Night

I envy the stillness of the night

The quietness it brings in its wake

The silver moonlight illuminating the dark sky

The billion stars dancing in a never-ending ocean

It is a sight to behold, isn't it?

As I gaze at it

I get an epiphany

You and I are made of same atoms and molecules

You and I are part of one big universe

You and I are the result of a random chance

You and I have been made for a purpose

You and I have been one since the beginning of time

Yet, as the dawn arrives at horizon

It brings noise and differences in its wake

You and I are no longer part of one big universe

You and I are now made of illusory things

You and I are now divided by the color of our skin

You and I are now divided by location on the planet we were born at

You and I are now divided by the money and status

You and I are now divided by false sense of ego

You and I are now divided by self-invented parallel universes

Therefore, I envy the night

As it is the only wormhole that coalesces our universes.

Emotions

I am very emotional they say

I am weak they say

I have mood swings they say

I am unpredictable and rash they say

I say to them you are dead inside

You don't have a heart inside

To be emotional is to be human

I pity for your unemotional shallow existences

Always trying to find fleeting happiness in emotionless things

Calculating every move in hope of control on future

Controlling future in this random world is like trying to find water in a desert

I say to them don't push your false ideals and expectations onto others

Not everyone is driven by money, power or status

Some people are driven by emotions, moral values and authenticity

Stop trying to fit every square peg in a round hole

Stop trying to shatter the authenticity of few those who remain

Stop trying to kill the curious cat in hope of making it a sheep

How do you live with yourself I asked

Knowing your authenticity died a bit further today

Can you feel your soul inside or is it just the hollow body that has remained? 

Life Train

My life train is passing through

A long dark tunnel at the moment

However, I do see a bright shining light at the end of this tunnel

Ready to embrace me with open arms

Telling me to make the turn

It says softly in my ear

Just let go of this station

You have many more stations to visit

You have many other trains to cross

Some of those might be on the wrong track

Use the railroad switch to guide them

Wouldn't it be the most meaningful thing, it asked?

I replied hesitatingly

I do loathe the station but is quite safe

I acknowledge the nobility in guiding others

But asked what if I end up at the wrong station?

With a wide smile on it's face, it said

Just listen closely to your internal train whistle

And you will never disembark at the wrong station

Social Masks

As I logged in to my Facebook account

I contemplated which mask to put on this time

What should I write to garner appraisal and validation of friends 

Should I go with an inconvenient truth or a convenient lie, I contemplated

Then I remembered people don't want to hear truth as rightly quoted by Nietzche

It might destroy their illusions and nobody wants that

In the end, as always settled with a convenient lie reassuring accepted beliefs

However, deep down I am tired of conforming

Maybe some other day I thought when I will cross the Valley of Despair

Propaganda

Propaganda

There is something interesting about this word, isn’t it?

It does require some recognition and fan-following

Since, this word has single handedly changed histories

A lot of nations have been a victim of it in the past

And a lot already on the verge of it

A lot of smart people have been fooled by it

And a lot continue to get fooled

A lot of innocent lives have been changed and destroyed by it

And a lot continue to

 

It is the favorite tool of those in power

To control those beneath them

Historically, different mediums have been used

Though, mediums may have changed now 

But the principle and tools remains the same

The farce of a catchy slogan

The exploitation of the crisis to gain power

The repeated dose of factual incorrection, lies and distortion of truth

The demand of unfazed obedience in the name of nationalism

The systematic crushing of all oppositions and criticism

The leader being described as a Übermensch

The finding of a perfect scapegoat for all inadequacies and problems

The meticulous spreading of racial and religious extremism

The taking over of pillars of democracy and constitution

It looks all too very familiar, doesn’t it?

It might be happening right under your nose

Yet you will remain unaware of it

It usually has a cunning disguise of prosperity

“History repeats itself” has been said by many famous philosophers and writers

But we don’t tend to learn from it 

Discarding history as the thing of past

Going towards the future naively

We do realize our mistake in the end

But usually it comes at a great cost and little too late

In the end, this quote by George Bernard Shaw perfectly summarizes the notion

“If history repeats itself 

And the unexpected always happens

How incapable must 

Man be of learning from experience”

Abyss

In this crowd of people

I have lost myself somewhere

When I looked in the mirror

I found someone else standing

When I searched

I found no traces of my being

How did I end up like this, I wondered

But found no answer

How long can I keep going like this I questioned

Still found no answer

I have been living like it is a presentation 

That doesn't impress myself

What if I die tomorrow

Will I be happy with what I achieved or regret not living fully, I wondered

There was a voice inside trying to say something

But alas I have long forgotten how to hear it

Now I am just waiting in this abyss

Waiting for someone to pull me up

Abyss has started to stare back at me 

Music

As the clock is about to strike 5 am

I am still pondering on what to write about 

There are so many thoughts and topics jumbling up in my mind 

They are eagerly waiting for their chance to be released from the prison 

Having been imprisoned for far too long 

They ask me in a soft voice 

How much longer? 

I assured them not very long 

Then I felt the melodious sound wave hitting my soul 

It was coming from the guitar strings of Jimi Hendrix on my speaker 

And then I instantly decided 

Music it is your turn to go first

It asked me hesitatingly, what should I say

I smiled and said, just tell them that

You are the water for a thirsty mind

You are the physician for a wounded soul

You are the mirror to one's inner self

You are the language not of words but emotions

Which when spoken opens up

Even the tightly shut heart

I said, I don't know about God

But you are indeed omnipresent

In the babbling of a brook

In the chirping of birds

In the dripping of rain

In the thunder of lightning flash

In the stillness of night

In the cry of a baby

You don't discriminate among your followers

You don't care about their gender, race, caste, religion and wealth

You are the harbinger of peace in this chaotic world

You give hopes to the downtrodden

You are the shining beacon among darkness

You give reason to the human existence

If I need to follow a religion, I will follow you

Without you life would definitely be a huge mistake

Free Will, Purpose and Money

I have wondered this countless times in my mind

Do we really have a free will?

Or are we just prisoners of fate, circumstances and time?

Are we like a fish trapped in water?

Which doesn't seem to be able to see beyond its perceived reality

If everything is predestined

Then what is our purpose?

Is it money, status, fame, to love, to procreate?

Or we are here just to fart around as Kurt Vonnegut claimed

If it is not predestined

Then why do we choose to fake over being authentic?

Then why do we choose to be in shackles over being free?

Then why do we choose competition over cooperation?

Then why do we choose to lie over speaking the truth?

Then why do we choose things over people?

Then why do we choose hatred over love?

Then why do we choose apathy over empathy?

Then why do we choose war over peace?

Then why do we choose blind faith over critical questioning?

Then why do we choose money over humans?

Let's talk about money if we dare to

Isn't money just a social construct created by us?

Our species predates money

It is not an absolute reality like nature

In a way, aren't we our own en-slavers?

Haven't we created our own carrot to run after?

Haven't we created our own simulation?

But then it begs the question

Why did we do it?

My best guess is we were bored of emptiness and meaninglessness of our existence

It takes effort to find meaning and purpose

In this vast universe born out of nothingness

We got tired of exploration and settled for an easy fix-up

We were hurt to know we are not the center of the universe

Our inflated egos couldn't fathom it

Instead of admiring being part of something bigger than us

Instead of seeing the bigger picture

We settled for shifting the center

Created our own origin and coordinate system

We designed our own beliefs and rules

We designed right and wrong

We designed a society of control and exploitation

We designed things and ways to control 

We designed divisions of race, color, religion, caste, border

With money as the big carrot 

A reward for our unfazed obedience

While disobedience treated with contempt and punishment

Sadly, it is not possible to take the reward to afterlife if there is such thing

In the end

Again it will take effort and intent to admit our wrongness and mistakes

If we dare to pause, think and will

Then only we can envision a better world

A world based on empathy and compassion

A world based on love and cooperation

A world based on truth and peace

A world of exploration

A world in the arms of nature

A world devoid of oppressive rules and divisions

A world for everyone not just a few

A world where we are truly free

A world which we will be truly proud of

A world with a higher purpose

Then again we would have to believe that we have free will for it

And I leave it to you to answer the question that is

Do we have free will?