Irony of life and its achievements

Life can be seen in many ways. We can make different inferences about life depending on the angle from which we choose to look. If we look at it from freedom point of view, then I wonder how much freedom we actually have. Connect it with our likes and it gets quite depressing. In childhood we want to spend time with our parents and little friends at home but we are sent to school. In teen age we love to play sports and want to live freely but we are burdened with competitive exams. And then most of us spend our entire energetic life (below 60 years of age) in office, always working for someone else or for goals set by our aspirations which are in fact shaped by outside influences. Even entrepreneurs have to work and they have no choice in this aspect. If we want to spend all time with family, most of us can’t afford it. Is it a provocative thought that we can’t “afford” it? We take time “out of” usual work for some hours, days, weeks, and in case of a few of us, even some years, but we have to go back to work. Work to earn money. Earn money to survive. Earn money to live. Struggle to survive is one of the inherent things of this world; it is part of the package; it comes by design and it seems no one can escape it except those who follow paths of great souls like Adi Shankar and renounce this world full of miseries. In fact this world is full of miseries till we are seeking something. The moment we stop seeking, this world becomes a world full of gifts and abundance. What an irony…

I think it is a pity that we have to compromise on what we want and how we want to spend time just to survive. There are some who take it to the level of rat-races but no matter how we claim to be “free” most of us are not. In a way we are slaves to the “ways of life” already set before we arrived here. A genuine soul search will make us realize this irony. In this aspect all of us are in the same pool; only the extent to which we are inside water varies… I know we can think of it as a challenge. How best we can manage our life so that we have to compromise the least and we enjoy the finer aspects of life and not only the ones benchmarked for us. Only I am not sure how much we can actually succeed; and the biggest question is why not fully? Why we are condemned to waste our life in things as undeserving as working to earn money (no matter how we glamorize our profession and try to claim it is not about money).

Thoughts: Irony of life and its achievements

Life can be seen in many ways. We can make different inferences about life depending on the angle from which we choose to look. If we look at it from freedom point of view, then I wonder how much freedom we actually have. Connect it with our likes and it gets quite depressing. In childhood we want to spend time with our parents and little friends at home but we are sent to school. In teen age we love to play sports and want to live freely but we are burdened with competitive exams. And then most of us spend our entire energetic life (below 60 years of age) in office, always working for someone else or for goals set by our aspirations which are in fact shaped by outside influences. Even entrepreneurs have to work and they have no choice in this aspect. If we want to spend all time with family, most of us can’t afford it. Is it a provocative thought that we can’t “afford” it? We take time “out of” usual work for some hours, days, weeks, and in case of a few of us, even some years, but we have to go back to work. Work to earn money. Earn money to survive. Earn money to live. Struggle to survive is one of the inherent things of this world; it is part of the package; it comes by design and it seems no one can escape it except those who follow paths of great souls like Adi Shankar and renounce this world full of miseries. In fact this world is full of miseries till we are seeking something. The moment we stop seeking, this world becomes a world full of gifts and abundance. What an irony…
 

I think it is a pity that we have to compromise on what we want and how we want to spend time just to survive. There are some who take it to the level of rat-races but no matter how we claim to be “free” most of us are not. In a way we are slaves to the “ways of life” already set before we arrived here. A genuine soul search will make us realize this irony. In this aspect all of us are in the same pool; only the extent to which we are inside water varies… I know we can think of it as a challenge. How best we can manage our life so that we have to compromise the least and we enjoy the finer aspects of life and not only the ones benchmarked for us. Only I am not sure how much we can actually succeed; and the biggest question is why not fully? Why we are condemned to waste our life in things as undeserving as working to earn money (no matter how we glamorize our profession and try to claim it is not about money).

Movie: The Woman in the Fifth

‘The Woman in the Fifth’ is a movie based on a novel in the same name. It is the story of struggles of a writer in getting reunited with his daughter and family in the backdrop of his mental illness. At one point in the movie, we hear a statement which is often heard in many places. The idea is that the more personal disasters and tragedies a writer goes through, the more depth his writing acquires. The same can also be said about some other artisans like painters, singers and musicians. After I heard about this and realized it to be a commonly accepted proposition, I have sort of started disliking these creative fields. It is true that the more personal experiences a writer will have, one would be more in command of the variety and depth of one’s creations. But to make it a precondition or assumption about its necessity looks unfair. I think if there is one most powerful skill that a writer has, it is one’s power of imagination and observation. It can easily be believed that any writer can’t have all the varieties of personal experiences oneself, that exist in this world. There comes the importance of observation – writers can simply role-play or map someone else to develop a character for one’s book. Or else one can simply imagine and imagination knows no boundaries… In that respect power of imagination compensates for or even transcends the benefit of personal experiences in the literary fields.

It is not necessary that a writer or an author should have gone through personal tragedies oneself to get to write about things. It is definitely an advantage, but I not necessarily a precondition. Though, very often we notice that debuting authors do miracle with their first book but never get to repeat the magic afterwards. I think many times it is because the first book was based on their personal experiences and hence had that depth; while next books were written on demand and used more of imagination than experiences. If a writer is not that brilliant, one’s second or next books won’t be of same quality as one’s first book. But there have been so many wonderful authors who have written about character dissimilar to the ones experienced in their personal lives, through the power of observation and imagination.

If one needs a failed personal life to become a celebrity writer, I think it is not worth it. A life lived in simplicity and containment, which often leaves new members for our human civilization who inherit the noble virtues and ethics, is very precious. Fame is temporary and is a double edged sword.

Movie: Pride and Prejudice

Watched the movie ‘Pride and Prejudice’ and loved it. Though I had read the Jane Austin book a long time back, it seems I had forgotten it except a few recollections all through. And the movie is so beautifully made that I am speechless about the experience. It is overwhelming.

To begin with, I like happy-ending stories and this was one. When Elizabeth and Darcy seem to be separated, viewers can feel a simmering pain – how unfortunate? I wished it did not happen like it happened; and indeed there were secrets which came out and Elizabeth could see the real Darcy.

If I talk about the characters, I don’t know why Darcy was so grave always. He did not dance; not even smiled in the first scene when he makes an entry. And he keeps that serious face all through. Though I think we do not get to know the reason for apparent sadness anywhere in the plot. Was he sad over loneliness? In the later parts when he interacts with Elizabeth, one can see his childlike face lit up. Elizabeth appears stubborn though intelligent, and she realizes in the end about her weaknesses. Elizabeth’s mother was such a chatty character; she talked too much and most of the time unwanted stuff.

About the socioeconomic conditions depicted in the story; I could not help but notice some elements. Daughters were burden to the family in a way and parents had to do anything to get them wedded and sent out. Though the manner in which these parents were doing was shocking – sending daughters in front of soldiers and in public so as to display them in the hope that some worthy man could notice them. They were also offering for example Mr. Collins one daughter instead of the other of his choice. This part was shocking. In India, even though daughters are considered ‘burden’ in the same sense, but not treated in this manner, which can be called immoral by Indian parents if they see it here. When one of the sisters in the story eloped with a soldier who asked for a kind of pension or compensation to marry her; and the family had to agree to his demand in order to save their social prestige, it was shocking. It seems status of women in society and harsh social realities have been same almost everywhere in the world.

Anyways, ‘Pride and Prejudice’ has been an enlightening watch. How we are wrong in understanding people and individuals and how we tend to see faults in others while the same faults present in us are overlooked by us; is depicted very nicely in it.

PAN Service Online through IT Dept Website

PAN application or renewal in case of old/lost PAN card is very easy using this IT Dept website. Submit form online, pay small fee via net-banking, print and send doc proof; get SMS update of status & dispatch details; and receive it at home. No need of agents and hence no data leakage risk/security concerns: 

https://www.tin-nsdl.com/

Unappy with Facebook's Lack of Privacy

Facebook has been known to be uncaring towards users' privacy. It has been a trouble for everyone who attempted, to successfully be in control of what we share and what don't want to; through mired privacy setting and policies. To add to the worry, a few days back when I tried to log into FB, it showed up these many pictures on the first page itself! Is this how Facebook wants to use our profile pictures and other stuff? Has it taken permission from these people before using their portraits? I am not sure. Even if it has taken permission, there seems to be no guarantee of what future awaits for all of us (well, those of us who use FB to be precise)!

I FB's new proposals to make privacy settings more less stringent is not only unethical but also unfair. Till a few weeks back whenever I opened up facebook.com and found it written something like "It is free and always will be so", I always give it a second thought. How many promises need to be broken in order to keep a promise? We know that change is the constant thing in this world, but in what direction? FB already makes money through ads, apps and in other ways from corporates. It should not cross the line to the extent that people would simply get fed up and won't see any benefit of wasting their time only to quite using it some day in the future.

On the other hand, Google+ looks better with its system of circles and more user friendly settings, but we have got used to using facebook for a while and the switch is not easy. But I see facebook's policies harming the general trust in the public about using social networking sites and gradually people may simply stop using it and go back to watch TV - something they are more used to do anyway...

Switched to The Indian Express

Last month we switched from DNA (newspaper) to The Indian Express. DNA was nice and we liked its selection of quality content but felt lacking enough content/pages to satisfy. Indian Express is much better and we are loving its breadth and depth of coverage. It looks unbiased because if in one page it presents an interview of RSS/VHP chief; in some other it presents a full coverage of some communist leader/JNU also. By and large I can notice that news items are fact-based and it does not try to present its editor's views as news. Fairness and fact based reporting is what I want; and I don't like a paper (like TOI) telling us how to interpret a news and how to feel and think about each issue because it belittles our intelligence.

All You Who Sleep Tonight by Vikram Seth

Finished reading a poetry book by Vikram Seth titled All You Who Sleep Tonight. Found some poems very touching and the book has a collection of his poems on diverse themes. The poem on which the title of this book is as follows:

All you who sleep tonight

Far from the ones you love,

No hand to left or right

And emptiness above -

Know that you aren't alone

The whole world shares your tears,

Some for two nights or one,

And some for all their years.