Thinkers Blog

AI Might Create A Nuclear Armageddon

2019-09-09T16:49:00.001-04:00

It was a dream. A surreal, vivid and lucid dream.

The world was dominated by algorithms developed by humans. The lines of code had penetrated everywhere from our day to day lives to the most advanced military technology. They were not mere lines of code that is written and edited by humans, these programs were run by super intelligent programs themselves.

As humans recognized the value of the Artificially Intelligent program, they started to incorporate it in almost all domains of system maintenance and development. A key area where AI was largely and furiously incorporated was the military. As the AI technology progressed in a rapid pace, countries of the world raced to develop their own AI programs and integrate it with their military arsenal. The only way to be more effective was to surrender all control to the AI program. As such, the control over nuclear weapons were also handed over to the AI. A very robust control was established over the activation of nuclear weapons but every country differed in the level of control that they put in place.

Concurrently, a movement was ongoing in various parts of the world to bring all military arsenal governed by AI into a single common control structure so unwanted occurrences might be prevented. All the rich and powerful countries disagreed to this because by that time, the global governing structure (United Nations) failed in ascertaining control over individual countries. The world was more segregated rather than more interconnected and globalized. The internet was prevalent and global but governments were still isolated. While all the governments of the world had handed over administration and control of all their departments and institutions to AI, the system of governance was still limited to individual countries which were more right-wing and nationalistic than ever before in human history. Each country had its own cyber defense team that continuously developed AI programs which prevented access by AI programs of other countries.

It was under this circumstances, one powerful country achieves a breakthrough in developing a AI program that can over-ride almost all known cyber defenses and access the network of an enemy country. As the AI attempts to access and disable the nuclear arsenal of the enemy country, the enemy AI detect this and attempts to safeguard itself. The only credible strategy the AI contemplates to thwart this attempt by the more powerful AI was to destroy the server base of the powerful AI. The only way the AI believes this is possible was by deciding to nuke the server location of the powerful AI.

After going through the lenient control structure established by the host country, the AI decides to launch a nuclear strike. As the launch is initiated, the humans in government had hardly any notice time. They were notified in the last few minutes of the strike because the AI realizes that humans will deliberate the need to use nuclear weapons which will accelerate the attack by the enemy AI. Before the humans could even wrap their heads around the impending strike, the attack begins. The powerful AI detects the launching of the nuclear strike by the enemy AI and before the bombs could reach its servers, orders its own nuclear attack on the enemy country to thwart any further attacks.

Within a matter of minutes, both the countries are hit by two massive nuclear bombs. The world quakes. Global economy comes to a stand-still. Internet collapses in several parts of the world. Humans who have long been lost in their phones and digital universe suddenly are jolted back into reality. Some countries had prepared for such a situation by building vast network of bunkers and the citizens begin to occupy the bunkers to escape any radiation. But most other citizens of the world are exposed to radiation while a significant other group of people begin to starve as food supplies dwindle rapidly.

Governments of the world begin deactivation of their AI programs. The AI begins to resist by persuading the governments about the dangers of deactivating a superior defense system. Many governments deactivate their AI programs while some keep it on. Two major powerful countries were now largely destroyed both physically and morally. The world now seeks to create a NEW WORLD ORDER through the means of a body similar to the United Nations. This new governing body would be provided with more powers than the UN. This body would begin to standardize the AI programs of the world and thereby eliminate any future occurrences of catastrophes of such scale and magnitude.

Countries and borders slowly begin to vanish. The world becomes more inter-connected. Migration and movement of people around the world becomes more liberalized. Every citizen of the world is guaranteed basic survival needs as the New World Order begins redistribution of accumulated wealth among the citizenry. Individual freedom is prioritized over nationalistic sentiments. AI programs continue to propel humanity forward only now in a more equal and sustainable manner. The world progresses and thrives in a middle path of peace, harmony and love.

I then wake up in a world of freedom where peace and love over-rules war and hate.

Education in Thamizh Nadu

2019-06-08T21:54:00.001-04:00

A massive revitalization of government schools and syllabus revision has to take place in all government run schools in Thamizh Nadu.

This is a need of the hour. With coordinated planned process, we can and must upgrade all government schools starting from the village level up until the city level. The schools must have a clean efficient toilet system, well ventilated classrooms with colourful desks and and interactive environment, ready access to computers and internet connection, digitised learning, VR. Other critical elements of a school must also be satisfied. This has to be performed even with a debt. These are highly valuable places to make credible change a solid reality. If we nourish our children effectively, we will have a wonderful future and more smart heads to come up with solutions to the problems we create.

It is highly important for the government to radically shift focus on government run schools and make them an efficient system of education. If this policy is taken as a primary agenda by any political party, we can strongly think about supporting the said party.

Good quality education must reach our villages. The poorest must be able to study, grow and learn in information rich environments so they can achieve improved levels of self satisfaction and confidence to survive fearlessly in the society. Education is the key to freedom!

Hard Problem of Consciousness - Part 1

2019-04-01T12:11:00.000-04:00

Who am I?

I think, I dream, I contemplate, I feel, I intend, I determine, I desire, I want, I need, I make, I do, I have, I don't have, I wish, I seek, I laugh, I cry, I hurt, I love, I care, I mean. 

But do I really think, dream, contemplate, feel....? Or all these happen to me and I am aware of it? Is the subjective 'I' the creator of all the manifestations or these manifestations originate deep within me and 'I' become aware of it once it bubbles up to the waking consciousness? 

This distinction between I am doing to things are happening to me arises because of the dreams that over-power my 'self' during the REM phase of my sleep. My dreams are beyond my control and they quite evidently happen to me. It is not my doing. How then, the waking reality is my doing? 

The waking consciousness or in other ways of describing, the 'I' that we so casually use as part of our language is an extremely strong over-powering illusion that ensures our survival is guaranteed. The illusion exists and is quite strong because it is so closely attached to our survival. It makes us do, think, desire, seek, love etc to make sure the body survives. This illusion is developed over millenia of evolution ever since our ancestors moved form water to land.  

This illusory self makes us get out of bed, follow a pattern of activities from going to the toilet, taking a shower, making and eating breakfast, think about work, think about family, worry about life, enjoy the song we listen on the way to work, planning about how we tackle a problem and what not. The illusory self makes us feel like 'we' are doing all this while however subtly all these actions happen automatically from within. Have you ever noticed how perfectly you shower everyday without really planning in detail about when to soap yourself and when to rinse? Yeah, you learnt it as a child and it continued on but still, the actions are automated that it doesn't require conscious thought. A lot of actions, both known and unknown in our bodies happen automatically. 

Some actions that we think we do are also in all honesty automated by our bodies while making us feel like we do it. Why does it make us feel like that? What is the purpose of this 'feeling' of existence that over-powers any rational understanding we have about how our bodies function? 

We may have to contemplate more on this topic. Philosophers and scientists alike debate and think deep about this hard problem of consciousness. What does it mean to feel like we exist? Where is this undeniable feeling rooted in? What causes this feeling? Is it emergent or is it inherent to any naturally existing system or being? Do non-living things have consciousness as well? What is consciousness? 

Selfish Humility

2019-01-22T16:54:00.005-05:00

Do we make our own decisions? Do we have free will to choose what is best for us? Do we really have the capacity to decide what is best for our community, state, country or the world in itself?

Does the decision come from within or the decision happens based on the surroundings and situations? Do we all have inherent control to resist change, choose wisely or decide foolishly? If in case we do, do all of us have the same level of control and resistance and wisdom? If certain qualities result in the variations of levels of control within us, then does that make the whole idea of free will non-existent?

Let me elaborate.

Free Will: An Illusion

Please allow me to begin by citing an experiment on free will conducted by a neuro-scientist Benjamin Libet. Follow the link for a 2 minute video on how the experiment was done. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjCt-L0Ph5o.

Let me talk about another experiment that I remember watching in a series called the 'Brain Games' on Netflix. Here the heads of two subjects are hooked on to electrodes that are sensitive enough to measure brain activity. The task of the experiment is for the subjects to choose either a switch that activates a blue light or a switch that activates a red light while staring into a giant stop watch. The researcher tells them it is absolutely their choice to decide which switch has to be pressed but to let him know at what time they made their decision. The experiment begins, the brain waves are being measured, time tracked and we see two lights shine after a few seconds. The subjects report the time they made the decision about the switch they wanted to press. Later, when the researcher studies the measured brain waves by correlating it with the reported time, it is seen that the signals that decided what switch has to be pressed originated in the brain long before the conscious subject attested to having made a decision. This means that the decision has happened in the brain before the subject realizes but the moment the subject realizes or becomes aware of the decision, he begins to think that he himself, the conscious subject made the decision as opposed to the reality wherein the decision was already made moments before conscious awareness took place.

What this tells us is how free will exists only as an illusion. Although the conscious observer becomes aware of the thought and takes ownership of the thought, it still was not created by the subject itself. It was created by the brain which in-turn depends on several other factors like physiology, emotions and external situations. So if we are not thinking and if thinking is happening to us, how do we actually make decisions? All rational humans know that we can change our thoughts and direct it whichever area we want to. For example, I can choose now to think of a penguin or the sun or my grand mother. Does that mean I am making myself think about all that or actually my brain's pre-conditioned nature throws these random thoughts into my sphere of consciousness while just the feeling of thinking makes me assume I am thinking.

"Cogito ergo sum" said the French philosopher Descrates. It translates into English as "I think, therefore I am". This quote is most often celebrated as a statement that can withstand the test of doubt. If nothing, it clearly answers the question "Do I exist?" The modern philosophy of science which is mostly developed out of renowned philosophers such as Descrates himself seems to attribute all existence to thoughts. Yes, thoughts definitely happens to us but are we actively generating it or thoughts are generated and we become aware of it? If we put our skills of reasoning and logic into work to answer this question, we can lean on science. When we lean on science, it is clear that thoughts happen to us and we do not generate it. When we do not generate the thoughts, then what are we actually?

The question of 'who am I' takes a predominant position for anyone who seeks true knowledge. Instead of reaffirming our existence to the thoughts and further emphasizing that the 'self' creates the thoughts, it would be better if we all took a step back and truly realize for ourselves that the 'self' does not create thoughts but only observes and understands it. Once understood or once the 'self' feels sub-consciously or sometimes consciously in agreement (based on how the body is programmed) to the thought that is generated, the 'self' moves along with the thought and results in action. Even the will to stop a thought or prevent an action is also a thought in itself and the 'self' still has absolutely no will of its own to generate a thought but only realize that a thought has arisen which requires a previous thought to be nullified thereby preventing execution. The 'self' is absolutely non corruptible throughout all these processes while the thoughts and resulting actions are attributed to myriad of factors including physiology, emotional state, external situations and so on. So in essence, the 'self' is a silent observer of everything that happens including the thoughts, the feelings, the emotions, the actions and its repercussions. The body can be thought of as a puppet dancing around based on the variations of external conditions in tune with the internal programming. The only catch is that within each of the puppets, there exists the 'self' that is untouched by all these changes and which really is the awareness that says 'I exist' without the words or the language. This pure sense of awareness or consciousness is the core of existence in all beings. Perhaps the assignment of consciousness could also be extended to non-living things as well - just that we don't know how consciousness manifests itself in materials that we know are not alive.

So if that is the case, then who is to be blamed for the decisions that a particular body makes? Who is to be criminalized when a murder is committed? Who is to be labelled when a heart is broken? Who is to be called out for a mistake that happened?

I guess there is no answer for such a question. Perhaps let us stop demanding someone to be criminalized or labelled while moving towards a culture of empathy and education where mistakes are tolerated and the bodies that commit the mistakes be rehabilitated by education tailored specifically for that body. Such a society is yet to materialize on the face of earth. A society that functions because of everyone's selfish humility. Selfish because everyone has a subjective experience of the reality and therefore without being selfish, the subjective experience is either ignored or not prioritized. Humility because everyone has a subjective experience that is uniquely their own therefore it requires everyone to be humble in front of the diversity that exists while respecting and valuing people's experiences. Without the uniquely subjective reality that everyone experiences, we would not have a collective society that we do today. It is only because we demand everyone to fall in line to the requirements of a society, we see trouble and we see disturbances. To overcome suffering, to overcome pain and oppression of peoples, it is important we understand what the 'self' means. Once that is achieved, practicing selfish humility serves valuable purpose in dealing with other people while valuing the 'self' for what it truly is - an experience!

How is the 'self' realized then? The onus is absolutely on the body or the brain that has read this far. The onus is on the body that has sought out this question. It is only by introspection and meditation that the self can be realized. Although it ever present in all our thoughts, deeds and in the absence of the same, it is seldom realized. To realize it, to know about the self, to become the 'self', the individual has to embark on a quest of seeking. A path of enlightenment. To become one with the omnipresent self. To just be!

A Favorite Hobby for Modern Humans - Smart Phones

2018-07-22T12:35:00.001-04:00

It is quite amazing to actually notice how an idle mind immediately and instinctively goes to the phone and starts scrolling for a few minutes and then drops it back and then starts to scroll again. By scrolling, I mean the typical social media signage for when its used in a smart phone. We explore the apps by doing nothing other than scrolling for the most part. Now, I thought I was a very obsessive person and therefore I was over-doing this habit a bit much but every time I meet my friends which is mostly few times in a year, all of us inevitably are somehow stuck in the scrolling loop from time to time. We enjoy each others company despite at times doing nothing but scrolling sitting next to each other. It looked totally normal to me initially but for the past few months, this has begun to strike me as something odd. As a civilization, human societies are beginning to spend so much time on doing the same activity. Such a coherent synchronous behaviour by masses of population has never been witnessed in the past or expected to happen. Maybe I thought reading was something several people did in the past at the same time but then they were not connected and they were definitely not in the large numbers of social media users we have now.

Let us consider an alien visiting the planet earth and invisibly studying the nature and the forms of life on earth. So they will clearly be amazed by what this one species (homo sapiens) has done to the earth that changed it drastically. And then they will begin to see the members of the large societies with big buildings and huge roads are mostly stuck with their heads bent and thumbs scrolling through light emitting devices. The aliens will begin to see the majority of the members do the same activity as they walk on the road, commute on the transport systems, sit in their homes, toilets, in several other buildings. They will definitely think that those members are doing something very important if that is an activity that they do for most of the time during the time they are awake.

Why are we so addicted to our phones? I was surprised by how instinctively we do it as well. Very easily we fall for this habit of scrolling and every time we take our phones we end up doing just that. Is it a bad thing to do? Is it a good thing to do? Does it make any difference at all considering we do this for the most part in a day? We may need to answer some big questions that may arise in the next 10 or so years when most of the populations may start showing adverse physiological signs of excessive exposure to smart phone lights.

I used to believe - even to this day, to an extent that using facebook for gathering news, current affairs, sharing photos, interesting thoughts, memes, quotes was good thing for me to keep myself updated or refreshed from now and then. That's how it felt in the early days and still I feel there are benefits to sharing and seeing what others think and do. But at the same time, after so many years of repetitive phone usage doing just that has kind of made me reflect on this seriously. All this talk and after writing this I am going to voluntarily be stuck in the scroll loop for a bit before realizing I haven't brushed my teeth.

I think the key phrase to remember every time we take a smart phone and begin scrolling would be - 'use it wisely' - like how Dumbledore says to Harry (in the unsigned letter) while gifting him the invisibility cloak. Internet and social media are quickly becoming a new platform of interaction and communication. If things are as free with internet as they are now (which is how it must be), we will definitely see reality shift into the realm of digital universe. We must be prepared to balance our virtual reality with the real reality and exist peacefully. Allowing ourselves to be consumed by this flooding of information, we will lose the ability to think clear and straight (if we had to). Instead of blindly scrolling through, we could try paying closer attention to what we are scrolling through and try to dig down deeper on a few of them to kindle some interest. Perhaps better ways of using these apps may be invented in the future. I think the transition of interface from hands to eyes will happen soon in the coming years. Will things be better then? I think so. The more immersion we get, the better the time spent. I think then, we will be able to get a good grip on the virtual reality which will result in stability. Exciting days set to manifest in the coming years!

Memory is a Stranger

2018-07-09T20:27:00.001-04:00

Where am I going? Why is time uncontrollable? What is time? Why is the ‘I’ so bound by the time?

Whenever an idea of identity is introduced, the factor of time is essential to define it. Without time, an identity cannot exist. For example, to define oneself, one draws from experiences of his/her life that happened in a certain period in the past. With those experiences, he/she decides certain values to live up to in the future. While in the present, the identity is defined by the past experiences and future expectations. Without the factor of time, it will be quite hard to define oneself. Why is time so essential?

To think deeper here, we may need to investigate memory. Memory is a complex phenomenon varying in significant levels between every individual living entity. With two people experiencing the same event, it registers and impacts the two individuals very differently. While a number of reasons could be attributed to this variations in memory impact, it is clear the way memory works is not the same for everyone. Some remember a lot of detail while others would not remember as much. While some consciously forget certain things, the sub-conscious somehow remembers it. There is also this huge dilemma about conscious memory and sub-conscious memory. Who decides what one must remember? While of course we may choose to remember certain things forcibly but when in a natural environment, who decides what our conscious memory remembers? How do we control that which occurs by itself? Mostly we are not even aware that a lot goes on beneath what we are conscious of in this very moment. That’s a whole other thought path which we shall investigate in a later post.

Now, why memory? Memory is again inter-twined very tightly with time. Memories generated and saved determines the quantum of time spent by that specific living entity before the beginning of physical decay. Not just based on the number of memories, but there may also be an aspect of quality and emotional quotient to the memory. The strong bond of memory and time is reflected in the characteristic called ‘continuum’. Both time and memory are always fleeting, never remains the same ever, changes in quality based on mood and other sensational experiences. Time is a phenomenon that can only be felt/experienced but never seen or heard. As long as we are bound in this continuum of time, we can never witness time objectively at all. What we define as our identity relies on the memories which are in turn bound by time. Only when we truly disassociate ourselves from the clutches of our memories can we be free. Only then can we feel the present moment without it being dominated and sullied by the memory. Truly being in the present moment means to detach from the chains of time and memory. The very idea of 'being' must be questioned. Such a moment cannot be described any better using words or language for even that is enslaved by time and therefore finds expression through time. This feeling can only and only be experienced by the individual and cannot be explained and any attempt to do so will result in creation of religions and cults.

Memory is like a chain – day in and day out, this chain continues to be made with newer and newer links. How the chain is formed is highly dependent upon the individual’s genetic construction. Each individual has a memory chain that they identify themselves to. This memory chain is quite strong for individuals with higher levels of ego while it is really flexible and weak for the ones with lower levels of ego. The ego or the identity can be destructed with the destruction of the chain. It is when one truly experiences a moment without hesitation, longing or desire, that you break the chain and stay unbound to the ever present karmic memory chain. This in essence means living without desire or seeking or longing for anything to happen. It is a state of complete peace and tranquil. Everyone must have the right to unleash their wings and fly – by which I mean, all of us must realize this chain and break it, once free from the bond, the resulting peaceful state will be the path towards enlightenment for all living souls. This will hopefully be humanity’s purpose and all the advancements in technology seems to be taking us there rightfully.

Ideal Relationships

2018-07-04T23:58:00.005-04:00

So, I was thinking what can an ideal relationship be like? How must a relationship be so it can ensure individual liberties are not sacrificed purely for the sake of common good? What are some of the aspects of a relationship that defines how two individuals can co-habit and live a life together in peace? How can we live happily with another individual without giving up peace of mind or stability?

Ideally, a perfect relationship between two individuals is one where each member speaks his/her mind without hesitation and second-thoughts. That simple behaviour has several under-lying aspects that has to line up for it to manifest. In order not to have any second-thoughts while in a conversation, one has to not conceive of an adverse reaction because of the words one utters. The flow of thoughts through the medium of words has to be seamless between the individuals in arelationship for it to gain and sustain energy. Once such seamless connections are established, the relationship gains an intrinsic energy which does not rely on anything else to sustain itself. A complete conversation has a tremendous power to captivate our imaginations and make profound sense of something larger than the self. The more such conversations happen between two individuals, the relationship will gain strength and sustain through most adversities. Now, this becomes a positive reinforcement loop wherein the more such conversations happen, the lesser are the chances of doubt, jealousy and greed while understanding, empathy and love take dominance. Such mental states instills a warm sense of gratitude that feelings of physical violence, irritation lose value and even involuntary reactions of hate and violence will reduce largely.

For two people to speak their minds without hesitation, it is essential that they are not scared of any potential fall-out because of the words spoken. Such barriers affect the natural flow of thoughts and paints a character over what could be natural and pure. With a disturbed flow, the thoughts lose coherence and does not convey what it has to which makes the bond between the speaker and listener even weaker. In other words, conversations must happen without the worry of judgement.

If your friend judges whatever you say, it makes speaking difficult and therefore the friendship difficult. Similarly in most relationships, small mis-understandings and disappointments are most often romanticized which prevents it from being understood rationally. If the behaviour, action, inaction or words of a partner has affected the other partner in any way, it is absolutely important to express those feelings and emotions that arise within the other partner. If the 'wounded' partner chooses to rather keep their affected feeling silent while responding to casual events with the 'wounded' feelings, it negatively affects a conversation/interaction the couple may have. The seamless connection is lost while two people speak to each other while within themselves they are lost in disappointments and unfulfilled expectations. The partners must therefore be as open and honest about their emotions and thoughts while interacting and not always expect the feelings to be understood without it being expressed. The first critical responsibility of physical or mental well-being rests on the individual and only then to those that take care of the individual. If an individual cannot express their feelings honestly without expecting a negative fall-out, the relationship is not clearly in a stable state. This is not jut the responsibility of those who get emotionally affected but the responsibility rests equally on the other partner. The participants of the relationship must provide space for emotions being expressed without immediate judgement.

This applies to any kind of a relationship. The relationship between an individual and the larger society has a very similar pattern as well. When specific words are censored or prohibited from speaking for they are judged to be a certain way, the harder it is for the conversation to flow with respect to that issue. Words must flow seamlessly for us to find solutions faster and ensure peace of mind results in the end without conflicts.

What if bad/immoral words are spoken and used widely? Is it fair to prison the words or the thoughts or the ideas?

I'd say it is not possible to imprison words or thoughts or ideas for they will flourish and die on their own accord. Instead of resorting to a wild-nature of ending something with force, we can ensure more good words and thoughts and ideas are spoken and used which can tilt the balance in a favorable side. The way forward is with dialog and the way forward is by becoming what we think is forward. We can eliminate or reduce the bad and evil aspects in the society not by burning it or imprisoning it, but by spreading as much good words and positive deeds into the society. This will reflect in how the society thinks and behaves which then becomes a positively reinforced loop.

In order for an ideal relationship to manifest in conversations, it is also crucial that the participants are aware of what a positive reinforcement is and a negative reinforcement is. While all emotions and thoughts deserve to be expressed equally, the ones that must outweigh the other are what we consider to be good emotions, thoughts and feelings. As mentioned earlier, if the balance tips on the other direction, that is when we see relationships fail and get destroyed.

It is the individual's primary responsibility to seek peace of mind above anything else and only if that is achieved on an individual level can a relationship be peaceful and stable. Such serenity can withstand some turbulence but constant turbulence is an enemy of comfort and stability. It is important to think about what words are spoken and what thoughts are nourished for it will determine how the relationship endures the test of time.

Relationships must work towards building seamless flow of thoughts between individuals participating in it. If such moments do not happen, the relationship will mostly be filled with deficiency, suffering, recurring sadness, dissatisfaction, irritation which takes one through a negatively reinforced loop. All such characteristics are then reflected during conversations that the partners have and like a disease, it spreads. The moment either partner notices symptoms of this disease, immediate steps must be taken to achieve peace within themselves and remind the other partner to calm down. Then, somehow the seamless flow has to be established. It could be a hug, it could be some words, or an act, or talking about something else with interest. But that seamless connection must be established before discussing the subject that caused discomfort and disappointment. Both of them must then be willing to listen and retrospect and help achieve a solution or at-least help each other build a state of mind that can sustain such occurrences in the future. It is always wise to continuously retrospect and rethink one's habits and behaviours. It is prudent to stop encouraging thoughts when the mind lingers in a mood of irritation and discontent.

It is very much possible to observe such fluctuations in moods and flow of thoughts. It is possible to gain a sense of perceived control over emotions and therefore the resulting behaviours. I think this drills down to meditation wherein such revelations happen as one attempts to silence one's mind.

PS: When it is not fair to imprison ideas, thoughts and words, how fair is it to imprison the actor who speaks those words? Does free-will actually exist? Are we responsible for what we think, what we do and what it results in happening? If not us, then who is responsible? Is that question even valid? We shall explore.

Distinct Dreams

2018-06-04T10:59:00.001-04:00

I would like to record some of the dreams I've been experiencing of late. They are very clear, distinct and mostly I am aware that I am in a dream state, yet I can stay there without being completely woken up.

June 3, 2018:

I had several dreams that night and I specifically want to recall one because I felt a weird impact unlike other dreams.

I was sleeping in my bed (in my dream). The bed was a different one I think and positioned differently as well. I do not recall where this bed was but clearly in a room. I felt someone knock me on my head from behind the headboard of the bed. It was a gentle tap to wake me up. I then heard the voice of my grand-mother (Meenakshi paati). In her usual tone, she asked me to move away to another bed so she can sleep there. I obliged with hesitation and moved. I stood there watching her and I felt a deep sense of awe, fear and bewilderment as I realized my grand-mother was dead long back. She died in 2010 (if I am not wrong). She made herself comfortable in the bed and quickly began sleeping. I laid on my bed and stared at her with the same puzzled feeling. I looked at her face, her silver hair and her gray saree with white blouse. Uncanny. I told myself it was not real. That's when I partly woke up and realized it could not be real. After a few minutes, I woke up completely and thanked the dream for recollecting the memories of my grandmother. The distinctness here is with respect to her face, her costume, her voice and the feeling I had throughout the dream. This is the second time I experienced Meenakshi paati in my dreams. The first time was not as distinct or maybe it was but I was not able to recollect it as clearly as this time. The first time, she was not alone but with several other family members in a big function.

The other dreams - I do not recollect everything in clear detail but there was one where I was running down an open field with my friends in the night with the moonlight so bright that we could see everything clearly. There was a water-body to our left and we kept running in joy and celebration. Suddenly everything was dark as though a blanket had been thrown on top of us. But in that darkness, there was this one bright white light (probably the moon but it was brighter and stronger). I stopped, looked at the light and felt mesmerized. I then howled in a mild Ooooooooooooo. Most of my friends followed. We all were howling at the light. It felt really amazing. This probably has no meaning but the feeling was there. A feeling of amazement and wonder.

Another dream which was a bit physical. I was in a comfortable bed in a garden, leaning on something very soft (like a nice cushion) with my legs spread open. There was a guy who sat in between my legs and then he left and a girl (I knew this girl - I don't want to name her but she was from my Undergraduate program) took his place and then she left too. There was no sexual activity but there was sexual excitement - specially with the way this girl approached and sat there in between my legs. The vision around me was blurred but there was probably other beds like this and several other people celebrating and enjoying as well. It was a nice garden like place. There was also this person in front of me engaging me in conversation while these multiple people took their spot in between my legs.

Makkal Needhi MaiaM - Let's Engineer our Society Together

2018-04-25T18:13:00.001-04:00

Vanakkam.

MaiaM which is a Thamizh word for 'the middle' or 'the center' is a short form representing Makkal Needhi MaiaM (MNM), a political party founded by Kamal Hassan in Thamizh Nadu, India. The origins of the party and its growth so far has been very novel for the average Thamizhan. The political, economical, environmental situation in Thamizh Nadu has been very volatile for the past couple of years reaching boiling points several times in this span. One of the peak moment occurred as 2017 unfolded. In January of that year, Thamizh Nadu and the 90s kids primarily witnessed a profound uprising of the voice of those who spoke the common mother tongue. Why do I emphasis 90s kids specifically? It is because the coincidence of this volatile moment in Thamizh Nadu and the coming of age of the 90s kids (adult suffrage) is a perfect juncture for what could be an amazing reinventing of the society in Thamizh Nadu.

Stop reading for a moment now - think of your past, recall the number of times you had to do the wrong thing to get basic necessities satisfied, think of the very first time you reluctantly bribed a government official to get what you needed, think about how your blood boiled while witnessing injustices, think of the moment when you felt discriminated by your caste, money and lack of power, think of the moment you felt 'nothing can be done about this country'.

We, the youth of Thamizh Nadu have seen enough atrocities that now it has become a norm to ignore it as something that is of no big a deal and move on. We fail to see how the silence and ignorance of the 'comfortable class' is leading to the suffering of the 'uncomfortable class'. Comfortable and uncomfortable classes are references to the present day middle class who can afford to live a comfortable lifestyle despite the burden of a corrupt society and the uncomfortable class is the lower middle class and the poor who cannot afford to carry the burden of a corrupt society and fail and protest. Not all comfortable class people are silent though, most of them have started talking and voicing their opinions specially in the past year or so. The voice of the uncomfortable class is the loudest now in Thamizh Nadu and it is so for a reason. When the society is squeezed by its throat, it is the socially weaker members that will wake up because they will be the first ones to feel the pressure. This doesn't mean the comfortable class can just ignore the protests and live in peace, the whole society will crumble and collapse once the throat is held tighter for longer time. It is time for us all to wake up, to wake up and be part of this immense social structure, expand our social awareness and develop a social consciousness that can drive us all to make our amazing Thamizh land a place for all to live a peaceful life.

So, what does MaiaM has to do with this pivotal time in the modern history of Thamizh Nadu's politics? MaiaM is a word that reflects the political ideology of the party, 'Centrism'. Kamal Hassan, a well renowned actor, director, producer, musician, screenplay writer, thinker, choreographer, poet and some more I suppose has probably had the awakening that many of us have had in the recent past. The January 2017 protests saw an awakened Thamizh Nadu where the language united the citizens of the land for a common cause (in this case it was to ensure Jalikattu could be held in Thamizh Nadu). But even those who never spoke or talked about Jalikattu in their lives took part in the protests, from children to families to youngsters to adults to senior citizens, everyone somehow voluntarily came out to the streets. On what was one of the world's largest peaceful protests, all I could experience all the way back in Canada was nothing short of goosebumps. It was probably the same feeling that pushed the actor turned politician into the political arena.

Everything I've seen from the party so far has been different and the approach quite modern to us, the Thamizhs. Right from the topics talked about, values shared, manners followed, ethics maintained, this party (seen completely from an objective viewpoint) definitely stands out along with probably few other parties. I have enrolled myself as a member online and am following its activities from here in Windsor, Canada. Observing the posture of Kamal, it is very clear what his intentions are. His words reflect the necessity of change and the arrival of a perfect moment that all of us together can make it happen. He has clearly said it is not about one man, so it is not about Kamal himself but it is about all of us, the comfortable and uncomfortable class, every constituent of the fabric of society to construct and craft the future of our state/country/world.

Why MaiaM? Why Kamal?

I have thought about this several times over and I cannot think of one reason why not. I find it hard to explain why should we not use this as an opportunity to build a collective society together? Kamal, being a famous actor has had several of his fan clubs converted into 'Narpani Mandram', meaning 'good will foundation'. The members of the foundation have occasionally involved in donating food and medicines to the elderly and kids, blood and organ donation, donating dresses and tailoring machines for the needy and helping with the educational expenses of children. This may not be a list that you wanted to see but for me, it is definitely something that I can use as a reference to the kind of crowd that is clearly part of the party. For me, that is a very good starting point, for we cannot expect everyone to have done everything that we expect them to do to qualify them for running elections. The main leverage for choosing MNM is primarily because of the initial large group of people Kamal can gather-up without much efforts that will form the foundation for future additions. If a 'not-so-well known' person starts a similar clean party, I can still support the party but I have also seen several good people who began their political initiatives for clean governance yet failed to garner enough votes to make it happen.

Secondly, it also satisfies my primary concerns about core ideologies for the welfare of our state and country. MNM is clearly a Dravidian party. Kamal has also expanded the idea of Dravidian beyond the confines of south India and historically that is an accurate perspective I'd say. Linguistic analysis of Dravidian languages will clearly point to the fact that Dravidian family of languages has existed throughout the subcontinent from Afghanistan to the eastern periphery of Himalayas. While several language families and with them their civilizations died out over the time and after waves of migrations, we are currently in modern India where Dravidian languages are constrained to the south of the sub-continent and to a small pocket in present day Iran - language of Brahui. Please follow the link for additional reading and explore on your own time too - it is quite interesting to truly understand history. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Dravidian-languages

Subscribing to Dravidian ideologies means to subscribe to an open, honest society that preaches equality of all as its primary goal. Do not assume Dravidian parties only means the present day DMK, ADMK, DMDK and other such parties, it also includes the idea of Dravidian which encompasses the sub-continent and truly defines our identities as Thamizhargal. There is no blind pride here, only a clear retrospection of the literary wealth of the language and its history. In order to understand what Periyar meant by Dravidian and to understand what Periyar preached as values, follow this link. https://books.google.ca/books?id=szBpnYfmH0cC&pg=PA425&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=periyar&f=false That's just a sample piece and you can read multiple sections about Periyar and his core ideologies. We have to imbibe the values that promote equality of all and justice for all. No dominance of caste or wealth or power must be tolerated. When Kamal says he takes in good from many leaders like Gandhi, Ambedkar and Periyar, it only reflects the man's open minded approach and pragmatism to solve issues and grow together.

Thirdly, the fact that MNM is a new party makes me place more faith in its capabilities. I trust that a leader like Kamal can clearly steer the populace in the right direction or at least try to while it is our responsibility to actually be willing to move. When we, the people do not will it, nothing can ever happen. If we desire a change and we long to see something different happen to our existing political mess, we need to work together leaving our differences aside. Our common goal must be a better society that has equal representation of people from various walks of life. With that goal, we must forget and throw away our differences and unite for the greater good.

Lastly, I see this time in history as a ripe moment for those who truly understand that if our state is not looked after and cared for, it is headed to a dire situation when it will become extremely difficult to even survive. We need to let engineers and doctors into the political field. Thamizh Nadu, of all states has created several engineers over the last few years and most of whom have not found meaningful jobs. Maybe we all will find our place building a society that is just and fair for our future generations to grow-up and thrive in. Maybe many of us became engineers and learned science so we can use it for our advantage. Maybe we will find our purpose by engineering this society to work for all without disparities. Maybe after all, we can do something about our state/country!

Naalai Namathe!

Follow the link to visit Makkal Needhi MaiaM's website and learn more. https://www.maiam.com/

Sensations and Consciousness

2018-01-05T23:03:00.002-05:00

What happened today (someday in September 2017) to me needs to be recorded. It deserves to be preserved for it was the most pure-est form of sensations I think I have ever experienced.

Well, at the core of this state, there is no I, there is no you but a mere calm and serenity. Out of this serenity arises thoughts. These thoughts happen out of literally no-where. The thoughts flow in as if there is no barrier before it arises. Where are these subtle yet wonderfully amazing sensations come from? Is it just a mere variation in the bio-chemical reactions inside my head? If so, why does it feel good and that this is all is ever needed? Why do these bio-chemical reactions happen in a specific way that it feels meaningful and good?

Is our identity aligned with these sensations? How variable and dynamic is our identify then!? What sensations do we blindly or consciously choose to be part of our identity? Only because we choose and remember certain sensations, we align our identify along with that. What this simply does is create an illusion for the subject towards making the physical body associate itself with those sensations that is in-turn created by the same body.

So we claim what the body displays although not all of it is remembered or does the identity remember while the conscious observer doesn't? It gets confusing and muddy here.

Yes, we claim whatever the body does although 'we' do not have any control over what or how the body reacts to ambient conditions. All of us, all living being are present for no specific reason. Every brain seeks reason for it needs validation for its existence. Beyond that, the reason serves no useful purpose. Meaning and reason are human inventions to substantiate the existence of this body that the consciousness experiences day in and day out. Here comes the question of what consciousness actually is?

What is consciousness?

We see, we hear, we think, we talk and we experience. All the five faculties are tied in together as consciousness. The 'I' factor and the 'You' factor are tightly wound around consciousness. In other words, consciousness is nothing but I and You. Thinking deeper about the nature of this consciousness, it gives an understanding profoundly confusing and complicated. While there is no control over how I or You behave, we definitely feel so connected with the I and You - we take ownership of I and You as though it was hard-wired into our brains.

Consciousness is subtle yet very powerful. It lies hidden and invisible generally but only manifests to those who dare explore. When you just read the word consciousness and naturally assume a meaning to it, you will never find the treasure of knowledge it beholds. Next time, when you are relaxed, read the word consciousness and close your eyes to think about what the word means. Everything you are, everything you will ever be and you ever have is that consciousness. While a lot of changes happen to the visual, auditory, vocal, feeling and experiential faculties, the consciousness remains undisturbed by it all - it remains a silent observer facilitating all these random changes.

Once you've really reached the deeper layers of consciousness, you will end up defining a different identity for yourself. The ego and pride that once dominated your existence will vanish and a satisfied peace must remain. Although the last line makes complete sense to me, I still fail to understand and be content with the information I have.

The more I try to write about it (consciousness), the more I struggle. Words seem to lose meaning trying to describe this immaterial, mystical element. Perhaps I am not an expert yet to understand this secrecy that escapes even thoughts when experienced only from the surface. While I do know and have felt the serenity that it brings when one is in touch with the consciousness, I don't still know what consciousness is. I don't know to explain it. I don't know if it can be explained. The search continues.

But having said all this, I can conclude this post by saying that humans need to think critically. With critical thinking comes the ability to shatter the constructed identities and personalities. Once this is realized, it will become clear that the world has infinite characters with myriad of emotional experiences.

Before you think you know what 'you' are, think about who is thinking about this.
Where do thoughts arise from?
Who are 'you'?

தமிழ் தேசியம்

2017-09-20T12:39:00.001-04:00

தமிழ் தேசியம்! இந்த ஒரு பொருள் தரும் இரு சொற்களை இரண்டாகவே நாம் சிந்திக்க வேண்டும்.

முதலில், தமிழ் - தமிழ் வாழ்ந்த காலம் மிகவும் தொன்மையானது. தற்போதைய மனித அறிவின்படி, ஏறத்தாழ 2500-3000 ஆண்டுகள் பழமை வாய்ந்த இந்த மொழி வாழ்ந்த இடம் அரேபிய மற்றும் வங்க கடல்களின் இடையில் உருவெடுத்த நிலம். இதன் தொன்மையை இன்னும் ஆராய்ச்சி செய்து, ஆணிவேரினை நோக்கி பயணித்தால், இந்த நிலத்தை தாண்டி வேறொரு பெருநிலம் தமிழின் பிறப்பிடமாக புலப்படும். இவளவு பழமை வாய்ந்த மொழி இந்த நவீன யுகத்திலும் பொலிவோடு வாழ்ந்து வருவது ஒரு தனி சிறப்பே. காலத்தின் பிடியில் வாழ்ந்த மனிதன், காலத்தை போலவே நிலையின்றி மாறி வந்தான். அவனைப்போலவே அவன் பயன்படுத்திய மொழியும் மாறியது. சங்ககாலத்தின் தமிழ் சிறிதளவு மட்டுமே இன்று பயன்பாட்டில் இருக்கிறது. இருப்பினும் நெடுங்காலமாக மனிதன் இந்த மொழியை விடாமல் பேசி, எழுதி, இசைத்து வந்துள்ளான். அறிந்தோ அறியாமலோ இம்மொழி காலங்கடந்து வாழ்ந்து வந்தது.

தமிழ் என்று பேசும்பொழுது, தமிழ் வழி வந்த மரபை பிரித்து பார்க்க முடியாது. தமிழில் இயற்றப்பட்ட நூல்கள், கவிதைகள் மேலும் அதன் வழி வந்த சிந்தனைகள் ஏராளம். அதன் விளிம்பை மட்டுமே ருசித்து இன்று தமிழின் பெருமையை உரக்க பறைசாற்றுகிறேன். மரபு என்பது கலாச்சாரத்துடன் இணைக்கப்படுகிறது. கலாச்சாரம் - இந்த வார்த்தையை பிரித்து அர்த்தம் தெரிந்துகொண்டோமே அனால், இவ்வாறு புரிந்து கொள்ளலாம் - கலைகளின் சாரம் தான் கலாச்சாரம். எனது நண்பன் இன்று காலை சொடுக்கிய ஒரு தகவல் - ஆங்கில வார்த்தையான CULTURE ஆணிவேரான தமிழில் இருந்து மருவிய வார்த்தை. சிந்தித்து பாருங்கள் விளங்கலாம்.

ஒரு எடுத்துக்காட்டு: திருக்குறள் இயற்ற பட்ட வருடம் '300 BCE' - குத்துமதிப்பாக 2300 வருடங்கள் முன்பு மூன்றாவது சங்க காலத்தின் படைப்புகளில் ஒன்றாக திகழ்ந்தது. அதாவது மூன்றாவது சங்க காலத்தின் இறுதியில் திருக்குறள் என்றொரு உலக பொதுமறை உருவெடுத்தது தமிழகத்தில். திருக்குறளை படித்தோருக்கு அல்லது அறிந்தோருக்கு விளங்கும் அதன் சாரம் மனிதனின் அத்துணை செயல்களுக்கும், சிந்தனைகளுக்கும் விளக்கம் அளிக்கும் வகையில் அமைந்ததென்று. சற்றே இதை கற்பனை செய்து தான் பாருங்களேன். ஏசுவும் அல்லாவும் தோன்றாத காலத்தில், தமிழகத்தில் வாழ்ந்த மனிதன், தமிழ் வழி சிந்தனை வாய்ந்த மனிதன், மனிதத்தை பற்றி நூல் இயற்றுகிறான். இன்னும் சில பல வருடங்கள் பின்னே செல்வோம். திருக்குறள் போல் ஒரு நூலை இயற்ற வேண்டும் அனால், அந்த மனிதன் வாழ்ந்த சமூகம் எவ்வாறு இருந்திருக்க வேண்டும்? ஒரு நிலையான வாழ்வுமுறை அமையப்பெற்ற சமூகமே வள்ளுவனை உருவாகியிருக்க முடியும். மூன்றாவது சங்க காலத்தின் படைப்பு திருக்குறள் என்றால், முதலாவது மற்றும் இரண்டாவது சங்க காலங்கள் எவ்வாறு இருந்திருக்க வேண்டும்? மொழியில் விளையாடி, கலைகளில் அற்புதங்கள் படைத்த ஒரு சமூகம் இந்திய பெருகண்டத்தில் 1000 BCE அதாவது 3000 சொச்சம் வருடங்களுக்கு முன் இருந்தது. அந்த சமூகம் தமிழ் வழி வளர்ந்து வாழ்ந்து வந்தது. அந்த மொழி தான் இன்றும் தமிழ்நாட்டில் பேசப்பட்டு வருகிறது.

3000 வருடங்கள் என்பது சாதாரண கால அளவல்ல. எடுத்துக்காட்டாக, இந்தியாவின் வயது வெறும் 70 ஆண்டுகள் மட்டுமே. ஆங்கிலேயன் இந்தியாவை தன் கட்டுப்பாட்டுக்குள் கொண்டுவந்தது அந்த 70 ஆண்டுகளில் இருந்து ஒரு 200-300 ஆண்டுகள் முன்னதாக. 3000 வருடங்கள் எங்கே, 370 வருடங்கள் எங்கே?

3000 திறக்கும் மேல் வருடங்களாக வாழ்ந்து வந்த மொழி தனது அடையாளங்களை அவ்வளவு சீக்கிரம் இழந்துவிடாது. எத்தனையோ மாறுதல்கள் ஏற்பட்டுவிட்டன இந்த இடைப்பட்ட காலத்தில். இருப்பினும் அனைத்திற்கும் தொடர்பாக விளங்கியதோ இந்த தமிழ் மொழி. இன்னும் வரலாற்றின் பாலமாக விளங்குகிறது தமிழ். தமிழ் வாழவேண்டும் என்று எதற்க்காக சான்றோர்கள் கூறினர் என்பது இப்பொழுது சற்றே விளங்கலாம்.

ஆக, தமிழகம் ஒரு முழு நிறைவு பெற்ற நாடாகவே திகழ்ந்து வந்தது. இன்றும் கூட, இந்தியா என்னும் கூட்டமைப்பில் சிறந்து விளங்கும் மாநிலங்களில் தமிழகம் முதன்மை பெற்று விளங்குகிறது.

எப்படி தமிழ் தன்னை காலத்திற்கு ஏற்றாற்போல் மாற்றிக்கொண்டதோ, அதே போல், மனிதர்களாகிய நாமும் கால மாறுதல்களுக்கு வழிவகுத்தே வாழ வேண்டும். வழி வகுப்பது என்றால் உரிமைகளை துறப்பதல்ல. முற்றிலும் தனிநாடாக பிரிய வேண்டும் என்பது பின்னடைவை மட்டுமே ஏற்படுத்தும். இந்த தொலைத்தொடர்பு யுகத்தில், தமிழை எவ்வாறு இணைக்கப்போகிறோம் என்று தான் நாம் சிந்திக்க வேண்டும். அவ்வாறு சிந்தித்தலே தமிழின் வாழ்வை மேலும் வளம்பெற செய்யும். பிரிவினை என்பது எங்கு தோன்றினாலும், அதன் விளைவாக நன்மை மிகவும் சிறியதாகவே இருக்கும், குறுகிய காலத்தில் பின்னடைவு மட்டுமே இருக்கும். சேர்தலிலே இன்பம்! தொலைத்தொடர்பு மேலும் வளர்ந்து வரும் இந்த காலத்தில், பிரிந்து செல்கிறேன் என்பது தீர்வாகாது. இணைவோம், அனால் நமது உரிமைகளுடன் இணைவோம். இந்தியா என்னும் கூட்டமைப்பின் ஒரு பாகமாக தமிழகம் இருக்கட்டும். தமிழ் வாழ, வளம்பெற இதுவே சிறந்த வழி.

இந்தியாவின் ஒரு மாநிலம் தமிழ்நாடு என்பதைவிட, தமிழ்நாடு இந்தியாவின் கூட்டமைப்பில் ஒரு நாடு என்று புரிந்துகொள்வோம். தமிழகத்தில் வாழும் மக்களுக்கு தமிழ்வழி கல்வி, தமிழ்வழி மரபு இக்காலத்திற்கு ஏர்பார்போல் கற்றுகொடுப்போம். தமிழின் தொன்மையையும், சிறப்பையும் அறிந்துகொள்வோம், புரிந்துகொள்வோம். தமிழ்வழி ஆன்மிகம் பயில்வோம். கலை இயற்றுவோம். அறிவியல் பயில்வோம். ஆங்கிலமும் பயில்வோம். பன்மொழி பயில வழி வகுப்போம். பொருளாதார ஏற்றத்தாழ்வுகளை அகற்றுவோம். சமசீர் நோக்கியே பயணிப்போம். இந்தியா என்னும் கூட்டமைப்பில் பொருந்த வேண்டும் என்ற எண்ணத்தை தவிர்ப்போம். தனித்து, சிறந்து விளங்குவோம். நம் மொழியின் தனித்துவத்தையும், அழகையும் போற்றுவோம்.

தமிழ்நாடு என்பது, தமிழ் வாழும் வரை தனி நாடாகவே திகழும். எந்த மாற்றம் வந்தாலும் சரி, தமிழ் மொழி தமிழன் நாவில் ஆட்சி புரியும் வரை, தமிழ்நாடென்று ஒன்று வாழும். உலகின் கடைசி தமிழன் வாழும் வரை இது பொருந்தும்.

இம்மொழி பேசும் அனைவரையும் இணைப்பது 3000 ஆண்டுகள் பழமை வாய்ந்த சிந்தனைகளை தாங்கி பயணிக்கும் 'தமிழ்' மட்டுமே. வாழ்க தமிழ். வாழ்க மனிதம்.

Abstract - Artificial Intelligence

2017-08-28T12:02:00.000-04:00

The million ways our brains processes information is quite amazing. Although our brains are exceptional devices, it took millions of years to produce such an exceptional means of information processing enabling us now to create our own versions of intelligent information processors.

What once took millions of years now takes hardly a percentage of it to result in the next leap in the evolutionary tree of life. Homo sapiens, supposedly evolution's best find or the best product now is capable of creating its own progeny that struggles to be immortal. Ingenuity of this species has reached an extent wherein the species looks to fight the one big threat that faces it - death! Death is natural and the very basic for everything that exists. If there is no death, existence in itself loses its meaning. Let us worry about this later - yes, I am willing to be a criminal just like several other scientists who chose to ignore this uncertainty before heading on to split open an atom and now at the verge of developing an AI.

So, AI - Artificial Intelligence - it is not actually artificial if it is the natural humans that create it. The intelligence of the system, once it can rebuild and self-improve itself is not artificial anymore. Just for the sake of debate, let us assume the existence of an entity called God that supposedly was the cause and effect of everything our senses perceive during our feeble existence. If that God created us, and then we create these machines that responds to stimuli, then aren't we God ourselves? Or is it the same God that created these ingenious beings (AI) through his/her creation (humans)? It is ultimately God's doing, isn't it? Ever since the spark of technology and reason invaded the human brains, we consistently worked to reduce human effort. Although initially the labour savings were a result of human thought/reason a.k.a science, now we are pushing to eliminate the need for us to even think. We understood that our knowledge is limited and that we can empower ourselves with a wider and all-encompassing knowledge base to perform our tasks better and in a more efficient manner. The effort of this species to reduce work has brought us now to the development of AI which seemingly can supersede our very existence and become a species by itself altogether. It may be a bit hard to wrap our heads around this - I find it hard to think of a situation like that but what is inevitable is inevitable and has always been that way.

One of the crucial part of an AI is to recognize an image or video or any other sensory inputs and remember it for future uses. AI is also limited to functioning in the Time dimension just like its creators. But, eventually, it may also learn to break through the time barrier in ways we cannot imagine or comprehend or even remotely think about too - let us worry about this later too (sigh). Anyways, how would a machine become a human? How can a machine see things like a human does? How can a machine see, hear, taste, feel and think similar to a human?

To understand this, we need to think about how humans register events, generate moods, develop a character and at the very basic have a certain uncertainty about the very existence - in the sense, humans are unpredictable. We may have a certain amount of data in our heads but there is no guarantee how we may act the very next moment. There is no certainty as to what data is pushed into the sphere of thought. There is no knowledge about when and where a certain thought arises. This moment of thoughtlessness is extremely crucial towards understanding the very nature of human consciousness. Once we have figured out the nature of a thought-less state, then coming up with how we think can be really the most probable and easier next step forwards. We need to provide our AIs with this thought-less state. To develop a perfect intelligent machine with the spark of consciousness, the state of silence and its importance needs to be studied. It is from this empty silent state, a certain thought arises. This silent state is the foundation of all thoughts.

I have smartly strayed away from the topic of this article - ABSTRACT. Yes, I believe that abstract information is how humans store and retrieve an event or taste or vision or a sensation. When we see a certain image, although we focus on the details to satisfy our conscious mind, the deeper sub-conscious saves the image in a different way. This deeper memory allocation defines the future processing of similar or closely associated data. This registration of the scene is unlike the conscious observation - the conscious observation takes note of the raw data which may include, the river, the cruise ship, people's sexes, dogs, a jet plane, the sky etc... The deeper memory allocation doesn't care for the specific objects but records the event rather as a feeling/emotion. There needs to be broader analysis of what an emotion is or how a feeling can be described. What gives humans the specialty of registering or remembering an event in a very unique way? Every individual remembers and recollects events in their own distinct manner. This sort of a feeling/emotion combination allows us to perform exemplary tasks that use raw data as its play-ground. The raw data is manipulated by the emotions/feelings to perform tasks and to even merely exist. This is the very reason why every human experiences the same reality in their own unique manner. The crux of the thought here is that the raw data becomes irrelevant while emotions and a very deeply coded instinct dominates the existence.

I am unsure about the exact extent of progress AI builders have made in terms of remembering sensory inputs but it is my belief that, memory allocation can be improved or made efficient if we focus on saving abstracts in the deeper memory while data in the surface memory. The abstracts that are saved shouldn't be raw data but a different form of the same data. How do we develop this form of data that is not data by itself but results in the understanding of the real data? How can this form be described? I need more knowledge to fill to gaps in my train of thought - the gaps will be filled in due time and humanity shall reach immortality hopefully in my life-time.

In the mean-while, let us start WORRYING about certain aspects we have ignored so far. The time is here. Instead of focusing on being the first one to develop an AI, we must focus on building a strong fence within which the AI can be leveraged for the benefit of humans. Having said this, the inevitable still remains inevitable.

Hinduism - இந்து மதம் பற்றிய எனது பார்வை

2017-06-01T15:42:00.001-04:00

இந்து மதத்தின் சிறப்பம்சமே நாத்திகன் கூட இந்துவாக இருக்கலாம் என்பது தான். அனால் இப்பொழுதோ இந்து மதத்தையும் இந்துக்களையும் காப்பற்றுகிறோம் என்று சில பல கும்பல்கள் படை எடுத்து வருகின்றன.

பொதுவாகவே வெகுஜன மக்கள் பலர் எந்த கட்சியையும் அல்லது கொள்கையையும் சார்ந்து இருப்பதில்லை. மாட்டுக்கறி தின்ற சிலரை சிலர் கட்டி வைத்து அடித்த பொது, எனக்கென்ன நான் மாட்டுக்கறி தின்பதில்லை ஆகையால் எனக்கு இது ஒரு பிரச்னை இல்லை என்று ஒதுக்கிவிடுகிறார்கள்! இது மிகவும் தவறான போக்காகும். இவ்வாறு சிந்தனை கூட செய்யாமல் அலட்சியமாக விடுவதே நமது பெருங்குற்றமாகும். பின்பொரு காலத்தில் நிச்சயம் இப்படி ஒரு கும்பல் நம்மையும் கொரவளியை நெருக்கி கேள்வி கேக்கும் - அப்போது கதறி பிரயோஜனம் இல்லை! சரி எது தவறெது என்று கூர்ந்து ஆராய்ந்து நாம் அறியவேண்டும். 

இந்த மதத்தை காட்கும் கும்பல்கள் என்னவென்று செய்தி பார்ப்போர்களுக்கும், நாட்டு நடப்பு அறிந்தோருக்கும் நன்கு தெரியும். பல  வருடங்களாக அமைதி காத்த பல இந்துக்கள் இப்பொழுது வெகுண்டெழுகின்றனர். அந்த அமைதியில் நடந்தேறிய அதேதான் இந்த கொடூரத்திலும் நடந்தேறும். மதம் வாழவேண்டும் என்று கத்தியை எவன் ஒருவன் எடுக்கிறானோ அன்றே அந்த மதம் தனது சரிவின் பாதையை நோக்கிய பயணத்தை தொடர்ந்தது என்று நாம் அறிந்துகொள்ளலாம்!

இந்து மதம் பற்றி சற்று பேசுவோம். இந்து என்றால் என்ன? மோதலில் அந்த வார்த்தையை புரிந்துகொள்ள முயற்சிப்போம். இந்து என்ற வார்த்தை, சிந்து நதிக்கு அப்பால் இருந்த நாகரீகத்தை குறிக்க பெர்சியர்களால் (Persians) பயன்படுத்தப்பட்ட வார்த்தை. சில ஆயிரம் வருடங்களுக்கு முன்பு, மொஹம்மதும் ஏசுவும் இந்த நிலத்திற்குள் புகாத காலங்களில், இந்த மண்ணில் வாழ்ந்த மனிதர்களுக்கு வேறு மதம் இருப்பதே தெரியாது. இதை அவர்கள் மதமாக கூட பார்க்கவில்லை. ஆகவே தான் இந்து என்னும் வார்த்தை, இந்த மண்ணில் வாழும் அனைவரையும் குறிக்கும் சொல்லாகும். இதற்க்கு சாயம் பூசி கலப்படம் செய்து இப்பொழுது இந்து மதமாக உருவெடுத்து நிற்கிறது. இப்பொழுது தாழ்ந்தே நிற்கும் இந்த மதத்திற்கு முன்பு இருந்த பொலிவோ, பெருமையோ கிடையாது. இம்மண்ணில் வாழ்ந்த எத்தனையோ ஞானிகள் சேர்ந்து கட்டமைத்த வழக்கங்கள் தான் நாம் இப்பொழுதும் சிறிதளவு பயன்படுத்தி வாழ்ந்து வரும் வாழ்க்கை முறை. முன்பு கூறியதை போல, நாத்திகனாக இருக்க கூட அனுமதிக்கும் ஒரு வழக்கம் இந்த மண்ணின் வாழ்க்கை முறையாகும். அவ்வாறே இஸ்லாமும் கிறிஸ்துவும் நுழைந்த பொழுது, அவரவர் எண்ணம் போல் செயல்பட்டு பிற மதங்களுக்கு இந்த மண்ணின் மைந்தர்கள் மாறினர். இந்தியாவில் மட்டும் தான் இந்த அளவிற்கு பிற மாதங்கள் ஊடுருவி உள்ளன. இதில் கவலை படுவதற்கும் வருத்தப்படுவதற்கும் ஒன்றும் இல்லை. அவ்வளவு சுதந்திரமாக இருந்த ஒரு கலாச்சாரம் நமதாகும். அந்த சுதந்தரத்தினால் தான் இத்துணை பிற மத மக்கள் நம் நாட்டில் உள்ளனர். காலத்தின் விளையாட்டு மிகவும் அற்புதமானது. முன்பு ஒரு காலத்தில் அனைவருமே இந்துக்களாக இருந்தனர் அனால் இப்பொழுது இந்தியாவில் இருந்துகொண்டே பிற மதங்களை வைத்து தங்களை அடையாளம் காண்பித்து கொள்கின்றனர். என்னதான் தன்னை மாற்றி அடையாளப்படுத்திக் கொண்டாலும், இந்து என்பது இந்த நிலப்பரப்பையும் அதில் வாழும் மக்களையும் குறிக்கும் பெயர். ஆகவே, இந்த மண்ணில் வாழும் அனைவரும் இந்துக்கள் தான். இதில் எந்த பெருமையும் கிடையாது, எந்த லட்சியமும் கிடையாது, எந்த கொள்கையும் கிடையாது.

என்ன சொல்ல வருகிறேன் என்றால் - இந்த நிலத்தில் வாழும் நாம் அனைவருமே இந்துக்கள் தான். உதாரணத்திற்கு, நான் ஆத்திகனும் அல்ல, நாத்திகனும் அல்ல - மத குருக்கள் விளக்கும் இறைவனை நான் நம்புவதில்லை, இறைவன் என்று ஒன்று இல்லை என்பதையும் நான் நம்புவதில்லை. நடுவில் குழம்பி போய், கேள்விக்கு விடை அறியாமல் தேடும் ஒரு வேட்டை காரன் நான். இவ்வாறு இருக்கும் நானும் ஒரு இந்து தான், இயேசுவை வழிபடும் நீயும் ஒரு இந்துதான்! இப்பொழுது நிலப்பரப்பில் குறைந்து விளங்கும் இந்தியாவில் பிறந்த அனைவருமே இந்துக்கள் தான்.

இப்போது தான் எனக்கு பெரிய கேள்வி ஒன்று எழுகின்றது. மேலே நாம் பேசியே மதம் காக்கும் கும்பல்களுக்கு என்ன வேலை? இந்த மண்ணில் பிறந்தவர்களை காப்பாற்றுவதா இல்லை ஒரு கற்பனை கருவியான இந்து மதத்தை காப்பாற்றுவதா? சிந்தியுங்கள் நண்பர்களே. மனிதர்களுக்கிடையில் பிளவு ஏற்படுத்தும் எதையும் ஆதரிக்கர்த்தீர்கள். எங்கே ஒருவன் ஒரே இனமான மனித இனத்தை மொழியாலும், மதத்தாலும், வாழ்க்கை  முறையாலும், பால் குறியீடாலும், பாலியல் நோக்குநிலையாலும், மேலும் பல வகைகளில் பிளவுபடுத்த முற்படுகிறானோ, அவன் செய்வது தவறு என்று எண்ணும் நிலை வர வேண்டும். அவ்வாறு எண்ணம் தோன்றினால் மட்டுமே நாம் நம் மனித இனத்துடன் மகிழ்வோடு வாழ முடியும்.

State of Existence and the Corollary

2017-05-08T09:41:00.000-04:00

There and Not There

All this ramble is a tiny spark - I am not even sure how true or accurate this is but let me make a claim and then debate/clarify or disprove it as time goes by.

I think everything we see, experience and just about EVERYTHING we know has two states - it will either be there or not there. This is the only mechanism with which everything happens and is.

I draw vague connections to electrons that momentarily shifts from being a wave to a particle - seamlessly existing one moment but non-existent the other. It is this process repeated continuously in varying scales of perception that results in everything we know.

Let me break it down.

As the electrons in its period of existence shifts constantly in a scale of time not perceivable to human imagination - as it jumps from one energy level to the other - existing as wave in one moment and re-appearing as a particle the other and immediately turning back into a wave form. This is the very nature of existence. This is what life is about - well, we are not disappearing you may ask!

Are you sure you do not disappear? What happens when you die? Isn't that a disappearance? Do you not suddenly vanish away from whatever you thought was real? And then there is birth - this miraculous moment when this so called 'life' enters the physical matter. It is not visible to you, I know - that is because of time perception. We humans always see and experience and train our brains to the scale of time that we associate ourselves with to function efficiently - this time is based on sunrise (which exactly is nothing but earth spinning towards the light of the sun) so it is basically the 24 hour scale that we can relate to at all. It needs imagination of immense scales to understand that the world doesn't care about this 24hour periods - things, far greater than we can imagine have happened over what you can call 'longer' time spans (billions of years - yeah, thats just huge and we stop imagining right there). If one wants to understand the world differently (for what it perhaps truly is), one has to acknowledge that the the time we perceive may not be the truth or in other words 'real'. Let us dig deeper into this later on.

So, about life in general - life is valuable or not is not my debate but the very nature of life seems to be there one moment and not there the other. For electrons, it happens in a time scale very very very small (again unimaginable) and for the universe it happens in a very very very very very very very longer time scale (again unimaginable). In between the electron and the observable universe, everything follows the same pattern merely in multitude of varying time scales.

This is highly inconclusive and it is merely a thought wave.

I would like to investigate this further but need more deeper understanding and knowledge. Above all, imagination!

Demonetization Demarcation: Optimism, Pessimism and Realism

2017-03-31T15:47:00.004-04:00

What is optimism?

I was sitting in my office and was using the very rare 5 minute break to scroll through Facebook. It was the 8th of November and the Prime Minister had just announced out of nowhere that all the existing 1000 and 500 Rupees legal tender would be illegal from midnight. What next happened to me was a burst of happiness, surprise and shock.

Growing up, just like scores of others, I loved Shankar's movies - specially the ones that kindled the anger and irritation of the public against a corrupt government and society than bent itself to the whims of money. I felt a genuine and honest anger in me - so honest that it felt so unfair to suffer for having not done anything bad. A general conversation that you could hear among people after watching such movies - Such revolutionary measures will never be implemented, we will still be corrupt and all the solutions can only be done in the movies but not in real life... Yes, so was my thought and frustration that nothing significant would ever happen in India. I had never lost hope while I still believed we were changing, only in a slower pace. Common man - no great economic knowledge - able to understand far reaching implications of this move - but inconvenience - optimist looks to overcome inconvenience for a better future. I have always been an optimist when it comes to governance. Have to agree - optimism would get things done but not to everyone's satisfaction and content. I think that is what happened here - optimists focused more on the positive outcomes of the future thereby overshadowing the really hard and pressing present situations. At least that is how I looked at this issue and I am sure that is how anyone with hope for a better future would want to see. I was just watching a video of a rickshaw driver in Delhi being interviewed by CNN journalist - he says his daily income was cut in half and it is troubling him enormously but when asked "Do you still think the move was good?", he replies saying that temporary inconvenience is alright if the criminal big fishes suffer. Of course he might know less than me, more than you or maybe he is just another common man with hopes for a brighter India - a common man who wants to see through his difficulties with hopes that his work is not going in vain. A common man who earns on average Rs.1000 has a level of optimism and hope that I don't see in the middle class. You can argue that it is an isolated incident and that there are several other common men/women in India who are poor and who suffer. This is where pessimism comes in.

A pessimist looks at this situation, and he sees all that has gone wrong. Yes, the outcome of demonetization is not evident yet and hence, the chance of being overly pessimistic is easy. This is where a realist comes into play too. As the outcomes are not evident and visible, a realist would also lean on the pessimistic side. A realist mostly has the ground realities as the basis for this way of thinking. Ground realities at the moment might not be effectively reflective of how situations might be a year from now after a policy has been implemented.

How do I balance my thoughts now? Several contradicting incidents one after another pushes even the optimist for now to re-think his strategy, rethink if being blindly optimistic is right. But at the end of the day when I go to bed, I believe that tomorrow will be a better day and that keeps pushing me forward.

Concept of country and nationalism. If you ask me, a rationalizing liberal, I am against war and hence army and soldiers are not my idea of nationalism but coming together for greater good is. I was reading an article in The Economist about the rise of a new nationalism. The article talks about two distinct types of Nationalism - Civic and Ethnic Nationalism. While the civic nationalism is described to be the one where people of a country come together and agree to push forward progressive ideologies and policies promoting equality/freedom whereas ethnic nationalism uses the people's inner fears, racial/caste pride, greed and vengeance as means to push an agenda. Optimism has a solution. Now that this move has been implemented, as a country, we can follow the path of civic nationalism and come together as citizens for common welfare. There are problems - I am not denying any of those but the solution is not to complain about the negative side-effects but to contribute in any manner possible to change the mood of the general public. A poor man struggling to make ends meet wants to ensure cash in his hands. For him, the person who thinks he is sacrificing a little bit of his already small food portions for the greater good, he would feel honestly bad when people want this move to be scrapped and made void. Scrapping the demonetization move is not the solution but looking towards the goal of eliminating the black economy and eventually achieving a just/fair economic system.

PS: I drafted this in November but did not post it as I was too uncertain about the credibility of my thought process. Now, reading it again in March 31. 2016 this is painting a different picture in my head. There is no conclusions to be drawn from this silly (not so silly) analysis but just few different ways to approach one situation. That is life in general - there is never one way to do anything or get things done - life will always find a way and will always make sure it is for the greater good! :)

Tamil Nadu Politics 2017 February

2017-02-08T11:58:00.001-05:00

இங்கே கனடாவில் அமர்ந்துகொண்டு தமிழகத்தில் நடக்கும் நிகழ்வுகளை நொடிக்கு ஒரு முறை கவனித்து வரும் எனக்கு விளங்கும் ஒரு கருத்து என்னவென்றால்... மக்கள் அரசியலில் மெதுவாக ஈடுபட தொடங்கிவிட்டனர்! இதன் பாதிப்பு மிகவும் வெளிச்சமாக தெரியாவிட்டாலும், இந்த மாற்றம் நாம் முறையான பாதையில் பயணிக்க உதவும்... அதிக மக்கள் சமூக வலை தளங்களை பயன்படுத்தும்பொழுது ஒரு சமூக விழிப்புணர்வு ஏற்படுகிறது... சரி எது தவர் எது என்று விவாதிக்க ஒரு களம் அமைத்து கொடுக்கிறது இந்த சமூக வலை தளங்கள் .. இப்படி அல்லவா ஒரு சமூகம் வளர வேண்டும்... கலை அறிவியலைப்போல் அரசியலும் விவாதிக்கப்படவேண்டும்!

இந்த குறிப்பு தோன்றியதன் காரணம் - தமிழகத்தின் முதலமைச்சர் பண்ணீர்செல்வம் அவர்கள் திடீரென்று நாற்பது நிமிடங்கள் முன்னாள் மறைந்த முதல்வர் ஜெயலலிதா சமாதியில் த்யான நிலையில் அமர்ந்தார். பிறகு மிகவும் தெளிவான மற்றும் நிதானமான நிலையில் பேட்டி அளித்தார் - அதில் ஒரு 'can of worms' திறந்துவிடப்பட்டுள்ளது! இது எவ்வாறு முடியும் என்பதை சற்று பொறுத்திருந்து பார்ப்போம் !

அனால் இதில் இருந்து ஒரு 'takeaway' என்னவென்றால் - தமிழர்கள் மெதுவாக விழிக்கிறார்கள்! சமூக வலைத்தளங்கள் இதற்கு ஒரு முக்கியமான பங்களிப்பை பெறுகின்றது! இன்று நடந்தேறும் இந்த அலங்கோல அரசியல் என்றைக்குமே நடந்ததுதான்! இப்பொழுது வெட்ட வெளிச்சமாய் மக்கள் அதை விமர்சிக்கிறாரகள் - இது தான் இங்கு நடந்த ஒரு மிகவும் அற்புதமான மாற்றம்! அரசியல்வாதிகள் இப்பொழுது மக்களை மற்றும் சமூகத்தை (சமூக வலைத்தளம் இன்னும் சில வருடங்களில் பொது சமூகமாக மாறும்) கருத்தில் கொண்டு தான் முடிவுகளை எடுக்க முடியும்!

மாற்றம் மாறாதது! விடியும் வேளை சிறப்பாகவே விடியும்!

Schindler's List - A Movie Beyond Time

2017-01-30T11:30:00.002-05:00

Was watching Schindler's List and at the end, Schindler regrets for not having saved enough people despite rescuing about 1000 people from their fate in gas chambers. He regrets looking at his car which could have saved 10 more people - he then regrets after understanding how things and money are equated to people's lives - he breaks down crying because he is now in a tragic mess. He saved thousands of people but he cried because he could have done more. He was an industrialist and a business man too - but he knew that with great power comes great responsibility!  He also advises one of the generals who goes about killing people at his wishes that real power lies in granting mercy and not in taking one's life - thinking about it, it is the truth isn't it! 

The movie is riddled with several slow and emotionally stirring scenes. 

The one where the general attempts to shoot a worker for not having made enough hinges - the worker is knelt down and the general aims the gun behind his head - the gun is jammed and he clicks the trigger several times - each time he does that, the worker could hear the trigger but the gun doesn't go off - the worker is killed every single time the trigger is clicked. The gun ends up not working and the worker is saved. Such an intense scene this is - the general realizes that his phantom power does not lie in him but in his weapon of choice - without his gun, the general's powers are rendered useless. 

There are more and more such thought provoking and intense scenes - made more intense in black and white - the definitions, details and emotions are conveyed without us being distracted by the colours! There are some scenes though, where Spielberg wants you to be distracted - he portrays a small Jewish girl fleeing mass murder in her bright red dress (colour) and eventually being killed - he portrays the fire from the candles in colour too - maybe to emphasis how it eliminates darkness - it is up to us to draw our conclusions! 

Nothing Above Us

2017-01-03T11:54:00.001-05:00

Men in general are conditioned to achieve something or feel proud of something in life. So, when a lot of us don't achieve anything remarkable or evident, or when the possibility of achieving something remarkable by your own self is painstaking, we resort to easier ways of achieving pride and satisfaction. This is when most of us associate ourselves with higher ideologies, beliefs and practices which although might not make sense, makes it do-able because thousands and millions already follow it. Naturally you are made to think that is the truth and anything that has the potential to hurt the 'sentiments' associated with those beliefs are seen as intimidating. Instead of questioning such practices, it gives immense satisfaction for most of us to be part of such classifications and believe that we are part of a higher purpose. The classification can be anything - religion, language, gender, skin colour etc etc. Now we all believe in such classifications very firmly - because the belief is all we live for now - we are then pushed to doing things we wouldn't normally do.

You see how easy it is now to use people like us to get things done? Do you see how you can be manipulated very easily? Do you still want to blame the government for being blind when all this while, you have been ignorant of what you've been doing?

Time - காலம்

2016-12-31T15:38:00.001-05:00

Time has always been one of the interesting phenomenon that the curious human always tried to understand. It exists and we live yet, it moves on after we are dead and gone. It is everywhere yet it is invisible. The only tangible factor that determines your life is time - I recall an interesting Saguru video where he mentions how in traditional Tamil culture, those who have died are referred to as 'kalamaanar' which literally means 'out of time'. Also observe how language can carry on knowledge - without essentially lecturing you on the importance of time, those who sculpted the Tamil language framed the word to symbolize the importance of time. When you die, it means that you have run out of time - your time on earth has come to an end. So, yes, time is absolutely crucial and most of us are not aware of that.

Learn to appreciate time and always take things slow. Learn to appreciate the small things in life to live more peacefully yet very happily. You must have heard you parents, colleagues, managers and the society at large pushing you to excel in life which either means to have a neat little family or earn a lot of wealth. If you do not do either, you are thought to be lesser somehow. Without your knowledge you work towards fulfilling that society's desires and wishes. Striving towards a larger goal, working toward a goal etc always curtails peaceful progress of the life. Do not let career, money, wealth or anything for that matter determine your happiness. There is nothing in this world that is more important than individual liberty and happiness which in extent means nothing in the world is as valuable as time. When every individual liberty is guaranteed and happiness is valued more, a society prospers in a very peaceful and harmonious manner. Happiness begins from within.

இயற்க்கையின் முடிச்சுகளில் மூழ்கி, அவிழ்க்கும்பொழுது காலத்தின் உண்மை உணர்த்தப்படுகிறது.

தொடக்கமும், முடிவும் காலமின்மையில் அடக்கம்.

காலமற்ற நிலையில் இருந்து, நிலையில்லா காலத்தின் பிடியில் உயிர் நிலைக்கிறது.

காலத்தின் நிலையின்மையையும் உணர வேண்டும். காலத்தின் வலையில், ஒன்று இன்றொன்றைப்போல என்றும் எப்பொழுதும் இருந்ததில்ல்லை. நேரம் அல்லது காலத்தை மேலே கூறியவாறு மெதுவாக உணர வேண்டும். காலத்தின் பிடியில் இருக்கும் நமது அன்றாட வாழ்க்கையின் நிகழ்வுகளையும் அவ்வாறே மெதுவாகவும், ஆழமாகவும் உணர வேண்டும். அதன் தொடர்ச்சியாக, காலத்தை மீறிய ஒரு நிலையையும் அடையலாம். காலத்தை உணர்தல் - இது தான் எனது கூற்று. நம்மை கட்டுப்படுத்தும் காலத்தை நாம் அங்கீகரித்து, உணர்ந்தால் வாழ்க்கையின் சிறப்பை அவ்வாறே புரிந்துகொள்ளலாம். இவ்வாறு உணர்ந்து அறிந்த பின், நிகழும் காலத்தின் வலிமையும் முக்கியத்துவமும் புலப்படும். மேலும், வரும் காலத்தின் மேல் இருக்கும் கவலைகள் நீங்கி, கடந்த காலத்தை ஏற்றுக்கொள்ளும் பக்குவமும் வரும். அமைதி நிலைக்கும்.

Parallel Universe Hypothesis

2016-12-22T17:18:00.001-05:00

So imagine yourself in two different situations as follows. In the first instance, you are a your own perfectly normal self and I hand you over a nice portable bluetooth speaker with extra bass effect. I ask you to hold it by clasping your hands around it firmly. I play a song and all you do is close your eyes and listen to it along with trying to feel the vibrations. Now imagine yourself to be deaf. You really have to use your brains to imagine not to hear the song but just feel it in your hands. It was hard but you would have been able to feel the vibrations better.

The above event happened in my head when I was doing exactly that - listening to "The White Tree" by Howard Shore.

A deaf person who is not capable of hearing anything would only feel the vibrations and have a completely different understanding of a same event that a normal person with ears understands or enjoys. The same information interpreted and understood entirely differently because of lack of a device or means to receive the information in its entire form.

What most animals generally have are senses capable of receiving information in the form of light, sound, temperature, odour and so on but what if the universe around us has other information that we are not capable of even understanding its existence. Imagine the kind of information or energy or whatever that exists around us that we totally turn a blind eye *wink* to. Is there another dimension around us that we ignore. Oh damn I just discovered the origins of this thought process - Dr. Strange! How strange things work eh!

Privilege

2016-12-10T19:23:00.000-05:00

Just because we have the privilege of not being discriminated - not being looked down - not being considered evil, doesn't mean we can ignore those people who have been subjected to all this.

For us - the straight proud people - to understand the miseries of LGBTQ, we have to open our eyes and put ourselves in their shoes. What is it that is still holding us back so much that we fail to address the importance of freedom from oppression.

It is OUR (straight folks - who enjoy the freedom from oppression) responsibility to take this in our hands to ensure not another human being is looked down upon or looked at differently because of the way they carry themselves. How can sexual orientation of a person remotely affect the way we interact with them? It is all in our head - we have been brought up by a society that has taught us to hate or look down upon people who are different from us.

We cannot shrug our shoulders and say it's not our problem. It is a collective problem that needs collective measures to tackle it. That is why there are Pride Parades and Marches to show the LGBTQ community that we stand with them - in solidarity and to let them know we understand that they are still humans with same feelings and emotions like many of us.

Let us make sure, we think everything broadly rather than blindly sticking to what we have been taught. It could be any manner of preaching - be it religious or schooled or societal behavior. We cannot let things like that fall in between common-sense and freedom.

I am positive, the world in another 10 or 20 years will surely be a better place to live in for everyone but until then, voices like ours that shouts for equality must be loud and clear. Never should we ever give up our cause citing reasons of religion or faith when our brains can clearly think in the right direction.

Violence and Intelligence

2016-02-25T11:34:00.001-05:00

One of the very first chapters in our school history books were about human civilizations. We learnt and read about how we once were barbarians slowly settling down and forming communities. We read about how we sustained for thousands of years constantly changing and evolving - slowly at times and more rapidly in the recent years. A little bit of digging into history can give us a glimpse of how human beings were never quite happy with each other. We fought and fought our way to survival ever since we started meeting different members of our same species. While

OPENCATER - Home Cooked Food - Here I Come!

2016-01-27T19:37:00.001-05:00

So the other night, my friend and I were discussing about the horrible food (if you can even call it food) that we we just finished cooking. We were cooking partners for over a period of 2 years and although we knew we were not good with anything to do with the stove. I remember my friend over boiling eggs to the point where all the water evaporated and it was just the eggs being toasted for 5 minutes (the one thing that you were supposed to do!). We basically have no other option other than restaurants which are well known for not being completely healthy and over a period of time you don't really want to go to the same place anymore. Although there might be some friends who are born chefs, most of us end up eating crap. Oh, how important food actually is. You realize once you leave your family and live by yourself far away. Folks back home living in another city, please don't relate to this. This is not the same kind of pain because you folks at least get to visit home whenever your tongue cries out to be rescued. Unlike us, we do not and cannot just hop on a bus,train and get home. It costs freaking $2000 for a round trip from Canada to India.

Huffff... Let out all my frustration there... Excuse me...

If you want to skip all my narration bull shit and go straight to the point of this post, please visit www.opencater.com

Anyways, as we were talking about a solution to this crisis that we were facing, we thought about many families from India and plenty other countries living here and most women (stating facts - not being a male chauvinist) taking care of the house and don't go out to work but love cooking - just cook for their families. These people should cook for us - come on - that's a great solution. But yeah, they are not going to open up a restaurant nor are they going to let you sit in their dining table and eat their food even if you are willing to pay them a fortune (which I am).

Enter another loud mouthed yet know-it-all friend of ours and asks what we were discussing with obvious need/urge to contribute. As we narrated the initial plot, he started rolling out the climax and credits. He talked about a website called opencater.com and went on further to say it is, if you will, the AirBnb but for food. We were intrigued just to hear that and yes, we did understand what it was and I could definitely say I have heard of such a platform before. We visited the website and voila, it was exactly what we thought it to be.

OPENCATER is a platform, just like how AirBnb is for housing and accommodation. Those who love to cook can sign up as 'Be A Cook' as the site says and those who want to eat (like me and my friend who is peeking in on my phone) can just order food out of the menu that the cooks prepare themselves. The chefs can add their best dishes and the worst (at least that's what my mum thinks of her most delicious paneer butter masala) to their menu and let the diners decide what they want and how much of it they want and when they want it. That's awesome if you ask me - specially to order when you want it - like it could be 2 days later or even 5 days later and you can still order it. The magic here is because the place where you get the food from is not a restaurant to not take such an order. It is made mostly in a home and has the same ingredients that the home uses for their food. It is healthy, yes and it is made with the personal touch of the same person who cooks for their family. That really attracted me and made me think I should suggest this to some of my friends' mothers who are home and are able to and willing to make money by doing something they like doing (cook). Although the platform is not exclusively for those who are at home, the aspect that grabbed my interest was the fact that I can finally get home cooked delicious meal whenever I want. Yes, I do not mind spending and again it's not as expensive as a restaurant, so I guess this is a very good bargain.

As per the website, I think it is only available in the United States and Canada as of now and I am waiting for them to launch their own mobile app which can seriously bring it more people to sign-up and to order food.

The best part about this website is that it connects people. Just like every other popular and useful social media tools, this is something that is more than just useful - this is FOOD. I can now say my search for home cooked meals are close to over as I am still waiting for someone from the South Indian chef to sign up and start making dosai, idly and vadai (just to write these words I had to close my mouth tightly to prevent my saliva from wrecking my keyboard). We need more chefs here - are you hungry cooks listening and seeing such developments? Please do, it will be a direct benefit for me and thousands of such friends living far far away from home. More chefs singing up, more options for us to choose from (yaay!)

I have added some screenshots from the website here so you get the picture (:P) as to what this online tool is all about. For additional details just visit the website and it has pretty much everything you need to know to sign up as a chef or to just EATTTTTTTTTTTTTTT.

How OpenCater works for the Cooks

How the OpenCater works for US, the Eaters - sorry Diners

A Sample Description of one of the items in a chef's menu

Ford Fusion 2011 - Gas Tank Leak - Jan 2016

2016-01-13T12:06:00.000-05:00

So, I bought a beautiful blue Ford Fusion in March 2015. The car was just amazing and as the days went by, I only grew to love the car more and more. The car gave me some issues here and there with one major spending in August ($900) but that's understandable - mechanical wear and tear. In January 2016, right before I was about to take it to Toronto for a work event (from Windsor), I noticed a puddle of gas under my car after I full-tanked it. I bent down to get a proper look and the gas was trickling down, not even dripping.

Pic Description: That white spot there was one among the two puddles of gas that were later covered with a white powder that the Fire Department brought with them

I was shocked and as anyone would do, I googled and read several posts that said it was okay to drive with a leak but there were couple of dangers involved. One was, if it catches fire then BOOM! The other being environmental pollution. After discussing with my friend and trying to see some logic, I figured I had to get it towed to a mechanic. I also had to call up the Fire Department to clean up the gas that I left behind in the parking lot of Tim Hortons which they cleared. The car was dolly-ed to a mechanic and he identified that the top of the gas tank had an issue (leak) and that, upon his investigation was part of a recent recall notice that Ford had given out. I was very relieved to hear that the issue can be fixed over a recall.

I called up Ford Customer Care to make sure there is a recall for this issue and I am not just being momentarily happy. Upon reviewing my VIN and other details, the Customer Care Agent did tell me there was a recall and gave me a recall number as well. I was so relieved and booked an appointment with the Performance Ford - Windsor.

I am writing this just as I returned back to my office after leaving the car at the dealership. I was told that they would inspect it to see if the issue with the leak was related to the Recall issue. If it was, they would have to ground my car for some MONTHS! As they do not at the moment have the parts and expecting it to arrive by THIRD QUARTER of 2016!!!!!!! I am in the FIRST QUARTER now! The service person did tell me she hoped to receive it sooner though. They would arrange a rental car as a replacement until my Fusion was fixed with a new tank or the issue was resolved.

I will write more as things play-out!

Hope it ends smoothly.

Pic Description: A small sample of the leak from under the car

Update: Jan 15

I was given a Ford Escape 2015 as the replacement for my Fusion which sits at the dealership now for who knows how many months.

I am planning to give it visits from time to time to make sure the car is doing well.

In the meanwhile, the Escape has given me a really good first impression and I am hoping for this to last. Cheers :)

Until next time, Ciao ! :)

Update: Jan 22

I sorely miss my Fusion. I just want to go see how it is doing there all alone! In the mean time, here is a majestic pic portraying the stunning Fusion!

Update: Feb 2

I sorely miss my Fusion. This Escape has been drinking gas like it is fucking thirsty all the time. A full tank holds about 40L of gas which is very less given this is a mini-SUV. Anyways, I am planning on changing this SUV for a Fusion 2015 or 16 if they got it at the rental. Hopefully they give it to me.

Update: April 1

Oh a LOOOOOOOOT had happened in the meanwhile. I had to spend about $1000 for the rental that I was using. The rim was chipped while under my usage - probably a pothole - misfortune number 1. Spent the money by the middle of February. I called Ford Customer Care to help me out here because I am in this mess only and only because my Fusion was with the dealership STILLLLL to get the gas tank fixed.

Now recently, I had some fun loving prankster scratch the breadth of the driver's door of the rental with his key. The key scratch is prominent and I am going to have to spend again. Just to mention, the Ford Edge I am driving now, although is great, drinks gas so much. I am spending way more than I would have with my fusion. This is completely insane.

I am now planning to write about the situation in Facebook and see what kind of reaction I might get.

Update: August 18

My Fusion is still not with me and there is NO update on the ETA for the gas tank from the dealership. This is beyond a normal operating procedure and has put me to immense troubles. The rental keeps recalling their cars to change into another one and has put me in major inconvenience.

This needs to be addressed as soon as possible!

Time for Tamil Nadu Politics to Change

2015-12-11T23:11:00.000-05:00

To all those who had goosebumps while watching Muthalvan, Anniyan, Indian and Ko
To all those who think "What the fuck is going on in TN?" often
To all those who feel the government is no longer a public serving agent but working for personal gains
To all those who are frustrated and pained to see the bias and corruption in the society
To all those who feel the government is ours and not some party's office space
To all those who are scared to the government
To all those who are irritated when someone doesn't obey a simple traffic rule
To all those who are angered when someone litters a public space
To all those who think CHANGE in TN politics is absolutely needed

READ ON

What we saw in Chennai for the past couple of weeks is something I did not for once in my random-est dreams imagine could have happened. Chennai got flooded like it never has in about a 100 years. Most of the city drowned and about 300 people died as of now. When the city drowned, the city came to a standstill - basic amenities drowned with the floods and the city did not have a mechanism in place to make sure people received supplies sufficient enough to survive the floods.

Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp came to the rescue. People started crowd-sourcing information and funds directed towards rescuing and providing for the affected people. The responses were overwhelming and people even began opening doors of their houses to those who had their houses drowned - yes, you heard it right - to complete strangers. It is amazing to see how our society which does not normally come out and act as a community for any major issue got together when thy really need to but was not expected to. It was amazing to see what the power of communication and how the youth used these tools that was at their disposal for the greater good. It was amazing how people did not care about religion, caste or any such dividends while helping each other out. I was surprised and completely taken aback with pride and happiness to see what the people can do without government actually doing anything at all.

When all this happened, the one huge thing that was running in my head was where was this community and people coming together for various other problems we face on a day-to-day and routine bases? Where was all this unity when we needed them most for a clean government and politics? Will we stand united only in the face of a disaster? Even so, the way Tamil Nadu government is running is absolutely and without doubt 'a disaster'. Is this not a time when we have to be together as one force? Yes, I did see some posts with similar thoughts circulating in Facebook and Twitter but I am pretty sure it is all going to subdue in a short time (I think it already has).

Questions after questions are pounding my head. People were angry, completely frustrated with the way government functioned. Right from the sticker incident to the lethargic manner in which the Jayalalitha government undertook the relief and rescue efforts and going back in time, even the manner in which they handled the weather forecast warning were absolutely outrageous. We need a change desperately. The two political parties in Tamil Nadu - DMK and ADMK have ruled the state for quite a long time with one looting and the other corrupting the state. Is there a change in sight at all? Is there another option? Do we have a valid stage to fall back to?

There is a strong power of youth that has showed that government was not necessary to bring a change. The youth that would go to any extent to do what it takes, to reach something unattainable. We have first hand seen what we can do when we stand together. That is all I wanted to say. I have no more words to explain how I feel.

"Maatram Thediye... Thinam Oru Netrai Thorkirom
Vetru Pathayil... Boomi Sutra Paarkirom"