A group of children were playing near two railway tracks, one still in use while the other disused.
Only one child played on the disused track, the rest on the operational track.
The train is coming, and you are just beside the track interchange.
You can make the train change its course to the disused track and save most of the kids.
However, that would also mean the lone child playing by the disused track would be sacrificed.
Or would you rather let the train go its way?
Let's take a pause to think what kind of decision we could make ...
Most people might choose to divert the course of the train, and sacrifice only one child.
You might think the same way, I guess.
Exactly, to save most of the children at the expense of only one child was rational decision
most people would make, morally and emotionally.
But, have you ever thought that the child choosing to play on the disused track had in fact
made the right decision to play at a safe place?
Nevertheless, he had to be sacrificed because of his ignorant friends who chose to play where the danger was.
This kind of dilemma happens around us everyday.
In the office, community, in politics and especially in a democratic society,
the minority is often sacrificed for the interest of the majority,
no matter how foolish or ignorant the majority are, and how farsighted and knowledgeable the minority are. The child who chose not to play with the rest on the operational track was sidelined.
And in the case he was sacrificed, no one would shed a tear for him.
The great critic Leo Velski Julian who told the story said he would not try to change the course of the train because he believed that the kids playing on the operational track should have known very well that track was still in use, and that they should have run away if they heard the train's sirens..
If the train was diverted, that lone child would definitely die because he never thought the train could come over to that track! Moreover, that track was not in use probably because it was not safe.
If the train was diverted to the track, we could put the lives of all passengers on board at stake!
And in your attempt to save a few kids by sacrificing one child, you might end up sacrificing hundreds of people to save these few kids.
While we are all aware that life is full of tough decisions that need to be made,
we may not realize that hasty decisions may not always be the right one.
---
The above tale is one which I got through a forwarded mail.
It seemed to have the relevance and the edge of these challenging times ...
P/S Children should never play in train-tracks even if they are disused. Think about it.
Friday, December 18, 2009
Thursday, November 5, 2009
The Sore Thumb of Polycytemia Rubra Vera
Somethings must remain normal
for a simple reason that
any glitch in that normality ruins
everything.
How anything behaves must remain normal
for yet another simple reason;
misbehavior in whatever the circumstance
is misbehavior nevertheless.
Indolent but nevertheless diseased, thank you very much.
In chess a pawn can be promoted but
in reality we are often pawned for gluttony.
Gluttony which both feeds and is fed, that is.
Gluttony which embarrasses and disappoints the poor pawn.
The worst of course is the ignorance and denial of the whole ordered chaos.
Very much like polycytemia rubra vera.
So would I have a sore thumb pointing wrongs out
or polycytemia rubra vera.
I think you know the answer already.
That was no question but
a statement of harsh reality.
for a simple reason that
any glitch in that normality ruins
everything.
How anything behaves must remain normal
for yet another simple reason;
misbehavior in whatever the circumstance
is misbehavior nevertheless.
Indolent but nevertheless diseased, thank you very much.
In chess a pawn can be promoted but
in reality we are often pawned for gluttony.
Gluttony which both feeds and is fed, that is.
Gluttony which embarrasses and disappoints the poor pawn.
The worst of course is the ignorance and denial of the whole ordered chaos.
Very much like polycytemia rubra vera.
So would I have a sore thumb pointing wrongs out
or polycytemia rubra vera.
I think you know the answer already.
That was no question but
a statement of harsh reality.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
The Tale of the Brass Idli Maker
http://product-image.tradeindia.com/00274000/s/0/Brass-Handi-.jpgI was pondering about this issue for quite a while; whether to write about it or not. It had been some time you would have noticed that I actually wrote something.
Anyway, throw rotten tomatoes at me if you have to.
The situation I am about to tell you came from a conversation some few dinners ago:
In a marriage (I think this does not apply to live-in relationships), if a particular spouse in anger chooses to break a family heirloom of another spouse to prove a point, how should the other spouse react?
In impulse people might do anything but common sense (however uncommon it is) would be somewhat exercised in most sane individuals.
Nothing crass, crude nor drastic.
If it was up to me, I would plainly pack all the other heirlooms (from the ancient hairpin to the one-of-a-kind brass idli maker) and send it to some other relative where it is probably safer and appreciated.
My point is heirlooms are not just things, they represent your heritage.
A part of who you are.
If your spouse could not respect that and choose to fire their neurons at such an astounding cranial capacity, to do something so intelligent --- either they have some underlying psychological problem or its time to think what you are doing in the relationship.
It is not just a thing,
It is not about you valuing a thing more than a person,
It is not about being a MCP,
It is about you
and about you knowing that you have self-worth and dignity.
Somehow that element is lost in most relationships these days.
Monday, September 14, 2009
It's Complicated
When benign sights (maybe walking to the washroom together is slightly unholy) and romantic comedies results in depression; I think the term "it's complicated" is completely merited for. Even more so when it is a movie watched in complete exhaustion and only a tiny bit of the movie sets-off an emotional downpour.
In a weird convoluted way, being immensely busy with mainstream issues keeps us from realizing emotional handicaps. As someone puts it, these handicaps are very disturbing. However thankfully, the lifelessness has numbed us of pain. Not essentially a bad thing but not a good thing either as lifelessness leaves us pretty much devoid of humanity.
However, nothing can be compared to the confused, insecure, fearful and unsure state that being complicated renders one to.
We end up living by leaving it to chance and that is truly disturbing.
In a weird convoluted way, being immensely busy with mainstream issues keeps us from realizing emotional handicaps. As someone puts it, these handicaps are very disturbing. However thankfully, the lifelessness has numbed us of pain. Not essentially a bad thing but not a good thing either as lifelessness leaves us pretty much devoid of humanity.
However, nothing can be compared to the confused, insecure, fearful and unsure state that being complicated renders one to.
We end up living by leaving it to chance and that is truly disturbing.
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Rough Winds Do Shake the Darling Buds of May
A choice of personal preferences should be allowed and it is a right.
We are at free will to like or dislike a certain thing to reasons most applicable to us.
Even to the extent; to some it may seem derogatory.
Fundamental fact: it is one's life and how one chooses it is simply one's own business as long no toes are stepped upon. This is highly applicable to busybodies who provoke people and create storms in many people's teacups. Bless me, my tea was ruined!
The point is that one's point is not discriminatory if it doesn't involve active participation to stand-up for the point. The action matters and creating a hoo-hah for nothing is simply self-initiated sympathy-co-mud slapping; the point where one descends to being discriminatory to anothers passive self-indulgent thought.
The fact of knowing such people disgusts me and I wonder whether the day will come when I am not allowed to like purple and eat mash potato.
And now; we know where the holier-than-thou attitude roots from and discriminates underdogs of all kinds.
We are at free will to like or dislike a certain thing to reasons most applicable to us.
Even to the extent; to some it may seem derogatory.
Fundamental fact: it is one's life and how one chooses it is simply one's own business as long no toes are stepped upon. This is highly applicable to busybodies who provoke people and create storms in many people's teacups. Bless me, my tea was ruined!
The point is that one's point is not discriminatory if it doesn't involve active participation to stand-up for the point. The action matters and creating a hoo-hah for nothing is simply self-initiated sympathy-co-mud slapping; the point where one descends to being discriminatory to anothers passive self-indulgent thought.
The fact of knowing such people disgusts me and I wonder whether the day will come when I am not allowed to like purple and eat mash potato.
And now; we know where the holier-than-thou attitude roots from and discriminates underdogs of all kinds.
Sunday, August 2, 2009
In the name of God, the most Gracious and most Merciful
Picture from: http://dakchomey.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/6f8aea9ea87f4459ae619931.jpg Us.
Us.
Us.
Finally in death, she achieved what she set out to do.
Never mind the critics and the censors of her films,
Never mind the people who jeered at her efforts to appreciate our diversity,
But mind the fact we may never have another Sepet, Funeral or Talentime.
Yasmin Ahmad was and is a Malaysian,
More Malaysian than so many of us,
because she harboured hope in the Promised Land and acted upon it.
Now in death,
the storyteller,
the filmmaker,
got her ovation.
The full-stop, the finality, the exclamation mark;
death has its way of making things heard.
Yasmin believed in Malaysia and
she left me the trickle of hope.
A little bit less bitter,
A little bit less suspicion,
A little bit less prejudice,
A little bit more open,
A little bit more respect,
And a little bit more love,
Makes our little imperfections beautiful.
I met a person who acknowledged me after just mere glances,
He was not of my skin but sought to see the similarities that bonded us instead of highlighting the differences; let it be even the position of bus seats or the time we would be in SP.
Yasmin believed in Malaysia and
she left me the trickle of hope,
this person restored it to full brim.
We see only what we want to see
We are only as happy as our minds make to be
We are only Malaysian if we choose to be.
And Yasmin lived to be.
Monday, July 20, 2009
Not The Whole Truth
There is nothing in substitute for the truth then where do white lies fall in place? Well somewhere on the gates of the greater good where gray prevails. Speaking of gray, the de-novo colours of sweatshirts, we find there is this curious little habit of ours of not telling the whole truth.
Of course you did go outstation for that conference but well, little intelligent you did not tell that your extra day was actually not accidental. The official version of events was bad weather and the flight got delayed. Oh yes, your clandestine activities did go undetected.
This is one example and we have others like taking a whole day to shop in a sale where you bought that leather bag with a 5% discount. Yet what you tell your friends over brunch on Sunday while munching on rolls is that you were bargain hunting and things were indecently cheap, probably even cheaper than the rolls you are eating.
It seems diluting the truth either by exaggerating or over-simplifying it is something of norm. Weaving florets on monotony and obscuring rancid from the fluorescent mess is something we rather do than stray into the lanes of lies. It maybe something deemed trivial or something downright dangerous but who is do deny it wasn’t necessary. Yes, a necessary evil it was; to deglaze and shine and yet we were not lying, thank you very much.
We do it for many reasons. For obvious ones like avoiding unnecessary conversation by people who have more time than us at the present so that it sounds mundane and we can continue on real business and these people will find some other victim. Sometimes it is not to lose face and be lapped with some attention for something totally ordinary. Most of the time it is for ourselves. An individualistic desire to not to be put in a situation of being bitten by our conscience for lying. By doing this, we avoid pangs of guilt and are contented by the fact that there was a morsel of truth beneath that waffle.
Call it cheating yourself, call it suave but the best of us and the worst of us do it.
Of course you did go outstation for that conference but well, little intelligent you did not tell that your extra day was actually not accidental. The official version of events was bad weather and the flight got delayed. Oh yes, your clandestine activities did go undetected.
This is one example and we have others like taking a whole day to shop in a sale where you bought that leather bag with a 5% discount. Yet what you tell your friends over brunch on Sunday while munching on rolls is that you were bargain hunting and things were indecently cheap, probably even cheaper than the rolls you are eating.
It seems diluting the truth either by exaggerating or over-simplifying it is something of norm. Weaving florets on monotony and obscuring rancid from the fluorescent mess is something we rather do than stray into the lanes of lies. It maybe something deemed trivial or something downright dangerous but who is do deny it wasn’t necessary. Yes, a necessary evil it was; to deglaze and shine and yet we were not lying, thank you very much.
We do it for many reasons. For obvious ones like avoiding unnecessary conversation by people who have more time than us at the present so that it sounds mundane and we can continue on real business and these people will find some other victim. Sometimes it is not to lose face and be lapped with some attention for something totally ordinary. Most of the time it is for ourselves. An individualistic desire to not to be put in a situation of being bitten by our conscience for lying. By doing this, we avoid pangs of guilt and are contented by the fact that there was a morsel of truth beneath that waffle.
Call it cheating yourself, call it suave but the best of us and the worst of us do it.
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