Welcome to the New World (Dis)Order!
"What?" you ask. We are all tethered behind our masks in this mystical land called Dystopia.
We are asked to live for the most part in the virtual realm.
And those who have ordered us to "work" from home, seem to have forgotten several things
We the People, need FOOD. And we need at least a plastic sheet over our heads. That's ALL the people.
As for the people privileged to have a home from which to carry out such orders, homes don't run on food alone. A home is not a home without a basic functioning infrastructure. Back in the day the shops that served to maintain such an infrastructure were called hardware stores.
Welcome to the IT age.
Cyberspace relies on something very tangible and real called - you guessed it, hardware. Functioning hardware. And you get that stuff in stores, you got that right.
No it does not work if you pump some Old Monk into it. Nor do rations of rice, dal and atta magically turn into edible food unless something called FUEL is available. Yup that stuff that the wealthy tank up with in their cars. It works somewhat like Old Monk. It puts a smile on your face for starters and in the end it makes everyone crash in a heap, wasted and lost.
No prizes for guessing that for a month and a half We The People were separated from the devices that make incarceration bearable Be it a washer for a leaky tap or a length of fuse wire or a plastic sheet to save our bodies from this untimely monsoon. Or a battery for a phone - hey we need phones to function for those pesky apps we are ordered to load 😎
Before you ask what this is all about, the above sums up my rants over the past 45 days. The message is loud and clear. The system (or lack thereof) is riddled with broken links. Because the thinking of our Rajas and Mantris and their courtiers is riddled with big gaping holes. And the past several weeks have been spent in jumping over those gaps so we don't fall into an abyss, fixing the broken links with play dough or pieces of string and falling almost reflexively into a pattern of daily jugaad. Something we Indians are so good at and so ready to be reconciled to.
And with those words of indignation let me introduce you to a new series featured on this space. This has its genesis in the Lockdown Snippets - segments of my personal journal - that I had shared with a limited audience during the worst days of incarceration.
Here we incorporate insights from those snippets, gathered in quiet reflection into a bunch of ideas for a saner and healthier future.
Stay and play. I am not naming names, we'll treat this as a movie we're all acting in and that will hopefully bring detachment and perspective to our thinking.
This blog can be viewed by the public and the public includes trolls. And the best of us can turn into vicious trolls if something makes us uncomfortable. Hence comments are moderated and will be mercilessly thrown out if I don't feel good about them, even if they're from dear friends. My blog, my whims! That said I'm a warm and welcoming host as folks know. So for the most part you will get away.
I write so readers may absorb, react and reflect, then articulate and interact meaningfully. Even as my mantra here is "Don't leave it unwritten" I will chip in with a corollary "Think Before You Ink". I am done with viruses and their containment so you will not see any references to Coronagate in this series. There are spaces enough to discuss the etiology of viruses and time enough to actually understand what was/is/will be going on. And this ain't the place.
My post is interspersed with green images, the green of hope. These are from bits of green, growing quietly in a leaky mug that I shoved a handful of earth and a handful of seeds into, on an impulse. I set some intentions while doing it and my plants and I are both having a creative surge. When the creative impulse tugs at you, embrace it!
Here's to a Beautiful and Brave New World!
PS: The image at the start of the post is of my irrepressible lily grown from a handful of bulbs that were gifted to us by my brother's friend from his garden in Behala way back in 1995. Year after year at least one will come up to remind me of continuity and resurgence, of the enduring and the ephemeral sharing space. Behind you will see the Ugly Exterminator Building, the continuing bane of my life and symbolic of these prisons that threaten us. The lilies will break past those looming walls. My faith, hope and love (in and for all good things) tell me so.
And the final image is a leaf of the Saptaparni tree that chose to plant itself in my flower pot on one occasion when I'd left my plants in the backyard while going out of the city on a long trip.
There are two such. They tell me that they will find ways to grow if we rob them of land that is rightfully theirs. On that note - thanks for reading. Do follow the blog - I am hoping to keep it updated.
"What?" you ask. We are all tethered behind our masks in this mystical land called Dystopia.
We are asked to live for the most part in the virtual realm.
And those who have ordered us to "work" from home, seem to have forgotten several things
We the People, need FOOD. And we need at least a plastic sheet over our heads. That's ALL the people.
As for the people privileged to have a home from which to carry out such orders, homes don't run on food alone. A home is not a home without a basic functioning infrastructure. Back in the day the shops that served to maintain such an infrastructure were called hardware stores.
Welcome to the IT age.
Cyberspace relies on something very tangible and real called - you guessed it, hardware. Functioning hardware. And you get that stuff in stores, you got that right.
No it does not work if you pump some Old Monk into it. Nor do rations of rice, dal and atta magically turn into edible food unless something called FUEL is available. Yup that stuff that the wealthy tank up with in their cars. It works somewhat like Old Monk. It puts a smile on your face for starters and in the end it makes everyone crash in a heap, wasted and lost.
No prizes for guessing that for a month and a half We The People were separated from the devices that make incarceration bearable Be it a washer for a leaky tap or a length of fuse wire or a plastic sheet to save our bodies from this untimely monsoon. Or a battery for a phone - hey we need phones to function for those pesky apps we are ordered to load 😎
Before you ask what this is all about, the above sums up my rants over the past 45 days. The message is loud and clear. The system (or lack thereof) is riddled with broken links. Because the thinking of our Rajas and Mantris and their courtiers is riddled with big gaping holes. And the past several weeks have been spent in jumping over those gaps so we don't fall into an abyss, fixing the broken links with play dough or pieces of string and falling almost reflexively into a pattern of daily jugaad. Something we Indians are so good at and so ready to be reconciled to.
And with those words of indignation let me introduce you to a new series featured on this space. This has its genesis in the Lockdown Snippets - segments of my personal journal - that I had shared with a limited audience during the worst days of incarceration.
Here we incorporate insights from those snippets, gathered in quiet reflection into a bunch of ideas for a saner and healthier future.
Stay and play. I am not naming names, we'll treat this as a movie we're all acting in and that will hopefully bring detachment and perspective to our thinking.
I write so readers may absorb, react and reflect, then articulate and interact meaningfully. Even as my mantra here is "Don't leave it unwritten" I will chip in with a corollary "Think Before You Ink". I am done with viruses and their containment so you will not see any references to Coronagate in this series. There are spaces enough to discuss the etiology of viruses and time enough to actually understand what was/is/will be going on. And this ain't the place.
My post is interspersed with green images, the green of hope. These are from bits of green, growing quietly in a leaky mug that I shoved a handful of earth and a handful of seeds into, on an impulse. I set some intentions while doing it and my plants and I are both having a creative surge. When the creative impulse tugs at you, embrace it!
Here's to a Beautiful and Brave New World!
PS: The image at the start of the post is of my irrepressible lily grown from a handful of bulbs that were gifted to us by my brother's friend from his garden in Behala way back in 1995. Year after year at least one will come up to remind me of continuity and resurgence, of the enduring and the ephemeral sharing space. Behind you will see the Ugly Exterminator Building, the continuing bane of my life and symbolic of these prisons that threaten us. The lilies will break past those looming walls. My faith, hope and love (in and for all good things) tell me so.
And the final image is a leaf of the Saptaparni tree that chose to plant itself in my flower pot on one occasion when I'd left my plants in the backyard while going out of the city on a long trip.
There are two such. They tell me that they will find ways to grow if we rob them of land that is rightfully theirs. On that note - thanks for reading. Do follow the blog - I am hoping to keep it updated.
Drank in every word savoured d pics. Thanq
ReplyDeleteThank you Unknown - do identify yourself :)
DeleteThis was absolutely brilliant. Looking forward to your next.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much. The next one is also up.
DeleteA lovely read with a cup of tea. Been seeing your second pic a lot. What are you growing? Looking forward to the next one.
ReplyDeleteThank you Colleen! I'm growing herbs - what you see emerging is methi (fenugreek)
DeleteWaiting to read your next with green images interspersed. I loved the metaphor of gaps and the jugad of sealing it with play dough or else we fall into an abyss.its very eloquent of our present situation.
ReplyDelete