The human brain

This thought process is a reaction to the book 'Phantoms in the Brain' by VS Ramachandran. We smile when we are happy, think when we are in a mood to contemplate and agonize when we are negative or depressed. All these chains of unending and constantly fluctuating thoughts are a result of our mind or actually speaking our brain. Our brain mulls Shakespear, admires beautiful places and people, calculates based on self determined formulae and parameters. It integrates our vision our sense of hearing our touch and our emotions. It defines every moment we live in and decides our actions and reactions and everything else we can think of.Why puzzle about the meaning of life and wonder if aliens and cropcircles are real when we have the greatest mystery and creation of all time sitting in our heads!

It is said that the Upanishads, ancient texts which contain boundless wisdom was mostly transferred from Master to puplil through speech but before that there was an ancient and forgotten era when the transfer happened through exchange of thoughts.Like when the bluetooth device on you phone connects to the bluetooth on the person close to you, so you can transfer pictures to his/her phone. Imagine - like John Lennon said, if that were to happen with your thoughts.Imagine if the human brain remembered the forgotton habit before if evolved by which it could also process thoughts along with sounds smells and sight. Technology will be rendered useless.If you had control, you can just think of a person and transmit your ideas accross. You can save lives, multiply exponentially your productivity and change the very face of the planet.
Whew! my brain wanted me to stop writing the various insane scenarios which would come up and analyze them. Guess it has a mechanism to prevent Bheja Fry (Bheja - brain).
 Whatever we ever do, however we define ourselves is upto the brain. That is probably the reason why self help books might help. We say - I am a person. That is how the brain defines ourself. The definition itself is a thought from the brain.The definition is a result of thoughts. Therefore I am a result of my thoughts. Thoughts involve thinking. I therefore think. (Duh..I know what you our thinking. Q.E.D. Descartes all over again. As though that famous line ever changed anything..yawnnn.) I am going to say it anyway.  I think, therefore I am..whatever I thought I am, er.. I think. But Admit it. That one line he said gives way to a whole philosophy and school of thinking. One more thing you have imposed on your brain by reading this.But just think of this: You think, you live. You stop thinking, you are not alive.
 Ok Time has passed. The human brain is a strain on the human brain. Stopping now..Fullstop '.'     

When the bough breaks

The London Riots, The Libyan Liberation, The Indian Protest against corruption all had one thing in common. It involved crowds of ordinary citizens. Whatever the motive was, they all shared a common emotion which became a movement leaving the respective governments alarmed and the whole world surprised.
It is written in many ancient texts that the unified thoughts of several people can bring about drastic changes, topple civilizations, create heros and shift paradigms. Indeed the mentality of the masses is what has caused and is causing change to break dams which have taken years to create. Destruction is the other dark side of creation and this idea is especially applicable to the social norms and taboos which are prevalent in a certain era. 

As a child I have always perceived politics as a playground for people with selfish and narrow agendas and a very very tiny portion of my generation in India would have dream't of being part of the legislative machinery of our great country. We have heard of rumored scandals and accusations of horrific social and financial magnitude which has led us to perhaps unfairly believe that politics involves only money and no patriotism.And the recently heavily circulated facts which the foreign banks released seemed like that last straw which confirmed all our subconciously built up anger.  

In today's fast paced world of innovations and race for good jobs and middle class happiness, majority of the people supporting the Gandhian Anna Hazaare either lead or are geared up to lead super busy lives trying to maximise their savings and fight against the inflation and rising gold prices while trying to strike a balance between traditional Indian way of life and the new malls and magic of the foreign habits which have been creeping into our lives and have now become a rooted part of it. What will we who burn midnight electricity find as the worst possible outrage a person can commit? getting easy and effortless money and making more every day offcourse. We all said loudly and emphatically that we are against corruption but can we swear that we have not ourselves at some point in time unwilliingly or unknowingly contributed to it?

But thats ok.All said and done on all the social networks, media channels and fasting grounds involving all sorts of emotions has resulted in a Bill to be tabled and passed.A victory for all sides of the drama. Will this Bill cause a paradigm shift? Will the British who went on a rampage find a better circumstance to lead their lives? will the people of Libya have better leadership? Only time will tell.

What these incidents do prove is that the people who bow their heads and do their daily business for years do one day look up and speak out when they feel they are persecuted even if it is in a very slight and indirect way. The leaders of the world should listen to the voice of the crowd and feel the pulse of the land he/she is ruling and accept the unexpressed views and troubles of the people. Education and a well balanced social structure will ensure that The voice is cultured and civil and not brutal. A beautiful vision of tomorrow will create ambitions and manufacture dreams in all the growing populace and a happy nation will result. Money is indeed just paper at the end of the day. If the money is made to create roads and schools and jobs by visionary leaders and not just sit in a dark vault of a bank the nation will be healthy and glowing and beautiful.

Lets all try making our nation beautiful.After all, what is life for if not for being happy and making people happy.  :) 

The rise the fall

heros and villians, good and bad
right and wrong are like the ebb and flow of the tide
The world of philosophy turns round and round,
just like the rotation of the sky and the ground.
we dont feel it or cant see it, but we know
the change is sure and slow

ideas are like waves in time,
the right of today is the wrong of tomorrow
the reason for yesterdays joy is todays sorrow
the mind is like a beautiful bay
clear and calm yesterday and stormy today
it is upto the heart to weather the change we see
we all handle our lives differently

What is the world we ask, the meaning of life
a collection of beautiful moments like the grains of sand on a desertland
or a journey on a long winding road with no guidelines or signs
but then why think all this why care
when the waves rise high and winds cry
how when what why
why we live and how we die

Mid Year Musings

Cricket: India won,
but IPL, and therefore cricket stopped being fun.
World: Obama killed Osama
but that hasn't stopped the terrorists or the drama
India: economy seems at a high
but prices continues to hit the sky
World: Japan shook like a leaf,
the waves, the quakes, the radiation continue to give it grief
TN: government was voted out
only democracy has won without any doubt
World: William married Kate
finally after a long wait
Films were made,many failed
Ipad, Kindle and Skype was sold
laptops and mp3 have become old

Sai Baba is believed to have died.
everyone including god cried.
people smiled, people lied,
It rained, It poured, It shined
IT crowd continued to grow, continued to grind
gold became costlier, character became cheaper.
paradigms changed, values flickered and fell
Things are precious only if they sell

The world grows hotter
tempers grow shorter
people doing happy things all around
though adjectives are no longer as descriptive as they sound 

The world is changing and so am I
without a pause to wonder how or why
the future is locked by time as its key,
its story too blurred to read or see
I hope it contains chocolates, happiness, treasures, peace and love
A life full of meaning, enlightenment, beauty  and wealth
Tomorrow must surely be different from today
In a more colorful and profoundly better way

Moonbathing

As I lay awake beside the window on the floor.
staring at the big full moon
A feeling of peace crept over me..
and I made my way to the door.

The terrace was silent, surrounded by trees
but not a leaf moved though there was a silent breeze
the world was asleep and covered with a silvery light
like a fairy had decided to magically light up the night

The moon was responsible for the silvery hue
The city lights were off and the stars were few
I felt magic around me, setting off invisible fireworks all around
and the dull red stone reflecting moonlight from the ground

The stage was set, an imaginary dance I could cleary see
and the sound of singing rivers and cheering trees added to the melody
the wind picked up things were swirling in the air
tonight was somehow special and rare.

I stood for long staring at the sky
daily life's problems disappeared and I wondered why
I never noticed how the moon can make things glow
and pick you up when you are feeling low

I slept on the terrace soaking in the light, moonbathing
my senses filled with sparkles and tingles as I lay
the moonlight took all the tension and dust away
I was ready to face another day

Every full moon while clocks tick and people snore
magic comes alive and magical creatures soar
while the world sleeps, beauty comes alive
does a hop, a jingle and a jive

I woke up when the sun rose again
It was another day, another cycle must go by
I must go to work..but moonbathing was great I think and sigh.

An echo from long ago.

It was a time when life was simple. when all you had to think of was everything and all you had to worry about was nothing. My days in school were like that. I was undefined.. not of a paticular region and specific caste and typical likes and dislikes. When I saw people I saw them for how they acted, what they said and did. It was a free world.
Then everything changed after I walked out of that giant school gate for the last time. I was exiting forever a world devoid of labels and tags and judgements. the colours around me became tinged with grey. Went through college and 2 years after that. became weary for judging people and being judged.
And now I realize. What had changed after school? nothing had changed outside.not physically. but I had. I soaked up flavours around me until I melted into the pot.
And now I think. am I not distinct. and my head struggles and my heart cringes at the idea. What then do I hear? An echo from far away. reminders of another day. That everyone is different and everyday adds a different colour to our canvas of life. One day is a sad blue. One day a dismal grey and then the sun shines through and it becomes a golden hue.
What does the future have in store for you? Everything depends on what you say.As you are the painter of that canvas.
I want mine to be colorful. bursts of bright red and green among the mild pink and blue backdrop. golden stars here and there. rainbows stretching across every which way.
So when the painting comes to an end, the painter is smiling and crying. proud of her creation and happy with every tiny drop which contributed to the picture.

Dreams Away!

Okay.. after an extremely long time, I have decided to write sensibly.
Its about why I think, people find movies so appealing..
Surely, sitting in the audience watching hyped or super movies, with all possible overtunes like Endhiran or watching cute and oddly inspiring movies like Mulan, fills you with emotions so alien to you in your everyday life, that it seems like an experience you have had or a journey you have made, at least in the corner of your subconcious.
After a predictable train of thoughts - 'Oh look at her dress', 'Watch him knock that bad guy out', 'Checkout that exotic island', 'wow! can people really be so crazy?' and after 2 hours of incredible ,sometimes sordidly credible twists the audience heaves a sigh of relief as the hero does everything right, as gallops away into the sunset in style.
Why do we watch movies? what drives us to spend money and valuable holiday time on movies where you just sit and watch what could be a bad movie and a sad waste of time?
What the cynics might come up with is - to be a part of the up-to-date crowd or to boast about something to your peers, but surely there should be a valid reason as to why people actually listen to the reviews with interest or hasten to book tickets themselves.
Other cynics (cynical of the previous cynics) would say it is just to watch beautiful women and handsome men dance and fight and cry on the big screen. that maybe true but if you have a fulfilling life wherein you think yourself beautiful or dashing and have fun regularly, the glamour element wont appeal much.
and that brings us back to the three letter word which is actually the mother of all discovery - why?
I think the reason why people like to lead different lives for just a small period of two hours is mainly human nature. We are governed by our senses and long and feel and love and lie and sometimes, watching that happen on screen is like watching the story of humanity's  social evolution. our impulses and senses are usually tamed by the same society which was born out of humanity's sense of things and to release oneself from its clutches in a very legal manner without doing anything harmful to the reputation you have built up socially is to watch movies...

But watching a lot of movies is like living life secondhand. one should step out bravely not only into the unknown and strange land in hope for treasure but also into the new and different  environments within the concrete jungle where the behavioral laws are different and which would constantly challenge you to change yourself into someone else.

We must all dream and then find it within ourselves to live our dreams. So grab your curiosity and your fear and your wish to overcome it and leap into the abyss we call everyday life. Dream of great things . and then do them so movies will appear lame in comparison.  Today is that special day,  Dreams  Away!!!!!