Tuesday, December 16, 2008

I'll tell you what it means to be in Hell !!!!!

Since I question everything before I believe in it, I try to find reasonable facts to convince myself when I don't get my answers. Take the case of Hell for instance. Going by the religions it seems hell is one nasty place to be in. Nobody wants to go there because its made so infamous. Little kids are made to oblige their parents by threatening him about going to hell in his after life and explaining in greater details the pains heaped upon the souls of kids who donot comply their parents. Its quite an interesting subject to debate upon primarily because no one has absolute knowledge about it. No one has untill now confirmed that he has been to hell and back and so and so happened with him out there. It is kind of a magical place beyond the firmament, may be in some outer galaxy, even deep below your feets but no one knows. There is noone who can tell you how it feels to be in hell. If you are actually made to burn, given boiling water to drink, beaten to death, you don't know. 


Coming to my version of it. I am not making it more imaginary but trying to be realistic so that you can actually feel.  I believe, hell is here only. It exists around us, always. It exists in our lifetime and you don't have to die to know it. Think of the saddest time of your life untill now. It may be the loss of your beloved son, your father or mother whom you admired the most, loss of your spouse whom you loved the most, the break up, the job rejection. Think how miserable you become. Suddenly a wave of helplessness engulfs you. Suddenly your heart starts crying. Suddenly the walls become the movie screen and brain, the projector. A so called on the air movie starts which has no beginning and no end. The movie is out of sequence, sometimes its what happened and sometimes how beautiful it could have been if in existance. It doesn't necessarily demands one of your loved ones to be dead to feel this. You can feel the same if you only imagine what would happen if you wake up and find your only caring sister gone. You think of all the places where you will dearly miss your sibling and you feel terrible. If you are currently feeling the worst, I say, you are in hell now. See, this is my version of what it means to be in hell.

You suddenly rememeber the good times you spent with your girlfriend, you long for it, you can say you are in hell. You are 1000 miles away from your home and suddenly you miss your parents, you miss your hometown, you wish you were now in your city on a bike and you feel sad, you should know you just entered the hell. The hellish experience doesn't have any time nor magnitude. Its random. You may be a soldier and probably killed many of your kind because they were labeled your enemies. You come back home after the victory but it takes 3 days for you to pass over it, the thought of taking away lives just like that and creating widows and orphans, many homes ravaged in the process, many prisoners tortured, the cry of pain in your ears and your brain bursting of it. These 3 days are your 3 days stay in hell. Every moment you are reminded of the acts you have done and when you feel terrible, you know you are in hell. Even when you are a cold blooded assasin, you don't feel a thing when you kill people but when in the death bed, for a second you regret killing all those people, you had your share of hell. Even animals have their hell moments. Ever saw a cow lamenting the loss of her child, sitting in a corner, so still like death and silent like a chilly midnight? But tears find their way from the corner of her eyes into the dusty earth. The tears would merely disturb some dirt off the ground but it carried pain. Even elephants and lions have their moments. 

It seems that you can have your hell moments for any reason and thats true but they are particularly terrible when associated with death. Isn't it. When you think about the death of someone, you feel the moments. It is ironical that I am also associating hell with death but in completely different sense. I am talking about the death of others, who touched your life, and not your own death. 

Hell is a part of your life and not the afterlife. Infact may be this is hell-spending an eternity in painful memories. May be this life itself is hell or vice-versa if you think a good life is filled with bad memories or a painful hell with some good memories. So next time you yell "My life is hell !", make sure you understand what you said. When you curse "go to hell", that person is an atheist if he feels terrible, right there right then or a devout religious if he smiles and doesn't care because he thinks why to ruin the present life when the pain will be inflicted upon him in his after life and who cares ! 

Stumble Upon Toolbar

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Death

It's been common in various religious books that anything that is born has to die, anything that has a beginning has an end. Death is inevitable. Infact, the only veritable fact in the universe is the certainity of death. Even science till now is numb on this one.
It is normal to see life as being born, working, living and then wear and tear and finally die. Every single cell undergoes this life cycle.
Death is mysterious. Its time and place are highly capricious. I believe it is more closer to the pessimist than the optimist. It is fanciful to think od death as a stranger, a person unknown, one who doesn't talk, doesn't listen but only observes and waits. He is always with you like a shadow. He grows on your weakness and wastes on your streangth. He becomes visible on hopelessness but recedes into oblivion under hope. He is a friend or a foe but there is no escaping from death. Life and death go side by side. It is apt to see life as nothing but a fight with death, delay it to the maximum. When one is young and powerful he can keep it far away than when he is old and weak. One must realise the fact that sooner or later death will be onto him. One may question then, Why death? Why there exist anything terrible like death?
The answer is simple. There are more people in line to try their small stint in this world and they can't wait forever. You have been bestowed a life, use it as you wish but remember that you are not eternal. When you perish someone else will be born to take your place, your son may be, to do what he wishes to do with his life. Humans are like animals, live and die, have sex and wander, but with an uncanny difference of intelligence. We must realise why are we superior and whats my purpose with this. Afterwards, life is nothing but a quest for that purpose.
It is interesting to have a look at what various religions have to say on death. Although I am a Hindu but actually I am an atheist or more specifically, an agnostic. I don't take things for granted. The reason for my dual religion is because under the religion of atheistism I am to respect and honor other's beliefs. My agnostic beliefs strictly restrict myself to pounce on others and convert them to my religion. So my inner non-believer respects the Hindu outside. I am to protect my beliefs only when I am confronted with a danger of encroachment.
Coming to the concept of Death under various religions, lets start with Hinduism. The basic concept in Hinduism is the existence of a Universal soul (called the Brahmand). Every soul on Earth tries to unite with that universal Soul but there is a condition. One must fulfill his deeds in this world to be free and liberated from mortality. Hence the presence of another concept called rebirth. The human body is considered only the carrier of a soul. Think of it like this. Suppose a good Hindu dies, his soul (that is now free from the body) has now two ways to go, if his good deeds are insufficient it has to reborn, find another body and complete its quota or if it has done its part then it is finally freed from all fetters, liberated we say, it finds peace in the Brahmand. It is a common humor in Hinduism that when one is very much frustrated and pissed off with his/her life, he/she sighs "I must've done some sins in my past life that now I am born with this". Lol.
So here we see death as a mean to free one's soul. Its inevitable since the fate of the soul is predetermined and one has to die to decide the next course of action for his soul.
Coming to Islam. Well, what more can I say about this beautiful religion. It emphasises on only one thing, "There is only one God". It states that after a man dies he meets the creator. He is then described all his deeds he did in his life. He is rewarded to stay in the garden of bliss(heaven) where all kinds of fruits are produced and water flows under the feet if his deeds are pleasing to God or he may be put in Hell where he will burn forever and will be given boiling water to drink if he fails to follow the path of God. Since one can assume that a person will feel the burn and pain in hell or feel pleasure in heaven, one can say that Death is a stage in life, not the end of life. A point after which you meet the creator. A transitional phase from your mortal and immortal life. The condition of the immortal life depends upon the deeds one carries out in his mortal life. Hence Death is inevitable because the God has to take account of a person's performance. God will take anyone's life or grant life to anyone anytime he wishes.
Now focussing on Christianity. Well nothing much to say because the religion is very much similar to Islam in view of Death. It also supports the presence of soul. The concept of death here is actually a mixture of concept from Hinduism and Islam. It states that everyperson has soul and the human body is but a barrier. The flesh and blood are like the iron rods of prison cell entrapping the free soul. The soul is freed by death. What happens to the soul next is the same that's in Islam.
For an agnostic, death simply means a way to maintain balance in nature. Your body organs retire over a period of time and then die, the heart becomes weak and finally when it can no more push blood throughout the body, it stops and stops with it other organs. The body then decays, decomposes into the earth, from where it came. One has to die or else some other superior creature than him will destroy him. Its all about balance, balance that is automatically acheived. One event forces the occurance of another and death is like many other, one such event. But the beatiful thing about an agnostic is the belief in science. I'll consider void this inevitabity off death once science declares the discovery of elixir of life.
I am not aware of the same in other religion because of my ignorance but I am sure death has an important part in every religion and is finely justified of its inevitability.
Why then fear of something that is bound to happen? Why not be brave enough to accept it with grace? Like death, old age is inevitable. The whitening of hair is very very normal thing. I don't understand why people get crazy when they see a single white hair. Why men and women, alike, would dye their hair black? Is it to console oneself that you are still young? Just by dyeing ! If that is so, I can only regard this as foolishness, foolishness to the utter extreme. Can you avoid old age just by coloring your hair? Can you avoid death?Some people will dye for fashion but still thats a lame excuse. An excuse to hide the natural and give it colors. An excuse to run away from truth.
You can go on and on about death but still you feel incomplete. Its such a beauty in itself.
-----------------------D-E-A-T-H--------------------------------

Stumble Upon Toolbar

Some doses of philosophy to please

Few days ago I stmbled upon a nice tool that lets me stmble upon nice pages from internet. I was glad to see the results. I am not a usual surfing junky. I couldn't stand sitting more than 20-30 minutes before the internet. After my usual mail checking and orkutting I am desperate for something to keep me attached to the browser. After I got this tool I am glad I am spending more time on the cool interesting stuffs. It displays the pages from the categories that I specify. On one such occasion it displayed me a page containing some philosphical collections. I have till now completed about 8 of em. Here are my versions of the things that I read. Hope you like it.
I'll be putting more of such thoughts when I come across them.

Psychoanalysis:
when one's wishes are incompatible with his ego, hence his pretentions were preventing the wish to be expressed, it results in trauma. These pretentions of incompatible ego are the forces that hinder a person in remembering something. Concealed and repressed wishes sometimes are erupted through dreams.The person fell ill because imprisoned emotions underwent a series of abnormal changes. The mind has three state, normal conscious state, unconscious (spit personality) state and hypnoidal state. Emotional experiences in the hypnotic state is pathogenic because this state down't allow normal draining off of emotions. In this state when a person is described the symptom which causes a memory gap, an amnesia, and filling of this gap includes removal of the disease that caused the symptom.

Theory of Relativity (simplified):
The basic rule is that for two observers who are in relative motion with each other, everything else will be different but speed of light.For observers in different motions, it is a fact that they will experience the same laws (of mechanics).the concenpt of simultainity is relative. For one person the time lapse between two objects will be different for another person who is in a relative motion with respect to the first observer. For observers to experience same laws of physics in different time frame, they must use different space-time measurements, and this difference is inherent.If observer A carrying a yardstic and clock is travelling relative to observer B, the observer B would see a smaller stick and slow clock. If A's velocity is speed of light, the yardstick would disappear and clock would seem still for B. Einsteing considers the maximum limiting speed of an object to be speed of light.There are two basic laws in physics, law of conservation of energy and lay of conservation of mass. Theory of relativity combines both. A body receiving energy, gains mass and vice-versa. When a body moves faster, its mass increases so an object travelling at speed of light has infinite mass.

Theory of Natural Selection:
All life is a struggle for existence. If the creator had made all the animals perfoect for their environment then how come there are different creatures in similar environments and vice-versa. Species have arrived through natural selection and evolution. Like produces like. One characterstic is accompanies another like long limbs go with long necks, long haired animals have long horns etc. Animals develop new characters over time but natural selection preserves or discards them. Over time animals use or disuse some particular characterstics according to environment.
There is always struggle for life. This struggle maintains an average amount of each species and the climate also plays a major role in deciding this. If a tree produces say two seeds per year and each seed grows and produces two more then in 20 years the tree will be in millions. It doesn't matter if a fly produces 1000 eggs or another one produces 1. The climate and struggle
for life decides which one will live.
Natural selection is preservation of favourable variation and rejection of injurious variation. Deviation can occur through chance or conditions of life exposed to. Deviation due to climate is more pronounced in plants because they lack mobility. Each new form will tend to take the place of and also try to exterminate its less improved parent.
Every organic being is constantly endeavoring to increase its numbers. It will seize on the place of another inhabitant if it is superior than that.Morphology is the soul of natural selection. The hands of man for grasping, the wings of bat for flying, the flippers of whale for swimming, all are but one organ but gradually developed in form to serve some particular purpose.

Stumble Upon Toolbar

Thursday, June 19, 2008

There is nothing called Good or Bad

The concept of something being good or bad is only materialistic. It doesn't exist as such like rock, water, sky, trees, humans, animals etc. When you point to a rock, people around the globe will agree with you. Water here and everywhere is the same. You see a tiger and the world sees a tiger with you. But what you consider is good may not be the same for others. What you consider as bad and forbidden may not be the same for others. In-fact others may find it good and accepting.

To make you the thing more lucid let me tell you a recent incident that happened with my family.

We own a top floor flat in an apartment back home in Bhubaneswar. We have rented the flat since my mom got transfered to a place on the outskirt of bhubaneswar. One day I got a call from my mom who said that she had come to know of the apartment society authorities nod to construct a mobile tower on the rooftop of the apartment. She then explained to me all of it.

It so happened that the like every apartment, our's also has a society and there is a president and general secretary of the society who are responsible for the maintainence and upkeep of the apartment and fellow owners. Recently an upcoming mobile company approached the society for construction of a 1.5 tonne mobile tower on the rooftop and paying a rent per month for the same. The society president had circulated a notice asking about the reaction of owners on the same and found out that majority of the owners have no prejudice regarding the tower. So they gave their nod to the mobile company who stashed the steel struts on the roof and started laying out the earthing. While all these construction activities were going on on the roof, our tenant called my mom and informed her about the case. Mom was surprised as she was never apprised of the same. Mom then called me and asked how will the mobile tower affect us.

First of all, its a 1.5 tonne ponderous structure and the apartment is already 15 yrs old. A mobile tower of such magnitude is definitely going to affect the stability of the apartment. The average life of the building will reduce by 10-15 yrs. The building is already deteriorating and this tower would be a complete disaster.

Secondly, the mobile towers emit deleterious radiations. They impose severe health risks esp for pregnant women and senior citizens. Building a tower in the middle of a thriving city life is no less than a disaster.

Thirdly, the mobile tower would need a generator to power it 24hrs a day. The generator would be put in the rooftop also its also enormous putting an addition load of half ton on the building. Also the generator would be vibrating all the time and with it, the apartment. Imagine the safety threat from the apartment when it carries a 2 tonne weight on its head and all the time vibrating. The vibration would further reduce its life to another 5-8 yrs.

There were other issues also. We were all shocked as how could they allow this inspite of the severe life risks it confronts us with. Are the president and general secretary unaware of the repercussions? Isn't there anyone owner who is educated enough to assess the danger? More shocking was that none of the top floor owners were aware of the circulation and only came to know about it when they(mobile company) were punching holes in the roof. All the top floor owners decided to oppose the move vehemently. I flew down to Bhubaneswar for some days to assess the situation myself. I attended a meeting called by the society members to sort out the issues. I came to know a lot about the inside story of the case in that one meeting. Everything was already there and I just had to observe the people to know whats going on in their mind. The general secretary esp was strongly in favor of the construction and was repeatedly stating that they allowed the construction only after having the consent of the majority. Some people were just sitting idle. The mobile company's representative were mute spectators and only hoped that the constructions to go smoothly without roadblocks like us.
Well here's the inside story that I believe.
The mobile company saw a good move to stand a tower on our apartment chiefly because it was in the middle of the city and a very posh area. They approached the society authorities. The president may be reluctant. They then apprached the general seretary and must have paid him some money to become a supporter. He then persuaded the President. It may be true that he circulated a notice asking for consent of flat owners. The owners living in the lower floors must be apathetic towards the construction since they are not going to be affected directly and moreover they found a reduction in maintenance money a good deal and thereby gave their consent. Before the notice reach the top floor they already have the majority so they thought worthless to ask the rest who infact would actually be affected with the construction. Nothing much is left after you have the majority consent. Now we come into the picture and we don't allow the construction to go on so they are pissed off esp the general secretary who has already enjoyed the bribe and must now see to it that the tower is erected else he would have to cough up the money he took which is impossible for him.
Amid all these things I was constantly vexed by the thought that why someone would go ahead with the construction when it clearly seems fatal. It is a bad thing to do. But if it is a bad thing then why would any one do it. If I were in place of the general secretary I would not have done it then why did he do it. Then I came to realise a universal truth. There is nothing called a bad thing or good thing. What I consider is bad may be for one thing or the other , the general secretary believes is good thing. He has his own reasons and I have mine. My whole family thought its bad and general secretary's family thought it is good. The perception of what os good or bad varies with people to people. If suppose I beat you and you may think that beating someone is bad but if I think the same then why would I beat you in the first place and since I beat you that definitely suggest that I didn't consider it bad.
I may think that extortion is bad, the police may think the same, many others may think the same and I am sure a Don also thinks the same but still he does it. Why? Because he thinks it is good! If you were a gangster and you realise that killing and looting is bad then you are no more a gangster, right? Thats what makes people different.
Imagine the chaos it would bring. The superficial concept of good or bad. To eradicate such chaos, judiciary is created. The task of a judiciary is to distinguish between a good and a bad. The judiciary comes to a decision looking into various things like the repurcussions, the cause and result of an action.
well, thats the thing!

Stumble Upon Toolbar

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Women..........The most beautiful thing ever created

It would be hard to imagine a world without the creater. Woman, the one of its kind. We are blessed to have her around. They are in many forms, mother, sister, wife, daughter, friend. In every form they are no less than a mystery.

Woman, an epitome of beauty. Their eyes can never match ours, their breathtaking smile, their smooth cheeks and their hair making designs on their face, the face so glowing and so perfect. Their brows are so mischeiveous and forms any expression with so much ease. Their anger only enhances their beauty. I am no talking no nonsense. I have always been an admirer of beauty. I am always fascinated by it and no one else has ever intrigued me more than a woman's beauty. It is simply majestic.

It happened one night when I was going home in a auto and midway joined us a woman. She must be 26-27 yrs old she was beautiful. Her skin was gleaming in the night. Her hairs were dancing, kissing the winds and she was constantly tucking it behind her ears. Her eyes were dark and glancing the night outside the auto. All the time she was looking outside and I was captivated by her, looking at her all the time, admiring her. I wanted to kiss her, embrace her. Her nose was straight and perfectily suited her face, infact added to her beauty. Her ears were pierced and the ear-rings were teasing me. Her lips were the ultimate and were as if giving the finishing touch to a divine creation. Those luscious lips were dropping seduction. The finer cuts in the lips blended with the lipstick were a harmony. Oh My God! She was simply a goddess. I could never forget her face less spoken the best about her body. She exhibited vibes and yet she was silent, sober, calm. Thurr Thurr Thurr and the auto continues to thrumm.

I had to get down at my stop and I know how I regretted it.

It was not the first time that I have seen a creation like this but this one remained persistent. I cannot recollect other such encounters but I am sure I have seen many damsels before. Everytime I see one, I could only ponder about their existence, their beauty. Ah! what a thing!

Their beauty is not restricted by race. Women across the world are beautiful whether its japanese, Americans or Indians. Women serve special purpose in the world. They are meant to be calm, delicate, soft and in return were bestowed beauty. The men were meant to be strong, aggressive to protect the women and their beauty. This is the law of the nature. Everyone has its share of place under the sun. Noone intrudes on other's territory. Men and women were meant to live in harmony.

I have always respected women. I have high regards for them. I admire them from the core of my heart and I like them. One of the reason being the pain they endure throughout their life. Beginning at the puberty till 50 they undergo periods. Its painful, dirty, and monthly. It makes me wonder why the prettiest thing in the world anathematized to this. In India esp, the women are molested more than anywhere else. People don't want girl child owing to an absurd belief that women are burden on the family and its only that a male will be able to support them in their old ages. Its bizarre to note that whats actually happening is antithesis to what they believe. But inspite of that, killing of girl child is more prevalent in Indian villages.
One must feel lucky if she is a girl and she is alive, has got parents. But its not over yet. As soon as she grows into a teenager, she is put into restrictions. She can't be outside late in the evening, she must have an escort wherever she goes, she can't afford to be caught talking to a boy of her age (else she is dead), she has to learn the cooking and household choirs. She is constantly under tremendous fear of rape, the most dreaded antisocial act in the society and born because of males. One can harldy imagine in a state of being raped or worse, gang raped. How terrible! The males must feel lucky that they are not born as girls. They should put themselves into a girl's shoes. Then only will one learn that the society is such a bad place for women. I am reflecting about the Indian society.

It would be better not to mention the agonies felt by the rape victim. The problems are not over even if you abide by the safety rules. Another biggest challenge in India for women is marriage. Rarely the love affairs culminate into tying the knots. In most of the cases there comes the caste barrier, social status barrier, religion barrier. The boy is threatened by the relatives of the girl, murdered sometimes, in some cases they don't even spare the girl, called honor killing.

Such problems are very commonly seen in Indian villages. The people are full of orthodoxy. They are rude and barbarians. They would blame the girl if some other caste boy is in love with her and she loves him. They would rescind their marriage plea. The panchayat would pronounce a punishment for the girl which would include rape by panchayat members, then paraded nude throughout the village and finally burned or drowned. The women is always the unfortunate victim of fight between two adversaries. The common way to inflict pain and terror into the enemy camp is to rape their women. Being born as a girl in an Indian village is the last thing you would wish for.

Few months back I had read an article about the torture inflicted upon a family in a village in India where two families were involved in a fight over properties. Members of one of the family attacked the other, raped their women (the men were not at home), beat them with iron rods mercilessly and killed them. They then dumped the dead bodies in a canal. When the bodies were recovered, the most horrible thing was that the iron rods were thrushed into their vaginas. The mere thought of it would send shiver down your spine but think of the ones who actually endured the act.

Don't think the misery is over even if you escaped all these and you are well settled into married life. Then comes the ugly face of dowry. We Indians are particularly infamous for this. I abhor the dowry seekers. They are such a waste. They are no better than beggars. If the girl comes from not so affluent family, her married life is doomed. She will be beaten, harrassed daily by her inlaws sometimes even burned to death. They treat women as if they are the waste on this Earth. Pathetic. One of the strongest reason for me adoring the western life and regretting being born in India is because of the ugly society that is so much inclined towards the males and inferior towards women.

One place where women edge men is motherhood. It must feel completely different giving birth to life. For them the years of suffering is nothing in front of motherhood. I feel the blessing of motherhood cannot commensurate their pain in India. If the new born is a girl, it becomes a curse. But I agree that it is they that make us fathers. We can never really know a mother's pain, emotions, feelings. We boys can roam around the city in the night without fear, we can be half naked and not be ashamed, we can lift gargantuan objects, we can fight people and animals alike, we can undertake the most daring adventure alone, we can pee at the walls or tree trunks, we can travel in jam packed buses and trains and not worry whose hand is on my shoulder or whose leg is on my lap, we can not be afraid of being raped, we don't have to undergo the pain of periods and labor, we may be strong, daring and manly, we cannot be worried about our exposure of innerwears and there are countless other things we can do and we don't need to worry but we can never become a mother. We can never feel like being a mother. We can never produce life alone.

One must understand the purpose behind the creation of female. We both may be different in our behaviour but we deserve equality. Men must pay respect to women and pledge to protect them and women must help men in areas where they fail. The universe demands this coordination. We humans only differ esp males.

Stumble Upon Toolbar

Monday, May 19, 2008

Science vs God and the Education system

I passed my 11th with not much exciting marks and study for 12th was just routine to pass the board exam with good marks. Although I secured handsome marks but I never understood what I studied most of the time or so to say, my knowledge about the subjects were superficial. I was contend to study the way that would fetch me good marks and I never really studied.

The ramifications were clear. I didn't qualify in entrance exams and my dreams were shattered. I had a passion to study in IITs or atleast from an NIT.

I dropped one year for preparation and during that one year I came mighty close to science esp physics. I was amazed by it. The reasonings for the various phenomenons were simply beautiful. Soon, physics became my favorite subject and it still is. Its such a fascinating subject, purely science and nothing farce and whimsical. I loved solving mechanics problems using logic. Those were my happy days. I enjoyed it to the core of my heart. Soon, I started to see everything from the perspective of science. Whatever was happening around me, I would always try to put my explanations using my little knowledge of science.

The biggest effect of science on me was that it made me question everything. I wouldn't believe anything if I am not convinced of its existence according to the theories of science. That made me question the existence of God. People would say Sun is a God but I see it as a star. The life, just a complex set of metabolic process undergoing. Everything they said is God, I found it one or the other product of science. And why not, I have valid explanations. They say Sun is God since it has energy, light and I would say it because of fusion reaction going in there. Scientists have used the same techniques to produce the same energy in laboratories. Am I false.

I am not totally against the belief of God but I must be convinced of its existence. Why do people always look at sky for God when the same people say God is everywhere. Isn't that contradictory? Why believe on something that cannot be proved. Isn't it foolishness? Yeah, you have found an easy scapegoat to put your blames onto, attribute your success into. Anything goes wrong and you blame God. You succeed and praise and thank God. You have prepared well for the exam but still you are temerious and pray God. Even some people are there who don't prepare anything and pray God to have mercy on them. Poor chaps. I pity them. Rise above God. For sometime assume there is no God and life will be the same as before.

In the same line, I have grown an attitude to defy everything that seems bogus to me. For instance people won't cross the road because a black cat did it before them. In that case I would be more than happy to cross it and show to others(and me also) that its fine. If someone would say that we shouldn't do this or that, that would tempt me more to do it. For the past 8 yrs, I have been an atheist and I am still going strong. No problem yet ! Life is normal. See!

As I have already stated in my previous postings that if anything is so mysterious to be regarded as Godly, just give science some time.



I have always valued quality education. Although its very abstract concept but we can hope to get it from quality institutions. For me the quality educational institutes were few namely the IITs, NITs and some other few ones like IT-BHU, ISM, etc. I praise highly those people who study there because only the bests get to there. Not only does they possess brilliance but they are passionate, persistent, hard working and above all one among a few and few among a many. I knew I belong to those so I had to get into one of those. I could have easily got into some reputed private colleges (who don't value knowledge but money) in the first place but I refused. I ain't like just another rotten piece of shit on the earth. I am different. I tried and one year later I showed all of 'em what I am.

While on my summer training I met 2 girls, both studying in local private college. After few meetings I could know one of them is quite intelligent. I asked why in a private not so good college. She said she didn't had the patience to prepare one year. Why being so complacent? If you are good, just prove to yourself that you are good atleast. I said to her 'Yeah, then you definitely deserve to be in one of those pvt. colleges'.

The mere mention of my college brings respect to me from the listener and I am proud to announce my college. Because everyone knows about it. It is not some local private college that the outsiders have no idea about. It will pass as just another XYZ college to them. For me, hearing my college name, they look at me with a feeling of appreciation and I gladly accept that. The important thing is I am proud to tell my college name, I am proud of myself.

I always advice to my intelligent younger brothers and sisters to choose the institution wisely. A good reputed institute goes far away in shaping a career. Take it from me, it helps alot esp in case of future job or Higher studies. In IITs, the perofessors there have strong personal ties with professors of US universities. Once you decide to persue your MS from US, you can always count on your favorite faculties to deliver you a splendid recommendation letter and the corresponding US counterpart is well aware of the name. In private colleges the faculties are not at all known to anyone else outside so no one values them.
My experience in NIT were awesome. I lived my best 4 yrs of life in NIT. The hostel life was so much full of excitement, freedom and it was bustling with activities. The teachers were average. The first year teachers were the worst. But I am not complaning because its the same problem everywhere. The department faculties were nice and knowledgable. Their teaching was lacking in motivation and innovation. The assignments given were soporific, not at all helpful for later life. In US on the other hand, the Operating system faculty would give an assignment of making your own OS, your own File System, device own searching sorting algorithms etc. Such assignments later on become Linux, Google. But I am still not complaining because this is not America. I only suggest that the whole Indian Educational System needs a revamp. There are many areas of amelioration. The first step would be the awareness in the teachers so that they know what and how to teach.
In places like Delhi, one has a wide range of choice regarding hie education after 12th. I was surprised to see the courses offered by the DU like graduation course in Music, Drama, Economics, English, and many more. It is even more surprising that there are great demands for the seats. In places far far away from Delhi like the not so developed Bhubaneswar (from where I belong) a student after 12 has mainly 3 choices, Engg, Doctor or business. After 10th there are only 3 choices, Science, Commerce and Arts. If you select science then after 12th you can either be an Engg or a Doctor. If commerce then after 12th you only have a BCom then MBA as a career. You then get employed in some banks etc. If Arts, then the only profession for you is teachership after you have done some MSc, PhD. And that sums it all. In Delhi you can have a career starting from a journalist to a translator, advisor to architect.

Stumble Upon Toolbar

Thursday, May 15, 2008

The American life

In India many people abhor the western lifestyle mainly because they are scantily clad, are very frank with sex, have no sympathy for the parents etc. I differ on this.
The most beautiful thing about the American life is that the people are independent. They separate from their families at 18 and start their own life their own way. I have heard from the NRI's that the young life in America is fantastic, lively and full of adventure and challenge. The old age on the other hand is very dull and lonely. Of course there are some negative points of separating from family and one such is the loneliness in the old age. On that aspect, we Indians perform better. In my opinion the perfect lifestyle is a blend of the two. The young life should be like American and the old age like Indian.
The biggest perk you have on living an independent life is that you get to do things that you like. You get to choose the profession you want to be in. The life is adventurous, free from any family tensions and bondings. You are free to do anything, no strings attached. Few days back I read an article about an English guy promoting the 'Freeconomics' culture by undertaking an expedition on foot from London to Porbandar (India), the birth place of Mahatma Gandhi, his idol. The mere thought of the journey would excite you to the limits. Such people make history. Other similar examples include Che Guevara and his motorcycle trip throughout latin America, Robert Pirsig and his famous motorcycle trip set alive in 'Zen and the art of motorcycle maintainence'.There's life has a meaning. Atleast when they die, they can say they did something that was completely extraordinary. The 'Freeconomics' guy did travelled for 3 months after which he faced numerous problems and had to abort it. The freeconomics culture assumes the absence of money from the world, the root cause of all problems. The guy would ask for some gardening or domestic tasks in return for food.
The main idea is that once you are independent you take on bold challenges. You do something thats totally different. In India, if you plan on an adventure like this, your parents (with whom you'd be living) would label you insane. They will discourage you. They will describe the horrible ramifications of the adventure, they will blackmail you emotionally. They'll never leave you alone for fear of you leaving secretely. They will instead lure you with countless other things and will try every bit to deter you. Although this may be an exaggeration but this is more or less the truth.
The same case applies to choosing profession also. In the spiderman movie when Peter is asked what he plans to do, he says he'll try photography. He then struggles to make ends meet but since he liked photography, he remained a photographer. The biggest thing is that he choosed something he liked. In India on the other hand the kid does everything as his/ her parents wants him/her to do. Someone who couldn't become an IAS officer dreams of making his kid one, the less said the better about the ordeal his kid is about to undergo. In other words, Indian children are merely the tools through which parents get their pleasure.The parents seems to fulfil their wishes and dreams through their kids and put little concern on their kid's choice. The children is put into a school or college as his parents choice. The kid is admitted into a course according to what his parents think is right for him. The teenegers are made so dependent by 18, they can't even think of living an independent life, doing something of their own choice. The kids are admitted to singing dancing class, musical class, sports coaching class only because his parents want him to become a singer, dancer, sportsperson in future. I have especially seen talented girls being admitted to BSc, BCom and other not so prosperous educational field just because of their parent's wish. Its killing. The teenagers are so much manipulated , they tend to opt for things that has little to do with their own interest and more concerned about their parent's wish and well being. People tend to take jobs just because it pays you more so that you'll be able to afford the rising doemstic bills, support family members and not because you like the job.
This is just my personal beliefs. I don't want to depress the Indians nor cheer the Americans. I personnaly believe the teenagers must be given ample freedom in choosing their own stream, profession and even life partners. They should come to the parents only when they feel the need and the parents must feel happy to guide them as to what is good and whats bad and completely detest from enforcing anything on them.

Stumble Upon Toolbar

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

people are filled with anger

Ever experienced a road side uproar just because you touched another's car with your bike or bycycle? Ever surprised what did you do to raise a storm in a tea cup? Why the other guy got so angry and for what reason?
I have been a witness to a lot of such incidents and have been involved in a lot. I have also given rough treatments to many drivers or pedestrians myself. I never sat down and analysed why was I angry.
In the movie MunnaBhai MBBS I got my answers. There was a scene where a pick-pocket is caught red-handed by Sunil Dutt and when the people near by knew about it they started bitting the pick-pocket mercilessly. Sunil then rescues the culprit and gives him a choice to either earn money by hardwork or get beaten by the mob. The people here are very angry for one reason or the other. Someone is very upset for his wife, someone is angry over his kids for not listening to him, someone is angry over his boss for overwork and tirades, someone is frustrated for his money problems, someone is angry on his parents, someone is not getting a job. All the people are angry and they are looking for reasons to burst out. They find a thief and beat to soothe themselves for a moment. They get pleasure out of it. They are not beating the thief for his act but for their own failures in life.
The explanation is so rational, isn't it? Everyone is having problems and so everyone is angry all the time. This morning when I was on my way to the office, my auto driver got a scolding from two bycyclists one after another. The second cyclist was burning with ire. His eyes were breathing fire and less said the better about his language. In either of the case I didn't find the auto driver deserving this. He had merely touched the cycle and in the first cycle case, even he was surprised as to what went wrong that the guy is scolding him. The driver also retaliated with even more harsh language only to prove me that he is in deeper trouble than the cyclists.
I was also witness to two other accidents and the aftereffects. In one case my auto tried to take the wrong lane to avoid a jam and consequently got hit by a biker (in full speed) who was taken aback by the intrusion. The bike rammed into the auto. The biker came out clean miraculously only to beat the auto driver with his helmet like a cattle. His actions were obviously provoked by the auto driver's fault but was increased manifold because of his personal problems. Isn't it?
In another case, my auto driver was taking the right side of the road when already there was a bike and the bike budged the auto by a whisker. The biker then stopped the auto mid-way and the moment he came near to the auto driver, he started slapping him hard and bitting him with his helmet and helping him in the fight was his company in the bike. He was constantly asking for his papers and slapping him in between when he would see the cheek defenseless.
Next time you fall in trouble, take my advice and just be calm. Your actions would only aggravate the opponents'. Its not the issue of whos' domestic problem is more serious or who is more angry and frustrated with his life but to resolve the trouble in hand.
cheers to life!
kundan das

Stumble Upon Toolbar

Tuesday, May 6, 2008

some more passing thoughts...

Continuing on the passing thoughts series.....
This time I would like to discuss what should a human life be. I know this is a very complex matter to comment upon but I would take my chance. This would just reflect my ideas and it may be too much away from some other people's beliefs.
We humans are born special. We are special and unique in our own ways. We are superior to many regardless of our size. We have survived thorugh many mireful periods. We have conquered everything beyond our imagination and range. We are unmatched in the whole universe. Here I am happy to neglect the fact that life may be present in outer space and apt is the Calvin Hobbes's comment "The sure proof of existence of intelligent life in outer space is that they have never tried to contact us". Wow!
But apart from the victories and uniqueness, the question is why are we humans??????
We have the unmatched power of understanding and analysing, making decisions. We can sense the importance of life. How valuable it is? We can regard life as something. An insect has no regard of its life. For it, its simply feeding and living its days. Nothing special in it. But we are not insects. We know whats a success and whats a failure. For us, life is not just feeding and waiting for death.
For me life is a chance given to you. The only chance. You have been bestowed with a brain to understand the importance of the time of your life. You have been given the power to analyse what did u achieve and what u lack, what you should be doing in your life. A life is very very precious. You fabricate ambitions and plan to achieve then within your lifetime. I absolutely don't believe on life after death, theory of 7 lives, heaven and hell bla bla bla. For me, after death you just dicompose and thats it. End of your emotions, ambitions, mobility. Its foolish to make plans for your second life, do good deeds now just to land on heaven after death. What absurdity!

With life comes death also. And thats another interesting part of life, infact the last of life. The mere presence of death itself signifies your clock is ticking. You have limited time to enjoy your life and do everything you can lay your hands on. I mean everything, everything that you want to do, everything that you want to enjoy and remember it throughout your lifetime and also afterwards if you do believe in it. I view my life as one such thing. I have no idea of my lifetime as death is uncertain (thats another inetersting thing I would talk later) but I know I am alive now and now is what I have got. I should make the best use of it. I should make my life full of substance and not merely job, then eat and sleep, next morning to job again and this cycle repeats till you are 60. What the Hell ! After 60, your enthusiasm dies with your hairs.
I believe every second of your life should be meaningful, purposeful. I am very much inspired by travel autobiographies like "The motorcycle diaries", "Zen and the art of motorcycle". Their (the authors) life is atleast something special. They did something extraordinary atleast not boring like me, morning 9 to evening 9 in the office doing something I don't like, go home, eat then sleep, come to office the next morning. What a monotonous life, the worst one I guess. I admit I am frustrated to the extreme, but this realisation is like a spark inside me waiting to cause an explosion. This realisation of life itself fuels me more and more to do something of my choice, to do everything of my choice like travelling, writting, painting, paragliding, skydiving, trekking and the list is endless. The world is a very beautiful place to live in. There are so many pulchritudinous places to explore. You'll be amazed at their beauty. You'll feel the blessing that you are not born blind. I always long for such feelings. I must feel my existence. I must feel the boon that every organ of mine is in perfect condition. Everything that makes me realise I am blessed with eyes, ears, nose, limbs.........everything. I know I am being too much ambitious but may be its just a matter of time.
I want to do everything thats in the world in this short time that I have. Else my life is a waste. Doing everything is a challenge. Your life is worth it atleast if you are doing what you wanted to do like fulfiling your dreams even if you can't afford to taste countless other exciting things. For me that would be being a good teacher, doing good for the country or countrymen, conserving energy, eradicationg poverty and many more things.
Have to sign out.........but will continue on the same
kundan das

Stumble Upon Toolbar

about passing thoughts..........

The human brain is a very complex thing. There are myriad cells working in a very intricate way. They create illusions, dreams, memory, decisions, understandings. I read it somewhere that the most genius human on earth uses less than 1% (somewhere around 0.6)of the mind to its capacity. I wonder how much more is in store. So many unexplored areas. It also makes me question the authencity of the statement (about the mind's use). The guy who made the comment must have a fair idea about the 100% of human mind and thats strange. Anyways , we are digressing from the main subject.
The point to notice is the fascinating side of human brain. The humans are so special on earth and the universe esp for their brain. Its size is way beyond the comparision with an elephant which only buttresses the fact that size doesn't always matter. Without a intelligent brain, we are no good than an insect whose life has no purpose than to be born, to feed and then to die, thats it! What an injustice to life!
Although the insect understands what a life is and how important it is. Thats why it never approaches the fire, knows his enemy, and avoids anything that may cause pain to him/her. That brings us again to comment on the authencity of the statement I just made. I stated that an insect avoids the hostile places because he fears for his life like we do but what if I say its just to avoid pain. A sense of pain is inherent in every organism and everyone tries to avoid things that may cause pain. In this case I think it better to attribe the cause to the insect's fear for life than pain, because it looks more sober (atleast for the insect) and rest the concerns.
The brain differentiates us from the insect. I am fortunate that I am born as a human and not like a cow or a dog or a crawling insect. Thats the biggest reason I celebrate my birthday. But then it again raises a bold question in my mind, Whats the reason? Why I am born as a human? Whats my purpose? and so on
The answers to some of our questions cannot be answered because the science has not reached its peak. Yeah I said science and not God because I have partial beliefs in the existence of God. Blame it on my education but my study of science has always compelled me to accept only if I have reasons good enough and that too it must be valid, like I can prove it similar to a theorem (in maths or physics) or formula (physics) etc. Many people around me have serious faiths in God and I don't question their faith. In-fact I am always open to accept God but before that I must be convinced of its existence. Merely saying that there exists a supernatural force in the skies (and why not in the underground or in the trees?) and he is the supreme and bla bla bla as if God is always there for your blames. You fail in anything, blame it on something non-existent. Easy! Just like you fail in an exam and then blame it on fate (again a big question mark like God) or God and never look back and see if you never studied.
Many many years ago, when science was absent on earth, or atleast not developed to the extent it is now, people used to revere moon, sun, stars. Now we know whats the moon, what drives sun and what makes the starts twinkle, thanks to science. The same humans have now put their foot on moon which sometime back was a God. So, you see?
Anything thats God is merely an object sometime in the future. You just have to wait and let science do the talking. I have strong faith in science because the explanations to events are meaningful and rational, at least believable and not something bogus like God on which many more questions can be raised. People may argument that God breathes life in a cell, something on which science is silent but to those people I can only say to wait a few more years till science comes out with artificial life (a robot is life in the making).
Ok! leave it . this blog is mainly created to give my brain some rest from these passing thoughts. These are very valuable to me. I will further the thoughts in subsequent entries.
signing out'
cheers!
kundan das

Stumble Upon Toolbar