God or the Proton?

I know its been a while since I posted, but I plead the excuse of exams and fever.

Lately I've been caught up in a discussion on the merits of science versus religion, as in which one is superior. To be frank, I don't think either is. Both are necessities in anyones life, and I really don't think that believeing on one prevents you from following the other.

Science and religion are actually intertwined. Religion explains the world through the heart, science through the mind. Ultimately, both seek to explain the world. And if you think about it, science arose in a sense because of religion. When man started questioning 'why?' religion began. When man started asking 'how?', science began, and inevitably, the why comes before the how.

I've always wondered why people are obsessed with 'why' something came to pass. It has already happened, so do the motives really matter? Consider a war. Knowledge of why it happens means very little to the widows and orphans. But knowing 'how' their dhusbands or fathers died is another matter. I feel the ultimately, 'how' is far more important than 'why', simply because 'why' is open to interpretation, while 'how' is not. The explanation of why someone did something is entirely dependant on the explainers mindset, beliefs and world views, while how is entirely objective, atleast in my opinion. There is only one possible explanation for how something happened, and that is inevitably factual.

Manss preoccupation with motive is absurd really. 500 years after something, knowing why it happened doesn't really matter much, because the world's changed, the people have changed, everythings changed. But from 'how' it happened, man can still learn.

I think I'll get back to the religion/science debate another time. Got class you see. But I leave you with this Menon original-"Man needs science to get thorough the day, but he needs religion to sleep aat night'.. Cool eh?

Choices...choices

Ah... Time to post again... actually not since I have exams right now, but then again exams may come and exams may go, but the blog goes on forever eh? Well thats the idea atleast... my mom might not be too happy though...

I recently learnt something pretty interesting about mosquitoes. They seem to have a rite of passage. It goes something like- suck blood from the biggest thing in the room. The flirtation with death for them seems almost exhilarating. I mean if you really think about it, you have to give the humble mosquito its due. Everytime its hungry, it has to put its life on the line. Imagine having to hunt a tiger for breakfast, lunch and dinner. That should put things into perspective.

Have you ever really considered the concept that humans are the highest form of life? I mean if you look at the apparent evidence, then I guess you could say we are, because in the grand scale of things, there is no other speccies who can boast of the level of dominion we have over the world. (Except maybe cockroaches. If you're afraid of bugs then pray that you don't survive a nuclear holocaust. All you're going to have for company will be those yucky little things)

Anyway, getting back to the highest form of life train of thought, it seems a given doesn't it? Even our religious books say that only after doing good deeds several times in previous lives does a soul gain shape as a human. Well here's where I disagree. I feel that a stone is luckier that a human. The reason being that a stone has no choice in what it can do. A stone can only exist. And its purpose is to just exist. It has no ambitions, no aspirations, no dissappointments, nothing to stop it from acheiveing its purpose of just being. Take a look at us though. From the day we're born, to the day we die, we face troubles, hardships, and worst of all- choices. You might disagree with me and feel that it is the power of choice that makes man who he is, and that a life without choice is an utterly pointless one, but what is the ultimate aim of life? Is it to be happy? Is it to have lots of money? Is there even an ultimate aim at all? Going by any of these assumptions, you have to concede that a life without choices would make it easier. There is no 'wrong' decision. All the ones are 'right'. And no matter what you do, you have the sense of satisfaction that you will accomplish your goal in life, to live.

I know I'm not making myself all that clear, so let me try again. A life with choices is one that has a much higher probability of having suffering one time or the other than a life without choices. And here I don't mean a situation where the lack of choice is forced upon you, but rather where the lack of choice is universal. The very concept of choice is to give man a sense that he has control over his life. And to be fair it does. I choose to write this blog. You choose to read it. But if you really think about it, aren't the really important decisions in life already made for you?

I leave you with that thought.

Hmmm....(2)

Now that the blog is officially up and running, I am faced with the daunting task of quality control. If I am to expand my reader base, I have to make this substantially more than the ramblings of a half-crazy 19 year old...

The stuff below was a song I wrote for my band, but it never really took off. Might have something to do with the fact that I was lead singer, and I cannot positively absolutely sing for peanuts. I changed it a bit, took out the chorus, and was left with something suprisingly poetic...

What the world has made (of me)

Life seems to slip away,

I lose my place for good,

I forget who I am,

And I ask of myself,

Is life worth fighting for?

Is love worth living for?

Because now I see, what the world has made of me, 

And I give up all my hope.

What is the purpose of this?

Why this life at all?

I wonder why this fiction, 

I want to leap from up high.

As I stand on the edge

As I stare into the deep,

I clearly see what the world has made of me, 

And I give up all my hope.

Why continue this fight?

Why live in twilight?

Why not give in?

Why not give up?
I can't even see the sun,

The stars dont shine for me,

Now I am what the world has made of me,

And I have given up my hope.

(guitar solo ending in a drum beat)

How can I give up this fight?

How can I abandon

All that I love,

All that I live for?
As I stand on the edge,

My heart beats again,

I refuse to be what the world has made of me

And I must hold on to my hope.

I stare into the night

But my head is held high

My soul stirs from slumber,

My passion re-ignites

Life is worth fighting for

Love is worth living for,

Now I see that the world has made me, me

And I live in my hope...

Selfish Society

The concept of the selfish society is one thats been in my head for a really long time now. I've written it down, but never really had a platform to get my thoughts across. Not that I have this blog, I figured I might as well use it as my own kind of creativity place. The place where I can write what I want, when I want, and how I want... So here goes...

The world does not turn for any one man, nor does the universe ever make life easier for you, no matter how much you want it. In a very real sense, humans are worse than rats in a maze. Atleast the rats get something worthwhile out of the whole maze-solving. What does man get? A life of worries and burdens that only get heavier till the day we finally give up on life. That is the real reason for pain and suffering. The tendancy of man to just give up. People boast about how they endure pain, and how it makes them stronger, but the truth is that they are too weak to do anything about it. Noone would experience pain, unless they had to. All the thoughts of final success serve to breathe 'life' into the illusion that men call life. Why is it even called that? Life means to live, to break free, to do what one wants and ultimately, to be happy. Noone can do any of those things. People have to go to the extent of defying death itself just to feel alive. Hence the craze for adventure sports.

Society is so structured that noone ever really gets what they want. There is always something better, someone higher. The very nature of society is to promote competition rather than promote unity. Satisfaction is simply unattainable. The guise of satisfaction that people claim, is merely the result of reaching a point where they cant go any higher. They have reached as high as they can, and have to settle for it. Of course they want more, but they cant have anymore. In one sentence, the point of life is to crawl until the slope becomes too steep for you to crawl up anymore. Sure puts 'life' into perspective.

There is no point in trying to be who you think society wants you to be, because society doesn't care. It doesnt care unless you pose a threat to its core aim, unless you directly attack its very heart, unless you become happy. The second you try to 'live', try to break free, jealous hands pull you down from all directions. Their logic very simple. If I can't have it, I won't let you either. And the cycle continues. 

Society has permeated mans being to such an extent that we compete even with ourselves. At a time, when your heart says to let go, your ego tells you, if you do, society will brand you a coward. And as we live for the society,, we ineveitably supress our heart and give in to the ego.  The concept of 'society' has so radically altered the way we 'live' that we are all afraid to be who we are, too afraid to react the way we want to, simply because 'socity' would label us freaks, and ostracize us. Man made society. Now society makes and breaks the man. The lack of life is death. Reminds me of life.

"To be or not to be"- Hamlet 

Hmmmm....(1)

I don't know the ettiquete regarding how many posts a day are socially acceptable, but since this is my blog, I figure I can post as many times as I like. COme to think about it, I don;t know the spelling of ettiquete either. Maybe I got it right... french words have that funny habit of soundin absolutly nothing like they're spelt. take bourgeious for example(I think I spelt that right!!). It means 'middle class'. Guess how its pronounced... come on... look at the g and the r... the umpteen vowels... nope you're wrong. The pronounciations actually 'booshwa'. Yup... weird eh?
Another thing I've never realy come to terms with is sms lingo. I mean, I use it all the time, and I would consider myself decent at it, but evertime I see 'wru?' I instantly get this mental image of ancient african people in their loincloths with their spears in like 10000BC, hunting a huge elephant, going -WRU WRU to each other. It seems to fit you know? Like a kind of pumping up chant.. try it... WRU WRU WRU WRU.. It means 'where are you' by the way.

I get the necessity of it. In India, most service providers give you 160 charectars per sms. Meaning you really do have to come up with short forms, like droppin the last letter off words, writin numbers 4 words, that sorta thing, but when it makes the message unreadable, it kinda defeats the purpose don't it?? ArGHHHH the bad grammers gettin 2 me.. OOPS!!
But the one thingI absoutely cannot stand is... drumroll please....'k'. I mean, how busy do you have to be to reply to an sms in 1 letter?! The word okay just 4 letters long. That got cut down to 2, and now to 1. Its annoying to be honest. Theres nothing that kills your mood faster than to be smsing someone close to you, and getting 'k' in reply. It sends the image that the other guy/gal is doing it outta pity you know? This post is gonna be full of sms lingo I guess.... Gotten into da habit... lol('laugh out loud')

That completes my monologue on sms lingo. I initially had plans of writing something completely different, but as I've been answering messages as I type this, I got side tracked...

So, till next time... cya l8r....

Fantasy begins....

Well now that the formalities of the 'inaugural' post is done, I can actually start writing about some proper stuff... what to begin with?

I'm currently in the middle of book 7 of the 'Wheel of Time' by Robert Jordan. Its torture on the eyes with the small print, but the story makes up for it. I really don't wanna write for close to 7 hours straight, because thats how long it'll take to do justice to the story so far, so I'm gonna stop at sayin that its an absolute must-read. Especially if  you're a fantasy nut. The sad thing is that not many people I know have actually read it. They think fantasy, and they stop at Harry Potter, somethin IMO that is definately NOT fantasy. I mean, the book is very well written. but fantasy it is not. Nowadays though people are/were bitten by saphira, the blue dragon in Eragon. I liked the first book, suffered through the second, and positively slogged through the third. It started off really well, but Mr paulini lost his way somewhat I feel. The Lord of the Rings. How could I not mention that one. Try the book. The movie is amazing, but honestly can't do justice to the book. Don't believe me? Think I'm exaggerating? Read it. Itsw not for the faint-hearted though. It'll take a while to get going, and even longer to finish, but after that, you know what fantasy truly is. Harry Potter, eat your heart out....

Later posts  will have in-depth critiques of lots of fantasy books, since thats pretty much how I spend most of my time. But before I end, to rip off a very famous line, this is 

'One blog to rule them all!!!'

The very first post

Well here goes nothing... 

My blog. My very own part of the internet. Ah.... feels good to know that my words are being read.

Since this is the very first post, writing longer would be weird. I still have to figure out the dynakmics of the whole 'blogging' phenomenon. I had these ideas in mind of having lots of pages and links and all jazzy stuff here and there, but doesn;t seem like it'll work. But I am not disenheartened!! On the contrary, I'm feeling all pumped up... Might have something to do with the burger I just ate...

Anyhow, I think this is long enough for a first post.... Hah... I'm a blogger....