Why did I do that...!!

In my last blog, http://ggnath.blogspot.com/2010/07/who-devil-is-ggnath.html I had mentioned the incident where I stamped my feet on my first ever salary cover. Let us start our discussion on that.

My friend 'Subbu' Subramanian has disagreed with that. You may read his comment on the same page. This blog is more of an explanation of what I think about money, and why I did that act.!

First, 'Subbu' is right in his mentioning that Money is just a tool. Its only man who adds value to it. But, he contradicts his own expression when he earlier said, money along with sex and love as the greatest virtue.

Lets just draw the distinction here, shall we? First, Sex. Sex, as a biological necessity is to be respected. And cherished. But, when it comes to partner....!!! The fight between two or more members of the species to mate with that one attractive member is what makes the matter complex. In all the other species, the alpha male has to prove its superiority over other members to attract the 'mate', by whatever way works for that species. In Humans, we found a way around. 'Marriage'. Its an ingenious way to solve the issue for stone age people. Unfortunately, we are still having it. Will talk about this more elaborately in the future blogs.

Next, Love. Love is just an emotion like any other. But, its completely exclusive of 'altruism'. People give more respect to love than it deserves. And I believe people confuse love with lust, desire, passion and greed. I will define this later.

Now, to the topic I want to discuss here in this blog, Money.

Will start with history. In the earlier time when humans (especially homo sapiens - not homo erectus and homo neanderthalensis) were just "hunter - gatherers", there was no need for a tool for transaction of value. They all lived together, with the strongest of the members going for the hunt and feeding the young and women. Then as evolution history goes, we developed intelligence, and used that to hunt, by building tools. Even then, humans lived in close groups. Within the geographical limit they covered, they never had the need or chance to interact with other groups. (It is still a mystery to anthropologists as to how human species spread across the globe) They kept moving in groups for food, and when encountered threat or competition from rival groups for land which offers better food, they started to form a close bond within their group and hatred with anyone from rival group who competed for food. This in-group versus out-group rivalry is a very common feature in all species. At that time, any mouth competing for the food available was perceived as a threat to your own survival.

Then came agriculture and better survival tools. Man was able to defend himself from other animals by these tools. (See, Engineers like me, saved the world then too ) Agriculture made sure that humans survived better and also made sure that food was available throughout the weather cycle, come rain or shine. This prolonged human's ability to live longer. This, and the advancement of human language and other reasoning abilities, led to civilizations settling down along rivers building a substantial settlement. This led to work other than hunting, and not everybody can hunt. But, some were good at tool building and other stuff, rather than hunting or agriculture. Now, with growing population, you need to ensure that evrybody puts efforts for their food. But, now comes the question. How do you define, who deserves what, for their work? And watch out here..... Until this time, the tool of transaction never occurred. It was only about food and survival, and what you can do to get your food. So, at this time, based on the complexity of your work, and exclusivity of your skill, you can trade with the farmer. (I am still not sure, how they worked out, who owns the farmland and how they defined land ownership, and inherited it) The chain went like this.... Some brilliant guy worked for a farmer on other stuff like building him a house, or providing him farm tools, or defense tools and got paid in food grains. Then another less brilliant guy worked for this brilliant guy for some less complicated tasks, like carrying the tools around for him, or fetching raw materials for his tools and got paid from this brilliant guy in, again, food grains.

Even when money in various forms (peg, shell, coins, promissory notes, et al....) is used in place of 'barter' system for several thousand years, it was not until recent centuries, that 'commodity money' is used for trading. This 'commodity money' is valued (typically) against Gold reserves and its demand. And this value is set as a relative value for all the commodities to be traded. This is where all the problem began.

When humans were trading under 'barter' system, they only traded what they had in hand. For example, I would trade a food crop, only after I cultivate it. So, the actual value of trade depended on the value of the produce traded. When 'money' is involved, future is involved. A future with uncertainty. With speculation. And promises (sometimes unfulfilled).

Of all the species in Earth, humans are the only ones with a clear vision of future. We are the only ones, who do things, which are not necessary for survival. This idea of future is involved in money. So, rather than thinking about what to have now, to survive now, we started thinking about, what should we need to have for an uncertain future. This uncertainty has triggered humans to do things differently. Rather than trading what they actually have, humans started bargaining on promises. Of course, this has driven the desire to have better future and has accelerated growth in terms of luxurious and easy living.

This is what I tried (and still do) to avoid in my career. For a promise of better pay, I wouldn't let my decision waver. I am now making enough money to have a decent living, though I have not paid a single penny to my parents (until I write this very sentence). But, earning for my living is not a primary concern in deciding my career path. I wanted to be sure of, not let the idea of a better future influence my career decisions. I am a big spender of course. Until now, my bank savings account always read zero balance on 18th of every month (bill payment day for my credit card.....). But, if I start to make compromises for a better pay, one day I will end up at a point of regret in my career. Even after staying a bit stubborn, and switching many jobs, I haven't achieved what I set to achieve in my career. Had I compromised for a better pay, I won't be able to forgive myself when I look back from my deathbed. That's why I pledged myself on my first salary cover, stamping on it, reminding me of the actual value of that paper currency.

And I am happy to state that, so far I have not been running after money, and keep money, and the desire to earn under my control.

When last year I had a job offer for almost double the amount of my then salary, with more perks in a Texas, U.S. based job, I rejected it, since it didn't meet my career interests. When casually mentioning this to my friend, he advised me that, I should have accepted that offer. His argument? "Anyway, its more or less the same job profile you are having now (which incidentally, I hate), with double the money, additional perks along with U.S. stay, then what's the problem...?!". To which I stunned him with a spur of the moment comment (which I later regretted, since there was a chance of him taking it personally, but luckily, my friend understands my passion for machines).

And the comment, (Content warning!!!!!!!)

"Just because you are raped once, it is not okay to do prostitution, no matter how good the money is"

Who the devil is ggnath?

Well, Its been some time, since my previous post. Like I said in my previous blog, I thought I would give a brief introduction about myself, before I venture into ideas I would like to discuss.

I have been thinking very seriously about what to write about me. In order to tell you about myself, first I must know about myself. This is where I hit the roadblock. Its not the mysterious, spiritual, "Who are you?" question that scares me. I know about myself. But, every living day, I learn new things and I keep changing. So, rather than telling you, 'Who I am', I think its better to tell you 'Who I was'. Guess, that would give you some idea. But, I am not going to tell you, what I think about me. I will tell you, what I think as some significant moments and stuff about my past. And I would let you draw your own conclusions about me. After all, when I try to present you an idea, what you have left is that - perspectives.

Now, about the topic,

Name: Gokula Gopinath.

Father: Balakrishnan
Mother: Uma Maheswari
Younger Brother: Janarthanan

Born in Chennai. Grew up in Sivakasi during my school (SHNV, Sivakasi) days. Did my Mechanical Engineering graduation in Mookambigai College of Engineering, Trichy. (Honestly, I just visited this place occasionally, on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Hardly attended classes on Mondays and Thursdays) Went to Chennai to start my career. Started my career in Coimbatore, then Pallagoundenpalayam, then back to Coimbatore, then to Chennai, got a job in Bangalore, then again to Chennai for a month, then to Pune (what I call 'shithole' - and I am still stuck in it).

Like I said, I would tell you the significant things in my past. Judging by the significance I give to things that has happened to me and around me, I believe you can arrive at your own idea about me.

In my young days, I was an angry and at the same time, active kid. You can say I behaved like a spoiled brat. But, not always. Whenever I don't understand things around me, that would come out as anger. I never hated anyone for disagreeing with me. I only hated those who can't convince me with their way of doing things. I used to respond well, if someone tells me why I should or shouldn't do some things, rather than simply telling me what or what not to do. Always intrigued by the one unanswerable question - WHY?

Part of the anger came from my mother, and some of the antics she had done when I didn't behave - like hanging me upside down. As I grew up, even my mother also grew up, and fortunately for my brother, she didn't try that route of parenting. But, to be fair, he was always well behaved and never needed any of my mom's 'unique' parenting technique. Like many boys, my father was the most influencing factor in my life. Most of my social skills started to improve after I started to carefully notice, how people are responding to my father.

With my brother though it was like most families, I guess. Always fighting each other. Surprisingly, when I look back, my brother is the only person in my life, apart from one incident in my school where I hit my friend, whom I had acted violently and got physical many times.

That was more than a short intro.

Now, about the significant things.

Was a techno-geek in my young days. Still am, but not to that extent.

Love machines more than anything in life.

Nicknamed by my friend in college as 'pattarai'. (blacksmith shop)

Was denied 'hall-ticket' for public exam, for Higher-secondary school, by my teachers for fear of losing 100% passing rate. Got it somehow, and passed it somehow with 77.5%

Was the class-leader from my kindergarten to higher secondary. Forced to not stand for "School Pupil Leader" election by school top brass.

Involved/triggered/lead a school boycott, and still not expelled from school, a very rare thing in my school history.

Within a month of joining the hostel in my college first-year with a strength of more than 90, with students from all over South India, was selected as the 'Student Representative for First Year students'.

Resigned on the same day, when I was supposed to receive my first ever salary, effectively working for that company for free.

After receiving my first ever salary, from the second employer, I threw down the cover with cash and stood over it, stamping my feet on it, telling myself, "Never chase money and never compromise your career for money"

Diagnosed with initial stages of hypertension in a very early age.

Later when I did research and studied more about cognitive science, I realized I had, and may be still have, "cyclothymia".

Comments about me, by my peers/colleagues/friends,

"How do you think this way, talk about these things, and still be happy always?"

"I know this much about you, 'You would make a really good husband' "

"One thing I have noticed with you is, as much as you have strong feeling about any issue, you also have the ability to have a laugh at it."

"You always make the issue at hand, an enjoyable one, even if it is a problem."

"You have a clarity of thought. That's why I always come to you for advice. Unlike many I have met so far in my life, you have the capacity to think clearly, and you know exactly what you want."

"Of all the students we have had here, you are the only one who asks meaningful questions."

"He talks a lot, about many things. But, its hard to understand."

"Please do it for me, ... for us. We have many restrictions in life, such as family, et al. I can't take decisions on my own, as I always have to consider my wife's well-being, about my parents, and so many things. But, with you, I have always noticed the passion for doing things your own way. Please do it for me."

"He always complains about things, finds fault with everything"

"You have a star. You always trigger panic and anger in people. Wherever you go, you seem to attract a lot of controversy"

"You're the type of masculine character, where women would find you easy to move with, but always afraid of getting close to you. Women won't like the way you talk. As much as they say they want it, women don't like straight-forward guys"

"Thats Gokul, intelligent kid."

''Eternal critic"

"Why won't you listen? Don't always see things in your way. Admit that there is an alternative, and it need not be a correct one"

"Just because its you, I am putting some effort, trying to convince you to marry. If its any of my other friends, I wouldn't even bother. For your type, it should be easy to handle anyone, let alone your wife. You are of the patient, calm, cool type, who shouldn't have problem in married life"

When asked by his wife, about why I am saying 'no' to marriage, and whether its because of 'any previous love failure?', my friend laughed out so loud saying, "Love failure?! For who? Him?, Noooooo way....."

I guess, those comments might have given you a brief hint of what kind of person I am. You will know more when we discuss about things/ideas more in the future in my blog.

But, there is one damning comment many people have passed to me,

YOU THINK TOO MUCH......

What is this blog about?

Well, why write it? What's the use? Who's going to read it? And who gains what out of this blog? And why now?

To be honest, the first and foremost reason is, it would be ridiculously stupid and crazy, if I just talk about all the thoughts going through my brain, in my room to myself. So, I needed an audience. Hmmnn..... I do have a few friends, (not many to be honest) who would give me ears, and argue with me, for the kind of things I think about, and the kind of ideas I generate from the knowledge I had gained by being alive all these 29 years. But, I am not satisfied with the answers I get from my friends alone. I want more. I want more perspectives, alternate theories, more life experiences to be discussed, and from everyone, rather than from my chosen friends. And all my friends are male gender of our species. I never got the ideas/perspectives of other genders. I don't know about the ideas of a woman, with concerns specific to that gender. Worse still, I don't know - almost nothing - about trans-gender persons.

This blog is about 'IDEAS'. Ideas which you always wanted to discuss, but somehow hindered by the society, and discouraged not to take up. Ideas which could have enhanced our life. Ideas which challenge everything, including yourself. I want this blog to create new debates, transaction of ideas, shatter all the taboos, at least within my circle of friends and acquaintances. This blog is mostly about the questions that have popped up in your head, but told by your peers and elders, when asked, to 'SHUT UP'.

Think about it.

How did we change, from a civilization which worked on mathematics on helio-centric model as early as 400 BCE to a stupid group of kids whose sole aim of studying mathematics is to get a good job from a well-paying 'Corporation'?

How did we change from, great art to 'maan ada mayil ada'? yes, the same shitty TV show I never watch, and millions of budding(?) artists watch with hope(!)....?

How did we change from great debaters to microphone/paper-weight/chair - throwing parliamentarians?

How did we reduce Hinduism, a great set of philosophy to Hinduism, a mere stupid religion fighting the Abrahamic religion for numbers, ultimately generating Hindutva terrorism?

How did we go from 'Vatsayana' to innumerable cases of rape, and worse, marital rape? Why is 'sex', the physical act instinctively coded on everybody's DNA, essential for the survival of our very species (next to food), is a matter of taboo?

Why? What? How?

These are the questions I want to discuss with this whole wide world of web. Questions which were answered early, but time has erased. Answers which made the 'powers of to be' less comfortable. To challenge the self-proclaimed authority, To challenge yourself.

If you want to know who is responsible for all the degradations which has plagued our society, look around, ask everyone, but also look in the mirror.

Am I honest? Do I have the intellectual courage to question myself? Do I have the courage to say 'sorry' and correct myself? Do I have the open-mindedness to see things around subjectively, not just objectively? Do I have the moral competence to make judgments myself, instead of relying on some authority? How to give authority to someone to run this society? How do I choose?

These are questions, I have noticed, people are afraid of asking. Many think, they are liberal-minded, yet preserving their culture, with fair knowledge of how the system works, and how to work around it for survival....!

How wrong that turned out to be..! One thing I have noticed about people is, they confuse life vs being alive. Confuse life-style to survival. Confuse wealth with success. Many don't even know what happiness is. I see people around, who think and treat 'happiness' as some drug-induced state of mind.

The way I see it, every individual, not just a generation, has the obligation to make things easy and better for the next individual and the next generation. Otherwise, I wouldn't be enjoying all these things I enjoy now, if it wasn't for individuals who worked to make this world a better place to live in. With my respects to those, lets sort out all the issues for ourselves and for the future generation.

At this point, I need to tell you the details. Who am I? What do I believe in? Why do I want to live? How do I want to live? Well, that's a long story to cover in one post. So, I would rather give a brief introduction about my past, in my next blog, and as and when I write blogs on issues of importance for me..... you'll get to know.

This blog is not about complaining, whinging, whining, mud-slinging, self-pity or my own sad story. And don't think of me as a wry person, who sees things in black&white. I am as much fun-loving person as any. You'll find humour too in my blog. This blog, again, is about discussion of ideas. This blog is about seeking answers. And the first step to get the best answer which benefits everybody is,

ASK THE RIGHT QUESTION.....

So, I request all the people with 'intellectual' honesty and courage to actively participate in this blog, write comments, help me refine the ideas, and ultimately make me and yourself a better person. Unless we work on the individual level, we won't be able to appeal to society, get them to think... because, society is nothing but a collection of individuals.

As for people who think, they know everything, well, I know you wouldn't come back after reading this blog, for fear of losing, what I call, 'illusion of certainty'.

Nothing is certain. Nothing is absolute. Everything is relative.

WILL COME BACK SOON.....

Patriotism...??

These are the two postings I posted in the forum 'Atheists', discussing about 'Patriotism'. I'll discuss this in detail in the future...

The first one...


Patriotism, can be accepted if it is taken as a cultural, ethnic identity. But, not as a divisive force as religion.

Cultural identity of the past - the one which tells, from which civilization you come from - can be a good thing, as humans' natural tendency is to identify yourself with a set of ideas and norms. Humans always have this in-group, out-group division. It's just the part of evolutionary make-up which was imbibed in us as a part of the survival instinct. This can be broken only if you trust the next guy absolutely, regardless of his identity. This is achievable, but hard, I mean real hard.

But, patriotism is not a part of cultural identity. Its just the jargon of some political blood-suckers.

Patriotism, in my opinion divides humans, and instead of serving the theoretical purpose of dividing nations into boundaries for political management of the people of that demographic, it invokes hatred, and let people turn a blind-eye for atrocities happening in other countries.

Take African countries for instance. Thousands are dying everyday. Is patriotism helping the cause. NO. Why? That's not my country....

But, in a country like India, when Mumbai is attacked, people in Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Bangalore and other major cities feel sympathetic and panic that, they may be next. This is what patriotism has achieved. Unite people by fear. You are susceptible to fear not because you oppose/support the ideologies of the terrorist, but you know you may be attacked next, since you are in the same nation. I hardly see any beneficial thing out of patriotism.

Patriotism, like religion, has the potential to divide people. Otherwise, we could have easily said, you keep your own god to you, and I won't bother, and there simply is no reason for a group called, "Atheists". Is it?


And now the second one......written two days later....


I want to re-iterate the point I had written in my previous post...

"Patriotism, like religion, has the potential to divide people. Otherwise, we could have easily said, you keep your own god to you, and I won't bother, and there simply is no reason for a group called, "Atheists". Is it? "

The idea of nation is a geo-political one and it was okay when all the ethnic groups were living separately. But, now with the entire international community getting closer and unified by this new globalized consumer culture, patriotism is getting increasingly irrelevant.

I am against any idea which has the potential to divide people. But, any idea which has the function of letting people identify with, and organize for the betterment of the entire society, is more than welcome.

Please don't confuse Cultural background from Patriotism. If Patriotism is a good idea, then India should be united and peaceful. But, sadly that's not the case. Look at Kashmir, North-Eastern states, Telangana, Maharashtra/Karnataka, and more importantly water sharing issues between Tamilnadu and Karnataka.

Hypothetically, if it is a single state (say the border includes region in Tamilnadu and Karnataka into a single entity), the entire issue would have been solved by this time. There wouldn't be so much hatred and no killings and no farmer-suicides. If someone from Tamilnadu or Karnataka (most of them are not even from agricultural background - many had never even watered a plant) can hate the other just because they live on that side of border, even inside a single patriotic entity 'India', then imagine the divisiveness triggered by patriotism in a international scale.

Well, we may know the difference between patriotism or nationalism, but many people don't. That's why I reject all the ideas which even has the 'potential' to divide our species.

What's wrong with calling ourselves humans? Can't we shed all the other ideas which creates false-pride and ultimately hatred...!!!

Tamil Culture...!!!!!

I don’t hate god/gods. I can’t hate something which doesn’t even exist. Even though, I have recently come to even hate the 'idea' of a creatonist god/gods, what I hate even more are the priests and preachers who claim to be the agents of god/gods. These are the ones that deceit people, make them stupid, and not let the people think for themselves. Well. for one, there's so much to be gained from stupid people who 'believe, but don't think': power, money, control, et al. So, its understandable, that these priests/preachers would do anything to have the people under their spell.

But, there are two different sets of priests/preachers. One kind, where they themselves believe sincerely what they preach. People like, Gandhi, Richard Harris, Vivekananda, Ramana, Osho (initially at least), to name a very few (well, I don't know much). I disagree with them on many accounts. But, I don't hate them. In fact, Gandhi is one of my favourite personalities.

But, I hate people like these scandal happy guru's who do what they do, for the only reason - to exploit people. I hate them so much, and the idiots who follow them blindly.

But, the recent set of events has made me laugh like anything. Here's a male guru, who goes to bed with a woman, and someone films them and posts on the media all over. If anything, its a serious case of "breach of privacy". I think, Ms.Ranjitha should at least sue the media for "breach of privacy"(assuming she is not the one who filmed this and gave them to media). What did she do wrong? Even if you take into account this male guru, who calls himself "Paramahamsa Nithyananda" and his preachings of celibacy, and control of mind over material pleasures and the hypocritical deed of breaking those himself; there is nothing wrong in what Ms.Ranjitha did. Why does she need to be treated like trash? And why mention her as 'actress' every time the media notes it. They (media) are giving the impression that, going to bed with a divorced ex-actress is more sinful than it would have been with anyone else.

And, the following riots are plainly stupid. It simply shows that people haven't learned anything from the past. And, what is this cry over "Tamil Culture"? I don't know what Tamil Culture is! These are the same people who voted for a guy, who had gone to bed with more than one woman, to be their chief minister, And, lakhs of Taxpayers' money is wasted on security and travel costs for every time he travels from one wife's house to other wife's. Maybe, they voted him, because the other choices were even worse according to Tamil Culture...!!!!