In The Company Of Silence

A leaf out of my Diary.. dated September 17 2010..

"Its 5 a.m in the morning & I just can't seem to get any sleep. So instead of rising as rooster and stirring up the entire household, I quietly sneak up to my table and begin to write.

It is said that the best thoughts come out when there's peace - Inner peace. With the world running at a breakneck pace, there's hardly any time to pause & remember who you really are.

But Thankfully I am in much chaste surroundings. I close my eyes for a moment and try to listen. Apart from the crickets, there's something else that's a symphony to my ears,those ears who had more than there share of blaring cacophony, 'Silence'.

Its beyond description guys! The epitome of God's Creation can be observed just before the breaking of dawn. Its like the herald, proclaiming to the world about what is to come. Its just that this herald doesn't make any noise. To the contrary, it is totally devoid of it, as if prodding us to fall in love - with nature, our breath and our soul before we lose ourselves in the rat race of this world, period."

ARE WE LISTENING?

--
J

Random Stuff!!

Life is very exciting and the boring at the same time..Ya I know it sounds strange but I have been associated with that 'strange' tag for quite a while now and I am getting used to it..

Coming back to my life.

This week started off firing. Read "7 Habits of highly effective people". And vowed to change my life & all.. Something which I have done umpteen times.

Khair, it wasn't even that bad. Yes I did improve the time management thing somewhat but I am yet to find a way to how to make use of that time (read How to study).. :P :P

Fir, kal to match tha, so no chance at all of studies!! :P :P

It was a belter of a match.. Was glued to the seat with my cousin and watched each & every ball of it..It was whole Lotta fun.

Just posted it to remind all you people that I haven't forgotten how to blog..

Infact a few of my seniors' blog (especially Ruchi & Prachi Mam) inspired me even more.

So, I am searching for some new interesting topics to post..

Just a small one this time..

Do send me your suggestions :) :)

Love

--

J

Indvidualism V/s Collectivism

Popularized by the writer Ayn Rand, Individualism is the moral stance, philosophy or the ideology that stresses on the moral worth of an individual. Groupism or collectivism, on the other hand, is the exact opposite of Individualism. Collectivism is any philosophical, political or social outlook that emphasizes the interdependence of every human in some collective group and the priority of group goals over individual goal.

As History & experience show us groupism is always encouraged in societies all over, especially India. We are always taught to live harmoniously and collectively with people, starting with the family itself. Sacrificing one's own choices, likes & desires for the 'Greater Good' is always looked up to, expected & promoted. Many A times groupism works in favor of oppressed who are downtrodden throughout their lives. Trade Unions are the best example of this. What can't be achieved by a single worker is successfully achieved by a collective effort.

But what groupism also promotes is hiding one's inability and incompetence in a group. The meaning is obvious. But what appalls further is, that many a times, it also hides a person's individual talent. Based on personal observations I always find that like minded people coalesce together to form groups but more often that not it happens that the overall productivity or ability of the group tends to be lower than the summation of the individual efforts. The people tend to curb their natural flair so as to match the common group mentality or level. Thus, instead of benefiting & complementing from each one's skill, the output of the group becomes a dismal mediocre one...

On the other hand, Individualism is literally tabooed upon in the east. This is in stark contrast to the capitalist west where there is almost an egomaniacal mentality of individualistic ambitions, which again is an undesirable extreme.

The society and the "Collectivism Activists" tend to initially ignore, then refute and then almost try to oppose,challenge & finish off an individualist(or at least his dogma) An individualist (barring the extreme ones) believes in his own strengths, beliefs & exudes a lot of self-confidence. Though sometimes it degenerates to overconfidence which is undesirable since it can lead to complacency. He doesn't consider a group is abominable, instead he is simply self-sufficient to fulfill his/her needs or requirements. An individualistic person doesnt consider himself the king of the world and neither does he think that the world exists solely for him as falsely spread by the neo-collectivists. Instead his relationship with the world is more of a symbiotic one; i.e fulfilling the needs required in a way such that it is mutually conducive. It means that the individualist believes that the world functions the way it does because it has to and both the producers and consumers are equally necessary for the world to function in a synergistic way. This individualistic mentality is personified by the character Howard Roark in Ayn Rand's "The Fountainhead". Despite being a hardcore individualist, Roark never refuses to help anyone, including his adversaries. Thus, he cant be termed as selfish or egotistical by any stretch of imagination.

Perhaps this sense of independence and self-confidence is what the protagonists of Groupism can't digest. The fear of not able to accept their shortcomings & weak will to stand up openly for their cause is the reason why certain (full of such people and collectively mediocre) groups always target individualism.

Of course this is the case where the individualist is not, in reality, an egotistic jerk who just tries to justify a false sense of self appraisal and vanity.

It may seem a direct antithesis to the age old adage- "Man is a social animal". But this is not so. There is a need to look deeper & not in a cursory way, because the struggle between Collectivism and Individualism is the real battle based on the true essence of human nature, It is a battle of will.

--

J

Can India Do a Tahrir?

The Title says it all.

Finally, yesterday , President Hosne Mubarak of Egypt stepped down succumbing to the extreme pressure created by the 18 days of fierce protests by the people of the country.

Egypt has a great history of civilised society and it took almost the opposite to end 30 years of dictatorship. Almost a Million people people swarmed into the streets for more than a fortnight and voiced their protest against the autocratic rule that had led to unprecedented unemployment and escalating inflation.

But you might have read this all, haven't you?

So, the question arises that can this be repeated in India, where the situation though not autocratic, is still grim.

The inflation rate hovers around 8 and the food inflation rate is 13%. The poor are having a real hard time in India. The increasing fuel price have done nothing to contain the rising sentiments in the middle class against the ruling coalition.

Moreover, every other day or so, cases of corruption involving astronomical figures hit the news. May it be the 1.76 lakh Crore 2G scam or the Rs. 2 lakh crore S-Band scam involving crucial UPA allies .

The government is losing ground while facing allegation and attacks from all around including the apex court.

Is all this enough to stir up the Indian people to do a Tahrir, at some place such as the India Gate in New Delhi?

In my opinion, No. The Egyptian uprising cant be replicated in our country.

There are three major reasons to support my view

Firstly, India doesn't have an autocratic rule. However inefficient it may seem, but the democracy still functions in our country and the judiciary does just enough to make the people have faith in the power of ballot. So, instead of flooding the streets, the people have a much better & easier option of flushing their representatives out of the constituencies and hence the parliament.

Secondly, the demographic and the social pattern of India are different from that in other parts of the world. Civic and economic problem may continue to plague people, but when it comes to voting, religion, caste and regionalism act as the deciding factor.

This was demonstrated in the 2009 elections when despite the escalating inflation and 26/11 attacks people chose a rubber stamp prime minister just because the opposition was a RIGHT-WING party. Sad, It really is.

Thirdly, and most importantly there is no credible opposition to incite people. Even if a tahrir ( or an India Gate) occurs, there has to be someone to lead the masses. In Egypt there was Mohammad ElBaradei and Islamic Brotherhood. But India lacks such leaders. So, Even with the rising sentiments, there is little that can be done. Coz after a government is overthrown there needs to be somebody to hold things for a while. The Military is too occupied to abandon the borders and take charge of running the nation.

So, Optimistic it may seem, but such an uprising against the rule is highly improbable in India.

Rush!!

Well I know the title is a bit queer.

But I couldnt find anything better, so that's how it is.

Well, for the past couple of weeks or so, I have been very very busy (which the title is suggesting).

Right from the time midsems got over (around 26) I have been travelling & (trying) to rearrange my life.

I also pondered about love and (ofcourse) creating unneccessary troubles for myself.

To see things on the brighter side; I have joined GRE coaching.

Yes, it has put extra pressure on me, but as they say- There's no gain without pain.

Talking about pain- I am having a considerable body pain. Couple of days of badminton have been torture to my poor untrained body. Though I have managed to maintain my shape.

I know most of you (if any at all) would've been wondering what is this guy blabbering nonchalantly about?

I mean this all is mundane stuff, where's the usual "Gyan" or "philosophy".

Na, people sorry to disappoint you but there's none this time.

Just my usual life story, (semi-vent up too)

More later :)

Love

--

J

The INside Story

So, finally I am posting something.

Its not that I didnt get time or I was lazy or something. Infact I drafted twice within a week and then deleted it.

I just wasnt finding the right thing to express. And more importantly I wasnt happy with the rough draft.

So, Life going at a fairly fast pace. Call it irony or else, but I seem to be an observer. And for me, the experience has been slow. Or maybe its coz I am absorbing things slowly...

Believe me a week ago, it wasnt like that.

I was really caught on crossroads, life messed up. Ambivalent feelings towards my crush. (With her not responding to me). There were a lot of things to do, to achieve, to strive for. But really there was SO MUCH that I didnt know what to do.

Paralysed by too much!!!

When I started one thing, I feared that other would remain incomplete and like that.

What was funnier that I hadnt f***ed up my life. It was perfectly fine.

In my words - "Ordinary in the most ordinary ways".

I guess it was largely a case of how I viewed things. I was trying to become more and more of something I wasnt. This way I wasnt able to tap into the potential I have in my uniqueness.

What was required was not an introspection

(I had loads of them and most of the time I blamed myself as the culprit)

But just to take it easy. Just calm down a bit, soothen up... Relax.

So, I tried it out today.

It worked!!! VOILA.

Believe me when I say so (really, I am not lying)

"Its all INSIDE you. Nothing is outside.."

Just ponder over it for a while.

You'll understand...

:)

--

J

Another Year Goes By

I must admit that its hard for me to be regular with blogging.

And I may as well admit that laziness, not busy schedule prevents me from it.

So, instead of apologizing and making false promises for the next time, let me focus my attention back to the topic at hand.

At first sight the title seems a bit sad, but it's more reflective than gloomy.

I am strongly against the brooding and living in the past.

What has happened has happened. There's no going back and no Ctrl-Z in our lives.

Just cut all this crap of BYE 2010, WELCOME 2011 and all.

Not in a sense that there's no need to be jubilant or something.

But I mean what's the point in all this if you continue to live in the same way as you have for the past so many years..

And Every one of us knows what happens to our New-Year resolutions..

So what I am suggesting that is an introspection: We need to look inwards now at the end of this year. What we could have got (not what we lost, I am talking not about failures but unfulfilled aspirations, there's a difference between the two) and what we are looking forward in the new year.

What are our ambitions, our goals?

What is it that drives us from inside, fuels every single moment of our life?

Just give it a thought.

(In fact I suggest you to sleep over it)

Next morning if you really think that your introspection wasn't a waste, Go ahead.

Ask yourself what it takes to fulfill those dreams, to fuel that fire of your life.

And most importantly how can you bring yourself to do it, to work towards it?

Remember it aint gonna be easy.

After a while this over-enthusiasm is bound to lessen, all things wont be so sweet.

At such a juncture, just remind yourself about this time. The time you thought over it. Those times which thrilled you with it.. How awesome would it be to achieve and emerge victorious.

No matter its a material thing or mental or spiritual or whatever..

It works every time.

I hope this will help you. :)

May your New year be filled with a sense of purpose

Love

--

J