A little bit of this and a little bit of that

I wrote this one day when I was completely disenchanted by the method of science as it is practiced. Sometimes I wonder whether science just limits our thinking and possibilities of interaction. Writing what follows acted as a purifying experience. It was a means by which I achieved emancipation from the shackles of empiricism. 

Today I break myself from the shackles of empiricism

Going beyond test statistics and p-values

the method only leads to an approximation

to a reduction of complex interactions

can we explain herd behavior

at the level of atoms?

Numbers, graphs and deterministic thinking

A prison full of human brains

Limited by objectivity

0.05 is statistically significant

Has anyone wondered?

What is its relevance?

My numbers are different than your numbers

Your numbers are different than my thoughts

Why are we talking to each other?

Does anyone even remember the plot?

You pay to have your voice heard

put a price on each word and number

you beg for money to do research

your grants are full of fancy keywords

Each day is a long struggle

A struggle between thoughts and numbers

Rent, tuition and sample sizes

Depression, overeating and anxieties

You either publish or perish

sink or swim

It doesn’t matter anyway cause it’s a sea of filth

A book full of garbage, a journal of masturbation

Burn it all by immolation

There is no rising up from this fire

Let the fire burn you from within

If you don’t break the chains

Break yourself from within.

Break from the confines of empiricism

Tapori Gane

This list was a lot of fun to make. The songs have to contain some amount of tapori language and attitude to make it on the list. For a crash course in tapori language or the tapori method watch Ghulam, Rangeela, Josh, or Sadak. Anil Kapoor for me is the quintessential  Tapori. Watch Benam Badshah, Mashal (for which he won a Filmfare) and Karma to see the master of Taporigiri at his prime.

Tapori is a word for a street thug in Mumbai. He is someone that carries out petty mischief, crime and eve-teasing. They usually have no to very little education or a credible job. As a result of which they use crime and bullying to rise up the social ranks in their local gang or mafia. Yet they are always stuck with street-side thuggery. They usually work for someone higher up in the hierarchy. Their main job is usually to act as street-side bullying loan-shark. Well more like a loan-guppy, anyway, you get the point.

One other major aspect of a typical Tapori is that they tend to be hopeless and often very comical romantics. Their behavior is typified by the words 'roadside romeos'. Their romantic antics are often crude, sexist and extremely macho-istic. Yet they manage to charm their way into their women's hearts as a result of their naivete and bravado. The woman in the life of a tapori usually turns out to be someone higher up in the social ranks (Rani Mukerjee in Ghulam) or the daughter of the boss.

Only a handful of actors have mastered playing the role of tapori. Anil Kapoor being the original, followed by Aamir Khan in Rangeela and Ghulam. Shahrukh Khan did a fairly okay job in Josh.

During the 2nd ODI of the triangular series between Aus-Ind-Eng an on field spat developed between Rohit Sharma and David Warner. Warner claimed that Rohit wishfully deflected the ball and stole a run (point). Replays showed and commentators concluded that there was no way to confirm this, agreed that Warner had no access to replays while he was in the field.  Apparently after the incident David Warner came walking up to Rohit to provoke him and Rohit replied back, Warner claims in Hindi, Warner asked him multiple times to "speak English". Now, this is Warner's testimony that Rohit was speaking in Hindi. He may or he may not have, however it seems very unlikely that Rohit would reply back in Hindi when talked to in English. Warner later apologized, as he always does, and claimed it was his mistake. Important to note here that Warner has a history of bullying behavior off and on the field, this is the guy who punched Joe Root (an English cricketer) in a bar.

The reality of what happened is not important. I am merely using this instance to show why telling someone to "speak English" when they are in fact speaking English is an instance of racism.

I will choose this definition of racism as it is acknowledged by research scholars. According to David Pilgrim, racism is “a system of group privilege by those who have a disproportionate share of society’s power, prestige, property, and privilege."

This definition of racism goes beyond simple stereotyping and discrimination. When you add power to the equation of prejudice and discrimination you get the kind of racism that becomes structural. It becomes institutionalized in society, culture and individual psyche. In this instance the institution is language, English in particular.

So why is taunting or mocking someone by saying "speak English" when they are in fact speaking English racist?  The taunter/mocker assumes that the "un-understandable English accent" is somehow inferior or incorrect to the English that is spoken by the taunter/mocker and (this is important) the English that is being mocked is not worthy of attention and comprehension. The one getting mocked is speaking English but just not in the way that is accepted by the person mocking. However, his/her English accent is similar to the English accent of people of their kind and dissimilar from that of Warner (here Warner is part of the majority). So by using these two simple words "speak English" the person getting mocked is made inferior and stereotyped.

The privilege the mocker/taunter has is the fact that his accent is understood by the majority. While the mockee being in minority a) has no power and b) subjected to stereotyping by the majority.

1983 World Cup: From ESPNCrifinfo. Fans swarm on to the ground after the World Cup final, India v West Indies, World Cup final, Lord's, June 25, 1983

India beat a West Indies team that was at the top of their game. A team that had won back to back worldcups and one that would dominate world cricket for the next 10 years.

Benson & Hedges World Championship of Cricket 1984-85. India's second major championship victory about a year after their successful worldcup campaign. The tournament was held in Australia and there were 7 (all the test playing nations) teams in the tournament.

Hero Cup 1993: Teams: India, Sri lanka, West Indies, South Africa and Zimbabwe. Sachin bowled a memorable over in the Semifinal against South Africa, Sachin offered to bowl the last over, in a match where Kapil Dev had two over left to bowl. Apparently Kapil was reluctant to bowl and Sachin grabbed the bowl. Sachin managed to restrict South Africa (they needed 6 to win of 5) in a first Day/night game in Eden Gardens. 

TItan Cup 1996: India, Australia, South Africa. India faced off with probably two of the best one day teams at that time and went on to win the tournament. My memory from this tournament is when India played Australia in the 3rd game. India lost Sachin at 164/8 needing another 52 runs to win. And guess who saved the game? Javagal Shrinath and Anil Kumble! I still remember their families jumping up and down in the stadium while they surprised the whole nation, including themselves. 

1997-98 Coca Cola Cup AKA The 'SACHIN IS GOD CUP'. Teams: India, Austrlia and New Zealand. 

Back to back centuries from Sachin Tendulkar. Tony Grieg going crazy in the commentary box. Shane Warne wondering why he started playing cricket. And "people dancing in the aisles in Sharjah". Ah what memories. Sachin was at his best in 1998 and so was India. India won numerous tournaments around 1998 and this was the most memorable one. 

1998 Independence Cup: Teams India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

The one reason this cup and Kanitkar is remembered for is the last ball four that was hit by him to give India a victory chasing the highest total ever at that time (314). To add to that euphoria, we were playing Pakistan. 

Natwest Series 2002. Teams: India, England, Sri Lanka

Kaif and Yuvraj. Ganguly, topless, waving his India jersey like a maniac (which was mostly a getting-back thing at Flintoff). Enough said, oh no one more thing, this too was a record chase at that point. 

2002 Champions Trophy. Teams: India, Sri Lanka, West Indies, Australia, New Zealand, Pakistan, England, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Bangladesh, Netherlands and Kenya.

Although India ended up sharing the cup with Sri Lanka because the final was washed out, I remember this tournament because of the classic exhibition of South African choking in the Semi finals. Needing 261 to win at one point South Africa was 192/1 in 37 odd overs. Gibbs got retired hurt after being on 116 in the hot and humid Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. India pounced on the opportunity, Yuvraj pulled off a blinder of a catch and India managed to win by 10 runs. 

2007-08 Commonwealth Bank Series. Teams: India, Australia, Sri Lanka. 

Sachin pulled off a Sharjah (almost back to back centuries) by scoring 117 and 92 in back to back final matches against the Australians. This series victory was very big for India after their disastrous 2007 worldcup campaign in West Indies. Gambhir was fantastic in this series as well scoring 440 runs at an average of 55. 

2011 Cricket World Cup. A total of 14 teams in divided in two groups. India, South Africa, West Indies, England, Bangladesh, Ireland, Netherlands, Australia, Pakistan, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe, Canada and Kenya. 

India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh hosted the worldcup that has been called the best worldcup ever. It was also Sachin's last worldcup. India started of poorly in the beginning but gained momentum in the towards the end of the tournament beating Australia and Pakistan in the knockout stages and finally Sri Lanka in the finals. Who can ever forget the 6 that Dhoni hit? 

2013 ICC Champions Trophy in England. Teams: England, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, South Africa, Australia, India, West Indies and Pakistan. 

India silenced their critics and established their dominance in ODI cricket by winning a series in England that was played by the 8 best teams in world cricket. Dhawan was in sublime touch throughout the tournament as Dhoni managed to grab another championship. 

I walk to the bus stop like any other day,

as a graduate student every day is the same,

as Saturday and Sunday blur into Monday and Tuesday,

I look at my sweater and wonder, when did I get that stain?

  The bus arrives and its full of people.

I greet the driver, she doesn't speak.

I see flash cards, post it notes, books and handouts,

and I remember its finals week.

The bus is uncomfortably crowded and hot.

I watch my headphone fall into this persons lap,

he keeps tapping his fingers like nothing happened.

I pick it up and walk out on my stop.

  I walk to the library and I see more people,

more people releasing their nervous energies in different ways.

There is a guy sitting outside and studying likes its summer,

I see another walking in shorts, like it's a day May.

  Inside the library there are sharpies everywhere of every color,

as people scramble to highlight stuff that they won't look at ever.

People humming and walking in circles,

looking at notices on the walls that have been there forever.

  People walking fast, like with a purpose,

just a few more days and they will be out of here.

Not I, I say to myself as I enter my office,

I see the words feminism and feminist being used a lot on Facebook and elsewhere lately, although it is heartening to see people care about such socio-political issues there are times when I wonder whether the true meaning of these words is lost upon the users. (Why does this happen? I will try to guess on that later).

Feminism is a loaded word. Just like gravity is a loaded word (couldn't help myself with that pun there). Gravity has a definition and a meaning that has been worked on by hundreds of thousands of researchers during countless hours of research and after numerous published research papers, conferences, and formal and informal discussions. The same applies for the words feminism in general and feminist theory in particular.These are real words with real meanings. The means by which they have been defined may differ from how the word gravity or gravitational theory has been defined, but just because the methods and routes of investigative inquiries are different doesn't make feminism and feminist theory any less of a "scientific" word.

During the past few months I have been asked once in a accusatory tone and once in a incredulous tone whether I was a feminist. The answer is of course, yes. And then I saw the look on their faces which seemed to suggest “oh that explains it then”. As if my opinions don't care enough weight once I reveal myself to be a feminist. This simple dialogue implies that feminism has a very strong and misunderstood negative connotation. What most people are exposed to on the internet today is a shadow of feminism cast by a sun that is a million miles away. Emma Watson, Beyonce, and Malala is all we hear. And they become the purveyors and the messengers for all women. Their glamour, their popularity and the applause created after their impassioned speeches tends to obscure the voices of thousands of intellectuals and researchers all over the world who study feminist theory. What we hear and read is just the surface of a field of study that is deep and complex. At times the views of such pop-feminists tends not to be as nuanced or well thought-out as of researchers in the fields. (I am not blaming anyone, I am just trying explain why I think feminism has attained the negative connotations it has). As a result such views tend to have holes in them which are used as latching points by internet and media critics, their speeches are torn apart (Emma Watson’s HeForShe campaign), the celebrities are ridiculed. Memes are made out of them. And finally as these celebrities get forgotten, so does their message.

Another reason that I think plays a huge role here is the fact that feminism, issues of race and discrimination, issues of gender and sex fall into the field of study that have been for long dubbed as "soft science" as opposed to the “hard” natural scientific fields of physics, chemistry, biology. As feminism is dubbed a soft science we tend to think that just be reading a few newspaper articles, memes, (looking at you reddit and 9gag), and watching movies will enable us to take part in meaningful debates about such topics. This is akin to one claiming to understand how black holes work after watching Interstellar (no, it doesn’t matter how many times you saw it).

If you really want to take part in such debates and make a meaningful contribution please make an effort to understand these terms. Internet is a great tool if you know where to look. Form your own opinion based on facts and observation. I understand that this message is coming from a privileged-graduate-student-that-has-internet-access perspective, however, it honestly doesn’t take much to question your beliefs and worldview. You don’t need unlimited access to research papers, books and conferences to understand feminism. Just like you don’t need a Large Hadron Collider to understand that gravity works. You throw an apple in the air it will fall down. Talk to your grandmother, mother, your sisters. Ask them how patriarchy and gender bias has affected them. Ask these questions to your grandfather, father and brothers. Go to a public library if you care to and talk to others.