Mumbai Meri Jaan

Not all ends are happy. Some are never destined to be. But misfortune has struck you, does not mean that you have the right to keep crying about it. Nobody is singular here. All our lives are intertwined in a giant machinery that has to keep working no matter what.

This is one of the few messages conveyed by the movie that shares its title with my article; and by far the most emphatic. The four stories are all that were left of Mumbai right after the blasts- in one form or the other. These were the four people who picked the city up hours after the blast and trudged along. Sad, shocked, fearful, desperate, angry... people did not know what to feel. How do you feel when something terrible happens to your kin; or just realize that it could have been you!

Indeed, the way the city was back to normal, keeping all the happenings behind, might appear emotionless, ruthless and to a certain degree, inhuman. But let us ask ourselves something, would any of the humane reactions been of help to the survivors? Definitely not. On the other hand, Mumbaikars defeated the terrorist attack, and defeated its very purpose. Mumbai bounced back fearlessly, and carried on, like nothing has happened.

There were some more points as well, that were brought to light; though very subtle in comparasion. And I was not surprised when they were completely missed by the audience. But even if one purpose has been served, I would call it a huge success.

I am not going to give a critical analysis of the movie, perhaps simply out of respect to the theme. But that does not mean I consider the movie a complete addressal of the theme. Of course there are lacunae. But such things can be overlooked in view of a realistic portrayal of the mature way the most trying period of the city was handled by its citizens. Hats off Mumbai!

Science, Technology and Humanity- Part I

Science and technology are the two words that have revolutionized the world today. Their importance in the modern world has no greater indicator than the priority level of the nations coveting the "developed" tag attach to it; or perhaps, the charisma, with which those with the tag flaunt it and bully with it. That, however, is quite another story.

Though we hear these two terms from the layman and the scholar alike, it is seldom done carefully, and more often, interchangeably. So aren't they so? Before we even attempt to answer this question, let us look at these words with a purely literal perspective:

Science: (from the Latin scientia, 'knowledge') This in the broadest sense, refers to any systematic knowledge or practice

Technology:Human innovation in action that involves the generation of knowledge and processes to develop systems that solve problems and extend human capabilities

So here they stand crystal clear in their meanings.

However, this discussion is not intended to differentiate between science and technology. This discussion is about the perception of these terms by the common man and the confusion arising from the ignorance of the thin and exceedingly blurring line between the two. A point that should be made clear right now that even though this line may have blurred to give way to a gradual transition and now only a common region exists; still,their specific domains would still be, in all simplicity, theirs.

The trouble with perception of this is not a singular problem. We should realize that our the world is not homogeneous. But in an attempt to make it so, it has been unwittingly divided into two layers.

The first layer is of the abstracts who see the two domains from afar and think they are separate just like the way they always were. They do not know, nor care to find out what is going on in that situation on a microscopic level. Or rather, it can be assumed quite generally that they are afraid of approaching the domain they have considered sacred.

The second layer is of most of our myopic scholars who are right in the midst of the situation. They judge by what they see, and all they see is a blur.

So this is a problem we are facing. There are too few moderates who can stand at a few feet from the problem and see the big picture. What we have in the society seems like two bunch of Idiots who can't see a thing themselves, and yet despise each other.