Random Musings

.. as the burglar said to the old lady as he placed her on the fire. But it’s a new month, and time for a new look to the site, don’t you think? You don’t? Well, that’s sad, but only expected, since you never did agree with anyone, did you now? I, however, am more easily persuaded, and have decided to change it.

So change it is. The site is new, and while the chirping birds over your head may be newer, at least it’s not likely to leave a token of gratitude upon your head, eh?

If you are wondering what has gotten into me, worry not, all will be explained in due course of time. Of course, due course of time is a vague allusion to the fullness of time, and since we are talking of time, let’s not forget the vagaries of time, or even the ravages. Tides and time and no man and what not, hmm?

I will write about multiple commas, and pet food and cats. Why pet food and cats? Well, there are two little puppies that are living on my doorstep. And I do mean my doorstep. When I open the door in the morning, they are there, fatly (and flatly) refusing to move. I step carefully over them, and go perform a hard day’s labor ( which mostly involves playing games ), and when I return, they are still there. The only difference, to the naked eye at least, is that they seem to be fatter! Since they don’t seem to move, one can only assume that they are somehow drawing sustenance out of the granite doorstep. Nay, not sustenance. They’re getting fatter, so they must be gobbling it down.. Perhaps soon I shall step out and see nothing but a big hole where that faithful stone used to be. Alas, poor stone, I knew it well. Why cats? Well, why NOT cats, I ask you!

It’s also funny how there are so many Hot Chips stores here. I’m not kidding, that’s what they are called. They seem to breed in narrow lanes, somewhat like dysentery. Hmm, I wonder what the causal relationship is here. These shops sell, appropriately, hot chips. Of various sorts. Nothing wrong with that, right? Sure, but when you have three of them within a lame dog’s walk to pee, and all on the same side of the road, like empty cabs when you stand on the other side, something is not right. Perhaps these shops are merely fronts for more sinister and nefarious activities. They might be Bangalore’s hangout for the local version of the Yakuza, or the Mafia, or the KKK, or even the Lion’s Club. Perhaps, if you ask for just the right combination of hot chips, the portly man behind the griddle (who looks quite like the vegetable the chips are derived from, if a trifle darker) will drop one eyelid in a salacious (well, maybe not salacious, maybe just a knowing) wink, and motion you inside with the long spoon.

You’d hop inside, not so much as to meet the mob, but more to escape the hot drops of oil dripping from the spoon that hissingy announce their imminent intention to leave a more permanent reminder of your Bangalore visit than mere dysentery. Inside, past what seems to be a bead curtain, till you look closely and realize that these are withered old potatoes (or at least, you hope that’s what they are), lies a mysterious room.

In many respects a perfectly ordinary room, what makes it mysterious is the air of mystery that permeates it. Coupled as it is with more noisome airs, you choke and quickly cover your nose to keep the mystery out. This seems to be a tested and approved method of standing, since no one there threatens to disembowel you. Of course, this might be aided by the rivers of tears streaming down everyones faces, since the more prosaic use of the room is as a storeroom for chilli powder.

The leader clears his throat, sounding more like a sputtering diesel engine running on cheap kerosene fuel, spits out copious quantities of last night’s tipple into the corner, and commences thusly :

“Fellow Chippians. We are gathered here today, not to bury chips, but to praise them. United in our breasts by the common cause of chippery, and shocked by the rapidly increasing menace of Coffee Day Outlets, we have vowed to fight the scourge tooth and nail, to the last drop of boiling oil..”, here, he breaks off for an almighty sneeze, which has the unfortunate effect of sending his dentures flying across the room and hitting a torpid chippian in the head. This worthy fellow wakes up with a start, and feeling that something is expected of him, jumps up and lets loose with a loud cry of “Hear! Hear”. As he notices everyone glaring at him, he sheepishly sits down again and quietly hands the false choppers back.

“AHEM”.

It’s lovely weather. The clouds are stacked up high, layered on top of each other. Cool breezes complete the feeling. I’m sitting at Manu’s house, doing nothing much. His sister’s getting married in a couple of days, so we’re roaming about occasionally, doing stuff like ordering 600 biscuits, checking the hotel rooms, buying scented candles, the works.

My knee is much better, but it’s still not fine. That will take some more time. I’m hoping that by the end of this month I should be back to normal and be able to run around. Let’s see how that goes. Walking around is less painful now, thankfully.

So what’s keeping me amused? Wimbledon, of course. Sitting on my couch, with something nice to eat nearby, and the weather mirroring England, what could be better? Especially when there’s such great tennis on show. Serena’s fightback yesterday after getting cramp, Nadal vs Soderling, Djokovic, it’s all here.

10 July 2007

Wimbledon is over, and Federer did what he does, he won. The wedding is over, and now I am looking ahead to my leaving home. Right now I am listening to 29 Palms and singing along. I used to do that a while back with a pal, and it’s still fun, though I miss my friend then.

It’s still raining, and the weather is lovely. My knee is getting better by the day, and I’m now able to walk for longish periods without it hurting. The signs are good that I will be able to play by the end of this month. Of course, I will be in Bangalore by then, but I’m hoping that I can get some sort of physical activity going then. Perhaps some gentle tennis, maybe? Who knows. I will probably be too busy to breathe, even!

I’ve been setting up the computer at home for Mom to use. I’ve installed Ubuntu, since Mom does not care about the OS, she just needs the thing to work so she can access the internet. And remote access is much much easier with Ubuntu, so if I need to fix something for Mom, or show her how something works, I can.

I’m missing a few people, quite a bit more than I expected. It’s funny, cause when I was in college, I’d sorta taken them for granted, and gotten used to their presence. Now that it’s not there, just feels weird.

Anyway, thats the update. Nothing much happening, just making some lists for what I need to get.

And slightly depressed, for reasons that will go unmentioned here.

The month of April was full of eventful events. It started off with me playing soccer, and managing to injure my knee. Not a simple injury, I had to go and tear my ACL, PCL, and get a grade two meniscus tear in the bargain. I need surgery to get this fixed, and of course the Doc is busy, and can’t operate before July.

So here I am, limping around, barely able to walk. I’d got a job in Bangalore, the one I had interviewed for, and I was looking forward to moving there, but apparently, fate has other plans for me, and means to keep me in Jaipur for a bit. I hope my employers don’t fire me!

April was also our last month in college. Now, when you have spent five years in one place, from the age of 19 to 24, it is a bit of a wrench to think that you will never come back there again, and that college days are over. All the late nights, sitting and talking in Tillu’s room, laughing at Mama’s antics, these are now only memories. I’m not very sentimental, but I must confess that when I looked at my empty room, where I’d spent four years of my life, I felt my eyes grow misty.

That room saw me through all sorts of good times, bad times, and medium times. It saw me start to write online, and make lots of money doing so; it saw me sit and stare blankly at the walls when it would seem like life is really not worth doing anything at all with; it saw all sorts of things.

Still, I’d always wanted to leave my room as if I had never lived there, and I think I managed that. No posters, no marks on the walls, no nothing. Just an empty room, with no trace of my presence.Does that seem weird? Maybe, I don’t know.

I didn’t have too great a time in college, for a variety of reasons. But I did make some very good friends, who got me through five years of law school with pretty decent grades. And I must say, that it was a fun time overall.

The last month was a blur of eating out all the time, going for Taj breakfasts at the drop of a hat, staying up all night ( well, that we did anyway), and of course, me being me, reading a lot of books.

I spoke to some people that I had never spoken to in five years, and found that they were quite nice. I think they were surprised by me too. I was extremely surprised and embarrassed to be voted a certain title, and all that.

Standard usual passing out of college tales I think. But yes, I will remember them. Especially looking at my room, and saying good bye on the station to Tillu, who was one member of the triumverate of Arun, me and him. We were the ones who always stayed up, and his room, with all the posters, and windchimes, and the fridge! was the scene of many a late night conversation. I’ll miss that, as I will miss hanging out with Arun and Tillu. And who can forget Ruthwik, dropping in for a chat. Here’s to all you guys! Addu, don’t get pissed, you’re here too.

Anyway, that’s done and over with. I am now home, and resting my leg as much as possible. I am confused again, cause my job now seems to have receded a few months, till I get my leg fixed. Ah well, such is life. I’m a little down and out too, for many reasons, but that is not something I am going to write about here.

I apologize for the post being just a wee bit maudlin, but hey, it’s my journal, and I write what I want

Cheerful stuff later.

This is something I wrote in my third year of law school.

What is law? This is an oft asked question. We have been given many answers. Some say that law is a rule. Some say that is a norm for society to follow. Some equate law with punishment. Some trot out a technical definition and say that the legislature makes law, i.e an act passed by the parliament is law. A dictionary defines one of the meanings of law as,

“the rules of conduct established and enforced by the  authority, legislation, or custom of a given community, state,  or other group b) any one of such rules. ” The jurisprudential meaning is given as, ” the branch of knowledge dealing with such rules, jurisprudence.” The word is derived from early Anglo-Saxon ‘lagu’ meaning something laid down or settled, a base.

I am sure that there are many other definitions, meanings and understandings of law. I do not know them all. I doubt if anyone does. But what does law really mean? Is law merely a rule for people to follow? Is it just an act passed by a competent legislature? Is it more than this? Should it be more than this?

1939. Warsaw, Poland. Hitler has just invaded Poland. The Nazi’s have one item on top of their list. Jews. The Aryan super race has no room and no desire to share the Earth with Jews. So what do they do? Embark on a carefully planned program of Genocide. It is done in stages, with the stages growing progressively more severe. What is interesting from our point of view is the fact that the Nazi’s called their commands ‘Law’. It was the law that Jews have to wear a visible emblem of their being Jews at all times. What was this emblem? It was a blue Star of David on a white background. It was also the ‘law’ that the star must measure eight centimeters from point to point, and the thickness of the lines must be one centimeter. This was the law. Passed by a competant person. Notified in the proper manner. And enforced.Promptly and brutally. It is of course possible to claim that the authority passing the law was not competent. What does authority mean? It means, among other things,  ” the power or right to give commands, enforce obedience, take action, or make final decisions; jurisdiction the position of one having such power” It would be sophistry to claim that since the Nazi’s were invaders, the authority they had was not proper. The fact remains that for half a million Jews in Poland, they were the Law. The ‘laws’ kept coming. Soon Jews were not allowed to sit on public benches, walk in a public park, eat in a public restaurant, walk on a public pavement. Law. And if it was not followed, it was brutally, very brutally enforced. The cumulative result of all these ‘laws’ and what followed, was the death of 6 million Jews. Yes, 6 million.  In lakhs that is 60 Lakhs. 60,000,000 human beings, killed because they were different.

Of course, we know today that Hitler was a crackpot dictator who was defeated by the combined might of the free world. Those days can never happen again. We have laws to stop people like that, right? Democracy is the rule of the people, by the people, for the people. The general will ensures the freedom of all. Yes, of course. How could one forget all these ‘facts’.  Look at the world today. Isn’t it just the perfect place with peace on earth and good will towards all men? No? Godhra. Bombay. Kashmir. And these are just the major happenings, the ones that get reported by our myriad news channels. What about the little ones, which get a few columns of space in some local daily. Like the one about a Dalit getting beaten up and forced to eat human excrement. What did he do? Well, he committed the heinous crime of actually daring to ask for money for the work that he had done. How dare he.

And meanwhile the laws keep getting passed. Gujarat passed the Anti-Conversion Bill. What does this mean? Well, nothing much, simply that if you wish to convert your religion, you have to inform the local magistrate. That’s all. Whoever said that religion is a private affair? Between me and my God, whoever that happens to be? The enforcement of law is course is a separate matter. It depends on who is doing the enforcing, and who is the person whom such enforcement will benefit. The police are the people in charge of enforcing the law.  But how they go about enforcing the law is their own business.

“Meherunnissa Mohamad Yakub Ansari (Exh.577) also says that from about 1930 hours on 8th January 1993, till about 1330 hours on 9th January 1993, there were continuous attacks on their chawl No.12.  The attackers were all Hindus from BIT Chawls who kept shouting “Landyabai ka ghar kidar hai” and knocking on her door. They were carrying choppers and other weapons.  She is emphatic about what the police told her when she complained to them. Says, the witness, “I cannot forget during my entire life the words used by the police – ‘Pakistan chale jao; yahan kyon ate ho marneke liye’”. After the Muslim residents had moved away to safety locking their houses, their houses were systematically ransacked and looted.”

Quoted verbatim from the Justice Sri Krishna Committee Report, Part II Paragraph 1.11. This committee investigated the Bombay Riots of 1992-3

We are all aware of such incidents. What is alarming is the way we react. The question is not whether Hindus are attacking Muslims or vice versa. At different times in history, both have been true, to varying degrees. The only difference is one of temporal separation. The question is one of Humanity. Law is uniquely a human creation. Even animals have rules. Even animals have punishment. Even animals have authority figures. Only Humans have laws. The problem arises when people’s humanity is denied. Once that is done, it becomes easy to persecute those people. This has happened throughout human history. When you deny someone his humanity, when you reduce him to the level of an animal, it does not seem a crime to punish, torture, or kill him. The Romans did it. The Greeks did it. The nobility in the Dark and Middle Ages did it. The Nazi’s did it. Are we doing it? To each other? Are humans all over the world actively denying other people’s humanity? Unfortunately, the evidence seems to point to this.

The fundamental assumption that law works on is that it will be applied to humans. Parliament does not make laws for animals. Rules are made for animals. Law is for human beings, Homo sapiens and human activity. This basic assumption is the bedrock of law. It is so obvious that is is often overlooked. And this very assumption creates a big loophole in the law. For example, Section 299 and 300 of the Indian Penal Code define the offense of culpable homicide and murder respectively. S.299 reads “Whoever causes death by doing an act with the intention of causing death, or with the intention of causing such bodily injury as is likely to cause death, or with the knowledge that he is likely by such act to cause death, commits the offence of culpable homicide”. It reads “causing death”, “cause death”. It does not anywhere specify death of a human being. The only indication is the chapter title. “Of offences affecting the human body”. But if you kill a bird in your garden, is it murder? You have taken willfully, let us assume, the life of a living being. Does it make a difference if you step on an ant and crush it. Of course it does not. You cannot haul someone up for swatting a fly. Precisely. If someone who is human is defined as less than an ant, does it matter that you kill him? No. Did the life of a slave matter in the Greek and Roman eras? Did it matter in the Cotton Plantations in America, the land of the free, and the home of the brave? Was a black man equal to a white man? Is a Dalit equal to a Brahmin?

Who defines humanity? Is it a dictionary? Is it Government? Is it people in power? Is it Parliament? The answer is, of course, obvious. None of the above. You and I define humanity. In our minds, we define humanity. We determine the meaning and qualifications required to be considered human. Some of us define humanity in terms of Caste. The lower castes do not quite come within this definition of humanity. Some define it is terms of color. Darker people do not quite fit this definition. Some define it in terms of religion. Some in terms of intelligence. Some in terms of sexual preference. There are as many definitions of humanity as there are human beings. At this juncture it might be instructive to look up the meaning in a dictionary.

1. the fact or quality of being human; human nature

2   [pl.] human qualities or characteristics, esp. those considered desirable

3   the human race; mankind; people

4   the fact or quality of being humane; kindness, mercy, sympathy, etc.

But what is the fact of quality of being human? What is human nature? What are human qualities or characteristics? Humanity is what you say it is. If Hitler said that Jews were not human, they were not. And since he had the power to back up what he said, it was truth. Conquerors have a habit of denying the conquered people’s humanity. Perhaps it helps them sleep better at night.

Is it even possible to have a definition which encompasses all of humanity. Religion believes that God created Man in his own image. Well, if God is infinite, is Man any less so? Maybe it’s a good thing that there is no all-encompassing definition of humanity. Think how limiting that would be.

Law and lawmakers must at all times keep in mind that the law is meant for all humans, whoever they may be. It must not be limited by the lawmaker’s personal definition of humanity. Or by society’s defintion of humanity. Or by any defintion of humanity.

We all have our own definitions of humans and humanity. You do and I do. It is not possible to be human and not have these definitions. But it is less than human to be limited by these definitions. We must rise above these personal definitions. We must strive every day to break the chains which shackle us to hidebound notions. We must move forward. And perhaps someday we will not need law anymore.

A nice alphabet there. Stands for so many things. Delhi, dreary, devastating, dull, dastardly.. see what I mean?

Of course, being a regular to this journal, you’ll know that an opening like that signifies that I have nothing to write about, and so am trying desperately to hold your attention with a catchy opening line.

Well, it worked, didn’t it? You’re still reading. So stop complaining.

I’ve been hanging around in Delhi more than I have been in college this sem. Been coming here every chance I get. This time, I came for the CLC debate, and had fun. My teammate was debating for the first time, so we ended up having loads of fun, and heck, we actually managed to qualify for the quarter-finals! Got knocked out eventually to another DU team doing another prepared debate (sigh!), but at least we did fun debates.

Now I’m hanging around with my brother and Choti, my sis-in-law.  We are eating lots of food, watching lots of movies, and having nice long conversations. I’m probably going to be hanging around here for a couple more days, before I head back to college.

I’m watching bits of Gone With the Wind.  Viven Leigh and Clark Gable.. What a movie! The sets, the acting, the whole spread out lavish extravaganza. Bravo!!

Oh yeah, I may be going to watch Iron Maiden perform live at Bangalore! My bestest friend (heh heh heh), has agreed to pay my way, some part of it at least.. So B’lore, here I come!! It ought to be fun, considering that Maiden is supposed to be one of the best live performances around!

A friend of mine is down in the dumps, and I’m hoping to help out. I guess February is a blue month. I was down and out too for a while, which is why I wasn’t writing at all, but now I’m better, for the most part.

Oh well, I have no job, no money, no admission to any Univ, anywhere in the world, and no idea what I am going to do next! Sounds like fun!

Over and out!