When in doubt, stick to logic
It’s the 11th day of the lockdown and in this ongoing phase, I’ve noticed quite a lot of things which I wouldn’t have had I been continuing with my office-home-office routine. For one, time indeed moves slowly when you stay indoors. At our workplace, I wouldn’t realize where half the day went by. Secondly, I am much aware of the little things now. Let me ask you a question, when was the last time you actually focused on food while eating? No screen distraction whatsoever? I believe, for most of us armed with laptops, smartphones and the works, it’s difficult to do just one thing at a time. We take it as an affront if we aren’t multitasking. And as a consequence, we end up doing a lot of things wrong. In isolation, I’ve observed the difference between dependency and independence. It’s not that we can’t wash our clothes or clean our dishes. Just that the system in place ensured that we want our domestic helps to take care of such stuff for us. With them away, the responsibility falls squarely on us and we’ve understood that almost everything is doable.
One of my lowest points of childhood was observing the dog bus enter our neighbourhood. Every time, that blue vehicle entered the premises, all the street dogs went through stages of strange explicit agony, symbolized by her howling and growling. They knew there was no escape but they tried their best. Those BMC men would catch them and in their haphazardness would often leave the caught dog bleeding from his mouth. And I would always cry on the road, feeling utterly helpless. Fortunately, I learned at a very young age that they were not being taken away to be killed; the idea was to neuter and vaccinate them. Even so, it wasn’t a pleasant cacophony. After shedding tears for them, I would return home to my cats. Legions of cats. I would hug them tightly, basking in the knowledge that no bus was coming to trouble these scoundrels.
Criticism maketh you. It doesn’t only reveal you, it builds you as well. If you are the type who takes unflattering words in an unflattering manner, then you’ve failed the whole purpose of criticism. Yes, of course, not everybody’s criticism matters. But your attitude towards the C-word does. As a school boy, hearing an unkind appraisal would kill my appetite. It was only after moving out of home and living in a hostel that I learned the significance of not putting too much weight on anybody’s understanding of who I am. Maybe that’s why, after introducing myself to social media, I was able to wade through everything without one public argument to my name. I simply didn’t care about justifying myself or my thoughts. Our prime minister doesn’t care either but the problem is, unlike me, he seems mighty scared of criticism. Nothing else can explain his lack of interest in engaging with the media — as a robust constitutional democracy would behoove — on a regular basis.
During my office-going days, I used to take a bath at 7.30 am every morning. As of now, I am not sure whether I need a bath. Bathing is one of those rituals that I follow for others’ convenience. Left to my own device, I wouldn’t bathe for days, if not weeks, perhaps. In my defense, I am against wasting water. My hands are my face are the cleanest due to my respect for my enemy: COVID-19. All these revelations may sound boorish but trust me when I say that I look at pigeons and feel better about myself. Those rascals drink, shit and bathe in the same bowl placed on our balcony. Surprised that they are somehow safe from coronavirus. Or maybe we must start imitating their lifestyle.
Have said this many times and am prepared to reiterate for your sake: Brad Pitt is immensely underrated as an actor. As a star and adonis, he is celebrated at cloud number 10 but as a screen artist, he is not accorded enough credit. If you go through his filmography — particularly in the ‘90s — the sheer range of roles is incredible. He consciously stayed away from falling into the trap of a caricature. Being too good looking can be a curse in Hollywood and he evidently had a plan around it. Today, apart from being an Oscar-winning actor, he is also a big time producer, with his production house Plan B Entertainment, which backs risky films. In fact, he won his first Oscar as a producer for 12 Years a Slave (2013). I have a strong feeling that he will be the perennial actor-producer, in the league of Clint Eastwood and Robert Redford, who make movies they like to make even in their wrinkly 80s.
Being a vegetarian, and for that matter, even vegan, doesn’t qualify you as a rider of an imaginary moral horse. Besides, in India, even a person who has chicken/fish only on Sunday for lunch calls himself a non-vegetarian. The overall effect of a person vis-à-vis the environment counts. No doubt that our dietary preferences affect nature but to suggest that only our diet does and none of other choices — mode of transport, attitude towards plastic, avoidance of resource wastage, number of saplings planted, etc — do is bunkum. That clarified, mocking someone for their diet just because it doesn’t match yours is a sign of regression too. Obviously, it’s easier to say this than actually do something about it. Would you be comfortable sitting with an indigenous fellow from Nagaland who is having dog rice or somebody from Wuhan consuming bat soup next to you at the dinner table? Exactly. Dietary liberty is best left to words. In practice, culture and familiarity play a huge role. After all, food is very personal.
Sticking to the topic, vegetarianism has nothing to do with religious identity. We, especially the urban folks, aren’t bound to the stringent tenets of the caste system. More and more vegetarians ‘experiment’ with scrambled eyes in the name of protein. This flexibility drives both sides of the road: people you expect to be rigid are loosening up and people you’d expect to be bohemian are taking a conscious turn. In fact, I’ve got 3 non-Hindu colleagues who are staunch vegetarians. I am the one who freely enjoys beef and pork in their presence. In fact, one of my Pakistani friends (from Lahore) is an animal-loving vegetarian too. These individuals appear like aberrations today but might be the norm tomorrow. As we progress, we’ll definitely enter a world which more openly embraces plant-based diet because animal-based industry is simply not sustainable with the ongoing climate change. Morality would hardly have anything to do with this impending shift.
On the internet, even on refined platforms like Reddit, there is an intense desire to prove others wrong. Such people act like they might never graduate from their kindergarten mindset. We argue mainly because we believe in something and don’t wish to budge. But that’s on the surface level. On digging deeper, you’ll acknowledge that the desire to feel better about ourselves at the cost of an opponent’s intelligence (or lack of) is intensely satisfying. Personally, I appreciate to and fro only with a select group of friends who share common adherence to logic and rationality. There is no point whatsoever in engaging with the unreasonable sorts. Not for their sake. But for yours. The world will keep spinning whether ideas, views and ideologies differ. We are all biased in our own ways and want others to see things through the lens we see. At the end of the day, you are not changing anyone. The most important thing is to protect your peace of mind without compromising on your sanity.
Mosquitoes are one of the most influential creatures on this planet but they are terrible at PR. About 108 billion humans have walked this planet and apparently, 60% of them were killed by these tiny insects. Long before we had proper names like malaria and dengue, people used to die to mosquito bites without having a clue what struck them in the first place. So, if you are scared of sharks and snakes, please be assured that there is a greater chance of you falling victim to those little vampires. For something that lives barely 40 days, they surely know what an impact looks like. Maybe that’s why when they leave a red bite mark on your skin, they are basically reminding you that they can do worse than an itch.
Lastly, my decline in classical chess is complete now. From reaching my all-time high of 1314, I am back to sub-1200. Deservedly so. I did many things wrong. Firstly, I should have been more selective with my opponents. Interestingly enough, I played more earnestly against those in the 1400–1500 bracket. What’s the point in playing with a lower-rated player who has much more to gain from your loss than you can reap from defeating him? Losing 14 points at once can be shattering. I didn’t practise this principle and paid heavily because I suffer from overconfidence when it comes to lower ranked opponents. What else can explain dropping 100+ points in less than 25 days?
