Here’s a cover we recorded spontaneously as we were jamming someday. I’m on the keys and Araya Sharma, a friend is singing it. She’s real close to Adele, isn’t it?

We are a complicated race. We crave aesthetic subjectivity and claim the power of reason, and yet we humans are incessantly afraid of uncertainty. We are people who are pretty easily frightened, really. Spiders, water, heights, all of the hilarious and terrifying phobias; war, confrontation, physical pain, death – there’s just so much to fear in the world. But I think that the one thing, of which we all are very sincerely afraid, is uncertainty. If you think about it, darkness, death, the universe are all overwhelming things, and mostly because we have no clue about them. Vagueness and not knowing something for sure scares the shit out of us. And students and young people are no different; we want to know what lies ahead as we have to make concrete decisions, be sure and then start the journey. “Just go with it” is fine for a week-end, but when it comes to our careers, we want to be as sure as we can possibly be.

We can’t deal with incompleteness, ignorance, infinity or eternity. We want answers. We need to know for sure, engrave it on our minds and set it in stone. We need a decision, a specific choice, a personal little verdict. We can’t be peaceful in the dark without knowing exactly where the light switch is. We need to know the ending of that story; we need to know if they get together forever after or if someone dies. We need to pick sides while watching sports and know what career we want to follow. We need to know where we’re headed.

We need to have a plan. God forbid if there’s no plan! Of course, the plan rarely works, because, destiny. We need a God, we need religious men telling us about God and we need a bigger plan to explain why our own plans don’t work and why everyone in this world has always been so miserable and unjust.

We need the earth to be stationary and flat, and Santa Claus to bring us the gifts we never dare to buy ourselves. We need a genre to go with the title of the film on movie night; we need to know how it ends.

We must have a favourite book, a favourite film, a favourite person. Do you love your mother more or your father? Do you love German more or French? We need to know who the author of that lovely verse is, and when and by whom that melody that silently haunts our nights was composed. We shun anonymity, we are afraid of it. Our own anonymity and that of more significant human examples from history. The irony is in the multitude of real life “ignorance is bliss” manifestation and the certainty of the uncertainty of life in general and death in particular.

Human life or just time in general, are so endearing because we don’t know what is going to happen. The mystery is the whole beauty of it all. If you knew the ending of a novel, would the joy of reading it be the same? You might still read it because of the writing or because you love the author, but you can’t feel the same emotions in which you would be engulfed, if you just read through and took every page as it came before you; And don’t they say that life is like a book? There is an indefinite pleasure in not knowing where you’re going, because that way you get to enjoy every moment of the journey in a much more precious manner. It’s good not knowing what your want to do your Masters’ degree in and where you want to study or what you want to work as, because then you can do anything and be anything.

Just a random rant on Uncertainty.

Religion can broadly be defined as belief and worship of a superpower. These superpowers have been given different names in different religions. These different religions have made us slaves to their leaders and clerics who are humans just like us but act as a link between us and gods.

This in turn has meant that we are exploited in the name of god by these people. It has turned us into god fearing people rather than god loving. It’s this fear which makes these clerics even more powerful and leaves us at their whims. They suggest you all kinds of ways to make gods happy, these ways make them rich and leave us poorer. Sometimes they can be as barbaric as honor killings and sacrifices. Surely killing animals and people doesn’t make god happy! The donations which temple receives are of extraordinary amounts but no one gets to know how this money is used except a very small amount which is spent on maintenance. The income of these God men is also so high and no one knows the source of these incomes. Also these incomes are unquestionable because if anyone even tries to question it, it upsets the lack of devotes and these god men get away in the name of religion. It won’t be wrong to say that religion has become a business these days and these god men are the businessmen. They take our faith for granted and loot us. One really wonders when will people wake up from their slumber and realize that God isn’t pleased in such a manner.

Another grudge that I have against religion is that it has become a crutch for people. Whenever they fail, they blame that god wasn’t with them and god dint want them to succeed? Really? Why will god not want to see his own people happy? People cover their own shortcomings in the name of god. They don’t see their own mistakes. Instead they start pleasing God in different ways so that he may be with them and isn’t ‘upset’ with them. Then you even have clashes in the name of religions. We are pitted against each other in the name of religion and politicians exploit us. They turn us against each other and eventually all of us are nothing but vote banks for them.

Just think to yourself, it’s not bad to celebrate a festival, but overdoing anything is just too much. The festival is to celebrate the good over evil, but it feels like we’re bringing out our evil side harming ourselves with the polluted air, in the name of God. Isn’t donating our organs better than just burning them into ashes and immersing it in Ganges Water, to pollute it, in the name of God?
Here’s a small tragic story. Just after the 2013 Kumbhmela Stampede, a man, regained consciousness in a makeshift medical camp nearby, his head fuzzy from the medication. He opened his eyes to a world of frantic activity, people yelling orders, men with stretchers hurrying about, and people in pain, all this looked like the picture of hell he so dreaded all his life. He thought about his life a day ago… He had a life, a name, aging parents, a loving wife, an adorable son of five and a god. He remembered the scenes of the previous day; when he heard people say something about a bridge collapsing, some screamed about bombs, snakes and most of them just screamed. He could not remember the last time he looked at his loved ones; he was yanked away by a herd of people dumped unceremoniously in a corner and trampled on. Even little children or old people weren’t spared. The mania that hat seized the crowd enabled them to run, stomping on them. The irony was outrageous, like a fire station catching fire. People had died, when all they came to do was worship. He finally, went to the river bank, just to reflect upon all that had happened. A sadhu sat by the river dressed in his robes with a rosary in his hands. Looking deep into his eyes he said, “You cannot question the will of God…son, whatever happens it’s his will”. He stared at the Sadhu for some time and he felt a surge of emotion welling inside him. He felt the urge to drag the Sadhu by his long beard and drown him in The Ganga and ask him if that was god’s will too.

I would also like to say that this article shouldn’t mistaken me to be an atheist. I do believe in God and will always. However, the idea of religion doesn’t make me happy. I am merely spiritual who has faith in the goodness of acts in today’s depraved civilization engulfed amidst its dogma and superfluous practices. God sees all of us as equal and doesn’t divide us as Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs and Christians. St. Peter’s Basilica and the Golden Temple are as beautiful as some Jain Derasar for me. God men never exist for me and I don’t need them to connect me to God. Also my faith isn’t eroded when I fail, it’s still as strong.

As I said in the previous article, my writings are influenced from the things going on around me. Just the last Monday, a really close friend’s dad was diagnosed with cancer. As I talked to her over the phone, I started thinking about what exactly I’ve written in this article.

I never really bothered about or contemplated over the concept of ‘Death’ until last year, when I lost the most important and influential person in my life — Dada, my granddad. Now, I live in fear of death. A constant undeniable and cold fear that I do not know how to deal with. The possibility of it asserting its rights to someone I love and someone from the family when the time comes, leaves me paralysed. So in my apparent ignorance lies a deeper underlying perpetual fear of the lurking enemy. 

Death makes me uncomfortable. The loss of someone in the family is hard to deal with for everyone. And for me it is harder because I am a person of attachments. When I loose people in my life, either through death or disagreements, I loose parts of myself. Irrespective of what relationship I shared with them. It is like they take with themselves parts of me that I had lent to them for safe keeping. 
And last year I realised something — Death sucks, in literal terms too. It takes the most from me from within, something I won’t be able to get over with for a long time to come. That is why I tussle with death, I get angry at it, I see it as betrayal. A convenient exit from the stage of life to earn the hardest applause — after all, climaxes make best-sellers! 

We live, we breathe, we love, we die. It is the circle of life. Why cant we make peace with it?

Over time, the fear of death has matured and I’ve come to terms with it and derived certain lessons from it.

Let’s face it —
Death of loved ones is a reality that everyone must face one day but still we never think or talk about it. Shock, numbness, frustration, emptiness, loneliness — death is real, and so are its effects. We don’t like to think about death, so we live as if we are never going to die. No wonder death often finds us unprepared. 

Humans are the most complex yet the simplest of beings. Our world revolves around the people we love and the relationships we share. Don`t we all come to this world as guests— constantly striving to find the golden rule of a successful rapport with everybody and everything we come across? From birth to death a person’s success or failure is measured by the kind of relationship one has had with the elements of this world: people. We are ready to face all the trials and tribulations of a relationship but when it comes down to the subject of death, we back out. We fear death so much so that even talking about it makes us uneasy and have invented our own sets of superstitions to avoid it at any cost. 

I, personally think we fear death because it changes the basic crux of any relationship. We become accustomed to live in a certain way, to expect certain things and to perform certain roles. Being a grandson, a sibling, a son, a friend; it gives us a purpose, a drive. When death strikes, our world changes. Suddenly we realize that the assumptions and beliefs we live by every day are not necessarily the way life really is. Bad things can and do happen, not just to other people, but they can also happen to us and to the people we hold most dear.

We need to learn to talk about death, accept it and be prepared about it. We can choose to continue to be in a relationship with our loved one even after their death, even in spite of their physical absence. I will still be my Dada’s grand son long after his death. I will maintain the identity of “grandson” by my behavior and ways that ensures that I maintain the role. I will continue to act as his grandson.

Transforming relationships means to learn to carry our deceased loved one in a new way. We should learn how to weave our loved one and their values into this new life without them. We need to create a new life that evokes the memories, values, and ethics of our loved one and live with them in this new world, and relate to their memory in a new way. But through love, we can always be in relationship with them.

We mourners when are left behind can learn the lessons of loss, remember them daily and change how we live now. We can make each moment count now rather than living in the past which cannot be changed or worrying about the future. Understanding now that this life is fragile, fleeting and far more important than we ever knew can enrich our lives and our relationships. And when the time comes and we run out of nows, we can say goodbye to others who die, and we ourselves can leave this life with fewer regrets.

Running has never been the answer for anything and as harsh as it may sound, death is a reality of life. To some, death is a horrible unknown. For others, it is a time of relief or rest. Death is a defeated enemy, yet we must all face it sometime. 

In Steve Job’s words,
“No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new.” 

If all of the world´s cultural heritage (sports, music, fashion, architecture, literature, painting, etc.) was contained in a time capsule, what would you include to demonstrate the legacy of your country?

Whether we notice it or not, geography is the key factor in distinguishing cultures. When we were first introduced to geography in school, all the emphasis was laid upon how big and widespread India is. Through the years we were frequently reminded of India’s diversity and how it’s varying landscape spanning the Himalayan mountains in the North to the vast Indian ocean around the southern peninsula along with desserts, planes and plateaus. Along with diverse geographical conditions, come varying climates, conditional crops and ultimately, regionally governed lifestyles and regional social conditioning the people go through while they’re brought up.

Amid such differences, the word ‘Unity’ is a bit overhyped. We Indians are really very sensitive people. We take immense pride in our regional backgrounds and defining characters that set us apart from each other. We have distinctive foods and rituals. And so much so, that even amidst our similarities, we infuse differences. For starters, religion is a big thing in India. With almost a billion hindus in the country, one would think this would be the ultimate in uniting the nation. However, Hinduism is practiced in such a variety of ways, that more barriers are introduced.

Thinking back, the only common cause we Indians could relate to, was the Colonization of the country. By the time we managed to rid ourselves of the British rule, we had developed a certain fondness to a pastime they’d left behind – Cricket. Started as the gentlement’s game, cricket captivated the hearts of the entire nation, so much so, that we even made a movie suggesting some part of the fight for Independence was won by defeating the English at their own game. Personally, I don’t associate cricketing personalities to god-figures myself. However, when India won the cricket world cup back in 2011, I witnessed the most euphoric atmospheres ever. And this experience, defines my understanding of cultural heritage. That night, every individual in the country gathered and celebrated this victory till early hours of morning. This was the first time, when people set apart their preferences and prejudices and celebrated a common victory. And so I came to realize the deep Indian sentiment which involved in referring to cricket as a religion, for all Indians seem to have found ‘God’ in Sachin.

Sachin an Indian cricketer is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest players in the sport besides giving Indians a reason to unite as one nation, as a brother. And if one man, who did wonders with a piece of wood managed to bring together, the opinions and sentiments of the people of a country with one of the world’s largest population,  amidsts all differences, then maybe he is a ‘God’. Divine or not, personally I believe he is the most eligible persons to be in the time capsule as a mark of the great nation of India, because to represent a country of such diverse culture and tradition, is to be Mr. Sachin Tendulkar. 

I won’t explain why statistically this is justified, because that’s just a google search away. But in a country so full of Gods, for people to unanimously pronounce a new one in a mere cricketer, well, that should count for a lot. 

Why do we travel?

To lose ourselves, next, to find ourselves?
We travel to bring in whatever we can, in our ignorance and knowledge, to those parts of the globe whose riches are differently dispersed.

I have wonderful memories and stories of all these places.I dream of more places like those! They were all times of being with my family.Travel in that sense guides us toward a better balance of wisdom and compassion—of seeing the world clearly, and yet feeling it truly.

As somebody once said, ‘the world is your oyster’. Accept all you have been given. Make the most of it and experience it to the max. This is our world; we have the right to see it all. Whether we’re nine or ninety years old. Take the time to enjoy yourself and be mesmerised by your findings.

There’s one place out of the many visited, where you can go again and again, and just can’t get enough of.
It’s paradise for you.
One particular place, or maybe more than one.
For me, it could be spending a week again by the canals of Venice, or just renting an apartment in Grindlewald, or if it suits the mood, the beaches of Southern Goa or Maldives, or possibly the rainforests of Teman Negara, or maybe a crazy little town I came across in Scotland, Inverness. Maybe Candy town, Sri Lanka, Or elegance of Paris, maybe the best city in the world, London.
Ah! There’s so much! And so much to travel to!

Which is the place you’d go back again and again?

Why do we love Conspiracies Theories? I think everyone believes in some controversy or the other. The most obvious reason would be the innate distrust of the establishment. But maybe something deeper. It is because most of us feel that we don’t have full control over our lives, and our belief indicate our insecurities? Do you all, just like me, suspect that the world we see around us is a veil hiding most of it’s actual machinery? Maybe conspiracy theories confirm our worst doubts and give us some pleasure. It lets us wear a knowing smirk at least some of the time in our generally clueless lives.

Not only is next week the 50th anniversary of the biggest conspiracy in the world — November 22. John F. Kennedy’s assassination. Many believe, even me, that he wasn’t killed by a lone gunman, Lee Oswald – there was a deeper conspiracy which led to his death! The biggest conspiracy till date. Has already spawned hundreds of books, and hundreds to be published on the anniversary.

Then there’s 9/11, which people beleive was engineered by George Bush administration, investigators constantly produce masses of evidence to prove the claim. Americans also believe Obama being foreign born so cannot be a legitimate US President.

How can we forget the Moon Landing which was a hoax shot in desserts of Nevada. People also say that the AIDs virus was created in secret labs of CIA as a tool of genocide, but it escaped and scientists couldn’t control it’s spread!

Some believe Jesus Christ was just a fiction thought up by Romans to subdue the Jewish insurrections!

In India, nothing will convince believers that Subhash Chandra Bose died in a plane crash in 1945. Theories range from Bose being captured and executed by the Russians under direct orders from Stalin and Lord Mountbatten, some said he turned to spirituality and living rest of his life as a sadhu at Ayodhya.

And then! There are conspiracies this week. A total bedlam out there — Narendra Modi turning dubious history teacher, Rahul Gandhi revealing his till-now unsuspected knowledge, a Congress Leader demanding the Bharat Ratna to be taken away from Lata Mangeshkar for endorsing Modi, the stock market and rupee doing random calisthenics, and hardly any aam aadmi getting tickets for Sachin Tendulkar’s last test match!

We love conspiracy theories. Don’t we?

Well, that’s a picture clicked somewhere in the countryside of Scotland, on the way to the beautiful city of Glasgow.

Anyway, Quora is a website I got hooked onto recently. The knowledge you gain from this site definitely broadens your outlook towards a wide spectrum of issues not only in India but the world over. I recently came across the question, “What is the most profound statement ever made to you?” on Quora. This is a question which actually got me thinking and reflect on all what’s happened until now, and what I expect to.

It was during this time that a very simple statement made long time back from a good friend uplifted me and changed my outlook towards many aspects of my life:

“This too shall pass”

Think about it. Nothing soothes and encourages you and explains the ups and downs – the circle – that life ultimately is, better than this statement. If you are on top of the world today, you can be sure that there will be certain road blocks along the way sooner or later. After all, being pragmatic dictates that we recognise that life is not always a bed of roses and the thorns will sooner or later raise their ugly heads! But on the other hand if you have hit rock bottom, you can be sure you won’t stay there for very long. In fact the whole experience may even build character and prepare you for what life has in store.

So it doesn’t matter where we are along that circle of life. Having a knee jerk reaction to the situation we find ourselves in is easy but not right. What matters is how we respond to it and whether or not we make the best of it. We can either crib about it or treat it as a character building experience. On the flip side, we can rejoice at our successes and learn nothing from it or we can try and use it as a tried and tested formula for success in our future endeavors. After all, are we not a sum total of every experience, both positive and negative, that life has hurled at us until today?

This brings to mind the poem ‘If – ‘ by Rudyard Kipling. The poem explains this concept in a manner I couldn’t possibly hope to! Here is an excerpt:

If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors the same;

If you can fill the Unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And – which is more – you’ll be a Man, my son!

So don’t fret too much if you are stuck in a rut and you feel there isn’t much happening in your favour. I assure you, better days will come. Days when the situation at hand will demand that you use everything that your life has taught you till that point. Just keep an eye on the horizon and press on in the direction you want to go, no matter what or where you are right now. But remember the journey is just as important as the destination. The lessons that life is throwing at you now will hold you in good stead for a long time to come. Just keep in mind that this too shall pass!