chaotic order

The question of "What if" constantly haunts Man. He is probably the only creature endowed with this ability to imagine, introspect and extrapolate alternatives.  Questions like what if I had married John instead of Tom?, or what if I had accepted admission into Johnston college for a course in Literature instead of joining engineering at Livingstone, or what if I had said yes to Stephanie when she invited me to her Party and not go out with stag friends and got piss drunk? What if I was born to parents with an aristocratic lineage -  there are innumerable such trivial, vital and sometime life changing what-if's in our lives. More so, because we value chronological time very much, and pretty much look at ourselves through the prism of  time as measured by clocks and calendars. We are given to understand , or let me say, indoctrinated from childhood that our lives are to led in a linear manner, and what has happened today is irrevocably lost and buried in this inexorable m

Jottings: Slice of life... William Blake is better known for his Dionysian energy that filled his verses than for his sensitive poetical nuances. Unlike Keats, Shelley’s and Wordsworth’s who are read purely for aesthetic pleasure, Blake is read for sheer force of his mystical convictions. In his masterpiece “the marriage of heaven and Hell”, he writes: “ If the doors of perception were cleansed every thing would appear to man as it is, Infinite. For man has closed himself up, till he sees all things thro' narrow chinks of his cavern…” No contemplative philosopher, modern or medieval ,have escaped the power of sentences like these, and in the same vein, some of Blake’s ecstatic outpourings have also led to justifications of Drug use in the literature of modern thought. It was, Aldous Huxley - a thinker, novelist, and philosopher, I greatly admire, who wrote a pivotal slim volume in 1954 titled “The doors of perception” ( a title borrowed from Blake’s quote above) that more or le

If there is one thing that distinguishes modern times with our past generations, it is the abundance of choice we have in almost everything we do. From the time Adam Smith made a philosophically imperative case of "capitalism" in 1776 ( coincidental isn't it? with birth of America) with his Book "Wealth of nations"; industrialism, division of labor and specialization have literally usurped the laid-back attitude of common man exchanging goods. Earlier,He could only barter what he physically had with others who could give him what he essentially wanted. Since needs were less, choices were almost non-existent. And of course, they did not have to deal with a class of people called Marketeers or advertisers, whose only task to is to weave new needs where there is none and push people on to a "hedonic treadmill". For our ancestors, as long as their basic needs were satisfied, there was no grave psychological discontent. I don't think history even spea

Jottings: Slice of life Can we relate to somebody or something without the prism of opinion, Prejudices, social status, professional position or any of the other stereotypes of color, race and religion. It is worth a try. The immediate question that would assail us is : how can we live in society without such pigeon holing?. My answer would be " Have you tried it?" Such questions only arise as reactions from our deeply embedded habit of looking through solidified memory and therefore clouded perception through it. Think of it - Do we actually see, when we are in the act of seeing, Do we actually hear, when we are supposedly hearing. All that happens within is the constant chatter of interpretation of what is being seen or heard. We are, unfortunately, for the most part connected to each other only through our "idea" of each other, never the reality of the moment or the person. J Krishnamurti, often asked this question during his talks and dialogue " Can you

Jottings: Slice of life There was this quite beautiful girl during my college days - whom I cannot forget two reasons. One, she was good looking in a manner which could raise an eighteen year old's testosterone to palpable levels. She was our first infatuation ( I purposely use "ours" because there were many first year's who were pretty enamored by her looks). Two, she introduced me to the world of Ghazals during that crucial period when Jagjit and his wife Chitra were at the peak of their abilities, and singing soulful songs in a manner that could leave a young listener in a state of awe and hopeless romanticism. It is hard to believe that nearly 30 years have passed by since those adolescent days. If someone had told us then, that Jagjit and Chitra would stop singing together in 1990, or that Jagjit himself would be no more in couple of decades and Chitra would become a recluse hardly stepping out of her homely confinement, or that the poet Sudarshan Fakir ,wh

Jottings : Slice of life A question, or rather a topic that is commonly discussed when I am among American circle of friends is about "arranged marriages" and "marriage by choice". I cannot remember how many times well Meaning Westerners have asked me my opinion on this subject. It is one of those cultural traits that is difficult to accommodate, acquiesce and understand. For a conservative Indian, even today, the prospect of getting to choose his or her own life partner is still an act of defiance, no matter how much we proclaim our modernity or flaunt modern values. The adjustment may come later on, but initially there is always a reluctance by society to accept. We may argue things have changed , but all of us know, there is always a little small talk, few sneers, looks of disapproval lurking somewhere in the family or immediate social circle. On the other hand, For an American , the very idea of having a partner forced down their throat is unthinkable. It is

Jottings : Slice of life "Bill, there is a restful look on your face these days. Your body language is relaxed and you are smiling and laughing more..." Bill and I were having coffee in nearby Starbucks, after our workout. "thank you so much Bali ( that's how he calls me, for some reason he can never get the "a" right.. I have gotten used to it though) , your observation means a lot to me..." Here is what he recounted. "About six months ago,My wife and me joined a Zen Buddhistic retreat in Sanfrancisco. You know, I was absent from the Gym for about three weeks. Thats where we went. I am not sure what prompted us to make this trip, but my daughter in law is an avid reader of Buddhistic literature, and I chanced to lay my eyes on "Zen mind, Beginners mind" . The last year or so has been specially stressful with a lot of personal, professional things going around us, and somehow when I dipped into this book, it touched a deep chor