against order / consistency / equity / globalization...

"Consistency is the last refuge of the unimaginative" - Oscar Wilde reads a friend's fb status... & ive been thinking of the same. I'm reading the Organic Farming Reader - a collection of articles on organic farming. It leads me to a conclusion that I have repeated arrived on previous readings & thinking : globalization is stupidity! I am not against the availability of all things everywhere on earth, the whole point of localization is not closing oneself, but to have something unique - something that suits the local environment, culture, climate, etc etc etc...

Talking about farming, experiments & hereditary knowledge proves that each region has a unique environment (composed of climate, soil, geology, ....) and hence needs a native plant variety to survive. Bring in plants from elsewhere & either they die or kill... The authors say we have gone down from about 10,000 varieties of wheat in India to just a few hundred in less than a century! Each of these varieties have come down through generations and are suited to their specific local environment. Each variety gives not just optimal harvest & protection against local pests, but also proves more digestion friendly & nutritive for the local environment!!

Now combine this train of thought with Robert Pirsig's Zen & the Art of Motorcycle maintenance: we are talking about quality of a material that is marketable only in a certain region. The quality is dynamic for the same material based on geographical location!! & this is just agriculture! Why are we buying polyester clothing in India, which is not at all friendly in the hot & humid weather, or using agricultural methods more suited to temperate soils, where organic matter is in mineral form, whereas it is stored in plant life in the tropic & the soil is mineral poor.. 

Why do we take shelter in aping western systems when our own are as efficient? Why should an imported item be more valuable than local one of the same quality? Is it just globalization or our mentality? 

& finally, freedom is not in globalization, stupid! Thats just a marketing strategy!!! LOCAL IS THE NEW GLOBAL!! albeit a few years hence, & that i can predict with confidence!

ps: im trying to shorten my posts after an avalanche of complaints against my ramblings!

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Perfection: a few musings

I'm reading Lila by Robert Pirsig (of Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance). I haven't yet fathomed the ideas on quality presented in the book, but the concept of dynamic & static got me thinking. At this stage, Im not sure whether Im talking of quality or perfection. But for my & your sake, lets consider the concept of perfection, where we strive to achieve the best possible in any given task / field/ etc.

The biggest defeating hindrance is the very idea of achieving perfection. Since the world around us is a dynamic entity, we cannot aim to achieve a static state. Hence, perfection should be a dynamic state. In other words, one should live perfectly in all walks of life / tasks / fields, etc. One should literally breathe perfection! That is the only way to achieve it...

Lets take a simple example. I bit my tongue the other day, and was badly in pain for 2 days. But after that the pain subsided. However, there was a nagging feeling sometimes, and I decided to go to the doctor. He told me that the wound had worsened, as I had not taken any medication. When I told him the reason for not coming - the pain receding, he told me that the body adapts to anything. If one part pains repeatedly, the nerve will send the same signals faithfully, but the brain will learn to suppress them from the conscious mind. Hence, one feels the nagging only when idle. 

In the same manner, the world & we are continuously adapting to the ongoing events, leading to change in situation at any given moment of time. Hence, the definition of perfection is also changing with every moment. The change could be either in the course or higher or lower levels of achievement. But of all things: it can never be static!

So, when we decide to be perfect, we are actually assigning ourselves to a lifelong task. For this very reason if we try to extract happiness from one act, we lose it over some time as the world has changed and the situation has changed. Our past achievement does not hold any value in the new order of things!

So, if the reason for perfection is to be happy: our rishi-munis were right in professing detachment, the only way to stay away from the dynamics of the world, and set one's own order of things. If the reason is achievement, you are doomed to a life of struggle!!! Its not so bad! Some people enjoy struggle!!!!

Whenever I finish a post to my satisfaction, Muffazza's words come ringing at the back of my head: what is the essence of this post? Is there a conclusion?

So my two cents worth: perfection is about trying the best of one's ability at every step of life, either that or nothing!

I'm sure Jun's gonna butcher this one!!!!!!

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Mom's poem: निरंकुश माणूस (The Unbridled man )

Presenting my mother's poems, starting with this one (about the modern amoral & ever-dissatisfied man). the poem is given above & the line wise translation given below it. My mom is a published poet (in some local marathi magazines during the late 70s & early 80s). This is her latest poem. However, I'm trying to locate her older works & put them online some time. I should acknowledge that this is my first exposure to marathi literature, & I'm enjoying it thoroughly!

निरंकुश माणूस भौतिक सुखाच्या ह्या गराड्यात

हरवलय माणसाच माणूसपण

धरुनिया सुखाची अतृप्त लालसा

बांधलय वेठीला स्वतःच स्वपण

असू जरी आम्ही हक्कासाठी अधाशी

नसे मात्र सोयरसुतकही कर्तव्याशी

दडपली सारी आधुनिकतेच्या आवरणात

आपल्याच चारित्र्याची सखोल संस्कृती

वरकरणी जरी दाखवत असू पुरोगामी

दिसुन येई नेहमीच प्रसंगी अधोगती

कशास जगलो, का जगलो कोणी बरे सांगावे

उठता बसता मात्र दोष नशिबाला द्यावे

तुडविली सारी बंधने आज माणसाने

म्हणून का फिरविली पाठ निसर्गाने?

Translation

NB: I would like to say that any weakness in language while translation is mine, the poem reads well - those of who can read marathi fluently will agree with me..

निरंकुश माणूस The Unbridled man

भौतिक सुखाच्या ह्या गराड्यात

In this great heap of worldly joys, हरवलय माणसाच माणूसपण

man's humanity is lost धरुनिया सुखाची अतृप्त लालसा

having the ever unquenched greed of these joys बांधलय वेठीला स्वतःच स्वपण

one has even bet one's self-esteem असू जरी आम्ही हक्कासाठी अधाशी

if we are greedy for our rights नसे मात्र सोयरसुतकही कर्तव्याशी

but there is no consciousness of one's duties दडपली सारी आधुनिकतेच्या आवरणात

in name of modernity we have bundled away आपल्याच चारित्र्याची सखोल संस्कृती

the entire culture of our morality वरकरणी जरी दाखवत असू पुरोगामी

even if we display our sophistication outwardly दिसुन येई नेहमीच प्रसंगी अधोगती

when the occassion comes, seen is one's regress कशास जगलो, का जगलो कोणी बरे सांगावे

for what did we live, why did we live, who will tell us उठता बसता मात्र दोष नशिबाला द्यावे

time and again (literal: sitting & standing) cursing (putting responsibility on) one's fate तुडविली सारी बंधने आज माणसाने

broken all ties today has man म्हणून का फिरविली पाठ निसर्गाने?

is that why nature has turned its back on us?

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