True Meaning of Life

Of late, people around me keep talking a lot about the true meaning of life - finding one's destiny and such 'highly thought provoking' topics. How one guy went into Alaska for the same and died without anybody knowing. How another guy trekked up Everest and survived - but was paralyzed or something. How it will be 'cool' to just get away and do something crazy like that.

One parallel I see from all this talk is the need for everybody to get away from their laptops and phones and go to a place where nobody can reach them [read: bother them]. That is an expected line of thought for people in the software industry. But that shouldn't drive people insane.

There is more to life than shooting to fame just because you were dumb enough to go rock climbing in the canyon and get almost killed after 5 days. But these guys paint the illusion of freedom as the one-stop shirking of all responsibilities. And that is very alluring to everybody who never had to be responsible and are suddenly thrust with a cartload of to-dos. Some people become a Ray Barone and the others do crazy stuff.

Everybody has a long list of want-to-dos and another separate list of have-to-dos. I believe the key to being happy is aligning the 2 lists. Most people are burdened and irritated because they feel they are doing something that is totally unnecessary. It's like wanting to play the World Cup finals because it is too irritating to go through the qualifiers just because you think you are Spain - The belief that you are better than everybody else and don't need to meddle yourself with ordinary affairs.

There is no single leap that takes a person from where he is to a much better place. Opportunities do come knocking but if you are in the empire state building - you have to get yourself to the right door. And seizing that door doesn't mean you let go of what you have. People forget that life is mostly a balancing act. Sometimes you get toppled over - and it gets very difficult to get back on the the tightrope. But you need to get back on the tightrope otherwise there is nothing left to balance - there is nothing trendy about walking straight on the floor.

YAPA

(Yet Another Potter Analysis - Muggles beware!)

The quest for Hallows and Horcruxes are completely different - and that is one thing that separated Voldemort from Dumbledore.

“That which Voldemort does not value, he takes no trouble to comprehend. Of house-elves and children’s tales, of love, loyalty, and innocence, Voldemort knows and understands nothing. Nothing. That they all have a power beyond his own, a power beyond the reach of any magic, is a truth he has never grasped.”

That was Voldemort's weakness. But if Voldemort had known about the Hallows - would he still have pursued his quest for Horcruxes? Keeping 3 objects safe would have been easier for Voldemort - plus, he could've retained his charming good looks that won him applaud from everyone and got his work done. The possibility of that would sound so unlike Voldemort to Potter fans - but we have only Dumbledore's analysis of him. Didn't he hesitate to kill Lily? Didn't he think that killing her would be unnecessary if she was sensible?

Voldemort has never been portrayed as pure evil by Rowling herself - he is said to be evil by many in the book. Then again, so was Sirius Black. Word of mouth is not really the best way to judge a person - and most people know it and will swear by it. But when it comes to forming a negative opinion - it usually flies out of people's mind. Why should the magic world be any different? Who knows the magical equivalent of Facebook, Twitter, Page-3 gossips and did-you-hear-about exaggerations?

Voldemort might have been the most brilliant student at Hogwarts for a long time, who was very power-obsessed and tried to become a dictator. Yes - he did kill - but that was a means to an end. On the contrary, Dumbledore voluntarily stayed away from confronting Grindelwald and knowingly let innocent people die. When he did nothing to prevent death (though it was well within his powers) - how different was he really from Voldemort? At least Voldemort got his soul preserved by murder - Dumbledore only managed to raise doubts about his abilities as a powerful wizard.

The reason Dumbledore and Voldemort were so powerful was probably because the rest of the world knew so little of them. And there is always a cloud of awe surrounding a mysterious person - which leads to many guesses, speculations and far-fetched theories. Some of them are true - some of them are ridiculously crazy - but all of them build the perceived persona of the individual. Sometimes - the persona might influence a person's instinct. And that was probably why Harry Potter was kept hidden until he could no longer be sheltered from the wizarding world.

Harry Potter was the chosen one - but by chance, not by ability. He had Hermione for brilliance, Ron for... em... well, oh yeah - to be his future brother-in-law and half the Order of Phoenix laying down their lives to keep him alive. Before you go up against me in arms - answer this, if it was the 'ability to love and feel pain' the reason Harry was better than Voldemort - how come Dumbledore was not upto the mark? Simple - Extra-ordinary people will be falling short of expectations if they do not do amazing things. Harry was plain and average and more akin to readers than the omniscient Dumbledore. Plus - if Dumbledore was the hero - Rowling would've ended up with a short story and no legacy to leave the world.

Innocent until proven guilty...

There are 2 things you should know about me to make any sense of this post.

1) Almost everyone I've met have commented on how unique my name is and how fitting it will be to live up to its uniqueness.

2) Ever since my undergrad days - most people have started giving advice (mostly unasked for) with the statement "Everyone is doing it - so why don't you?". And whenever I get that - I do my usual rolling-of-the-eyes and here-we-go-again expression - at least mentally.

It is natural for people to be different from each other. Yet - most people accuse me of not doing what everybody does because I strive to be unique. I am guilty - but not exactly as charged. I believe that not all people think the same way. Most people agree to the same thing not because they have logically arrived at the same point - it is because they don't have an opinion of their own and it is easier to give the appearance of being more informed by merely nodding to what someone else says. And I have gone to extremes trying to defend that point - so much that I take everything personally. [Michael Corleone: Don't let anybody kid you. It's all personal, every bit of business. Every piece of shit every man has to eat every day of his life is personal. They call it business. OK. But it's personal as hell.]

To paint a clearer picture - let's take the example of buying a camera. Most people, experts or not, immediately start talking about SLRs, digital zoom, light filters, exposures - and every term that wikipedia throws at you. And maybe I'd consider all that if I'm a professional photographer. But I'm not. I don't even have a passion for photography like a couple of my friends. I'd much rather be in front of the camera. And for all those 'wow' looking photos - I'd browse through google, flickr or picasa and put them on my cubicle. That saves me effort, cost and gives credit to the people who love doing it and are great at it. My requirements for a camera? Low cost - easy enough to set - decent picture quality and slim enough to fit in a pocket. So I ditched the SLRs even though they were supposedly the best. In that sense - I feel that the word 'best' is used too loosely nowadays. Note: I'd still take the SLR if someone gave it to me for free! :)

I am impulsive - I choose what is best for me, given my knowledge at the instant of making the decision. And I'm probably more influenced by what NOT to do looking at others than by what to do. Maybe I'm not always right and more often than not, my choice would widely differ from what is considered the outright choice. And there are people who have judged me by those standards. I don't care. Someone recently told me, sometimes - it is better to think like a robot. I completely agree - but my emphasis is on the word 'sometimes'.

A phenomenon

No denying Rajni. This is an excellent article for those who are in contempt of Rajni's fame. Facebook has been sending updates non-stop for the past one week about Chuck-Norris-Jokes-Adapted-To-Rajni, 'Tribute' to Rajni (ironically - half the people who shared it seem to misread the sarcasm!) and one even blaming the supreme court for giving the Ayodya verdict on the eve of a Rajni release - let alone the fact that it is the 'most anticipated' movie.

Why so much hype for Rajni/Endhiran, you ask? Well - Why was there so much hype about 'My name is Khan'? 'Raavan'? Aamir's 'Gajini'? or heck - 'Om Shanti Om' (For those who were fortunate not to see it - remember - the movie with all the faces you know in bollywood crammed into 1 song? Oh - and SRK's six pack?) or even 'Kites'?? 'Endhiran' can never be lesser than any of those movies. And when someone has spent so much cash on it - they'll want to ensure that it is well publicized.

For everyone who learnt the force of Rajni through Facebook or Twitter - you have NO idea. Rajni's true worshippers are not the people who write long posts heralding his greatness or trying to scorn at him while really thinking "WHO THE HELL IS HE?". Rajni's fan base does not need posters or media countdowns to herald his movie. 90% of them won't even have access to the media. They probably won't understand the movie the way Sankar would have wanted to portray it - but I'm sure Shankar realised that the second he chose Rajni.

When you compare the roles that Rajni and Kamal have respectively played - you can clearly see that Rajni's characters were simple. The plots predictable. And the stories relevant to what a lot of people can relate with. Kamal tried out complicated stories and portrayed extra-ordinary roles - as some would say 'way-ahead-of-his-time'. Maybe that's why he is not where Rajni is right now. Rajni kept it simple and straight - and he did it with style. The kind of style Rajni had cannot be described - and if someone else had done it - he would've gone straight to the circus. That's what set him apart.

But that's just me trying to analyse why he is WHO he is. I like Rajni not for the reasons that most people like him. No one in my family is a movie buff - so I had few chances of watching movies when I was a kid. But at that time - the national channel used to play new song releases with background info about the movie just before the evening news. One song was from a movie trying to depict the story of a hero involved in espionage and multiple flashbacks. Another was from a movie which showed the hero taking kids around to an animated forest and meeting cartoon characters. For a 5 yr old - the answer to "Who is better?" is obvious. Quote from another song: "Superstar yaarunu kaetta, chinna kuzhandhayum sollum!" [Translation: Even if you ask a small child who superstar is - he/she will answer promptly]

Water, Water, Everywhere!

There was a moment of skin numbing chill - and then horrific blackness. Friction was no longer in control - there was a deeper, greater power at work. And the few moments before the head broke the surface of the saline water contained in them an eternity. It was a taunt - and the waves seemed to echo the mutual dislike. But it was obvious even to a fool who was the boss and who had to beg for mercy for having dared to invade restricted territories.

The first breath of air did not feel wonderful as is always described by others - it was salty and made her throat ache. But she was nevertheless grateful for it. Her life jacket seemed almost pointless as she bounced up and down - but she knew it was the reason that her head was above surface while the rest of her was weighed down by water. She flayed her hands about trying to find something to hold on to. Her fingers brushed the plastic surface of the overturned kayak. Barely 5 minutes ago - the kayak had been one among the handful floating gently beside the guide's - hearing him talk about the glory of La Jolla caves. She would never know how it decided to flip her over.

The 2 guides expertly jumped into the water and made sure she wasn't hurt. Then they flipped the kayak up and held it in place for her. Watching them work, she was sure they were fishes converted to human beings - no one else could feel that home in the middle of the water. And then she thought - she would've been a cat in her own previous birth. She was helped up the kayak - and the retreat began. Every nerve end screamed out, anticipating another fall and unpleasant thought of bringing all of them down again floated in her head. As the shore came closer, the ocean saved her the effort of getting down and dumped her on the beach with another huge wave. She was drenched again - but she had found her ground.

Lesson learnt: Stay away from the Pacific Ocean (or any water body) when you don't like it!!!