It is only morning
but doesn’t seem that.
Can we forward to night?
My cola’s gone flat.
Considering that life’s primary pursuit is happiness, it doesn’t seem I am making a spectacular success of it. At the moment, life seems a series of humdrum days and nights rolling on relentlessly. It is an age old river maintaining its steady course towards the sea, the still surface interrupted only briefly by little fish bobbing to the surface.
There was a time when I thought money would bring joy. An uncle, who is now no more, summed it pretty well when he once said to me, “Upto a point, money is the most important thing in life. Beyond that point, it is the least important thing.” I guess I am beyond the Point. I am neither the Monk who sold his Ferrari nor anywhere near being a millionaire. It is just that I know enough about money and myself to realise that having a million bucks land in my account overnight will not fundamentally alter my state of happiness.
In college, Behavioural Science was a subject hardly anyone took seriously, and generally considered a bit of gas providing relief amid tougher subjects. Looking back, I think it offered at least one powerful tool to understand motivation – the Maslow hierarchy. I don’t recall the finer detail, but Maslow basically said that man is motivated by a hierarchy of needs, starting from basic physical needs such as food and drink. Once these are satisfied, one progresses to creature comforts like a nice car and comfortable house, and then onto the emotional affiliation needs such as love and affection of family and friends, recognition of the community, and so on. Once all these are satisfied, one reaches the apex of motivational needs – the need for self actualization ie. the ability to fully realise one’s inherent potential.
Flashing back to the recent past, I review recent moments of satisfaction. Visit from close family friends (affiliation), playing with kids (same), progressing from being a non-swimmer to doing a few strokes in the pool (actualization?), resolving a somewhat complex problem at work (ditto), writing a piece for this blog (ditto). Hmmm…maybe Maslow had something there.
Hail Abraham Maslow, facilitator of introspection. Long may his memory live.
Monday, March 29, 2010
Sunday, March 14, 2010
To believe or not to believe
An interesting discussion about religion on ABC’s Q&A show last week stoked my thoughts on the subject.
I do not have a relationship with God. When at a temple or a religious occasion, I bow my head and fold hands, more to blend in with the crowd than for anything else. Just in case God actually exists and listens to prayers, I occasionally ask for something, usually quite general and relating to the world at large, rather than to a specific individual.
I do not scoff at the possibility of God’s existence, for people far better than I are convinced of it. It is just that I do not find his existence necessary to explain anything that I have experienced to date.
The general tendency to externalize our problems, instead of looking for solutions within, has always been a bit puzzling to me. Isn’t one better of spending more time studying to clear an exam rather than visiting a temple to pray for a successful result?
Many people I know approach God to ask for favours – “please let me pass this exam”, “please let me get through this job”, “please let me win the lottery”, etc. Occasionally, they even offer God a bribe. “If you get me through this exam, I will break a coconut”. “If I get selected for this job, I will donate my first salary to the temple, etc”.
If God does exist, and these offers do work, I am not sure what to make of Him. In a normal human being, this would attract corruption charges.
God shows himself in mysterious ways. When I was an MBA student, idols of the Lord Ganesha started sucking up milk offered by devotees over a few days, unleashing a wave of religious hysteria across India. The country was divided in its explanations of the phenomenon, ranging from scientific theories such as capillary action, to sheer divine magic.
I wish He would show himself in some more obvious way, like a giant vision seen worldwide, putting all argument to rest and enabling people to get on with at least one big question in their lives resolved.
If God does not exist, he must surely be by far the most humungous scam perpetrated on mankind. Imagine the enormity of time and money spent on this fabrication over the ages.
If he exists, I am sorry for the skepticism, and wish to say Hello.
I do not have a relationship with God. When at a temple or a religious occasion, I bow my head and fold hands, more to blend in with the crowd than for anything else. Just in case God actually exists and listens to prayers, I occasionally ask for something, usually quite general and relating to the world at large, rather than to a specific individual.
I do not scoff at the possibility of God’s existence, for people far better than I are convinced of it. It is just that I do not find his existence necessary to explain anything that I have experienced to date.
The general tendency to externalize our problems, instead of looking for solutions within, has always been a bit puzzling to me. Isn’t one better of spending more time studying to clear an exam rather than visiting a temple to pray for a successful result?
Many people I know approach God to ask for favours – “please let me pass this exam”, “please let me get through this job”, “please let me win the lottery”, etc. Occasionally, they even offer God a bribe. “If you get me through this exam, I will break a coconut”. “If I get selected for this job, I will donate my first salary to the temple, etc”.
If God does exist, and these offers do work, I am not sure what to make of Him. In a normal human being, this would attract corruption charges.
God shows himself in mysterious ways. When I was an MBA student, idols of the Lord Ganesha started sucking up milk offered by devotees over a few days, unleashing a wave of religious hysteria across India. The country was divided in its explanations of the phenomenon, ranging from scientific theories such as capillary action, to sheer divine magic.
I wish He would show himself in some more obvious way, like a giant vision seen worldwide, putting all argument to rest and enabling people to get on with at least one big question in their lives resolved.
If God does not exist, he must surely be by far the most humungous scam perpetrated on mankind. Imagine the enormity of time and money spent on this fabrication over the ages.
If he exists, I am sorry for the skepticism, and wish to say Hello.
Monday, March 1, 2010
Naked Truth
Early this morning, 5000 men and women posed naked for photographer Spencer Tunick at Sydney’s Opera House. They braved the dawn chill, standing in their birthday suits, obediently following the photographer’s every command. Imagine 5000 people with their clothes off, doing as you please. Wicked! All in the name of art, of course. The photo-shoot was commissioned by the committee in charge of the ongoing gay and lesbian festival, Mardi Gras.
More noteworthy than the event itself, was the public reaction to it. This ranged from some quiet chuckles with a couple of risqué jokes thrown in, to genuine appreciation for this expression of individual freedom and choice. In general, Sydneysiders took this in their stride as something completely acceptable, even if not everyone’s cup of tea.
I have been trying to imagine the scene if someone attempted a similar project in India. What a logistical nightmare it would be! The five thousand people in the picture would be completely outnumbered by another twenty thousand trying to get a look in. Actually, things would not even get that far. The moment word got around, a couple of political parties would see a ticket to extracting their mileage for the month. They would cry hoarse about the insult to Indian culture and vow to prevent the event. They would do this without any debate on the subject or even considering the possibility that there may be nothing sexual about it. The police machinery would have to be brought into play in full force, for the event to go ahead.
There will be debates on TV about freedom of expression and how much is too much. I can just visualize Barkha Dutt moderating an animated discussion with someone like Shabana Azmi on one side and some stuffy cleric on the other. The cleric would say in a huff. “If you want to take off your clothes and do mujra in this studio, go ahead – who am I stop you?”
If a bunch of people want to get their clothes off and pose for a picture in a peaceful manner in a matter of half an hour, why waste so much airtime on it? Just get it over with and move on.
* * * * *
It’s not just the traffic in the western world that is more orderly. Even the weather-gods seems to follow a strict timetable. March 1 is officially the end of summer and the onset of autumn. True to form, overnight, the nights have become nippy, and darkness hangs around much longer in the morning.
More noteworthy than the event itself, was the public reaction to it. This ranged from some quiet chuckles with a couple of risqué jokes thrown in, to genuine appreciation for this expression of individual freedom and choice. In general, Sydneysiders took this in their stride as something completely acceptable, even if not everyone’s cup of tea.
I have been trying to imagine the scene if someone attempted a similar project in India. What a logistical nightmare it would be! The five thousand people in the picture would be completely outnumbered by another twenty thousand trying to get a look in. Actually, things would not even get that far. The moment word got around, a couple of political parties would see a ticket to extracting their mileage for the month. They would cry hoarse about the insult to Indian culture and vow to prevent the event. They would do this without any debate on the subject or even considering the possibility that there may be nothing sexual about it. The police machinery would have to be brought into play in full force, for the event to go ahead.
There will be debates on TV about freedom of expression and how much is too much. I can just visualize Barkha Dutt moderating an animated discussion with someone like Shabana Azmi on one side and some stuffy cleric on the other. The cleric would say in a huff. “If you want to take off your clothes and do mujra in this studio, go ahead – who am I stop you?”
If a bunch of people want to get their clothes off and pose for a picture in a peaceful manner in a matter of half an hour, why waste so much airtime on it? Just get it over with and move on.
* * * * *
It’s not just the traffic in the western world that is more orderly. Even the weather-gods seems to follow a strict timetable. March 1 is officially the end of summer and the onset of autumn. True to form, overnight, the nights have become nippy, and darkness hangs around much longer in the morning.
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