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From Material to Thought: Tracing Humanity's Evolution and the Persistent Duality of Wealth and Values

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The current global population has more than doubled compared to what most of the existing working class experienced at their birth. This staggering growth marks an unprecedented era in human history. Two significant features have emerged during our journey from our ape ancestors to the present day: the democratization of material wealth and the democratization of thought. Since the mid-20th century, there has been a noticeable shift in the availability and access to material comforts. More people now enjoy these comforts than at any other time in known history. Equally profound is the growing acceptance and application of universal human values. While such values existed in the past, they were often monopolized by a select few who claimed guardianship over both material and spiritual well-being, often to the detriment of the masses. Words like liberation, freedom, tolerance, and equality have become part of the common vernacular since the mid-20th century. Some regions could be seen as

The Idea of Rama and the Battle of the Real Estate

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As a person born and brought up in the "Hindu" way of life, Ram or Rama as the more educated once pronounce it  , is not a mere figment of imagination but a representation of the collective conscience of a society - an utopian one at that. A tragic tale of suffering for the sake of "Dharma" which continues to meet a tragic fate in the battle of real estate obliterating all that Ram represented.   The unadulterated stories or "myth" of Ram, duri ng our childhood years mainly from grandma's stories and then probably reinforced by Ramanand Sagar (Minus the over dramatization and  primitive audio visual effects from today's standard)   ,  were primarily intended to focus on the virtues which Ram embodied as a role model of being the Man who is Supreme in Honor   (Maryada Purushotam) . Any attempt to find fault on these virtues of selflessness, chivalry,  conscientiously and obediently fulfilling one's duty  , respect towards fellow human beings wh

Fury in the age of Hashtags : The Me too movement as a case

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#NEVEREVER Everyone loves scandals and when it has sexual connotations, the inherent voyeurs in us have a field day. I am sure such instincts are gender, caste, race, nation neutral .  The fall of the great and mighty and the reinforcement of the "I told you so " is an acrid reminder of all that is not right behind the righteous halo of our idols.  The popularity of the #metoo unfortunately seems to stem not from a genuine concern to bring culprits to book but merely to satisfy our inherent depravity in deriving pleasure from the sufferings or failings of others. I am still struggling to understand the intent and direction which the movement might take.  The reason why I use popularity instead of success of the movement is the " impotent" unleashing of fury which social media sites have been able to provide as a weapon. The number of hits , the like buttons and retweets, if expected to bring justice,  can best be ascribed to a good quality weed.

The New wave of Self Destruction : Creating Terror and Beyond

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WEST AND ISLAM : SEPARATED WITH MALICE Conflict and the need for a clash with "Others" has been the defining moments of civilizations. The creation of "Others" as distinct from self  seems to be the one common denominator across ages. Samuel Huntington at the end of the cold war aptly predicted the Clash of civilizations as another mode of self destruction . The colonial atrocities consecutively ran along with the self inflicted wars to showcase superiority of race and then culminated into what came to be known as the cold war .By the end of the cold war the seeds of the next clash in the name of religion had already been sown, once again. The madness of  the cold war prompted the western Christian powers to prepare Islam as the last front for the annihilation of the communists. The western mindset of being logical and pragmatic in attainment of ends ,at least in hindsight, can be best described as shortsighted and perhaps suicidal in the rush to attain a

Narendra Modi - A Messiah or a Marketing Gimmick

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NARENDRA MOD I Symbolism , Demonetization , Beef , Ram Mandir ,Black money, GST ,Gujarat Elections and the Reality Check The blog does not intend to be a political commentary and is merely based on some  Top of Mind recall of issues around Brand Modi as highlighted by an erstwhile hostile media and presently by spineless one. 8th November 2016 , while most of the urban India was busy struggling to wrap up the day's work and rural Bharat preparing for the next day, the prime minister of India Mr. Narendra Modi decided to act as a disruptor . It took couple  of hours to absorb the message and then all hell broke loose when people realized the cash in their hands was as good as a politicians promises during election campaigns . Demonetization would be next only to declaration of emergency or the wars with Pakistan and China which impacted everyone in the country irrespective of class, caste and religious affiliations.  There was no escaping or visible

SWACHAA BHARAT SOME UNANSWERED QUESTIONS SERIES 1: OPEN DEFECATION

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SWACHH BHARAT SOME UNANSWERED QUESTIONS SERIES 1:  OPEN DEFECATION http://india.gov.in/spotlight/ swachh-bharat-abhiyaan-ek-kadam-swachhata-ki-ore http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/ 2014-11-18/news/ 56222308_1_manual-scavengers-nhrc-issues-their-rehabilitation-act       FAD vs FACT (With due respects to images the intent is good but not sustainable) The idea of cleanliness and Hygiene, which westerners and their prototypes in India, think is alien to the psyche of the brown skinned Indians was somewhat jolted by the campaign of Swachh Bharat by Shri Narendra Modi.  There can be no doubt about the need of such wakeup call after demonstration of more than 60 years of democracy, a few Nuclear devices, a few wars, a few space missions and very recently (relatively) the economic strength, which pulls the same western or westernized brown people, irrespective of the stench of uncleanliness and lack of Hygiene, towards We the People. Before getting