Skip to main content

Life and choices



Indian Bloggers



 It is when I actually constructed a house for myself that I learnt how I could have made a better house at less cost.  It is when I reach the autumn of life that I learn how richer life would have been had I made different choices.  But neither can be undone.  The construction of a house is a one-time accomplishment.  At least, one’s life is a one-time affair.  There’s no going back.

Life is a cruel game of the gods if they exist.  Christopher McDougall’s gazelle and lion that wake up every morning in an African forest and start running for survival are poignant symbols of that cruel game.  The graceful gazelle has to run in order to save its life from the feral lion.  And the lion has to run and capture the gazelle for its own survival. 

The conqueror and the vanquished keep running in the wicked game of life.  Could I have chosen to stand out of that game and watch?  Even that wouldn’t save me because I wouldn’t be able to bear the heartlessness of that game beyond the initial moments.  Could I have chosen to be a conqueror and gone on rampages defending my holy cows?  My DNA would have revolted.

So I end up as one of the many vanquished ones.  Like a piece of the flotsam and jetsam cast ashore by the endless restlessness of the ocean whose craving is at once boundless and circumscribed.

Flotsam and jetsam.  Nice imagery.  And it brings to my mind the music band, especially their song, Life is a Mess.  “No way back from here,” begins the song.  Just go on.  Take the ride.  “And your troubles will still be here / Troubles will still be here, troubles are here....”

Let me give the link to that song before I sign off for now and carry on my ride.

PS. This is written specifically for Indispire Edition 129: 

If you were the writer of your own story - Your Life. How would you have altered it? #choice




Labels

Labels:

Comments

  1. BushraAugust 6, 2016 at 5:01 PM

    There's no going back.. how true! Lovely post :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownAugust 6, 2016 at 5:23 PM

    Life is a one time affair.....and we have to use it well ...cautiously.....Thats a good thought sir

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalAugust 7, 2016 at 7:49 AM

      Life is a series of lessons... Happy to see you here, Tony.

      Delete
  3. UnknownAugust 6, 2016 at 8:33 PM

    The gazelle can ogle at juice of the grass, like the lion can have a timid moment with the lioness.
    Moments make life and moments have a life of their own.

    ReplyDelete
  4. incredibleopinionsAugust 6, 2016 at 10:56 PM

    Very thoughtful - Life is a one time affair!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anita SabatAugust 7, 2016 at 11:57 AM

    I guess we need to keep going & making the choices on the way.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalAugust 7, 2016 at 2:09 PM

      Yes, that's all what we can do. But the irony is that all the lessons we learn will be in vain... If only some of those lessons could be learnt as a child.

      Delete
  6. indu chhibberAugust 8, 2016 at 7:45 AM

    Yes we all tend to reminisce as we grow old.
    My conclusion can be viewed here http://jeeteraho.blogspot.in/2016/07/the-crossroad.html

    ReplyDelete
  7. sunaina sharmaAugust 9, 2016 at 3:38 AM

    It will go on....and on....and on.....it's like the more we know the more we don't know....I remembered Waiting for Godot after reading your post.....you made me want to read that play again....it is one of my fav.....:)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalAugust 9, 2016 at 6:17 AM

      Nobody dramatised the naked absurdity of human life as well as Beckett did.

      Delete
  8. Swati BatraAugust 9, 2016 at 11:34 AM

    Life is to be lived well. No quitting no looking back. Just do your task and move on.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalAugust 10, 2016 at 11:32 AM

      I'm sure everybody wants to live well. But often the system stymies us.

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Country where humour died

Humour died a thousand deaths in India after May 2014. The reason – let me put it as someone put it on X.  The stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra called a politician some names like ‘traitor’ which made his audience laugh because they misunderstood it as a joke. Kunal Kamra has to explain the joke now in a court of justice. I hope his judge won’t be caught with crores of rupees of black money in his store room . India itself is the biggest joke now. Our courts of justice are huge jokes. Our universities are. Our temples, our textbooks, even our markets. Let alone our Parliament. I’m studying the Ramayana these days in detail because I’ve joined an A-to-Z blog challenge and my theme is Ramayana, as I wrote already in an earlier post . In order to understand the culture behind Ramayana, I even took the trouble to brush up my little knowledge of Sanskrit by attending a brief course. For proof, here’s part of a lesson in my handwriting.  The last day taught me some subhashit...
10 comments
Read more

Lucifer and some reflections

Let me start with a disclaimer: this is not a review of the Malayalam movie, Lucifer . These are some thoughts that came to my mind as I watched the movie today. However, just to give an idea about the movie: it’s a good entertainer with an engaging plot, Bollywood style settings, superman type violence in which the hero decimates the villains with pomp and show, and a spicy dance that is neatly tucked into the terribly orgasmic climax of the plot. The theme is highly relevant and that is what engaged me more. The role of certain mafia gangs in political governance is a theme that deserves to be examined in a good movie. In the movie, the mafia-politician nexus is busted and, like in our great myths, virtue triumphs over vice. Such a triumph is an artistic requirement. Real life, however, follows the principle of entropy: chaos flourishes with vengeance. Lucifer is the real winner in real life. The title of the movie as well as a final dialogue from the eponymous hero sugg...
4 comments
Read more

Abdullah’s Religion

O Abdulla Renowned Malayalam movie actor Mohanlal recently offered special prayers for Mammootty, another equally renowned actor of Kerala. The ritual was performed at Sabarimala temple, one of the supreme Hindu pilgrimage centres in Kerala. No one in Kerala found anything wrong in Mohanlal, a Hindu, praying for Mammootty, a Muslim, to a Hindu deity. Malayalis were concerned about Mammootty’s wellbeing and were relieved to know that the actor wasn’t suffering from anything as serious as it appeared. Except O Abdulla. Who is this Abdulla? I had never heard of him until he created an unsavoury controversy about a Hindu praying for a Muslim. This man’s Facebook profile describes him as: “Former Professor Islahiaya, Media Critic, Ex-Interpreter of Indian Ambassador, Founder Member MADHYAMAM.” He has 108K followers on FB. As I was reading Malayalam weekly this morning, I came to know that this Abdulla is a former member of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind Kerala , a fundamentalist organisation. ...
10 comments
Read more

Violence and Leaders

The latest issue of India Today magazine studies what it calls India’s Gross Domestic Behaviour (GDB). India is all poised to be an economic superpower. But what about its civic sense? Very poor, that’s what the study has found. Can GDP numbers and infrastructure projects alone determine a country’s development? Obviously, no. Will India be a really ‘developed’ country by 2030 although it may be $7-trillion economy by then? Again, no is the answer. India’s civic behaviour leaves a lot, lot to be desired. Ironically, the brand ambassador state of the country, Uttar Pradesh, is the worst on most parameters: civic behaviour, public safety, gender attitudes, and discrimination of various types. And UP is governed by a monk!  India Today Is there any correlation between the behaviour of a people and the values and principles displayed by their leaders? This is the question that arose in my mind as I read the India Today story. I put the question to ChatGPT. “Yes,” pat came the ...
10 comments
Read more

The Ramayana Chronicles: 26 Stories, Endless Wisdom

I’m participating in the A2Z challenge of Blogchatter this year too. I have been regular with this every April for the last few years. It’s been sheer fun for me as well as a tremendous learning experience. I wrote mostly on books and literature in the past. This year, I wish to dwell on India’s great epic Ramayana for various reasons the prominent of which is the new palatial residence in Ayodhya that our Prime Minister has benignly constructed for a supposedly homeless god. “Our Ram Lalla will no longer reside in a tent,” intoned Modi with his characteristic histrionics. This new residence for Lord Rama has become the largest pilgrimage centre in India, drawing about 100,000 devotees every day. Not even the Taj Mahal, a world wonder, gets so many footfalls. Ayodhya is not what it ever was. Earlier it was a humble temple town that belonged to all. Several temples belonging to different castes made all devotees feel at home. There was a sense of belonging, and a sense of simplici...
34 comments
Read more