Humans versus Humankind

 To be self Serving is primary to existence of individuals in animal Kingdom . And what better animal to talk about , than Humans .

This is necessary to survive in this world with few resources . Nature wants us to spread our genes and thats why rewards us with pleasure when we actually do it ( Have Sex ) . So there is this constant tussle  among individuals to spread their genes more , to have more access to food for their progeny and so on . 

But in the process what we also see is disregard of other humans and their right to exist as they wish to . Easy resort to violence ( For instance : I saw someone almost kill another drunkard  man because he abused the former ) . 

This lack of compassion in humanity that we witness today is apalling and is soul crushing .Do we not know that Modern  Humans ( Homo Sapiens sapiensis ) could outsurvive Homo Neanderthalensis because of better social skills even though the latter had a larger brain capacity  . That is , humans had  better ability towards speech / communication and coordination in hunting for food and thus domination over available food resources . 

If you ask for that one thing that separates us from rest of the Animals , then that would be our social skills . Our ability to make friends and work in groups apart from factors such as Bipedalism ( Ability to walk on feet ) , hold tools with precision , Make tools and so on .

Our present way of life , helps achieve short term individual interests but kills us all in the run and deteriorates quality of life . Its not what we have obtained but how we have lived that's  important . 

Excessive self serving attitude has plagued this world and would lead to extinction of human kind which fails to recognise the whole of humanity as one . Compassion towards fellow being and fellow nations and distinct nations is the need today . 

I call you all to shed identities which have been imposed on you . Be it identities of religion , caste or language and set yourself and the world free . 

The World today needs brotherhood and sisterhood and calmth and not the mad rush .

Even as you read this Opinion piece , lets hope that Humanity is winning against  Humankind . 

Because Papa ain't no study Genetics

Arranged marriages are a curse . Not for all , but for the micro communities numbering few  thousands . This is because the gene pool of the community isn't diverse . By this , there is high likelihood that the offsprings develop recessive disorders . 

Arranged marriages among micro communities can be  infact termed as lighter version of Incest ( Marrying one's  brother/sister/cousin ) . 

Genetics ain't  simple , a healthy looking person may not pass on healthy genes ( recessive traits are passed in stealth ) .

Micro communities in this modern age,  where people prefer , to have a single child , shall reach elimination . Earlier this was not the case as , say amongst 5 Kids , even if 2 would'nt  reach adulthood , the rest 3 could continue the progeny . 

Also in  society  at large , arranged marriages perpetuate the tendency of human souls identifying themselves as belonging to a certain caste as both the partners belong to the same caste  . And thus spiritually speaking is regressive . 

The greatest dent to the spiritual progress of a human is identifying oneself  with labels and especially labels which denote a sense of superiority or inferiority . There cannot be a worser label than caste .

Our minds have to thus welcome every human soul for what they are and not because they come with a superficial TAG . 

Papa isn't going to study genetics but WE SHALL.

Mangoes or Prelims ?

It's that time of the year when people who  have taken to recluse venture out for a day out to bubble a 100 (*2)  times on the neatly ironed and presented OMR . Yes it's the season not of just mangoes but also of UPSC Prelims . 

There are many factors beyond one's control in Prelims .

When I was taking the Exam , after solving around 25 questions , I had applied a lot of mind and I was happy and comfortable . I usually solve the paper in three or four rounds . Round 1 - Absolute sure ones , Round 2 - 50/50 etc .This paper ( UPSC 2019 ) was excruciatingly time taking .

I checked time and I had consumed 25 minutes already . On extrapolation it would mean 100 minutes for 100 questions and 20 minutes for bubbling which means second round of reviewing questions doesn't exist anymore .

I went into a dilemma if I must increase my speed or continue with the flow . Paper was lengthy but at the same time I was happy with the way I marked and came at conclusion on what's the right answer.

At this point there began  a  loud noise of  band music from outside ( My centre was in the middle of the city - Bangalore) , a small PU college surrounded by busy streets ( A perfect example of what an examination centre must not be )  and simultaneously two women from adjacent buildings started their loud gossip while washing clothes  ( That's their daily chore while we were the intruders this time ).  I got nervous for a few minutes , I lost focus and the noise subsided only when I reached the 40 th question .

This paper needed high focus but with that kind of noise and disturbed, agitated mind , I thought Game Over - Khallas . But I regained my composure back and carried on and fortunately after around 15 minutes ,things came to normal .

The ladies continued but by now my brain differentiated their noise and filtered it out for me ..

I continued my Paper and I couldn't come back for Round 2 . There was no Round 2 .I had just 20 minutes to Bubble and I panicked a bit and was bubbling , my hands were shivering as I am a slow Bubbler ( Apart from being a slow Witer ) .

That's how I marked all of the 100 questions .

I found my name in the Mains Eligible list but missed IFoS Cut Off.

This time I was sure I would clear CSE Pre and was in border for Ifos Pre.

Probably I lost 5 to 8 marks due to the noise and missed IFoS cut off and I had got 22 of first 25 Questions right this time !

My learnings :

There are many factors around Pre , anything may happen. Thing is we must not lose our cool . This is really really important .

I was overall in a surprisingly relaxed mood before Pre, this helped me sail easily .

Edit : And I haven't included Invigilators' Speech Orgy and an aspirant who was shouting all the time asking for help from invigilator , as to how to fill OMR etc (I Guess he wasn't that mentally sound ) and at one point I felt like telling the invigilator to call UPSC and get that person out as he was disturbing the whole class . She didn't handle him well and attended all his queries . He didn't even possess a pen .Two or  three aspirants in my class told invigilator in a loud manner , to ignore the person . There will be many people like this irritating you in the real exam scenario and you can't do anything about it.

The afternoon paper  invigilator scolded him and he behaved as he should .She handled him well .

Because of all the above distraction , one may lose 5 to 10 marks and the whole game changes ( Mostly because if things not under your control ) . In my case I believe I missed Ifos Cut off because of this .

The main takeaway thus is that the Exam is highly highly Uncertain . Don't make it a question of Life and death . Develop other skills which you can monetise . Stay healthy . Stay Happy .

If life doesn't give you UPSC , enjoy the Mangoes Instead . 

Go Corona Go

While the emotional mind says " Let's panic like never before " , the Logical mind agrees and searches for some space to rest in the Home of Minds .

Today , As I see  , although the number of   people  inflicted with Corona overall has crossed 5 K and apparently the number of cases detected doubles every 4 days . It doesn't mean case count shall reach 10 K in another 4 days or 20 K in the next 4 .

This is primarily because we are now under Lockdown and the ability of disease to transmit has been curbed severely .

The number of people who were inflicted with the  virus during pre Curfew period are now showing symptoms and are part of 5 K odd count .

This number shall peak in the next week and after that there shall be a gradual decrease in count .

The graph of Case count which initially loved ascendance , shall flatten out and learn to descend as new cases stop coming in and recovered cases increase.

We may need another 45 days of strict lockdown  before we allow public movement .

This is when the logical mind has to take over and foresee what path we must now take in a post Corona situation .

So is Corona gonna be the be all Virus , Certainly not . If it's a Virus , it loves mutation .

Just like ethical hacking where we discover ways to hack the system just to find a loophole and then fix it , we must ethically try and devise the most virulent of virus or atleast theorise it using Artificial Intelligence  so that when such form of virus actually emerges , we are ready with a solution /medicine /vaccine.

Venice has changed from a sewage city to one loved by dolphins ( So are Himalayas visible from Jallandhar !! )
The air is cleaner   and the due respect that environment deserves must be provided post Corona too  and International Environmental  agreements are not junk ofcourse .

Bonding amongst family has increased and there is a happy break from things we thought or was projected as   important.
Probably we would appreciate nature , hills , play and sport more .


The governments around the world and their incompetencies have been exposed .

South Korea could test its entire population for Corona but we couldn't . If we imagine each Indian district as a nation , then each of these districts must have the ability to deal with such pandemics independently. By that I mean testing kits .

They must be self sufficient .

Free healthy food outlets must have  cropped  up in each nook and corner and must precede declaration of Curfew .

Hunger is a far greater disease than Corona . But hunger is a poor man's disease unlike Corona which affects the rich aswell. We can very well say Corona is a socialist disease .

We need our Police to be more humane rather than  just swing their lathi at free will . People have needs.  People are hungry People need water . People are poor . People are homeless .

Lest these homeless be beaten up by some rogue policemen .

Lighting of Lamps doesn't drive Corona away but it does strengthen community bonding and is a psychological solace .

At the end of it all , one must urge our representatives /politicians to spend atleast 5 times more than what's being spent now on education  and thus also research .

People are slowly being retrenched from Jobs , Unemployment gazes at the populace . People living hand to mouth are frozen , some my have to look at PDS ( Ration ki dukaan ) . Businesses without cash may close down.

This is the right time for government to first issue an order that there be no retrenchment for the next 6 months . A minimum salary of 20 K in the organised sector must be mandated and 50 % of the salary must be compensated by government  for  salary component above  20 K . The government must pay for 25 % of expenditure of all companies for the next 6 months . UBI ( Universal basic income ) must come into force and each family in unorganised sector must receive a minimum of 15 K INR.

Now people would ask what about inflation ?

Is it better to buy an apple costing 100 Rs for 300 or not have any money at all ( Applies to the most vulnerable ) .Inflation is fine when a pandemic like Corona tries to beat us down badly such that we never rise back again . Government must use its last resort of printing Currency .

Corona for a few of us  atleast has  made us realise who our real friends are at tough times and who aren't .

Whilst we all hope to see the sun from the tropics and greet each other in the real world and not just from screens  , we do atleast sometimes in our heart whisper or shout          " Go Corona Go " .

Mr Modi and his Sweet Tea

Why modi won and not bjp ! To imagine bjp winning more than half the seats in the offing this election was unimaginable - 2 years back . Even when led by vajpayee in 1998 the bjp secured a mere 24 percent votes. Nobody really knows whats in gujarat !!! Is there any development or there is just this hype and all pervasive engulfing image thats portrayed. But what an average indian knows is Congress has been involved in scams - not 1 or 2 but many spanning multiple thousand crores of indian rupees .. India' s image was irreversibly damaged by the CWG scam . Inflation reached its peak and a roti was now costly ( I eat rice ) .. Modi is now India's most popular stranger. who has sold us something much more than tea ( With all due respect to the chai wala ) . He has sold us hope . Hope sustains life and we have all bought it from him . The young Indian has given his mandate , he/she can wait no more !!

The City of Delhi in the eyes of a Fish eating Mangalorean !

Its been quite a time in Delhi now . Delhi has been magnificently different  from what i thought it would be. Well did i use the right term .
Yeah i think i did. Its vibrant and has wide roads  and many of those monuments we read about in school.
Although i expected it to be an ideal city which showcases India to the world - surely as it must as the national capital , in many ways it doesn't . Reasons cannot be 1 or 2 but are plenty and so many . Only if the hygiene is better served and also the colonies (yes people live there) are to be more organized and the houses completed in construction and sewage better treated ,then it would beautify the city !!

Yes i have a food problem here , a huge huge one . My stomach which demands rice is slowly learning to make friends with roti .Since we Mangaloreans have found 100 different ways of cooking fish and 1000 different delectable ways of eating it , Delhi offers no solace . The first time i ate fish here was when my friend Meena (her name actually means  fish - not joking ) cooked it specially for me . That day a fish ( actually i ate at least 2 )  swimming care freely in the rivers of Yamuna  sacrificed its life to appear at my platter ! Notwithstanding the fish's emotions , that day (actually night) was like finding ocean in a  barren land ( registaan mein gaon ki jaisa tha voh - then i could relate
 to this song better).

 Delhi metro has been an amazing ride and to cover 143 stations is a no easy task . To handle 2.2 crore people the city is really struggling .But what i make out from the old timers in the city is that the essence of the city is in being unorganized . Does being unorganized add to being dynamic and vibrant !! Some people feel yes , some people feel no . I would give it a BIG BIG NO. I think Delhi is over targeted
as not being safe for women (many a times have felt men are not safe here - Delhi girls mere bhai ) . After 10 pm even London is not safe for women !! Anyways am blending into the Delhi culture - enjoying parts of it and at the end of it , yeah am not complaining !!!..