A Little Bit Of This And A Little Bit Of That

Today, driving back home a while back, I was immersed in my thoughts as usual. It’s wonderful, how the brain itself compartmentalises our different actions and as long as we do not delve into any particular one beyond a certain safe level, each action gets performed smoothly. So while a part of my brain was busy processing my thoughts, whatever those were, the other part was safely manoeuvring me towards my abode after yet another day at work.

It was at a roundabout, as I took my first turn in otherwise a straight road till now, that my thoughts broke for the first time. I looked at a young man in his late adolescence trying to make his way through the traffic on his bicycle. On the other side of the road,there was an auto-rickshaw carrying two passengers, a middle-aged woman wearing the typical bright Punjabi attire along with a child in red shorts. Nearby, on the pavement, an old man holding onto his stick was negotiating with a fruit seller. I saw all these people in just one glimpse as I drove further. But somehow, their images kept lingering on.

Suddenly, I had this urge to come out of my previous thoughts which anyway I was not able to recollect, and look at the people as I drove past them. They all were different, yet all were same. I would never recognise anyone of them if I were to drive past them just after an hour. The auto-rickshaw driver was just another migrant from Bihar or Uttar Pradesh with those same features which make them all look just the same. That middle-aged lady with her hair tied back into a long braid was just like any other woman of her age and similar taste or should I say, bad taste in fashion.

And then it struck to me, for all of those people, even I am just one of the millions of people that they drive, ride or walk past in their lives. We all have our own focal points, emanating from our self to our parents, siblings, spouses, children and moving beyond, encircling our friends and relatives and so on. Majority of these just brush past each other but some get intertwined and we get a new acquaintance. As time passes, many of them fade away while some remain intertwined for eternity.

My brain was not content with just processing this inevitability and it sprung up a new question. What must they be thinking right now?

As I saw a young charming woman ride past on a kinetic, I skipped a beat for a moment as happens to me every time like any normal human being. But then I moved to the same abnormal question trying to contemplate what all thoughts must be going through her mind right now. Was she thinking about the fight she had with her best friend or was she thinking about the excuse to make to her parents for going on a movie with her boyfriend.

How I wished, I was that guy.

But again pulling back myself from these fantasies, I saw around, a microcosm of humanity, all moving here and there with their own purposes and their own convictions.

I am just one of them, nothing great about me, I thought.

And this is the thought which sends a shiver down my spine. This is the one thought which has been recurring over and over again from past few weeks and this is the one thought that Kate Winslet puts succinctly in the movie Revolutionary Road when she says to her husband, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, “Look at us. We're just like everyone else. We've bought into the same, ridiculous delusion.”

This thought has become more profound since I’ve started working. Till now, somehow I was protected from these thoughts as a student. But entering the real world, I realised, there are so many like me who think, somehow they are special. As Kate puts it, “Our whole existence here is based on this great premise that we're special. That we're superior to the whole thing. But we're not.” Yes, we are not.

We are all different, yet we are all same.

The sooner you realise it, the better it is for you. However, I wanted to escape from this thought as soon as possible. So, my brain automatically sprung up another thought.

Just like I am philosophising about everything, was that young lad on his bicycle, also pondering over it. Moreover, what about that old man? How many times in his life, he must have thought about this. Or did he ever care?

We’ve got such a wonderful thing known as the brain. It is not just a storehouse of such large information but also helps in processing it as and when required. But how many of us actually use it beyond the desired motions of everyday life. I believe everyone does. It’s just that the proportion of these different usages differ. While, I am using it to philosophise right now, someone else in another corner of the world will be busy fantasising and day-dreaming. The latter is definitely a great escape from the blunt questions of life, I thought; as I again got immersed in the thoughts  of that charming girl and gradually shifted to Kate Winslet's steamy scenes in The Reader or was I imagining that girl in place of Kate!

As all this was going through my mind, my car suddenly halted and I realised I was looking at the gate of my house. My brain had once again directed me well, bringing me home safely while I was busy contemplating a little bit of this and a little bit of that.

Image Courtesy:

http://www.cumberland.lib.nc.us

Random

The Brain is such a tricky thing;

Best, kept occupied with random stuff.

Once it loses this virtual zing,

  Pops up real questions pretty tough.

Image Courtesy:
http://www.brballard.com

The Eternal Labyrinth of a Materialistic Life

As I sit down with a pen and a pad 

To wipe off this melancholy with a swab

I try to break this deafening chime Searching for some rhythm and some rhyme 

 Concoction of words from here and there 

Put together to help me somehow share Share the intricacies of my heart

Waiting for the monotony to depart

There are some who always bear a smile 

Pretending as if every thing is sublime But the truth is that life somehow irks 

For some due to work, for some no work 

 Life is becoming alienating day by day Clouding our thoughts from the warming rays 

Everyone is moving at one's own pace Trying to outdo others in an impersonal race 

 Money has taken the centre stage Everyone incarcerated in this binding cage 

It is the means and the end to all

 Lifting some, while the others fall 

 Since childhood, we just hear this rant 

Preparing us for a life like a worker ant There is none who escapes this labyrinth 

All stuck here, be the pauper or the king 

 I want to be a heretic, not one of them

 Bask in eternal sunshine, not eclipsed protem 

But I realise, even this sunshine comes at a cost 

Find myself ensnared here, just out of sorts 

 Like others, I am dependent on all of these 

The gadgets, the commodities, the material things 

Can you sacrifice these to live peacefully 

No, replies my adulterated heart sheepishly.

A Struggle that is called Life

I ended my previous post by equating life to a struggle. So, carrying on from there, I reproduce my two poems, I wrote long ago. They just reflect what I meant in those parting lines;

Life has moved on
Those days are left far behind
But one thing is pretty clear
What I started in my sophomore days
Is there to stay
As the struggle of life
To bear.

Here is the first of the two;

Success Mantra

Once in a lifetime opportunity is the life itself,
Make the maximum out of it, always thrive to excel.
Fed up of losing the battles, just don’t give up the fight,
Keep the desired destination always within your sight.

The path you choose might be very long and hard,
Just be careful as here you won’t get any wild card.
Keeping the faith in yourself can do the final trick,
Remember to take some rest in case you feel sick.

The mantra is not in just moving forward at a pace nonstop,
It is to plan everything beforehand to reap a fine crop.
With shear dedication you'll never let the fruits turn sour,
After losing all those petty battles, you'll win the final war.

I wrote these lines four years ago, on this very day, i.e. Jun 22, 2005. The reason I remember it is that I keyed them as a note in my new Nokia 6820 and the note carries the date. Sadly that means, I am still carrying the same old phone:(
Anyways, I recently found a collection of my childhood poems which I wrote when I was about 10 years old. I have mentioned it an earlier post too. There, I came across another poem, titled 'Life'.
These two poems have been written about a decade apart. In this period, the lines have gone longer and the words have grown stronger but both carry the same spirit, 'a struggle that is called life'. I'll sign off with the other one.

Life

The life is a see saw
Full of ups and downs
A moment to enjoy yourself
A moment to frown.

The life is a reality
Its not a fairy tale
Sometimes you'll succeed
Sometimes you'll fail.

The life is a war
You have to fight
Sometimes you may go wrong
Sometimes you may be right.

Image Courtesy:
http://www.makemovies.co.uk (edited)

Upon each shoulder lies the weight!

It can't be shirked, it can't be swayed..

Before reading this post, please read the previous, 'Aren't you just one of them?' because this is just an extension to what I 'penned' last time.
There was a reason why I asked you to introspect. The day I wrote this poem, I was having a discussion with a cousin. The topic was a common one; the falling standards of Indian polity and administration. On a fault-finding spree, he kept rattling one example after the other, all the time cursing the netas and the babus. Once he was done or rather when I was done(listening), I just asked him some simple questions. These (and some others) are the ones which I included in my poem later in the day.
Its very convenient for us to find scapegoats. Our polity and administration are the easiest ones, for the simple reason that they have hand in everything and that they deserve the backlash for anything going wrong. Just see how even I've turned critical. Its true that as citizens, we have the right to demand sincerity from our elected representatives and their executives. However, we should not forget that our polity and administration is just a reflection of our society and 'we' are the society.
When the 'Mumbai carnage' happened, we all were up against the polity. We were frustrated, we were agitated and we wanted accountability. The 'system' again failed us. Those who had been sent to represent us, again let us down.
We want tighter security. We want all the pores to be sealed but are we ready for it. Remember the last time you visited a multiplex and were frisked at the gate With time running out for the movie, how you asked the guard, "C'mon bhaiya! Do I look like a terrorist to you?" This is the very attitude of 'chalta hai' that we see so often in our bureaucracy. So you see from where it comes.
This may sound cliche, but who is being corrupt when on breaking a traffic rule, you prefer giving 50 bucks to the traffic hawaldar than accepting your mistake, letting him cut your challan and paying the due amount to the concerned authority.
I realize how easy it is for us to approach turpitude from virtuousness than the other way round. In New Delhi, where I stayed for half an year or so, I had to travel daily in the metro. Initially, I was in a habit of offering my seat to the aged and the ladies standing in the aisle. However, as time passed and I saw the depravity of my fellow passengers, I started hesitating in doing so. Though, I still had the courtesy to stand up for say, a pregnant lady or a frail looking elderly; but for each time doing so, I had to run a program in my mind to assess if the person fulfilled all the criteria to be showered with my chivalry. So from being a 'good boy', I became 'not so good boy'.
We have to learn to hold on to our virtues to ask others to do so. Here, I remember a story, one of my teacher in primary school told us. I am not sure if its true or not but definitely its quite effective. It goes something like this.
Once a person brought his son to Mahatma Gandhi and complained that he eats a lot of sugar. However, as he has a lot of regard for Mahatma, he might start resisting his temptation if Mahatma asks him to do so. However, Gandhiji asked them to come back after a couple of days. Even the next time they were returned to come back later. On the next visit, Gandhiji apologized to the person saying that he can't fulfill his simple wish as he himself has a sweet tooth. All these days he had been trying to resist but failed. So he has no moral right to ask the young one to do so.
So do we have the right to ask for accountability from our elected representatives? Yes, we do have the constitutional and legal right. However, we lose our moral right to do so by a fraction, every time we indulge in depravity and corruption. My questionnaire in the previous post must have helped you to gauge where you stand in this respect.
'Slumdog millionaire' might have disturbed us by showcasing our dirt and filth but remember we all have made a 'worthy' contribution in keeping our cities unclean. So only Government cannot be blamed for not providing enough safai-karamcharis, we all have to take the blame for it.
So next time you throw an empty wrapper out of the car window, you are also throwing a fraction of your moral right out with it. I have thrown out such fractions so many times that I've lost the count.
Moreover, now with the elections just round the corner, if you decide not to visit the polling booth, then you'll also be foregoing a big chunk of your constitutional and legal right.
So rather than being this monkey pointing fingers at others, it's better to be wholesome in ourselves. An effort can be made for sure.
These parting lines might strike a chord or two.

Upon each shoulder lies the weight!
It can’t be shirked, it can’t be swayed.
You’ll try that someone else falls prey,
For yourself, you'll search an easy way.
Today you might shut your eyes and say,
“Hey, let’s keep it for some other day!”
But how long will you keep it at bay?
For upon each shoulder lies the weight!
Those who realize it well in time,
Won't lose a penny or a single dime.
They’ll do it while others pretend and mime.
With shoulders feeling light and sublime,
They’ll hear the eternal satisfaction chime.
Don’t bother that next line doesn’t rhyme ;)
For upon each shoulder lies the weight!

Image Courtesy
http://superpowersthatbe.blogspot.com (original)

Aren't you just 'one of them'?

Let's see!

When was the first time, you told yourself

"No, no, no... not me! I am not one of them."

When was the last time you cautiously reaffirmed

"No, no... not me! I can not be one of them."

Can you stop snickering when a fat fella falls?

Don't you run to the bushes when in urgency nature calls?

Can you stop an eve teaser from making an obscene note?

Don't you prefer a drive when there's a day off to vote?

Can you stop jumping the queue when the time seems short?

Don't you love poking others but yourself easily get out of sorts?

Can you stop your bike to help a blind man cross?

Don't you use the roadside as a bin to throw your dross?

Can you stop gazing till the maid finally passes an angry glance?

Don't you keep sitting while the aged in the aisle changes her stance?

Can you stop breaking others' windows while playing evening cricket?

Don't you pay the cop some bucks to avoid an overspeeding ticket?

Can you stop scratching your back while standing for the anthem?

Don't you just need a lame pretext to create ruckus and mayhem?

If you have answered these sequentially, in yesses and nays,

Then congrats my friend! You indeed aren't one of them.

As for me, I realise 'O Lord', still some gap remains.

Till I fill this lacuna, I am doomed to be just one of them!

Image Courtesy
http://blog.lib.umn.edu and http://photography.nationalgeographic.com (edited)

"It was due to want of intelligence, somehow we moved in different ideological grooves"

Reflections of EL in the Mahatma and his protege

Here I discuss the glimpses of EL to be found in two personalities who, between themselves, steered Indian consciousness for nearly half a century(1915-1963). Their ideologies condition many minds till date, not just in India but world over. I am undoubtedely talking about Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru.
I take the liberty of quoting Gandhi once again, "Before we dare think of freedom we must be brave enough to love one another, to tolerate one another's religion, even prejudices and superstitions."
Here Gandhi has directly associated freedom or for that matter liberty with ones tolerance for the norms, values and cultures of others, be they superstitious and irrelevant in our eyes. The essence of liberty cannot be felt till we adopt an outlook of acceptance and tolerance. However, this never prevented Gandhi from starting the Harijan Movement, hence attacking the prejudices of upper caste Hindus. Here the prejudices of the so-called upper castes were negatively effecting the socio-economic condition of the lower castes, they being relegated to the periphery of the Hindu society and economy. One should be neutral to only those prejudices which are themselves neutral in nature. One can not accept a prejudice which has non-acceptance as its own foundation. Non-acceptance of the basic human rights of equality, equal opportunity and no discrimination on the basis of ones lineage, in the given case of Hindu society.
Nehru, a proponent of the socialist philosophy, writes in his autobiography, "It has been my privilege to be associated very closely with a large number of Congress leaders and workers, and I could not wish for a finer set of men and women. And yet I have differed from them on vital issues, and often I have felt a little weary at finding that they do not appreciate or understand something that seems to me quite obvious. It was due to want of intelligence, somehow we moved in different ideological grooves. I realized how difficult it is to cross these boundaries suddenly. They constitute different philosophies of life, and we grow into them gradually and unconsciously. It is futile to blame the other party. Socialism involves a certain psychological outlook on life and its problems. It is more than mere logic. So also are the other outlooks based on heredity, upbringing, the unseen influences of the past and our present environments. Only life itself with its bitter lessons forces us along new paths and ultimately, which is far harder, makes us think differently. Perhaps we may help a little in this process."
Nehru shows ones helplessness in choosing his/her ideology, outlook or value system. We may regard ourselves individualists but still our surroundings play a decisive role in conditioning our mindsets. There are few who are able to break the shackles of the norms and values, and hence think independently. However, even this independence is nothing but just fiction. As Nehru says, its not our intelligence but the lack of it that shapes our ideologies and make them different from others. It is the limitation on our part that we are not able to comprehend the ideologies of others. Hence the onus lies on an individual to remove the layers of indifference which gradually accumulate between us and open ones mind and intellect to polemics of others. Maybe through our receptivity, we can set an example for them too and the polemic gets moderated to a healthy discussion which goes on to fill that lacunae of our intelligence. Further moving on the steps of Nehru, I too acknowledge that it is not easy to bridge this gap. However, the try is worth it.

Image Courtesy
http://www.gymnyon.vd.ch (original)

Defining EL

A traditionalist/modernist debate

Empathic Libertarianism(EL) is a philosophy of mutual respect for the perspectives of our fellow beings and upholding(and executing) our own perspectives only till the extent that they do not tend to hurt others. If consciously or unconsciously we trespass, we should not complain about the retaliation. However, this retaliation by the person whose perspectives have been challenged should be lawful in a given unprejudiced political setting.
EL is a very general philosophy applicable to all socio-political and economic disputations. However, as said it is applicable in an unprejudiced political setting which according to me is the one upholding basic democratic principles.
I see an Empathic Libertarian(ELian) as the one who is a modernist and objective in his/her approach but at the same time compassionate enough to accommodate the traditionalists and their subjectivity. Hence an ELian is very close to the modernists(or liberals or objective-thinkers) but intentionally lags behind them to allow the traditionalists(or conservatives or subjective-thinkers) to catch up. An ELian is forward looking who wants to take everyone along. A traditionalist who accommodates the modernists cannot be an ELian because he/she shall pull the momentum backwards rather than forward.
Some may feel that 'accommodating everyone' and 'taking them all along' is more of a tactfulness, i.e., diplomacy of some kind. I'll like to make things more clear for them. Most of the times engaged in disputations over trivial issues are the so called liberals and conservatives. Liberals consider themselves to be 'open minded' and their adversaries as 'closed'. On the other hand, the conservatives see themselves as the ones holding together the threads of the past and the present to give a value-rich future. For them, their adversaries and their ideologies are just aberrations which must be removed for the common good. The fact is that both of them, 'closed' in their self-created confinements, are unable to see the perspectives of the other. Here comes the importance of an ELian who refuses to get incarcerated in these biased perceptions and try to make the best out of the two worlds.
Here I'll question the so-called 'open-minded' liberals that how can they think they are 'open'? By closing your ears, eyes and the mind to the polemics of the conservatives, aren't you showing the same stubbornness what you excuse them to exhibit so often.
Again talking of 'taking everyone along' does not imply that an ELian should conciliate and accommodate every perception and prejudice of the liberals and the conservatives. Liberals(or modernists) need to be criticized when they keep on moving forward, not allowing the conservatives(or traditionalists) to catch up. Similarly the conservatives(or traditionalists) need to be criticized when they tend to move backwards towards 'barbarism'.
Now coming onto objectivity, lets see its importance and the extent to which it should be applied.
Objectivity is a prerequisite for an empirical value-free judgment of any given situation. However, being objective is our 'subjective' choice. Similarly, clinging to one's values and seeing things through this subjective mesh is the choice of others. We all use our education and the values it imbibes into us to shape our perceptions. While someone gets an objective outlook towards the life, others remain subjective. Wisdom cannot be imparted through education. There are many who depend on traditional wisdom and hence tend to be subjective. As ELian one should try to impart in them, the modern value systems in order to help them keep up with the pace at which the world is moving. However, in doing so we must not look at their wisdom as something obsolete and hence something to be abhorred. It means a lot to them and we should be accommodating enough to allow for their subjectivity and restrain from hurting them. This world is large enough to accommodate people of all colors, races and creeds. Similarly our 'combined intellect' is large enough to accommodate all kinds of perceptions.
Mahatma Gandhi has said, "Before we dare think of freedom we must be brave enough to love one another, to tolerate one another's religion, even prejudices and superstitions."
Talking of Gandhiji, I am reminded to mention the kind of retaliation an ELian expects by the person whose perspectives have been challenged. As said, it should be lawful. Nothing better than the 'satyagrah' gifted by the Father of our Nation. One should find peaceful means to vent the anger against the injustice. But again as ELian, I wont subscribe to any kind of 'extreme' Gandhian satyagrah. However, without any second thought, I completely denounce the use of unwanted violence.
So Live and Let Live!!!

Image Courtesy
http://www.piedmontchurch.org (original)