India or abroad?

Lately I have been in an apocalyptic mood. Watching the scenario in Political, Social India I feel depressed, wondering why such an optimistic story (about a nation called India) has suddenly, gone sour, fraught with negative sentiments? It is times such as current – when the economy is not galloping ahead, when inflation is at an all-time high, when scams seem to crawl out of the woodwork with no reprieve, when hallowed Institutions like the Armed forces and Judiciary seem under a cloud, when the young seem vacant and goalless, when the value system seems nonexistent and beaten severely…I shrivel up inside, too afraid to live in India…  

On the heels of such an apocalyptic mood, the thought of living elsewhere makes the brain hyper active.

My thinking

# We are an emotive people. We like to spend time with family. It is this same family (who at times we want to run away from) that gives us a sense of calm, a feeling of belonging, a deep sense of being wanted and loved  

# We are used to our festivals, customs and holidays. Sure, celebrating Xmas and Eid is fun, but not engaging directly in the rituals of Ganesh Chaturthi, Mahashivratri or Gokul Ashtami  - makes me feel detached, rootless, wasted

#  It can be argued that by living abroad one learns new cultures, foreign languages…Then again I say, look at my country, do I even know all the various distinct languages, cultures, and people of India? Such diversity right here in my backyard, why abandon it  to seek it elsewhere?

# Varieties help create and transform. Absorb the rich diversity of this land we are born in, the ease with which we live the pluralism called India. Which other nation, even remotely, promises such a rich texture of existence?

# The weather. It is next to impossible for someone like me to adapt to a land which is dull, grey, and rainy, with little or no sunshine. I don’t like extreme climates. India affords me bright sunshine, balmy days, cool evenings, 4 seasons of the calendar in the right doses!

# Immigrants are regarded with suspicion, no matter how rich or poor, in foreign countries. It is a social problem and we all know the fall out of such ailments (hostility, racism)  

# Perhaps one shouldn’t over obsess over other’s opinions about India - obsessing over contrarian opinions won’t make our opinion any more credible. But then again India and its fabric of life is like no other, right?. Why compare and be distraught?

# Look at our own behaviour in the most clinical way. One nation thinks sleeping with your child is a crime. Westerners think eating with your fingers is uncool. Another nation distrusts us in every aspect of our entrepreneurial qualities. Lets face it, we are an idiosyncratic nation. Will we be able to do all of what we do inside India, elsewhere, in the outside world?

# And last but not the least - If you are remotely even fond of India, I don’t think you need to think about living elsewhere. Stay put, enjoy your life, improve things in your immediate life, give the world more reasons to look at us.

For now this reasoning will see me through and keep me happy, In India

Fear

I like animals…I really do. Okay, I like MOST animals. Let me break this down.


I like dogs.

After seeing Happy Feet, I kinda like penguins too ( so long as they can tap dance)


The one’s I don’t like are the one’s that are the killer variety. You know, like the sharks for instance – since I was small Jaws has mortified me, I really wish sharks…cough…water welling up in the eyes…didn’t exist. (Yeah, I said it - all you “Shark” fanatics, you are all crra-ay-zee). I think sharks are as terrifying (ok maybe a wee bit less) compared to the stories of the paranormal kinds! Worst fears of my life.


I run miles away (mentally) from anything ‘paranormal’ in definition, even a hint of it, I can evaporate! Unfortunately Hollywood has used so many animals and birds and cats and bats and stuff in its ‘scary’ movies, that now I am not only severely allergic to ghosts, spirits, in a throat closes, eyes swell shut, heart stops beating , turn into a zombie kind of way, but am also scared of bats, cats, roaches, and what have you! Its safe to assume this is a no go zone for me. Never can be.


Other than that, as long as a pet isn’t rubbing its butt on me, and your bird isn’t pooping on me or trying to peck my eyeballs out, I can deal with most animals…

Establishing Tradition: The India F1 way

Mention the track at Greater Noida and the first image that springs to mind is the vast expanse of land (very Shanghai-ish!). Huge expressways that zip you to Buddh International Circuit, a race track for us normal folks, if you will!:)

Manicured, landscaped edges, well-marked directions, massive car parking for every stand within the stadium – unadulterated joy.

The only two flaws, I can think of (1) lose sandy dust of Greater Noida - a horrendous nightmare post Sunday race, when 95000 people and perhaps another 30,000 cars exited the stadium. We were enveloped (literally, physically and mentally) by a thick haze of dust cloud all around us, making for zero visibility. I am no scientist but I'd say it’s a deathly combination - mix of dust, pollution and vehicle smog, so tough to breathe.

(2) The pit exit. Far too dangerous, must be changed for 2012. It may get a bit hairy during the race

Some memories of the race track, the stadium, the stands, the paddock - the track is far steeper than it looks on tv. I can only empathise with the people who sat in the North Stand for instance who had a steep climb to make to reach their seats! Fortunately, for us our parking was very close to our stand and I didn't have to walk up much. I did, however, while on my exploration on Friday, walk about, from a level below the paddock to a level above the pitlane. That was steep. Huffed and puffed all the way! But had to simply do it for the thrill of it

Friday afternoon was unadulterated pride and joy. ‘Pride’, for witnessing, an epic international gigantic stadium, with India debut-ing in the World of Motorsports.

‘Joy’ for seeing Massa’s scorching pace of 1:25.706 the fastest lap in P1. Massa not only left his arch rival Lewis and Red Bull champ Seb behind, he had his own team mate Alonso eat dust when he hit the chequered flag! Such a promise Friday held out for Sunday, for a Ferrari fan like me…I was clearly expecting a repeat on Saturday and on Race Day, 30^th Oct 2011

In the midst of the races on Sunday a follower on twitter, asked me about DRS, while I did explain in the short time before the Race began, I do want to touch upon the Drag Reduction System

DRS was designed to facilitate overtaking, because no matter what the rule makers have tried, it seems that once the car gets within a second of the car it is chasing then it is impossible to overtake them. The fans have been crying out for more overtaking for years and last year;s dry races were not exactly thrilling to watch.

There are the purists who say that this is all bad for the sport and that F1 is pandering to the masses while ignoring the hard core fans. But how could they have enjoyed the races how they used to be? I find it mystifying myself - as far as I am concerned, in 2011 we have great racing, good strategy and interesting stories after each race.

We didn't have these dry races before. Wet races were/are exciting. Feel strongly the need for more overtaking and fixing the dirty air problem. We now have a formula that works great and has fixed all this, yet there seems to be a lot of people still unhappy. Maybe F1 has had too many drastic rule changes over the years that it now has an identity crisis- maybe people's perceptions of F1 is governed by when they started watching it?

I personally think DRS and other rule changes for this year are going to make for great racing and the best season in years! I just hope the FIA continue to tweak it so that we get more races like China and none like the dreadful Abu Dhabi finale last year.

Seb claimed his 13th pole of 2011 F1 season in Delhi on Sunday Oct 30th 2011. It was also Red Bulls 16th pole victory. What a record!! Well done!

McLaren's Lewis was 2nd quickest in practice sessions but started out 5th as was given a 3 place penalty (for being black-is the accusation?) dropping him behind Webber, Alonso and team mate Button. A pity really.

This race proved nervy for Button, suffering from poor grip thru this season. Button had used up all 3 sets of soft, opting for a single run in Q3, his quick lap was initially under fire as he sped thru yellow flags while Massa was busy going off! As this incident was unfolding, Buttong avoided the penalty by the sheer skin of his teeth

For Massa of course, the race season hasn't boded well. Don't know what's the planetary alignment for him and Lewis and why the 2 gravitate so towards each ther ( Massa and Hamilton could well be driving in the desert and they would find a way to crash into each other) such is their magnetic pull for the other! Massa from Friday, had been pounding kerb 9, and every-time he flew into the kerb, I was ready with my camera! O the dust he left in his wake definitely posed a bother for the oncoming traffic ...who surely would have cursed him:)

I don’t have much to say about Fernando Alonso. He has Schumi’s ambition and hunger, he is driving like a maniac possessed. I maintain what I tweeted, no TV camera can even get close to showing the extent of Alonso’s ambition, his ability to stretch possibilities with every single point. You can hate Alonso as much as you will, we at #Ferrari love him! He is definitely our ace for the next season!

I could go and on and on about the races, such is my passion for this sport, but will conclude this post. A word must be put in for the Jaypee group guys! The much touted India Formula 1 GP success is indeed more for them, than for the Mayawati Govt or the Centre. Well done guys! The GP is not the sole sporting offering from Jaypee, soon they will be throwing their doors open to an international cricket stadium – and boy o boy! Cricket and F1 combine can’t go too wrong now, can it?:) Jaypee group made the inaugural F1 Grand Prix of India a cracking success. So from me, it's a heartfelt thank you for putting on a great show.

I can hope and wish fervently that the passion burns bright amongst the local population – motor racing is no fun when all you do is annoy the locals. So hoping all the land disputes are settled amicably, the locals well and productively employed and absorbed within mainline existence, while the rest of Indian fans throng to see the next year’s race.

A reality check - while the rest of the world has given up on the idea of making profits from any other sport (barring Inida on cricket) I have a fair sense that Jaypee Group may actually do a Harvard case study to demonstrate how they cracked the sports business model to deliver profits from the Indian Grand Prix!:)

India, take a bow, you have made yourself world proud! From a mound of earth, a great facility has been created. It'll get better from here!

Death

National Geographic says two people around the world die every second. There couldn’t be a more natural part of life than death, yet, we run and hide from the subject as if it’s going to make it go away. It’s the equivalent of sticking our fingers in our ears, closing our eyes tightly, and humming a song loudly to stop anything approaching us.

The Upanishad titled “Death as Teacher” says “Birth is but the beginning of a trajectory to death; for all their love, parents cannot halt it and in a sense have ‘given is to death’ merely by giving us birth

How can we best be prepared for this parting, termed Death? In its wake, one experiences deep depression, a sense of grief, sadness and even anger. Some resort to the isolated road, or use drugs, alcohol to numb the loss and some have family and siblings to be sad together with, grow stronger with, and deal with the loss.

Advice is free flowing at such times, but the ear is not willing. And anyway- free advice is hardly ever heeded to, right?

The huge question that stares one in the face, will life ever be normal. How could this happen to me/us. Why did it have to happen to us? What wrong did we do to anyone? Yes, universal questions.

But heck Death is not a punishment. No. An eventuality, yes. A certainty, yes. Perhaps even a gift, at times.

Sure the photographs, albums get displaced, the clothes get given away, the rearranging of life beyond superficiality, gotta be addressed. Yes displacement disrupts normalcy. Big time.

My quest is not to understand this ‘post-death’ phase. I am hoping to deep dive into why so many of us, are not prepared for this eventuality called Death. Why do we run scared of something we know for sure is a cent per cent occurrence? Why do we fear it so?

The initial argument is perhaps, not wanting to see the loved one in discomfort or pain, hence you want the individual to get well. Despite knowing the status is getting bad to worse, we still hope for a miracle of recovery. Sure this is optimism, positive thinking. But don’t most live in a dogged denial, negation - of *the one* eventuality? We simply do not want to bell this one.

So, what are we afraid of here? The pain and suffering the loved is going through? But that will only reduce, peace will make way. Their agony? Cannot be, right? Because that will eventually make way for calm.

So, could it be the sadness of them departing, leaving us “alone” behind that makes us sad? So possible. The one about to move into the next phase of a new journey is sad because he/she cares, just as much, as we do. It’s this unseen strong force that weds us into a bonded close relationship. It is this very unseen force that makes us crumble with a fear of loss. And perhaps that is why we remain afraid, mortally afraid.

So, we are afraid?

Afraid of a life without that loved one? Afraid of lack of companionship? Unconditional love? A bond that means so much, is about to snap? Then, it is about ‘us’? And not really, about the person who is dying, right? We are afraid that our status quo is/will be disrupted. Change is never good, is it?

And if that be the case, it once again proves, doesn’t it, Love is selfish. Rooted in “I, me, myself”, unbending and uncompromising? So, my conclusion - Are love and Death, 2 sides of the same coin?

In our fear of dying, we seem to have forgotten that it is a natural process that is part of life. Plato believed that death would free the soul, so that it could reach perfection. And even a determinist cannot claim that we don’t have the choice to decide over our life, even if in that view we have no sway over the events in our life. The right to Death should be as fundamental as the right to life!? For another day.

Go well, ALL