Archive for May, 2006
on the Code May 28th, 2006
finally got down to watching the film today; and i have to say that every critical review i’ve seen of it is absolute rubbish.
the film is well made, as the book was well-written–both the book and the film do exceedingly well for the audiences they are aimed at; which is the barometer for the success or failure of either–and both hold their own well.
you don’t even have to have read the book to watch the film–the director certainly does his best to help the viewer out, while not giving them everything. of course, you will appreciate the cues in the movie relating to the book much more; and the scope of achievement in making the film if you’ve read the book. it really is a good film
go watch it, and have fun! 
Posted in Film | Comments (0)
on false positions May 27th, 2006
we often tend to develop a not completely thought through understanding of social and cultural systems around us, and the movements in play at any given time. the lack of understanding might not necessarily be due to lack of information or ignorance of an issue on our parts; but rather in the failure to understand the absolutes of the situation–the ramifications of our thoughts and actions within a broad sense. i like to call positions that are based upon this form of understanding–i.e. understanding without realizing the implications of that knowledge, as false positions.
the popular position on reservations, i believe; is one such false position.
one needs to understand not just the social dynamics of caste; but also the political, economic and cultural implications of casteism and its reversal. the implementation of reservations at any level rather a failure to understand inequities. the concept of reservations is like balancing an equation. if on paper, LHS=RHS.
social inequality however is not a linear equation; and reservations are the wrong approach to start with–they are the false position that i am talking about here.
Tags: ideas, logic
Posted in Opinion, Politics/Ideas | Comments (0)
on merit May 26th, 2006
the controversial reservation law proposed in the Indian parliament is one of great concern; not just to those it works against, but also for those whom it is intended to help.
take for example, the basis of the proposal to reserve 50% of the seats in all streams of study in institutes of higher education. not only does it make this reservation; but it also makes for lower selection criteria for OBC (other Backward Classes) or SC/ST (Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe) for admission to these courses.
the fallacy of this argument can be defined in the emotional outburst of one pro-reservation activist–”forget merit. this is not about merit. what’s more important are the dreams of the people”.
hem. i don’t care what your dream is–if you want to be operating on people–say their spinal columns; you had better be good enough to get in on your own knowledge and history of work rather than because you dreamed of it; and because you belong to particular caste or had ancestors who were discriminated against–or still are for that matter.
the idea of “merit” at the highest level–and in education, the Master’s and further levels are that “highest level” cannot possibly be supplanted by any skewed (some might say idealistic; i still say naive) notion of social justice that anyone might have.
sure. i’m not quite in the same boat as the people who these reservations are implemented for–and i definitely can’t relate to their problems–only sympathize or empathize. the notion of merit however is a completely different idea from that of social justice. by its very nature, merit is an absolute quantifiable idea; social justice on the other hand is a relative and changeable one.
i believe that the fallacy of reservations (or affirmative action, or positive discrimination, for that matter) lies in the generation of a false position of ethics developed rather by political need than a logical reasoning of developing society for long-term goals.
over the next week or so, i will elaborate further on this topic; and deal with possible solutions.
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