Posted on by nikita

Puzzling realities

canal in venice at dusk

At an impressionable age, I had watched Amitabh and Zeenat taking a romantic gondola ride through the canals of Venice, singing the famous romantic song, Do lafzon ki hain… Since then, my younger self considered Venice to be the epitome of romance. 

As I haven’t been able to visit Venice, I decided to bring the place to me. I bought a jigsaw puzzle of a scenic Venice sunset. Simple.

Puzzles and books bring to you the places you cannot go. 

It took me around 3-4 hours to complete the puzzle, as many of the tiny pieces are just splashes of colour in red, yellow, green, blue, violet, pink, and orange. Identifying the shapes of colour blobs was time-consuming. 

Since the job of a puzzle is to puzzle you, you play with that definite understanding; nevertheless, after watching a YouTube video I chanced upon, it seemed that the LoP’s attempt to draw an analogy between the PM and a magician in the recent LS session was more baffling. Mr Gandhi’s beating-around-the-bush way of building up his arguments on the government’s intent regarding the Women’s Reservation Bill seemed entertaining to many present there. 

While the leaders are entertained in Parliament from time to time, a daily dose of entertainment comes to me from across my balcony in the form of the man in boxer shorts, lounging (sometimes, tossing and turning) on the balcony, soaking up some Vitamin D. By the size of his paunch and his saggy chests, which are visible when he sits upright, he seems to be in his late 60s. 

By no means should my describing his body provoke you to think that I seek pleasure in body-shaming someone. Not at all. At the same time, it can’t be expected of me to close my eyes to the reality unfolding every summer morning in front of my eyes while I water my plants. This would be like asking many of you to stop gazing at the body of a scantily dressed female performer, dancing to the tune of an item song with provocative lyrics in many Bollywood movies.

Does it ring any bells? 

Indisputably, objectification of women in advertisements, movies, and music videos passed off as entertainment has been normalized to such an extent that it seamlessly fits like a piece of a puzzle into the so-called cultured-society framework. 

While certain concepts central to patriarchal society are acceptable to most, significant concepts like sexuality education that can help society become safe and truly progressive are brushed under the carpet. Generally, by both adult genders.

Recently, I happened to watch a solo drama exploring varied themes like child abuse, innocence, relationships, bullying, and so on. The space, accommodating a small group of around 40-50 people, had an adult audience across generations.  Most of them looked bewildered after the show, as they were ignorant of the content. Sophistication brought them to the show to get entertained, but they left feeling disillusioned. Presumably. The expressions on their faces looked like the multi-coloured pieces of my puzzle scattered across my dining table. Disorganized and chaotic.  

A thought-provoking show that it was, I came home to the tiny pieces of my puzzle lying haywire. Once again, I interlocked them into a coherent image of the Venetian sunset before a good night’s sleep.

*****

Teenager 1: Consulting a therapist or AI?
Teenager 2: Take a guess. 

Posted on by nikita

The pop-up power

It was a Sunday morning. My mom was reading a newspaper as part of her daily ritual after a typical guju breakfast. I sat beside her and started reading an online news article. While she was calmly leafing through the pages, without being distracted by the unanimated ads that filled most of the space in the paper, I was annoyingly busy hitting the little cross sign on the pop-up ads.

Pop-ups intrude on every nanosecond of your reading. The moment you try to read an article with the newly practiced concentration on your phone, a pesky ad, like the Jack in the box, suppressed for a long time, pops out, not frightening you as its job demands, but leaving you irritated. 

And the more frustrating aspect is the futile attempts to get rid of them, as they are interspersed throughout the article, much like eternal potholes on the roads, regardless of their size. The article text and the ads keep shifting since the browser, over-stuffed with other dynamic elements like images and video clips, takes time to complete loading, thereby disrupting your reading experience. In the bid to aim for the cross, when you click on the ad in utter exasperation, you are immediately transported to a new world with more information. 

Most of the time, these ads are none other than the ‘chosen ones’ by the new man-made God — the AI. Man proposes, AI exposes. He is the modern omniscient who knows your likes and dislikes. He is cognizant of your wants. He listens to you without you being aware of his presence. His intrusion into your life has almost become uncontrollable. 

Never summon a power you can’t control.

                                                              Yuval Noah Harari, in one of his interviews

Such unbridled power of technology reminds me of the celestial tree mentioned in the ancient India scriptures, though its symbolic significance varies in different religions. What AI is to the modern world, the Kalpavriksha — a wish-fulfilling tree — was to the people in ancient times. Their desires were granted at the snap of a finger — much like a click on your phone today. Who knows, those who developed AI may have drawn inspiration from yet another Indian belief and tradition —  just like many other Indian religious and cultural practices from the primordial world, which are often presented as scientific discoveries or inventions by the West, such as intermittent fasting and meditation.

Whoever is the controller — the Divine or the (divine:)) data — currently, India, Bharata, seems to be rejoicing in reclaiming its power as the guardian of the sone ki chidiya by attracting foreign investors through the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with various countries, the latest being with the UK. (By the time my blog is published, there could be more on the list.) 

To the uninitiated, India’s economy had surpassed the UK in 2022 to become the world’s fifth-largest economy. Currently, in 2025, it has surpassed Japan, positioning itself as the fourth-largest economy, according to IMF.

See the irony of it all. The British people, who once almost caged the sone ki chidiya, are now seeking India’s help to boost their sluggish economy. 

The colonizers, who left their imprint on India’s social and cultural identity, are today impressed by India’s digital identity — the Aadhaar system. Prime Minister Starmer has shown interest in emulating such a model, modifying it to suit his country’s needs.

And the irony doesn’t end here. The Indian Air Force will soon be training fighter pilots in the UK. 

Undoubtedly, life is a full circle.

***

Click, click, click …poof, poof, poof … Mom, can I borrow the newspaper if you are done reading?

***

Me: What’s all this Gen Z protest about?
Friend: AI. American Interference. 

HAPPY DIWALI and A WONDERFUL NEW YEAR

Source of the image – https://shorturl.at/bv1XQ