Perception: A Dangerous phenomenon (when dealing with imbeciles)

Perception: Wikipedia says: The philosophy of perception concerns how mental processes and symbols depend on the world internal and external to the perceiver.
Does this hold true in the world around us? I think, the philosophy of perception these days concerns how mental processes and symbols depend on the world "internal" to the perceiver.

My school teacher used to say: "Isn't perception a wonderful thing? If we all saw everything the same way, there is hardly anything to learn" This would usually follow with: "Next time someone disagrees with you, remember that it is an opportunity to learn a new perception."

Now, after all these years, when I think about what she said, I say to myself, "Do I have to?"
I would like to remind her that when an idiot disagrees with you, he/she will only drag you down to his/her level, and beat you by experience. Why do I need to go through the pain to learn the perception of somebody who doesn't have his facts right, beats around the bush, & to make matters worse, most of the time doesn't even remember what he is disagreeing about after some time...

I do come across such characters in my day to day life at work. The common thread among all such characters is that the statement mentioned by me in the second paragraph above, holds true. Each one of them is of the opinion that the world that they have created for themselves in their mind is the real world.

Most of the times, their statements will begin with, "My concern is that...." This is where I get reminded of some south indian flicks, which show the fight scenes in super slow motion. I can imagine myself jumping a few feet in the air & delivering a drop kick right on their face, just to remind them, that I really don't give a damn about his/her stupid concern.

I would like to ask my teacher, do we really want to learn such a perception which has no value addition at all. My personal experience is that the only addition it does give us, is a severe headache after you have tried your level best to put your point across, & ultimately given up.
This is why, I think that Perception is a dangerous phenomenon, because at the end of the day, the imbecile perceiver will just ride into the sunset in his own dreamworld, while you are left thinking.... "Why me???"

Vici - My Cute Alarm Clock

I walked home from office one day (as usual, grumpy about my day) to see my parents grinning from ear to ear, and I thought to myself, "Not another of some silly surprise". It was four days after another "boring" birthday of mine, & I was sure, this surprise, would definitely leave a bad taste in my mouth. But, I was wrong (and I couldn't have been happier that I was wrong)
I found a cuddly little fur ball in the corner of my room looking back at me. The warm look made me forget my troubles in office and when I held her in my hand, she fit in my palms perfectly. The initial days were spent getting to know each other, and after a few days, it seemed like she has always been a part of my family.

Watching our new bundle of joy play all over the house would automatically put a smile on our faces, and soon she became the most loved person in my family. (Watch the video & do let me know, if there isn't a smile, while you watch her) Yes, you guessed it right; my parents do love her more than me.

By the time, she could reach up to my bed, she had turned into my morning alarm. I don't know why, but for some reason, she took upon herself, the herculean task of waking me up in the morning. My mom was more than happy that the task had been offloaded her shoulders.

Vici, would be at my bed at 6:30 AM sharp, trying to wake me, so that I'm not late. The best part is that if, I don't wake up initially by her gentle nudges, she then resorts to her sure shot technique of getting me out of my bed. She will push her nose under my knees & lift her head up in such a way that my leg falls on the ground & I'm half way out of the bed. If anybody else would have tried to get me out of my bed in such a way, God Almighty would have had no other choice, but to step aside & watch the scene from the balcony. But, since it is Vici, (and I'm sure she knows this too), all I can do is, end up on the ground, scratch my head & watch her as she prances around me at her job well done. These days, I'm never late to office, thanks to Vici....

I'm sure everybody is thinking that this is the best & the cutest alarm clock in this world, and would love to wake up this way every morning. But wait, before you all start thinking so, let me tell you about the side effects as well. Vici's week does not have weekends!!!! Yes, you guessed it right, she comes & wakes me up at 6:30 AM even on weekends....I have no choice, but to wake up at 6:30 AM, drag myself to the living room, watch her go for her morning walk with dad, and then rush back to my room to catch up on my well deserved sleep.

You might think that, all I need to do is keep the door to my room closed on weekends, but that doesn't work either. God forbid, if I keep the door closed, I do get my full sleep for that day, but then, I am not allowed to go anywhere close to her, or even pat her on her head. She will just not let me come close to her, & will have the sad face, which looks like she is telling me, "You don't love me at all...." This is the scene, till I go down to the shop & get her a packet of gems. This, Rs. 5 packet is my lifesaver, she will forget all her anger & go about prancing showing off her gems to each & every member in my family before asking me to open it & give her those colorful pieces of her favorite treat.

So, everyone, this is the deal, if I'm supposed to have my full quota of sleep, either I'm supposed to sleep early, or else, I better have a packet of Gems near me in the morning. A Sweet Deal, isn't it?

Suyodhan/Duryodhan - (Mahabharata Reloaded)

One of my colleagues at work, (who is fondly called as Rambo), brought up this really interesting topic about the Mahabharata during one of our chats at work. Now, the Mahabharata has fascinated most of us since childhood, and the topic does bring back fond memories of the colorful characters splashed across our TV screens every Sunday by Mr. BR Chopra.
Getting back to Rambo, he enlightened us by mentioning a chapter in a CBSE textbook regarding the Mahabharata from Duryodhana's point of view. He mentioned that the chapter nearly convinces us that the Kauravas were more 'rightful' than the Pandavas.
He also brought to light the fact that the real name of Duryodhan was infact Suyodhan. This fact got me thinking more than what he said about the 'rightful' Kauravas & Pandavas.
On checking Google, I found my answer in Wikipedia, it says: "He is actually named as Suyodhan which means a great warrior, he changed his name to Duryodhan which means impossible to conquer, many people have misconception that he is been called as duryodhan because of his misdeeds"
For a long time (before Google, Wikipedia and the Internet in general), our knowledge of history has come from our history text-books. I could never really trust my history text books, because a quote I had heard in my early days, always crossed my mind: "History is written by the victors"
I guess, had the Kauravas, won the war, we would have had read a different version of Mahabharata, or seen a different interpretation by Mr. BR Chopra.
While searching for my answer to Suyodhan's roots, I came across many articles claiming that the Kauravas were the real good guys, etc. I came across the names of a few books, which put across the views of the losing side, ‘Duryodhan’ by Kaka Vidhate, 'Mrityunjay' (another book on my Mahabharata hero Karna), etc.
Now, history tells us that the Pandavas were bound to win the war because they were on the side of truth, (dharma). The online articles ask us to take a closer look at what actually happened in the war. Each one of the Kaurava commanders were killed rather than defeated (‘hatya’ as they call it as opposed to ‘vadh’).
1) Bhishma was killed when he refused to fight Shikhandi
2) Drona was mercilessly beheaded after he laid down his arms on hearing the false news of his son’s death.
3) Karna was defeated when he was without his weapons trying to get his wheel out of a ditch.
Till now, we generally accepted all this, since, our books told us that the Pandavas were 'right'. Our history regards him as a villain and the instigator of the war. Whereas, the articles tell an interesting and often, heart-touching tale of Duryodhan, a prospective (and maybe, even rightful) emperor wronged by fate, his father, his friends and his dear ones, leaving him to wage a lonely battle to get what he regarded as rightfully his in life.

Now, after reading all this, the only thought that comes to my mind is, SO WHAT?? One side was right and one was wrong (Kauravas or Pandavas), or maybe both sides were wrong (in their own ways). The story served its purpose- Good over Bad. It is meant to teach us something, and it does. Though Pandavas' actions are still not highly appreciated by everybody, and thats why Ramayana is considered a more revered book than Mahabharata. In Ramayana, one kills a demon, in Mahabharata, one kills humans, ones own brothers.
We are forgetting the purpose of these texts in our lives. These were not written to prove who is right or who is wrong, but to guide us in our life by making the right choices. It shouldn't matter whether the Pandavas were right or wrong. What they did was ultimately shown as good or bad. We need to pick up the good points of each individual and mould it into our character. (For example: Karna's generosity)
I am fortunate enough to look at these things the way i am looking now. But many of us do not want to budge from our stands ,and perceive things from a narrow point of view. Its views and opinions like these which lead to communalism, conflicts and religious fundamentalism.

I guess its never too late to be human, all we have to do is open our eyes....

P.S: I do intend to read the book ‘Duryodhan’ by Kaka Vidhate and 'Mahabharat ki ek Saanjh' by B.B.Aggarwal soon