Moments are born and die,
Years pass by,
But this smile's still a lie.
Unfulfilled desires
Suppressed in deep reservoirs.
Their muffled screams
As they push out to explode,
Within a life left unexplored.
Heaven knows where I'm headed,
My head aches with feelings long dead
Every thought, rotting and stinking
Frothing in its own misery.
Yet the question remains,
Why choose me?
An undeserving host,
Manipulated, troubled, misled,
An ever wandering ghost
With no end to the pain I hold
In my heart, closed and cold,
Forever lost, never to be found
A terrorist once successfully bombed himself killing hundreds in the onslaught. After death, he was led to the gates of heaven where he met the gatekeeper.
The gatekeeper asked him, "Were you the suicide bomber who was just blown up?"
The terrorist answered, 'Yes, I am... I mean, I was."
The gatekeeper glanced him from top to bottom and made a note in his book of records.
"So, are you gonna let me into heaven?" the terrorist asked.
"Well, we will see about that after I finish calculating your tally of sins and good deeds in your lifetime", the gatekeeper said still peering into his record book.
"Oh, I don't care if I go to heaven or not! I'm here to claim what was promised to me", said the terrorist.
The gatekeeper looked up and asked, "Please be kind enough to elaborate what you were promised back in there as I do not seem to have any mention of it here."
The terrorist turned on his either sides to see if there was anyone listening, and making sure there was no one overhearing him, thus spoke, "Um... Well, during my recruitment and during my training, our leaders repeatedly stressed on one thing which kept us going and motivated no matter how difficult our tasks were. I did not care to see if there were children, women, old people, or innocent among the dead. I just wanted to kill. It was so much fun killing all those infidels!"
The gatekeeper was quietly listening. And the terrorist finally asked, "So, what about the 72 virgins that I was promised?!" with a grin of achievement on his face.
The gatekeeper immediately changed his demeanor and bowing to him with all the respect, said, "Oh! Please forgive my rudeness to have kept you waiting for so long, my dear Sir. Pardon my ignorance that I failed to identify you were a martyr in the Holy War. Your promise is right this way. Please follow me..."
He led the terrorist inside the gate and took him along a corridor. There were several rooms from which aromatic scents emanated and colorful ornaments were decorated on the doors and windows, which although remained closed. Trees bearing colorful fruits and flowers lined the corridor. It was truly a heavenly sight. The terrorist struggled hard to contain his excitement and paced up his steps to match up with the gatekeeper. After a couple of turns and passing a few rooms, they finally arrived at a beautifully decorated villa.
Upon entering inside, the gatekeeper said, "Here is the Heaven you longed for. Here is your destiny. The rewards for your deeds, my Sir. Step inside and glorify your afterlife as you deem fit. Your 72 virgins are waiting for you inside in the first room to your right."
The terrorist almost jumped with joy. "Thank you so much, Praise the Lord! My mission is finally successful!"
The gatekeeper said, "All right, Sir. I'll leave you here. Have a good time and a good stay!" and walked out of the house. The terrorist immediately closed the door and rushed to the room and pushed open the door. What he saw made him scream in shock! He rushed out to the main door and tried to open it but it was locked from the outside. Without another thought, he called out loud to the gatekeeper, "Hey, Mr Gatekeeper. You traitor! Come back here. I'll rip you to pieces..."
The gatekeeper, who was not very far, came back to the villa and saw the terrorist shouting from inside through the window. The terrorist, upon seeing the gatekeeper, frantically said, "Hey, open this door! Why is it locked from outside? I want to get out."
Approaching the terrorist, the gatekeeper calmly asked, "Why, Sir? What is the problem? Are you not satisfied with your present?"
"You moron, when I asked for 72 virgins, I meant girls and not 72 men of all ages", the terrorist protested. To this, the gatekeeper, maintaining the same calm gesture, replied, "Apologies, my Sir. Once allotted, the presents cannot be taken back and have to be enjoyed by either parties, which is the Law here. Uh, by the way, we have not lied to our word either. Those men in there are all virgins! And they're no more complaining if it's a man or a woman. It's only a matter of days that you'll get along with them. Anyway, enjoy your stay, Sir". Saying this, the gatekeeper walked away to check on the next person waiting at the gates.
If you were someone born in the last 2-3 decades, you would have definitely grown up singing along or dancing to the music on the cassette player. Sure, newer technologies and digitization of music has revolutionized the way we listen to music today. mp3 and digital audio files are extremely easily accessible and given to the popularity of earphones in today's world, enjoying music has become more of a personalized experience than a group session like it used to be in the early days. Earlier, in the times of the radio, huge radio sets would take up important places colloquial to the ones our TVs would occupy today. Since it was the only home entertainment and information source, whole families would gather round it and listen to music or cricket commentary or news or anything that would be aired. It was the same with gramophones, except that they gave a more personalized option of playing the music of our choice. Cassette came in as the next generation audio devices that further altered our music listening experience.
My memories begin with my mom gifting me a Videocon tape recorder when I turned 4. The first cassette I listened on it had Aashique on A Side and Dil on B Side. Though I had no clue at all about the lyrics, the constant listening to it had made me learn them by heart (I've forgotten them now however). With more time, more cassettes added up to the tape rack. I would religiously play a cassette everyday and listen to the songs. Most of the songs would be from the movies I had watched. At the same time, listening to music of movies that I'd not watched was more of an imaginary experience where I would imagine the visuals according to the music.
As I grew up, I began to sing along with the songs and tried to match up the scales. This gave me an insight into assessing where I went off and where I fit in and work on my singing skills. I am not a formally trained singer except for music classes in school which I seldom practiced. But I would surely listen to the music on tape and sing along.
As I got a little older, I learnt about Stereo technology and would sit in front of the tape recorder with my head placed at the center, between both speakers for perfect stereo experience and listen to cassettes, sometimes for even hours. I would intently watch the tape roll to the other side through the plastic pane and be amazed as to how such a thin tape could contain such beautiful music.
With access to a few genres and restricted to a limited number of cassettes by both choice and availability, I would play the same cassette again and again so much that I can still unconsciously recite the lyrics of the hits of yesteryears, even while not paying attention to as what the lyrics meant as long as they sounded right. Over time, the cassette player gradually wore out and died one day. During it's lifetime, it had immersed me in a world of blissful experience for 20 years. In the middle of its life, it had fallen a couple of times owing to careless handling and non-availability of genuine parts.
Every time I sing something out of memory, I would definitely have heard it on tape. For the lyrics of the new age songs, I have mostly depended on the internet and haven't bothered of seriously remembering it. This is generally true because the songs that we had heard in those cassettes back in those years are all now in our hearts, no matter what music we all listened to. Even though we seldom listen to those songs or admit we listen to them, we can unconsciously recite them anytime a cue is triggered.
I was cleaning a cupboard in my room where I found a box full 50-60 of cassette spanning across three decades. These are the things that inspired me to sing and write and find joy. Playing a cassette on the tape recorder for me is a way to spark up nostalgia and travel to the times of my childhood. Every time I hear those songs on youtube or TV, I am transported to that timeline where I had spent days together relishing that music from the cassette.
India is a land of tradition and culture that dates back to over 5000 years before the aspect of civilization actually began in the Western world. A culture so entwined in its dwellers, it is seen as a lifestyle among many across the world. Picking out the facts that matter, we have every reason to be proud to belong to the ancestry of legends who invented the numerical system, yoga, surgery, the Vedas, to name a few.
The Puranas, or the ancient religious texts, give us a wider picture of our ritualistic customs even before our history text books were written. A notable episode among those is the ocean churning incident, in which the Devas (Gods) and the Asuras (Demons) embark on a mission to extract Amrita, a drink believed to bestow immortality on its drinkers, using the aid of Kalinga the serpent. During the process, Halahala (poison) is extracted and Lord Shiva takes it upon himself to store it inside his throat, as a result of which he is also known by the name Vishakantha, meaning 'He who holds poison within His throat'. Then was the turn of Amrita to come out of the ocean.
The ocean milk churning inscription. Image courtesy: Wikipedia
Chris Bennett, the author of Cannabis and the Soma Solution, reinstates this in his book. He says that the Gods who were wary of the strength of the Demons, hatched a plan to safely hide Amrita and assigned this responsibility to Garuda, who flew with the pot. On the way, a few drops were supposed to spill out in certain locations on the Earth, and thus was born the divine plant of Vijaya, as it is called in Sanskrit. Today, it is referred by various names, some derogatory, such as Cannabis, Marijuana, Mary Jane, Ganja, Bhang, and more. You can find Chris's excerpt here.
The two most common varieties of the Cannabis plant include Cannabis sativa and Cannabis indica. What used to be a commonly used substance in religious sacraments and pleasurable sessions throughout history suddenly had changed its identity to a taboo filled criminal under the label of a narcotic drug, after the 1985 National Drugs & Psychotropic Substances Act was formulated. People were no longer allowed the recreational, sacramental, or medicinal use of Ganja in whatever form according to the law. The violators were booked and prosecuted. With the marginalization of Ganja, its cousin, another variety of Cannabis sativa, called the Indian Hemp, was too slammed shut tagging it as a dangerous drug.
After this landmark legislation, India took on the path of modernization and economic globalization under the mentorship of then Finance Minister, Shri Manmohan Singh, and in a span of a few years, the heritage related to cannabis usage in India was almost hidden away or lost from the new generation. Alcohol and tobacco industries boomed with their new found opportunities and a wretched consumer base willing to pay up anything to drink to their escapades. The situation is no different today, or probably even worse, with shocking stories of deaths and destroyed lives and families, a result of the Devil's Nectar that is freely available in wine stores and legitimately taxed for the benefit of one and all!
Image credits: The Independent, UK
I shall tackle the narcotic aspect of this plant in a later blog, but for now, it is important for us to know and understand that there is something called Industrial Hemp that silently waits to be uncovered. I personally came across this wonder plant an year ago and was too fascinated to learn about it. Industrial hemp, or Indian hemp, as it is called, is the non-narcotic variety of cannabis, which DOES NOT give you a "high" when consumed. Yet, it bears the brunt of the law and is quarantined from the existing agricultural practices.
Industrial hemp was cultivated in India until the 1950s-60s on an industrial scale to supplement the nation's fibre needs, along with the seeds for oil extraction. Today, the hemp crop is believed to support over 25,000 known uses. This is an incredible figure compared to any product that exists on the planet, natural or man made. India was once the largest exporter of hemp until the curtains shut down our progress, which slipped into the hands of China making full use of it.
Image credits: Huffington Post
The uses of hemp range from the classical fibre making to various advanced products such as biofuel, paper, vegetable oil, dietary supplementation, bioplastics, Hempcrete, to even automobiles. The first car by Ford was made of hemp and ran on hemp oil. Here is a video of this car and its durability. The various uses of this wonder crop are also broadly classified in this image for further reference.
Thus, it falls upon us to know its wonderful benefits for an Indian scenario, while the world is already updating itself in the search of more sustainable, viable and eco friendly options for their industries.
An agricultural country by nature, it is disheartening to see the decline of agricultural production by 13.7% in India. More and more people are migrating to the urban sectors in search of better opportunities and living conditions. Farmer suicides have become a common phenomena in our country. Unemployment is on the rise and the population has not stopped its Big Bang mode of expansion. To address such needs for a wide host of environmental and geographical conditions under common policies is inefficient, as we have been seeing. To quote an example, an acre of hemp can give us paper worth four acres of trees in a span of only 3-4 months, while it requires over 20 years to grow trees. I shall leave you to do the math by giving this a closer thought.
Recently, I happened to attend the International Agricultural Fair (Krishi Mela) organized in the Gandhi Krishi Vignan Kendra of Bangalore. We were surprised to know that a majority of qualified staff were mostly unaware of hemp and its benefits except that it was a fibre based crop. After thorough discussions, we happened to show them various fliers and presentations, which really made them reconsider the research on hemp on a positive note. The reason behind this is that we do not learn about such 'revolutionary' stuff in our daily newspapers or TV channels or school books or even casual discussions. I remember studying about cannabis in my highschool as a 'dangerous, addictive' narcotic. As if tobacco and alcohol are doing a great job by filling people with enlightened consciousness! That apart, thanks to the information insemination and the internet revolution that boomed with access to any part of the globe for essential data about anything that exists. I shall include a few reference links for your further interest below.
Speaking about hemp is not fulfilled in one blog post like this, but requires combined efforts of aware individuals and farmers. It is the right of mankind to have access to a crop whose sole purpose is to the betterment of a nation and humanity. Closing it as classified information, denying proper citations of its ill effects (which officially do not exist after extensive worldwide researches), is, in fact, illegal. Farmers in India need to be educated about this wonder crop and they must demand for a proper justification as to why it cannot be granted a permission for cultivation. Clubbing it with marijuana is a futile excuse, as botanists have certified that marijuana cannot be grown alongside hemp, owing to its high cross pollinating nature due to which it will soon be converted into hemp.
Hemp seeds are rich sources of essential proteins and fatty acids that we seldom consume in our daily diet. This is the answer to the problems boggling modern India - be it unemployment, farmer suicides, wasteland management, water inadequacy, weeding issues, malnutrition, fuel efficiency, and many many more.
Hemp oil is essentially used to extract biofuel. At the Fair, Dr Balakrishna Gowda, a professor at GKVK and Project Co-ordinator at the Biofuel Park in Hassan, Karnataka, beautifully quoted saying, "If we add even 1% of biofuel to our existing petroleum products, it could save up to Rs 5000 crores a year of the total import costs." How cool is that!
Image credits: True Democracy Party
Notable in India in recent times are the commendable efforts of a group of young entrepreneurs from Mumbai who have taken up the cause for a noble reason, under the name Bombay Hemp Company. They have been focused on their research and efforts in this regard and working continuously towards its realization for the past one-and-a-half years. You can also follow them on facebook and learn more. Also mentionable are Hemp India on the same path. Our country needs more such participation on corporate levels for a well informed society.
Route map for Cannabliss!
I know it is rather a long post about a simple crop, but mind you, the situation we are facing today is much more complex. It is not easy for a layman to freely grow hemp without undergoing painstaking tussles with obtaining the licenses and permissions that lies in vested hands of the Govt. The Government must step up its initiative to research about this by taking the example of various developed nations who are already headed towards a prosperous future like Canada, Australia, Netherlands, United Kingdom, and China. India is no less in terms of agriculture to these countries, save our limiting agricultural policies.
To conclude, here is a small documentary produced by the United States Government during the World War II period that encouraged farmers to take up the growing of hemp for commercial purposes. Do watch!
The past two months have been great for the kannada film industry, with the release of two intellectual movies - Lucia, about which I had written previously, and now, Jatta, by Giriraj BM. Speaking about Jatta is a debate that touches upon feminism, culturalism, socialism, all wrapped around the central male chauvinistic character of Jatta, played by Kishor Kumar.
Set in the beautiful locales of Sagara in Karnataka, the movie opens with a speech that introduces us to a backdrop that explains the current situation of western influence on our native culture and its ill effects. Torn between a lonely life and an eloped wife, it is up to Jatta to take upon himself the moral responsibility of the betterment of the society. For this, he believes women play a pivotal role, for which their suppression is justified, as he is advised by his mentor, played by BM Suresh. Jatta also believes the forest as his Mother, and strives to protect Her from illegal poachers and sandalwood thieves.
I shall not reveal the plot, but I shall give you a glimpse of what to expect. The film changes course once Jatta happens to rescue Sagarika (Sukrutha Wagle) from a car crash. This is where it starts to get interesting as the director excels in bringing out the contrasts between the two extreme ideologies of a hardcore feminist who religiously follows Dr Ambedkar and a hellbent male counterpart who believes women as increasingly taking the path of infidelity. Backed by other characters like the forest officer (Prem Kumar) and Jatta's wife, Belli (Pavana), the story takes on turns that, for a moment, might make you think twice.
This movie is not for the conventional thinker or cinegoer who goes to the theatre to merely feast on entertainment. Like Lucia, this movie not just makes you think, but will shatter your own ideologies and expectations, for reality is stranger than fiction. Giriraj has bravely depicted this with necessary rationalizations when required, and leaves us to make our own judgements as he leaves us in his premise of unusualness. It could come as a culture shock to some, blasphemous to others, and wondrous to many, as the mythology of an idol of a Goddess in the forest is narrated.
The film, though done on a lower budget, is intelligently done by keeping it up to the subject and not deviating out of it. Soundtrack by Ashley and Abhilash are appropriately scored situationally. Camera work by Kiran is good. Coming to the performances, Kishor is brilliant in his portrayal of the protagonist, be it his emotional state or body language throughout the film. Pavana, as Jatta's wife, has done a fine job. What requires special mention is newcomer Sukratha Wagle's performance as Sagarika. Her resilient, rebellious attitude portrays a mockery of a male dominated society, and she excels at it top notch. Prem Kumar as the forest officer is decent. Also, one would feel a few actors like the ones portraying the investigating police officer, Belli's lover, and the industrialist could have been much better. Even though their roles are shortlived, their presence adds weightage to the story and could have been performed by better actors.
Revolving around divine consideration of nature as Mother and an equally divine representation of a woman as Mother, the film deals with extramarital affairs and gender independence, trying to achieve a balance between all of it. Whether it succeeds or not shall be judged by you, after watching the film. Jatta is brave, fearless, and bold. It succeeds to create a dogmatic dilemma within you when you come out. Give this a watch if you want something out of the ordinary. And yes, do not watch it with any of your preconceived ideologies or notions in mind. Throw them all out before you take your seat and enjoy the film with an open mind. The movie deserves at least 3.5 stars for the content and its depiction. Happy watching!
There's already enough said about this out-of-nowhere Kannada film that suddenly appeared on the screens after two years of its making and successfully crossing the hurdles that awaited its release. I felt to contribute my share of a review too, as a mark of appreciation and a tribute to the Director, Pawan Kumar.
The reason I called it out-of-nowhere is justifiable. Especially in times when the movie screens are smeared and splattered with blood and the speakers loudly and proudly emitting a cacophony of 'double meaning' dialogues, Lucia disappoints you if you came in expecting just another product out of the Kannada film framework of 6 songs, 4 fights, 5 comedy tracks and a climax that would take the toll of a few vehicles and people, gradually and predictably. A Kannadiga would be able to relate with me better with this analogy: 'It's more like having lemon rice everyday - morning, noon, and night - only in a different plate, different rice, different spice or whatever you add to it, but mind you, it's still the same Lemon Rice.'
The Kannada industry, no offence, had at a point reached a state where they would no longer be able to cater anything else from their creative cuisine, except that everybody is trying to cook the same dish in their own ways. Competition, you see, we need high octane stunts, powerful dialogues, mass songs, duet songs, item songs, comedy tracks - all of it in a single course. Bring in the actresses from the non-Kannada industry, even if it means Pakistan or Europe. No offence, that's wonderful experimentation, tastes definitely good! But the problem is, my friends, it's the same dish and we're all tired of it. We've lost sense of our 'tastes', just gobbling up whatever that you've been serving us like there was no other delicacy that could exist in this industry that once nourished and cherished giants who carried upon their shoulders the responsibility and meaning of entertainment.
Lucia doesn't have any of it, for it's a wholly different film in itself. It feels more like watching a foreign film for its offbeat storyline and style of narration. The actors have performed naturally, without much of dramatic overtures. Overall, the execution is neat and crisp, though some sequences may appear to bore you. But pay attention, for everything is connected.
From the reviews I read about Lucia, I came across people commending it and others dissatisfied. I overheard someone in the interval at the loo saying that he understood nothing and had come in thinking it could have been a comedy. Maybe because Satish Neenasam played the lead, who usually would appear in comic roles. There were also words that said it was not for everybody or for the mass audience. I would not agree with this point because in an era of making 'commercial' movies solely in the pretext of 'entertaining' people, coming out with a subject that would make you pay attention, think and scrutinize the story as you watch it, and finally, let you judge the end for yourself, is where Pawan Kumar excels at. And that's making you taste something different. You know you starved for it, your taste buds craved for it, and you longed for quality entertainment in your mother tongue, while straying around watching the movies of other languages that you thought were more entertaining.
Pawan Kumar has done a fine job at it. He has retained his creative freedom and put across his point the way he wanted to. True, this film is not meant for everyone, especially if you came in expecting the same old 'Chitranna', I bet you'd be disappointed. Rather, he takes you on a ride of alternate realities, keeping you hooked all the way, grabbing your interest and 'surprising' you in the end. Be gone with the spoon feeding and let it take your course. Delve into it and experience it. Do not expect anything out of it, but just let Lucia consume you! Thank you, Pawan Kumar, for respecting our time and valuing entertainment.
If you haven't watched Lucia, this could be the right time, for it may not stay in theatres for long, owing to the queue of bigger banners lined up. If you miss it, good luck to you with more 'Chitranna'!
Two men met across a table at a bar. One was an old man, with clothes tattered, and the other was a young man, well dressed and groomed. They both ordered drinks and waited. While they waited, the the young one sighed out of despair and noticed the old man whistling and singing to how happy he seemed. The young one couldn't stop but ask him, "What are you so happy about when there's so much suffering and drudgery in the world?"
The happy man turned towards him, looked at him for a moment, and said, "Why d'you look so worried?".
The sad one replied, "Where do I start? I've lost it all! All the good times are over. There's distrust, dismay and destruction everywhere. I lost in my business, failed to keep my promises, my wife left me, my friends betrayed me, and I've ended up suffering every time! I've had enough of it already for a lifetime."
The happy one just smiled and filled his glass again. The sad one looked up at him and asked, "Aren't you sad about anything at all?", for which he asked back, "Why be sad about anything?".
The sad one was not convinced with the answer. He further probed, "You must be crazy! How can you never feel unhappy about anything at least once?". The happy one says, "Who said I don't feel unhappy? I meant, why be unhappy when you needn't be!"
"I don't understand", said the sad man. "You wouldn't be so sad if you did", said the happy man and smiled.
The sad one leaned forward, and asked, "How come?". The happy man took another sip and said, "You could change it anytime, if you want to."
"But how?"
"Simple. Just do anything that could make someone happy, however small or big it could be."
"I see your point, but how would making someone else happy make me happy?"
The old man kept his glass down and looked straight in the eye of the man across, and said, "The reason you are not happy is because you try to own happiness by looking at it like a commodity. It cannot be bought for money, nor sold or exchanged for anything. It can only be bartered with happiness. Now all of you can be happy! If you ask me, I neither own happiness nor sadness. I only choose which one to pay more attention."
The young man's face lit up for the first time like an idea flashed in his mind, but soon grimaced with skepticism. "Do you really think that's what all of us need to be happy and make someone happy? How does that work?"
To this, the happy man said, "If you think you could buy happiness anywhere, go ahead and own all of it. Soon you'd be robbed of it and left wanting for more until you stop looking at it like some object to possess. What you fail to see is that it is a part of you and you have been suppressing it for too long from within by looking for it elsewhere. You have so much of it inside you, a whole lifetime of unending happiness. Why waste it on worrying and sorrow otherwise? Dig deep and share it with the world. You could either spend all of it on making someone happy and being yourself joyful, or keep worrying like before and curse the world for the bad state it is in. Don't you feel all of us do the same too many a times? Well, I did, too, before I finally stopped worrying. It's pointless, after all, as you'll see."
"What if I couldn't really do anything though I wanted to?", the sad one, well, nearly happy now, asked out another doubt.
"When you can't give them anything at all, at least give them hope!" said Mr Happy, lighting a cigarette, and rose up as he finished his drink.
The no-more-sad-man was amazed at how simple the solution was and yet how complex it had appeared earlier. The more he thought about it, the better he felt about it.
Although the drink was starting to take its toll on him slowly, he knew it wasn't the reason for the sudden gush of hope and delight he was experiencing. Because there was actually a solution that he had failed to see and assess the greatness it hid within. He suddenly got up and rushed towards the old man as if remembering to ask something and stopped him saying, "Um... Excuse me, Sir! I have to tell you, that I'd never felt so lighter before! I don't know how to express how grateful I am to you," with a big grin beaming on his face. "By the way, what do you do to make people happy, like you said?"
The old man puffed on his cigarette, blew out the smoke as he smiled, tapped on the man's shoulder and said, "I just did!", and walked away.
Have you ever reached a point where you no more recognize your life to have been the same to what it previously was? All of your experiences would seem unreal and alien, disconnecting you from all that you thought you belonged to. Alienated from the world around you, from thoughts and talks that no more matter, you arrive at crossroads knowing what path not to take, and at the same time, not realizing where to head further. This stage of half baked clarity is the most elusive to the human mind, manipulating it to take a dangerous route if not aware, or motivating it to tread a journey of fulfillment and joy, when chosen rightly.
Millions of us today are standing here at these crossroads, waiting to walk along the road ahead, or maybe hitch a ride! Some are gifted enough to drive, but that's not to be judged for it could be a wholly different journey. If you have dared to step out of the program and see to yourself what's happening in the big picture around you, things may not have to appear so complicated and undecipherable. True, we cannot get all the answers to all our questions, but the reason for concern is the many clues and, sometimes, straightforwardly directed answers that often go unnoticed. This is the time when our previous understanding of the setup starts to fail under a newly formed ideology within us, strong enough to shatter the old beliefs and their influences. But the mind...! Our mind is NOT yet ready for it. It tricks us to believe otherwise, putting us in a jeopardy to not accept either belief, for it has a strongly secured protocol of doing things.
That's right! Our parenting, schooling, socializing, and other interactions from our early childhood shapes us to who we become today. Alas! Many of us might have just outgrown those bodies, but have eventually lost ourselves in the process. We fail to recognize our true essence inside. Every individual is unique just like every leaf on a tree is different. We have designed a super-industry called Society which cuts and shapes all that comes under its purview into a uniformly designed, socially acceptable standard that forms the benchmark to earn something that can be termed as social status. On average, two decades of our lifetime is involved in shaping us, pruning the unwanted(?) attributes, and finally setting us up for the showdown.
Just like every log that goes into a woodcutter machine comes back as a rectangular block of timber, we fail to recognize, sadly and repeatedly, that human beings are not like these logs of wood unable to resist. We are twisted out of our original physiological shapes to become something else that is not encoded in our genes. In simple terms, we are all reduced to an all-conforming sheeple society that looks down upon one of its own with red eyes when an attempt is made to wander off to explore what's on the other side, to be abandoned in the end. Do you see my point?
Abandon all that you thought previously was right for a moment. Deny all of those dogmas and beliefs and rules and laws for only a moment and imagine yourself untied off a hundred such strings that kept you down to the ground all these days. Only for a moment! Now. In this moment, you will feel a lightness and freedom you never would have felt before. At this moment, you are not your parents' ambition or your teacher's pet or your lover's favorite or your organization's top employee or the head of your community or who ever that you thought you were. Absorb this none-ness completely into you. Feel the freedom within! Feel the infinite possibilities for your evolution and a boggling number of self imposed roadblocks that we assume to really exist hindering our progress in the longer run. See yourself devoid of all that for that moment and become it.
Now you may come back to reality. You may resume your normal life, listen to your guardians or elders or the authority, go back to the same routine, and just be 'yourself' again. But I promise you, this second instance of assuming your defined role is not gonna be the same as the first! The brief moment of separating you from the everyday routine sparks up the dilemma we earlier discussed about, leaving you perplexed each time you bask in this mindset. And believe me, this new mindset is powerful enough to sweep you off your old ideologies and make you start to question the happenings around you - be it personal, professional, political, religious, and even spiritual.
I'm no spiritual leader to preach anyone to do anything, but as a fellow human being who is on a road that seemed equally appalling to me when I first set my foot on it, I would recommend this perspective could change your way of seeing things, or, for the worse, not. Open yourself to an experience you've never had before, for you'll never know what lies within its interiors. Be ready for a shock that could disillusion you for life if you persist, and yes, it is a risk worth taken. Good luck!
What is ego? Identity? Or personality? Or is it merely an indispensable tool to survive in this world?
EGO plays a pivotal role in a person's rise or demise. Used constructively, it can take one to heights never imagined, boosting itself in the cause, like an automated self propelled engine. And like all other fuels, this needs to be refilled too. But do we know the source? It was us who fed it all these years with achievements and success. When this is done, it looks towards others as potential sources of fuel. That's when the desire for attention and admiration arise. When this is not sufficient, it resorts to an uglier way, by stimulating (or, at least, hoping) the external world to falter, which the ego falsely believes to boost it. Thus are born hatred, jealousy, dissatisfaction and resentment. A new pathway for self damage is paved henceforth.
The solution? Dissolve the EGO. Dissolving it destroys the false identity one has towards oneself and believes the same identity is established in the society. It shatters one's beliefs and constructions that all others had so far construed upon them. It exposes one's self, stark naked, without all the achievements, glories and the success stories! What is left, NOW, is the true self, which we have forgotten and ignored out of embarrassment that the society may not value us for our true nature.
That's right! The society itself runs as a super ego today. We belong to this caste, that religion, some community or a country which establishes our identity right from the day we are born, thus dissolving us in a series of lies that we never need if the ego is no more. Our values are based in these false super values. This gives rise to conflicts - egos cannot live in harmony, anytime, anywhere, unless they are mercilessly slaughtered under the weapon of knowledge.
Animals don't have egos - they have survival instincts coded in their genes, which is essential for them. What started as a battle of survival among human species gradually turned into an addiction of success and power. Thus the kings and rulers were born, who made the rules for the common men to collectively serve to their ruler or be penalized. That's it! A new enemy for humanity, or ego's best ally, FEAR was born!! Society, religion, and codes of conduct were framed thus to facilitate the egoistic! Don't believe me? What happens when you hurl a slipper towards your ruler??
Anyways, the truth is to be understood by all. Ask yourself! How do you define yourself? If your answer is based on your material achievements, wealth, possessions, and social status, you have a long way to evolve. Rather, if you answered with terms that specify more emotions and compassion, you've nailed it!! A little reminder - material wealth, achievements, success are also possible when the ego has dissolved, or if I could say, more so. The wisdom lies in identifying the orientation we possess towards us and others, until we realize that the term 'us and others' boils down to 'we', instead of 'I'.
If you have taken your time to read this and grasp something in its way, I wish you more strength to defeat your enemy, the EGO! Finally, success lies not in defeating your enemy, but cherished best when your ego has died, and this is the time to proudly 'celebrate death'. Good luck!
We are all soldiers here,
Fighting a battle of egos;
Emotions, passions, and desires
Rage and rise,
Fueling a feeling of 'I'
That soars high
Above all kind,
Looking down mercilessly upon them.
Like plague, it spreads,
Reaching out its vicious arms
Against all it comes across,
Victimizing the vulnerable;
And they, too, shall join this eternal battle.
While some enjoy the boost of victory,
Some realize there's only misery.
They start a new journey
Towards eternal peace and harmony,
And all they had to do was shed
The heavy armor of ego
That was so much a part of them,
So much that they were a part of it...
Thus they are light,
And they soar,
Into the Source,
And become the Light.
So the battle continues,
With the Light shining
Upon Dark,
Illuminating and Guiding,
Until there remains no more Darkness.
So it's finally over! The Irish Govt. has put down Lennox, the dog who resembled a pit bull terrier, that was a friendly pet, for reasons that pit bulls are banned in Ireland. And the poor soul has been termed "illegal". What's "illegal" here? The dog, though not a pit bull, being born to resemble so? Or the court that showed no mercy for the hapless creature and ordered it to be executed, though it had no records of aggression or of biting anyone? Or worse, the condition the dog suffered for 2 years imprisoned in unhygienic conditions made to sleep on dirty floor and among his own feces?
Despite several protests and petitions signed worldwide for stopping this inhuman act, Lennox is finally put out of his misery, but did he really deserve it?
It's not just Lennox's case, but the plight of thousands of animals termed "illegal" mainly owing to their birth traits, for being born as "somebody", rather than do "something" that could render them "illegal".
Humanity is not solely in protecting the interests of 'human beings', but also showing compassion and treating other beings with equal dignity. Rather, it is treated today by doing anything that solely protects the human being species by dismissing any concern for other creatures that are equally deserving of their Right to Life.
We hear several examples of children and people being bitten by street dogs in Indian roads and then what happens is pretty obvious! The dogs, irrelevant of biting or not, are either hacked to death or are executed. Yes, we see thousands of chicken and sheep slaughtered to feed our appetites and I'm no animal activist or vegan policymaker to advocate against animal cruelty, but on grounds of morality, the death of those chickens at least serves a purpose of satiating one's hunger. But before killing a non-human animal (we're animals too!) the respect for the individual animal is not at all apparent and all the focus is on getting rid of them, just to serve our purpose!
Coming to dogs, terming them illegal or aggressive just for being a particular kind of breed is unacceptable. Would these perpetrators go kill a tiger for being aggressive and hunting down their fellow mates? Yes they would, but in one shot with a bullet in the head, but not by imprisoning it in some degraded condition and starving it before "humanely" euthanizing it!
Animals are such creatures that cannot even predict what goes on the next moment and what the sadistic humanity has in their minds to exploit them. All they think of is food, shelter and love. Many have dogs for the sake of "guarding" their houses (too damn old school philosophy) rather than treat them as family members. Well, we had our dog euthanized too, but only after learning that her condition could no longer be treated and would render her suffering for the whole of her life. That's the purpose of mercy killing. Not "killing" the poor animal for "mercy" on human beings.
If you have a problem with street dogs, clean your streets and dumpyards. Animals don't simply go on vacations invading roads and biting everyone they come across. I can give several examples of meat stalls disposing their wastes inaccessible to the human eyes, but not really for a dog's senses! Raw meat and hunger surely tips off the animals to go after little children! And where are their parents? Either working or doing something somewhere (no disrespect, honestly). Understood. But, isn't it of primal importance and basic commonsense to secure your child and make sure he/she won't wander away unsupervised, rather than blame a dog for all the drama?
It's a dog and its animal instincts make it bite under certain conditions, which we don't know if the animal is hungry or if the child throws a stone at it triggering the mongrel to retaliate back in defense. We can't say, but we can, for sure, follow our commonsense, which every human is bestowed with, i assume, to ensure necessary safety is taken for protecting themselves from these attacks.
Finally, it's all in what conditions we make for ourselves and the fellow creatures around us. Remember, it's us who have encroached into their territories by destroying their habitat in the name of progress, and not them, for the mere sake of attacking, and let's remember that and treat them with equal respect for their rights, just like us.
Yesterday, I was working on my computer and, for some reason, unaware, I looked at the time on the screen and realized it was 1.28 AM, late of course for someone who has to be at work the next morning!
*PLUNG*PLUNG*
Someone pinged me on facebook (yeah! that's how it sounds on my speakers!!) and I switched tabs and found out it was an old schoolmate, well, surprisingly after a long break! Nothing substantial about the conversation though; we merely exchanged pleasantries (wotta timing!) and that was it!! He logged off, I forgot my work and got busy scrolling up and down repeating the same posts over and over again! Seemed like a long time and suddenly it struck me I had an overdue of pending work waiting at the other tab! My eye accidentally caught a glimpse of the time and it was, wait a minute!! 1.28 AM? Still? I double clicked on the time display just to check if my computer hadn't frozen! Nope! Seemed fine and working! I raised my head to look at the wall clock, which I'd made sure to be synchronized with the IST like in the computer, and behold! It's 1.28 AM!!
I looked around the room and it was absolutely silent! I went out of the house and it was absolutely still (quite normal for a quiet Bangalore with not much of nightlife, sadly!)!! The city seemed to be in a state of unconsciously deep sleep! It was not windy as I remember it, but there was no trace of any movement associated with it! No rustling leaves, no breeze that blew the fallen dead leaves off the ground, and everything seemed like a live set of lifeless life forms!! Realistically artificial!!
I went near a tree and looked at it for a moment. The leaves were motionless. I reached out for a leaf and touched it. It felt real but yet, seemed motionless and dead(!) like plastic. I looked around for any signs of movement, no vehicle noises (strange!), nor any street dogs barking! I walked past the house to the next lane that connected with the main road. I was sure there could at least be a truck going at this hour and I waited. Nothing!! Until I saw someone walking towards me...
I squinted my eyes to see who it was! The streetlights were faint and didn't seem to illuminate much. All I could see was that they were glowing! But the light somehow wasn't reaching out enough! It seemed dark, though it wasn't! The presence was closer now and I cried out to him (was a man!) but I couldn't hear myself! I tried louder this time...silence!! I could feel the effort of shouting, I was going...No!!! I should've gone breathless at least, but I hadn't realized I wasn't breathing at all until then!! I walked cautiously towards him, as he approached nearer, I saw his face and it 'was' me!!
Yes! I, or he, looked a lot younger, like back in my clean shaven days (I have a beard now! Yes, a big one!)! I tried to touch him and couldn't feel it! It was not physical, and I thought my mind was playing tricks on me! I've walked on this road umpteen times since my childhood. Uh! Did I say childhood? I saw another of me, about 14 years old, riding my red Avon bicycle (which is no more now!) down the road. I followed 'him' to the next road and lo...a bustling crowd, all of myself! In different time periods of my lifetime!
And everyone to my surprise were looping! The 14 year old was still cycling in the same place, the first version of me was still walking, and then there was another, eating gol goppas on the road side! Still eating (I'd have been full then!)! And nobody noticed me strangely, nor each other, like they were totally disconnected and unaware of where they were and what they were doing! I walked back on the same road and the trees? They were gone! The road was wider now! The houses were different! The vacant plots had full fledged apartment buildings. I walked a little further just to check if I'd missed the road but I was sure! The street where my house was is a dead end! This was it!
Suddenly I saw someone walk past me. He looked much older. No surprise this time. It was me again, 10 years into my future. I'm going bald already but here I was much balder, a little slouched and walking alone and slowly. I wanted to know what my future was and I tried to catch up with him. He seemed to walk slowly but he was quick. I tried running behind but couldn't quite catch up with my older version. Yet the relative distance between us was, well accurately, the same as I observed! And from nowhere a car entered past him into the road and started coming towards me. I was unable to realize what was happening and the car hit me...! Well, it actually passed through me like I was a wandering spirit in the earthly world! I turned back to look who the driver was (I wasn't interested what model or color the car was...it was not important at the moment).
You guessed it! A much younger version of the older one who'd just walked past appeared from the car and got inside the house! I was speechless and was finding it hard to comprehend what was going on around me! I frantically tried to follow him to get a glimpse of my future and tripped against a rock and fell...on someone! Not someone, but me! Dead! In a grave! Old and at peace! I looked at my death, aghast, and tried to see what was happening around above the 6 foot grave!
I heard wails now! I heard chattering, cries, and they were getting louder! I tried to rise up but something held me back. The crying got much louder, with women, men and children, all crying out their symphonies of grieving a close one's death and I could not take it any further. I forced myself to get up and something fell on me! It obscured my vision a little bit, but I could recognize it as soil! More of it fell and it started getting dark all around! I felt I was going breathless and the voices were getting muffled out! I tried moving but was surrounded by muddy soil unable to move a finger! It was closing in and I felt it extremely uncomfortable! I was scared if I was dying! My breath was running out and suddenly I shook!!
I shook again, not by myself, but as if someone was trying to shake me! I gasped in breath and looked around. My brother stood beside me. I could not realize what was happening. I looked around and the hazy vision slowly cleared off to reveal my room! Well lit!
"Yo! Wake up! You've dozed off already!", I heard my brother say and it startled me a moment coming out of nowhere! I realized I'd dozed off on the computer table. I couldn't believe my eyes...everything had seemed so real! I suddenly remembered something and looked at the monitor screen for the time! It quietly changed to 1.29 AM!!
*PLUNG*
My friend I was chatting with pings back saying, "Bro...u der??"
