Sometimes I wonder …
Wouldn’t it be fun if we have a ventriloquist perform in a graveyard ?
All your loved ones would suddenly start talking to you.
Unless they were cremated,
In which case it would be weird if they talked back .
Charavak, Millennials’ way of life
In a quest to seek knowledge, I come across a variety of books from multiple different genres.
In pursuit of the same quest, I know I should be pragmatic, which means I need to keep my mind open for all schools of thought.
Recently, I started studying the Charavak Philosophy, ancient school of Indian materialism. The Charvaka epistemology states that whenever one infers a truth from a set of observations or truths, one must acknowledge doubt; inferred knowledge is conditional.
This school of thought actually appealed to my intellect.It just meant that now my mind and my intellect can be on the same page for once.
I believe, the practicality of all the things will also give way to a simpler lifestyle, though it might also take a toll on the emotional aspect of life. For eg. If you have a 6-year-old, asking how he gets a gift or a cash gift every time he keeps his tooth for the tooth fairy, it is better to lie to him out of love, rather than explain the dynamics of how economy works or how his father/mother replaces the tooth in the middle of the night. Maybe, that is a practical thing to do, but it is still driven by emotion.
I know of how the practical approach to life fails, but I also know of how it succeeds in life. In Hindu literature, it is brilliantly explained with the notion – Ram Rajya. Named after the famous, godly king of India in 3400 BC, a kingdom, wrought in Chaos and corruption was morphed into a beautiful and law-abiding place almost similar to the concept of Eden. The citizens were very strict in following the laws which were laid down by the great Lord Ram.
Yet, the practical way of life was flawed, as the emotions came second to practicality. Over the centuries, there grew a discontent and that became the downfall of this once great philosophy.
Does it mean that the philosophy itself is wrong ? perhaps not. Each person has his own thought process. Hence the individuality of humanity comes into picture.
Now a days, due to social media, it seems like the next generation would rather “google” the answers and accept the first result (or the most convenient one) than actually think on whatever task they had at hand. In such a scenario, wouldn’t it make sense that we have the Charavak Philosophy integrated into the lifestyle ?
The only word which the millenniums seem to have integrated is materialism. They think a fancy mobile, expensive clothes and fast cars is the ultimate aim of life. Hence, they spend truck loads of money on items, just to post it on social media, and then go into an endless pursuit of checking how many people “like” it. Have we become so needy ? If we are, when will we start liking our inner self ? When will we get in touch with our inner self ?
Movies and Population control
Watch some melodramatic movies.
I think such movies are made just to control the population.
The ways to commit suicide are given is such detail, that it is as if, these buggers are helping to curb the world population by having weak minded people slit their hands in an attempt to cut the vein and have an unsuccessful attempt at dying.
It probably just makes them feel more useless, as the attempt goes unsuccessful and then they feel more depressed. When will they realise that sleeping on a railway track is the best possible option ?
Well, the movies are atleast doing something to curb the human population explosion…
Tea and Biscuits
In India we have a cute way of eating biscuits. we dip it into tea.
Tea, the brownish liquid which is responsible for a variety of things for variety of people in India. Some, need it to awaken from their wonderful dreams, some, just so that they get the appropriate machinery working to have a successful bowel movement, some just to have the first cigarette of the day or the first good morning of the day. A cup of tea shared between two lovers, three flatmates or few friends, at the start of the day is very soothing for most people. And the best part is, there is no age restrictions on having that great time with this amazing nectar.
This tea, is mostly drunk with a few biscuits. The biscuit is dipped into the tea( taking care the fingers don’t touch the liquid) for a few seconds till it gets a bit moist and then popped into the mouth, half at a time. and then the next half is dipped again , and consumed whole, relishing the taste of hot biscuit and tea.
Now, there are a few people who like to play pranks on people. Their modus operandi is, that they will wait for the other person to dip the biscuit into the tea and immediately ask them a question. The person becomes distracted. While he processes the question and articulates an answer, the biscuit is too moist, so it will break off and settle down right at the bottom. Then he will use another biscuit to try to spoon it up and eat it, though mostly, he will lose that piece as well. It is very entertaining.
I recently observed this taken to the next level. I was traveling on the countryside and was taking a break from driving by have snacks at a roadside inn. There was an old villager sitting at a table, a pack of biscuits at his side. My interest peaked, waiting for the glass of tea, and then process would start.
To my surprise, a waiter brought a local brand of alcoholic drink in the same glass which served tea, and the gentleman proceeded to dip the first biscuit of the pack into it.
I was taken aback …
The atoms…
This is an interesting thought…
Recently, I was reading an article from one of the science magazines. It was an article that I came across, relating to the research being conducted using LHC or the Large Hadron Collider in Geneva. The worlds most complex and advanced machine.
This article provided the details about how the scientists are trying to unravel the mysteries of the Universe and its inner workings on a level that one cannot even grasp! And they are trying to unravel the workings by smashing atom together, so that it could decay into its smaller constituents… Which could be further studied…
It got me thinking, we as humans, who are trying to understand what makes up the Universe, what are the basic components? How they came into existence? Why they are the way they are? This is something which really tips the scales of awesomeness to the MAX!!
If you think of it in this way, we…
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The atoms…
Recently, I was reading an article from one of the science magazines. It was an article that I came across, relating to the research being conducted using LHC or the Large Hadron Collider in Geneva. The worlds most complex and advanced machine.
This article provided the details about how the scientists are trying to unravel the mysteries of the Universe and its inner workings on a level that one cannot even grasp! And they are trying to unravel the workings by smashing atom together, so that it could decay into its smaller constituents… Which could be further studied…
It got me thinking, we as humans, who are trying to understand what makes up the Universe, what are the basic components? How they came into existence? Why they are the way they are? This is something which really tips the scales of awesomeness to the MAX!!
If you think of it in this way, we are smashing atoms in tiny bits to understand their makeup, to decipher those grand and big hidden mysteries of the natural world..
But, when you think a bit further, humans and the machines used to smash those atoms, are themselves made up of countless number of atoms…
So, in a nutshell, its the atoms themselves who are smashing these other set of atoms, to find out what they are really made up off?
At the first feels a tad bit creepy, but then one tries get a grip of how grand it is! It makes the head spin even thinking about it…
Makes you wonder, how could something which has no life, comes to existence to study itself?
Is that not a big mystery in itself? Is it not like the maker himself is trying understand what he is?
Any thoughts?
Handicapped…
When one reads the word handicapped, what image does flash in front of his eyes? Probably disabled human, or a human who is unable to carry out all normal tasks as a normal human being, right?
The kind of handicapped human that I am referring here, is actually, a technologically handicapped. Yes, a human can become handicapped due to technology as well. Its surprising but true in nature and a fact. This fact could be proven with multiple examples around us. It really bothers me to the my wits, when this same tech is not used for what it is meant to be used for? Why does a human get addicted to it?
There are multiple instances where in this could be observed in the wild. The animal called human, is unable to leave its home, without the gadget called as mobile phone. Mere with its absence, human becomes anxious and savage. He returns back its root in the pre-historic era. In short just becomes a beast…. A beast which is unable to cope with the complexity of the modern world and becomes an outcast from his herd…
They say human animal is a social animal, but with the advent of internet and ultimately social media, this has reached a new level altogether itself. You could see these humans constantly updating their current statuses, as if they are celebrities of some kind. You could observe them becoming pretty anxious when they do not see a “Like” or “heart” or a “re-tweet” (really tweeting was or the birds in the yesteryears, but humans, ya know…)… Amazing behaviour…
There is this distinct behaviour observed in the social gatherings inside the human settlements as well. Where in all the humans after exchanging the pleasantries, would dive deep in the glowing screens of their devices. Even when they are al-together, physically, their minds is taking trips down the digital highway… One might ask, then what is the point of having a social gathering after all? Hmmm?
When we try to observe this human species mating rituals, they seem to have become quite short term as well. All thanks to the easy peesy apps, dating apps to be precise, are at the disposal of their finger tips. One swipe right and man you are one hell of a stud! Brilliant. Long gone are the days of awkward conversations and embarrassments…
With the advancement in technology, internet and devices, the human no longer has to wander off from the comfort of his cave. Everything gets delivered to him. All those stuff of the wild are left to the express delivery guys, from vegetable to pizzas to babies. You name it and it will at your door step within a few hours.
Thus this heavy reliance on tech has become a new epidemic for human species and it might one spell out doom for sure. Not sure when that might occur, but one thing is for sure, its in the making as we speak of it… stay safe and have a great day….
With Friends like these…
When you stay away from your country for years at a time, you tend to get home sick. Everyone is aware of it. Most have felt it. I too have felt it at times. Mostly during festivals, when your friends keep sending you season greetings via social medial. All you can do is wish back and wish that you could be back home, joining in the festivities.
But that is not the only time that you are bound to feel homesick. Those who haven’t been away from their family much, feel the homesickness when they come to a sudden realisation that they are now about to leave the loved ones behind and travel abroad, just to feed the loved ones. It is ironic, that you need to leave those people behind whom you care about , just to earn money and send it to those loved ones who will then save it, waiting for you to come back. But perhaps the wait makes the reunion sweater.
I had the pleasure of going through this experience, the second time I was travelling. But then onwards, I never felt those butterflies in the stomach. I always found myself busy shopping for my friends who were living abroad and wanted something from the home country.
As soon as my date of travel used to draw near, I used to start getting calls from the friends. They would spend some times asking how things were”back home”, then demand some items to be brought over.
I always used to wonder, these guys, who had stayed away from their family for years now, must be feeling homesick and hence used to order these items, just to get a feel from home.
Little did I know then, that those calls, demands for items were all just a ruse to keep my mind off the sadness.
A few days ago, I gave a call to one of my friends who was coming over. I asked him to bring me an item which is a bit hard to get, even back home. He had to spend a considerable time looking for it, with his wife accompanying him behind his bike, just like they used to during their college days.
Time…
Recently I watched a movie named, Passengers. In the story there is a star ship which is traveling towards a new planet. This planet is going to be the new home for humanity. In this journey it is carrying varied humans with various skills and professions. This total journey would take about 150 years, one way that is!
In the film there is this one reporter who will reach the new planet, spend a year and then return back to Earth. It got me thinking and I did some calculations, One way journey will be 150 years and return will be another 150, and a year spent there. That sums up to 301 years in total.
Since that person is going to be cryo sleep, so he would be ageing by just another year before he makes back to Earth! But then when he is back on Earth, all the people, the friends, the relative, the family, no one would be there… they would have vanished and the person arriving at the destination Earth would find a completely new planet with new techs and new social structure!!
This is just so mind boggling!! For the person its just a year that has passed, since he began his journey, but for rest of the world, the Earth, its 301 years… This just does not feel right, it makes you drift and think again about time.. Question it, time does really flow differently for different people.. and when such a tech will be available what will it be like…
Even thinking about such a possibility gives me goose bumps at a cosmic level… Time for one is not what it looks like its really totally a different entity altogether..
Companionship…
To start with, I am not even sure if companionship is the right word? You may ask, what might be the reason to dig into subject of this sort?
Why would anyone need a companion? This was a question that I used to toss away in the garbage dump in my teens and would not look back… but lately I have been pondering on this same question and it has started to bother me on a daily basis!… After pondering over it for plenty of sleepless nights and quite a few naps at work, I was able to come up some closure… Or that is what I might think…
For starters, after crossing a certain age a person is left all alone and I mean really alone. The number of friends are dwindling and there are a very few left. The ones which are few left, are either engaged or in a very serious relationship. They have their own priorities and responsibilities to tackle and take care off… They are no longer, “Available all the time to be with you…” PERIOD!
Even at work, as one keeps climbing up the ladder of work experience and promotions and positions, the number of people whom you could interact freely, and I mean by being the real you, also dwindles… Since one has an image that is needed to be managed in front of all those subordinates. Else it will just become a bottle neck and won’t be able to get anything done!
Well, as the days pass along, the feeling of being alone also creeps in and a person gets tired of portraying an image of oneself, which he is really not!
The feeling of having someone besides, the kind of a person, who could embrace you the way you are. The desire to have that person, who could just make you feel better, no matter what your mood is… The pain of not having anyone around where, you could act the normal you, the real you… All this creeps in…
Then reluctantly and silently, one gets up and logs in to the computer, firing up the browser and start registering over all those millions of dating sites… Just in the hope that one would find their companion of the dreams… Thus the quest for a companion begins, in the hopes of not needing to spend the rest of life portraying the not real you…
Social Waves
I have been away from blogging for a while now .I have been working a lot these days. It is enjoyable, yet exhausting. This has a disadvantage to it , though. I seem to find less time for the people near and dear to me.
Today, even Siri stopped responding to me. I kept shouting “Hey Siri“, but no response at all. Seems like she is is upset that I don’t call her as much as I used to.
Or maybe, the . fact that I was calling her from the kitchen may have something to do about it. With all the wve about feminism and women empowerment going about, I guess even Siri is affected.
Well, time to cook…
Oh God why, Doc ?
There once was a place called Eden,
And in the placed lived the first two humans,
One was made of dust, Adam, he was called,
The other was made from part of God’s body,
She was a helpmate to Adam, Eve was her name.
Adam and Eve toiled the land and lived on heaven on earth,
till the time God placed a tree and and forbade Adam and Eve to eat the fruit,
But alas, the serpent tricked them and they ate the fruit and lo and behold, they were banished from heaven to suffer,
As they had caused an original sin.
And yet when I say this to my doctor, He says, you should have an apple each day.
Stupid Bugger. That is why I may not be able to reach heaven.
Someone better…
Over so many years, I had been in Love with so many girls, but there were only a few to whom I was able to confess the feeling of Love… As it goes…
As I vividly remember, it were my college days (higher secondary school in India for the 11th and 12th grades), there was this girl on whom I had crush from the very first day of the college. She was pretty and charming and had a really beautiful smile. A smile that would melt anyone’s heart away. And above all that she had a very bubbly nature, and a added bonus, she was very friendly as well. I was head over heels for her and wished and dreamed to spend the rest of my life with…
Another year passed and we were in the Second year of the sciences, she had become the part of our group and a really good friend of mine. We shared a lot of things, those long chats, our family issues. As for our group it, consisted of two girls, her and another one from our class and three boys, including me and two of my other friends from the same branch… We were a group of smart and happy go lucky, our grades were great, even when everyone thought that we never studied, we had built a very reputable rapport with out faculties as well as our senpai’s… All was nice and dandy.. Then one day (it took a lot of planning and thinking for this day) I decided to go and express my feelings to her and win her over…
The day chosen was the last day of the college exams, the last paper, I had finally decided to go out and express all my feelings to her… Which I had bottled them up for more than a year now… and filled with little anxiety, I was expecting a positive result, since we have been in the same group and known each other for more than a year now…
The bell rang! The time of the test was upon me, the paper was over, I rushed out of the class hurriedly submitting my answer sheet to the supervisor… After searching for her at our regular spot (katta), I was a little disappointed not finding her, feeling bad was about to head back home, I saw her standing at the corner of the college sports ground.. A new hope and I literally rushed towards her! As if someone might steal her away before I did… haha!!
There I was standing in front of her, huffing and puffing, trying to catch my breath… looking into her eyes, and she staring into mine with confusion and amazement… I took a pause, looked at her, she was all confused, and in an instant blurted out all those emotions I have been bottling up for last year…
Her reaction was not what I had expected! She took a step back, looked at me and with a long pause and low voice, she replied…
“You will find someone better than me, I am not good for you…” I was standing there in amazement, confusion, heart ache and what not, thinking… what could be wrong? What does that even mean? Is she even real? Or is there something off with me? Or just maybe that I was dreaming? Trying to scream or yell at her… I tried to explain it to her and requested for an answer of if there was anything with me… Nothing was unearthed that day… With a heavy heart and full of sad emotions, I bid adieu to her, never to see and meet her ever again…
Well, it took about a year to get over that incident and I tried my luck with another girl, and to my surprise she used those same words, “You will find someone better, I am not good for you..” The flash back came in from my college days! I was again amazed and a little petrified though. This was the second time, thought that I might just be a coincidence…
But, then it happened the third and fourth time, all in a span of less than 7 years! I am really not sure if this is the real trend or is there something really wrong with me. As all the females I met, it seemed that they enjoyed my company, but when it came to long term commitment, they all have backed down with those same words, “Someone better than them…”
I am even not sure what those words really mean? But, since then I have not been able to express any feelings to any other girl ever. All of those beautiful ones, always will remain as a crush for the rest of my life… All this pretty much hurts, make me think what do all these women really want then? Or is it just that I need to focus more on myself rather?
The question is still pretty much unanswered though. Has anyone been through this before? Let me know in the comments…
Right side… Left side… Wrong side…
I never really understood the concept of a left hand drive and a right hand drive vehicle.
I especially don’t understand why some countries prefer to drive on the right side of the road, while the rest drive on the left side of the road. I am sure I understand why some people try to drive on the wrong side of the road, but then they might get the benefit of doubt of not knowing which side the vehicles are supposed to be driven in that particular country.
Why can’t we have a standard for such things. A global standard which says we can drive on the left/right side of the road ?
There are a lot of trucks which ply between UK and the European countries. Now these trucks drive till Dover, take a ferry to their destination country and then start driving on the other side of the road. The steering wheel is on the right side of the truck and yet these trucks themselves go from the right side. Extremely difficult to drive.
Trust me. I tried.
Within the first 10 mins, I managed to bang into two cars, a signpost, and a signal. I also managed to get a ticket for driving on the wrong side of the road.
It would have gotten much worse, I am sure, but at that precise moment, my laptop crashed.
Maybe, even it was not able to comprehend this notion.
Plan B…
The new year has come in and its already been 2 weeks into it, but when I look at Life, what I have seen is that, it always has a different plan than what you had expected from it.
No matter what you plan to do and what you are prepared for, Life will swoop in and put you in such a situation which you had never expected at all…
It like you make Plan A and failover Plan B, to that fail over would be Plan C, but Life, is such a mysterious thing, that it will always put in situation D and will test you wits to the max!
I guess such are the situations, where one is tested with its wisdom, how to react to it, is all that to it… Some of us would us tremble in fear, since we were not prepared for such a situation and some of us would attack it head on with whatever they got, and that is how it all works…
So, in a nutshell there is never Plan B, its just how one could move forward with the data accumulated over the years, converting it into knowledge and then deploying that knowledge at the right moment, giving rise to the wisdom!
Thus going back stating, its all part of a bigger plan that is all….
Why not ask ?
I was watching a program on the television recently. It was a comedy show.
The performer, stood on the stage, smiling and waving at the audience.
The very first line he said , ” I don’t know why I am here today.”.
I never understood this. If you don’t know why you are there, why not ask the organizers when they come to invite you to do a skit ? It is not like you were surprised to be called on the stage.
Or perhaps, they suddenly have an epiphany or because self-aware of yourself, right in that divine place, of the stage facing thousands of pairs of eyes looking at you (or perhaps at your soul).
Stupid Announcements
Have you ever travelled by an Airplane ? If not you should try it before reading further, because – *spoiler alert*
Whenever I travel, the first thing I do is check-in the luggage. Here, one of the crew members will point out my flight number and seat number, circling it so that I would not miss it – * Oh, how helpful. If only my school had spoon fed me with such information, by now I would have been a successful garbage disposal executive*
Next, comes emigration, where they will ask where you are going, just to make sure you know that where ever you are supposed to go is properly engraved in your mind. Or perhaps the kind souls just want to ask – ” Really ? are you sure ? ”
Then the awkward walk around the airport, looking for a lounge compatible with your credit card offer – *Just pay for it you cheap bastard*.
Then the “Magic voice ” telling all the passengers of a certain flight number to walk to a certain gate number with an alphabet – * 10A for example. Perhaps they were afraid they would run out of numbers and added alphabets to the numbers*
Then there would be queue at the gate where your ticket would be checked.
Then a smaller lounge, where you will wait till all the passengers will get to have their tickets examined.
Next, you get to get your ticket examined again by a gatekeeper before going to the flight gate and getting your ticket examined again, only this time you get a “welcome” from a beautiful young lady.
Now, after some time, the flight takes off and the “put your seat belt on” sign disappears.
The captain announces ” This is your captain speaking. you are now travelling to …. place and we are cruising over 35000 feet.”
This always makes me wonder. Why does the captain announce the destination and altitude ? We know where we are going. You made sure at-least four times so that no one would say, “Oh shit, I am on the wrong flight, please land this. I want to get off “. Is that why you announce the altitude ? so that you can simply say , ” Sorry mate. We are too high up now. It will take you approximately 20 mins to go ‘splash’ if you jump out now.”
I simply don’t care.
Does Power beget evil ?
I was having a chat with one of my colleges yesterday. The topic of the discussion was -how it is evil to strive for power. I was the champion of power. I don’t believe power itself is evil.
Let me explain myself.
Power is nothing but the will to be the best. To be so good, that people would follow your advice/ teaching without question. This “advice” could be through the show of force or through show of knowledge. The power which is enforced through a show of force, though powerful in itself can always be nullified or countered with someone who is more adept in the “intelligence” department. Let’s see an example :
You are in a bar, and a few beefy bullies try to show power by pushing you around. Now you, a skinny, powerless but intelligent person can do a lot of things to save themselves. You may call the cops. But they may take some time to arrive at the place. You may simply pay the football team in the bar room, who are causing a lot of ruckus, to beat the bullies up. If you are short of cash, simply order a drink and serve one of the groupies in the football team, hinting that the drink is from one of the bullies. The high testosterone levels in the football team members will help you to beat the bullies up to save their “honor”.
In any case, you overpowered an enemy who was in superior strength and numbers and hence – more powerful.
Now you, in this case, used your intelligence as power and saved yourself from getting bullied. Does this make you evil ? I don’t think so. It is natural to save ourselves and those we love.
Now, power itself is not evil then. But the person wielding that power, could inherently be evil, which would just mean that even though power itself is not evil, it was used to spread the evil.
Let’s take another example.
Imagine two accomplished neurosurgeons. They have the power to save people by performing very critical and complex surgeries. One of them uses his skill to heal the people and the other uses the skill to sell the body parts on the black-market.
Does this mean the power to perform complex surgeries is evil ?
Happy Holidays
In a few days, the year comes to an end. For some it was a fantastic year filled with a lot of new experiences unlocking a plethora of achievements. For some, it was a routine year with nothing out of the ordinary happening for them. For some, it was full of disappointments and pain.
I neither envy nor pity any of these people. For, those who unlocked new achievement badges, were happy with the year, those who had a routine year wanted exactly that, and those who suffered, now have a ray of hope to look at the days to come as a new beginning.
For me, the year was filled with everything – Happiness, a sense of achievement, new adventurous, new places, new sadness, new disappointments, new ways to goof-off (ahem). But I can’t live without these aspects of the life, so I consider then as a very important phase of my character building.
I wish all of you to have the same in the coming year ahead.
May God grant you all the happiness and joy and other important bits of life.
Happy Holidays and a very Happy new year to all you beautify people.
Shalom, Namaste, pip pip.
Square one…
As the year approaches the end, unknowingly a melancholy creeps in. It is something that one cannot control neither ignore, it just creeps into the mind…
With the last few weeks remaining, one starts pondering over the things done over the course of last 11 months. Its a mixed bag of emotions, the good, the bad and the some, no one would like to bring it to the light…
But the melancholy one faces is about the wrong things that have been done over the last year, the promises made, the resolution broken and still being at the same place where was one year ago… how they were not fulfilled and how one is back to square one?
Being at the square one is not an issue, but resolution or promises which were never achieved, just put up a mark on ones mind. There is this reluctance to working over them again.
This reluctance is due to all the overthinking one does in order jump start that resolution in the next year again!!
Since, its a new year one has another chance and another year to give it a try, make sure that the determination does not fizzle out in a first few weeks of the year…
Why not give it another chance to yourself, the taste of victory would be really sweet rather than sitting in melancholy, thinking over what went wrong and how it would have been better if, x or y variable would have not been in play…
All in all, sometimes square one is all you need to catapult yourself towards the greater good, may the coming year be one such beautiful and fulfilling!
