A Journey to Freedom

Well, after a long time here's something that inspired me to write... and guess what it could be?

It was the FEAR of losing the connect with the "thinker/writer" in me... It is indeed interesting to me that how we get motivated more by what is left to do, than by what we already have achieved... The sense of fullness seldom gives a desire as burning as the emptiness does...

As a matter of fact, it won't be an exaggeration to say that the accomplishments of yours can be inspirational for everyone but you - because you only can be inspired by what is left to be accomplished...

Photo credits: https://drhurd.com

And so the FEAR in my mind boarded the train of thoughts... I started thinking about the wrestlers taking on a fight with the one double of their size; boxers not thinking about getting their nose fractured; skydivers taking the leap of faith (or rather the "dive of faith"); soldiers not thinking twice before running into enemy camp with just a handful of bullets during war...

Don't they have fear? Yes they do... they are not invincible... But probably, their fear of being in a situation where they don't do what they love to do, is much more profound than their fear of breaking their bones or even losing their life...

May be that is what PASSION is all about... The ones who have it, can't imagine themselves not doing what they do best...

And so... being passionate may not mean to be fearless. But in fact being so much fearful to losing the passion that it surpasses all other fears... and that is what truly liberates us...

That's why they say that FREEDOM is never for free... It takes passion and one great fear to overcome all other fears... just like the passion of freedom fighters and great fear of not being able to live in an independent country, actually liberated an entire nation...

So on this Independence Day, I realized that FEAR, PASSION, and then FREEDOM - are all the junctions on a same railway track on which our "train of thoughts" travels... Make sure to hang on till you reach the last one... what say?

When preaching gets easy, preacher gotta keep moving...

And this comes from my recent share of acclimatization... The word "acclimatize" always intrigues me as it is used generally for the test animals (and at times, life treats us as one)... It grows us in the units of "experience", but funny thing is that no matter how much you grow, acclimatization is something that you have to do all over again each time, no exceptions...

And it seems, "getting settled" might be a real thing on some other stationary planet, but technically it is a myth at least on the Earth rotating on its own axis... Change seems to be the only stationary truth here... It feels horrible to get moving, to be "on the other side", and to leave all what the heart is attached to profoundly...

Photo courtesy: www.thesingleseason.com

And once you do that, then you become a student of life all over again... In literal terms also, the transition of becoming a "trainee" from a "trainer" is funny. Funny because even though most of us claim to and are ready to learn always, most of the times when one gets at a certain level/amount of knowledge/experience, the task of getting trained seems to be not so motivating...

I have seen very few experienced people taking the trainings as seriously as an average fresher... So does happen to me... Deep inside, there is an ego-driven feeling of being belittled while taking up a "trainee" role instead of a "trainer" role... And it is until I realize that being a student only makes me a more knowledgeable teacher for the next time I switch the role... The moment I get too comfortable in the "teacher" role,  I don't realize but I start turning into a "preacher", and it should set an alarm to be a student again... I stop existing as a "teacher" until I start existing as a "student"...

And so it has to be... Life takes you to a new horizon every time, from where you could see a sunrise which might seem to be (either more or) less scenic than what you have experienced in the past... And even if so, you can only accept the change by looking it as a "different sunrise" rather than looking it as a "not so beautiful sunrise"... It seems to be the only way to accept the student and give a break to the preacher inside us... What say?

We gave it back, but we didn't give it up...

Well very honestly, "India-cricket-world cup" is not a very new thing in trend, it's an age old (yet ever-young) trio. I might not be good at cricket stats, I am no expert, and I might not be a hard-core cricket fan. But I am a fan of India... And I know one thing that history repeats itself. India has found herself many times on winning/losing sides in important matches like this... and from a historical perspective, it's all stale business. But I witnessed something new today, like never before...

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It's a thumb-rule of this world (or at least this country) to worship the "rising sun"... And we, the Indians would be too pragmatic if we say that we don't feel bad at all on losing. Yes, we do, just like any other human being... So we have been criticising our heroes, praising them, pelting stones at their houses over decades as a herd of over 1.25 billion people. But I saw something different today...

As usual, there was a whole bunch of Kangaroo-supporting Indians, who took pride and termed themselves as rational (and perhaps the most accurate analysts in the world [in a game which is one of the most unpredictable ones]). More than sad, they were proud that their predictions were proved true. (No offence, but I hate you guys on that front - It's serious business when I talk about India - at least show some patriotism).

There was yet another bunch of so-called "fans" (a huge one) who swore Indian cricketers (and their girlfriends) in every possible manner. These critics have been, and will always be there. In the wake of social media, these jokes went viral in no time. (Again, no offence, we all felt bad, but be a sport [at least when you are trying to support a "sport"]).

And then I saw a bunch of people, third of the kind... not so huge in magnitude (but larger than ever before), who acted differently... They too were emotional, they were also sad, but they showed respect to the team. They didn't give up on their own heroes. They did spread messages on social media, counteracting to those huge chunk of cheap jokes on our cricketers.

I have seen sportsmen shaking hands after losing a game, but witnessed such a large group of crazy fans doing so (of course, virtually) for the very first time... I have seen people calling them traitors when they lose (and gods when they win)... But I saw (although a handful of) people saying "It's OK, after all it's just a game" for the very first time...

As a not-so-big-fan of cricket, but a big fan of India, I felt a rare pride. Rare because in the country where crimes and social issues often make us feel ashamed and disgusted, the feeling of people still having sense of humanity is a rare reassurance... period

Love and Adventure: Long-lost Siblings???

A lately-identified passion for extreme adventure, a little dare to thrill, and lots of adrenaline can get you tied to a “bungee” and take you to a cliff from where you are supposed to jump. The height of which could be just 83 meters (272.something feet) ;-)

And when you approach towards what you have been longing for, apart from the usual fight/flight phenomenon, something else also comes up to your mind i.e. sense of cognition – a feeling of having "been there, done that". The similarity surfaces between, (1) the feeling when you are about to propose someone, and (2) the feeling of having balls to do something courageous.

Photo credits: https://storyoflifeandadventures.files.wordpress.com

- The longing to express your feelings AND the longing to go uninhibited

- Incapacity to hide your love AND incapacity to hide your passion for adventure

- Fear of rejection AND fear of failure

- The wait for the reply when you propose AND the initial free-fall and air gushing past your face when you jump

- And once you are done with it – the sense of honest expression of love AND the sense of accomplishing the passion...

These make you feel that love and adventure are brothers from different mothers...

And well, despite all the similarities, a stark difference exists: while adventure may ask you to jump from an edge, love can demand of you to be constantly living on an edge... What say?

"Feels like" fundae

The chilly weather of December-January turns most of the people living in north India either "temperature-curious" or "temperature-conscious"... While it becomes a part of our daily routine to check temperature every morning, it also becomes a matter of pride to few to have survived till now... No matter whatever happens in the world, a certain portion of newspapers, news channel bulletins etc. are always reserved for the cold weather... It is no exaggeration to say that the news channels cannot practically run out of news in winters, for they always manage to measure "record-breaking cold of last X years" every few days - that too every year... I sometimes wonder who would be their faulty record-keeper.

As the "cold" temperature becomes the "hot" topic for tea time (and as and when required) discussions, the "curious" ones must have noticed the "feels like" temperature in their smartphone weather apps... Technically, it is an approximation of human perception of actual temperature based on certain factors such as humidity, wind, pressure, fog... It also relates to wishful interpretation of a situation by human mind... To me, it resembles with the song of movie "1942 - a love story", "ek ladki ko dekha to AISA LAGA". It can also be inferred that this concept must have had romantic angle during its inception...

Though the term "feels like" temperature has only recently been popular through weather apps, the concept seems to be age old... The very nature of the interpretations suggests the resemblance of funda with mental paradoxes (fact vs. feels-like). Just as the fog, pressure, wind and humidity misguide us and prevent us from feeling the actual temperature... So do these mental paradoxes...

Break them free, once and for all...
And once it is done, walk in the foggy morning with little worry or hesitation - and it feels like you are no longer a prisoner of the weather...

Trust: By-people vs. By-religion

Disclaimer: The purpose of this blog is not to upgrade or degrade any particular religion, neither to draw any conclusion, nor it is to hurt sentiments of any.
And well, the "disclaimer" is one of the most misinterpreted and bullshit things - the bigger the disclaimers, even bigger is the hypocrisy of people... And moreover, I care less, so I bring it on...

One cold night, Rajdhani express, 3-tier AC coach, I am sleeping my way from Delhi to Ahmedabad. At 12:55am, I am suddenly awakened by continuous whispers by few people trying to settle around. While this is a very common scene in trains, the thing which intrigued me was the inconsistency between their get-ups and their behaviors. They were 3 Muslim guys, and a lady - probably their mother.

Now when we live in a non-cosmopolitan city or local household, we know and expect people around to be of approximately similar culture, language etc. But metro cities, airports, trains etc. are the places where we get privilege to see all the variety of cultures in India. And after a certain point, you get acceptance of the diversity in cultures and it doesn't fear or thrill or intrigue you... So it is, with me. I have friends, colleagues, and acquaintances from diverse cultures and religions - they are as human as all others... The thing different about those people in train was that they were unknown to me.

Photo credits: http://blogs.voanews.com/

When we meet any person for the first time, at least in India especially in trains, we try to figure them out by the minimal information available - 5 things to be specific: clothes, religion (sometimes by clothes), language, region (by language), social standing or "class" (by clothes, region, and language).
Coming back to the people in question - those were well-dressed, usually smiling, and they were whispering continuously in English. The suspicious thing to me was their accent - which was heavy British to somewhat American - but they looked all Indian (or at least Asian)... There was something unusually peculiar about them, or it seemed so (to me at least)... While it is no big deal that a person working in a corporate MNC set-up, or one who has stayed in Europe for few years, can speak or adapt the accent, but that was not the first thought which came into my mind.

Well, in the state of terror in which world is nowadays, the Indian Muslims whispering among themselves, in British English accent at midnight in train, was sufficient to alert me (that is what we are supposed to and told to be all the time in these unfortunate times of bomb blasts, killings, and what not)...
And for a moment, I even thought not to sleep for the remaining time, and observe the surroundings as a "responsible citizen"...
As they settled, slept, and set me writing this, I can now totally believe, that the whispering was all about not disturbing the fellow passengers who were sleeping... I had over-analyzed the situation...  My "alert mode" has been calmed down... I have now come to believe that it might just be the cultural diversity, beyond a threshold of usual acceptance to an un-anticipating mind awakened at midnight - which triggered "alert" mode instead of the "accepter" mode...

Nonetheless, it triggered more important questions to me:

(1) Do we really trust people or their religions?

(2) While it is not by choice, but by force, utmost important to be alert in the today's terror-stricken world, is it really not important to trust people?

(3) Not to preach about "atheism" or "secularism", but will India ever become a truly "religion-neutral" country?

Worth a thought.... isn't it?

Plateu-phobia

Lack of good ideas, or rather lack of the "pen-able" ideas since quite some time leads me to a famous apprehensive thought: Career of every artist (assuming myself as one) follows a parabolic curve - a gradual hike, an elevated state for a brief period, and rapid demise (shapes and sizes variable - basic pattern remaining same).

While the hike and demise are the ones which are quite apparent; more dangerous is the sandwiched "plateu" phase - where things get comfy yet boring, safe yet nonchalant, and secure yet unexciting.

Knowing that creativity can't simply be summoned; every artist - be it writer, singer, painter, or actor - fears being in that state when their creativity seems to have taken a long break.
That fear I term as "plateu-phobia". This dormancy haunts not only the artists, but each individual at one point or the other.

photo credits: www.pbase.com

On the other hand, in general, the sense of security, belonging, and ownership with things, people, and places make us feel comfortable, and at ease. The equilibrium makes us relax. So, most of the times we all are "plateu-philic". 

We love the stability - until the point when we realize that "stability" is nothing but constantly changing equilibrium. That moment we start hating the current plateu. We become "plateu-phobic", but is it really so? Are we really looking for an "imbalance" or just a "new balance"?

Both "plateu-philic" and "plateu-phobic" - always have been, are, and will be - WE.

The thought of dormancy also takes me to the approaching winters, and also to the way nature manages plateu. It creates a plateu, maintains and disrupts it. That is how we never really get used to the weather. That is why, we still feel cold/hot every year despite staying at the same place for years - the sheer brilliance of nature.

I hereby embrace the "plateu-phobic" and "plateu-philic" guys within me.

After all, a seemingly straight line can just be a part of a quite larger parabola... :-)

Trim before it gets grim…

Well, here it ("trim") doesn't relate to the hair in any way... Rather, it pops up to me as a result of the excessive outburst of social awareness, so-called "intellectual" beings, so on and so forth... Ignorance of the common man to the well-obvious burning issues of the society for a very long time; and then the sudden appearance of awareness, sense of social responsibility, and smartness in analyzing, tweeting, re-tweeting and in some cases (so-called) supporting the cause... How do we become so smart within a flash when we are still the same flesh?

This question settles me down around the "smartness" or more basic term "understanding". It leads me back to the English grammar, so very simple, which life isn't (sadly)...

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The term "smart" has simpler relative forms: Smart - Smarter - Smartest...

But according to my "THEORY OF SMARTNESS", it follows a different order: Naivety - Innocence - Smartness - Wickedness... 

Yeah, these are not absolute traits; and there is a very thin line between any two adjacent ones... 

These are further driven by "OVERLAP AND 'MIRAGE' EFFECT"... means:

1) There always exists a mix of at least two adjacent traits in a person – an OVERLAP... A person can be naive-innocent / innocent-smart / smart-wicked... A pure naive / innocent / smart / wicked person cannot possibly exist...

2) Our far-sight vision of these traits causes a mirage (an illusion)... What we generally see as “innocence” can be “naivety” in real; and what generally seems as “smartness” can be “wickedness”...

To my say, absolute smartness lies in prowess – the ability to have a closer look inside out (break the mirage), and the ability to control the overlap... Act responsibly (and more importantly) honestly...

Trim a trait before it gets to its next superlative... And that's what it's all about...

Haven’t done shopping lately?... then try arranged marriage…

Disclaimer: Be it men, women, shopaholics, anti-shopaholics, those who have either done or willing to do love marriage, those who regret arranged marriage, those who don’t regret arranged marriage but its process, and most-importantly those who are going through the process – this one’s for you. This one is strictly for the generation, which makes, or is at least willing to make their own decisions their own way. It surely will raise eyebrows of few, but who cares?

Well, the title at first somewhat rhymes with the advertisement of Cadbury Dairymilk SILK… which says “Have you felt silk lately?” But, trust me it is just the opposite to that feeling of ‘feeling silk’…

Judging the topic based on the title of this post, many of you won’t be able to relate to this at first instance as it strikes… but again, trust me and hang on for a while, and I would be able to either make you relate to one or the other aspect of this or at least humor you :-)

photo credits: http://mugen.wikia.com/

Let’s take a short example of ‘shopping clothes’, there follows a process: You choose a shop/mall. You enter with a certain set of pre-defined criteria in your mind. You fix the budget/range. You go for a few particular brands. Then you choose the size. Then color, pattern etc. Then you go to trial room, wear it for 1-2 minutes, do bargain, make the payment, and you are good to go. If not, you try another cloth, another shop, another mall and thereon… This is an infinite loop until you find the correct thing. Sometimes, out-of-blues, you may get something awesome (although very very rarely, it does fit in your budget). Many times, you end up compromising your choice, due to all practical constraints – budget, availability, affordability, long‑run sustainability and what not. And till now all is well. But, the irony is yet to come – most of the times, you get bored of the clothes after wearing it 2-3 times coz your choice was made in just 2 minutes when the dress looked all fairy; in very common cases, you even curse yourself to choose such a dress that you can’t still believe how pathetic your choice was at that moment.

Most of the women won’t find above paragraph palatable for they just love shopping… but now read that paragraph once again, replace the ‘clothes’ with ‘yourself’, and ‘shopping’ with ‘arranged marriage’ perspective... And the analogy is just obvious that I don’t need to re-write that paragraph again, do I? ;-) The basic process is all the way ditto (obviously with few additional claws applying to arranged marriage).

For all the gruesome similarities, there are 3 ironical differences that I feel:

1) You generally don’t run the kundali (horoscope) match with your clothes before buying them;

2) You can go shop more clothes if you dislike your clothes later on, or once they are old. There are also replacement warranties on clothes; and the most important…

3) Shopping can be fun for it’s only YOU who shop… while it is not the case for latter. In arranged marriage, you GET SHOPPED, more than you GET TO SHOP…

Therefore, with all due respect to shopping, the analogy is very close to reality.

After all, I couldn't be more direct :-D

Convenient Assumptions

Do you remember the Math lessons at school? I do... The teacher used to say "Assume that x=y and y=z+w..." At that time, I used to think why should I assume? I won't assume anything... only until when my Math teacher made me understand that I have to assume certain things to seek the answer and solve the riddle...

Being an obedient little child, I didn't argue much... solved the puzzles, and became really good at Math... But somewhere I always felt that how come Math being such an absolute thing, still have to rely on such arbitrary things called "assumptions"? And some day wearing my thinking "shades" (yeah, I don't have a thinking "cap" ;-) ), I found the answer to that question in real-life scenarios...

Well, howsoever realistic we all proclaim ourselves to be, each one of us is a great assumer, no exceptions...

photo credits: http://www.elainebaileyinternational.com/

It starts from the very beginning... A child assumes itself safe in proximity of the mother, irrespective of the degree of surrounding chaos... A common man leaves behind his hard-earned belongings in the house assuming that a 350 grams door-lock can protect it... All the citizens in a country assume that a leader is capable of running their country... etc.
Well, these are the few based on trust... I would not say that we get rid of these assumptions. Coz it would make us totally skeptic, take away the sense of security from us, and at the end, will freak us out... These are necessary assumptions...

At the same time, there are few which can create turmoil...

·       You call a friend, he/she doesn't pick up and doesn't call back... And this happens over and over again... You have two assumptions to choose from...

(A) The friend doesn't value your friendship.

(B) He/she is just really too busy that they can't respond.

·       You participated in a 100 meters race and gave your 200% percent, and came on second place with the margin of 1.09 seconds... You again have two options...

(A) Despite giving 200% efforts you failed, so there is no chance of winning that.

(B) Just a wild stupid idea, if your effort can go up to 100% to 200%, then it surely could go a few more % to cover up the 1.09 seconds difference.

·       Someone not so good with you, praises you for something, and you don't ever imagine that person to be praising you... You are again set to toss the coin...

(A) By all logical means, he/she could have never praised me. It was a sarcastic comment.

(B) Screw it if it sounds sarcastic, ignore the praise (or taunt) and be happy with yourself.

In all these scenarios, your brain gets to the dual...

Part (A) talks all logical and realistic things that any person would like to choose, and will be tempted to think himself/herself a rational decision-maker by choosing (A)s.
While those (B)s have altogether a different story to tell... They don't fool you by making you think illogically... Rather they make you aware that what you choose, although might not be totally logical or factual, but it is definitely a happier option... 
And after all, if both (A)s and (B)s are assumptions per se, why not go for a smarter one...

What say???