Inner Metamorphosis

--> An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding of Modern Civilization {The material used here is from my close friends and as such I claim no originality for the thoughts below. I’ve merely attempted to give them a shape. My thanks to all those geniuses who had brought these issues to me} “To hold a pen is to be at war.” – Voltaire Riding high on the technological progress achieved in recent years, the power of modern sciences and arts which had taken the credit for the advancement, has become unquestionable. On the surface, the conquest of earth by humanity appears complete, and science had been the tool which was instrumental for this long-sought victory. Man is the indisputable ruler of the world and all the other animals exist strictly at his mercy. Or is he really? Man of yore was supposed to be barbarian and he has descended from apes as per Charles Darwin. Modern civilization is the haven for happiness and science its promoter. We aren’t supposed...

Many times we express our adulation towards a celebrity and silently hope that we too must be "like them". To be "like them" we consciously emulate their mannerisms & try to be them. So engrossed are we in this process that we seldom ever realize that we are by ourselves a different person. We may hide our true self behind politically correct "opinions" and manners. But at the bottom, every man knows it well that he is unique creature, and that by no other probability will such a fantastically designed person exist, with a deeply interwoven attitudes & beliefs, closely held values & perception of life. By no other chance would so many incidents shape his thinking, his upbringing shape his culture, his mind so very unique integrate all those things to form a coherent perception about everything in life. A complete opposite of this situation are few ultra-modernistic guys who make it a point to be different for no other purpose than...

"We end today a period of ill fortune and India discovers herself again. The achievement we celebrate today is but a step, an opening of opportunity, to the greater triumphs and achievements that await us. Are we brave enough and wise enough to grasp this opportunity and accept the challenge of the future?" - Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru in his very famous speech of "Tryst with Destiny" August 14 , 1947 . Today, we decidedly have gone eons ahead in the journey that began with tragedy and chaos but slowly and steadily progressed towards peace and development. Sure, there are some impedements that are stumbling roadblocks, but with the dedication & determination of our fellow Indians we shall overcome. Hum Hoonge Kamayaab ek Din! But, there are some questions which creep in our glitzy world and beg for more thought and pondering. Have the fruits of development reached all? Some random strokings of Indian-pride by some advertisements and campaigns may at bes...

Ever so often, we come across diverse interpretations of the very same reality that it shocks us beyond measure. I marvel at how people appreciate/depreciate the very same object for entirely different reasons. A case in point is my complete inability to read lengthy pieces of literature. I often used to wonder how come people are able to read such voluminous books which appear to prolong till infinity. I was convinced that beyond some eccentrics there might be few who venture into these. Until, one fine day it suddenly hit me that if everybody really thought like me, these books should be out of circulation. That, we find such books everywhere is proof enough that there are many others who buy them, who like them. Likewise, the existence of many things which we personally find bad/repulsive is testimony to the existence of people think vastly different from us. Why, even an issue as mundane as this very blog demands that I make some choices regarding the template, colours and p...

“Conciliate a covetous man by means of a gift, an obstinate man with folded hands in salutation, a fool by humouring him, and a learned man by truthful words.”- Chanakya Neeti. Any person can be driven or stopped! It’s only a matter of knowing his motive power. Any person’s cooperation can be secured once we satisfy his motivation. And in this era wherein emphasis is being laid on teamwork and coordination it’s a must that we have a more systematic approach towards it. Officially, Motivation might be defined as the “driving force within individuals which impels them to action.” Yet, this idea has been widely prevalent and practiced in India for ages. (Apropos the above quotation) After having read many of the modern motivation theories I’m bound to say that they present a very peripheral understanding of the psychology of man. They’re right only to certain extent. Throughout the early 20 th century, when material affluence was in the building and not completely achiev...

{ This entry presupposes a reasonable familiarity with telugu, tamil and hindi film industry. Yet, the theme is pretty general and can be read even otherwise. } Superstardom is a very magnificent phenomenon. This phenomenon has been extremely fascinating to me and I had often thought much about the subject. In very simple terms a superstar can be defined as the person unchained by the character he enacts and it’s him that shines from the character he enacts throughout. There is a very clear difference between the person and the superstar. And its very much apparent if we tend to look at the personal life of these people. The rebel and angry young man of yesteryears Amitabh Bacchan is seen to be very polite and soft spoken person. The flamboyant and serious looking Chiranjeevi is quite humble and of jovial disposition outside. And of course Rajnikanth the flashy star with his trademark punch-lines and frequently dreamlike fight sequences is very modest and simple in his real life and s...

Rational Vs Emotional I was contemplating for long over what should be my first contribution in this blog. There are so many topics to be decided and hence it’s quite a complex task. My getting emotional about the first entry gave me fodder to think of the topic where man is basically disposed toward reasoning or emotion. Or in more definite terms, is man essentially rational or irrational? And is our contemporary thinking that emotionless man is the ideal, correct? Or is the contention of a minority, but persistent minority than man must live in harmony with nature i.e. return to the emotional level accurate? I’m inclined to think that both function in sync to build up the whole man. Most of the intuitions we are subjected to in a sense is not reasoning but an emotional gut feeling. So far, rational man and intuitive man have been considered rivals inasmuch as their philosophies are concerned. A rational man fears intuition whereas the other ridicules conceptualization. A ba...