Skip to main content

Good Bye, Politics


“There is a longstanding body of psychological evidence that shows that lecturing people that they are wrong, listing a bunch of facts that conclusively demonstrate that, and busting the myths spread by irresponsible political opponents not only fails to change minds, it makes people more fixed in their views.”  These words of Sonia Sudha in her recent Guardian article, ‘Outrage makes you feel good, but doesn’t change minds,’ set me on a contemplation course like self-help books used to do once upon a time.

When the contemplation was over I spoke to a few friends over phone, something which I hardly do these days.  I had chosen relative solitude for a huge variety of reasons one of which is erosion of trust in people.  The phone conversations turned out to be quite rewarding unlike what I had expected.  The friends were candid in telling me that my political views are out of tune with popular moods or things similar.  In short, I wasn’t achieving anything good by writing them. 


There are good friends still, I thought.  I mean it’s so hard to find people who are not politically correct even while talking to friends.  And I’m lucky.  I put Sonia Sodha’s observation and those of my friends together and decided to stay from current politics for a while as far as blogging is concerned.  I can do better with books and other really worthwhile stuff.  You might even find me writing blogs for some insurance companies which are ready to pay for the publicity. 

[Not a permanent decision, however]

Comments

  1. UppalApril 5, 2017 at 8:58 AM

    Better to leave politics to politicians! There is so much else to figure out in life!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalApril 5, 2017 at 9:19 AM

      To politicians and media professionals. 😀 Indeed life will be better far away from politics.

      Delete
  2. Jyotirmoy SarkarApril 5, 2017 at 9:38 AM

    Good to know about your decision...whatever the reason is.

    ReplyDelete
  3. none to be knownApril 5, 2017 at 2:07 PM

    I too had same views like you had. So I was always glad that someone says those in public. People are not ready to think. They always wants to stay in their illusory world. So you do not belong to their world and they refuses to accept you. But it was great to see someone telling the truth straight forward

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalApril 5, 2017 at 2:18 PM

      This is one way of the old giving way to the new. Mathematics has no feelings, you see 😃

      Delete
  4. Pranju chakrapaniApril 5, 2017 at 3:27 PM

    How much I liked reading your views on politics among other topics. As a reader,although a reclusive one, I would like you to continue writing your views regardless of unsolicited opinions. Never say never. But that's just another opinion

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalApril 5, 2017 at 9:08 PM

      You have to stop writing politics the moment you are seen as anything other than a citizen. India does not have citizens now, it has Hindus or Muslims or Christians. We and They. Even highly educated people have succumbed to the delight of enemy-baiting.

      Delete
  5. none to be knownApril 5, 2017 at 3:29 PM

    With age comes wisdom,but sometimes age alone comes. Have to wait and acquire knowledge and wisdom like you to speak like you. Which is not possible for anyone in the near future for we all have a rush hour these times

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalApril 5, 2017 at 8:36 PM

      Wisdom comes to those who are willing to receive her. You will have your time. Anyway I don't consider myself wise.

      Delete
  6. Rajeev MoothedathApril 5, 2017 at 10:42 PM

    "When the contemplation was over I spoke to a few friends over phone, something which I hardly do these days. I had chosen relative solitude for a huge variety of reasons one of which is erosion of trust in people"
    Glad to note that you broke the stalemate...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalApril 6, 2017 at 8:23 AM

      It was certainly heartening to see that friends remained friends even after a two year-long silence from my part.

      Delete
  7. AnonymousApril 6, 2017 at 1:37 AM

    This is definitely not the best of times to engage in political dialog. Especially if you are already popular and have a readership. The beauty of blogging is that you can say what you want if you are a nobody, since nobody will likely ever find out. With your insights and depth, it will be a huge service if you start writing about books and reading, for example. There is no point in getting into trouble defending your truth against hoodlums.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Pranita a perverted genius

Bulldozer begins its work at Sawan Pranita was a perverted genius. She had Machiavelli’s brain, Octavian’s relentlessness, and Levin’s intellectual calibre. She could have worked wonders if she wanted. She could have created a beautiful world around her. She had the potential. Yet she chose to be a ruthless exterminator. She came to Sawan Public School just to kill it. A religious cult called Radha Soami Satsang Beas [RSSB] had taken over the school from its owner who had never visited the school for over 20 years. This owner, a prominent entrepreneur with a gargantuan ego, had come to the conclusion that the morality of the school’s staff was deviating from the wavelengths determined by him. Moreover, his one foot was inching towards the grave. I was also told that there were some domestic noises which were grating against his patriarchal sensibilities. One holy solution for all these was to hand over the school and its enormous campus (nearly 20 acres of land on the outskirts
12 comments
Read more

Queen of Religion

She looked like Queen Victoria in the latter’s youth but with a snow-white head. She was slim, fair and graceful. She always smiled but the smile had no life. Someone on the campus described it as a “plastic smile.” She was charming by physical appearance. Soon all of us on the Sawan school campus would realise how deceptive appearances were. Queen took over the administration of Sawan school on behalf of her religious cult RSSB [Radha Soami Satsang Beas]. A lot was said about RSSB in the previous post. Its godman Gurinder Singh Dhillon is now 70 years old. I don’t know whether age has mellowed his lust for land and wealth. Even at the age of 64, he was embroiled in a financial scam that led to the fall of two colossal business enterprises, Fortis Healthcare and Religare finance. That was just a couple of years after he had succeeded in making Sawan school vanish without a trace from Delhi which he did for the sake of adding the school’s twenty-odd acres of land to his existing hun
19 comments
Read more

Machiavelli the Reverend

Let us go today , you and I, through certain miasmic streets. Nothing will be quite clear along our way because this journey is through some delusions and illusions. You will meet people wearing holy robes and talking about morality and virtues. Some of them will claim to be god’s men and some will make taller claims. Some of them are just amorphous. Invisible. But omnipotent. You can feel their power around you. On you. Oppressing you. Stifling you. Reverend Machiavelli is one such oppressive power. You will meet Franz Kafka somewhere along the way. Joseph K’s ghost will pass by. Remember Joseph K who was arrested one fine morning for a crime that nobody knew anything about? Neither Joseph nor the men who arrest him know why Joseph K is arrested. The power that keeps Joseph K under arrest is invisible. He cannot get answers to his valid questions from the visible agents of that power. He cannot explain himself to that power. Finally, he is taken to a quarry outside the town wher
19 comments
Read more

Randeep the melody

Many people in this pic have made their presence in this A2Z series A phone call came from an unknown number the other day. “Is it okay to talk to you now, Sir?” The caller asked. The typical start of a conversation by an influencer. “What’s it about?” My usual response looking forward to something like: “I am so-and-so from such-and-such business firm…” And I would cut the call. But there was a surprise this time. “I am Randeep…” I recognised him instantly. His voice rang like a gentle music in my heart. Randeep was a student from the last class 12 batch of Sawan. One of my favourites. He is unforgettable. Both Maggie and I taught him at Sawan where he was a student from class 4 to 12. Nine years in a residential school create deep bonds between people, even between staff and students. Randeep was an ideal student. Good at everything yet very humble and spontaneous. He was a top sportsman and a prefect with eminent leadership. He had certain peculiar problems with academics. Ans
12 comments
Read more

Nakulan the Outcast

Nakulan was one of the many tenants of Hevendrea . A professor in the botany department of the North Eastern Hill University, he was a very lovable person. Some sense of inferiority complex that came from his caste status made him scoff the very idea of his lovability. He lived with his wife and three children in one of Heavendrea’s many cottages. When he wanted to have a drink, he would walk over to my hut. We sipped our whiskies and discussed Shillong’s intriguing politics or something of the sort while my cassette player crooned gently in the background. Nakulan was more than ten years my senior by age. He taught a subject which had never aroused my interest at any stage of my life. It made no difference to me whether a leaf was pinnately compound or palmately compound. You don’t need to know about anther and stigma in order to understand a flower. My friend Levin would have ascribed my lack of interest in Nakulan’s subject to my egomania. I always thought that Nakulan lived
15 comments
Read more