Faith in Humanity - Restored

    Sometimes, a single incident can change your outlook for the better. Today was one such. With all the Covid-19 negativity weighing around us, it was amazing to see how a genuine good deed could bring so much cheer. My husband and I were struggling to put the six patio chairs that we bought at Target into our SUV. Ten-Fifteen minutes and dozens of 'not so bright' ideas later, the chairs were still on the curb.

    We were debating whether my husband should make multiple trips with me waiting in the parking lot with the other chairs, when a random lady stopped her vehicle and offered to carry our chairs home for us. We politely refused and said we thought it would fit  albeit with some work on our side, but she replied with a smile that she’ll stand by in case we need help, which we eventually did. 

    She opened her vehicle's trunk , helped load our chairs and agreed to follow us home. As we drove in front of her and waited at the signal , the skeptic in us raised its head  and we chuckled to ourselves that it would be funny if she just drove off with our chairs since we all we knew was her first name. But there was no need for any worry as she followed us home and dropped the chairs off at our driveway.

    We thanked her profusely for her kindness to which she replied that all she wanted us to do was to pay it forward. Her smile and her helping nature dropped a ton of positivity into our lives and restored our faith in humanity! It only takes one good deed to make someone’s day , to lighten the mood, to make some one happy. So be kind! Help a stranger! Pay it forward! It will definitely make you happier and also make the world a teeny weeny bit better for it.

P.S : This incident happened in August 2020, but was languishing in my drafts as I somehow missed to publish it. Better late than never!

Almost!

I walk.
Not stopping as life drags on
Drawing on my near infinite will
to move forward and not turn back
I sleep
My once dreams are incoherent rambles
of a splash of colors and words
drifting aimlessly.In vain, I try
to find within that which I know I lost
I run
A little raindrop trickles down
on to my numb fingers 
Kindling a long forgotten love
Memories flash by 
vibrant, albeit for an instant
I smile
Happy to relive, resurrect 
memories from foggy recesses of my mind
colors to images, words to verse 
I pause
For a split second , and the fog thickens
Clouding my memories,
muddling my thoughts yet again
Leaving me alone , incomplete , empty
I walk away
Like I always do , mechanically
Trying to comprehend the loss
of that, that was almost mine.

Lost

I am searching for
A word lost in a rambling conversation
A verse lost in random thoughts
A dream lost in troubled awakening
A hope lost in deep despondency
A smile lost in a stressed day
Self lost in a crowded world

Life in a digital news bubble

      Twenty years ago, while I was growing up in a small town in India, there used to be only one TV channel and a handful of news papers. Every day families waited for the news broadcasts at specific times on radio and television and the morning news paper. Now, there is a huge proliferation of news sources - dozens of TV channels, thousands of digital news sources and of course social media. One would naturally be bound to think that this would result in the general public getting more accurate news and diverse opinions, since there are countless ways to get news.

       But looking around, I see that this is not happening. In fact, the opposite is happening. People are becoming more and more extreme in their views. In any controversy, there are people who are only aware of one side of the story. In many cases, they believe that any view that is opposed to theirs is not true. This intrigued me until I realized  after scrutinizing my own news feeds and social media the bitter truth - We are all living in a digital news bubble. Here I am trying to take a hard look at  some of the common myths and misconceptions about news media in the digital age.

MYTH 1 : I choose what I read - Which means I'm well informed :

Almost all digital news feeds have intelligence built in which curates news articles to be of topics which it thinks you are interested. The end result is that unless it is breaking news of extreme importance, you would mostly see things which you are most interested in reading, which in my case turned out to be technology news and entertainment industry news, when my husband's laptop showed current affairs and sports. This is the boon and curse of curated news feeds. You should be aware that there is digital technology that chooses/ edits what becomes your top news. The good news is that if you read news once in a while by logging out of your social media and email accounts, you can still get a more general news source.

MYTH 2 :I get all my news from friends in social media - I get the most updated and relevant information.

Nothing could be farther from truth . A typical person "friends" like  minded people in social media. They "like" or "plus 1" news articles shared by their friends, have discussions, form groups and share. Social media platforms store this information and display or prioritize news articles that share the same view as you. This results in a broken feedback loop where a person hears the same opinions again and again which cements his/ her own convictions. The subject person is now more confident in his/her views because he/she has 50 more people who believe the same things as them. And they does not realize that the views of thousand other people who have different views on the subject that are hidden from them. Gradually their world view on the subject becomes polarized to the level that they think anything different from their opinion is falsehood or fake. We should realize that posts in social media are only a substitute for a  friendly discussion between friends or family largely having similar views. This should not be confused as "what the world thinks".

MYTH 3: A person in my friend list is sharing articles that I do not agree with at all . It is time to unfriend or unfollow.

This is the most dangerous consequence of choice. As we unfollow and prune our friend lists, we ultimately end up losing the diversity of views that we could be exposed to. Think of the social media as your neighborhood tea/coffee shop where the whole neighborhood is welcome and share their opinions on a wide range of topics over  cup of tea or coffee.Good debates happen when different perspectives are shared and people listen to them with an open mind. Arguments are made, which help in fostering diverse thought, even if they don't always win. If you unfollow people or news that you do not agree with now, you fore go your choice to see them at a later time to like or agree.

MYTH 4:There's lot of fake news around. Things that I haven't seen yet anywhere, must be fake or from bad sources.

Fake news is real and unfortunately we are all vulnerable to it. In the digital world that we live in, people are creating news websites and with zero integrity, they are publishing blatant untruths. Also to be careful for is the subtle camouflage of opinions as news items. People share them widely thinking that some one's personal opinion, which should be marked clearly as such by news sources, are authentic facts on the subject. People and institutions of influence try to muddy the waters further by paying people to publish articles in their favor, create social media support by generating fake accounts, and in the process succeed to an extent in garnering support of many more people, who become pawns in this giant mind game. News that you haven't seen shared in your circles need not be fake. What you have been shared with need not be true. Though Facebook and other social media platforms are actively trying to curb this menace, it is still a huge problem and only awareness can help people become more discerning in what they share as facts and perceive as the truth.


MYTH 5: TV and traditional media is all fake, biased, and bought : 

This is an idea that is being fed to the public by the same people who are trying to use digital media as a platform to manipulate the public. Even though there might be a grain of truth in this as media houses tend to broadly support certain political interests, there is still value in listening to them as they are not personalized- at least not yet. So we are likely to see a larger variety of news from these sources and  though the emphasis and style of presentation may be different and the bias of opinion may be different, because of more stringent journalistic integrity, the core facts presented are usually not false.

     So, before you decide that this rambling is too much for you and click the unfollow button, think for  moment, get out of your digital news bubble, follow people with diverse views, read articles from different news sources. Watch multiple news channels. Check for veracity before you share. Once in a while, log off from all your accounts and see digital news that is not personalized. I promise you it will be a refreshing change.

മിഷ - വായനയിലെ ഒരു റഷ്യൻ നൊസ്റ്റാൾജിയ

വായന ഒരു  സ്വകാര്യ സഞ്ചാരമാണ് . തനിയെ പുതിയ കാഴ്ചകൾ കാണാനും പുതിയ ആളുകളെ പരിചയപ്പെടാനുമുള്ള അവസരം .

എന്റെ ചെറുപ്പകാലത്തു റഷ്യയിൽ പ്രസിദ്ധീകരിച്ച ഒരു മാസിക വീട്ടിൽ വരുത്താറുണ്ടായിരുന്നു - മിഷ. മുഖചിത്രത്തിലെ സുന്ദരൻ  കരടിയുടെ പേരായിരുന്നു മിഷ .നിറയെ കുട്ടി കഥകളും വര്ണചിത്രങ്ങളും ഉള്ള ഒരു മാസികാ വലിപ്പമുള്ള പുസ്തകം. എല്ലാ മാസവും പോസ്റ്റിൽ എനിക്കു മാത്രമായി വരുന്ന സമ്മാനപ്പൊതിക്യ്കായി ഞാൻ കാത്തിരുന്നിരുന്നു.

മിഷ ഓരോ പതിപ്പിലും പുതിയ കാഴ്ചകളും അറിവുകളുമായി വന്നു. യു.എസ്.എസ് .ആർ  ഇലെ പല രാജ്യങ്ങളിലെയും നാടോടിക്കഥകളിലൂടെ ഞാൻ അന്ന് വരെ  കാണാത്ത മായാലോകം സൃഷ്ടിച്ചു .കുസൃതി ചോദ്യങ്ങളും പദപ്രശ്നങ്ങളും തന്നു ചിന്തിപ്പിച്ചു.ശാസ് ത്രത്തിലെ പുതിയ കണ്ടുപിടിത്തങ്ങളെ  പറ്റി  അറിവ് പകർന്നു . എന്നാൽ എന്റെ ഏറ്റവും ഇഷ്ട പ്പെട്ട പേജ് ഇതൊന്നുമായിരുന്നില്ല. അതിലെ "ലെറ്റർ ടു പെൻ  ഫ്രണ്ട് " എന്ന പേജായിരുന്നു.. ലോകത്തിന്റെ പല ഭാഗത്തുള്ളവർ ഈ മാസിക വഴി തൂലികാ സുഹൃത്തുക്കളാകുന്നത് എനിക്ക് വലിയ കൗതുകമായിരുന്നു എനിക്കും ഒരു തൂലിക സുഹൃത്തു വേണമെന്നു അമ്മയോട് ആഗ്രഹം പ്രകടിപ്പിച്ചെങ്കിലും കുറച്ചു കൂടെ വലുതായിട്ടു മതി എന്നായിരുന്നു കിട്ടിയ ഉത്തരം.

വർഷങ്ങൾ കടന്നു പോയി . 1991  ആയി. അമ്മയുടെയും അച്ഛന്റെയും സമ്മതം വാങ്ങിയ  ശേഷം മിഷയിലെ  ഒരു അഡ്രസിലേക്കു കത്തെഴുതാൻ തീരുമാനിച്ചു. എന്നെ കുറിച്ച് ഒരു ആമുഖവും തൂലിക സുഹൃത്താവാനുള്ള ആഗ്രഹവും  അറിയിച്ചു മാസികയ്ക്കു അയച്ച് കൊടുക്കാൻ ഒരു കത്ത് തയ്യാറാക്കി, മിഷയുടെ അടുത്ത ലക്കം വരൻ അക്ഷമയോടെ കാത്തിരിക്കുയായിരുന്നു ഞാൻ, എന്നാൽ ആ മാസം മിഷ വന്നില്ല . അടുത്ത  മാസവും വന്നില്ല.

ആയിടക്കാണ് യു. എസ്.എസ്.ആർ തകർന്നതും വിഭജിക്കപ്പെട്ടതും. പിന്നീടാണ് ഞാൻ അറിഞ്ഞത് ഇതിനു മുൻപ് കിട്ടിയത് മിഷയുടെ അവസാനത്തെ പതിപ്പായിരുന്നു എന്ന്. അത് പുനരാരംഭിക്കുമെന്നു എനിക്കൊരു നേരിയ പ്രതീക്ഷ ഉണ്ടായിരുന്നെങ്കിലും, മാസങ്ങൾ കഴിഞ്ഞിട്ടും വരാതായപ്പോൾ ഞങ്ങളും സുബ്സ്ക്രിപ്ഷൻ നിർത്തി. തൂലിക സുഹൃത്താവാനുള്ള എന്റെ മോഹം അങ്ങനെ പൂവണിഞ്ഞില്ലെങ്കിലും ആ കത്ത് എന്റെ മേശ വലിപ്പിൽ ഒരു പാട് നാൾ ഞാൻ സൂക്ഷിച്ചിരുന്നു..

ഇപ്പോൾ എന്റെ സഹപ്രവർത്തകിരിൽ വലിയ ഒരു സംഖ്യ ബെലറൂസിൽ  ആണ് . റഷ്യൻ പേരുകളോട് സാമ്യമുള്ള സെർഗെയ്,ഡിമ, ദിമിറ്ററി തുടങ്ങിയ പേരുകൾ കേൾക്കുമ്പോൾ ഒരു അസാധാരണമായ പരിചയം തോന്നാറുണ്ട്‌ . മിഷയിലെ കഥാപാത്രങ്ങളുടെയും  എഴുത്തുകാരുടെയും പേരുകൾ മനസ്സിലെവിടെയോ താങ്ങി നില്പുള്ളത് കൊണ്ടാവാം അതെന്നു
ഈ അടുത്ത് എന്റെ ഒരു ഫേസ്ബുക് സുഹൃത്ത് "ഈ മാസിക ആരെങ്കിലും വായിച്ചുട്ടുണ്ടോ" എന്ന തലക്കെട്ടോടെ നൊസ്റ്റാൾജിയ ഉണർത്തുന്ന കുറച്ചു ചിത്രങ്ങൾ പോസ്റ്റ് ചെയ്തപ്പോളാണ് ഞാൻ മനസിലാക്കിയത്.

ഇന്ന് വായന ദിനമാണെന്നു അറിഞ്ഞപ്പോൾ എന്റെ ബാല്യത്തിൽ ഞാൻ ഏറെ ഇഷ്ടപെട്ട ഈ മാസികയെ കുറിച്ച് എഴുതാനൊരു ആഗ്രഹം തോന്നി.

ഈ വായനാദിനം നിങ്ങൾ നിധി പോലെ സൂക്ഷിച്ച പുസ്തകങ്ങളെ ഓർക്കാനുള്ള ഒരു സന്ദര്ഭമാവട്ടെ. ഇനിയും സ്വകാര്യ സഞ്ചാരങ്ങൾക്കു ടിക്കറ്റുമായി പുതിയ പുതിയ പുസ്തങ്ങൾ നിങ്ങളുടെ കയ്യിലെത്തട്ടെ. ഹാപ്പി ജേർണി !

പി.എസ് : ഞൻ വർഷങ്ങൾക്കു ശേഷം മലയാളത്തിൽ എഴുതുന്ന ബ്ലോഗ് പോസ്റ്റ് കൂടിയാണിത് . ട്രാൻസിലിറ്റെറേഷൻ ശീലമായിട്ടില്ലാത്തതുകൊണ്ടു വരുന്ന അക്ഷരതെറ്റുകൾ ക്ഷമിക്കുക.

Moonlit Midnight

As the witching hour unfolds

And crickets sing their melancholy song

Stillness of the lake reverberates

Through out the dark cloudy skies

An evil dark cloud outstretched its hands to

Choke the moon in a murky gag

The skies wait with bated breath

For their darling to be set free

As she struggles to escape her captor's clasp

Spirits of the night give their silent blessing

Whispering spells into the night

as leaves hush their lullabies

A swish & whirl , free from the grasp

The triumphant moon emerges

Unscathed and beautiful she smiles

Lighting up the night again

As the witching hour is past,

The crickets sing their mirthful song

The stillness of the lake reverberates

Through out the golden moonlit skies

Fiction and Non- Fiction - Musings on Mother's day!

My son and I were watching Phineas and Ferb (a cartoon on Netflix where two genius kids do highly improbable and complicated things ) together.Suddenly he looked at me and said, "You know none of this can be real , right Amma?".

They had been learning fiction and non -fiction in school and I tried to bring in those concepts as I replied. "Of course this is fiction, it is an imaginary story. I'm sure kids like them would not be able to build such complicated things so easily. So is the other TV show with bionic humans",  referring to a sci-fi comedy that we all watched called Lab Rats which had  three bionic children as its main protagonists. To which he indignantly replied , "Bionic humans are not fiction, I'm quite sure science is very close to humans having bionic chips and implants, may be they have already done it somewhere."  Before I could get another word in, he got back to the topic

"I mean , I can totally get that they are super smart and able to create roller coasters , what I can't understand is , how would they ever get the money to build those things", he mused. Personally I had not thought of that as an impediment and to foster debate , suggested that may be Phineas and Ferb's parents were very rich and they gave them a lot of pocket money. At this he started laughing loudly and said "Amma,you don't get it , no parents would give kids so much pocket money. It has to be fiction."

I chuckled to myself.We live in an age where super smart children and bionic super humans are close to reality. But thankfully parents are still parents and children receiving huge amounts in pocket money is still fiction.

Many times , we tend to forget that our children live in a world far more advanced than we can comprehend and seeing it through their curious eyes is a gift to cherish.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

P.S : It does look like bionic humans are coming for real.
http://www.cnbc.com/2017/02/13/elon-musk-humans-merge-machines-cyborg-artificial-intelligence-robots.html