturday, May 07, 2016

Democracy and Demography

In a functioning democracy the majority will have to establish their decision by exercising their franchise and select those who will represent their interests. The catch comes here – who is the one who will genuinely represent our interests? Though it may not always be necessarily so, we always make the mistake that it has to be one among us. Many democracies got hijacked in the past because of this belief. And now it is clearly established in all democratic set ups throughout the world. The Whites will vote only for a White, Blacks for Blacks, Muslims for Muslims and Christians for Christians. The only exception in a pluralistic society are the so-called Hindus in India.

The recent election of a Muslim immigrant as London Mayor proves the point beyond any doubt. It mainly proves only one point, that London is a Muslim majority city. In a way, the year 2016 will go down in history as the year in which Western Colonialism reached its peak and turned its tide. It is going to be days of reverse colonialism since the days of the Industrial Revolution. Much beyond that, it even signifies the end of stability brought about by Crusades and the return of Islamic imperialism spreading its wings in Europe once again. By the end of 21st century, Christianity will become a minority religion in Europe and Arabian imperialism would have come of age.

The only places in the world, where others will be able to hold on may be Americas and Indian subcontinent. However, the fate of Indian subcontinent will always be on a suspense. Islam has already established its strong presence in pockets throughout India and by their organised reproduction will continue to capture power democratically in all these pockets very soon. Kashmir has already been lost. Kerala and West Bengal will follow suit within next five or six decades. Muslims have already tested their demographic technique successfully in their own Malappuram district in Kerala. The total number remaining capped, Muslim League has increased their MLA constituencies systematically be demographic means. Their ascent to democratic power is inevitable.

What will happen to the world then will be anybody’s guess? For the time being it is time for Rest in Peace.