Falling into Infinity

The dates between my blogs seem to be growing, and I think it is futile to say anything about how or why it has been so. So skipping over the usual banter I think I can give a better description of time spent since my last post by the places I have been to since then. Traveling is a curse they say, but seeing new sights and people is definitely one I would not like to ever give up. So since my last post I have been to Hyderabad, Calcutta, Mumbai, Pune, Delhi, Roorkee, and finally back to Pune. It has been an all India trip of sorts and I did relish my time spent in each of these places, even if it made me bankrupt in this process.

Going back to Roorkee was a memorable one, meeting all my juniors and some of my classmates. It was a trip made possible more by luck than by design as my classmates who were with me in Program management made the trip from various parts of India. For three days we forgot that we had left the institute and felt ourselves as students again. Going back there, not as a student but as an alumnus, I felt proud that I had been there, and that I was able to enjoy the four years I had spent there. Small pangs of regret I did feel as I wondered how it would have been, had I not made the choices I had, mainly regarding academics versus extra curricular activities, however, hindsight is 20/20 I suppose.

Anyways, beyond that trips to Mumbai were as fun as always and I really have to appreciate the vibrancy and diversity present there. If I could, I would call it the City of Blinding Lights to describe this city. The dichotomy that is present in Mumbai really surprised me though. From the world’s largest slum to the richest real estate property on Earth, I am surprised to see so many shades of Mumbai in this fashion. It really does remind me of the title of the book by Jeffrey Archer, As the Crow Flies.

So moving beyond these trips and all, I was thinking about a conversation I had with my friend the other day, about how people’s image of themselves changes as we grow and age. What we see ourselves as, our values, morals, character, who we are and how these change with time. During the conversation I was reminded of the book, The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde in which Dorian Gray on seeing a picture of himself is dismayed by the fact that the picture will stay the same as he ages and eventually withers away. A deal is struck to have the image age and contain within it a picture of his true self, he would remain the same young person. Eventually in the course of time, he locks the picture in an attic and tries to forget that the picture existed, and watches himself in the picture as his soul decays with his decadent means and ways. I couldn’t help but think whether I would be able to face my true self in this fashion. I don’t know the answer to that question, but I did agree on one thing though. Its each person’s life to live, make mistakes and learn, and its each person’s answer to his/her own questions that makes them who they are. Call it a very laissez faire approach to life or by any other term, there are obvious limits to where your freedom ends as well in this approach.

Going back to political commentary, I know my election predictions turned out disastrously as I predicted both the primaries and the main election wrongly; however, this has nothing to do with elections or predictions, which I will now leave to higher beings to do. Since January 20 of this year, the world’s eyes and at least one ear has been on the White House and its doings. Obama has taken the right steps ahead in closing Guantanamo Bay and his passing the finance bill through the senate. However, his system of working seems to be a bit mysterious as his general statements on the economic crisis seem to be just that, as no details are being released on the actual functioning of the rescue package. Also his neo isolationist policy seems to be the exact replica of Bush’s own isolationist policy which he tried to implement when he became president back in 2001. Events forced Bush to do otherwise, and it could be that the isolationist policy was what caused terrorism to flourish on a global scale. If Obama is doing this to distance himself from the previous administration, it could very well backfire on his own domestic agenda. The economic crisis has to be his top priority because economics is usually the indicator of the confidence of the people in their own country, and a crisis of confidence as Jimmy Carter said could be more destructive than any known weapon on earth.

Stepping aside from the foreign politics for a moment and entering into the far murkier world of Indian politics, it is that time again when the world’s largest democracy goes to election this year. I have not voted thus far in my life, looking upon it as an exercise in futility. However, even we in India face a turning point in our own country’s history. Whether we shackle ourselves to the point where we do not step forward or go along with unbridled corruption or not is in our hands now, and I sincerely urge all of those who have not voted to vote this year according to the issues that the party presents. Although voting in India might seem like a choice between Scylla and Charybdis we have to complete our duty towards the nation and its people. Not stepping into the adages of nationalism which could be more mind numbing than inspiring, it is the least that we can do for our fellow human beings. I think the call “jaago re” is appropriate in this sense.

Anyway, I will try to post more often these days, and for a small preview, it will be on books I have read since the last time I posted, so keep looking out!