chaotic order

Jottings - Slice of life - 286 (“Man’s search for meaning” by Dr. Viktor Frankl) Last week, on my way back to Atlanta, a young man rushed into the flight, almost at the close of boarding gates, to occupy the seat next to me in the business class cabin. He looked flushed. In one hand, he was holding a thin book, and in the other, he was balancing a carry-on bag and a jacket. He quickly dropped his bag and jacket underneath the seat, sat down gasping for breath, turned to give me a quick nod, and opened the book in a hurry ( almost as if the boarding the flight was a distraction he could have done without) and continued reading. He didn’t give himself even a few minutes to settle down, adjust the air vent, or drink some water. It was obvious that the book he was possessively holding in his hands was irresistible, and he couldn’t wait to read the remaining pages. It was then that I glanced at the title, and knew exactly what was going on. There are few books that can change the cour

Jottings - Slice of Life -284 - ( The biopic on Modi - few thoughts) There couldn’t have been a better time for the release of the biopic on Prime minister Narendra Modi. Especially, with an upcoming general election that promises to be a touch and go for the BJP. Out of curiosity, I was reading the “Model code of conduct”, released by the Election commission of India, to check what the documents say about using “Art” to further one's position in an election campaign. After all, movies are a form of art, at least that’s how the ruling party would frame their case. So what does the document say about making a movie on the incumbent prime minister on the eve of a general election? The Code of conduct is silent about it. It has clauses on most other ways of unduly influencing the public such as: refraining from monopolizing public places, not causing any division by way religion, language or caste; not to hold meetings in front of opposition party offices or homes; not to use the

Jottings - Slice of life - 282 ( When an english word causes trouble- the case of Shashi Tharoor’s tweet) The elections in India are around the corner. It is hard to believe that five years have passed since Narendra Modi assumed the reigns of the country, and most Indians were applauding the inauguration of a new chapter in Independent India. Five years is a reasonably long time for a party in power, and if one looks back at these years, it is difficult to feel euphoric. At the same time, there is definitely a sense that something has subtly changed for the better in the fabric of Indian society. At the very least, there is a new found confidence in the identity of the nation, which was conspicuously missing or persistently eroded in the previous era. This optimism is largely due to the magic of the Man Narendra Modi, his authoritative presence in global forums, and the powerful rhetoric of his public discourses. Whether the next five years belong to him or not is dependent on the

Jottings - Slice of life - 280 ( A brutal rape, the police procedural that followed, and “The Delhi crime” - a Netflix crime series.) On the sixteenth of December 2012, on a cold and hazy weekend evening in Delhi - the crowded capital of India - a rape was committed, that unsettled, horrified and paralyzed the moral conscience of a conservative nation. The repercussions of that single night, and the story that subsequently unfolded would forever change the course of legal treatment of rape, and the punishment for those who commit bodily heinous crimes against women. On that fateful winter evening, a young girl of twenty-three, returning from a movie (ironically, a life-affirming movie “Life of PI”) with her boyfriend was brutalized in a moving bus by six young men present in the vehicle. In a male-dominated society such as India, rape against women is not an uncommon assault. It happens frequently and in various shapes and forms. In most cases, such violations remain unreported due

Jottings - Slice of life - 279 ( The rise and fall of Elizabeth Holmes - the poster girl of the Silicon Valley) “Some in clandestine companies combine, Erect new stocks to trade beyond the line: With air and empty names beguile the town, And raise new credits first, then dry 'em down: Divide the empty nothing into shares, To set the town together by the ears” Daniel Defoe - “London” The meteoric rise and ignominious fall of young Elizabeth Holmes, the former founder, CEO of Theranos, and a billionaire by the age of thirty-one is nothing short of a fairy tale, with the only twist that from the very beginning the fairy herself was flawed, never clean of intent or truthful of purpose. In his widely read book, “The extraordinary popular delusions and madness of the crowds” written nearly two centuries ago, in 1841, the Scottish writer Charles Mackay records many cases of what he calls “moral epidemics” — an irrational attachment to a crazy idea that starts off as a trickle

Jottings - Slice of life - 276 ( The disease of envy and its portrayal in “A star is born” and “Abhimaan”) It is not for nothing that envy is listed among the Seven deadly sins. It is a silent killer. It may not visibly intrusive and glaring like some of the other sins, but the impact envy can have on a flowering relationship is similar to a cancerous growth that eats from the inside, slowly and deliberately and with suppurating inner pain. Some amount of envy is inevitable in any relationship, but when the Rubicon of moderation is crossed, and one ventures into that torrid zone filled with inferiority complexes, self flagellatory nightmares , emotional sadism and truckloads of self-pity ; then the end is near; not merely of the relationship; but the integrity of the personality itself. Literature, movies, and drama have captured this psychotic phenomenon of relentless envy in innumerable works. It makes for a great plot and builds enough cathartic and aesthetic tension to keep the

Jottings - Slice of life - 271 ( The killer continues to haunt- Ted Bundy) There is no reason to remember this man in such vivid detail, but Americans and the world do not want to forget him. On January the 24th 1989, In the early hours of a beautiful and cold Florida morning, Ted Bundy, one the most brutal psychopathic killers modern man has ever known, was committed to the electric chair in the Florida State prison. Outside the wired fence that day, hundreds of Men and women, who had been waiting through the night, jumped in joy and relief, when the prison warden announced the successful electrocution of Ted, and his body hurriedly carried into a van to be transported and scattered on the mountains of Seattle where his reign of terror began almost twenty years ago. On January 24th, 2019, about two weeks ago, Netflix released a four-part documentary showcasing the live conservations journalists Stephen Michaud and Hugh Aynesworth had with ted during his incarceration. Nearly hundr