Faith

Note: This article is not about questioning religious beliefs. Its about what faith stands for.

Life is a struggle from the word go. Probably a bunch of free-loaders and people with rich mommy and daddy would not agree to this but for a larger percentage of people, life is indeed a struggle. It poses a series of challenges and ups/downs. Either you evolve or you perish as you try to navigate yourself through life. Most of the times, you tend to look at areas which would be comforting, areas or entities that would allow a person to cope well with the challenges.

People tend to believe what they see. More often than not, its what other people saw which goes virals makes people believe that yes it did happen. How many have seen God and His work? Very few? a handful? and how many people believe in God and the fact that His work is always something that happens and solves problems? Billions, Zillions? Countless number of people still believe that God works His way to restore order in lives of people who have been hit by a number of challenges. Some is just simple blind faith while some is experienced faith.

Mostly, it is the former. However, psychologically speaking, His presence in thoughts does help the people who need to be helped. But over time it does get converted into blind faith. I have seen a lot of really bad people (bad in terms of character and approach) donating a lot of serious money to temples in the name of God. I am not sure of the thought process behind this. Maybe they think that paying such a big load of money would rid them of their sins (yea they really think bribing is the approach here as well). However, the lesser people tend to follow in their footsteps. This is a form of faith transference. So, people see a rich person getting away with a lot of crap, getting blessed with an awesome quality of life, start to believe that yes big sacrifices would give them the key to solving life’s problems.

Ultimately what i think is that faith is the most purest form of sense of support. When up against a lot of adversity, the mind still wants to know that it is still been accepted and supported by someone. Most of the people inherently take support from God and His ways in order to get their ways through. This is because of everything in and around your life, God is omni-present and can be found almost everywhere. So, a readily available supply of support is what people get when they want God on their side. Support gives strength, strength gives coherence of thoughts, coherence gives confidence, confidence gives self belief, self belief solves problem - simple with a tricky starting point.

It all comes down to what you think would give you the best confidence and SELF BELIEF. For me for instance, is the notion that my parents, my wife and the rest of my family would be there for me no matter what which allows me to get through my troubled times. Recently, I came to experience that. I tried finding solace in God but I found better solace speaking with my loved ones, giving me coherence, giving me confidence and belief. That is all that is required to get the requisite tools to solve a problem.

Life throws you a curl ball one after the other. People need support to handle the tricky nature of this life’s aspect. Most find comfort in God. A few, like me, find that same comfort in my loved ones. In the end, it is the form of faith that equips the person to find that particular ounce of strength needed to overcome life’s problems and give person a confidence to move ahead in life. We need to think where we put our faith in?

The sight I see

Words are not enough to describe what I see
Its moments like these, I think about what I really want to be

For being with you is what actually matters
Without you, my life is lying all in tatters

They say beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder
But what I see now is just making me bolder

Smart was the time when I made a crucial life decision
8 & half years later, I have the same really vision

When I held you in my arms for the 1st time
Was the day when my heart started to rhyme

The lights have fallen over the pier
I really wish that you were near

To witness this sight, I need someone close in my life
I would have loved if the sight was shared with my loving Wife!

Why India Needs its Own Dark Knight

Before I start, I just wanted to state one thing. Read the below article with an open/subjective mind. This has been written with at-most sincerity.

We are on the verge of completing 65 years of Independence. Back then, the historic “when the clock strikes midnight” was the defining moment in Indian history. Years of struggle had paid dividends as India rose to the occasion and took back what was rightfully theirs. That was the time when the entire nation stood united and saluted the cause and bent their backs in achieving it. They looked up to the leaders back then. Although the leaders arguably did some mistakes, but the ultimate decision to separate us from the British Raj was admirable and was taken with a sense of unity in diversity which came to be our motto – our country’s punchline.

After 65 years, it should seem that we have rose from the ashes and should be spreading our wings like a phoenix and fly away. Indians always had the brains to rise above others. Only thing they lacked was leadership and initiative – simply quoting Doc Ock, we all were “Brilliant but Lazy”. So, when we all stood for the 1^st time for our national anthem, it was an appropriate assumption to make that we would do phenomenal progress as a nation. To some extent, we did do brilliantly well in terms of progress. But now, when I look at the nation in which I was born and brought up, I don’t feel proud anymore.

India was a democratic nation. Everyone has a chance to voice their own opinion. But when you go to a fish market, there also everyone “voices” their own opinion. Think about what the resultant feeling is! Further, when the British were here, they used an awesome strategy to rule – Divide and Rule: A strategy which ideally should have been dead and buried. However, that doesn’t seem to be the case. India, in this present form, is still ruled through this strategy but my politicians and parties concerned.

In general, today’s political parties in India are just concerned about 3 things – getting power, keeping power and executing power. They seem to have lost the thought of people welfare. India has been marred with numerous terrorist strikes, but there hasn’t been even 1 conviction, hasn’t even been one arrest. India has seen a number of scams happening, but again, there hasn’t been even 1 conviction, the arrests have happened but all of those are now freely roaming. In this power struggle, comes the true evil which is eating this society from within – corruption. The civil society is right. Corruption is actually the cause of the nonsense happening. Nowadays all politicians and bureaucrats know that they can get away with anything – they seem to have misplaced all sense of accountability.

Although the civil society is doing the right thing but I feel that the means need to be more drastic. These power hungry people aren’t going to mend their ways only by a few of us going on hunger strikes. It needs much more than that. An average Indian was desperate back in 1940s but now the same average Indian is lazy and selfish. I say this becoz I hear instances where a 3^rd person who is trying to mediate and stop a fight gets critically injured in his ordeal. Indians, now, are more looking out for benefits rather than fighting for a big cause. They would stand around a couple of people fighting rather than help and mediate. They are lazy enough NOT to pick sides as there isn’t any benefit for them.

I see millions of people supporting a group of social activist. That’s good. That’s a start. However, what’s that going to achieve? Politicians have grown extremely powerful becoz of the “divide & rule” concept. They absolutely have nothing to fear. They know that their main vote bank is impervious to these “movements”. Even if the current ruling party goes out, the other one that comes in is going to do the same nonsense which we seem to be sick and tired of. The reason for that to happen – all power politicians lack fear!

Back in 2005, we all were exposed to an idea. A silent guardian who fights injustice at night by playing with things people fear the most. Although it may sound funny at 1^st but the Dark Knight trilogy grounded the comic book premise of a vigilante fighting crime/injustice in the realms of reality. It was indeed a bold step which clicked with the audience from an engaging entertainment perspective. But I had a different look to it. From a very high level point what I saw was a city ridden by corruption and powerful people. There were a few good men but those were either put off or pushed aside. These very good men were people who were fighting the system from within but neither of them were successful in doing so. The city got a symbol – a symbol of fear which was used drive the 1 thing which these powerful people needed in their minds – fear. It is the fear of the things which you don’t understand!

So, in the movie, a symbol was used to strike fear in the hearts of the corrupt and the powerful. How that was achieved in the movie is another thing as it tends more towards fantasy. However, the idea of the presence of a symbol is the one which could be retained.

So, for this country to really change, we need a symbol. But is that enough? Currently, civil society is pushing for JanLokpal bill as a means to instill some accountability into the system and reduce corruption. But will that really help? I, personally, am doubtful about it. Although, the bill (from what I know) has the potential to bring accountability, but one begs to think if the time of being accountable has passed. We have entered into a phase in our system where nothing, absolutely, nothing can be done without paying “gift” aka bribe!

Lokpal can work. But the correction required in the system needs to come in a drastic manner. It needs to come in the tone with which it came in the Dark Knight series. The batman signified defiance. He signified fear and he signified the ability to correct the system more drastically. That brings to my original thought – Has India degraded to such an extent that we really need a symbol in form of a fearful masked vigilante to bring about a change and reduce corruption in our society?

Although my view might sound conflicting, they actually aren’t. Although Lokpal can be THE symbol which I am talking about, but it cant bring in the fear quotient. That is partially becoz of the painstakingly long judicial system which we have. Fear is an object which strikes and leaves a victim so fast that the victim doesn’t have time to think straight and succumbs to it. Lokpal gives time. It allows the person to built up a case for himself and the pathetic judicial system allows him to go scot-free regardless of how vicious his crime was!

So quick justice is the answer! A feared mask vigilante who cannot be traced is the answer! Someone who can be a symbol rather than a person – a normal citizen and bring all the people who refrain from being accountable to the people those elect them to justice. Sometimes, a system needs a minor tweak here and there. But sometimes, the system needs a radical overhaul. This wont be possible as long as people belonging to the old way of doing things are at the center of every decision that is taken. These people are the ones who bring in the corruption into the system. These are the people who need to be brought to justice. The Janlokpal can target these people but they would never be brought down by it. The Dark Knight needs to rise in order to save the society from abomination. The question is – what form would he come in?

An Imploding World

Ever since childhood, I came across stories of the end of the world. As a fragile mind growing up in a country like India, it was often a scary thought to be around when the world ends. During the teenage years, I heard every from rumors that visitors from outer space are coming to Earth in order to survive in the Earth’s atmosphere (this was close to the release of the movie Independence Day) to the predictions given by Nastrodamus where he postulated that the world as we know it is going to cease to exist at a certain point in time – more importantly, during my lifetime!

The Mayan calendar was the cherry on top on all this end of the world news that was falling on my delicate mind. All these news pointed to 2012! So, as any ignorant kid would do, I thought about it for a while and then remained unobvious to it!

Fast forward to 2012 January – the world isn’t bracing itself for the end! In fact, it has become so self-involved, that it is oblivious to the fact – a Mayan fact – that there isn’t a calendar beyond 21^st December 2012!! But then I looked closely and found out something pretty interesting.

The world has come a long way in the last decade. Cellphones which were considered a luxury back then have now become a necessity. Mobile internet which was non-existent has now involved into its 4^th Generation. However, more importantly, the attitudes of the people have changed drastically since a decade. Moreover, on the flip side, changes have also come in for the worst.

In order to support these humongous changes in our day to day lives, humans have exploited natural resources to the nth degree. In order to make our lives cooler, we have heated up the Earth. In order for us to live in luxurious apartments, we have deprived our wildlife of their own homes! All these stem from a commonality which has become a dormant but yet essential catalyst in the “progress” which the world has done in the last decade – competition.

Competition and power go hand in hand. In fact, one can say that people compete so that they can hold a place of power. So, the chase for power is always present in smaller or larger proportions around us. In our workplace, chase for power is in form of promotions, salary hikes etc. Whereas, in the open world, chase for power comes in multiple forms. The only thing that doesn’t change is the outcome of the chase. Humans have become so blinded in their chase for power that they no longer able to see that they actions have a degrading effect on the things around them.

So, such a chase always comes at a cost – in some cases the cost is merely few thousand bucks or in some cases, the cost is more severe. In India, the highly visible chase for power comes in form of political ambition. This thirst for power has left a fairly large negative impact on the country’s administration and law/order capabilities. The result is an inflated price index, a slowing down economy and a huge trade deficit. Although, the more informed people might argue but the fact remains that corruption, as a byproduct of the chase for power, has crippled the country to such a level that very strict reforms are required. If these reforms would actually change the ways of the politicians is a discussion for another day.

Panning out to the entire world, we observed the 1^st phase of recession during the 2008-09 financial season which opened our eyes to a grim reality – not everything can be taken on credit. However, the main focal item which led to this meltdown was also competition and the effort to strive for market domination. The financial firm’s readiness to dispense so much credit for so fewer guarantees was taken very lightly and to some extend bit literally by the consumer. Now, comes the fun part – why did the consumer did what he did? Interestingly, this can also be attributed to the race to succeed, the race to survive.

Are human beings becoming insecure? Are they becoming too self involved? Are we evolving into a species which cannot co-exist with each other and fellow mammals? These are the questions which seem to outline the circumstances of what we are experiencing today. The fact remains that humans are degrading themselves and the environment they live in order to achieve some false sense of power. Right now, most of the world economies are on the brink of disaster and those who aren’t, have such a bad governance that the very people designated to ensure their well beings are slowly but surely eating away at the environment (natural as well as man made).

Maybe our forefathers were right. Maybe Nastrodamus and the Mayans knew this stage of human evolution. Maybe, they knew that although humans would grow to be sophisticated, they would still retain the raw animal instincts underneath. So, the next stage of evolution would hint at humans devouring others of the same and different species in order to fulfill the one urge that has driven us all these thousands of years – the instinct to survive.

This could mean that the reason the Mayans stopped writing their calendar beyond 21^st December 2012 was becoz they couldn’t vision a human race beyond that point in time. Maybe, they couldn’t just recognize what had become of a human being. All this points to a simple yet somewhat logical reality – The world isn’t coming to an end, we humans are merely going to step into the next age of evolution. The world is going to reach the pinnacle of development before crashing down to the point where a mental and physiological rebuilt is warranted.

The world isn’t going to come to an end – We humans are just going to make it implode….

Perceptions

What is it that makes us like people? Is it their common interests that attract us towards them? Or is the karma that they symbolize which makes us want to interact with them? What if this karma is a falsifying attempt of such individuals to achieve what they want to achieve, get what they want to get, make us do what they want us to do? Or is it just the human mind which makes us feel closer to such individuals at a certain level so much so that the karmic energies just seem to synergize and provide us with an experience which depicts the most common of human emotions – acceptance.

The human mind is a puzzle. Every nook and corner of it is embedded with demons which prevent us from exploring the mind to a point beyond the realm of certainty. To further aggravate the complications, the human mind is exposed to external demons as well. These demons are not only a manifest of human emotions but they are also projections of the human mind – the external human mind. The projections are nothing but the inner demons of other human minds which come alive and exhort a force of sometimes uncontrollable nature which influences the subjected human mind to such a degree that the inner demons are dominated and educated to do something which they are never really trained to do. The result is a self-learning demon which propels the karmic energy to bend itself around the people with whom a synergy is possible. This results in a distortion in the karmic energy of not only the subjected human mind but also the mind which, now allegedly, the subjected mind was apparently attracted to. This ultimate realization gives rise to an understanding which in common knowledge is labeled as perception.

A perception is a very figurative being. It can make or break the human mind. The most intriguing part about perception is that it is indeed a parasite. This is the true trainer of the demons roaming inside the human mind. It has great amplification capabilities – able to infect thousands (if not) millions of human minds. Perceptions are tools which human emotions turn to when they aren’t able to understand the demons reaction to the karmic energy which it experiences during an interaction. However, this is just detour which the demon allows the human emotions to take in a bid to distort and prevent the synergy which otherwise would have resulted in the triumphant destruction of the demon. So, ultimately, it is all about survival.

If we pan out, we realize that perception, really, is sometimes the creation of one repulsion of karmic energy. When the human mind encounters a karmic energy which it truly dislikes, the resultant acrimony fuels the demons in that mind to repulse the idea of getting itself entangled with that karmic energy. However, it doesn’t stop there. This repulsion is nothing but a mutated form of karmic energy which tries to dominate and educate the demons hidden in the subjected human mind so as to twist its own inner demons into thinking that the friendly karmic energy is actually a repulsive one resulting in perception spreading like a disease through multiple human minds.

This brings us to the very basic question – what can be done about these demons? Can they be ever controlled? Can the virus of perception have any cure? Weirdly, the answer comes from within – as I mentioned that the human mind is a puzzle, so along with these demons are small karmic energy points spread all across the mind, prompting you at every step of the way. The sad part is that the demons grow so loud that you cant really make them out. The best way to combat the perception problem is to hear the very karmic energy which is trying to reach out to you and the like minded human with a view to have a synergy which can, in the end, provide the human mind with the level of acceptance that it always craves. Resultant synergy also has the capability of changing the minuses to pulse, changing the wrongs to rights, it has the power of enslaving the demons which would allow the disease of perception from spreading – think about it!

Expectations

Human nature. What is it that makes human nature different? Is it the sense of instinct which drives each and every human being? Is it the competition that we are constantly exposed to in our day to day life? After all, we are, at the end of the day, just descendants of beasts – a species which constantly within themselves try to establish an alpha male. I cant help but wonder whether years and years of evolution failed to eradicate the 1 very basic quality which, essentially, is the constant driving force of an individual to strive for the best – the quality of competition.


It can be argued that competition always brings out the best in people. Is this really true? One thing that history has taught is never to be naïve. Historical events tell the tale of people who took competition so seriously that they did anything, absolutely anything, to maintain their competitive advantage.  This is but the sad part of human nature. They say that humans have the most evolved spirits – yet time and time again, we have proven to our overlords that this spirit is tainted and that the constant evolution minus direction dilutes the spirits to such an extent that it bends the minds of people who start doing the most unexpected things in the most unorthodox manner. The weirdest part to all this is that they remain impervious to the most obvious quality which humans uniquely possess – perspective.


The most common reaction to this argument is denial. What one human sees as an act of unworthiness is perceived by others as an act to just make ends meet. So, who is to draw the line of expectations? Who is to say and dictate what is the expectation in terms of the action performed by the humans as they go about their day to day chores? These lines are drawn by a group of humans in society who summation of perspectives comes out to be zero. However, the real question beckons here is if the summation is actually zero? Is it possible that you get the precisely right amount of ying and yangs, pluses and minuses to balance out a human equation? Isnt the existence of an anomaly the most obvious truth which ensures that the society and in extension the universe balances itself out? Then you sit and wonder who or rather what brings about such anomaly? Is it a human quality? Is it just plain simple quantity of human beings? Or is it a perspective of the 3rd dimension? Further comes a thought that if there is indeed an anomaly, who in turn sets the expectations for the scope of this anomaly?


If for a moment, we consider that the summation of perspectives is indeed zero, then the outcome of these perspectives should ideally be a line by line setting of expectation. If an expectation is set in such a unique way, then all humans would respond to competition in the same exact manner. This would mean that only true talent can allow for one human to triumph over the other in pure competition.  This would mean that all talent is supplemented by something which humans again have inherited from their beasty ancestors – survival instinct. But isn’t it natural for any life form to do whatever it takes to survive? This would mean that in order to survive, humans would unearth talents which aren’t the best ones always thereby leading to a state where a human tries to dictate its position as an alpha male in forcible circumstances.


This makes me think if really in order to set the expectation, we try to use the excuse of an anomaly to balance the perspectives out. So, ultimately isn’t the anomaly nothing but the degree to which humans can go to survive in a competitive world? And isn’t the root of the immergence of this anomaly attributed to the presence of the need to have expectations in a bid to have order to the way humans compete in this world? So, is it wrong to say that we have evolved from our ancestors or are we just a highly intellectual descendants of them who undertake the same tactics to be the alpha male but only in a civilized/humanized manner?

Travel Diaries – Srinagar and the Long Ride Home!

Yes, it was a houseboat! Before I get into that, my 1^st impression of the Dal Lake follows. I had only seen the Dal Lake in movies famously in Mission Kashmir. However, when I actually came to see it for the 1^st time, I was awestruck. A massive piece of water mass! Never before have I seen such a huge mass of water which is labeled as a Lake! This should have been categorized as a mini Sea! Simply beautiful. From a distance, watching the shikara glide over the silk like surface is something which you can only see to believe.

Then finally, we got a chance to glide over the lake in a Shikara. From a distance, it seems like any other boat in which you can sit and go over water. However, it’s really a different story when you are in it! It simply submerges into the water to such an extent that you feel that it can go under any time!

Once the Shikara beings its journey, all you can do is sit still!! Our houseboat was further away from the edge of the lake. So, the Shikara ride was a longer one. It’s sometimes very amazing that how easily the rowers can navigate the Shikara towards its destination. The view of lotuses on the Lake with the sun shining in the backdrop is something which any DSLR owner would want to take and keep it locked up in their harddrive! Further during our ride to the houseboat, we had other shikaras containing salesmen who used to pull up and join the boats so that they can sell something to us!!

We finally reached our houseboat and were greeted by a grand archway which led into the living room! A houseboat is a very modest name which is given to this structure. It should have been called a Palaceboat!! Its basically a 4 BHK on the lake! Its constructed in linear fashion (one room leads into another). We started off with a grand hall which had really royal style sofas and chairs. Modern amenities like DTH and tube lights and bulbs along with a table fan grace the spectacular woodwork! The hall led into the dining area which again comprised of a huge table capable of seating around 8-9 people. The most interesting thing about these 2 rooms was the décor! Amazing woodwork and polish which really sets the tone for a grand place! From the dining room, we had a long but narrow corridor which ultimately terminated into a master bedroom. Along the way, there were small rooms on the left and windows on the right. The rooms were the kitchen followed by 3 double beds – each of which equipped with a wardrobe and a bathroom!

All in all a really beautiful place to stay. However, walking through the corridor was creepy as the wood below made squeaky sounds which were reminiscent of the horror movies of the 70s and 80s!

After relaxing for a while, we headed out again and went to a relatively famous place in Srinagar – Adhoos restaurant for late lunch. Food was nice but had a Kashmiri/Mughali flavor to it! Sadly couldn’t enjoy much as I was forced to eat veg!

Staying in a palace like structure, we wanted to keep the feeling of being royal alive. So, we headed over to the Mughal Gardens which were on the other side of the Dal Lake.

The gardens were typical ones which you would find – only difference being that they were huge and had wide varieties of flowers and trees! It essentially is a photographer and Lover’s delight!

After spending the evening there, we headed back to the houseboat to enjoy the beautiful evening lights that could be experienced at the Lake. It’s magical what lights can do to completely lift the beauty of the place!

Time spent in Srinagar was too less and we definitely need to come back again for a longer exploration of the place. After a peaceful sleep (something which we had after a long time), we packed our bags one last time and headed over to the airport. Since being Srinagar, we had to reach the airport really early (3 hours before departure). Around 5-10 kms before the airport, we had to get out of the car, do a scan of our luggage and ourselves! The level of security was unparalleled to anything which I had seen!

After reaching the airport, we had to even checkin our hand luggage – basically get into the flight with nothing but wallets! Thankfully, we had booked our return flights on Kingfisher Class – food served was on the house!

The Kingfisher flight was a relaxing one as it took us from Kashmir via Delhi to Mumbai. For obvious reasons, my friends really enjoyed the flightJ. All in all, an awesome end to a spectacular journey!

Epilogue

While we checked and loaded our luggage onto the trolley, there was a sense of sadness amongst us. These 10 days were really incredible considering the various ups and downs that we saw but we really pulled through. Even as we left the airport waving our good byes, we knew that this was just an adventure trip which we took to get away from our real lives – the lives which we were to resume a day later. Even today, when I feel exhausted, I close my eyes and try to remember the green/white/brown picturesque views of Rohtang/Ladakh/Kargil. It makes me feel relaxed and calms me down – in short refreshes me! Such is the impact, a trip like this can have!

This was the 1^st time I ever undertook a trip like this and boy how amazing it turned out. We could easily have got stuck, got undone by nature, hell could have been fallen to our deaths, but we pulled through. I didn’t want to prove anything to anyone by going through with this trip but I proved one thing to myself – I pulled through adversity to witness some of the most beautiful views that nature had prepared to be seen!

I don’t know if ever I will undertake such an adventurous trip, but I do know one thing – I am really glad that I said “Yes” when asked about this!