In hindsight.....

As my teacher put it, "In hindsight, you can always do things better".

Now vs. Later...

This post is dedicated to my cubicle-mate, Saeed, who has judged and gauged me pretty well, especially when it comes to my trysts with last minute efforts. He was of the opinion, "Ranga, just finish it off today(Tuesday), instead of waiting till Thursday morning (for a deadline on Thursday)". All said and done, procrastination happens to be one of the most charming personalities that successfully ends up seducing most of us. The loss of generality prohibits me from calling this person, one of the most, enchanting and gorgeous seductress for women are also prone to procrastinate.

So, there are two obvious paradigms when it comes to atleast trying to get things done. "Finish it off now" vs. "Let me do it later". It is a battle of Energy vs. Lethargy out here. While tremendous pressure with little time left to meet a deadline can be nerve-wracking, at times, it can also be highly productive. And in most cases, when one is totally clueless as to how to proceed in a particular direction, what is one to do? For that I believe, one of the professors at Stanford, recommends, "the best way to start is to start". Then, there is the famous Nike ad of "Just do it".

Well, why is it that procrastination tends to seduce us all(well, I hope I am not entirely unjustified in making this assumption) despite the knowledge of how great life would be if we were to not procrastinate. Can this be safely extended to why evils continue to exist or rather, have been existing for all these years - be it lust, avarice, hatred, etc. despite the knowledge of how great life would be without these. Does this all boil down to the human nature and the numerous neurons within us.

The Underdog....

Whom would you support in an evenly contested battle between David and Goliath? Doesn't it sound more romantic and adventurous to root for the victory of the underdog. In hopelessly lopsided contests where a person/team puts in no effort for a fight, the more efficient and superior opponent does have to be the winner, so as to ensure, "Rewards for hard work".

More often than not, one tends to be heavily partisan in support towards one's favorite sportsperson/team/country. But isn't it more interesting when Nigeria beats Brazil in Football, or when Bangladesh beats Australia in Cricket? In the true spirit of the game or enterprise, there is no single winner or loser for the journey is more important than the destination. Thus, hopefully, the day of the underdog isn't far enough.

Last week saw me rooting for the trailing-behind team (the underdog) in an evenly contested match between the New England Patriots and Indianapolis Colts. The Colts finally won, courtesy a last minute touchdown, after coming from behind 3-21, to lead 32-13, and then to be down 31-34 (well, the numbers are important, but then, more important than that is the trend of the game). I was wavering between both the teams, but then, my heart did finally go out for the "losers". Such is the glory and beauty of sport.

At a more personal level, wouldn't it better to seek, suffer and then soar, instead of, inescapably falling down from a great height due to conceit, ignorance and arrogance. Aren't we all underdogs in all that we do? Don't we all have so much to strive for, with perfection being a mere illusion. If so, then, why is it that the ego always remains conceited?

Ignorance... Revisited.

This is the first time, that I am quoting something from verbatim out here. Kindly excuse.

"While I am still confused and uncertain, it is on a much higher plane, d'you see, and atleast I know I'm bewildered about the really important and fundamental facts of the universe." Treatle nodded, I hadn't looked at it like that," he said, "But you are absolutely right. He's really pushed back the limits of ignorance".

They both savored the strange warm glow of being much more ignorant than ordinary people, who were ignorant of only ordinary things.

- Terry Pratchet, Equal Rites.

Humility....

There are some good things in life that would be a conquest for the entire lifetime. Humility is one of them. The author has seen so many shades of humility in people. Genuine humility, a superficial layered humility, humility to the point of arrogance, and extreme vanity. Being genuinely humble, would be the conquest for life.

The most dangerous of the four forms is humility to the point of arrogance. One tends to get complacent, forget the difficult times, not count the blessings, and become arrogantly humble. In this case, there is that heavy layer of hypocrisy involved. Naturally, it is more depracating than the case of extreme vanity. Atleast, people are being honest to themselves then.

So, when you do think that you have done something great or have every reason to be arrogant, but are not doing so, to be in the good books of people, think deep down. Realise the insignificance of the self. Realise the importance of being honest and scrupulous. Coming to terms with your own horrendous self can be the most difficult task at hand.

The Importance of Sinning....

How does one know what to avoid without getting burnt once?

From the lust, dawns the love.

From laziness, comes the dynamism.

From the profane, comes the sacred.

From the cynic, comes the sensitive soul.

From the rejection of the self, comes the acceptance of the self.

From the base metals, comes the gold.

From the pain, comes the ecstacy.

From the impure, comes the pure.

From the sin, emerges the virtue.

The circle of life - a complete circle.

PS: Getting burnt is a process in itself.

One need not stop with just one experience.

Not all experiences are the same.

We just get cooked better the next time.

The obvious....

What do you do when the "obvious" is not obvious to you?

What do you do when "intuitive" brings the fear in you?

I have often come across people, includes my own self, who throw around these words for added effectiveness whenever they talk (be it technical or non-technical). What does one do in such moments of despair? Attempt not to destroy the ignorance at the cost of acceptance among the circle or become an object of ridicule for not knowing what you should be knowing about in the first place.

This is an experiment that often proves to be enlightening and useful. Keep asking questions till the so called "obvious" things lose their obviousness. The outcome of the experiment is usually the same. We would realise that the entire world is a sham and the person (who becomes the guinea-pig by making those "obvious" and "intuitive" claims) is equally hollow and empty as one can be. It is not possible to know about all the things in the world. What one should call for is a change in the attitude of the people.

Respect a person's questions, both profound and silly. Accept your ignorance if you are truly ignorant. It doesn't really make sense to be in the veneer of a "know-it-all" when you actually do not know much. Guess this becomes all the more important for people involved in the domain of teaching. What does one do when a motivated and enthusiastic student with a keen willingness to learn asks simple questions that in fact takes one out of the blue?

As we progress in life, we get so very accustomed to the happenings, and we unfortunately forget the founding fundamental assumptions that we started with in the first place. We accept things as they are. We fail to question things. We fail to think outside the box. We are getting more and more entangled into a limited domain as we grow up. Is it the fault of the person or the society at large? I would end this post with this quote,

The greatest obstacle to discovery is not ignorance, but the illusion of knowledge.

This topic might have been covered in a different sense in this post. However, this question troubles the author a lot. Hence, he doesn't see as to why he shouldn't write once again about the obvious and intuitive aspects of the world and wait for answers.

Ignorance.....

Is it wrong to admit one's ignorance. How does the world look upon a person who admits "I do not know". Often, people make this claim of knowledge, most times superficial; and strangely love to bask in the glory of a know-it-all. There are things that are obvious or intuitive for them. How I hate those words? Dig them deep, and you would find that they are as hollow and empty as can be. I am not against being hollow and empty. It is just this simple fact - feigning one's emptiness that is difficult to digest. So, looking at ignorance, it can be classified in two ways.

(a) Destructive ignorance

A case where ignorance is NOT bliss. There are so many wonders and beauties in the world that being ignorant of them would simply amount to losing out on the better ways of life. Again, people who are smug and happy with their present state of affairs and sensibilities would get bored of it all as time progresses. Here, is where the wonders help one in coming back to life. Hence, it would be destructive if one were to ignore "the callings" that would finally lead us out of our mundane vegetating life (a complaint of many). It is how we make out our life to be.

(b) Constructive ignorance

Have you ever wondered or pondered about this. The more and more we get immersed in our passions that have become our ways of life, the more and more we realise as to how ignorant we are. The knowledge out there is a vast ocean. Be it music, technical, other art forms, literature, whatever. What we claim to possess would be one miniscule droplet of water in the ocean. Ignorance unites one and all. The moment, we think that we are perfect, we know-it-all, it is gone. Perfection would always remain an elusive state. "It is hard to improve upon perfection". So, how can one be perfect?