Endure...and Hope

Ever wondered what keeps us motivated?...To go by our existence without questioning...is it a good salary?... a good job?...a good family?...these are all transitionary...here today, gone tomorrow

The following verses are an attempt at investigating this notion:

Endure...and Hope

Conjecture this incidence which keeps us going
Persevering to Perform, straining to strive
Neither means nor materials cease that foreboding,
Waiting for a chimera, a reason to stay alive
Willingly that do submit themselves to fate
Destiny's puppets, only themselves to instigate
Nothing that could calm their anxious souls
Nothing to fall back, but a vision to extol
Traverse that spiritless voyage untold
While a gleaming sign afar does enfold
The radiance that tells them "now is old"
That journey's concluding, your spirits uphold
That geaming sign is the radiance of HOPE
Saying "For tomorrow's ecstacy endure today's woe"

Every sorrow of today is justified under that pretentious expression called Hope.

Here are what some people have said about hope, though most of them are not in line with my perception of it.

"Hope is tomorrow's veneer over today's disappointment. Evan Esar"

"Change has a considerable psychological impact on the human mind. To the fearful it is threatening because it means that things may get worse. To the hopeful it is encouraging because things may get better. King Whitney Jr."

"While there's life, there's hope. Cicero"

"Hope begins in the dark, the stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come. You wait and watch and work: You don't give up.Anne Lamott"

Update to the earlier Post

Today I read that "Kalam's game for a second term!" I don't know if the website given in my earlier post had anything to do with it, but yet something clicked.

And now, I am more confused like that same airborne pigeon finding Spiderman flying next it too

PS: Spiderman can't fly

Why Such a Fuss?

Amidst all the hooplah over who will be the candidate for the next President on NDTV, I munch over my dinner. Hmm, the Chicken Tandoori is excellent, the Mackerel fry is good and the Ridge gourd ... not so good.

UPA has nominated Pratibha Patil (Who? - Thats right, that was my first reaction too). The NDA earlier stated that they'd nominate Bhairon Singh Shekhawat and then turned their stance to "Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam if UPA also votes for him". Some new alliance called UNPA (Not to be confused with the already in power, UPA) also says " Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam". The Left, rightly or wrongly, says "No A.P.J. Abdul Kalam". A.P.J. Abdul Kalam says "No second term". And I am as confused as an airborne pigeon seeing superman flying next to it.

I am not political. Why bother with all this, I think. For me, it would'nt make any world of difference who would be the next President. The Prime Minister, yes, as he is in a position to influence the country's policies. But what does the President do? Sign the Bills, attend to dignitaries of other countries or if time permits, take a stroll on the large gardens of the Rashtrapathi Bhavan? In fact following are some of the items in the "To-Do" list of the President of India:

1. Appoint the Prime Minister (Really?, wonder how much "say" he has in this)
2. Appoint other "Screws" in the large government machine (i.e the Governer, the Chief Justice, Judges of supreme Courts and High Courts etc. - which in reality are selected by the Union Cabinet - talk about delegation!)
3. "Be" the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed forces (tough job, eh?)
4. Reduce sentence or grant pardon (Hardly ever excercised)
5. Remove the Prime Minister (Would anyone dare?)
6. Summon Houses, Dissolve Lok Sabha (subject to advice of guess who? - the council of ministers)
7. Declare Emergency (Not enough water, Not enough power, millions of hungry, poor people - If this aint emergency then what is???)
8. Blah-blah
9. Blah-blah

One other power, rarely used is to reject some of the stupid mindless laws passed by the Parliament for reconsideration. Not much of a "power" considering that it cannot be rejected again if it comes back to the President. For a country which names its Acts as "Destructive Insects and Pests Act, 1914", "Epidemic Diseases Act", "Anti-Hijacking Act","Cattle-trespass Act ", "Identification of Prisoners Act", one would think that the bills would be returned time and again just to put in a better name. But even then, I am surprised that this has been done only twice in the past. Once by Dr. Zail Singh and once by Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. Two presidents who seem to have been doing their job. Thats why, I would prefer if the latter gets re-elected, though again, at the cost of repetition I state, It does not matter to me.

PS. If you would like to show your support for Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, please visit http://www.getkalamback.com/
I do not know how far it will be helpful, but it sure seems worth a few clicks and two minutes.

Sins: An Experiment

It hit my mind today like that cyclone which hit the coast of Oman a few days back....

Our lives more or less can be summarised in two kind of actions:

1. Sinning or 2. Running away from them

Not that I am an expert in figuring out which out of the two I am doing every moment but yet you come to know about which of the two you have been more indulging in every night as you sleep in your bed, wondering where the day went wrong. Here are some verses...rather, some flirtations, with the seven sins - as I understand it:

Flirtations with the Sins

Naught I want, naught I fancy, This I can anytime not declare
There’s many a need, many a desire always lingering to ensnare
Wants never cease, wishes never end – which they all in turn, breed
Root of all evil, fostering father of other sins, yes – that’s known as Greed

Greed has a crafty brother, quite cunning and wily, please take heed
You will never realize - till becomes your best friend, till it entreats
Indulgence, is its sweet song, and excesses, its succulent symphony
Not before a long you grasp – you’re its victim, a victim of Gluttony

At every corner, every bend in life we perpetually encounter this vice
There's No dearth of it in this world – which comes to me as no surprise
So cruel it is, crushes all of your joy, happiness and harmony in its stride
So beware of this vice, that sometimes is called avarice and sometimes pride

The Next in line I have to acknowledge by its omnipresence
Leaps at every weak moment, its best to forever keep its distance
And it Spawns cravings, primal desires, which Curb but you must
Lest you find yourself a target of the fourth dangerous vice which is Lust

Greed’s son is lurking around, waiting; – it’s hardly a long one
To breed in you that feeling which now seems not so uncommon
Its second nature to you to always lose control and believe it, that’s a fact
Every other person seems to be inflicted with this Sin called as wrath

Theres one more Sin which until now, even I was unaware was a sin
When it dawned upon me, it consumed you from all but from within,
You fall into its trap Naïvely, only know it when you become distraught
That laziness can also be a Sin, comprehend it, it goes by the name of Sloth

The Last ones there too, again, bred by that first disdainful weakness
One that oft gives rise to wrath, obliterates peace of mind, causes much distress
All find it very convenient to indulge in few fulfilling moments of jealousy
Befriending that blemisher of most relationships, which every human knows as Envy

Yes those are the failings which we ought to be careful always to avoid
All very cunning, very devious, leaving your soul with an unfillable void
Be certain to be aware to steer clear of them as you drive though your habitual existence
Else you, like the “million others” will be ensnared with illusions of 7 Deadly Sins

The result of experiment? – “I am still among those ‘Million others’”