ज़मीन की खुशबू कुछ और है

चाँद तारों की कहाँ बात करता है ग़ालिब
पहले इस ज़मीन को प्यार करना तो सीखले 
दूर से तो हर कोई खूबसूरत लगता है 
जो है करीब उसे पहचानना तो सीखले 

चाँद की रौनक में मोहब्बत है ज़रूर 
पर ज़मीन की खुशबू कुछ और है 
तारों की चमक में सुकून है ज़रूर 
पर यहाँ हवा की कशिश कुछ और है 

Win as much as you can

In one of the annual events of my company, we were made to play a game called 'Win as much as you can.' As the name suggests, the aim was to garner as many points as possible. No one was a holy cow, no move was a taboo, only winning mattered. 

The rules were such that if all the teams got it right, points were distributed, but if only one team got it right, all the points went to that team. So the recipe for winning maximum points was not just to get it right but do it in a way that all others get it wrong. Also, there were negative points if you got it wrong. It was a classic case of human psychology and game theory. The ground rules were laid clear and it was understood that if everyone stayed truly honest, all the teams could've won. There were about four rounds and the stakes got bigger as the game progressed. But what began was a downpour of deceit, secrecy, back-stabbing and betrayal within the context of the game. At the end of round 4, the winning team's score was ‘(-2)’. All other teams were more negative.  

My learning: This game reflected our lives quite closely. If winning is all that matters in life, then we take the whole society, ecology, nature and life down with us. There is no winner in this philosophy, there is only the one who loses the least. We all started the game with a neutral zero, but we all – including the winner – ended up in the negative. This insightful game was for me, the reflection of life as we live it now. Do we realize yet that we’re all in the negative already? 

Movement and Stillness

Animals move on the land, birds fly through air, fishes swim in water.
Vehicles move on the road, planes fly through air, ships sail on the sea.
Moon revolves around the earth and earth around the sun while sun moves through galaxy.

Every motion happens on relative lack of motion.
Every action occurs on relative inaction.
Every movement feeds off a stillness.
Everything seen is just a layer of the unseen.
Everything felt is just a glimpse of the unfelt.
The gross is the tip, while the subtle is the iceberg.

The animal is the movement while the land is the stillness.
The bird is the seen while the air is the unseen.
The fish is the universe while the ocean is the consciousness.
One exists not without the other. 

Hugs

A hug is not a perfunctory intertwining of bodies. It is a sharing of our space, breaking down of the walls, a healing of the wounds, a melting of hearts, a prayer of expansion and an experience of oneness of the body, mind and spirit. Let’s hug a little more, embrace a little longer, celebrate and feel our oneness with each other. For anything less is demeaning to our spirit. 

Lyrical Darwinism

If Charles Darwin was a poet, how would he write his 'Theory of Evolution'? May be by simple juxtaposition of words. I began writing ‘Lyrical Darwinism’ with that thought and extended it to how evolution is likely to shift if one of the fundamental assumptions made by Darwin is changed.

***********
Everything is scarce. 

I compete with you.
You compete with me.

I fear you.
You fear me.

I hate you.
You hate me.

I kill you.
You kill me.

Everything is abundant. 

I recognize you.
You recognize me.

I accept you.
You accept me.

I love you.
You love me.

I become you.
You become me.

I am you.
You are me.

There is no I.
There is no you.

There is only us.