গল্পেরা

১.

জানুয়ারি প্রায় শেষেরদিকে , শীত যাবো যাবো করেও যাচ্ছে না। ঘড়ির কাটায় ৮ টা বেজে ৫৮ মিনিট। ধূসর সকালে,সূর্যের দেখা নেই। সল্টলেক এর পঁচা খাল টাও কুয়াশায় ঢেকে,এক অদ্ভুত মায়াবী আবেশ সৃষ্টি করেছে। আমি সল্টলেকে যাওয়ার ২০৬ ফুটব্রিজ এর ওপর থেকে একটা ছবি তুললাম, তার। ব্রিজ পেরিয়ে সল্টলেকে পৌঁছে হাঁটার গতি বাড়ালাম। এদিকটায় কেষ্টপুরের এর থেকে গাড়িঘোড়া কম, যানযট নেই তেমন। আজ নেতাজি সুভষচন্দ্র এর জন্মদিবস। রাস্তায় কোথাও কোথাও কচিকাঁচাদের জটলা, লাউডস্পিকারে তাদের অভিভাবকদের তাদের নিয়ন্ত্রণ করতে আদেশ করা হচ্ছে।আমি পাশ কাটিয়ে চললাম ডান দিকের একটু নিরিবিলি রাস্তা ধরে । রাস্তার দুধারে দোতলা তিনতলা বাড়ি, তাতে লোক থাকে কিনা বোঝার উপায় নেই। দরজা জানালা বন্ধ সবসময়, উপরতলার বারান্দার বাইরের থেকে জামা কাপড় ঝুলতে দেখা যায় না, কেউ হয়তো কাপড় জামা কাচেন না। দুয়েকটা বাড়ীর সামনে পার্ক করা দামী গাড়ি,বাড়ীর ভেতরে থাকা লোকের অস্তিত্ব এর জানান দিচ্ছে। যেতে যেতে চোখে পড়ল সেরকমই একটা বাড়ীর দিকে। জঞ্জাল সংগ্রহ করার গাড়িটা দাঁড়িয়েছে এসে বাড়ীরটার দোরগোড়ায়। তার সাফাইওয়ালা এর,চিত্ত ব্যাকুল করা বাঁশির শব্দে, যিনি বেরিয়ে আসলেন, ভদ্রলোকের চেহারার মধ্যে আভিজাত্যের ছাপ। বয়স হবে ৬০ এর আশপাশে। গায়ে বাদামি নকশা করা শাল জড়ানো, বা হাতে ডাস্টবিন। আমি এই তুচ্ছ ঘটনা টা দেখে ভাবলাম, মানুষ যতই দম্ভ করুক, সময়বিশেষে নিজের নোংরা নিজেকেই পরিষ্কার করতে হয়। আবার হাটার গতি বাড়ালাম, স্টেপ কাউন্ট টার্গেট এ পৌঁছতে হবে যে।

Online Presence: A Digital Trap?

 

Are we going deep into the digital trap? We spend most of our time online, for business or pleasure. I, myself am an addict of online payment systems. But now when I see myself from a distance, I realize it is a cage. The social-media triggers me, but I still use it to connect with the world outside my room. despite knowing most of them are manipulated information, I do mind-numbing scrolling for hours. Sometimes I take breaks from social networks for 2–7 days. The algorithm of those websites or apps shows content to trigger releasing of dopamine, the “feel-good” chemical. Nowadays AI has all our data. Actually, IT Giants already had our data. Now they just feed those to the AI model to train the model so that it can show us relevant info. They are controlling us by showing Ads, and content that they want us to see. Political parties use this media to condition our brains. But they don't want us to realize that. We think we are making decisions on our own. Previously society would do this job. Every decision we make is the result of that conditioning. We don't have free will, but we had freedom of choice previously. now we have lost that luxury. We all are consumers in this modern world, so as is every newborn. Corporations need Humans to work for and to consume so that they can make a profit. Even if you don't use the internet you are still being controlled by them because a major part of society is influenced by the events happening in the virtual world. Images, text, Videos etc form our opinion. So one has to be rebellious to think and work differently. And chances that society will isolate you then, and as a consequence, you will start using social media just to fill the void. It is a vicious cycle.

In my country government track every online transaction we make. Payment made to street vendors selling snacks is also not out of its vigilance. We can avoid this situation by paying by cash. A street vendor got an income tax notice just because of that.On the other hand Government waive off thousands of crores of loan of billioniers. It is also beneficial to corporations to track our buying habits so that they can push ads, notifications etc to lure us to buy things we don't need. The FOMO strategy easily propagates through social media. Now if anyone wants to open a bank account, he or she must possess a valid mobile number. So one has to buy a SIM, which will provide users to Teleome companies. That’s why the rich are becoming richer. The crony capitalists don't want us to vanish as we are the producers as well as consumers of their manufactured products and services. So they provide us with some benefits of information technology, like the progress of Medical science, space technology,Edu-tech industry etc.

The online delivery apps are also there to cage us. We are becoming so dependent on those for everyday life, we will forget about social interaction soon. We can get grocery within 10 min ,foods within 30 min , electronics, books etc within a day, without stepping out of the comfort zone of our room . Brain fog ,Brain rot surfacing the modern vocabulary . These app entice so much attention. Those service are not on our finger tip ,we are in the palm of their hand.

Also I’ve noticed the tiny device we wear everyday, the smart watch also control us. Compulsion of checking count of steps and other vital stats every hours distract me from focusing on work . Besides that noticitaions popped up every now and then. of course we can diable those,but then whats the point of wearing the smart watch,band.

I can conclude saying that the digital world is a golden cage. it is “hotel california”. 

Philosophy, The Pandora’s Box for me

 

Iwas searching for the meaning of life. it has been a decade since I started watching Advaita Vedanta videos, I tried to read Vedanta. Then, a few of my friends who did Vipassana suggested doing a 10-day Vipassana course. As I was exploring various paths to get the answer, I decided to do it. But before that, I decided to quit my job and took my first long break. The course enriched my thoughts and knowledge. For the last year, I have had the opportunity to enquire about Western Philosophy. It was suggested that I watch a Hindi Philosophy channel. I started reading about existentialism, nihilism, and the absurdist concept of modern philosophy. I also tried to gather more knowledge about Socrates, Plato and other philosophers and their works. It was a kind of coping mechanism for my meaningless corporate life. In modern philosophy, Nietzsche’s concept of Übermensch, the solution to the death of god and nihilism, helped me to think of a way to overcome the situation of nihilism in my life. Albert Camus’s idea of Absurdism equally amazed me. In his book-long essay “The Myth of Sisyphus” he projected Sisyphus, the Greek mythological character, as an absurd man. Sisyphus was punished for defying God. As a punishment, he would have to roll a boulder(rock) up a mountain. As the rock reaches the top, it rolls down again and Sisyphus starts pushing it up again. Camus writes “It is during that return, that pause, that Sisyphus interests me”. Life is absurd and it has no inherited meaning, just like the punishment of Sisyphus. But Sisyphus despite knowing the futility of his task, enjoyed the endless journey.

Ialso realised the absurdity of life. Human tries to reason everything, that’s why absurdity hits them hard. And they commit Philosophical suicide. So did I fail because of taking everything philosophically, or did Philosophy come to me as a blessing in this Society defined “Failed Life”?

I tried to learn many things in my life. I tried to learn foreign languages, I continued learning. I also tried to learn to play the guitar. In these cases, I failed to achieve any observable milestone. My Software development career has taken a nose dive. Though I don't want to tag myself with any profession. my one and only miserably failed relationship left me with some good and bad memories, which I have to carry as long as my brain is working. So my point is, that this Philosophy helped me to perceive reality objectively. It soothes all the pain of my human life. Now I consider other perspectives before speaking about anything. As Sisyphus, we just have to take a pause and enjoy the absurdity, enjoy the process itself.

Resources:-

https://youtu.be/05wyW01NUjI?si=RZ4IfBMatv8NSKhF youtube.com/@Faraz74811/videos

Consumerism: the vicious circle

“Consumerism is a social and economic order in which the aspirations of many individuals include the acquisition of goods and services beyond those necessary for survival or traditional displays of status.”  Wikipedia

 

    Consumerism is the modern-day opium for the society, Modern societies are so obsessed with it now, that even procreation also aims to contribute to this consumerist society. Consumerism always helps the rich to become richer. It can not stay alive alone, it requires a continuous supply of consumers or cheap labourers or producers. This is a vicious circle.

            Capitalists have a huge stack of money at their disposal, which is also collected from the people, potential consumers or workers. These capitalists with a small portion of that money can lure the people to consume their product. We call this process marketing and advertisement. The only way to break the cycle is to train the mind equanimity. We need to learn the art of slow living. When we stop fuelling the consumerist society, those capitalists will become weak. Of course, there will still be a few rich and ultra-rich, as before, but we will not be filling their pockets by surrendering to consumerism as we are doing now. Also, as we will have less desire to acquire unnecessary things and services, we would be requiring less money to survive, and Jobs will be less stressful. The development will be sustainable, consequently, everyone will have their portion of natural resources. Right now, crony capitalists control those resources with the help of their government friends.

            We buy most of the things because we want them, not we because need them. Even for daily consumables things, we fall for the trap of discounts, and end up buying an excess amount of them, resulting in overconsumption. The want is influenced heavily by the ads also. Some ads would show, how important it is to have a particular phone, to gain status in society. Now Replace the word “Phone” with car, house etc, the meaning will remain the same.

            Nowadays we do most jobs without passion, especially corporate jobs, just because of this illusive view of reality. The nature of jobs is also profit-centric only.

            I have not seen much of innovation lately in the field of science and technology. The AI is not a new thing, we have just enhanced it in the last few decades. Most of the R&D is now consumer-centric as it will give profit to corporates. I am not much aware of things happening in the medical domain, But I assume even those would be profit-driven.

Consumerist society does not care about climate change, nature and work ethics. It is driven by the mentality to consume more. People are running behind things, attaching consumerism to their personal lives and putting themselves in situations of anxiety, and stress. This consumerism ignites the animal instinct inside humans, we want to acquire more than we need. It is not going to be sustained for long.

As I mentioned earlier, one solution would be to live a low-profile life, with less greed and aversion. Localization of the economy could reduce consumption and help sustainable development. Electing a government which will not focus on gaining profit for the crony-capitalist friends is also important. 

Show off ,seeking external validation

       We are in the era of showing off. The technologies at our disposal, along with our dystopian society are encouraging us to do so. Showing off is an old characteristic of humans, but we seldom observe that, until social media has arrived. For the last two decades, we have been observing this trend. Previously the show-off thing was in the domain of rich and wealthy people. Rich people earn money to show off, and physical pleasure things come next on their list. Also, those who think they have knowledge of everything do it, from time to time. But now everyone(especially the middle class) is doing this, as social media and the internet are accessible to anyone. Now boasting is not limited to social media, it has become a compulsive habit.

        So why do we need to show off? because we are seeking external validation, of course. And why do we need the validation, because we don't value ourselves. It is always like if we don't get that job, that apartment(Read so-called family life), or that car, etc, we have not achieved anything in life. We attach our peace of mind to our desires. As a result, we are becoming so materialistic, a salve of consumerism. It is easy for manipulative masters to control us by showing us the carrot of growth, and success(the name varies according to the domain in discussion). The intended outcome, peace of mind is always out of our reach.

        Now there is another category of people, the so-called knowledgeable, those who are worried about their status in this dystopian society, so they show off to keep themselves relevant in their social circles. Previously politicians would maintain a low profile, at least in the northeastern side of India. Now because of this, corruption has reached a threshold level. So-called religious people are also not untouched by this trend, after all, they are also part of this society. Their pseudo-spirituality has made them live a luxurious life so that they can attract more disciples, resulting in more tax-free donations (income).

         The life is to live, not just to survive. Living life on our own terms is difficult, as society does not permit it. Society wants human resources to run the system smoothly for their masters, especially those who have control over natural resources, the corporations. We need to understand that our boasting would not take us anywhere. To know ourselves fully, to be aware of our true nature, and to seek the ultimate truth can only help us to achieve peace of mind.

Happy Loser (reluctant to participate in the rat race of life)

     People would tag person like me as Loser ,I would call myself  Happy Loser . I don't want to participate in the race of life ,as I don't find meaning to be in that race. If it is a race that means even if on one is winning ,someone will definitely be getting defeated . I am not the person who conform to the norms of civil society. In my observation I have never seen members of civil society doing anything different than any animal would do. We are just doing it the same things that animals do ,but wrapping it inside the name of civilization. The cognitive skills we human have, we are using it just to acquire resources more than we need ,and as a result there is competition (competitions are never be healthy when it is not about knowledge). Someone would say we need to improve ourselves to survive. So we are following the same survival of fittest strategy . And this society has already became the slave of consumerism ,as a result  if you don't earn enough to be above the threshold of society defined standard of Loser, you would be to consider as a loser. In this civilized society there is no place for spirituality . We should not mix religion with spirituality . first one is business ,later one is to find yourself. So there are stress ,anxiety etc. due to our  so called growth and improvement.

          "Resources."  Now if we talk about resources ,there should be enough of those for every human being to have a good life. But the current structure is in that way that those resources are controlled by only few people, sometime with the help of ruling government . The sustainable development is a myth nowadays. People may ask me if I am suggesting human to go back to stone age . I may ask the same question "Are not we?". What makes us civilized!! the car ?the Airplane ?AC? or improvement in health sector ?or improvement in technology to build weapons for mass destruction. What are we actually doing with those development? Nothing. Just creating more competitions . From the day of birth ,one is put into the competition ,like any other animal in wild. Difference is that we are kept on our toes ,we need to learn consistently just to survive. 

           Again lets move back to the Happy loser topic. From the beginning of the civilization there maybe lots of them, "the  Loser". This blog post is not my excuse to  currently not having any Job in corporate sector or anywhere . I imagine the whole society as a circus ,and here someone is a clown playing in their character, someone is juggler and other performers performing their scripted acts .Only few enlighten persons are seating in the gallery observing the whole show. In the Centre everyone is running in the circle, but no ones knows why. few of them has just decided to stop running and go to the gallery to have a seat and to enjoy the show. "Happy loser" they are.

Importance of Money and Job

        As I mentioned in the earlier post(the post) that I left my job ,kind of whimsically. I would not do that if I had a settle lifestyle, I would have other responsibilities, though it would put me in pressure cooker situation again. So as a consequence people (including friends and people connected through social apps )started keeping distance from me (a must needed step for them for survival), as this rebellion mentality is contagious.  

         I came back to this city Kolkata ,with the expectation in mind that it (the city) would accept me as I was ,would give me company in the tough time. But my prediction was not correct . This is like any other city with no friends around ,which is common characteristic for any city for an introvert like me. Beside that this city is going through a moral crisis ,political situation is at its worst condition. So the scope for doing something new here is out of question now. I may have to go back to corporate world ,but with different mentality . I have accepted that I have to work as corporate slave util I find another way. 

        I have seen posts about romanticising poverty. We all need money. Because we assign value through money, and absence of it would be considered as worthless according to the contemporary society norms. I have seen rich people preaching about why poor people are poor ,most of them came from from wealthy rich background. Yes they took risks ,avoided paying taxes ,avoided payment of loans and most important is that they convinced common people whom they call poor ,to invest in their venture.

        It will be very tough for me to return to corporate world due the the unstable employment history, but anyway I am left with no other option. hope the next year will be better than this one ,where I could forget the past or at least accept the disasters happened in the past.Two more months to go .