Freedom and all that it entails...

A few days ago we celebrated the completion of 64 years of our independence and that got me thinking...are we truly free?? Why do I say that? Are we not the modern India...advanced in space and nuclear research, an emerging world power and a country force to be reckoned with??? True...but when this is all juxtaposed with the fight against corruption and all the other signs of a non emerging power it makes me really wonder. 

Why are we tuned the way we are...the government so lacklustre...our political system filled with loopholes...citizens who are not willing to take a chance to make a difference. I believe the Anna Hazare campaign came as a breath of fresh air in the otherwise arid desert of public opinion. The sheer numbers by which we responded to his call physically and virtually was a refreshing change. Corruption is not the only taint in our acquired freedom that I see. This morning while going through the newspaper I came across an article about a village in Tamil Nadu which still discriminates between high caste and the dalits. Apparently the dalits can't ride a bicycle on any high caste street (whatever that is) I mean which century are we in??

During my trip to the UK I was seething when I saw some of the riches that we had lost. Looking back at some of our history I really wonder...were we ready for the freedom that we had fought and won? Look at some of those countries which gained freedom from the British years later...Singapore, Malaysia, even a city like Hongkong...technologically advanced, civic sensed, still rich with their culture...but we in India? Growth in bits and spurts but abounding in wealth in the hands of a few....rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer, bad roads, taxes going berserk but no actual action from it to improve civic amenities..WHERE ARE WE???

Time to wake up India and by that I mean the citizens of India...the campaign against corruption was just a squabble which we had won. We still have battles to win, wars to win, World Wars to wage if we ever want to be a truly developed nation. I'm proud to be an Indian, I'm proud about it's rich and varied heritage but I'm not proud about everything that we have to fight for...0% citizens who are below the poverty line, a health scheme to be reckoned with, better roads which don't wither away at the slightest sign of a drizzle, better drainage system...Oh the list is endless...Is this a new beginning? Can I see a light at the end of the tunnel? I'm keeping my hopes up that dreams can become reality....and soon!!

The mysterious human brain....

It's strange....what is you ask? The human brain and it's filing mechanism. Our brain stores many TBs of memories and yet at some strange moment it brings up vivid but yet long forgotten memories. You wouldn't know what acted as a catalyst but a memory that you didnt think was still there would rise up as vividly as if it had happened yesterday. I still cant figure out how the neurological aspects of memory storage, retention and retrieval work but Im sure that they work just fine at the appropriate time. I mostly dont mind it when my brain brings up some stuff but there are times when a word, a song, a place triggers the neurons and painful and best forgotten memories are dragged out fom the pits of your subconsciousness. they are vivid with accurate details and you end up wondering "how did i get from there to this present state of mine?". Why did i remember this now? Why had i made those choices that had changed my life so? The how and why of these questions are inexplicable as the neurological filing mechanism of the brain...both are best unresolved to the common man/woman...what do you think???

Divine intervention....the argument continues

From the beginning of Creation / Time / the Universe...call it whatever you will the existence of God / Higher Power / Creator...has been an often discussed and debated topic. I'm a believer and today I'd like to write about something that I've sensed and experienced in my life...Divine Intervention. 

Many (even believers) would argue that there is no such thing as Divine Intervention. Some arguments are...How can an intervention happen when there is no source for it...They are just coincidences which can't be interpreted as Divine Intervention...What you perceive as an intervention is your sub-conscious brain and extra sensory synapses at work causing you to make inexplicable decisions or happenings which you think are divinely inspired....and so it goes on... 

All through my life...in moments of confusion I have felt this Divine Intervention. The school that I had to study in, the college course that I had to take everything was chosen for me by Divine Intervention. Don't get me wrong...I'm not an overly spiritual person who goes around always mumbling about God or talking only about Spiritual things...I'm a far, far cry from that. But I believe that powers beyond me are at work in every decision we make...whether we want it or not.

What is Divine Intervention? I got a definition from Yahoo Answers which I thought was the most appropriate...when an "act of god" Changes something in someone's life or stops something or makes something happen in theory for a all knowing plan that was meant to be....couldn't have said it better. It's what we perceive as an "act of god"...could be the synapses talking or making decisions, could be coincidence, could be sub-conscious brain activity...but it's something that contributes to an all knowing plan.

Let's leave the argument out...I'd like to talk to about the impact that this intervention can have upon your life. Often, in my life I've wanted so many things to happen but somewhere in my Christian upbringing and Catechism I found a simple, single line prayer that I hold on to till today...Let thy Will be done...this is an unbelievably powerful prayer in any religion or non-religion. I've had moments when I've just said it and without doing anything seen things unfold in my life...mind you...they haven't always been the way that I wanted.

However, it's not that simple...God has created human beings and given them a power...the power to choose...I've also had moments when I've been allowed to choose, go ahead and live with my choice, come to a realisation that I've got to give up my choice for the greater good of things (all knowing plan) and live through the pain of letting it go. But God does give you the strength to take you through that pain and continue to live the life that has been pre-planned for you. 

Not at all times are you given a choice...at times when you want something so bad, do everything humanly possible correct and work hard towards it...you still won't get it...it would be inexplicable to you but as some wise person said...it just wasn't meant to be (in the higher plan). You can't choose to accept the Intervention one time and ignore it another time!!! It's Divine Intervention for crying out loud!!! 

I have learned to let it rule me...take me on its course...meander it's way through my life but for all the treasures and the wealth in the world I will not have it any other way...coz it's what has made me the person I AM today with it's sometimes gentle nudges, with its sharp ended whips or with its thunderous voice...my Divine has been animated :)

Lost Treasures

Lost Treasures

I can see the green trees outside the square wooden frame,

But my thoughts are a thousand miles and years away.

On a plain of hardened brown sand,

With spots of golden sunlight bouncing off a tiny stream at the edge of the forest;

A ray of light hits my eye and a bird glides past my window

Carrying in its tiny beak a broken twig,

A twig I’ve seen many a times nudged between the cracks of crumbling temples,

Holding tiny blue birds chirping and squawking for wriggling worms.

As I take the stairs two at a time I hear a familiar chirp.

The tree outside my window comes to view and I see a splash of blue amidst the green.

I stand, I gaze, at the tiny blue bird building its nest

I wish, I yearn for the silhouette of crumbling temples, the hardened brown soil of the Mexican Valley.

When will I ever see the ancient ruins of my favourite Aztec temple?

Or ever feel the rush of unearthing lost treasures…when???

Famine & Wastage...two ends of a spectrum!!

Recently I was reading an article by the UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon...couldn't call it an article actually...rather a plea for help to just about manage the famine in Somalia. I was moved to tears just reading the plight of fellow human beings in Africa. Sadly that's only one of half the spectrum...the other is the large percentage of food wastage across the world and especially in India. We are known for having a large population of which a good percentage of it can't even have a square meal a day and we also have large weddings, events and parties that waste a large quantity of food...where is the rational? What are we doing?

It can't all be blamed on the government... we all waste food if not on a daily basis then at least on a weekly basis and to imagine that this kid in the picture doesn't get that and in all likelihood won't survive until she can have a meal like that!! Where is our responsibility? 

Corporates all over the world talk about CSR initiatives...is doing our bit to eradicate famine a CSR initiative? It need not be anything big...it could just mean us having smaller parties, order just about enough food, maybe even request guests not to waste food thinking about the millions who don't have any. I might sound crazy for all you know, especially to those dedicated to Indian hospitality which means that a guest should have more than enough and in the process probably end up wasting a lot more. 

I didn't say that the government was completely exempt from blame either. Pakistan seems to be the only sub-continental country who has learned its lesson from its past. It's one-dish law for wedding ceremonies seems to be progress in the right direction with the Indian Government also recently waking up to about 20% food wastage in the country and with food grains rotting away in warehouses with no proper storage facilities. Our government is "studying" Pakistan's law but lets hope that that study doesn't take long enough for about another million lives to be lost around the world to famine...the other end of the of the spectrum. Remember...we have a responsibility to our planet and to our fellow beings.

The archaeologist of our Original selves...

Do you know that when we were teenagers or young adults :) our parents usually warn us about a gang of friends coz they thought that they brought out the worst in us? The very concept of being told what to do and who to join usually freaked me out and I was only too happy to go against their word. Why am I thinking about this when I'm nearing 30? This is why...I watched Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara (ZNMD) yesterday and it dawned upon me as to why we all behave the way we do when we are with this "certain" gang of friends.

Our parents were completely wrong...our gang didn't bring out the worst in us but they just helped reveal to ourselves the true individual we are. The crazy, whacked out risk taker, the poetic day dreamer....whatever it maybe...our true friends actually brought out the best in us. ZNMD is not just a feel good movie but if we were to understand the subtexts in it, the silences in it and the craziness in it we would get to know what it really wants to convey. Each of us keep hiding our true selves and nature behind our mundane lives, while we are amongst people we don't want to displease, people with whom we want to keep up appearances. 

and then... In those instances, moments or journeys that we take with our gang...it's then that we realise "what the heck, where have I been all this while?"  

We re-discover ourselves...you could call it as treasures lost that have now been unearthed...it's amazing to have the people around us who give true meaning to the words "Joie de Vivre"...Kudos to my GANG...you've brought the best out in me...my laughter & my strength...you've pushed me beyond the boundaries that I'd drawn for myself...you've kicked me on my butt when I've been lazy or when I've been pretentious...tapped me on my head and said "Remember who you truly are!!" You guys helped unearthed the Original me....and continue to do so....this is for you...

Why do I feel compelled to write...

I haven't been writing in a very long time. Actually it's been years since I ever put my thoughts into words but of late the thought of me not writing at all has become a burden to me. It kept reminding me of the parable of the talent wherein I felt like the steward who wasted his one talent and buried it for safe keeping. Sigh...the purpose of this blog is not just to write a blog but to unburden me. So...if you are reading this don't expect any funny quips...I'm generally not the funny type :)

I hope to write about some things that inspire me, that move me, that make me think...and of course some poetic scribbles of my own. 

A tribute to the never ending phenomenon .... Harry Potter!!
The latest HP movie brought out an argument amongst literary critics...what is so great about HP. Harold Bloom criticised JKR stating that her writing was mindless and cheap, her writing did not inspire a higher thought. I beg to differ. Reading is not necessarily meant to inspire a higher thought process. It could just be for the pleasure of reading and understanding the creative process of the mind at which JKR excels beyond doubt. And whoever said that HP doesn't inspire higher thought has not been able to understand the subtext that runs throughout the entire series....the indomitable spirit of man (be it a muggle or wizard)...the importance of choices that we make which determine if we are good or bad...the constant struggle within every single person to resist or embrace evil when the going seems tough. I could go on and on about the numerous subtext that is present within the series but suffice it to state that its obvious to those who are presumptuous to say that their writing inspires higher thought.