Passion

The terrace offers a welcome solitude, broken only by the drone of planes passing overhead – a little too frequent for my liking. The cool, autumn breeze and the solitary darkness here are both missing in the street below. Light from a single street-lamp falls on the road, scattered through the foliage of the encircling trees – it plays tricks with the shadow of the occasional passer-by. And dancing to the flames of the lone street-lamp are scores of moths. They flitter in a frenzy now; most will be dead tomorrow, consumed by the very flames they desire so fervidly.

I am glad we, humans, have no such natural instincts to keep us bound and unable to explore. Free of such particular temperament that would lead us to a sure doom. But are we really?
What must it be like to burn in passion – to pledge it your very being and in turn be consumed by it… I wonder.

The Choices We Make

It all starts quite normally: a fascination for the foamy crests, forming and breaking and forming once again. It brings to mind the mariners of yore or even the present day surfers as they ride the tempestuous waves. And so grows a desire, albeit modest, to take a dip in those raging waters, to feel the sand being swept away from under one’s toes – nothing unusual about all these. On the shore, these waves seem so lovely and gentle – their roar subdued, crashing away harmlessly on the sandy coast. That is until, you accept their invitation and go deeper into their territory. There you feel their might and their unbridled roar. As the land slips away from underneath your feet, so does your sense of security. Those ‘harmless’ waves now have you under their power; buffeting you kindly one moment and tossing you around like a rag-doll figure the very next. Yet, there still remains a belief that you are very much in control and so you venture deeper. And it is there you catch the sight of a swelling giant moving silently your way. It evokes a response: it is that of awe and fear. Something inside you screams for the shore. But don’t give in just yet. Stay. Experience the thrill. And if you survive, which you quite often will, you would have lived a moment.

Life is immeasurable. Some do it in days, others in moments and no one can tell for sure whether a really old man in his peaceful death was a happier man than the guy who went out risking everything for what he loved the most. It’s all about the choices we make. It always has been. But more importantly, it’s about being happy with our share of choices through the lifetime.

Where the Mind is Without Fear

I have always found myself intrigued by theories like the Domino Effect or the Butterfly Effect and their manifestations. They have always been very fascinating; their demonstrations often pleasing to the eye. When I think about it, a large part of Dussehra’s charm was in its customary burning of the effigies of Ravana and Co. How a small fire would grow on to consume the grand constructs. Everything around us seems so big when we are kids; those structures, nevertheless, were enormous by any standards. And yet to watch them perish in flames that started off as a mere fire-cracker….
It is the idea of how a seemingly small, insignificant action can have outcomes entirely unexpected. So it is with life. Every action of ours has a consequence, which in turn is a product of our thoughts. Knowing this, can we ever let our minds wander? And if not, how do we then dare to think beyond the conventional?