Omicron and Mirza Ghalib

Even as the  gloom of the pandemic had seemed to be receding, Omicron emerged to cast its black shadow on the world.  But, even in this rapidly enveloping darkness,  people are seeing hope, that the pandemic having wrought its worst over the last two years, will now turn endemic, which looks like a good case scenario. They see it as the beginning of the end. 

But what possibly could Omicron have in common with Ghalib and his poetry? 

It is this contra sentiment, which I stated above, that Ghalib captured in this famous sher (which many of you would have heard but didn’t stop to ruminate on what it meant) :

z̤ulmat-kade meñ mere shab-e ġham kā josh hai
ik shamʿa hai dalīl-e saḥar so ḳhamosh hai

(1) in my room of grief is the cheerfulness of the night of sorrow

(2) a candle is a sign of the dawn-- so it is extinguished/'silent'

It is quite a complex sher by Ghalib. Fear not. Stay with me. I'll paraphrase some commentaries to explain the meaning.

Let's look at the first line : 

(z̤ulmat-kade meñ mere shab-e ġham kā josh hai)

Here there is a reversal of a usual poetic metaphor. The poet is sitting in a dark chamber (zulmat-kade) in a night of sorrow (shab-e-gham). This would normally conjure a dull and listless imagery. But the last words are ".... josh hai". Why josh (cheer) you may ask. 

The answer is in the second line :

ik shamʿa hai dalīl-e saḥar so ḳhamosh hai

An extinguished candle is an evidence or 'proof' of dawn (dalil-e-sehr) because people put off the candles when dawn is just around the corner. Thus while the extinguishing of the candle, actually increases the darkness, it is also a sign of hope - an indicator of the coming of dawn. 

One would expect that since light metaphorically, normally signifies hope, then the light giver (candle) should also signify hope. But here the light giver goes silent, while the darkness that it brings due to its extinguishment is what brings hope. Hence the darkness is full of 'josh' (cheer).

Now read the sher again .... you'll enjoy it even more ... 

So even as the world prepares for Omicron one can hope that it is just the darkest hour before the post pandemic dawn. 

Stay safe. See you at daybreak.

- Anuj Kacker

Listen to Jagjit Singh sing this Ghazal 

The Metaverse, why are people buying land in the Virtual World, and other such quirky matters - Part 1

Unless you have been spending the last few years on an uninhabited island without wifi, you have definitely heard terms like Metaverse, Crypto and NFT being bandied about. And if (unfortunately) your first introduction to the Metaverse, was when Facebook changed the company's name to Meta and Mark Zuckerberg released that 80 min vision video, then you have missed out on how the virtual world has been metamorphosing itself in crazy ways over the last few years. And it continues to do so everyday.

You can easily be forgiven for thinking of all these developments as a passing fad, a giant ponzi scheme or a bubble which will eventually burst. Many others do too. You can also be forgiven for adopting a wait and watch attitude. "Let's see, what happens", you might say. This too is fine - not everyone has be an early adopter. 

However, unless you want to sound like a reincarnated dinosaur at your next get together with friends, you should start at least familiarizing yourself with what exactly is this stuff that everyone is talking about.

This blog aims to help you wrap your head (and mine too) around all that is going on, and hopefully even get to understand why people are spending millions of dollars of real money buying digital land and other possessions in the virtual world. So let's get started.

First, what the heck is a metaverse. Notice, I am using the words  a metaverse and not the Metaverse, as it is very often called. This is just to emphasise the fact that there is not just one all encompassing metaverse, but rather there are several metaverses (Once you know this, it doesn't matter whether you use 'a' or 'the'). It's not even one innovation or even one technology. It is just a term assigned to a loose interplay between trends in people's behaviour in the digital world, and the technologies that are driving and in turn being driven by these behaviours. These trends and technologies however, have certain distinguishing common characteristics.

In geekspeak, a metaverse is a set of interconnected, experiential, immersive 3D virtual world where people located anywhere can socialize, transact, work and play in real-time to form persistent, user-owned experiences, spanning the digital and physical worlds.

This is certainly a bit of a mouthful. So  let's simplify it.

Imagine that man has been bestowed with god like powers of creation. And an adventurous guy (let's call him Dick) one day creates a planet very close to our Earth.

As the creator of his planet Dick is free to set the rules, the ways of life and even the monetary currency on his planet. But there is no fun for him if he is the only person who is there. So, Dick invites real people back on Earth to come visit his planet. Obviously, Dick can't send the people physically there. But with rapidly advancing technologies Dick can get people to experience things in ways which are not too different from the way things are done on earth. 

In fact, to make his planet attractive to visitors, and to persuade them to  stay longer, life on the planet must be engaging and also rewarding. To do this Dick creates ways in which they can play, buy stuff, party, hang around with friends, visit museums, laze in the park, go to concerts, work, have meetings, make money and do lots of other things one does in daily life back on Earth.Visitors should be engaged enough to make them (or rather their virtual 'alter egos' or avatars) 'travel' to and from the planet regularly. Once their alter ego is back on earth it merges with their real self. And soon, as people get used to switching between their real self and their 'alter ego', frequently and for extended periods, the distinction between the two lives starts to blur and people get very comfortable with  switching from one to the other seamlessly. They start visiting the metaverse more often and stay for longer, living what has got termed as Metalives. This blurring and seamless switching with comfort is the essence of  metaverse. In the words of Emma Chiu of Wunderman Thomson Intelligence, a metaverse is "... a place where our digital and physical lives converge; creativity is limitless; and location-defying worlds bring people together."

Take a quick look at the home page of Dick's actual metaverse - Decentraland - but don't start exploring it just yet. You will get lost in its bylanes. Just have a glance and come back here to the blog. (In fact do this for all the links in the blog. Go there, take a quick look and once you get the gist of the place, make sure you come back here to my story). 

By now the word has spread. Dick's friend Sandy is a huge gamer - so he sets up his own metaverse, and calls it Sandbox. Then along comes Mark and announces his own version called Meta. And now the snowball is really rolling and everyone wants to be a part of the ride. 

While you were glancing at these sample metaverses, you would have realised that, while the scope of a Metaverse can be very vast and varied, these early setups are focused more on gaming, digital creative content and virtual commerce. 

It's easy to see why Gaming is the low hanging fruit for a metaverse.  First, any activity in the metaverse, at some level, seems to be like a game. As any avid gamer will tell you, that while playing, their immersion into game setup is total. Their actions and emotions are no different than that they would feel when playing or watching a physical game. Gamers are therefore in a sense already primed for the experience of a metaverse. Secondly the hardware of game controllers that they use and are familiar with provides for easier, better and more realistic ways for them to control their interactions in the metaverse, than other devices such mobiles or desktops can.  

The pioneer in this field, Epic Games, focused their Unreal Game Engine to power the gaming community into their metaverse. Nothing exemplifies the seamless blending of the gaming world and the real world better than the surreal concert tours of American rapper Travis Scott and that of singer Ariana Grande, that were hosted in the virtual gaming space of Epic Game's hugely popular game - Fortnite - earlier this year. For their really unique performances for the millions of Fortnite gamers, the singers were reportedly paid $20m each. That's serious money even for American singers.  Millions of fans bought tickets and 'gaming merchandise' to 'interact' live with these superstars.  They could control the moves and gyrations (called emotes) of their avatars and do a hundred other things, which gave them a surreal, surrogate but realistic feeling of being in a real concert. For gamers who anyway are primed to feel immersed in their game surroundings it was first-of-a-lifetime experience.  The paybacks for Epic were equally huge. How else could they have performed for a million people at the same time. The company earned an undisclosed figure which people are guesstimating to be in excess of a billion dollars. More importantly, it created a new performance venue category for not only the gaming world but also for the live music performance industry. 

Forget superstars entertaining digital avatars for a minute, the blending of the real with the virtual becomes really complete when you get to know that, the biggest singing sensation in China today, is not an actual person, but a holographic image. This image (nicknamed Luo Tianyi) holds real physical concerts for real people. She 'sings' using a voice where every note has been synthesised digitally using vocaloid technology. She has millions of fans on the internet and in her country. This digital asset is, by herself, a multibillion dollar industry. She also is brand ambassador of fast food giant, KFC. 

After gaming, the next big change happening is in the field of creative content creation. Today's creators do not necessarily create for others to consume. They also create for others to create further. Their creations get used by others in imaginative ways. Therefore the earlier paradigms, of what constitutes creativity and art, have to be recalibrated. 

Among the several things driving this trend, is the omnipresence of the camera in all digital devices coupled with Augmented Reality (AR) and Artificial Intelligence (AI).  

As Carolina Navas of Snapchat puts it succinctly "The camera is no longer a piece of hardware to commemorate special moments. It has evolved into a powerful software connecting digital experiences to the physical world.....  Gen Z and Gen Alpha (ie those born after 1997) have grown up with a camera constantly in their palms... for them camera is what a keyboard is to the previous generation".  

The driving force of this change are AR and XR technologies. 80% of Snapchat's 265 million users play with AR everyday. For these users AR is not an experiment - it's a daily habit.  But AR with a camera is today not used merely to put cute filters on your display pics but it has pervaded every hour of their digital lives. 

Businesses targeting these audiences use these technologies to build interactive experiences of their physical products, stores or services. AR shopping, curated virtual store experiences, or digital pre purchase try-ons of apparel, cosmetics and many other applications of AR enabled overlays are no longer a novelty (Example : Dior SnapLens for the B27 Sneaker). 

During the pandemic, L'Oreal introduced their first ever virtual makeup line for only digital use during video calls. (Aside : "You can now sport a fully made up look while attending the 9 am zoom meeting while you are still in your pajamas feeling groggy and then have a different makeup on for the following 9:30 call. How cool is that !"). 

Even physical stores are being enhanced with virtual experiences. Checkout the Adidas's Adiverse - A Virtual Display Wall in their flagship stores. 

AR enabled Digital fashion is another emerging trend. Considering that the number of times others see your digital personas (your Avatars, Emotes, Profile pics etc) how your digital self is dressed could become as important as your own physical appearance. This transition has already begun. The Fabricant, a digital only couture fashion house, believes clothing does not have to be physical to exist.  Several others luxury brands like Auroboros  and DressX  have launched digital only couture collections.

A few months back Epic Games also launched a new AR based software called "Metahumans", which makes it really easy to create human faces digitally or to manipulate existing ones. Check out just a couple of minutes of this really long tutorial of the software and you'll realise how easy they have made the process. Next, watch a couple of minutes of this short animated film made using this software. I'm no expert, but I have a feeling that this software may be the next big thing for animators worldwide - specially for those who animate for gaming or for use in the metaverse. 

And hot off the press is the news that, just this week, Nike announced the acquisition of RTFKT, a digital footwear maker. This marks Nike's first big step into the world of metaverse. 

I would be totally failing in my duty if in the context of this blog, I didn't mention the initiatives of our own company-Aptech. Aptech, as you may know, is a major training provider operating in over 30 countries. In three of its business lines (Arena Animation, MAAC and ProAlley) it focuses on training freshers and working professionals who are seeking to make their careers in the fields of Animation, Visual Effects, XR and Gaming.  Three years back, training material for Arena and MAAC was converted into AR enabled content.  Students in their classrooms or at home learn not through  plain pdf books but through motion enabled augmented images, sounds and videos. This leads to not only a more interesting learning experience but far better learning outcomes. To the best of my information Aptech still remains the only major training provider, which not only teaches students how to develop AR content but actually uses AR for teaching them these skills.

Checkout a live recording of the AR enabled learning content at Arena and MAAC. (This is a 2019 video. As I write this blog, we are just 4 days away from unveiling a completely revamped AR enabled content , which will take the students' learning experience to the next level. I will edit this link once that has been unveiled, and I have a demo link ready). 

Hopefully, you now understand what a metaverse is and what are some of the related emerging trends. But we still haven't got to the really quirky parts of what motivates people to have virtual possessions, such as land, and why (and how) do they buy and sell on a metaverse. For that we will need to get into consumer psychology in the digital world and also into the world of NFTs and Cryptocurrencies. I will try and give you a flavour of that in Part 2 of this blog. 

Like I said at the beginning of this blog, whether you yourself go into a metaverse or not, it is imperative for you to understand it,  just to stay literate in the digital world of today and tomorrow.

If you are still reading this, I presume that you have found this useful and interesting.  I would love to get a confirmation or a comment from you. 

Looking forward to your feedback.

Anuj Kacker

महासमर - नरेंद्र कोहली - एक समीक्षा (With Audio Reading)

(If you prefer hearing an audio version of this blog as you read - click on Play above. The blog has been read by theatre actor and director Agastya Kohli, who is also the son of Shri Narendra Kohli. At the request of some friends I have also added English Translations of a few uncommon Hindi words, for ease of understanding) 

महाभारत की मूल कहानी से हम सब अवगत है। हाँ, कुछ पात्र और  कुछ घटनाएँ ऐसी अवश्य होंगी जो हमें स्मरण ना हों। किंतु अगर कोई कहे कि, सिर्फ़ इन रिक्तियों को भरने के लिए, नरेंद्र कोहली का महाभारत की कथा पर आधारित, 8 खण्डों का औपन्यासिक संग्रह ‘महासमर’ पढ़ लो, तो ना तो ये समय का सदुपयोग होगा और ना ही संभवतः इस उद्देश्य की पूर्ति होगी। परंतु यदि किसी का उद्देश्य, महाभारत की परतों को खोलते और तह करते हुए, कुछ अन्वेषण अथवा कुछ विवेचन करना है, तो उनके लिए ये उपन्यास श्रेठ सिद्ध होगा। 

(अन्वेषण = exploration; विवेचन = Interpretation)

जिस प्रकार किसी संग्रहालय में एक गाइड, पर्यटकों को पूर्व निर्धारित क्रम में, कलाकृतियाँ दिखाता चलता है, कोई कृति छोड़ देता है और किसी किसी कृति के सामने रुक कर उसका विस्तृत विवरण देता है, कुछ उसी प्रकार, नरेंद्र कोहली भी, ‘महासमर’ में, पाठकों को महाभारत की कथा का वृतांत तो देते ही हैं, पर बहुधा कहानी को रोक कर, उस प्रसंग का अपने पात्रों के मुख से, अथवा उनकी मनःस्थिति के वर्णन द्वारा, अपना दृष्टिकोण रखते  हैं। कभी तो वह अपना परिप्रेक्ष्य कोई स्पष्ट निष्कर्ष तक प्रज्वलित करते हैं और कभी अनुत्तरित प्रश्नों के माध्यम से अपना अभिप्राय इंगित कर आगे बढ़ जाते हैं। 

(मनःस्थिति = state of mind; परिप्रेक्ष्य = perspective ; अनुत्तरित : unanswered; अभिप्राय इंगित करना =indicate what is meant)

अधिकांश लोग सहमत होंगे कि महाभारत के किसी भी पात्र के नैतिक मूल्यांकन के निष्कर्ष पर आम सहमति होना कठिन है। कोई भी पात्र दूध का धुला नज़र नहीं आता। प्रत्येक पात्र किसी न किसी प्रसंग में विवादास्पद भूमिका निभाता है। पाठकगण एक मत से, ये भी तय नहीं कर सकते कि कौन नायक है और कौन खलनायक।कई पाठकों के लिए, इस महाकथा की विवादास्पदता ही उसका मुख्य आकर्षण है। कथा भी हज़ारों वर्ष पूर्व के समाज के पृष्ठभूमि में आधारित है। उस समय क्या शिरोधार्य था, क्या स्वीकार्य था और क्या अस्वीकार्य - इस बारे में भी पाठकों की अपनी अपनी धारणाएँ हैं। अगर इस पर सहमति हो भी जाए, तो भी, पढ़ते समय पाठक अपने विद्यमान मूल्य प्रणाली से  छान कर ही कथा का अंतर्ग्रहण करता है। 

(विवादास्पद = controversial; शिरोधार्य = honourable; अंतर्ग्रहण करना = imbibe)

ऐसी स्थिति में कोई साधारण लेखक, जिसका उद्देश्य मात्र लोकप्रियता है ,वो सम्भवतः पूर्वसिद्ध या मध्य मार्ग को चुन कर, कहानी के धूसरत्व को उभार के, अधिकांश पाठकों की स्वीकृति पाने की चेष्टा करेगा। परन्तु नरेंद्र कोहली साधारण ग्रंथकारों से भिन्न हैं। ‘महासमर’ को पढ़ते हुए ये स्पष्ट हो जाता है कि उनकी सम्पूर्ण कृति में युधिष्ठिर असंदिग्ध नायक है। युधिष्ठिर के चरित्र को वे धर्मराज के स्तंभपाद से कभी भी गिरने नहीं देते। इसके ठीक विपरीत कौरवों में उन्हें कुछ भी सराहनीय नहीं दिखता। उनकी दृष्टि में कर्ण भी खलनायक ही है। पितामह भीष्म भी प्रायः कुछ थके थके से लगते हैं। कुछ समीक्षकों को ये सुस्पष्टता अटपटी सी लगती है। इसके लिए वे कोहलीजी की  आलोचना भी करते है। लेकिन क्यूँकि कोहलीजी लोकप्रिय मत के आधार पर नहीं लिखते, शायद इसीलिए, विरोधाभास से, आधुनिक हिंदी साहित्य के वे श्रेठतम और लोकप्रिय लेखकों में गिने जाते हैं।  

(धूसरत्व = greyness; असंदिग्ध = unmistakeable; स्तंभपाद = pedestal; विरोधाभास = paradox)

यद्यपि ‘महासमर’ उपन्यास, महाभारत को कालक्रमानुसार ही वर्णित करता है, परंतु कोहलीजी ने प्रत्येक खण्ड में पाठकों का ध्यान, कथा के एक भाव अथवा पहलू पे केंद्रित किया है। वह भाव उस खण्ड का शीर्षक भी है। मैंने अभी तक केवल दो ही खण्ड पढ़ें हैं। तीसरा खण्ड अभी आरंभ ही किया है। इस लिए उन्ही दो भागों का संक्षिप्त विवरण दे रहा हूँ। तो आप इसे अंतरिम समीक्षा ही मानिए। 

(कालक्रमानुसार = chronological) 

‘महासमर’ का पहला भाग है - ‘बंधन’। 

कथा के घटनाक्रम की दृष्टि से, ‘बंधन’ हस्तिनापुर के राजा शान्तनु की मछुआरे दशराज की पुत्री सत्यवती के प्रति आसक्ति और गंगापुत्र भीष्म की आजीवन ब्रह्मचर्य की प्रतिज्ञा से लेकर, पांडवों एवं कौरवों की बाल अवस्था तक का वृतांत है। 

(आसक्ति = attachment, infatuation)

वस्तुतः ये विशेषकर पिता शान्तनु, रानी सत्यवती और देवव्रत (भीष्म) के जीवन मूल्यों एवं कर्म बंधनो के परस्पर संघर्ष से उत्पन्न मानसिक ऊहापोह का विश्लेषण है। क्या देवव्रत (भीष्म) का त्याग, जो उसने पिता की आसक्ति से उत्पन्न हुई अभिलाषा को परिपूर्ण करने के लिए किया,  निस्वार्थ था? क्या त्याग परिभाषा से ही निस्वार्थ होता है? क्या त्याग सर्वथा अभिग्रहण से श्रेठ होता है? यदि त्याग निष्फल हो जाए, तो फिर भी क्या वो त्याग त्याग माना जाएगा?  क्या व्यक्तिगत बंधन सामाजिक बंधनो के अधीन होते हैं अथवा स्वाधीन?

(ऊहापोह = contemplation; अभिग्रहण = acquisition)

महासमर के पहले भाग ’बंधन’ में ही लेखक अपनी शैली से पाठकों की जिज्ञासा बढ़ाता भी है लेकिन एक प्रकार उनकी अपेक्षाओं को सीमित भी करता है। लेखक अप्रत्यक्ष रूप से ये स्पष्ट कर देता है, यद्यपि महाभारत उसकी सृजित कहानी नहीं है, परंतु ये ‘महासमर’ उसका वृतांत है। इस वृतांत का वह और सिर्फ़ वह ही निर्देशक हैं और पाठकगण यदि उसके निर्देशन में इस वृतांत का आनंद ले सकता है, तो वे सादर आमंत्रित है । अथवा संग्रहालय में महाभारत पर और भी कई पुस्तकें हैं जो इस से सरल हों - पाठक उनमें से कोई चयन कर ले। 

कुछ सोच विचार के बाद, कोहलीजी को नतमस्तक करते हुए, मैंने इस शृंखला का दूसरा खण्ड उठा लिया       

‘महासमर’ का दूसरा भाग है - ‘अधिकार’। 

इस भाग में कथा तेज़ वेग पकड़ती है। पांडव और कौरव राजकुमार बाल्यावस्था को छोड़ , अपनी शिक्षा पूर्ण कर, सबल युवक योद्धाओं में विकसित हो जाते हैं। द्रोण की द्रुपद से मित्रता, शत्रुता में परिवर्तित होती है। कहानी बारी बारी से, कर्ण का गुरु द्रोण की युद्धशाला में तिरस्कार, उसकी दुर्योधन से घनिष्ट मित्रता, उसकी अर्जुन से प्रतिस्पर्धा, कृपाचार्य का योगदान, द्रोणाचार्य की गुरु दक्षिणा जैसे अनेक घटनाक्रम पर केंद्रित होती है। भाग के अंत में युधिष्ठिर का युवराज्याभिषेक और हस्तिनापुर में कृष्ण का आगमन होता है। 

ये भाग पिछले भाग के मानसिक एवं भावनाओं के चिंतन को पीछे छोड़, राजनैतिक और भौतिक प्रश्नों को उठाता है। धृतराष्ट्र का हस्तिनापुर पर अधिकार, एक राजा का अधिकार है या फिर राज-प्रतिनिधि का। यदि धृतराष्ट्र राजा है तो दुर्योधन को क्या युवराज घोषित होने का अधिकार है? गांधारी के होते हुए कुंती के क्या अधिकार हैं? इतने दशकों पश्चात पितृव्य भीष्म के हस्तिनापुर की राज गद्दी को छोड़ने के त्याग का कोई महत्व है या नहीं। भीष्म का राजकीय विषयों में अधिकार क्या एक निर्णायक का है या केवल अब वे उपदेशक मात्र रह गए हैं। क्या वे उपदेशक भी हैं कि नहीं ?  युधिष्ठिर का हस्तिनापुर पर शासन करने का यदि अधिकार है, तो उस अधिकार का श्रोत क्या है? अंततः क्या किसी को किसी पर भी राज करने का अधिकार है?

(पितृव्य = paternal - salutation used by author for Bheeshma; उपदेशक = mentor; श्रोत=source)

इस उपन्यास में इन प्रकार के अनेक प्रश्न महाभारत के घटनाक्रम को अलंकृत एवं सुसज्जित करते चलते हैं। क्या ये प्रश्न केवल आध्यात्मिक हैं या क्या इनका हमारे वास्तविक भौतिक गतिविधियों से कोई सम्बंध हो सकता है? 

(अलंकृत = adorned;  आध्यात्मिक = spiritual)

मेरे मन में किंतु कुछ और ही प्रश्न उभर गए। क्या लेखक का दायित्व केवल पाठकों को एक प्रश्नावली देकर उन्हें सोचने में बाध्य करना ही है? क्या लेखक को कम से कम सांकेतिक तौर से ही सही, उठाए गए प्रश्नों के उत्तर नहीं देने चाहिए? यदि कोई पुस्तक  प्रश्नों को अनिर्णीत छोड़ दे तो क्या उस पुस्तक का कोई लाभ हैं? वहीं दूसरी ओर यदि लेखक प्रश्नों पर अपना दृष्टिकोण देता है और वे मत पाठक के पूर्वग्रहीत विचारों से भिन्न हों तो क्या वे उसे स्वीकार करेगा?

(अनिर्णीत = undecided)

ये सब सोचते हुए, अंत में मेरे मन में सबसे बड़ा प्रश्न उठा कि क्या लेखक वस्तुतः पाठकों के लिए लिखता है या फिर सिर्फ़ अपने लिए?  - जैसे ये समीक्षा मैंने केवल अपने लिए ही लिखी है।   

- अनुज कक्कड़ 

( अप्रैल 2021 में, पद्मश्री नरेंद्र कोहली जी का अकस्मात Covid से निधन हो गया । इस ब्लॉग के द्वारा मैं उन्हें श्रद्धा सुमन प्रस्तुत करता हू। मेरे निवेदन पर, उनके सुपुत्र अगस्त्य कोहली ने, इस ब्लॉग को अपनी अतिउत्तम आवाज़ में पढ़ा है । इसके लिए मैं उनका आभारी हूँ।)