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You can not call it a scorn or an irony. It is not the truth, and it’s not a false statement. It could be a criticism and at the same time an appraisal. No it’s not fake, yet not real. It is an exercise for your brain, or a brain totter. You think I am talking about some puzzle? Or is it a riddle? You think it’s mysterious? Do not worry, not any of this. It is nothing but Paradox.
Here I don’t want to confuse my readers but to introduce a grand, well maintained and a matchless online community on Orkut, named Paradoxes. The members of the community talk and discuss paradoxes. Paradox is a sentence which is self-contradictory. It’s like, we have two sentences, which are both true when kept apart, but when we bring them together and join them, and the meaning will be jarring, which is actually more of an allegory. Like we solve a puzzle, we have classifications for paradoxes as well. There is a variety of paradoxes, such as Classical Paradox, Apparent Paradox, Logical Paradox, Mathematical Paradox, etc.
A simple example for logical Paradox can be: A Cretan says “All Cretans are liars”.
“At Paradoxes we take up the classic paradoxes or try to create paradoxes out of everyday events and then discuss them to find out if they are only apparent paradoxes (that is, if there is some way in logic, metaphysics, science, mathematics or any other discipline, including religious discourse) by which they can be resolved, or whether they, at our present stage of knowledge, are destined to remain “paradoxes” or unresolved”, informs Protik, one of the moderators of the community.
I believe, by now you have got my idea. If not then, please go and visit the community and I am sure you’ll get it easily and will enjoy also.. In the words of Protik,” Mohit started out this community with a view to have a place where we could discuss everything that was paradoxical, anomalous or plain strange.”Unlike the other communities, it’s a community where you will get to see members from all orders, such as some policy makers, members of the government, the professions, services, creative artists and students, and representatives of all age groups.
Apart from the owner of the community, Mohit, there are two moderators, Samvit who has toiled the most for the community day and night and Protik Prokash Banerji, who took out his precious time from his busy schedule for a discussion held regarding the community Paradoxes, at Rated-WOW! Community showcase. Protik is happily married with a lovely daughter and practices law at the High court at Calcutta. He loves to watch movies, read and listen to music. Protik Prokash Banerji is the first Indian lawyer to have won a judgment in favor of his client that an arbitrator under the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 is amenable to jurisdiction under Article 227 of the Constitution Of India and that orders of the arbitrator may be challenged under Article 227, which remained the law of the land for 5 years before being impliedly overruled by the Supreme Court of India in 2005. To know more about him you can simply do a Google search and will find him on Wikipedia.
Being such a big personality on professional as well as personal front, Protik works brilliantly for Paradoxes with the backbone of the community Samvit. As per the expectation the community is a SPAM Free, and follows a rule where there is a separate forum for posting advertisements. Since the community’s title is itself very challenging, so for sure it come across hindrances, but then moderators are always present to interfere whenever the situations are not restful and they try and make things better and rumble on the personal face ,but never on rational front. “Inter se, we quarrel violently, make sarcastic comments so long as we are convinced that we are right, but once persuaded otherwise, back down, apologize and there’s no bad feeling.” added Protik in the context. In extreme cases they also delete the posts and do permanent banning from the community. It’s a community of more then 21000 members but according to Protik not all of them are active at all times. However the team follows a planned scheme to learn how many people are actively posting and how many have completely lost every clue. Such people are again contacted and if they have any problem, the team tries and helps them out for no cost. Subjects on the forum range from Science, theology, AI, Intelligent Design to Metaphysics, Mathematics and a lot more. “You can write verse, have fun, pun, be very serious and still participate in the discussion meaningfully. We sometimes function as a think tank for other organizations and institutes, (in an absolutely honorary capacity) and they mine our discussions for ideas and solutions.” says Protik wisely. Each and every post on the community needs to be in English or if not, requires an English translation. Moreover, there is a separate Chat thread, where members can chat on any topic they wish to, and can relax and refresh themselves, being paradoxite! The community sticks to its nature of being virtual and online, there are no events held outside the online premises of Paradoxes.
The conversation with Protik proved the sea of knowledge and intelligence in him, and that made me surer about the community and its positive aspects. The community is a complete refreshment and dose to one’s brain, all sensible, yet so Paradoxical!
Request from the author: We constantly look forward for the orkut communities which are unique in concept and are performing exceptionally well. If you come across any such orkut communities or you are a member or an owner of such communities, please contact us and we will be most happy to make it a part of our community showcase
{ 4 comments }
Tara, I am speechless! I hardly recognized myself or Paradoxes! Surely u flatter us, though we like to think that all our members are a family! Thank you for that inspiring write up!
Thank you sir!
even I am speechless to after this comment. But it was more then a pleasure and thanks to you , the community owner Mohit, Samvit, and all the community members to provide us with such a great community like Paradoxes.
Wow! Thanks Tara
I had almost taken off from Paradoxes since almost a year. Although Protik Da is more busy than I am, he has continued being the inspiration and driving force of the community.
Your review has revived those beautiful memories of the time when I used to spend long intense hours with the Paradoxians. Thanks for the review Tara. Salutation to Protik Da and Mohit.
Samvit,that was my pleasure…:) And the way Protik Da, Mohit and you give credits to each other, you people really set wonderful example of unity and dedication for the work..
So keep it up !