Greetings netizens !
OMG i don't know how weeks became months, but my last blog entry was in the year gone by ! How things have changed since ! Really - how !! I honestly don't believe i've got any reason to write anything. Indolence set in and enthusiasm went for a walk while i slothed on the couch. Perhaps the gap was also because of the nagging knowledge that i am going to end up as a heap of ash one day. Cotton balls stuffed up my nose-caves. Eyes closed. Flat ECG. Maybe someone a tad sad.
Tons of words by men of all calibre pile up as garbage after they are gone. Oriental philosophy says quite a bit about a quite a lot. The only thing which matters is the cause ones lives and dies for - said Nehru. Every thought ever thought by anyone since antiquity is registered in ether and still 'exists'. The primal sound is still around, we need to tune in to have a listen ! Today, more than ever before, there is blurring of boundaries between right and wrong, the acceptable and the outlandish, the impulse to survive and the desire to flourish, the collision of moral principles with the desire to not rock the corporate boat. To be politically correct and get on with the business of getting on. In this dream, we dream on and think of reality as what we see with our eyes open. Though one lifetime is hardly enough for a spiritual breakthrough (and another is not guaranteed) the really unfortunate among us either die in ignorance or choose to disregard what they cannot conclusively rationalise with input from the usual senses. They need to do some serious soul-searching because only the mentally challenged are excused from this imperative effort that each of us must put in into our otherwise useless lives not worth the space our mortal frames occupy. What effort (?) you ask. Laugh. When you laugh without a care, you momentarily become one with the universe. Dance. Create. Sing. Innovate. Make mistakes. Smear life on your body. Let the creative lifetrons resonate in harmony. It takes an uncannily calm mind to embrace the all-pervading light that we see not ordinarily but that envelops are being inside out in eternal timelessness. Wait. Wait for that sunrise when the first dawn ray pierces your being like never before. Enjoy. Read. Love. Fight ..... the possibilities are as limited as the expanse of the yonder. But try we must. Better try and fail than fail to try.
As days eventually catch up and overtake the wee hours, northern hemisphere welcomes the vernal equinox with much glee. Particularly in parts where winter snowed down with undisguised hostility and unusual ferocity. Cancelled flights, stranded vehicles, salt-gritting and stuffed noses make way for sun-kissed beaches, crocus walks and beer barrels. Bashful bees innocently cross-pollinate colourful, smiling flowers as the pollen-averse scurry for cover. Ice-cream vans do the rounds and fans appear and dissappear from shelves as the mercury soars skywards. Punters slowly break out of their shells as the summer sun shines down energy and excitement.... Ahoy.. Seasons, like life, are cyclical too. There is a deeper meaning, wherever you look, whatever you do ! Its as if a mystical creature is constantly teasing your loaf. I was driving down recently and hit a section of the highway with no lights. It was pitch dark and suddenly i could see the giant Orion constellation beaming spectacularly. The whole of it, clearly in one single frame. It was a moment of ecstacy though i reminded myself to keep my eyes on the road ! Normally i had to twist my head out through the bathroom window to catch a glimpse, knocking off a shampoo or a roll in the process. But suddenly and effortlessly, the constellation shone down - It was a Kodak moment.
This vernal equinox has another significance for us Indians for it is on this occasion that Shaheed Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev were martyred. They made the ultimate sacrifice for a cause they believed in. Sadly, our generation remembers little of it. We so much take for granted our freedom and the sacrifices on which it was hard-earned. Ideological, ethnic or racial differences led to creation of fault-lines and swords crossed long before peace had a real chance. Gandhi though, chose the way of non-violence non-cooperation, in contrast to Bhagat Singh et al. Gandhi was the face of India's independence struggle but who is to say any less of the way of Patel, Lalaji, Bose or indeed Sukhdev ? We have the advantage of 60 years of hindsight to decide
on the most 'effective' methodology. Erstwhile prez and the missile man of India, the great Dr APJ Kalam says strength respects strength. In contrast, Gandhiji's nation concept was a loose-aggregate of villages, probably prone to an easy invasion by someone of the calibre of Alexander the Great. Probably a cake walk. Was Gandhi profoundly mistaken or way ahead of his time ? Some say he had transcended notions of religious differences, others feel he was a great human being but not a statesman. I feel the jury is still out and anything before the apocalyptic judgement day will be a tad premature to decide.
Turn of the seasons also saw a watershed moment for American healthcare, as Obama pushed through the reform bill to become law. On the face of it, providing universal coverage and making it illegal to deny coverage to those with pre-existing conditions sounds deeply humbling and humanitarian. I do not really know the real nuts and bolts of it though, the costs involved, the long-term implications etc. But CHANGE has certainly come to America. I applaud some of his other decisions such as the first ever tribal welcome meeting for American natives. Good man say I.
Now its time to hit the pillow. Till later, much love.
xxx
