TIME Person of the Year

TIME's introduction to Person of the Year says 'For capturing and highlighting a global sense of restless promise, for upending governments and conventional wisdom, for combining the oldest of techniques with the newest of technologies to shine a light on human dignity and, finally, for steering the planet on a more democratic though sometimes more dangerous path for the 21st century, the Protestor is TIME's 2011 Person of the Year.' 


And adds 'History often emerges only in retrospect. Events become significant only when looked back on.' About the protests, it says 'The protests marked the rise of a new generation. Technology mattered, but it was not a technological revolution. Social networks did not cause these movements, but they kept them alive and connected. This was not a wired revolution; it was a human one, of hearts and minds, the oldest technology of all.' 


Not all of TIME's choices in the past have been deserving, and many were outright wrong, and several of them biased toward America (a fact acknowledged by TIME in the past). TIME's definition of who should be Person of the Year is one who has made the maximum impact during the year. Julian Assange impacted more than Mark Zuckerberg last year. American Presidents who have won, at times twice, like George Bush, Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan, have been stupid choices, couldn't they find anyone else?; Osama bin Laden should've been, when Rudy Guiliani was. And why was Kate Middleton in the list this year? 


This year has been fair. Many had expected Steve Jobs to make the list, but he did not make any impact this year. TIME has chosen a common noun, as it has done in the past, like The Computer, The Middle Class, Young People, GI Joe etc. (YOU was a terrible choice). The Protestor has made the news this year, without doubt. And shall continue to have impact going forward. 

127 hours

I saw '127 hours' for the first time, last evening. I recommend it for its moving representation of a one paragraph story, context-relevant music, including silence at times and distant sounds at other times, and camera work, how many angles can you come up with in a crevice of a place, though there are lots of errors pointed out in popular blogs. The belief and spirit of Aron Ralston comes through very well. James Franco's effort is praiseworthy. And the screenplay tells the story in an engaging fashion. 


Apparently the helicopter pilot who rescues Aron in the movie, is the pilot who rescued Aron in reality. And Aron himself appears toward the end of the movie, much like 'Pursuit Of Happyness', where the real Chris Gartner walks across the road in the last scene. 



Aron's forms a relationship with the rock, which comes out in the following quote:  

'This rock has been waiting for me my entire life, 

since its been a meteorite, 

millions of years ago. 

I've been moving toward it my entire life, 

the minute I was born, 

every breath I've taken, 

every action 

has been leading me to this crack.' 

Alibaug

I'd been to Alibaug over the weekend with our office group. We stayed at a farmhouse owned by one Mr. Sane. It was a good in terms of space - he had a large enough estate - but was wanting in terms of facilities. 

And the beach was very dirty, probably because it was a rocky beach and not many frequented it. I wonder if places less frequented should be cleaner because they are less frequented or should be dirty because they are less frequented! 

We took the Saturday afternoon launch from Gateway of India. We got delayed because of the Presidential Fleet Review and cancellation of scheduled launches. But we had a glimpse of the many naval ships and submarines anchored there, among them the INS Shivalik and INS Viraat. 

We also saw some seagulls that followed us on the way to and from Mandwa. We also enjoyed a trip on the tum-tum from Mandwa to where we stayed. Some pictures of the sea, sunset, gulls and the ships.... 

Poems, Prayers, Promises

And talk of poems and prayers and promises
And things that we believe in
How sweet it is to love someone
How right it is to care

How long it’s been since yesterday
And what about tomorrow
And what about our dreams
And all the memories we share

In search of a middle ground

In personal relationships, there are different perspectives involved. While there certainly are some actions that are clearly wrong, most are wrong only from a certain perspective. Each person's basic nature, upbringing, idea of life, frame of mind, are responsible for his or her unique view. 

Since most actions have to be be given the label of being misunderstood from a certain perspective, it becomes difficult to label a certain wrong action as wrong. So while, as an independent, impartial and rational judge of a situation, its possible for a judge to label an action as 'wrong', he can't do it, as he'd appear judgemental; one of the two parties involved will find his judgement unacceptable. 

While the judge may not fear telling the truth, his image of being impartial is unnecessarily tarnished, at least from one point of view. And it doesn't help reconcile differences and find common ground. So he shall have to appear impartial, while being partial.  

The only way such an issue is resolved is for the person on a higher moral pedestal to come down. That is, if we want the relationship intact. And relationships require to remain intact under various circumstances - marital relations, organisational compulsions.  

So in search of a middle ground, the one on a high pedestal has to compromise, an impartial judge has to behave partially, while the one in wrong benefits. 

The meek shall inherit the world!