The year that was….2006…

SADDAM EXECUTED……………

The biggest news to hit the media, …..coming at the fag end of the year…So we are entering the new year on a happy note…Bidding goodbye to the terror called ‘Saddam’ that once was….Finally….THE END……

Or, is it just the beginning???

Now what exactly was it that provoked Bush to such an extent that he had to declare a war on Iraq…Brazenly defying the so called ‘international’ organization called the United Nations…the Preamble of which, in the very first line says ‘WE THE PEOPLES OF THE UNITED NATIONS DETERMINED………….to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind’..
No, of course this was not just another war…This was a ‘war against terrorism’…an aftermath of 9/11….a tirade against the ‘Weapons of Mass Destruction’…….a means to reach the ‘Al Queda’…..a way to save the people from the ‘brutal’ regime of Saddam and bring about democracy in Iraq…..or was it the oil reserves???
but above all it was a mere excuse to vent out the intense rancor of Bush against the Saddam regime which was fueled by the Senior Bush during the Gulf war of 1991…

War against Terrorism! The Bush thinks Iraq was promoting terrorists and hence attacked the country?? He might as well….the war has certainly resulted in the creation of thousands of terrorists in the country now….making it a perfect example of ‘self fulfilling prophecy’ as coined by Robert Merton….

Its been more three years since the war broke out in 2003 and the number of war victims is only showing signs of increasing further and further….and further…..God knows when all the destruction would come to an end….Whether or not Iraq manages to become a democracy,
one thing is certain..that Bush is going to see his last days as President of the USA…..

THE MAHAJANS….

Back in the Indian Homeland far far away from the Bush Drama…the Mahajan family has been enacting a drama of their own….Younger brother kills elder brother….Dead man’s secretary dies in mysterious circumstances….Son is a drug addict and almost kills himself…..Newly married son is charged for wife beating….Phew!! What next?? A complete family entertainer, this was!!!

One thing the whole issue brings about is that every man lives ultimately for himself… Relations, family, love, attachment, emotions all these things mean nothing when it comes to the promotion of the ‘Self’….These terms are mere bookish stuff…or movie material….Such things dont really mean anything in today’s world, do they?? Everything in life has just become a struggle for money and power…As I was thinking over what the world was coming to, I noticed my maid servant bringing her 9-10 yr old grandson to my house one day…I gave a few biscuits to the kid and instead of eating them he keeps them in his pocket…Upon asking the reason he says he has a younger brother at home and he doesnt eat anything without sharing it with him! I was filled with emotions on hearing this…..So was there still some hope left in this world?? where Siblings would share and care and be at peace with each other? But then he was just an innocent kid..What does he know about the evils of the world? When he grows up, he too will realize the power of money and the money in power…..and every other evil existing…..If only the innocence of a kid is retained throughout adult life as well………The world would be so much better a place to live in…..

The Alchemist – Following your dreams!

The book – The Alchemist..by Paulo Coelho..says its a ‘Fable about following your dream’…with the oft repeated quote in the novel “When you really want something to happen, the whole universe conspires so that your wish comes true”.

The book talks about a small town shepherd boy travelling all over just chasing his dream -which is a treasure unknown to anyone….by teaching him to recognize the ‘omens’ and follow them religiously to reach the ‘treasure’…And when the boy does exactly that, things just happen to fall in place at the right time and the right place….

Well, If only achieving one’s dreams were as simple as following the ‘omens’ and going where they take you!

All of us do dare to dream..And dream real big as well! But how many of us actually even reach close to 1% of achieving that dream? Reasons for not achieving may be multifarious…The most common I believe, contrary to the statement “the whole universe conspires so that your wish comes true” is the rest of the universe itself! How many times has it happened that one has dreamed of doing something but couldnt do that owing to family pressure/peer pressure/societal pressure/ atomospheric pressure [:)]???? Which part of the universe really conspires in ‘favour’ of your dreams?? None I bet…

You might say, the one who ultimately makes his dreams come true is the one who has enough courage to defy all the aforementioned pressures and simply go about chasing them…Will that really work?? Consider the same shepherd boy in the story, Just imagine he weren’t just a character in the story but instead was a real person living in the 21st Century…Now let us say he has a desire to travel…And he wishes to go to Egypt in search of an unknown treasure and has enormous courage to defy all the opposition he faces…But he doesnt have the money…Unlike the fable where a King gives him the two ‘omen charms’, ‘Urim’ and ‘Thummim’ to guide him throughout his journey, the reality would be that he wont have enough money to perhaps even travel from one end of the city to another by local transport!! Now thats exactly the difference between a fable and reality….

I am not trying to be pessimistic here by saying that dreams dont come true…They do..They most certainly do…Rather, the point Im trying to make is that even dreams need to be realistic…and within reach…coz even for simple dreams to come true, one must have the bare minimum resources to even DARE to dream…Perhaps if two different people are on an equal footing in terms of resources/surroundings/the rest of the universe and they both dream of similar things, then there is a good chance that both of them realise their dreams!! On the other hand if a poor lowly shepherd boy and a multi millionaire both dream of flying to the moon, who actually even has the potential to realize his dream is anybody’s guess….

Why do we exist??

A question that has always perplexed me confused me evoked my thought process to eternity but left me with no answers..When I think of the vast Universe that surrounds us…the stars the planets and various other celestial objects on one hand….and I look at the earth with us humans with plants and animal and other living objects…I see no relation…How on earth (rather how on the universe?) did all of these things come into being…And even if we know the answer to that…What is it that we human beings are here for? What is our aim in life?? Do we really have one for which we are brought on to this earth? Or is it all merely superficial…sham..created by Man himself…

Coming to a micro level, just have a look at what most of us humans do…
most of us are occupied with the mundane things in life such as school, studies, college, entertainment, work, responsibilities, marriage, kids, retirement and finally death..Is there all there is to life?? I mean if death is inevitable, then in effect no one really cares after you are gone then why is everyone bothered with the aforementioned mundane things?. Why does one fall into the eternal trap of the fight for survival?? Why?? Why is there so much of competition so much of rat race? I am the best..no one can beat me in this…this is what I want to do in life…This is what I am good at…I am better than so and so…yada yada stuff!! After all you and me are going to be the same…we both come into being because we have been made to..somehow no one knows how…and no one knows why…and we both are ultimately going to get merged with the mud..excepting time differences perhaps…And not just me and you…but also all those plants and animals we live with…all of us are going to end at the same place..the EARTH…Whats the difference then? Between one who is a top shot guy in so and so field..and one who is say literally working in the fields…or a dog straying by the roadside….The fact that humans can talk? Have brain? How much does it matter when the end destiny is the same for both??

I believe I exist merely because I have been made to exist…I believe I do these mundane things in life simply because I have nothing else to do…Because no one has told me that I have been brought into existence for anything else. Because I do not see any purpose whatsoever for the human race existing on this planet…Because I know my final destiny anyway so why bother?

My First Blog

Hi Everybody…
This being my very first blog, lemme start off by just introducing myself…Well, Prestidigitator – the word means a ‘ Juggler, or a conjurer of tricks’….And the number 420 aptly blends with ‘Prestidigitator’…Well, the word first caught my fascination while I was working on the Hindu Crossword…Now that tells you about me that I simply love doing crosswords! Coming to crosswords or crossies in short, a really rich vocab is what is required to crack ’em all…And vocab comes from – Reading….Reading or for that matter Writing was never my cup of tea anytime…Neither my cup of coffee nor any other beverage!! Funny, eh?? Well, that tells you a second thing about me – my ability to conjure up or ‘prestidigitate’ absolutely meaningless senseless PJs!! Consider this for instance: someone comes up to me and asks ‘Hey babe whats up’?? And my usual response is to look up and say ‘The sky, what else?’ or maybe a bird or whatever…Coming to birds, I love birds!! Especially chicken…Tandoori chicken is my favorite of all!!!Of course with all the ‘animal rights’ jazz around us, more often than not I prefer being a vegetarian than eat chicken…I simply love continental veg food!! Lasagnas…Baked cheesy stuff…Pizzas…Mexican…what else? I Love chinese too!!! and yes how can I forget!! Chocolates are my all time favorite..anytime anywhere any amount…I simply cant live without chocolates… So now you know thatI am a big time foodie…Of course complementing my ‘fooding’, I also enjoy cooking very much…I guess thats enough about me for the day….Will get involved in this blog thingie actively soon…