Revival of spirit

Its been long enough to make me feel guilty of unwanted abstinence from feeding this space. I have been trying to understand what is it that makes things happen and what is it precisely that has been keeping me away from this space . I had created this platform to communicate my feelings and liberalize my paradigm of thought and I have suddenly found myself feeling "burdened" with the weight of responsibility - of having to feed the blog. I therefore decided that only genuine feelings would drive me to write words and it would never be a mere call of duty !

Well, it has been a very long hiatus indeed. Days have been kind enough to keep me alive and happily so! Its such a magical feeling to realize that you have been living a dream for quite some time ! Many things in life now has been a product of year of juvenile dreams and aspirations . A revisit to the hopes and aspirations of the past has been the key driver of a happy life in the recent times.

Just back from a week long trip to England visiting various interesting cities and oddly interesting people as well. Its wonderful sometimes to feel a wave of inspiring spirit blow into you and its almost mystical as you are left with contemplating on where it actually came from. Iam trying to understand the same at this time.

More Soon !

I said - "Diwali"

Traditions are history that forgot its time! – It is often said and widely believed.

To understand and come to a definitive conclusion on the significance of all the symbolic attributes of any particular religion/tradition is a rather perilous attempt to understand the importance of the same! It is often debated in the social circles whether it is wise to follow festivals in a way that has been done for years or be relatively embracing and celebrate in synonymy with the cultural practices of region.

Celebrating Indian festivals on a foreign soil has been a rather anthropologically enlightening experience!

I just returned from a party that saw people gathering and dancing to welcome and celebrate the happy occasion. What was quite controversial in this version of the festivity was that it was a pardonable act to consume alcohol and welcome the Goddess ( To bring more money - to drink more !). Goddess Lakshmi was being welcomed in a way that is quite unlikely in the rigid Indian Society where meat and alcohol, on a general scale, is forbidden on auspicious occasion. Muffins replaced mithai (Indian sweets) and alcohol replaced its absence ! J

It is perhaps worth a thought whether any deviation (contrasting in this case) from existing traditions spell doom or bring in more contextual meaning and retouch to celebrations. The problem with most people is that they confine their outlook of Religion and its practices to their perspective and what’s more dangerous is that anything beyond their conception is fake and evil. These Diwali parties could top the list of to-malign-list of RSS or Ram Sena Sevaks or grab the primetime slot in the mediocrity-hungry media for a Debate . How can anyone consume alcohol or dance with women on such an auspicious occasion ? Who gave the right to these kids to distort Indian culture and tradition ? It reflects on our upbringing ! . These are common accusations you can expect if you are on the other side.

But ! Hang on !

Haven’t we missed the whole essence of things and gone over the board with taking life too literally ?

Diwali is a festival that shares diverse histories in various Religions and regions – While in Jainism it is marked to celebrate the spiritual enlightenment of Mahavira, the Sikhs celebrate it to mark the home-coming of Guru Har Gobind.It is also,to most, the celebration of homecoming of Lord Raam. It is interesting to note that the underlying essence of all these events is symbolism of the victory of evil over the good , the celebration of the Light within every individual that guides the soul to a realm beyond reality. It is the occasion to rejoice the spirit of Mankind in its entirety and the route taken to attain this level of personal gratification is indeed purely personal.

Why isn’t it socially legal to experiment new flavours in festivities? If Indian culinary heritage could adapt and embrace Potato (introduced by European explorers) and re-introduce it to the world in over 200 hundred different varieties of cooking it then why not let the natural cycle of mutant traditions follow its course ? Why have festivals diverged significantly from their importance of being a symbolic of Celebration of Humanity and why have we narrowed our outlook and celebrations to what we have inherited in form of rituals and customs. What should anyone suffert guilt and regret for having decided to live life happily and being happy is so relative ! Is even the whole debate of westernising Indian cultural practices a valid one or is it just an act for the sake of its being ?! I felt the happiness in everyone when they danced to the tunes of Bollywood music in an inebriated joy . They were having a gala time and the reason for it was to celebrate the Festival of Light that represents so many things for so many people.

I enjoy peeking into the windows of curiosity and making myself believe completely opposite of what I would rather otherwise . It is just an effort to spark cultural thought process and it is nice to challenge the strongholds of religious and chronological inheritance with an outlook completely different. While I don’t mean to either endorse or disregard the new practices and nor do I mean to obstinately question the conventional practices simply because they are age-old, My attempt is to sincerely put to question some of our very basic understandings of Society and Culture and accept an answer that justifies itself. I would love to see a society that ceases to accept and never stops investigating into relevances of various of our understandings. In this way we would at-least emerge more confident in justifying what we do ! The light that guides Human Evolution is Knowledge and that comes with constant and stubborn curiosity. Lets celebrate the festival of "Lights" !

I love to hear J

Shubh Diwali

Just a matter of Perspectives !

If I were to believe myself for believing in looking at life from a mathematical perspective, I would like to start with understanding, what perhaps is the most consequential ideology of life – The Idea of Religion !

Its somehow hard to understand and even harder to trust the understanding that life is perhaps all a matter of perspectives and all the definitions that claim to deconstruct this surreal term to justify existance , exist for their own sake ! The catalyst that initiated a cascading series of thought-reactions in my mind about Religion and its beauty is perhaps ironic for its product but its interesting in a way that’s more important than the origin.

The greatest invention of mankind in the years of its existance , in my belief, is the concept of Religion. The vast expanse of thought that the concept encompasses renders a bipolar nature to the matter of Religion. It has been very successful in installing surreal system of faith in a rather ferocious species of creation. The fear of the omnipresent and the concept of a higher being could perhaps not be anything more than human perspective and hunger for something beyond their reach but still its very interesting indeed to observe and understand how ths etherial “concept” has rather given birth to itself and thereby claiming an actual identity. If I were to explain and present the concept of Religion in a systematic and mathematical way , here would be it

Thoughts * Belief = Reality
Belief * Reality = Faith
Faith * Reality = Religion

Its interesting how something that does not claim any existance , is revered upon as the omnipresent. Its interesting because human race seems to be in a constant act of re-enforcing their figment of imagination with another piece of imagination ! Its interesting to observe that something so chaotic and random as evolution rests on an organized underbelly of surreal-policing – the doctrines of which are constructed, framed and followed – all by us – the creators ! Yet this system is as much a property of ours as it is not, it is the construct of the race at large to which every individual contributes and yet it is so far away from the possibilities of human thought !

Not very often do we ever dare to contemplate on these realities of life as they somehow spark a sense of “escalation/elevation” in all of us . We, as a race , seem to have already defined our limits and are happy to believe that no matter how farther we travel intellectualy there is always a horizon and horizons can never be met ! This very surreal and abstract system of belief has been a key to the growth of civilizations. Religion has categorically differentiated humans in various groups but well these groups are just various outlooks that we can have towards life itself.

I often find this un-passable roadblock in my intellectual pursuit , a dark end that opens to million of roads , each of which lead to the same destination and interestingly in the same co-ordinates of space and time ! As I end this seemingly confused piece of writing , my only aim is to have you thinking !

What is the way we see the world is different with every person. What if my Red is your Blue and your Blue my Black ? We have always been taught relatively and what if the “Absolute” is absolutely relative ? I was always taught to call the colour that I see as , say, White but what if I don’t see White in precisely the same way as you do ? What is I see White as you see Black ?

Or perhaps life is just a matter of perspectives. Things are reality because “we” would like to believe so ! and belief in reality re-inforces the belief itself and gives birth to faith and belief in faith is Religion ! What if life was a high-order mathematical game , of which, we are just one small part. Our beliefs and ideals are purely a work of “us” and if not us who else would end the bloody savage called religious-absolute-righteousness ! We are all a part of higher consciousness that’s beyond the reach of an individual. Its time and the time warrants some awareness.

The Question is – To be or not to Be !

Awaiting responses!!

Friends,
I have decided i shall reduce the frquency of my blogposting, its getting a little too hectic and information overload is dangerous too !!! :-)

However i will be active on comments section and awaiting your comments on my posts below.

CHeers

Lets paint the Indian Identity

Iam unsure as to how best i can adress this issue to the masses and at the same time elicit the kind of response i expect. However, i shall try.
Friends, I have been working on writing a book aiming to elucidate India. I have been travelling to cities,meeing people and experiencing various cultures in order to get the idea of India in as many perspectives as possible. India has always been a distant ecret. Even if you are a part of it , you never know most of it.
Kashmiris can characteristically be diffrentiated from a malayalee or a bengali and yet all ofus are Indian in all respet. We are identified as Indians. The new age bangalore techies, who breakfast their way to the office, endorse pizza and emulate the best of accents still prefers to have masala dosa on thesuday morning!!!
We have remained a country that accomodates almost everything that comes its way. Everything that entes India is embaced and goes on to become the part of Indian Identity.
So what exactly do you think the Indian idntity is. Are there any defining moments or people or places or picture or anything that speaks India for you? How best you can give clarit to this surreal yet existent identity??

Day 2

Today.
I have spent my time thinking of India, its identity and its plurality. Lot of chaos in mind. Shall put everything down together tommrow . Its a saturday and i need to catch a good nights sleep.Meanwhile check out http://www.natgeotv.co.in/MomentAwards , Galleries for a picturesque insight into India of peoples minds. Its truly amazin.

Adeios

Arrived.Fresh.New - With Ugadi

I woke up to an auspicious morning. Yes. Today is UGADI- a festival that marks the beginning of a new year in a few cultures in south India. Yug refers to era and Adi means Beginning and hence this festival is the beginning of a new year according to the Hindu lunar calendar. It is celebrated with great fanfare in the Indian states of Karnataka, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. Ugadi is celebrated on the "Shukla Paksha" of the first month of "Chaithra Masa" i.e. during the spring month ('Vasanta-Rutu').The onset of spring marks a beginning of new life with plants acquiring new life. The Panchangam (Hindu calendar) is calculated using Ugadi or the spring season as the first month.It is the beginning of a new Hindu Lunar calendar with a change in moon’s orbit starting from today. People, on this day , are to wake up early!! Have an oil bath, visit temple and spend the day with friends and relatives with sweets doing the rounds.

But joy aside, I think, complacency has crept into our society when it comes to celebrating festivals. The underlying aim of these events seems to have been lost in years of habitual celebration. Have we ever thought of assessing their relevance to the modern society or rather I must say our relevance to these auspicious occasions?

Do these festivals still hold ideological relevance in modern life? Do we still yearn for these festivals because they a social message or the joy is purely out of the fact that it breaks the monotony of life for yet another day?

It’s quite disheartening and equally distressing to know that the variety of festivals we have inherited from our culture, today, hold not ideological but practical and materialistic importance. Today, festivals are identified for their fanfare and grandeur and not for the cause that has given us a reason to celebrate. Festivals have just remained to be imageries for meaningless indulgences.

How many of us actually know that Ugadi is a day when, supposedly, Brahma is known to have begun his creation (of earth), how many of us knew that this festival marks the beginning of spring season and therefore the new life’s beginning. The onset of spring also marks a beginning of new life with plants acquiring new life, shoots and leaves. The vibrancy of life and verdant fields, meadows full of colourful blossoms signify growth, prosperity and well-being. It is a tribute to Mother Nature and the festival is yet another characteristic feature of the Indian civilization – we have learnt to evolve in harmony with nature.


Festivals are social philanthropists. They aim at bringing together people from all walks of life. They are a reason to celebrate but never to forget they have a moral obligation. Festivals are the cause for socializing. They are for breaking the monotony from strenuous life . It is a reason to celebrate with people and spread joy and happiness all around.

With the advent of “modernity”, the intellectual tanks of people are drying up. Today to the college student, festival is a break from the mundane hours of lectures, to an IT pro, it is a reason to sleep late and start the day with the characteristic “Sunday brunch”. Where have all the granpa-grannma stories gone. Weren’t they supposed to have taught us why we do the things we do in our culture? The parental generation of today holds perhaps the last chord to the yester-years. Gone are the days when summers were meant for grandparents, when festivals ever had some meaning and when we ever bothered about knowing certain elements of our making.

Today, I still celebrate Ugadi but not knowing about it as much as my father did. Tomorrow, my child will just celebrate Ugadi and may be my grand-child will just take an off in the name of Ugadi.

Aim being no preacher but just a self-conscious man who begs to get back to his roots

Chirag

PS: No offence meant to anyone with this blog. His is not to target any particular group or people. Apologies if you feel offended.

Iam arriving..... !!!!

Its been more than a year now since I first began my affair with blogs and today at last I choose to begin.

I have realised by now that you will always want something or the other in life but till the time you will keep wanting it you will never get it. Yes its been more than a year now that I first thought of starting my own blog. I had dreams explicit and elaborate dreams of how I will write something unique and people will notice it , they will start reading me often, me being recommended, me being talked about , Oh me being in picture , wow , me being almost famous and yes aim a hotshot now man!!! Awful !!! Because I only remained there and never moved an inch.

You know why?

I thought if I needed to be known and appreciated I needed to be the best. My writing skills need to be honed , I need to think, start thinking and not just think but think deeper and better and then sort it all out in mind, rehearse , practice and there you go !!! start blogging. Yes I made plans for the same but just that they never got a chance to be on my priority list. Whenever I reminded me of the blogs, me always postponed the idea saying “Beta, time is not ripe!!”.It kept getting postponed and now here aim, no better than what I was a year back. But now aim back with a dertermination to JUST DO IT.

I needed to know that to be the best , it was first important for me to be better which required me to be good and man a year back I was good enough!!!

Anyways , the clarity of thought is still my greatest foe and i will battle my way to successful blogging. To begin with I know very well what I want to do – I want to think, share and make myself aware. I truly believe in the power os social media and the very thought of digital/virtual friendship sounds Kicka**. So I have decided I will do what I want to do but for how , I have an idea

Here’s how

I shall wake up in the morning and think about something. Anything. may be the continuation of my dream or the newspaper feed or sundried tomatoes and cheese!! I will think through this thought for the entire day , discuss it with people and create a concoction of thoughts. I shall then prepare a rich and dark filter coffee out of this and serve it to you all. Now , you will drink it and not just that you need to bring snacks along. You will need to reply – criticize, appreciate , suggest or do masti but JUST DO IT..

I will make sure that the topic I choose will be relevant to the readers and thoughtful. At the end of the day , we must all feel satisfied after a session of thoughtful blogging.

I will begin soon . Soon after you begin.

Awaiting

Chirag

PS : Look, I have done it. This has taken a year of “intense preparation & research”. Lets see how this gets going.