Amit Goes Blogging

At times I feel I am one with Buddha. Honestly speaking, Buddha and I are cut from the same cloth, only separated by time. It must be clear to you that I am a fool. But,.. enlightened? Is it possible for anything short of enlightenment to realize one is a fool! The awakened one is addressed as Buddha. It's an honorific title that marks his victory over self-ignorance. And, what are the traits of Buddha? It would serve our practical interests to define him for the modern times rather than eulogising his place in a historical backdrop. How would Buddha conduct himself in a world that's constantly introducing us to a new lifestyle against the times where one cultural pattern outlived many generations. Does Buddha have an answer to erratic lifestyles we can't help adopting? Or, he answers only to a period where faith is an inheritance from past and to tend to ethics an honoured calling? Buddhahood is an ever existing possibility. This time it is expressing itself through this...

Happiness is not always a result of our efforts. Most of it passes by like people scurrying past us. Happiness is not an achievement, it is an endowment unto all who have been chosen by existence to live and breathe. It does not proceed from either competition or personal ambition. It is like sunshine; move out of your home and you are basking in its warmth. And, our lives are filled with numerous occurrences that fill us with joy and take us away from our preoccupation with worries. The anxieties of the work-a-day world not only disrupt our leisure but also disturb our sleep. Mornings that wake me up fresh from an undisturbed sleep are deeply satisfying. The world seems awash in tranquility and nature at peace with herself. The twilight on the horizon, the chirping of birds and the tinkling of pots at the water tap are so very soothing. And, when I have a pleasant bowel movement clearing it all in one sitting, it betokens an auspicious day ahead! I am getting late for my office, where...

Blessings are not valued until they are lost. You realise this once you offer the fun and freedom of bachelorhood at the altars of marriage. The pleasure of cohabitation doesn't multiply on receiving a social sanction. Rather, with monogamy as the order of the day, it gets monotonous and obligatory. When the ore of mutual love heats up in the furnace of marriage, it is love that first vaporises into thin air leaving only the scum of regret. Either a hellish lives of compromises or groaning under a broken marriage is the fate of all married couples. And, begetting children only adds to their woes. I am certain of a heaven on the other side of the grave and do not wish to settle on an apology for it in this life. To me, marriage is to bring your weakness home, make her sit next to you and give her away your 'better half'. If my wife dumps all the garbage into the neighbour's compound, I got to support her and fight her case. Our children are the only innocent ones,...

We are living in times of unprecedented change. The change is quite perceptible in the field of technology. Internet, mobile phones, digital cameras and gizmos that assimilate the features of each of those have flooded Indian markets. They have improved the quality of our life marking a departure from the encumbrances of the previous decades. Also noticeable is the pace at which these inventions invade our lives and become a part of us. We seem to share the same necessity that drove the scientists who invented them. But, we do not take into account the accidental misuse these technological masterpieces and their applications are put to. Look at the adolescents wielding these gizmos and you will witness the havoc they have created in their lives. Even I am guilty of this abuse. I remember being part of the chatting fixation that had taken youngsters by storm. Cyber cafes were crowded with boys and girls who found chatting an economical way of making new friends. Terminals were booked ...

I am told hard work pays. You may wonder - haven't I verified this overfamiliar statement in my quarter lifespan? Hard work is when you put untiring efforts towards a result that would accrue in some distant future. I am a stranger to such effort. My efforts have always been of the nature of hardships as they were contemplated after I had stepped into hot waters and the time to act was running out. I was always managing more than two things. The other front is socialising, one that I find too demanding. The warmth I naturally possess doesn't raise questions about my social instincts, atleast, others can't see through it. But, the aversion still exists. "I love humanity - it's people I can't stand." This is due to the inanity I meet in people. But, for the sake of worldly benefits one derives out of social networking, I need to put up with this social practice. The initial interest I evince in a female is also hormonally dictated. I am hard pressed to appea...

Romanced kicked off under my patronage, later overstepped its bounds and carried me away. This self-proclaimed philosopher wasn't a respectable match for its sanguine charms and the readiness with which I fell in love is a warning unto those who take pride in their stoicism. It is said one may revive from the effects of the cup after a night's sleep, but one who is smitten by the cupbearer will not rise till the day of judgement! I always had just three days on my calendar for renewing our love. The gap between my visits increased from a few months to years at an average of one visit per year. I had to make the most of these three days. A lot that wasn't possible on phone (please hold your imagination) had to be made up. It took me not less than 36 hours to reach the hotel. I felt I was on a mission that expected me to overlook the discomfort and the expenses it entailed. All that mattered was to present myself before my honey as soon as possible. I always lodged at the sam...

My friend had asked me this question. This dilemma is typical of Indian boys and girls who respect conservative sentiment and find it hard to bridge tradition and modernity. Perhaps, the love quotient in his life had grown potent! I wrote: If you are able to justify both your ‘loves’ then you are not fooling either of them. Just as loving your mother is not fooling your father, similar is the case with loving a girl. 'Love rebounds as love. Love is the most natural reaction to love.' One love is not antagonistic to the other. Love perpetuates love. We do not know how to receive this gift. Anything that touches us takes a tinge of our imperfection and the greatest imperfection is that we are split. There are various personalities with different ideologies existing simultaneously within. Each is potent at some level or other. At the intellectual level we are a kind who is quite inconsistent with the one at the mental level. The mental person is different from the physically insti...

It's the day of the interview. The whole week I was running to friends, to libraries; and, consulting the experienced to guide me through the interview process and FAQs. I wake up quite early today as I have scheduled one full hour for a heart to heart talk with the Almighty to present my case with such justification as should make Him see my point if He had willed otherwise. All my friends wish me luck and set out to their offices putting me on oath that I shall throw a party in the evening. I am ironing out the last wrinkle on the shirt when the phone rings. It's my beloved. "A good omen!" I tell myself. Even mother has pledged that my first salary will be given partly in charity, partly in feeding the poor and the rest in paying the first installment of the education loan. My aged father is looking forward to exult over my achievement, the pleasure I denied him all through my academic career. Now, my girlfriend earnestly wishes I get this job so that I stand a good...

(Playing devil's advocate here!) Lust is the vigour and the vitality in us. There is no picture as invigorating as two bodies entwined in naked embrace in the most engaged contact. The gross is so engrossing, so titillating, so satisfying! It must be lust for which makes the spirit crave a body. How could one withstand lust when it takes hold of one's heart: one may love it, hate it, but cannot neglect it. This body love is native to our instinct, drawing ready sustenance from our mind and body. It springs from deep within like a coiled spring banishing every other thought from the mental horizon. When it reigns, it reigns supreme. Strange this wonderful human capacity has been associated with meanings ungodly. Due to our lopsided understanding of it, lust invariably follows atonement. This has created a race of crippled spirits low on self-esteem. We fritter away our emotional energy in doling out morality from a titled balance of conscience. A mental incontinence holds u...

We had a robust black and white television set from ECTV. It came with a wooden cabinet and shutters  drawn horizontally from either end. The TV had four knobs for volume, brightness, contrast, and tuning. To switch channels, we had a knob that moved through 12 slots. The remote was not an in thing; for, only one channel was aired then. And, when DD Metro broadened the choice, the knob got twisted so much that it crossed its tolerance and fell apart. After that we started using nose-plier to switch channels. The TV remained with us for 16 years. My father is a disciplinarian. The reason he bought us TV was every Sunday we brothers flocked to a house in the neighbourhood to watch TV. One day, we kids were denied entry. This cut my father to the quick. By the following Sunday, father had his honour and we had our new TV set. But, it's not a very pleasant story after this. As if the shutter wasn't a secure child lock, my father draped the TV with a heavy cover. The TV r...