A matter of choice

One harmless decision. One more a few minutes later. Then a series of small, seemingly inconsequential choices. Nothing more. Yet, in the end the damage was done. Ah, hindsight! Things look so simple in it. Turning back, connecting the dots, a pattern emerges.

I was tired. Working away in my tiny cubicle, I had kept sleep at bay for forty hours.  No more. I had to get out, get back home. Never before had I longed so much to snuggle under my blankets. Never before had the thought of a warm bed comforted me more.

Before that, though, I had to satisfy the growing discomfort inside my stomach. I needed food. Cooking was not an option, not with my eyelids threatening to snap shut, the threat growing stronger every waking second. Thank god for the new diner just outside campus.

A collective ‘Welcome to Moe’s!’ greeting and a short queue later I was able to give my order - rice bowl with chicken and soybeans with a free pack of tortilla chips. To go; one harmless decision. After all, why take the risk of embarrassment, drooling over the table at the diner?

I got the chips in a paper bag. The cashier asked, “Do you want a bag for the rice bowl?” I shook my head in the negative. The second one, after all why waste paper? I put the bowl in the bag with the chips and headed out.

The pedestrian signal was red. “Home in ten minutes”, I thought as I waited. A minute later the signal changed and I was on my way. A little across I met a friend. He had just returned after hiking the Presidential Traverse. I could have just greeted him and walked past but I wanted to ask about the hike. A simple choice.

A few minutes later we said our goodbyes and I continued my journey home. As I reached the end of the block, the intersection between 15th and Sage, the pedestrian signal was red. I looked around. Across 15th I saw another friend of mine. He hadn’t seen me. I could have waited for a few more seconds, rushed across Sage and been on my way. A seemingly harmless choice later, I was on the opposite side of 15th. We exchanged pleasantries and started discussing about possible next hikes and camping trips. Fall was approaching and the views would be simply out of the world.

As we parted our ways, after a while, I could hear my stomach grumbling. I had to rush back home. I increased my speed, my hands swinging more violently. I was just a block away from home when I heard a tear. I looked down only to see the bag give away. Unbeknownst to me leaked gravy from the bowl was gradually weakening the bag’s integrity; and, now there I was staring in distress at my dinner on the sidewalk.

I cleaned up, deposited my dinner in the nearest garbage bin and walked home. Now I had to cook something. I am too lazy to do that on a regular day. Now I was too tired to even think about standing over the oven, stirring and waiting. As I reached home I made my last decision of the day. As soon as I saw the bed weariness overcame me. I would have to sleep in an empty stomach. “How would this decision come back to bite me?", I thought as I lay in bed quickly losing consciousness.

I learnt a simple lesson from all this, one of the simple truths of life. Your choice matters, every decision counts. Everything in life may not happen for a reason, but they definitely do because of one. There are no simple choices. As chaos theory goes, even the flutter of a butterfly can wreak havoc on the opposite side of the world. Every decision, thus, has to be weighted with care.

This is true more so for an entity like a nation. The choices of each of its individuals, however small and inconsequential they may seem, matter. Collectively they form the nation’s psyche.

Next time I’ll think twice before jumping a signal, bribing the police officer to escape the fine, buying movie tickets in black, traveling in a train or a bus without buying the ticket, and misrepresenting land costs to escape property tax. Any one of these acts by a single person may be small with respect to the working machinery of a nation, but it is not inconsequential. Things add up. Collectively they contribute to India’s corrupted psyche.

Must Read Message from George Carline

George Denis Patrick Carlin was an American stand-up comedian. He was also an actor and author, and he won five Grammy Awards for his comedy albums. Below is a small write up by him, which is quite soul stirring, something to really ponder on.

The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings but shorter tempers, wider Freeways, but narrower viewpoints. We spend more, but have less, we buy more, but enjoy less. We have bigger houses and smaller families, more conveniences, but less time. We have more degrees but less sense, more knowledge, but less judgment, more experts, yet more problems, more medicine, but less wellness.

We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom.

We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often.

We've learned how to make a living, but not a life. We've added years to life not life to years. We've been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbor. We conquered outer space but not inner space. We've done larger things, but not better things.

We've cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul. We've conquered the atom, but not our prejudice. We write more, but learn less. We plan more, but accomplish less. We've learned to rush, but not to wait. We build more computers to hold more information, to produce more copies than ever, but we communicate less and less.

These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion, big men and small character, steep profits and shallow relationships. These are the days of two incomes but more divorce, fancier houses, but broken homes. These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throwaway morality, one night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer, to quiet, to kill. It is a time when there is much in the showroom window and nothing in the stockroom. A time when technology can bring this letter to you, and a time when you can choose either to share this insight, or to just hit delete...

Remember; spend some time with your loved ones, because they are not going to be around forever.

Remember, say a kind word to someone who looks up to you in awe, because that little person soon will grow up and leave your side.

Remember, to give a warm hug to the one next to you, because that is the only treasure you can give with your heart and it doesn't cost a cent.

Remember, to say, 'I love you' to your partner and your loved ones, but most of all mean it. A kiss and an embrace will mend hurt when it comes from deep inside of you.

Remember to hold hands and cherish the moment for someday that person will not be there again.

Give time to love, give time to speak! And give time to share the precious thoughts in your mind.

AND ALWAYS REMEMBER:

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.

Spirit's Down!!!

No longer do I have any idea what I am doing here. There was a time when I felt on top, when I felt I could be anyone I wanted here. I thought I had finally broken the shell that had been suffocating me for around three years before coming here. But I guess I was wrong. That ill fated question, "Keeshayo?" has made me so scared of trying out something, that once again I am descending into the gloom and darkness within the shroud I had thought I had shed.

Pai casually, a bit drunk, made a comment to me that if he was God, he would take the world back to the Stone Age. #*@% technology. Well that's all he said. And ya he was right. If we have to realise the value of being here on this earth, we will have to be constantly reminded of how difficult progress has been from the moment man set foot on earth to today. What better way to do that than compelling mankind to keep repeating that process over and over again.

And then my mind took over. I started connecting every nuance of that comment to my life in general and that made me sad but at the same time offered me a greater insight into the person inside me.

I am a person for whom a new setting is akin to a breath of fresh air. If I stay within any setting I tend to eventually become the stereotype that the society within that setting makes me out to be. Though initially, it is all fun and nice, for I would then only be defining myself in that new phase of life and I can be anyone I choose to be; with time, the definition I give myself in the setting starts suffocating me to such an extent that only a change would make me better. I need to constantly rejuvenate and redefine myself, else all purpose, all ambition, all dreams just start fading away. What's wrong with that? I like to change; change is a good thing right? well then, why am I feeling all lost and sad?

That's when it struck, you know. Till now I have been living in time constrained settings. I live there for around two to three years happily defining myself, till other peoples' perception of me takes my life into a constancy. Now, ideally in such a situation, I would like to call it quits, change the setting, leave when I am on top keeping only happy memories of that setting in my mind. But no. Till now in every phase of life (I have gone through three) my presence in that setting is already predetermined by other factors. For instance, I have to stay four years in NITC to get my BTech degree. So even after the stagnation point of that phase of life has been reached, I have to continue living there being sad that I can't do anything definitive, anything that would make me fit in that setting. The longer I have to live with this frame of my mind, the more I start to hate that place and eventually when I get out, the only memories of that place would be the sad ones over the last few years which would clearly overshadow the happier moments I had before.

Actually, I kind of like this place. I don't want to go out next year nursing only the bad memories accumulated over the coming year, for now, I have started feeling the stagnancy in this setting.

A few more quotes!!!

Violence is a wasteful expedient that expedites further violence.

Excellence is the only pursuit worth the effort.

The only force more ruthless and cynical than the business of big politics is the politics of big business.

Civilization is defined by what we forbid more than what we permit.

A fanatic is one who won't change his mind and can't change the subject... Winston Churchill.

The contours of all our virtues are shaped by adversity.

Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice.

Have the courage to believe in the system society has reposed faith upon.

No one can claim to be the masters of all of nature’s mysteries. What one knows is nothing more than a microcosm in a bigger scheme.

Discipline

Discipline is the key to a happy and successful life, people say. But what defines success? After all it is just a matter of perception. What one may consider success, to another it is failure. But again, the wise will only consider failure as a stepping stone to success, nothing more than a temporary setback. So let us put it this way, success is the consequence of chasing one's dreams and then defining his life by the dreams.

Next question, how does being successful make you happy? If you define success as money and prosperity in life, then happiness will exist only in dreams. But as per my earlier definition of success, trudging the path that you long for, chasing your dream, will be reconciling to your innate desires and then you will be happy not just at the end of the road but all along the way as well.

Now, what has discipline got to do with all this? Nothing much. Just that it is human nature to relinquish dreams after a few setbacks. Think that they are wasting their time and should live their life as per the norm, safe without taking risks. To avoid this, to keep going along the tough but desired path, without discipline, you better not set out in the first place.

Meet Joe Black

It certainly is an exceptional movie, one that is worth watching. In plain words, the movie is sweet and simple. The theme portrayed in the movie is different, different in the sense of looking at death and life from a different perspective, the new perspective being that of death itself. The movie does not border around the clichéd ideas of a failed life, realising its mistakes in the face of death. Nor does it portray the grim side of death. Rather it does not portray death at all. The movie is all about how death comes to realise what life is all about, about how leading a wonderful and honourable life, leading life to its fullest is its true beauty. The movie centres on death himself learning how to live from an experienced and successful life of an honourable man. Without even a reference to death in the whole movie, the message is clear. Nothing in this life is as certain as death and taxes, fear neither you should.

The thoughts that came to me while watching “Meet Joe Black”.

• I shouldn't act because other people do so in a particular way. Principles, I should have and, insight and foresight should be the basis of my life. Action ought to have reason and the reason must be honourable. Rude and arrogant, I should not be, for wherever I reach; always remember I should, that I started at zero.
• The more you chase after it, the more you long for it. The more you long for it, the harder it is for you to let go. The harder it is for you to let go, it slips away all the more easily. That is life.
• If you haven't tried, you haven't lived.

A Realisation

• Be careful not to fall prey to adulations soothing your ego.
• Stop pretending to be who you are not and start playing to your strengths.
• Don't make promises you are not sure you can keep.
• The simplest way to solve a problem is to be sure that there is somebody to help you.
• Life is full of choices, this life is yours and thus the choices are yours too.

Random Quotes

• Are we human because we gaze at stars or do we gaze at stars because we are human?
• What one says will soon be forgotten, but what one does will live on for thousands of years.
• The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing-- Edmund Burke.
• Some times in life when you feel let down, don't lose heart, because if that too is gone, then there is no hope.
• A word can inspire millions, a word can spurn revolutions, a word can bring forth great innovations; an action can speak a thousand words.
• All work and no play is progressive suicide.
• Only the strong can admit to mistakes with their heads held high; the weak nervously shuffle away with shifty glances.
• A man's character is determined by his judgement.
• The best price that life offers is the chance to work hard and to do work that's worth doing... Theodore Roosevelt

Penning my muses

The Terminal

This seemingly interminable and perennial wait is what I dislike most about going to the airport, or any other public transport station for that matter, especially to the arrivals terminal. If I were travelling I could at least indulge myself in the dreams of meeting a beautiful lady in the forthcoming travel, and thus bide away my time. Not only that. I rarely travel without a book to read.

But now waiting for my brother and mother to arrive from Dubai, all I can do outside the terminal is to sit and wait ever looking at the Blue Screen in the hope that the flight has arrived. What use then too? It will still take another half hour or so for all the formalities to be completed and for them to come out of the terminal.

But still I wait, drowning in my thoughts, not because patience is my virtue but I am left with no choice.

Publishing a technical paper

Publishing a technical paper in an international journal is my dream, but I should not let it be the motivational factor behind my work. I must work on the project; develop the idea that I have, with a desire to come up with something innovative.

Introspection

When life as such seems to be of no purpose it is imperative that one introspects deeper than ever before. It is important then to come up with an ambition fuelled by a deep desire from the bottom of one’s heart.

It so usually happens in such situations that people just let it be and let life take them to whatever it is that’s their destiny. Destiny, one of the most misinterpreted concepts of our life, is what people draw a parallel to fate. Any mention of the word in popular history has always been a case where life governs you and not you control your life. I beg to differ.

Destiny is the destination of life which has not been pre ordained for you but what has been fuelled by your own understanding of your strengths and the ambition that you develop on your introspection.

Notes on life and environment

Survival of the fittest is the motto of a world where the denizens live on instinct, where life has no purpose more than to survive and to sustain life. But with the state of evolution having reached us, a thinking human being, who bases his life on thoughtful action, life is not just about survival. The main point to be understood is that your life is not just about you.

We seem to have forgotten this, and with the supreme brain nature has endowed upon us, we crave to now be nature's master. All its other creations are now seen as our slaves. Based on our whims and fancies we kill, poach, eat and destroy nature's other successes. It is true that we are the ultimate stage of evolution. Nature eventually found a way to create Intelligence, and all that for a lost cause. Because, as it seems now that very intelligence will destroy the world we live in.

We forget that we are fortunate to be alive. The development of life on earth, though having a minimalistic probability, is a testament to how ideal conditions can collaborate at the right place and at the right time to create a planet and the nearby universe in a manner so that we now exist to ponder over the very reason of our existence.

Evolution

Reaching the consummate state of the evolution process initiated by nature, the humans amidst all the intelligence that they possess seem to display an eerie lack of sense. It so seems now that nature has been digging its own grave by not controlling the evolution of intelligence. Now in the state where nature can do no more to physically evolve humans to create an innate common sense – for evolution takes time and by the time humans realise their folly nature herself might cease to exist – the one thing we must be prepared to do is evolve through our minds.

Thoughts give birth to revelations, revelations yield wisdom, wisdom adorns one with common sense, and the lack of it is the reason for the despicable state we find ourselves in.

The Terminal 2

More than an hour now that this wait has been extended and an end to this tragicomic situation cannot even be foreseen in the near future. Typing away on this mobile phone I am gradually reaching a state of saturation, not with regard to the words but after this seemingly interminable wait I seem to be suffering from a lack of ideas.

Signing off!!! Catch up with you later.

DBG's Laws

1) If man knew everything then chimpanzees would be the most intelligent creatures on earth.

2)Different people are different in different ways for the greater good of society.

3)If you really want to achieve something then the entire universe will conspire in helping you.

4)The last few minutes of an hour are the longest.

5)When mind speaks, creativity flows; when intellect speaks, facts flow.

6)The answer to every question, the solution to every problem, the key to every lock is hidden within our hearts itself. It is upto us to trace it.

7)Imperfections make the world perfect.

8)The lack of symmetry makes us see the beauty of symmetry.

Conversation With God

P: Jingle bells jingle bells jingle all the way, oh......great i don't know what's after that. Well who cares. Now what am i supposed to do here? Oh ya. I was supposed to clean up my room before santa comes visiting. Lets start with my library.

Ding Dong.

P:Who's that???? Will the guyz out there not allow me to work in peace. Great!!!!!!!!

Opens Door.

P: Who are you???

G: Atlast i find the person i was looking for. Let me introduce myself. I am the supreme power, the one with all powers, the creator of alpha and omega, the creator of all universe, the creator of life. Cool intro, right?

It is the first time god is introducing himself.

P: You!!!!! Really man, quit joking. I have work to do. You came for donations right. Sorry! I am broke.

Closes door.

White flashes of light and presto the man who called himself god is inside the house.

P: Wow!! That was cool magic. Where did you learn this stuff?? Now out!! Out of my house.

G: Come on. I came to talk to you, seek help from you. I am in deep trouble, you know, and of all the persons only you can help me.

P: Hey!! There's something sincere about your voice. Well, take a seat. Now start from the beginning. Tell me what's wrong.

G: First of all believe me. I am GOD.

P: I thing i get your problem. Don't worry i will call for help.

G: You think i am nuts!!!!! Come on look at this.

White light all round. Then blank. When vision is regained again, presto, the two are on water, ya you heard me right. Not 'in water' but 'on water'. Having thus caught P's attention and P's belief, G takes him back to P's house.

P: Oh god!! Why me? Why did you come to see me, when there are many great seers out there whose severe penance entitles them to get a glimpse of you? I am just a normal kid leading a normal life trying to chase my dreams.

G: Exactly!!That's exactly why i came to see you. Even while chasing your dreams, come good or evil, come happiness or sadness; you always think of me, thank me , talk to me. Actually you are one of the few who does that. The rest simply pray when they most want me. Other times, they dont even call me, they dont talk to me; as if am to be shunned by all. What do you think is the reason for that?? What can i do to make the world understand that i always need them; come on, atleast i created them.

P: Wow!!!! Thanks for the compliment. But i never knew i ever talked to god like that. There is only one person i talk to all the time, and that's my mind.

G: Beautiful. Has it ever occured to you that the best way of communicating with a person is not through a telephone. Your mind or your soul is connected to the soul of the world or my soul. When you treat your soul as your friend, talk to it, console it and all that, you are actually doing the same to me, and also the entire universe that is connected to me.

P: The answer to every question, the solution of every problem, the key to every lock is hidden within our minds itself, and when you talk to it, you are given the key to unlock it. And now talking to me you have found the answer to your question. I treat you like a friend, a person with extraordinary powers, but with a human heart, yearning for friendship. Thus the problem is that others don't treat you like that. Everyone else sees you as a super being who comforts the burning hearts down here. And thus when they are happy they don't have to think of you. They do so only when they want comfort. So the problem is the way people see you. Change that and then everyone will be a friend.

G: Gee, you really have understood a lot about yourself and your soul. As you speak, wisdom flows. I like that. I was right. You really are miles above the rest. Of all the persons here, you really deserved to see me. Keep up the good work. And thanks for your help. Well, see you some other day.

Flash of bright light ,and............. HE vanishes.

DIFFERENT PEOPLE ARE DIFFERENT IN DIFFERENT WAYS FOR THE GREATER GOOD OF SOCIETY

This world is full of variety and lack of uniformity. All the people are different in various ways--

their faces are different, their voices are different, their behaviours are different and so on. Imperfections form the root of this world and this lack of order may seem stifling and as a blot on the creator's creativity.

Even in one person itself, imperfections are plenty, which may seem as a gross mistake by the creator. Nobody is perfect. Everyone will certainly have atleast one feature that is severely inadequate for becoming the perfect person. It may either be his beauty, or his behaviour, no matter what it is, that reduces the attractiveness of the creations of the greater artist..............or does it?

But it is this lack of symmetry that makes us see the beauty of symmetry. If everyone was perfect we would not even have known what perfect actually is. The lack of uniformity in this world makes us understand that uniformity like, found in robots, make us machines, all similar doing the same task, living a life that cannot see, no matter how hard one tries, the beauty of the sculptures of the supreme sculptor.

Imperfections give the world variety and paint it with more colours than found in the rainbow. Imperfections make the world perfect. That is why the creator brought in all this difference. It is not a blot on his creativity but a testament to his brilliance in realising how life would be for his creations if he had tried to bring uniformity to his piece of art.

Thus it is always true that,

Different people are different in different ways for the greater good of society.

DBG On Life, Destiny And Knowledge

Everyone in this world was born for a purpose, everyone has a destiny to fulfill and for most people, or as i believe, for all people, that destiny is to gain all knowledge--that is to know everything about our life and everything surrounding us.

The answer to every problem, the key to every lock is there within ourselves itself. It is upto us to set out discovering the true power within. The soul of man is connected to the soul of nature, the latter, the creator of everything surrounding us, provide the clues to unravel the greater puzzle.

But as we grow grow up, somewhere along the lane we forget our true destiny, we follow false pleasures and eventually settle down, believing that attaining that true destiny we believed in as kids was impossible to achieve. And thus we lead a life without purpose, a bored life, which we never actually wanted that way and which we could have easily averted if we had the little bit of self belief and trusted our minds trying to encourage us to realise our dreams.

So come on guys and girls out there, you who belong to the new generation about to take over the leadership of the world, listen to your hearts, strain your ear and hear all the little things it has to offer , realise that nothing is impossible, and set out to realise your dreams.

Before I conclude there is one more point i would like to share with you. As i wrote earlier the destiny of all people is to know everything about themselves and the world surrounding them. But once we know everything, what next??

There is no more reason to live. Any further life will be mere existence. Nature won't allow any creature to exist without a purpose. And thus, as far as i can see, once we really know everything, that everything includes how we can conquer evil and make this world full of good only, the humans will have to go, just the way the dinosaurs left millions of years back.

Thus the saying goes..........

"If man knows everything, then chimps would become the most intelligent creatures on earth."

No Parking!!!

No Parking Here!!! No Smoking In public places!!! Drive Slowly!!! Trespassers will be prosecuted!!!! Laws, laws and laws everywhere. Laws the type you neither like to follow nor read about. But have you heard of the other kind of laws made. Heard of Murphy’s laws, right? If something has to go wrong it will!!! Matter will be damaged in direct proportion to its value!!! The chance of the buttered side of the bread falling face down is directly proportional to the cost of the carpet!!!………and so on…… interesting laws, right…..laws you rather would read and agree to. Why is that? ’Coz these come from the heart and not the self-conscious intellect.

Now you must be thinking why I wrote this in the beginning. Well, pardon me ‘coz I got no other intro to my article. It may suck but well, just bear with me. By the way have you ever heard of stress and consequent stress busters, things that psychiatrists talk about? Well sometimes I think I really do have an effective stress buster in my possession. I don’t know how good it is, but I guarantee you that it works 70% of the times, at least for the poetic types, forget it, or at least for me!!! But well do you know that making up laws is an interesting way to relieve you of tension. Hold on!! Not laws that you have to follow so that you can lead a better life and Blah! Blah! Blah! But laws the kind of Murphy’s or maybe better ‘coz these come from your heart.

All you got to do is start talking to your own self, and at times, well, mostly all the time, your heart responds and talks back to you and produce such startlingly beautiful phrases which when read together, God knows how, seem to form a nice Murphy law like statement. Take a look at this for instance. If man knew everything then chimpanzees would be the most intelligent creatures on earth………..or this…….. Imperfections make the world perfect…….and what about this……..talents are not meant to be wasted, but given space, time and nourishment to blossom like a flower so that the entire world can enjoy it……. Believe it or not…… I stumbled across these statements when I thought life was dull not meant to live happily……when I started talking to myself……. And in a matter of minutes out I came blurting these statements…….these phrases may suck but then at the time of intense stress these phrases seem like advice from an inner god that you somehow magically get relieved of the stress and go back living and facing life with a smile……. You may call me mad….. talking to oneself……oh boy …… maybe I am really mad…but that little bit of madness in this fast paced world helps me to keep smiling which is what many struggle to do in this highly competitive 21st century..