Religion

It's been long since my last post as pointed out by a fellow classmate, that is why I wanted this to be a serious post. One surrounding all of us, slowly tightening its hold on us to a point where we choke to death or give in.

Religion. What is it? Hinduism? Islam? Chrishtiantiy? Jainism? Sikhism? Wrong. Religion is what creeps in where there is no faith. All gods are the same with a different physical appearence and name. There are 330 million indian gods according to popular belief. 330 million. When you read this post, do not see my name. I do not want this to be viewed as a post with religion bias because this is what this post speaks about. Name shows religion and religion shows bias. If you want to see a name try Ram Khan. It could be either of the 2 religions or a third one but none definitely.

Religion creates divide. Over 3,000 years ago in India, there were no Hindu-Muslim wars, there were religion wars between Shiv and Vishnu the Indian gods. Then the war got a new name called 'Religion". A spark fused by the Britishers to disrupt the 300 years of harmony between the 2 religions. A fire started by them, a fire that every soul in these 2 countries is still burning in. We have but a fire in us, fire giving light to rage which comes out in the name of religion and war. Be it the 84' riots or a common dispute, the cause will forever be the one little fuse lighted by the caniving britishers.

Religion is not something that we as teens or anyone will ever fully understand because it is a thing that we are conditioned to believe in before we learned our names. Since toddlers we are told "This is OUR religion, that one is THEIR'S. This is our god, that one is their's." The day this OUR and THEIR stops, there will be no war, there will be a state of perfect balance that will never be disrupted.

You want peace? Stop teaching people about religion being bad, start teaching them about individuals being bad. There will be a day when we will all be viewed with identities of our own and discriminated against based on our actions and not our names.

The death of 3,600 americans in the attacks of 9/11 were avenged by 90% of the population of Afghanistan being wiped out. Seem fair? The sin of 14 (approx) terrorists, bourn by 100 million innocent souls of Afghanistan because their religion was the same!? Hitler killed 11 million jews, Japanese killed over 12 million Chinese in the same war, the only reason the latter is overlooked is because it was not a religion-based attack. Every terrorist has a religion, every religion has terrorists but not everyone of the same religion is a terrorist.

A lady was once explaining the concept of religion to her 8 year old son. He said "People of _____ religion are bad", she slapped him and took him to his study desk. There she drew 2 people on the paper and asked him to differentiate based on their religion. he of course could not. Then she said this to him "A man is not known for his name, but for his actions. There are no people of different religions. There are only 2 kinds of peope. Good and Bad."

Maybe someday Ram Khan will be real, maybe someday riots will be a myth, maybe someday we will not be scared of sending the women in the house outside thinking they are going to war, unsure of their safe return. Maybe. Maybe there will be a day when there will be "Salaam", "Ram Ram", "Sasriyakal", there will only be one common greeting with unity being what joins them. 

Consistency

It appalls me, this consistency within people, their constant urge to not give up on the wrong things but not even attempt to do the right thing. Hilarious? Contradictory? Pitiful. The 'rules' of society say that one can do a hundred things the right way a hundred different times and it shall all be forgotten like it never happened, but a single mistake, once out of the hundred right attempts is carved in stone. The consistency of pressing a past mistake ions after it was committed and all that is denied to the person who committed the mistake is simply pitiful.

People won't ask you,"Why?", they'll come up with their own reasons because of course, everyone is ALWAYS right and the others are wrong,base their decision on it without even knowing your side of the story, label you and deny you of the basic equality that is given to each. It's more like racism and discrimination against the blacks about a century ago, where they weren't given rights, they were wronged and treated worse than objects because of their one mistake, being born a black. Seem fair? Constantly putting the talented down, to satisfy their sadistic ego is justified, right? I mean, if you make a mistake in 2013, have changed, apologized profusely and stopped others from making it too, you are still wrong, right? Isn't it? Think about it, you made a mistake, you lose the right to live, because everyone is so perfect. Shh. Don't try to revolt, or it'll be considered as your second and last mistake, standing up for yourself. Okay seriously, you make a mistake, that is your tag till the day you die. You can of course start hating people, dive into books or religion or academics or anything that tickles your fancy, but that again would be a mistake and remarks such as "What a loner!", "Idiot! Could have tried harder and maybe we would give him another chance" and "It's good. No one likes him anyway" will be passed. Your call.

On a lighter note, I think it's only fair that people are not given a second chance, it shows your hollowness, their misery and the opportunity for someone probably more fortunate, to replace them and be judged and continue the cycle. Oh well, that's life. Either way, I still think the fact that they are so consistent is simply...pitiful.

The Shattered Illusion

It has long been said that it takes years to build any thing but a single moment to tear it down brick by brick, then altogether. An Illusion is like a mirage of an oasis in the dessert, where you think it's real but deep inside, you know better. Everyone today has some illusion, it makes them strong, it makes them feel. Being unaware of the truth and continuing is an innocent mistake, knowing the truth and still continuing is a sin. Teens today know that the people they 'chill' with despise them but don't say a word about it, yet they continue to 'hang out' with the same people for various reasons. They are afraid that they will be alone once again if they side with the truth. they are afraid they won't feel needed anymore if they deny the coward life offered to them. They are afraid of being left alone and having to search for new friends again. 

It's fear that drives them to choose the wrong way of life. It's the fact that facing the truth ill not only shatter the illusion, but also them. Being unaware of the truth and ignoring it are two different things. One shows lack of awareness, the other shows a cowardly attitude. Some are genuinely unaware of the truth, some run from it. Their illusion matters more than the truth, their fake glory is greater than facts. Dr. House once said "You can tell me you put your faith in God to put you through the day, but when it comes time to cross the road, I know you look both ways" and there can be no arguments on the aptness of those words. We put all our faith in one person, to be with us forever knowing that even though there is a possibility of them actually being there for us, there is a greater possibility for them to hurt us, despite knowing this, we still look for a 'forever' in every friendship we find, every bond we strengthen. 

You know the problem with the world? There is always more than 1 way to do things. The truth isn't only what shatters illusions, words do. Words that are spoken in good humor, words that mean no harm, they are the ones that pierce right through your heart, rip your soul out and break you, brick by brick. A few words hurt more than a 1000 knives stabbing you at once. A great man once said to me "It is at the nib of your pen that your life is written" because one knows that what 1 pen can do, sometimes a 1000 swords can't. Think before you speak for you know not how much damage your words can do, you know not the hearts they can break, you know not the people they can hurt. Words that hurt you make you cautious. Things that gave you a little sense of joy earlier were the ones poisoning you. You think twice now before walking a single flight of stair. You think twice before talking to people. You think and think. That is all that you do. Think. Nothing else. That is what society reduced you to, a robot with pigeon intellect and the most advanced information. 

Let your illusion shatter, let your emotions flow, face the truth for not all of us get a second chance. Everyone deserves a second chance, you getting it just shows faith of God in you. 

The Difference

Ever looked at some individual and thought, "Damn! It must be amazing to live his life. I mean look at him, he has everything! I wish I were that lucky"? Ever wished you were in their place? Ever wished that you both could swap lives? Of course you have, every one has. Not just 1 person, but every other day you look at various people and have the same thoughts. Ever thought about how rather than being jealous you can actually be rational like civilized people usually do, by thinking about how to make your life better than just sitting and waiting for a miracle to happen or by trying to figure about what they must have lost on their way to way they are today? Of course you haven't. Why would you? Right? I mean you just want their joys and stay alienated to their troubles, their pain, their losses. Stop running from the pain, it'll catch up to you the moment you let your guard down and that pain will be twice as much as it is as of this moment. Embrace what you have, embrace all that you have gained and get inspired by people, not jealous.

Did you ever think that maybe, just maybe, your life is better than theirs? That they too look at you and wish to live your life? That they have lost too much and are hiding tears behind that ever lasting smile? You look at them and wish you had their lives, they look at themselves and wish that no one else does. Look behind the smile, you'll find a broken person tired of living a lie, a lie that is the definition of their lives, a lie that limits their lives to gatherings and parties. Frank Underwood once said "We all have our secrets you see, we wouldn't be ourselves without them" and there can be arguments on that. You don't fall because life wants to knock you out, you fall so you can get back up and win. Our secrets are what define us, our secrets make sure we choose our words carefully at all times. It is said that if you want to hear the ultimate and naked truth from someone, ask them when they are intoxicated, that way they won't be in a condition to think of ways to modify the truth. The ones who envy are also the ones who are envied.

One should always cherish the good times and respect the bad times, because without the bad times, you wouldn't know the value of your good times. The people you see, the ones you envy, the ones you wish you could be, all teach you something. They all have one thing in common, they are successful not because they are lucky and you are unlucky, but because they kept fighting and never lost hope even in times of utter despair. That is a rare quality which should be instilled in all of our lives.

Your self confidence was crushed by bullies or people whose self confidence was crushed by someone else taking out their anger on you, or because people expect too much out of you and you feel incapable of delivering. If you do not believe in your self, it is not fair to expect any different from others. No one said that that the journey to success would be easy, no one said that you would reach your destination without losing a lot on the way, no one said that you will have a happy ending, but I promise you, your journey will be fun. If it isn't, then, it isn't the end. 

The Cloud-maker

That's what they called him, ' the cloud-maker'. In the village which was plagued by various diseases caused by all sorts of insects and without any sort of medical help, people were dying at an alarming rate. One evening, as dusk approached, all the villagers gathered around a tree they believed to be sacred, they asked for nothing but a way which would save lives of their loved ones. That is when they saw him, with his fancy machines, stubble beard, strongly built body and mesmerizing conviction he put into words.

They didn't see much dense smoke following behind him, smoke that looked like clouds on the ground. Smoke which seems scenic but had something which killed the insects without harming the flora and fauna. They didn't see the pros and cons because they thought it was only meant to help them, what they didn't see was the storm coming behind the clouds. their eyes were blinded by astonishment to see what the cloud maker was actually doing. The villagers entered a war they didn't know was being fought or that they were a part of it.

The cloud maker's smoke wasn't only killing the insects, but also poisoning the air and contaminating the only source of water to the village, the small pond created by the heavy rains.The cloud maker didn't want to help the people at all, he wanted them to die a slow but fairly peaceful death so he could take the land or the aftermath of the war between him and the villagers.

He sacrificed hundreds of innocent villagers,broke their trust, all of this, for a little bit of land. No one knows what he did with the land, or who sent him, or where he went. All people know is, that he again took his machines, tipped his hat and drove off into the sunset. the cloud maker was gone. The rest as they say, is history. 

The Masks We Wear

Everyone has something to hide, their 'little secret'. A mask is defined as a covering for the face as a whole or a part of it, usually worn as a disguise to amuse or scare people or in reality, to hide something. Everyone as of today, have something to hide even from the one person who they are bound to be with forever. There isn't a big difference between a mask and a cloak, both are used to cover the truth. Everyone wears a mask of some emotion to hide the truth, if not then their mask has become their true face out of a habit. There are 7 billion people in this world and 14 billion faces.
These masks serve their purpose of hiding the truth but add to the problems of others because these masks inflict fear. One does not know which side is the mask, which side to trust, what to believe in and what to stand by?

Some mask their hideous intentions of breaking you by wearing the mask of innocence, some mask their pain behind a smile, some mask their smile behind pain to save it from being lost, some mask their desire behind doing what the society wants them to. Mahatma Gandhi once said, "It's better to show the violence in our hearts than using non-violence to cloak our impotence." One hides the truth for various reasons, I for one, hide the truth to avoid mockery, the innumerable questions, the baseless accusations, the judgments. Others hide it because they prefer solitude or not letting people in. Some just want everyone to respect their privacy. Is this what the world has come to? Disappointment masked by encouragement? Envy masked by pride? Hatred masked by roars of claps? Where one does not know what is the truth? Is this why masks were made? To make a lie their 'true' face? How is one expected to believe in love when the person he loves is with him not because she loves him back, but simply because she is afraid of losing him as a friend and has been masking the truth behind 'love'?

When it's the truth you seek and not what is in front of you, it's disappointment that you are bound to find. You can mask your greed behind ambition, your motives behind a helping hand, your wish of seeing them fall behind being there for them, but who you are will never change. When the hidden motives are out, it's you who hurts. That's the thing about masks, eventually, they fall and take friendships, relations and love with them. You know it's time to end it when you have to start relying on anything other than honesty to save the relationship.

Masks a way of hiding the truth which arises from the fear of being left or walked out on and being alone. The moment this fear is gone, so will all the lies and masks. 

Back To Reality

"Life is what happens when you are busy making plans" - John Lennon.

Have you even been out of your home for a long and relaxing holiday and missed home while you were there? I doubt it. No one does, although at some point, you do wonder about what all has changed ever since you left, I'm sure you do. What happened in the episodes of the sitcoms you missed? What were the reviews of the movies that you wanted to watch but released while you were away? What is going on with your friends? How much work will you have to do when you get back? These are a few of the common questions that spoil the famous 'holiday mood'. The way I see it, you can either worry about the big things and ruin your time off or enjoy the little things and genuinely make do with what brief moments of relaxation you were able to steal from the cruel world. Ever entered into your house after the long holiday and thought,"Ah I am back home finally, Phew"? No one does. The first thought that enters into everyone's minds is "Back to reality. Darn". So why is it this way? Some people call it 'escapism', some people call it 'being anti-social', more prominently people say "he lacks a life". I say "we people are too good for reality". Reality is what often slaps you down when you are in the skies thinking about how relaxing your holiday was. Reality is what that stops you from enjoying your holidays, because perhaps you have a lot of outstanding work. Reality is what stops you from getting too attached to things because everything does come to an end. Always. Be it holidays, stress, pain, love, happiness... it all ends.Trying to have a good time is not escapism. Being content with the tiniest of materialistic gains and not having the same tastes as everyone in your age group does not make you anti-social. Everyone is different. The uniqueness is what separates us from one another. Reality is when you make plans with a special someone after you start going out and they turn you down. Reality is when you wish to sleep for hours at en end and realize that no matter how much you sleep, you have to wake up. Reality is when the person you like is looking for a "Mr.Perfect" and ends up with the exact opposite. Reality is the thin line between being a boyfriend and a boy friend. Reality is what you return to after watching an amazing movie and feel lost. Reality is the misery you face when you are done reading a book and do not know what to do with your life anymore.

The elders always say that procrastination leads to the piling up of work which leads to failure in one or the category. Society on the other hand, has a very rigid outlook on this matter, i.e people who do their work early so they can enjoy later are "nerds" or "geeks" and the ones who keep piling it on until the last moment are "good for nothing". So what exactly is one expected to do to complete work, in the eyes of society, shall forever remain a mystery.Where the good and bad meet and where the light and darkness stand face to face, that is a 'perfect life dilemma' or as the elders cal it 'teenage'. Though we make the choices, it is eventually our choices that make us. Reality is what happens when you say "no" to drugs and "yes" to studies and yet your parents accuse you of not taking life seriously. Not that our parents do not understand us, it's our age and society that conditions them to question us. Reality is when grades attest your intelligence and your social behavior decides your capabilities and not your vision or your actual talents. One is not deemed worthy by his talents, but his reputation in society, that is how the world seems to be at the moment.

So what is reality? The curse that slams you on the ground when you are on the brink of achieving some true happiness? Or is it the blessing that keeps you on the ground so you can grow? Or is it merely The Almighty's way of adding some flavor to life? A question that we must all ponder over to get an answer. Someday and that day may never come, we will have an answer, until then it will be a curse for students procrastinating with their homework, the workforce avoiding office and a blessing for visionaries who survive in the hope of doing something, the aged people who know they are living a little owing to reality.

Misery Of The Sinner

"Forgive me", he pleaded " I know I have sinned. I know not if she has memory of it for I am eternally haunted by it, how do I ask for forgiveness for a sin she has no memory of? How do I gain peace knowing it was my sin which brought pain to her? How? Is this my punishment? To forever be in the grief of knowing that she does not know anymore?" He fell to his knees after he uttered these words, tears rolling down his cheeks, sweat on his brows and sheer pain on his face. He then kept repeating them for days and days in hopes that someday, someone would tell him what to do to find his peace, for he had all the worldly pleasures but was still poor and had all the happiness but was still miserable. Miserable and lonely, beyond contempt.

He hadn't learned to read or write, but he learned enough from the world. He wasn't smart or good looking or anything that a girl would deem as 'desirable' but he had a heart, one that was turned to stone by the ways of life and everyone around him, maybe that is why he sinned. His sin was not big enough for him to live in misery for the rest of his life, it's what came back to him that hurt the most. The words that came from those who he loved beyond words pierced his heart like arrows with a poison head. His actions led to his own demise and he himself was the cause of his pain. What he did out of pride got him to his knees, begging for mercy of the person whom he wronged. Usually people make mistakes, his mistakes made him. He was not seen for who he was, he was seen for his mistakes. His past was what defined him now, his mistakes his identity, his sins his reality and misery, his fate. When a person is shot, 2 people die, the person who got shot and the person who pulled the trigger.

There was pain in  his eyes, there was remorse in his words but he did not stop. He brought about as many smiles as he could, made people as happy as he could even at the cost of his own misery for the one smile he broke. He always said, " People tend to find peace in parties, I find my peace in books and bringing smiles and so I shall continue to do so until my debt is cleared", surprised as I was, I summed up courage and asked him "What debt are you referring to?" "The one I owe her, the sin that still haunts me" "Really? She has even forgotten about it, so has everyone, then why?", he just smiled and said, "Why? That's because whenever this topic comes up, I have to hide my face in shame, the day I do not have to hide my face is the day my debt will be cleared and I might stop helping people, until then, it's me and my peace". I could never find the courage to question him again after that, neither did I ever see him upset, he always had a little smirk on his face, even in uncertain times, but I knew he would never be the same. He had been broken enough to know how bad it hurts so he never wanted to put anyone at the receiving end of this deal called 'life'. "Everyone is in pain, some just hid it better than the others", a great actor once said that. He always hid the pain or maybe he was truly one of those unselfish beings who actually smiled after helping another. Maybe. Maybe not...

The Screaming Silence

Silence, we as students hear the word every time some fellow classmate makes a sound, every time there is some sort of disturbance but what is silence in the true sense? What is the point of silence? What is it's value? Silence can be perceived as both, a punishment as well as a blessing. For many, it's a sign of escapism, for some it's a way to retrospect, for him, it was his life. He knew the value of silence, running from it provided him with a sense of joy initially because he was afraid to face it. Then one day, he did. He was surprised as he saw the virtues of it. His fast pace life, moving from one place to another was only to avoid the silence and once he took it in, it slowed him down to an extent where he finally stopped and saw what he was leaving behind, stop and think why was he doing whatever he was doing, where was he? He found himself while searching for answers were there in his past all along, he just didn't see them. The life he had been running from, the past he was trying to avoid, it all came back in a fraction of a second. He saw his sins, his glorious past and that stopped him from repeating the same mistakes. He now knew the value of it, he embraced it, propagated it but never fought it. Retrospecting is an important part of life because it stops you from repeating your mistakes and having a better present because the past cannot be changed. He was now the lord among the thieves, the one guy with answers to most of his questions because he knew how important it was to endure silence until it finally became soothing.

Everyone has had a past, a glorious one, a miserable one, an unmentionable one perhaps, or maybe just another memory lodged somewhere at the back of their heads but it exists, it has to. A friend once asked me," Wouldn't it be better if there was no past? Wouldn't life be much happier?" It got me thinking for a while but I realized, if there is no past, there would be a new war everyday, one wouldn't know the value of happiness because there would be no misery, mistakes would happen way more often and peace would be just another textual term. The past matters because no matter how it was, good or bad, it affects who you are today. What you are today is destined to affect who you will be tomorrow, no matter what you do, the past does matter and it always will. People say that, " If men were supposed to be equal, God would not have made unequal", I say, " God just made land, we drew a line saying 'This is mine and that is yours' so why blame Lord for our mistake?" That was a mistake made by our ancestors and it affects who we are today. The values given to us will be the values we pass on to our children with a few minor changes, that will affect our future. Our past is what differentiates us from the others, Oscar Wilde once said, "Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else's opinions, their lives a mimicry and their passions a quotation", without our past, we have nothing, we are only shadows of people, weak, vulnerable, an image of someone who we aren't.

That is the viscous circle of life and cannot be treated as a joke. A joke, isn't that what everything is now? Isn't that was everyone is? Aren't morals, ethics, promises mere jokes with vivid combinations of the 26 alphabets? When the ones we look up to are the ones bending the rules for the personal gains, life tends to be a joke and rules are nothing more than words inscribed on paper. A joke is meant to make people laugh, when everybody laughs at the miserable state of the world conditions, how are you to differentiate between what is serious and what is meant to be funny? If you make a joke, you must be able to take one too, if not then do neither.

People say that over time, you get immune to the negative aspects of life like anger, pain, distortion, jealousy even, I say that you cannot get immune to them, you just learn to set your priorities right and learn what to ignore and what to look forward to. You don't stop learning when you get your Masters' Degree or when your education is officially over, you stop learning when you are able to hear the screams behind the silence, see the tears behind the eyes, see the misery behind the beauty and actually do something about it. You die not when you stop breathing, but when you give up while breathing.