But this time

But it wasn't the same this time. I should have just stood there, bearing it all, ignoring it all. Things should have gone the way they always did; but the stars no longer aligned the usual way and fates were bound to be different this time. I remembered those teachings which used to accompany daily hair oiling. Mother made sure there wasn't an issue she left uncovered; patience, compromise and tolerance were the three key words. "Is it necessary mum?" I always used to ask her. "(It's) what defines you" came the answer instantly. The winds were always strong at this point, like they wanted to teach me the song of strength and rebellion which they sang. The birds would go renegade choosing to defy the Sun. But mother said I wasn't made for it, "We" aren't made for it. The birds flew high in sky and dogs fought over the only piece of bread. But all these scenes were made to mean only one thing for me, "not for you". Those words stuck with me for so long, but today, they seemed to have gone astray, rather run away in fear. Fear of what was coming, for which mere words weren't going to be enough. They were right. I could only offer as much resistance as silver would to electricity. I was standing still, but the turmoil would soon send these vegetables in action. I had usually imagined myself in chains, made it easier for me to believe I couldn't do anything, that I was helpless. An occasional glance at people around me made it easier to resist the temptation. Asking was the fruit of Eden I was forbidden to eat. Those people only made me fear for them, for I would make them perish because of me. The point is I would generally stop. But it wasn't the case this time, the train had left the station, the bull had left the stable, the arrow had left the bow. There was no stopping. I delayed any action that could occur. Why shouldn't I? All those years of conditioning and molding, they were meant for this very day right? So that no questions were asked and no voices were raised? Do as taught and the rest doesn't exist? I felt an immediate existential crisis as the teachings of my lifetime betrayed me as I swayed to the dark side. But the mantle was strong, and core, true. Doing anything would contradict everything, kill the very reason I was made into this world; but the storm inside insisted something had to be done. As the thought lingered in my mind the breeze tried to cool the heat of the forge. I turned around to see the half-open window. The house in front was surprisingly calm as it glowed with colours of warmth and care. So was this it? It had all been going to the wrong address all this time? Who was I kidding. They were never meant to be shipped to this address. The lack of restraints were proving to be a problem. The urge for the forbidden fruit only grew stronger with time. The window flew open completely and hit the wall. So this was it? No more thinking, no more fighting, no more questioning. This, was the answer. This, was it.

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Popular Fiction as purveyor of False Consciousness

The way our State functions is that it enforces certain ideologies on its people. Since the formation of the

State is a result of collective transfer of consent, consciousness and rationality of the people, any repressive from of enforcement, using any force or violence would lead to the threatening of its existence for compromising on their rights, liberties and freedom. This not only harms the State directly but also brings the true intentions of the State in light. The State hence, rather than acting to directly change the behaviors and actions it wants changed, attacks the ideologies behind them. The general masses act upon their ideologies subconsciously, not pondering about them once they have found roots or are solidified. This fact ensures the State that replacing that ideology with theirs would definitely do the trick. Now the important thing is that the State as a Ruling body is majorly constituted and influenced by the Upper Class which by default becomes the Ruling Class. The State hence thrives, survives and drives on the facilitation and ideologies of the Upper Class (or in this case, the Ruling Class). The State wants active promotion of Ruling Class’s ways for it ensures State’s power. This is because socio-economic profits are but incentives for the Ruling Class which in turn backs the State. It should be noted that practicing of Ruling Class ideologies (socio) and the demand for their resources (economic) by the masses increase the power and hold of the Ruling Class many fold hence becoming an incentive to help the State. The State achieves this enforcing of ideologies through educational (schools), cultural (Church) and Popular Media. Although the State actively acts only in the first two, it is the third which is left for the Ruling Class to play with so as to achieve the desired results. The Popular Media has got a direct connection with the masses which allow the formation of a consensus among the masses via a discoursive route or via archetypal ideological establishments. The Ruling Class hence affects the popular media by coupling their ideology (in this case, Capitalism/Consumerism) with certain ideologies well rooted among masses (in this case, Patriarchy, Caste and Class structure), and packaging it according to the contemporary demands of the masses. The packaging and the social ideologies (Patriarchy etc.) acts as a façade which allows the Ruling Class ideologies to seep in. The Popular Media as a result now carries packets of enforced ideologies meant for mass consumption without the detection of the tweaked elements. Prolong exposure to this popular media results in a certain reservation and bias in favor of the Ruling Class ideologies; unknowingly. The change which follows is a subconscious one, and results in the formation of a consciousness which, to the general public appears to be their own, but in reality is of the Ruling Class, thus, bringing in the concept of False Consciousness. The term ‘False’ here explains the nature of the consciousness, which guides the masses, promotes certain choices, lifestyles, instills an amount of conditioning and further promotes some ideologies; appears to be integral to the masses because of it appearing to be an individual construct and having origins in their own consciousness, but in reality is nothing more than a product of the Ruling Class which ensured its purveyance so as to make it look like it originated from the masses. The demands, voices and vested interests are all Ruling Class’s and the societal ideology is only used to promote and actively practice Ruling Class ideologies. The societal ideology is either promoted, used as a mere catalyst or sometimes even ridiculed either to enjoy the favoritism of the masses for Ruling Class ideologies or to boost any existing consumption. The point to be noted is that, the societal ideologies never gain a level of high importance for the Ruling Class as they are used as a mere medium to allow interaction of the masses with the Ruling Class ideologies. The societal progress if, in any case it happens would be nothing but disguised economic progress of the Ruling Class. The State benefits from the Ruling Class by making them ensure its prolonged control and power, and the Ruling Class uses both the State as well as the societal ideologies as a mere means to continue Ruling.

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Twitter Time!

It's been long since I have fully utilized the Twitter app for Android. But now that I had work in mind, it came with special requirements. Managing multiple accounts. The first thing that struck me was TweetDeck. A very famous and successful app. So successful that twitter bought it! But the expansion plans that the top board had in mind required shutting down of any such third party app, they wanted people to use their official app more and for everything. This was the reason I got a little worried since my work demanded multiple accounts. I guess the top board had it all sorted out. The newest update for twitter for android not only brings in a completely new, more fluid and fast interface; it also allows the option of managing multiple accounts. The simplicity of this feature itself makes  the use of any third party app redundant. Select the accounts from setting and add a new account. Simple! Phew! No wonder twitter had no problem shutting TweetDeck off. I will be working on both my accounts now and will write again about the efficiency and any bugs(if any), but I believe it's gonna be fun. You smart boy, Twitter!

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The "homely" Facebook

Facebook launched it's new "home" app for Android only which will be available on play store post 12th April. This happened alongside the launch of HTC First, the first phone featuring Facebook home, with a tweaked jelly bean and pre-installed Facebook home app. The home app makes the news feed your home page and integrates very deeply into your phone. Taking messaging very importantly, a new feature of chathead has been introduced where you can message your friends on a single tap. This deep social integration comes with an announcement of advertisement making it's way into Facebook mobile. Zuckerberg had earlier mentioned that they were working for generating revenue out of mobile, well, this maybe it. Will the people be ready for 24X7 Facebook in their face? Will advertisement become an essential part of Facebook mobile? And will the advertisement effect it's users? We need to wait till at least till12th to know about that!

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