Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

Hypocrite. Hypocrisy. Civilization. Manner. Discipline. Law. Order. 

"Fuck all !"

We are living the life of constant delusion, hypocrisy, mimicry, so called moral ethics, spirituality and  so on. We pass on the similar tendencies to our kids so profoundly. We constantly suppress the dark side of our life, lets say innate, absolute self and demonstrate a drama of social happiness constricted with morality, ethics, values, standard norms. We cry in the dark and laugh in the public. We delete the true self portraits from our digital albums and keep the artificial colourful picture and show it to the public. Why? 

Mimicry. We mimic the so called civilized people who often put masks in their true self. We mimic heroes. We mimic celebrities. We mimic characters on the TV shows. We mimic our parents. We mimic teachers. We mimic everything that gives you a false hope, happiness, recognition, reputation. But why do we do that what we do. We cannot be our true self;the self guided by our instincts. Body. Why we always control our animalistic instinct, brutal force that is spontaneous, innate and immortal with something fussy, hypocritical ideology of false hope and identity.

Hypocrisy.  Hypocrisy. Hypocrisy. 

Everywhere you go, you meet the people who are not real. They are not true. They will greet you. They will smile at you. They talk nicely. Think, what they expect from you. Reciprocity. You have to greet them back. You have to smile. You have to be nice with them. How this structure of social engagement, social relation works? What is the foundation of modern civilization? If we are educated ourselves with so many so called  good stuffs, why crimes rate is increasing, wars happening, people are being killed as cattle in the wars of Syria, Rwanda, Armenia, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Burma and many more. Why America, North Korea, Russia are spending billions of dollars for the preparation of another apocalyptic war? 

After all, what is the driving force behind human atrocities. The answer is simple. The true human nature, animalistic instinct. 

We have read history of doomed civilization. Among them, Roman Civilization is most read and heard one. There are the ruins of the those civilization in the museum. Roman civilization was not doomed overnight due to earthquake, flood, plague or by the tides of the ocean . There was a constant war, atrocities, murder. One of the major reasons of the killing each other was sex. And sex is known as animalistic instinct. Major recorded crimes, major wars, domestic violence in the world history are linked with sex which is also known as romance.

We human have always double face. If an animal wants to have a sex, he finds a partner and have sex wherever it finds comfortable. They do not have public and private space. Privacy or personal boundaries are learned skills. We were taught in our very young age and we are passing the same practice to our kids. What we do when we find a young girl naked  in a forest alone? What is the reaction of our body first? Then what comes after? Mind. Society. Social surveillance devices like social norm, mores and values. And we control our primary instinct with artificial man made rule wired in the human brain.

Native tribe in the African forest can stay naked with their family, with other people in the group, have sex whenever they want. You know why?

Because they are not taught the artificial rules; norms and values.

Why modern generation is suffering from depression, insanity and other mental illness? Because of the repression of the originality, true self, human instinct. 

Lets talk one of the social institution which is constantly forming  other sub institutions in human society. Marriage is originally union of two genders, two opposite sex under social thread of norms. They vow or make promise in the name of god to live and support in their whole life. And we've seen those marriages crumble in a couple of years resulting in murder, suicide and separation. Many of them life with constant domestics and treaties. There is always fight between mind and body. We are always forming discourses, set of rules to control the natural instinct. As a result, todays society is more like robot than a human. 

Today, in the most advanced countries like the USA, Canada,Australia, the social and personal relation like greet, chitchat, kiss look like a mobile app. You install in the head, and trigger with consciousness. In fact, the big truth is we all human being have two rival natures Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.

Through the Swirls of Puff

A Chinese Canadian man about sixty five with grey hair jumps out of the van, walks to the bush ushering by a flash light at midnight. Before he approaches to the suspect possibly hiding in the bush, he radios to the Dispatch.

"Mike one to Dispatch"

"Go ahead"

"Can you keep eye on me next to the south pass gate in a bush. There is a couple doing some suspicious activities."

"10-04".

He holds a flash light in his right hand and walks into the bush. He sees two individuals drinking alcohol hiding in the bush. The sketchy man come closer and says" how is going on?"

"Are you guys doing okay", China man sounds like a police officer than a Security guard.

"We are great. My partner wants little rest. We will fuck off this place soon," he rolls his eyeballs, clears his throat and spits on the ground.

" You guys have to go now", says China man. 

"Mike one from Dispatch"

"Go ahead".

" Can you give me more information what is going on?"

" They look okay. I asked them to leave the property. They said they will."

" 10-04. I have them in my camera now. I will let you know if any thing comes out."

China man is known as Mike one. Mike one is his call sign on the duty. Everyone in the building knows him by his call sign rather than his real name. 

"Mike one to Dispatch"

"Go ahead"

" I am resuming my ground patrol."

10-04.

China man listens classic music in the FM. He stops by the Rolax South VIP overhead door, opens the door and keeps it wide, takes a cigarette from the packet and in a while puffs circles over his head.

"Mike one to Dispatch"

"Go ahead".

" Can you put camera on the man behind Hall A inside the recycle bin".

"10-04".

Mike one stops his van close to the bin, lowers the window screen and looks at the man.

The sketchy man comes out of the bin with torrents of flies in his body carrying a sackful of recycles. He puts his sack on the ground and looks at the china man without any reaction as if he knows the china man will not take his sack away. That is it.

"Howz going on boss"?, he smiles. " Today my girl friend has appointment in the hospital. Whole lot of shit is happening in her life".

China man has no clue what he is talking about. He knows that these sketchy people have a way to be friendly.

"You got the whole lot of stuff today. Don't make a mess around. I am okay with you." China man says.

"Mike one to Dispatch"

"Go ahead".

" The guy in the bin is regular. He is warned not to make a mess. He should be okay"

"10-04".

Then China man drives to the Macdonalds drive thru, buys a large coffee with double cream one suger.

He used to drink triple triple while working as a police officer in the counties. Recently, the family doctor asked him to cut the sugar as  the sugar level was high in his blood.

Holding the cup in his right hand, he exits to 145 Ave rode and drive to the westbound. Every night, after midnight he goes out of the property for  five to ten minutes which he calls "hookers tour". 

There are sketchy girls on the sideways of 125st in between 112 Ave to 118 ave. They are called hookers since they are not the professional sex traders. What they were doing was not legal. But the China man knows them very well. He often says, " hookers are like cockroaches, they appear and disappear right a way."

"Seven eleven on 118 Ave 81 st is what he named a "Hooker Headquarter".

After the hooker tour, he goes back to the old Squad Office, grabs chair from the locksmith's desk and rests buttocks on it and then whole body. After a while he starts snoring.

" Mike one from Dispatch".

(Silent)

"Dispatch to Mike one", voice raises little louder.He picks up the microphone and presses, " Go Ahead".

" I see two individuals hanging around the shipping and receiving. Can you please go and check whats going on".

"10-04".

He drives to the shipping and receiving, stops the van at hundred meter distance and watches the activities of them.

"Dispatch from Mike one"

"Go ahead"

" I got eye on the male and female in the bush by the game day door. They look okay".

"10-04"

Then he heads towards the strip club, parks next to it and watches the stripers who come out bare leg for smoking. He lights another cigarettes and watches the legs through the swirls of the smoke fume.

After a while he decides to go for interior building patrol. He radios Dispatch, mounts on the T3 wheeler and drives through all the halls and gallery.    

When he enters the washroom to take pee, he notices a syringe with blood stain on the floor. He radios Dispatch, " Mike one to Dispatch".

"Go ahead".

" I have found a syringe in the hall echo washroom  which looks like recently used. I am going to put the gloves and dispose in the container. Can you please give me 10-27".

"10-04".

He puts the gloves, picks the syringes, puts into the plastic container and stores in the storage box. 

He looks at the time in his mobile. It is already 0530hrs. He types narratives in the perspective file hurriedly. Morning crew are already in and changing the uniform.

" Is there anything to pass over", an oversized officer with a crooked nose and vulture eye asks without any facial expression. 

"Fuck all happened".

China man takes off his duty belt, throws in his locker and books off the shift.

He walks towards his car lazily.  

   

Earth Matters

Earth Matters: Land as  material and Metaphor in the arts of Africa

Karen E. Milbourne

Land, Landscape,earth, and territory are not synonyms. Indeed, even one of these words can mean different things in different cultures. The word earth conjures associations that can diverse according to personal perception and disciplinary focus. For some earth equates with nature, the whole ecosystem. But for some other, it represents only the land.

In this book the writer is trying to show how African art and literature, music and cinema are heavily based on earth metaphors. When we see visual arts or read written literature, land, forest, river, trees, animals are the metaphors used to show the human relation, psychology and temperament. 

Wangechi Mutu in The Power Of Earth in My Work writes " we are farmer people. My family is from Nyeri, the farthest north town in Kenya. Nyeri is very green land."

Giwoyo is one of the oldest and most longstanding genre of pende masks and it likely represents, in elegant and abstract form, a body resting on a funerary bier with its arms wrapped next to its sides, legs outstretched, and feet pointed upwards."

The metaphors used in this form of art are the nature or the earth. Any painting, poems, novel and movies have astounding description of rivers, hills, mountains, forests, oceans and so on. This means human life is interwoven with nature and a part of nature itself. 

This is a large book extensively elaborated on African arts in relation to nature or earth. A good book to read.        

What Would Buddha Say? 1,501 right speech Technique Barbara Ann Kipfer

" Learning to take care of your speech is learning to take care of thought, feelings and mind." Barbara is a Buddhist philosopher and a teacher of Buddha's eight fold path to Enlightenment. In this book, there are numerous jewels of sentences that can change our way of communication in professional as well as personal life. 

"Listening to your words during stressful discussion is essential to avoid fuelling the fire". Such sentences looks simple and obvious but this can be a life changing for the people who often work in stressful situation in communication. She says listening thoughtfully before speaking is one of the best art of living. 

"The blow of whip raises a welt, but a blow of the tongue crushes the bones."( Apocrypha Ecclesiastics)  This is so powerful saying that if you don't think before speak and don't listen yourself first, you are putting your life at risk of losing friends forever.

 "Silence enables you to deeply listen to your environment. This includes the words as well as the subtler, unspoken messages from other people"

"Don't get angry with the insults or bad talk of others. If you laugh and ignore attempts to provoke you, people will like you, not dislike you."

"There are two keys to effective and true communication. The first is deep listening. The second is living speech."

These are only few sentences which can change the way we communicate and the way we perceive the world around us.

I highly recommend this book to keep close every time and turn a page everyday. You can read any page any day, you can seen the changes in your life.

Te Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro

Remains of the Day 

The Remains of the Day is a 1989 novel by the Nobel Prize-winning British author Kazuo Ishiguro. The story is told from a first-person point of view. The narrator, Stevens, a butler, recalls his life in the form of a diary; the action progresses from the mid-1930s through to the present. 

Lord Darlington Hall is the setting of the writers flashback where he worked as a butler, head steward of the hall. Miss Kenton worked in 1930s and 1940s with Mr Stevens. 

The story begins from the offering of the motoring trip to Stevens by the new employer Mr Farraday. However, the narrator opens with Miss Kentons letter and her interest to come back to Lord Darlington Hall to work with him.

Then Mr Stevens remembers how he was loyal to his job and ignored the love and romance with Miss Kenton.

Faraday also regrets for not having a bantering quality which his new boss likes. 

Lord Darlington hall used to be busy during second world war. Many of the political meetings would take place. As a butler, Steven's main duty was to please the boss by showing his loyalty  and hard work. Miss Kenton wanted to draw his attention several times and gave hints of love and romance. Although Mr Stevens knew it, he would think that it was unethical to have romantic relation with coworker. Mr Steven's dad used to work in the Hall. They used to have debate about his work. But Miss Stevens main intention was to draw Stevens attention towards her. But every time he would turn cold. When his father collapsed while working, it was Miss Kenton  who called Steven to see his father. When Stevens father died, it was Steven who actually was with him. Mr Steven had no time to see his dead father. It also shows that his was too loyal towards his boss.

All these-flashback during his trip shows how much she liked Mr Kenton. He now regrets of his actions. Me failed to understand the feelings of Miss Kenton who really loves him.

At their last meeting in Cornwall, Miss Kenton says that she started loving her husband and they are waiting for the grandchild.

Mr Stevens also wants to improve his bantering skill and spend his remaining life serving the Lord Darlington Hall.

When Breath Becomes Air

When Breath Becomes Air
1. This is a Memoir of a reputed neaurosergen who was diagnosed with Lung cancer at age of 36.
2. This book was written while Paul was undergoing chemotherapy.
3. This is a realization of the self when his days were numbered.
4. Gives the insight of death which is unavoidable and unpredictable.
5. There are so many truths, realizations, barganings and finally the acceptance of death.
6. The writer of this book dies while working on the final chapter which later completed by his wife Lucy.
7. As a student of literature and philosophy, Paul has referenced multiple authors and philosophers while explaining the life.
8. Lucy and Paul planned to have baby after Paul was diagnosed with cancer. They had a child. The love with his wife Lucy and the son is heartbreaking.
9. Explores the relationship  between doctors  and patients.

While reading this book I my heartbeat went up and up until I completed. The night I finished this book, I couldn't  sleep.

Taliban Shuffles by Kim Barker

Taliban Shuffle is a Memoir by a American journanist who work as a reporter in South East Asia mostly in Afganistan and Pakistan.
In this book, she has presented how Taliban rebels fight in and Afganistan, how America, Canada and other countries fought against Taliban especially  after 9/11 bombing.
As a female journalist she was sexually harassed in the public like someone grabbing her butt everytime.
This is also a political window of Pakistan. It mostly talks how the politics of Pakistan circles around Taliban militia, Indophobia and American interest.
How Julfikar Ali Bhutto, Prabez Mushroof and Nanab  Sharif
played the role in politics and their personal approach with the author.
Kim Barker is hillarious. She has documented trivial incidents of her person life and also the international political agenda in this book.

The Glass Palace : Amitav Ghosh

The Glass Palace is a historic and  political novel by Amitav Ghosh which demonstrates the lives of the people during and aftermath of colonialism in Burma, India, Malaya and Thiland. This novel not only narrates the historical documents or events but also gives the vivid description of the peoples life, their growth in terms of culture, political awareness and ultimate downfall of the characters after different wars and mutinies.
Rajkumar Raha, the central character of the book represents the rise and fall of Indian entrepreneurs in Burma. He enters Burma as an accident as he says "when I was very young I used to work on a boat, a chittagong sampan. One day we were caught in the storm...it was before I went to Mandalay."
He was caught in a net with a tortoise and finally he was thrown in the bay of Bengal. Then he first time walked to the City of Burma called Mandalay, finds a half Indian woman Ma cho who gives him shelter and food. He was nicknamed Kala. He befriended with Saya John a foreign( Malayalam) entrepreneurs who sometimes comes to visit Ma cho, a distant lover.
During the same period the Britishers attacked Mandalay and put King Thebaw and Queen Supalayet in exile in Ratnagiri, Madras along with their maids and servents. Rajkumar meets Dolly when he was participating in loot9
ing the palace with Ma cho, falls in love with her and later becomes able to marrying her.
With the mentorship of Raha John, Rajkumar becomes a successful businessman of Timber and teak. With the help of Uma, Rajkumar  meets Dolly in Ratnagiri in a dinner party . Although Dolly declined his purposal  at the first hand, after a short drama, she married with Ramkumar and had two sons Neel and Dinu. Neel dies after he was trapped by a Timber tree. He was running father's business. After his death, his wife Uma commits suicide.
Another major character of the novel is Saya John from Malaya conducting business of Timber in Burma. He is the mentor of Rajkumar. He is once a prosperous businessman, whose family disintegrated and shattered by the impact of war in Burma. He dies in the time of Japanese attack on Burma. He had once romantic relationship with Ma Cho.
His Son Matthew dies in the car accident , Allison dies in the war and Timmy moves to America.
Uma Dey is a strong female character who represents the contemporary fashion of going to America for study or better life. She is also politically aware activist who had once dispute with Rajkumar on how people like Rajkumar are corrupted in Burma or India. She was a wife of Beni Prashad Dey, a district collector of Ratnagiri. He helped Ramkumar to meet Dolly unknowingly organising a dinner party. He dies in the sea. After his death Uma lives with Dolly briefly in Burma and then flies to America.
Arjun works for National Indian Army involving in the wars of Burma and Malaya and dies in the war. This was not the Army of Indian nationalists but operated by the East India Company. He was often criticized by Uma that how such Indian youths are manipulated by the Britishers for their own benifits. He achieved nothing more than a death in the war.
Towards the end of the novel, Ghosh shows most of the families shattered by the war and insurgencies in Burma and their plight. There is brief account of General Aung  Sang's movement in Burma, independence in 1948, rise of dictatorship, rise of ethinic insurgencies during 1950s Period.
The Glass Palace represents the Palace of Mandalay which was described in the first chapter of the book and also name of the photo studio built up from the remaining of the photography equipments carefully and chieply disposed by the Japanese after war.
The book offers varieties of knowledge in history, culture and political transformation in Burma, India and other countries in surroundings.
This is a very long and detailed book that might distract readers. It needs immense patience to complete in full.

1984 by George Orwell

1984 is one of the best books in English literature for it's richness in subject matter as well as rhetorical presentation.
This book was set in the future of time 1984. It was written  in 1942. Orwell creates the setting of London, a city completely impoverished, controlled by the thought army of Big Brother. As the writer says everything has been perpetually monitored by the surveillance cameras, spy microphone and sky and land patrol by the police.
History is rewritten, documents were manipulated and circulated among the civilian. Every houses, public places, subways has the picture of Big Brother with crooked appearance constantly watching.
Winston Smith is a member of the ruling party of London. He works for the lower level,and wherever he goes, he was being monitored  constantly. Big Brother watches him through his television screen while at home or at the office.
Party invented new language called newspeak through which it controls rebellion thought against party. Even thinking against party manifesto or the party doctrine is illegal which is called thought crime.
Wilson works under the ministry of Truth and extremely frustrated by the control of the party. Love and sexual relationship is illegal unless it's for the reproduction of the party members.
Julia is a beautiful girl works for the party. She is also unhappy with the control of the party. One day Julia secretly passes note to Winston written "I Love You!". First, he thinks that she is a party's secret agent. But once he meets with her he knows that she really loves him. Julia also tells him how corrupted are the party leaders. She was sexually exploited by the party leaders. Winston doesn't believe in purity or chastity. He says the many people you have had, the more I love you. But while talking with Julia they become fearful of being caught.
Then they plan to date in the top of the hill away from the town. Julia tells him the way how to go to the hill. They meet a couple of time there enjoying freedom and romance. However they are still scared of being discovered by the surveillance audio devices.
Winston and Julia decide to rebel against the Big Brother party. One day O'Brien knows about this and invites Julia and Winston to his luxurious apartment. He was in the higher position of the ruling party. He ensures them that he also hates Big Brother and wants to revolt. He also talks about the Brotherhood party and indoctrinated them. In fact O'Brien is the spy of the party. He gives Winston a book of Goldstein "The Manifesto of the Brotherhood " to read, a book of several class based social theories. Winston reads the book.
At the meantime he knows that he was captured by the thought police. He is brainwashed completely by O'Brien and sends to room #101 where prisoners are tortured at a extreme point. O'Brien brings a cage of dangerous rats and says that he is going to set the cage to the face of Winston so that the mouse attack the noses make a hole under the cheekbones and eat up his toung. Through the series physical and mental torture, Winston is completely shattered.
At last, he is set free and meets Julia. But he doesn't  have any feelings of love towards her. He starts loving the Big Brother.

Snow

"Snow, snow, snow, dad see outside, you can see the snow. You know dad I like winter because of these beautiful snowflakes", said my little girl.
" I know, dear, your smile tells me how much you like this snow. But snow bites if you play with your bare hands sweetie". I told her.
"You are lying me, dad. Snow is soft and beautiful. They never bite. Please dad take us to play the snow", she added.
"My young girl, you don't understand what snow bites means. Snow looks soft like a feather and it is. But when you hold it, your skin burns and it affects the whole body. You have to cut off the affected parts when it gets worse."
"That is scary, dad. I will never play snow with my bare hands. Can you buy me a pair of mittens and really nice snow boots?"
"Sure, I can. But you have to give me a promise, will you"?
I asked.
"What is the promise? I don't know that", she said with her eyes wide open.
"A promise is a word given to someone to make a commitment. That means if you say "dad, I will never go out by myself until I am really grown up", you should never go out alone. If you go out alone, that means you broke the promise. Did you understand?"
" I never go outside alonem baba", she sat on my lap.
"Now your promise is say 'I never run when the roads are slippery, never touch snow with my bare hands and feet."
I said.
She said, "Done!" And raised her right hand to hi_five.

Next day,it was sunny outside and temperature was -10 degree celcious. I took my little one to the Kingsway Mall for her shopping. She was so happy knowing that she was going to get the winter stuffs and she would be allowed to play in the snow.
"Can you buy me the skate boots, baba. I like pink colour. When I get them I will go to skate and I will the winner." She said.
"Sure, I can," I can  never deny her demands. I thought a while and my inner soul told me" don't show the false hope."
I told her," my princess, I could buy you the skate boots. But you are still too young to play hockey. If you can not make a right decision and balance in the body, you may sprang your legs."
She came closer to me, stood right next to me and said " baba, baba, I am almost as tall as you. I am a big girl now. I Can play big girls games."
"Sure, you will be as tall as me  one day", I said.
"Let's go and find stuffs for you". She was quite excited to find her mittens, winter boots, winter jackets. More than that she was excited to go outside and play with the snow.
I bought her a pair of pink mittens, a pair of shoes a jacket and the winter pant.
On Saturday, we wrapped up in the winter clothes and drove to the Hewrleak park. Silver Skate festival was on. Children were having fun in snow carving, ice maze, ice sliding, Curling, kids hockey, ice skating. Family-friendly  activities were everywhere in the park. We could see people from different ethnic group enjoying the mixed up cultural programs. They were tasting  food of different nationalities.
My daughter said, " dad why people look different colours?"
I was dumbfounded. I couldn't answer  in the same way she asked me. Her demeanor was innocent without any prejudices. But for me, to answer her was full of assumptions that could be false and couldn't be.
"They are from different nationalities, so they have different colours" I said. But soon I realized that the word "nationalities" was abstract and beyond her understanding.
"Daddy, Can I have ice cream"?
There was a cottage where a vendor selling an ice cream to the kids no matter how cold it was. I said, "No".
In my understanding ice cream is only for hot days. I was surprised seeing people having ice cream and ice water in this freezing cold.
I explained her " ice creams are for the hot days to keep you cold. If you eat ice cream you might get sick."
She looked at me really disappointed and said, " dad, are they all gonna be sick eating ice cream?" I had no answer.
Okay honey I am going to buy ice cream for you. But you have to share with me. If you eat all the ice cream, that might make you sick".
I could see a flashing glow in her eyes. I realized kids are pure soul of the God. They are the flower of the garden. We as a parents, should know how to protect their feelings, emotions, hopes for their future. They say what they see. They ask whay they want. They cry when they like or feel they should. We should not judge them from our eyes when we behave, instead we should keep ourselves into their shoes and show the empathy.
I bought a kids size chocolate ice cream and gave it to her , "here it is hold it properly. If you drop it on the ground I am not gonna buy the next.
"Okay, it is yummy!"
"Are you gonna share with me." I said.
"No, this is mine", she shook her elbow and gave me a bitter look."
"Now you forgot your promise, right?"
"Okay, Just a small bite. She extended her hand towards my snout."
Then we went to the river side trail, walk a few meters into the forest. I asked her, " Let's go home now. Your brother and mom are waiting for the lunch. You should tell your brother all the stuffs we have done today. But don't tell him you had an ice cream."
"No, I will tell him. I will tell mom", she giggleed.
The car was already throbbing. I pressed the accelerator and adjusted the steering wheels towards 116 ST.NW.