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Friday, October 29, 2010

Entanglement

Let me start by way of an aside. Via a forwarded e-mail that begins, "Perhaps largely because of reading Times of India....." and ends up labelling the ambiance in Mumbai as "anti-intellectual". Mind you, this guy is a guru. Not just a guru, but The गुरु. This smart, brainy, nerdy, techy guy called Guru was raised in Mumbai - and now we know why he moved to Bangalore. 

What surprised me was not so much his diatribe against the IQ of Mumbai, but his partiality towards the Times of India. While we are happy that the scales have at last fallen from his eyes, we are happier still of the lesson this teaches us.

Very often, things begin within us (like our desire to subscribe to newspapers whose USP seems to be the answering of questions of the most intimate nature, in the most brazen fashion). And before we know it, we end up blaming entities that don't even remotely connect - like the cerebral quality of cities.

To be fair, I have to admit I've been guilty of the same offence I accuse Guru of - and not just once, but millions of times. 

Wouldn't it thus be ok to say that we are apt to get so entangled it becomes easy to lose perspective? So then, what is the antidote, the atonement? Let go completely, says Valluvar wisely -
யாதனின் யாதனின் நீங்கியான் நோதல் 
அதனின் அதனின் இலன்    
My rough translation - You no longer suffer pain from that you have renounced.
The Rev. G.U.Pope's - 
From whatever, aye, whatever, man gets free, 
From what, aye, from that, no more of pain hath he

So much for the entanglement that arises from our attachments, our biases and our prejudices.  Over the past few months, I have been exposed to some compellingly different ideas about our minds, bodies and the way we perceive reality. Quantum entanglement (or non-locality) is one such very counter-intuitive but reality-changing concept. I do hope to explore this and other ideas here on this blog, so watch out! 

6 comments:

  1. Very well written :) I was dangerously close to calling you uncle, but decided not to on a public forum :) But on more serious note, please do blog more :)

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  2. welcome Shekar...I implore u start ur exploration soon pretty soon .....mind body..reality...very very fascinating subject ..MIND blowing subject..i say it from the bottom of my HEART...REALLY !!

    NARAIN

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  3. a good beginning, expecting more of this in future.
    Sai

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  4. @Badavarascal - you can call me what you want

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  5. A short post from my blog and a short poem, that you may find interesting given the mood you seem to be in:

    http://bookcrazy.wordpress.com/2008/02/27/an-atheists-blasphemy/


    If thought is life
    And strength & breath,
    And the want
    Of thought is death,

    Then am I
    A happy fly
    If I live
    Or if I die.
    (William Blake)

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  6. மும்பை சேகருக்கு
    யாதனின் யாதனின் நீங்கியான் நோதல் ன்னு எழுதி blog ஆரம்பிச்சு புதுசா நோதல் க்கு தயார் ஆகிட்டே .
    இதுவும் கடந்து போக .......அன்புடன் ...nana

    ReplyDelete