The recent thread of a theme running through my thoughts is that of action for its own sake, as opposed to action as a means to an end.

There was the class on Real Time Interaction where my professor spoke of the concept of “Flow” as one where a person is entirely in the present, acting in accordance with what is present to him, without needing any awareness of other states of being. Simplistic as he knew he was sounding when he compared it with the idea of a person enjoying work for its own sake rather than any monetary rewards, he did not halt himself from making his point plainer. He went on to speak of what it meant in the context of real time interaction in virtual environments and music performances, and the discussion veered off into the technological realm. However much i descry any attempt to have me appreciate the point of virtual worlds of interaction and gaming, it pleases me immensely when i see the sort of philosophical considerations these researchers twiddle with whilst designing single person shooting games even. In this same class, ive had the realization draw upon me that with music, so very often, the composer and performer are two different people who bring in their very own personality to the music that we finally listen to and are moved by. At that point, the professor was speaking of the case of computer music interfaces where the cornerstone of the system was in the apportioning of the two responsibilities to the computer and the human in a thoroughly fair manner. It was a strikingly new perspective, and one that makes me appreciate some things that i would normally cast aside as cheap-thrill-mongering gimmickry.

(As an aside, let me point out the case of the Mouthesizer, a gimmick if ever there was one.. and yet, when you think of how the wah-wah is, in its essence, a matter of the vowel pronounciations associated with the closing and opening of the mouth in varying degrees, its a perfect mapping, and one that brings the unintuitive electric guitar pedal to its knees. admitting to its unnatural design)

Another instance of the aforementioned theme, was the movie that i watched this morning, Vicky Cristina Barcelona. Six months into my sojourn here, watching the city as presented by Allen was a pleasant experience, though every so often in the midst of a picture perfect setting the thought would intrude upon my passive mind that it was just a tad too perfect throughout. But then, i plead guilty to the same sort of romanticization of the city and its treasures, and when one has to balance out the three beautiful women, one doesn't stint the city its beauty. Penelope Cruz's entrance was an unbridled force that simply tore through the movie changing its tone that was simply a pastel palette until that point(except for the scene at Bardem's childhood home), into something to actively enjoyable. And then, at the end, we were left at the very same point where we began, and yet it was worth being made indubitably, the story of the lives of four people that shows no significant change at the end of the two summer months, making the passage of that summer worth nothing in relative terms, but somehow making up for that in its absolute experiences.

A third case of that theme, came up while discussing the fact the BJP is demanding changes to the historical records of Alexander the Great's return from the edges of the Indian subcontinent as being attributable to the travails of a long campaign. They claim that our forces were to be given their due credit for routing the conqueror's army from our lands, instead. Now, i have no claims to scholarship in this matter, or even a general principled demand for historical accuracy in these matters motivated by patriotic considerations or otherwise. However, the nub of the discussion was what we as Indians, would do to counter such high handed moves from political parties, that are so much on the rise. Moral and religious activism, general trampling upon of human rights of free speech and access to information.. Now, i must make the disclaimer that i do not have a concrete approach or solution to any such issue, but i do not think that taking out rallies with placards screaming disapproval is a really valid piece of action. There are many who tell me this is something, a show a protest atleast, and is better than people like me who do nothing about it all. Well, be that as it may, it does not accomplish anything when a bunch of educated, non-voting, non-partisan, city-dwellers stop traffic and generate noise on roads, when we have no combined strength in reality. When tribes and religious minorities and other groups carrying some identity express displeasure on some matter of political bias, they are heard from time to time, because they have the strength of united numbers, making a real difference to the vote count. We, on the other hand, are handicapped in several ways. For one, we are not amenable to the sort of cajolery that works with the uneducated masses(and i speak without condescension here). We are just educated enough to question some things, and just self-centered enough to not do anything concrete about it. People say, working professional cannot be expected to throw in their jobs and spend the best part of their time working on solutions to public ills, and that we can only participate in democracy in our limited way with rallies and chain mails and online petitions. I say, if you are going to that, give it more thought, and come up with protests that are more than just inane placards that say nothing that could not be thought of in a moment of idle banter by the coffee machine. We can do more and till we are organized enough to attempt that, i for on e am not going to be ashamed of not participating in these 'democratic' means of expression. I enjoyed the NCC trip while in college, to a nearby village school, to repaint their walls and clear their garbage, much more than i did my frustrated march against reservations later in bangalore. Address the smaller social ills individually, and be on the lookout to support someone with a real concrete plan on tackling the larger political outrages, i would say. Just to put this rant in context, this is an instance of where action for its own sake doesn't appeal to me. Without feedback and measured assesment of results, collective action is pointless.