Eccentrics: How absorbent are we towards information?

Eccentrics: How absorbent are we towards information?: The globe is a bundle of information. Through those glossy gadgets and crispy newspapers, we are always trying to update ourselves with th...

How absorbent are we towards information?

The globe is a bundle of information. Through those glossy gadgets and crispy newspapers, we are always trying to update ourselves with the latest information. We want wifi everywhere. We want to Google everything. No matter whether it is politics or Bollywood or sports, we want to know everything. Little do we focus on the fact that most of the information coming to us has been distorted and filtered and altered by two kinds of people…

…those who have money.

…those who don’t have the ‘just right’ intellect and wisdom to gather and distribute the ‘correct and complete’ information.

Do we ever question over the credibility of the information we are letting inside our brains?

And then do we really try to make an effort to unlearn the learnt information so that our soul is preserved?

Our sheer vulnerability towards the ‘world of information’ makes all kinds of ‘means of information’ sell out loud.

At times, an addict just requires the spirit…no matter what brand it is…what quality it is of…! The same way, most of us ‘just want to know’! It hardly matters ‘what’ we should know… ‘why’ we should know… ‘where’ is this information coming from! It reminds me of a dialogue in the film Lootera wherein Ranveer Singh asks his people to dig in the earth. When questioned about why to dig, he very conveniently says…  “because it is a land”. True, we let in every kind of information from everywhere…because we have a BRAIN!

Hardly and rarely do we make an effort for things like …is there something that we would like to know but unable to find…what effort should we make to know the unknown. Do we want to know the unknown?

How baseless it is to be absorbent towards every kind of information thrown on us. Why do we want to be informed?

We should realize that the information we let in our brains ‘makes us’! Therefore, the masses exist! The masses listen to the same kind of information from the same means available to everyone and then group along to discuss the same thing the same way. Too much information on almost everything somehow degrades the wiring of our brain. It tends to adulterate the purity of human conscience.

In today’s world, being informed is not ‘really being informed’. ‘Being informed’ comes naturally…we just need to have the organs called ‘ear and eye’.

Therefore, it is really difficult to stay opaque towards information because it is being thrown on us from every possible direction. But at least, we can remain ‘consciously translucent (if not opaque) and mindful’ towards the world of information we reside amidst.

It’s ok to ‘give up’

Are we the ‘success obsessed’ world??…not because all of us really strive hard to succeed…but because we appreciate and applaud the phrase….NEVER GIVE UP…more than anything else! No matter whether it is an online or an offline world, this phrase jumps in front of me every other time in one or the other way.

There are various parents…teachers, children and students…all of whom really insist on the fact that we should never give up, come what may. Is it really really important to never give up? Why?

Definitely, if you really believe in something and you think that it is going to contribute to you and to the world as a whole…then yes, never give up.

But then there is a different story to it as well and it is happening to many around us. We enter the world and observe certain things…based on what we somehow decide to choose a particular career path...or may be we are just suddenly forced on for choosing a particular career path. Now during our course of working towards achieving our goal, we are flooded with different ideas…we are attending different events… we are traveling to different places…we are meeting different people… we are constantly growing…but again, we already have a career goal which we had been following since years.

No matter, whether we have outgrown certain situations…we have surpassed certain thoughts…we have outclassed certain theories…we have to follow our particular goal…because since the day we have entered this planet, we are conditioned in a way so as not to give up on what we had once started to walk on…no matter what happens…no matter even if we don’t believe in it anymore!

At this point of time, many of us either tend to lose interest in what we had once decided to pursue as a career…or we just don’t think that it is the right thing we have chosen for us…or may be we find ourselves keenly involved in another subject. For e.g….while pursuing Architecture as a career…it is quite likely to fall in love with photography…and pursue it in a full-fledged manner.

The world around says…why on earth did you do Architecture for 5 grand years…or why did you waste your parents’ money!!! The answer is quite simple. While we pursue a particular subject or a task or any other thing…we keep our eyes, ears and nose open which help us feel other things as well while we are still alive. So, during the course of pursuing anything in life, there is a high possibility of falling for that particular thing for which we are actually designed for!!!    

Most of our minds are programmed in a way that those who ‘give up’ are failures. There are people who somehow have to give up on certain things and therefore quite conveniently end up being intensely depressive. All because, our minds are wired and rewired with the same thought…never give up.

We are always evolving…at times, giving up might come quite naturally. We must learn to give up…at the right time…for the right thing. Just for the heck of ‘not giving up’, there are millions of people who are just dragging with their ‘once’ chosen career paths. Same follows for the people we choose in life. We must learn to give up on certain people at certain point of time in life…it is afterall for the betterment of everyone.  

At times, the phrase ‘never give up’ sounds like… ‘dude never give up on any damn thing…just hold on tight…cling on…stay stagnant…let the years pass by…get frustrated…get old…gather diseases…stop living…stop laughing…coz you are following a GOOOOAAALL…make sure that burden is always sitting on your head…make sure that people around you stay away from you because of the negative vibes of ‘fake maturity’ and the dumbstruck adamance you throw on them…make sure you always crib about the problems you are facing for not giving up on something you were actually never meant for. ’

So, start giving up on certain things in life…and see how beautiful rest of the life is!

The curse of ‘sense of ownership’!

We love happiness. Who doesn’t!!! Happiness involves ‘good’ character, ‘good’ health and ‘good’ wealth. Happiness can very conveniently be turned into sorrow as we humans tend to replace ‘good’ by ‘more’ – and we assume that wealth can buy everything…even character and health. So, we end up concentrating on ‘more wealth’.

As the parameters of happiness are not ‘fresh air and fresh food’, but just an iPhone(x) or may be an Audi(x). Not only just the brand names, but the value of ‘X’ defines our happiness. So temporary and so superficial!

It takes guts....courage to be happy! Are we courageous enough to be happy? Do we deserve happiness?

I feel that ‘that deep sense of ownership’ is the cure of unhappiness!

We require everything. We require every machine...right from a hair comb to a car.

And then in order to loosen up...we opt for farmhouses on weekends so that we can be away from the ever increasing chaotic hustle bustle of city life. But then, we are only responsible for this ‘hustle bustle’ around us. Once the cities we are living in were also the much desirable spots for farm houses. We are turning every place...every corner on earth in a piece of pollution emitting powerhouse.

Just for one single day, let’s try to consciously spend a machines-less day....shunning away our mobiles, refrigerators, microwaves, televisions, laptops, elevators, cars, and the list is endless. Surely, the experience will be farmhousish...infact much more than that!

All these machines are just making our lives fast. This fastness is gradually turning us into dumb robots from beautiful human beings. And we think that these machines are for our comfort. The catch is here...we experience ‘instant comfort’. The term ‘instant’ is in itself unnatural. Nothing can be instant. Everything has to and should take its time to shape up. The very human intervention is trying to instantanize everything. And we call it ‘perfection’. According to my understanding, it is ‘degradation’. Time is not far when there will be stuffs available in the market for ‘instant orgasm’, ‘instant human formation’...and the terms like ‘foreplay’ ... ‘pregnancy’...will be obsolete.

Everyone wants instantinity...everyone wants to be updated...everyone wants the latest stuff.

Only very few take time and question!!! Does your latest gadget really make you happy...if yes...it is only because you want ‘others to see it’ in your possession. And that sense of ownership of the latest gadget makes you happy. Isn’t it funny and senseless?

Happiness should be...when you have stories to narrate to your friends from your last trip...happiness should be when you know you are going to spend the coming week with your best friend...happiness should be when you realize that you have healthfully spent your last week...happiness should be when you cook delicious food for people around..happiness should be in being slow to the core...in understanding the regular process of life and thereby connecting with it.  

We amass things, thinking that we are doing it for achieving that ‘sense of security’…but in actual… ‘sense of security’ leads to ‘sense of insecurity’. But then, moneyless living is the need of the hour.

Let’s live consciously…minimally. Let’s stay connected to our core…to our very purpose of existence.

Less is more. 

Eccentrics: Together, Let’s Remain Unhappy.

Eccentrics: Together, Let’s Remain Unhappy.: When I was about to enter my 10 th grade, the world around me was saying, “ ab dekhna, ab pata chalega…bahut difficult hai!!! ”. When I...

Together, Let’s Remain Unhappy.

When I was about to enter my 10^th grade, the world around me was saying, “ab dekhna, ab pata chalega…bahut difficult hai!!!”.

When I was about to complete my graduation, the world around me was saying, “ab dekhna, ab pata chalega…bahut difficult hai!!!”.

When I was about to get married, the world around me was saying, “ab dekhna, ab pata chalega…bahut difficult hai!!!”.

When I became pregnant, the world around me was saying, “ab dekhna, ab pata chalega…bahut difficult hai!!!”.

I am sure that the above statement is quite common for everyone. It is a negative statement. Isn’t it? It is repeated by everyone for everyone. So, what I derive is that…in a way, we are saying… “together, let’s remain unhappy…life has been difficult for us and we hope the same for you. Don’t dare to be happy”!

Now, when I have gone through all of these, I really don’t understand why people always say such things. Even if they say….that now things will be difficult, why can’t they just add to it that … ‘also life will be more beautiful now’! I consciously feel, life is getting more beautiful, day by day. And that is the reason we opt for certain things to happen in our lives. True, when you add beauty to anything, it takes effort.

Why do people mostly ‘don’t say’ really beautiful things about those regular matters…like education, marriage, child birth and the likes. And if such matters no more sound beautiful, why people get educated…get married…give birth to a child…and then…make her/him go through the same cycle again.

Let’s get to the core. Everything starts with a reason. And we keep on doing things based on those reasons. During the process, we really forget the reason or may be ‘don’t really know’ the reason or may be ‘don’t want to know’ the reason…but still do those things just because everyone has to do those things. For e.g. everyone gets married. The societal question is usually as … when are you getting married?..it is never like…will you marry? It is never ‘will you’…it is always ‘when are you’…because a deep rooted institution like marriage is never really questioned. Marriage is as obvious as a cycle of day and night. Same for schooling and other worldly matters. And if someone tries to question such matters, she/he is #mad#immature#easyinlife#etc…..etc…

The marriage between a girl and a boy started with a reason. But, now the girl of today is no more that girl and the boy of today is no more that boy…and everything else has changed than it was around 500 years or 1000 years back. But even then everyone gets married. And no one really says that wow…more beautiful life awaits there for me after marriage. The point here is not that why do people get married…the point here is that why do people get married when everyone says that life is very difficult afterwards?

I suppose, if we walk in life a bit more thoughtfully and reasonably, it would be more beautiful for us. Everything should have a purpose. I am neither for or against marriage or any other thing like education or something. I just want to say, whatever we do…whether it is marriage…education…or any other thing…we should question. We should ‘question’ ourselves. For e.g., marriage as an institution is beautiful but we need to shape it up as per the current scenario. Our educational system needs an urgent revamping. There are various other things existing in our society which used to be meaningful in earlier days but now they are little baseless. This baselessness rots the entire society. The rotten society leads to unhappiness. 

True, it takes a lot to question…or else, together let’s remain unhappy. But, I suppose the very purpose of our existence is to leave the world in a little better condition than the world we arrived in.

We are the system. We are the universe. So, let’s evolve. Let’s evolve for better. Let’s live mindfully. I feel that the world we live in is for happy souls. Together, let’s remain happy.

Why No Nipples?

To see…or…not to see? To touch…or…not to touch? To speak…or…not to speak? To ban…or…not to ban?

The trouble with censors is that they worry if a girl has cleavage. They ought to worry if she hasn't any – Marilyn Monroe

In a civilization, there is required a certain code of conduct. People are supposed to behave in a certain manner. But then, if a particular society is bound with numerous rules and regulations, now and then, with no real solid reasoning, it is bound to degrade. There is bound to rise a rage. There is bound to occur a revolution. Because certain rules are bound to be ruled out.

Human body should be worshipped. We all, individually, live in our bodies. They are our abodes. No one can take our bodies from us. And every body part exists with a purpose. If it is somehow not present, we are termed as ‘differently abled’. Then what about those body parts which are ‘portrayed as absent’. Every other nude photography I come across has marked nipples. Or else, the shot is taken in a way that hides nipples. Can there be any part of a human body that should not be there? Is there something wrong with our bodies on basic design level?

Nipples, in women and men, are significant…and therefore exist. However, the much privileged gender can walk with bare chest but not the other one. There is nothing about ‘gender equality’ here. It is all about ‘giving respect to your body’.

Women cannot appear with her bare chest. Already a young girl…who has just reached her adolescence…is quite under confident and miserable about herself. And now, with the world that consciously carves out guidelines to hide/wrap/edit/cover a certain body part of a woman that is present in both the genders, she is bound to be ashamed to be born in a female body. Forget about bare nipples, young females are made to learn that their chest should always be covered by a piece of cloth for which the societal word is dupatta. As a result, the minds of females are programmed in a way that they feel hesitant about their bodies throughout their lives. Females are flooded with statements like…  “dupatta le lo, achcha nahi lagta hai”, “ye kurta mat pehno, thoda saa transee hai, sab dikh raha hai”, “theek karo, strap dikh raha hai”…and so on and on. These statements are so deeply embedded in our system, that even if a male has to hear all of these, surely…he would also feel ashamed of his body, particularly chest. And the entire system, in which we reside is responsible for this discomfort that a young adolescent female child faces. That shame, quite conveniently is passed on from generation to generation.

The focus should rather be on the ‘basic conditioning of humans’ (men and women, both) since birth…that human body should be respected…so that everyone could walk with utmost liberty and self expression. Moreover, the natural tendency is… ‘more you hide, more is the urge to see’, so such hidden body parts like nipples only create more lustful negative curiosity, thus degrading the entire society. So, let’s stay calm and respect our bodies as they are. Afterall, it is all about ‘just right’ mindset.