Insignicant Chatter

Eat, Pay, Leave

I was surprised to find large vegetable or fruit shops being manned by one or two people in the USA, when I was there for the first time. The idea that anyone who wants to buy something will get it and come to the counter and pay for it, was alien to me. Since then I rave about this system based on trust and honesty. I am sure there are losses when the assumption of honesty breaks down. And rationally, perhaps in USA where labour is expensive, the losses may not be balanced by the cost of preventing them. But perhaps the shop owners are people who value this system based on trust in others and want to believe in it.

Now I am in Chennai, India and I have been eating most of my meals in one of the ubiquitous Andhra messes, for over 8 months.

Yesterday I went to a little more expensive and "professional" food joint called Hot Chips. Many readers may not associate this place with expensive, but food was 3 times the cost I have gotten used to paying. I was asked to purchase a coupon before I get anything; the workers were uncouth and unsmiling; I had to stand at a dirty table, no chair to sit and no one around to clean the tables; and there was no way for me to ask for extra serving of one or more of the condiments. This place is overstaffed, but the lack of trust and lack of respect for humans from the management seeps down the hierarchy. The workers were not expected to make natural human connections or receive feedback, they were not even expected to keep the place clean.

I ate unhappily and as I was leaving, I realised that I had made a payment up front. This organisation had no trust in me and they had found a system to not have to put their money in trust, and it dawned on me (many obvious things light up in my dim brain after experiencing shock). In smaller establishments like Andhra Mess someone may have kept track of what I eat, but I have no evidence for that. I am given, if I need something by smiling workers, in fact I am asked politely many times during the meal if I need anything. I can physically leave premises to wash hands, or get tea and come back, greet the cashier, praise them about their prowess with numbers, tell them what I ate, most often without any testimony from the serving staff and pay. If there is lack of change amounts on both sides, I don't mind paying a little more and they don't mind getting a little less.

I am not claiming this is the best system in the world, but I feel more human and real in this system. And this feeling is not less important than getting my nourishment. Perhaps for some vegetable and fruit shop owners in the USA and the Andhra Mess owners in Chennai it is not less important than making profit doing their business.

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The God of the Insignificant

A few weeks ago I watched a debate about the significance of religion in 21st century organised by the Cambridge Union a year or so ago. The way the title of the debate is worded is very classy: this house believes that organised religion has no place in the 21st century. Parts of this debate keep playing in a loop in my brain.

In this debate Prof. Richard Dawkins says, and I am paraphrasing him, that some people believe there is a god who can control everything. Who knows the values of all the constants and can controls the value of these constants to the umpteenth decimal value to lead the chaos from the big bang to the evolution of human beings, to the birth of his son on earth, ultimately, the people of faith believe, to have him killed him brutally. Such a knob twiddler, prof. Dawkins echoes my thoughts, he can put his trust in. But then, we should not worship such a god, because it would be pointless. Such a god should not be bothered with the concerns of one significant human on a rather small planet, in a solar system with a rather average sized star, in the outer arm of a rather average galaxy among the billions of galaxies in the endless universe. Such a god should not be bothered with our insignificant demands and prayers, she has better things to do. So many knobs to twiddle.

What Prof. presents as a reason for such god being beyond belief, is I think the very reason why many people need a god. To feel that there is justice on the whole, that there is a life after this unjust one, a life that starts after this one ceases to exist, where justice will be brought. Insignificant will become significant; poor, rich; and sinners, cheaters, bullies, schemers, smarter people, better equipped people will be punished for being the medium of evil.

Is it likely that this need is a manufactured one? Imagine a child growing up without knowing the power of the possibility of getting even in the hell-ish fashion: having heavenly bouncers and goons fry and toast your adversaries. In such a person's mind will such a need exist? Perhaps the whole concept of justice of the heavenly variety is mislaid. I want to hear more about connection of justice and religion in this EdX class.