A billion shades

As I begin to write this, my head reels -A dilemma that refuses to resolve. Well not really a dilemma. Dilemma is binary- this or that, right or wrong, plain 2 dimensional problem. Simple.  You can either be right or wrong. Is there a word in English called multilemma? Something that depicts the multi-dimensional chaos of the human mind?  The uncertainty of represented facts, or the interpretations of it from multiple directions. May be-May be not.  As much as I try to simplify things and try to represent them on a 2 dimensional plane, they get distorted beyond recognition. Is it really that complicated to have a two dimensional view of a multi-dimensional entity? Or is it that I am over complicating things?  Trying to imaging multiple dimensions when only two exist, or may be none exist! May be- May be not.  Also, Am I the only one with such questions? Are there others like me? Are they even aware? May be- May be not. For some time now, I have heard myself say these words a million times – May be –May be not.
Needless to say, I am talking about the current political situation in the country. Frankly speaking, the situation is neither a ‘current’ phenomenon nor just political. It is slowly creeping into the basic fabric of our society. Or maybe it was already present, just being revived. Either ways, the happenings make one feel agonizing, at the very least. I went through the cycle of disbelief, disillusionment, pain, anger, exhaustion, confusion, agony and anything that you can add to the mix. Stopped writing (not that anybody cared, except my kid who got that extra time with me ! ).  A number of people, when touched upon the topic asked the same question- What’s going on. With an exasperated tone of course.  Most were apolitical, may be a little right leaning- people who possibly may have voted for the BJP due to varied reasons and expectations. (‘may have’ because you don’t ask one his voting preferences).  What’s going on? Honestly I have no answer.  Or may be many answers. Answers that defy the established norms of our thinking barriers. Who will listen? Who will believe? Well may be people know it, just that there’s been selective amnesia. Or – May be not.
From the very beginning, we have been taught the concept of antithesis. Good or evil, right or wrong, true or false, gods and demons, heroes and villains, tormentors and victims, Black or White. So if one exists, or you believe it exists, the other has to.  There is no way it cannot- we are told. So most of us brought up with a version of our own goods and evils, gods and anti-gods, white and black find the kaleidoscope a confusing place.  What color should I call it if my glasses are red? Or green for that matter? Should I wear glasses? What if I cannot see clearly?  So there is a color of your glasses, the color of the object, seen from a colorful kaleidoscope against a bright colored background in a room with colored lights!  The ultimate color? Nobody knows and different for everybody. Yet we are told that it has to be black or white. The Kaleidoscope, we are told doesn’t allow for shades of grey. Each has to choose their white and live with it. You are disowned if you deviate, revolt or question.
The First white - So a political party, which has the largest number of seats , in fact the highest since past 30 years, is – we are told is communal, anti dalits , anti-Christians , anti-Muslims, anti-farmers, anti-Students, anti-Women ( well somebody wearing a saffron colored shirt opposed them in Shani Shingnapur remember ? )  . So we have a ruling party that’s against a whopping 70-80 % of the population. Not to mention anti-Pakistan, anti-China, anti- Marxist, anti-Secular, anti- whatever happens with whosoever in the country.  In fact, the leader of an opposition party is so desperate to call them anti-XXX that he espouses the cause of the very person, whom they hanged, when in power!.  And whom is the ruling party supporting really? – Well Brahmanical way. A huge 2% of the population!  Astonishing because even the most brutal dictatorship cannot survive with that minuscule a support!. Businessmen –Second answer!. We must surely be living in the Cuba of 60s where support to business is termed as an act of treachery.  Similarly , an organization that have been in existence for past 90+ years under the British rule followed by prolonged single party rule in the country-and surprisingly not banned all the while, is branded a terrorist organization and compared to some of the most dreaded terror groups in the world . They spread hatred it seems!  Why will the ruling dispensation try to destabilize their own government by creating these unnecessary controversies? ! Why? Well don’t question why. Black or white! Follow George W Bush. You are with us or you are with the enemy!
The other white- We are being told that the entire universe is conspiring against the government of present day, the leader in particular. Foreign governments (the list varies), NGOs, of course the opposition parties, not to mention the dear friends, the media. Reason? Well we are progressing so fast that some people and countries have motion sickness and cannot bear it. So they are using each and every means at disposal to stop the train- it seems! So, most of the opposition parties and their leaders qualify to be traitors. Anybody with a ‘communist’ label is an anti-national by default. In fact the genealogy of one of the largest party is filled with traitors and anti-nationals, we are told. This is the party that ruled for most part of our post independence phase, won 3 wars (well lost one as well!)  And was responsible for (in whichever manner) where we stand today as a nation. But don’t ask. Black or White. Choose your’s.
Black and White- Media- used as a pillow during the night and a punching bag during the day! Their color changes on daily basis.  The ruling dispensation (or at least their friends) believe that the media (their term is MSM) is biased against their leader and aligns with whosoever conspires to get the government into trouble. It seems most media houses are foreign funded by external intelligence agencies or business houses.  Why cannot the government reign in these forces is not answered. If the media is controlled by external forces, the opposition parties driven by ‘external forces’, what the hell is the government of India doing all this while? That part is conveniently not answered.  What benefit will majority of the media derive by being anti-government (as is projected), besides improving TRPs is not discussed. Don’t talk about it. Black or White.
On part of the media, some definitely have a pathological hatred towards the ruling dispensation- the leader in particular. So apart from trying to settle personal scores, the media thrives on anarchy. Anarchy drives TRPs- simple. So it was the media which publicized the Anna Hazare moment and the same people who have publicized the JNU episode.  Besides, they are not merely the messengers of information. But creators of stories. There is no ethical angle here. That industry can no longer afford it. Whose side is the media on? Well, media is on their own side, shifting partners as per the convenience and TRPs.  Why does the media report in a particular way? Don’t ask why. Black or White!
Wondering if ever,one were to look out of the kaleidoscope to witness the beautiful colors around. Multiple colors and numerous shades …over a billion of them, actually!
This land will be a beautiful place then….colored …not black or white.

Will that happen? May be – May be not ……

Jai Hind!

Boring - Understanding of Cyber political scenario in India Part I

Evolution of planet internet resulted in creation of a new species known as the ‘cybers’ or the internet people,fondly known as 'netizens'. In the evolutionary stage, this species was known to co-exist in both the physical (earth) world as well as the cyber world. Gradually, with the advancement in technology, the environment on planet internet became more and more conducive for habitation. Consequently, more and more humans mutated and transformed as cybers. While a majority of cybers still continue to co-exist in both the worlds, the trend is heavily towards getting acknowledged as cyber citizens. With this mass exodus, cyber world started witnessing creation of colonies and eventually kingdoms which loosely resembled the physical worlds, the mutants subscribed to. Today there are thousands of kingdoms and colonies all across. The interesting factor being, the activism and power in cyber world does not bear a direct correlation to the physical manifest. One of the most affluent, active and powerful cyber kingdoms is the kingdom of cyber republic of India, also known as Cyber India.

Cyber India is abuzz with activities as never before. With more and more cybers added to the count every day, it has become one of the most dominant and active cyber kingdoms. This kingdom is physically scattered over the entire globe, but centered in and around India in a ‘Cyber’ sense. The political animals in particular are the most active ones. Especially in the election season in the geography, which is almost a perennial feature.  The food chain among the political animals is a top down feature with the ones on the top responsible for gathering, dissecting, analyzing the events in real world and (mis) representing them in the cyber world. Occasionally the top order is also responsible for creating new events. Since many in the first order co-exist in the physical and cyber worlds and there are no laws that span across both the universes, it gives an opportunity for the top order to act as miscreants with plausible deniability. The first order actively utilizes this shortcoming to derive food and power from the lower rungs.

The second order feeds on this information and is actively engaged in dissemination of the same while forcefully advocating the rationale. Second order typically seems to have physical correlation to the first order in the real world. Quite a few in the second order aspire to move up to the top. Others have strong ‘cyber genetic’ links to the top layers. This layer increases gradually and is not known to exhibit cross genetic tendencies.  These two combined are the core layers with the second order exhibiting a strong and faithful cohesion to the creators.

The third layer is the transporter layer. These species can be found all around in vast numbers. They act as messengers for almost everything in the cyber world. However, in political sense, they act as political messengers. Although they exhibit affiliation to the second layer, they are at times known to change affiliations or act independently. But in either case this layer is politically ‘cyber active’. The core layers rely on the transporters to disseminate information and fetch cyber food in large numbers. The success of the core layer depends on the continued loyalty of the transporters. Although there is no incentive in the cyber world for the messengers, because it is assumed that passing information is their cyber genetic trait, studies have shown that an incentive based structure may soon be evolved as a means of cohesion between the transporters and the core layers.

The fourth is known as the ‘quasi passive’ layer. This is numerically the largest layer in the kingdom. Animals in this layer are largely passive on the internet. In the cyber world, they are primarily responsible for ‘consuming’ the cyber information generated and passing back acknowledgements which are a key means of survival for the layers on the top. However, this layer has important functions to perform. This layer transcends both the world in two ways. For one, this layer is required to and responsible for transformation of the ‘cyber food’ generated by top layers onto the physical world, particularly in times of elections. Secondly this layer is also responsible for conversion of the cyber food into a state that ‘non cybers’ can consume in real world. ‘Cybers’ in this layer may belong to different strata of society in the real manifest. While a significantly large number are non-affluent actors, some of them can be big players in the real world. Although, belonging to the lowest realm in the cyber world, this is by far the most important and volatile layer that connects and correlates both the worlds. As a result, they are extremely important in the cyber food chain. In a way this layer is the cyber manifest of bacteria, consuming the cyber food, translating it into physical world which in turn feeds the top orders in the physical world who in turn provide energy to the creators in cyber world. So quasi passives actually complete the cyber food chain.  However, as mentioned above, this layer is highly volatile and has been known to switch sides frequently. This layer has also shown disturbing signs of transgressing across different layers in the cyber food chain at times, before returning to the quasi passive state.

To be continued …

Next – Study of political classifications among cybers.