IN OR OUT?

Some days, we have the phrase ‘think out of the box’ ringing in our ears, especially those of us who work in the marketing and advertising fields. Whether we are working alone or in groups, it’s an exhortation that is supposed to motivate us and help that elusive little insight or idea appear magically out of nowhere.

Creative thinking is difficult to pin down despite wonderful books like James Webb Young’s A Technique for Producing Ideas. Everyone has come up with a great idea at some point but very few can do this consistently. And in professions that rely on any form of creative output, these few people are Gods that the mere mortals look up to admiringly and hang around in the hope that something will rub off on them. The Gods preside over meetings and reign supreme in group brainstorms, while the mortals take notes and recycle words to express allegiance to one idea or another or blasphemously hunt & kill those ideas that they can’t relate to.

The problem, we are told, is that the mortals are accustomed to boxes – those cubicles they have been assigned and remain willingly confined to, while the Gods roam free in the spaces between boxes. So are enslaving boxes the fate of the mortals and free spaces the domain of the Gods?

Perhaps, the difference between the Gods & the mortals is not what it’s made out to be. Both depend on the existence of boxes and without those boxes, both would be equally lost.

Magic and logic, after all, are the yin and the yang of creative thinking. The best creative people I have worked with have always expressed a more than healthy respect for logic and the best suits would be redundant if they were unable to appreciate & nurture magic. It turns out that the Gods are not those who pretend the boxes don’t matter, nor are they those who are afraid to venture out. The Gods see the boxes as well as the spaces in between, they are able to hold both images in their heads and create meaning.

The premise of ‘out of the box’ thinking rests on the existence of the box. If the box didn’t exist, there would be nothing outside it or even inside, for that matter. The box is the compass that shows the direction. The choice to follow it or to oppose it is ours. And sometimes the best ideas can come by choosing to do both.

SHARING EVERYTHING, REVEALING NOTHING

See who I am, where I live, what I like on Facebook,

My status updates often but not as much as my profile look.

See where I go on FourSquare and who with when I get tagged,

I don’t want to be stalked, so there may be a time-lag

Or check out my Instagram posts to see my favourite food,

The things I like to photograph more than I eat, just eating is plain rude!

YouTube likes could tell you my taste in videos or my friend’s must-view shares,

But only when I log on or forget to log out: does it truly matter, really who cares!

See who I follow on Twitter, the people I like and the ones I love to hate,

The difference is not so obvious since I like to lurk, not actually engage.

I may tweet a random thought that I think makes me sound profound,

Then agonize on how to hashtag it, so I can be ‘found’.

See my latest wish list on Pinterest, the dreams I will admit,

Or read through my blog for the writing I can submit

Track my career on LinkedIn and you’ll know I’ve done well

Or get suspicious if it’s too much of a hard sell.

Big data can crunch all of this into a well-defined profile

Show it to me and I am sure to nod and smile:

Is it real, is it wishful or is it just me misunderstood?

If I really knew myself, I’d help you out, I promise I would!

MINDSETS & MANIPULATIONS

I have a black dot still marking the tip of my nail on my left index finger. It marks the day when I insisted on taking leave from a heavy work week to travel to Mumbai and cast my vote against Modi. My vote was not especially in favour of another candidate, for like the rest of the country I too have lost faith in the Congress and can’t bring myself to trust the unpredictable AAP. There was only one thing I trusted and that was my gut instinct that voting for a religious right autocrat to steer a secular country feels like asking for trouble.

Yet, the mood of almost everyone else was clearly opposite. I heard countless arguments against my weak idealism and while no one was able to defend or completely excuse what happened in Gujarat under Modi’s leadership, I heard a lot of practical rationalizations – from ‘what choice do we have’ to ‘we need a strong leader’. Never mind the possibility that this strength may not be used where we want it or even that it may well be used against us.

As democracy trumped my individual opinion with a stronger referendum than expected – I felt a fervent wish to be proved wrong. If early indicators continue the trend, it looks as if this wish too will be unfulfilled:

• No check on communal attacks: Modi has maintained silence on incidents such as the lynching of a Muslim youth in Pune and Shiv Sena’s Vichare force-feeding a Muslim cook during Ramzan. While he is quiet, miscellaneous BJP loud speakers are vociferously attempting to defend the indefensible. 
• Fanning communal flames in UP: A much ado about a single temple bell may be enough to trigger riots afresh. BJP conveniently does not claim responsibility for governance in UP but this irresponsible behavior will have repercussions across the country. 
• Government apathy on continuing incidents of rape: No concrete steps have been taken to improve women’s safety as yet, despite fresh horrors being reported every day. Police apathy and even interference continue in both filing reports and taking action. 
• Provocative, ill-informed actions & comments: BJP and BJP supporters are crawling out to stir controversy on everything from Hafeez Sayeed to teaching VHP propaganda in Government schools to insulting women and minorities. 

Manmohan Singh’s silence was interpreted as a sign of weakness and inability to act. Modi’s silence seems more dangerous. It’s not a stretch to think that he not only intends to allow such divisiveness but also that he tacitly endorses it. 

It’s heartening that the media is loud in condemning and calling out the government. But in the midst of this distraction, I’d like to ask all those who supported Modi, if they have got what they wanted. My idealism was perhaps never going to be realized but what of their more practical and realistic expectations? Is communalism going to create a good environment for businesses and the economy to prosper? Is misogyny and the fear for women’s safety going to bring down the sky-rocketing vegetable prices? Is further divisiveness within the country going to improve our external security?

Every time I catch a glimpse of the fading black dot on my finger, I remember Nikos Kazantzakis’ eloquence in Zorba the Greek, “As for me, I often forget, I disparage myself, I lose my way, my faith is a mosaic of unbelief. Sometimes I feel I should like to make a bargain: to live one brief minute and give my life in exchange. But you keep a firm hold on the helm and you never forget, even in the sweetest moments of this life, towards which destination you have set your course.” 

We have handed Modi & the BJP the helm of our future but will we like the destination they have set course for? Will we find that we have put too much at stake on a gamble, sacrificing both conscience and country for a glimmer of gold that may well turn out to be an illusion? 

Mr. Modi, I’m still hoping that you will prove me wrong.