A life less complicated

Everyone wants something, even the enlightened ones who seem to want more than most.

Sometimes I wonder if its this trait that makes us want to do more and more until what was important earlier is replaced by some other ideal. There is no absolute right or wrong but there is just perspective.

I had an interesting taxi drive - a retired Chicago taxi driver who now drives an Uber taxi. Over a long drive he explained how he is a history buff and was keen to understand India and Pakistan as to why we can't get along. One thing led to another and we were soon discussing perspectives of Greek philosophy of rational logic, Jewish beliefs, Chinese and Indian beliefs.

Its strange to think how much knowledge exists and how it is stored and perceived. This person can hold forth on various beliefs but refuses to acknowledge the differences that exists today between cultures.

Our minds almost shape beliefs to be what we want them to be and build buttresses of logic to support them. Selective cognition perhaps.

Just the thought of a life that does not involve all this chaos seems like a goal. But then again, we are not meant to be peaceful.  

is it just me?

Sometimes life just becomes that which you sub-consciously dread. You end up focusing on one area of your life and watch the other parts slip through your open fist like sand running off.

Early mornings, late nights, irate clients, short fuses, deadlines to meet, strategies, counter-strategies, wondering if the ladder is against the right wall. These take up all available space in you. Soon you wonder where is that early morning walk, 5 minutes of sitting down with a cup of tea, not heeding the ping of your smartphone announcing the next 'crisis/most important thing/necessary action'.

There is a certain sense of purity in simply letting go, the brain stilled of thought, the joy on your childs face seeing you after a while, the crispness of the air in the middle of trees, the feeling of making something with your own hands that is just lost in our mad rush assisted by the skates of technology.

Perhaps the answer is still within you, submerged in all the layers you throw upon it. Perhaps the answer is simply that 'this too shall pass'

Development

As I look out of the window I see very little greenery around. What is the price of our development? An area couple of miles square is home to atleast 500,000 people who might not ever get to hear the melody of a myna or the chirrup of a sparrow.

Crammed into ever decreasing personal spaces, jostling towards our workstations like salmon heading up stream for some vague purpose wired into the primordial recesses of our minds. Is there something which we are missing in our maddening rush for development?

Every interaction is dissected; every word, a carefully constructed artifice, how do I score a point, put someone in their place, show who is the boss, this is not development. No shared coffee, no laughter from the heart.

Is this development, sometimes I am not so sure of that.

Why so serious?

His scars itched unbearably, his mirth coming out in maniacal laughter. Only the laughter was in his head, filling the emptiness inside. He craved it, his life existed as a game, a game where there would be only one winner.

The countless hordes milling around had no sense of the injustice about the prison they have trapped themselves in, with their stupid morality and even stupider rules, playing a game that came up with rules faster than they were assimilated, until there was nothing left but rules, dropping out of the sky and into you, like so many dust mites.

He licked his cracked lips, there is so much help they need, they need to know freedom, but they resist. He shrugged, perhaps there is only sport left to be made of these herds. Making their little plans and laying them out in so much array, like children from a forgotten childhood, making sand castles only for him to land on them and scatter them. Sport.

Hmmmm.... the laughter filled him up again as he thought of 'his' latest plan. Play along, play along, a hop, skip and a jump and whoopee!!

The above is a peek into the mind of the Joker as played by Heath Ledger in the Dark Knight. Completely fictional.

Running shoes?

I despair to find a single running store in Hyderabad, India. Why do Nike, Reebok, Adidas et all open showrooms and staff them with people who cannot determine what shoe would be best for one's foot type and stride?

I tried running in my regular sneakers and ended up with a bad case of shin splints, orthotics is a far cry methinks. R & D on the internet at places like Runners World yields up names but its no substitute for an expert fitting you real-time.

Wonder if there are any running stores in Bangalore.. hmm

Ripples

Clear water, touched by the wings of a dainty butterfly speckled with myriad colours. Ripples across the surface startling. A beat of wings. Calm returns.