Don't Stretch!

Yes, don't strecth too much. Because it hurts, and it hurts really bad. And this is true about every aspect of life I can comprehend of at this point in time. I am just back from a movie titled "Shoot On Sight" which just re-affirmed this truth. And the last two movies I opted for - "Rock On!" and "A Wdnesday" did the same. The aspects of life and the points of view they touched might have been different, but for me all three portrayed this truth.

If "Rock On!" was about how stretching yourself away from your real self, stretching the most important relationships in life almost to the breaking point can destroy the soul of life, then "A Wednesday" was a fictional, but undeniable portrayal of what a common man can resort to when stretched for his patience. "Shoot On Sight" - built on the backdrop of 7/7 London blasts - is again a fictional, but undeniable portrayal of a senior muslim cop who is faced with two sets of people who have stretched their beliefs to two opposite poles. He is faced with a choice between them, but the problem is he can't choose either. You can identify with him - irrespective of whether you are a muslim or not - the same way you can identify with the Mumbaikar in "A Wednesday" (Incidently, both characters get itched in the memory because of Naseeruddin Shah's performance - a coincidence?), irrespective of whether you live in Mumbai or not.

I remember from the science lessons learnt in highschool that as deficiency of essential nutrients like vitamins can hurt the body, so can excessive intake of them. You have to always look for a balance in the diet. If this is is true for the physical health of a human being then same holds true for her mental, emotional, intellectual health also. She needs a balance diet of moral and religious values, faiths, beliefs, emotions and intellect. But an excess of any of these can do equal harm as can the deficiency, and that is the thing to be guarded against, particularly in these trying times.

We live in a world today which is being pulled to various extremes by all kinds of extremists. To me, an extremist is any person who stretches things beyond the healthy limit - in any aspect of life, be it relationships, beliefs, values, behaviors - where it hurts the people around him. The only faith, religion and belief that an extremist follows is that of extremism. We need religions, but religious beliefs can't overide humanity; we need communities, but communal beliefs should not override humanity; we need brilliant individuals to lead people, but no individual can be allowed to overpower humanity.

We say that the world is becoming small every day, getting integrated so closely in this phase of globalization; and yet it seems to be disintegrating at its seam, every day. Do we lack a balance somewhere? Today we have a situation on our hands where there are certain extremist activist groups who are keen on destruction to make an impact, and then there are equally extremist governments who have waged a war aginst these groups and have vowed to destroy them. Amidst all the destruction, the people who have lost the most are those who do not want to identify with either. The situation back home is no different, where the race for power is getting uglier day-by-day. The key issues are swept under the carpet, and the issues which get attention are all manufactured by various players in the game of power. Through all this, the common man has the seemingly impossible job of strikning a balance in his life and he will have to suceed for that is the only hope for survival of humanity.

At the end, a question that keeps popping up in my mind is probably asked in the most profound way in these lines penned by Javedsaab.

Ishwar Allah Tere Jahan Mein, Nafrat Kyon Hai Jung Hai Kyon

Tera Dil To Itna Bada Hai, Insaan Ka Dil Tang Hai Kyon

Kadam Kadam Par Sarhad Kyon Hai, Saari Zameen Jo Teri Hai

Sooraj Ke Phere Karati Hai, Phir Kyon Itni Andheri Hai

Is Duniya Ke Daaman Par, Insaan Ke Lahoo Ka Rang Hai Kyon

Goonj Rahi Kitni Cheekhein, Pyaar Ki Baatein Kaun Sunein

Toot Rahe Hain Kitne Sapne, Inke Tukde Kaun Chunien

Dil Ke Darwaazon Par Taaley, Taalon Par Ye Jang Hai Kyon

Who is John Galt?

He is every one of us who believes in creation, ingenuity, thought, reason, value, workmanship - in essence, who chooses to be a human. After all, don't all these attributes contribute to the "humanness" of a human being? The answer is of course, Yes. After reading Atlas Shrugged the answer has got so well ingrained in my mind, I don't think anything will ever be able to cast a shadow of uncertainty on it.

I have to thank the anonymous reader who recommended it while commenting on one of my older posts. Reading the book is such a blissful experience. Ayn Rand presents the true human values with such clarity and with a multitude of characters that probably sums up the various kinds of people around us. As you read the book and think about the situations unfolding, you can't escape noticing the resemblance they have to the world around. The contexts may vary, but the way people behave in those situations is very similar to the way Rand's characters behave. And I think that is the reason the book grips the mind of its reader. It is a work of fiction, and yet it is so real.

I don't think I have ever thought about my workplace and the people I work with so much as I did while I was reading the book. The situation there is no different. We have those select few who give it their all to make a project successful, without ever thinking about what they are going to gain. Then there are those who always think about how best can they use the success of the project, just by sticking to the real hard workers. Then again there are a few who don't care about the project, don't want to put even the effort of sticking to the propellers, but yet want to reap the rewards. There are a few leaders who will take the credit of every success, and blame the failure on the team and avoid any kind of responsibility. There are few more categories people will fit into. What's interesting is their thought processes match to at least one character in Atlas Shrugged.

As Rand says in the book, life is a matter of choices. What differentiates man from the other animals is his ability to think, but to exercise this ability is a choice every man has to make. Also, to what extent he exercises it will determine the heights he will achieve. So, on one extreme we will have someone who chooses to think and reason, act on his thoughts and do so without exception never letting his decision be based on anything but reason. He will be perfectly in peace with his mind, probably the kind that is described in the Gita and can be achieved by the way of Karma. On the other extreme we will have someone who chooses not to think at all thereby resigning completely to external forces, always in confusion and acting on the other person's reason, thereby never at peace with his mind. Always living in a state of denial, such a man will eventually bring his own downfall.

All of us lie somewhere between these two extremes. Which way we want to move is again a matter of individual choice!