A noisy night full of fights!

  At about 2 a. m. this morning, I woke up with a start because in the lane nearby,  some voices were creating a huge noise, a proper ruckus. Some dialogues were clear enough to be deciphered. "Is (not) this the address given?" as if it was a "supari" given to create a racket here! 

Around 2.15, I got a surprise message from a relative who has recently got a job in the U.S. She had written to me after many days, nay months. So I exchanged a few wapp messages with her. All along, I was thinking that the noise would die down, whosoever was screaming would go away.

But, no! Whosoever might have given these people the job  to create a proper noise pollution hereabouts must have forgotten to add that there is a hospital absolutely in the next lane, not even two hundred feet away! Loudest yaking went on. Then I thought it could be some "ganesh mandal." 

But then fights started. Somebody was beating up some Amar (at times, Aman and/or Ajay, not to forget Popya) who was screaming about his mother, et al. That ugly brawl went on and on and on till 3 a. m. 

So I decided to ring up the next door neighbour. Then thought better of it, and wrapped her. Apparently, she was not there. How to go out all alone and confront them? The brawls refused to stop, the screaming, the crying, the fracas! They would not tone down their oh-so-important but actually vulgar discussions! 

At about  4.30 a.m., I called up 1091. The person on duty started asking me about the nearest police station! The moment the phone was over, there came a list of police names and numbers assigned to the situation. At 5 a. m , there was a call from the Swargate Police Station. The person on line promised to send someone. Thereafter, that number would not answer any call till 6.20!

By 5.32 a.m., some scooters entered the lane, loudly yelling about the bottle to be shared. Their give n take, peppered with "chudail" and "randi" "old people 'hearing'(some English!)" etc etc etc continued on and on. Very soon started the full scale dolby walls! They played on and on and on at the exact spot as if they were told about the complaint!

In the meanwhile, no help came from the police side, while two-wheelers are constantly screeching their brakes nearby! Our gate is always locked from inside, and I have consciously not cut the thorny branches near the gate. So safety is never the issue. 

Yet creeps can always be a problem. On September 21, a black car with the number plate MH 12 XH 0039 was so parked in front of our gate that opening the gate, getting out would be absolutely impossible! 

Ridiculous crooks who completely lack civic sense but are full of  the conviction that absolutely innocent people would be terrorised! Some hope they sure have! 

Pratima@ Mr. Bapat talks of the dolby walls, of the dhol-tasha pathak's. He forgot such noise pollution, most probably because it has nothing specific to the festival, you see! Complaints, too, are convenient, made not for the citizens, but to suit 'i'deologies! 

Quote of the day:                                                   "Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold/Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,/The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere/The ceremony of innocence is drowned;/The best lack all conviction, while the worst/Are full of passionate intensity." Thus groaned W. B. Years circa the turn of the last century. Sad that some hundred and twenty years later, the contexts refuse to change! 

Term of the day: Noise pollution                              Noise pollution is unwanted or excessive sound that can harm human health, wildlife, and overall environmental quality.                                               An example can be the very very very chatty 'mavashi' who collects the "kachra",  and talks louder than the gong she beats mercilessly.

Why understand the "Mantrapushpanjali" ?

 During the Ganapati festival, and even otherwise, on each and every religious occasion, it is a pleasure to sing (yes, the recitation does sound like a divine song with its slow, lilting, elongated rhythm) in unison the "Mantrapushpanjali"  which begins with "Om yadnyen". 

All the four hymns of this prayer which concludes the "aarti" are  "mantras"  from the "Vedas."  The first stanza  "Om Yadnyen" is from the Rigveda (also accessible from the Atharvveda, too), and pays a tribute to the heights of heaven where dwell the   "Sadhyaas", the Gods, 

The second verse "Om Rajadhirajay" is from the "Taittiriya Aranyaka", and praises Kubera. The third verse "Om Swasti Samrajyam" is from the "Aiterya Brahmna" , and states the wishes of the priest for the Kshatriya host. It describes the perfect king's profile, and is a prayer for his masterful dominion and leadership. 

The fourth verse "Tattapyeshya shloka:" is also from the "Aiterya Brahman", and lists the "Marutyas" who attained the glories post performing the "yadnya". 

The final mesmerising "Om sahnawawtu" section is a Vaidic prayer, often recited, and which apparently concluded the "Deve" recitation from the "Yajurveda."

Sure, the Vaidic Sanskrit is both, difficult and different from the classical version, and one needs to read up many translations to understand the exact meaning, and the origin of the verses that comprise this final recitation after the "aarti". 

What does all such information tell us? For one thing, we get to know how a divine prayer is rooted in the different branches of the "Vedas" to thus reinforce the unity of the " ekam sat, vipra: bahudha vadanti" version, which means that the Truth is one, while there may be different modes to approach/attain/ascertain it. Thus there is a denial of any hierarchisation imposed conveniently in the later epochs. 

The prayer may appear feudal apparently. Actually though, it is a wish for a steady secure existence. It is hence necessary to be understood today, when vested interests are busy playing castes against other castes, tribes and communities! 

Pratima@ It is indeed necessary to explore all such prayers, given the times today when caste politics controls 'dead'-ly (in all senses of this term) sagas! 

Quote of the day:                                                         The quote today is from the "Rigveda"  1.89.1: "Ā no bhadrāḥ kratavo yantu viśvataḥ" which means "Let noble and auspicious thoughts come to us from every side." In other words, here is a prayer asking the cosmos itself for an open, wise, and positive mindset.

The word of the day: Hierarchisation                           It is  the process of arranging items, people, or concepts into a graded series based on importance, status, or priority. 

Soupçon, Fallacy Séries, 6.10

 Another major fallacy of ambiguity is known as amphiboly. It consists of using a grammatically ambiguous sentence to mislead/confuse the audience/reader. 

Standard/well-known examples are "I saw the man with the telescope" or "Visiting relatives can be a headache" or "Flying planes can be dangerous." 

Hence an example of amphiboly as a fallacy can be "The Mayor said, 'Save soap and waste paper." Yet another example can relate to wild life conservation. It reads as "I shot an elephant in the pyjamas " where it could either mean either "I" or the "elephant" was in pyjamas. 

It may sound nonsensical. Absurd poetry as well as advertisements use it often though.

Pratima Agnihotri

Clowning glory!

 What is up with academics? Seems to be proving the much stated truth that the first time, it is tragedy, while the second time, it is comedy! In the present context, it is both pitiable and cringe-worthy. 

Yes, the IIT-B events are truly tragic, what with Sahil's suicide and its after-effects. Well, whatever happened in the Nirma University, Ahmedabad, is no less serious, though the cause is 'comedy'! 

There was this cultural programme going on, it seems. As is almost compulsory these days, there was a stand-up comedian present as well. Yet he was, happily, and for a change, was not the source of the unsavoury incident that followed! 

Well, Dr. H.K. Patel, Head, Department of Electronics n Communication, was delivering his speech. Suddenly, there was a catcall from the audience. It was a student repeating the "Golmal" dialogue, "Jaldi bol, subah Panvel niklana hai"! 

Professor Saab did not exactly like the dialogue, and he cannot be faulted for that either. He called the concerned student up the stage, and gave him left right center, and not merely a piece of his mind, it seems

Honestly, where does fun end? Where does conscious affront begin? Why insult a senior professor in such a manner? If the professor were to let it go, he and the teacher community would be mocked more, and further, though there should not have been a physical scuffle.

True, teachers should be friendly. Why does that, however, mean that students should be foolish enough to render the teachers open to public ridicule?  Teachers' duty is to teach the most relevant material the best possible  way. Teaching, in brief, is not clowning glory!

Pratima@ This is hardly a matter over which to play politics. The student should tender a public apology, just as the Head should promise that he would not get in to physical scuffles. Hardly worth it, right?

Quote of the day:                                                            "A teacher’s job is to take a bunch of live wires and see that they are well-grounded." Agreed, Darwin D. Martin

Word of the day: respect                                           Respect is a positive feeling or polite action shown toward someone or something important, serious, or valuable.

Soupçon, Fallacy Séries, 6.9

 Let us understand fallacies of ambiguity. Such fallacies occur because a statement can be (mis)understood in multiple ways. 

Let us begin with simple but quite famous examples of ambiguity. "I saw her duck" can mean "her duck" (a bird) or her "slip away" (an activity of stealthily going away). Another example of such vagueness can be "The fisherman went to the bank" where "bank" can relate either to a river or a financial institution. 

The well-known fallacy of equivocation is built on such multiple meanings. Let us look at an example of such a logical fallacy wherein a single word/phrase has multiple meanings throughout the argument. 

For example: Premise 1: Flowers are light (not heavy). Premise 2: Light ( colour wise) things cannot be dark. Conclusion: Flowers cannot be dark. 

Advertisers use such fallacious statements most effectively.

Pratima Agnihotri

Soupçon, Fallacy Séries, 6.8

 'Begging the question' is the fallacy we are going to explore today. 'Begging the question' is an informal logical fallacy wherein an argument's premises assume the truth of its conclusion instead of providing independent proof.

It is yet another example of  circular reasoning or petitio principii, which is Latin for "assuming the original point".The argument uses the claim it is trying to prove as a foundational piece of evidence for that same claim.

In other words, such a sentence/such an argument fails to offer new information.  Instead, it re-states the conclusion in different words.  

 The best example for this type of fallacy comes from religious texts. "The Bible," for example, it is argued, "is true because it is the word of God, and we know it is the word of God because the Bible says so!" 

Pratima Agnihotri

How (not) to behave/communicate/negotiate???

 The Venue: The main gate of the IIT-B. Is it the Open House meet? No! Is it the Admin Building? Nope! It IS the "dharana" literally by thousands of students.

Time: late night. Duration: hours long. Cause behind the sit-in: Sahil's sad demise as a suicide. The participants: literally thousands of students and the IIT Bombay Director, Professor Shireesh Kedare, ready to meet them at the campus main gate.

The students are discussing a serious issue. How is their stance? They are wagging their fingers at him, screaming at him, cheekily smirking "record it" when he offers to sign their demands as well as to step down.

Is this how serious negotiations go on? All these students are going to join big tech companies, may run their own start-up's, would face all sorts of international interactions! Sure, they are agitated. Practically the whole nation is, incidentally. 

Why the uncouth arrogant dismissive gestures though? This IS NOT a new 'politics of language' as certain youtubers may maintain. This is sheer vulgarity of response, getting normalised since the 'Jantar Mantar' days. Well, actually, good leadership rests on good communication!

The fun of it is that they want the authorities to 'listen' to them. They are, however, not ready even to 'hear'! Yet another interesting contradiction is that they can scream, shout, sneer, what have you. But the authorities, the institute, the educational establishment must take care of their psychological tensions!

 Come again, please! At about twenty (the general mean age of those militant students, right?), one should have the EQ and the SQ to manage one's own mind, one's emotions, one's tensions, right? How can, and why must, the educational institution provide very many psychiatrists on campus? 

Are we letting loose on the world degree holders who know only their 'rights', who have an 'i alone am right' attitude, who think that rude, conceited, self-important, opinionated aggression, nay, tantrums, full of oneself is their birthright? Sorry, Dear World! Yes, if such are our products, we have indeed failed you!

Pratima@ Do you know why I am aghast at such goings-on? Well, I teach languages, literature, communication, body language, et al. I used to always think that the IIT's would excel at all the communication strategies, given the high IQ of the students!                                           Unfortunately, however, the entire fracas has proved that the whole world now questions the relevance of Humanities, accused of 'drum'ming up (literally, too!) suspect sit-in's! And here I was, glorifying communication and humanities as necessary inputs for a rounded personality of students of  all disciplines, but especially of technocrats!

Quote of the day:                                                           "The art of communication is the language of leadership," asserts  James Humes.

Word of the day: "Humanities". Much doubted due to the IIT-B interpolations!                           The Humanities are academic disciplines that study human society, culture, history, and the human experience using qualitative, critical, interpretive, and analytical methods rather than merely quantitative empirical scientific experiments.