Theories- The First Part

There have been some contemplative fireworks in my mind for the past couple of weeks and I would like to acknowledge caffeine and Saurabh for their contributions. Accordingly I have come with a few theories (not calling them hypotheses since I have already proved them in front of a fictional scientific committee) which I would like to put them on paper before I forget what were they all about.

1) Peter Pan can have sex too!!

* Before I start with this theory, this is to inform that the name of this theory does not have anything to do with proving Peter Pan’s sexual abilities*

Imagination should run wild and completely liberated; else it shouldn’t be called imagination. So what are imagination, Peter Pan and sex doing in the same neighborhood (thoughts)? Nothing much; it was just that they were all there and it’s only now that they have come face to face with one another.

The theory kicks off from the very same foundation stone called “calling”. I may not be the “one” who has found his true “calling” or might have never responded to it. I would like to coin a term for this condition- ‘Professional Dyslexia’. Here enters imagination as it helps me to tackle various career options and the one that suits me is lifestyle tourism. A fantastic way to live as it involves travel, meeting people and imbibing their culture and the best part of it is not worrying about being the lead of the rat race. Anyway am currently not writing about my “calling”. This imaginary job would have the same effect of happiness on me as, say, colors would have on an eight year old. Thus comes in to picture Peter Pan. Whenever I am on my “job” I am being a child who does not have to worry about the adult world. I would never want to grow up. If Peter Pan can be happy in Neverland by not growing up so can I. The drastic difference here would be that I do not reside in Neverland, so even against my wishes I have to face the real world.

The later half of the theory wants to over rule the age old notion of sex not being innocent. When I say ‘innocent sex’ it simply means that sex is as pleasurable and as innocent as eating ice-cream. If man is not in the innocent category, then I am quite sure that most of us would agree that dolphins (they enjoy sex, just like us) look innocent enough or for that matter even dogs. To summarize this thought I would just say that sex need not be associated with children; but the way a toddler gains pleasure from say observing a passing butterfly the same can be obtained from sex (very relative, here). So it’s not necessary to be a celibate if you would want to remain a child for the rest of your life.

I do not see the world in the same way as somebody else does; I do not want to run the rat race and win a trophy; I want to believe that I will never grow up and yet be happy; I also do not want to lose out on the basic pleasures (sex) that adulthood has to offer—here I would like to clarify that it is not my fault that puberty hit me and came along the hormones that cannot be suppressed; I want to be free to do whatever my hear t says even if it means lifestyle tourism and writing related travelogues; I want to be Peter Pan who can also have sex!!

Childhood- An Emotional Turmoil?

I read this in a book called The Kite Runner: “There are lots of children in Afghanistan, but there is no childhood.” The author of the book is a man named Khaled Housseini, who is an Afghan who has taken political asylum in USA and is residing there for the past 25 years. He is not alone. There are many like him, who, at that time of political upheaval in the late 70’s, could afford to travel across continents to the new world. The rest who could not, were left behind. First they cursed the invading Russians and then the Taliban. The Taliban were first welcomed and thanked since they were thought to be saviors. It was only a matter of time before the innocent folk realized that the Taliban were not the face of Allah but the rebirth of the Satan himself.

Everyone today knows about the barbaric ways of the Taliban. Everyone condemns their ways and everyone prays for the emancipation of the Afghans. But what you feel for the tortured is different from what it feels to be tortured. And if you happen to be a child in this macabre heaven, the wounds do not have the power to heal. Innocence has a way of inflicting guilt upon itself. In a beautiful and serene place like Afghanistan, you imagine the kids to run about and do mischief in the lush green parks and fields but what you get in the real world is this innocence getting raped of their childhood. Rules and restrictions imposed by the so called “messengers of Allah” have restrained the free spirit and imagination of the children. These rules also apply to the adults but it becomes extremely difficult to make the naïve minds understand the implications and complications of the evil forces of Taliban. At the tender age of 8-10 years when you are physically, emotionally and sexually abused, nothing and not even God can make you see the good side of life. The sweet singing of birds has been replaced by the bombing of the shells; your mother’s lullaby has turned into sorrowful screams, you don’t have a father around to take care of you, you do not know what it is to play with other kids, you have lost the sense of speech due to fear and shock, you are shaking with trepidation when you walk in your neighborhood and you are even afraid to go off to sleep because of the nightmares that will haunt you throughout. Is this what Allah had wished for when He gave them the gift of life?

What I gather from the principles of the Taliban is that they are doing the job of spreading the message of Allah so that they could secure a place in heaven. But the one thing I do not understand is by destroying the very presence of Allah and heaven on earth, how can they be sure of a seat in a heaven elsewhere?

Same is the condition with all other war torn regions including Kashmir and Palestinian territories. The continent of Africa which is struck by poverty and civil war for decades, has a different tale but with the same moral of tortured childhood. If Kashmir, Palestine or Africa seems far fetched, then the scenes of 5-6 year olds begging (again in the name of God) at the traffic signals in cities like Mumbai would be examples closer to home. I feel that these kids also meet with the same fate as the children in Kashmir but sans the gun firing and the continuous bombing. They too loose their freedom.

God, I feel, is discriminating His children by giving some child all the world’s happiness and on the other hand He takes away the soul of a child from some place else. Why?

What people around do not understand is that by crushing the love, innocence and the imagination in the souls of today’s children we are not winning the present but defeating our tomorrow, the essence of mankind. From now on, I have decided to say a prayer for all these children. Inshallah, there will be peace someday.

Randomization!!!

It’s 3^rd September’07 and the time on my desk top is 12:37 am. Why am I stating the date and the time? I am clueless on that one. If I am in a condition that wouldn’t in any way define or give reason to my actions or thoughts then I would term that condition as “sleepiness”. Considering that even in this state of indolence I am taking pains to write about the random things that are happening around me/with me or that have occurred over the past few days I hope that I will have a few dedicated readers on my blog who will appreciate the efforts. Here when I talk about ‘randomization’ I do not intend to rule out any bias or variable in my experiments with thoughts. Randomization here is for the ocean of random thoughts that have struck me at the hour when I should be in bed counting the number of random sheep! And anyway, so long as there are thoughts there has to be bias, variables, procedures and interventions related to the research of thought process. What is the whole point behind this “research of thought process”? The answer- “A dentist who is working for five days a week and is also taking extra weekend courses on clinical research must not let his creativity get affected by these things.” My brains may not be working in the peak condition right now because all the blood is flowing to my eyelids and making them heavier by the second. But to put down a list of all my random thoughts is primary objective and I shall achieve that. So here goes:-

“When will they ever learn…when will they ever learn..!”…these lines of a song are being dedicated to two kinds of people right now. The first kinds are the people who call themselves “servants of the society” a.k.a the politicians. How can these people have powers to decide the future of our country with no basic understanding of what is wrong or right for the society. The 123 agreement may or may not be signed, but the trust that the common man had invested in these netas has been signed off for sure. Hyderabad blasts, Mumbai blasts, Delhi blasts, J& K blasts…lot of more cities and states available in India ..please feel welcome to do your thing, Mr. Terrorist…the government is busy turning the place in to Shanghai anyway..a lot of things need to be “cleared off “ before that. The second kinds are the people who can be shameless and conscience crippled for every phase of their life. Forget strangers, mothers should start protecting their kids from “friends” like these.

Salman Khan hunts down innocent bucks, he gets arrested, he is tried, he is convicted, he goes to jail, he gets bail, he drinks alcohol, he drives, he runs over innocent pedestrians, he gets off the legal shackles, he is again tried for buck hunting, he gets convicted, he gets bail and then he declares-“I have full faith in the Indian judiciary system.” I don’t, Mr. Khan.

Never drink an espresso before you go for work…you might end up talking nonsense and having vague thoughts about colleagues who are married and pregnant.

From my experience of giving almost empty advices to a friend of mine over “girl-issues”, I have realized one thing that my friend is a moron and he doesn’t understand the definition of self-respect.

All the romances that have been read or heard of till now, I rate the romance of Veer- Zara as the best one. Thank you, Mr. Yash Chopra for bringing their love story to celluloid.

Cetrizine causes heavy drowsiness and should never be taken hours before working out at the gym.

Chak-De is a wonderful film, thanks to which the Indians have started winning in hockey and football and losing on the cricket field. ICL issue is just a huge hype which will die down in a few months time.

I really need to take time off, go on a vacation, trek in the Himalayas and have fun…kya pata kal ho naa ho..too much of a SRK over dose for the night…

Might as well sleep off and I am sure that I won’t be counting any more of the random sheep!

A Story Untold...

I don’t know whether it happens to all of you out there, but it does happen to me quite often. I am not talking about seeing dead people or about having premonition of the things that will occur in the future. The vision that I am trying to emphasize here is the dream that one dreams, but when you wake up from your slumber the dream is no longer hazy but is so limpid that you want to believe it. I am just lucky enough that I have started dreaming again because even if they are bizarre they leave you with a thought for the next entire day. I would too like to describe a story that I happen to unveil from the innermost corridors of my mind.

A rich widow, an unsuccessful writer and a crippled horse- these are the characters around whom my story revolves. Couldn’t figure out the names of the initial characters but the horse was named “Jack Daniels” by his master. As uncanny as the name may sound stranger are the proceedings ahead.

The rich widow, as of now let’s just address her as Mrs.X was the typical middle-aged woman who had lost her husband to a plane crash and now was spending her time and her money on champagne, caviar and celebrations about nothing. Life seemed completely meaningless and futile. Assuming the responsibility of handling the multi-billion business seemed like a Herculean and a daunting task for her, so that was better taken care off by her a trusted associate. This at least ensured that the caviar and the white truffles were always in stock for her lavish Page Three extravaganzas. She may have lost the much needed track of her life but she knew what she wanted. A higher and a much wanted cause were awaiting her in the upcoming time.

The second character that I shall be referring to as Mr. A was a passionate writer, a dreamer and a person who could just shuffle between the world of reality and his own thought bubble. The only thing that bothered him from completely living in reality was the harsh behaviour of the publication houses that refused to give any credit for his works. His work was good. He knew that and he believed in that but the other people thought otherwise. Most of the people he knew including his family had ostracized him. He had regained his sanity only because of a few close friends and an occasional smoke of marijuana. His life seemed empty but he continued writing for he knew that somebody will appreciate his work sometime. A higher and a much wanted cause were awaiting him in the upcoming time.

Jack Daniels was the stable’s most favorite and cared for horse. Although wasn’t a complete adult as yet, but still was a beautiful and a strong brown stud. Everybody liked him but everybody also knew that Jack Daniels did not like to be sympathized with. Sympathy because of a freak but a tragic fire accident that hit the stables a few years ago which made him lose a limb. The rest of the horses were safely taken away but unfortunately that night Jack Daniels was on medication that had sent him in deep sleep which resulted in a difficult task of rescuing him. He was rescued but his hind-limb was caught between two burnt and fallen poles and thus had to be sacrificed later due to gangrene. A crippled horse is of no value to a stable owner for whom his horses are his money, but Jack Daniels wasn’t put to sleep or thrown out because the owner didn’t have the heart to do so. As his limb was amputated so was his dream of ever running for his master for the derby race was sacrificed too. Jack Daniels knew that his master loved him but he felt like a burden to the stable. A limping horse can be of no use to anybody. He thought that nobody would appreciate his purpose of existence. But still he continued to live albeit filled with loads of sorrow. A higher and a much wanted cause were awaiting him in the upcoming time.

So what is it that brought these three distinct souls together?

Didn’t get to know because I woke up, but one thing is for sure, soon I’ll be getting back on this one to complete the union of these three characters!

I Am Back!

It’s a busy life. Everybody knows it and everybody is living it. People have the knowledge that they have to take time out from this chaos and reward themselves with time for themselves. I have understood this dogma really well and finally am dedicating myself to something that I have loved from the beginning-writing. A lot of things have passed through the complex by lanes of my mind from the last time I wrote something credible. So here I am back to the promise that will be respected and never broken at least till the time a writer’s block hits me again.

Deadlines are coming up. Work needs to be done and not just done it has to be done in haste. This is what I have learnt in the past few months. Not that I didn’t know of this before but when you realize this in the harsh way you tend to digest it quicker and not burp about it. From the safe cocoon of your thoughts and convictions the outside world seems to be quite inviting and rosy, but it is only when you actually step out and interact with the big rats that you smell the stench and feel the heat of the “big, bad world”. As though if this wasn’t bad enough, the worse is the trail of mental distress and emotional turmoil that follows and believe me you happen to leave some of this everywhere. From your talks, your sleep, and your body language and even to your dreams (which I should term as nightmares now) the serpent of stress stings you every time. It is time to fight back now. No more letting the stress and work deadlines affect my writing, a new promise is made and regular updates of the blog are on the way. Look out world, I am back.

A Simple Life

Let the title not mislead your thoughts because I don’t have the mental capabilities to waste words on Paris Hilton! The simple life what I am talking about is the magic that life creates by its sheer simplicity. This can be exemplified by the presence of nature and the inhabitants of Mother Nature. Man, unfortunately, has opted out of this clan and has decided to lock horns with her instead and has been successful on giving birth to complete annihilation. The destruction is evident not only through the “progress” that we have been able to achieve but the worm of catastrophe has found itself into the hearts of the human race as well. And this is what is going to be the raison d’etre for the ultimate downfall of all of us. As the war of supremacy continues throughout centuries it will be just a matter of time before the doomsday clock will strike midnight. Cupidity has raised its ugly head and enslaved the entire race. To lead in the rat race of nincompoops has suddenly become the motive of every single soul. But as we are running ahead to keep up the pace, on the way we are missing out on the simpler things that we are being offered.

The instinct of love is slowly vanishing. People are becoming selfish. So is love.

Unconditional love may be a clichéd term, but nobody seems to understand it or even if they do nobody has the courage and the perseverance to act upon it. Animals and children are the only one that I feel know, understand and sincerely nurture this emotion. The rest of the examples that I know of have been portrayed only on the celluloid. David, from A.I., is the most glorified example. It is only about animal and children that I can speak of because it is only they who project innocence. And in children it is only till the time they are in infancy stages that the innocence shines which after a period is taken over by conceit and avarice. What is the factor that separates humans from animals? Some say a developed brain or coming to think of it could be an underdeveloped heart. Try looking into the eyes of a dog, any dog, and then you will come to know how it is to look at innocence. I think intelligence and greed go hand in hand. Love doesn’t need the requisite of being smart. It may be blind, deaf, dumb or even non-existent but it is by far the most divine, pure and simple emotion. As a friend of mine once told that it is the most frequently used emotion by all but without understanding it. Love is the only factor need to live a simple life. Love unconditionally everyone around you. Tough, but possible. Expectations kill. So no conditions or contracts have to be read before emoting love. Wonderful yet simple. So wishing you all a simple life.

HAPPY ENDING

Happy Ending

Do you believe in “happy endings”? This was the question put forth by a character in a movie to her friend. Her friend just looked around, saw his pregnant wife, smiled and answered affirmative. How sweet! But here I agree with Don that sweet mush is diabetic. That should truly put me in the class of people who always have envied the happy endings in the movies. Envied, disagreed or purely bored. These are only movie fantasies which do sell like hot pancakes among the masses. But running equally well are tragic epics like Romeo and Juliet, Titanic, etc that completely insult the need for happy endings.

Happy endings signify optimism, dreams, trust, confidence, utopia, angels, innocence and fantasy. Reality as we all know is not exactly a concoction with the above mentioned as the prime ingredients. So reality never has happy endings??? Nobody can say so. Everybody has their own opinions on this. Optimism and skepticism go hand in hand to maintain the poise and lead to the path of development, flying towards the stars or digging the ground for worms, what say Mr.Bachchan? I earnestly pray that India does have her share of a happy ending sometime in the future. If endings were made to be satisfying and happy that would surely put a certain someone called “Bad” out of the picture. No bad, only happy. Only joy, no sorrow. Boring!

Ask a friend of mine who recently broke off with his girlfriend, and you will get an answer as to why suddenly he has no place for happiness right now. But relationships, I presume, are meant to be like that; fun, laughter and great when they last but once it’s called off life comes back to where she was-in the bitchy tales of the unloved. It becomes very difficult to get people like my friend in these situations back to the sane world. The continuity of the dream world and reality has been shattered and they have to cope with the ugly face of the reality.

Happy endings don’t come along just like that, they have to earned, worked for and only then relished. Nothing comes easy here. But there everything is just a wink away. You may call it anything you might want to- happy place, utopia, escapists’ haven etc but it is the place which everybody wants to get it off their minds and into concrete. These places irrespective of who the people are or what their thoughts are, their hearts have come up with these imaginary fragments which surely are beautiful. It is just a matter of time and trust amongst all of us the dreamers have to come together to let our dreams flow from the labyrinths of our minds into the world around us so as to have what else, but ‘Happy Endings’.

As John Lennon said:-Imagine…..you may say I am a dreamer…..someday you’ll join us…….. Signing off on a very positive ‘note’. :)