One has heard this proverb, ad nauseum; (especially if one is 30+ and has hence studied languages in the old-school fashion!) : PRIDE GOES BEFORE A FALL!
Does it really?!
Okay, there is a humbling process, no doubt, which may bring us down to earth, literally and figuratively speaking, for the duration of the fall and its negative after-math, if any!
Then, the self-preservation / survival instinct of this manav-jati called homo sapiens, rightly takes over to reclaim the sense of self-esteem/identity, so essential for being the 'progressive' human!
Okay, vain pride goes out of the window/head! certainly! but there is a deeper inner sense of self-worth; that never goes!
even after multiple falls! what was it that made King Bruce, TRY, TRY AND TRY AGAIN. Okay, apparently, the spider who kept at it! but deeper cause/s? the need to remain exalted in one's own eyes! Why did Abe Lincoln file his election papers for a 17th time, even though he had lost the earlier 16 times?!
What makes Sachin Tendulkar tick even today, 18 years on, and come back with a ferocity which not many youngsters can match (ask Yuvaraj for one! who apparently has no pride in his chosen craft, since he has reserved it for bird-catching only, it looks like! ) in its intensity and enduring charm/impact.
So, don't get put off by such cliches! Dig deep inside yourself (that's used figuratively, of course, aajkal sab cheezon ka double entendre log samajh sakte hain na?!) and look for that flicker/spark/small dissenting voice/angst/'never-give-up' kernel of inspiration!
and then you are the indefatigable one! beaten, maybe; fallen, maybe; many times, but NEVER DEFEATED!
PEOPLE CAN BEAT YOU BUT NOBODY CAN DEFEAT YOU UNLESS YOU ALLOW YOURSELF TO BE!
So, let the positive pride/sense of the self, flourish in a healthy manner and quietly let the danube of resolve flow, in your life! NOT ONLY PERSISTENCE BUT POSITIVE INNER-PRIDE (what Ayn rand, so eloquently describes as egoism and not egotism!) ALSO PAYS!
Ting, ti ding ti ding!
Jai ho!
Govinda aala re, aala, zaara matki sambhal brijbaala! (in case you are wondering, this song has no relevance to the above post, other than an expression of the author's happiness at this positive post!)
Kehte hain mujko MAVERICK-SHAMAAN!
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Monday, January 21, 2008
Oonce Log, neechi pasand! aajkal adhikaansh manav to chant hain!
Dear Friends,
Am back! a couple of days late! it is my intention to blog, only once a week! so, you can expect a post, each saturday!
the title? RAB? (rings a bell?!).
Of course, it is a take-off on the manikchand gutkha ad.! : oonche log, oonchi pasand! manikchand!
On a more sombre note, I wonder where have the following words gone?!
1). Shistachar.
2). Sanskar.
3). Maryada.
4). Guni.
5). Niswartha bhavna/prem...
6). Lajja/sharm/maan....
well, i hope to finish the blog, later today, but i leave you with a provoking thought :
Why did cultured society/civilization criticize devdasis/veishyas/prostitutes, so much? Or for that matters, pimps/gigolos/the in-betweens, both literally and figuratively?
Nowadays, it seems to be the most natural/accepted behaviour. okay, may not be recognised as such or admitted as such, but a lot of permissive behaviour in today's society was what was shunned or considered not honourable, just a few years ago!
so, should one just wish away the years of evolved civilization and say move ahead with the times, maan?! not easy!
I admire the people who are able to deal with it, one way or the other, i.e. stick to the conservative roots, wholeheartedly or just let go, and let the natural flow/pravah take over!
problem is for the trishanku-stithi fellows (like me, obviously!).
...well, the default answer is : status quo always wins!
but one wonders!
what is the right way?!
I, me, myself and anything goes, with the ample support of doctors and psychologists; celebrities, movies, tv channels, et. al.!
Why is that 'kajra re' is now a respectable hit?!
the song is great, but a heroine playing that role indicates a changing mood in society. okay, woman's liberation/open sexuality!
which brings me to an important question : Why man was (quite vehemently and unfairly, as it turns out!) criticized for ages, about his sexual obsession!
It turns out that the so-called liberated woman, is no different! In fact, some of them, want it more, in all senses of the term, than man!
also, the single male seems to be not as bold as the single, liberated woman! (maybe because there is no family bandhan, either way, with the parents home or with the hubby's home, whereas the single man, is generally, even today, having an umbilical cord with his parents home, atleast; and yes, most of the time lives there, too!).
I am not being critical of woman's liberalisation or even with the open sexuality; it is a private matter and to each his/her own.
the problem is, as follows :
a). People are becoming more narcissistic, and hence becoming more self-obsessed, including making objects out of themselves, whilst criticising others for 'objectifying' them! of course, it helps that tv channels run programmes like who is the sexiest indian cricket player?! (this was on primetime news channel, by the way!).
b). People resort to self-deluding 'hath-kandes' (you can figure that out, both literally and figuratively speaking!) and bring down their own self-esteem, besides becoming wishy-washy pretender/clever liars.
c). What ever happened to Dr. Abraham Maslow's theory of self-actualisation? Can we be the best we can be, if all we can think of and indulge in, in our free time, is the 'neechi pasand' and i am not necessarily talking of the sexual act, which would be quite a good thing, between spouses/true lovers. Today's world, there is an absence of the heart and the soul/just a physical 'be ghadi gammat' (as one might say in gujarati!) or cheap thrills, in english! exactly, these thrills are cheap and do cheapen! may it be valentine day's surreptitious 'lick' parties for housewifes or massage parlours masquerading as 'centres'. Maybe these are all signs of progress, like a good doctor has come out with a book : Sex is not a four-letter word!
but it does beg the question : Aren't sex workers then the greatest of them all? Why did we shun them/abhor them, even today castigate them!
others, who independently indulge in similar behaviour, for whatever reasons, and since they have the money and the might, and the privacy, are going around as oonche log! and certainly inspiring others, too!
I DO NOT MEAN TO OFFEND ANYONE, AND LIKE OTHERS HAVE A RIGHT TO THEIR VIEWS/ACTIONS, so do I!
So, i trust the world will allow/tolerate my maverick/conservative views!
I would like somebody to guide me to the light!
Jeene ki kya raah sahi hain?!
purani ya nayi, ya pasand-apni apni, khayal apna-apna?!!
till that time, i can sing that famous song, by rafi saab, from nayi umar ki nayi fasal ! :
Sapne jhade phool se, mit chube shool se, loot gaye shingar sabi, baag ke babool se,
aur ham khade, khade, ......................karvan guzar gaya, gubar dekhte rahein!
So, the time has come, boys and girls, for HIGH LIVING, and hopefully not so low thinking!
Of course, a defence of today's bold lifestyles would be the old motto (sorry for the macabre twist!) : STOOP TO CONQUER and much more!
Even the romans did it! so let's do it?! of course, the roman lost their empire also because of that!
So, beware the lurking dangers of imbalanced liberation! naive sense of total freedom! and the wolves among the men, are just smacking their lips and laying/lying in wait!
got it?!]
if not, forgive me for bothering you/wasting your time!
jai ho!
shamaan.
Am back! a couple of days late! it is my intention to blog, only once a week! so, you can expect a post, each saturday!
the title? RAB? (rings a bell?!).
Of course, it is a take-off on the manikchand gutkha ad.! : oonche log, oonchi pasand! manikchand!
On a more sombre note, I wonder where have the following words gone?!
1). Shistachar.
2). Sanskar.
3). Maryada.
4). Guni.
5). Niswartha bhavna/prem...
6). Lajja/sharm/maan....
well, i hope to finish the blog, later today, but i leave you with a provoking thought :
Why did cultured society/civilization criticize devdasis/veishyas/prostitutes, so much? Or for that matters, pimps/gigolos/the in-betweens, both literally and figuratively?
Nowadays, it seems to be the most natural/accepted behaviour. okay, may not be recognised as such or admitted as such, but a lot of permissive behaviour in today's society was what was shunned or considered not honourable, just a few years ago!
so, should one just wish away the years of evolved civilization and say move ahead with the times, maan?! not easy!
I admire the people who are able to deal with it, one way or the other, i.e. stick to the conservative roots, wholeheartedly or just let go, and let the natural flow/pravah take over!
problem is for the trishanku-stithi fellows (like me, obviously!).
...well, the default answer is : status quo always wins!
but one wonders!
what is the right way?!
I, me, myself and anything goes, with the ample support of doctors and psychologists; celebrities, movies, tv channels, et. al.!
Why is that 'kajra re' is now a respectable hit?!
the song is great, but a heroine playing that role indicates a changing mood in society. okay, woman's liberation/open sexuality!
which brings me to an important question : Why man was (quite vehemently and unfairly, as it turns out!) criticized for ages, about his sexual obsession!
It turns out that the so-called liberated woman, is no different! In fact, some of them, want it more, in all senses of the term, than man!
also, the single male seems to be not as bold as the single, liberated woman! (maybe because there is no family bandhan, either way, with the parents home or with the hubby's home, whereas the single man, is generally, even today, having an umbilical cord with his parents home, atleast; and yes, most of the time lives there, too!).
I am not being critical of woman's liberalisation or even with the open sexuality; it is a private matter and to each his/her own.
the problem is, as follows :
a). People are becoming more narcissistic, and hence becoming more self-obsessed, including making objects out of themselves, whilst criticising others for 'objectifying' them! of course, it helps that tv channels run programmes like who is the sexiest indian cricket player?! (this was on primetime news channel, by the way!).
b). People resort to self-deluding 'hath-kandes' (you can figure that out, both literally and figuratively speaking!) and bring down their own self-esteem, besides becoming wishy-washy pretender/clever liars.
c). What ever happened to Dr. Abraham Maslow's theory of self-actualisation? Can we be the best we can be, if all we can think of and indulge in, in our free time, is the 'neechi pasand' and i am not necessarily talking of the sexual act, which would be quite a good thing, between spouses/true lovers. Today's world, there is an absence of the heart and the soul/just a physical 'be ghadi gammat' (as one might say in gujarati!) or cheap thrills, in english! exactly, these thrills are cheap and do cheapen! may it be valentine day's surreptitious 'lick' parties for housewifes or massage parlours masquerading as 'centres'. Maybe these are all signs of progress, like a good doctor has come out with a book : Sex is not a four-letter word!
but it does beg the question : Aren't sex workers then the greatest of them all? Why did we shun them/abhor them, even today castigate them!
others, who independently indulge in similar behaviour, for whatever reasons, and since they have the money and the might, and the privacy, are going around as oonche log! and certainly inspiring others, too!
I DO NOT MEAN TO OFFEND ANYONE, AND LIKE OTHERS HAVE A RIGHT TO THEIR VIEWS/ACTIONS, so do I!
So, i trust the world will allow/tolerate my maverick/conservative views!
I would like somebody to guide me to the light!
Jeene ki kya raah sahi hain?!
purani ya nayi, ya pasand-apni apni, khayal apna-apna?!!
till that time, i can sing that famous song, by rafi saab, from nayi umar ki nayi fasal ! :
Sapne jhade phool se, mit chube shool se, loot gaye shingar sabi, baag ke babool se,
aur ham khade, khade, ......................karvan guzar gaya, gubar dekhte rahein!
So, the time has come, boys and girls, for HIGH LIVING, and hopefully not so low thinking!
Of course, a defence of today's bold lifestyles would be the old motto (sorry for the macabre twist!) : STOOP TO CONQUER and much more!
Even the romans did it! so let's do it?! of course, the roman lost their empire also because of that!
So, beware the lurking dangers of imbalanced liberation! naive sense of total freedom! and the wolves among the men, are just smacking their lips and laying/lying in wait!
got it?!]
if not, forgive me for bothering you/wasting your time!
jai ho!
shamaan.
Saturday, January 12, 2008
Terrestrial consciousness!
Dear Fellow-citizens of this jumbo-sphere called the earth!
A great thinker and scientist, Carl Sagan, was amongst the many to talk about cosmic consciousness.
That was a natural, unplanned (certainly not by us, the earthlings!) phenomenon!
However, the internet, the so-called magical information superhighway has created its own collective consciousness!
However, shouldn't we all pause and consider as to what is happening to that individual spirit/the original mind/the private, almost inaccessible space called the individual!
Just a thought : Is individualism/original, even non-conformist behaviour on the decline?! okay, maybe what was originally a non-conformist behaviour (say being polyamorous or two-timing!) is now being passe behaviour thanks to the 'ready influence' of the world-wide-web and the stealthy and not-so-stealthy bombing of the senses, with the result that anything goes has now become a collective anthem, under the misleadingly righteous shelter of freedom, liberty, individual choice, non-discrimination et. al!
To simply ask you the crucial question! Is humanity facing its worst, invisible threat?
from within?
the inner dark self is asserting itself more and more on the net, so would we see the inadvertent conversion of the entire human race into a mean, hedonistic self-serving motley group of individuals/Friends/Fiends! who would without meaning to successfully destroy the indomitable, original, benign, caring human spirit, which was part of the definition of the original cosmic consciousness!
Or is this just a cycle, things would settle down back to a balanced way of living, and people would be conscious of the dangers of not having time and space for their own mind and its originality to assert itself.
Funnily enough, individual freedom is under its gravest as yet undetected threat thanks to the assertion of universal freedom of speech/expression, via the net. The vicelike grip of the net on some of the people (particularly youngsters as well as people who have a lot of time, money and nothing worthwhile to do!!) is quite startling.
Where is the shamaan to protect us from this invisible poltergeist/frankenstein on the net? Any 'negative spirit' / LCD-lowest common denominator force, can easily get access to our minds/gain our attention, by innocently being part of a social networking site or through such blogs! (hopefully, i am not inadvertently one of them!). Of course, the 'right' / higher self can also strike back, effectively, through the same medium! However, as we all know by now, the vicarious/prurient/voyeuristic delights/apparently sweet, harmless eye-candies, are what dominate the content on the net!
The mind needs to be blank/free/in a vacuum, for its own self-rejuvenation.
Nowadays, it is being subjected to silent torture by its master, by asking it to willy-nilly see a lot of useless stuff just because the master is bored and seeks entertainment on the net! (okay, by the law of averages, some pointless browsing does lead to some great discovery/happiness! but it is a miniscule percentage!)
If bored, move out, play a game, go for a walk, sing to yourself, or go and meet friends, go to a theatre/performance, talk with your family members, get onto the phone with a loved one/friend. or just recharge your batteries by doing nothing or sleeping!
it is not mandatory that you spend every waking hour/minute 'online' and also it is not necessary that your PC/LAPTOP has to be switched on all the time!
go ahead take a break! me about to do so! walk out of the internet centre where i am typing this and take a nice walk on the streets; as the sun goes down in my part of the world!
hopefully, i am voicing an important concern.
In case it is not important, that's good news!
the human race is safe from its own brilliant frankenstein-like creation!
Let victory and goodness be ours, forerver!
Jai ho!
A guy just like you (okay, if not you, like your brother/friend!/neighbour!)
sarvajano sukhino bhavantu!
Jai ho!
Shamaan, the protector!
A great thinker and scientist, Carl Sagan, was amongst the many to talk about cosmic consciousness.
That was a natural, unplanned (certainly not by us, the earthlings!) phenomenon!
However, the internet, the so-called magical information superhighway has created its own collective consciousness!
However, shouldn't we all pause and consider as to what is happening to that individual spirit/the original mind/the private, almost inaccessible space called the individual!
Just a thought : Is individualism/original, even non-conformist behaviour on the decline?! okay, maybe what was originally a non-conformist behaviour (say being polyamorous or two-timing!) is now being passe behaviour thanks to the 'ready influence' of the world-wide-web and the stealthy and not-so-stealthy bombing of the senses, with the result that anything goes has now become a collective anthem, under the misleadingly righteous shelter of freedom, liberty, individual choice, non-discrimination et. al!
To simply ask you the crucial question! Is humanity facing its worst, invisible threat?
from within?
the inner dark self is asserting itself more and more on the net, so would we see the inadvertent conversion of the entire human race into a mean, hedonistic self-serving motley group of individuals/Friends/Fiends! who would without meaning to successfully destroy the indomitable, original, benign, caring human spirit, which was part of the definition of the original cosmic consciousness!
Or is this just a cycle, things would settle down back to a balanced way of living, and people would be conscious of the dangers of not having time and space for their own mind and its originality to assert itself.
Funnily enough, individual freedom is under its gravest as yet undetected threat thanks to the assertion of universal freedom of speech/expression, via the net. The vicelike grip of the net on some of the people (particularly youngsters as well as people who have a lot of time, money and nothing worthwhile to do!!) is quite startling.
Where is the shamaan to protect us from this invisible poltergeist/frankenstein on the net? Any 'negative spirit' / LCD-lowest common denominator force, can easily get access to our minds/gain our attention, by innocently being part of a social networking site or through such blogs! (hopefully, i am not inadvertently one of them!). Of course, the 'right' / higher self can also strike back, effectively, through the same medium! However, as we all know by now, the vicarious/prurient/voyeuristic delights/apparently sweet, harmless eye-candies, are what dominate the content on the net!
The mind needs to be blank/free/in a vacuum, for its own self-rejuvenation.
Nowadays, it is being subjected to silent torture by its master, by asking it to willy-nilly see a lot of useless stuff just because the master is bored and seeks entertainment on the net! (okay, by the law of averages, some pointless browsing does lead to some great discovery/happiness! but it is a miniscule percentage!)
If bored, move out, play a game, go for a walk, sing to yourself, or go and meet friends, go to a theatre/performance, talk with your family members, get onto the phone with a loved one/friend. or just recharge your batteries by doing nothing or sleeping!
it is not mandatory that you spend every waking hour/minute 'online' and also it is not necessary that your PC/LAPTOP has to be switched on all the time!
go ahead take a break! me about to do so! walk out of the internet centre where i am typing this and take a nice walk on the streets; as the sun goes down in my part of the world!
hopefully, i am voicing an important concern.
In case it is not important, that's good news!
the human race is safe from its own brilliant frankenstein-like creation!
Let victory and goodness be ours, forerver!
Jai ho!
A guy just like you (okay, if not you, like your brother/friend!/neighbour!)
sarvajano sukhino bhavantu!
Jai ho!
Shamaan, the protector!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)