As I saw it

Satya Vachan. Realising this at the earliest and breaking free of the clutches of greedy politicians and religious heads at the earliest is true freedom and a responsibility as well. I remember back in December 1995 when I came out of the iconic Chanakya theatre in Delhi after watching the epic Forrest Gump. I wished I was born with such a low IQ as Forrest. That way I won’t have been able to hate anybody. And I can bet that this post of mine won’t have many likes because it will trigger fear-led-anger in many people. That’s again a good question and invitation for us all to wonder about the slavery these secondary and artificially imposed identities and ideologies have subjected us to.

Excellent article in today’s Hindustan Times Delhi edition. And yes I completely agree with the author when he quotes Eric Schimdt - the former CEO of Google that social media is an “amplifier for idiots” also. Look out for the WYSIATI model for bias testing and Carl Sagan’s Baloney Decision Kit for critical thinking. Thanks a lot for this Mr. Ravi Venkatesan.

Looks can be deceptive. Or are they? I was at the Delhi airport last month to see off my parents. As I waited outside for them to clear the security, I was approached by two people. The first one looked like he was from Punjab and onto Canada. He came and asked me where he could get the RTPCR test done. Though a little perplexed at his question, I turned around and directed his attention to a couple of police personnel standing nearby and asked him to check with them. A little later even as I was lost in the ongoings at the airport I was tapped on my shoulder and a well to do business executive nearing his 60s asked me if the photo of his Adhaar Card on his mobile phone would do for entry into the airport as he had forgotten his original at home. Perplexed and amused as I was this time, I asked him to check with the CISF personnel at the entry gate. He went away in a hurry. That’s when I started wondering why they had asked me?! Then it struck me: it possibly had to do with the colour ...