The blog is now available on The Times of India

TOI Blogs

Skeleton of faith

October 29, 2018, 3:53 PM IST Amit Gupta in Myriad Musings | India | TOI

The last few months have been transformational in the timelines of the Indian culture. The Supreme Court judgements on Sabarimala, triple talaq and Section 377 have shaken the backbone of many custodians of culture. Traditions are the manifestations of culture. These subjects are occupying a lot of media space, apparently due to multiple schools of thought. It was almost two years ago that I had penned in a blog post Packaging a Culture that the intangible cultural heritage – oral expressions, language, arts and crafts, rituals, traditions and practices, festivals and foods – travels on fluid grounds. The recent developments had made it imperative upon me to revisit my thoughts on the subject. However, the chores of routine – home or work – continued to interrupt the flow till the time I surrendered before an innocent question some days ago. 

I had taken my daughter to the National History Museum to enable her to complete an assignment on Indus Valley Civilisation as a part of the school task. Upon visiting the Harappa and Mohenjodaro Section of the museum, we came across a skeleton where beside the preserved cadaver, some artefacts such as pots had been placed.

Her primary question on the relevance of pots was answered by the Explanation Note beside the skeleton.

Her curiosity was beyond the basics.

She asked me, “How did they know that the food kept in these pots will be eaten by the dead person? When the person was dead, how could she eat?”

I politely told the little inquisitive soul that it was only a matter of their faith.

She was unfazed and insisted on a proper explanation.

I tried to hush up through a vaguely crafted statement that could see me through the ordeal, supported with my fatherly command. I told her that those people believed that the person had not died but moved to another place beyond this planet.

She looked unconvinced but moved ahead quietly. I was relieved. Suddenly, after 3 or 4 artefacts, she turned back to me and said in an emphatic voice, is their faith true?

The question was crisp but the answer was hazy. It was a small statement for the girl but a giant effort for the man (to reply!). I took the opportunity to accumulate the supporting evidences before answering. Did any exist? I pondered. How do we conclude the veracity of faith? Her question churned the inside of my mind.

Faith is an individual doctrine which evolves into a tradition as the co-believers increase. The manifestations are plenty – the religion, the superstitions, the astrology, the festivals and so on. In fact, more than 70% of total sales in our country happen during the Diwali season is an ample evidence of millions of individuals’ faith. But is that faith true? Someone perhaps needs to scientifically study the performance and longevity of the purchases made during the ‘auspicious’ period versus those made during the not so auspicious days. I relied on one such manifestation to answer the innocent question.

I asked her, “Do you remember that during Christmas season, you used to keep a wish-list under the pillow and next morning you would wake up, with loads of gifts around your bed? Who brought them?”

“Mama-papa” pat came the reply

But you believed that these came from Santa Clause

“Yes, because I felt happy thinking that there was someone called Santa”

“There you go”, I jumped with joy. She unveiled a different perspective and brought some harmony in my discordant thoughts. Faith, I inferred, is the harbinger of happiness. It is not a digital entity to be categorized as true/false. It is an individual’s construct of mind with no discrete values. It would therefore be futile to argue whether the faith was true or not.

We returned from the Museum without answering my daughter’s question.

As we sat in the cab for a drive back home, the newspaper carrying an item on Sabrimala decision carried my thoughts to the scholars, the guardians and the messiahs, currently engaged in endless debates. I was wondering when would they realise that the intangibles bear no framework, no skeletons; are fluid and fuzzy; and breed happiness beyond logic. I also mused whether it is a coincidence or some matter of faith that my daughter who unveiled a lesson of happiness is named Khushi….

The blog is now available on The Times of India TOIblogs.com

Jai Data di

October 9, 2018, 11:20 am IST Amit Gupta in Myriad Musings | Lifestyle | TOI

It was a pleasant Sunday morning as sudden downpour provided much-needed relief from the soaring mercury in the Capital. The showers invited me to take a bath in the rain. As I moved to the middle of the ground, I was tempted to remove my t-shirt and enjoy the nature in gay abandon!

“Hey, stop. Don’t do this. People are watching,” my wife warned me the moment I took my hands to the bottom of my t-shirt. “This is not a private garden that you own,” she added and nailed the issue.

Filled with disbelief, with hands on the t-shirt, tongue rolled out, lips drooling down, mouth wide open and eyes devoid of a spark, I stood stock-still! Only a few days ago had I taught my little daughter about the wandering lives of early man. Wished I was one of them. Alas! it was not to happen. I had to subscribe to the norms of modern man, nee woman and NOT early man.

Privacy is an outcome of progress. When there was parity, everyone was equal and everyone was naked. Animals still believe in that principle!

However, as soon as one human realized that his/her possessions are worthy of not showing to another human being, the construct of privacy emerged in the minds. Gradually, the humans realized that they possess a lot of things – which, over a period of time, has been granulated and euphemistically evolved as DATA.

The whole world is now running after it. Yes, data is the new oil, big or small.

The days of oil are over and new Gods have emerged. The fig leaves that early man used to cover the vital data have now been replaced with an array of complicated encrypted mechanisms such as blockchain. Data, apparently, has become more valuable than the human being itself. The monster of Frankenstein has been reborn.

This is not one person’s belief but the whole world has placed its weight behind it. Globally, the five biggest commercial enterprises – the MAFAA companies (Microsoft, Apple, Alphabet, Facebook, Amazon) – survive and thrive on data. Data has now been hitting the headlines every now and then – the Snowden, the Uber leak, the Cambridge Analytica, the Aadhar number (and a TRAI chief) and so on.

Amidst all this uproar over data privacy, security and ownership, we have forgotten the genesis; the basic premise that where this data comes from – the HUMAN BEINGS. The EU Privacy Bill of last year emphatically stated and importantly so, reminded the world that data subjects are the rightful owners of data.

Aah! Not really.

In the scorching heat and painfully humid weather, a profusely sweating person comes and knocks at the window pane of your car, halting at the traffic signal. You turn around to see that the person is selling hand towels. You are left to wonder why can he not use a hand towel to wipe his sweat? He merely possesses those towels and does not own them!

The difference is elusive but gigantic.

Was it not so, I would have been allowed to bathe in rain with all my data; Was it not so, no one would have been interested in knowing what others have; Was it not so, the business data-dependent businesses would not have flourished.

“Jai Mata Di” – a sound snapped the flights of my thoughts. It was my wife calling me with our typical refrain (developed over 15 odd years of our marriage) which we use to bring the other person back to normalcy. The other person repeats the same three words to acknowledge.

I was back to the reality of the t-shirt, rain and privacy.

Shedding my hands away from my t-shirt, drenched but not disrobed, I nodded to her and acknowledged in right earnest with same refrain – “Jai Data Di”

Oops! Was it a slip of tongue? Or have the new Gods arrived?

Looking for answers…