Of atheists, scientists and social-scientists

Atheist: I don't believe in the supernatural. But I believe in equality and justice.

Scientist: Neither equality nor justice are natural. They are human fantasies. Like God and miracles. 

[Devdutt Pattanaik] 

What about social-scientists? I ask.

There is a far greater amount of denial and disbelief that a social scientist faces or counters these days, compared to an atheist or a scientist. 

Some hard-core critics club the social-scientists with theorists, and mumbo jumbo jingoists, in fact, with anyone who is not based on the 'hard sciences', or even the 'common sense' reality. Now that maybe extreme, but the fact remains that social scientists are no longer trusted or looked up to as before. 

One must remember, social scientists help quash myths. The call for advancement of social justice isn't a scamming scheme. 

Social scientists are required to study social movements and changes brought about in society. 

Even the literature written by the social scientists are often looked down upon by the so-called free world. Whereas, in reality, the social scientists use scientific methods to obtain evidence. They are meant to play a crucial role in evidence-based policymaking. 

Part of what makes social scientists unique is their convergence research approach. 

Research on human behaviour, cultures, markets, law, and politics are essential to understand the prevailing challenges in society. It's not just about the 'what' and 'how' of new technologies, but also the 'who' and 'why'.

Understanding the legal and regulatory landscapes is vital for the responsible development and adoption of technologies. 

It is absolutely necessary to study the social and ethical dimensions of key problems. Societies are always about diverse values and beliefs. 

Economic analysis and modelling help us evaluate the broader impacts of our policies and technologies, ensuring it's not just about innovation but about sustainable and equitable growth, that technologies contribute positively to society.

Social-scientific perspectives are indeed important and diverse disciplines are thus to be integrated to solve problems of sustainability in multiple fields. 

Essential read: courtesy - Quantitative Social Science Library

When I acted dumb and turned lucky - a true story

Watched 'Dumb Money' (2023) on National Cinema Day 2023 (October 13), almost knowing nothing about it beforehand (without even seeing the trailer), and I turned out lucky to have acted on a whim (did such a thing after a really long time).

Based on a true story, the film explores the concept of short selling, where investors bet against a company's success. Director Craig Gillespie, along with the scriptwriters Lauren Schuker and Rebecca Angelo, has ensured that the Wall Street lingo and the stock market practices wouldn't alienate the viewers, and that the main narrative bearing the analogy of David versus Goliath would hold mass appeal. 

Paul Dano, Pete Davidson, Seth Rogen, Vincent D'Onofrio, Shailene Woodley, Sebastian Stan, Dane DeHaan, America Ferrera, and Rushi Kota are just some of the cast members comprising the rich ensemble, and are all excellent. The original score is composed by Will Bates, and the soundtrack features some groovy tracks guaranteed to keep one buoyant. 

It's one of the best films that I've seen this year (with the likes of 'Past Lives', 'Oppenheimer', 'Barbie', 'Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse' and 'Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.3' in company).

Places and memory associations

What comes to your mind when you think of a place? A place you've visited, or a place you've lived for months, days or years...? 

For most people, there are strong ties with any place, be it a city or a town or a state, that one has lived in, or stayed on account of work or pleasure. Usually the memory associations are different in case of places that have been part of one's life out of compulsion as opposed to choice. 

While visiting places for the first time, it's the food or the special attractions that one gets attached to, quite naturally. However, sometimes, whatever we do, wherever, are always special because of the ones we share them with, when it's the people - or the relations we forge with them - attain a larger significance, and thereby provide us with a meaningful context to a place.

Delhi, more lovingly called Dilli, is a place that has been in my memory recall for a number of reasons, and none so poignant that a phantom association with certain people and the recurrent associations with the city, which otherwise brings a 'been there' and 'could've been' vibe for me, silly me.

60 days of Sleaze

Sleaze comes in various hues, various genres, various qualities. Inspired by Justin LaLiberty's United Sleaze Factory for MUBI, here's a curated listing of 60 films that shaped my overview and understanding as well. It's based on random recall, not on preference. A personal connect - for the experiencing itself - with each of these movie titles does exist nonetheless.

1. Endless Love (1981)

2. Class (1983)

3. Class of 1984 (1982)

4. Risky Business (1983)

5. Youngblood (1986)

6. Road House (1989)

7. El Perro aka Vengeance: The Dog (1977)

8. Straw Dogs (1971)

9. Barb Wire (1996)

10. White Palace (1990)

11. Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot (1992)

12. Exchange Lifeguards (1992)

13. Basic Instinct (1992)

14. Mannequin (1987)

15. Sliver (1993)

16. Cocktail (1988)

17. Wild Orchid (1989)

18. The Blue Lagoon (1980)

19. Captain Ron (1992)

20. Bachelor Party (1984)

21. Chasers (1994)

22. Tarzan, the Ape Man (1981)

23. The Emerald Forest (1985)

24. American Pie (1999) 

25. 10 to Midnight (1983)

26. Lassiter (1984)

27. Indecent Proposal (1993)

28. Fatal Attraction (1987)

29. Neighbors (2014) 

30. Holy Smoke! (1999) 

31. All the Right Moves (1983) 

32. Unfaithful (2002) 

33. Never Talk to Strangers (1995) 

34. The Indian Runner (1991)

35. Siddhartha (1972) 

36. Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love (1996)

37. Swimming Pool (2003) 

38. The Dreamers (2003) 

39. Cat People (1982) 

40. The Fly (1986)

41. Pyar Ka Taraana (1993) 

42. 8mm (1999) 

43. Bully (2001) 

44. Crash (1996)

45. Cruel Intentions (1999)

46. Damage (1992) 

47. Dogtooth (2009) 

48. Eyes Wide Shut (1999) 

49. Wild Things (1998) 

50. In the Cut (2003) 

51. Species (1995) 

52. Quills (2000) 

53. Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (2006) 

54. Lost Highway (1997) 

55. Irreversible (2002) 

56. Idle Hands (1999) 

57. Angel Heart (1997) 

58. Apocalypto (2006) 

59. Knock Knock (2015) 

60. The Postman Always Rings Twice (1981) 

TIFF lookback

As the curtains came down on this year's Toronto International Film Festival, here's giving a shoutout to some of our favorite films from the past that were screened in Toronto (some had their premiere, some came from other film festivals) 

The Whale (2022) 

The Banshees of Inisherin (2022) 

Decision to Leave (2022) 

Broker (2022) 

The Woman King (2022) 

Women Talking (2022) 

American Beauty (1999) 

Ray (2004) 

The King's Speech (2010) 

127 Hours (2010) 

Black Swan (2010) 

Aftersun (2022) 

Parasite (2019) 

Belfast (2021) 

Nomadland (2020) 

Jojo Rabbit (2019) 

The Fabelmans (2022) 

The things we do for love

The things we do for love are often inexcusable, they cross the limits of sensibility and reason. 

The things we do in the name of love are best termed excesses, and, ironically, they are romanticized in fiction, in films, in poetry, in songs. 

The song "In the name of love..." (Bebe Rexha and Martin Garrix) goes: "If I warned you that the fire's gonna burn/ Would you walk in?/ Would you let me do it first?" 

Well, it doesn't matter whether there was a caveat in the first place or not. No one enjoys getting burnt. Even if one escapes death or being maimed, one often has to suffer from the Once Burnt, Twice Shy syndrome for life. 

PostScript: Have you seen a tall tree struck by lightning? I have. In my childhood, I was traumatized witnessing the top of a coconut tree catch fire when lightning struck. A common myth is to take shelter under a tree, to feel safe when it's raining and one's out on a field or by the roadside. Warning: it is NOT at all advisable to seek shelter under tall trees that attract lightning. 

The worst memory of mine was witnessing the tree die a slow death thereafter. 

time time ki baat hai...

Time heals, they say. 

Time, like tide, waits for none, they say. 

Well, time does a lot of things. Possibly none so alarming as the fact that time distorts. 

In time, things evolve, things change. 

Time makes things morph. Time remains a silent witness to things mutating. Our feelings mutate as well. 

death despair darkness

"Death is a stripping away of all that is not you. The secret of life is to 'die before you die' & find that there is no death." 

- Eckhart Tolle 

To remain in life is to go around death.

To die is to exhaust all potential.

a wish, a prayer

I pray that all my friends and acquaintances get through the battles they don't tell me about. 

I should know, of all people, because I myself don't share all my problems with friends or family, I prefer keeping things locked up inside. That is, in part, my inherent nature, and it's also because of how I've been conditioned as a child, as a young person. 

However, I sincerely wish to tell all my friends: It's absolutely okay with me when you decide to open your heart to me, even if it is to make me feel that your battles are bigger than mine - no competition there, you see. 

Simply lending a patient ear is also a part of being a friend. Whether or not the other person considers me to be their friend, I must remain non-judgmental of them when they share their woes. It can sometimes be too late for us to realize that we could have done things differently when we had attempted to reach out to our friends in distress. Even when we have an instant urge to reach out, we may stumble upon actual or perceived blocks and our moment's hesitation can cost us much. Clear all such blockages; it's tough, but, good luck to you.

May you all find a way to bear your burdens. May you find clarity in catastrophe, in the chaos that prevails. 

I wish and I pray for all the happiness of this world for my family and friends - in this new year, and beyond.

Top 10 Movies Watched in 2022

1. The Banshees of Inisherin (2022) 

2. First Cow (2019) 

3. Minari (2020) 

4. Decision to Leave (2022) 

5. Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022) 

6. The Worst Person in the World (2021) 

7. Nope (2022) 

8. Luca (2021) 

9. Babysitter (2022) 

10. Nocturnal Animals (2016) 

Roshni, andhere mein

Seldom do we celebrate ad films, or commercials. But I'd love to give a shoutout to a really special one, since it celebrates movies, rather the movie watching experience in theaters. 

"Iss andhere mein bahut roshni hai (there's light in this darkness)" - the poem by Vineet Panchhi, featured in the PVR ad is something that connects with me - with all of us cinema lovers, I'm sure - on a subliminal level. It has been filmed to celebrate the completion of 25 years of the PVR Cinema chain in India, and stars Aamir Khan, our favorite.

The emotions that the audience in a darkened auditorium traverses, as the magic of movies unfolds on the big screen, the bonding with cinema, escaping to a fantasy world, when the lights go down.... all these have been brilliantly conveyed in this short film, in the voiceover by Aamir Khan. 

After having watched it across social media, I had to watch it on the big screen (at PVR, where else) as I was told by my good friend Sayantan that it was showing before the screening of 'Laal Singh Chaddha', starring Aamir Khan (which I rushed to watch for the second time, essentially for that promotional), and it brought such joy! Kudos to the makers! 

I need to mention here that I was also reminded of the unforgettable Tom Cruise speech at the 2002 Oscars which celebrated the movie watching experience. People's habits have changed, cinema has evolved, watching movies is no longer the same (nor is it expected to remain the same over the years), but the thrill and the joy at the movies can always be cherished, the PVR ad does bring back the memories of all the good times.

Black and White fascination

The fascination with black and white films is real and ever present even in the recent times, long after they have stopped being the norm with the technological progress ushering films in color, as witnessed in our love and appreciation for the following special favorites - all from the 21st century. These are my very own special favorites (note: just three of them have used minimal scenes or sequences in color as special highlights, blends or contrasts), the ones I consider myself lucky to have feasted my eyes on. Here's the list (all of them are worth watching and absolute delights), not in any order of preference though: 

Roma (2018)

The Lighthouse (2019) 

Nebraska (2013)

Frances Ha (2012)

The Artist (2011) 

Blue Jay (2016)

Cold War (2018) 

Polytechnique (2009) 

Mank (2020) 

Passing (2021)

Control (2007)

Grass (2018)

Belfast (2021)

Malcolm & Marie (2021)

Elisa & Marcela (2019)

Mustang Island (2017)

The Good German (2006)

Coffee and Cigarettes (2003)

13 Tzameti (2005)

Frankenweenie (2012)

Persepolis (2007)

The Man from London (2007)

The Man Who Wasn't There (2001)

Good Night, and Good Luck (2005) 

The Forty-Year-Old-Version (2020) 

Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench (2009) 

The heart knows what it seeks - in love with Main Ki Karaan

First love, especially the stirrings that happen in our childhood, is mostly the purest and the best, since it's blemishless and platonic. The innocence and the sweetness of it is so beautifully captured in the song "Main ki karaan" from 'Laal Singh Chaddha' (2022). 

Kudos to Amitabh Bhattacharya - who had penned it, Pritam - who has set it to tune, Sonu Nigam (and Romy) - for singing it with such passion and honesty, and Aamir Khan - for the magical voiceover at the beginning of the song! 

Fulminations, reverberations

Memories are bullets embedded in our souls, he said. 

He couldn't have been more right, I reason.

We must have had a common connect via memories that pain us, scar us, betray our fake projections of wellness. He is a doctor after all, isn't he supposed to know all that one needs to know about the painkillers? I wonder. Nothing can remedy the ill-feeling that's harboured deep within then. 

Denials, suppression - aided by the so-called positivity tools - nothing sticks on. Derailment of our goals of moving on and of overcoming of all toxicity from the past is bound to happen. The tormentors keep appearing in many avatars. They morph like shapeshifters into fresher beings that we may choose to put our trust in. 

We are cursed. Neither of us have been able to break the cycle. I am cursed because of getting stuck in the perpetual loop that stems from inertia of rest, plagued by mammoth vulnerability. He possibly finds the cyclical repetition In his offsprings' haplessness. 

Let's take a moment to feel sorry for each other.

Hindi films: More than 50 years of Parallel Cinema; 50 select films

50 years, 50 select films 

1. Bhuvan Shome (1969) 

2. Aashād Ka Ek Din (1971) 

3. Achanak (1973) 

4. Aavishkār (1974) 

5. Rajnigandha (1974) 

6. Tumhara Kalloo (1975) 

7. Nishant (1975) 

8. Manthan (1976) 

9. Shatranj Ke Khilari (1977) 

10. Bhumika (1977) 

11. Gaman (1978) 

12. Sparsh (1980) 

13. Albert Pinto Ko Gussa Kyoon Aata Hai (1980) 

14. Aakrosh (1980) 

15. Umrao Jaan (1981) 

16. Chakra (1981) 

17. Arth (1982) 

18. Ardh Satya (1983) 

19. Mandi (1983) 

20. Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro (1983) 

21. Saaransh (1984) 

22. Andhi Gali (1984) 

23. Khandhar (1984) 

24. Party (1984) 

25. Paar (1984) 

26. Utsav (1985) 

27. Holi (1984) 

28. Mirch Masala (1985) 

29. Khamosh (1985) 

30. Trikāl (1985) 

31. Ek Din Achanak (1989) 

32. Raakh (1989) 

33. Drishti (1990) 

34. Disha (1990) 

35. Nazar (1991) 

36. Kasba (1991) 

37. Dharavi (1991) 

38. Suraj Ka Sātvān Ghoda (1992) 

39. Rudaali (1993) 

40. Maaya Memsaab (1993) 

41. Bandit Queen (1994) 

42. Mammo (1994) 

43. Daayra (1996) 

44. Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi (2003) 

45. Black Friday (2004) 

46. Dhobi Ghāt (2010) 

47. Love Sex Aur Dhokha (2010) 

48. Peepli Live (2010) 

49. Delhi Belly (2011) 

50. Mukti Bhawan (2016) 

The kids are alright... or, are they?

The end of the year calls for a rant, so... brace yourselves for some truth bombs. 

The kids aren't having in easy during the pandemic. Well, none of us are, but often it's the kids who have to pay a higher price, as they have to bear the brunt for longer periods in future. 

For more than a year, they have had to cope with online classes, instead of being in school, in classrooms. Of course, now, some of them have been able to go to schools, in some places, and some of the online classes have transformed too (to hybrid mode, for instance). But does that mean they are in a better position? How has the pressure been like? Well, the pressure has been overwhelming. Since the kids have better coping mechanisms, we are not often able to see the damage the unavoidable pressure situation does to them on the surface level. The strain on their mental health can be detected upon careful observation and behavioral analysis by experts, I'm sure.

Right after the outbreak of the pandemic in 2020, I had to discontinue home tuitions for obvious reasons. For me, the break was a welcome change, and it was something that I would have otherwise chosen as well, as part of personal compulsions, yet it meant saying goodbye to my students for good, or so I thought. With many of these students, and some ex-students, there's the opportunity of staying connected virtually on social media. All through 2020, and more acutely in 2021, I have had interactions with kids (teenagers, actually), and some of the conversations I had were startling for me. 

Many of their words and dialogues were indirectly cries for help. Though I did try to address them responsibly and sensibly, I could see my limitations, as I couldn't actually help them in the real, physical place. Also, I couldn't address their parents, on most occasions, since I was bound by confidentiality. The follow-up on the kids' progress could also be done satisfactorily. I felt helpless at times. 

My earnest request to parents and guardians would be to seek emotional counselling for the kids and young adults compulsorily. Some of the better schools have already understood how imperative mental health is, especially during these trying times, and have rolled out initiatives to bolster essential social and emotional skills. In fact, all educational institutions should. Specifically, to help kids deal with panic attacks and to cope with extremely stressful situations at home (or elsewhere), there are simple yet effective techniques that are needed to be taught. 

Unless we all understand how important it is for kids to be helped with fostering of communication skills, developing self-acceptance, learning coping strategies, for better relationship management and decision-making, we won't be taking care of them responsibly. Our generation did not receive decent mental health education, accept the sad fact. My school was one of the very first schools in Calcutta in the late '70s to have a designated 'psychologist' in the Senior Section, however, the system was hardly functional when I was a student (in the '80s). I did gain my perspective on the dysfunctionality much later. How I wish, as kids, we were taught that putting ourselves first is okay! In all the lessons of kindness (in Moral Science, that we were compulsorily taught) towards others, we should have been taught to be kind to ourselves too. We should have been taught that self-love isn't necessarily selfish, that choosing ourselves over others shouldn't come at a cost.

Forgetting and Remembering

"Forgetting it is important. We do it on purpose. It means we get a bit of a rest. Are you listening? We have to forget. Or we’d never sleep ever again." 

[Ali Smith; Autumn.]

"Remembering is important. We have to let the memories flow. It means we can relive the joys and the sorrows. Don't close your ears! We have to remember. Or we would never really be alive." 

[Namita J.] 

1995 - the year that it was for films!

1995 was a watershed year in my life. 

However, recently, as I was going through the list of films released that year (internationally), I was astounded by the number of amazing offerings. Here's a selection of my favorites from the year (the titles aren't in any order), although a major chunk of these 34 films I got the chance to see much later: 

Se7en

Toy Story

Heat 

Casino

Braveheart

La Haine

Before Sunrise

Fallen Angels

The Usual Suspects 

Clueless

Leaving Las Vegas

Apollo 13

12 Monkeys

Die Hard with a Vengeance 

Sense and Sensibility 

A Walk in the Clouds

The Bridges of Madison County 

Mallrats

Bad Boys

Welcome to the Dollhouse 

While You Were Sleeping 

Dead Man Walking

The Quick and the Dead 

Feast of July 

Nine Months 

The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain 

Total Eclipse 

Boys on the Side

Rangeela 

Bombay 

Akele Hum Akele Tum 

Naseem 

Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge 

Yugant 

Spotify, you're bang on!

Spotify couldn't have been more right. 

Arijit Singh is my go-to singer whenever I feel like immersing myself in music, be it any kind of mood I'm in, romance being the all encompassing emotional feeling for me.

By the way, ever since I've been hooked to Spotify, there's no looking up other apps for my music binges. 

Happy World Music Day!

Music is the most inexpensive time machine that can ever be. Merely listening to a song, sometimes rather accidentally, as a tune or a melody wafts in the air and reaches our ears, we can be instantly transported to a time that exists in our memories, deeply embedded in a corner somewhere within. Sometimes we can exactly land at the place or the situation that has an intimate and personal memory association with the song, sometimes our brain fills in the missing spaces in the continuum and colors them having almost no regard for the origin of association. 

Like most Indians, my associations have been with the songs, not just music, and that too with songs from films. Interestingly, the songs that we have an instant connect with are always pure, simple and magical. Songs and nostalgia are natural partners. Some songs are too sublime, we don't want them spoilt through cover versions (remakes being the commercial and widely acceptable term in Bollywood), nor do the triggering of responses change for the same (we don't want to). Such songs are our ticket, our passport to a lost time, as if all was well back then, even the tears we may have shed were pure and, hence, cleansed our soul, our very being was made pure - the actual scars left behind can't hurt us now. 

Postscript: The song I'm listening to right now, that opened the floodgates of memories for me, is the song "Jeene de yeh duniya...." from the soundtrack of the 1985 film called 'Lava'. The song (it has multiple versions, as was common in those days) was sung by Asha Bhosle and Manmohan Singh, penned by Anand Bakshi, and set to tune by Rahul Dev Burman. The film (which I must have watched on television some years after the release) starred Dimple Kapadia and Rajeev Kapoor, along with Raj Babbar, Asha Parekh and Madan Puri. 

(film stills below: courtesy old magazines)