Cultural enrichment

If we take a random bunch of people and analyze their cultural backgrounds, we're bound to find a lot of differences. It may be due to the fact that they were brought up in different environments or maybe because they met different people(from other 'cultural' domains) in life. I wonder how one can enrich his culture so to speak. And what is this enrichment anyway?

At some level, culture is defined by the way a set of intelligent humans interact with each other, their behavioral patterns and activities. So, the way a person reacts to different situations with different individuals or groups has some sort of correlation with his cultural fabric. Now, coming to how one can enrich himself culturally. Some methods that are widely accepted are the following. One could read literature written by articulate people from different areas of the world or from different time-lines. One could watch movies and serials that serve as some sort of a window to the world. One could listen to different music genres. But does this really help?

Isn't meeting new people and exchanging ideas the way to go about it? I mean, you can't really take something that someone says at its face value, can you? Again, how can one be sure that this is an unbiased way to go about it? The books that those people read, the movies and serials they watch, the bands they listen to, all that is influencing you indirectly, right? And of course, you can't really meet all the people in the world. Is a person who follows some ideals that he formulated based on his limited exposure to people, art and literature culturally backward as compared to someone who has better access?

Anthropologists try to classify the different components of culture to be values, norms, institutions and artifacts. Aren't these functions of the geographical location of a society, the era one is in, etc? Is there a set of values and norms that is universal and independent of everything?

A lot of emotions and instincts are actually universal. For example, honesty, trust and faith are considered to be important everywhere. Most people get angry, happy and sad for quite similar reasons. Breaking one's trust is considered as something that is 'wrong' by most people in the world. I shall not dwell into the topic of what is 'right' even though it might be related to culture. Considering this, isn't it plausible that there is a universal time-independent set of values?

In that case what is enrichment? Getting as close as possible to that ideal set?

And I am done documenting my train of thought.

The beach

Tomorrow is a holiday. That means I'm on a break from the hectic academic calendar. A short one.

I went to the beach with Guggu. Ate burgers, walked on the beach, saw footprints on the sand, felt the wind strike me ever so gently, looked at the stars, looked at waves canceling each other out, ate groundnuts, rode a motorcycle on the campus roads.

It felt good.

Jimmy

I had a pet dog. Jimmy, he was called. I killed him.
Yes. My hands are covered with his blood.
The pleasure.

I tied him to the balcony of my house.
He looked magnificent. Pure-bred. A class apart.
I took a knife. A sharp one.

Gouged his eyes out. Blood spurted from the orifice.
Beautiful brown eyes they were.
He yelped. In agony.

I broke his legs. One by one. Crushed them with a stone.
The legs on which he stood tall.
He barked. In pain. He struggled. In vain.

I cut open his stomach. I severed his head off.
A faithful dog he had been.
Jimmy could yell no more.

There is something about the game

After a semester that was an academic disaster, I needed something that'd make me feel sort of better. And I got it.

The institute football team ran into crisis mode with many players unable to render their services for the inter-IIT sports meet. And as luck would have it, I was called to join the team. From then on, it was all good. Three weeks of football and nothing else. I think it is quite safe to say that I can now appreciate what a day in the life of a professional sports person is like.

It resulted in me getting to know a bunch of people, each one with a different set of idiosyncrasies and behavioral quirks. I've always liked meeting new people and getting to know them better. And the simple reason for that is that I'm exposed to different thought processes and attitudes.

The team was virtually jinxed what with half the players getting injured and falling sick. Somehow, everything was dealt with and we managed to get through to the knockout stage. The sole strategy employed was "Score and don't concede" and it was kind of too complicated. So we decided to adopt a simpler strategy - "Don't concede". We ended up winning the tournament and the title was defended successfully.

At the end of it all, I have to say there was something about the team that made all of us tick. And there is something about football.

Coincidence?

I am sleeping in my room at around 12.30 in the afternoon after a heavy lunch. I set the alarm to ring at 1.50 so that I'd be able to get up on time for a 2'o clock lecture which I couldn't afford to miss.

Suddenly, I wake up and look at my watch. It's 2.05. I change my clothes, take my bag and run out of my room. I cycle like a mad man and reach the classroom at 2.15. I enter the class, the professor glares at me and I take a seat.

And then I get up.

I look at my watch. It's 2.05. "Oh fuck! Oh! Fuck!" I change my clothes, take my bag and run out of my room. I cycle like a mad man and reach the classroom. I look at my watch. It's 2.15. I enter the class with the professor giving me a stern look. I take a seat.

It is an air-conditioned room. And I am sweating like I 'm being roasted. I'm scared. Really scared.