Excerpts from a SMS conversation. The topic came about while I was talking about a book, also made into a movie, called Into The Wild based on the life of this one guy who went off into the Alaska heeding the call of the wild believing that was where he would find true peace and connect with the primitive and wild side of life.
Person: I never like the way the book or the movie felt… makes me think, and not very positively either.
Me: To live and exist w/o thinking and question is boring. You have to experience it-how you do it of course is up to you.
Person: I guess… ironic we question the conventions we made. Sometimes I feel it’s about control.
Me: Rules, conventions are for the greater good of mankind not individuals. I think it’s more about breaking out of being controlled, rather than controlling oneself.
Person: And I don’t know if there can be anything such as living primitive anymore. The advancing generations have lost tolerance both physically and mentally and have lost wisdom.
Me: I agree. We strove and sought comfort too much to be able to give it up now. That won’t stop some radicals from trying though. Man is inherently pig-headed :)
Person: I think the meaning of purity of life has changed and that all is was can now only be studied by literature.
Me: What do you mean purity of life?
Person: Life in its natural form. No or minimal manipulations.
Me: Hmmm. Won’t ever know what that will be like. What it means, what it feels. Just the ideal will stick around in thoughts.
Person: I know a lot has been explored in prose and verse. But then again I could credit it to creativity…
Me: Last two big occasions of creativity were different positions to have sex in and different types of weapons…extremes…create, and then destroy.
Person: :) Vital to the world now!! But there is also Byron, Dickenson, Tolstoy.
Me: No more different than any one of us. Just that they could articulate their thoughts clearly.
Person: Not the point of contention really. It’s just that there has been expression towards a natural form of life…and so forth.
Me: That’s true. They tried their best to show us alternatives.
Person: And also think. But you can award that to creativity which draws from the natural…sometimes it’s a clear case of mistaken identity…the truth is as plain as now we try to add some colour.
Don't ... Just Don't
When was the last time that you were admonished for misbehavior? If you rack your brain hard enough (or not, depending on your Calvin proficiency), chances are that most likely you were told “DO NOT …” It is always “DONT DO THIS” or “DONT DO THAT.” The point being that good and positive behavior is taught in a negative vein or what not to do instead of what to do.
From the days that you were a kid, you mom, or a similar representative authority, would scold and in some cases bash the living daylights out of you for your mischief. Chances are the verbal thrashings would likely include a list of what you should have not done.
Over the years most teachings about leading a good moral life has been imparted by telling you what is taboo rather than what isn’t. Take one of the most famous set of religious code of ethics – The 10 Commandments. 8 of then begin with the dire warning - “Thou Shalt Not ...”
Take the basic Gandhian principle – ahimsa. What is ahimsa? NON-Violence! It is never described as peace or passive resistance or anything of that sort. It tells you what it is not.
Go out on the road and a million signs will stare you in the face - Do Not Blow Horn, Do Not Spit, Do Not Pass Urine, Do Not Stick Bills, No Parking, No U-Turn, Do Not Throw Garbage, ... ... ... do not breath till your very life depends on it …
In the end, all these negative instructions begs the question – are all human beings born with vices which need to be cured in the one lifetime that they have?
From the days that you were a kid, you mom, or a similar representative authority, would scold and in some cases bash the living daylights out of you for your mischief. Chances are the verbal thrashings would likely include a list of what you should have not done.
Over the years most teachings about leading a good moral life has been imparted by telling you what is taboo rather than what isn’t. Take one of the most famous set of religious code of ethics – The 10 Commandments. 8 of then begin with the dire warning - “Thou Shalt Not ...”
Take the basic Gandhian principle – ahimsa. What is ahimsa? NON-Violence! It is never described as peace or passive resistance or anything of that sort. It tells you what it is not.
Go out on the road and a million signs will stare you in the face - Do Not Blow Horn, Do Not Spit, Do Not Pass Urine, Do Not Stick Bills, No Parking, No U-Turn, Do Not Throw Garbage, ... ... ... do not breath till your very life depends on it …
In the end, all these negative instructions begs the question – are all human beings born with vices which need to be cured in the one lifetime that they have?
ThankYou Going Forwrad ..
At the start of the year, i want to take the time to thank all my friends and other people who have forwarded numerous chain letters to me this year. i appreciate all your kindness and concern and will now take a moment to ponder on the profound effect it has had on my life ...
i stopped going to the movies for fear of sitting on a needle infected with AIDS.
i have a very low self-esteem after taking all those psychology, intelligence and love tests only to know that i am a raving lunatic with an IQ no better than a baboon with no chance in hell of any romance.
i smell like a wet dog since I stopped using deodorants because they cause cancer.
Speaking of cancer, i have stopped using medication altogether since it was brought to my attention that that dangerous drugs like D cold, Action 500 and other unpronounceable drugs that have been banned globally yet are freely available in India.
i also stopped answering the phone for fear that they may ask me to dial a stupid number and then i get a phone bill from hell with calls to Uganda , Singapore and Tokyo.
i also stopped drinking water outside for fear that i will get sick from the rat shit and urine.
When i go to parties, i don't look at any girl, no matter how hot she is, for fear that she will take me to a hotel, drug me, then take my kidneys and leave me taking a nap in a bathtub full of ice.
i also donated all my savings to the Amy Bruce account. A sick girl who was about to die in the hospital about 7,000 times. The poor girl has been 7 years old since 1993 and apparently has had enough money to undergo many plastic surgeries to change her appearance.
My free Nokia phone never arrived and neither did the free passes for a paid vacation to Disneyland inspite of following all instruction to the letter.
Unfortunately, Orkut is not in the least bothered to delete my account inspite of me ignoring the millions of warnings saying "Orkut is deleting accounts: Due to sudden rush..."
i made some hundred wishes before forwarding those Dalai Lama, GaneshVandana, Tirupathi Balaji pics etc..Now most of those "Wishes" are already married (to someone else)!
NOTE: If you do not comment on this post and get at least 13 people also to do so in the next 10 seconds, a bird will shit on your head today at 10:30 p .m.!!
i stopped going to the movies for fear of sitting on a needle infected with AIDS.
i have a very low self-esteem after taking all those psychology, intelligence and love tests only to know that i am a raving lunatic with an IQ no better than a baboon with no chance in hell of any romance.
i smell like a wet dog since I stopped using deodorants because they cause cancer.
Speaking of cancer, i have stopped using medication altogether since it was brought to my attention that that dangerous drugs like D cold, Action 500 and other unpronounceable drugs that have been banned globally yet are freely available in India.
i also stopped answering the phone for fear that they may ask me to dial a stupid number and then i get a phone bill from hell with calls to Uganda , Singapore and Tokyo.
i also stopped drinking water outside for fear that i will get sick from the rat shit and urine.
When i go to parties, i don't look at any girl, no matter how hot she is, for fear that she will take me to a hotel, drug me, then take my kidneys and leave me taking a nap in a bathtub full of ice.
i also donated all my savings to the Amy Bruce account. A sick girl who was about to die in the hospital about 7,000 times. The poor girl has been 7 years old since 1993 and apparently has had enough money to undergo many plastic surgeries to change her appearance.
My free Nokia phone never arrived and neither did the free passes for a paid vacation to Disneyland inspite of following all instruction to the letter.
Unfortunately, Orkut is not in the least bothered to delete my account inspite of me ignoring the millions of warnings saying "Orkut is deleting accounts: Due to sudden rush..."
i made some hundred wishes before forwarding those Dalai Lama, GaneshVandana, Tirupathi Balaji pics etc..Now most of those "Wishes" are already married (to someone else)!
NOTE: If you do not comment on this post and get at least 13 people also to do so in the next 10 seconds, a bird will shit on your head today at 10:30 p .m.!!
So Close, No Matter How Far
We live in the so called “jet age.” Here a place is a plane ticket away, any object we desire is just a card swipe away; people are just a push of a button away. It seems money has demolished physical distances and built up emotional ones.
The more the means of means to communicate have multiplied, the more the reasons to communicate have gone, or seem less important. The blame for being out of touch has shifted from the mail-man to the service providers – Hutch, Airtel and whatnot.
Remember those days (or at least as you saw in the old black and white films) where a mailman’s visit was as awaited as Santa Claus.
Just a few years ago, in school perhaps, we used to use the landlines to call up friends with whom we, possibly, had just spent the whole day with. There was always some reason – a new titbit to give, gossip to catch up on etc.
In college, it was e-mail and Yahoo and MSN. And we sent cards, letters, and small useless mails just to keep in touch. Wasn’t that the sign-offline most of you used – “Keep in touch…” The landlines had taken a back seat.
Then, of course, communication came to our pockets in the form of cell phones – the world was never any smaller. And the mails and insta-messaging became more of a pastime.
And now, the online communities spread like wildfire burning up our need for the landline, the mails, the IMs, and sometimes even the cell phone. Our world is Orkut.
When we have all the simple ways and means to stay in touch, how much do we actually bother? We always find reasons not to get in touch with someone. Sure we have them on our contacts, have added them as friends, put them in our address books and all over the place, but more often than not they are just a measure of your popularity.
There seem to be a lack very pressing enough reason to talk to friends. When was the last time you called your best bud from college? Those titbits and bits of gossip are not important enough anymore. Are they?
The more the means of means to communicate have multiplied, the more the reasons to communicate have gone, or seem less important. The blame for being out of touch has shifted from the mail-man to the service providers – Hutch, Airtel and whatnot.
Remember those days (or at least as you saw in the old black and white films) where a mailman’s visit was as awaited as Santa Claus.
Just a few years ago, in school perhaps, we used to use the landlines to call up friends with whom we, possibly, had just spent the whole day with. There was always some reason – a new titbit to give, gossip to catch up on etc.
In college, it was e-mail and Yahoo and MSN. And we sent cards, letters, and small useless mails just to keep in touch. Wasn’t that the sign-offline most of you used – “Keep in touch…” The landlines had taken a back seat.
Then, of course, communication came to our pockets in the form of cell phones – the world was never any smaller. And the mails and insta-messaging became more of a pastime.
And now, the online communities spread like wildfire burning up our need for the landline, the mails, the IMs, and sometimes even the cell phone. Our world is Orkut.
When we have all the simple ways and means to stay in touch, how much do we actually bother? We always find reasons not to get in touch with someone. Sure we have them on our contacts, have added them as friends, put them in our address books and all over the place, but more often than not they are just a measure of your popularity.
There seem to be a lack very pressing enough reason to talk to friends. When was the last time you called your best bud from college? Those titbits and bits of gossip are not important enough anymore. Are they?
Dear Me In The Future
Dear me in the future,
How are you? How is it there? I don't quite know when you will get this letter. But i hope that the journey to wherever you are now was good. Kind of gets me starting to think of all the sights and sounds that you must have seen. On this final August night, i cant help but think of all the things i want to do, places i want to go, things i want to achieve before i get this letter.
Did you do all of that? i don't think so. After all what did i want to do except live my life carefree and happy? And as for places to go - i always wanted to be there for whenever my friends or family needed me. And the one thing i want more than anything else is just my peace of mind.
And if you have one iota of common sense, you would not have wasted time doing all these things. i know you would have a fabulous job, great house in the city, a car even maybe by now - that should have satisfied me. You would have travelled to tons of places, seen the world - that should satisfy my wanderlust. All the have money and respect you have earned by now should give me my peace of mind.
For all of what you might have, in a world where nothing ever stays the same you are probably left with the only thing that you cannot change - your past. Me!
Sorry if i disappointed you in any way. i don't know how you have lived your life till whenever you are, but as i now read the letter to me from my past, i cant stop the tears as i see the simple things that i had once wanted. Somewhere down the line i went astray. i still don't have that awesome collection of comics, haven't visited the people i love most in this world -my grandparents- in years and worst of all, again have not kept my promise that i wouldn't ever have to write a letter to warn me against who i have become. And now its too late.
Anyway, future me, all i can do is wish i never write this letter again.
Stay well,
Me
How are you? How is it there? I don't quite know when you will get this letter. But i hope that the journey to wherever you are now was good. Kind of gets me starting to think of all the sights and sounds that you must have seen. On this final August night, i cant help but think of all the things i want to do, places i want to go, things i want to achieve before i get this letter.
Did you do all of that? i don't think so. After all what did i want to do except live my life carefree and happy? And as for places to go - i always wanted to be there for whenever my friends or family needed me. And the one thing i want more than anything else is just my peace of mind.
And if you have one iota of common sense, you would not have wasted time doing all these things. i know you would have a fabulous job, great house in the city, a car even maybe by now - that should have satisfied me. You would have travelled to tons of places, seen the world - that should satisfy my wanderlust. All the have money and respect you have earned by now should give me my peace of mind.
For all of what you might have, in a world where nothing ever stays the same you are probably left with the only thing that you cannot change - your past. Me!
Sorry if i disappointed you in any way. i don't know how you have lived your life till whenever you are, but as i now read the letter to me from my past, i cant stop the tears as i see the simple things that i had once wanted. Somewhere down the line i went astray. i still don't have that awesome collection of comics, haven't visited the people i love most in this world -my grandparents- in years and worst of all, again have not kept my promise that i wouldn't ever have to write a letter to warn me against who i have become. And now its too late.
Anyway, future me, all i can do is wish i never write this letter again.
Stay well,
Me
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