Jai Deva

Jai Deva - two simple words, a very powerful mantra.. What is about faith that inspires millions, no billions, err trillions?? (soon my friend, at last count world population was estimated at 6,779,912,670 as on 25th Aug '09 by the US census bureau!)

What is it about Bhakti that moves each of us - whether religious fervents or atheists to sometime in life, in deep despair, or in extreme happiness to call out "oh God"? What is it about Karma and Dharma that makes us just believe? emboldens the "sunshine people" (the eternal, undying, almost as if on dope kinda optimists!) to always grin? and the wannabe martyrdom craving cynics, a reason to live and scream out "Bhagwan hai, sab dekh raha hai"!!

What is about faith that brings so many people, from so many different walks of life, together? Swine flu or not, Ganapati Bappa Morya, in God we trust unconditionally!

Omnipotent, Omniscient - the magic of belief seems to rival even the popularity of its creator - it seems to be everywhere, have an answer for all of ones woes; worldly or even otherwise, reduce insurmountable odds to ashes, and medical uncertainties to medical marvels! Belief, it seems makes the world go round. And belief it seems, sets in motion a whole chain of well, another round of belief!

Don't get me wrong, am not on a religion-glorifying mission here. Am just trying to capture the phenomenon that can suddenly make the world seem a nicer place, the flowers seem brighter, and return a lost smile...Its magical isn't it - this feeling that there is some entity up there, out there, rooting for you, ready to catch you if you fall, ready to challenge you if you don't do so yourself, ready to push you, guide you and even hold your hand if you stumble.

This one is not about God or religion, or ideology or purpose or fervour or fanaticism. This one is not even about Gaia, or the Superconscious or sending a message to the universe. This one is simply about letting go. Not just letting go of set notions, of the good, bad, ugly, not just asking for redemption or admitting to the wrongs one has done but letting go of all the bad the world may have subjected one to. This one is simply about believing, in oneself, in hope, in the future - if that involves faith and God and destiny and luck, so be it! At least one believes in the existence of a future worth living in, waiting for, aspiring towards...

Maybe we are delusional, but if one goes by the philosophy underlying phenomenal film, The Matrix, the world as we see it, is delusional! The point is, you can choose to just believe! Coz truth too, just like faith, is not absolute!

Nothing is good or bad, thinking makes it so. Nothing is or can be, belief, however, makes it seem so!;-)

Moving on = Turning Back?

Unsaid, unwritten, some chapters in life have a way of closing themselves, incomplete. We aren't sure if we are done yet, but move on thinking what's done is done and can't be undone. Years, months, weeks later, we suddenly remember. A blast from the past, a ghost returns to haunt us, taunt us. And suddenly, the present becomes a hazy mist as our feet take us back to where it all started from, where the tale lies untold and the embers continue to unfold...

Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, life has a way of going round and round before coming full circle. Suddenly we find the past staring us in the face, seeking answers to questions we may have run away from...

Its magical isn't it? This ability of life to hold us accountable, the conviction with which it expects us to remember and the means with which it makes us aware. Just because something is over, doesn't mean its done with. Maybe you forgot the appendix to that chapter, or maybe you forgot to run your spellcheck, but in the word processor of life, we sometimes do get to review - to change, undo, or simply relive and cherish what we left behind:-)

Past-present, time-space, these are strongly inter-related concepts even though one is defined by philosophy and theology while the other is posited by Physics. Ever heard of Deja vu? The dictionary defines it as the feeling of already having seen the present. How do you rationalize it? How do you logify it? If not for the circle, how did we run into a situation that has already happened? Well, this is getting even more complicated and all I wanted to do was a simple entry before hitting the sack!

Ok lets get cracking. Lets start with a basic assumption and definition - the social sciences in my universe are also "sciences"; and within social sciences I choose to include Theology and occult, subjects which I don't know much about but believe that a lack of knowledge doesn't give me the authority to label these as unsceintific.

So lets start with the simplest possible case study - you, your present. Your current station in life is a direct/indirect outcome of a number of factors - your education, your occupation, the people in your life, etc. In most part however, your past, what you did in the last few years, in the years before that, yesterday, today morning, define who you are today, right now. Talking rhetorically, therefore, the past presents cues, answers, solutions, definitions to questions, issues, debates, events that may be making/marring/defining your present. and to the extent that you need the present to link up with a valid/solid/pleasant/wanted future, sometimes you may need to turn back, reflect, re-assess, address and resolve your past to define your future and move on from your present.

Turning back, then, may not be a step back; maybe its just a rain-check, a rewind button that you hit to ensure a seamless recording for what lies ahead.

You know its a very powerful feeling, to know that you may have messed up but its possible to fix it. Maybe, sometimes all you need to do is face it. Maybe, all it needs is a simple "sorry" or a "thank you". Maybe you moved too fast, and all you need to do is turn around. Or maybe it was the perfect ending to the chapter, but that doesn't mean you can't write another one! Afterall, perfection is what you define it to be, come on just humour me and take it to another level this time around - you never know what you may end up creating. I mean, at one point of time they thought DOS was perfect, but that didnot stop Microsoft from redefining what a user-friendly OS could be like - aka Windows! Ok, am not a sure fan but MS certainly re-defined the boundary of operating systems when it came to user-friendliness!

This one is about second chances. About home-coming, about lessons learnt from the past to make the future worth living. This one is about the circle called life..Of course, some may prefer to call it the "circus" of life, but we'll leave that one for another day!;-)

Picture abhi baaki hai mere dost!;-)