IM-PACT!!

They say love is miraculous!! I say indeed it is. It showed me a dimension of my own self to which I was unaware. Or should I say that it gave a whole new dimension to me. Well I dont know. But nevertheless it has amazed me a lot of times. I was never a person whose expressions would take the form of a poetry also. 

Anyways. Here is a poem I wrote almost 3 years back for someone. 

FIFA 2010 has mesemerized me. It was immensely successful and was able to unite the world in praising South Africa for the wonderful show.

"The 2010 FIFA World Cup will be a resounding success because of the fervent passion, determination and collective will to succeed of all 45-million South Africans." This was the statement which was said by the Chairman of Fifa 2010. South Africa's infrastructure was on the right track 2 years before the Fifa 2010, and the work was going in a very methodical way. 70% of the football stadiums were already completed 2 years before the event, which finally resulted in the glory to South Africa!

One thing which I have started believing very strongly is that hypocrisy in a person is a function of time. Its very relative, and like many other things the definition of hypocrisy changes with time and generation.

When I was a kid and saw elders around me smoking and drinking, I vowed to myself and to my mom that I will never do it. I was so dam sure of this that as a kid my hatred towards it was more than evident. I can bet that everyone like me must have taken such vows at some point of time in their lives, and almost everyone has done something or the other against it. I drink and smoke occasionally with friends without the slightest of hitch and the disgusting face which I used to make on seeing people smoking around me when I was a kid has transformed into an 'I dont care' expression. Amazing transformation!! No remorse, no guilt, no value of the broken promise which I gave to myself as a kid..

Indeed I am a hypocrite person. Very hypocrite. But when I saw that slowly and gradually all people around me, my friends, etc also began drinking or smoking occasionally or regularly, I was not hypocrite any longer. Some of my friends protested the idea of drinking till very recently and then suddenly I discover that even they have started. And thats when I was no longer a hypocrite person.

Forget my friends. What about you or any tom, dick, or harry? Forget smoking and drinking also. Some people might not have started smoking or drinking, and its fairly possible that they will never start. What about the million other thoughts and promises you established as a kid? Someone said he would never drive fast when he grows up, someone said she would not lose her virginity before marriage, still someone said he would never argue with parents, and someone said she would never make a boy friend. As a kid when we saw our seniors making fun of teachers we saw them with disgust and promised to ourselves that we would never do that, and then shamelessly as we grew, we did even more than what our seniors did. The list can go on.................

This is an amazing issue. When a single person undergoes a transformation of thought or values its hypocrisy. The moment this transformation catches up with masses, the word hypocrisy ceases to exist and is replaced by words like trend, shift of value, necessity, demand of situation, etc. Just because the entire group of people change there is no one to point out the hypocrisy. But isn't that itself a hypocrisy? And if the situation demands you to transform your long established thoughts in some way or the other then should the word 'hypocrisy' even exist in this context? 

One argument which I have is that when we decide some values for us we do that with a given set of information. As a kid I vowed against drinking, smoking, driving fast, eating outside food, making a girlfriend, arguing with parents ever and what not. As I grew up my mind extracted more information from the world. I realized in class 7 that making a girlfriend is fine. I realized further that parents are parents but initially they are human beings and so they can be wrong at times and so to drive your point which could be right would sometimes require arguing with them. I realized further as I grew that having beer sometimes in limits is fine when socializing and having fun with friends because it releases endorphine in your brain which de-stresses you at times. And the bigger part is that I am happy doing all this because in some way or the other it has  benefited me in various contexts. So having said that, are human beings even hypocrite? Or do we blame evolution and limited information on the basis of which we establish values for ourselves? The debate can go on and on so I would rather stop here. 

Anyways.. I just got a call from a childhood friend asking me out for a pint of beer. :-) See you........ :-)

Small and big incidents of our life speak to us in parables. Sometimes the message is clear and sometimes its not. Well we have heard the saying many times that happiness should come from within and that be it sunshine or rain, but if the internal whether is nice then eternal happiness happens even if external things change. But thats really difficult and moreover by the time you have successfully trained your mind to be independent of the external happenings and be in a constant state of happiness, half of your life is already gone and the other half is too short :-)

So the conclusion is that for people of this age who have emotions and who's emotions depend on external stimulus, its nearly impossible to not make your happiness a slave and a prisoner of externalities.. Anyways now that the background is set let me share my today's encounter with an externality and how it made me happy.

I purchased a pair of sunglasses today, and when I put them on while driving I realized how priceless they were and what I have paid to get it is peanuts.. Well before I go ahead I must tell you that when the color of the sky looks like it is about to rain, and when the same reflection of slight darkness is reflected on the earth and in the trees it gives me pleasure, makes me forget my tiredness which comes in the blazing sun, and makes me want to party.

This is what my cheap new sunglasses did today. Changed the color of the sky and the earth even during the blazing sun, made me happy while driving, made me forget my tiredness, and made me put on loud music in my car :-).. This is something which my previous costly Rayban sunglasses couldnt do. Sounds not too great?? well ask me, this is an amazing thing which happened with me. 

A mere pair of sunglasses had the power to behave in a Godly manner, to change the color of the skies and the earth, to make the trees dark green, to change the blazing sun into one which gets hidden behind black clouds. My sunglasses just accidentally created happiness for me...... Artificially!!

Delhi, a city which I completely love for its beauty, richness of culture, the fact that you can indeed travel between centuries in a matter of just few minutes. The area of Delhi 6 which looks like some century old broken city, and just few minutes ahead the area of CP which is the heart of modern Delhi. The diversity which this city offers is seen in very few places of the world.

Thanks to the Common Wealth Games which will be happening from the 3rd of October 2010. Indeed after that we would be left with some state of the art and world class infrastructure. The face of Delhi would transform for the good, and at the same time the Delhi Govt has said that the sanctity of Delhi will be maintained. Delhi 6 will still look like that except for some necessary changes incorporated. 

All said and done, one question which concerns me is that are we really ready for such a transformation? Can we keep up with this transformation? Or will we spoil this infrastructure in a matter of few years? The spirit of Delhi, which are the people of Delhi will have to transform. Spitting, littering of roads, road rage, manner less driving will have to end completely, otherwise Delhi will regress back after all the efforts.

"May the young people of Delhi uphold the vibrance of the city and contribute in the best way to make Delhi a truly world class city"

What the Govt is giving us is the Common Wealth Games. What we have to give back is the maintenance of Delhi.

What can be better in life than loving someone and being loved. And moreover when the love reaches the depths of souls, so much so that the souls of the two people are connected with the same thread of love, we reach the heights of bliss and ecstacy. But being myself in a relationship and seeing my friends and others too I have observed that something prevents all of us from letting our love seep in our soul. There is a strange kind of a hesitation in all of us from embracing that love fearlessly and completely with open arms. I mean really with open arm!!. There is a hesitation in becoming one with that force of love which fills us from within and without and seeps into every cell of ours.

        

As I write this a vivid picture comes to my mind of a person walking in the drizzle. Have you ever seen that when it is drizzling most of us clutch our fists and hands, bow down our head and walk in a way to prevent our selves from getting wet? Have you ever noticed those lines on the forehead as a result of us tightening our facial muscles while walking in the drizzle? It seems that though we are walking in the drizzle and getting wet unavoidably but we still do those small things to prevent ourselves from getting wet. The lines on the forehead and the clutched fist is nothing but a sign of resistance to get wet, even when we know that wont help at all. And suddenly when you let go off all the resistance and fear and open your arms and raise your head to the sky the fine drops of rain slide down your forehead and onto the nose and you break free. That feeling is so great and fine. You feel one with nature and you really let the rain and bliss seep in every cell of yours.

The love in our lives is no different from the drizzle. And though we know that letting go off the resistance would ultimately take us to the path of bliss but the counter force to let go off that fear and resistance is too strong. The battles and challenges of life, though worth living, have made us individualists, it has made us highly strong headed, and at the same time has made us more rigid. We have narrowed down our individuality and our identity to our strong headed opinions, our principles, etc. And therefore we are afraid of changing and accomodating because that in our opinion would mean losing of identity. It is this which prevents us from opening our arms and raising our heads to the sky when God, through another human being has decided to shower love upon us.

All said and done. The above resistance is not completely invalid, and in many cases infact it may be your strong suit too. It may be something which helps you win in other areas of life. And moreover the term Unconditional Love may really sound heavenly but its not possible to love someone unconditionally. Two people in love may have a different view of life, different ways of working, different principles, etc. And unfortunately lack of acceptance of these differences come in the way of unity of souls in the real sense. And even if one of the person accepts the differences does not mean that the other will also do the same. And even if both the people accept the differences doesnt mean that the differences have disappeared. Trust me acceptance might lower down the resistance and increase the possibility of reaching a common ground, but it will not unite your souls completely because somewhere something is being compromised. Not only these differences but certain other differences due to the acts of God like differences in destiny, death of a loved one, etc come in the way of that blissful unity of souls.

Are we as humans doomed to an incomplete love inevitably? Or can we indeed live life in a way where irrespective of our differences we are really drenched into each other, as if sleeping naked in the same blanket in the cold winter night, where at least for sometime physically and emotionally there ceases to be any barrier?

Below are the words of Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet. Reading these lines I have got some answers and some peace..

You shall be together when the white wings of death scatter your days.

Ay, you shall be together even in the silent memory of God.

But let there be spaces in your togetherness,

And let the winds of the heavens dance between you.

Love one another, but make not a bond of love:

Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.

Fill each other's cup but drink not from one cup.

Give one another of your bread but eat not from the same loaf

Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone,

Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music.

Give your hearts, but not into each other's keeping.

For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts.

And stand together yet not too near together:

For the pillars of the temple stand apart,

And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other's shadow."