Excessive Automation & Laziness

Recently, I have watched couple of episodes in "Terror in the Skies" series run on National Geography Channel (NAT GEO). This series exclusively covers the dangerous and fatal errors committed by the pilots of commercial air carriers and their aftermath.

This program has rekindled me to think about human limitations and the limitations of technology as well. I am not an expert in aviation and aircraft safety to make remarks on the human and technical faults. Hence, it is my sincere request to the readers to view this article as an opinion of a general viewer.

Manual Vs. Automation

The cutting edge technology of modern times (since Charlie Chaplin's Modern Times) has crossed many a milestone. The expansion of human imagination in terms of technological discoveries is quite impressive and sometimes explosive (like the Manhattan Project by USA).

As the automation improved from time to time, the human intervention has become lesser and lesser. In other words, humans have started to become 'immobile' and 'irresponsible' in direct proportion to the technological advancement that they are exposed to.

Many experts who spoke on "Terror in the skies" have categorically stressed upon this 'human indifference' to the impending danger. This lackadaisical attitude, as per the experts, is due to the overconfidence generated in them by the super smart machines strewn around them. As the people (pilots in this case) were seen suffering from 'lack of work' during the working hours due to heightened automation. One pilot was shown dozing off in an airborne airplane after putting the flight on "auto pilot."

Many such incidents shown in the Nat Geo program have repeatedly confirmed one thing i.e. 'Laziness' that automatically sets in to the brains & bodies of the humans. This laziness is the first and worst enemy of human intelligence. 

Lessons from the Past:

Dandin, the 6th century poet from ancient India, thus writes in his much acclaimed work "Dasa Kumara Charitra" -

श्रॆयांसि च सकलान्यनलसानानां नित्यसन्नध्यानि

¾rey¡¯si ca sakal¡nyanalas¡n¡n¡¯ nityasannadhy¡ni

Meaning: The welfare & prosperity shall always be with them who are devoid of laziness and are active.

The above wise saying may be seen as a mere "pearl of wisdom" from the pen of a creative poet and nothing more. But I feel that the above saying must be looked from a different angle. And the angle to be seen is the "time."

Dandin said this in 6th (or 7th) century i.e. almost 1,500 years ago when the automation was in its nascent stage. In those days, majority of the routine & special works were being manually labored by the people under strenuous environment. The fruits of the then advanced technology was highly marginalised and were available to the upper strata of the society. Yet, Dandin warned all his readers to be alert and never encourage laziness to set in.

I am sure that the advise by Dandin is more relevant in our times than of his age. Hope we take a note of such wise sayings and assess our so called "state-of-the-art automation" at regular intervals. After all welfare & prosperity are the wanton needs for everyone of us!

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Temple collapses & damages in India

Bharat, ever since its presence on the face of this earth, has been the birthplace of temple culture and tradition. For Hindus, temple is not a mere stone, brick & mortar structure but a symbol of body and soul. 

Temple is the meeting place for the mortal soul & the Supreme Soul. Temple is the place where the heart meets its divine pace maker. Temple is the fountainhead that bursts greatest literary works, fine arts and performing arts.

But all these are becoming a distant past in the modern India. The India today is turning a blind eye towards its cultural heritage and ancient history by allowing the temples and other ancient historical structures to collapse

26^th May, 2010 – Srikalahasti Rajagopuram Collapses:

The 500 year old majestically erected Rajagopuram of Srikalahasti temple became a heap of rubble on 26^th night, taking some 100 odd monkeys buried under the debris. Unbridled drilling for groundwater (tube wells) was the cause for the collapse. Built by the much celebrated monarch of South India, Sri Krishnadeva Raya, this gopuram was a star attraction for both tourists, history and art lovers.

Now, it’s gone, thanks to the negligence by all (people, temple authorities, state govt. & other allied agencies.) It would astonishing to know that the cracks in the gopuram were found as earliest as 1980 and in 1996 some patchwork repairs were carried out with the help of TTD. Since then no one bothered to protect this historical monument erected by Krishna Raya upon his triumph over Gajapati kingdom in Odisha.

12^th June, 2011 – A 13^th century temple in Hampi Crumbles:

Illegal mining and heavy rains caused a havoc on Sri Varaha temple constructed during 13^th century in the world famous heritage center Hampi.

A week ago, the mindless dynamite blasting carried by the lawbreakers have resulted in to the collapse of parts of Vijaya Vithala temple where the mysterious music stone pillars are erected by Vijaya Nagar engineers. As usual and living up to their credibility(!), all the govt. agencies (Central & State) have royally ignored the various threats that have emerged in the recent times. It was a truth that Hampi was destroyed by marauding Muslim armies but who is destroying the remaining of the great city now?

23^rd October, 2011 – 160 years old Gali Gopuram comes down:

The gali gopuram of Sri Bhava Narayana Swamy temple, Bapatla came crushing down on 23^rd October, 2011 afternoon. This gopuram was built in 1852 as an extended development to the main temple that was built by a Chola king in 5^th century AD.

ASI (Archaeological Survey of India) has attributed a reason of 24/7 vehicular movement in the vicinity. Cracks were identified in the structure and the patchworks that were done have failed to hold the structure. People, state govt. departments and agencies like ASI have allowed this “structure of national importance” to do a vanishing act.

3^rd October 2012 - Srisailam Gopuram Caves In:

The northern Gopuram of Srisailam temple caves in & collapses. This structure is almost 500 years old and believed to be constructed by Chatrapati Shivaji (then it must be not more than 300 years old). Either ways, it was an ancient monument that collapsed due to negligence of state govt., bureaucrats and temple administration. The last repairs carried out by the concerned authorities dates back to 1965 i.e. nearly 47 years ago (in 2012).

The in-fight between govt. departments has led to this disaster. In other words, it is sheer negligence and red-tapism that made the ancient structure to lose its presence.

20^th January, 2013 – Temple wall in Srirangam collapses:

A wall in Srirangam temple complex suddenly collapsed for about 20ft. long and damaged an adjoining house. There are several reasons for the collapse like unofficial encroachments by houses & petty shops, drainage canals etc.

4^th February, 2014 – Inner wall collapse in Bildwar Cave Temple:

Chattisgarh, the hotbed of mining industry, has stained its hands with blood of 5 worshippers when an inner wall of a cave temple caved in due to constant dynamite blasting in a nearby coal mine.

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Alongside of these human errors, several mishaps and natural disasters are taking toll on the ancient temples of India.

1. In August, 2007 two famous temples in Tamil Nadu i.e. Kumbheshwara temple in Kumbhakonam and Kapaleeshwara temple in Mylapore, Chennai have received the brunt the nature when a heavy lightning hit the gopurams and damaged them.
2. A lightning from the blue has destroyed the gopuram of an ancient Bala Tripura Sundari temple in Tripurantakam, Prakasam Dist, Andhra Pradesh. This incident took place on 28^th November, 2013.
3. In an another lighting struck incident, the famous Madhura Meenakshi temple’s east Raja gopuram was partially damaged on 12^th December, 2013. This gopuram was constructed during 13^th century AD.
4. An electric short-circuit partially damaged a 4^th century AD temple of Ekanatheswari Devi in Chitradurga, Karnataka on 7^th July, 2014.
5. Yamunotri temple in Uttarakhand is constantly being bombarded by the landslides coming down from the Kalindi mountain which is atop the temple complex. Repairs are yet to be done to this complex.

The repetitive nature of damages like lightning and fire are hinting the negligence of all offices concerned. In this era of instant communication, one can quickly learn from the incidents happening in other parts of the country and implement the preventive measures. But the Indians seem to be immuned to quick learning and when they learn, by the time most of the ancient heritage monuments might have sighed their last breath!

God, save us or forgive for the unabashed and unashamed ignorance of ours!

Celebrate The Ancient Culture. Don't Kill It

          It has been quite a long time that I could not pen any article for this blog. Elections 2014 has kept me busy with many online activities particularly on Facebook. I took part in plenty of debates, discussions, analysis etc. I have never spent that much of time online to discuss political issues. To participate in the debates wherein I might be facing such members who are well read and better informed, I did read lot of articles, books and saw videos. All said and done that exercise was quite educative and informative.

          During the course of various discussions, I came across with some interesting facts about India. I am sure that the following observations would have been made by learned people in the past. Those who have highlighted these aspects might have done much better than me. But it is for my satisfaction that I wish to furnish the observations that have dawned on to me.

India – The Home for an Undying Culture

          I was trying to figure out what are the unique characteristics of India and what are those portions that it must retain forever to remain unique forever.

For me, it appears that the uniqueness of India lies in its undying, ever-shining and continuous flow of ancient heritage that has been tagged as ‘Hindu culture.’ The reasoning behind this conclusion is a simple fact that many of the world’s best civilizations and cultures have vanished from their homelands long ago. Hereunder is the list of few greatest cultures/civilizations that have become extinct in their birthplaces.

• Egyptian
• Mayan
• Sumerian
• Greek
• Roman
• Aztec
• Babylonian
• Inca
• Persian
• Mesopotamian

          The above list is not as per the historical timeline during which they came & gone but a random recollection of them from my memory.

    If one visits the places where these cultures/civilizations had their origins, they could find that these cultures have remained in their ruins only and not 'living' at all! 

          Today, we can’t find the followers of many of the great cultures and traditions of ancient times. For example, today’s Egypt is a Muslim country and we will not find any person following the culture that was adopted by Pharaohs. Similarly, the entire Mesopotamian land is predominantly Muslim in faith and I do not know whether anyone still practising the culture that has once flourished in that region.

        In contrary to this, one can find the Vedic culture, still alive and shining, in India. A culture which has more than 5,000 years of recorded history is  intact in its original form, almost!

          This undying existence of Vedic India has not been a cakewalk. It had to endure 800 years of Muslim rule in many parts of the country and 200 years of British rule throughout the country. Thus the very existence itsef is something great and wonderful.

         It must be a lifelong thrill for a history lover to get a easy access to the world’s ancient heritage that is alive even today and breathing air in to millions of faithful followers and practitioners. 

       Here is the real matchless culture that withstood many onslaughts. This is the only rareness that one could experience in their life time. Vedic culture of India is the only exclusivity from all those ancient cultures that are dead and gone.

          All Indians, irrespective of caste, creed and religious belief, must acknowledge this wonderful phenomenon of human history. All of historians and history lovers must rejoice the longevity shown by an ancient culture. All social engineers should appreciate the strength of the will exhibited by an ancient society. All literary people must cherish the ancient Sanskrit and Prakriti literature in their pristine form. The artisans from all parts of the world must visit and enjoy the beauty cut out of the rocks, stones and other materials.

          But what I see is the complete reversal of this humane approach towards the world’s only surviving culture that was found before Christ and the Prophet. 

          Even in this day of social enlightenment, there are many rogue elements that want to ensure the death of this rich culture. Writers want to write ugly commentaries on Vedic literature. Artists want to denigrate the holy characters of the Vedic epics. Religious fanatics are determined to issue a death warrant on Vedic faith followers. Intellectuals and liberals are trying hard to demean the whole Vedic culture.

This must stop

          The attitude to kill a culture must stop not for the sake of a 'religion' but to celebrate the human’s excellence in all the fields that celebrate the life. Vedic culture has touched up on every aspect of life be it education, entertainment, enlightenment, economy, engineering, medicine, nature, flora & fauna, fine arts, astronomy, warfare and more importantly bio-diversity. 

          Any person who is humane and sane in his/her thoughts and deeds must come forward to keep this wonderful heritage. No one should ever try to harm this ancient lifestyle by labeling it as a particular ‘religion’.

          After all it is the culture that wished the welfare of everyone (सर्वॆ जनाः सुखिनॊ भवंतु) by calling the whole world as one family (वसुधैव कुटुंबकम्).

॥ शांतिः शांतिः शांतिः ॥