the lines "Well, now,
if little by little you stop loving me
I shall stop loving you little by little.
If suddenly
you forget me
do not look for me,
for I shall already have forgotten you."
What is it in the human psyche that allows him to hold a place so high for ego? Why is it that human emotions allow room for such a vile feeling? love so pure can be diminished with such ease. Neruda claims that if he is loved less, he too will love less. Is this natural or is it being selfish. Is it hormonal to love less when one receives less attention. if one feels that things arent the same will they fight or surrender? if they will surrender then the world wont know true love. love is supposed to be the hardest fight of all, if it could be so shallow that it needs constant pushing,then is it truly love? Our judgment is so clouded by emotion that we have lost our ability to love unconditionally. Our ego has gotten so large that love is no longer that free string-less feeling it once was. Emotion not only clouds reason, but also our actions when it comes to love. Neruda's poem not only teaches me about love but it also teaches about ego. What touches me about this poem is the fact that with such simple words Neruda is able to make me think and feel so guilty for being a human because fact is that we all have ego, and it probably will come in our way before love. My friend once told me that no matter how much you care for a person ego wont let you forgive and forget a betrayal. no matter what the person has done for you, at the end of the day especially for a person with confidence like me will not be able to love the same. If a person leaves me and moves on, i wont wait for them. Truth is very few might, and even if they do, nothing will stay the same. We Percieve things as different and no matter what we do, we wont love the same again. Neruda uses language with such simplicity. He manages to sway the emotions of the readers and make us realize that our emotions are so open to swaying and how our actions can so easily be altered by emotional distress. Humans hold a position too high for ego, and that is why most will not even agree to the fact that this is the truth.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
always do what you know to be best even if it is the most difficult thing to do.”
Source: A quote by the mother, “always do what you know to be best even if it is the most difficult thing to do.”
It is not easy to always do the right thing. It comes with tension, pressure and fear. This set of emotions can make it hard for a person to listen to reason, and act in for the right. Trusting our reason and not our fear will always take us in the right direction. When we perceive an act that seems ethically wrong, it is our civic duty to put an end to it.
Doing the right thing and doing the easy thing are not always the same. Turning a blind eye to bribery could be as bad as accepting it yourself. Though it might be easier to let go of it, it is wrong. At the airport I once observed a man pay the policeman at customs a bunch of thousand rupee notes and walking out without a check. Being 17 I couldn’t do much then, but after witnessing 26/11 I cant help but wonder how wrong I was. Those could have been bags with artillery. The police turned a blind eye to the fisher-people who came to inform them about the boatloads of mysterious men to colaba. Fighting off reason, laziness caused 26/11 a disaster that could have been avoided or at least kept under control.
Sometimes the right thing might be giving up something that means most to you but one must look at the reason behind every action and not the emotional pleasure. Some believe that the reason is that actions bring emotional pleasure but those acts do not bring abut positive results in the long run. After the Indians saw what British rule in India was doing to its economy, there was a need to revolt. The easier way out would have been to ignore the fact that matters were going from bad to worse and that the generations to come would probably be slaves, and to enjoy the freedoms the people had at that time. If that had been done, then India nor the world would be the way it was today. Revolutionaries like Mangal Pandey saw the need to fix this mess, and gave up the most precious thing to any person, their lives. They did the right thing to make our lives simpler. It mustn’t have been easy, but it is because of the sacrifice of people like that, that today an Indian can be the boss of a British man in a company.
What the mother is propagating through this quote is something that everyone should follow. Only if we strive to do the right thing, will the world be a better place. Good things never come easy and that is why they come with a sense of pride. Even the small things do matter. We must always remain unaffected by the fear that comes with fighting evil and wrong. As the mother also said, “it is only when we are not disturbed that we can always do the right thing at the right time in the right way.”
It is not easy to always do the right thing. It comes with tension, pressure and fear. This set of emotions can make it hard for a person to listen to reason, and act in for the right. Trusting our reason and not our fear will always take us in the right direction. When we perceive an act that seems ethically wrong, it is our civic duty to put an end to it.
Doing the right thing and doing the easy thing are not always the same. Turning a blind eye to bribery could be as bad as accepting it yourself. Though it might be easier to let go of it, it is wrong. At the airport I once observed a man pay the policeman at customs a bunch of thousand rupee notes and walking out without a check. Being 17 I couldn’t do much then, but after witnessing 26/11 I cant help but wonder how wrong I was. Those could have been bags with artillery. The police turned a blind eye to the fisher-people who came to inform them about the boatloads of mysterious men to colaba. Fighting off reason, laziness caused 26/11 a disaster that could have been avoided or at least kept under control.
Sometimes the right thing might be giving up something that means most to you but one must look at the reason behind every action and not the emotional pleasure. Some believe that the reason is that actions bring emotional pleasure but those acts do not bring abut positive results in the long run. After the Indians saw what British rule in India was doing to its economy, there was a need to revolt. The easier way out would have been to ignore the fact that matters were going from bad to worse and that the generations to come would probably be slaves, and to enjoy the freedoms the people had at that time. If that had been done, then India nor the world would be the way it was today. Revolutionaries like Mangal Pandey saw the need to fix this mess, and gave up the most precious thing to any person, their lives. They did the right thing to make our lives simpler. It mustn’t have been easy, but it is because of the sacrifice of people like that, that today an Indian can be the boss of a British man in a company.
What the mother is propagating through this quote is something that everyone should follow. Only if we strive to do the right thing, will the world be a better place. Good things never come easy and that is why they come with a sense of pride. Even the small things do matter. We must always remain unaffected by the fear that comes with fighting evil and wrong. As the mother also said, “it is only when we are not disturbed that we can always do the right thing at the right time in the right way.”
Monday, July 20, 2009
forever young.
“Hoping for the best but expecting the worst.” –youth group in the song forever young.
The line that appealed most to me was, “hoping for the best but expecting the worst.” It has been like my motto ever since I first heard this song. Whenever in anticipation of something to come, I always keep this in mind. It is like a consolation and warning to prevent the flow of too much emotion. It is a logical way of maintaining a mind set that will prepare a person to face the bad times, without making them too much of pessimists. Believing in what this line is trying to teach us makes us realists. There is a need for reason to keep a check on emotion and by ‘hoping for the best but expecting the worst, we make ourselves do just that.
I perceive life to be a mixture of good and bad things. I believe that every event has at least two possible outcomes, one good and one bad. A person must always live hoping and keeping faith that the best outcome will prevail. Yet the person must not sit back waiting for good things to come to them. They must prepare for the worst, make an effort to get the best and only then it will come to them. Though I am a firm believer that one must strive to get what one wants, there are things out of our control and in those cases this line should be one’s only rule.
26/11 is considered to be one of the most tragic events of contemporary Indian history. Information of unlicensed boats docking at Cuffe parade was given to the police. Threats had been made in past as well. The police should have heightened security and stayed prepared hoping that guns wouldn’t need to be fired. Instead, sitting back expecting the best, few terrorists were able to take hotels, a building and a hospital hostage for 3 days. If man prepared for the worst then history would be written differently. Scientifically, weather can be foretold tornadoes and storms can not be prevented, but instead of just giving warnings, preparations must be made to prevent extensive damage. This way the casualties and the destruction could be kept to a minimum.
Expecting the worst isn’t being negative but being realistic. One might argue that it pulls the emotions down, but taking the few cases when the preparations came to no use and the best outcome prevailed would be confirmation bias. Its always better to be safe than sorry as people say.
The line that appealed most to me was, “hoping for the best but expecting the worst.” It has been like my motto ever since I first heard this song. Whenever in anticipation of something to come, I always keep this in mind. It is like a consolation and warning to prevent the flow of too much emotion. It is a logical way of maintaining a mind set that will prepare a person to face the bad times, without making them too much of pessimists. Believing in what this line is trying to teach us makes us realists. There is a need for reason to keep a check on emotion and by ‘hoping for the best but expecting the worst, we make ourselves do just that.
I perceive life to be a mixture of good and bad things. I believe that every event has at least two possible outcomes, one good and one bad. A person must always live hoping and keeping faith that the best outcome will prevail. Yet the person must not sit back waiting for good things to come to them. They must prepare for the worst, make an effort to get the best and only then it will come to them. Though I am a firm believer that one must strive to get what one wants, there are things out of our control and in those cases this line should be one’s only rule.
26/11 is considered to be one of the most tragic events of contemporary Indian history. Information of unlicensed boats docking at Cuffe parade was given to the police. Threats had been made in past as well. The police should have heightened security and stayed prepared hoping that guns wouldn’t need to be fired. Instead, sitting back expecting the best, few terrorists were able to take hotels, a building and a hospital hostage for 3 days. If man prepared for the worst then history would be written differently. Scientifically, weather can be foretold tornadoes and storms can not be prevented, but instead of just giving warnings, preparations must be made to prevent extensive damage. This way the casualties and the destruction could be kept to a minimum.
Expecting the worst isn’t being negative but being realistic. One might argue that it pulls the emotions down, but taking the few cases when the preparations came to no use and the best outcome prevailed would be confirmation bias. Its always better to be safe than sorry as people say.
Michael Jackson.
Source: amul butter ad on Michael Jackson.
The ad reads black or white, all are fans, followed by Amul butter, you just can’t beat it. Black or white is one of Michael’s songs, which is anti racism. Beat it is another song by him where he sings about overcoming any obstacle that comes in your way. The motive being to always “beat it”. The ad on the Amul billboard is a response to the death of this great legend, but what the ad means is different from what the songs originally were meant to mean. The black and white reference was to show that all races love the butter and the beat it reference was to show that Amul is the best nothing can “beat it”. Yet there is a second meaning, which is that Blacks and whites were all fans of Jackson, but no one can beat or cheat death.
This billboard shows how everything is open to our perception’s interpretation. While I asked my mother her view on the board she said that it was a tribute to him and they used random lyrics to promote the selling of Amul, yet I believe the additional reason was praising Jackson and paying respects to him. Some might even say the you cant beat it was mocking his lyrics because he preached beat it, but he himself couldn’t beat death. The idea behind this board is to entertain the masses and to promote Amul so that more people purchase it. All ads are designed to attract the eye of the observer and tempt him into buying the certain product. Most ads are false. The shampoos that promise no hair fall, and the creams that promise the disappearance of all acne. Ads are all meant to please the eye and gain revenue for the company responsible for the ad.
Companies attempt to hit the emotion of the viewers. They use many techniques by making their ads sentimental and touching, some use celebrities to promote their product, some use comedy, and some use cartoons. The motive is to win emotion in such a manner that logic and reason play a backseat in the choosing of what products to buy. People spend thousands of rupees on belts that promise to build abs, but none of that ever truly happens. It is just the way to sell a product.
The language used in the ads is very important. They must be to the point. The body language, the acting, the punch line all must be designed to captivate the audience. It shouldn’t be too long, yet never too short. The Amul ad hits the emotions of all his fans, and manages to make them smile and miss him, yet reminding them that maul is entertaining and probably a good butter. Amul ads have always been funny and they actually have managed to make me enjoy reading them and eating the butter that cant be “beat”.
The ad reads black or white, all are fans, followed by Amul butter, you just can’t beat it. Black or white is one of Michael’s songs, which is anti racism. Beat it is another song by him where he sings about overcoming any obstacle that comes in your way. The motive being to always “beat it”. The ad on the Amul billboard is a response to the death of this great legend, but what the ad means is different from what the songs originally were meant to mean. The black and white reference was to show that all races love the butter and the beat it reference was to show that Amul is the best nothing can “beat it”. Yet there is a second meaning, which is that Blacks and whites were all fans of Jackson, but no one can beat or cheat death.
This billboard shows how everything is open to our perception’s interpretation. While I asked my mother her view on the board she said that it was a tribute to him and they used random lyrics to promote the selling of Amul, yet I believe the additional reason was praising Jackson and paying respects to him. Some might even say the you cant beat it was mocking his lyrics because he preached beat it, but he himself couldn’t beat death. The idea behind this board is to entertain the masses and to promote Amul so that more people purchase it. All ads are designed to attract the eye of the observer and tempt him into buying the certain product. Most ads are false. The shampoos that promise no hair fall, and the creams that promise the disappearance of all acne. Ads are all meant to please the eye and gain revenue for the company responsible for the ad.
Companies attempt to hit the emotion of the viewers. They use many techniques by making their ads sentimental and touching, some use celebrities to promote their product, some use comedy, and some use cartoons. The motive is to win emotion in such a manner that logic and reason play a backseat in the choosing of what products to buy. People spend thousands of rupees on belts that promise to build abs, but none of that ever truly happens. It is just the way to sell a product.
The language used in the ads is very important. They must be to the point. The body language, the acting, the punch line all must be designed to captivate the audience. It shouldn’t be too long, yet never too short. The Amul ad hits the emotions of all his fans, and manages to make them smile and miss him, yet reminding them that maul is entertaining and probably a good butter. Amul ads have always been funny and they actually have managed to make me enjoy reading them and eating the butter that cant be “beat”.
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