This blog is in connection with something that i remebered.The noted British writer Melvin Burgess visited my college some time back and we had an interesting discussion on literature,censorship and other things.Some of my friends engaged him in a conversation regarding the anti-liberal attitude of certain political parties,that act as self-appointed guardians of our culture and hence try to pull all those things down that they feel is against our culture.I am sure the readers of this blog would know which parties i am referring to.I would just like to share my views on this issue which i couldn't on that day.
Firstly lets be clear that the political class of this country is so engrossed in its own power games that their neglect of the country hardly comes as a surprise.They are far removed from the ground reality.They are a bunch of highly opportunistic,shrewd megalomaniacs(pardon me for painting the entire political class with one brush but such is the deplorable condition that our politics is in today that all these epithets don't seem far from reality).It is a pity to see the men appointed by the people, to serve the people, are making a mockery of the very institution that they are chosen to defend.While it is imperative that democracy survives all odds and we should exercise our right to vote-choosing from amongst the corrupt candidates that we have but frankly one finds it difficult to be excited about elections in these times,given the numerous scams unfolding infront of our eyes,where people in power have shamelessly exploited the country and continue to do so.Even the highest institutions of this country are not immune to corruption.Democracy has indeed been reduced to a joke to say the least.
Coming back to the imeediate concern of this blog,it might interest the readers to note that the political parties(the so-called moral guardians) appear only when they are sure of gaining political mileage.Curiously, we don't see them helping the deprived or being involved when a disaster strikes.For instance these parties were nowhere to be found when mumbai attacks happened.This is because the cameras wouldn't have been on them.On the other hand, it pleases them to harass a couple on valentines day or create a ruckus against any manifestation of liberalism or burn books that are not in agreement with their limited worldview and so many other things.It is sad that the government and the people let such villains define the morality and culture of a whole nation according to their own limited standards.
The only solution is to ignore them.The very fact that we give importance to these political parties and the media hypes them, encourages them to continue with their antagonistic acts and spread hatred.Also the thinking public of this country needs to take a sustained,symbolic stance against these barbaric,self-appointed custodians because they also give rise to other evils-honour killing being one of them.
A lot can be added to substantiate the apathy and insensitivity of our politicians but for now i just want to restrict myself to this much and pick it up from here as and when possible.
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Is Life A "Flash Between The Womb And The Tomb" or something more?
Back with my second blog.I must admit its not as easy as i thought.One needs a lot of will power to get down to write.Anyway one fundamental question that we grapple with is what life is and what it means to us? What follows is two sides of a coin which might give a rough idea of what life might be.It is upto evry thinking individual to work out the answer for himself/herself.
While going through some material, i came across a phrase by Samuel Beckett,through which he defines life as a "flash between the womb and the tomb". Well you can agree or disagree with him.But this set my mind thinking on what life really is and how we should look at it.Those who agree with the statement which includes me,would look at the larger cosmic picture thereby comparing life on earth which can be measured in terms of a number with the universe at large which is infinite and cannot be measured against a number.Looking at it from this view, life obviously is nothing but a flash,its like a dot,a peck in the cosmos.This also entails within it the inconsequentiality of all human actions,thus making the opposition between good and evil,right and wrong,happy and sad,light and dark vanish on account of being irrelevant.This view necessarily provides peace and solace and helps one to come to terms with life in a more philosophical and hence fundamental way.The politics,the corruption,the poverty,the savagery and the rot that one finds in this world cease to matter since one knows that all this is fickle and transitory in nature.Also the preposterous,pretentious and egoistical means of behaviour found in a person become laughable traits since the believer of this view has the superior power of putting this in perspective knowing that human life is by definition transitoy in nature,as we take gradual steps towards death from the beginning of our birth.Shakespeare rightly called the world a stage and men and women merely players,who act their roles as they wait for the inevitable.If life is nothing but a flash does this make living/life futile?
Not necessarily,because a flash means that one has less time in his/her hands and therefore should live life fully-proactively,passionately and intensely.
This takes me to the other view which is that life is not just a flash.It is something more.While it is true that we continuously wait for the inevitable,it may be argued that it is in the very act of waiting that we find our existence(just like Vladimir and Estragon in Beckett's Waiting For Godot).It is the awareness that we are but mortals that gives meaning to our lives and makes it worth living passionately.The awareness that the dreary clock is ticking by, compels us to live life fully and in the best possible way.If we ignore the former viewpoint discussed in this blog,we would have infront of us the enormous task and responsibility of living sixty years (will vary from person to person but just for the sake of argument,i have taken the average lifespan of humans as 60years) on earth which is a considerable time.Life then would be measured in terms of definite numbers and will then go beyond than just being a "flash between the womb and the tomb."
While going through some material, i came across a phrase by Samuel Beckett,through which he defines life as a "flash between the womb and the tomb". Well you can agree or disagree with him.But this set my mind thinking on what life really is and how we should look at it.Those who agree with the statement which includes me,would look at the larger cosmic picture thereby comparing life on earth which can be measured in terms of a number with the universe at large which is infinite and cannot be measured against a number.Looking at it from this view, life obviously is nothing but a flash,its like a dot,a peck in the cosmos.This also entails within it the inconsequentiality of all human actions,thus making the opposition between good and evil,right and wrong,happy and sad,light and dark vanish on account of being irrelevant.This view necessarily provides peace and solace and helps one to come to terms with life in a more philosophical and hence fundamental way.The politics,the corruption,the poverty,the savagery and the rot that one finds in this world cease to matter since one knows that all this is fickle and transitory in nature.Also the preposterous,pretentious and egoistical means of behaviour found in a person become laughable traits since the believer of this view has the superior power of putting this in perspective knowing that human life is by definition transitoy in nature,as we take gradual steps towards death from the beginning of our birth.Shakespeare rightly called the world a stage and men and women merely players,who act their roles as they wait for the inevitable.If life is nothing but a flash does this make living/life futile?
Not necessarily,because a flash means that one has less time in his/her hands and therefore should live life fully-proactively,passionately and intensely.
This takes me to the other view which is that life is not just a flash.It is something more.While it is true that we continuously wait for the inevitable,it may be argued that it is in the very act of waiting that we find our existence(just like Vladimir and Estragon in Beckett's Waiting For Godot).It is the awareness that we are but mortals that gives meaning to our lives and makes it worth living passionately.The awareness that the dreary clock is ticking by, compels us to live life fully and in the best possible way.If we ignore the former viewpoint discussed in this blog,we would have infront of us the enormous task and responsibility of living sixty years (will vary from person to person but just for the sake of argument,i have taken the average lifespan of humans as 60years) on earth which is a considerable time.Life then would be measured in terms of definite numbers and will then go beyond than just being a "flash between the womb and the tomb."
Friday, June 17, 2011
Getting Started
Well!..It happens to be my very first day in the wonderful world of blogs,wonderful because it is a convenient way of speaking my mind out,sitting in the comforts of my home.Actually i have been meaning to write blogs for a long time now but it just didn't happen mainly due to my laziness,partly because i was trapped in the routines of life.This is not to say that i have overcome both these problems but just that i have finally decided to use this medium to vent my feelings and hopefully indulge in a meaningful exercise that not only sharpens my mind but also opens it to newer thoughts.High expectations indeed! Whether i achieve my desired aim with my blogs,time will tell but one thing is sure that my professors at college would be glad to see me blogging since they see it as a means of improving our writing skills,besides a medium where we can articulate our thoughts.Anyway,now that i have begun on this journey i will religiously try and post as frequently as i can.But for now its signout.
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