Amazing post

http://kipaji.blogspot.com/2010/03/creating-better-from-good.html

I love this post.

A functional anarchy

On my travels, my father just randomly said to me that a certain Indian ambassador to USA described India as "functional anarchy." As I turned this over in my mind, I came to realise how true his words were. "Anarchy" is the opposite of "monarchy." It doesn't mean a democracy. An anarchy is usually a state without a monarch or any kind of leader. There is no order and chaos reigns.

In India, the difference is that there is a "ruler" but that does nothing to help. India is ruled by chaos. There is absolutely no order, no discipline, nothing. Things happen "mostly" and if they do happen, they happen "somehow." By hook or crook, something happens and it moves on.

But what is amazing is that it is still functional. Inspite of all this, trains run on tracks and cars run on roads. Inspite of it, millions reach their place everyday and millions more do what they had planned. And inspite of it all, the economy still grows at 8% annually.

Two things found in India are typical of India. The great Indian "road tamasha" and the monsoon.

The Indian road is something unique from across the vast spaces of my knowledge. Here, chaos is only player. Vehicles continously honk, jump signals, drive rashly and travel to the left as well as the right of the road. Inspite of this, the traffic moves forward, however slowly and accidents are quite rare when we compare it with the frequency with which the laws are flouted.

The monsoon is something different. It is something natural and specially made for India. Although our geography textbooks claim that the monsoon winds travel from south-west to north-east in the general direction of the Punjab plain, the winds rarely travel in that direction is what I have observed. Being passionate about weather, I often waste my time observing things like these, especially during the monsoon and I have found that the wind blows in all directions from all sides yet collectively move towards the Punjab plain.

This is extremely typical of India, where despite chaos and confusion, the country still grows at high rates and overall direction is forward.

Contradictions

I sit here, a bag full of opposites,

Of Contradictions,

I want to go out there and conquer the world,

but I want to just live my life,

be an "also-ran"

I want to climb Mount Everest,

but I'm scared of standing in my terrace.

I want to be a topper,

but I hate studying.

I want to walk the new path,

but I fear the unknown.

I want to impress everyone,

but I want to keep to myself.

I no what I "want" to do.

I don't know what I "need" to do.

I'm full of contradictions,

and so is life,

So full of opposites

of contradictions.

Triumph

I was standing there, my moment of triumph. I was there, handsome, dignified and manly. My adversary was there too, brownish-black and ugly. But he had pulled me down to a level I never knew I could stoop.

He had forced me to kill, to murder, to rid the world of another soul. But, I couldn't help it. Now I stood there on the front foot, ready to kill. He had infested my toilet for days and I had enough. He was just too trying.

I was poised to kill, my right hand armed and raised while my left hand lent balance to my agile body. I had a large arsenal of arms to choose from. It included books, brooms and poison.

I chose the last as it would bring a painful death. This cockroach had irritated me enough in my opinion to deserve that fate.

My body was trembling with excitement. I never knew killing was so joyous. The poison in my hand was a bottle of "Mortein" whose manufacturer claimed that it was the most effective weapon against these ugly beasts.

My mind was geared for battle while I felt my hand press on the nozzle. I heard the sound my ears were craving for. I heard the "pusssssssss" of the compressed poison escaping from the bottle.

I closed my nose, fearing the frightful smell which I was allergic to, but I was ready to bear anything to rid my toilet of that ugly beast. But my glory was short-lived. I realised, much to my dismay, that the bottle, my trusted bottle full of cockroach killing poison was empty.

The cockroach lived another day, unhurt, knowing I would come back stronger one day.

The mystical gust

I was there, sitting alone, with a book under my nose but my eyes elsewhere. I was getting restless. Two hours of studies certainly took it's toll on me.

But I struggled on. The book atleast still made sense when the wind blew the curtain onto my face. With a lazy flick of my hand, I pushed aside only to discover something indescribable.

The wind blew into my face. I breathed the pure air and it filled with energy. I do this day ponder why that gust of wind was so special.

The first reason I could come up with was it's temperature. You don't need a thermometer and I don't care how many degrees it was, but the air was of the perfect temperature. Cool and refreshing, almost like a drink of water.

Three years hence, I still go that same corner of my sister's room hoping that wind will return to inspire me. It never did. There was certainly something supernatural about it.

A letter to kapil sibal

To,

Mr.Kapil Sibal,

Union Minister for Human Resources

Dear Mr. Sibal,

First of all, congratulations on becoming the Union Minister for Human Resources. India has the second largest reserve of human resource in the world and I wish you the best of luck in getting the best out of a billion people till your time in this office terminates.

I write hoping you will address the woes of the ninth standard students (09/10 batch) studying in schools affiliated to the Central Board of Secondary Education. As an enthusiastic follower of news channels, I have had the opportunity to hear you speak on several issues on television including the new grading system being introduced from this year onwards. I would like to pledge my support for this new system. It is indeed the best way of assessing a students overall growth.

However, this new system has come as a shock for those presently studying in the ninth standard. The batch completing their tenth standard this year know for sure that they will have to write their board exams while the present eighth graders know that the grading system will be in place when they are in the tenth standard.

But for the present ninth standard, it is a rollercoaster ride through the dark where we don't know when the next fall is. We live in a state of anxiety, not knowing what will happen next. As the old saying goes,"A known enemy is safer than an unknown friend." Exam is the known enemy here. But the unknown friend is the factor of "will we have the grading system."

Since we do not know whether the grading system is in place or the old system, we have a difficulty in planning our study. I would rather have the system with more de-merits in place rather than no system in place at all or as is happening, a system of indecision in place.

Thanking You

Lokahith

Time

Time is one mystery that I'm sure life can never solve. What 2 hours of study fell like 2 days while the same thing makes the 15 minute-break in between my studies feel like 15 seconds. No one knows.

Time would be more apt for the title "The Necessary Evil" though it's not really necessary. A bushman in the Kalahari or a South American tribe may not understand the concept of time yet they live, quite happily at that. Time, according to me, is the one thing that man has invented to bring about his own downfall.

Imagine life in 21st century with all latest gadgets, job, money everything except time. If stress was unknown in the old days, it was because time was not important. If life travels at a fast pace, then time is the cause, because time leads to the need for speed. With time, we know when our next project is due, when the homework is for. Imagine there was no concept of time. Words such as deadlines, time-limit, tomorrow, yesterday and even stress and anxiety wouldn't exist.

What if your teacher told you that you have to do a certain project, but didn't know how to say"Bring it by tomorrow." That would be ultimate!!

Out of the Corner of the eye

On the occasion of Makara Sankaranthi on 14th Jan, my neighbour had come to meet us along with his cute 6yr old daughter. As my sister and my mother entertained her, I sat in the hall so as to not leave my neighbour alone.

What followed was an uncomfortable silence of around 3-4 minutes we kept glancing at each other out of the corner of our eyes and pretended as if we were looking else where. I'm sure, he like me was thinking how to start a conversation.

As the temperature increased, the glances got more and more frequent until my father came and cooled things down.