Fancy

Life update. We got 1500 Rupees from White Collar by means of a really fancy cheque (massive shout-out to Amma for orchestrating the whole deal) & my health is back to normal (almost).

I’ve had a pretty sweet day. Woke up, had a clean stall to dump in, got super hot water for my bucket bath, had an awesome “alu muter” sandwich for breakfast, and a set of swell classes. Followed by an incredible lunch. I will accept that Rajma Chawal is a thing, although I appreciate it with Roti more. Sorry not sorry.

In other news, I haven’t eaten curd in nearly 3 days. My body has been deprived of the dairy I love, and I’m not sure it’s responding very well. The totem of my existence has been served for lunch & dinner everyday that I’ve been ill, and I won’t lie, I’ve shed some tears as I’ve walked past the delicious Gujarat curd. My batchmates have sympathized, and one even offered me her curd – a gesture I applaud, and condemn at the same time. (Rule #1 – Curd is not meant to be shared). You have much to learn, young padawan.

Anyway. Awesome set of classes. Our Economics prof. is the most chill lecturer I have seen. We “focus on our breathing” (to be read as sleep & not to be confused with meditation) while he takes attendance, which he does in the most stunning raga I have heard. There’s a subtlety to his tone on syllables. The man could’ve been a good singer, methinks. After 45 minutes of fun, we had Political Thought.

I have the best Political Thought professor on the planet. This is my opinion. (was. Read on)

He’s such a passionate man. He’ll make you believe anything, just because he’s so passionate about teaching. And his subject. Although his subject is literally about not believing anything at all. We’re still doing Introductory Modules and as first-years, we’re constantly reminded how little we know about things. Exactly what today’s class did.

I’m very intrigued by Political Theory, Thought, Philosophy, Science & all of the multiple perspectives/subjects you can attach at the end of “Political” or “Politics”. Yes, they’re different things. No, I will not elaborate.

P.S.: As you read, it’s okay to be very confused. I am too. I’m new to this whole blogging thing, so my writing may be scratchy. Sorry.

I appreciate the subject only because I’m fascinated by understanding what fancy words mean. That’s a really weird way of phrasing it, so I shall explain. I’m fascinated to know what “Marxism”, or “Liberty”, or “Justice” stands for, largely because I feel like most of us use the words very incorrectly. Starting from the government, to the media, to common parlance. We throw around these big words because of the power we have to sway people in their emotions & thoughts without realizing the connotations they really do possess. That’s the sort of clarity I’m looking for from the course. And while the semester may confuse me even more, it’ll give me perspective on the stuff I read, which I really appreciate.

Enough of explanation, back to reality.

Well, an introductory module in Political blah (I cannot type out the whole thing), basically entails debate on what words mean. Just the other day, we spent a class debating the difference between Philosophy and Thought (I always thought Philosophy was abstract thought). Today’s class was another Philosophical discourse.

Basically, we spent time discussing Ontology. And the two schools of Ontology – the Materialistic & the Idealistic. Fancy words, fancier meanings. Ontology questions existence and reality. There’s a subject devoted to the existential crisis, guys. 

Literally, the subject & its approaches question whether reality is a construct and whether it actually exists. We even took the debate to religion, which I always love talking about, scientifically. We went on to speak about Plato’s idea of opinions, beliefs, and knowledge. And how nobody really attains knowledge. That we all just gain information.

The conclusion was that nobody experiences knowledge.

There go my dreams of being intellectual and fancy.

What intellectual and fancy. I’m a guy with a blog called Curd Rice Daily. Pshh.

I’m already intellectual and fancy. (Yup)

At this point I’d like to rephrase something I typed earlier.

I have a Political Thought professor.

He’s incredible.

But I can no longer say he’s the best.
(a) Because I have no one to compare him with
(b) Because my reality comes from my experience & therefore it would too much of a value judgement without much empirical analysis
(c) Because saying he’s the best would constitute knowledge. Not an opinion.

And no one gains knowledge.

Let that sink in.

Just because I’ve introduced this idea to you guys, I want you guys to think about this for a bit.

If a tree falls in a forest which is empty, and nobody witnesses the tree falling from afar:

(a) Do the leaves rustle?
(b) Does is produce a sound?

Yes.

I’m fancy.

Massive props to my Political blah professor.

Curd Rice, out.