Fifty Years of Togetherness

One lighthouse illuminates the way for many ships to steer a course safely through uncertain waters.

The greatest gift one receives is the gift of life, for which I am eternally indebted to my parents, but there is a gift that I received that was even greater than life, a gift that has made me who I am today. That is the gift of upbringing.

My parents taught me that anything was possible in the realm of the mystic, that one’s dreams defined the limits of one’s abilities, and that if something was worth doing, it was worth doing well.

My parents introduced me to greatness in all fields of human endeavor, art, music, literature, science, political theory, and spirituality, and then taught me to be humbly uplifted in the presence of such greatness.

My parents taught me that God was something that I had to discover for myself, and that NOTHING was more sacred than humanism.

Manju and Surajit Dasgupta, my parents, complete 50 years of married life today, February 28, 2012. Here's wishing them a momentous anniversary and eternal happiness and togetherness!

(Here is a link to mom's Facebook page for those who may be interested.)

The Revolution Will Not Be Televised

This is a post that touches on music, technology, people’s movements, loss of memories, and memories of loss. Readers are requested to forgive me for attempting to straddle all of these in one post, there is no way I can help it today.

“Remembering things about a person is an expression of compassion and concern. Forgetfulness shows a lack of compassion, a lack of responsibility.” These words by Daisaku Ikeda started my day as I settled in with my tea to watch the live telecast of the 54th Grammy Awards. I was looking forward to the show for the Beach Boys reunion and the Paul McCartney performance. However, the run up to the show saw the death of Whitney Houston and the awards ceremony was a proof of how the show can go on without compromising on compassion and concern. With presenters and and performers alike making it a point to honor those who are not among us today at a show that is precisely planned and televised live, it is a living testimony to what the arts and technology can do together.

The weekend had me reflecting on how the new technology and social media can actually create a brave new world. The internet with all its shortcomings continues to be one of the few spaces where the new generation can go to find the memories of their predecessors. One of the more painful drives in Hyderabad is the one on Tank Bund where one is faced with the defaced pedestals and missing statues of Telugu luminaries whose presence angered some people. Counting the defaced pedestal that are still standing made me realize yesterday that I was not aware of the life and times of many of these people. Thanks to the internet, I was able to look up who they were and what they did. What the internet failed to give me was any rationale behind this act of vandalism, though it did show me that I was not alone in my grief and that the largest expression of opinion about this was that of sorrow and disgust. This digitization and virtualization of our collective past is rapidly becoming the norm, with museums, galleries, libraries and book stores giving way to virtual storehouses of memories and information. I realize this as I see the second hand books and magazines Sunday market at Abids shrink a little more every time I visit.

This comes with its plus and minus. The new generation of internet users, though often accused of being fickle and short of attention, is capable of processing far more information at a much faster pace than any earlier generation. They are quick to receive and honor new ideas and 1expressions, and equally quick to reject them. The evolution of the social media space to where it allows convergence of all media across a wide range of platforms and devices has only added to this movement.

People can come together using the new medium to not only share their creative expression but also to express their opinions about their own welfare. In many ways, people are today able to impact public policy by using the power of the internet to mobilize, crystallize and publish the will of the people. Censorship and restriction on the freedom of expression or access to information by governments and corporations have proved futile. The Arab Spring and the recent global uprisings against failed capitalistic institutions and principles are evidence of this power. Many people are quick to point out that these “people’s movements” are naive, misguided, and either fizzle out or get hijacked on to somebody else’s agenda. It is perhaps prudent to keep in mind that these are the early days of this movement. There are few precedents and the failures of these movements are but lessons that will strengthen the future of the free internet.

Today’s television event of the year, at least for music lovers, is streaming live not only on the official websites, but on Youtube itself, long perceived as a threat to traditional television and the commercial audiovisual industry. The internet today is emerging as the future of all media. The Grammy’s three hour delayed telecast to the West Coast continues this year in spite of having lost all its relevance in the age of the internet. To adapt the words of the legendary Gill Scott-Heron who too was remembered at the awards show, the revolution is not being televised, it is live.

Enough of this socio-economic stuff. Let me get back to the music.

Since this post was written in the backdrop of the Grammy telecast (or is it the other way around?), I need to share my big takeaways from the ceremony. The Maroon Five and Foster the People tribute to The Beach Boys was the perfect introduction to the iconic band performing together for the first time in god knows how many years, even if for just one song. And that was followed by Sir Paul, Eagle Joe Walsh and Diana Krall singing My Valentine from his new album Kisses on the Bottom. Glen Campbell! was as much fun as the superb all-star tribute that brought him on. Tweets paused for a while as Jennifer Hudson sang Whitney’s all time classic I will Always Love You with the intensity that had people tweeting that she was channeling Whitney’s spirit. I had always wanted to know about the music that Nicki Minaj made, and her strange act at the award ceremony gave me some idea. Though it was roundly dismissed by viewers the world over, the pyrotechnics, the speaking in tongues, the levitation, and the rather meaningless religious symbolism made me realize that we live in a world that holds the cultural vacuum of sensationalism (Lady Gaga and Nicki Minaj) and genuine artistic expression (Adele and even Taylor Swift) in one impartial embrace.

For me personally, the highlight of the show was the McCartney recreation of the closing tracks from perhaps the best Beatles album Abbey Road. The guitar climax with Dave Grohl, Joe Walsh, and Bruce Springsteen joining in to trade licks was a treat. At a time when new music is challenged to match the greatness of the past, this year’s performances showcased the best of the new generation standing very ably shoulder to shoulder with the giants of yesteryears. A heartening sight indeed.

If you have not already seen these two posts of mine, you may want to check out
1. Band on The Run - Paul McCartney and the Wings - 25 years later
2. My tribute to a legend. Whitney Houston

The Secret Secret

Have you ever wondered what makes some people successful and happy while others languish and struggle to even get by? How do some people make it to top positions and earn lots of money, while others seem to be destined to serve under them? Why does “luck” seem to favor some and overlook others?

In this post, I will share with you the “secret” secret of success. After reading this post, you will be able to apply this secret and find yourself among the “super-achievers” and celebrities that you have always looked up to.

Since this is neither a product review nor an advertisement, I will tell you the secret right away, and then tell you how you can go about applying this secret in your life to become more popular, earn more money, attract the right partner, succeed at your job, and find the meaning of life. Research shows that after you apply this secret principle, your blog traffic will increase tenfold, you will also be able to take better photographs, lose as much weight as you desire, and cross the roads in Hyderabad quickly and easily.

Future Imperfect: The HSBC Global Research Report

We are a funny people. We top the academic charts the world over while a large number of children in our backyards either die as infants or have to go to work as child labor before they can think of going to school. We are the leading destination for medical tourism, yet our public health system lies in tatters with basic healthcare a distant dream for the less privileged. We have the Mayawati's, the Mamata's and the Jayalalitha's yet we need a reservation bill for women and wake up to crimes against women every morning. We have embraced the true meaning of Islam, of Buddhism, of Hinduism and of Christianity, yet our vote banks are divided along religious grounds. We seem to be very pleased with ourselves as a nation without reflecting on the rot that we sweep under the carpet. Dr. Ramesh Grandhi, in this article, looks at issues facing us as the emerging superpower of the immediate future.

It has been long forecast that India would occupy one of the top five places in the world based on GDP. The HSBC Global research report bears this out, and yes it is indeed a matter of some pride that we will be in the third place by the year 2050 with just China and the US ahead of us.  Newspapers are blaring the fact that our economy will be the third biggest, but if we go past the headlines, we see not a very rosy picture.  Corrective measures are the need of the hour, but will our government which seems more intent on fighting Mamata and Anna have the political fortitude to address this long term issue? Plans will need to be made now and not a decade or so into the future.

Studying the figures I was reminded of an advertisement that had brought a smile to my face sometime ago—a kid comes running home declaring proudly—“Mom, I came third in a race at school. The proud mother beams, but the canny father asks “How many students participated my boy?” The answer “Just three of us”.  This time the kid wasn’t looking all that pleased with himself.

The report portrays a very similar picture, China will be on top with a GDP of 24.6 trillion dollars (trillion=1000 billion), the US will be second with 22.2 trillions and India is third but at a measly 8.2 trillions.  If you look at the per capita figures, the comparison is so skewed that you will end up being dismayed. China’s per capita incomes are almost 4 times ours and America’s more than 11 times.

My All New Improved Alexa Rank!!

Subho's Jejune Diet is now among the 10,000 most popular websites in the world, and is ranked as 184th most popular website in India. My global Alexa rank has just hit the 9,990 level!!

Ok, ok, jokes aside, - this is neither the truth nor a photoshop tweak. Neither is this validation of the widespread allegation that most Alexa ranking stats are manipulated. The recent country specific URL redirect introduced by Google and Blogger has resulted in new URLs for all blogspot blogs that are generated depending on where the page is being viewed from. This has led to some amount of confusion and trouble, but this one made my day.