Monday, May 28, 2007

Medley - 2

The Concept of Irony ? It is difficult to comprehend, let alone judge, the life of a person who has willingly weaved Irony into his life. That is because the person always appears to be what he intends to appear as and not what he is. This he may do either for a greater good or bad or for trivial amusement of his own mind. What if such Irony that's weaved into one's life begins to consume oneself ? Such is the life dissected by Soren Kierkegaard in his Thesis and collective writing titled 'The Concept of Irony, with continual reference to Socrates'. Socrates is supposed to be consumed by his own 'Concept of Irony' or so I'm made to believe. However, it's not the dissection of Socrates's life that I look for, for it takes a Hegel or a Kierkegaard to dissect and comprehend a personality such as Socrates.

Swimming during Showers and etc. Bangalore's deceptive Summer Showers lend themselves to the conduction of a basic pleasure of mine - swimming during showers. No amount of description can get you to visualise what you may by swimming for yourself during showers experience, however, here are the heartening highlights: The chillness causing you to stay underwater; the rain drops pricking like cold needles on your bare body that's exposed forcefully to let you stay afloat and alive; the occasional white teeth of the sky that illuminates the whole of the swimming pool for a while; the rumble - strong enough to make its way through the water and the headgear - causing you to shiver under the exhibition of nature's fury. It doesn't take solitude and penance to visualise Nature's fury. Try pitching a tent on top of a mountain on a night, when you'd be hoping for undisturbed sleep to ward off the tire of climbing the mountain, nature sticks to it's routine in spite of the slight aberration - that is you - and fells your tent secured with your triple-scout-knot like a card-castle in front of an electric fan. Have you ever experienced pitch dark ? Where the trees that usually protect you from Sun's fury turn against you to block the light of the stars and moon, where your own torch's batteries have exhausted, where your trek-mates aren't returning your call, where you have no trail whatsoever, and even if, no light to make out such. That is pitch dark, where you'll have to touch to see, feel to visualise. Where in the midst of a harsh jungle you're let to yourself, and you can see nothing, that fear down the spine when you're clothed but naked, vulnerable to any predator lurking in your neighbourhood, that fear - is nowhere close to the fear you experience during Bungee jumping.
Yes, I do flirt with nature and her creations, do challenge her in every way possible. But that's because I know that she has her rules, I know that I'm trivial enough not to distract her attention and that when I need her, no matter who I am, she'll have a protective hand out for me.

Monday, May 14, 2007

Absurdity?

Writing about topics that are close to my heart is so much unlike me. I'm like that pristine flower which hates to unfurl, hates to reveal itself, hates to be looked at or judged, which is here just because it has to be, blends itself to the surrounding never announcing it's existence, and is ever replaceable. Nevertheless, the commonplace topic of Absurdity of Life is such a volatile subject that if left unrecorded, the original idea - no matter how strong and steadfast - decays with time. An individual seeks the meaning of his life, for by nature, one is compelled to believe that everything exists for a reason. There are many offshoots of this search, many theories, many dictums, customs -- some that seem to clarify one's meaning of life, some that claim to direct him towards the answer. To a logical mind, assertions without proof are of no use, and so, in such a mind this search is repeated - in each and every one of such mind.
It is the mind that compels one to judge, to seek an answer, and at that time when the mind ceases to exist, the reason to judge, seek answer and clarify exists no more. If one realises this simple fact, one's life falls apart, for he sees no meaning to his life after him. A person with such a realisation falls apart, relinquishes the world, the entities and forms a world of himself, a world with no meaning. 'Life in a world without meaning' is deceptively simple. Though it's easy to visualise it, it is nearly impossible (for many) to forgo the bonds, possessions and the reason. Thankfully, we of such lot, have found a way out - self deception. It is easy for one to deceive himself into believing that the whole world revolves around him, the world did not exist before him and will not exist after him. He's the King of the World, other are mere players, here only to amuse him. It is an easy principle, this. And it does provide a purpose to one's life. An interesting facet of this principle is the control principle. Nowsince the whole world is (believed to be) dedicated to oneself, for what reason will one follow the tradition, customs and rules ? For what reason will one observe discipline ? For what reason will one keep up the promise ? Beware, since it is not truth but self-deception, one has to adhere to discipline, kindness and humility, without which such deception results in conceit and antipathy. And the only reason one has, to practice these, is that he just has to.

On what to be proud of

I'll say this and say nothing more: Think of what you're proud of: something that you've accomplished yourself or something that...