The magical power of human mind!

"I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid. Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Azanmig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt!"

Wishing you all a recession friendly V-Day free from 'Sickulars'!

This year's V-Day will be remembered for all the wrong reasons. While the people in recession hit countries are seriously contemplating about recession friendly valentine's day celebrations, Indians are apprehensive about saffron brigade (like Shri Ram Sena). Couple of weeks ago we never heard about Mr.Pramod Muthalik, but now, he is a self proclaimed iconic moral watchdog. The idea of sending 1000 pink chaddis to this 'saffron buddy' might have raised eyebrows, but another self proclaimed champion of women rights, Suchitra Krishnamoorthy, vociferously rejects the idea. (Embarrassed and confused?) Muthalik has reportedly decided to send 1000 pink saris "with love" in response to 1000 Chaddis. The Pink Chaddi campaigners claim that they are more democratic and transparent than the 'Chaddi walas' who were nothing but a bunch of "self-righteous sickulars (seculars)" [DNA]. Time and again, saffron brigade has claimed and reclaimed themselves as moral policemen. The hysteria created due to controversies (and recession in western countries) is making this year's V-Day more special and memorable than ever!

In India, the debate on whether to celebrate V-Day resurfaces every year this time around. Different people have different views, Muthalik has one view and Pink Chaddi campaigners have another. People with different mindsets may not agree on women going to pub and enjoying on par with men, but we all can surely agree on finding better ways to protect our cultural heritage by not beating up women in public just because they went to pub. One person's ethics and values cannot be imposed on other person, unless it is acceptable by both. If people like Muthalik try to enforce their ethics and values on others, it's simply not democratic. It's against our fundamental right to freedom. More they enforce, more they loose. The only way to influence and fine tune the contemporary culture is by setting high moral standards for themselves, inspire others to follow and let everyone discover their inner strengths of love, compassion and intelligence.

To ensure the law and order on Valentine's day, union home minister P Chidambaram and NCW chairperson Girija Vyas have asked Karnataka government to take "preventive and punitive" action. Now that, Mr.Pramod Muthalik and his goons are arrested under preventive detention laws, you can go out and buy a (recession friendly?) gift to your valentine.

Wishing you all a wonderful V-Day free from 'Sickulars'!

Related articles posted earlier:

1. We all want to fall in love, Why?

Sometimes, being compassionate to ourself helps

How many of you have screwed up a good relationship due to some silly misunderstanding? How many of you have suffered melancholy because of your own mistakes? How many of you have blamed yourself for doing something really stupid? Well, I have gone through all these and of course I did pay the price. Right from my childhood, I was under the impression that, we are responsible for what we are. One of my teacher in school always used to tell us, "We are responsible for what we are and we will be responsible for what we will be" (Originally Swami Vivekananda's quote). Quite often, this perception penalized me a lot by forcing me to believe that, I am responsible for all the 'mess' around me. But some times it was not always true. There were some situations which were beyond my control; really, i couldn't have done much about it.

I had this habit of retrospecting the whole story that created the mess. Thinking in some other perspective did made me realize that, "Yeah, some one else may be responsible for the mess. But there were many incidents in the past few days/weeks/months where you failed to make some simple choices. If you had decided 'that' way, probably this mess wouldn't have happened. Other person might have just happened to be in that situation and became responsible for the mess." Ultimately I was forced to believe that, "Yeah, I am responsible for what happened there." Some corner of my mind always reverberated "Not fair! What the heck? It's not my fault." There used to be some kind of confusion. Am I responsible for this or am I not? Some sort of agitation in mind. I was just trying to decide, whose fault was that?

Until recently I had never realized that, some times, we need to be compassionate to ourselves. We must try and understand what our limitations are. Of course, we must try and overcome them or avoid them, thats the different story all together. But in this case, something has already happened and we are just trying to do some repair work. I have realized one thing, "There is no point in blaming ourselves for our weaknesses or our mistakes." Why that agitation in mind? Why that kind of confusion about whom to pass on the blame? Why do we tend to be conclusive? Why don't we accept our mistakes with compassion? If we cannot accept and understand our own mistakes then who else will? Let us take the full responsibility for 'that' mess. After all, in some or other way we might have contributed to the mess, because we were there in that situation.

Once that is clear, lets work towards how we can repair the damage, or how we can solve the problem?  or how we can overcome the weakness? Once we know how, rest is simple, follow your heart and  "Just do it!"

Related Article:

1. ಸಹಾನುಭೂತಿ (Compassion)

We all want to fall in love, Why?

"Because that experience makes us feel completely alive. Where every sense is heightened, every emotion is magnified, our everyday reality is shattered and we are flying into the heavens. It may only last a moment, an hour, an afternoon. But that doesn't diminish its value. Because we are left with memories that we treasure for the rest of our lives" - From the movie "The Mirror Has Two Faces".

I am really not sure whether the above statement has some truth in it, I guess may be due to lack of experience, you may assume that for time being :). Reading (ನಮ್ಮ ಕನ್ನಡ) literature has been my passion since the golden 'school days', and that reading making me feel that, almost every literature has mentioned love in one or other form. Be it classical, medieval, modern, folk, devotional, or even in some revolutionary literature! And of course, love stories are more pervasive than ever in almost all the movies that we have seen so far. May be that is one reason why people get so much inspiration and excitement for 'that true' love. I know many people who were dumped by many other (known) people and I have indirectly learned some good lessons too. But love story of an another friend of mine has been unprecedented.

She asked him, "Do you like me?"

"Yes, more than any thing."

"Why?"

"I am trying to figure that out from last one year."

"Will you marry me?"

"I will wait until you think that i am someone who is worth loving."

"What if I don't think that....?"

"I will wait until you find a better person than me."

"What if i say, I have already found one...."

"Well, we both know each others' answer."

What happened next? Even I don't know, but I can only hope that, he will not be yet another person (whom i know) dumped by someone (whom I know too). I am glad, I have a magnanimous friend like him, hope she will realize that soon. Guys and ma'ams, join me wishing him good luck. And yeah, there is nothing more I can do as of now :)

Larger than what you can think of

Few of my friends who have subscribed to my blog asked me if I have stopped blogging altogether! I told them I was on fire (in office). Yes, actually I was. For the first time in my life I could spend 48 hours with just 3+ hrs of sleep. After all the circus, when I got into the bed, I suddenly felt, shit! What did I achieve by doing so much? I took some time to convince myself that, Yeah, some times shit happens! I truly realized what it means to be on fire. I think I have discovered myself a bit more.

It gives an immense pleasure when we just finish what we wanted to. At that point of time we are completely engulfed in oblivion. When I put myself in between that point of oblivion and the point of normalcy, I find an unbelievable agony of the reality. Because, that is the only point where you can ask yourself, “What did I achieve by doing that?” Did it help your loved one feel better? Did it actually change some one’s life? Before doing something, I have a (bad?) habit of thinking about such questions. Probably I am one among those few who believe that the ‘Just Do it!’ thing sux! The moment I feel I know something, it doesn’t take much time to realize that I know nothing about it. The moment I feel, Yes! I actually solved someone's problem; it doesn’t take much time to realize that there are hundreds who are still facing the same problem! The moment I make some one smile, it doesn’t take much time to realize that there are thousand faces without smile. I am finding myself in no man's land. I am confused. The world I perceive is drastically simplified model of the real world. Can some one tell me why are you doing what you are doing?

ಸ್ಪೂರ್ತಿ

ಕಥೆ ಕಾದಂಬರಿಗಳನ್ನು ಅಥವ ಇನ್ಯಾವುದೇ ಪುಸ್ತಕಗಳನ್ನು ಓದುತ್ತ ಓದುತ್ತ ಹೋದಂತೆ ಹೊಸ ಹೊಸ ಕಲ್ಪನೆಗಳು ನಮ್ಮನ್ನಾವರಿಸಿ ಬಿಡುತ್ತವೆ. ಕೆಲವೊಂದು ಭಾಗಗಳು ನಮ್ಮನ್ನು ಆನಂದದ ಅತ್ಯುನ್ನತ ಸ್ಥಿತಿಗೊಯ್ದರೆ ಕೆಲವೊಂದು ಭಾಗಗಳು ತುಂಬಾ ದುಃಖಕ್ಕೆ ಗುರಿಮಾಡಬಹುದು. ಓದುತ್ತ ಓದುತ್ತ ಹೋದಂತೆ, ಯಾವುದೋ ಒಂದು ಶಕ್ತಿ ಥಟ್ಟನೆ ಬಂದು, ಒಂದೊಂದು ಬಗೆಯ ಭಾವನೆಗಳನ್ನು ಮೂಡಿಸಿ, ಆಶ್ಚರ್ಯಚಕಿತರನ್ನಾಗಿ ಮಾಡಿ, ಮರುಕ್ಷಣವೇ ಮಾಯವಾಗಬಹುದು. ಯಾವುದೋ ಒಂದು ಮಾನಸಿಕ ಸ್ಥಿತಿಯಲ್ಲಿದ್ದಾಗ, ಯಾವುದೋ ಒಂದು ವಿಷಯ ಥಟ್ಟನೆ ಹೊಳೆದು ನಮ್ಮನ್ನು ಅತೀವ ಸಂತೋಷಕ್ಕೆ ಗುರಿಮಾಡುತ್ತದೆ. ಆ ಅನುಭವವನ್ನು ನೆನೆದರೆ ಮತ್ತೆ ಅದೇ ಥರದ ರೋಮಾಂಚನ ಸಿಗುವುದಿಲ್ಲ.

ಸಾಮಾನ್ಯ ಸಂಗತಿಯನ್ನೇ ತೆಗೆದುಕೊಳ್ಳಿ. ಸಮುದ್ರದ ತೀರದಲ್ಲಿ ಕುಳಿತು ಸೂರ್ಯಸ್ತವನ್ನು ವೀಕ್ಷಿಸುತ್ತಿರುವಾಗ, ಕೆಂಪಾದ ಸೂರ್ಯನ ಮಧ್ಯ ಥಟ್ಟನೆ ಒಂದು ಹಕ್ಕಿ ಬಂದಾಗ ನಮಗೊದಗುವ ಆನಂದ, ಮತ್ತೆ ನೆನೆಸಿಕೊ೦ಡರೆ ಸಿಗದು. ಆ ಒಂದು ಕ್ಷಣದಲ್ಲಿ, ಅಯ್ಯೋ ಒಂದು ಕ್ಯಾಮರ ಇರಬೇಕಾಗಿತ್ತಲ್ಲ ಎನಿಸುತ್ತದೆ. ಒಂದು ವೇಳೆ ಕ್ಯಾಮೆರ ತೆಗೆದುಕೊಂಡು ಹೋದಾಗ ಎಲ್ಲಿಯೂ ಒಂದು ಹಕ್ಕಿ ಕೂಡ ಕಾಣಿಸುವುದಿಲ್ಲ, ಕಂಡರೂ ಅದು, ಕೆಂಪಾಗಿ, ದುಂಡಾಗಿರುವ ಸೂರ್ಯನ ಮಧ್ಯ ಬರುವುದೇ ಇಲ್ಲ! ಒಂದು ವೇಳೆ ಬಂದರೂ ಮೊದಲಾದ ಅನುಭವಕ್ಕೊ, ಈಗಾಗುವ ಅನುಭವಕ್ಕೂ ಎಷ್ಟೊಂದು ವ್ಯತ್ಯಾಸ!!

ಯಾವ ಶಕ್ತಿ ಈ ಅನುಭವಕ್ಕೆ ಕಾರಣ?? ಸ್ಪೂರ್ತಿ (Inspiration)! ಯಾವುದೋ ಒಂದು ಮಾನಸಿಕ ಸ್ಥಿತಿಯಲ್ಲಿದ್ದಾಗ, ಎಲ್ಲೋ ಹುದುಗಿಕೊಂಡಿದ್ದ ಒಂದು ಅಮೂರ್ತ ಶಕ್ತಿ ಪುಟಿದೆದ್ದು, ನಮ್ಮನ್ನು ವರ್ಣಿಸಲಾಗದೊಂದು ಅನುಭವಕ್ಕೆ ಗುರಿಮಾಡಿಬಿಡುತ್ತದೆ. ಆ ಪರಿಸ್ಥಿತಿಯಲ್ಲಿದ್ದ ಆವೇಶ, ಉತ್ಸಾಹ ಮತ್ತೆ ಯಾಕೆ ಬರುವುದಿಲ್ಲ? ಅದೇ ಸ್ಪೂರ್ತಿಯ ಮಹಿಮೆ. ಆವೇಶ, ಉತ್ಸಾಹವೇ ಅದರ ಮೂಲ. ಅಂಥ ಆವೇಶ, ಉತ್ಸಾಹಗಳನ್ನು ಪ್ರಯತ್ನಪೂರ್ವಕವಾಗಿ ಸೆರೆಹಿಡಿಯಬಹುದೇ? ಕೆಲವರಿಗೆ ಒಂದು ಸಿಗರೇಟ್ ಎಳೆದರೆ ಸಾಕು recharge ಆಗಿ ಬಿಡುತ್ತಾರೆ. ಕೆಲವರು ತಮಗೆ ಪ್ರಿಯವಾಗಿದ್ದವರ ಜೊತೆ ಮಾತನಾಡಿದರೆ ಸಾಕು ಹಸನ್ಮುಖಿಗಳಾಗಿಬಿಡುತ್ತಾರೆ. ಕೆಲವರು ನಿಸರ್ಗದ ಯಾವುದಾದರೊಂದು ರೂಪವನ್ನು ಕಂಡರೆ ಸಾಕು ಉತ್ಸಾಹಿಗಳಾಗಿಬಿಡುತ್ತಾರೆ. ಇದಕ್ಕೆಲ್ಲ ಏನು ಕಾರಣ? ಯಾಕೆ ಹೀಗೆ? ಇಂಥಹ ಪ್ರಶ್ನೆಗಳಿಗೆ ಖಚಿತವಾದ ಉತ್ತರಗಳಿಲ್ಲ. ಸೃಷ್ಟಿಕರ್ತನೇ ಆ ಭಾವನೆಗಳ ನಿರ್ಮಾಪಕ. ನಮ್ಮ ಸುತ್ತ ಮುತ್ತಲಿನ ವಸ್ತುಗಳು, ಅನುಭವಗಳು, ಘಟನೆಗಳು ಆ ಸ್ಪೂರ್ತಿಯ ನಿರ್ಮಿತಿಗೆ ಸಾಮಾಗ್ರಿಗಳಷ್ಟೆ.

ಸ್ಪೂರ್ತಿ ಇಲ್ಲದ ಮನಸ್ಸು ಯಾವುದೋ ಒಂದು ವಿಷಯದ ಕುರಿತು, ದೇಶದೇಶಾಂತರಗಳನ್ನು ಸುತ್ತುತ್ತಾ, ದುಃಖಲ್ಲಿ ಕೊರಗುತ್ತಿರಲೂ ಬಹುದು. ಥಟ್ಟನೇ ಏನೋ ಹೊಳೆದು, wow! ಇದು ಇಷ್ಟೊಂದು easy ಇದೆಯೆಂದು ಗೊತ್ತೇ ಇರಲಿಲ್ಲ ಎನ್ನಲೂ ಬಹುದು. ಹೀಗೆ ಉದಾಹರಣೆಗಳನ್ನು ಮೆಲುಕಿಸುತ್ತಾ ಎಷ್ಟೇ ದೂರ ಹೋದರೂ, ಸ್ಪೂರ್ತಿ ಎಲ್ಲಿ, ಹೇಗೆ, ಯಾವಾಗ ಚಿಮ್ಮುತ್ತದೆಂಬುದು ಇನ್ನೂ ರಹಸ್ಯವಾಗಿಯೇ ಉಳಿದಿದೆ.