You are also my greatest weakness.
Yet another college story !
Setting:A typical messy boys hostel room.Time : 4 AM. Dramatis personae:A final year student,trying to clutch at the mosquito repellent just out of his reach amidst the pile of stuff on the table with one hand,and embarking on a vain attempt to shoo away the buzzing bastards with the other.Music playing in the background.For the character,this has been another day of getting up at noon,going through the placement drone,sharing expletives,disappointments and convictions with a bunchful of equally hyperactive colleagues,ending with a nite out.The character seems disappointed at having failed to bag yet another opportunity of a godforsaken job at some metro city with some kind of fat compensation.More so,he seems oddly confused.Till now,he never had to plan for things,He has no clue what he wants to do for a living.He had had a clue once.He long forgot all about it.Sometimes,he wants to revive that lost dream.However,somehow doing so requires a plunge that various elements in him sternly suggest to stay away from.The mosquito continues buzzing in his ear,and as he gears up for another shot at the repellent,he impulsively feels a connection with the poor insect and hmmmms along with it;idly wondering if the hmmmm is symantically viable and he has a shot of actually conversing with the mosquito.A Lynyrd Skynyrd song comes up,one of his favorites.The character whistles along initially,and then closes his eyes,and listens.
The character gets up,finds the repellant and plugs it in.He then opens up blogger and posts the lyrics in the hope that he always remembers them,as a note.For somehow,within all the idealistic overtones,the song does seem to make sense.A lot of sense.
P.S: In case you have not yet laid your hands on Lynyrd Skynyrd,do.The song is "Simple Man".Also check out "Free bird","Tuesday's gone" and "Sweet home Alabama"-good lyrics, and awesome solos..Its a pity the original Skynyrd band is no more.Music is all the more poorer for this loss.
Mama told me when I was young
Come sit beside me, my only son
And listen closely to what I say.
And if you do this
It will help you some sunny day.
Go take your time... Don't live too fast,
Troubles will come and they will pass.
Go find a woman and you'll find love,
And don't forget son,
There is someone up above.
And be a simple kind of man.
Be something you love and understand.
Be a simple kind of man.
Oh,won't you do this for me son,
If you can?
Forget your lust for the rich man's gold
All that you need is in your soul,
And you can do this if you try.
All that I want for you my son,
Is to be satisfied.
Come sit beside me, my only son
And listen closely to what I say.
And if you do this
It will help you some sunny day.
Go take your time... Don't live too fast,
Troubles will come and they will pass.
Go find a woman and you'll find love,
And don't forget son,
There is someone up above.
And be a simple kind of man.
Be something you love and understand.
Be a simple kind of man.
Oh,won't you do this for me son,
If you can?
Forget your lust for the rich man's gold
All that you need is in your soul,
And you can do this if you try.
All that I want for you my son,
Is to be satisfied.
Boy, don't you worry... you'll find yourself.
Follow you heart and nothing else.
And you can do this if you try.
All I want for you my son,
Is to be satisfied.
And be a simple kind of man.
Be something you love and understand.
Better be a simple kind of man.
Be something you love and understand.
Follow you heart and nothing else.
And you can do this if you try.
All I want for you my son,
Is to be satisfied.
And be a simple kind of man.
Be something you love and understand.
Better be a simple kind of man.
Be something you love and understand.
The character gets up,finds the repellant and plugs it in.He then opens up blogger and posts the lyrics in the hope that he always remembers them,as a note.For somehow,within all the idealistic overtones,the song does seem to make sense.A lot of sense.
P.S: In case you have not yet laid your hands on Lynyrd Skynyrd,do.The song is "Simple Man".Also check out "Free bird","Tuesday's gone" and "Sweet home Alabama"-good lyrics, and awesome solos..Its a pity the original Skynyrd band is no more.Music is all the more poorer for this loss.
Funda Time !
( The following is an excerpt from my term paper in the humanities (Ethics and Society) course.Waiting for the mood to build up to write a new post is a tad too boring.Of course,some would argue that copy-pasting your project report as a blog is no less irksome,but humor me.Till the time I gear up for something more colorful,bite on some philosophical fundae.Bon voyage! )
We all grow up around people .From time immemorial ,man has chosen his evolutionary instincts to be in accordance with a collocation of people, a society to share common interests with, and be bound by the regulations of .It is no new-fangled concept, therefore, that man is indeed a social being. What is interesting, however, is observing the influence this “survival-in-a –society” necessity has on the actions and thoughts of a person. When some situation throws up a conflict between the inherent feelings and the social-bound expressions, it makes up for a fascinating analysis, made more so since it is something which engulfs us all in its domain. From prominent existential philosophers like Heidegger to some layman like your wife, each person tries to explore the relationship of an individual with his surroundings, and the repercussions thereof. It is that basic an attribute.
The analysis I intend to present here stems from my personal reflections of the discrepancy I have noticed in the behavior of people in different social groups, and in their personal space (or with people close to them).Indeed, such is the universality of this discrepancy that a majority of the investigations put forward in this paper have been framed keeping or imagining myself as the subject. It would do well to view this paper more as a work of psychoanalysis than a discussion. Having said that ,the topic raises certain very relevant ethical issues, which I do plan to take up in the course of this analysis.
It would be pertinent here to define and discuss Existentialism before we take up a full-fledged study of how surroundings interact with people viz-a-viz their behavioral aspects. Existentialism is a school of philosophy that tries to explore human “existence” and how he tries “to project meaning in a disinterested world of in-itselfs”. Søren Kierkegaard and Friedrich Nietzsche, considered the forerunners of existentialism, focused on subjective human experiences rather than the objective Axioms that philosophers generally discussed. Later existentialists like Franz Kafka and Martin Buber followed the thought, laying stress on the individual and the circumstances around him. Existential philosophers generally believed that life is meaningless and empty, and that the character of the individual existence is to fill that empty canvas of life with the colors available to him-the primary motif the human existence strives to achieve is to make that empty life meaningful by their own specific needs, virtues and priorities. Early existentialist principles gave rise to intellectual thoughts such as existential nihilism, which denies life of any meaning, virtue or purpose, and moral nihilism, which asserts that there are no absolute moral values in this world which can be perfectly assessed on the basis of rationale and logic. As such, existentialists assert that a person is the master of his own creativity.This concept of individual freedom is central to existentialist thought. Existentialists maintain that the human existence must always be defined as the individual person combined with the concrete circumstances of his life.("Yo soy yo y mi circunstancia"-I am myself and my circumstances-José Ortega y Gasset,1914). Sartre likewise believed that human existence is not an abstract matter, but is always situated ("en situación").A person’s life and works are based solely upon how he views the world (essentially) outside him,a world whose meaning exists in the relative sense only,and through the interaction of our “being” with it.This idea was picked up and developed in great detail by Martin Heidegger(1889-1976),a renowned German philosopher considered by many as one of the most authentic authorities on existentialism.
Ethics of societal behaviour-an endo-existential investigation
We all grow up around people .From time immemorial ,man has chosen his evolutionary instincts to be in accordance with a collocation of people, a society to share common interests with, and be bound by the regulations of .It is no new-fangled concept, therefore, that man is indeed a social being. What is interesting, however, is observing the influence this “survival-in-a –society” necessity has on the actions and thoughts of a person. When some situation throws up a conflict between the inherent feelings and the social-bound expressions, it makes up for a fascinating analysis, made more so since it is something which engulfs us all in its domain. From prominent existential philosophers like Heidegger to some layman like your wife, each person tries to explore the relationship of an individual with his surroundings, and the repercussions thereof. It is that basic an attribute.
The analysis I intend to present here stems from my personal reflections of the discrepancy I have noticed in the behavior of people in different social groups, and in their personal space (or with people close to them).Indeed, such is the universality of this discrepancy that a majority of the investigations put forward in this paper have been framed keeping or imagining myself as the subject. It would do well to view this paper more as a work of psychoanalysis than a discussion. Having said that ,the topic raises certain very relevant ethical issues, which I do plan to take up in the course of this analysis.
It would be pertinent here to define and discuss Existentialism before we take up a full-fledged study of how surroundings interact with people viz-a-viz their behavioral aspects. Existentialism is a school of philosophy that tries to explore human “existence” and how he tries “to project meaning in a disinterested world of in-itselfs”. Søren Kierkegaard and Friedrich Nietzsche, considered the forerunners of existentialism, focused on subjective human experiences rather than the objective Axioms that philosophers generally discussed. Later existentialists like Franz Kafka and Martin Buber followed the thought, laying stress on the individual and the circumstances around him. Existential philosophers generally believed that life is meaningless and empty, and that the character of the individual existence is to fill that empty canvas of life with the colors available to him-the primary motif the human existence strives to achieve is to make that empty life meaningful by their own specific needs, virtues and priorities. Early existentialist principles gave rise to intellectual thoughts such as existential nihilism, which denies life of any meaning, virtue or purpose, and moral nihilism, which asserts that there are no absolute moral values in this world which can be perfectly assessed on the basis of rationale and logic. As such, existentialists assert that a person is the master of his own creativity.This concept of individual freedom is central to existentialist thought. Existentialists maintain that the human existence must always be defined as the individual person combined with the concrete circumstances of his life.("Yo soy yo y mi circunstancia"-I am myself and my circumstances-José Ortega y Gasset,1914). Sartre likewise believed that human existence is not an abstract matter, but is always situated ("en situación").A person’s life and works are based solely upon how he views the world (essentially) outside him,a world whose meaning exists in the relative sense only,and through the interaction of our “being” with it.This idea was picked up and developed in great detail by Martin Heidegger(1889-1976),a renowned German philosopher considered by many as one of the most authentic authorities on existentialism.
The Calling-Wherever you will go
Decisions are tough.Decisions leave us contemplating.Straining for that ounce more.Decisions are not proprietary.They are just individual perspectives-fair or not,who knows.But the agony to solve the problem,is real.Decisions leave us empty-whether one is right or wrong.There are times such as this,when its neither.Wish someone or somewhere-a way is lighted up.Maybe,maybe not.If only I knew what to do-I'd do anything,I'd go anywhere.
So lately, I've been wondering
Who will be there to take my place
When I'm gone, you'll need love
To light the shadows on your face
If a great wave should fall
It would fall upon us all
And between the sand and stone
Could you make it on your own
If I could, then I would
I'll go wherever you will go
Way up high or down low
I'll go wherever you will go
And maybe, I'll find out
The way to make it back someday
To watch you, to guide you
Through the darkest of your days
If a great wave should fall
It would fall upon us all
Well I hope there's someone out there
Who can bring me back to you
Runaway with my heart
Runaway with my hope
Runaway with my love
I know now, just quite how
My life and love might still go on
In your heart and your mind
I'll stay with you for all of time
If I could turn back time
I'll go wherever you will go
If I could make you mine
I'll go wherever you will go
Decisions...leave us afraid of light.its too dark in here anyway.
So lately, I've been wondering
Who will be there to take my place
When I'm gone, you'll need love
To light the shadows on your face
If a great wave should fall
It would fall upon us all
And between the sand and stone
Could you make it on your own
If I could, then I would
I'll go wherever you will go
Way up high or down low
I'll go wherever you will go
And maybe, I'll find out
The way to make it back someday
To watch you, to guide you
Through the darkest of your days
If a great wave should fall
It would fall upon us all
Well I hope there's someone out there
Who can bring me back to you
Runaway with my heart
Runaway with my hope
Runaway with my love
I know now, just quite how
My life and love might still go on
In your heart and your mind
I'll stay with you for all of time
If I could turn back time
I'll go wherever you will go
If I could make you mine
I'll go wherever you will go
Decisions...leave us afraid of light.its too dark in here anyway.
The first drops this season
Parched ground.Dry,cracking walls.A glazing sun.And then a cool wind blows.And then the rains arrive.
Some moments are pure bliss.Those moments in which you forget everything and just run out and get drenched as if there is no tomorrow.
P.S. The pic is one I took in Kashmir.One of the things that make the place unforgettable is that it remains so pleasantly overcast all day long,with intermittent times when the valley is drenched with sunshine.Exactly as the weather now seems,as a cool breeze blows my hair across the open window.
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