Orlando by Virginal Woolf

 Orlando is a mind bending, time bending, beliefs bending saga. There is no stone un-turned which questions traditions, the societal setup. The entire societal setup from the way the poor static people, to poor nomads, to rich static people, to rich nomads the books attempt at gathering the entire gamut of the societal setup is unprecedented in all the books I have read to date. Time flies in seconds and at times it does not move at all. Time is tamed by the author. She moves it at her own will. The poor and the rich are contrasted. None are spared. Orlando gets bored with the lives of the poor as much as the lives of the rich. Yes, there are times that the author finds it difficult to move along and in that situation she move the character to the ancestral home. It is like a launchpad to launch the character to the next chapter/level.

Gender is played with. Gender which plays a main character in our societal setup is toyed with. The chairs, the tables, the animals, wild and domesticated all find their place in the novel. All find their place and time. Man, woman, boy, girl, animals, plants all are living beings. The human societal setup with the clear distinction between the male and female functions are made fun of. The stereotypes are made fun of. The various issues in the stereotypes are brought out beautifully. How the male dominated society has bound the female capabilities are elucidated beautifully by just comparing the dress each one wears.

Sometimes it appears that she wants the answers to many of her queries very fast. Sometimes she answers but does not explain further. Sometimes she explains many of the situations a bit more. This might be intentional. The evolution of the society in over 300 years is also a character in the novel. There are places of rapid ascent and reaching a crescendo. But, she does not loosen the grip on the reader. She gradually loosens her grip as any musician would do after reaching a crescendo.

A recommended read when the reader wants his time to go slow. Not recommended for speed reading.

Covid 19 Non immune have the same rights of a human life

 All this herd immunity thing cannot be digested. So the world has decided that there will be casualties. So, a person dies in the present pandemic, it is because of weak immunity. That will become a count the next day. Now, why should a person die because of a lack of immunity to a mistake done by a state/company/individual. The person who is dead is in no way connected to the mistake done by the source. We have totally forgotten to question the source. Why because the source seems to be more powerful. 

Is a common man powerful enough to change this thought. No. Not in democracy, not in any other setup of modern governance. Let us take the example of sweden. One of the doctor in sweden's biggest hospital put out his thoughts on the way the country handled the pandemic. There were no lockdowns. All in all around 6K people have passed away in the past four months due to the pandemic. That is a very measly figure considering the yearly deaths of the country in question. Just because it is measly does it mean that those 6K people were so easily expendable. How was it decided that some people were expendable. 

The doctor is very happy with how it has turned out and he believes that all this occurred because of herd immunity. But what about the people who died and will continue to do so for lack of immunity. Who is responsible for their lives. Everybody who passed is a father, brother, sister, friend and most of all a human being. How any other human being is expendable is a big question. This is real war. It is fought silently by all the governments on its own people. 

Even in the times of the pandemic, while the doctors and scientists are struggling for funds, majority of the countries are on an arms race. Defense equipment still takes the major chunk of all the countries expenses. When will the health of the citizens take priority over borders. We are in a demo of the dooms day setup. When there is a real dooms day and all the 1% escape to safety, and all the 99% are washed away or zombied. The only difference is we are allowing a human activated virus, resulting from a human mistake, which could have been culled at the source, to simulate a dooms day. Even at the expense of the people's death, hospitals are making money, extravagant money, again enriching the 1%. Destroying the environment. 

All the items banned are on the main page of all the stores. Alcohol based sanitizers, banned at one time, now share the same space in bags as drinking water. Just before the pandemic there was a huge drive against plastic use. We are now choking the Planet with masks, PPE, and related things which will be a much bigger problem and would result in a bigger issue which the mask and PPE cant stop.

Why cant the economy of the worlds stop for a moment. It cant stop because we are in an economy of Just in time. The supply chain is just in time. It is not relaxed. Stop the arms race, stop all the cross border issues. Join hands with the doctors and the scientists. Just pause the economy for a few months. Dont tell me it cant be done. We have seen it done in all the countries, albeit for a varied amount of time. This calls for a collective effort from all the countries/individuals. All the laboratories/scientific establishments working in tandem sharing data in an open way to reduce re-invention of the wheel. 

All the laboratories/scientists/doctors belonging to the 1% should be allowed to work in a global way, without the intervention from the owners and under a universal governing body, again, made of doctors/scientists/engineers and all the professional people required in assisting and testing the output. Can the consumerist world pause itself so that all the 1% companies have nothing to sell. Buy local groceries. Support the local producers. So that the world when it gets back has an alternate setup for consumption. Well, dont the 1% know this can happen. They know it can happen. If the lockdown had extended for another 06 months throughout the world, humans would have setup an alternate setup for meeting the consumerist attitude of the individual & it would definitely be local. 

Humans are basically restless. This 06 months all the funds available for defense from all the countries should be diverted to identify test and release the requisite medicines. Well, medicines are required for that portion of people who dont have immunity. So, now the medicine is out and the non-immune portion of humanity also will survive. Husbands, wives, sons, daughters, friends, humans live. No human life is expendable. If a tea sellers life was long ago deemed as not important and expendable a country wouldn't have had one of the longest serving state head.

All of a sudden deaths of people around the world has become a mere count. A tech company head comments on medicines. A traditional dancer assures that vaccines if available will be provided to one and all. The thing is doctors and scientists are the only people talking sense. This is their job. They know their job. Let them be. Let them talk. For once, I request all the 1% to be quiet and allow the podium to the doctors and scientists. Let us give them the stage and the mic. This is their time to be in the spotlight. Turn the spotlights on them.

Let us save the Non-immune humanity not by treating them and torturing them on ventilators but by prevention. And, No, the logic of death of a few for the survival of the largesse is totally flawed. Since the largesse surviving might be the worst of the lot.

There is only that much that can be done........

"There is only that much that can be done by them". How many times have we not heard this statement regarding the helplessness of giant establishments when it comes to grass-root controls. The reason for this is obvious in their sheer size. As the size of corporations increase and as the organization spreads across the globe increasing the customers and the people employed with varied customs, languages, preferences and what not are employed, it is very very difficult to know exactly what one person is doing in the establishment. Now, that is business and we will have this talk some other time. It is like having a dinosaur's body with its pea sized brain.

What I would like to talk about in context is that of facebook, twitter, youtube and the like. With customers varied as is the world, it is a herculean task with a centralized team controlling data into and out of centralized servers. Yes, there are servers in many countries and you would like to call it de-centralized. We will come back to this. If this is the model they still would like to continue then I would suggest these companies to take a leaf out of traditional manufacturing companies. The D&D is made in the parent country. The manufacturing of various parts are made worldwide and assembly takes place in a country which did not participate in any of the other operations. What is happening here is a new variation of scientific management. Wherein specialization is localized and the best locality for a specific job is targeted and optimized. The first step of optimization is the job of zeroing on the place itself. Now, once the manufacturing is done, these traditional companies have a presence in all the states of a specific country at major cities and if possible towns also. This gives the big organization a taste of the local thinking. Now, it is all about targeting in the most optimal way with the differing tastes and cultures in mind.

It is high time these big social media companies learn to localize. Localize normally associated with computers is only language. But, localization is much more than a language. The same language is spoken and written in various ways in a matter of a few 100 kilometers. Now, this knowledge comes if there are teams managing specific local geographical locations. With the amount of ad revenue these companies are reaping, it is a responsibility of giving a bit to the community which makes these websites possible. One of the first steps would be to recruit local talent with a varied specializations so that a majority of the local population is represented. The algorithms can be tweaked to reflect more towards the local taste and reduce the global shit which people dont care. This easily separates the global team with the local team and the local team can curate the ones affecting the local areas more and then move out less affecting issues.

Yes, it is not easy, but that is the way these companies can survive in the future. We now have real federation with the activity pub protocol. Mastodon, pleroma, pixelfed and many more are already on the train. They are working perfectly. You now have people running instances which collect like minded people and share ideas. These instances are at the same time free to expand their vistas by connecting to other like minded ones or related ones. There is a bit of anarchy here and I like it. As one of my friends point out, anarchy as a religion is not acceptable. Anarchy in its pristine form is always preferred. With these small groups, it is very easy for administrators to maintain their instances. The rules are laid out in the beginning itself. In fact you know the rules when you join and instance. You know what you are not supposed to do on that instance. If you want to talk about something else then you should search for such an instance and put your views there.

The proprietary ones cannot be as free spirited as these, but, they should try. Because right now, they are struggling. Administration depends more on algorithms. It is an utter failure. There will always be means wherein content can be put back in other ways. And, these algorithms look for content which is gaining more eyeballs. The easy, digestible, shocking, breaking issues get the eyeballs and the algorithm definitely will support it and brings it into the forefront for other users thereby converting them also. If this is what they want, then it is the job of the government to not allow this. If the government wants exactly this, then stopping this rests on the general public and they should act.

People, what is wrong with you and your masks

There is something really wrong with majority of the people in the world. Yes, it is a matter of discussion whether the social distancing rules and wearing a mask is going to help in a pandemic. Yes, there will be arguments on both sides. But, the mask wearing side has always won. Now, there are many classifications on the attitudes of people wearing masks. Let us for a moment forget about the age old classifications based on caste/creed/color and what not and concentrate on masks. Oh...I heard you. What a waste of time. We could have continued our discussion on traditional classifications. You are interested more in it. You feel that is more colorful. You feel that is more relevant. You feel ..... OK, I understand. Shall we now get back to the masks...

Lot many people are still considering the present pandemic a conspiracy theory. I have always maintained neural ground and will not take any particular sides until it is so clear that there really are no sides. I have seen educated people talk non-sense. Let us leave the mask for a moment and come to the next item important, Oximeter. There are very clear instructions as to when you require an oximeter. Let us assume you have decided to home quarantine after testing positive or the doctor has advised home quarantine based on your past health. Now, two instruments needed will be a thermometer and the oximeter. In a six person home an oximeter might be a good buy. But the requirement is very clear. You should have an oximeter with you if you are showing any symptoms of the pandemic at hand. Will the oximeter save your life? No. It will tell you if your health in home quarantine is deteriorating and you should consult the hospital immediately. So, one person decides not to buy the oximeter not because he understood why it is required. He doesnt want to buy, because it is a conspiracy theory by the capitalist companies. By the way he is wearing a mask. Thank the force for that.

Let us come back to the masks. What is wrong with people. The mask is not a handkerchief. It is not be touched every milli-second. Let me see the different ways the masks are touched and handled by the public
1. Majority wear it because the government is levying fines for people not doing so.
2. Many are wearing substandard thin cotton masks, while we are talking about N95.
3. Many are wearing it at their chin.
4. Many are wearing it so loose that all the air going in and coming out might be full of the virus.
5. If they want to pull the mask down, they do so by holding it exactly in the middle an pulling it below their chin.
6. They again hold exactly the middle portion to pull it back.
7. They dont cover the nose and it is at the mouth level.
8. They are not washing it every day(if washable).

Am I an expert in recommending masks? No. I am only logical at it. So, what is the best mask?

1. An N95 mask wore properly covering the nose and the mouth down to the chin such that majority of the air going in and coming out is through the mask.

What other choices?

Though not medically recommended, masks made of multiple layers of cloth with criss-cross strands could be made at home. Preferably more than 3 layers. If possible a filtering medium in between the layers is recommended.

How to really wear it?

1. Hold the masks only at the strands which are for fixing it. Fix it such that it covers your nose and the mouth and you feel that majority of the air entering is through your mask only. You are not feeling the air entering through the sides of the mask. If this is not so then there is no point of wearing your mask.
2. Once you wear it, do not touch any portion of the mask. Move around as though you are not wearing them. Do not touch your face at any point of time.
3. If you want to remove it, again, hold them at the strands and make an arrangement for hanging the mask from the strands. Ensure that you or any others or any other thing does not touch the surface or the insides of the mask. To wear it again, follow step 2.
4. It is better you have a mask for the office work separately and keep it at the office.
5. If you are using masks made of layers of cloth, it is recommended to wash them everyday.

For better results with the mask, another important aspect is maintaining distancing. At any point of time maintain at least a minimum of 1 metre distance between everybody. And everybody in the vicinity also to maintain the same. It is not enough that you are wearing the mask properly and maintaining the distance. Everybody else should do so. This will minimize the payload, if it exists in any of the person in the group.

With all the above we are ensuring that the payload when delivered to our body, will be minimal and our immune system is capable of fighting that smaller payload.




Survive.

Why are we here

Yes, Why are we here. Why are we born on this planet and why on this planet and only on this planet. Why is this question being asked now. Is this the right time to ask this question and is it the right time. In fact, are we allowed to ask this question. The whole world has been swallowed and united by a pandemic. United is a very big word and that too encompassing the entire world with that is a bit..... We are united only in discussing about it and the devouring news regarding the pandemic. But when it comes to resolving the problem at hand, there has been no unity.

Let us see, what does a restaurateur do in this time of a pandemic. He can serve free food until his capability to do so runs off. Which happens very quickly in this modern world. We dont stock anything except our electronics, which is totally useless and a headache for cleaning. Our forefathers always planned for a bad day, bad year, if possible, out of experience. Dried food which can be store for a long time. Food grains which have long storage life etc were always maintained. Now, it is all, JIT. The concept of cost cutting, the concept of saving time so that the time saved can be spent on our electronic devices. So, did we get our answer for the first question. Are we here to consume and consume only. We are not creating a new earth. We are trying to move to more dirtier and dangerous planet instead of cleaning up and maintain the most inhabitable planet in the known cosmos.

It is all the same everywhere. All Indians dream of going towards the west and the west are always in awe at the philosophical and metaphysical knowledge available for ready digestion if anybody wants to have some. Since we are in the times of a pandemic can the funds for the rocket scientist be transferred to the scientists/doctors working towards the pandemic. Can the same be done for other areas of research. Can we press the pause button for two quarters for all other scientific spending. Will there be an alien attack within this time. Can we stop the petty quarrels related to our fake borders, ethnicity, colors, beliefs, gods, ........, nationalism, jingoism, religion, economic models, rich, poor.... OMG,I cant further go on. I am tired. What a waste of knowledge. What a waste of brains capability, listening to all these things and arguments about all sides. The thing is some people are expendable. Now, who are expendable is situational and many other variables which is beyond the capability of my brain. Is any living being expendable. Really, a living being is expendable. The statements and statistics that this many will die. I have to agree that the statisticians are definitely doing their job. Who gave the right and power to allow the people making such statements by arranging press meets and spending money for such events.

All human feelings have become situational. Everybody is made to believe that the pandemic will not affect him. Whoever is affected is brought to the side and told that your are affected. Now, who is responsible for this. Human apathy towards fellow humans is the reason. Everybody is fighting the pandemic in their own way. There has never been a unified approach. There has never been all hands on the deck approach. If that approach had been there, we would be out of this scenario by now. Fake sanitizers, Fake masks....... Where is humanity going towards. Is/was there anything called humanity. Does humanity mean every human has equal rights for everything in this world. Humanity also means that we should be considerate to all other human beings. But, if the meaning of that word does not apply to fellow humans, then I think the word is just a catchphrase for a company. Whoever is affected by the pandemic is fighting a lone battle and who has not come into the contact of the virus is feeling that he will not be affected. This is being maintained by all the governments and corporations across the world.

This pandemic is not something which humanity can defeat. It requires all hands on the deck approach regarding human efforts and all the resources required for resolving this issue. Can Human race unite and join together in bringing health to the entire world. Was the world before the pandemic a better one. Will the world after the virus is defeated be a better one. We can make the world better by imbibing the real meaning of humanity into minds/hearts of all the humans on this planet. Isnt that why we are here. To survive and strive. Let us.............

talking, listening

Is it everybody's responsibility to advice. If everybody starts advising, who will be listening. If anybody advises, will everybody listen or will anybody for that matter listen. Will people listen to persons with authority. Will people generally listen. Listening is a capability like many other hard to obtain ones. Talking is easy. That too talking about others mistakes and ones own successes is very easy. It is difficult the other way round. It is very rare people talk on the other side of the spectrum. So, you think people will listen when you tell them that something is wrong and something is right. You dont want them to do the wrong and you would like them to do the right which you thought is right. Do people really care about your opinion. And, are people ready to talk to others regarding the right and wrong. There are plenty of people who know much rights and wrongs and beyond that. But they cant talk, or not interested to talk, or when they talk they cant get their points across, Or they try to simplify it so much that it becomes a procedure and not that higher level thought. Is talking important or the listening. Which ability will make you understand more. There are people who when talk and see the response and decide whether what they talked was right or wrong. Why after so much of human civilization we lack the basic premise of our societal existence, communication.

Why is it so complicated. People want to listen to more of what they know. They may listen to somebody talking about a wrong which the listener himself has classified as wrong. This will cement the wrong in the listener but the same cannot be talked about the person talking. But it does not work the other wary round. The person talking might give up seeing the response. There are situations where people dont want to hear anything which is out of their belief/knowledge system. If somebody has identified a wrong, is it his responsibility to communicate it to the world. Will the world which knows it might be wrong but continue to do so listen to him. Or the person talking has only the responsibility of talking without gauging its effect. Is his responsibility over once he has made his statement. I in many of configuration posts put up a disclaimer relieving myself of all the dangers of my actions which are to be copied by others. Is this right. Thought my statutory responsibilities are over, are my moral responsibilities met.

Much of the research on communication has concentrated and suggested better listening skills. Are these skills to compensate for the bad talking skills. Are we humans better at talking and bad at listening. Why not we concentrate on how well we talk so that we can relieve the pressure on the listeners. Since there is more pressure on the listener to "really" understand. The presenter should prepare well so that the listener gets it. But again, full responsibility on the presenter does not augur well for the communication. But, the presenter is in focus. He wants or commands the limelight. If you have to be special, then your preparation has to be special. As for the listener pressure is definitely there to assimilate as much as possible. But, he is large in number and it is very difficult to gauge who has understood how much. But the presenter will b judged by all the listeners. This gap between the person talking and the person/s listening is broadening day by day as humans gain more insights and form their own "understanding". It is becoming hard to convince people of what is wrong and right. Both the sides have their own argument but both cannot communicate enough to prove the other wrong. If, so, the communication is a continuous debate, which will never be won......Will it....

Endangered/Minority

That is the word I would use for all the minority of living beings. Why? Well there is not much of a problem if we have a problem with the number of chairs in a room. So, do the minority and the endangered lives mean the same? Yes. The minority are always endangered. Or the endangered species are always in a minority. So, if the minority are important, does that mean the majority or the non-endangered species not so important. Well, both are important. How do we know a group of people are endangered? By seeing who is not. So both are co-existing in all forms of societies. Now, you will ask me will they have to co-exist. Well, since they are co-existing we have the problem of minority and majority. What if all unique living beings asked for their own place under the sun. Maybe a different country for all the classifications we have made. The earth is not enough. The universe itself might not be enough considering the number of divisions and classifications we have made. Can a world exist which honors every trait in an individual. Can an individual exist in such a setup.


    Who is important? The endangered or the opposite. Whom should we protect more. Who are more vulnerable? The answer is very clear, we should talk about the minority. The minorities are to be protected more. They are to be brought up in the societal setup. Why should we do it. You are telling me that this will create a problem. If everybody is non-endangered then nobody will be. Correct. Cant we reach that situation. That is a theoretical situation, maybe, We dont know for sure. It is not a perfect science. As humans have continued with killing of non-human endangered species instead of protecting them, in fact going as far as eliminating even the last one, we really dont have much hope for the human minority. Every government has some sort of budget allocation for the betterment of the minority. But when it comes to the real issue of discrimination all the governments turn a blind eye. Some times the minorities themselves dont help the cause. There will always be people from that side participating in majority politics playing the minority card. But by doing this, this individual is doing more harm than all the majority joined together. He is weakening the minority further.

How do the minority, the endangered tell the world this is happening(as though the world dont know what is happening). Should they tell the world what is happening instead of the world tackling this issue. Are the minority confident on this majority societal system that their voices will be heard. I dont think that there are much examples in our society where the endangered have won a major victory. A minor victory here and there is what would have happened. That again, would be politics played by the majority. By giving the minority a little leeway, the majority has again stamped its supremacy. So whom do you fight against. Do the minority have the facility, the oomph in terms of financial, political, moral, intelligence to beat the majority setup. Should they do it. Should they resist the majority. What should be their demands. What if done by the majority and overlooked by the majority will bring better conditions and safety to the endangered.

Whenever there has been talk of safety, some portion of the individual freedom has been foregone. Now, if we see the plight of endangered animals. What is the best way to protect them. Track them. Put a tracker in the body of the animal and give it a serial number, the human tracks it. The animal, whether it likes to be tracked, we dont know. What I gave was just a small example when you ask protection from the majority. Equality of humans has been a myth. Instead of asking to reduce the power and funding to the police, which also can be asked so that the funding starts to flow towards health services which will be direly needed in the nearing apocalyptic world, the minority should ask for equal treatment. They should ask for disparity of treatment to be punished. The demand should be all encompassing. It should demand disparity of treatment by an individual or government should be punishable. I am not asking preferential treatment. I am asking a response at par with whatever response is given by anybody to the majority. Preferential treatment creates one more class in the endangered who come out premium endangered since they know the working of this preferential treatment. This is not going to solve the problem but complicate it.

All the living being have full rights to lead the life they like in their own style within the boundaries of the society. But when the tenets of the society is discriminating people based on many traits, it is time to change the society and its thinking. Societies have evolved and will evolve. If sufficient force is not applied then the society will continue its rot. A society has to continuously change and adapt. The time for change is, always. The society should always look for inclusiveness. But, the people in the society will always look for exclusivity. The society as a whole should fight for removing this exclusivity. Since majority of the societies are majority based. It is the responsibility of the majority to set things right for the minority and work towards the removal of minority traits. That is how equality can be achieved.