Rationality vs Fate

Ever since I got the essence of the two very crucial words in everyone’s life, surprisingly enough I have never been able to place the 2 of them on the same line of thought and attitude.

Rationality and Fate.

Can a rational human being ever believe in fate? Or can someone who believes in fate be ever rational? Or to be more confusing as well as precise can a single individual be both rational and believe in fate?

The moment I make an effort to look for an answer, my mind, my heart and my senses all collide and the result is a complete chaos just like the outside universe and thus maintaining the much needed equilibrium of life. At a personal level I would rather abstain myself from ever believing in the concept of fate. However this doesn’t imply that I always make an effort to be rational. This brings me to yet another question. Does the absence of one of the characteristic imply the presence of the other? If not what do we call a person who is neither rational nor does he believe in fate?

The degree to which my mind is cluttered now can be explicitly seen in how the above thoughts have come out to be. I myself am now trying to figure out what exactly do I plan to prove or conclude. And to add to the misery, I put up a simple question to myself!

Define rationality and fate.

And the sad part is I genuinely do not have a definition which could possibly fit in the plethora of varied perspectives of life. The very basic issue is when we proclaim an action to be rational or otherwise we do it on the basis of certain assumptions, which are mostly implicit and seldom do we realize their presence in our so called logical reasoning. So if one fine day I start questioning those assumptions and rate them on the scales of their rationality, we will reach situation where we have no assumptions to make which isn’t as rosy as it seems. Lack of assumptions could possibly imply an absence of a ground to build the foundations of rationality.

Thus when we make an assumption and then build up the network of rationality, we have already left the success of the process to its own fate of doom or existence. And later when we humans tend to believe that we are rational we fight against those who believe in fate, sometimes even derogating and questioning their rationality. Don’t know about others but I do it with myself. Probably this is the moment where even existentialism can’t come to the rescue to wage a war against fate. And hence I end up from where I started. The questions still remain unanswered. Probably they are meant to be just questions to raise yet remain unanswered or evoke a thought process. Plausibly this is what that has and will continue to lead to the evolution or devolution of human mind.

-Sriram

Random Thoughts- II

When the sun shone high and lit the room
I woke up with a heavy head
Something wasn’t pleasant though
I wondered what that was made me feel so low

I did have a good night sleep
And a great dinner as well
Yet it felt like morning blues
I pondered, but had no clues

Past few days haven’t been good
Lot of fluctuations in everyone’s mood
More than often I hurt someone with my inaction
Only in an effort to take a little extra precaution

It is so heart wrenching
To feel no more than an otiose
For someone we think we knew so well
Appears to be a stranger in a world so grandiose

As we travel across the sands of time
We all pretend to be jocund and sublime
Those moments when we introspect and retrospect
In our desperation of self actualization
Is just a matter of life and time

--- Sriram

Lucky to be

Sweet smile, beautiful eyes, and elegance
is what defines her and her presence
Pure thoughts, selflessness and commitment
is what I wish to augment

I met her by chance
Or call it fate or destiny
And in no time I could feel
A growing friendship within

Everyone who ever could meet her
Has never been left not mesmerized
she is one of the rarest jewels of all
I am lucky to be her friend after all

--Sriram

I finally had a time to be “just me“

Moving along the greeneries of campus

I walked and hopped and jumped

Splaassshhh..... The muddy water

And my clothes looked all the same

People all around ran in a helter-skelter

Mostly looking out for a shelter

Hiding themselves from moments so beautiful

Something so tranquilizing, so meaningful

As I turned towards my hostel

The clouds roared and the sky flashed

In no time I found myself drenched

Looking up I felt the those drops of rain water

I slowed my pace in joy

Unwilling was I to enter a closet

The smell of the earth and the chill gave me a kick

I simply felt besotted and fuddled

Suddenly life around was just so beamishly beautiful

Everything seemed so happy so pleasant

Unknowingly I smiled at everything and everyone

As even the grass and leaves smiled back

For those moments I had no worries

No commitments to honour; none to please

Neither did I think of work nor of love or friends

I finally had a time to be “just me“

---Sriram

What could be a possible explanation

Very often the landlords do not go in for technological innovation because they feel it won’t reap any substantial returns as the tenants would not evict and thus continue to pay the same old rent. However looking this from a different perspective we can also say that a rational tenant would innovate. This is because if the latter is so confident of not being evicted, he should logically be ready to spend on the innovation as he would be one reaping all the benefits. But in practice, we see a widespread technological stagnation both in agricultural land as well as urban housing.

So what could be a possible explanation for the same???

Through the kaleidoscope

Looking through the kaleidoscope of memory
Into the oblivion of the days gone by
Life is but a culmination of a few moments
And the manifestations of those we treasure.

Back to the childhood I see myself
Trying to stand on the 2 little feet
And once again here I am, on the crossroads
Of changing priorities in an attempt to stand tall

Life is but a circle of events
And sooner we end up from where it all began
But this time there’s no one to hold my fingers
Neither anyone to catch me if I fall back
--Sriram

I have finally moved on

The day you called me up for the last time
Only to mention that love wasn’t for a lifetime
The whole night I cried, wailed, and wept
Till tears refused to drop and cheeks were no longer wet

Friends had always warned me; Foes laughed at me
Inspite of the odds, faith was all I had
Moments later I was left devastated, wondering
If it was really happening, stuck in the mode of denial

Months later I gazed into the mirror
I shed no tears, I was finally moving on
Only to find myself in an unknown zone
Of contempt, fear, dilemma and emotions foregone

Then comes year number one
I no longer starred at her pictures; neither talked about it to my friends
I was finally moving on
Only to start scribbling the past on a paper

Time passed and I grew stronger
Life took many turns; some good some not so good
But there was this zeal to go ahead of the past
A hope against the hope to recollect the shattered dreams

Three years down the lane
I no longer wish to get back that lost life
I finally have moved on and am happy
Only to still remember her smell and how hard I fell
--Sriram

Once I am dead...

As I listened to some old tracks lonely
The virulence of gloom shrouded me
Unaware, unknown and incognizant of the coming melancholy
I began to wonder, question and excogitate

What if I never wake up tomorrow?
What if the sunset today marks the end to yet another life?
What if today is the last time I could talk to my family, friends?
What if I never get to see that face which gave meaning to my life?

And then a sudden jolt brought me back
Making me ponder and reassure if I was sane anymore
While I did combat with those inevitable thoughts,
I couldn’t help but surrender to my unruly mind

Am I afraid of death? Yes, I am... who is not
But the question is why am I afraid of death?
Would it really bring the world of someone to a stop?
And how would people remember me, if at all they do?

There are answers to each of them hidden in our life
But do I really wish to know any of it.
It might make me happy, might as well gloomy
I just do not know.

My mother would cry for me for I am the only child; good or bad
My dad would mourn for me for I am the light; bright or dull
My friends may miss me for reasons even I do not know
Only for all of it to fade away into the memory lanes

Here I sit clueless with a question that haunts me every single moment
For I desperately pray, I do not scathe hearts of people I care
I wish i knew how would I like to be remembered and rated?
As a son, a brother, a friend, a partner and an individual...
---Sriram