मंगलवार, 6 मई 2008

Two S's Of Life

Stability and Security : Not the prominent features of my next imaginary software, which will never be coded. It's about life. Somehow, whatever we do in our 20s and later on, we think about these two aspects, willingly or unwillingly. I'm not going to take exceptions on account, they are already caught by an exception block, but IN GENERAL, these are the two factors stuck with our life.

Here is what the dictionary says about these two words:

Stability - the state of being stable (not likely to change or fail, firmly established, sane and sensible, steady)

Security - the state of being or feeling secure (free from danger or threat), procedures and measure followed to ensure safety, state of feeling safe, stable and free from fear or anxiety

Let's examine them now from a social point of view.

Why did the players join ICL even after knowing that they are not going to play for their country if they opt for ICL? That can be termed as a 'daring decision', but most of the players were pretty much sure about their abilities and had their own share of fears that they won't be able to represent their country and the offer was very lucrative, which would give them security in terms of monetary gains. Career of a player is not very long, so they started thinking about their future and there was the bonus of 'playing with some international stars'. That feeling of doing something other than domestic cricket gave them required courage, but base was 'monetary gains'. IPL did the same thing with some sense of authority and gave the tournament a legitimate look. Results? Players are finding hard to conceal their happiness with the experience and money involved. It gives them the sense of security. Although, the stability factor is not very prominent with such leagues at this point of time, it surely will become.

Whatever one says, the reality is society does influence our lives. There are restrictions almost everywhere. The fear of failure stops many of us and gives us a thought about 'back up' plans. If you have ever thought, why academics are given top priority in general Indian society (replace academics with some work for people below poverty line), you will get only one answer - for 'stability and security'.

Yes, we do admire people like Sarathbabu, who struggled a lot in their life but still rejected lucrative job offers and went on to start a food business. We do admire people who have this uncanny ability to take big but calculated risks, who have the courage of not walking through a set path. But then we do say to ourselves that they are the exceptions and somehow find shelter again where there is some sense of stability and security. From where the demoralization comes - it again comes from society, because we do see so many failures around, whatever be the reason behind them. This fear of failure can't be overcome without ultra confidence in oneself. One looks for the feeling of a security statement, "it's going to be a success and not a drastic failure on one's or others (family / friends / relatives or whoever is in the circle) faces". I read one inspirational quote somewhere, "Even if there are challenges and hurdles, you should learn to look for the light at the end of tunnel". That might be true, but it requires lots of patience, which is usually absent when it comes to 2 S's. General thought process wants some light intermittently, if not everywhere.

What are the basic needs of human being? Shelter, Food and cloths! While one looks for security when it comes to food and cloths, same person looks for stability when it comes to shelter. Do you know why home loans are on a high? Growing ambition of independent home is there because of a greed named "stability". A factor "high rents" is just adding spice to this newly born phenomenon. Few years back, people used to look for a house after years of job and now, the generation next is not ready to wait for that much time, few years look like eternity. Running for worthless ambitions with wholehearted greediness is not going to take us to a different planet, it's just going to make the journey complex. This greed of stability is not going to be diminished, it looks like an in-born trait which is here to stay.


... TO BE CONTINUED ...

बुधवार, 30 अप्रैल 2008

Moves

Once an aggressive bloke,
today a passive weapon.
egressing
in true sense of composure
the blood which was soaked
by the sporadic flow of time,
hardness became softness.

to see the essence of life
to slow down with lesser moves
to bypass the tough times
to ignore the complexities.

he who opens the door,
welcomes everything with grittiness.
let the door remain open
marinate the whole shebang with neutral juice
fulfilling the profound impulse
of no ardor with absolute tranquility.


- Neeraj Mathpal
April 30, 2008

मंगलवार, 29 अप्रैल 2008

Little Offbeat

Today, I thought of writing about an offbeat topic, which still makes sense. Taking and compiling this abstract from some old pages of my diary:

It is really difficult to define the terms “Unattached work” and “Absolute unselfishness” in a very precise manner, because more or less these are the things to realize. Most of our thoughts are borrowed from some sources. They may be books or our ancestors. My case is also not a different one. After analyzing them, our creative mind makes its own theory. Sometimes it results in exactly the same theory with more or less intensity. I am fortunate to get more intensified. But whatever I've understood till date is not enough to show a clear view of all these terms containing lots of mystery. Today, I’ll write only about the borrowed things and most of the ideas are taken from Geeta. All the Shlokas written are the greatest philosophical weapons for any era. But a new compilation, new illustration is needed to understand the real meaning hidden with them. Anyway…

Unattached work (Nishkam Karm) is a very deep thing. For the moment, without going into details of different forms of Yoga, our center of concentration will be the battle field of “Karm Yoga”. I'll try to define the terms with respect to this yoga as I think we are, by default, attached with the "Karm Sansar". To start with it, it's better to follow the simple meaning of a Shloka –

"Hato va prapysi swargam, jitva va bhokshyase maheem.
Tasmaduttisth kauntaiya, yuddhay krit nischyah."

It clearly says if you'll do the work successfully, you are definitely going to get something. If you won't, still you are bound to get something. You should not be worried about the results. It's your duty, don't do it for others or for any benefits. Just do it only because it’s your duty. At the same time you shouldn't think about the output. Try to be the same in joys and sorrows. If you see any sorry picture from different perspectives, you'll ultimately find a joy in it. In Shakespeare's words, "Nothing is good or bad, thinking makes it so". That’s what is written so many times in our mythological epics. Trust me it's not easy to experience these feelings. It's hard to feel this strange power of total innerness (that raised one more question, what is success, whether it exists or not? but to make the things smooth - take the simple lexicon oriented meaning of success) and a long road is ahead. Meditation techniques can be a nice helping toolkit to achieve this state, but it's not always true. I used to and still like worships in form of prayers. At the same time I also try to find the “sva” contained in me. For what purpose? There is not any. Depending upon the personal feelings, a person can follow any path as the goal is same. Fluctuations and distractions will always be there, after all we are human beings; but realization should be there.

Another term “Absolute unselfishness” (Param Niswarth) is simple in meaning, but it’s near to impossible to implement. If you are giving something to a beggar, you’ll think that “Chalo aaj ek Punya ka kam to kiya”. If you are praying in Mandir, you’ll think “Bhagwan ki Kripa bani rahe ham par”. If not all these, you are certainly bound to do something for your family members or familiars. If parents give shelter and love to their children, they do it because it’s their duty or love. But here also a kind of selfishness is attached. So many simple things we do, purposefully or ignorantly, almost always involve a bit of selfishness. I can’t give a right solution to prevent this feeling, but it will disappear once we attend all the traits of “SatoGun”. Hard enough to attend those.

Enough for the day. I have left so many unanswered questions. Probably these words have lost the intensity within me with time after seeing more and more of real world. There is only hope that whatever is written would help to open a new world or to look at it in a different way.

- Neeraj Mathpal
April 29, 2008

सोमवार, 14 अप्रैल 2008

घास

विटप ऊँचे दृष्टित होते रहे
सन्निकट ही झाड़ सी फैलती घास
अदृश्य मौन रंजना सी

इसलिए क्या कि वो अपने आप ही उग आयी
और अपने कद को ऊँचा भी न कर सकी
इसलिए क्या कि उसका हरा रंग क्षणिक है
और जैसे मटमैली हो जाना उसकी नियति

जल प्रकाश का ऐसा अभाव
क्यों ये दुर्दैव
कि योग्यतम की उत्तरजीविता का डार्विनवाद
उसी पर लागू हो

रचने की मीमांसा का अर्थ समझा
एक तिनका सहेज कर उस घास से
अब वो तिनका भी प्रवाहित हो गया
प्राण वायु के वेग में

इस व्याकुलता में कोई कौतुहल नहीं
अब जड़ भी तो जंगम नहीं
अंतर्नाद में अंतर्द्वन्द्व
घास की यह तो परिभाषा नहीं

- नीरज मठपाल
अप्रैल १४, २००८