Our obsession about miracles!

Just finished reading Dan Brown’s latest novel, The Lost Symbol. As expected Mr. Brown has produced an un-put-down-able thriller. The story has similar premise that of Angels & Demons and The Da Vinci Code. It depicts Robert Langdon’s yet another mystery filled adventure where he must solve riddles about mystical symbols to save the world from catastrophe. Classic International Thriller. Here also Dan Brown juxtaposes modern science and ancient faith to unveil some startling revelations. I have always loved Dan Brown’s novels for this element, his ability to draw parallels between religion and modern science to promote a more peaceful coexistence. Despite of having many flaws in terms of story telling which reviewers from prominent publications have pointed out here, here and here, for me the book succeeds because you don’t read a Dan Brown novel just for the thrill but you expect learn about quite a few interesting facts (or controversies) about history. Quite a few will claim that all of what he shows may not be true or shown in fair light with proper criticism, but everybody has opinions which vary from what actual fact is, some more than others. Anyways I am not here to review the book. I have since learned that my reviews are not really reviews but essentially my ramblings about the work. What I try to do is to share the thoughts and feelings that arise from experiencing the work art in question. Though in the defense of the book I would want to say that many reviewers miss the point of popular entertainment, no matter a novel, a song or a movie, is to entertain. The Last Symbol not only entertains but it succeeds in giving an important message of harmony between mass religion and modern science.

What I wish to discuss today is mankind’s obsession about miracles. A person must be able to perform some miracles then only he can be regarded as saint. The miracle dwarfs his hundreds of deeds of love and compassion. The bigger the miracles, more is the number of followers. This leads to hero worship and in the bigger manifestation to the phenomenon image worship. Here rather that turning to inner strength and self belief to overcome difficult situations, we pray to some God or Deity to solve our problems for us. Here religion looses its true meaning as a concept to empower an individual. It rather establishes the insignificance of an individual, a mortal toy in the hands of a much larger power. This is why I believe religion as more of a social device to keep masses in check rather than truly empowering them. But one can also argue that intellectual growth and empowerment has always been a personal journey for every individual where he/she must work diligently towards the goal.

I also have a strong opinion against rituals of any kind. Many argue that there is systematic science behind these rituals proposed by various religions. But how much effort is taken by these religious establishments to make sure that the followers understand true nature of these rituals and why must they be performed and how they help the individual in his personal/social empowerment. What is generally practiced is performing the ritual step by step as per given in some religious text and in case of older religions like Hinduism, many versions of these texts exist which can easily confuse the follower. In extreme form this word by word following of text leads to religious fanaticism.

Coming to the main objective of this post, why we are so obsessed with miracles is because it lets us common people believe that we are common, thus incapable of performing extraordinary feats. We, by definition of being common, can’t be performing what heroes, saints and the Gods can do.

It’s OK to be selfish, I am not a saint. It’s OK to produce mediocre work, I am a Hero. It’s OK not to try and fight against wrong, I am not an Avtaar (God). I am not saying I am an exception to this thought. I have found myself thinking along the same lines, just to rationalize the momentarily pleasure I want to have at that moment. [ I am talking about dieting! ;-) ]

Awed by these superhuman expectations we don’t even consider a possibility that we common people can produce miracles. Rather than looking for miraculous superhuman abilities even if we truly try to share whatever we have with love and compassion, the collective effort produced will be no less than a miracle!

In Pursuit of Happiness: What I want from Life

Image Credit: Zen
What is art? Well art is many things to many people. That’s the essence of a piece of art. Art is open to interpretation of the person experiencing the art. What a person will experience from a piece of art will depend upon that particular person, his unique personality, the experiences he has had before in his life.

Ho ho, now isn’t that vague and uncertain. I being a programmer don’t really deal well with uncertainties. What I have to do is to find a common most occurring situation and then create a solution for that particular situation and then handle the exceptional occurrences to complete the solution. So for my little purpose of living this life I have accepted the following definition of art,

“Art is something which at the basic level satisfies physical and emotional senses but which also stimulates the intellectual thought.”

Ok if you are scratching your head about why I am propounding on the definition art in a post titled, ‘In Pursuit of Happiness: What I want from Life’ then your doubts aren’t entirely misplaced. And if your mental state is like- "bhais ki aakh" saala kuch bhi likhta – I won’t really blame you. [And no this post isn’t a retort at the people who miserably failed to understand my work of art. ;-) ]

The reason is because I have just read “The Hungry Tide” (Good Book, a review post is in the making. For me a real work of art.) by Amitav Ghosh. In the novel Amitav Ghosh has showed a lot of different characters who have different expectations, hopes and ambitions in life.

There is Piya who is a scientist. She is ready to devote prime 10-15 years of her life to do research on some rare species of dolphins found in the rivers of Sunderbans, even when she doesn’t know what will be the ultimate practical benefit of this research. She is ready to live the harsh solitary life in the jungles of Sundarban where there is good chance that she may become food of some tiger or crocodile.

There is Kanai a successful businessman in the translation services. He knows six languages. His ambition is more success, more luxury and more women.

There is Nirmal and Nilima. The idealist couple trying to help the poor people of Sundarbans. They among other things also run a trust hospital for the people if Sunderbans.

There is Moyna, Fokir’s (described below) wife, who despite of being a fisherman’s wife and her rural background is determined to get more education and become a nurse. She wants a better life for her family.

There is Kusum, Fokir’s mother. She has endured unthinkable grief and hardships, yet she is zestful and determined to live a full life.

And then there is Fokir. What Fokir wants? You don’t know. What he does? He is a fisherman by tread, who spends a lot of time on river in the vicinity of nature singing songs. Why he sacrifices his life for Piya? You don’t know. Is he in love with Piya. You don’t know for sure but it seems so.

Of all the above characters, Fokir puzzles me the most. There is a big unanswered WHY about him. In a novel (and in real life too) you can understand people by their ambition. Understand a person’s ambition and you will have him figured out. You can guess in advance how he will behave in a certain situation if you understand his ambition and his moral framework (though quite a few times the moral framework is conditioned by the ambition).

Fokir is a kind of person who knows how just to be. There is no why about his existence, there is just being and being content about it. The kind of man the traditional Hindu religion instructs us to be. The concept of ‘nirvana’. End of want, the complete bliss, the eternal happiness.

You: Ae, bakwas band kar, direct bol tera point kya hai?

The point is: the WHY of Pritam? If you know me for more than 2 days, you will understand that I am all about ambition. In many ways I am a lot like Kanai. (Except for more women part. Though it may be the natural man situation, I understand the meaning and importance of THE woman and I am searching for her.)

So if I am about ambition, what is the ambition? Happiness for me and my people. Ambitions means want and want negates the possibility of nirvana, the eternal happiness. So what’s the problem? Why am I running behind some ambition when there is eternal happiness to be obtained? Well, it’s not the want or ambition which brings the grief. It’s the failure to achieve the ambition. But you fail only when you give up hope and stop running. If there is hope, the failure is only momentarily; you can always get up and start running.

It’s not really the happiness but the pursuit of happiness that keeps me running. It’s the pursuit of happiness that keeps me alive.

About Books and Acting Silly

Yesterday through innumerable twists and turns of fate, I found myself in front of Crossword in E-square with 45 minutes to kill. Actually I shouldn’t have been in E-square. With some very tight deadlines I should have been in my office working like a donkey. But no, I am at E-square waiting for the next show of ‘Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi’ to start. (More about that in the next post.)

Image Credit : LotusHead

The next mistake was to stand in front the books display of Crossword. Books have this magnetic pull on me that before I could stop myself, I was inside Crossword drooling at the stacks and stacks of books.

In the end I ended up spending Rs. 694 on three books. I know for some of you its not much, but for me its huge. As a rule I either borrow books from library or from friends. (And I always return them in good condition!) In extreme cases I purchase second hand books. But that’s it. No more expenses on books. I cannot afford it.

But yesterday I told myself, “Dude whom are you kidding? You can afford to buy original books. You earn at least that much.” So with all those financial apprehensions quelled, I started to look at the books with renewed vigor and lust. Finally I ended up buying:

1. Glimpses of World History by Jawaharlal Nehru
This one was suggested by Anand. He also wants to read it.

2. It Happened in India by Kishore Biyani with Dipayan Baishya.
All you shopping aficionados (Padmaja I also mean you) Kishore Biyani is the person responsible for the shopping mall revolution in India. Here is the list of stores run by Mr. Biyani’s Future Group: Pantaloons, Big Bazaar, Central, Food Bazaar, Home Town, eZone, Depot, Future Money and futurebazaar.com.

3. That Thing Called Love by Tuhin Sinha
I actually bought this one for Padmaja. She likes such silly (and Tushar suggests silly should be replaced with scandalous) books (Well I like them a bit too.)

So that was about a silly night and about squandering money on books. And It felt so good yesterday that I fear my trips to Crossword are bound to increase. God help my savings plan!