Dont blame the youth.!!

Looks like our society is growing, atleast that’s what we believe. Personally I feel the extent of aping west has increased, thereby giving us a false picture of the society, People have conveniently removed the restrictions that were put on them from the society. And started to feel more independent.

I just saw this interview on TV of one of my teacher. I used to really respect that teacher a lot so was keenly listening what she has to say. But I was shocked that even teachers have such a bad attitude towards the changing youth.

The discussion was that how today’s youth are misusing the Independence that is being given to them as a result of so called social liberation.
My teacher said, “Today’s youth does not know the difference between freedom and freewill. They think that Independence is free will and have started to live the way they want. without even thinking about it.”

I totally agree with her as far as the lack of knowledge in today’s youth. [ Not excluding myself]. Youth has hardly any idea as to where we need to use our freedom. It has more or less become free will.

The one thing which was damaging in her statement was the blame. Youth themselves are not responsible for their lack of knowledge. It all the more shows the lack of farsightedness in the blamer, who could not impart the knowledge to the youth. I blame the parents who interact so much with the kids, The teachers who spent almost all the daytime with kids. They cannot just escape saying youth don’t have the knowledge. It is their responsibility to teach them what it takes to exercise the freedom in the right sense.

When a parent asks a child to go to room and study, while he/she himself/herself watches TV, Who should be blamed when that child refuses to study?

When a teacher says smoking is bad, with himself carrying a pack of cigars in the shirt pocket do we think the knowledge is imparted?

When a girl is not asked to dress provocatively by a mother watching a TV soap with skimpy clad women, will the daughter listen?

The worst of the complaints I have heard is, “we were never like this when we were your age”. Common when they were young there was less opportunity to do bad stuff, Believe me whatever little opportunity was present they would have done the same thing.

I am not trying to defend the misuse of freedom. I am just trying to say that stop blaming the youth. Everyone is as responsible for this as any other person.
Instead try to solve the problem. Give youth the knowledge in a way which does not blame them.

Lifestyle Addiction – Social problem or personnel scare?

Addictions are always these deadly devils, and always associated with visibly harmful thinks like Alcohol,drugs, smoking, tobacco etc, But there are much more harmful addictions than these, which may lead to a lot more stress and worry when you cannot support those any more.

People who have grown up in average to above average earning families have been through a lot of financial problems growing up. Lifestyle of these people are also average to above average, you might like eat once/twice a month outside, may be have a monthly once outing to a movie hall, do some clothes shopping once a quarter, and may be buy a commodity once in two years. This pretty much sums up my growing up time. I was absolutely fine with that. We do have some dreams but we know our and our family limitations, and we are not so bent upon that all our dreams needs to be fulfilled.

Lifestyle has changed over the years, its no longer cool to eat at home over the weekends, its cool to spend like 100 bucks on a coffee, which you would not even drink at home. Its cool to spend 60 bucks on a movie and even get out of it in middle if you don’t like it.Please don’t get me wrong, I am not saying people should not do these things. I am just saying that the lifestyle has changed.

I don’t care much now when I spend like 200 bucks per meal once a week, nor when I shop once/twice a month for clothes. I don’t even think much when I spend 5000 to 10000 bucks when we go for a vacation once in two/three months.

Now this seems to be a dangerous addiction sometimes. Our lifestyle seems to be so much dependant on the abnormal growth in our earnings. Though a 20/30 % in salary annually is pretty common, our expenditure has grown at a much faster rate. Just look around, you will find lot of people with fat salaries with a even fatter mortgages.

Can we sustain this?.
Can we sustain the 2 digit growth our techie companies have been reporting over years.?
More dangerous thing is, are we prepared to accept if we cant sustain.?
Has our addictions gone far beyond rehabilitation?.
Can we get back to our old average life?

GO TO REHAB!

So Amy Winehouse joins the 27 Club: Jimmy Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Kurt Cobain, all dead in their 27th year. All assured of posterity. All the more cooler for dying at 27…?

Sex, Drugs and Rock’n'Roll! Ya, baby! How is that not cool?!

Fucking mutts. We love their music, yes! But what fucking mutts.

Some feel that they have set the movement (of people who use drugs) back decades with their high profile addictions. That with Winehouse’s death, ANTI-drug slogans will be unearthed, dusted off, repainted, and brandished vigorously at of those of us who want a simpler approach to drugs.

Globally, we may say the war on drugs has failed, and that criminalizing drugs does not and will never work… try convincing our Ministry of Defence. But with Winehouse’s death the ministry is not what needs convincing. Her death, at the magical age of 27, refocused the world that knew (of) her on the detrimental effects of drugs (albeit determining cause of death will take a couple of weeks).

The premise: If Winehouse died of drug ABUSE as a result of her ADDICTION, surely every person that uses drugs is an ABUSER and ADDICT… is not difficult to believe, although far more difficult to prove.

Is it too simple a premise? Yes, far too simple! But who would deny that Winehouse was another HORRIFIC example of what drugs can do to talent and life?

The question remains though, whether such high profile deaths are reason enough to dismiss alternative approaches to drugs, that allows for the use of drugs by some people in much the way alcohol and tobacco is consumed by others?

Simply put, not everybody melts down like Winehouse (if indeed that was what it was).

But surely enough people react to drugs like she did? Surely there are countless, nameless examples of how drug ABUSE has shattered lives and torn apart communities?

Undeniably.

Is this reason enough though to reject outright the idea that drugs can be used by some without the expected spiral into mayhem? Is it not also undeniable that like alcohol, drugs have different effects on different people? Is it not also undeniable that some people can (and do) still use drugs and live productive fulfilling lives?

There is no easy answer to these questions. We have miles to go before we sleep on this. But we need to stay awake now, and examine these hard and difficult questions and make hard and difficult decisions.

No one is asking for the legalization of drugs. People react differently to Mary Jane. Some find her smoking hot. Some are disgusted by her and throw up all over their shoes. There are also extreme reactions which include paranoid schizophrenia: "Mary Jane doesn’t love ME anymore, she prefers fucking I!"

Legalized, the opportunities for these different reactions will increase, and perhaps, that fine line we walk will no longer be possible. Perhaps the negative reactions to Mary Jane will result in unwelcome scrutiny. The blind eye will not turn. The good eye will have a microscope strapped on. The Dangerous Drugs Control Board will find us, incarcerate us and bore us to death!

But that is not the question here. The question is what do we do about approaching the individuals that use drugs? Our one size fits all abstinence policy in Sri Lanka is laughable. The relapse rate is high. Data on relapse is therefore notably absent.

Do we leave people who use drugs alone?

“Leave us alone! We know what we’re doing. We understand our limits.”

The overriding need for man to gather into groups and societies won’t allow for us to be left alone. Nonconformity has always threatened society until society learnt to allow for nonconformity that conforms. To not conform to the nonconformity that society has so kindly granted us, is betrayal.

Yesterday, a man in one of the North East states of India was battered to death for trying to escape from his rehab by the local community. Not news really. Just another failed drug ADDICT who didn’t CONFORM - If you’re a drug ADDICT, fine! But, GO TO REHAB!

“They tried to make him go to rehab and he said, no, no, no… so they beat him to death”

Ya, well. Time to listen to her sing as we think this one over, and revalue our values.

Sometimes

Sometimes I wish, to forget everything that I like and everything that I hate, start with a new value system, forget my perspective, forget the things I look for, forget the things I try to find, forget the kind of people I want to be with, forget the standards that I have set for myself, forget the responsibility that I expect from myself, forget that I represent someone and somethings, forget the legacy called myself.

Sometimes I think, fun is most important thing in life, why do I have to worry about the future, enjoy the life I currently have, taking it day by day, no past no future. People, money and relationships, bring the fun element in. Do I really have to care, if the others are having fun too?, is it not enough that I am having fun?. But what is that “Fun”, I have almost forgotten what is fun to me. Not to sound cliched, I have begun to find fun in things I hated, sometimes I feel I have settled for this “fun”.

Sometimes I feel, that I am boring myself, nobody else is doing that to me, but its myself. I am turning myself into this mechanical person. I can literally feel people getting bored around me. sometimes my ideas and thoughts bore me too, thats when I feel I have hit the rock bottom. I have got music, books that keep me interested. Lately its been blogging, blogging has really been awesome. But the question still remains, what next?

Sometimes I wonder, what would have happened If I had different priorities, would it be more fun?, would I have enjoyed more?, should studies not have been my priority?. I have seen people who were at as good as me, not worry about studies so much, still doing same or better things than me. I am definitely not jealous of them, just wondering, was I wrong in what I chose?. Did I chose the wrong idols?, Was someone needed to be in my life all along? or is it just an illusion that the other side is greener.

Sometimes I realize, I am not alone in dilemma, I read what people write, about their fun, their happiness, their problems and their feelings, somewhere I can see that everyone has somewhat similar problems. Sometimes I also seriously doubt, is it me who is picking people with similar problems to read?. Its possible that people are troubled by something similar, what If? kind of a situation. Realization is something which is a continuous process, but why is it that it always difficult to realize?

Sometimes I react, with total awe of my own feelings, and sometimes with total disgust, sometimes with anger, sometimes with helplessness. The common thing is that I react, somewhere I read today “I am alive not just breathing”. It struck me, so many of us might be doing contrary right, just breathing. I want to add something to my reactions. I want to react wildly, take a real bad decision, completely unplanned, completely surprising myself, may be sometime soon.

Return

I think of days,
A late morning, A long breakfast, A quick bath,
Loads of games, longer lunch, and never ending chats.

Days never ended for the next one to begin.

Yes I agree, It was the same me,
It was the same day,
Its just those people, who are missing.

Gone, Lost, or some never cared,
but,
Sometimes, few, do come back

Feel like dancing???

The subject for this post is something I have very less information about, I have always been fascinated by it, but never ever tried it. There is high probability that I might be talking total nonsense.

Kids have amazing ways of expressing their emotions. If you see them playing, even when they are playing with the toy, they are always singing some made up song, or doing some actions, which are as good as dancing to them. They are shy, I mean if they spot people watching them, they end up quiet, but still they know how to enjoy themselves and express their happiness. I love to see kids dancing. They may not have the elaborate steps, nor the grace or perfection, but I like the fact that they dance for themselves, they dance because they feel like.

I have known many adults who dance as a form of art, some more who dance because of the formality associated with occasion, some dance as a profession. I don’t know any person who dances for fun you know. Like they show in movies, when happy just make that simple swirl or a ketchup dance step, or even the movement of the hands. I can just imagine one person I know who is capable of doing this, but may be even she would do it may be once in a billion years.

So have I felt like dancing before?, mostly no. Even when I am happy, I more of the talker kind. The amount of sentences I speak is directly proportional to how happy and excited I am.
I kind of want to meet and talk to happy crazy people, people who dance when happy, people who don’t care what others might think, people who don’t mind getting wet when it rains just for fun, people who go and have loads of ice cream when its raining cats and dogs, people who wake up at 12 just to have a chocolate.

Just a teeny tiny admission except for the dance part I have done the rest of the things I mentioned above :) ..

As far dance goes, any happy dancers around?

The age story

I can’t believe it, its been more than five years since I finished my School and started my professional life, I just can’t believe it. I remember my initial days at my work place, I felt so naive, so inadequate, and people around me appeared so strange. I thought this phase would be short lived, but I was wrong, even after two years of work I felt like a fresher, just out of college, still insecure at work.

I guess it was not much to do with profession, because I always felt very young about myself, I never felt any change in me with the growing years. Always felt the same old me. I always used to wonder why I did not feel like a grown up. Why I always felt like a youth, why I did feel the need to take up the responsibilities like say my father did.

Every day when I look at the mirror, I hardly notice any change, the receding hairline does not make me feel old, nor the fact that I my face size has probably increased by about 25%. I hardly see any years, because I look at the mirror and hardly notice myself.

May be the fact that not much has changed in terms of responsibilities or commitments has contributed as well, I still do not financially support anyone, nor do I provide emotional support, the people in my life are almost same, and there has been hardly any change about my aspirations.

My interest in entertainment has not changed much either, I still love to watch the episodes of Glee, Wonder years, Friends, and One tree hill, The teenage and school kind of sitcoms makes me wanna watch them, just the way I was attracted to them years back in school.

So does it mean I haven’t grown up?..

I would have blindly said yes some days back, but not after yesterday.

I logged into the Facebook yesterday, and saw that a friend of mine from school had uploaded pics of hers, rather that of her new born baby. I clicked on the pics and saw some of her family pictures, she had changed so much. I kind of saw what I was trying to see in myself, the “age” factor. One thing I clearly remember about her was that we had our birthdays on consecutive days, and she was a day older than me. Suddenly realized If she is old and I OLD too, some how me being old was rather evident through my friend rather than me.

I looked around profiles of people who have been my batch mates from various years, and with every profile and the picture albums I began to see how much people have grown both in terms of body, and in terms of where they stand in the cycle of life.

Yesterday for the first time in my life I felt Older.

Do we really see our age in eyes of our peers?.

I hate numbers

Over last few days this thought has been lingering in my head. Have you ever wondered what on this earth prompted for people to discover numbers?.

According to me “numerals” have to be the single most dreadful discovery ever made by mankind. If I were to do a countdown of 10 most dangerous discoveries by humans, the “numbers” would top my list. You’re right, even over the most dreaded nuke.

We have this habit of assigning a number to everything, you name it and we give it a number. If someone says I am good at a particular thing, we will go ahead and ask him/her to rate him/herself on a scale of 1 to 10. I mean how does it matter, isn’t it good that he/she is happy to be good at something. what difference does a 7 or a 8 make to her. Only thing it can do, is to break the confidence levels and make them eager to get there, by hook or crook.

Its not like we want our life to be at a CMM level 4, where we want to quantitatively manager every single aspect of human existence. Still people attach measurements and a number to everything. Age, weight, height, waist size, salary, time taken to get to work, distance to the playground, years of marriage, you name it we give it a number.

How cool it would be if we didn’t have numbers, we would have no way to measure anythings, that would make us so much more happier. People would be no longer jealous of how much their colleagues make, no one would feel sad on the number of kg’s they have gained, no one will feel bad at the number of car’s in the neighbour’s shed.

No numbers, would mean, that people do not let their lives hinge on those few numbers, instead would worry about making theirs more holistic. Happiness would be happiness again, it wouldn’t be measurable. Money would be for buying things, and not for checking balances, Size would be for satisfaction and not for comparison, house would turn into homes rather than the number of sq-foots or the count of bed’s and bath’s, there would be no anniversaries but only celebrations.

Ah!, who am I kidding, we are humans, we always will find a reason and then a means to compare, if not numbers, something else it would be.

Deleting Facebook Friends

When the whole world is trying hard to get to a million twitter followers, a hundred thousand friends , a hundred groups and 1 true friend, I took a different route this time. I opened up my friends list , it was so hard to find where it was hiding. I had 900 friends. Man , 900 people are my friends and I have no clue where the hell each one of them is. No wonder my privacy settings wont help me any longer.

Do you have over 200 friends , its highly unlikely you interact with all of them. If you do , you are really lucky. You have 200 facebook friends and 200 friends on facebook. It is not the same thing, it is different. Facebook is meant to be in touch with friends ( not with those you know, or you once know , and now its no business between u and them, dont add up). A pretty face telling you mutual friends, or just pester on "Add a Friend" would let you add one, then second and ....

Do you see a person and read , Eyesha Ali is now friends with Mariyam and 20 other people. Suddenly Eyesha Ali is rich , her friend list is long. The fact is only Mariyam is a friend and 20 others tagged along just because I saw friend request from them, or knew them. Then for 2 years 18 of them never talked to me, for those 18 the door is open.

So when I started looking in the list, I could easily delete 50 of them , even without thinking twice. The only thought was, "Was this guy my friend"? But yes, the challenge is hard when you look at refined list. Take a deep breath , delete the friends you dont interact with, most of the time , since they dont interact they won't even come to know you have deleted them. Or you wouldnt come to know if they deleted you. There is no reason to have a heavy FB friend list when every information you have here is at stake.

I did it today, I know some of the people reading this might have been deleted. For those people, I am not sorry , and if you could have better interacted with me , or let me become a friend from facebook contact, you would still be there. A person who gets out of list was not supposed to be in it in the first place.


Thank you Facebook for helping me find friends and those not so friends

Google Plus Vs Facebook

When i come down and try to answer this question, I am invariably lost in thought about business model. Google is a data hungry model, which feeds, thrives and survives on data. User data. It all started with Google search engine which crawls through search to make it better.
Then came ORKUT, which did good , and integrated with google made it best thing. Then came facebook and swept the world. People started finding classmates, teachers , long lost friends and even parents of the late. People got into applications, and likes and then came chat. Now its video chat.

In the meantime, linkedIn and twitter came, but FB still kept its place. Google started its small piece of effort. Google Wave ... it waved off without any ripples. Then came Buzz , it still is an extra piece of noise in my gmail account. I hardly use it , but it keeps on adding to distraction. Well to the point, if Google Plus as of now is good.

As compared to facebook ,it has google chat in it. Like it . Not for long. If you enable it, and you have a gtalk / gmail chat running, then u will hear ping sounds more often. It has groups but not apps. One day u want to share a piece of news with a group, u post it for them. But if you think there is someone else who would be interested in that news, either you have to add him/ her up your group or let it go to all. Reposting and long procedures.

Video chat will take a long time, and there is no feature as group chat as in facebook. There are circles but they are not grouped. If you have an interest based group, then you can post them but not talk to them as in facebook.
The apps in google are not added, and even when they will be , i dont think it will be as wide as in FB. Facebook is used by millions today, and it does not require you to have a gmail account or a facebook account. It gives u a facebook account when u join. Will google plus give you that.
The idea for google plus would be a downturn since it will go to an already established network with very less features.

Now for instance , if I ask you today to delete your facebook account and start using google plus, would you do that if all your good friends are not on google plus.
Honest scare for those people who think a particular person will not add him/her up again will not do it.

As I finish , I will tell you one thing. Adding a person to your friend circle who have not joined google plus will not send them an invitation. Add a person to the circle, create a post and send them email. When the person receives email, he /she opens the post and joins the Google+


G+ ... plus facebook ?

New social network on cards. Second attempt by google (after orkut). Will they integrate Orkut with Google+, that would save me a lot of time to get up and working, and lot of my lost friends back in my circle.

I have used G+ for a few days now, and here it goes, over Facebook:

Chat : GTalk , google chat have been longer than facebook, but still obsolete. There are circles , but no way to chat to people in one circle. I can not be invisible for one particular group in G+.
On other hand, grouping in FB is very logical. It lets me select who all groups see me online , and offline. Then , the groups now have a chat feature ( just like yahoo rooms). So a group with 100 people have 100 people chatting at same time, discussing and feel like in a group. The admins having power to deny chatting rights to people.

Well , while Google takes it sweet years to get the feature in place, does it realize it will have to let commercial people make good money out of it. Let ads come, paid apps and free apps. A thing which will be soon in there, but then there will be ads all over the place. Is google trying to get the apps in place is another question. How will it hook to the framework.

If there ever are groups on G+ , and end user has common friends from 5 different groups, how will that be handled. This can always be nullified saying "we wont have groups (or communities as per Orkut). Can they survive without it.

Since its google product, the crawlers will now be going through Google Plus more than they do to FB, will it not affect the search results. Google Plus feature , which is like "Like" feature of FB, but definitely of some higher value, what is the value.

Is there something other than circles of life G+ has to offer over FB , something which a FB person can't do.

Ignorance is Bliss....

I have observed two classes of people use this dictum frequently.

1. Class who are really ignorant
2. Class who call themselves 'intellectuals'

The former group of people comprise of illiterate people, the oppressed, children, who don’t enjoy the privilege to learn, forced by the circumstances in which they exist. They live in a world of their own. They Work hard during the day and wash away their worries with a goodnight's sleep. Global warming, Terrorism, War, etc don’t distress them. They are ignorant and they enjoy the bliss of not knowing.

The latter group of people claim themselves as 'intellectuals'. They believe in what they think strongly. Refrain from arguments, obstinate about their ideas and bawling out at other's ideas. They are continuously engaged in the process of understanding the truth within themselves. When questioned why they don’t use their knowledge for the up liftment of society, they say 'ignorance is bliss'. They are ignorant and they enjoy the bliss of knowing.

Note: All intellectuals are not ignorant.

To love one's self....

As a stippling I had chosen my idols in life like any one else did. They were people who are enterprising, rebellious and who lived to fulfill all their dreams. And not one un-fulfilled dream remained. I was inspired by their lives. I read their autobiographies. And I realized that all of them were rebels and had never given up on their dreams. I wanted to be them. It was then that I drafted a logic in life. To do complete justice to myself and my feelings. I began to conceive that only if I did justice to my dreams can I do justice to my family and friends. This thought was overpowering. And I began to pursue my dreams. I loved myself. I never sacrificed for the sake of others. I wouldn’t let anyone hurt my sentiments. I loved and worshipped myself to an extent that I never classified my desires as good and bad.

If I think ‘this’ it has to be good.
If I think ‘this’ is good, then I should ‘get’ it.
If I get what I want, then justice is done.

That was the logic I invented to keep myself inspiring for more. I had become pertinacious about the use of this logic. I wont deny my joys in life during that age but I will not accept I was without pain. My definition of love is an experience of bliss. And I knew I hadn’t loved myself. Looking back I don’t think I had done justice to others life around me. I was busy keeping myself happy. I was not contended with my logic. My logic seemed glazed, appeared rather dull and was matchless to my definition of love.

Very recently a realization came upon me in a frisson. It had a more profound meaning.

To love ourself, doesn’t mean fulfilling every random thought that crossed our mind. Self control is a greater virtue than justice. Refraining from adopting all thoughts was self control to me. Self control leads to pure thoughts and pure thoughts to joy.

What's good? What's bad?

A simple incident in a science class in my eighth class created such an impact that I haven't forgotten it till now. It was a debate that no one would have given much thought before - What's good and what's bad? The topic was briefly introduced to us and we began to contemplate in our own little ways. A number of questions rang in my head. 'Is everything we are being taught by our teachers good? Is 'good' limited to what we learn or think? Can we find 'good' really in the world? If they say I am bad, do i really become bad? If I think this is good for me then does it really become good for me?' Being lost in a web of questions sometimes takes you away from the present. Thats when some people are accused as dreamers. And I too have been a victim of such accusations.

A loud strong voice shook me and I got entangled from my question web. A boy had begun answering the question of the day. What's good and What's bad? He simply said ' If a musicain finds a fallen tree, he will think of making a flute out of the wood. That is good. If a criminal see's a fallen tree, he will think of making a gun out of it. That is bad. Good is always better than bad '

All of us gave him our un-divided attention. The stillness of the moment must have made the strong impact. I shall never forget that some things can be told in such a simple manner that no grandeur shall be required to glorify it. Truth when spoken is always like that.

Mind and matter

To classify people under various groups has always been my favourite pastime. I allot people to different categories based on a number of facts and observations. Judging people is always decisive. And the practice of this law regularly has now become a habit. Of course there is no single litmus test and only practice can make one perfect in this interesting game.

Every one of us has apprehensions regarding meeting new people. I categorize people based on Height (short / tall), Weight (thin\fat), appearance (handsome /beautiful /ugly /pretty/cute/smart/pretenders), clothes (clean/dirty), etiquette (courteous/rude), and choice of words (smart/dumb/talkative/silent), perfume (manly/feminine/rough/dirty), zodiac signs, and lineage (rich/poor/wannabe rich). The list continues. And to this new list I would like to add one more basis of classification. Based on the state of matter – as solids, liquids and gases. Eyebrow rising will not help. And I definitely remember our bodies don’t flow like rivers or envelop whole the room when we walk in. But our minds do follow certain properties of the state of matter willingly or un-willingly. I support my statement with a brief introduction to my theory:

1. Solid state: In reality, molecules in solid state are arranged compactly like a pack of cards inside a box. They have fixed positions and are arranged in a precise manner. Too much force when applied can disrupt its arrangements. Rigidity is its property. Accordingly, there are among us people who seem to be chiseled, single minded and absolutely rigid. Extra ordinary forces are required to influence them. They seem independent, self sufficient and in a few extreme situations narcissistic and megalomaniacs. It’s very easy to identify a solid person. Usually alone, doesn’t like shaking hands when introduced, talks a great deal about him/her, doesn’t talk nonsense, intellectual, introvert, doesn’t get emotional, homely, sticks to rules, knows exactly what he/she wants in life and how to get there, hates weakness, doesn’t cry, stern and adamant.

2. Liquid state: Molecules in liquid state can move or slide past one another like a pack of cards just opened out of the box. They usually take the shape of the container and flow easily. Not easily compressible but it’s not impossible. Fluidity is their special property. People who belong to this state of matter are deliquescent, soft spoken, cautious, friendly, a little deceptive, escapists ( you almost think you caught them but they continue to flow through your fingers ), romantic, not easily influenced, day dreamers, Platonists. They believe to move along the direction of the flow, seen in a group star gazing while the others converse feverishly. They have an identity crisis since they think they can identify with everyone.

3. Gaseous state: Molecules can move past one another and there is lot of free space between the particles just like when the fan is switched on and the pack of cards fly everywhere. The molecules occupy the whole of the container. Compressibility is their special property. People belonging to this category are the most easiest to identify. As you are still reading your mind reflects upon the images of such people. Unforgettable and un-forgivable. Amusing, bubbly, free spirited, highly energetic, volatile, crowd pullers, chaotic, un-methodical, elusive, extroverts. Easily influenced by the words and actions of others. And most importantly, they are avid travelers – wanderers, itinerants, vagabonds, beggars, pilgrims, voyagers, adventurers, soldier, sailor, and hippie. They seldom like staying at one place.

When an ice cube is melts, it changes to water and water when warmed evaporates thus passing through all the states of matter. Similarly our minds areinfluenced by the environment, culture, lifestyle and several other external factors and keep passing through different phases of matter. In our personalities there are glimpses of few properties of all the three types but we primarily exhibit almost every time under normal conditions properties of one particular state of matter. Be it solid, liquid or gas.

To be or not to be....

”

Lately I have been contemplating at leisure, trying to find out the answer of a self imposed question. And the question is 'To be a free spirit or a hypocrite'?

A free spirit does not necessarily mean a detached soul or a scholar lost in books or a person who constantly argues with others. A free spirit is a free thinker whose ideals are untouched and original. Of course there is no single idea that is completely 'original' but at least it shouldn't be borrowed. That's where the hypocrite comes into picture. Borrowed principles, stolen thoughts and copied words gives hypocrite the mask that he/she wants to wear.

We have read philosophies of Socrates, appreciated Ayn Rand's ideals and applauded to the theories of Einstein. But how difficult is it to live as a free thinker?

When faced with the harsh realities of a society where bigots have outnumbered mavericks, one realizes to 'pretend' is safer than to 'be'. The reasons may be numerous. We have been programed to like what we know and dislike what we don't. We have been taught to abide to a certain school of thought only. We have been thinking that we are wise and the others ignorant.

Thinking and believing is greatly influenced by learning. When we tend to think that learning begins in school and ends in an university, we fall in to a pattern of life. We stick to a idiosyncratic way of thinking. But when we cross the boundaries into the limitless universe, we realize that learning process is timeless.

As a free thinker, you might be ridiculed, segregated and completely mis-understood by the world but at least you are true to yourself. As a hypocrite you will be crowned to glory, praised by the 'learned' and win laurels but deep within you always know you are a deceiver. Being honest with one's own self is as important as being honest with others.


Aristotle states “The ultimate value of life depends upon awareness and the power of contemplation rather than upon mere survival.”


“You must understand the whole of life, not just
one little part of it. That is why you must read,
that is why you must look at the skies, that is
why you must sing, and dance, and write poems, and
suffer, and understand, for all that is life.

the only other woman in our life will be our daughter.

'The only next girl in my life will be our daughter'. That was the voice which echoed in her mind when her world was being torn into pieces in front of her eyes. Her friend continued talking over the phone 'You don't lose hope already! We will first talk to this @#%$#....' Meera sank into her chair, she was no longer listening to her friend who broke the news that her husband was having an affair.

She shifted her hand towards the table absent mindedly and the framed wedding photograph that was placed at a corner broke with what seemed like a thunder. Meera shook herself and looked down at the tiny pieces of glasses, she caught her reflection on a small wedge of broken glass. 'Do I look ugly?' she asked herself questioningly.

Her mobile phone flashed a message ' 1 new message HONEY'. She smiled at herself in total disgrace and said 'Honey, @#$%#$'. A colleague passed by her cabin and threw her a friendly smile but she only stared back. And in her mind she said 'All men are assholes!' She tried to evade the whole male species for the present moment!

She picked her mobile and was in half mind to throw it down, to see it break into a 100 pieces mingling with the glass pieces and she pictured her husband dancing over the pile with bloody feet. 'That would be a feast to my eyes' she said to herself.
Her mobile rang again. It was her friend Sheela, 'Meera baby I just heard the news. It's so awful this should happen to you....' her voice irritated Meera. 'Buckle up girls, am going to win the man of my hearts and the only other woman in our life will be our daughter.' She banged the phone and wiped a forming tear drop before it spoilt her makeup and stormed the way out to get her man...

Let my country awake!

There is no doubt about the patriotic enthusiasm shown for celebrating of Republic Day and Independence Day every year by bringing up a festive atmosphere during these days. But what people interpret about patriotism is totally different now and depends on the attitude of the evolving generations. Over time, patriotism has taken up different meanings.

As a child, I have noticed that whenever President or any great leaders visited our island, the entire island used to have a festive look with crowd standing alongside the roads, cheering and waving to him.  The enthusiasm, affection and respect shown to those great leaders is definitely lacking now, partly because they themselves are to be blamed! In fact, sports, mainly Football, were one of those areas in which patriotism was an important factor for motivation.

 According to me, patriotism is slowly vanishing and is badly the need of the hour for many reasons.

Ever since Independence, Corruption has been an unending war. We are all aware of the magnitude of this threat because corruption is capable of destroying the very root of Our Economy. To combat this threat, the entire society should become mature and responsible and this is where patriotism plays an important role.

Yet another sad story is about a lot of poor Islanders who virtually live under the open sky in extremely hot or cold conditions and desperately in need of fresh water and other basic requirements.  As of now, there is a long way to go, because Government influence is yet to spread among remote Islanders to give them education and work. They are yet to be given more facilities to connect with the wider world and to be made to enter into the political arena. 

Added to these issues, 2004 tsunami disaster took a heavy toll on our economy.

All said and done, though public services do exist and a lot is being done from the side of the government, what is lacking is the public spirit. We, the public, commercialize everything and we are not ready to take up responsibility for public causes. This raises a doubt whether we do not have as much patriots like olden days. The spirit is missing. It is no use blaming the government always, because we also have the responsibility and commitment to preserve public properties and to extend cooperation to the government.

The politicians are also to be partly blamed for this low ebbing of patriotism because most of them do not show enthusiasm to take up public issues to the Parliament (we can say not a single parliamentarian in our parliament cares). There is nothing good that we can hope, this narrow dimensioned politics do not take us back to the olden days where it comes to patriotism, silence rules!

Now the question is if we have ever utilized our secured freedom fully.  We are still lagging behind in utilizing our traditional resources.  In spite of our being exploited by foreign countries like China and U.S we are still not using our originality and creativity that much. There is still a lot to be done.  Awareness should be created among the younger generation about patriotism and they should be taught the responsibility of spreading our influence in the global market. The scenario of corruption and violence should not be allowed to corrupt our youth.  The importance of patriotism and public spirit should be taught to the evolving generation in order to inculcate human values in them. 

Our Republic Day resolution should be that we should not allow patriotism to become a forgotten spirit in Maldives.

However, on the other side, Republic Day and Independence Day needs to be celebrated as a mark of respect and remembrance of our great leaders and all Maldivians who have toiled till date for the development of our nation. So hats off to them all.

Life

Computers are like Old Testament gods; lots of rules and no mercy.
Find a place inside where there’s joy, and the joy will burn out the pain.
Follow your bliss and the universe will open doors where there were only walls.
Is the system going to flatten you out and deny you your humanity, or are you going to be able to make use of the system to the attainment of human purposes?

I don’t believe people are looking for the meaning of life as much as they are looking for the experience of being alive.
I think the person who takes a job in order to live – that is to say, for the money – has turned himself into a slave.
Your life is the fruit of your own doing. You have no one to blame but yourself.

What each must seek in his life never was on land or sea. It is something out of his own unique potentiality for experience, something that never has been and never could have been experienced by anyone else.
When people get married because they think it’s a long-time love affair, they’ll be divorced very soon, because all love affairs end in disappointment.
Marriage is a recognition of a spiritual identity.

When you make the sacrifice in marriage, you’re sacrificing not to each other but to unity in a relationship.
Life is without meaning. You bring the meaning to it. The meaning of life is whatever you ascribe it to be. Being alive is the meaning.

The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are. Participate joyfully in the sorrows of the world. We cannot cure the world of sorrows, but we can choose to live in joy.

Myths are public dreams, dreams are private myths.