The "Cool" Research

 Yes, till now, we all thought research was something serious, tedious and very boring business. Research is the new buzz word. You can have research on-  why tomatoes are red, to signs if your boyfriend/ spouse is cheating on you, to why some people twitch their nose when nervous/ angry, to anything and everything is backed by research these days. So, any topic or question can have both for and against sides backed by 'research'. It can make things clear, but can also confuse at the same time. Professionals can manufacture results even before the research starts, guaranteeing the desired results even before the research starts. They can mold facts and figures to suit the position you may want to take. Every tobacco, alcohol, soap, chips, toothpaste is backed by 'research' these days. One day you read in the newspapers that mobile phones are bad for you, next day next research says, umm they are not so bad, until such and such conditions. Research is conditional, contexual and prone to change every day in these changing times.

I have had the experience or should I say, as my (bad) luck would have it, working with people who have had different ideas about research, the idea as well as the process!(For the uninitiated, please read my profile, which says freelance/ independent researcher! And future recruiters, if you are reading this, I of course, meant old bad people I worked with, not you!!)

  So, lets go back to the main topic, Research, well, as Wikipedia, says, Research and experimental development is creative work undertaken systematically to increase the stock of knowledge, including knowledge of humanity, culture and society, and the use of this stock of knowledge to devise new applications (OECD (2002). It is used to establish or confirm facts, reaffirm the results of previous work, solve new or existing problems, support theorems, or develop new theories. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Research)! Absolutely!

But, that is what books say. What happens when not nerds/boring academicians, but Cool people get in the 'business' of doing research. They always want you to think 'out of the box'. 'Be creative'. But the problem remains, on how to undo your years of learning to do boring serious stuff to now suddenly make it 'cool'.
  I have heard people in seminars come up with such glossy presentations, stats and all the jazz, saying so much without saying anything substantial. A lot of my friends term it 'hawa-baazi', or talking in the air. But,they are impressive, mind you. You would be charmed, but maybe after some time your brain cells would kick in to say,'hey, what was that all about, really'? Well, answer is, 'Lord, forgive them, for they know not, what they say'! (coz they mean nothing, just like mindless Hindi film songs' lyrics which are put in just for effect- kuchi kuchi rakma, humma humma, chintatata & so on!).

 There is another group who do not want to go through paragraphs of reports, they just do not have the time to read! They want you to make flying balloons on the paper and put words inside them. The 'research' should be attractive, nice, creative, pleasing to the eye and just should not tax your eyes or mind with long paragraphs! Research should not look academic, it should be 'fun'! Only, I do not know if we can apply the same formula to read hunger, cancer, inequality and serious problems, well if God, didn't make them pretty, can we?  

 And then there are more very serious types, who can write realms of serious paragraphs on every serious topic under the sun. They are so serious that you can actually hear people snore in the background whenever they speak. They can never take the hint that they are boring people to death, everything is a matter of life and death for them. World is a bad place with problems going from bad to worse, how can you smile, in such a situation. They will not stop until they snatch your smile and drive you to tears like the rest of the world's population, which is hungry and depressed!

So, the question is would you rather listen to something which does not tax your mind or go for something which would make you cringe to the point that you would not stop, either you would go for 'revolution' or would commit suicide! Choice is yours, really!

    

Tajurba (Experience)

Tajurbe zindagi ki fitrat* hain
Magar  inki ajab hi qudrat hai
Milna inka saans ke sath chalta rehta hai
Achha ya bura, waqt guzarta rehta hai

Koi sayana keh gaya hai..
kyun daren zindagi me kya hoga?
Kuch na hoga to tajurba hoga!

Taqdeer apne dhang chalti hai
aqal apne rang badalti hai
zindagi ko rangeen karte hain
Tajurbe har baar Yakeen* badalte hain!

Inka hona bhi badi rehmat hai
har ek insan ki zaroorat hain
tajurbo se shakhsiyaten banti hain
yaadon ki zanjeeren bandhti hain
Ye na ho to insan bilkul khali hai
Khala hai usme aur bekhayali hai!

tajurbe zindagi ka hasil hain
har ek cheez me yeh shamil hain
bina inke kayenat adhoori hai
inka hona bada zaroori hai
Tajurbe humse ya phir hum inse chalte hain
har ek din nayi shakal badalte hain
Har Tajurba nayi raah dikhata hai
Aur sach poochhiye to humko yehi chalata hai!
Tajurbe hausla badhate hain
zindgi ke naye sabaq sikhate hain!


*fitrat - nature
* Yakeen- (tried and tested,known ways)

Numbers Vs. Social Sciences

 Numbers are very important in life, I learnt it the hard way. Most importantly, they get you a good job, (although boring) with loads of money. I bet, you have never heard of an unemployed economist, but there are too many Social Science/ Literature background people unemployed/ working on pittance.(Yours truly, is a case example, actually quite a handicap!)
 I am poor with numbers. My family knows it very well how I fumble with maths and passed on the borderline in the subject in my school. I topped in Social Sciences but trailed in subjects that had anything to do with Maths/ numbers. (many subjects actually!)
I took up Sociology, because I thought it was about people/ society, (very far from numbers) but I was wrong even this discipline had some amount of statistics and numbers! In fact, when it was emerging, the earliest thinkers wanted to model it as a science of society- rational and objective. But soon (thankfully), they realized anything which dealt with human beings could never be objective/ rational, subjectivity had to be taken into account. Human behavior is the most unpredictable, there are feelings / experiences/ incidents which can not be studied in a scientific manner. Every cause cannot lead to same effect, and can vary from situation to situation. There can be many reasons for something, many facets to a single situation, each as important as the other, and factors beyond anybody's control. It helps in understanding situations better, without being stubborn, helps in raising questions and encourages debate.
  Social Sciences teach tolerance for diversity, understanding for humanity. Probably, a factor why there is less enthusiasm for the discipline in countries known to dislike debate and promote linear thinking. In non- democratic nations, Engineering and Science subjects are taught, but Social Sciences are ignored as they can lead to uncomfortable questions by a thinking mind.
  So, thanks to my education, I can understand and sympathize with people and situations better. But, nobody pays me any money for doing so!!

The Curious Case of Urdu in UP

Woh kare baat toh har lafz se khushboo aaye, 

Aisi boli wohi bole jise Urdu aaye..

   Urdu literally means 'Khichdi' or hotch-potch as it was a mixture of Hindi vocabulary interspersed with words of Persian. You could make it complex by putting more Persian or make it simple by putting more of Hindi words in it. Ghalib's poetry of early years had more of Persian influence (something on which Momin, another poet had made fun of him saying- inki kahi ya yeh khud samjhe ya Khuda samjhe!), he had to simplify his language to become popular!

  Britishers in trying to replace Persian with English as the official language post- Mughals, also communalized Urdu as the language of the Muslims. To just relate it to Muslims could not have been more wrong. It was the language of harmony, of communication between Hindu and Muslims, natives of India and migrant Muslims. They kept its script Arabic (most probably the reason why, it came to be associated with Muslims).  

  Urdu language since independence in India, has had to go through a turbulent time. After Partition, Urdu became 'official' language of Pakistan, giving the tag of 'Muslim language' more mileage. Although, in India, there were more speakers of the language. It became a symbol of identity for Indian Muslims, leading to its politicization.  Bollywood still uses Urdu to express everything from romance to courtroom drama (with dialogues like- mee Lord!mere fazil dost janab..etc etc). It is alive and kicking in songs of films of previous and present era. 

 Urdu had a close association with UP, as it was often referred to as the Awadhi language - of Awadh/Lucknow court. The whole Babri Masjid movement communalized the state, the rule of BJP meant sidelining the 'Muslim' language, in favour of Hindi.

 My parents migrated from UP to Delhi due to my father's job here. He was fond of Urdu poetry, so he made sure that at least one of his children should know the language. My elder brother went to a Christian Missionary school, where he never learnt it and instead learnt Sanskrit (as it was more scoring! ). I went to a school which offered Urdu as an additional language apart from Hindi and English, so I learnt the language!

 My uncles and aunts (from my mother's side) still stay in UP. Their children went to schools, which were Hindi medium. These kids never learnt Urdu. Now, they have grown up, done their graduation, post-graduations, B.Ed and are searching for govt.jobs. The govt has changed in UP. Now to give reservation to Muslims in govt jobs, they have a Urdu quota where they are employing teachers to teach in Urdu medium schools. We do not know if  the policy will change once the govt changes, but the effect has been that the generation which never learnt Urdu, is now going back to learning it. My cousins are diligently reading 'Alif- bey- tey- sey' of Urdu now. The books in this medium are not even there, the generation of new young 'Muslim' teachers who only learnt Hindi to get jobs, are learning fast the basics of a 'forgotten' language.   

  The Madarsas which were teaching in Urdu medium till now, have had their own troubles too. There have been problems of teaching subjects like Maths, Science, Social Studies, Computers in Urdu. The conditions for kids who stay there, are horrible. An acquaintance who recently visited a Madarsa in a remote area had few flattering things to say about it. Food is neither nutritious nor good, and very less in quantity, apart from the children sleeping on floors with thin bedding. Suffice to say, conditions not conducive for learning.  They need funds which are not coming, and even if they get something, there are middlemen who ensure that it never reaches the children. In Delhi, the few govt run Urdu-medium schools which are there never get their books on time. Of course, we cannot generalize but it is the case with most Madarsas and Urdu medium schools (based on my interactions with students/ teachers there).

  The politicization of such a beautiful language is sad but irony is, the language which was almost dying in UP has at least got a new lease of life now. And new learners too!

beautiful!!

nazm uljhi hui hai seene mein
misare atke hue hain hothon par
udate phirte hain titaliyon ki tarah
lafz kaagaz pe baithate hi nahin
kab se baithaa hua hoon main jaanam
sada kaagaz pe likh ke naam tera
bas tera naam hi mukammal hai
is se behtar bhi nazm kyaa hogi!!
Gulzar. 

Dard

Dard kuch der hi rehta hai buhat dair nahi
Jis tarah shaakh se torey hue ek patte ka rang
Mand par jata hai kuch roz alag shaakh se reh kar
Shaakh se toot kar yeh dard jeeyega kab tak…?
Khatam ho jayegi jab is ki rasad…
Timtimayega zara der ko bujhte bujhte…
Aur phir lambi si ek saans dhuen ki lekar…
Khatam ho jayega,yeh dard bhi bujh jayega
Dard kuch dair hi rehta hai,buhat dair nahi!!
   Gulzar




Iss waqt to yun lagta hai ab kuch bhi nahi hai
mahtab na suraj na andhera na sawera
ankhon ke dariche mein kisi husn ki chilman
aur dil ki panahon mein kisi dard ka dera
mumkin hai koi vaham ho mumkin hai suna ho
galiyon mein kisi chap ka ek akhiri phera
shakhon mein khayalon ke ghane ped ke shayad
ab aake karega na koi khwab basera
na bair na mahar na rabt na rishta
tera koi apna na paraya koi mera
mana ki ye sun-san ghadi sakht Kadi hai
lekin mere dil ye to faqat ek hi ghadi hai
himmat karo jine ko to ek umr padi hai
 - Faiz ahmed Faiz

weekend

ye din bade zaroori hain
jitni hamari majboori hain
sab in  hi dino ke hawale ki jati hain
k kar lenge sab poori
jab ye din aayenge

afsos magar waqt kam hai
zindgi ke itne gham hain
mukammal karen to kaise
yehi hoti hai koshish jaise- taise
bhar len saare rang ankho me
kar len qaid reth ko hatho me
par reth phisalti rehti hai
guzarta rehta hai har lamha
daud daud kar, bhag bhagkar
abhi to shopping hai baqi,
safai adhoori rakhi hai
inse milna milana tha
unse bhi batiyana tha
arre khana bhi to pakana tha
woh kitab kitne din se adhoori h
woh film bhi to zaroori hai

hazaron khwaishen aisi
jinki kismat me nahi poora hona
ke lo aa gayi hai woh subah
jiska darr tha
monday morning blues ki taza tasveer bankar
ghoomta hua dikhta hai har shakhs yahan!

ummeed to hai baqi
k woh din phir aayenge
jab hum khud ko phir se aazmayenge
yeh kaam akhir kabhi to
Khatm ho jayenge!!