After the unexpected & tragic suicide of Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput,social media was flooded with posts of celebrities who had directly or indirectly wronged him.The next day,Karan Johar,director & more importantly,owner of the mega ‘Dharma Productions’ put up a post on his social media accounts stating that he blames himself for alienating SSR,since he didn’t talk to him for an year.Soon reports and posters came out,of movies SSR was doing or supposed to do but the producers backed away.It seems SSR had signed some YRF movies(YRF usually has 3 movie contracts) but then SSR made a conscious decision to do only issue related movies & not frivolous stuff.This didn’t go down well with the producers who soon ‘boycotted’ him,starting a chain of rejections & removals.Shekhar Kapur has come out publicly stating that much of this is true(https://www.hindustantimes.com/bollywood/sushant-singh-rajput-cried-a-lot-when-he-found-out-paani-has-been-shelved-we-both-did-shekhar-kapur/story-zoTUzci0x97aDyDUPDnVkI.html) His movie “Paani” was supposed to go on the floors but was choked financially whereby both Kapur & SSR felt very dejected.While the details of SSR’s suicide are yet to be revealed,the discussion around “depression” has now turned into a discussion about “Nepotism”.Nepotism is described as using your relatives or family influence to get a job or a position.While we are quick to lash out at “rich celebs” we tend to overlook how often we ourselves use it in our lives.Any person who has got a connection in a firm,store or public place of service will undoubtedly deploy it to his own advantage(I mean who hasn’t heard “Mera beta hai,ise dekh lijiyega zara” or “Meri beti hai,isko sikha dijiyega thoda”) This might be an emotional or a purely transactional relationship.Still we do this & have been doing it since forever.The people who don’t have such a connection loathe this because it puts them in a position of utter disadvantage on a competitive basis. We need to ask whether if given the chance would we have done the same deployment of such resources or no.Now you will say “Sure,but I have not caused anyone financial or moral harm.I just did what everyone does.” Agreed.You may have just been looking at your situation without strictly trying to put someone else down.I would argue then that it’s pretty much the same in Bollywood.So,Javed Akhtar & Salim Khan were famous script writers in the 1970s.They loved Amitabh Bachchan’s delivery of their lines & would try to retain him in as many movies as possible.AB is of course,a great actor & was popular which added to his appeal.Behind the scenes,a friendship between Salim Khan,Javed & AB means that they meet up regularly during social events.Salim & Javed would’ve seen Abhishek & Shweta since they were toddlers.Similarly,AB would’ve seen Salman since he was a toddler.Naturally,when Abhishek grows up and if Javed or Salim Khan are still working they’ll think of Abhishek first.Now the industry is not limited to these three alone.There are producers,directors,many other actors & a whole host of crew members.This inter-mixing means easy recognition outside the event.As in any industry,people tend to have likes & dislikes.Some people are pandered to only because they are doing well professionally while some relationships go deeper than this.The end result is a large network of people who know each other since decades.Kangana had said that while doing a movie with Sanjay Dutt & Anil Kapoor,the two of them had nothing to say to KR since they went too far back & shared a lot of old stories.The time spent on the sets of a movie takes up much longer than the length of the movie so such things are hard to overlook.So for an ‘outsider’ not only do you not get work easily ,your attempts at forming a social network are also impeded because a well-formed ‘family’ already exists.And why only Bollywood? Just imagine that you,a Delhi person go to work at a job in Hyderabad.Your eyes will light up on meeting another Delhiite at that place.It’s simply our familiarity with a person or something in common that makes us strike up a relationship more easily.If the invite for a party arrives,the Delhiite will most likely tell it to his Delhiite friend first(this is usually the case,exceptions don’t make a norm) However,according to me the problem comes when such relationships result in a massive consolidation of either wealth or power.This makes the whole issue that much more serious because now you have such high barriers to entry that you may as well not try entering at all.Think of a oligopoly market where just 2-3 companies make up all the sales & profits of an industry.Implicitly,both companies try to protect each other too because they know that the other will help in the longer propagation of such a scenario.Bollywood for many,many years ran on money from shady sources.Movie stars were seen at public events or watching cricket matches alongwith well-known criminals.Somehow this mould broke with Yash Raj Films becoming a huge corporation(though many people believe that money from shady sources still continues to rush into Bollywood) Similarly,Dharma Productions was able to achieve similar prosperity.There is also Vidhu Vinod Chopra Productions(massively successful movies like “3 Idiots”,”P.K.”,”Sanju”) In any case,3-4 belligerent production houses flush with money,having long associations with many industry ‘insiders’,media people,distributors is a very bad situation for a newcomer.So,all newcomers have to function according to unstated ‘norms’.No one would want to be in their bad books.They will praise them needlessly,criticism will be shallow or just non-existent.While anyone who attempts to break this monopoly will be met with a lot of backlash.This is not to suggest that YRF & Dharma are just a-hole corporations.Not at all.In fact,protecting your market is a very common & natural tendency of businesses.This is probably the same effect a ‘quarrel’ with Salman Khan can have on your career.He is an old-timer,his movies do great,he is ‘bankable’ and has a lot of influence.And this setup does not apply to India alone.Hollywood has many such ’eminent’ personalities.Many have been exposed in recent years.Louis CK was a stand-up comic almost revered by comedians across the world for his talents.In 2017,allegations were leveled by some women women(https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/09/arts/television/louis-ck-sexual-misconduct.html) All of them made similar allegations.Now people say why were they quiet for so long? The answer is simple.Louis CK is famous,his presence at an event or a night club or a bar can substantially increase it’s repute.So,no night club/bar wants to risk pissing him off.When a fledgling comedienne makes some allegations of course no one will react.She’s a ‘nobody’ while CK is the No. 1 guy.Thus,once a woman makes such allegations she’s implicitly boycotted by everyone who wants to have Louis CK perform at their venues.It is completely possible that this lady may not be a great comic.Maybe she would’ve turned to another career too.But that’s not the point.The point is that one person exercising so much influence on an industry is a terrible situation.Harvey Weinstein’s case is no different(https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-41594672) He repeatedly sidelined celebs who didn’t toe his line.They would soon be boycotted & have to work on the opposite end of ‘Miramax'(Weinstein’s production company) It is also documented that he possessed undue influence over the decisions at the Oscars too(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tihITlPAn4)

 

So what you need is to break this system of consolidated power.The recent backlash against almost the whole industry seems to be a nice beginning.If the energies can be deployed more strategically we would’ve made a far bigger contribution to SSR’s legacy than just making a few social media posts.I feel a call for more transparency in revealing the money trail of production houses,supporting independent creators while rejecting ‘big studio’ movies can be good ways to contribute.More concretely,supporting anyone who stands up against the ‘big studios’ or some big actor in a financial manner if need be.Legal costs are far too high for relatively out-of-work or money starved yesteryear artists.So,if the audience itself can pitch in it will be a big blow to the whole system.

“Mahabharat” is a well-known tale.There are the righteous Pandavs and the bad Kauravs.Pandavs for their part,go out of their way to avoid a war.However,when injustice is meted out continuously they are left with no choice.Just before the war,Duryodhan tells Krishn(Pandavs’ messenger) that he won’t spare land equal to even the tip of a needle.This is a shocking statement and even his ever doting dad,Dhritrashtr is surprised at this.Uptil the war breaks out,the narrative is very clear about who is the good side & who is the bad side.The first 10 days of the war take place under the umbrella of civil rules of battle.These rules were agreed upon by the commander-in-chiefs of both sides.The Kaurav commander-in-chief Bheeshm possesses unparalleled valour.In his lifetime,he has even defeated Parshuram-the incarnation of Lord Vishnu himself-in a completely fair fight.He is the grand old man of the Kuru family.Apart from this,Bheeshm has an incredible boon protecting him from death.His death can’t touch him unless he wants to.This makes him invincible in battle.The Kurukshetr war thus comes to a stagnation with Bheeshm on the Kaurav side.He can’t be killed & he can’t be defeated.So,Krishn hatches a plan to neutralise him.Bheeshm understands Krishn’s play & himself offers the answer.This is an incredible moment where the most valiant warrior on the enemy camp reveals his weakness just to oblige with dharm.Dharm here is not religion.It is the set of rules of conduct people of the four varns are expected to follow.They vary with each varn.Now without Bheeshm,the Kaurav army makes Dronacharya their commander-in-chief.Dron was the teacher of both Kauravs & Pandavs.He too,is invincible in battle.He is also neutralized by some clever manipulation engineered by Krishn.Thus,the Kauravs keep losing their MVPs by deceptive ways.At the same time,just after Bheeshm’s removal the Kaurav army leaders made an extremely cowardly attack on the weaponless,young Abhimanyu breaking all the rules of war.They then danced around his dead body as celebration.This marks the beginning of the devolution.The war keeps getting more obscene.Civilized conduct continues to tumble.Eventually,Bheem bound by his terrible oath tears open Duhshasan’s chest and drinks his blood in the battlefield! He is called a ‘Rakshas'(demon) by both sides for his act.It is noteworthy that the tale of “Mahabharat” starts when civilization is near it’s peak.The text sings glories upon glories of the Kuru kings.The most glorious of them being the king Bharat,who is supposed to be the one ancient India was named after(Bharat-varsh) The first major cracks in this civilized world occur when the daughter-in-law of the Kuru family is dragged against her will into the court,in the presence of many noblemen of the state.Duryodhan,Duhshasan attempt to disrobe Draupadi publicly in that court..a scene terrible even by today’s standards.She is saved by Krishn but this incident marks the sunset of the Kuru family.We are told at the beginning of the Kurukshetr war that there are 18 “Akshauhini senas” involved.Each such army consists of about 2.2 lakh soldiers in all.Thus,the total number of participants comes to around 4 million.In the 18 days of the Kurukshetr war,each of these 4 million undergoes the same fate.The narrative has elaborate descriptions of the killings and beheadings and the blood on the battlefield.All women of Hastinapur end up crying & wailing after their dead men.The whole air is surrounded by the smell of corpses and the sounds of women & vultures.These are incredible scenes.A destruction of this magnitude! So,why did Vyas feel the need to include all this? Interestingly,all this destruction takes place under the watchful and ever-present eye of Lord Krishn.So did God fail? Why did God allow such massive destruction? In my view,Vyas is taking us through the life cycle of a civilization: Glory,prosperity at the beginning,some differences in the society,various uncivil elements promoted & then an eventual war.This society was so filthy that it needed to be wiped out.Why? A new era cannot start with the relics of the past.Thus,it’s a complete reset.The story of “Mahabharat” too,doesn’t end with the war.It goes on to describe Yudhishthir’s rule.He’s said to have ruled over India for 36 years,in an extremely wondrous society.No crimes,no conflicts and no unhappiness.You might argue that such societies only exist in fiction.That is fine.But the larger point is,after civilization has crumbled a new improved one has taken it’s place.

Thus,the grand epic of “Mahabharat” among other things is ultimately about the construction of a new society,under the patronage of God himself.The society’s most noble portions had become uncivilized and exploitative,forgetting all the ideals and ethics.So it became important to replace it.Replacement could only take place when there was nothing from the past to make it’s impression in the new society.After the war,only Pandavs & Draupadi survive alongwith Vidur,Gandhari & Dhritrashtr from the Kuru family.With this view,it is important then to appreciate that Krishn probably had the toughest task among all of Vishnu’s avtaars.While Ram improved a civil society and gave it a higher ideal,Parshuram prevented the crumbling of society by punishing it’s exploitative aspects,Krishn oversaw the complete reset.It is hard to agree with all this while reading about the blood that flowed during the war.However,it is very important to remember how much society had devolved.The role model noble family is party to an act that is considered heinous even today! Not just that,their devolution continues to such an extent that they are unable to differentiate between right & wrong.The tale is again very clear about this.If it’s hard to get the weight of the Kuru family’s devolution,then just try imagining if it were revealed that the daughter-in-law of the much haloed Tata group was undergoing abuse at her home! While this incident may not be much by itself,it does a lot to arm the perpetrators who always had such ill-feelings but couldn’t practice it because of the fear of the society.Crimes against women will definitely surge since this will give a good justification to the perpetrators.This is why a complete purge becomes necessary.Even if one element of this society survives,they will be able to produce the seeds of the next uncivilized society.We are talking about the Dvapar Yug here,where the world & India was still good enough that God himself walked the Earth! So,all these incidents added to the descent of society which is probably why Krishn considered it wise to replace it totally.

Please feel free to put in your views.

The serial ‘Mahabharat’ first aired more than 30 years back.Most of us in our 20s have only heard stories about how the telecast of the serial would stop daily life altogether.Back then,TV sets were not so common & watching serials was a community experience.This was similar to the ‘Ramayan’ phenomenon which had started airing just a few months before ‘Mahabharat’.Now after three decades,nature has decided to unleash a virus that would force us to stay home for a while.Amidst this,India’s I&B ministry decided to restart airing many popular shows of yesteryears.’Ramayan’,’Mahabharat’,’Byomkesh Bakshi’ & ‘Circus’ will air every week now.I have long been fascinated by ‘Mahabharat’.The common perception is that it’s about the victory of ‘good’ over ‘evil’.The Pandavs blessed by Lord Krishna were the victors in the monumental 18-day battle at Kurukshetra.However,I have insisted that the story is about so much more.Every small decision sets the ball rolling for big things in the future.And lessons are peppered everywhere.As Ganga remarks in Ep. 2,”bhavishya ateet ki kokh se hi janam leta hai”,i.e,the future is borne out of the past’s womb.I have decided to try & highlight the key takeaways from these episodes.I will also provide a summary of each episode at the same time.Here goes:

Episode 1:

The story starts with ‘Samay‘,i.e.,Time itself,reciting the tale of Mahabharat.This gives the story a neutral footing & elevates it’s authenticity since time is eternal & time has definitely been the direct witness of everything including the events narrated in ‘Mahabharat’.It’s a smart narrative choice.Harish Bhimani’s voice is a joy for the ears.Next,we see the king Bharat being distressed about his successor.He has nine sons but is unable to decide who to coronate as his heir.He visits his ‘guru’ and maternal grandfather for advice.Bharat is advised to look for the most eligible king.The guru reminds Bharat of his duty towards justice.Bharat must find the most capable person for the job.The duty of a king is to think about his society,’praja‘.The king’s duty is also referred to as ‘Rajdharm‘.Bharat returns satisfied & after contemplation declares in his court that none of his nine sons are worthy of being a king.He then declares Bhumanyu as the rightful heir.We are told that Bhumanyu is not the king’s blood.This decision is not hailed in the court.It also sends Bharat’s mother into a tizzy who questions his fatherly instincts.Bharat tells her that she is blinded by her motherhood & fails to see that her grandchildren lack capability.Bharat’s decision is a breakaway from the tradition of direct blood heirs.Thus,he put ‘Karm‘ before ‘Janm‘,i.e.,actions before birth.This creates a precedence for all his successors.The story then jumps to Shantanu who is out on a hunting expedition.He spots a woman clad in white & is immediately smitten by her beauty.He proceeds towards her and tells her his longing for her.They introduce each other.The woman is Ganga,the famous river of India,in human form.Shantanu surrenders to her in his love induced trance and makes a subtle proposal.Ganga postpones her decision to the next day.Shantanu spends a restless night.The next day,Ganga asks him to make a promise.The promise entails that Shantanu never question Ganga,no matter what happens.If Shantanu breaks his promise,Ganga would leave him forever.Shantanu gives his complete agreement.He assures her that he won’t even try to find the reason behind her action(s) This is the first mistake he makes.Shantanu is so lost in his love that he forgets his duty as a king.He never thinks that anything that Ganga does could go against his praja.This blind promise would haunt him later.The relationship blossoms,they get married & Shantanu spends his nights smitten with Ganga’s beauty,describing her features with utmost romantic poetry.We are told that Shantanu has been in his quarters for months on end without doing his royal duties.His minister is unfazed & let’s the king have his pleasures.Ganga bears their first kid.The king is overjoyed and proceeds to Ganga’s quarters to have a look.Meanwhile she has already left and is proceeding towards the river.Perplexed,Shantanu follows her.Ganga drowns her kid into the river.Appalled but still bound by his promise,Shantanu can only watch.He goes through endless agony.His minister questions his wisdom to not give the murderer of his kids the death penalty.There is some nice wordplay here.Shantanu continues to be stumped with Ganga but he’s still in love.Ganga bears another kid.This one too,undergoes the same fate.This happens again and again.So much so,that the praja starts gossiping about Ganga.They abhor her motherhood but sympathise with the King,unable to fathom why he persists with his queen.Shantanu’s agony continues.His Rajguru admonishes him for his blind promise.His temptation superseded his duty.He has to live with the consequences now.

Ep. 2:

We open with Shantanu angry,sad & powerless against Ganga’s actions.But on the birth of their 8th kid,Shantanu is no longer able to hold back.He breaks his vow.Ganga reminds him of his promise.Shantanu reasons that the king gave the promise but the father is breaking it.Ganga now narrates the whole story of his previous birth.Shantanu was a celestial being in his previous birth.He was Indra’s friend,Mahabhisha.They were watching the dance of some apsaras in Indra’s court.Brahma was moving around with his daughter,Ganga.Mahabhisha was immediately struck by Ganga’s eyes.Ganga too kept staring at him.Just then,a gust of wind blew a part of Ganga’s garment.All members present looked down but Mahabhisha,lost in his trance continued to marvel at Ganga.Brahma,the father was furious at their callousness.He cursed both to be born on ‘Mrityulok’,i.e.,the world of death,the Earth.This is why Shantanu & Ganga had to spend time on earth.Shantanu is still curious about Ganga’s cruelty towards her sons.How could a mother kill her sons?! Ganga tells him that their children were not drowned.They did some sins in their previous birth and were cursed by Rishi Vasishtha that they’d never be able to attain Moksh.Ganga,saddened at their plight took it upon herself to liberate them.Thus,these men were re-born through Ganga’s womb who was to liberate the eight of them.Alas,the eighth kid couldn’t be liberated and would have to spend time on Earth.Shantanu is happy again.But his happiness is short lived.Since he broke his vow,Ganga would no longer be with him.She was free of the curse.Shantanu demands that she leave his son with him.Ganga denies his request but promises that Devavrat will be returned to him soon.Without a child and now without a wife,Shantanu spends all his days in a pathetic state.On one of his lonely days besides the river Ganga he hears the cry of infants.He discovers two newborn babies lying on the bed of an animal’s skin.They are surrounded by materials possessed by Rishis.Shantanu considers this divine intervention.He thanks the Rishi and tells his companion that Rishis are beyond a Kshartiya’s understanding.He picks up the kids and since they were both found through the Rishi’s grace,they are named ‘Kripa’ and ‘Kripi’.Shantanu returns to his kingdom and meets the Rajguru.Shantanu was a father awaiting the return of his son but leaving two helpless infants in the wild went against his idea of justice.At the same time,he couldn’t father these kids so he asks the Rajguru to adopt them.Then he goes back to his lonesome,weary self.Again he forgets his duties as a king.He prioritizes his woes over his kingdom.A king unable to rise over his woes is unable to protect his society.Thus,so far Shantanu has been a pretty bad king.He has harmed his kingdom unconsciously.While longing for Ganga one day,Shantanu spots a barrage of arrows stopping Ganga’s flow.He is surprised and goes to the shore with his weapons.Just when he’s about to break this barrage,Ganga appears.Shantanu is introduced to his 16 year old son.He has been educated in the arts of weaponry,politics,philosophy and the duties of a King.Shantanu is a happy man now.Ganga takes his leave and bids her son goodbye.She blesses Devavrat to create history.Now without his mother for the first time since his birth,Devavrat cuts a sorry figure.He tells Shantanu about his incompleteness…he’ll always be the kid who could never have his father’s and mother’s love at the same time.Shantanu assures him that he won’t miss his mother’s love.They proceed and Shantanu’s charioteer greets him and the prince by saying their ‘Jai’.Devavrat asks him to hail the kingdom instead.He reasons that the kingdom is greater than the king or the prince and thus only the kingdom must be hailed.On his arrival,the kingdom is overjoyed.They are besides themselves after finally getting an heir.Devavrat is carried to the palace amidst much fanfare.Shantanu soon discovers that his son has high wisdom.Every decision of Devavrat is backed by strong principles.Shantanu recognizes some of his teachers through their teachings.It turns out that Devavrat has gained knowledge from Shukr,Brihaspati,Parshuram and many other eminent contemporary thinkers.Shantanu hails him as ‘vidya-dhani’,i.e.,rich in knowledge.Devavrat rejects this.He says that a mortal is always a student.The only vidya-dhani is God himself.Humans can only receive the offerings of absolute knowledge and not absolute knowledge itself.Shantanu,embarrassed but more proud at his son continues to enquire about other things.Devavrat narrates a Sanskrit shlok that translates to:

Knowledge gives you modesty,
modesty gives you capability,
capability gives you wealth,
with wealth you do your duties
and by doing your duties you attain joy.

Devavrat at the tender age of 16 has such high ideals as his guide! Next we see Father and son share a game of dice(Kuru family members were said to be fond of the game of dice) Devavrat is asked about his time in Devlok.He tells Shantanu that the game of dice in that world is different.The thrower of the die is time itself and the pieces are humans.Time moves the die and the pieces.Their conversation is interrupted by a merchant.The merchant boasts of a glorious horse.He claims that this horse could even become the puller of Sun’s chariot.This is a reference to the idea that Sun was carried around in the skies by his chariot and 8 other horses.Shantanu strikes a deal with the merchant.If the horse doesn’t live up to his claims the merchant will get the death penalty.If it lives up then the merchant will be promoted to a ‘Kshatriy‘ and granted possession of 50 villages.Shantanu & Devavrat go out to see this fabled horse.The merchant continues his boasts.He tells them that in the whole of Bharatvarsh(ancient name of India) no one has been able to put a saddle on the horse.Shantanu’s soldiers now take up this task.However,the horse reacts wildly and resists their attempts.Devavrat watches the horse and seems to have come up with a solution.He asks his father’s permission & takes a 360 degree view of the animal.He easily puts the saddle and mounts the horse.He subtly scolds the merchant for playing tricks.The horse was not a glorious one who resisted riders.He was just scared of his own shadow.Devavrat saw through and mounted the saddle in a region where there was no shadow.He then takes the horse for a spin.En route,he finds a large army headed towards their kingdom of Hastinapur.Devavrat cautions the enemy king.The king,arrogantly asks him his identity and taunts Devavrat to flow away like his mother.The enemy advances.Devavrat unleashes a barrage of divine arrows.A cyclone torments the enemy camp.In his first battle ever,Devavrat subdues a formidable enemy all by himself.

Thus,the two parts highlight the duties of a king.The decision of Bharat is in sharp contrast to the long held tradition of the king’s son taking up the throne.Shantanu forgets his duties as a king.He forgets the justice his ancestor was famous for.He makes a blind promise to a woman he loves,jeopardizing the future of his kingdom & thus his ‘praja’.He violates Rajdharm.The consequences are not easy.Shantanu has to undergo endless moments of agony.First on seeing his seed being drowned by his wife and then living without a queen and without a son for many years.Devavrat comes in as a knight in shining armour,vitalising the thoughts of Shantanu and introducing him to new ideas.Even at a tender age,Devavrat is very wise.The story of the merchant is a very relatable one.Even today,we have companies making ads where they talk about how ‘different’ their product is.They add some adjectives like ‘pro’ or ‘plus’ or ‘advanced’ to increase the appeal.The merchant with the horse,confidently narrates the made up glory of his product.Shantanu smirks at the ‘boasts of merchants’.Devavrat’s exposé of the merchant validates the fact that merchants have always been smart at trickery.They offer good stuff but that alone won’t fetch a great price so it’s important to add some spice.

That’s it for the first 2 episodes.

As kids we have very binary ideas.Some part of this is contributed by the adults in our lives who tell us that there are good people & bad people,there are right things & wrong things & so on.As we enter the teenage age group(age 13) our world view starts expanding.We start taking liberties,we are no longer dependent on the adults in our lives to go from place to place.Some teens even revolt & do exactly the opposite of what they are told.We interact with a lot of new people.Suddenly,we are exposed to hundreds of different personalities.Most of us have had fairly sheltered lives & we take things at face value.There is also a certain acceptance & warmth in young age.There is no cynicism.But soon the chinks in this world view start emerging.Of course,the rate at which different people change is different.Many continue to be fairly innocent even up till college.However,it is certain that the naivete of childhood starts transforming into something more practical.Though the better percentage still continues to believe in concrete changes.We feel we can change things permanently or atleast someone else can.This is nowhere more apparent than in politics.We grow up listening to our parents & others talking about how corruption is rampant,how the politicians don’t care,how much the ‘system’ is messed up & so on.Thus,when we see a new face talking sensible stuff we buy it immediately.Others do some background checks & come to similar conclusions.The general idea is that this new guy can transform the system completely & sustainably if given the chance.And this is not a selfish desire.We genuinely want the society to have better resources.But as we grow older still,this idealism starts to crumble.After college(& sometimes just after school) we have to work at a job.And at our work places,things are seldom what they seem.We go with wide eyes to do what we were employed for.We worked hard to get there.However,things don’t turn out as we had expected.This is the beginning of cynicism.We learn that politics is not limited to just the political world.It thrives even in seemingly unrelated work places.Humans have a tendency to look after their self-interests.The reasons could be many..different people have different motivations.When a lot of such people meet the results can be catastrophic.Now imagine someone who just wanted to do the work he/she was employed for & doesn’t want to get his/her hands dirty in all these shenanigans.What can they do? Being idealists they again imagine a world where all this doesn’t happen.Of course,no such place exists.It’s the sad truth.

Thus,I feel one of the big problems of adulthood is coming to terms with these realities.It is our biggest challenge as adults to temper down our ideals while still retaining our individuality.And going into a shell,turning a blind eye doesn’t work.It all bottles up & will explode as something much worse sometime in the future.It is probably only when we calibrate our ideals into something more actionable that we can truly experience happiness again.This journey is what I feel defines adulthood.

I call any unexpected event,a random event.Many things take place in our lives daily,which are not planned.This can be a car which comes out from the corner,at a turn.It can be a bird sitting on the roof of your house/room/flat.Heck,it can be your alarm that went off at the wrong time! And among bigger things,it can be your career or life partner.We become so used to,to this randomness,that it doesn’t even strike us now.Just think of the few most important people in your life,outside your family.You will have a hard time explaining how/why you got to know them.When we work or go to a place regularly,some faces become familiar.This happens right from our kindergarten days.We don’t even know about these people.We just recognize them,and feel secure in their presence.But how does this group form? How do I acquire a skill,and make it better? How do I come to know new things? How do I fall in love? There are no easy answers here.This is just randomness making its way into our lives.So.what if,instead of Jim..I had chatted with John? He would’ve introduced me to a different set of people,my thought process may have evolved differently,and thus,the decisions I took,would’ve been different.All from one interaction! And still,there is no way to know beforehand,talking to whom will result in a better life? And we are not discussing soul mates or marriages here.These are just people,you would like to have around you.Of course,one big turn on can be intellectual matching.You two may think alike,and you just hit it off.But how often does this happen? The event that I stumbled upon someone like that,is again totally random.I feel,as humans we feed on randomness.

No matter how much we cringe ‘change’,but its a fact that things keep changing all the time.The color of the walls fades,the car gets older,we get older,kids grow up,our salaries & expenses change,our lifestyles change,etc.Interestingly,there is a scientific law that says,”Chaos is the way to go!” Thermodynamics defines a quantity called Entropy,which measures the randomness of a physical system.It turns out that any process that takes place spontaneously,goes in the direction of rising entropy.It is even called the arrow of time.So,is randomness really that bad? From what I have seen & experienced so far,randomness is a big part of life.If one was sitting in his/her room all day,passing time might become a travesty.But it will become much easier,if you have ‘randomness-inducing agents’.These can be any electronic equipment like a mobile or a laptop or a television set.These equipments give you an interface into the outside world,and thus,bring you in touch with something unexpected.You never know what your friend’s response to your message will be.You never know what the character on a TV show would do next(if you do,then its probably a bad show),and you just don’t know what surfing the internet will throw up.These things add up to the excitement of life.Its a great boon that we don’t know the future,since it would drain our lives of all the excitement.I can go further with this: the first day in college,the first day in a new town,the first day on a new job,the first girlfriend…all these happen without prior notice.I just have no way to know how the above will go.You just take it as it comes.And randomness keeps flowing.

How did you like the first post? Feel free to ask in the comments section below.

And yes,keep me sane!