Randomness - Difference in Opinion

Randomness is back. This time with a lot of words for my dear readers to ruminate upon.

Flavour of news these days in India is what PM Modi did or CM Yogi did. And Flavour of World news these days is what joke of himself will President Trump make of himself today.

ofcourse, the issue of GM mustard, decreasing job opportunities or the pathetic state of our public health infrastructure and initiative, is not really the concern of either media or Government in this nation.  Oops!! My apologies for forgetting to ask, did anyone by any chance come across any news coverage this year about the Drought situation or Farmer's woes???

Well, why should these above issues matter to anyone of us? We are either busy being indifferent or busy fighting on social media to prove our viewpoint. The Governments of the day, have taken this fight a step further, because by virtue of being in Government they have the capacity to Ban, anything and everything that according to them is either harmful or hurtful of the sentiments of those who form the Government.

And so the flavour of the World these days is Bans, Bans and more Bans. Ban immigrants, Ban Alcohol, Ban Beef etc etc etc. At this rate, I am waiting for the day when soon the world leaders of different countries, will ban each other's countries.

It's amusing to me, that with all the advancements to the credit of Human race, we are still incapable of accepting our differences with humility and grace rather than using force of gags and bans!!

Anyways coming to the point of this post, and I am going to begin by committing the biggest mistake any writer is preached not to commit - I am going to begin, by giving a piece of my mind to whoever has come down this far on this post -

                        More than anything else, The Human race collectively, needs to learn ( and in a few cases relearn) to Respect, Accept, Embrace and Value - Differences of Opinions.

Difference in Opinion is just as natural as genetic diversity. Just as no two sets of DNA can be alike, neither can our opinions be. They are the essence and essential ingredients of humanity and the very foundation of it's growth.
          These differences are what define us, set us apart, give us the impetus to challenge, discover and invent.

If We all thought alike or agreed over everything, how would we question? How would we become better? Seek something new?

You may like the colour orange, I may prefer Red. You may prefer being a vegetarian, I may prefer being a non-vegetarian. You may prefer wearing a hijab, I may prefer my bikini. You may love your Coke, I my Whiskey. You may prefer spicy food, I may want mine bland.

Why has it all of a sudden become so essential for us, to have the whole world confer to our world view, our beliefs, our feelings, our ideology?

Why can't we no longer, respect a person for having a thought process different than our own? Or learn to embrace our differences as our diversity?

Rather than seeking agreement, let us start seeking disagreement.
Let us agree to disagree, not because it makes us progressive, cool, hip, right, left or centre, but because disagreement is the driving force that pushes us to question, to seek and thus to discover, create or invent. It is as fundamental to being human as is being alive.

Someone said curiosity is the mother of invention. Well, the mother of Curiosity, is Difference of Opinion. And we collectively as a race are happy these days to start wars, kill each other and our planet, to stifle this Difference of Opinion.

Humanity has the potential to build, nurture and create, but we are too busy destroying our own self, our race and our Planet to prove to each other that 'It is either my way or highway'

Food for thought......For a healthier world.

Metro Musings

You must be wondering, musings in a Metro train?

Well, yes, I do know mountains, retreats, forests or riversides are the usual cliches, when it comes to musing.

But, in our busy city dwelling lives, unsuspecting and unusual places like toilet seats, traffic signals, flights, airports, and of course, Metro trains, have become the unlikely sources of stimulus and thus, rescuers of many a philosophical souls like mine. 

And so here it is, one of the musings from my daily metro commute - 

Thanks to the usual Delhi metro crowd, I found myself seatless and standing by one of the exit gates, and this is how I noticed, the Stark change in the scenery, from the drab and dark tunnel to the all modern, clean metro station with it's tiled floors, escalators, neon lights etc etc

And all of a sudden my mind wandered over to the current construction going on the Delhi-Gurgaon stretch of NH-8, currently in it's formative stages with no finishing touches, and my wandering mind began wondering about the time, when this metro station must have been under-construction, the difference that it must have been then and it is now.........

                                       Well the dots, that my mind connected led to this sudden realisation -

About How we daily see and use our highways, metros, airports, bridges and railway tracks etc

                        We are very happy using and enjoying these finished products, without wondering about the journey of their inception. 

                  We never spare a thought, that beneath these strong structures are the, not so beautiful concrete pillars, the drains, their chemical compositions and construction. We also, forget that all these are a result of the calculations, sweat, trials and errors of the mental and physical labour of countless people we never see or acknowledge.  

                                 Infact, we may be seeing or travelling with these nameless faces daily, without ever knowing, that it is their persistent efforts in the face of harsh summers and winters, under sun or rain, that are the reason for making our daily commutes easier. Without ever offering them any gratitude or even saying a prayer of thanks!!

Strange? Isn't it?

How we Spend our lives, without looking beneath and beyond the superficial surface that our Eyes see. 

How now a days we just chase after the glamorous facade, without seeking to look beyond, what is apparent.

How we are so pre-occupied with the superficial and mundane that we no longer bother about going within, and searching in our depth for the roots or Genesis of our problems, our motives, our feelings and our desires.

How far and disconnected we have become even from our own selves!!

How we simply sit by the shores of the Ocean, without actually diving deep into it. 

And you know, What's funny? That we outrage, get angry or feel bad when people around us, instead of digging deep, superficially and thoughtlessly judge us or our efforts or work. But, when we do the same to others in our daily lives, we hardly break a Sweat!!

Food for thought. Isn't it?

I believe we become wiser, when we have taught ourselves to seek and see beyond the evident. When we learn to be thoughtful and mindful. When learn to be thankful and cherish what we have, rather than taking our comforts for granted.

              When we learn that taking that leap of faith into the unknown, beyond our bubble of comfort is where, we will find hidden treasures and baubles of wisdom, newer roads and companions, which will help us live our lives better, richer and more fuller. 

Dare yourself to look beyond what your eyes can see, let your mind wander and explore to find magic and stories hidden all around you. Gift yourself this journey of exploration, and life will no longer be just mundane.

(P.S. - Before, I sign out, a piece of my mind to NHAI and MCD Gurgaon, who never bothered to discuss with the citizens of the city, before implementing their construction plans. The very citizens who now suffer daily mammoth jams, Nor did anyone break a leg before cutting off 300 or more odd trees and destroying Citizen's parks for this construction!!! And it will be a George Lucas's space saga equivalent to hope that NHAI will work to try and finish this project as early as possible and in the end replant and restore are the trees and parks.

         So much for being a people's government!! A government which doesn't even bother to have open discussions with citizens it is impacting)