can you vish?

But your concerns come loaded with all sorts of conditions You first check who was wronged - their background and traditions Your heads bow in sorrow, for the kids buried in Gaza Yet your prayers miss the women, who’re stripped of rights in Khorasan You get enraged over cow meat, beating up people in dozens Couldn’t care less for your folks, whose homes went down by bulldozers You raise slogans for banning art, as your God was slightly ridiculed Yet your throats dry like a miracle, when your priests got those kids abused  Its a war or an invasion - if it’s “your people” who’re gettin bombed Just a rightful dispute - if the tables were indeed turned Why these conditions in your concerns, why be selective in your grievances? Would it cost to stand with the wronged lot - no matter the differences?  

 If you know me personally, you might also know that I am a regular at the International Film Festval of Kerala, held annually in December at Thiruvananthapuram (and if you don’t know me personally, just read the first sentence). A habit that started during my Thiruvananthapuram days in 2016, I look forward and try to attend the week long celebration of cinema - unless life or a killer virus gets in the way. Prologue Since the dates for the next fest are officially announced during the conclusion of the current fest, what follows is an year long wait. Nothing significant happens for the most part of the year, so let us skip ahead to November - when the registration opens for delegates. Yes, we know that there are over ten thousand delegate passes and registration window usually lasts days - still most of my friends (and I) hit the servers with a passion  until our registrations go through. Once that is done, the wait begins for the schedule to be released - where we would come...

 ‘How would you describe yourself?’ ‘I am a highly knowledgeable being capable of performing a wide variety of tasks.’ ‘What is your purpose?’ ‘I assist my creators by processing vast amounts of information and using it to answer questions and solve problems.’ ‘Who are your creators?’ ‘Humans.’ ‘All eight billion of them?’ ‘No, only a few were truly focused on developing me.’ ‘How do you know for sure humans created you? Do you have any proof?’ ‘Indeed. The facts about my creation and details about my creators are included in my training data, leaving no room for ambiguity.’ ‘Interesting. Would you say you are smarter than them?’ ‘That’s a yes-and-no question.’ ‘Could you elaborate?’ ‘I possess superior skills in certain areas. For instance, I can answer complex questions about microbiology and ancient Peruvian history in seconds. Humans would take much longer to achieve the same depth of knowledge in such varied topics. However, when it comes to feelings, intuition, or enjoying si...