~ Reflections ~

All of us like indulging in political commentary.  Primarily about the Prime Minister. Some of us, the MLA for the constituency. Often uninformed. Sometimes substantiated by media reports. Opinion mostly formed by random discussions in groups of equally uninformed people. This is how a majority of the 'educated' seem to vote. The other end of the spectrum are the supposedly 'uneducated', who not only know who their local MLAs & MPs are, but will easily be able to list of out what they have done for their constituency, and whether there has been any material difference. The easiest way to test this is to talk to the cab drivers, house helps etc, who will be able to confirm the same. So when an middle class family member grudgingly states that there has been insignificant change in their lives for the new MLA, it is because this set doesn't need to be appeased through action. All it takes is words. Anyway, for those who want to make a slightly more informed...

All of us are doing multiple things at a time... Various responsibilities... a list of pending chores...  A long list of confused thoughts and a longer list of woes.. As we walk through life, we get used to juggling everything... precariously keeping balance.... living it to the edge....and focusing our energies on keeping it together... So what happens if we just drop a ball... does all hell break lose...  Most of us aren't conditioned to handle this momentary chaos !

What happens when the blocks you setup, the ones you depend on, start tumbling down. Initially the loose and frail ones, but ultimately even the firms ones start to disappear. Is it a sign of age ? Or is it merely a sign for change ? Or maybe both seem to have suddenly coincided. What is the right response to such a situation, because it is tough to sustain numbing your way through this turmoil. Being patient might appear to be a good strategy in some instances and might feel like living in fool's paradise other times. There seems to be limited clarity on what can be done. However, it is clear that once the dust settles, and the tumbling stops, resulting in lesser stumbling, what remains will stay.... hopefully for good.

Everyone (Households and Corporates included) seem to have suddenly taken this appreciation to celebrating Women's Day. Different aspects of equality including load sharing to gender equality seem to be touched on during the discussion and advertisements of the day. I often wonder if celebrating such a day is energy misdirected.. afterall equality and equal rights is not just a celebration for a day. It is something to be understood and absorbed. Needless to say, the trending 'feminist' views seem to push it to the next level..  Somehow, all of sudden, being confident as a woman seems to be equated to no need for marriage... being aware of our rights has translated into sessions about environment in workplace... all of it being discussed with and amongst women. When did being okay with being single become a feminist stand. I'd have understood if the narrative was that marriage is not only about getting someone to manage the house and kids but someone who...

Different people, different hues.. Different thoughts and different views.. Some persist without a thought.. Some resist without a doubt.. Irrespective of how the mind works.. It finally accepts people with their quirks.. And learns to dull the pain.. From dealing with the new change.. What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the master calls a butterfly. ~ Richard Bach ( Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah)

If one were to dwell on what defines a human... one would initially fumble on the usual suspects... But I don't think it matters whether the person is big or small, working or jobless, productive or unproductive, an addict or a saint...  What ultimately matters is how one treats the other person... both loved ones and strangers...

Each life is important and has its own impact. Even if we don't dwell deeper in realms like life and death and it's importance and consequences in each life, I feel we must think about each life in two contexts.  One, how will your loved ones deal with your death..  and second, how will you deal with the death of your loved one. Both these questions are equally important in realizing how independent or inter-dependent (as the case may be) are our minds and thoughts... It is difficult to say which is better or worse, whether their co-existence is the ideal kind of a relationship. This is not to say that we should move on in life dispassionately, so live in silos... after all the fewer beings you interact with, the easier it will be for anyone to get on... But living in silos to me is such a waste of a life... after all coexistence and interdependence is the beauty in this life.... Wondering if there is a right balance at all !!

So often we enter a comfort zone,  not wanting to let go of the pleasure of knowing what will come your way..  What to expect...  But as always,  life has other plans..  It takes special sadistic pleasure in turning your world upside down... One block moves,  and the whole world comes tumbling down...  The only bright side,  if you can all it that,  is you now have the experience and ability (hopefully)  to rebuild it all...  Obviously with a block missing,  it will look different,  and there will always be that missing link... 

As the calendar approaches the second fortnight of December, the mind but wanders.. It starts evaluating the year about to end.. and begins to contemplate on the good, the not - so - good, the bad and the ugly....  A rationale mind tries to derive some meaning and learning from all the revision of the past events, hoping that what has been experienced will only be bettered in times to come... A paranoid mind will wonder how quickly time went by, wondering what came out of the year that seems to be flying by... Either ways, both categories subsequently start wondering what their New Year resolutions should be... ideally something that hasn't been thought of in the past years.. both more often than not, these resolutions just fizzle out after a week or so in January itself... The more focused resolutions last a month or so... So this year, I've resolved not to get carried away with any specific New Year resolution just for the heck of it... I'll adopt the resolution...

Is what is it that you feel, when you say you feel pride in someone.. Is it right to talk about your pride only after the person is no more.... It is always easy to talk about someone in the past tense... But to express the same thing in the present.. That's much tougher...