Monday, April 30, 2007

Clarence Darrow

For many reasons, I have been captivated by Clarence Darrow for over a year or more now. I narrowly missed reading about him when I first came to know of the Leopold and Loeb case after watching Hitchcock’s Rope. But, fortunately, I came across him on two separate occasions :

1. When reading Inherit the Wind, the play that denounces McCarthyism under the context of a trial on the controversial Theory of Evolution.

2. When looking up racism and miscarriage of justice in law,

1 , of course, is a liberal dramatization of the Scopes Monkey Trial.

2 lead me to the Sweet Trials.

1 and 2 both lead me to Clarence Darrow. I discovered that these two trials, involved the same lawyer who saved Leopold and Loeb from the gallows. I dug a little deeper into the sensational Chicago trial (technically a ‘hearing’ as Leopold and Loeb pleaded ‘Guilty’ at Darrow’s insistence). In the process, I was completely and entirely bowled over by Clarence Darrow. This man is one of the rare manifestations of kindness – “an all encompassing kindness for humanity” is how Leopold described him. His 12 hour plus closing statement during the sensational hearing moved me even after 70 years, just like it did to all those people in the court room. This man attributed the blame to everybody, including Nietzsche, for the duo’s crimes, but he didn’t diminish their moral responsibility.

His Sweet Trials defense was more powerful. The whole Sweet saga is one of maddening racism and injustice. There was only one man between the jury of 12 white men and Henry Sweet. That was a 63 year old man who believed in human goodness. Darrow had moral courage to stand up and defend what he believed was just. And he did it not just for the money or for justice or a sense of duty towards society. It was something more – perhaps because his “all encompassing kindness for humanity.”

Not enough books are written about him outside the law circle, and his autobiography is out of print.

If I had met him, I would have kissed his hand. For being the brilliant spark of conscience he was for us.

Friday, April 20, 2007

Visual DNA

This seems to be the latest 'youtube' :-) But its awesome. Sudha got me to post it on my blog..
Its the shortest, most accurate personality thingie that i have done so far. It kills me how well these people know me.


Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Man on the 7.33am Bus

Dear Man On the 7.33 am Bus Who Sits on the Fifth/Sixth Seat on the Upper Decker.

Every morning, I catch the 7.33 am bus to work, climb the 10 stairs to the upper deck, walk past you, plop myself onto the tenth seat to the left of the aisle, and wait.

At about 7.34am you, the man on the 7.33 am bus, who sits on the fifth/sixth seat to the right of the aisle switch on your music. It is always the same melancholy and soul stirring chanting Is it Tibetan? Buddhist? Taoist? Whatever it is, for the 24 odd minutes I am on the bus, for that pocket of time, you bring me pocket-sized liberation from the hurry burry of life, from the battles won and lost.

Melancholy chanting,
sunlight winking,
folliage rustling against the windows,
nurse with french knotted hair,
hunched old man with white duffel bag,
me with my working day’s wounds,
from battles won and lost.

Thank you, my man. For those 24 minutes, you rescue me from the conformity of life in the city.

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Quo Vadis?

Another massacre.
Another crazed being.

80-100 rounds.

32 lives.

In a place where respect, learning, kinship and knowledge are supposed to burn bright - in a university.

Quo Vadis? Quo Vadis?

Thursday, April 12, 2007

A Necessary Evil

Everytime someone sees me dishing out my cell phone, I have to listen to hilarious comments like:
“What is that prehistoric looking thing in your hand?”

“Your cellphone belongs in the fossils”

“This must have been Jesus’s very own cellphone.”

But I have no plans to abandon it. Not due to love, bur rather due to apathy.

To start with, I did not even want one. For the longest of times, I disliked the ease at which someone could reach me. I disliked the ease at which I could reach someone. I can no longer use the “I called your house, you weren’t home.” excuse. There are days and times, when one doesn’t want to be reached, to be part of the glorious anonymity - for just a couple of minutes. I never understood D when he used to rant on and on about how he wanted to disappear into anonymity. I never could fathom this desire.

Now then I realise, that my not wanting a cellphone was a manifestation of similar feelings. Albeit, of lesser intensity.

But, now then, I am resigned to this necessary evil.

Monday, April 09, 2007

Faraway Lands

The countries in red are those I have set foot upon. Reminds me of how many more there are to cover. Africa is completely untouched! A wasted 20 odd years.



create your own visited countries map

An Olde Friend

Varsha is a marvelous gal. In spite of all the gaping years of separation between us, I have no idea how two souls have managed to be in such perfect harmony.

She and I.

We have survived the different lives that we lead, the different experiences we had, the different people we met, and the different choices that we made.
An instant connection, a clairvoyant understanding of the other's need to hear a soothing word, or a word of repraoch. It's phenomenal. Every person should have one such friend.

No, I am not one for looking at friendships through rose-tinted glasses. We had many ups-and-downs. Loves to envy, grades to grab, jealousies to subdue, competitiveness to tackle. But we still are the best of pals ever since the first day of school (LKG) in SSSVV.