Time is a quirky fella. It seems to take ages when you want it to speed away, but it does so only when you want each moment to be as long as eternity. How wonderful were those days back in school when the heart leapt up to pluck the stars, the possibilities were endless, and everything seemed within grasp. Then came the realization that not all things are meant to happen the way we want them to. A little bit of pain and then the reconciliation that happens when the pain becomes unbearable. Again the flowers start blossoming and you realize that not all things are bad after all. Life becomes a happy hour again in the company of those you love and admire. Certainly these seasonal variations give spice to the rather mundane existence of being born and doing what everybody else is doing, and thinking that perhaps we might make a difference someday. All that we do is touched by mortality which is a by product of being bound by time. We get caught up in little things and waste away the little moments of enjoyment that are gone forever, only to realize that too late, some of us don't even realize that at all. This transience perhaps is the greatest gift bestowed upon us for nothing that is permanent is beautiful as we will never realize its value. Only the things that are taken away from us seem precious. The knowledge that what we have will be taken from us makes us enjoy those things even better for the time we claim them as our own.

“I asked God for strength that I might achieve.
I was made weak that I might learn humbly to obey.
I asked for health that I might do greater things.
I was given infirmity that I might do better things.
I asked for riches that I might be happy.
I was given poverty that I might be wise.
I asked for power that I might have the praise of men.
I was given weakness that I might feel the need of God.
I asked for all things that I might enjoy life.
I was given life that I might enjoy all things.
I got nothing that I asked for, but everything I hoped for.
Almost despite myself, my unspoken prayers were answered.
I am, among all men, most richly blessed.”

“All evolution in thought and conduct must at first appear as heresy and misconduct.”

George Bernard Shaw

Ever wonder how different we are from those who lived a thousand years ago, or those who lived a thousand years before them. We argue we are more advanced in terms of technology and thought, technology may be but thought I don't think so. How many times do we realize that these so called technological advances were possible only because someone somewhere had the courage to say I don't believe in what you teach. I don't believe in the age of the so called truth only because I must. The truth should be accessible to all and open to discovery. It is not to be held in the ivy towers of the intelligentsia but percolated into practice by the masses. Truth is something that should stand by itself and not by the support of any external agent, for in that case that truth is better not to be had. Whether the truth that our ancients practiced is the same today is another question. All things however small evolve. Does that mean that what was true yesterday is not so day.Certainly, for truth keeps evolving like the rest of the things in nature. But the mentality of following the herd coupled with the law of inertia keeps us from discovering this newly evolved truth. The fear inside us has stopped us from evolving, and when evolution stops the species is not fit for survival. Nature will follow its course and if you are not fit enough to follow the train you would be left behind.
But what I am talking about is not only about evolution. Evolution in itself sounds more like following somebody again. We have changed the one to be followed from man to nature. Life is not about keeping up with change and always being on the run. What we have to do is to go one step ahead, stop being followers and start charting the course of our own future. Not being afraid of the consequences of our actions if we truly believe in them.

"The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man." - George Bernard Shaw, Man and Superman (1903)

It is 4 in the morn. The mind numbing sensation when you dont have enough of sleep has already begun having its effect. The fast approaching day holds a few classes, a quiz, a possible game of TT with the seniors, a report finalization, an official blog to be written, a newsletter to be conceptualized. Yet I dont know why in spite of this sensation in the mind my soul doesnt want to go to sleep. I can feel the clear distinction of the body from the soul, where these two are seen as different entities. The mind is weak, body even weaker. They cant keep up with the soul, which is forever zooming into the space beyond.
Yet the perpetual game of ping pong carries on between the soul, the mind and the body (I dont know how I can justify ping pong as a game involving an odd number of players, so please dont bother to ask). At one moment the consciousness is in this court (mind and body) the next moment it is in the other(the soul). The body is aching and pleading that I go to sleep,the mind is telling the soul to be rational and gear up for tomorrow and get some rest, but the soul is untired and raring to go. It feels free from the bondage of the body and the mind.
Tell me, how can I stop any of them, when I am not myself but just that consciousness which is being played around with.
Finally after a long game of ping pong at 4:30 in the morn the soul gives in to the pleadings of the weary body. Here I go to slumber to be woken again in a few hours to begin the journey yet again.

I believe that in order to walk through the grief, fear, loneliness, despair, confusion and anger without recourse to drug, alcohol, over eating, over-sexing, or the endless mind numbing distractions provided by Western Culture, one must become a spiritual warrior. I further believe that the pay-off for enduring suffering, for soberly embracing the inevitable bouts of emotional pain that life brings, is wisdom and serenity in the face of calamity. But make no mistake here, the path of the warrior is treacherous and cannot be walked alone. To survive, he must have brothers and sisters-in-arms to carry him when he buckles. When we lived and died in small tribes, this principle of mutually supporting one another through the trials of life was deeply woven into the fabric of the group mind. With the advent of towns and cities we forced to live with the daily dilemma of being desperately alone and yet desperately needing one another. Which is why we are, by design, always seeking new tribes. With that in mind, I humbly offer a simple guideline to evaluate the efficacy of any tribe you might find on your path to becoming a spiritual warrior: if they ask for your money to access to your crotch, run away. If they ask for your money, smile unceasingly, never blink, and guarantee to make you a demi-god, running away will not suffice. Change your mailing address and briefly reconsider drugs, alcohol, food, sex and TV.

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly. So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.”
Theodore Roosevelt,26th US President(1901-1909)

Ambition and happiness. Are these two mutually exclusive or is there a correlation that exists between them. Ambition is the all consuming flame of achievement which propels you forward to achieve great heights. It needs to be differentiated from pretension which suggests ardent desire for recognition of accomplishment often without actual possession of the necessary ability and therefore may imply presumption. Ambition is essentially a desire for personal advancement or preferment, a desire nonetheless which entails sadness in its wake. A desire devours the energies of the subject making him think of nothing else but the object of desire. So can happiness ensue from a desire, like ambition. Or are they diametrically opposite. Happiness or sadness depends on the properties of the object of desire as well. Each one of us has the freedom to choose the object of his/her desire, but do we really choose the desire judiciously or just fads which we were tricked into believing to be our wants.When the object of desire turns out to be not that lucrative or not as wonderful as we had imagined it to be we feel sad because we felt that after achieving the goal we would feel happy, which is not the case.
Happiness lies in identifying the little and the not so little wants and then working day and night to realize those wants. Once we realize the want,they no longer remain active wants. This leads to seeking another want to be identified and again the same routine of nonstop effort. Perhaps this is why ambition and happiness are interlinked because there is no absolute happiness, just the pursuit of it...

P.S. Haven't slept all night. The fairies of the night are blurring away with the blazing rays of the morning sun, aah there it was i.e. the sun, but now it is not. Its started raining :( again.

Read through the article to observe the banality and the sense of entitlement of rich students at Harvard.

http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?storycode=402674

Time : past 2am
Song : Six feet from the edge, Creed.
Mood : Expressive (weighing more towards the rebellious)

The infinite search for the meaning of life continues. Why do we do something we do? What propels us to put our souls on the line when we know that our ultimate fate is going to be no different than the lousy SOB next door. But people achieve great heights in what they do, not as a matter of chance but by slogging it out just to grab that extra moment in the sun, that elusive limelight. The limelight goes not to the most talented or to the most prepared but the most daring. Must say that it requires real guts to stand up to somebody again and again who is constantly trying to embarrass you, real guts mind you to put yourself upto that shit which most other lousy or the not so daring souls have already forsaken. But guess that shit is the reward of the hard effort when all the others gave up.
Is any of this making sense, are you getting what I'm trying to point at. Anyways I don't give a damn nor do those who take the shit again and again and again and whenever there is shit to be had guess who is putting up their hands again.
So when a question is put up in class and there are CP points to be won, no matter that it is just 15 mins to the next class or 15 past the time "Will the real slim shady please stand up".


Disclaimer: This is a fun article not intended as a pejorative at anybody.