Nazariya Badlo

"नज़रिया बदलो"

That's precisely what I have been saying to some people for many years when they don't seem to understand what someone (or something) really means. Everything is relative, nothing can ever be absolute (that includes your knowledge of something). The way someone perceives something heavily depends on the person (obviously) and 'his' knowledge of the situation / circumstance. That brings me to a popular saying, "A little knowledge is a dangerous thing." The saying seemed very trivial when I was a kid but now it overwhelms me when it completely fits in some of the circumstances so well. Now it reminds me of another very true saying, by Bertrand Russel, "Most people would rather die than think; In fact, most do." Nobody would deny this, at least those who are not dead yet :P Alright, thinking is good but excess of it drives you crazy. It really helps to think simple sometimes. And when exactly is that? That you must decide yourself. We are not computers, and thank god we are not. It's all up there, in your mind. Everything... everything is up there... Sounds so simple, but it's not! Definitely not. Or maybe it is. You must decide this yourself, too.

It amazes me how much every single person is capable of thinking. I like to observe people, what they do and why they do what they do :) To know a person completely would take a lifetime, or maybe just a few minutes. This reminds me of yet another saying, "Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder."

It gets complicated at times (the thinking part, I mean), how much ever you try to keep it simple. I am not sure if one can really control what he wants to think. Well then, here I can classify thinking into two types (this makes it more complicated :x ): conscious thinking (the kind of thinking that we control), and unconscious thinking (the kind that just comes by itself, something that we don't/can't control, something that can drive you crazy or something that can lead to some new discovery, who knows!!.. :| ). All this is totally arguable. As I've said before, it's all in the mind. Damn, I won't write anymore. I'm half mad already :P

The point is: If you can't understand something your way, "नज़रिया बदलो". Just change the way 'you' look at things and everything (or maybe something, at least) may start making sense. How well it would work depends on the person and the situation both; and the complexity binding them.

Logic, thy best friend

It's funny at times when people overlook the obvious and take a decision that isn't logically right. For them it isn't funny, they make a choice they felt right. Maybe they choose to go with their intuition but I prefer (mostly) logic. In fact, there are times I encounter when there is a very strong urge to obey the gut feeling. Logic fails me sometimes but otherwise, the contentment after a successful logical execution is overwhelming. Logic becomes a habit in the commonest situations but a sound reasoning helps you out in the more difficult ones. Logic stems from two things I believe, knowledge and experience. Intuition, on the other hand, comes out of nowhere (sixth sense maybe). Like I mentioned before, the satisfaction after a successful logical accomplishment is overwhelming but the same feeling after an intuition-driven success can be termed as heavenly. It can be explained by the fact that intuition, for that person, isn't governed by anything (till the person learns about the logic supporting his intuition!!).

Not everything in this world can be reasoned with logic. Emotions, for instance, are beyond logical bounds (err... but the scientists can still relate your emotions to the chemicals in the brain... whatever!).

Recently I figured out that people tend to stick to their logic in the difficult and demanding situations and choose to go by their intuition in the trivial ones (I may be wrong here; should depend on the person and the situation both... don't know). Very reasonable, due to the fact that in the trivial circumstances, there isn't much at stake. While I am writing this, I'd like to correct on my previous writing that intuition comes out of nowhere. It has dawned on me that intuition can be a result of the person's experiences (with his intuition, as well) and the knowledge thus obtained. I know it sounds confusing and it indeed is, to me that is.

I thought of writing this post after reading an article on 'claustrophobia' in Times of India today. As Ralph Waldo Emerson has said, "Fear always springs from ignorance." I believe that a strong logical reasoning and a calm mind is all that is needed to overcome any kind of fear and panic. Well, if the mind is calm, there ain't any fear :P

The Taste of Success

Nothing else matters after a success. The moment you achieve one is so wonderful that you'd never want to come out of it. You'd wish it to last till eternity. It's so relieving that you forget every pain, trouble taken to achieve it. Success does wonders. And if, by chance, it comes in your last attempt when you don't have any more re-takes in your hand and you have just one last try, nothing is comparable to that. You feel like flying like a free bird, set free of all the hardships, set free to reach the limit. You feel like giving a treat to everyone you encounter thereafter. You feel like the richest person in the world. And indeed, you become the emperor of the kingdom you call success. The longer it takes to succeed, the more you cherish the success.

That's how I felt after winning an event in our tech-fest. A total of three trials, two already unsuccessful. Into the final trial. Completely tensed, not knowing what would happen. The initial minutes go as planned. Two minutes into the final attempt, everything seems to go wrong. The robot starts to go off the path down the ramp, ready to slip down and slap us with another failure. Everyone starts to lose hope, complete silence. No one dares to speak. A thundering silence I'd call it. The only speakers being the motors of the bot.

Two of the four wheels of the bot are now outside the ramp(a major portion of the bot still on the ramp). Suddenly the bot starts to turn its way back onto the track. There's a clear logic to it but I'll call this only a miracle because then it becomes a little more special. Everyone gets a new lease of life, cheering for the bot to complete the thrilling journey. The bot then finally crosses the finish line and that moment seals our victory. The three of us(I, Manoj and Raveen) have no limits to our happiness. I never felt happier.

When I look back at those times, I realize one thing. That we never gave up however difficult the situation was. The initial failures were indeed very difficult to handle but we kept holding onto it. And it paid off well. We tasted success.

E.T returns!

One night, sitting on a bench and staring at the sky above, I think, "Is someone out there looking at me just like I'm doing?" Answers are in plenty but the one that surfaces above the rest is named Jaadu, yeah the same alien we all met a few years back. Then begins my version of Koi Mil Gaya: Jaadu returns. Here's how it goes.

After returning to his planet, Azeroth, a billion light years away from Earth(that takes just 1 Azerothian day to travel in their 'UFO' but is equivalent to 10 Earth years; theory of relativity, maybe), Jaadu realises the next day that he forgot something back on Earth. He takes the next flight to Earth(which is only 3 days later) and lands on Earth the next day. So he's again back on Earth after 5 Azerothian days or 50 Earth years.

Coming out of the spaceship expecting to see the same old Earth he left 5 days back, he's horrified to see nothing but debris all around. In a hope to find some answers, he wanders around the whole planet and manages to find just a broken piece of a disk. Using some kind of advanced Azerothian technology, he deciphers the data on the disk. This is what he understands from it, "...launch(the missiles) if the talks fail. ..if we can't have it, let them also not have it..."

The next day when he's back on the Azerothian soil to see everything like it was before he left, he feels elated. At the same time, he's cautious enough to spread the word to the top officials of the Kingdom. They learn their lesson when they read the note that Jaadu provides them which reads, "The Earth is no more."

May be every story doesn't have a happy ending, but every story does have a moral to share.