Friday, December 10, 2004

Finding Nemo

I was watching Finding Nemo and suddenly an idea chose to flash in my mind. What would happen if fishes start talking in our language? Will our relationship which we share(predator-prey) be same? I have stopped having them as food long back but I can certainly relate to my state of mind when I was a piscivore. I would definitely found myself utterly unable to consume them had they started speaking in the same tongue(even if they themselves had urged me to eat them up!!).
Quite a funny thought,isnt? Why the hell racking your brains for mythological possibilities (or rather impossibilities) instead of enjoying the movie with a pack of potato chips and lime-soda? Hmm.. no I did enjoy the movie and especially Dorrie. She defies common sense (her expressions are absolutely incongruous to the circumstrances, for instance she looks obliquely to Marlin while being mortally chased by the shark and her countenance suggests something like a smile floating smugly on her face!). Her forgetfulness is also amusing probably bacause it breaks the temporal continuum which is so vital an element of our sense of identity. I will not go into this issue now as it needs exclusive attention.
OK,sorry for aberration. Actually the movie was just an occasional cause for the thought I wanted to scrutinize. The idea which disturbed my mind was the capability (and predominance) of language as a factor which produces humanization (and accordingly dehumanization) of others. The corollary of this hypothesis is amazingly interesting (to me, at least!!). This places language at the topmost position in the hierarchy of the agencies which rule us and shapes our social structure as well as the interaction within and among them. When we find someone talking in our language, in our words, our phrases,slangs etc, we feel alike. This sense of likeness makes him/her more like us, more human. Recognition of this observation as a generality led me to believe that language integrates as well as alienates, more effectively than percieved. Let's take a case to study this proposition. What will you(assume you are an Indian if you are not) feel if you find a brazilian man(or woman, please yourself!) talking in your language. Will not all the racial, ethnic, religious bounderies seem to mean little? Will not you feel connected to him/her?? I feel I will because language envelops thought and intellectual and/or emotional union has nothing necessarily to do with colour of skin and religious convictions. Of course culture plays a role but then it can hardly be seen outside/independent of language.Remember we are considering an extreme case. Our case then essentially assumes some cultural familiarity. But essentially it is language which does it all. Rest all other factors ate its ministers. Now let's envisage a diffrent picture(sorry, we have to come back to India!) which wouldn't need much capacity of imagination. What do you think is the major barrier between classes in our society? Think clearly... what is it? Yeah... it is none other than Language! If you thought anything else (financial or political background, for example) then think about terms like style-statement and symbols of power (like an ambassador car with a red light on its top). It is not the money but its display which creates the boundary. It is not the post but the uniform, the name-plate etc which makes the meaning. Diet coke, Nike shoes, Versace outfits, Armani suits, Mercedez Cars(which decide classes,E-class and S-class etc) and countless other things are nothing but WORDS!!! We speak through them. We earn them and make a vocabulary. The volume and quality of our vocabulary determines our language. This secondary language is used more effectively than the primary language (which we mean when we say language). If we appreciate the significance of this secondary language then it must be very obvious that even the primary language is very class specific. Every class chooses its own language to communicate. This leads to the formation and proliferation of jargons and buzz-words. Use or submission to these jargons determines an individual's class and company. In short we see only one thing which always changes when we shift our focus to one class/community to the other. Language distinguishes one from other. Language demarcates the boundaries. Here it is!! But is also provides strength within a group. It unites individuals. If we choose to study an individual then we find that even for a multilingual person, dominance of one language warranties mental harmony. We think in one language. Well, I would not dwell on this issue as I have no insight of it and it can't be treated superficially and glibly.
One interesting fact is that we cannot choose to ignore the language. Even the absence of a word in your vocabulary speaks a volume. We cannot avoid it. Yeah, but we can and we should make our existential choice of having it or not, with its consequences.

Thursday, December 09, 2004

what for?

What drives me to write this blog? Do I not have anything better to do? Who am I writing this for? Why should I expect others to read this at the cost of their time? And if I am writing this for myself then is this not a manifestation of split-personality where the reader-me is expected to satisfy the needs of writer-me? I feel hooked on to these so many inverted hooks (?) which still continues to ruffle our peace of mind.

Khalil Jibran says "Rest in reason and act in passion". This is one of my favorite quotes but sometimes I find restlessness in reason and then emotions and convictions (however irrational thay might be, based on bias and long-held myths) come to my rescue. As I've already disclosed my state of confusion regarding my purpose of writing this. What makes me do this then? Well, I just feel like writing. Let me assume for the assurance of my rational self that feeling is the expression of our most wise, most profound, most sagacious self... rather it's an expression of our self, the complete self.

Offlate a strange feeling of intellectual exhaustion has started creeping into my ultra-sensitive (a euphemism for insecure) mind. One way other than ignoring it (I thought to do something different, anyway we are habituated to ignore so many things) is to expand the volume of informations I possess by annexing others' thoughts - reading others' work. But I am tired of doing that even. I am hoping to find a lasting satisfaction in exploring the unknown domains of my own mind. So I am set to go on an expedition or pilgrimage with hope and determination.

One more "reason" to do this is to redeem a new identity after six point someone identity I earned for myself in IITD. Well, I have to share so many thoughts pertaining to this topic. I would not start this now otherwise I would run a risk of digression. "Identity" has always intrigued my mind and I will soon come up with my opinions on this issue. The most disturbing question is whether it's an individual or social phenomenon?

So much to say!! Well, I've started.

Ironically this is my second post but it was written first. Due to some interruption it had to be posted later. Let this be the end of my goof-ups, though I know I am being extraa optimistic by saying this.

Cheers and stay tuned.