Indian citizens receive collective New Year gift

New investment asset uncovered – Indian citizens

On 3 January 2018, cryptoinvestors around the globe took a collective gasp of surprise as an alleged hack of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) in mid-2017 has now exposed global investors to a whole new breed of asset.

This hack (“-which did not happen,” says the UIDAI) has resulted in this new asset – tentatively named Indian Citizen (INct) – now being priced at a little under USD 0.000000008[1]. New investors, who used the IM service WhatsApp as an exchange platform, hailed the asset’s ease of access and purchase as sufficient proof of its long-term potential.

Potentially ground-breaking, INct was first unveiled by an Indian daily The Tribune[2], bringing fierce competition and – most importantly – inherent value (albeit slightly under-priced value, according to one delighted investor) to the crypto-investment market that is currently reeling under extreme volatility and regulatory speculation brought about by the popularisation of cryptocurrency trading[3].

The UIDAI, a statutory authority established by the Government of India to issue biometrically secured identification to Indian citizens (not the asset), has denied all knowledge of this new development, as well as of the startup behind this breach. The hack was, however, later revealed only to be the birthing pains of a new kind of investment market. The UIDAI’s response has, for some reason, encouraged newbie investors to jump into these untested waters in the hope of turning into the first trillionaires.

With a present market supply of 1.19 billion[4], another potential 156 million held at ransom, and a market cap of a very affordable USD 7.89 (INR 500), this competitively priced offering from as-yet unnamed entrepreneurs looks set to disrupt the trading market as it is also supported by eye-catching early-bird offers such as free biometric IDs of all 1.19 billion assets, residence addresses, phone numbers, and so on.

Could this be the start of a paradigm shift where the lines between investors and their assets blur? The future will tell, and probably sooner than we think.

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[1] Math.

[2] The Internet.

[3] Every cryptocurrency investor.

[4] As of 30 November 2017; from no less a source than Wikipedia. Last edited on 5 January 2018 at 4:11. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aadhaar)

Interesting, that

... I seem to have a pattern of about a-post-a-year quite often.

I think my (non-bloggerish) writing seems to be taking a turn into the lovely alleyways of poetry. When I recall how much I used to be impatient with most poetry, it's quite surprising.

And while my blog usually maintains its state of consistent nirvana, I am changing. My early blog posts have always embarrassed me, but I've always let them remain to be a marker to myself, to show me how far I've come since then. And how little I've travelled yet. Perhaps someday, when I need markers no more, they shall take a one-way trip into a virtual dustbin.

So, till whenever the next blog happens to drop into my mind, ready to be moulded for public viewing - taken out of its context, Tolkien says:

"Not all those who wander are lost."

From here.

A Painting Analysis - in the meantime

While my next blog post comes up, here's one to fill in the break. 

An analysis of a painting that I chose for my assignment, at the National Gallery of Modern Art, Bangalore; copyright reserved by NGMA New Delhi/Satish Gujral.

The Painting - Despair, Satish Gujral.

And my analysis of it:

RRJ

0914036

B.A. Honours in English Studies

World Literatures CIA 2 - Analysis and Interpretation of an Oil Painting from the National Gallery of Modern Art: Despair by Satish Gujral

[Note: This image is a reproduction from a poster of the original painting; hence it would seem to lack a certain depth and detailing, among other features. My deductions are based from this poster and the original painting.]

This oil painting is by an Indian artist named Satish Gujral, painted seven years after the Partition of India. It is titled Despair, and measures 91 cms by 91 cms. It shows what appears to be two men and a third, faceless, entity who is presumably not human.

The man in the white dress seems to be in utter agony, rocking back and forth while in the throes of this despair. This movement is implied by the three hands that seem to be trying to hold him back from doing anything physically harmful to himself. The second man, whose face can be seen, seems to be sympathising with this person. He is completely dressed in black, and nothing of him can be seen save for his head and fists. His hair blends in with his dark clothing; he is brown-skinned like the man in white, and has both his hands placed on the latter in a restraining grip. Both the men seem to be kneeling down on an unrecognisable surface.

The third recognisable 'entity' could possibly be human, but I beg to differ. This "thing" seems to be gender-less, as it does not have any recognisable features that could classify it into either gender. It has one of its hands (its right fist) placed on the shoulders of the man in white in a vice-like grip - I felt this was a representation of the Grim Reaper. He[1]  is wearing a hood and is covered entirely in black, except for a small part of his right arm. His right fist, unlike the fists of the man in black, seem to be digging into the shoulders of the man in white; his left fist does not seem to appear in the picture. I make this deduction based on the comparative size of the fingers of the fist placed on the man in white's left shoulder: the man's fingers look more typical of a right handed fist rather than the left; however the placing of this 'right' fist seems to make it look like it belongs to the entity's body.

The very first impression this painting caused me was one of sudden - and deep - empathy. This man in white is definitely in the clutches of a terrible sorrow that seems to be causing his unbearable pain. Hs face is contorted into a wail of despair. This "despair", however, strikes me as something that is probably more affective in nature, rather than physical. I infer this due to the surreal atmosphere of this painting - this painting has a very dream-like quality to it, and a blend of background colours that contrast with the foreground and push it into the spotlight. The yellow and brown hues contrast well with the dark black of the central characters; the brush strokes of the background curve around the straighter strokes of the central characters, framing it in a way. An additional factor that gave me this impression is the depth that this painting seems to just radiate: it feels to me like the fists of the man in white nearly come out of the painting. A few of the above impressions will be detailed in the later sections of this essay.

This artistic text seems to imply a portrayal of the magnitude of despair  that gripped 'India' during, and post the Partition. The man in white and his dressing is, to me, very reminiscent of the character of Nathu (played by Om Puri) in the teleserial Tamas, directed by Govind Nihalani, based on the novel of the same name by Bhisham Sahni. This character is similarly dressed in this serial, and the painting aptly seems to portray this character's emotions in a manner that is extremely hard-hitting and in-your-face.

This painting uses straight lines in order to show – or create – a sense of depth: it feels to me like the man’s supplication, with his extended arms, almost come out of the painting. This adds a third dimension to this painting; not only does it contain this, but also makes me feel like I am somehow also looking at this person from above. This was indeed quite a clever illusion to have been created on a two-dimensional painting surface. The shapes that are used are quite sharp in nature; the skeletal appearance of the man in white is a clear proof of this. This person’s fists are painted in great detail, and are shown very clearly to be tightly gripped in a surge of overwhelming emotion. The hands that restrain him, and the fingers that appear to be causing him this pain are similarly painted.

There does not seem to be any clear division of the canvas; however, the foreground (the fists and the man in white) and the middle ground (the man in black and the Reaper) eclipse the background (what appears to be the flooring, and an indefinable space at the top of the painting – both painted in different shades of yellow and brown). This however, does appear to contrast very well with the ‘darker’ colours of the foreground – among which black seems to be the primary one. This colour also seems symbolic in a manner of speaking: it can be seen as overpowering the forces of hope, peace and purity that is signified by the white colour.

The brush strokes of the background seem to curve around the central figures of this painting - the two men and the Reaper. The colours used aren't very expressive, but the secondary colours are made to blend in such a manner so as to create an impression of desolation and great anguish on the discerning audience. There is a certain balance created in the painting through the opposite corners, each of which helps the central characters to take a position of absolute, unquestioning centrality in the painting.

With regard to the perspective that I am provided with, I am almost convinced that I am a partaker in the pain being suffered by the man in white. I am provided with a view that makes me feel like I am in the very scene itself; yet I am not able to reach out to this person and relieve his anguish.

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[1] The Grim Reaper has never been shown to have a clear gender classification, so this pronoun is used only at an indicative level.

Thinking About Blogging About Thinking About Blogging

Thought reaches its fulfillment in action. So here's a post about the title that tries to think about blogging about thinking about blogging.

Incidentally, I just did a Google search [anyone wondering why I'm not using the easier verb "Googling"?] on 'thought' and 'action', and got this whole bunch of "quotes by memorable personalities" from a multitude of sites that put up plenty of quotes on this that, as far as I've gone through, connect Thought and Action in one way - first sentence.

Now - excellent when it's said, and etcetera, but how eternally hard it is for me - in the context of Blogging - to wait for my fingers to catch up with my thoughts! Not like it is an uncommon problem, yeah.

But how do you manage it then? How do you let your mind slow down so it's visually captured? Or how else does it work for you?

In fact, at times, I consciously rebel against writing anything at all, because I'm not able to capture my entire train of thought, that starts with something I just happen to notice around me - a tiny little thing - and takes off from there. I move on to – what I believe are loftier thoughts – and something clicks somewhere, something else short-circuits; a few more like that, and I feel a problem arising. Almost like the Titanic being raised up.

So far, good. I can write about this Titanic of mine being raised up. But how did I get there?

So far, in order to put it down into words that can clearly convey this to a reader – an outsider to my mind – it has been extremely difficult, going backwards, step-by-step, until I reach the trigger that set off a chain of reactions that reacted with others already present to switch on some other things and switch off other somethings, and slowly seek a prompt from my 'conscious' me. Mostly because I've got a lovely memory for things like these.

Now, if I'm to write anything that is even close to satisfactory in my eyes, I can't do something that I'd feel was a poor job. So here's where I get stuck in a sort of eternal limbo, at every writer-to-be moment in my Time. Because I begin to think about writing (nowadays, typing) about my writing, and how I'd even go about it, given all this. And then try to force an effect that creates a 'break' in my pattern by recollection.

And I miserably forget. I've got my higher secondary to thank for that; long story. (But that probably won’t be another blog post 'cos of you-know-why.)

And then I begin to think about my convictions in life, my belief systems, and wonder how futile such an exercise (writing about my own wandering(-)wonderings) is, given the conditions of certain realities of certain sections of people living around us – realities that are there for us to See, but which many of us do not comprehend that we only ‘see’, and not ‘understand’. About how my writing and my “spontaneous [really?] overflow of [thought]” is going to effect any sort of change in their lives. And how utterly ridiculous a stream of thought about an individual dilemma, such as this, would sound to them, when compared to the horrible miseries they face on a daily basis. 

[As an aside, how much of the writing and academising and intellectualising and celebritising in the educational/intellectual/research space would really be possible on an empty stomach, and knowing that there are several other empty stomachs whose continued existence and survival depend on you solely? Something I’ve always wanted to ask every single one of the theorists and academics and public ‘intellectuals’ and philosophers I’ve read and studied about. More on that later, (hopefully) as I come back to the point of this blog.]

I pause.

And now while writing, I pause too. ‘Cos I’m trying to remember how this confusing process happens – not just once, but about four to five times daily. See the Selectively Short-Term Memory I’m talking about?

Anyway, that is just going to be among one of my million unfinished ‘written thoughts’.

And the above sentence is a 7-Zip Ultra-mode compression of a few of my frustrations that I’ve found no vent to, for quite some time. 

Anyway, here’s to another (new!) day!

~Silence is Golden~

Or so that song goes. Let's listen to it a while more.

An Introduction.

For a while there, I thought the last post was going to be the only post for this year - like the previous two years' posts.

Looks like beginnings can indeed begin anew, even within themselves - defying the very notion of a 'beginning'. If the very same 'beginning' can begin over and over again within itself, then why do we have something called 'the' beginning - rather, does 'the beginning' always have to be the only beginning to begin, or does it always contain other newer starts inside its metamorphosis into becoming a true 'beginning'? So what could be a 'true' beginning?

So, there's today's dose of confusion for you.

I've got a lot of plans for my blog, finally - I've never found the time to bother thinking about blogs and the online world since the time I started this venture. I believe an introduction is in order to any readers out there.

I believe I can be, and to an extent, am, a person who thinks, and does - a little by little, a step at a time. An infinity of drops can be a force in a league of its own.

A person is never formed in an island of them’self’ - I am a product of all I have been, all of whom I have met.

And I am still a product that is in its formational processes... so what would that make a human being like me? Am 'I' still a concrete being, who already 'is' in this world? If 'I' am not yet, then 'who' am I?

Perhaps the more appropriate question is - 'where' am 'I', so far?

A journey I intend to travel - meaningfully.

One whose end I 'know' I will reach. And here is my close circle, who will be with me - I know - every step of the way. Mum, Dad, little Sis and Spike the Boxer.

To the fresh start that began a year back - and to the Journey onward.


P.S. It's my Lil Sis' birthday today. Sometime when she's much older, I'll show her this post. Memories!

Break.

Another new start?..........................
......................
......................

Of course. Any time is never later than never.

Blog changes coming up, and a whole new definition and meaning to this blog. Watch this virtual space for more.

A New Beginning

And yes. Its been a year already. Funny how Father* Time speeds up when you don't take any notice of him at all. A year gone by in a flash. Three hundred and sixty five whole days (an approximation) where things, assignments, people, events and exams all flew past** without the slightest inkling of.. you know.. having the feeling as to what exactly was going around me. I mean, stuff happened real quick that they could've given Speed of Light a run for its money.

When i last posted, it was just the beginning of December too.. but i remember myself as being a totally different person then. More on that later^.

*For those of you who've got any problems with the use of a male description, feel free to call Time as an Aunty, Bro, Pop-in-Law, Homie, etc.

**Pen caps, bits of paper, footballs, basketballs and bottles too, to be precise.

^Its kinda hard to say exactly how different I was. Lets just say, if technology could add Telepathic Projection of Thoughts onto a computer screen to its growing list of inventions, I'd be indebted. And by later, I mean somewhere in the unforeseeable near-future.

The Beginning..

Why is it that people nowadays jump onto the bandwagon of various modern activities?? Why is it that sometimes, people with more mouths than sense are elected to rule a country? How do we know that extraterrestrials don't exist for sure, especially after a report in the Deccan Herald about Hungarian scientists supposedly offering a "questionnaire" for these aliens to answer?? How many conspiracies are yet to be unearthed ever since Dan Brown's bestseller The Da Vinci Code hit the stands? Why isn't any authority in the world transparent in its dealings?

All this, and more, is what i plan on taking a look at in the coming days (whenever i find time in b/w sleep & college activities). So fellow netizens, welcome to my blog.