December 3, 2019 – An Aura of Fleeting Thoughts

As I begin to punch in words and share my thoughts; we are 7.7 billion on this planet and by the time I finish writing this and you complete reading and begin to think, we would have added a few more numbers to our clan even as a few are weeded out for different reasons- albeit we will certainly register net growth!

With so many of us, irrespective whether we are that vulnerable infant or the feeble old person or that youthful streak- we all are stories breaking out in real time- all the time-within the ecosystem that we come to exist! No matter how hard it is to believe, but the fact is that each one of us (yes even your twin is a separate individual) is a personality and a unique genetic print with a hardwired network of neurons which is programmed to excel and do the very best with whatever resources that are at your disposal and reach the self actualization goals that you crave for! At this stage there is nothing right or wrong (remember- be mindful and not judgmental or moralistic- one person’s nectar- another’s poison) and that is how things have always been and that is how they will always remain- whether we agree or not- it doesn’t make a f**king difference to the developing circumstances and the human story of individuals- a whooping 7.7 billion of us! Just imagine 7.7 billion individuals and unique stories and acts are being played out each second each time- no retakes- no re-shoots- just one shot and that’s about it- with every act- your screenplay for the next act gets written! just like that- in a snap- in that fleeting moment! This is an amazing aspect of life and for all the right and wrong reasons just ignored and forgotten!

Different cultures, belief systems have long advocated the above fact and tried to explain (earlier explaining was difficult owing to ignorance- today it is equally challenging owing to arrogance (associated with thinking that you know it all!) but seldom these things have percolated as they should have and ended up getting mired into controversies and meaningless agenda driven conversations and witch hunt leading to nothingness!

The whole business (which is booming now then ever before) of being able to provide a “short-cut”, “the route”, “the established way” to success has been the reason for innumerable misery, confusion and chaos (something I wrote about in my article called “Fatal Optimism“). It is a pity that few wise men and women decided to hijack and alter the course of this sublime fact of our existence that each one of us in unique and not a machine produced bag of popcorn which serves a mundane purpose and ends up in a dust bin! The hidden agenda drivers of the opulent class have since time in memorial created staged hallucinations at a societal level– making the masses believe that what is being said must be true – because I see what I do and since I see what I do- I believe what is being said about what I see! This fallacy is the underlying reasons for the fall and decay of valuable and precious human lives and individual streaks of greatness and bolts of excellence! Societies have long but conspired together or in isolation to set and define standards and decide what constitutes to be called great, good or average- who the hell gave them this authority? well yes- it is our own undoing and hence it comes back to bite! You do remember right- karma is a b**ch!

Just imagine what would happen to the agreed world order- if we just start to question a few fundamentals (these have nothing- absolutely nothing to do with anyone’s belief system) this has everything to do with our value systems- something that we have devised and decided to give it unto ourselves(pretty much like the Constitutions that run or ruin the nations!) So the million dollar question- if Constitutions can be amended/altered why can’t these fundamentals be revisited! Well the answer is a yes and no- Yes it happens subtly with those revolutions in societies one small congregation at a time to those individual eccentrics who make a fierce dash and are gone in a flash! and No because it would simply alter the ecosystem of balance that societies have created over the last three centuries wherein our value systems are more driven towards wealth creation- consumption and death! (yes, yes, grow- earn- pay your bills and die!)

There indeed doesn’t exist any real template to success- for the simple reason that each one of us are unique and hard wired beyond the comprehension of human intellect (individual or collective) hence a lot of talent each year goes waste– you would have heard cases in your close circles- “x wanted to be a “abc” but ended up being “pqr” because of “1234”. Yes this is the testimony to what I am trying to drive home a point! The framework of the society created over the last few centuries has become counter productive to further and advance human intelligence and development(unlike what it has been through the ages earlier!) Ask any psychologist and you will get the answers – the average IQ levels (because you will not trust any other metric!) has been going down, human dependence of gadgets is on the rise, trust has dwindled from old school pure research by travel and experimentation to putting a search query on the “browser search bar” and the list can go on and on- select any age group of your choice- babies, toddlers, high school kids, college students, working professionals- it’s all over the place that hallmark of dumbness and stupidity which has crept in (rather has been allowed to creep in) just to manage and maintain the balance of ignorance and wisdom is not altered in a way where the elite few end up loosing control on the direction in which they want this huge swarm of 7.7 billion to keep moving! This is precisely why we see the gung-ho world leaders meet and greet, flex muscles, put embargoes, come up with sudden emerging world issues like plastic, climate change …you name it and you can sense it!

Life is never what it seems to us- with our limitations we get entrapped into believing our narrow window of vision and the brains does the rest by playing on our insecurities and strengths to extrapolate and create a fictional understanding of our real world! This my friend is perhaps the greatest fallacy of the times that we live in and our great undoing for the sheer grace and intellect that each one of us as Humans have been endowed with – by nature through the process of evolution to make us a superior species!

Before I leave you with your wise space to introspect and think over a cup of coffee or a drink, just remember this fact- each one of us is as unique as we are and we can be, physiology unites us and our intelligence and cognition makes us different and one of a kind- one in over 7.7 billion! always remember that- never get sold into templates and continue on the path to move and walk along- to create your niche and enrich your journey as you traverse the universe endowed with the senses that the body you hold allows you- for your soul is yet another matter and may be another topic for another write up!

Ciao for now- stay wise and stay U!

What better then starting a month, creating this piece from the waiting area of India’s third largest airport! Well, not that I traveled to the airport to pen this article, but as they say…destiny!

This piece, my friends is about being a “Mindful Traveler” and how being one goes a long way in helping you discover yourself and empowers you to stay away from classical nonsense that the world keeps on throwing at you!

Irrespective of your age, location or the choice of your transport, travelers can always be fundamentally classified into two types: Type I who are the Reluctant Travelers and Type II- who are the ones’ who live off the vibrant energy that travel brings along with it!- well I call them Travel Babies!

The Reluctant Travelers have it written all over their face and their despise towards traveling oozes out through their unmistakable rude body language! Interestingly, this phenomenon is not one off and is an ongoing adventure and can offer experiences ranging from humor at one end to rage and violence i(in cases of extreme discomfort and mental delusion!)

These travelers are often seen arguing with the the counter staff, haggling over that odd dollar to be paid for excess baggage, the ones’ who will cut across and look at you- as if you had just committed one of cardinal sins- by being ahead; if this does not ring a bell, then yes, bringing it a little closer to you, the traveler who kept nudging that elbow into your abdomen and kept struggling and arguing with the cabin crew over the freebies and about the aircraft seat, the air conditioning, trying to push in that odd sized bag into the overhead bin!… well…I almost summed up all the hints that I could have provided for now!- hope it did bring something to your active self!

On the other hand, the Travel Babies- they seem to be floating like butterflies, no worry about their luggage (which is either completely absent or limited-organised and managed with minimal or no effort!) with a smile almost stuck on their face (even if the flight is delayed!). You can find them busy checking the stores, indulging into some new experiences, even on the flight, reading that odd monthly in-flight magazine like a newly found scientific break through!– well they are so much engrossed into their own world and into themselves- they hardly ever (unless they have company which belongs to Type I) get time to notice defects, shortcomings and irregularities and absolutely have no space to crib and whine over that odd cup of coffee that went wrong or the burger which did not taste as great as you thought it would! They are mostly busy consuming the totality of the experience- the experience of travel and everything that it brings along with it!

This fundamental difference between the two broad categories goes on to determine their approach and take on everything else as well! Yes- travel is but a real life metaphor that plays out in front of us for a short duration- but it also provides a definite crisp window into the way these people on a broader canvas manage themselves and their lives!

To put things in context, life is nothing but travel- few of us have it done in a directed-purpose driven way and then we have a few of us who like to float and surf through what comes our way. There is nothing fundamentally wrong with either of thee approaches, the challenge lies in the mindset that one carries irrespective of the approach taken to travel!

A journey, undertaken with a conscious effort to remain in the moment- is the essence of being a traveler whom we can call as “The Mindful Traveler”. Do not mistaken, these are not vagabonds, or happy-go-lucky hippies on the move, on the contrary these are seasoned travelers who know exactly what to carry- where,when,why and how of everything that goes with their itenary! If you have been lucky to see the movie “Up in the Air” there is a similar anecdote in the script (which refers to “What’s in your bag”….something around those lines!)

The secret to our lives, my friend, lies somewhere within the paragraphs above and as I always say; I will not try and put things and suggest what is right to not so right- I leave that for you and your experiences to decide! We seriously live in an era where one person’s nectar often turns out to be yet another’s poison!

As in travel- so in life- as long as you agree to carry with you a baggage that is coherent and in agreement with your journey and pursuits– the experience is bound to be rewarding and self propelling, the moment you add to your baggage – values, things, people, experiences that are incoherent and divergent- you tend to experience the burden of your baggage and your travel tales soon start to change into travel woes! Instead of experiencing life, your life ends up coming an experience of a kind for yourself! This is the moment where you then no longer cease to be a mindful traveler- who can be in the moment and experience rather you switch to become the Reluctant Traveler- who ends up soaking in every aspect of travel (and life) as an effort and this begins the downward spiral and gradual denudation of growth or enrichment of your life experiences!

The secret to a meaningful travel (and life) is enshrined in the premise that your are ready to accept what you are being served – each moment unto the next and as you move ahead- you ensure you are giving your best each time- it is not about winning or loosing- it is rather of being there in the moment to experience and enrich yourself and subsequently share with everyone around you with the learnings and secrets that your experience has got you- either being a winner or loosing at that odd time or at times just being an engrossed spectator! Whatever you do, what matters and the only thing that matters is being there in the moment completely and having a crisp moment to moment awareness!

Another simple fact remains, how we travel or rather how we prepare to travel also speaks a lot about how we plan our lives around and what we seek from our lives- but this in itself is a very broad topic as it banks of multiple cultural sensibilities and will vary society to society- but irrespective of what is argued in favor or against of this facet, the truth will always remain- If you know how to travel smartly )less baggage, less selfies, less social media posts, and less grumpiness – you are more likely to experience wholesome travel and extrapolate these aspects to your life and you will be surprised to see how much more you can seek and offer as you begin to enjoy the journey of your life holding the Mindset of a Mindful Traveler”

I will leave you with these thoughts for now, until next time…ciao…happy journey!