Faith

One of the surest places to find spirituality is not some Ashram in some god forsaken corner on a hill, not some magnanimous marble temple, not some cult gathering where people are chanting and you are poking a hot candle your hand !

It's in that dingy dark corner of a bar where some half drunk uncle is trying to impress a random chic with his totally lost philosophy.

That't the thing with girls, when they listen, they're probably better listeners than that old bartender in some irish pub where you find same people people sitting on the seats for last 80 years or so !

Anyways, back to the half drunk uncle, I overheard him bragging something about "FAITH" to my friend Tanya from London!

Thing with Tanya is, she is a lot into spirituality and all that.....and she is hauntingly beautiful. 

So the moment "discloses" her ardent fervor for spirituality [or rather unleashes it ...] , All the men around her turn into Buddha, Jesus, Krishna, Osho,crammed into a Yoga drink with a dash of zen and meditation in it :l 

So the uncles goes on, " Tanyaaaa, end of the daaayyyyy....[pls note the terrible Punjaabi fake accent with extreme slur]...Tanyaaa...Tanyaa jiiiii......end of the days, it iz all about the faith u know......You know, this iPhone for instance, you have this because you have faith ji, u will stay with it. I also have faith.......on my dog. Thats why i never subscribe newspapers ji.......he always steals it from neighbours you see.....I HAVE TRAINED IT MYSELF PERSONALLY Tanya Ji ...."

Tanya , being the good gal that she is, keeps listening. 

And while driving back, I just happened to ask

Knight:  "Tanya, you really think it's all about faith?"
Tanya:  "What?"
Knight: "I mean, isn't faith something like blind trust? One gets stuck in it? No?"
Tanya: " Just coz I didn't puke on his face and didnt gauge out his eyes with a fork doesnt mean I wont do the same with yours "
[ giving "Oh-FUK yea-I-am-Uma Fukin Thurman for KILL BILL-and YOU are BILL" Looks  ]

Not so good a gal after all ...THis Tanya...Ehh??

Analyzing the odds, grasping the look on her face and gauging the sincerity of her threat, I decided to shut up and keep driving.I was scared. Petrified, I think is a better word.
=======================================================
But then mind is such a thought slut you see, You just can't stop it ........
Faith, is one of the most fucked up concepts I've ever come across in my life.

You have faith, and you cling on to it. No One questions it, its a tool to make fools blind. Faith in the garb of religion has been used since times immemorial to control and dominate the societies.

It's like being that frog happily living in ignorance......

He has faith on his world.

But then, its nothing else but faith which helps countless number of people to balance and manage their morals and not indulge into deeds which are considered deplorable and evil by others. It's about the balance.

What is it then? This this thing about faith?

.

"If you bring forth what is within you,
what you bring forth will save you.
If you do not bring forth what is within you,
what you do not bring forth will destroy you. "

-Gnostic Christ

One of the conditions which the 5 year neighbour kid kept for not pelling stones on me everytime I stepped out of my car was to "help" him out in his maths homework. Help basically implies that I sit and do his homework while he makes strange stone structure with the 4 year old girl next door.

So while I sat in one corner completing my share of work to attain my freedom, I saw that 5 year olds have the chapter called "Average" in their maths book.

Problem 1] There are two people weighing 56 Kgs and 44 Kgs respectively. What is  the average?
Problem 2] If the 56 Kgs guy is replaced by 96 Kgs, by how much has the average changed?

As I hand over the book and thank the kid for sparing me today requesting him not to include my name in his daily satanic rituals, I start thinking deep!

"Average". 

This word starts appearing in our lives earlier than you can ever imagine. It starts dominating our lives in ways more than we can ever imagine.
It's this average which determines the direction of our lives. Average represents mediocrity. Minimum departure from the routine. Minimal risk. Perseverance to maximize what we can while we still try to stay in the average!

Let me put it this way. You can divide Life's path in two basic directions. One path is of the "Average". Study, get a job, do well, try to do better, get married, get kids, take mortgage, spend your life paying it, build a decent "average" life, Die.

The average path represents minimal risks. But the most important thing to notice is that there is an "upper limit" to your achievements. You can be working in the office doing basic paper work, be an investment banker.  But there is a limit to the achievements which can happen to you. Ever heard of a front desk receptionist who changed the world? No matter how well she does her work and even if she spends her life working as an ideal employee, her contribution will make but a small difference to the organization as a whole.

Law of averages you see, even if weight of one sample size increases remarkably, the over effect on the average of the group is highly diluted.

Average life consists of professions and jobs which have an upper limit to success, one becomes a part of the crowd in it and works his life off. There are very conservative limits to the amount of success on can achieve here , but then plus side is that it offers minimal risks.

Then there is the other path which is "Extreme". Maximum risks, but no limit to the success you can achieve.
Lets do an exercise, write down names of 5 most successful and famous people which come to you mind immediately.  

1. .
2. .
3. .
4. .
5. .

Who are these people? Are they bankers? Engineers? Doctors in some fancy hospitals? Accountants? Lawyers?

They'll never be one of those. They'll be Politicians, Leaders, Artists, Actors, Authors etc.

Get the point?


"If you bring forth what is within you,
what you bring forth will save you.
If you do not bring forth what is within you,
what you do not bring forth will destroy you. "

The Purple Heart

Bruised and battered, scarred mind and eyes sore, 


medals clink and crutches creek as he bangs the door.


"I'm sorry young man" comes the answer


She doesn't live here anymore!

The Soldier

Standing in lines, we were raised to follow

Chewed and thrown away like figs, we rot cursed and hollow.

The evening sun bleeds red, our veins are filthy drains

Our hearts hacked to pieces, our minds fettered in chains

My life despises me, death calls me a coward

My dreams flay me, Death angels please come forward

  

The pity of war I fight , the worth of blood I shed

The daemons haunt my senses, my soul they often behead

I smell blood, and I see smoke

I feel blood and I feel smoke

Shock, grief and pain I cause

I’m cursed and sans the pause

I see blood and I see smoke

I drink blood and I breathe smoke

[The entry was result of one of those legendary poetry battles with Ninja Talented  Rohini Singh. I thank her for the exceptional contribution.One of the posts which makes the blog "less" quixotic]

In my closet after the war
I open one eye and look at you scar
I shut the door again, return to my chocolate bar
In my closet after the war
I wish I left, became a star