Once a young boy lived in a small island. It was a beautiful place with trees, a pond and a small hut. Every morning he would be awakened by the chirping of birds on the trees. He would feed the ducks in the pond and watch them swim for hours. He watered the trees everyday to keep them green. He was happy with his island until one day he saw another island far away with beautiful roses. He did not have any roses in his island. He looked ahead further and found another one with a long river and swans. He soon realized that there were many other islands far away, each having something unique about it that his island did not possess. He no longer enjoyed watering the trees and watching the ducks. He yearned for the distant lands. One night tired of watching the ducks in the pond he felt utterly depressed. He cursed god for having kept him confined to such a tiny island when there were so many other places to go. Thinking of the red roses, the river and the swans and so many other beautiful things in the other islands, he fell asleep.
The next morning when he woke up, he saw a ship parked at the shore. He was elated. He was no longer bound to his own tiny island. He was free to explore the distant lands. Before he could get to the boat, God appeared. Filled with gratitude, he thanked God for sending him the boat and giving him the freedom to choose where he wanted to go. "I have granted you your freedom all right, but your freedom has its own limits" replied the God. "The boat that you find here travels only in the forward direction. You can never bring this back to this place again".
He looked back at the blue pond and the trees. He would never get to drink the sweet water from the pond....nor would he get to climb the trees. He would not hear the chirping of the birds or watch the ducks swim ever. He wanted to stay a bit longer in his island before starting his journey. He urged God that he should be allowed to spend some more time in his island before commencing on his new journey since he was not ready yet. "The boat remains parked here. The choice is yours now" said the God and disappeared.
Every morning he would wake up to see the boat parked on the shore. He was reminded of the choice he had. He wanted to explore other places but at the same time was not willing to leave his island forever. The freedom that he yearned for once started tormenting him. He was unable to get rid of the constant stream of conflicting thoughts in his mind.
After years of indecisiveness he finally urged God to take the boat away. The next morning he woke up to find that the boat had disappeared. He sighed in relief. With new enthusiasm he watered the trees and fed the ducks. After a long time he again sat near the pond and watched the ducks swim for a long time.
Friday, March 5, 2010
Monday, January 25, 2010
Yet another discussion over Mars and Venus
In my younger years any argument with even a slight hint of gender bias carried a high potential to agitate me. I would vehemently argue as if the sole responsibility of saving the position of womankind rested on me. I still feel that the status of women in many regions of the world ranges from miserably bad to tolerably bad (of course, these definitions are purely my own). However, I take the discussions to disprove the superiority of men or prove the capabilities of women more as a pass time now. In true sense, I feel they are baseless. Men and women are different based on their natural roles in the process of evolution - Men being the bread earner and women the child bearer/nurturer.
Most people, with observation and statistical data, would agree that men are physically stronger than women in general. In my opinion this has been the primary reason why men have been able to suppress women and come up with various theories about the inferior nature of women through out history (more so in the olden times when physical strength was considered much more significant in the society). Some ancient philosophers claimed that women are less evolved form of human species; many were of the opinion that women should be kept under the surveillance and guidance of men. Some of the "enlightened" leaders of the past said that women are incapable of attaining the state of "nirvana" in their present lives. Although in modern society such thoughts are not openly expressed. In fact it is fashionable to project oneself to be gender neutral if not pro-women.
There are some theories and researches that also claim that women are intellectually inferior to men. It is scientifically observed that the average size of the brain of a woman is smaller or weigh less than the average size of the brain of a man (although it may not have a direct correlation with IQ). There are other differences observed between the male and female brains of humans as well. It is also statistically seen that substantially lesser number of women excel in higher education as compared to men and most of the high profile jobs are held by men. The reasons could be ascribed to social discrimination and the additional natural responsibilities taken by women. I leave the mental abilities of men and women open for a debate.
The differences between the two sexes (which I would like to believe is restricted to physical strength) have led to various gender discrimination and oppression of women. Although times are changing and men are taught to be more chivalrous (However modern society has its own biases. For example a "modern" woman frowns if a man chooses to go dutch on a date or eyebrows are raised when a woman picks up a glass full of whiskey instead of wine or campaign) My query is - Are the inequalities and suppression of women healthy for the society?
Considering a woman's well being, it most definitely will not be favored by the majority. What about the other half of the society? Let us consider what the men gain or loose from such an arrangement
A. Men gain more control over things as half the population looses its say. In turn they loose the support of the other half in decision making and many other productive activities by not equipping/educating them for such tasks.
B. Men gain more significance in the society and their lives are considered of higher value. This may ultimately result in imbalance in population and unhealthy competition to find a mate.
C. Men gain more power over women (or wives) which would result in their decisions being obeyed without any objection. And more importantly it would give them the power to fulfill their sexual needs even without the consent of the woman. They gain a sex object at the expense of a friend/companion with whom they can also share a mutually enjoyable physical intimacy.
Of course it is up to each to decide what would make a happy society that they may want to be a part of.
Most people, with observation and statistical data, would agree that men are physically stronger than women in general. In my opinion this has been the primary reason why men have been able to suppress women and come up with various theories about the inferior nature of women through out history (more so in the olden times when physical strength was considered much more significant in the society). Some ancient philosophers claimed that women are less evolved form of human species; many were of the opinion that women should be kept under the surveillance and guidance of men. Some of the "enlightened" leaders of the past said that women are incapable of attaining the state of "nirvana" in their present lives. Although in modern society such thoughts are not openly expressed. In fact it is fashionable to project oneself to be gender neutral if not pro-women.
There are some theories and researches that also claim that women are intellectually inferior to men. It is scientifically observed that the average size of the brain of a woman is smaller or weigh less than the average size of the brain of a man (although it may not have a direct correlation with IQ). There are other differences observed between the male and female brains of humans as well. It is also statistically seen that substantially lesser number of women excel in higher education as compared to men and most of the high profile jobs are held by men. The reasons could be ascribed to social discrimination and the additional natural responsibilities taken by women. I leave the mental abilities of men and women open for a debate.
The differences between the two sexes (which I would like to believe is restricted to physical strength) have led to various gender discrimination and oppression of women. Although times are changing and men are taught to be more chivalrous (However modern society has its own biases. For example a "modern" woman frowns if a man chooses to go dutch on a date or eyebrows are raised when a woman picks up a glass full of whiskey instead of wine or campaign) My query is - Are the inequalities and suppression of women healthy for the society?
Considering a woman's well being, it most definitely will not be favored by the majority. What about the other half of the society? Let us consider what the men gain or loose from such an arrangement
A. Men gain more control over things as half the population looses its say. In turn they loose the support of the other half in decision making and many other productive activities by not equipping/educating them for such tasks.
B. Men gain more significance in the society and their lives are considered of higher value. This may ultimately result in imbalance in population and unhealthy competition to find a mate.
C. Men gain more power over women (or wives) which would result in their decisions being obeyed without any objection. And more importantly it would give them the power to fulfill their sexual needs even without the consent of the woman. They gain a sex object at the expense of a friend/companion with whom they can also share a mutually enjoyable physical intimacy.
Of course it is up to each to decide what would make a happy society that they may want to be a part of.
Friday, January 8, 2010
Narcissus and Goldmund - By Hermann Hesse
A story about the two extremes that life can offer....A life of self control and a life of indulgence...However, the ultimate goal remains the same - to find the answers to the unanswered questions....to dig deeper into the mysteries of life....To find a way to live life (And that brings one to the question - is there any difference whatsoever?).
Narcissus, the ideal man....confident, strong willed, determined. Aware of the futility of the pursuits of life. Ready to give up everything to reach the very peak.
Goldmund on the other hand, following his heart (his instincts), doing exactly what he wishes to do , that his circumstances permit. Experiencing every bit of pleasure... pain...joy...sorrow.... ecstasy and misery that comes his way. He is no less capable of finding his way to the peak....or is he not?
One seems to be trapped between the two extremes....oscillating between the two, unable to reach any final destination.
Narcissus, the ideal man....confident, strong willed, determined. Aware of the futility of the pursuits of life. Ready to give up everything to reach the very peak.
Goldmund on the other hand, following his heart (his instincts), doing exactly what he wishes to do , that his circumstances permit. Experiencing every bit of pleasure... pain...joy...sorrow.... ecstasy and misery that comes his way. He is no less capable of finding his way to the peak....or is he not?
One seems to be trapped between the two extremes....oscillating between the two, unable to reach any final destination.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Some Illogical Thoughts
Standing at the backyard, looking at the hundreds of fish struggling to survive in a small water body accumulated due to heavy rain, my mom said, "I wonder why God had to create the world which has so much pain and struggle. I laughed it off and said, "if only God existed".
I consider my self to be a non believer. And yet sometimes I find myself asking the same question (in a different way, may be). "What was the necessity for the entire creation? The world with whatever pleasure it might provide, doesn't seem worth so much of pain and suffering". Such was my state of mind today when a female dog with her six puppies innocently looked at me as if wanting to know why I was supposed be to sleeping in a comfortable house while she along with her children stood drenched in the heavy rain? Because my species was more capable and did a better job in creating all the luxuries for itself. And among the members of my species I happen to be one of the more privileged ones.
The pain and the sufferings may not mean anything in the true sense of the universe....but it is still very real for me.
I consider my self to be a non believer. And yet sometimes I find myself asking the same question (in a different way, may be). "What was the necessity for the entire creation? The world with whatever pleasure it might provide, doesn't seem worth so much of pain and suffering". Such was my state of mind today when a female dog with her six puppies innocently looked at me as if wanting to know why I was supposed be to sleeping in a comfortable house while she along with her children stood drenched in the heavy rain? Because my species was more capable and did a better job in creating all the luxuries for itself. And among the members of my species I happen to be one of the more privileged ones.
The pain and the sufferings may not mean anything in the true sense of the universe....but it is still very real for me.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
The Software Engineer
It was six in the morning when the clock stretched out its arms to its fullest and the alarm promptly rang. It was a soothing tune unlike the typical harsh alarm tunes that used to wake him up during his student days. Nevertheless, he disliked it as much as ever. He quickly turned it off and decided to lie down for a while. Within no time the second alarm rang...this time it was harsher, to give a final warning that there was absolutely no time to waste!!
He woke up with a jerk cursing himself for sleeping for so long. He had an early meeting scheduled and was supposed to be in office in an hour's time. He quickly got ready, dumped his laptop in the car and grabbed a slice of pizza left from the previous night's dinner, to have it on the way and started from home.
It was the beginning of the week and as most Monday mornings would have it, he was not particularly in the best of his moods. "The ever prevailing monotony of my life and so painstakingly have I kept it alive....may be I don't know any other way of life ". He was contemplating his life which tiresomely followed the same pattern without any tangible deviation for years now. "And they talk about work life balance- do they even know what life is?" He cursed all the policy makers of the corporate world. Suddenly he remembered Abhinav - his college mate. Abhinav was the brighter of the two but had never started his career in Software. Instead he chose to be a school teacher. "If only I had chosen to teach like him". "I would have had all the time to spend with friends and more importantly with myself....and here I am almost lost, forgotten by all my friends and by my own self". "Or may be I could have continued with music, made a career in it...like Wilson did. He appears so passionate about music even after so many years. I may have a bulkier bank balance but it doesn't make me any happier".
Thinking of all the real and imaginary career avenues that he had closed on himself , he reached office. Most disinterestedly he wrote a few important mails, attended a couple of meetings, worked on the piece of work he was urgently supposed to finish and managed to grab a few cups of coffee and smoke in between. However he was still in a parallel world surrounded by friends, family and fans where he was everything but a software engineer. Finally He decided to pack his laptop and leave much earlier than his usual time.
"I cannot continue weaving the same pattern...I cant roll the same rock every day. I must bring in some change in my life...I must quit being a software engineer!!" he said to himself. He went home and took out his guitar which had rested in peace completely untouched and undisturbed for many years. He played the tunes that he had learnt long ago. But, the tunes sounded different from how they were meant to sound. He tried for a while but the guitar refused to create music the way he wanted it to. He gave it up and picked a thick book by Camus that he had bought when he was traveling for a business trip last month. He flicked through the pages but even the book failed to evoke any spark of interest in him. He finally switched on the television and browsed through all the channels available but didn't stop for more than a few minutes at any particular channel. It was only eight o clock, not even the time when he started from work on a normal day. He stared at the empty space for a while not able to decide what to do. "The rock has to fall down anyways, why bother about what rock I have chosen?", he concluded. Finally he took out a can of beer, opened his laptop and started working on the presentation he was supposed to give the day after. He worked up till midnight and emptied a few cans of beer till his eyes drooped. He fell on the bed and lay down with a smile....it wasn't such a bad night after all!!
He woke up with a jerk cursing himself for sleeping for so long. He had an early meeting scheduled and was supposed to be in office in an hour's time. He quickly got ready, dumped his laptop in the car and grabbed a slice of pizza left from the previous night's dinner, to have it on the way and started from home.
It was the beginning of the week and as most Monday mornings would have it, he was not particularly in the best of his moods. "The ever prevailing monotony of my life and so painstakingly have I kept it alive....may be I don't know any other way of life ". He was contemplating his life which tiresomely followed the same pattern without any tangible deviation for years now. "And they talk about work life balance- do they even know what life is?" He cursed all the policy makers of the corporate world. Suddenly he remembered Abhinav - his college mate. Abhinav was the brighter of the two but had never started his career in Software. Instead he chose to be a school teacher. "If only I had chosen to teach like him". "I would have had all the time to spend with friends and more importantly with myself....and here I am almost lost, forgotten by all my friends and by my own self". "Or may be I could have continued with music, made a career in it...like Wilson did. He appears so passionate about music even after so many years. I may have a bulkier bank balance but it doesn't make me any happier".
Thinking of all the real and imaginary career avenues that he had closed on himself , he reached office. Most disinterestedly he wrote a few important mails, attended a couple of meetings, worked on the piece of work he was urgently supposed to finish and managed to grab a few cups of coffee and smoke in between. However he was still in a parallel world surrounded by friends, family and fans where he was everything but a software engineer. Finally He decided to pack his laptop and leave much earlier than his usual time.
"I cannot continue weaving the same pattern...I cant roll the same rock every day. I must bring in some change in my life...I must quit being a software engineer!!" he said to himself. He went home and took out his guitar which had rested in peace completely untouched and undisturbed for many years. He played the tunes that he had learnt long ago. But, the tunes sounded different from how they were meant to sound. He tried for a while but the guitar refused to create music the way he wanted it to. He gave it up and picked a thick book by Camus that he had bought when he was traveling for a business trip last month. He flicked through the pages but even the book failed to evoke any spark of interest in him. He finally switched on the television and browsed through all the channels available but didn't stop for more than a few minutes at any particular channel. It was only eight o clock, not even the time when he started from work on a normal day. He stared at the empty space for a while not able to decide what to do. "The rock has to fall down anyways, why bother about what rock I have chosen?", he concluded. Finally he took out a can of beer, opened his laptop and started working on the presentation he was supposed to give the day after. He worked up till midnight and emptied a few cans of beer till his eyes drooped. He fell on the bed and lay down with a smile....it wasn't such a bad night after all!!
Monday, November 23, 2009
A Heavy Relief
She woke up with some discomfort, feeling a little heavy in the morning. After idling around for a while she stepped on the weighing machine, which was an integral part of her morning activities. She got a shock to see the machine indicate a number much higher than what it showed the previous day. She stepped down, not quite convinced with what she saw. She shook the weighing machine hard in an attempt to correct it and stepped on it again. Again the machine quickly crossed the number it was supposed to stop at and halted only at a much higher figure. She pushed the machine away and turned to the mirror expecting the mirror to defy the machine and reveal the truth. On the contrary the mirror quite complied with it as if they both had together decided to play this prank on her.
How on earth could she possibly grow so immense in a day? She recalled what she had the previous night. She had had the usual soup and salad that she was not particularly fond of, but found suitable to maintain her slim figure. She was so proud of her thin waist and made such efforts to maintain it and now with in a moment everything was lost. She had kept a check on her weight everyday religiously so that even a slight increase could be controlled in the following day's diet and exercise. And now it was almost impossible to do so with such an enormous increase in a day. She sat for a long time thinking about how it could have possibly happened and what could be done about it. Was she really awake or still dreaming? Or may be her mind was playing a trick on her....or had it been playing a trick all this while uptill now? Was she ever any different or was it just an illusion? Did anything really change last night? Questions kept ringing but there was no answer.
Feeling utterly dejected and completely hopeless, she stepped out of the house to grab some fresh air and relieve her mind of these thoughts. She walked aimlessly for a while and entered a restaurant on her way. She was in no mood to count her calories. She looked through the menu and stopped at an item in the section of ice creams, which said “Last time I ever saw my waist”. It was a triple sundae with chocolate and nuts. To go along with the insensitive joke played on her and to revive her sense of humor she decided to order the sundae, which was placed before her in no time. She savored the ice creme as never before. For the first time in many years she experienced a large Sundae without being burdened by the guilt and fear of adding calories. She enjoyed the ice creme till the last bit of it. She picked up the menu again and started checking the section of creme milk shakes. She was free to order anything from the menu now. She had nothing to loose, nothing to worry about - The calories did not matter any more!!
Sunday, November 15, 2009
An Upgrade
Much disappointed by their most complex creation so far, the Gods called for an immediate meeting. The design flaws of this creation had become undeniably evident. Once settled in a comfortable life, they got themselves busy with the absolutely unnecessary task of getting bored. And to overcome this boredom they completely overlooked the strict rules of self sustenance and procreation laid for them by the Gods. They started getting involved in self destructive activities to eradicate boredom and yet were seldom successful. As if this wasn't bad enough these creatures with their distorted state of mind, came up with ways to prevent procreation and got involved in futile sex for the sake of mere entertainment. Their minds had gone hay wired to the extent that they had started questioning the very purpose of what they were meant for.
Seeing the disastrous failure of their most ingenious design that they took pride in, the Gods realized that it was time to bring in the next version. After much consideration and arguments they settled down on the name "Zuzu" for their new creation. To avoid the inconvenience of being charged with breaking the copyright rules by their flawed creation and for the sake of originality, the Gods traveled back in time and coined the name.
The gods put in their best minds to work on this new creation. No single design flaw could be tolerated. For seven continuous days and nights they worked on this creation. Finally on the eighth day the Gods launched the "Zuzus".
This was the smartest creation ever to exist in the history of the Universe. With their high level of skill set and enormous intelligence it took them no time to create all favorable conditions for self sustenance.The main activities that this creature was involved were to to improve its ways of sustenance, to find better ways to energize itself and then to practice this task of re-energizing with food, sleep and physical exercise in the most optimum manner. This creature was involved in the act of sex only when a "Zuzu" expired in the family to create a new Zuzu and maintain a balance in population. The Zuzus did not waste any emotions on the Zuzus lost due to old age or in some rare case by some other disaster. In fact they almost never wasted any such emotions which negatively impacted their longevity. They were absolutely flawless and followed all the rules without any deviation. The most ingenuous enhancement was in the form of a button attached to each Zuzu. It gave these Zuzus the ability to turn off their minds when they were not busy with any of the activities meant for them and hence avoided the much dreaded boredom in their predecessors.
Seeing the disastrous failure of their most ingenious design that they took pride in, the Gods realized that it was time to bring in the next version. After much consideration and arguments they settled down on the name "Zuzu" for their new creation. To avoid the inconvenience of being charged with breaking the copyright rules by their flawed creation and for the sake of originality, the Gods traveled back in time and coined the name.
The gods put in their best minds to work on this new creation. No single design flaw could be tolerated. For seven continuous days and nights they worked on this creation. Finally on the eighth day the Gods launched the "Zuzus".
This was the smartest creation ever to exist in the history of the Universe. With their high level of skill set and enormous intelligence it took them no time to create all favorable conditions for self sustenance.The main activities that this creature was involved were to to improve its ways of sustenance, to find better ways to energize itself and then to practice this task of re-energizing with food, sleep and physical exercise in the most optimum manner. This creature was involved in the act of sex only when a "Zuzu" expired in the family to create a new Zuzu and maintain a balance in population. The Zuzus did not waste any emotions on the Zuzus lost due to old age or in some rare case by some other disaster. In fact they almost never wasted any such emotions which negatively impacted their longevity. They were absolutely flawless and followed all the rules without any deviation. The most ingenuous enhancement was in the form of a button attached to each Zuzu. It gave these Zuzus the ability to turn off their minds when they were not busy with any of the activities meant for them and hence avoided the much dreaded boredom in their predecessors.
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