The Poor Fella

Oh, my dear!
You deify almost every human role,
one or the other every day.
But I think that
on one day in a year,
or, at least, once in your lifetime,
invite your humanity to your place,
and be in the company of the poor soul,
forgetting all the divinities for a while.
Not a burden on the earth,
let the fella feel this on that day. 

Niraj Kumar Jha

The Poor Fella

Oh, my dear!
You deify almost every human role,
almost every day.
At least one day a year,
or once in your lifetime,
invite your humanity to your place,
and be in the company of the poor soul.
Not a burden on the earth,
let the fella feel on that day.

Niraj Kumar Jha

Philosophizing: don't bother, there are others to take care of

To my understanding, philosophizing is embedded in human nature. Every person tries to make sense of one's existence, and, as such, one tends to philosophize. Professional philosophers or/and persons having no job other than philosophizing provision readymade philosophies to people. And there are the ideologues who seek to monopolize the business of philosophizing and insist on the use of their one-time product forever. People generally fall for them as they can avoid the pain of exercising their minds. And people must avoid this pain, makes the biggest enterprise in the world. 

Niraj Kumar Jha

The Leap Forward: The Need of Thinking the Necessities of Times

The pandemic made the world leap forward in the direction it was moving. Among other things, now we see that a person is more isolated and self-centered. After the crisis is over, the normal would be new in the sense that people would rely less on their community and even on family and more on public services. Life and more so death would be more mechanical, aloof, and secular and correspondingly less organic, communal, and ritualized. 

There are aspects, positive and negative, about the dynamics: for instance, real sociability has ebbed over time but at the same time we have a virtual world to socialize in a non-intrusive fashion. Moreover, the earlier sociability had this unsavory aspect that happiness of some was always at the cost of less happiness of some others. 

The foundational shifts would bring in inevitable changes and one should instead of bemoaning the loss of the old ways of life should think of the necessities of times. And the most important thing needed is the maximum rationalization of the order. It would translate to, in the context of the argument here, the seamless availability of services, hasslefree and cheating free. 

Thinking the new is the critical need of the times. 

Niraj Kumar Jha

Religion v the Right to Philosophize

Philosophy imposed is religion. A piece of philosophy served with the sword, articulated in captivating rhetoric, propagated and practiced by exemplary conviction and dedication, put across through magical performances, or passed on by mixing moral value with cock-and-bull stories, imposes itself on people. Philosophy must remain a personal tool of making sense of existence. Personal autonomy must be recognized and respected with this right to philosophizing. Denial of this right is unjust and the breeding ground of so many ills. 

Niraj Kumar Jha

Education: the Endeavour

Education is the toughest of the human endeavours. Things you have to beat, you know, include among others your genetic coding and the language that makes you express yourself. And this is why it is very rare that we encounter an educated one. 

Niraj Kumar Jha

The Post-university Age: A Hypothesis

The university system, as it prevails today, emerged in the medieval world and outgrew its age to become the fountains of the modern age. They emerged as adjuncts to the churches but developed to take away the main job of the churches – the education. They also moved from the domain of the Pope to the that of the King, and became the main agency of the state for disciplining the subjects. Today, with the technologies (ICT), education is about to shift to the corporations; the big corporations, or the public limited companies, would be the imparter of required skills and also the guardians of public morality. The universities would exist as churches do but education would move closer to the people, to their closer ownership. 

Niraj Kumar Jha