The concept of freedom

Freedom from fear is the freedom

I claim for you my motherland!

Freedom from the burden of the ages, bending your head,

breaking your back, blinding your eyes to the beckoning

call of the future;

Freedom from the shackles of slumber wherewith

you fasten yourself in night's stillness,

mistrusting the star that speaks of truth's adventurous paths;

freedom from the anarchy of destiny

whole sails are weakly yielded to the blind uncertain winds,

and the helm to a hand ever rigid and cold as death.

Freedom from the insult of dwelling in a puppet's world,

where movements are started through brainless wires,

repeated through mindless habits,

where figures wait with patience and obedience for the

master of show,

to be stirred into a mimicry of life.

Rabindranath Tagore

“People like Bal Thackarey are born and die daily and one should not observe a bandh for that.”

Does this remind you of something? Sadly this is not the first instance of it and even more grimly, wont be the last one. However, it is certainly the one to make it to the headlines in recent past.  

This post is inspired from a host of recent uproars in India and elsewhere, wherein small and large things, here and there, keep offending people for reason or lack of it. It’s like they are looking for an excuse to get offended. Taking offence is the new cool now days. I think, even if not entirely on the big stage, but nearby us, we know people who are just looking for a pretext to get offended. But this post Is not about them. I am not going to waste a blog entry on such people. But this entry is about freedom and how I perceive it. (If you do get offended by this post, then it has served its purpose. :D) 

What is Freedom? I think I cannot explain it in anyway better than already done by the Nobel laureate in the majestic lines above. However, sadly that is not what freedom stands for now days.

I think in a free country, an individual should get enough opportunity to exercise his individuality and to grow into his distinct identity. This means he should have the freedom to choose what he should read, write, watch, listen and say unless he is intruding into someone’s personal space. That is a broad and subjective definition, you say?  Well, not really. Think about it. I can write anything and everything I wish to convey via this blog and if you don’t like what I write, you can always skip it. However, if I am making any baseless claims that explicitly concern you (and only you) and I have no concrete proof of it, this means I am intruding in your personal space and you have the right to feel aggrieved about it. So what would you do? Come and talk directly to me, we can settle our differences and a common consensus can be reached. If I don’t retract my stance, you can call a small group meeting where other people can jump in with their opinion too and might convince me. Or you for that matter :P. Still unsatisfied this can be settled on a bigger stage, say a bigger gathering or last but not the least, serve me with a legal notice or a defamation suit. Alternatively, you could start with burning my effigy in public and have a rally or a procession against me, without doing any of the above, if you are in India, that is. Small matter if the objection is valid or invalid, you will have those fifteen minutes of fame.

“

The best way not to be offended by a book is to close the book.

 -Salman Rushdie

”

However, why do we get offended? Are we so short of tolerance, so boosted in our ego or so insecure that anything anywhere is viewed as intruding our personal space? This becomes even more asinine when there are objections over the movie’s content. If a central regulatory authority has passed it, that has deemed it viewable for those who want to view it, why would others go ahead and decide that it should be banned because it offended them? It is perplexing. As an individual, I am entitled to make my own choices and want to do so rather than someone else making the decision based on his whims and idiosyncratic tendencies. If a book offends you, don’t read it. Don’t like a movie, stop watching it. And so on.

“

People always make the mistake of thinking art is created for them. But really, art is a private language for sophisticates to congratulate themselves on their superiority to the rest of the world.

-Bill Watterson (Calvin and Hobbes)

”

I believe that to grow as a society, as a civilization and as a culture, we need to be tolerant enough so that others living here can express themselves freely.  We aim to be a utopian society but are behaving like a dysfunctional one. To understand that the world does not begin or end around us, and that other people also have their freedom to articulate what they feel and think, is a primary requirement for each of us out there.

In addition, we must be sensible enough not to respond to people who try to provoke others into these rallies and demonstrations too. If someone is offended, his peers must calm him down. Well, I am drifting onto the mob-mentality but that a topic for another day and another entry. 

Please do give me your feedback in comments. Signing off with another poem obtained with a generous web search.

 Freedom Of Speech

Please, don't chastise or stone me,

Or force me into a fiery grave.

Instead, let me present my views freely

To those who are steadfast and brave.

Let my words echo across the land,

A right that we value and hold so dear.

May my words be uttered without reprimand,

Speaking emphatically free from fear.

Joseph T. Renaldi

The Road Not Taken!

A few lines from one of my favourite poems of the childhood:

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

“I - What?” Is that what you ask?

 Naturally, unlike the way this poem ends, I took the one already walked upon. I am no Robert Frost, and had enough doubts in my head to risk everything for what I wanted(still want) to do.  Where did those doubts come from? Well, for a start, my own mind, because I could never stick to doing something for long enough! This, in conjunction with my parents, relatives and other society members who always thought that a well-paying job is what I should be doing, was what propelled me to take the easy way out. I say easy way out because of the lack of struggle I endured by walking upon a clear(er) path. The path was already paved, and I just needed to follow in the footsteps. ( Read JEE -> 4 years of IIT-> a well-paying but inversely satisfying job->and here I am).   “When you don’t struggle for it, you never realize its worth”. True that. But  I realize what it might be for some people but what can I say, not for me, eh?  However, easily put, I had the decision taken for me by people around me. More so, when I needed support and sound advice, I had a decision waiting for me.

However, this is not a rant. I never rant. Trust me on that. Ok Sometimes I do, but this is not one of them. As I already said, this blog has to be about me, and not to mention only me.  I will not blame anyone because ultimately I am responsible for what my actions are and whatever happens to my life. Somewhere, sometime it was I, who lacked the capability or the courage to take a resolute stand and convey what I really thought to the world. (See, exactly what I am doing! Though started a bit late, but never mind! J )

As I grew up, I have always thought about what I want to do with my life, something everyone must have done, I assume. I explored various fields, tried to enjoy them, if not abandon them and move on! However, whenever in deep thought I have always found myself coming up with something definite, if not concrete, that I want to do in my life. "Doing something which makes me feel really good than something that makes people nearby me proud." as my profile defines it. It looks such a simple sentence, and doesn’t lead anywhere, but still that’s the barometer of anything I am or was planning to do.

I started like the way most of people do in recent times. Worked hard in school, got good grades, prepared for JEE, cleared, went to IIT, negotiated (tolerated would be more precise) my way through the system, graduated in four years and ended up with a nice paying and respected job (read IT job. Respected in India means well paid, mostly.). In short, I did everything a guy of my stature was expected to do and nothing I really wanted to do. And now, in this phase of self-realization that it should not have turned out this way, I think I am stuck in a place I don’t want to be in, in a job I never wanted to do, and with people I never intended to be with, living a pretentious life, I never wanted to be associated with.

What I want to do then? I actually feel good when I am making a positive difference in the society I live in. Idealistic and impractical you say? Never mind that but it’s too early for you to judge! My definition of difference? Doing something that shows a marked effect on the contemporary society. Be it in science, social work, journalism, army, politics, economics or whatever. I want to be remembered for more than being a “run of the mill” engineer,(Nobody remembers them, nevertheless) something more than what is being expected of a normal IIT grad nowadays, which ironically was the initial purpose of setting up of IITs.

When I am so inclined and so clear in my ideology why am I not doing it? “I should simply walk away from something that no longer interests me, no longer helps me grow or make me feel happy” and instead just drop everything in the blink of an eye and set out to do whatever I want. Right? But here is the catch. (Well it was kinda expected) Simply put, I lack the courage and the strength to do so. This answer is more complex than a simple statement.

I have been brought up in an environment where security in life is paramount. So much that even the stream of life is pre-determined. Your mind is drilled with the idea of working towards securing the future. Unfortunately, due to whatever reasons, a tiny part of this mentality has rubbed onto me as well. These thoughts have created enough doubt in my mind not to pursue that on the drop of a hat. Moreover, I have had bad experiences with impulsive decisions and that threatens to show up in this endeavour too. I want to be sure that I have an absolute desire and hunger to do this and won’t abandon it like I have done with many activities before. Lastly I want to end up in a position that the failures won’t affect me destructively. Call it fear or whatever but I guess that’s how I live by and it works for me.

However, that is not to say that I am not preparing myself for that ultimate goal. I am working towards it in an organised way- consciously reforming myself, honing my skills and learning new things every day. Practically, I cannot make decisions based on passion itself. I need something concrete to back myself up. I need to gain professional world experience to turn to in times of adversity. It’s true that we should take risks but only when we are in a position to do so. I am slowly but strongly building those foundations of contacts, experience and expertise.

Of course, when I tell people this is what I want to do, all of them are like, “Nah! That’s impossible”, “only a lucky few are able to do what they like doing”, “you are totally screwed if it doesn’t pan out correctly”. I love proving people wrong about certain things and this is certainly one of them. Maybe in coming 4-5 years I might be able to shift onto the “road less travelled” having formed a bridge connecting the two of them. Hoping for the best!

P.S. do comment what you think.

The first Post

This time I wont be complaining about anything. I would concentrate on the factors which drive my decisions. A thorough and analytical look at the philanthropic philosophical  inner side of the mirror at constant odds with the practical ruthless and self-centered image visible to the world, this blog might be able to bring out my ideology out in the open as no one, barring a selected few know it!

Of course, its far too easy to talk than to act! That is true for anyone and everyone! But I believe that thinking about this is at least a start. A beginning. And as they say "A good beginning is half the job done ;)" (See I started doing it here itself) . To make the beginning as good as we want is up to us, atleast partially.  This is my way of putting that thought into action, in a way I would be most comfortable with.

This time, though I already have a previous blog, I still feel like an infant with no idea how to do the above said thing, but, at the same time, the excitement of venturing into an entirely new unfamiliar domain and self belief that I can achieve what I want!

This blog would consist of a few short-stories here and there but it would mostly be my thought-process more than anything.  

And who knows, this blog could turn into next hottest thing on the web! right?