19 October 2009

Some Thoughts

Disclaimer: The following are entirely my perspective based on some of my own experiences. As a matter of fact, in most of the cases, I was caught on the wrong side of things! They may or may not be acceptable to every one. The author does not intend to hurt the sentiments of any of the readers.

1. Sometimes, we remain so engrossed in trying to define something, we just accept any definition we can lay our hands on; often without a second thought that the source, after all, is human, and thus may be wrong! In some cases, we are left wondering how much that wrong judgement cost us, while in others we fail to realise that we were actually wrong!

2. Sometimes, everything seems to go wrong, all at once! Probably, the worst of it all is, when your entire support system seems to fail; when the people you fall back on, well, don't seem yours anymore; when you can't count on those closest to you. This is probably when people turn to their "Gods", or more appropriately, the divine.

3. Zodiacs don't work for me. I tried following my zodiac predictions from various sources for the past couple of months. Out of every 100 odd predictions, less than 10 hold would hold true. I found the lunar cycle a much better predictor for human behaviour.

4. During an actual natural calamity, even the best of trainings seem to fail. I realised this a few days back when, during an earthquake a few days back, 6 of us - all MBA students, ran out to a hanging balcony on the third floor. The best strategy would have been to hide under a table!

5. A little knowledge is more dangerous than its thought to be. In fact, it probably can even kill people. And no, little knowledge is not the same as bounded rationality. While bounded rationality is a genuine limitation of the human mind, little knowledge is just the immediate resort of the lazy!

6. Old perceptions, misconceptions and stereotypes die hard. In fact, they don't die at all. Even today, for quite a few people living in the big metros of India, things like inter caste marriage, divorce and second marriages are a taboo. For some, even love marriages are no different. Similarly, old loyalties hardly change. Those who claim to have switched loyalties mostly pretend!

7. Not everything in life is a balance sheet. You don't always need to balance both sides. In fact, it is this attempt of making the left and right sides equal that has caused much of the suffering in this world. But then again, for those who had spent a better part of their life matching the red and the blue, it is very difficult to change!

8. You can't just run slower because "Life is a marble race". It's true that if you drop the marble, you don't win even after coming first. But then again, in your attempt to save the marble, if someone finishes before you, you end up looking like the same old idiot. Then nobody listens to stuff like "I could've run faster, but I was saving my marble!". The world is cruel, and your relations are nothing "out of the world", the earlier you understand that, the better for you.

9. Dawn and dusk are probably the best parts of the day (unless you are really into starry, moonlight nights - which I am, by the way). Just love it when the darkness gives away to light, or when the light is eaten up by yet another patch of the dark. Makes me wish I was a poet. But I generally miss both these moments, either thanks to my sleep or to my class schedule. Now that I have the "Marble Race Theory", I can probably skip a class or two to watch the sunset!

10. People don't change, they never do! If you feel somebody around you has changed, then you failed to understand him/her in the first place, or they are just pretending!