Feb 17, 2010
Recently, I happened to land on Discovery channel only to see a python preparing to devour a deer that was drinking water on the banks of a river. It was remarkable underwater photography but more than that there were many scientific explanations such as how the snake’s eyes are designed like the cross hairs of a long range gun to target its prey.
The snake has to lunge out of the water and a less than perfect aim would make the sure footed deer run away. The snake precisely grabbed the throat of the deer with its backward curving teeth. The deer fell down. It then coiled itself around the deer’s body.
Unlike popular perceptions, the snake does not kill its victim by breaking their bones. It allows the deer to breathe and with each breath slowly tightens its hold and the victim dies of suffocation. They don’t chew their food at all. They swallow it whole and then rely on the powerful stomach acids to do the job of digesting. This single meal would last it for several weeks.
Now, the common perception is that the deer is an innocent animal and the snake is cruel to kill its prey in such a manner. Any sane person would blame the snake for using its might to attack such a lovely creature. Yet, the same God or Consciousness created both the snake and the deer. Not just created but gave the snake a super size jaw, razor sharp teeth and powerful acids to digest a far bigger creature. Without all that, the poor snake would starve. If deers are not eliminated by an occasional snake or a lion or a tiger, the deer population would multiply and be deprived of sufficient food.
My point is that nature is perfect. Cruel, innocent, mighty are concepts that we have added to an activity that is going on fine. Not just fine, but in the bigger picture, it is the perfect activity for evolution, for all.
Nature is impersonal. The snake is not selfish- it is just hunting for its food in the manner provided by its instincts. The particular deer that has been targeted has not done some evil act to deserve its fate.
Indeed, all izz well.
Feb 13, 2010
Welcome.
It’s over two years and three months since I blogged last (http://sureshn88.livejournal.com). This raises two questions- a) Why did I stop blogging? and b) Why am I starting blogging again?
As to the first question, laziness, procrastination etc. are the usual culprits. Another important issue was the privacy of those whom I write about, the near and dear ones. Even though personally, I may be willing to lay it all down in words, I do not have the right to assume the same about others whom I write about. They may resent the slant that I give or even resent the fact that it is out there for everyone to read. Many relationship warts are hidden behind a socially appropriate demeanor and life moves on.
If that is so, why am I starting to blog again? Privacy issues trouble me but I have thought of a way out. Ultimately, what matters is not who said or who did what but the lessons that we have gathered, our analysis and our thinking on the subject. So, I can still write what I have learnt without going into particulars, naming names or revealing what someone may want to keep hidden. The takeaways are important, not the story.
It is also because I believe that I need to flex my writing muscles. I am making a commitment to update this blog atleast once a week. I also strongly feel that clarity in thinking is brought about by clarity in writing. Even if there is no reader, I need to write to sort out issues that swirl in my mind. To quote ‘To write is to practise thinking new thoughts you didn’t anticipate thinking and it is to take your reader with you into that thinking, and so encourage that capacity to go beyond fixed ideas.”
I need to go beyond fixed ideas, I need new perspectives, new ways of seeing the same things in the hope that such an exercise will give me that a-ha moment to sort out issues that I may be struggling with.
Labels: Blog
3 idiots has had a universal appeal and has managed to captivate a diverse section of people. As Varsha concludes her piece on the movie on her blog with "passion begets success, that running the rat race only helps create machines not humans, so go out and take the risk, to be different, to make your own path, to do what you dream and all izz well...".
As a parent, I had long back decided to let Samu make her own choice of career. As she has reached an age where these topics filter into her consciousness, she recently declared that she wants to be a scientist. Although I have no idea how she came to this conclusion, it is fine by me. I also know that this decision of hers is likely to change as she is exposed to more information. My role will be only as a supporting person.
As a parent, I had long back decided to let Samu make her own choice of career. As she has reached an age where these topics filter into her consciousness, she recently declared that she wants to be a scientist. Although I have no idea how she came to this conclusion, it is fine by me. I also know that this decision of hers is likely to change as she is exposed to more information. My role will be only as a supporting person.
However, the other day, she came to me and with some hesitation about being a scientist, asked, "What do you want me to be when I grow up?"
"I have no particular preference"- (you can be anything from a doctor to belly dancer, I said to myself)
"But then", she persisted, "think like this, suppose you have a preference, what would you want me to be when I grow up?"
This was dangerous territory and the reverse of parental pressure. I managed to convey that I really don't have any preference because I really don't have any preference. But suppose I had a secret desire about her being Head of HR or Vice President of Marketing or a dentist or President of the Mahila Congress or whatever, it would have been difficult to hold back.
I could relate to the saying about child being the father of the man.
I could relate to the saying about child being the father of the man.
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