ചവച്ചരച്ചു തിന്നിട്ടും, പുതിൻ ഹര തിന്നിട്ടും, ഷോഡ കുടിച്ചിട്ടും, ദഹിക്കാത്ത സംഭവങ്ങൾ തികട്ടി തികട്ടി വരുന്ന സ്ഥലം.
നാറ്റം ഉണ്ടാകാം എന്നെ കുറ്റം പറയരുത്...
-as perceived by 11 different individuals, including me...
This picture is by Raja Ravi Varma, portraying
the “Temptation of Budha” an incident in Lord Budha’s life. This incident has widely
been compared with the “Temptations of Christ”, after his 40 days and 40 nights
fasting.
In the philosophical and spiritual
sphere both these men have been regarded as the ones who attained enlightenment
and knew the secrets and purpose of life.
My attempt here is just to put in
words the perception of different individuals about this picture. I have been
showing this picture to many of my friends and asked what they perceive from
the picture. Here go the replies: (I am not mentioning the names as it is not
that important or relevant)
1.Look at her long hair! What a beauty
with such a structure. Hats off to Ravi Varma.
2."Look at her eyes with burning desire
to seduce him. I wish I were Budha!"
3."Ravi Varma is such a sadist! He has
drawn a piece of art but look where he has kept the flower, killing all the
fun."
4."No man can resist the way she sits on
his lap and pressing her bare breast against his! I am sure about what would
have happened after this. Don’t tell me that Budha was not moved!"
5."Whatever you say buddy, the way his
right hand moving shows she succeeded in her mission."
6. "Did Budha really have such big ears?
He is no normal human being. No wonder he sits with eyes closed, while such a
ravishing beauty is at her best, on his body!"
7. "See the cracks in his Aura! It surely
signifies that Ravi Varma meant that Budha lost his control and reputation in
this incident. I would wonder only if he did not. What a picture!"
8."I wouldn’t mind being a Budha if such
incidents are assured in the way ahead."
9."Look at his face and the expression!
He has not been moved an inch by whatever she is doing. He understands what is
temptation and the result of being tempted, that too when he is at the edge of
attaining enlightenment"
10"Is this a picture from Kama Suthra?
Why the hell are you keeping it on your Desktop? (I had kept it as my desktop
picture for some days)"
11."Budha is a man of great self control,
attained from long and tiring medication, just like Christ. The picture
signifies the victory of Budha as a man in overcoming the temptations of life,
which qualifies him to be God or nearly God.
Christ also had overcome his
temptations after 40 days fasting and medication. You could call this picture
as the “Portrait on the creation of a God”"
Friends, I think it would be enlightening if you could
share what you think about the picture.
Normal is anything that makes us forget who we are and what we
want: that way we can work in order to produce, reproduce and earn money.
Spending years studying at university only to find at the end
of it all that you are unemployable.
Working from nine till five everyday at something that gives
you no pleasure at all just so that, after thirty years, you can retire.
Retiring and discovering that you no longer have enough energy
to enjoy life and dying a few years later of sheer boredom.
Believing that power is much more important than money and that
money is much more important than happiness
Making fun of anyone who seeks happiness rather than money and accusing
them of ‘lack of ambition’
Believing that your parents are always right.
Getting married, having children and staying together long
after all love has died, saying that it’s for the good of the children
(who are, apparently, deaf to the constant rows)
Criticizing anyone who tries to be different.
Walking up every morning to an hysterical alarm clock on the
bedside table.
Believing absolutely everything that appears in print.
Wearingscrap of
coloured cloth around your neck, even though it serves no purpose, but
which answers to the name of ‘tie’
Never asking s direct question, even though the other person
can guess what it is you want to know.
Keeping a smile on your lips even when you’re on the verge of
tears. Feeling sorry for those who show their feelings.
Believing that all famous people have tons of money saved up.
Standing facing the door in the lift and pretending you’re the
only person there, regardless of how crowded it is.
Never laughing too loudly in a restaurant however good the
joke.
Assuming, as you grow older, you’re the guardian of world’s
wisdom, even if you have not necessarily lived enough to know what’s right
and wrong.
Going to a charity tea party and thinking that you’ve done your
bit towards putting an end to social inequality in the world.
Eating three times in a day even if you are not hungry.
Marrying the first person who offers you a decent position in
the society. Love can wait.
Always saying ‘I tried’ when you didn’t try at all.
Postponing doing the real interesting things in life for later,
when you wont have the energy.
Avoiding depression with large daily doses of television.
Thinking that being a good, decent, respectable person will
mean that others will see you as weak, vulnerable and easy to manipulate.
Being equally convinced that aggression and rudeness are
synonymous with having a ‘powerful personality’
Being afraid of having an endoscopy (if you are a man) and
giving birth (if you are a woman)
Excerpts from
‘The Winner Stands Alone’ by Paulo Cohlo
I fell in love
with yet another fine young lady!!!
The story has
its beginning in the winter of 2010. It was a fine morning. One of my colleagues introduced
me to her. She was waiting in the parking area, a fine young lady, aged a
little over 30 years, with the marks of hardships and worries all over her
body.
She just raised
her head and gave me a not so interested look…
But in the very first
look, I decided that she is gonna be mine!
It is visible
that I failed to woo her at the first sight. But I was sure that she is gonna
be my lady and my love one day. With that hope, I made her mine, with the
blessings of her beloved ones…
I still remember
the day I got her. She did not respond to me at all! She had such a face that
she has come to unworthy, non deserving hands. I tried my best to ‘impress’ her
but nothing worked in my favour.
Guys’, having
such a find lady and she giving such cold response is painful! I tried hard to impress
her but nothing worked out. Whenever I tried, she responded and gave me a
miserable experience.
But as you guys
know, I am determinant when it comes to girls and I was sure that one day, one
day she is gonna give me a happy ride…J
I found that though
she is beautiful, she needs a professional hand to bring out the besuty and transform
her in to a fine lady.I took her to my
home town and admitted in a hospital which is specialized in the job. I made
sure that she gets the best treatment possible; the only hope was that,
whatever I do now would make her realize the love and care, I have, for her.
Days and months
passed with news of progress… failure… complaints from the doctor about the non
cooperation, attitude that she throws round…
I made it a point never to visit her during
the treatment as I just could not see her suffering…
All these days,
I have been waiting just for one call… A call from the Doc confirming the
completion of the treatment and declare that he has delivered the commitment of
delivering my love as I wish! And she is ready to be reclaimed!!
She got
discharged and was taken to my home. Before that Doctor took her for a round in
Pulpally (My home town) and needless to say, she was the point of discussion
for everyone for the day!!
It was a fine
Sunday morning when I met by love again. Though it was monsoon, rain stayed
away for me to make the best ever ambiance for the reunion.
Though I
expected her to be a fine elegant women, I could ever dream off, reality stuck
my eyes with surprise, joy and tears…
I still remember
the feeling I had when I met her that day. Words are not enough to explain but
ya… those who are, were in love would certainly understand how I felt. I just
felt like admiring her the whole day, and I never wanted the sun to set and
night to fall on that ravishing beauty. Such a fine women!!! I have never been
so romantic and joyful ever in my life.
Hae guys, have I
told you that her real beauty is her voice? Yes. She sings in such a fine voice
that the magic of her vocal code seduces everyone… No one can resist her voice
and the songs. I have made her mine just for the fine song…Beauty of her body
is secondary.
I took her on a
ride through Pulpally town. Such a great feeling!!! Not even a single guy could
get away without giving her a glance of admiration. As a proud owner, what else
would I need…
She was my only
companion during my stay at Pulpally. I took her to places and to people… I
never heard a difference of opinion…
She is truly a God’s creation!!!
Sibi Mathews
Note:
Friends- if you
could find “My love, “My lady”, “She”,
“Her” and replace with “1979 Model Royal
Enfield Bullet 350” and “Doctor”
with “Mechanic” and “Hospital” with “Garage”, this story is true…
Statutory warning: Those who think writing and reading about ‘peeing’ is
ugly, indecent, substandard or insane (?) may stop reading here and go for a ‘pee’
By reading this line, you have agreed that you have no objection in
reading this blog on ‘peeing’
“Why can’t you at least consider that
he is a human being??”
I
woke up hearing this. I had no clue on what was happening in the bus. I was on
my way back from Perunthalmanna to Thrissur
after visiting my uncle who underwent an operation and was trying to figure out
ways to forget pain and come back to normal life. As in any other bus trip, I could
not help remain awake. I fell asleep exactly after 10 minutes. (Guys, this is
my secret of not being bored and spending the time productively while
travelling. I am sure that you also must have tried it at least once. Make it a
habit. Trust me... it’s worth considering.)
I wondered
what ‘inhumanity’
might have happened in this bus which had hardly 12-15 passengers? (I donno any
direct correlation between number of human beings and humanity but somehow I
felt so) I stood up and found 2 passengers arguing with the Driver and
Conductor on something ‘major’. It is so serious that all
their faces are red, heated with the anger which caused the voice to increase
and had waked me up.
The
passengers were well dressed, standing near the driving seat. Both of them were
in anger, which is visible, but one of them showed the signs of ‘suffering
from some great pain.’ He was restless looking at everyone for support
but except the other fellow, nobody seemed to be in a mood to help him.
The
argument went on in a fashion, as if they were in the legislative assembly.
Guys, I am not referring to the quality of language used (They never said
anything ‘unparliamentary’) but one
of them argued as if he is ‘the inventor of democratic system’
which governs the nation, that the bus belong to ‘the people’ as it is a government bus so they have the right to
ask for it (That piece of conversation did not give a clue on what the argument
is on. I damned myself for having slept, I might have missed lot of such
instances in bus as sleeping in bus is my ‘secret of not being bored, who
knows!!) The custodians of the so called ‘people’s property’ retaliated that
‘People is not just those two passengers,
there are others in the bus who can claim the ownership (they were the
majority. democracy triumphs) of the bus as being in the group of people who do
not wish ‘it’ happen.
The
argument went on and on keeping me wondering what the hell on this earth has
those guys asked for from these ‘people’s
servants’ which resulted in a debate on the basic governing principle of
our nation called ‘democracy’
All
of a sudden, the driver stopped the bus and said ‘Do whatever you want, you are the owner of the bus, I should be
obeying the owner. Let me see whether other owners like it or not.”
The
moment the bus stopped, the guy with pain on his face ran out of the bus and
his angry companion followed him. Other two passengers, who had been watching
the entire episode of the show, started talking as if someone has demanded
their seats and asked them to stand till the end of their journey. They started
blaming those guys for making other passengers wait for them just because they
had some personal work to be done by getting down the bus.
I
still continued to wonder what would be that personal work which made the owners
including me to wait...
I did not have to ask anyone...
After
5 minutes, both the guys came back with ‘great
relief’ on their face. The guy who was suffering from great pain had a smile
on his face, which made me to realise what the story is all about.
Guys,
you might have also realised the reason. Those guys had to attend ‘the
nature’s call’ which made them argue like a civilized citizen aware of
their rights in a democratic nation. (Right to pee must be included in the
fundamental rights, how could our forefathers missed it?!!)
Driver
was still in a mode to argue and to emerge victorious in this event as he saw
that some passengers did not want them to pee and wanted those guys to keep
their bladder under pressure till the bus reach Thrissur which was one hour
journey from there.
The
argument went on for a little more while and ended up as the beneficiaries were
not in a mood to argue any more.
I
wanted to go back to my sleep but could not. As like any other mallu, I
expected ‘the unwritten unsaid’
treaty between the two sides would be broken anytime... I did not want to miss
it. But throwing all my expectations on the road under the tyres of the bus,
both the sides kept quite till the bus reached Thrissur where I got down. I
hope and wish no development took place after that. God can not be so
insensitive to me!!
Well,
in the process of expecting the fight to resume, I started analysing the root
cause of the whole incident. Guys, I have this thing of ‘analysing the root cause and
figuring out the permanent solutions for the issues’ no matter it
bothers me directly or not. But I always make sure that I do nothing to address
the root cause or to solve the issue. I am being normal if you think that I am
acting otherwise... Well guys, let me proclaim this... “Being a citizen of a democratic
nation, I have all the rights to think about the root cause of any damn issue
bothering this nation and to blame the system for not ‘figuring it out’ or not
‘addressing’ it or being not effective in ‘solving’ it etc etc.”
The root cause analysis of this particular incident gave me two
conclusions,
1. 1.
‘The right to urinate’ is a
fundamental right for any Indian; I am not sure about other nationals as I have
not interacted with any of them in my life. I wonder how our forefathers could miss
it while writing the constitution!!
2.
2.There has to be rules and regulations governing
the code of conduct while urinating, the facilities at bus, maintaining the
facilities etc etc. The parliament, legislative assemblies should debate, discuss
this right in length and breadth to come up with a law ‘pee law of 2010’ or ‘law
of urination- 2010’ and could be subsequently amended, modified
depending on the changing needs of peeing/urination.
This law must be studied by the lawyers and there has to be a specialization
for lawyers on this law. This must be included in ‘concurrent list’ where central and state governments are concerned
about this basic need of its citizens.
The law should provision for toilets (or rest rooms?) in side
every bus and every bus operator should be given a reasonable time to have
these facilities within each and every bus. They might lose the revenue of 6-8
passengers in every trip but who cares... the law of the land should prevail
(democracy triumphs!!) if any operator fail to do so, get the opportunity to
keep the bus in shed forever (Democracy triumphs again!!)
A sudden spark went through my brain (don’t ask me where it
originated and where it ended and how does the spark originate in brain and the
scientific explanation of the same) such a great business idea!!!... Yes I
stuck GOLDMINE. As the father of this
law, (well I guess I would be granted this title. Hope nobody is working on it
now!) I will be honoured with a patent or honorarium of this idea and would get
a share of the revenue from this great initiative. (I deserve a share of
payment from each person using this facility anywhere in the country, there
could be some negotiation with the states. I should anyway get a decent amount
from each state, life time!!)
Wow!!!! I am just rocking...
When you think of a business opportunity, you tend to think
about maximising the profit. (If you don’t, I do) I could not resist myself
from the thought of making people to pee more while they are travelling... I
will negotiate for a ‘binamy contract’
for selling water in bus. Which will eventually result in more peeing... more
peeing means more money for me (Did I mention that you will have to pay each
time you use the facility in bus? Great income for the government! Why the hell
are our so called rules miss out such great yet simple revenue model and cry
over deficiencies?? I just done understand)
I was patting my back for inventing such a great ‘revolutionary’
idea for the betterment of humanity (Hope nobody would question the humanity
inside a bus after this law materialises), a great revenue source for our
struggling governments and a livelihood for me. No idea is so great.... nobody can
beat me!!
“Thrissur Thrissur....... Get down....” I woke up from my
thoughts with a little disappointment... There stood the conductor asking me to
get down... I smiled at him (after all he is the one who gave me this great
idea... ‘An idea which will change my life...)
It was raining heavily and... and...
Do I feel like peeing?? Hmm I need to get an auto and get home
as soon as possible as the toilet at the bus station is not even good enough for 'a pee'...Here I am, thinking about having toilets in Bus!! Damn me!!!
Friends, whatever I am writing here are my views; excuse me if I am hurting your sentiments...
Before moving to Sampada and Sampatti, let me state the definition given by Wikipedia for Communism and Capitalism.
Wikipedia says, Communism is a social structure in which classes are abolished and property is commonly controlled, as well as a political philosophy and social movement that advocates and aims to create such a society.
Again, Wikipedia says, Capitalism is an economic system in which the means of production are privately owned; supply, demand, price, distribution, and investments are determined mainly by private decisions in the free market, rather than through a planned economy. Communists argue that (they are by and large true) capitalism leads to exploitation of proletariats by capitalist bourgeoisie.
For me, Communism is a nice, very nice dream to cherish forever. Yes, I said ‘forever’ because it’s a dream which will never come true. (My dear communist friends, don’t tell your DYSP, SFI comrades about the existence of my blog, I have many more blogs to write!!)
With great conviction I always used to and will continue to argue that communism (Sampada) is a utopian idea. Tell me a mechanism or a system or a structure with which you can abolish the difference between two human beings, the difference between you and me, the difference between my needs, my wishes my ambitions my desires from those of yours, then... then I shall agree that communism is no more a dream, its ‘practical’
But, as an ideology, I do not know any other socio-economic ideology which has influenced the mass, the common mass like communism. Its advocates could make people believe and fight for the abolition of existing socio-economic order for the establishment of communist order of society (or socialist order?) and common ownership of ‘means of production’. Communism paved the way for the abolition of a mechanism, a system which exploited the deprived, marginalised larger mass. It was the movement of the exploited group when the torture became unbearable. Communism essentially gave power to common man and the ability to decide their ruler. (The statement is just arguably true).
Was communism successful in establishing a ‘sustainable’ socio-economic order which is capable of providing equal rights, equal opportunities and equal treatment to all? History says, communism failed to establish anything of that sort. Sustainability was the issue. If communism has to work in its ideal nature, human beings should go through psychological transformation. Nobody should feel that I am different from him’ ‘I can do it better’ ‘Am I ill treated?’ and should be happy with whatever government provides them, equally. Which is, if not impossible, is certainly improbable!!
There is another concept called ‘Christian Communism’ which was the experiment of the real communism which happened much before Karl Max proposed the idea of communism. The first generation disciplines of Jesus Christ (First generation Christian) tried to form a socio-economic order based on the principles/teachings of Jesus which was no way different, practically, from the communism which came into existence centuries later. They contributed all their personal assets to the community, worked together, lived together, prayed together, worshiped together and tried to lead a happy life. The means of production was commonly owned and nobody had any personal assets. The result of their effort was used for everyone’s well being regardless of the percentage of contribution done by each member. Everyone enjoyed the common facilities equally and ‘tried’ to live happily.
But the happy did not last forever....Even the teachings of Jesus or the faith they had in Jesus did not restrict them from being ‘ambitious’ asking for the due share and raise voice against the equal treatment of all. Probably, this might have happened during the 2nd or 3rd generation Christians who might not have had the same intensity of faith and belief in Jesus and the socio-economic order built on his teachings. This reason could be anything but the result is that the community could no more stick together as they designed or envisioned. They divided the assets among themselves and decided to mind ‘their own businesses. If you are minding your own business, you cannot be a true communist’.
I wonder why the church did not promote this socio economic order despite having its own benefits for the church as church becomes the owner of means of production?! (In case of Modern communism, the owner is the Party. Probably because of the at most certain failure the model carries... Otherwise I am sure that church would have taken it up and would have made it the model, as they have proved that they are good in marketing (They have marketed Christ very well, nobody can deny that fact) they are good in administration (The rules and regulations set by the church and their ability to make people adhere to it and running number of organizations, profit making, any part of the world they are)
As Hitler said, Communism loses its ground of existence when people are no longer poor.
Friends, don’t you think Hitler was true in saying that?
One more question.... Who is the real inventor of so called Communism?
(a) Jesus Christ (b) Karl Max (c)First generation Christians
Hope you have the answer!!
I have a dream... not about establishing a true communist society, but to see the day when the Communist Party of India gets dissolved and the members join Congress or any other Socialist Party realising that whatever they are doing, I said ‘doing’ not ‘saying’ is not communism and are more close to socialism (or to capitalism?
SAMPADA is a great movement launched by Mr. Bibek Kumar to establish a new socio economic order based on the concepts of ‘Selfless Society’. You will get more info from sampadaway.com
As I said, even if I feel it ‘Utopian’ (I do not find much difference between Communism and Sampada except in the approach) I feel like being with him as he is such a nice human being who could think and propagate the idea of ‘Selfless Society’ after all who do not wish to cherish a nice dream?
There are lot of ‘I am not sure’. I hope you will also reflect on this.
Yes, I am referring to the idiots of the movie ‘3 idiots’ not the ones in the conventional understanding. I am not sure about the precise meaning of idiot in conventional sense. I think there in just a very thin line (or no line at all?) between two.
For me, the word idiot is just used to indicate the unconventional way the hero deals with. Nobody would ever think (None of the viewers, I am sure) that Amir Khan is an idiot at any point of time in the movie (other than those who are acting in the movie who are asked to do so by the director)
The movie conveys two messages (There could be many more. I wish to discuss these two)
1. Get out of the cat race and enjoy life, learning etc.
2. Do what you love to do, no matter what society says.
It’s not that easy as they said or tried to say (Well, Amir Khan and others could do it as the writer decided to write it that way. After all, movies and its heroes do things which are difficult for common man). Getting out of the cat race of getting good marks, good job (good job is always the well paid job), good car, good wife (good wife is always the daughter of rich father, good looking and at times employed), good house, kids, kids education, their job, marriage, retirement and dying peacefully (isn’t death the end of everyone, no matter you are an idiot or not?)
How many of us have learned just for ‘learning’ without thinking about the marks it carries? How many of us could pursue our ‘interests’ while selecting a course to study or a job to work?? Its not easy to break the conventional way of dealing with these things. Society has set the rules on the accepted degree of deviation one can make from the standard behavior in each and every aspect of life. If somebody crosses the limit, society looks at him in a weird way, and would call him an idiot and... and would do its best to pull him to the standard behavioral pattern.
Why is it happening so?? Nobody to be blamed I guess. Society is conditioned so... so does it condition each and every one who belongs there. How did the society get conditioned so?? There are number of factors. Major one is that the society has a great history of evolution. It has seen engineers and doctors leading comfortable life and earning respect in the society. Success, money, being respected are the scales of measurement. Here comes the risk free play. Society (here, society means your parents and your so called well wishers) infers that if you can be a doctor or engineer, no matter you like it or not, you could lead a happy life (kind of a sure bet.)
Next, what is wrong in such a conclusion?? After all that is the logical conclusion. Our society demands a lot from the parent in bringing up their off springs. They are made to live for them!! (This is another vicious circle!!) they have to provide them the best possible-cloths, education, food etc etc and are supposed to take care of them till they get a desired job. The word desired job, desired income plays the key role here. Being a doctor or engineer ensures that their off springs get the desired job, desired income, easily and in a short period of time. So how can we blame the parents for demanding their son/daughter to become a doctor or engineer??
Even if some parents think in terms of encouraging his son/daughter to be an ‘idiot’, when can they expect somebody to realize that he/she wants to be a singer, footballer, or a wildlife photographer?? It could happen at any point of time in their life, could be when they are very young or at an age of 50!! Can any parent take such a risk and be blamed by the society, as society controls everything...
See guys you just cannot expect any help from your parents or society in nurturing the ‘idiot’ in you. It takes lot of effort, continuous struggle to be an idiot and to remain as one, to pursue your dreams and your passion. You are all alone if you wish to be an idiot. It’s like swimming against the flow; the flow will always pull you down and will try its best to make you a part of it. The struggle is continuous and never ending. As a result, not many have succeeded in being an idiot.
Having said all these,
As in the movie, the reward of being an idiot is worth taking the risk I guess. Amir gets fame, success and his love for being and remaining an idiot. I am still sceptical, as I have never been an ‘idiot’ though I have tried many a times but could not sustain. I have always taken the easy way out, the way of swimming with the flow where you just have to remain afloat. The flow will take you places, may not be so exciting but safe and comfortable. For idiots, journey is not comfortable, not easy, and not predictable. But I think they get to see places which are not seen by many- exotic, exciting and cherish able (again, I am not sure!)
After all, the way you travel makes the difference if you realise that the end is the same for everyone. (I am referring to death. Is death the end? Is the end same for everyone? I am again not sure.)
Guys, if you have been expecting me to come up with a solutions or suggestion or at least a conclusion on being an idiot, sorry you have to be disappointed. I have nothing to suggest but that whatever you choose, to be an idiot or not to be one, do it you way. For a change, consider being an idiot at any point of your life whenever you feel like... after all
Society remembers only idiots even though it does not wish produce any.
