Random Thoughts

The winds have swayed to a desirable direction these days. Everything seems so agreeable; yet so much dissatisfaction spawns around. Can a fulfilling life be lived with contentment? If there isn't a consistent disturbing issues to engage the mind, won't such a lifestyle be monotonous? At best, absurd.

I am happy that yet again I have found my reasons to be alive. To struggle for some higher goals and make the lives associated with me fulfilling. I don't know if you readers enjoy reading such random thoughts, but i truly feel that someone out there with a similar mindset can catch the wavelenghth at which the station of my mind is tuned.

The Indian Institute of Mass Communication

LIFE AT IIMC....
 ...

A  post which I never really got to write...

IIMC results

July 30, 2009 became the most memorable day of my life. Towards the late evening I received an SMS informing me about IIMC's results declaration. I hopped onto my laptop, log onto to the website and after a few clicks I finally made it to the institution of my dreams. My heart was pounding, a big smile adorned my face as I jumped up in excitement and elation screaming the result to my mum. My mum hugged me and we together made calls to my brothers who were expecting the good news.
Life often gives these little moments of joy after hours of hard work. And it is these moments which has sea of life stored in them. It restores one's lost faith marking a new begining of a new journey. It was a big day for my family as my first step towards becoming a journalist became successful. In one of my earlier posts, I have mentioned about the mediocrity and how one has to put up a fight at every stage of life. This post can be read in the same context. I would add on more to this post.

Sorry state of affairs.......

Some incidents leave an indelible mark in our memories. One such incident occured with me when I was on my way to college in an auto. The poor driver was waiting for the auto to get filled before he could budge from its place, and drop the passengers at their respective spots. That very moment, arrived the two policemen, and ordered the driver to drop them at a place which was opposite to the auto's route. The driver disobeyed them, though with extreme politeness, and made himself a vulnerable target at the hands of ferocious cops. The Cops pulled the driver out, while thrashing him for no fault of his. On seeing this, the seated passangers got down, and walked off, only to disperse in the crowd. I wondered if I could something to stop this sheer act of injustice and goondaraj.
Like others, I feared for my life too. I thought its better to slip away quietly, and left feeling disgusting to the core. However, my mind wrestled with the question of insenstivity of of which I had also become a part.

Who could have intervened at the risk of their life to save the poor man from the fury of Khaki men ? The common man felt utterly helpless and powerless in front of these giants Cops. If the same person had some authoritative background, the Cops won't have harrased him. Indeed, a common man is like a piece of vegetable for Police, meant to be sliced, chopped, juiced at any nook and corner of the street. Even if the person had ventured to raise his voice, he would have been implicated under false changes.

It was one such incident which went unreported, unheard and unseen. The plight of the poor who bows his knees in front of Khaki never receives as much media weightage as it ideally should . Society's watchdog has got immense power to stir a change in matters like these. Journalists should orient themselves towards such subjects in creating awareness about the ground reality.

Color is the place where our brain and the universe meet.
-Paul Klee

Colours play an indispensable role in determining man’s position in Universe. All living beings operate in a colourful framework, a framework diligently created by the supreme power. He created the sun, the moon, the earth, mountains, sky, letting each creation exhibits its unique colour. Among all his creations, the Almighty attributed mankind the central place.

He stroked the colour of compassion in Mother Teresa’s figure and guided the world to make use of kindness as a magical colour to paint a benevolent picture of humanity. Similarly, the divine power sprayed the canvass of life with different hues: Truth and Ahimsa; Patriotism and Sacrifice; Determination and Philanthropy in the figures of Gandhi, Nehru, and Bhagat Singh, to name a few. He then sprinkled shades of Love, Honesty, Respect, Gratitude, and Goodness to improve upon his created expressions.

To lend more colours to his marvelous design, he embellished Nature with myriad of colours. Almost every colour finds a beautiful expression in the face of Nature. VIBGYOR-a jewel in firmament- displays seven majestic colours: Violet, Indigo, Blue, Green, Yellow, Orange and Red.

He intended man to emulate his style and diligence while existing in the Universe.
Alas! Nature’s splendid canvas got brutally assaulted and spoiled by man’s Black deeds. Activities like deforestation, irregular plantations, soil erosion completely robbed Nature of its natural colours which once adorned Nature’s throne. Human being, the crown of all creation, got busy rupturing the established colourful framework, instead of adhering to God’s example.

The dreadful scenes of murder, rape, extortion, kidnapping, female trafficking, child abuse, dowry deaths etc. make shades of black and grey more prominent in man’s dismal portrait of his social surroundings. The political scene is no better. The shades of violence and communalism have replaced the shades of truth and secularism.

The portrait of mankind differs drastically from the one created by the God. It reflects not a myriad of colours but what it does reflect is a mirage.

Recession’s invisible aspect

A slowed economy and on top of that the craving for money have stifled the social scene, besides endangering the growth of interpersonal relationships



"If a man does not make new acquaintances as he advances through life, he will soon find himself alone.
-- Samuel Johnson

A few incidents of late set me thinking for hours. Every time I spotted a familiar face amidst a sea of strangers, I invited a fierce cold response. I wondered over this bizarre tendency of people to overlook one’s presence, and then pretend to be engaged. An afterthought suggested that the trend of ignoring acquaintances hasn’t come out of a blue moon. It has been there just like the economic meltdown.

While recession received worldwide attention, the phenomenon’s social fallout didn’t get a worthy response. The same social ties which were once a source of comfort-during crisis- have lost all sense of community today. In the 21st century, aloofness and numbness is what characterizes social relationships.

A slowed economy and over that the craving for money have stifled the social scene, besides endangering the growth of interpersonal relationships. Under extra- financial pressure- due to jobs-cuts, home foreclosures or falling behind on bills- the pressures on families have reached the boiling point.

Such pressures have made financial stability almost a pre-condition to survive. Therefore, we are always busy innovating ways for generating revenues, hoping that the surplus money would help us fight better against the economic downturn. In this scenario, to ‘meet and socialise’ is at the bottom of our priority list. Few people might disagree with the argument of expecting friendly vibes from acquaintances while others won’t care. Still, it isn’t as much about sociolisation as it is about few ‘warm words’: spoken with earnestness and care by people who occupy considerable space in our lives. It’s about that lost opportunity of a slight acquaintance which could have grown into familiarity or perhaps terminated into a friendship.

Therefore, the present trend appears as a sad commentary on our growing materialistic aspirations. Our constant preoccupation with the thought of making more money hasn’t left any room for the development of social relationships. Even the developed ones are getting detached, let alone the formation of new ones. Monetary acquisitions- being the ultimate objective- are leaving behind a trail of broken and strained relationships

The age-old belief of man being a social animal stands subverted by our misplaced priorities. In a mad chase for materialistic objects, we are losing the essence of being the social creature. This complete loss of human touch and genuineness on the part of our generation comes to full circle when we encounter our loved ones; abruptly, on the busy streets.

Change- a play of time

Decades ago, if people happened to recognise a friend, they would hop and scream with extreme joy. Their heart would palpitate and a genuine expression of love would adorn their faces. That moment’s sensibility reverberated their hearts throughout the day. Like us, our ancestors also wanted to survive and make their both ends meet. However, they led a much successful and healthy social life. Unlike us, building relations was an integral part of their professional and personal discourse. Which is why, they genuinely enquired about each one’s well being, unlike artificial and forced pretensions of today.

Indeed, time has changed and so have people. Today we meet someone; the other person gets busy in devising ways to ignore our presence. Worse, the geography of our social relations rests firmly on financial stability than on social mobility. It pre-empts how good or bad, healthy or unhealthy our social life could be. For instance, a neighbour earning in six- figures will never escape the social protocols whereas a friend who helped during a crisis would surely does.

The trend’s sprawling tentacles must have touched everyone in different ways. And it seems the trend is here to stay until We- The People adopt a mature outlook to deal with the upsetting time. Fighting recession in isolation is certainly not a way out. Rather the battle can be won by the collective effort, by prioritising relationships over wealth. Leading a simple yet fulfilling life should be the mantra. Otherwise, in an attempt to dispel depression we may end up inviting more gloom.