Posted on by dancinglightofgrace

Meme, Swag, Swagger, The Meme Machine

I first came across the word meme in the book The Meme Machine by Susan E Blackmore. After two decades it became a buzz word like reel for small byte sized videos.

A summary of The Meme Machine by Susan E Blackmore:

In The Meme Machine, Susan Blackmore takes Richard Dawkins’ concept of the meme and expands it into a “grand unified theory” of human consciousness. Her central argument is that humans are unique not because of our intelligence, but because we are the only species on Earth that functions as a meme machine.
Here is a summary of the core pillars of her book:
1. The Second Replicator
Blackmore argues that just as genes are the first replicators (using our bodies to survive and spread), memes are a second, independent replicator.
* Memes are cultural units—ideas, habits, skills, stories—that use human brains as their “hosts.”
* They don’t care if they are “true” or “good” for us; they only care if they are reproducible. (e.g., a catchy but annoying song or a dangerous “viral” challenge).
2. We are “Meme Fountains”
Why do humans have such massive brains? Blackmore suggests a process called memetic drive:
* Once our ancestors started imitating (the birth of memes), those who were better at imitating had a survival advantage.
* Because being a “good imitator” required a better brain, memes essentially “drove” the evolution of the human brain to be larger and more complex. Our brains were built by and for memes.
3. The Illusion of the “Self”
This is perhaps the most controversial part of the book. Blackmore argues that the “I” or the “Self” is not a biological reality.
* She calls it the “Self-plex”—a massive cluster of memes that have teamed up for mutual defense.
* The idea that “you” are in control is just another meme that helps other memes stay organized and protected. You are not the driver of the machine; you are the machine.
4. Language and Religion as “Viral” Systems
Blackmore analyzes complex systems like religion and language through a memetic lens:
* Religion: She describes religions as “memeplexes” (complexes of memes) that use threats (hell) and rewards (heaven) to ensure they are passed from parent to child.
* Language: Language evolved because it is a highly efficient way to “package” and transmit memes more accurately than simple gestures.
How this Jibes with Your Dream
Your dream is a perfect illustration of Blackmore’s theory:
* The Law: The strange law about the floor is a meme that has infected the “Local Presidents” and is now being forced onto you.
* The Chip: A literal piece of hardware representing the “data” of identity—it’s the meme becoming physical.
* The Vision Test: If you follow Blackmore’s logic, the “elderly man” giving you new glasses is essentially updating your “Self-plex” with a new way to filter the memes you see.
Summary Table: Gene vs. Meme
| Feature | Gene (1st Replicator) | Meme (2nd Replicator) |
|—|—|—|
| Storage | DNA / Cells | Human Brains / Digital Media |
| Transmission | Biological reproduction | Imitation / Teaching / Social Media |
| Goal | Survival of the species | Survival of the idea |

Swagger: bluster : Swag etymology

The evolution of swag from the 16th-century word swagger to a modern social media titan is one of the most successful “rebrands” in the history of the English language.
1. The Shakespearean Birth of “Swagger”
While the root swag (meaning to sway or lurch) is older, William Shakespeare is credited with first using “swagger” to describe a specific type of behavior.
* In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, he writes: “What hempen home-spuns have we swaggering here…?”
* The Etymology: It comes from the Middle English swaggen (to swing or sway), which likely has Scandinavian origins. At the time, it described a person who walked with a defiant, swaying gait—literally “swinging” their body to take up more space.
2. The “Bluster” Connection
As you noticed on Free Rice, bluster and swagger are close cousins.
* Bluster is the noise (loud, aggressive talk).
* Swagger is the movement (the arrogant walk).
   Together, they create the “Braggadocio” persona we discussed earlier.
3. The “Swag” Metamorphosis
The journey from “arrogant swaying” to “coolness” happened in distinct waves:
* The Loot (1600s-1800s): “Swag” became slang for stolen goods or “booty.” This connects back to our earlier discussion of the spree (cattle raiding). The “swag” was the heavy bag of loot that made you “sway” as you carried it.
* The Freebies (1960s-1990s): It shifted to mean promotional “Stuff We All Get” (though that’s a backronym, not the true origin).
* The Persona (2000s-Present): In the last decade, popularized by Hip-Hop culture, “swag” (and later “swagger”) returned to its Shakespearean roots but lost the negative “bully” connotation. It became a word for effortless style, confidence, and “aura.”

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Horses can smell human fear

And it makes them even more frightened.

How’s it a  useful form of information ?

It’s certainly going to increase the fear threefold when you know you have nothing to curb that smell or

There will be a new product to buy.

[ Courtesy: Scientific American]

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Lesser of two evils?

How have your political views changed over time?

Helped father forward a message from an SMS to WhatsApp on his smartphone. He needed to share it with a contact. Also showed him how he can do it himself in the future if need arises.
Organised utensils in the kitchen. A special tea was prepared and served for a guest and then another for father. Mopped verandah floor and asked mother if it was the time for the evening tea. Milkman didn’t arrive this morning as it was too cold. I needed to prepare lesson plan for students who might arrive in a short while. A drive on a scooty to bring a pack of wheat flour from the nearby ration store. It wasn’t open. Need to make another trip to the super store when it opens. Warmed up the tea that was in the kettle and shared it with mother. Also served lukewarm water to mother.
Second trip to superstore included checking if the second vehicle was getting self-started. Then driving carefully  a few metres. Checking if the superstore was open. Checking if they had a wheat flour pack. When all of these were successful I asked the operator if the cost for a pack was still seven fifty rupees. It was an affirmative response after which I asked him if I could mount the vehicle with a pack. Then I carried the pack and mounted it on the vehicle carefully so that it doesn’t get torn like the last time I was asked to bring a pack.
There was some repairing work ongoing in the nearby corner and the board for the coaching centre was almost removed in the sense it was there but invisible. It used to read Vidyapeeth Coaching Classes.
Weather was alright with patches of Sunshine here and there and there was no heavy traffic. It is fourteen degree Celsius in Bagauta now. It was about seventeen when kids arrived to get tuition.
I drove the vehicle back to the house carefully. Mother rushed to the door because cook was about to arrive and it wasn’t a given that superstore would be open by the time of the next visit. She would have borrowed from neighbours upstairs in that case, she said. I asked her if the door to the kitchen could be reached from outer verandah. It couldn’t. There was a bicycle and another board for a coaching class. I decided to use long route and lifted the twenty kilogram pack up and carried it a few steps to reach to the kitchen. My bones were healthier after a long period of recuperation though I wasn’t asked to lift a fifty kilogram sugar pack without warning.
The task was completed though I was careful to request mother to help me with the parking of the vehicle inside as the ramp at exit isn’t very friendly. Then I placed the key at its designated location. Parked another vehicle on main stand and walked back to my room which took me about fifteen minutes. Brought the chair inside the room. The pack costs 750 rupees. 37.5 rupees per Kilogram.

Now I was waiting for the students to arrive. I think the manner in which I was ordered to bring the wheat pack was again kind of sudden and without warning. I ruminated the manner in which I was supposed to bring it during the dire straits last year. Though it was just a few months ago. It was an evening time last time. I heard people abusing loudly over the phone near superstore. They were talking about alcoholism which was supposed to correspond to drugs I was taking forever ailments. Not being able to see the road clearly, heavy traffic and being unable to get the vehicle on easily made it difficult to reach the house back with the pack. The pack got torn as I was dismounting it from the vehicle.
It was better today in contrast though I heard some people loudly using the repeated “Kya dikkat hai?” It was supposed to brand the trip with the ruling party. You can’t miss it. None of the works or trips or tasks can go without brands or ambassadors.
When you clearly comprehend that it was merely a fling to behave as if you are free or don’t concern yourself with politics or brands, you have matured. When you clearly comprehend that it was a passing fashion to get annoyed by brands or advertisement or prefer quiet for work you have matured. Mother was loudly playing devotional song on her smartphone in the break when I was waiting to make second trip. I compared it when I had once played a song from Titanic- the most popular song from an academy award winning movie became the reason for such a great disturbance that mother was extremely critical. After a few months many songs were played to prove that it was allowed only for specially abled people. Privileged people.
Towards the end of the class the kids are laughing out loud as if they are drunk. I see them off to the door. Today both of them were wearing slippers. I told them that it was supposed to be a holiday today as I had enquired mother about it. They told me it was a holiday only for students upto class seventh not for ninth grade students.
They were making fun of a role model. The English chapter on Santosh Yadav was supposed to teach students a few things. It became a source of amusement for them. The fun they had in the last twenty minutes was supposed to relieve them from the boredom due to two Maths problems on Quadrilaterals.
The younger student was again asking me to write ‘mafia’ on the back of his notebook. He said he would pay me for doing that. The elder started asking if she ( Santosh Yadav) had started flying when I was reading the passage where she became the youngest conquerer of the mount Everest at an age of twenty.
Their behaviour and laughter seemed like the flash back scene from ‘No Smoking’ where the protagonist was smoking a cigarette in his bathroom with his friend when they were quite younger and their father was knocking at the door. Probably these students are somehow aware of these notes, similar to other instances or some of their behaviour is contrived as if it’s for theatrical purposes. Maybe not. I can’t be sure.
Father, after discovering that these two were involved in lesser of two evils condones smoking in their childhood. After a few decades it costs his son a lot. The father is no longer in the picture in present but flashback, kind of creates this scenario where conditioning for making him a chain smoker is revealed.
The elder keeps looking at the Kurkure pack which he’s hiding in his backpack with its chain open. I ask him to wait until the class is over. His excuse is that he didn’t have enough time for snacks after school.
The younger one didn’t go to school nor did he complete his homework. Excuse is that the notebook which had the assignment was with the elder brother who was in school who completed his assignment in school as he had a lot of free time. All his answers to ten addition problems are correct. At least he can do addition correctly. Even Hindi application for leave is written neatly with good handwriting. This gives him such an upper hand that he whacks the younger one on head. I immediately request him to not do that. By that time younger one had started returning blows.
They’re used to showcasing martial arts in my class. Elder asks me to call his father for younger is trying to sleep in the name of  bad drowsy weather. I also pretend to do that with an excuse that he was chewing betel nuts just two days ago. The younger succumbs to the pressure and behaves. As soon as he had entered the class he was using ‘Takla,’ for Einstein. I told him that he wasn’t bald. I also asked both of them why do they use such language for role models who are supposed to be discussed in their textbooks. They continue to laugh. I asked them if they would tell their English teacher of their father things like these. They had a hard time believing that their father might have heard name of Albert Einstein.
Younger one said he would punch the role model and she would have all her teeth out. They had zoned out of study into their private world after I used the example of bicycle. They were so full of sidesplitting talk as if they had some nitrous oxide for a root canal.
I was explaining how systematic training prepares mountaineers. Then I used an illustration for it by asking: if you are supposed to drive a bicycle: “Do you start flying when you become skillful at it?”
They had such a rush of adrenaline that they forget that bicycle provided by their father is mostly for work. The younger one even says loudly that he studies English for fun. They’re not yet citizens of a utilitarian state.
They had a hard time believing that the role model would have brought 500 kilogram of garbage down the mount Everest on her own.
The problems on Quadrilaterals are simple. They use mid segment theorem. I carefully explain them what mid points are. What’s a Rhombus. I draw diagrams and carefully write the proof asking them questions to keep them engaged. Yet they get bored. I asked them if they had brought scale in the drawing box. They hadn’t.
Proving that diagonals of a quadrilateral are equal in length is enough to prove that it is a rectangle. It’s made my joining mid points of sides of a Rhombus. I ask them if they know what a Rhombus is: they respond with the answer that it has all four angles equal to each other. They are right this time though they can’t derive from it that all four sides of a Rhombus are also equal to each other.

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Splendiferous Garden

In the heart of a Splendiferous garden, where the Custard Apple trees sagged with fruit, lived an old Educator. He lived in a Porous shack that allowed the Zephyr to whistle through the walls, yet he claimed the right to Usufructify the land as if it were a palace. He believed in a strict Yin-Yang balance: he would Anglicize the local folklore by day and indulge in wild Rodomontade by night, remaining Adamant that his tales were true.
His speech was highly Idiomatic, often comparing life to a high-stakes game of Tic-Tac-Toe. He considered his life’s Oeuvre to be a grand Vue of human folly. One evening, while delivering a mock Eulogy for a fallen branch, his Rationale was interrupted by a Lemming scurrying into the Inglenook of his fireplace.
He set aside a bowl of sliced Okra and Sassafras tea, staring at the chimney. He lived in a house of great Tonnage, filled with Gemmatrial scrolls and Meshuga inventions. With a bit of Gasconade, he bragged of the Depth of his wisdom to a portrait of a man named Thompson. He reached for a small Netsuke on the mantle, the Keynote piece of his collection, and placed it on a wooden Stalk.
Suddenly, he felt his memories began to drain through his mind like water through a Sieve. He realized he could not stay here Evermore. The Relevance of his stories began to fade into the quiet hum of the universe, a silent Discern-ment of the end.

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A Hero!

When you were five, what did you want to be when you grew up?

  1. I was learning to read. A library of books appeared in a government school in 1990-1991. This box had books from Eklavya publications New Delhi.
  2. The books had a lasting impact on my subconscious. After coming of age, when I questioned my spiritual enlightenment I looked back at that particular batch of books. It included Chakmak magazine. Not to mention syllabus books.
  3. Television, radio and local dialect shaped my world view.
  4. As usually happens to young children I was fascinated by martial arts in Bollywood movies and TV.
  5. I wanted to be a hero. A filmy hero who was able to defend great causes by being one many army. A saviour.
  6. Even that was possible as grandpa once told. There was a switch behind the medium size television set we had. That would have let me land in Bombay Bollywood to be a hero.
  7. Heroes were of many types. Delhi Doordarshan’s sentimental appeal to sacrifice yourself for Matrix, Patrix etc wasn’t really balanced by Bertrand Russell’s “patriotism is willing to die for foolish reasons.” I came across that only after college.
  8. Therefore, heroes who were warriors or army men brainwashed to die for their countries to receive accolades like Paramveer Chakra or Ashok Chakra.
  9. If someone thinks I mean they don’t value anything: it’s not so. Yet, in a world view there might not be a need for Jacob’s Ladder or Grave of Fireflies.
  10. If parents convinced me to not be a warrior I wanted to be at least a policeman. Most of the Bollywood movies which aren’t brainy show policemen as actual action heroes. Administrative officers, Kafkaesque nightmare of bureaucracy, banking, media, politicians, mafia, priesthood and the rest don’t appear in the budding psyche of young children.
  11. Prompts are merely an excuse to rant. I am deleting old articles to create space for new. Reason is simple: though new WordPress websites are available it’s more difficult to get subscribers or to actually buy as much space as there was a decade ago. I have contemplated about using another platform for blogging but this one seems to be most comfortable at the moment.
  12. This year I visited that village where people barely recognised me as I was visiting after college days. Even then I was visiting with my father who was a teacher there for almost a decade. The librarian then offered to help me with those books I had read and touched as a young child of five or six.
  13. They were a treasure. I looked up Eklavya publications archives online but they were different books. It disappointed me like most things online do.
  14. Look at Spotify or other music apps. Even though classics are available they often come with deluge of compulsory advertisements. As much as home ministry mixing devotional chants with abusive words at such a refined level that a novice gets baffled.
  15. Art of livings chanting of Om Namah Shivay was mixed with home minister’s swear words during announcement of a new law which was popularised as a meme. Who’s going to protect Dharma?
  16. And how’s Dharma going to protect its protectors if all you have are life insurance corporations agents who compel you to sign papers without insuring basic life sustenance needs. Are farmers still dying because of loans or bad weather?
  17. I have definitely come a long way. Doctor Win Wenger PhD suggested that sowing of wild oats stops when you turn forty. I think I convinced myself that I was way past forty. What a relief. I got another job which actually paid instead of labouring for an NGO which actually had a king who was no different from Gujrati kings who only compelled you to surrender your imagined properties to them by showcasing great virtue on occassions which suited them.
  18. To be or not to be what you wanted to be when you were five is more an analysis of world view created by literature at that time than individual psyche which might have held certain promises for stakeholders who were investing into that world or crop.
  19. This verse:
  20. कल भात आएगा,
    एक पतीला;
    गरम गरम,
    और गीला गीला!
  21. Sums up the make up of this five year old’s mind by providence which wanted him to realise his birth in a commune or orphanage where he only talks to a postbox 📬.
  22. The postbox 📫 takes up role of singer of this refrain which means:
  23. Tomorrow there will be rice;
  24. One big bowl full of rice;
  25. It will be hot steamy rice;
  26. It will be wet hot steamy rice like you prefer.
  27. Young, naked five year old crying its heart out to a postbox where crops might have failed. Parents might have abandoned the child. Satellite cameras might have been capturing images to project them onto a Truman Show like grand reality.
  28. Subconscious of child had questions like those asked by Nachiketa to Yama or those in the Seventh Seal if you would. Upanishads or Vedanta. They’re all answered in due course.
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Pending an acquisition of a lifetime!

You’re writing your autobiography. What’s your opening sentence?

  1. Pending an acquisition of a lifetime.
  2. The quote above is from Paul who used to take care of bug fixes for the Couch Discussion Forum.
  3. The root Krum results in Hindi word Kram which translates to English word order, as in, ascending or descending order.
  4. To scend is to rise on a wave. Maybe a word for surfers. I came across this word while trying to archive words on level 4th and 5th of UNWFP Free Rice Vocabulary Test site.
  5. A Test Ceiling in Psychometrics: 2060 score without committing more than 16 errors. Another : 0 errors until level 100.
  6. Site is bugged for me. Manually reset the levels after a few answers.
  7. Archive words at level 4th or 5th.
  8. Look them up in Merriam Webster or Collins.
  9. Refer to Michael Quinion’s World Wide Words.
  10. You’re done. You have mastered the test and championed the cause for feeding many people in developing nations.
  11. There are other tests similar to this one: for example: Peter Schmies Word Classification Test which I cleared recently.
  12. Similar techniques: words are inherently devoid of meaning. They’re what guilds of lexicographers suggest them to be.
  13. Similar to laws. For example: most of the people don’t wear helmets . Not wearing helmets is a norm.
  14. Does this imply that wearing helmets is lawlessness?
  15. No.
  16. The word ‘sentence’ suggests that your autobiography is going to be used as a testament. To judge others. It’s not fiction.
  17. Intestate is another word. What does coda mean?
  18. Cesern is long haired. Tohu is the verse form I invented. It’s similar to Supercallifragilisticexpliallidocious even though the sound of it is even more atrocious.
  19. Amphiprostyle is column based structure.
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Peter Schmies Word Classification Test!

Describe the most ambitious DIY project you’ve ever taken on.

  1. Peter Schmies Word Classification Test
  2. I conducted a research into higher human intelligence during 2005-2009 by interviewing many college undergraduates and a few people from industries.
  3. I continued similar projects even when the Peter Schmies text version of detailed analogies test was no longer available in 2018-2025.
  4. By returning to basics of pencil and paper with Jeremy Bentham’s Panopticon for Deux Ex Machina: I realised in February, 2025, that it was almost impossible to clear this objective Words Classification Test ( where you needed to guess if words were similar, opposite or you were making a wild guess.)
  5. Siddhanta: fundamental: words are sounds in the wild without any inherent meaning in them. In other words: it’s difficult to read a dictionary than reading fiction.
  6. From the viewpoint of a Grammarian , Author or Lexicographer: fiction is merely a context for interpretation of new word roots, new meanings, new associations.
  7. The first law of remembering and retaining words is to merely repeat it often enough.
  8. The second law is associating is with many profound ideas.
  9. Being able to clear Peter Schmies Word Classification Test removes many curses for example.
  10. Working in some libraries , for example, is almost impossible because of the banned versions or prohibitions.
  11. During 2018-2025, another strange thing was taking help from James Harbeck, Sesquiotica fame, who had let me publish a guest article on his weblog earlier. I had introduced his work on Blogging101Alumni website sponsored by Automattic.
  12. Every time I tried to clear the ceiling of 16 errors until 2060, I used to commit a few errors before reaching the score of 1000 on UNWFP Free Rice Vocabulary Test site which was developed by Josh Breen.
  13. I decided to make these tests open sources in order to crack them as Rick Rosner of Mega Society had indicated in the Mega Society journal.
  14. During 2025 January and February this bugged website was unable to maintain itself.
  15. Collins dictionary was only resource which helped.
  16. Who was Fredrick Berchtold if not Pope?
  17. Proselytism in the name of education might work in the short run.
  18. Names are words, like titles, ranks, offices, honours..
  19. A breakfast, a bed, a milk tea, a mobile charge, a distraction free environment to publish.
  20. Project Gutenberg, project renaissance, project Sesquiotica for example.
  21. If Gregg Scott,  Jhonson O Connors, Norman Lewis, Ben Zimmer, Language Log guys and Jonathan Swift decide to keep meaning of words like Russel, Harbeck or Whigham: it’s a guild awards Peter Schmies Word Classification Test which is equivalent to Issac Asimov or Mensa Membership in Sweden.
  22. But you are almost 40. You don’t want to be 14 years old.
  23. Time Machines. Name Machines. Walking. Friends.
  24. Was Reservoir dogs an inspiration for the opening sequence for The Dark  Knight?. If yes, Nolan shouldn’t be credited as much for originality as for grand execution which works in corporate settings, in family gatherings.
  25. As soon as Peter Schmies is out you start condemning him.
  26. As soon as you exhaust Sesquiotica you look for next Laaloo.
  27. Brown, Black people were frequent flyers. White people were not so.
  28. Why did my corporate colleague prefer railways? To save himself from heart attacks.
  29. What’s next?

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Tohu 18.06.2023

Twilightincturesonanceilingoannanamnesisomercurialtarrivistellarkspurrupturedragonusundrydenetzahobovineyardardediscorecementomorrowlandampersandaracksagelonggonghongkongongimcracknowledgedemantoiductileibnitzimzumuttermannahowdahowlingastronomicalculusuccubustedesktopekartomatownshiphoperandemandunbarabbistropelozengemmatrialsomeshugameplangentrystunnedenizenneagrammatonnageeleeryinyanglerratabanidittownshipippinikeynotenthgatenebrifictionictitatemeritzygottenetsukerakedexteruptionuchanuchenrez
18.06.2023
Posted on by dancinglightofgrace · 18 Comments

Broom Versus Palm Versus Lotus!

Election Season: 12:15 03.07.2022

1. The idea for this blog post came from the hodgepodge obvious on the wall shown in this image.

2. Previous elections for municipal corporation were organised in 2016-17 and I didn’t witness the process back then because of lack of interest. This time around I kept reading the newspapers and gleaned a bit about it.

3. What’s so peculiar about this image?

Nothing if you don’t know the process. The process by which it was created. You would find such advertisement leaflets pasted all over the Ward 23 of Chhatarpur, Madhya Pradesh, India.

4. As I mentioned in one of my previous posts: one of the candidates mentioned in the advertisement is going to win and become richer than they previously were. This is the most humble of them you’re going to see: EVER. Even if a facade, the premise is worth being explored for obvious reason to have a first-hand experience about metamorphosis elections do in the lives of candidates running and the rest of us.

5. The hodgepodge came to be like this:

5.1: There was an empty wall.

5.2: The leaflet for broom 🧹 was pasted at first.

5.3: The script in the dark maroon color was written just below the leaflet. The lotus group didn’t paste the leaflet with their candidate’s picture.

Why?

Who knows?

(Kovind?)

5.4: The leaflet for palm of right hand was pasted in the end.

5.5: To a regular passerby: it seems as if the script in maroon is to support the broom 🧹 candidate.

6. Actually: all three of them are very gentle people. They respect boundaries of each other.

As of now: I am writing this post under article 144 being in effect. Intention is absolutely not to defame anyone or to malign the reputation of these representatives of the Ward ( 23 ).

7. The intention is to educate and inform people who ever read this article about the political campaign for municipal corporation elections.

8. I got to see the first candidate as candidate when my respected father Shilajeet was speaking to him on NH39 near Baburam Chaturvedi Stadium entrance to Choubey Colony a few days ago. He was accompanied by his soft spoken fast friend from education business. Political business is related to the education business. It seemed more than a coincidence that I was crossing the road when this happened. Pink Floyd.

8.1: Does the candidate eat gutka?

Yes.

Does he spit it in public places like Stadium?

Yes.

Akin to any normal people (Aam Aadmi.) I have often seen him in stadium-walking- as he’s fitness conscious and also a proprietor of an accupressure naturopathy clinic nearby. His elder brother also showed public disdain by spitting gutka once. It had become a regular feature by the year 2018.

9. Gurudev is also fitness conscious and his family is also full of disdain for middle or lower middle class people. They have organised many public events in which devotional songs and stories were played. They also participated in the recently concluded Madhav Prasad Mishra Memorial Night Cricket Tournament. He was the last man standing for the losing side.

10. Does Gurudev eat gutka? Maybe Not. But his most ardent supporter seems to be fond of it. He openly showed his disdain by spitting a large chunk of it, on purpose. He then went on to paste the posters.

11. Both of these candidates pass the Ku Klux Klan test. It’s actually darker than it seems.

12. Let’s take the third candidate: the candidate from the ruling party. Double engine. Highest budget. Budget visible in the campaign. The third candidate is not a single candidate. The trend of Mister and Mrs Khiladi was not set by previous candidates from lotus group. It’s been there for a long time. The feminine takes care of kids and ladies and the masculine manages the rest. The message is clear: women can’t take care of this business alone. The places where you see only women contesting elections: there are men behind the scenes.

13. Broom and Palm guys are guys. Men. Lotus guys are Gemini. Twins. Mercury just entered into Gemini. Yadda yadda. If you think women are really candidates here: you’re grossly mistaken. I have to wait for three days for getting a fifty rupees pocket money from my mother who earns about 70000 rupees per month because all of the business and economics is managed by her husband since forever. She doesn’t have any money which is how things should be in an ideal Patriarchal Society.

14. Another candidate who took his nomination back was not contesting from any party. He used to be a vocal supporter for right hand palm. Now he was going to contest on his own but took nomination back at the last minute due to the requests from the candidates from ruling party (as told to me at a tea cafe when enquired.)

15. As I took the picture: the picture was erased from the database. By hackers. It’s not new to me. Plenty of it happened in the last seven years. I took the picture again. It’s merely to keep record of how it happened. Only faces and names change in power struggles. No substantial changes. An example is: black money deposited into swiss bank accounts from India skyrocketing during 2020-2021: one of the premises on which 2011 Anna Hazare movement was organised and then another election: no REAL change.