Skip to main content

100 years later

Wonderful premise to write any story you want and claim its quite possible it might be so.  Who is going to argue?  Even if they did its only an opinion.

So today I watched DIVERGENT (the movie) - with my adolescent daughter who is already a fan of the Hunger Games trilogy.   She made it a point to watch it as soon as she had put down the book version of this story a day ago.

So we all did.  And while the characters are watchable the premise leaves you thinking about what you really did for the two hours in that dark hall with popcorn eating and gum chewing denizens.

This story is a metaphor for what life actually was 100s of years ago in places like India - it was called the Caste System where labor and lifestyle was divided based on some kind of innate ability to perform a function - and do so well.  Potters never went to battle and Warriors never took to Professorial duties.  Each to his or her own and it functioned in an orderly manner or so I was told - when my grandmother narrated some tales of Yudhishthira, Lord Krishna, Chokha Mela, Tukaram et al.

We know today that there is no such predefined life path for anyone with a drive and sensibility to achieve what they set their minds to.  Accidents in life certainly play a role in what you do or where you end up.

Comments

  1. Now we have a voluntary caste system, with one choosing a caste and mostly sticking to it for life.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Of chocolates

I like chocolates. Godiva Dark with Almonds - not sure of the naked woman on the horse to be the icon of some choice cocoa based products but tastes good. Started in Belgium but now owned by some Turks. Cadburys - Fruit and Nut Milk Bars - awesome combination of dried fruit pieces along with a medley of nuts makes your toungue dance - started by a Brit now owen by Kraft USA. Lindt Hazelnut spheres - made by a Swiss confectioner are divine balls that melt in your mouth with a lingering nutty taste Ghirardelli Milk Crisp Squares - crunchy and light these milk squares are easy on the palate but pack some serious calories - all good I say! Originally founded by an Italian who moved around till he landed in SF Bay today also owned by the Swiss Lindt empire.

Columbia SC

 The Palmetto state.  One of the confederate kinds. History dating couple centuries back.  We visited the capital yet again this time to take in the SC State Museum. Occupying the former digs (literally remodeled) of an erstwhile cotton mill this structure is an amazing piece of reimagination.  Four floors of excitement for kids and young at heart alike. Located on the shores of the Congaree River formed when the Broad meets up with the Saluda River, this edifice is approx. 60 years old.  The front of the building has a more modern planetarium that was added about a decade ago.  The museum itself has different areas of interest segregated on each of its four floors. The first floor has gift shop and a diorama of some of the local geography including the swamps and the state beaches with audio guides to help understand what fauna thrives locally. The second floor is all about natural history and showcases animal kingdom that may have survived on this latitud...

But What If We're Wrong?

I attempted to read this book by author Chuck Klosterman backward to forward but it started hurting my brain so I decided to stop and do it like any other publication in the English language.  Start from page 1 and move to the right. Witty, caustic and thought provoking this is a book you want to read if you believe that the status quo might, just might be wrong. At times bordering on being contrarian about most things around us it tries to zero in on the notion of what makes anything believable and certain in our minds.  The fact that there is a fact itself is ironic.  Something analogous to the idea that you can never predict the future because there is no future. Many books and movies have tried to play on this concept - best that I recollect (I think I am) was 'The Truman Show'.  This book by Klosterman attempts to provoke the reader to at least contemplate that what they think they know may be wrong. He uses examples like concept of gravity, and how it ...