Tomichan Matheikal's blog

Anita Joshua’s article in The Hindu , ‘ A growing intolerance’ (Aug 21, 2012), shows how Pakistan has become a nation of haters.   The Pakistanis hate not only the Hindus (7 million Hindus live in that country – imagine the magnitude of the hatred!) and Christians (who are, according to the article, changing their names to “Shahbaz, Shazia, Nasreen, Tahira, and such like”), but also the Muslims of denominations other than Sunni.   Shias, says Joshua, “are pulled out of buses and summarily executed in broad daylight in various parts of the country.”   Sufi shrines are bombed. “Hatred is the coward’s revenge for being intimidated,” says Undershaft, a Shavian character ( Major Barbara ).   How can there be so many cowards in a country who feel so intimidated as to hate such large numbers of people? Joshua’s article quotes Harris Gazdar of the Karachi-based Collective for Social Science Research: “Some of these crimes might be committed by groups with religious motivation, but mos

Many psychologists have argued that the purpose of life is self-actualisation .   In simple words, self-actualisation means becoming a more fully developed, a more complete individual.   It’s an increasing unfolding of one’s potentialities.     It’s personal growth by fulfilling one’s needs. Kurt Goldstein, professor of neurology and psychiatry, defines need as a deficit state that motivates a person to replenish the deficit.   Need is like a hole to be filled in, a hole in the psyche.   Psychologists like Abraham Maslow made a hierarchy of human needs .   At the basic level are the physiological needs.   Food, sex, and other needs of the body are very fundamental needs.   The need for security, stability, freedom from fear, need for structure, etc comes at the next level.   Maslow placed “affectionate relations with people in general” in addition to those with family and friends at the third level.   Esteem needs come next; self-esteem as well as esteem from others.   At this

On this Independence Day of my country, I’m glad to have Baba Ramdev’s entertainment as a prelude.   Most newspapers today, including my Malayalam one, carried photographs of the Baba sticking his neck out of a bus in which he was carried after his arrest.   I must say he has come a long way from the time he tried to escape arrest in the garb of a woman last year: he has the courage to accept arrest now, though he may lack the confidence to carry out his promised indefinite fast. I love India because of people like Ramdev.   They provide entertainment.   When my wife wants to watch some serial like Na Kaha Aap ne Kutch, Na Kahi Mein ne Kutch (or something like that) on the TV, I urge her to switch to some news channel which will provide better entertainment.   What better entertainment can there be than people like Ramdev and Hazare?   When our politicians turned big bores or at best became the President of India, we are blessed with Hazare and Ramdev.   Advani has joined the