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PREDICTABLY IRRATIONAL

My son gave me a book last fortnight to read: PREDICTABLY IRRATIONAL, authored by an Israeli, Dan Ariely. My first reaction was to dismiss the offer but when he insisted real hard, I was tempted to have a glimpse. But instead of a mere glimpse, I got glued to this book and couldn't wait to finish the book from cover to cover!

Dan is the Professor of Psychology & Behavioral Economics at Duke University. Dan

earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Tel Aviv University, his master’s and doctorate degrees in cognitive psychology from the University of North Carolina, and a doctorate in Business Administration from Duke University.

Using simple experiments, the author demonstrates how expectations, emotions, social norms and other invisible, seemingly illogical forces skew our reasoning abilities.

Have you ever wondered as to why do our headaches persist after taking a cheap painkiller but disappear when we take a more expensive one? No? Well, go on and read the book described by George Akerlof, Nobel Laureate in Economics in 2001, as 'wildly original.'

NIKHAT KAZMI

Nikhat Kazmi, who fought with breast cancer and ultimately went down fighting on 20 Jan 12, was one of the best known film critics, who had been writing for The Times of India.
Personally, I have been reading The Times of India ever since I was in school in 1973. I remember having read hundreds of film reviews by her in mid 80s and the period following that.

Nikhat Kazmi originally hailed from Allahabad and according to those she was known to, she was a firebrand; always full of energy and prepared to take on any task. Her reviews were clear and in detail but the best of all, they were candid. She had many friends in the film industry and millions of people all over India waited for her reviews on new releases.

It is said that recently when she was badly down with cancer, she went to see movies in a wheelchair and wrote reviews, as frank as ever.

Just imagine, the person who was most read on fridays, breathed her last on  Friday. She will be missed by film fraternity and fans alike.

A TYPICAL DAY AT WORK

I don't know how many of you have ever experienced a hectic day at work. Perhaps many of you. The day generally starts well and then suddenly turns hectic. There are telephonic calls and many of them add more work. Then there are mail, mails and mails. Sometimes you just feel like shutting your laptop down and shoving it back in its bag. And then there are documents to be checked and signed, conferences to be attended, to be travelled within the city, calls to be taken, calls to be made and questions to be answered. And if you still can breathe a bit easy, you will receive one odd visitor, too!

But then sometime I think that this madness is required once in a while. Only then can we unwind later and enjoy. There was a time when we did not have today's technology on our work stations and still had a good deal of time on our hands. As the technology has become advanced and as gadgets have been handed down to us to aid us, we have created more and more work for ourselves. We have tighter deadlines and higher goals.

But at times I do wish that I could travel back in time to the era when we had all the time and no worry! Ah! Those were the days, good old days!!

WHY IS INDIA SO SOFT?

We all know that our country is a strong contender for being called the Softest State in the world. How many times in the history have we invaded a state? Why do we take so much pride in time and again releasing white doves to signify peace? What has happened to Afzal Guru? And Kasab? Why are we spending millions of rupees on the terrorists who violated us and butchered innocent people, people who had nothing at all to do with the so called ideology of these terrorists, nor did they do anything to antagonize them?

It is beyond my comprehension that why can't we be like many strong countries. Countries who take revenge without delay and keep their adversaries at bay. Just look at Israel, a tiny country with only 20700 square kilometres area. Try and mess with them!

India, on the other hand has a total area of 3287263 square kilometres, 159 times bigger than Israel and anyone can violate her at will. That is the difference between us and them!

LADAKH

You may ask, “why Ladakh as a topic for this blog?” I would reply, “why not Ladakh?”

 

Those who have not been fortunate enough to have been exposed to this part of the planet must make an endeavour to visit Ladakh. It is a place like no other, provided you shed your 'city culture and notions' for a few days and explore the area around Leh like a true nomad!

 

Ladakh is a region in one of the states of India-Jammu & Kashmir. The word Ladakh means land of high passes. There are many passes in the region, some of them of strategic importance and many of them of historic significance. The region is sandwiched between the 

 Kunlun Mountains in the North and the Great Himalayas to the South.

 

Kunlun itself is one of the longest mountain chains in Asia and stretches over 3000 km.

 

The region is sparsely populated and has a domination of people of Tibetan descent, with Mongoloid features.

 

The region essentially encompasses Baltistan (in Northern Pakistan), Indus Valley (River Indus flows through China, Pakistan and India), Zanskar Range in Kargil district, Lahaul and Spiti (in Himachal Pradesh), Aksai Chin (a high altitude desert between China and India), Ngari (falls in Tibet) and Nubra Valley (North of Leh). However, over time, the definition of Ladakh Region has ceased to be sacrosanct. Various areas have fallen apart in the administrative sense and there are borders to check human traffic. So, as of now, Ladakh would necessarily mean area North of Srinagar and right up to the Siachen Glacier.

Leh, the capital of Ladakh, is a unique town. Situated at an altitude of about 11350 feet above MSL, it is cold desert, dotted with lush green oases.

While in Leh:

(a) Stay in a private guest house

(b) Visit villages surrounding Leh and spend some time with the cheerful locals

If you do these two things, you will have spent your vacations in an entirely unorthodox manner!

THE WORLD AROUND US

Have you ever wondered what is continuously happening all around us? There are a whole lot of people out there on our planet and there are a whole lot of activities out there and then there are whole lot of combinations of people and activities.

Why do we behave the way we do? Why aren't two people alike in their likes and dislikes and their actions? Why an activity carried out out by one person so dearly is detested by the other? Well, these are the questions to which there are no easy answers. Our world is a complex web, much like a spider web. It is so easy to get lured into the web and it is so much difficult to get out of it.

We have had cases where men have indulged in unprovoked firing and killed innocent people without any rhyme or reason. And we have had people who have devoted their entire lives to the upliftment of the underprivileged. Many such people have gone from amidst us unsung. Who is right and who is wrong? Who is to decide this?

It is good that we have technology but it is bad that we have been enslaved by our own creation. We can't break free of our creation, of course but we must make an endeavour to maintain our sanity and our moral values so that we can contribute to making our world safe, stable and liveable.

BOL (SPEAK UP)

This week I happened to see a film, BOL (meaning, Speak Up). Bol is a movie entirely filmed in Pakistan's cultural capital, Lahore, and tells the story of a family overflowing with daughters and one son, born with abnormality. The family's income is on the rapid down slide and with time, mouths to feed increase sharply. The father regards women nothing more than objects and refuses to see or let his children see the light of the day. Abject poverty and a deep but rigid and illogical belief in powers of the Almighty and the religion by the father, makes lives of all family members miserable.

The opening scene shows the protagonist, Zainab (Humaima Malick) in jail, about to be hanged. Her mercy appeal is rejected by the President of Pakistan but her last wish, rather strange, to tell her story to the media, literally from the hangman's plank, is allowed. And from there rolls the flashback.

There are innumerable dark spots in our world. Underdeveloped countries are nightmarish places to live for women. Women there are subjected to unimaginable level of scrutiny and they live 'controlled' lives, monitored, dictated and brutalized by men.

Bol is an emotional and painful film. It questions the worth of a human being, be it a woman or a person born with a defect.

Brilliantly directed by Shoaib Mansoor, the movie stars Humaima Malick, Atif Aslam, Mahira Khan, Shafqat Cheema and above all, the legendary Manzar Sehbai as Haqeem (father). Performance by every actor is par excellence and I give credit for this to the director. Shoaib Mansoor had also directed another film in 2007, Khuda Ke Liye which earned over $ 10 million worldwide.

Bol was released in Pakistan on 24 Jun 11 and it set a new box office record in Pakistani cinema, becoming the highest earning film in Pakistan in its first week of release, breaking all previous records. The previous record was held by Shahrukh Khan starrer My Name Is Khan, which had grossed PKR 13.417 million in its first week, whereas Bol did a business of PKR 62.792 million in six days. In two weeks, the total gross revenue of the film had reached PKR 94.29 million. Bol also collected INR 2,80,00000 from 75 screens in India.

It is a thought provoking piece of art and you have to watch the film to judge its exceptionally high standard.

BROAD CANVAS AND A BRUSH

I am a man from the 50s! I believe that my generation, generally born between 1955 and 1965, has been extremely fortunate to have witnessed the world change. When I say witness, it does not necessarily mean direct vision of an event, rather it means events which took place a few years before we were born and were still fresh in the memory of people at that point in time. Those events left an indelible impression on the minds of people who were born after a particular event had come to pass. Those events were talked about, marvelled at, regretted or wished to be repeated. Just imagine what all we have witnessed:

1. World War II
2. Availability of bicycle to a common man
3. Revolution against some of the regimes in the world
4. Major wars between India and Pakistan
5. Major Arab-Israel wars
6. Man’s landing on the moon
7. Common availability of land line telephone
8. Advent of technology enabling electrical appliances
9. Advent of technology enabling electronic instruments
10. Mobile communication
11. Internet

The above list is just an indicative one, to show that we have graduated from moving from on foot to posh, swanky cars today. We have indeed come a long way.

Somehow, somewhere deep down my heart, I have mixed feelings of nostalgia, pride, achievement, regret and hope. I would like to go back in time to 60s and 70s and even 80s when the society, by and large, was still healthy and morally sound. Those were the decades of good films and good music. I feel proud to have risen from almost nothing to possess many worldly comforts. I regret many decisions taken during the course of my life and find that my take on those situations would have been different if I were to decide today. All in hindsight, of course. I have a hope for a good future, when all of a sudden, our world will again become clean and more liveable.