The Delusion Of Being...

There are only two things that parents in India think their kids can't get enough of - food and studies. So its not surprising that education is taken pretty seriously over here. I mean for a long time it has been the only gateway to what is known as a "good life".

So despite the emphasis (bordering on coercion) on studies, its kinda surprising (even shocking) to see the dismal state of education in our nation. From the absolute importance of rote learning, to the pathetic teaching standards, and the complete breakdown of teacher-student interaction (to name a few ailments), there are problems aplenty that plague the system. Lets take a bottom-up approach to the problem. From the minute you enter the school system, the importance of mugging up anything and everything is stamped upon your psyche, defying any sense of logic or rationale whatsoever. What can one expect out of such a system but dignified robots? Even at the secondary level things don't get any better. There's just no difference in the way the different streams are taught. Whether its the sciences, commerce, humanities its all the same. But the ranking order among them is widely prevalent. Choice among them is governed not by where the interest lies but by the trivial notion as to what makes more sense in terms of future security. Even at the higher education level, our universities fare no better. You don't need to be rocket scientist to figure out that graduation should include more than just run of the mill assignments, and exams which test no analytical skills but what one has been able to mug up a few days before.

One may wonder if there's so much that ails the system why isn't anyone making a big hue and cry about it? The answer to that is pretty simple, what everyone wants at the end of this "academic" hell ride is a "secure future" which basically implies a fatass package which is seen as the ultimate in life to be considered "successful". Its only thing we seem to care about. Instead of thinking about what one wants top do in life and then working towards it we take the reverse approach. People think just because we have BPOs, NRIs like Sabeer Bhatia, Vinod Dham, LN Mittal etc, the rest of the world values our abilities. But what we must realize is that these examples are few and far in between. In any case most of the Indians working abroad are working for foreign companies and not as entrepreneurs. They are basically EMPLOYEES and not EMPLOYERS.

One may say we've had a few people who have defied the norm and emerged path-breaking. Yes, we had. M. S. Swaminathan who made India self reliant in food grains, Dr. Varghese Kurien who is the father of Amul milk movement, Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam who dared to build missiles for India, Pt. Ravishankar who is the ambassador of the Indian music to the world. Such people though in small numbers, were always there. But they are not the products of this education system. This system did not teach them how to become innovators or entrepreneurs or artists. Had it done so, they would have been millions in numbers. These people were inspired themselves. To some of them, their education may have given the technical know-how (though it is hardly conceivable), but not the dream or the inspiration needed. It is education which should inspire one to become something one really wants to. Education should make you free, should make you experiment and it should make you ask uncomfortable questions. Ultimately, it should make you realize what you are, which sadly our system doesn't.

"I don't worry about terrorism. I was married for two
years."
Sam Kinison

Its that time of the year again, when the daily mail consists mainly beefy envelopes of wedding invitations. When “festivity” seems to be in the air and everyone even remotely related is partaking in the this magnificent event known as an “Indian Wedding”.

Don’t get me wrong here, people get married all over the world. But no where do they do it like we do it in India. The search for a suitable partner, followed by match-making, the billion pre-marriage rituals and customs that follow (ohk…maybe not a billion :P), which ultimately culminate in the probably the grandest spectacle on earth, the actual marriage ceremony!

I attended two such marriages last weekend back to back and it made me realize that if one cares to look beneath the surface of this meticulous and back-breaking exercise, it’s actually darn funny. I mean in a world where the need for marriage is itself a matter of debate, no one gives two hoots about it here. For us its the ONLY logical end of adult life which everyone must reach if they have to be accepted as an “honourable” member of the society and the seriousness with they are conducted bears a testament to this fact.

If anyone has any doubts if the recent global economic meltdown will have any effect in India they should just attend a wedding in India. The world maybe going ballistic with a new multi-billion dollar MNC going bankrupt everyday but that doesn’t seem to have upset our jolly good revelry in any way . In fact if anyone could be forgiven for mistaking us to be the most prosperous nation the world after seeing this vulgar and utterly useless display of wealth.

What's also interesting to note are the wide variety of bemusing characters one meets at a wedding. From the distant uncle who seems to have it all figured out and just can stop pointing out all he thinks you are doing are wrong with your life to the aunt who’ll just keep reminding how tall you’ve grown since she last saw you/ you maybe the next one on the altar/ how much her son earns blah blah (you get the drift, don’t you? ). Its bemusing to the point of being hilarious because at the end you realize that they were giving that free advice in all seriousness!

But at the end you can’t help but wonder does this tamasha really necessary? I mean marriage has just been reduced to a lousy form of social sanction nowadays. So why spend all that money, time and energy is a such a tedious procedure that has basically become redundant? I guess its up to individual discretion at the end. But then I can’t call them completely useless because it did give me something to write about!

After the prolonged delay of seventeen years and millions of dollars that must've gone into it, Guns N' Roses' sixth studio album, Chinese Democracy, has finally arrived. Pity those who bet on actual democray making it to China before singer Axl Rose (the band's sole remaining original member) allowed this project to see the light of day [:P]

For those who don't know them (if any), here's a quick recap. Guns N' Roses or GnR as we know them, is an American hard rock band, formed in California in 1985. The band, led by frontman and co-founder Axl Rose, has released six studio albums, two EPs and one live album during their career.

Guns N' Roses has sold an estimated 100 million albums worldwide, including over 42 million in the United States. The band's 1987 debut album Appetite for Destruction sold in excess of 28 million copies and reached number one on the United States Billboard 200 in addition to being the second highest selling debut album of all time. The 1991 albums Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II debuted on the two highest spots on the Billboard 200 and have sold a combined 14 million copies in the United States alone. After over a decade of work, the band released their follow-up album, Chinese Democracy, in 2008 (though only a sole member of the original line-up remained i.e. Rose).

Therefore it comes as no surprise that Chinese Democracy was one of the most anticipated records of this year or any year for that matter. A whole generation of rock lovin' fellas like me have literally grown up on Guns N' Roses. It has been the definitive version of what rock means for the better of late 80s and early 90s. The band's unique sound which can be at best described as a fusion of heavy metal, punk rock, blues and good old rock n' roll has won them fans world over. From the legendary riffs spawned by the sheer genius guitaring of Slash to the inspirational song-writing and vocals of Axl Rose, it was brilliance personified.

Fans have long complained about Guns N' Roses still existing in the absence of Slash, Izzy, and even Duff, partially out of their talents, partially out of their iconography, and partially because there's no evidence Axl was an auteur figure who could work without his supporting cast. Judging from the personnel involved in the making of Chinese Democracy-- there were 18 musicians in all, not including orchestra players or the more than 30 who provided engineering and ProTools assistance- it may be more appropriate now to think of Guns N' Roses as a free-floating creative project.

So the question on everyone's mind was, will the new record live up to the massive expectations? And the verdict? Well, its a mixed bag to say the least. Gone are the days of pulse thumping guitar riffs or the soul searching vocals. What comes across is the Axl Rose's leaning towards electronica and pre-fabricated sound. In a lotta ways its not the Guns N' Roses we know. Initially, it's exciting to hear modern rock rendered in such operatic largess, but the album ultimately proves inconsequential, a middle-aged symphony to nowhere.

But amongst the debris of this album what rises like a phoenix is the sheer prodigious talent that Axl Rose still possesses. The talent which has not been diminished by his on-stage antics, drug abuse or (in)famously gigantic and self-destructive ego. Rose is obstinate as ever even at 46, jeering at how meek music has become in his prolonged absence: ''You talk too much/You say I do/Difference is nobody cares about you.'' he brags on ''Sorry.'' Whatever you may think of him, he's the last of his kind. The larger than life kind of individuals who have the power to baffle as well as stun people with the enormity of their art.

Many believe that if it wasn't the greatest album ever released, it would be seen as a complete failure. Chinese Democracy needed to be a spectacle-- something that either validated its tortuous breeding process or a disaster so horribly criticized it would somehow validate Rose as a misunderstood genius. It turns out to be neither and seems like somewhat of a letdown save for Rose's comeback.