Tick Tock! Tick Tock !

Time and tide waits for none.......

The clock ticks away... the Minute hand and the Second's racing with each other while the majestic Hour hand stands patiently and firmly for it's turn to come, to move ahead with a kingly gait......

In those seconds, minutes, hours that never seem to stop from going round and round, marks the ageing of today.... so many incidents keep occuring in those fractions of the seemingly limitless motion of the clock..... yet it never tires out... Unknowingly the world keeps moving along with the unstoppable. It all seems like a crazy inertia of motion that is making our lives frenzied with so much to do and trying to stop so much from happening .... the world seems to be churning in such an imbroglio of events. And we are a major part of the same... How amazing it is, that one can't determine his/her day's schedules without this piece of machine. We make sure that it keeps ticking as we keep them recharged with batteries for their long life! I wonder to what extent it (clock) has become indispensable in today's life... machines have we all turned into... machines we depend on... It marks the beginning of our day and shows its hands to call it a night !...One half of the earth sees the daylight, while the other looms in the dark of the night... The world witnesses diabollically opposite timings but without the clock stopping from ticking......... it goes on and obout the 12 digits at regular intervals, without a moment's halt, but we keep tossing between the 'days' and 'nights' which we determine with suffixes such as 'a.m.' and 'p.m.'....The Present transits to Past, and the Future as the Clock ticks away....... I can't help but feel that we have become mere puppets in the hands of the Minutes, Seconds and Hours. Completely enslavened with the concept of our 'time running by'..... thus we keep running to and fro towards realising our dreams, aspirations, goals and aims by keeping a watch on the Watch!....... The rate at which the Earth rotates, is gradually pacing down... I wonder if we would be able to abide by the Hands if and when it(Earth) stops from rotating...A phenomenal change would be witnessed that would be witnessed by every living creature on this planet, and their lives would not be as it is today...Especially people who are not living at the Polar regions, would wait for the dawns and the dusks to break......and guess, the wait would be then of eternity....... guess again, it's the TIME that would say what is in store for all of us !........

I visualise the globe(earth) squeezed into the perimeters of the wall clock that keeps a vigil at me with such threatening gaze, that I not only love to imagine, but cherish the fact that I am able to reduce the dynamics of this mere machine into words and smirk back at it, saying... "yeah you see... it is finally me who you got to depend on, for it is my pregogative to speak and write about your glory !... and present you to the world the way I want to! "

.......... Well !....who am I kidding?? !!! (sigh).... Time is what determines our past from present, and present from future.......and so on and so forth...... It rules! ... just as it is saying that it's now 2:a.m. and that it's time that I retreat to give my mind some rest !!... So, wishing you all a very good night...and hoping to see you tomorrow moment my alarm goes off !!!!!....

...aah that reminds me that I have to set the alarm and give the Time the privilege of taking it all over once again!

Time it is !

Sweet deams.....................

A Warm Welcome Greetings to My Most Adorable Neighbours

Just as I was sipping on my cup of morning tea, a bunch of twigs came flying by, on my bed. It was windy and I looked up to see.....

There I saw two little birds that looked like sparrows with twigs in their cute tiny beaks, hopping and skipping all around the top most array of the horizontal collapsable glass window panes . To my surprise, I found a beautiful nest that they were still working on to perfection. Without making distracting movements, I slowly crept below on my bed, to take a closer look at the nest and what the little birds were upto.................

I was astonished and amazed at their work of art and the fact that all of the thin but strong twigs were of one particular kind. All of them bore furry tips of light greens with a strong dark brown midrib. By then they had already made the basic foundation with those twigs. I kept watching at the industrious effort they were putting in and they co-ordinated amongst themselves in a typical pattern as they were at it. One would fly away and get a twig every half a minute from somewhere outside, and the other would push the twigs with it's beak intently, while it would perch itself inside the round bowl shaped nest, the opening of which faced outside overlooking the canopy of trees. I guess they chose their spot keeping the beautiful vanatage point in their minds. They knew what division of labour means. They knew what they were doing. After a point of time, I saw them swapping duties and went on building and designing their home all day long. This kept on happening until mid day, and then they were not to be seen for quite sometime............ I believe they flew back to their previous home for lunch and rest.... Just about a couple of hours before the dawn would set in, they appeared and began with the rest of the arrangements of their new home......... In the evening, I waited thinking that they have finished building their nest and hoped that they would arrive to begin their new life in this beautiful nest that they had built all day long....... I waited and waited........ but they were not be seen............

Next morning, even before I woke up they had already started setting up their new place by flying in more twigs and arranging them per their requirements......... gradually I saw the face of the nest facing towards inside the bedroom closing in, as the mesh of the twigs grew thicker and thicker. Thus the wall was built firm and nice, keeping temselves from the prying eyes of the onlookers...... All along my bed towards the window had such twigs strewn across which I believe could not hold itself from the sea breeze, but they did not stop at that..... They were resolute and seemed happy and gay while they rested in between on the window panes chirping away to glory.... A breather they needed surely !

It's been about 3 days now that I see them busy weaving the nest.....

I am still waiting for the time when they would completely settle in their new home and then we would have the most adorable neighbours to ourselves. I plan to feed them with grains and befriend them in the long run, keep them in good humor, happy and take them into my confidence....

But what makes me extremely happy is the fact that they chose the window of my bedroom, despite seeing us living and moving in and out as we would be busy in our daily chores....... I assume I have already earned the faith, trust and confidence of my would-be neighbours.... and hence the rest will fall into place.......

I welcome the beautiful couple to their love nest... my earnest prayers, love and best wishes to them to mark their house warming. May they live happily forever.... ... as I take a trip to my Flight Of Fantasy along with them...............( chirp! chirp! chirp! )

Exploring the very essence of what makes us human

"Who are we?Are we just another primate - The Third Chimpanzee according to writers like Jared Diamond - or is there something special about us that distinguishes man from every other living creature, as philosophers - even 'Darwinians' like Dan Dennett - believe? No one doubts that over the last 10,000 years or so, humans alone have been able to change their life styles out of all recognition: concrete cities and the internet, heart transplants and space flights. The question is, how? Is the difference between man and chimpanzee merely quantitative - a heightened ability to think and reason, for example - or do we also possess some distinct quality that makes us unique? I favor the former view, but do not believe that it is simply a matter of cerebral function (Homo sapiens, 'thinking' or 'wise' man)...."

"What is the essence of humanity?. That is to say, what is it about humans which makes them fundamentally different from other species? When asked this question most people will give strange and misguided answers - often 'It's the ability to cooperate in a society' or 'the ability to show compassion.' These are patently untrue. Tiny brainless fish have the ability to swim in schools, and survive quite well in their own society. They follow the direction of the collective - if one fish panics, and swims frantically in a particular direction, they all follow. Many animals show apparent compassion. Certainly they make huge sacrifices for their own offspring, sometimes dying to protect them. While some would argue that this may have more to do with genetic survival than compassion, it is hardly a convincing characteristic of humanity. In fact, the essence of humanity is rationality. Only man has the ability to reason and to act on that reason for long-term benefit - to ignore the emotional programming, and the emotional desires which dictate actions to irrational animals. Choosing something which may require a great deal of emotional and physical suffering in the short term, but will create a long term benefit can only be done by a human. Only a man can willfully improve himself, to make his life better, to shape his environment. For rationality to exist, there must be incentive. Rationality does not exist in a vacuum. To deny a human the benefits from his rationality is to deny him the purpose of his rationality, and hence to deny his humanity.

Now, as I keep my quest about the above alive, I am propelled to think more which only stirs my emotional being above the rationale me. Living in different environments, adapting to new cultures and life styles are the obvious demands of being a traveler to destinations unknown. It does help one to widen one's horizon of understanding and comprehending life in a new light as realizations begin to develop within. Realization of facts from fictions. Analyzing how justified we are being to ourselves and towards the society at large. Ironically we also start evaluating to what extent the society at large is being responsible for each individual existing within. They seem to come all hand in hand .Expectations come by naturally, as it is inherent. Our brains which are much more developed than any other living creature on this earth cannot stop but calculate. Calculate our contributions to the returns we expect, or so as to say calculate what we deserve for the time we invest in each of our endeavors. In this effort, factors that come to question are our morals, integrity, ethics and philosophies which determines the very existence of us as humans but are continually being compromised on a day to day basis. When such torrid situations and circumstances arrive, we suffer from conflicting emotions, brainstorm to find solutions to resolve the situations and circumstances. We still keep compromising for survival.

Our system also demands the various levels of standards of living. There is a clear demarcation between the haves and the have-nots. And it only seems to be truer that unless this vicious cycle continues, our system would not be able to survive. We are social beings and hence depend on each other in some manner or the other. So to keep this demand and supply curve going, such differences are made to exist at all realms of life and society. Just as the ecological balance is the basic foundation for the animals to survive on, unfortunately I am being bound to equate such with the apparent need of such standards of living that is so much needed for the society to exist.
In this bargain, we see teeming millions lead a life of starvation. Starving due to the lacuna of means and abilities provided or acquired. Starving due to denial of opportunities. Starving due to the list of the Priority Class of people who seem to snatch away the rights to equality with the power that they hold and use advertently or inadvertently. Such starvations are not only existing within the lower ranks, who we catagorise as the poors, but within the middle class and also the affluent.

History has chronologies of the Revolutions that have occured. Changes that are constant, happened due to the revolutionary movements and also due to the discoveries and inventions that have brought about chnages in our lives. We seek for the changes to happen and demand it from the society or the authorities. I would say, if changes are required, then it is within each one of us that are to be brought about, for each one of us makes the society we live in. Revolutions, discoveries and inventions are the very essence of our existence, then why not contribute to the same. Each one of us are responsible for the cause. Mutual acceptance is much needed to bring it to a constructive level. Instead of focussing on 'I' we can with little time, patience, compassion can focus ourselves to the 'We' as it is the 'We' that builds the human society. We seem to be consumed on what we have on our plate all the while in the name of survival. I realise today that as it is understandable that each one of us first needs to focus on our own survivals to think and care about the person sitting next to us, but we too have to devote ourselves a little for the other person too for the growth and development of the race, for our lives are all weaved in manners that get disclosed with only time, and the fact is We Are Inter-dependent !.

There is a leader in each one of us and a follower too. It is the choice that we make which either makes us want to be the leaders or the followers. When I speak of being a leader, I focus on taking initiatives, which is not an easy task surely. Apprehensions of not being accepted keeps playing and sometimes become a deterrant factor towards progress. One can't deny that there is struggle all the way. That is where the teachings of our mentors play an important role as they have set examples of the struggles they have faced, the persuasiveness they have exhibited and adhered to and fought the battle till the end. Not all problems are solved with the same formula. But keeping those means of solutions in mind, we as developed beings can use are abilities to formulate ideas and construct or bring out about the means of development by formulating ones that are apt to the situations and conditions. Not to disregard our roots, but changes bring about developments in each one of us. To strike a balance between the two is much needed. Supporting one another would help overcome the stumbling blocks.
All of this can be made possible, if there is the touch of humanity. It is easier said than done, but never impossible with belief in what one wants to achieve and understands the true purpose of being born as human beings.I may also add that it all begins from home.Understanding, unconditional love, mutual respect, trust, compassion, support, empathy, appreciations, incentives are the little gestures that would help us achieve. It does sound surreal for we seem to be in a choc-o-block or a catch 22 situation all the time. But I realise that a lot could be achieved, conquered and resolved if each one of us could sit back for a while, steal ourselves from the mechanical mundane world and delve ourselves into the depth of the very essence of what is humane. Putting aside all our materialistic needs for a moment, trying to see and feel the pain our fellow beings are going through, which are just as much as ours, if not more, would not put us in any loss.

I am sure all of us do halt for a while to take a look at the unkempt pile of bricks by the streets which are just brought out of the kiln, but how many of us do think to lay them towards construction and or may I fashion it thus - that how many of us do take the initiative to translate our thoughts into actions. They may seem to be insignificant in ones eyes, but such one brick is built with a lot of care and specifications just for us.....

.... this is one such profound realisation that my mind keeps wondering about, when I experience each moment of the life that is breathing in an under developed country like Kenya, a country which could have been more beautiful for their own people to live in... A country which could be more than just the wildlife sanctuaries and safari tours that the world prides about. Could have been truly glorifying if the human civilization could come up as it has in any other continent.

... more in my next blog.......

Best Regards, Best Wishes & Prayers.... From a visitor to this part of the world holding an 'Alien Card' !!!