Life With Background Music

 

During my teenage, once I had noticed that whenever I had a question in my mind which did not have an answer, after a while I would find the answer randomly somewhere out of the blue. I remember myself rationalizing it by thinking that when a question goes unanswered, our subconscious brain keeps searching for answers, and hence spots one when it comes across it.

Some time back, a thought came to my mind that our life would have been better and more interesting if there was ‘background music’ in it; like it happens in the movies. For example, if we were serious, an appropriate background music would be playing around us. It would help us communicate better, since the recipient would understand the context better due to the background music made for the occasion.

A few days ago, while watching a movie on TV, suddenly a dialogue appeared. A character said, “You know what? There is music in life too! It is just that not everyone can hear it!”

The depth in the dialogue stunned me. What if our world really has background music in it; but the problem is that we can’t hear it? And what if there are people who ‘can’ hear it? For example, someone said something to us, and we understood it only on its face value. But there is another person, let us say very wise and experienced, and that person could not only listen to the person but also the ‘music’; and hence got the context better?

I know this is an imaginary thought, but philosophically, the thought is magnificent.

If everyone really understood everyone else, perhaps there would be lesser conflicts and heartburns. Or maybe if everyone really understood everyone else, there would be anarchy everywhere, because at times it is better if we do not understand things too. Whatever the end results, I won’t mind a little music in life. And an ability to listen to it too.  

- Rahul Tiwary

Thoughts: What is With Children and Water?

This morning, besides a very busy road, I saw a small girl. The road was not good, and it had cracks through which water from was flowing, perhaps thrown by some nearby shops. The little girl who was alone was carrying something; perhaps having bought it from some shop and returning to her home. She had stopped and was dipping one of her footwears in the stream of water. She was completely lost in thought, not bothered by the chaos of busy traffic and neither caring for safety or any concerns. She was totally focused on ‘understanding’ water. That moment and her state of mind felt totally like ‘nirvana’ to me.

A few months ago, I saw a similar scene where a small boy who was going somewhere with his grandfather, had also stopped and was completely immersed in thoughts and focused on a little ‘pond’ of ‘water’ on the road.

I wonder what was so special about these scenes that I paid attention? It is not that I was wandering around in an observation mode; I was actually riding and moving. But these moments got captured in my mind like still photographs. I think first, these moments were so ‘out of the ordinary’. In the adult world, we are so used to doing things on purpose and we are always on to something, that such moments of pure carefree indulgence feel strange. Second, I got curious also because I thought about the ‘state of mind’ of these kids. And I could not name it or could not find words to describe it. It was like a ‘blank slate’; and anything blank is so precious in the modern world because it is full of possibilities.

I hope that out of the many things frozen in my memory, these too remain safe and secure. The little kid checking out water on the roadside – what is with children and water? Perhaps it is better never to figure out.

- Rahul Tiwary

Thoughts: God is With US

Looking at injustices and all the wrong things (apparently) in this world, we may wonder where God is. For example, when someone accuses you of something and you fail to convince the other person. Or else, you yourself want to know what is true and what is not totally true since there have been conflicting thoughts in your mind. And hence you wish if you could talk to God for a moment and clear the things out. You wish it would have been so good if God was with you in a “communicable” state.

You may wonder if you can just apply your “mind” and get the work done. First of all, mind may not be the best thing to trust in many conflicting situations. As we know, brain stores information but the older the information gets, it is sent back in the database even to the “archive”. You would be able to recall some old things with some difficulty and some things would be totally inaccessible now over the years. But some data would be with you always, in clear terms. So, the mind works in terms of physical storage of information and is not something where God can live.

Hence, if God decided to live with us, where can he live? Would he go for the “heart” then? Of course, no. Our heart may want ice-cream in winter or may want you to smoke or drink. Heart can go wrong in many situations. So, heart can’t be trusted either.

Now comes “conscience”. Let us evaluate if God can live with us in or as our conscience. First, you can only talk to your conscience when you are truly with yourself. Next, your conscience can never lie to you. It will always tell you honest things, even if it is self-criticism. It can be recalled anytime and anywhere. That is why think that God lives with us in or as our conscience.

Hence, if you want to find out what you really want, don’t ask either your mind or your heart. If you want to find out if you like or trust another person or not, or what you really think about something, you can only trust your conscience. Talking to your mind can be too ‘heartless’ and talking to your heart may be too ‘out of our mind’.

Hence, I prescribe that we should talk to our conscience very regularly. We should talk to our conscience every day and in every situation. If we are clear in our conscience, then we shall feel light. Then we shall have no doubt and we shall not be confused about anything. Try it out!

- Rahul Tiwary 

Philosophy: Finding Faults in Ourselves

First of all, I wish you a very happy and peaceful new year 2020!  

May the new year be a sunrise and bring happiness and positivity to you. 

In T. S. Eliot’s play, ‘The Cocktail Party’, there is an interesting episode. One of the characters in this play was not having a good time. She speaks to a psychiatrist about her unhappiness. And she mentions that she hopes that somehow all her suffering is her own fault! The psychiatrist asks her why she thinks so.  She explains that if her suffering is her own fault, she might be able to do something about it. But if it is God’s fault then she is doomed!

This interesting incident looks profound and can make us look at our own ways of dealing with unfavorable conditions. Sometimes if things go against our wish, we have the tendency to blame others and consider ourselves as a “pure victim”. While in many cases we may actually be a victim, but we could still find ways to find “faults” in ourselves using which we could correct our own behavior next time.

The easiest example that comes to my mind is the instances or news of crime. A few days back while a husband and wife were crossing the road around midnight, they were hit by an unidentified car and the husband died. Was traveling so late in the night really necessary? Could they have returned earlier; since darkness increases the chance of accidents? Earlier there was a case of crime against a woman where the lady’s scooter got flat tires and she trusted two unknown men and went with them for a long distance in an unknown locality. Could she not have chosen to make a safer decision and not to trust random men? In another incident, a young couple met with a brutal crime because at 11 in the night they took “lift” from a private bus. Why could not have they made a wiser decision? In matters of crime, of course the crime happens due to criminals, but still many times the people at the receiving end make unsafe decisions which lead them into becoming easy prey of the criminals.

In other matters too, if a situation is bad, we could still try to find faults i.e. improvement areas within us and do self-correction; rather than putting entire blame on the other person or party. If we think on these lines, there are endless opportunities in which we can improve ourselves.

Therefore, we can say that our tendency to put the entire blame on others bars us from using the unwanted incidents as growth and learning opportunities. Because of our tendency to consider ourselves 100% blameless and innocent, we lose a lot of opportunities where we could have done some positive improvements in ourselves.

- Rahul Tiwary