live. laugh. love
As wind gushes over and the shades of each day’s sunrise-sunset rise and fall,
the looming eyes still seek for that one moment of solitude.
One complete moment of feeling alive again and understanding the meaning behind this earthly presence.
The armour of camouflage, daily concealing the buried drooping eyes and will-less limp body, feels all meaningless.
The moment when everything is at rest-deem eternally calming, yet feels totally undeserving.
To what do I owe this puzzled ramifications.
Have you ever had this feeling, that you don’t deserve the things that you can afford.
The image of two middle school kids waiting in an ice-cream parlor, just to be turned down because of insufficient funds still loom in my mind. The yearning that lingered in their naive eyes, with jarring realization hitting them hard as they walked past the door.
Life is unfair in upsetting ways. When something is a basic commodity for one person, it turns opulent for another. Just as raging tides land on the rocky shores, the feeling of experiencing such undeserved instances mold a person in an inhospitable manner.
But, in a world full of spectators, an onlooker becomes a bystander alas. They have the power to intervene, but simply choose not to, by unconsciously weighing on the options in hand. The penalty for such felony is the itching emptiness and guilt that gobble one in the middle of the night. And the irony is that, the person voluntarily feel under-control of some external imaginary duress.
All individuals, at one point of time in their life, would have felt this unexplainable uneasiness. Would this be the right time for us to address them, or, are we still searching for reasons for the tide.
Spread love. Until next time,
Hasta la vista!
Its been two long years since I wrote last.
2×365 days went by in a blink of an eye, to the point that yesterday seemed more of a part-of-tomorrow.
Things have happened to everyone.
Starting with pandemic widespread, subsequent lockdown, deaths, increased anxiety attacks, returning to the new normal and much more. Life has given its fare share to all in this accord.
Similarly, I too had a lot of phases crossed in these two years. From being a student to being unemployed, to becoming over-worked and having job shifts, I’ve seen them all and been in the lowest of my life. But, with misery comes blessings i.e. I met new people, understood old ties and came in peace with them and also learned to let go of the unresolved.
Every writer faces with a block once in a while, with some losing the purpose of their writing. I fall in the latter. I hope this long hiatus ends with this post and I give my voice a space to be heard.
Spread love,
Hasta la Vista !
Recently i came across this phrase “you used me and threw me like a tissue paper”, during an argument between two persons. That had me thinking for a very long time. Do people really use others for their very own benefit ? If yes, then doesn’t it mean that the victim has also, at one point of time, used someone else for their own ulterior motive?
Everyone have their own set of agendas and to-do-lists to fulfill at a short term and long term basis. In order to achieve a desired outcome within a desired duration of time, people inevidently ‘use’ others to reach their goals. Sometimes the exchange between the involved parties are mutual, that they primarily begin to depend upon the cost-benefit analysis gained from the exchange.
Thus, by the way we see it, relationships turn out to be something out of a business deal, where two individuals plunder one another and extract all the necessary elements for the survival and success of another. This condition prevails in case of favourable exchange.
In case of an unfair and one-sided transaction, the victim may develop feelings of unjust and betrayal on the other partner in exchange. This leads to feelings of being used like tissue papers and thrown away after the purpose is achieved. The emotional damage that the victim may face is indescribable, since violation of trust leads to insecurity. Also the person shall start to feel like a commodity, with remorse and low self-esteem.
Hence, it is essential to have a understanding relationship, one which is not determined by the mutual exchange and cost-benefit analysis. Love people for whom they are, not for what they possess.
Spread love,
Hasta la Vista !
Everyone, at one point in our lives must have indulged in this habit. It is very common as well as fatal, that we often neglect it due to its ordinariness. Criticism is a very powerful weapon which can be used to tune a person towards greatness. But when it is used very frequently, it may make a person view themselves so trivial that they voluntarily disable themselves from their actual potential. As long as I can remember, I have always criticized myself for both my success and my failures, to the point that it becomes difficult to distinguish what is right and wrong.
The world is full of people to criticize our every moves and comment on our single action. So why should we bother ourselves and add burden to ourselves more. Thus, on this forthcoming new year, I wish to address this issue of mine so publicly that similar others, who suffer from same situation as me, can relate with me and get the necessary aid they require. Because when we degrade ourselves more, the self becomes more vulnerable and loses faith in itself.
Mental health matters. So I pledge to be the ‘less criticizing’ version of myself in the year to come. Hope I can carry it forward for the rest of the year.
Hasta La Vista !
One day, I was posted with a question of whom I hate the most. When I was racking my brains out to give an answer, I actually found that I had no names or persons popping up in my mind. This really fascinated me. It is inevitable that people end up getting hurt and sour inside when things turn out in an unfavorable way. But when you think whether you really hate them or not, you realize that you hated the person in the situation, but not the person itself.
Thus, such a simple question like that started to unwind me. Do people really hold on to grudges or do they simply let go and move on ? Well, that may depend on the person and the situation that they were put into. So I would suggest that it is best to forgive and let go. Such that you would lead a more contented life, rather than cussing and showing hatred for another and hurting self in the process.
Wouldn’t it be better to have a happy reunion rather than cold greetings during accidental bumps in future ? It all depends on one’s temperament and willingness to climb out of past, rather than crumbling into the pits of endless misery. So, with the end of this magnanimous year, let go of grudges and embrace the new year with a clean slate.
Hasta la vista !
Right from the moment we wake up till the split-second we doze off to sleep, our faces are accustomed to make multiple reactions. And most of them are a direct representation of our inner state and feelings. For instance, a child may react to a bowl full of ice-cream with amusement and excitement, whereas the latter may show signs of aversion and detestation towards a small spoonful of spinach.
Thus, this in-build instinct to show-off our likes and despise is the very base of human nature, for this habit leaves a very pivotal impact on the readers of those feedback. People tend to imprint the emotions and moods of the persons they meet, hence engraving their facial reactions on the other’s guise. This distinctive trait is due to the presence of mirror neurons in our brain. These neurons are the ones that are responsible for – the smiles that we project on seeing a person smiling towards us, the yawns we make on the account of seeing someone else yawning and the tears that protrude from the corner of our eyes on seeing someone else crying.
These mirror neurons are not only limited to facial expressions but also aid in mimicking the bodily behaviour of others, but let’s just stick on with face. So when our physiological functioning has provided us with such a remarkable phenomenon, it becomes our solemn duty to utilize such capacity in a constructive manner.
It may begin as a small obligement i.e. giving out social smile or a simple nod to known people as an act of acknowledgement whenever passing by. Acknowledgement is a greatest tool that can be used to persuade an individual and to imply that they are being recognized. This practice can also enhance the person’s vibe and has the potent to change a dull, tiring day into a bright, vibrant one.
Smiles are penniless boons that can make another individual warm from inside. Also by practicing smiles to address others, our own mood gets elevated and the rest of the day becomes much better. Sometimes, smiles can also get us into troubles if they are flashed in inappropriate situation, for epics like Ramayana and Mahabharata took place because of smiles being expressed in the wrong place and wrong time. So it is essential to know when to express a friendly smile and when not to.
Alas, stay happy and cheerful – for the society and people filled in it are mere mirrors of one another.
For the past few days, I have been running movie marathons. Among the classic masterpieces, I had stumbled upon “The Matrix”, the movie I once thought to be too complex and alter-dimensional. But when I saw the movie , it was so interesting because I was able to decode a lot of latent meanings from the manifest content. That’s what provoked me to do a #moviereview series.
To begin with, this movie was directed by the Wachowski Brothers in 1999. The plot revolves around a computer programmer/hacker Neo alias Thomas Anderson and his quest for the ultimate truth “What is the Matrix ?”. In his journey Neo meets Morpheus, who enlightens him that the existing world is a computer generated dream world and that machines (cyber species) have taken control of the world, which is now a dystopia. Morpheus also adds on that Neo is the prophesied liberator to free humanity from its bondage to the malevolent AI. The movie stretches as Neo understands his meaning of existence and ascends to his role of the “Chosen One”.
In order to unveil the underlying puzzles and to gain a deeper understanding about the movie in today’s context, I have decoded the movie in my own style. Hope you enjoy it.
The movie starts with everything green, which kind of adds an element of surprise and excitement about the plot. Following this, codes appear to form the title, which gives a cue that the movie might revolve around technology and machines. The idea to introduce the protagonist with the line “Wake up Neo” was really fascinating, since the phrase can be interpreted in terms of the ‘physical wakefulness’ and the ‘awakening from ignorance’ of the person. In the scene where Neo trades a CD of simulation to another hacker named ‘Choi’ left with an irony that people – even under simulation, crave to be simulated.
Ever have that feeling where you are not sure if you are awake or dreaming?
The above quote by Neo further highlights that people are always in a state of ambiguity as of what is reel and real. The influence of mind altering drugs like Mescaline further adds fuel to the argument that individuals seek extreme means to avoid reality, even in a state of dreaming. In the next scene where Neo lands up late at work, his superior reminds him that
Employees understand they’re part of a whole.
Thus if an employee has a problem, then the company has a problem
This quote can be swapped and understood in terms of humans as employees and cyber species as the company. Thus, the reflection of AI’s influence to maintain order and control over human mind and to prevent any flaws in the perfect system is observed. This assumption also can be substantiated by the existence of ‘Agents’ to monitor changes in the Matrix. The quick shift in-between scenes creates a sense of discrepancy for Neo, causing him to differentiate between a dream and the awakened state which depicts the machines’ ability to create an illusion to fool an individual’s conscious.
The screenplay of the movie also gives sufficient hints for the viewers to identify the simulations through illusions and dialogues. For instance, in a scene where Neo meets Morpheus for the first time, the staircase is depicted in form of an optical illusion. Similarly, Morpheus uses the reference of “Alice in Wonderland” to indicate that Neo will ascend the role of Alice to slay the evil. Hints like these give way for possible assumptions from viewers’ side and affix the element of curiosity.
When asked whether Neo believes in fate, he answers that he doesn’t and quotes that he doesn’t like the idea of not being in control of his life. This strong attitude of Neo is what makes him stand apart and qualifies him as a liberator. Moving on with Morpheus’s definition of the ‘Matrix’, he brilliantly depicts the Matrix to be a “prison for the mind”. This phrase is apt to describe the existing world. People forget that the materialistic world is an illusion made by man himself and they end up chasing the inconstant. This further cages the minds of millions and drive them to run in the same path, without being deviated.
The part where Neo was offered with two pills was beautifully captured through the reflection on Morpheus’s glass. It gives a clear idea that the choice of choosing a pill completely weighed on Neo and that he had the free will to make any decision. The reflection on both glasses also can be assumed as the possibilities of Neo’s responses to the given stimuli. The scene where Neo wakes from his simulation for the first time was a bit disturbing and the revelation of human beings contained in chambers on farm fields was beyond imagination. The core concept of humans being used as batteries to power the machine world was completely inhuman.
When enlightening Neo about what is real, Morpheus asserts that ‘real is simply electrical signals interpreted by brain based on what one can see, smell and taste’. This statement senses in many ways (ie) it makes the concept of “real” more relative and makes the viewers assume that even perception, which is completely oriented on the individual can be altered. Another irony that was found in this scene is that the television present in the construct is named as “Deep image”, that which is used to show Neo of the condition of the existing world. As the name appears to be, the television acts as a source to probe into the latent world.
What really fascinates is that the discussion of the concept of “Residual self-image” is done as early as 1999. The introduction of the Promised Land “Zion” is done in the following scenes, which gives an element of hope for the protagonist and for the viewers. The mastering of various fighting skills by Neo within 10 hours of time was unbelievable and makes viewers to question the age-old saying of ‘Practice makes a man perfect’. The most admirable characteristics of Morpheus is that he never boasts about his knowledge. Even after being the leader of the resistance and captain of the ship, he never displays his supremacy. His role of mentoring is highly crucial for the transformation of Neo in the later part of the film.
When analyzing the character of Trinity, she is a strong and independent woman with a special interest towards Neo, which irks Cypher. Her loyalty towards Morpheus and her belief in the Oracle is boundless, that even makes her to risk her own life in order to save Neo. Moving on with Cypher, he portrays the dissatisfied fighter who yearns for a chance to once again rejoin the Matrix. In one of his dialogues,
It means buckle you seat belt Dorothy, because Kansas is going bye-bye
His vexation towards the real world is clearly seen. The drive that he has gained nothing out of his 9 years of sacrifice made him turn dark. This justifies his action of turning against the resistance and betraying his own people.
One fact that was observed among the resistance group was that all the names of the members were more like alias and not their real names (ie) like Switch, Apoc, Mouse, Tank etc. This creates an inquisitiveness among the viewers and a premise that the members adopted the alias name since they relinquished their real names along with their simulation avatar.
The highlighting component of the movie is the concept of “Freeing one’s mind”. The movie suggests that by freeing one’s mind, the person can reap one’s complete potential and break free of shackles. Throughout the movie, all the agents and rebel members wear glasses inside the Matrix. This can be interpreted as a sign of indicating that the Matrix is a grand illusion and the reflections in the glasses underline the fact that all people inside the Matrix are the same (ie) bonded slaves to the cyber species.
The conversation between Neo and the potential child at Oracle’s was thought provoking. For instance, the conversation
Child: Don’t try and bend the spoon, that’s impossible. Instead, only try to realize the truth.
Neo: What truth?
Child: There is no spoon. Then you’ll see that it is not the spoon that bends. It is only yourself.
is highly meaning filled one. The quote conveys that in situations, people have to make themselves flexible in order to adapt and resolve concerns. This spiritual conversation coming from a child indicates the level of maturity and is highly appreciated in the movie. The phrase “Temet Nosce” (Know Thyself) is also discussed in the movie, which once again sums up the fact that knowledge about oneself redeems the person. The use of reverse psychology by Oracle on Neo was well scripted and this acted as a stimulation for Neo to become the ‘One’.
In the next scene where Morpheus is imprisoned and tortured for information, his endurance and resilience is well appreciated, because he doesn’t lose hope and give up. This adds on as a reason to admire Morpheus more. Agent Smith’s description of human beings was cruel but precise (ie) he asserts that ‘humans are not mammals since people lack the basic element of developing equilibrium with the environment. Instead they multiply and exploit all available natural resources till its annihilation’. This statement which was discussed in early 1999 perfectly recount the current scenario of scarcity existing in the world. One of the personal favorite quote in this movie is
There is a difference between knowing the path and walking the path
This quote depicts Neo’s journey from being a doubtful hacker to the destined liberator. Later, Neo’s act of staying and fighting the agent also asserts that he is now a believer. The notion of bringing Neo back from dead was similar to the resurrection of Christ, and after being liberated from the grip of The Matrix, Neo was able to break the codes and bend the rules. This phenomenon was beautifully delineated by Neo’s ability to stop the bullets and see the Matrix as codes.
Thus, this screenplay is directed towards the dominance and supremacy of machines against humans, but it is applicable in any scenario where restriction prevails. My overall review is that this movie is a delight for all sci-fiction lovers and it truly a real-find.
Ps: Sorry for such a lengthy and a time-consuming review, hope you linked it. Until next time,
Hasta la vista !!
Wouldn’t it be just fine and great if we all kept our promises throughout our lifetime. Well, it would be a tiresome job since people make endless promises on numerous occasions. One of the recent question that has been lurking me inside out is,
Why do we make promises in life when we clearly know that we are totally incapable of respecting it ?
It seems like yesterday that I asked my dad to promise me, not to let go of me, while riding my bicycle. But then, he did leave me. Subsequently, I promised my very first friend that I’ll be there for her always, but then I’m now nowhere near her. My brother promised me that he’ll always defend me and clear my coast away from bullies, but once again then he’s not here to carry out his promise.
The beautiful thing about holding a promise is that, it gives the receiver a complete sense of trust and faith on the other. But we mortals tend to shatter that essential element of assurance so easily and we are okay with it.
Be it small or big, a promise is a promise, and it is the very core of every relationship. All individuals have idealized big goals in life. So it’ll be nice if people realize the gravity of promises in life and make it a goal to preserve promises made to their dear and near. It may seem small and easy, but it’s impact is actually quite powerful.
I’m not suggesting people to go make up for their broken promises, but it’ll be good if people cherish and treasure their current promises. Surely there will be a dramatic improvement in the social and personal relationships of individuals, for the other person starts to feel that they are being valued, and their promise is being secured. Also trust even blooms in between enemies, if the virtue of promise is safeguarded.
Ps: All of these views are my perspectives, and thus it may sound one sided. Kindly take in the good parts and let’s all transform ourselves into better beings.
All it takes is one small step. So let’s strive towards becoming the improved versions of ourselves !
*pinky promise*
Life experiments can be challenging as well as threatening, in the sense that they have the potent to alter one’s course of life, beliefs and core ideologies. In that context, a year back I decided to do something that I never attempted my entire life. After 20 years of staying with my parents, I opted to leave home and test unknown terrains. I challenged myself to go beyond my comfort zone and explore the raw world awaiting in front of me.
Initially the experience was all a painted picture and sugary. But when days matured, the silver lining eventually came off and unpredictable and unfavorable moments were encountered. So during times as those, I used to wonder whether things were faulty at my end, or this is how stuff happens in adult world. But after one year of close watch, I came to the conclusion that people just don’t meet at random, but always have a purpose in each other’s lives.
A wise friend recently introduced me to the gem of all books, “Many lives, Many masters” by Dr.Brian Weiss. In this book, the author states that souls, who knew each other at the time of living, always reincarnate as a group and get involved in each other’s lives once again. The author accounts that this is because of karma and one’s life actions. Thus, the balance is always maintained alas, and implies that one cannot escape the price of sin, just through death.
Now many of you may wonder what that book has to do in this context. Well, on a closer note, the struggles that I faced and hardships that I underwent were all a part of me being liberated from my past karma. Thus all this can be attributed as life’s redemption of making my slate clean and helping me to start from square one.
To be honest, I never got the phrase “Back to square one” as a child, when playing board games. But now, this phrase is too relatable. From my little expedition, I realized that life gives people numerous chances and options to wipe their slates clean and start afresh. But it is all in the hands of the same people to either take it or leave it.
By taking these chances, one either accept their karma and wash off their sins. Or the person can react imprudently and further add on to their deeds by leaving out their chances. So it took one full year to realize this universal truth, along with some hard hitting mishaps on the way.
So peeps, it is better to embrace all the new people and experiences that life has to offer and accept them whole heartedly, rather than to complain about it. Because certain occasions are bound to happen even if one divert all their strength to avert it. More importantly, life offers a fresh beginning only for deserving some. So in such case, it is better to strike a deal with life and aim towards progress.
“Can’t I just turn back the clock, forgive my sins. I just wanna roll my sleeves up, and start again”…goes the song by OneRepublic. So wouldn’t it be better to come back to square one and begin new again !
Ps: I know it’s been very long since my last post. But with this experiment teaching me values of life, I’m back with a bang from my break. All these are my perspectives and it may differ from person to person, so I don’t mean any disrespect to any of you with different viewpoints.
Until next time !
Episodes from my Existence 