The farce debate of Religion vs Science

Reading these articles in the Open-Page of 'The Hindu' my brain was encroached with some thoughts which were in solitude. The 3 articles are 'Is science another of those fanatical religions?', 'Why blame science and religion for the human foibles?' and 'The curse of scientific fundamentalism'. Discussing Religion and Science with idiots gets me the feeling of an insect crawling on neck which i am desperate to get rid off.

Dichotomy between Religion and Science:

Is there a dichotomy between Religion and Science? or is it just one of the pathetic borrowed concepts from the West?. I am quite sure that for many of us the title 'Religion and Science' will be seen with the lens of debate and how one is superior over the other, how the other is devoid of rationality, how the other lacks spirituality, how the other doesn't include inner love, how the other views the world in black and white, how the other has a pragmatic approach towards society etc...;

Forget Greek, what about the Indian Tragedy?

“It’s the real Greek Tragedy” claimed my Left-Liberal friend after hearing the Greece Election Results. The phrase “The Greek Tragedy” is generously used by our Indian journalists and I am quite sure that 9 out of 10 journalists using the phrase have no idea what that actually means. With my limited knowledge of Economics and very little knowledge of Greek Mythology, I surprisingly find very less similarities of the Greece Economic Crisis and the ‘The Greek Tragedy’.

Its  one of my guilty pleasures to include Nietzsche whenever and wherever I can, in this case – I drag Nietzsche and elevate him to a different level, many may feel that it is quite unnecessary, but guilty pleasures hardly take care of others opinions.

“But, at this juncture, when the will is most imperiled, art approaches, as a redeeming and healing enchantress; she alone may transform these horrible reflections on the terror and absurdity of existence into representations with which man may live. These are the representation of the sublime as the artistic conquest of the awful, and of the comic as the artistic release from the nausea of the absurd. The satyric chorus of the dithyramb is the saving device of Greek art."

The 100th post

Thank You,

If you are reading this post, its untypical to start a post with a 'Thank You' but that how the blog has been so many years, i know that i am self boasting - i guess every man needs it - before feminists smell something more here, may be even women needs self boasting.

The 100 post - Well, i deleted many of my previous posts becuase i felt that they are crap, though i never disagreed ideologically, but they were exposing the mediocrity of my writing.

Thanks to Priyanka Mukherjee for her insightful and brilliant articles which range from Akira Kurasowa to Ingmar Bergman, Gayatri Spivak to Presidency College etc...

Thanks to Sai Karthik for his Telugu(తెలుగు) poems and posts. We both share enormous respect and love for the lyrics of 'Veturi Sundararama Murthy'.

Thanks to readers, i know that very few people read my blog, but still Thanks!

Regards,

Krishna

లక్ష్యసాధన - గమ్యఛేదన

రమ్మన్నా రాదు నిన్నటి నీ కల, తాకి వెళ్ళిన గాలి తరగలా,
నిద్రపోయిన నువ్వు కాదన్న మాత్రాన నిన్నటి నీ లోపం పోతుందా,
మేల్కొంటే ముందడుగు వేస్తావు లోకం నివ్వెరపోయి నిన్ను చూసేట్టు,
వెయ్యాలి చేతల్తో చాటింపు చెవులూరే జయజయధ్వానాలకై.

నిండుగా సాగిపోయే మేఘం వర్షించక మానదు, నీ కష్టం ఫలించక మానదు,
ఏ కొమ్మైనా కాయ ఇవ్వను పొమ్మంటుందా,వెన్నెల నే విరబూయను వెళ్ళిపోమంటుందా,
నీటి బొట్టు నేను నడవలేనని నిలుచుంటుందా,తిరగలేనని భూమి ఆగిందా,
ఆగదు ఏ నిమిషము ఏ లోకం ఆగితే సాగదు మానవ ప్రయాణము.

విజయం వరించక వెళ్ళగలదా, ఓటమి వదలివెళ్ళక వెనకుంటుందా,
నీ ప్రయత్నం, నీ కష్టం, నీ ఓరిమి, నీ తపన,
నువ్వు వదలనంత కాలం , నీ అడుగే తొలి అడుగు, మలి అడుగే ముందదుగు.

చేరగలనా గమ్యం అనే చిన్న అనుమనం, చిన్న తీరం కుడా దాటనివ్వదు,
ఓటమి అనే ఊహ కుడా చివరికి ఊహకందని ఓటమి అవుతుంది,
అందదనే ఆలోచన కూడా, కలవని రైలు పట్టాల్లా కలుసుకోలెవు.

నిప్పుల కొలిమిని చూడందే బంగారం మెరిసిందా?
కాలికింద నలగందే ఏ మట్టైనా చల్లని చలివేంద్రమయ్యిందా?
శిల్పి ఉలి రుచి చూడందే శిలకి రూపం వచ్చిందా?

ఒక్కో ఓటమి మెట్టు ఎక్కుతూ విజయ శిఖరం చేరు,
నిన్నటి నీ కలని సాకారం చేస్తూ నింగిని చేరు,
నీ కల నువ్వు, నీ బలం నువ్వు, నీ విజయం నువ్వు!!


-- మీ సాయి కార్తీక్

In Response to a Junior from Presidency College

Dear Junior,

The name Presidency College invokes a rather wide array of emotions in me. Even today as I walk through that gate or climb up those stairs, history whispers to me tales from a glorious past, a splendid heritage inspires reverence. I have been lucky to be taught by some of the best teachers at Presidency. That I could ever sit in a classroom, where the likes of Prof. Taraknath Sen and Prof. Bhabatosh Dutta ever taught, overwhelms me. Yes, I am a very proud Presidencian! Presi was my first citadel of freedom. Be it good or bad, whatever I am today has much to do with those two years I spent there.

Image Courtesy: IBN Live

I also know of another Presidency; a dim and dark dungeon where a girl, about your age was most thoroughly brainwashed. The thought of this Presidency makes me go numb in fear! Let me share her story with you. Once there was this inexperienced and foolish young girl who wanted to usher in positive changes overnight. Her restlessness made her vulnerable. Thus started a process to indoctrinate her with a dreadful ideology.  Her seniors (some of them are now in Police custody) whom she looked up to would give her left radical literature to read. She would be taken to Naxalite congregations. Her faculty for reasoning however had not totally subsided, she could still see through their insincerity, but she would be snubbed off every time she tried to voice her doubts. Her logics would be deemed as ‘inherent reactionary tendencies’. As it happens, after a point she gave in. She somehow stood convinced and even before she realized it herself; she was editing pamphlets for the PCAPA. That girl was I. When the chief minister in her imperfect English tries to put it across that frontal organizations of underground groups are active in the elite institutions of the city, she is speaking the truth and I know it from my experience.

Pune 52 - The Desi Film Noir?

May be its my love for it which makes me look every frame with the lens of Film Noir. I had a chance to look at the trailer and poster of "Pune 52", a Marathi film. At the first look, i felt that it was bold and the poster reminded me of the works of one of my favorite director Jean-Pierre Melville.

The poster was resembling the shot from one of Melville's film  "Le Doulos".

Jean-Pierre Melville's "Le Doulos" - 1962.

The Film Noir genre is not something new, nor experimental, nor just a temporary fascination for Indian Cinema. There are many Indian films which can safely be placed in this genre, especially a bunch of Telugu films between 1950-1965 period. I hope to start the my pending post on Telugu Noir soon. Below are the poster and trailer of "Pune 52".