Santhosh's ramblings

Most of us know the saying, “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” While it’s often called an African proverb, its true origins are uncertain.   At present, we are travelling. I’ve been keeping track of our speed at every stage of the journey, and I’ve realised that this proverb doesn’t always hold true in reality. Fast and close:  Kottayam to Kochi – 80 km by car, 2 people, 40 km per hour Fast and far:  Kochi to Vizag – 1,500 km by plane, over 200 people, 750 km per hour Fast and far:  Vizag to Lamptaput – 210 km by car, 2 people, 40 km per hour during the day, 50 km per hour early morning Slow and near:  In Delhi – 12 km, 75 minutes, 2 people, 6 km per hour Fast and far:  Delhi to Dehradun – train with a few hundred people, 100 km per hour Mostly fast and far as if you have your tail on fire! Travel these days is mainly about speed. The only time it’s slow is when there are too many vehicles on the road, as in any big city...

A member of my extended family wrote to me this – perhaps after reading my ramblings: “The core difference between reflections/ramblings and research writing at large is that one is a form of human hallucination, and the other is the creation of new knowledge. Reflections can have a fixed time but in research is where "new knowledge" emerges…” My response was, “Thank you for your diagnosis  😌 .”   My reason for such a response is that, for a physician,  hallucinations = major mental illness;  and if  ramblings = hallucinations , then  ramblings = major mental illnesses . Which means all those who ramble and reflect have some amount of major mental illness.   But then, with all due respect, I suppose what the person wanted to communicate was -  “ hallucinatory ramblings ”  or reflections do not last.   But then, is not research writing and scientific reasoning founded in reflection and rambling? Imagining possibilities. The hypothesis on...

The British, along with many other things, left us with a 6 second conversation no starter. And that has become a physiological response (part of life) for most educated Indians. This is – “How are you?” and “I am fine” (or okay, doing well or other variants of fine).  The   Physiological Conversation Killer .    Once we acknowledge that I am ok and you are ok, the conversation ends. Then we struggle for other topics, and so start on climate, politics, and other irrelevant topics. Knowing very well that many a time, I am not okay and the other person may not be ok too, but it is safer to live with the I am ok and you are ok state. At one season of life, when I was engaging with young people (yes, younger than me), I tried a social experiment. I was not really doing ok (emotionally – do not try to diagnose what it is  ) and so decided to respond to “Uncle, How are you” – by a simple reverse question. “Do you want a British answer or the truth?” Most of them did not e...

This has been a season of school and college get-togethers. In fact, I am writing this just after a college get-together. I have hardly attended some of these in the past. I had my legitimate reasons, but I realise it was because I had not prioritised this or seen it as important. A bit too late to recognise this.    There are a few learnings I want to share from last week’s get-togethers.   One – class get-togethers are  where you can be yourself . You cannot wear a mask – metaphorically. In the world out there, you wear multiple masks. Mostly the image mask, without realising that what others know about me colours all the image I want others to see. But in front of people who knew you in your childhood, teenage years and early twenties, image does not matter. You can be who you are, without any masks. If you wear a mask, it will be uncomfortable too. And that was why we were fooling around, maskless!  I wonder if I can live this life in my external engagement ...