The best thing about sanity is that you cant define it... While there are few of us who pride ourselves with being 'crazy' almost in a fashion-statement kinda way, some others who consider it as expression of their freedom ( the sense of being 'alive') ,some others who are on a mission to prove that they are more than 'just sane', and some others who just seek refuge in their craziness, there are soo many others for whom craziness is a way of life and not a matter of choice... The beauty is nobody is right and nobody is wrong...
You get to choose your clothes from the wardrobe, circumstances are just the ocassion for which you are going to dress up:-P
Saturday, October 21, 2006
Saturday, October 14, 2006
CrossRoads
Have you ever had the feeling, when you are waiting at some crossroad, all alone admist the throng... when you just take a moment off the humdrum and trappings of daily life, and look around, above, sideways..just everywhere and simply wonder where are you heading...? When everthing around you and everyone around you just seem to be at a standstill...all sounds go mute...the scene reminiscent of music videos... where the singer is the only one who is on the move...Well guess what you dont even have to be on the road, in the middle of a rush-hour traffic to feel that way...
Life has brought me at interesting crossroads... several ways, each one promising plenty of opportunities, the best of everything...All I have to do is simply CHOOSE. We spend our entire life (well atleast 21 years..speaking for myself) dreaming what we want to be, who we want to be with , what we want to give to others and what we expect from them (does everyone do this or is it just the selfish me... I dont know...) and when one day when you have it all, or atleast you have the realistic kinda confidence that you can have it all (clairvoyance bolstered by intelligent thought and actions... ) , it is simply out of this world experience... If I were to put it in a sentence...closing my eyes and taking a moment to get the words right for this one..." There is soo much to win and soo much to lose.....But those who never play will never win..." I have echoed these words soo many times, somehow they make infinite sense to me ... probably because the most important person in my life said these once to me, when I was my usual self-doubting, undermotivated self.. I still am...but I now have equipped myself to get over it, writing is just one of them..
Another nice 'tool' I fumbled on along the way was music... I have no clue about the technicalities and fine nuances of the art, nor am I much of a connoisseur..but I have a open mind and perhaps more open ears... Music for me is when we try to notice some kind of rhythm in the cacophony that pervades us. The more you try to keenly find it the more you will be surprised of its omnipresence... in the waves of the sea, in the rustling leaves, in the metaalic shrills of the wind chime, in the pitter-patter of the rain-drops, in the chipakk-pacchak(or wateva sound u wanna call it) of the gum-boots we used to wear to school in the monsoons, in the chirps of the birds(yes even the crows can sing...)and yea in the croaks of the frogs;-P... Music is just everywhere...(thats y we have to tolerate Himeesshhhh..)
My connection with music dates back to very recent times, thanks to all the new friends I got to know in the past few months (who patiently explained the basics of all the music genres, gave me live performances online, tried to enlighten a menatally challenged person like me about the beauty of metal(I always paid more attention to nonmetals and metalloids in chem classes, but I guess this made up for it ;-D) and yea patiently listened and even managed to appreciate my sloooooooooooooow and discordant songs....and also motivated me to sing Hotel California but to no avail hehehhe) Bottomline, lets just say that music gave me much more to hold on to than just the right lyrics and the right tune...
So standing at the crossroad feels like standing on your toes while performing the ballet or doing the triple-toe in ice-skating...the process is excruciatingly difficult and requires a lot of skill, at the same time the product is soo graceful that the whole thing has a streak of facile ease...
Here I am, with the best of circumstances and people with me, it kinda feels like the winning runner..tieing the shoe lace, warming up, getting ready for the run of life, eyeing the finishing line..meanwhile the whole stadium is full is of people cheering for you... and you know you can get this right...if only you dont go off ur track in all the excitement... :-D
Life has brought me at interesting crossroads... several ways, each one promising plenty of opportunities, the best of everything...All I have to do is simply CHOOSE. We spend our entire life (well atleast 21 years..speaking for myself) dreaming what we want to be, who we want to be with , what we want to give to others and what we expect from them (does everyone do this or is it just the selfish me... I dont know...) and when one day when you have it all, or atleast you have the realistic kinda confidence that you can have it all (clairvoyance bolstered by intelligent thought and actions... ) , it is simply out of this world experience... If I were to put it in a sentence...closing my eyes and taking a moment to get the words right for this one..." There is soo much to win and soo much to lose.....But those who never play will never win..." I have echoed these words soo many times, somehow they make infinite sense to me ... probably because the most important person in my life said these once to me, when I was my usual self-doubting, undermotivated self.. I still am...but I now have equipped myself to get over it, writing is just one of them..
Another nice 'tool' I fumbled on along the way was music... I have no clue about the technicalities and fine nuances of the art, nor am I much of a connoisseur..but I have a open mind and perhaps more open ears... Music for me is when we try to notice some kind of rhythm in the cacophony that pervades us. The more you try to keenly find it the more you will be surprised of its omnipresence... in the waves of the sea, in the rustling leaves, in the metaalic shrills of the wind chime, in the pitter-patter of the rain-drops, in the chipakk-pacchak(or wateva sound u wanna call it) of the gum-boots we used to wear to school in the monsoons, in the chirps of the birds(yes even the crows can sing...)and yea in the croaks of the frogs;-P... Music is just everywhere...(thats y we have to tolerate Himeesshhhh..)
My connection with music dates back to very recent times, thanks to all the new friends I got to know in the past few months (who patiently explained the basics of all the music genres, gave me live performances online, tried to enlighten a menatally challenged person like me about the beauty of metal(I always paid more attention to nonmetals and metalloids in chem classes, but I guess this made up for it ;-D) and yea patiently listened and even managed to appreciate my sloooooooooooooow and discordant songs....and also motivated me to sing Hotel California but to no avail hehehhe) Bottomline, lets just say that music gave me much more to hold on to than just the right lyrics and the right tune...
So standing at the crossroad feels like standing on your toes while performing the ballet or doing the triple-toe in ice-skating...the process is excruciatingly difficult and requires a lot of skill, at the same time the product is soo graceful that the whole thing has a streak of facile ease...
Here I am, with the best of circumstances and people with me, it kinda feels like the winning runner..tieing the shoe lace, warming up, getting ready for the run of life, eyeing the finishing line..meanwhile the whole stadium is full is of people cheering for you... and you know you can get this right...if only you dont go off ur track in all the excitement... :-D
Monday, October 02, 2006
The Great One
Well brushing aside the worldly things that confine me in a very constricted time-line, I manage to ,for once not be self-indulgent and spare a thought for the great guy who gave me a holiday today... Not the prime minister, not my principle.. its some one they call 'THE MAHATMA'. The same person who has christened an infinite stream of roads in India, the smiling face on the currency, the face that adorns all government institutions, the guy who turned the other cheek, the one we read about in history textbooks, and yea... the one in MunnaBhai, the one in Richard Attenbrough's film too- some call him Bappuji, some Gandhi....but Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore sums it up beat with the term- "Mahatma" - the great being! Oops I almost forgot (no I didnt)he was the guy who gave us freedom, the nonviolent way.. the one who inspired some of the finest human beings in th annals of history- Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela, Albert Einstein and many others...
It has almost become platitudinous to say this... (kinda sad considering the fact that we are soo accustomed to being arrogant, aggresive, non-tolerant ...almost militant in our daily lives that we find some of his teachings absolutely out-of-place in our current context) .. still a perspicacious thought to the application of his teachings in status-quo will revel that the man had a point... to say the least.
Well all Indians have been taught throughout their lives that He was great... the satyagraha, the charkha, the South African nonviolent victory, the Dandi March, civil Disobedience Movement, the Do or Die ...the freedom glory, the tragic partition and the even more tragic death of the saint.... Yes he did all that, a simple Gujarati boy changed the way the world thinks forever...
I happened to read a few of his books during my school days(one of the rare books I can claim to have read.. coz I m not a reader). " The story of my experiments with Truth" and "India Of my Dreams" were really inspirational for me at that impressionable age. But I guess I didnt get the essence then( and I think I belong to a large group of people who havent)... And if I may be so audaciously bold to claim that I finally get it, I think his life was all about showing people that truth is supreme, you cant fight it! And it is truth and only truth that can give u the peace -both outside and within...
But then define truth... Mathematics has the concept of 'axioms'- the truths one has to accept and which form the basis of all knowledge. Spiritualism has the concept of 'the conscience'...the way I look at it, its the voice within you which pricks you when you are diverting away from the truth. And in politics truth is something that cant be manipulated to be proved to be false (cutting the crap, truth is fiction there).I think history says truth is the version of the story the victors get to boast of ( think about it...)Truth by definition cant be subjective...is it really? Doesnt the human mind induce its bias inherently in presenting, analysing and accepting the truth? So what did the man say again? I m clueless!!!!
And why should one believe that truth is good...Are humans even capable of being truthful- forget about being truthful to others..even to themselves? We all love our makeups, masks and interfaces dont we? And dont you see a corrupt guy sashaying with all the comforts and luxuries, when he blatantly shuns all truth, good et all...And have we seen heaven or hell to remind ourselves of dire consequences in afterlife? I m sure such questions have been asked and deliberated upon throughout the centuries... But the very fact that Truth is still very much a human virtue goes to say that "Uus aadmi key baaton mein kuch dum hai"!
Well, I think the trick realises in realises in realising that in the long run.. it is much easier to be truthful than to lie... or rather not be truthful (there is a fine difference between the two). Truth does give you peace, you can feel it, atleast I did. It gives you the courage to stand up for what you are convinced is correct ( thats the kinda magic that empowered a poor nation to fight against the mighty oppressors and infact win in the end) It gives the ordinary man the strength to win the world without any superpowers for the rescue. All the conflicts and confusions in the world around us and within us can be won with this immortal woord- 'Satyagraha'...(which means satya-truth.. agraha-convincing)
It has almost become platitudinous to say this... (kinda sad considering the fact that we are soo accustomed to being arrogant, aggresive, non-tolerant ...almost militant in our daily lives that we find some of his teachings absolutely out-of-place in our current context) .. still a perspicacious thought to the application of his teachings in status-quo will revel that the man had a point... to say the least.
Well all Indians have been taught throughout their lives that He was great... the satyagraha, the charkha, the South African nonviolent victory, the Dandi March, civil Disobedience Movement, the Do or Die ...the freedom glory, the tragic partition and the even more tragic death of the saint.... Yes he did all that, a simple Gujarati boy changed the way the world thinks forever...
I happened to read a few of his books during my school days(one of the rare books I can claim to have read.. coz I m not a reader). " The story of my experiments with Truth" and "India Of my Dreams" were really inspirational for me at that impressionable age. But I guess I didnt get the essence then( and I think I belong to a large group of people who havent)... And if I may be so audaciously bold to claim that I finally get it, I think his life was all about showing people that truth is supreme, you cant fight it! And it is truth and only truth that can give u the peace -both outside and within...
But then define truth... Mathematics has the concept of 'axioms'- the truths one has to accept and which form the basis of all knowledge. Spiritualism has the concept of 'the conscience'...the way I look at it, its the voice within you which pricks you when you are diverting away from the truth. And in politics truth is something that cant be manipulated to be proved to be false (cutting the crap, truth is fiction there).I think history says truth is the version of the story the victors get to boast of ( think about it...)Truth by definition cant be subjective...is it really? Doesnt the human mind induce its bias inherently in presenting, analysing and accepting the truth? So what did the man say again? I m clueless!!!!
And why should one believe that truth is good...Are humans even capable of being truthful- forget about being truthful to others..even to themselves? We all love our makeups, masks and interfaces dont we? And dont you see a corrupt guy sashaying with all the comforts and luxuries, when he blatantly shuns all truth, good et all...And have we seen heaven or hell to remind ourselves of dire consequences in afterlife? I m sure such questions have been asked and deliberated upon throughout the centuries... But the very fact that Truth is still very much a human virtue goes to say that "Uus aadmi key baaton mein kuch dum hai"!
Well, I think the trick realises in realises in realising that in the long run.. it is much easier to be truthful than to lie... or rather not be truthful (there is a fine difference between the two). Truth does give you peace, you can feel it, atleast I did. It gives you the courage to stand up for what you are convinced is correct ( thats the kinda magic that empowered a poor nation to fight against the mighty oppressors and infact win in the end) It gives the ordinary man the strength to win the world without any superpowers for the rescue. All the conflicts and confusions in the world around us and within us can be won with this immortal woord- 'Satyagraha'...(which means satya-truth.. agraha-convincing)
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