Thursday, August 27, 2015

Jantar Mantar of the Mind

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that we all get what we deserve.

But sometimes ,  some get what they reserve.

The reservation is sometimes a result of rushing around, standing in lines, following some rules , and coming up with something in hand. There is no restriction on who can put in how much effort for getting whatever, in the need of the hour. 

Then again , it is often sometimes , the result of new rules, designed to favour and offer opportunities , to those normally deprived of them , for reasons , economic , or those of size-of-their-population.  There is effort required here too.  But there a push built in. 

It might be said that all this must be done for the greater good.

But sometimes we lose sight of the greater good....  and sometimes there is always Jantar Mantar .

  I am fascinated by the human body , and the similarities between our society,  and how things are managed in our own bodies, by whoever designed them,  and  i wondered how things would be if we introduced reservation within the body.

At an average weight of 10,886 grams the skin is the biggest human organ.
The liver, with an average weight of 1560 gms comes second.
The Brain , with an average weight of 1263 gms, comes third.  
Lungs (both) with an average weight of 1060  gms come fourth. 
The Heart, is fifth at approximately 300 gms.
The kidneys  come sixth at around 290 gms.
The spleen is 7th at 170 gms.  
The pancreas are 8th at 98 gms.
The  thyroid come 9th at 35 gms.
The prostate, found only in males, comes 10th at 20 gms.

At least in our bodies, might is not right.   

Skin, simply does not throw its weight around (though it excels at throwing volume around), despite being the biggest. It quietly works hard at what it is supposed to do, at the frontlines, often supported ably by internal networks . Very clearly, its wellbeing depends on those like the heart  which provides blood to it, and those like the kidneys  that ensure that it is good blood.  Like a responsible heavyweight elder, the Liver, is like the treasury, releasing different kinds of stored substances here and there , to keep things healthy and flowing well, and , say, benefiting the skin.  

The heart, although fifth in size, is actually like a Founder. It is the first organ a fetus develops inside the maternal uterus. It has its own electrical pump system, and basically provides resources to the Body Company.  It mostly inspires the various sections to perform well, gives them many chances if they don't, and like a Founder Chairperson, takes appropriate decisions in the best interests of the company.

The liver , although bigger (than the heart, and 2nd by weight) is like the ancestral house, large and heavily furnished, providing excellent storage and forwarding facilities .  It simply does not exhibit its despair,  till it has tried and tried to keep going. At the end of the day, it listens to the Chairperson Heart .

One can go on and on describing the human body in terms of an industrial set up or a society comprised of folks with different duties and abilities.

But one wonders what would happen if,  say ,  the kidneys, 6th in importance by weight, simply demanded  that they would withhold  getting the dirt out of our blood, unless they were given a place somewhere in front, like the stomach .

Or say, the lungs,  4th powerful by size, knowing that they were an ally of the heart at the Blood Exchange, suddenly demanded a removal of the thoracic rib barricade they suffered like a chaperone all their life.

The spleen, quietly , imbibing qualities of the human fist, whose size it mimics at 170 gms,  suddenly turning militant and refusing to make the red an white cell pulp, till it was given more importance ; I mean there is a limit to how long you can be ignored in a company despite putting in years of decent work.....

And what would happen, if the pancreas, which are actually the "nouveau riche", loaded with insulin factories, suddenly decide to have a lock out, despite pleading from the Kidney Ketone ladies?  I mean there is just so much they can tolerate regarding outside interference of drugs in the blood.   

It could be the thyroid, hitherto involved in managing slowdowns and rushed work, which might suddenly protest at being ordered around by  tiny but powerful  pituitary types using the brain as a front and decide to enforce a go-slow.

At the end of the day,  the Brain, not the biggest, but, which as the CEO , handles the day-to-day stuff, must take wise decisions.  The founder, the Chairperson Heart, has given it most of the powers , but it must use its experience from memory,  and not give in to the weird demands of the various organs, regardless of their size.

Occasional temporary slight relaxation of rules might work,  but the CEO Brain often goes about things in such a way, that the complaining organ ends up learning a lesson by itself,  atrophying , shrinking or even getting into neighboring fights , and straightens out itself.

Random, blatant, divisive disobedience  in our bodies, often ends up being carcinogenic.  And what follows is  a lot of chemical warfare with tons of collateral damage.

And so the various organs, have learned to respect each others abilities , duties, and attention to detail,  and learned to ignore size.  The CEO Brain, has developed the ability to adapt itself to the need of the hour, sometimes drastically. The interesting fact is that most of the various sized organs, hitherto protesting for a guaranteed  piece of the power pie , have realized that they are part of the whole, and when benefits happen, their share always trickles down to them.  

They need no reservations. Mostly because the Heart, Chairman of the Board, and the CEO Brain, work constructively and with great understanding and innovation, to keep things happy and running. Of course , the external environment greatly matters, but they ensure that the White Blood Corpuscular Security Plus is fully geared to handle things effectively along with the Cilia Militia..

Can we learn from this ?  I don't know.

There is something to learn, both for the Chairman and CEO as well as for the participating folks. 

Whether in the body or in real life .

The only difference is  power has not corrupted the body.  And there are no Jantar Mantars here. In any mind of any organ.
I keep forgetting these are Organs and not Organizations !

Just my 2 paisa worth......