Drifting with Faith

A lone boat drifting away in the azure ocean, an ocean which looks calm on the surface, but which hides a tumultuous storm underneath. This imagery sounds like an artist’s fantasy. The idea seems to be perfect for a heart rending song, a picturesque painting or even a melodiously melancholic poem, but the one place where this idea does not fit is reality.

We humans like to think that our life is synonymous with order, we cannot bear the idea of the uncertainty that the above image vividly paints. Unfortunately, this is the unfaltering reality of our existence. A reality, that we spend our whole lives covering up. We create illusion upon illusion to assure ourselves that we are ‘sailing’ and not ‘drifting’ along the ocean of life. We make ourselves believe that as long as we do not disturb the ocean, it will never unleash the monsters that are hiding underneath its calm surface upon us. We create numerous illusions until we have transported ourselves as far away from reality as possible.

Yet, reality is omnipresent, no matter how many illusions we create; the cool ocean breeze always drifts through the walls of illusion and reminds us that we are drifting. As hard as we try and give a direction to our boat, the truth stands tall and unchanging at the fact that we do not know our destination. That all is not revealed to us and that in the present moment we are only expected to play out our part.

As a human, I have glorified myself at various points. I have made myself believe that I represent a microcosm of the universe. It has always been all about me. It has always been about my dreams, my ambitions. My life has always been about my happiness and my sorrows. It has been about me celebrating my success and about me learning from failures. My life has always been about me, it has never been about life itself. Throughout, I have focused on the illusion that I am leading myself towards a good life. I have made myself believe that I am sailing, that I am in control. All along when planning for the eternal dream of ‘the’ good life, I have conveniently overlooked the fact that life is not a dream and it is not eternal either. The experiences that I describe here are not unique to me. Everyone goes through these tumults in what they perceive to be life.

Life is a journey, an impromptu journey. Life is drifting in the ocean, enjoying the serenity and understanding that the storm in the belly of the ocean can capsize my boat at any instant. An important lesson of life is to assimilate the fact that although the steering wheel of the boat of life lies solely in our hands, the power to steer our boats is shared among the winds, the waves, the monsters in the belly of the ocean and lastly, ourselves.

The idea is easier expressed than implemented. It is easier to explain the idea than to experience it, after all most of us have been immensely pained and scarred by failure which is not a direct consequence of our actions. Our rationalizing minds refuse to call such cruel twist of events a failure. The mind reasons, “It was not our folly.” Then what do we consider such events to be? The rationalizing mind attributes these events to various fancy yet empty words such as injustice, bias, hatred and many more. Soon, we start believing that we are victims of injustice, bias and hatred and many more such feelings. We turn bitter from inside out. We start believing that we are being targeted, that our innocent selves are being exploited. We wallow in self pity and cry for the lost innocence of the world which is hell bent on destroying precious little us we, who are a microcosm of the universe. Thus, with each incident of the so called injustice, bias and hatred, our rationalizing mind creates the huge wall of illusion.

This wall of illusion is strong enough to prevent good sense from prevailing. Yet, it falls like a pack of cards when a powerful gust of reality wields its power and lashes at it. The deafening sound of breaking illusions shatters us and shames us enough to accept defeat and to resign ourselves from travelling along the journey of life, the breaking down of illusions reduces us from being walkers along the path of life to becoming mere pedestrians.

Such is the vicious circle of the creation and destruction of illusions. As much comfort as illusions lend when they stand tall we crumble easily when they are shattered. If you consider the fact that all this happens just because of the human obsession with reasoning and rationalization, don’t you feel like a fool. If only we, as individuals, as a community, as a city, as a nation and as a world accept the fact that all cannot be explained, that impulses are not limited only to eating chocolates, will we not have better lives. Will our experiences not be more enriched? Will our egos not shrink?

If only we, the human race could and would understand that everything is not meant to be understood. If only we could and would embrace and not try to understand faith, diversity and culture will this world not become more serene a place to live in? If only we as individuals could and would understand the fact that a 100% surety does not exist, that there is always that other factor- Destiny, Karma, God…..which also shares control over our life wont our lives be less complicated, will there not be lesser sad days in our life.

If only we had enough faith in the unknown we could learn to enjoy the drifting nature of our life, we could learn to exalt in the immenseness of the azure ocean, we could even learn to deal with the monsters that lay hidden in the belly of the motion.

It is strange how one tendril of faith, of belief has the power to convert us from being mere pedestrians to becoming walkers, for “A Pedestrian is a man in danger of his life, a walker is a man in possession of his soul”.

And yet, for centuries we have been in possession of rationalizing minds which have taught us to cleverly evade that faith and belief. Which leaves me with a worrying question, “……will we ever learn and accept reality or will we sacrifice our life in the whirlpool of making and breaking illusions?”

Mother India

We always use the term “Mother India” to represent our country, India. When we think of Mother we claim that our country is filled with unending love and will sacrifice everything for our happiness. For all of us who have been blessed with a mother, we know that she is more than that. We know that a mother is someone who will tell you that you are wrong when you are. She is probably the only one who has taken authority to screech at you in front of your friends. She is the one who wields power over you no matter how old you get, no matter how independent you get. She is the one who can smack you and be thanked for it, rather than be ridiculed or jailed for it.

A mother is someone who can improvise the imperfections in the perfect too. So what if Mother India really existed? What if there existed that one lady who selflessly wanted our well being and who knew how to get the best out of India.

Well firstly Mother India would teach all of her children to stop bickering over stupid things like that person eats beef and that person does not. She would say, “As long as they are not forcing you to eat it, zip it! Let them eat whatever they want to eat. Let them live however they want to live. Let them dress however they want to dress and for heavens sake let them just be! You are your own person, what someone who lives kilometers away from you does should be the least of your concerns!”

Then, she would teach her children to not comment over everything anyone says. She would teach that it is bad, very bad to back answer people. So if someone said something to contradict you, first she would throw the most used comment, “The dogs are barking, let them bark. Then she would explain that when someone disagrees with you, they are disagreeing with your idea and not with your personality. Take it in your stride, just consider what they are saying, if what they are saying is not relevant at all and is merely a product of boiling human emotions then you do not need to glorify such a waste of a comment by acknowledging it and if what they are saying makes some intellectual sense, then prove them right and wrong by your actions. Basically, at the end of the day it is important to remember that freedom of speech is a fundamental right but the compulsion to listen is not a fundamental duty. So toughen up and stop carrying your heart up your sleeve.”

If Mother India actually existed she would spend most of her time disciplining her charges. Teaching them that battles create larger problems than they solve, the moment that she would teach this to one set of children another set will break out in to a fight. Separating them and explaining to them that a bundle of sticks is much stronger than a single stick would grey her hair, but she would not give up, because she is a mother and mother’s never give up on their children just as children never stop respecting their mothers.

Mother India would teach her rather emotional charges that their uniqueness does not come from their birth place, it comes from their hearts. Their uniqueness stems from their thinking and their action. She would teach her children that the fact that they are her, India’s children is a mere fact, but what they are or what they will be is a reality. It is reality that enhances facts. It is their responsibility to respect and forever treasure their roots, but if there is no shoot, no fruits and no leaves the roots are useless. She would help her charges understand that their origin, whatever it be is merely a part of their existence, whether they like it or not whereas their reality, what they become is a representation of their entire existence and they are the only ones who have sole monopoly over what they represent.

I believe that my country and its citizens (which includes me) are going through our adolescence, we are confused and thus angry. It is at such a stage that a mother’s gentle yet firm touch is most required although it is also the stage at which a mother’s presence is least appreciated. I sincerely hope that the love that we harbor for our country manifests itself in to that mother who lends the child enough strength and knowledge to deliver himself from the shallow yet troublesome waters of adolescence to the calm yet mysterious waters of adulthood!

P.S. There is another reason that I really wish that Mother India would have actually existed. If she did, then I could actually hug my beautiful country!

Cheers!

It is human tendency to form an opinion over everything that we pay attention to. I am not an exception to this tendency. So I have a view over almost anything that I can sense, Obama, Osama, that girl, the other guy, Dairy Milk chocolate, salads, the staircase, you sense it and I have an opinion about it!

I do not think that there is anything wrong with having an opinion about things. What scares me though is that my thoughts about things are often limited to my opinions about them alone.Opinions are only the first step towards knowing some one or some thing. Opinions need to be developed further, they need to be tweaked and honed to form honest and realistic thoughts about people or things.

The best way that I could come up with to develop my opinions further is by discussing them with friends and family and with all those who care.Unfortunately, I do not have my friends and family around me all the time to discuss such matters and even when I have the excellent fortune of spending some time with either friends or family, discussions revolving around such matters often take a back seat to discussing out lives.

Hence I have decided to start blogging, just to share my opinions and to develop them in to well informed thoughts. There have been many instances in the past when I had wanted to start blogging, reasons to do so had been different but the reason to not do so was the same – What if no one reads my blogs?

Believe you me, even as I am typing this out I am nervous, but then if I do not try, I will never know if this idea is good enough or not.

So here’s to my blog, my courage and a future of healthy discussions that contribute to enriching all of us who read this blog!