June 14: Day 1 of my fast, day 476 of our chain.
I am in “deep work mode” at the moment, a time I find it difficult to engage deeply with anything other than work at hand. Though I enjoy being “in the zone,” times like this reinforce my guilt of not doing enough against rampant injustices that I am protected from, whose absence allows me to do the work I relish in the first place. Fasting, at times like this, allows me to remain physically committed even when I detach myself emotionally to focus on work.
#ChainFastingForPeace #FastingAgainstFascism #FreeSanjivBhatt #ResignAmitShah
June 15: Day 2 of my fast, day 477 of our chain.
Our home is still full of food (cookies, cake, snacks) left over from the birthday celebrations last weekend. Already too full from the day before, I didn’t realize this yesterday, but today my stomach feels rumblier than ever at the sight of all that food – so close at hand and yet out of reach.
And my mind wanders to the little street children begging for scraps that I always see outside Mumbai’s glitzy shopping malls. Young kids who see other kids their age being fed more than they can digest, entertained more than they need, dressed without any purpose beyond asserting the superflousness of their parents’ wealth. Kids who have to witness a shiny marvelous world that pointedly excludes them.
My fast today is dedicated to all the precious children of India – each of them deserves our love and respect and the freedom to pursue their wildest dreams. As long as India denies that to its children, no worthwhile progress can ever be achieved.
https://thediplomat.com/…/indias-biggest-shopping-mall…/
#ChainFastingForPeace #FastingAgainstFascism #FreeSanjivBhatt #ResignAmitShah
June 16: Day 3 of my fast, day 478 of our chain.
My work largely involves modeling the atmospheres of the Earth, planets and sometimes stars to understand their composition using ground- or space-based observations. The models are good as long as they are able to reproduce the observations. As soon as they can’t, it is a cause for celebration: we have finally hit upon the limits of our understanding, meaning there is scope for new scientific growth. For progress. For “Vikaas.”
I can’t help but notice how similar our social constructs are, always acceptable only as long as they provide satisfactory solutions to social problems. Democracies allow the most efficient communication of the limits of our social constructs for the largest number of people. Which, in functional democracies, constantly opens new scopes for progress.
Conservatives the world over detest change, and thus feel wounded by the communication of any shortcomings. Their response stops short at being butt-hurt by what they invariably perceive as malicious criticism, while completely missing the promise of evolutionary growth. They usually yearn more than anyone else for the prosperity promised by progress, but they simply cannot get over their unwillingness to acknowledge the imperfections that lead to it. And the result is so aptly described by the familiar definition often misattributed to Einstein:
“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”
#ChainFastingForPeace #FastingAgainstFascism #FreeSanjivBhatt #ResignAmitShah
June 17: Day 4 of my fast, day 479 of our chain.
It is soul-crushing to see how an incompetent preening megalomaniac keeps on pushing India into the dark ages – forcing people into penury (thanks to demonetization), starvation (thanks to a botched implementation of the Aadhar card), and now orphaning thousands of little children due to an unimaginably (even by Modi’s own standards) incompetent, practically criminal handling of the Covid crisis. Why then does Modi’s popularity never wane? Why aren’t more people demanding his removal?
I think back of my conversations with my non-FB friends and relatives over the past 7+ years, and what I notice is an utter inability to think beyond the short term. Or think beyond the formulaic mindset imposed upon them by their social (caste, class, gender) standing. Do they actually rejoice in the suffering of the less fortunate? Do they, like Modi, like to look taller by cutting off the feet of others? My heart bleeds at this realization, one that I usually keep under wraps for the sake of my own sanity…
#ResignModi #ChainFastingForPeace #FastingAgainstFascism #FreeSanjivBhatt #ResignAmitShah
June 18: Day 5 of my fast, day 480 of our chain.
As I near the end of my 11th 5-day fast, I think am in a good place to share three observations on fasting:
1. The fast can often get grueling, but the struggle is mental as often as it is physical.
2. When the emptiness in the stomach starts to hurt too much, it is surprisingly helpful to cook or walk through a well-stocked supermarket – it is as if the mind needs to be reassured that food exists, even if not for its own immediate consumption. I wonder if it is the same for other things we may feel sometimes starved of – like love, kindness, joy, freedom, dignity, respect, opportunity, basic human rights…
3. Every time, at the end of day 5, after 120 hours of continuous fasting, my body feels so clean and fresh, that I paradoxically feel a hesitation against starting to eat again. But the first bite of food – no matter how simple – feels so good and so life-giving that I have to close my eyes to concentrate on the intense emotions it evokes. The 5-day lack of food makes me savor and appreciate it so much more. And since this is a political fast, the question that immediately follows is whether being starved of a caring and competent democratic government for the past 7+ years will truly awaken us to speak up against injustices and create a society that we all deserve, that we can all thrive in, that creates value not only for itself but also for the world. I think the answer is yes. We – all of us – will shape the answer! We deserve a caring and competent government that serves all its citizens!
#ResignModi #ChainFastingForPeace #FastingAgainstFascism #FreeSanjivBhatt #ResignAmitShah
Chain Fasting For Peace 