Inner Metamorphosis

--> “Every conscious virtue   is an effort to conceal or correct a secret vice.” – Baruch Spinoza, Dutch Philosopher. (Spinoza here puts in one line what psychologists speak in volumes.!!  ) There are few interesting observations I have come across these days which make me feel that our understanding of intelligence and skill is somehow incomplete.( Maybe the varied public perception of me as wide and paradoxical as intelligent, stubborn, arrogant to dumbo, confused, etc has something to do with this introspection). Four months into work, for the first time, I am seeing world to be as complex as it really is. Never was a dynamics of human emotions was so clear and the traditional categories like “good” and “bad” as SRK says in MNIK appear so naïve. It is a common phenomenon that in our earlier schooling days we tend to look to toppers as absolute numero-uno i.e. complete supremacy over “intelligence” etc etc. This concept obviously is skewed for intelligence i

--> In 'Sarkar'(movie) Selvar Mani says “Jiske paas power hai uska wrong bhi right ho jata hai”. The extent to which the character was correct was something I grossly underestimated. As I have come to see it these days, the very definition of right and wrong is defined by those in power!!! Anyway, what is power? How does one define it? If you would have asked an uncivilized man of Stone age, he would have defined it as the physical strength one has to overwhelm another person. But soon, men would have realized this manner of resolving things is eventually detrimental to all concerned. Hence, men would have associated themselves into groups, so that he can receive security from these people and in turn must pay back to the group his service and loyalty. Thus despite his personal weakness, by owing allegiance to his group, he can rest assured of protection and security. Thus, the shift begins to a brutal crude method of settling matters to a more

( This is extravagant indulgence in my memories of college days….others not involved may find it boring….read at your own discretion…) If a man is all about what he is and not what he was then undoubtedly I would pinpoint my years in Sastra University as a golden era wherein I learnt the hard ground realities of life. While college days are in general recalled with pleasure by all people, in my case it assumes bigger role because it comprised a complete change in me and it is in tribute to this period where I changed tremendously I named this blog “Inner Metamorphosis”. Every single thought of mine, every idea, and every virtue or vice or any influence on me can be traced back to this period and was in effect was a preparation for me for the life to come and I fancy one fine day when I make it big I will be in a position to brag about this better. Adversity invariably teaches us more than pleasant atmosphere. And this was an age of turmoil and turbulence an

--> We are born, looked after by our parents, go to school, and spend years getting educated without having even the slightest idea of what its all about! By the time we realize its true worth, the opportunity is gone. We get to appreciate our education only when we are asked to apply it somewhere! And all the schooling is wasted on the undue prominence on marks. In the rat race to obtain the highest all learning takes backseat and instead any means employed to enhance scores are encouraged. And the sensitive child who ideally must feel friendly with his peers looks upon them as rivals. This could have a profound impact on their attitude. They look upon better performers as enemies and cultivate deep feelings of insecurity & hatred.  In fact, these days I have come to observe that during my childhood when I used to be good performer, many friends had hard time with their parents. They were subjected to embarrassment because they couldn’t perform as well as me. 

Caution: Self-praise in excess! Don't say I didn't warn!   { Back in 2002, I saw a Hindi movie " Aankhen " starring Amitabh Bachchan etc. Just as film begins, we have AB pondering over his tragic fate and in the background runs his baritone voice "Saach, bahut hi ajeebo garib hota hai yeh saach!" (4th song! Soliloqi (title song)). So much impressed was I with it that based on some copy-paste wisdom , I liberally poured in many ideas into it to make something remarkable......That mysterious truth, ever eluding even the most brilliant and resolute of minds was something that captured my imagination & fascination.. I deliberately put in some verbal ornaments, so that I pass off myself as talented..My idea was the very words would drive away people, and since most won't admit that, I'll get some mileage & publicity...It worked !! :-)... I wrote this however in my 1st yr Engg one lonely night...ie around 2003...Honestly, I'm impressed

I stay in a certain area of Hyderabad which has considerable Muslim presence as the result of which I’m reasonably familiar with their way of life. Recently my brother informed me of one Dr Zakir Naik, an Islamic preacher who attracts significant following among Muslim youth. I was informed that Naik is a super-intellectual who proved that Islam is the only true religion while others are wrong. Out of mere curiosity, I started searching for his lectures in Youtube. Most of his talks are full of mystery to me. I simply can’t understand how this man can win this much popularity .According to me even a simple graduate must be able to see through his nonsense. Most of his talks are rhetorical; he simply announces a “fact” rather than reasoning it out. Most of his theories are quite irrelevant to me as I have no inclination to research minute details of historical texts. However there is one particular theory which gave me Goosebumps literally. Naik was once asked by a non-Mu

{ This is my maiden attempt at fiction. I have styled it like The Enlightenment of Buddha albeit in a more radical & iconoclast manner. Needless to say this is not original but heavily inspired by various things foremost among which are German Philosopher Frederich Nietzsche’s works. Don’t sue me for plagiarism!   ) {  Introducing this, would in a way not be appropriate. But suffice it to say that this is a first-person narrative of a man who’s suffered a lot and deep into contemplation comes across thoughts that………………………………… } Disclaimer : This work is a fictional account of a true story.  It was the dead of night with only an eerie silence and black sky accompanying me.  Was I laughing? Yes, laughing as though that were the only substitute for bursting into tears.  I perhaps knew why is it that man alone laughs!! He alone suffers so much pain that he was compelled to invent laughter. I was waiting………….waiting for nothing… “What went wrong? Where did it go w

The philosophers have only   interpreted   the world, in various ways. The point, however, is to change   it. – Karl Marx A friend once commented that reading philosophy is waste of time. Most of the things are absurd and are of absolutely no relevance to daily life. One doesn’t need philosophy to be happy in life! Infact I agree with him. I think what man primarily needs to be happy is power . For example if you lose your cellphone and if you have the power (wealth here) to buy another without least hesitation that you don’t need to bother about it at all! On the other hand if you can’t buy another straight away and have to settle with another of lesser price you would philosophize that the principal use of cellphone is to communicate and other features are quite unnecessary. And if it’s not possible to buy another right away, one will say that hardly 10 years back none had these devices and yet all were quite content!! Philosophy is thus the rationali