~ Reflections ~

"My philosophy, in essence, is the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute." ~ Ayn Rand

"... the quality of men who are selected by these modern democratic methods of adult franchise gradually deteriorates because of lack of thinking and the noise of propaganda... He [the voter] reacts to sound and to the din, he reacts to repetition and he produces either a dictator or a dumb politician who is insensitive..." This is what Nehru had to say about the Indian Democratic System when the Indian system was being created....and to think the description is even more apt today, where we have politicians & citizens who lack the passion that existed in those days.. Jinhe Naaz hai Hind par wo Kahaa hai.. Kahaa hai kahaa hai kahaa hai  !!!

We are all like Sponges... soaking up what we see / hear and assimilate around us... but every sponge has its capacity to absorb.. So till we dry up or throw out some of the stuff we've got inside... we'll stop soaking it up... " Habit is a second nature which prevents us from knowing the first, of which it has neither the cruelties nor the enchantments.  " ~ Marcel Proust

Thought... rumination... Beauty... reflection... Feelings... emotion... Dreams.. ambition..

2 girls... nonchalantly chewing gum... casually dressed in jeans and t-shirt... could have been anyone... who's to tell the difference... the fact that it was the middle of the night (don't we all haunt the streets of Delhi at odd hours)..  or that they were with a pimp.. made me feel insecure... sad....

Here's my solution to Communal Riots & Religious strife... The government should give incentives for...  Intercaste / Inter-religion Marriage !!!! It will then become all in the family :D

Living in the fast paced lives that we do.. we have very few things in our live that we do outside of the circle of work...  So when we go out to watch movies, most of us go for sheer enjoyment... so the farther the movie from reality, the greater the chances of the crowd enjoying it.. Don't get me wrong, there are still few connoisseurs of good serious cinema which is closer to reality.. but the breed is fast depleting... N why not...  Blame it on our lifestyles !!!

I've been reading a collection of essay's by Arundhati Roy.. Some of the stuff she has to say makes a lot of sense.. here's a sample... "The nuclear bomb is the most anti-democratic, anti-national, anti-human, outright evil thing that man has ever made. If you are religious, then remember that this bomb is Man's challenge to God. It's worded quite simply: We have the power to destroy everything that You have created. If you're not (religious), then look at it this way. This world of ours is four thousand, six hundred million years old. It could end in an afternoon." For anyone who wants to atttempt reading them, here is one of them, titled "The End of Imagination", which featured both in Frontline &  Outlook .

The more I see my grandparents and parents, more I feel that it is important to live in the present, for the present. But the more we live just for the present, more complicated our future seems to be getting.  

Ever watered plants in the summer heat...  Not only is it a satisfying experience (because the plants suddenly seem alive ! ), the smell of wet mud is intoxicating. It somehow isn't important whether the plants thanked me in words.. what I gave led to the satisfaction, that of good use, and that's all that matters.