Cogito, ergo sum. Sure, our thinking proves our existence. But there is more to humans than mere existence! It's our love that proves that we are indeed humans and not any other species. I therefore propose an alternative version of this quote for humans, "Amo, ergo sum" or "I love, therefore I am"
Sunday, December 14, 2014
Wednesday, July 9, 2014
Unforgiven Too
It was a bright sunny day, the one which gives you hope. The one where you wake up and feel a bubble of energy inside you, a bubble large enough to last the entire day. He was looking forward to spending his day on the beach. It had been a long, cold, dark, and ruthless winter, hundreds had died. The shivering had finally given way to the warmer climes, the darkness to the bright sunshine.
He neatly packed all his jackets and put them deep inside his wardrobe. The tshirts and shorts were in for a front row appearance now. He made a short trip to the pharmacy to buy a sunscreen and then drove to the beach.
The animals in the forests were loving this climate too. They had finally started getting back their bodies to normal routines. A small pond of water had formed on the other side of the freeway. The animals routinely hopped across oblivious to the sounds of the moving cars.
He was a fan of rock music, Metallica being his all-time favorite band. "Lay beside me, tell me what they've done. Speak the words I wanna hear, to make my demons run" blared from the car stereo. He was head-banging and at the corner of his eye he saw a deer approaching the freeway. His brain applied Newton's laws and the imminent crash dawned on him.
His mind panicked and in a knee-jerk reaction, he turned the steering of his car to the right to avoid a collision. He was an animal lover after all and couldn't imagine killing an innocent deer. His car bumped against the median strip and swerved back. He caught a glimpse of a hummer in his rear-view mirror. He closed his eyes and heard the music blare from his stereo "the door cracks open, but there's no sun shining through"
He neatly packed all his jackets and put them deep inside his wardrobe. The tshirts and shorts were in for a front row appearance now. He made a short trip to the pharmacy to buy a sunscreen and then drove to the beach.
The animals in the forests were loving this climate too. They had finally started getting back their bodies to normal routines. A small pond of water had formed on the other side of the freeway. The animals routinely hopped across oblivious to the sounds of the moving cars.
He was a fan of rock music, Metallica being his all-time favorite band. "Lay beside me, tell me what they've done. Speak the words I wanna hear, to make my demons run" blared from the car stereo. He was head-banging and at the corner of his eye he saw a deer approaching the freeway. His brain applied Newton's laws and the imminent crash dawned on him.
His mind panicked and in a knee-jerk reaction, he turned the steering of his car to the right to avoid a collision. He was an animal lover after all and couldn't imagine killing an innocent deer. His car bumped against the median strip and swerved back. He caught a glimpse of a hummer in his rear-view mirror. He closed his eyes and heard the music blare from his stereo "the door cracks open, but there's no sun shining through"
Wednesday, April 30, 2014
Inner peace
The chaos that the last year was, it has left me wanting for some sanity and peace, inner peace. So what is the secret to inner peace? In my opinion, we seek inner peace in the unknown, not in the known. The known is what causes chaos and insanity in our lives. It is the unknown which provides us with the perfect recluse, to be within ourselves and not be bothered by everything else around us.
It is in this unknown that one can live the way one wants to, without ever being judged or commented upon. There is no history or baggage that we carry along in the company of the unknown. Maybe that is why we love to explore unknown places, meet new people, try new things.
Maybe that's why I found scuba diving to calm me down (as did Hrithik in ZNMD). Maybe that's why twitter has become such a big hit, your followers are mostly unknown people and you can do as you please. Maybe that's why a trip to the Himalayas can rejuvenate one. And it is this solo trip to the Himalayas that I crave so badly right now.
Roaming alone in the majestic beauty of the royal mountains, interacting and living with strangers who also happen to live the simplest of lives, staying away from internet and social media, interacting with the outside world only when I feel like doing so, can any other place offer me all this?
This leads to a much broader and philosophical question, weren't we all supposed to live life that way until society and its rituals and expectations redefined life for us? Why should we let society dictate our lifestyles, should we be the dictators of our own lives? The common argument is that this attitude will lead to chaos, complete chaos in the world. Are we supposed to sacrifice inner peace for outer peace, the greater peace of this big bad world?
Have we set ourselves standards high benchmarks because we consider ourselves to be at the top of the food chain, to be the most intelligent of species on this planet? Are we putting too many restrictions on our lives just to sound social and intelligent? Other than our own species (humans), which other species considers us to be supreme? Are we engaging in this kinda behavior to self validate our hypothesis that we are superior, to keep boosting our own egos? Have we fallen in some kinda trap that has stopped us from enjoying our lives the way we'd ideally love to?
Too many questions, too few answers, too little time. The time aspect is again a fallout of our own false beliefs and practices. And the fact that we don't have answers reiterates our barriers of intelligence and knowledge. Can we, or any other species, ever break these barriers?
It is in this unknown that one can live the way one wants to, without ever being judged or commented upon. There is no history or baggage that we carry along in the company of the unknown. Maybe that is why we love to explore unknown places, meet new people, try new things.
Maybe that's why I found scuba diving to calm me down (as did Hrithik in ZNMD). Maybe that's why twitter has become such a big hit, your followers are mostly unknown people and you can do as you please. Maybe that's why a trip to the Himalayas can rejuvenate one. And it is this solo trip to the Himalayas that I crave so badly right now.
Roaming alone in the majestic beauty of the royal mountains, interacting and living with strangers who also happen to live the simplest of lives, staying away from internet and social media, interacting with the outside world only when I feel like doing so, can any other place offer me all this?
This leads to a much broader and philosophical question, weren't we all supposed to live life that way until society and its rituals and expectations redefined life for us? Why should we let society dictate our lifestyles, should we be the dictators of our own lives? The common argument is that this attitude will lead to chaos, complete chaos in the world. Are we supposed to sacrifice inner peace for outer peace, the greater peace of this big bad world?
Have we set ourselves standards high benchmarks because we consider ourselves to be at the top of the food chain, to be the most intelligent of species on this planet? Are we putting too many restrictions on our lives just to sound social and intelligent? Other than our own species (humans), which other species considers us to be supreme? Are we engaging in this kinda behavior to self validate our hypothesis that we are superior, to keep boosting our own egos? Have we fallen in some kinda trap that has stopped us from enjoying our lives the way we'd ideally love to?
Too many questions, too few answers, too little time. The time aspect is again a fallout of our own false beliefs and practices. And the fact that we don't have answers reiterates our barriers of intelligence and knowledge. Can we, or any other species, ever break these barriers?
The great Indian traveler
We Indians are paranoid when it comes to boarding aircrafts. I guess it stems from our experiences in boarding buses and trains in our country, especially the local trains in Mumbai. One has to fight for every inch of space, for every mole of O2. I myself have been in situations where am hanging from the door of a train with one hand holding my bag, and the other holding my weight. To make matters worse, the track was circular and the centripetal force started pushing me out of the train, as if the forces applied by other passengers was not enough. Thanks to my stars, and all the temple visits, the almighty was generous enough!
Anyhow, as soon as we Indians hear "We are commencing boarding for Flight AI 884. All passengers are requested to proceed to the boarding gates." we jump out of our seats and run to be the first ones in the queue. I personally think this behavior is based on three flawed assumptions!
1) The Pigeonhole Principle is not applied to seats in an aircraft:
The number of seats in the aircraft is always greater than the number of passengers waiting to board it unlike what we Indians experience daily (in locals and buses)! Little do we realize that its not a Virar fast train that is just reaching Churchgate station and seats will not be allotted on a first-come-first-serve basis. We all have a boarding pass with a designated seat number printed on it! Boarding first or last does not change your seat number magically.
2) The buses follow a LIFO system:
Typically airlines take you from the boarding gate to the aircraft in a shuttle service. Ever noticed that the passenger who gets into the shuttle last is actually the first passenger to get out of the shuttle! Voila, the earlier you enter, the later you get out. So, guys and gals, remember, always be the last person to get into the shuttle which implies always be the last person in the queue at the boarding gate.
3) The last passenger is the RDS:
The flight typically does not take-off until the very last passenger has boarded it. So you boarding the aircraft 30 mins before take-off does no good! Relax a bit, take a small nap, read some newspaper, play some game on your phone, but do not, I repeat, do not run to the boarding gate.
On a serious note, let us all show some maturity while traveling and be courteous to our fellow passengers. Every traveler desires a comfortable and peaceful journey.
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