UTOPIA AND IDEALISM- A JUSTIFICATION AND PURSUIT

I wrote this while reading Ayn Rand, and it probably shows.

Today’s world is filled with many people who call themselves ‘realists’. They consider idealists as not being pragmatic and accuse them of dreaming of a world of utopia that can never be achieved. They argue that it is far better to live in the real world mentally and not just physically, stop dreaming and work to improve the world that is.

What is utopia? What is an ideal? The very definition of Utopia includes the word ‘impossible’. It is supposed to be a society so ideal that it cannot exist. The word idealism, fortunately, implies an achievable quality. It refers to the ultimate, the best in an area or a field. It is a superlative, but not necessarily an absolute.

But what is overlooked sometimes is that Utopia HAS been achieved, again and again, in history.

Let’s take a historical viewpoint; Starting from the French revolution. For the French peasants and lower-classes, Utopia meant the abolition of absolute monarchy. Yes, it was achieved after prolonged struggle, and brought about the system of constitutional monarchy. But that stage itself brought about some problems that weren’t foreseen by the people, and so it could not be called utopia as it wasn’t perfect and did not bring about perfect happiness. When those problems were solved [struggles for equal allowance to vote] the system of governance became a constitutional republic, which had problems of its own. And so we have struggled through the ages fighting for utopia and here we are with democracy. This is just an example of governance patterns. The same repeats with everything in history. When Utopia is achieved, it becomes non-Utopia, because of the inherent characteristic of human beings of not being happy with what they have and always wanting more.

Now the connection with idealism; pursuing the ideal inevitably leads to the utopian, if the seeker is the perfectionist [not if the seeker is simply happy with the known best and does not look to what has not been, but can be, achieved]. And anyway, the known best never would have existed if there had not been such a seeker. All this implies that if you want a [new and better] superlative standard of comparison, you need to be an idealist looking for utopia.

The argument with realists; if you are a realist, how will you dream? If you do not dream, how will you conceive daring new ideas? And if you do not have any daring new ideas then how will new things be created? A realist says that it is wrong to dream and believe in Utopia. But if you do not, how will you move forward and develop and create new things?

To make and to create, you must dream and think both [and of course translate it to action]. To dream you must believe that utopia can be achieved.

And even realists do not deny that they want development and growth.

Another [sub] justification for believing in Utopia is that it sets you free of the world that is. The real world is a cage of horrors for many; their escape is dreaming of a world where they are happy, of Utopia. Thinking of and believing in utopia lets them experience utopia for real, temporarily.

That argument ends here. Now to speculate a little further on Utopia and its predecessor society. To achieve Utopia, you need a definite idea of what it is for you. If you are a government, a nation, what is Utopia for you? How will you decide what constitutes Utopia for the millions under you? Indeed who are you to make that decision? Looking at it from a global perspective makes the question unimaginably vast. The epiphany is that there IS no collective Utopia, and indeed there is not even an IDEA of what a collective Utopia is. It simply cannot exist. This is because the individual Utopian ideals of billions of people 1. Cannot merge together to form one giant Utopian idea and 2. will keep on changing; never to remain stable.

After all, Utopia is an individual thing. And individuals never remain the same. Some part of them is always changing, and [quoting Ayn Rand (without her disapproval of the idea)] they call this growth.

A slightly related question here is the general conception of ‘right’ and ‘wrong’. The query that rises here is how do you decide which is which? How can you label something as right or wrong absolutely? Is that a decision based on the popular conception of the public? It seems to be so. People have all the power. This mantra is always used to justify democracy. Does this mean that if the people all want a common thing it becomes right? If the people are in favour of murder and assassination does that then become a virtue? Or are there some timeless values and vices that remain so always? Today’s world seems to favour the former situation. And coming to Utopia, it is based on what each person believes is right for him and thus gives him happiness. The whole thing looks like a senseless paradox and taken this way it might seem as though realists have a point- that if you cannot pinpoint what Utopia is how can you believe in it? Then again this isn’t their major argument. It is that you shouldn’t believe in it, not whether it is possible or not. We are walking very fine lines here.

So the solution is finding utopia with what you have. This means first, reconciling yourself with everything around you [including the people] and getting over your negativity. The next step is finding peace within you, being happy with what you have and are. This does not at all mean that you are resisting change or that you have no potential to grow and develop. Quite the contrary; Self and surrounding based introspection will clear your mind and show you what you are. You will find your flaws and mend them. You will try and develop into your image of perfection [and since most people’s perception of perfection is never a constant, you will always have goals to realize] and at the same time contribute to your surroundings. 

And taking the importance that the plebiscite opinion garners today, into account, the best thing we can hope for that a collective conscience arises and that all the individual conceptions of Utopia are harmonious to peace and sustainability, not growing into a tumour of obscenities, as it seems now.

WORLD EVILS

One of my more...satirical articles.

Confusing chaos. Multitudes of options swirling around multitudes of people. So many thoughts, questions and opinions, suppressed for the sake of uniformity. Pretend behaviour. Infinite problems but zero solutions. Problems to compound problems and block attempted solutions. In spite of self-destructivity and negative energy, unwavering optimism.

A good way to describe today.

On thoughts first.

We are vessels for ideas. Generated from thoughts. Which can be generated at up to one a second, or even more. Do we use this one ability that distinguishes us from every other living being? Probably not. Ironically, those who do would be all for saving the planet and chastising their species; those who do not spend more time glorifying their superiority and plotting new ways to leech the planet of its vitality.

We do not train our minds to think. Nor do we feel it worth developing by ourselves. We place a lot more emphasis on accumulating knowledge, [or is information a better word,] that is potentially useful for hoarding resources. If you are successful in snatching more resources and wasting it on yourself, you have used your time and energy well, in terms of today’s society.

Is that really the way we want to have grown? All of us are facing difficult decisions and a lot of potholes and bumps in our roads to ‘success’ and working extremely hard in our own ways to achieve that. But isn’t our fundamental definition of success flawed? Isn’t it our duty to clean up our messes? Shouldn’t we feel the urge to give back, even now, while we are killing the very elements that keep us alive? Where is that collective consciousness gone? Why has even the instinct of self-preservation disappeared?

Clearly, while there has been tremendous improvement in collective environmental awareness, its pace is much too slow to generate the reaction and subsequent actions needed to save the planet.

World governments are way too involved in running, rather misrunning, their countries to bother to come together to resolve this crisis before doomsday is right under their noses.

In such a situation it is absurd to expect that a positive change can occur in time.

Mankind has gone terribly wrong. Humans seem to be essentially self-destructive, as said above; unable even to take care of their own species, let alone trying to coexist with others. In the space of some thousands of years, we have managed to bring down all the elements that are essential for our survival- trees, air, water; and caused the imminent elimination of other living beings on earth. Sunlight, another necessary element, still shines on us, but so do its more poisonous components, since we have thinned down the ozone layer. All this is a time space that is nothing by the chronological standards of the universe.

That is THE problem. The sub-problems are animal extinction, deforestation, ice-melting and the polar bears, water pollution, carbon[and other] emissions, and so on.

The humongous smoke trail caused by a factory (Its blurry because i was in a car.) 

I want to think about human problems. There are certainly more than enough to think about. Choose your pick- poverty, hunger, illiteracy, gender issues, political ones,... and so on. They are all connected. I would like to go a step further and say that they all stem from a lack of the ability to think. If we were accustomed to doing so we would focus on solving problems, not creating enough material to cause more. After all, isn’t that what science is about? A group of thinkers with good will creating something to potentially be used to help people; but it ends up in the hands of selfish hoarders to go on and become destructive. Unfortunately, before resolving the current crisis, we are already busy creating new scientific material and subsequently new destructive problems. As Einstein said, shocked and racked by guilt, after the Hiroshima bombing made possible by his widely-known formula-‘Signing Roosevelt’s letter was the biggest mistake of my life.’

Really, why are we being so blind to an obvious situation? I fail to comprehend. Is it the influence of dulling technology, fatiguing food, and no exercise that has made us as a people extremely passive and listless? We are not bothered about anything anymore. Our morals cease to act on us and our collective conscience is heading in entirely the wrong direction.

I would like to change the topic now and think about all the other sentient beings we are sharing our planet with. There is an enormous richness of living creatures around us- millions in fact. A square kilometer of earth would reveal more insects than all us humans put together.

Unfortunately for us and showing our despicable natures, we have caused the extinction of many thousands of species. We will never see these beauties of nature again. Their extinction has resulted in a chain reaction among food chains and now a lot of other species, affected by this loss of nutrition, or absence of predators, as the case may be, are slowly dying out. Lack of prey or fodder is just the tip of the problem iceberg for the species we coexist with. We are responsible for causing a lot of other problems, of which habitat destruction, deforestation, no water spaces, mining, poaching, are but a few.

And then when some carnivore, deprived of a habitat to stay in restfully, and starving due to no prey, strays in to a village and pounces on the first potential food source it sees, we make a huge fuss, fluff up in indignation, proclaim it a murderer and execute it; making us worthy of the title.

Even leaving all of these issues, if we look at how we treat live or captured creatures, we would be worthy of even more condemnation. It is hard to imagine the torture that animals in slaughterhouses or those whose skin, fur, bones etc. are used in cosmetics or clothing, are forced to endure. The act of using parts of defenseless animals as decoration for useless items is bad enough, but it is not even done mercifully. The animals are not put to death painlessly. On the contrary, locked up in extremely tiny cages, they are taken out one by one, smashed repeatedly against the earth until their own blood blocks their vision or beaten up with sticks or clubs so hard that they can hear their bones shattering. These are only two inhuman examples. Many, many more cruel treatments are actually meted out. What makes it worse is that they do not even have an outlet to voice their pain. They suffer quietly. And then, even after all this, we are sick enough to relish the taste of the flesh of these unfortunate creatures.

I want to go back now to the problems we have created for ourselves. Some of the things we subject the members of our own species to is worse than what we do to the animals, if that’s even possible. We are aware of this.

We have created such a world in which achieving self-actualization, or you could call it individual, lasting happiness, is virtually impossible. Think about it. For an average individual, happiness would mean achieving a set of personal goals. Today’s average man would get depressed if he did not get what he wanted in, maximum, a few years. If he did, he wouldn’t wait to take it in, be happy or feel satisfied. He would go on to the next set of wishes.

Essentially, our minds have, over the past few decades, due to technology that stifles imagination yet simulates it, developed a tendency to do a lot of different things, very fast. This is lauded as good by most people, but we do not realize that this means we are entirely incapable of sitting and applying our minds for enough time. We cannot focus on anything long enough. Thinking about thinking and meditating for years like the sages of yore would give most people a headache. We just flit from idea to idea, person to person, action to action, without seriously considering any thought. We do not practice introspection and find out what our strengths and weaknesses are. We aren’t interested in honing our minds and giving it knowledge to make the body act on. We are caught up in temporary, material objectives which do us no good, except releasing the serotonin that gives us a high for a couple of hours at most. We do not seem to be interested in making a difference, in leaving a mark. In giving and being happy. We have come a downward spiral from the ancient ages.

This is not, you would have realized, an idealistic piece on how we have messed up but there is plenty of time to turn around and set things right. We have passed the ‘this is your last chance to change the way things are’ sign. Now it remains to be seen how we manage these last few centuries, if that.

                                                          

                                                                       Apocalypse? 

As an amusing afterthought, imagine that humankind has perished. Aliens from space*, or newly evolved organisms, have started exploring earth. What would they think when they find evidence of our actions? Having essentially the same desires and tendencies, except for the destructive behavior seen in the last centuries, would our successors in evolution make the same mistakes we did? Would they still fight among themselves or would they seek to better themselves?

*talking of which, one thing that puzzles me is the way all of us on earth always assume that beings on other planets, if they exist, are superior to us. Knowing our egocentricity, we should be thinking that to us, organisms on other planets, in space, are less than an amoeba to an elephant. Hmm. Maybe because of our love for gaining new technology, prying more secrets, and believing that we can prevail in the end due to our cavalier attitude and spotless deeds.

'The world will fall to storm or fire!'
(An approaching storm as seen from my balcony)

                            

ASHA- HOPE FOR EDUCATION

A year back, I and a group of friends decided to spend a an hour a day for a few weeks at an NGO nearby and teach under-privileged children. What followed was an incredible experience which taught us many things. I had written this a few months after our trips to Asha, the NGO (Asha means hope in Hindi), describing our experience.


ASHA for EDUCATION, proclaims the sign. Three steps lead to a porch, and a door within. Pairs of shoes are lined neatly in front of the door. We add our footwear to the straight line and enter. Greetings of ‘Good morning, teacher’ and ‘Hi Didi/Bhaiyya!’ abound.


There are two rooms inside. The outer room has a blackboard and is more spacious. The inner room is host to a host of computers, favorites of the children. It also doubles as a store room and contains a cupboard full of books for all ages and of various subjects.


We remember our first day. We were a little nervous, not knowing what to expect. But as we peeked around the door and were welcomed by cries of ‘good morning’ despite being newcomers, we felt right at home. That day, the kids were making envelopes out of colored paper and decorating them with stickers. We were all shy in the beginning but soon enough, we were cutting paper, passing stickers and suggesting designs. The finished envelopes were beautiful.


This was the arts and crafts class, which was usually held separately from the teaching classes. As we worked, we talked a little. The children seemed excited at the prospect of learning with us. We in turn, were looking forward to our first sessions and trying to decide what topics to take up, and what timings to fix on.


Eventually we decided on suitable timings and took up specific subjects. The first few days were spent feeling our way around and discovering the current capabilities of all our little friends. First the kids split in to around three or four groups based on age. Then we split up too, to work with a group each, in a day. The largest group, and therefore the most difficult to handle, was composed of fifth to eighth graders. They only knew basic addition and subtraction, barely any science, and struggled to read simple words in English. Yet their eagerness to learn was amazing! We admired their zest, and thirst for knowledge.


Most of our friends at Asha attended Hindi or Urdu medium schools. This meant that we tried to focus on making them proficient in both reading and speaking English. Two of us would take up computers, where we would have them write mails or open up online grammar lessons or simply express themselves on Paint; when it came to Math, illustrating a new concept and having them solve questions was be the routine followed. This we did in the computer room. Two more of us would take reading or science lessons, which the girls at Asha particularly liked. There were many English and Science textbooks in the cupboard spanning different classes and boards, so we would pick out something interesting and have everyone in the group read aloud in turns, and we’d explain the meanings or the context of the lesson wherever needed. And the remaining one of us would have the liberty of using the blackboard- this was for the tiny tots- and illustrate concepts like fruits or shapes, or just teach them small spellings or sentences.


As we worked, we became aware of a problem. The thing was, our little students weren’t at all regular, bogged down by work at home or the travelling distance (they would come to us after their school ended from slums that were rather far), and so missing a day here and a day there was all too common. The fact that great distances or schoolwork even work at home did not deter their attending Asha inspired us so much! It made us feel like spending more time with them, to teach them something useful, and teach WELL.
Anyway, to get around the problem, we tried not to take continuous lessons. By that, I mean that we would conduct the sessions in such a way that even a new student would be able to pick up what we covered, without attending the previous sessions. We took it up a few sections at a time, and we went over the previous days’ concepts the next day. It was such a simple but incredibly effective method!


Our topics weren’t just restricted to Math, Science or English, and the illustrative topics for the very small kids. Every once in a while we’d take up something different, like geography in social science using a globe, or, more frequently, spoken English. We’d create imaginary situations where everyone had to interact by speaking English, and that was a great way to get around the challenge of getting everyone to speak English in practical situations.


In those two months, we had become really attached to our friends and the work we did. It gave us a feeling of joy to get up in the morning and know that we were going to meet everyone and teach in a few hours. And by no means was it one sided learning; I sometimes think we learnt more valuable lessons than our friends at Asha, during our stint there. As for physical and factual learning, I will say that we walked out a lot more proficient in Hindi than the day we arrived. We were forced to teach mathematics in Hindi, and geography in Hindi, and explain English in Hindi too! We learnt to communicate the toughest concepts in the simplest ways, and use our imagination in a practical way.
But more important things we learnt were those that will stay for a long time- the positive attitude that makes one smile through all adversity; the perseverance to learn, no matter what the obstacles in the way, and the blazing determination that made it possible for each student there to reach their goals.


Before I stop writing, I have a request for you: to spare a few hours a week, if possible, to share the incredible gift of giving someone your time, for something that will stay a lifetime. You’ll have a lot of fun too!


(Asha is located near the Main Gate, IIT Powai, and the timings for teaching are very flexible. You could visit in a group, which leaves you with many interesting ways to take teaching sessions, or call individually at your own convenience.
For details, you can contact 02225783674, the Asha Centre)

THE POWAI LAKE

Powai Lake today, pre-monsoon picture

Two years back, I worked on a project on the Powai Lake with my friend Anantika, and we ended up amassing a huge amount of material, from pictures to interviews we had taken of various personalities, to self-made articles, letters, skits, poems, reports; not to mention the experience we garnered through many field trips we took. The pictures in this article are all those i had clicked while working on the project. I had attemped to give a complete picture of the situation by penning this fact-based article, which I came across again a few days back. And here it is. 

The Powai Lake was built in 1891 by taking a stream tributary of the Mithi river to build two 10m dams across 2 hillocks to collect rainwater. This formed the lake which was initially named after a Parsi merchant- Framaji Kavasji, to whom the land where the lake was built was leased before it was bought by the British government to build the lake.

The Mithi Lake tributary  we saw on a trip (in 2010)

The purpose of the lake, when it was built, was to supply water to Powai [which was composed of five villages then] and was also intended as an anti-famine measure. But over the years, by the 1990s, its waters had become so polluted that it was declared unfit to drink. 

In the early 19^th century, as India struggled to achieve independence, the lake was a centre of anti-colonial activity. IIT, the Indian institute of technology, was formed in the late 1950s. The landscape, which till then had contained sparse vegetation, slowly turned greener. By the next few decades, lush green vegetation dominated the land. The land near the lake was especially rich in biodiversity.

But the creation of IIT also marked the gradual downfall of the lake. For a period of time, IIT, like other colonies around the lake, would dump it’s sewage into the lake. But when pollution levels in the lake became pronounced, the Institute took an active interest in the rejuvenation of the lake, starting with banning the dumping of sewage into the lake. Other colonies and buildings around the lake must follow this example.

Many posh hotels and restaurants, housing colonies, as well as mechanical garages and industries cropped up around the lake in the early 1990s. they contributed largely to the pollution levels in the lake- the restaurants and housing colonies would dump their wastes and sewage in the lake while the mechanical garages and industries would use the water of the lake for cooling, dumping the same water back into the lake. This affected the aquatic organisms in the lake negatively.

Flora around the Lake- during Monsoon season (2010)

Fauna- a red dragonfly near the Lake (2010) (took a long while to get a perfect shot)

As for the biodiversity- the pollution in the lake affected it both positively and negatively. While the aquatic animals like the fishes and crocodiles were negatively impacted- high contents of lead and mercury were found in the tissues of the fish; crocodile population dwindled to less than 30- the pollution attracted newer migratory bird species. How? The pollution in the lake was a breeding ground for many insects, which were the reason for more migratory birds arriving each year. But where you could spy several multicolored butterflies fluttering around just a few decades back, now you can barely spot any.

Also, the pollution in the lake increased to such an extent that the depth of the lake came down rapidly. It could barely hold any water. Its pH level increased to 7.2.  Another cause for concern were the weeds, mainly the water hyacinth with its purple-and-white flowers which covered the lake in the monsoon and, like most other weeds hogged up the oxygen and nutrients in the water, affecting the other living organisms in the water.

Now the Powai Lake has only two uses- as a coolant for industries like L&T and as a scenic and tourist spot.

As concern for the lake grew at the turn of the century, many NGOs came up to raise awareness and funds to save the lake.  Rallies were held and human chains were made around the lake. Local leaders were roped in to help save the lake. De-silting efforts were undertaken and weeding was done in the monsoon. But these efforts were left only half done.  The sewage treatment plant nearby is now out of use and no efforts are being taken to resurrect it.

The de-silting process is being done only every two years or so, and that, too, in an incomplete way. Even the weeding is not extensively done- the weeds come creeping back without fail every monsoon. Methods of weeding which ensure permanent removal of weeds should be undertaken, and stringent measures should be enforced to make sure that the weeds don’t come back. The third thing to prevent pollution in the lake is to stop the inflow of sewage- both organic and inorganic- into the lake. More sewage treatment plants could be set up to combat this problem.

Woefully inadequate- Silting measures (2010)

Deceptively pretty- Hyacinth flowers (2010)

But more important than these government-based measures, we need the general populace to be more aware. Littering is also a factor in the pollution of the lake. The Ganesh idol immersions are responsible for polluting the lake every Ganesh Chaturthi season. There are many little aggravating factors which can only be turned around if everybody is aware of the detrimental effects of their actions.

Notice at the lake

And yet...

We need to act NOW. This lake, as well as many others in the country, is dying. Unless action is taken immediately, we will have to face the adverse effects of our actions, ending up harming ourselves irreparably.

Inter-School rally we participated in to Save The Lake, on Earth Day (2010)

TUNING IN

Glorious view of Vihar Lake 

Beautiful, don't you think?

Sometimes you watch the play of nature as it is and feel surreal. Does that world exist in and for you?

Stare out, and connect with something intrinsic and omniscient. The subdued dignity of the brown shades that make the hill right ahead, the bronze and green hues of its trees; some young and some in their prime, the serene azure of a pristine lake fortified by mountains.

Two blue-grey pigeons whizz past excitedly, and a chocolate feathered kite in stately flight enjoys its freedom to fly.

The sky is pale blue and the air is filled with so many sounds.

Today nature is exuding this relaxed attitude and invites you to join in.

You lean against the railing with crossed arms. Faint breezes buffet you slightly and you sway a little with the trees. Your peach-brown arms contrast with the metallic white of the railing paint and you think that this is not the way it should be; even your skin colour matches with the shades of the environment. You should be living out there. Your bright dress seems to mock nature.

Technology and industrialization and all that are incredible achievements which humankind has every right to glorify. But are we missing out on something far more important? We are losing our innate and fundamental humanity, and losing it to fake constructs. We are losing our identity, of being creatures of nature, of being independent and self-sufficient. Although we have accomplished wondrous things, today most of us are completely dependent on our creations to the extent that we cannot survive without them. This is quite a sad state to come to.

A few decades more of living his way and we will see the beginning of our end.

The realization has to start. Of just how we are living today compared to aeons back and of just

what we have lost. We have lost something beautiful and irreplaceable. We find traces of it here and there, but for the most part, it has vanished from our lives, taking the joy it imparts along with it.

WINDOW VIEWS

A fiery dawn, 

I look through my window

Several times a day

To find different vistas

That take my breath away

The mornings are beautiful

They offer the best views                                                                        

The sun’s rays light up the clouds,

 A bright afternoon, and

Proffering innumerable hues.

The afternoons are less spectacular;

On a bright and sunny day

I can even see beyond

To past the distant bay.

 The night sky, from my window

In the evenings my camera

Comes out of its case

As the sun starts going down

At the vibrant sky I gaze.

The nights are often reserved

For quiet contemplation

The stars and moon shine bright in peace                                   

Aiding in introspection.                                                       

EARLY MORNING WALK

Powai Lake at dusk

Wake up early one morning

And decide to go for a walk

Meander a while aimlessly

And end up beside the lake;

Marvel at the shimmering ripples,

Spot a purple jacana

Preening in the early breeze,

Look and discover a plethora

Of different birds scattered

Across the waters;

As you watch, a bright

Blue kingfisher dives,

And comes up again,

Clutching a prize fish in its beak-

This it proceeds to devour

On a nearby branch

As you wonder at its plumage.

You look up,

And see the various hues

That form the canvas of the sky.

You struggle to identify

The thousand shades that

Exist there, above you.

A pale crescent moon watches you,

Growing paler and paler,

Until it finally disappears.

And then the sun’s rays hit you

As it emerges from the horizon,

Throwing gold streaks

Across the sky that

Light up the clouds.

And you realize that

It’s been hours since you arrived.

You gather your things,

Take a last look,

And then walk away.