View of the Phoenix

2006-02-27T05:43:00.000-08:00

Loss is a successful failure.

Hating someone for no reason is just finding a reason to think of that person.

The biggest victory is accepting your failure.

Improving as a person doesn't mean doing new things but doing the old things in a new way.

Conquer ur fears or they will defeat u.

A good narrator is one who can convey same idea in different ways.A good listener is one who can grasp same idead narrated in different ways.

2005-09-09T11:16:00.000-07:00

THE MATRIX: EXCITING MYTH OR COMPLEX REALITY

Today I just happened to watch the concluding part of the famous trilogy ‘The Matrix’. Undoubtedly it is one of the most spectacular movies in terms of animation and has got some really awesome action sequences. With technology put to an amazing implementation the story takes a backseat for most of the time. In my opinion very few of us who have seen the movie have really tried to relate the movie with reality. By comparison with reality I don’t expect to find the architect or oracle, or to find shortcuts using the key maker or try any of the super cool driving stunts but to give at least a thought about the real story. Well in the following discussion I will try to express my thoughts about the analogy between the real world and the movie.
Firstly I would like to express my understanding about the matrix because for me that is the most important thing reader should know before going any further. As shown in the first part of the trilogy Mr. Anderson or Neo (Keanu Reeves) is an ordinary person who is haunted by the messages from the matrix asking for help. Then suddenly he finds himself followed by agents and being tracked by Morphious. After a series of strange events Neo finally agrees to find out the truth about the matrix and meets Morphious. Finally Morphious shows him the real world, which is ruled by the machines. The life Neo thinks he is living is just a program which defines every parameter to the advantage of the machines so that the people in the matrix never realize that they are being controlled by someone else. Then he is told that according to a prophecy he is the only person who can save the real world from the machines. After all the explanation Neo is given option of accepting to fight for the reality or to just accept the matrix as the reality. Finally he accepts to fight and hence accepts the responsibility of ‘THE ONE’. Then in remaining part of the movie he understands how he can operate in a superior way in the matrix and wins a crucial fight against the agents. In the second and third movie he understands the real meaning of the matrix. All I could understand was that everything in the matrix i.e. every program in the matrix had a purpose and once the purpose was served the program was eliminated. Finally after the meeting with the architect and the oracle Neo finds out about the previous versions. And then in last movie he decides to undertake an impossible mission to make peace between the machines and humans. Finally he succeeds in saving the city of Zion but only after losing his true love Trinity. I think this much of background is sufficient to proceed because the parts about the causality and the architect’s explanation were really a bouncer for me.
Now, first I would like to stress on the selection of the names of few important characters in the movie. The most important name in the movie is the name itself ‘matrix’. According to dictionary matrix meanings
1 [Archaic] the womb; uterus
2 that within which, or within and from which, something originates, takes form, or develops; specif., a) a die or mold for casting or shaping b) an impression from which a large number of phonograph records can be duplicated
3 Anat. a) any nonliving, intercellular substance in which living cells are embedded, as in bone, cartilage, etc. b) the formative cells from which a nail, tooth, etc. grows
4 Math. A set of numbers or terms arranged in rows and columns between parentheses or double lines
5 Printing
a) A metal mold for casting the face of type b) a papier-mGch=, plaster, or similar impression of type, etc., from which a plate can be made, as in stereotypy
So in every meaning the main idea is casting or giving shape. So taking into account all the meanings I would like to call the matrix in the movie as a womb in which human thoughts are kept by the machines to cast them in desired form using an organized set of patterns.
Second important name is ‘Neo’. Well there are two ways of getting this name the easier way being rearrangement of the word ‘ONE => NEO’. Since the character is mostly referred as the one because of his extraordinary abilities. The other way being the dictionary meaning of the word: new, recent, latest. In the movie character of Neo is suppose to the latest weapon in the battle against the machines.
Third name is ‘Morphious’ which has a close resemblance with the word ‘Morphosis’. The dictionary meaning of the word is the mode of developmental formation of an organism or any of its parts. Over the entire trilogy Neo is transformed into the ultimate weapon under the guidance of Morphious. So the Morphosis of the One is carried out by Morphious.
Fourth name is the female lead of the story, ‘Trinity’. The dictionary meaning of the word is
1 a set of three persons or things that form a unit
2 Christian Theol. the union of the three divine persons (Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit) in one Godhead
According to me the character indeed plays three entirely different roles in the life of the one. Initially in the first part Trinity is just a believer of the one and never really looks at him as a person but only as a thing which she could only dream about. In the second part she expresses her feelings for the one and her attempt of sacrificing her life for the one in the end makes the bond stronger than ever which is defined by the architect as love. In the concluding part she refuses to give up company of the one and happily sacrifices her life for the purpose. So the character is a mixture of three women a believer, a true lover and a devoted caretaker and hence a trinity of all the women a man needs in his life. She believes in him like a daughter, she loves him like a life partner and in the end sacrifices her life for his purpose like a mother.
Another important name is ‘oracle’ which means any person or agency believed to be in communication with a deity. In the movie the character acts as an information link between the source and the humans.
Lastly, ‘cipher’ the most harmless looking character ,in the end causes the most damage. And according to the dictionary means a person or thing of no importance or value; nonentity .
After all the above explanation I would really want the reader to take notice of the following analogies.
1 . Every system in this world (like education & political system) is like the matrix which
always tries to keep us away from the reality and tries to mould us into something
which can be easily manipulated.
2. The most insignificant looking people can cause us the most damage like cipher. So
never underestimate anyone.

3. The amount of potential is immaterial unless we find a right guide like morphious. In
reality guide could be a teacher, a tutor, a friend or any other person whom you really
believe like neo believed in morphious.
4. Always try to find a purpose behind every thing which affects your life and always
make sure to remember every person who has done something for you. You should
remember such people because their memories will always keep your weaknesses in
your mind and the method others used to help you. These memories might prevent
repetition of mistakes.
5. The real strength is the belief of the people around you. We start believing
in our abilities only when people around us do it consistently. Like Neo becomes the
one only because Morphious, Trinity and his crew believe in his abilities. Similarly in
reality teachers and friends do this for you. Try to prove their belief correct by giving
your best performance every time.
6. Always take a decision which you can defend for rest of your life. Like Neo saves
trinity instead of going to the source because his heart tells him to do so. But in the
concluding part he also understands his responsibility and sets off to take on the
machines.
7. The future isn’t completely undefined, it is just defined by the choices we make in
present. All we have in hand is present so follow your heart and take the decisions
and I can assure that you will never regret in future.
8. You can do everything you believe you can .
In the end all I want to say is that we always have a choice of accepting the challenge to free ourselves from the matrix of society. But to be the One in the real world we need people who are true believers of your abilities and can see beyond the matrix. I have found a way out of the matrix thanks to some really open minded friends around me. But still I have got many friends stuck in the matrix and getting deeper into it.
I request every reader to rethink about their present status and decide whether they want to fight the system for what they want or be happy with what they get from the system. The future is always in your hands change it if you can.
Hope to meet you soon outside the matrix.

THE PHOENIX

2005-09-06T12:14:00.000-07:00

GANESH POOJA : FESTIVAL OR FEAST FOR EVIL

Today happens to be the first day of the ten day long ganesh festival in many parts of India. Being brought up in Pune I have seen the festival being celebrated with lot of zeal over the years. The main aim of this period according to the Hindu religion is the worship of “Lord Of Wisdom” or Lord Ganesha. But over the years the meaning of this festival has changed and I would like to express my opinion about it.
Initially in till the beginning of 20th century ganesh festival was not a public festival but limited to homes only. The real tradition was that only the eldest or the youngest of the sons from a family is allowed to take the responsibility of the entire ten days of ganesh pooja. The idol of lord is enchanted and installed at one place where everyone from the family and other worshipers of lord are suppose to gather and prey together. During this early period only the rich and royal families had the right to do this pooja at their homes. So in those days poor people made contribution to the event by offering the lord whatever they could by visiting the closest of the ganesh pooja houses.
But during the independence movement national leader Bal Gangadhar Tilak realized the influence of this event on the people and decided to make use of it to get people together. During the British rule freedom fighters were finding it difficult to arrange huge public meetings to create awareness among the general people. So to make this possible Tilak suggested that Ganesh pooja should be carried out by group of poor people who couldn’t afford to carry out the event on their own. During these huge gathering for worship the freedom fighters got the much needed access to the people. So the main purpose of making this event a public festival was to bring people together.
With time many people appreciated the idea and different groups of people started celebrating this festival independently. These different groups are the ‘Mandals’ . Earlier only one mandal had the monopoly over a large area. But with time things changed drastically. Slowly a competition started among the mandals. Every mandal wanted to prove their supremacy by the means of pompous decorations. With time the number of mandals has increased exponentially.
Since there is no law as such to set up a mandal every time there is an argument of any kind in a huge mandal a small group separates. Every small separated group tries to prove their presence next year by setting a new pundol only a few meters away. Then the usual game of power comes in picture where the small group is pushed to give up using “every” possible way.
Initially the mandal was a group of people who thought in the same way and had same purpose i.e. independence of the nation. But post independence the cenario changed and so did the definition of the mandal and the sort of people who formed it. With increasing number of people forming the majority of the city’s population the number of people with free time to devote for long term event decreased and their contribution to mandal’s activities vanished. Their place was taken by the unemployed youth who started looking at this event as an escape from home. Under the tag mandal activities these people initially spend time making unnecessary decorations all over the city for days before the actual event even starts. Then during the ten days they share pundol with the god to do all sort of things. Most of the unemployed and other people take the opportunity to drink, gamble, settle old disputes with rivals, eve teasing and so on.
Now the million dollar question is , from where are these events financed? The answer being very simple : the working class or the earning class. Rich people give large amounts to these people for sake of reputation and the middle class merely submits to the intimidation created by the pack of rowdy people who come begging at their doors in the name of god. So at the end of day the contribution to a ganesh mandal is like anti-extortion money given by film stars to the underworld.
This year the pune polic mdepartment has issued a public notice viathe local cable channel requesting the people to follow the regulations. The regulation on loud speakers have been strictly followed for last couple of years at least in our vicinity and I ma not sure about the city areas. But at least they are trying from their side. Other staggering fact which was shown during the notice was the number of mandals in pune. The exact number being 3357. and another very critical statistic was the duration of the immersion procession, according to the records the duration for last three years are 24,32,48 hours respectively. During these times the entire traffic is simply stopped and the city is almost split in two halves.
In the end all want to ask the readers is that is really the festival doing any good to the society? In my opinion the event should be organized and more regulations should be imposed and followed strictly. With cooperation of individuals from all over the festival can regain its respectable status instead of being slowly accepted as a time of chaos, mismanagement, ideal opportunity for anti-social elements to cause trouble, and not to forget all the environment related threats posed due to the immersion rituals. With individual awareness again the festival can become an event giving people a stage to express their ideas in front of people and better social atmosphere could be achieved.

2005-09-06T10:23:00.000-07:00

THE BOURNE IDENTITY

Ever wondered what is the answer to the question ‘who are you?’
Sounded a very simple question when asked at age of 3 while the admission to the kindergarten. All of us who have been there or even those who haven’t been there would have told their name as the answer. Well, many of us would have just went and stood next to our mothers looking at her as if they had just seen a monster from a Scooby doo movie. Even though many of us were able to tell their names fluently it was only after intensive training at home. This type of training might include a beating of children by their own parents to make child confident while facing a stranger. Thank god I never had to go through this type of training.
Now if we think again about this question when asked at the age of 5 while being interviewed for the admission in a school. The answer is generally the ‘full name’ i.e. first name necessarily followed by the surname. To tell a name without any mistake might be an easy job after so many years of habit but at that time it was hell of a task to do. Even though never asked my parents about their thoughts before they took me for my first interview, I am sure they must have at least had one common nightmare of me forgetting my name on the day when it mattered the most. Well at that point of time the final interview was the biggest challenge of my life. There were many schools in which I could have been admitted but I was destined to carry on in only one of them which were chosen for me by my parents or it was my destiny. Finally the decision worked in my favor thanks to all the forces which made that decision.
After a while at the school our identity is defined by the name i.e. our name is only thing which makes us unique at school .Fortunately I had a pretty rare name so never had a problem but in case we happen to share our name with a colleague then there a lot of confusion . Well the most common way to differentiate among two people with same name is to add a unique quality of person with the name, most commonly used qualities being physical appearance like height , complexion etc. The point which I want to stress upon is that, during this time we are very sensitive about our name because of its significance in the surroundings.
But when we get in college our identity becomes the schooling background we had. Suddenly the name becomes a secondary part of the introduction and the entire focus during the introduction is on what weight we have added to our name during the past time. Most common issues which came up during my first few weeks of college were of course the marks ,then other things like school , parents etc. Slowly I realized that the name which once was the only thing I had was now just a formality.
When I next got admitted to the engineering college the picture was entirely different. Initially I was asked about my branch to which I was admitted, then about the mode of fees payment i.e. free seat or payment seat, then the marks I got ,then about my opinion on the HSC board (which isn’t really one the board should hear) and finally came the name.
During engineering I came across a few very interesting people, who basically existed purely on the weight carried by their surname (In my opinion the surname is need only to relate you to a group of people who share a common family origins). By this I mean, the people around them were with them because those people had their parents or someone from their families, on an influential place in society. Basically rich and famous people. But according to my observation never any of those people got help from the people who had given them company only because of their backgrounds.
Well that was the about the professional experiences but even in the personal experiences the story was pretty much the same. The introduction was basically a process of associating me with the host using the medium of a relation .The very latest form of introduction was being the brides brother (during my elder sister’s marriage) .After the function was successfully over I just wondered how many people could have really told my name even though I was introduced to each and every guest who attended the function.
Well as most of you must have realized that during different situation although the priority of the name was pushed backwards but it still existed.
In my opinion the questions preceding the name were just meant to check the weight or influential power of the name. Basically the check seemed to a procedure to find whether I was good enough to exist in their worlds. By existence in ones world I mean the sort of expectations people have whenever my name is mentioned.
In my opinion with different situations the significance of a person changes .With changing circumstances different qualities and aspects of a persons character are expected to take the top priority. Like as brother expectation of protective nature is expected, as a son sense of responsibility and awareness about duty is expected, as a student desire to do well is expected, as a professional the ability to read the situation and take safe decisions is expected, as a colleague ability to boost morale irrespective of your own situations is expected, as a friend the ability to sacrifice is expected, as an individual the open minded thought process is expected. In my opinion the most important ability as individual to have is to be composed and hold himself together under pressure situations and the best way which I could find was being myself. Being true and faithful to himself lends a person the strength which makes him reliable and trustworthy. So in the end I would like to say that our different qualities are tested with time and our performance is remembered in terms of our achievements. At the end of day our achievements define our identity. Depending on the achievements the qualities and abilities defining our character are displayed to others and they remember these things by summarizing it in one word – the name. And for rest of life we exist in someone else’s thinking process as a name. So I feel that all we have is our name, one word which initially define but later we define it with our achievements.
And till the day all your achievements are known by other people your identity remains incomplete and limited which I would like to call “The Bourne Identity”.
And in my opinion if you really care for someone you prefer your name to exist as a bourne identity in their thinking process even though the mention of sacrifice you made for them completes your identity. And a complete identity can never really exist because sacrifice is never meant to be mentioned. And hence with my personal experience I would say that one of the toughest jobs is to accept your name as a “bourne identity”.