Imagine a fascinating scenario… when tiny machines traverse through the blood-stream, and cleanse disease from the body… humankind colonise Mars by transforming its unfriendly atmosphere… deserts are converted into farmlands for a “dessert” of a green revolution through irrigation… skyscraper cities house the world’s growing population, and the human life-span is doubled, or even tripled. Well, well, well… This random roll-call isn’t science fiction; it’s, quite simply, scientific eventuality.

Yes, all of them, and more, can happen not by way of divine intervention, but on account of scientific and technological advances.

Amazing Prospect

Picture this. Amazing changes are possible within the next few decades, where social complexities like hunger and poverty, and a concurrent increase in the worldwide standard of living, are all within our grasp.  Visualise this. A living, realistic utopia, where our society will become a macro-industrial culture, and not just an information coalition, connected to the most convenient and popular of perceptions. Here’s more:

Michael G Zey, a sociologist of international repute, and author of the book, Seizing The Future, not only takes a provocative and optimistic look at this incredible world of the future, but he also predicts that prophesied problems such as an ecological disaster will not materialise. This is not all. He shows that technologies that can change the world are readily available with us, and we must adjust our attitudes and embrace them to bring prosperity for all…

Envision a time capsule of this kind, even if you don’t believe one word of it.  And, this is precisely what makes Zey’s ideas a remarkable body of work: one that not only initiates, but also inspires protagonists and sceptics alike.

Zey says, “The human species is about to burst the boundaries of nature and unleash the power of its technology and human ingenuity, hurtling itself into the next stage of its evolution. In so doing, it will fulfil its destiny to expand its own capabilities and enhance the planet and the Universe. Humanity is programmed, genetically, perhaps, for growth and progress.  Unlike other species, humanity cannot and will not stand still.”

Zey is optimistic that man should be able to establish a Moon base soon, and colonise Mars around 2020 AD. If that is what one can expect the Homo sapiens to perform in space, genetic engineering, argues Zey, will revolutionise agriculture, initiating a new era of abundance, eliminating starvation.  With that, there would also be medical breakthroughs that could increase the human life span — on an average to 110 years.

Destined Control

Zey is convinced that humanity has the required wherewithal to controlling its own destiny, owing to the sensational breakthroughs already on the drawing board — a launch-pad that would initiate a sort of hyper-progress for reshaping the Earth: gargantuan macro-engineering projects, artificial islands, transatlantic tunnels, underground cities, mammoth irrigation schemes etc., including a bold, new world of transportation.  Supertrains.  Superflights.  Smart highways.  Electric cars. A globe akin to a cybernetic factory, where there will be greater productivity — a compatible marriage between computer and machinery.

Zey dwells on the possibility of lake-sized waterways, enhanced quality of life for the human species, and energy explosion: of cheap, abundant and accessible energy supply, where the pendulum of scientific opinion will swing back in favour of nuclear power. He says, “When the species fully develops the science of molecular technology — or, nanotechnology — it will control matter in ways that we never thought possible, although there are some problems with it, the foremost being [that verity of] atoms which careen wildly at supersonic speeds, making them a challenge to manipulate.”

New Agenda

To his credit, Zey admits that societal goals must, at the same time, be transcendent, looming larger than the individual and extending across time: the angle of religion or God, and respect for both material production and consumption.

However this maybe, critics argue, that Zey’s new agenda for our evolving attitudes, in spite of its brilliance, stays put at one Universal fact: that science does not begin with an easy question, nor end with an easy answer.  His enthusiasm also does very little too to dispel or dissipate a ubiquitous, modern perception that all benefits are man-made and technology is going to create a paradise.

More than that, Zey’s prophecy simply fails to take into account several non-man-made benefits: a favourable climate, fertile soil, water, evolutionary, self-regulatory processes, and so on.

Yet, there’s no denying his electrical frenzy, and outstanding abilities, to powerfully perceive something beyond tomorrow… today.

Creativity is a central source of meaning in our lives.  For a host of reasons.  Yet, the real story of creativity is far more formidable and strange than what meets the eye, and mind, and much more difficult to comprehend than what several optimistic accounts — scientific or otherwise — have claimed.

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, a professor of psychology, to cull an exemplar, demystifies creativity and its very raison d’etre. In so doing, he shows us how the creative label evolves from the synergy of many sources, and not just from the mind of a single person.

Csikszentmihalyi’s novel credo is simple and complex.  It debunks what has, until now, been held so dearly as the gospel truth. Notes the good professor, “It is easier to enhance creativity by changing conditions in the environment than by trying to make people think more creatively. A genuinely creative accomplishment is almost never the result of a sudden insight, a light bulb flashing on in the dark, but comes after years of hard work.”

More Than History

Photo Courtesy: www.hubpages.com

Csikszentmihalyi’s basic plank is based on histories of contemporary people — nearly one hundred interviews with some of the best brains in their respective fields of activity, including researched examples of the likes of Albert Einstein, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and several other genii, down the ages.  It’s all about people who know about creativity first-hand.

Csikszentmihalyi’s work begins with a summary of what creativity is; it goes into the exact chemistry of the way creative people work and live.

Next, it takes the bull by its horns: of how to make your own life more like that of the creative exemplars who have been studied in the process.

Creativity may broadly be classified into two main categories — not as something which, sort of, emerges like the proverbial drop of a hat, or an accident. Whatever is interesting, important, and human, is the result of creativity.  To highlight a point. “We share 98 per cent of our genetic make-up with chimpanzees.  What makes us different — our language, values, artistic expression, scientific understanding, and technology — is the result of individual ingenuity that was recognised, rewarded, and transmitted through learning.  Without creativity, it would be difficult, indeed, to distinguish humans from apes.”

Ideal Fulfilment

Csikszentmihalyi’s second reasoning is more down-to-earth, and comprehensible.  Creativity, he says, is so fascinating that when we are involved in it, we feel that we are living more fully than during the rest of our lives. He adds, “The excitement of the artiste with the easel, or the scientist in the lab comes close to the ideal fulfilment we all hope to get from life, and so rarely do. Perhaps, only sex, sport, music, and religious ecstasy — even when these experiences remain fleeting and leave no trace — provide as profound a sense of being part of an entity greater than ourselves.  But, creativity also leaves an outcome that adds to the richness and complexity of the future.”

For better or worse, says the author, our future is now closely tied to human creativity.  The inference is obvious — the outcome of it all will be determined in large measure, both wholly and substantially, by our own dreams, and our struggles to make them real.

Creativity isn’t a prerogative of supreme beings. The Homo sapiens, observes the professor, is riding the crest of evolution, thanks to human craft and appetite, aside from the emergence of great machines, and harnessing of energies, which have transformed the face of our living planet.  It’s a revelation. Not only that.  The professor also says that he’s not too sure whether this transformation will help the human race or cause its downfall.

Genetics & Consciousness

Photo Courtesy: www.api.ning.com

Creativity is the cultural equivalent of the process of genetic changes that result in biological evolution, below the threshold of consciousness. It’s just the opposite of cultural evolution.  To understand creativity is, therefore, not within the framework of straight-line thinking; it is studying individuals who seem most responsible for a novel idea, or a new thing.  The spark, says the professor, is necessary — because, without air and tinder there would be no flame.

Csikszentmihalyi’s work is not about creativity that we all share. It is the understanding of creativity. It traces a historical percept, and precept of creativity, and it looks into what the concept, per se, is all about.  It does not accept the popular belief that creativity is some sort of mental activity, or an insight that occurs inside the heads of some special people.  Rather, it is a spin-off that evolves by way of interaction between a person’s thoughts and a socio-cultural context.

Creativity is a much confused, misunderstood word.  It is also used to cover too much ground.  Csikszentmihalyi perceptive work cuts through the fog and offers a different phenomenon, a trinity so to say, that may legitimately be called by a familiar name: brilliant, personally creative, and creative. What about the genii? A genius, according to Csikszentmihalyi, is a person who is both brilliant and creative, at the same time.

In so doing, the good professor also uses his famous “flow” theory to explain the creative process and shows how the concept can enrich us all.  Creative persons, he says, differ from one another in a variety of ways, but in one respect they seem to be unanimous — they all love what they do, not with the hope of achieving fame, or making money, but for the opportunity to do the work they enjoy doing.  Most creative people agree that they do what they do primarily because it’s fun.

A Question Of Flow

What is Csikszentmihalyi’s “flow?”  It’s a person’s devotion to his/her vocation — one which has stretched that capacity and involved an element of novelty and discovery. You may also call it an optimal experience. It gives credence to childhood experiences, including prodigious curiosity, parental influence, retrospection, school, awkward years, and disappointments, which have a bearing on creativity. The pattern is identical to the later years too — college and profession, supportive partners, careers, generativity, taking a stand, and so on.

Age is no yardstick to measuring our relationship with creativity.  Age has got something more to do with physical and cognitive capacities, habits or personal traits, relationships etc., It takes the domain of the word on creative urges — of something that is released by style, a joyful responsibility.

The good professor’s work also places as much emphasis on both convergent and divergent thinking, and the primal idea, even instinct, of choosing a special domain for oneself.  But, there may be some dangers. Is there a way out? Yep, there is. You could do away with them if your domain does not lie with the extremes. Writes Csikszentmihalyi, “As you learn to operate within a domain, your life is certainly going to be more creative.” It may sure not be something that would be recorded in history books, but something that denotes that you have lived a full and creative life.

Inference?  Be original, as well as competent.

Economists believe in growth at all costs, says Prof Tim Jackson in his book, Prosperity Without Growth: Economics Of A Finite Planet [Earthscan Publications Ltd], which The Financial Times dubbed as being one of the best books, last year.

This reviewer had the good fortune to be present a teleconferenced lecture delivered by Prof Jackson recently.

Growth, one would ask, for what? Growth for the sake of growth, ad infinitum. Yes, we have been caught in this whirlpool and are being held to the centre of the swirls by a strong centripetal force — you’d label this as “anxiety.” Exiting along the tangent and getting out of the trap, and transforming the paradigms of development and prosperity are also not alluring enough. It requires tremendous courage, a spirit of sacrifice and the large heart of a trendsetter and/or trail-blazer. It always seems to be the other man’s, the other country’s problem, not ours. When such prisoners’ dilemmas are pooled together, what results is a numbing, self-perpetuating status quo. The dilemma of growth which Jackson presents, discusses and attempts to resolve — not with complete success though — is a clear case of being trapped between Scylla and Charybdis, between a rock and a hard place in common English. Growth, according to Jackson, is essential, a sine qua non — defined as an increase in consumption expenditure which will keep the gears turning, the pistons reciprocating, chimneys spewing gases, vehicles turning and material flows continuing unimpeded. A lack of growth would be dangerous for society and the economy — though one would agree that this would give the environment the much-needed long breather.

Uncontrolled Growth

However this maybe, uncontrolled growth which seems imminent, is controvertible in the face of dwindling natural resources and a decrease in the carrying capacities of the sinks which accommodate wastes generated by consumerism. The term, Triple Bottom Line, is often bandied about, but action and intent are seen to be at loggerheads and “deed” never seems to match the “letter and spirit.”

While growth — increase in the production and manufacturing of raw materials, finished goods and services — cannot be wished away, especially in the rapidly-developing economies of China, Brazil, India, Russia and many more that will follow in the decades to come, Jackson wonders whether it would be a good idea for the Western World to stymie its own demand for material goods a bit.

In the good old days, this view would have precipitated a severe recession, but no longer, as the developing economies have now established strong trade relations among themselves, though not sufficient to compensate for a permanent drop in demand from the export markets in the OECD. A rearrangement in the global economy would bring along with it little — or, perhaps a lot of initial pain — yet, this is often the bitterest of medicines to restore good health.  A revolution is called for, to shake up the habits and well-entrenched patterns of the recent past and replace them with brand new ones — not just as quick-fix solutions, but as permanent and lasting approaches to a sustainable future.

Technology, No Panacea

Jackson questions the conventional wisdom behind what prosperity means to the hoi polloi, politicians and conventional hard-nosed economists, and dares to tread on oft-talked-about-but-criticised ground, when he evokes spirituality and religion as possible ways out of the morass that modern materialistic man finds himself “engulfed” in the 21^st century.  He believes that man needs to be modest enough to understand that technology cannot cure all ills — least of all scarcity of irreplaceable or non-substitutable natural resources. He cites the Paul Ehrlich IPAT formula to explain this:

Jackson argues that it would be difficult to curtail ‘P’ as that would mean an infringement of human liberties, ‘A’ has to increase if one goes by the belief that growth is imperative, ‘ T’ would have to come down drastically in order to reduce ‘I,’ or keep it under check. However, if mankind so decides, it can hold ‘P’ down by boldly sacrificing, it can also volunteer to redefine prosperity and be happy with a constant, or even a lower ‘A.’ At the same time, by religiously advocating efficient production, consumption, reuse, and recycling strategies, wastes and emissions can be held down as well. But, then, while this seems easy and great to read on paper, is it really attainable? We are talking of over 210 countries in different stages of economic and industrial development, and more than 6 billion people — a majority of them eager to earn more and live lives as per Western standards.

Simple Is Strong

There are tools and instruments, both bottom-up and top-down. But, they all need to work in unison, like a perfect symphony. This is unthinkable, a mere utopia, some would say. We need a revolution — call it Austerity or Spirituality, without mistaking it for retrogression. In fact, what we have considered as progressive now is what is dragging us down, back and under. Let us recast what we had conventionally looked upon as retrogressive, as this would enable us to move forward, survive and “prosper” in the true sense of the term.

Read the book to find out more. Its power lies in the fact that Jackson makes what lay readers would generally shy away from… a sheer delight to read. It would not be an exaggeration to say that this is a “un-put-down-able” book, though it certainly does not belong to the  suspense thriller genre.

It is this quality of simplicity, one needs to adopt in one’s life… shorn of the “keeping up” with the Joneses’ sophistication.

It was the twins’ first day at playschool and Luke was really excited about it. But, his sister Kerry wasn’t so sure.

What happened at playschool anyway? They were met at the door by Miss Moss, a large, jolly lady with long, dark hair done up in a plait and shiny black shoes that squeaked as she walked.

“Welcome, children,” she said, “I’m sure you’re going to have a lovely time here at Parkview Playschool. As you can see there are lots of things to play with and lots of children to make friends with.”

In a flash Luke was off to play with the toys, but Kerry stayed close to Mum.

Watch Out!

Photo Courtesy: www.tinypic.com

“Watch out for the other children, Luke,” called Mum anxiously, as he clambered onto a tricycle and went zooming off towards a log cabin playhouse in the corner.

“Screech,” went Luke, stopping just inches from the door.

“Don’t worry,” Miss Moss said, “it’s just excitement, I’m sure he’ll soon settle down. And, Kerry will help me look after him, won’t you Kerry?”

Kerry nodded. Luke was always getting into scrapes.

After Mum had gone, Miss Moss took the twins over to the painting table. Two other children were already there, painting lovely bright pictures in red, blue and green. Grabbing a brush, Luke squished it up and down in the paint pot. The bright red paint splashed everywhere and Luke giggled. The other children looked as if they had measles!

Find Something Else

“Oh, dear,” sighed Miss Moss, going rather red herself, “I think we’d better find something else for you to do, hadn’t we, Luke?”

But Luke was already heading for the climbing frame. In the blink of an eye he was at the top, swinging from the bars like a monkey.

“Goodness me, what an adventurous boy you are, Luke,’ said Miss Moss, hurrying to help him down. “Let’s try and find you something a bit safer to play with, shall we?”

She led him over to a large white-painted box. Inside was the biggest collection of wooden building blocks Luke had ever seen. There were hundreds of them, of every colour and shape imaginable — blue and orange squares, green and yellow rectangles, red and purple pyramids. Soon, Luke was busy building the biggest tower in the whole wide world.

Over on the painting table, Kerry was painting a picture of a blue and white kitten. She’d never seen a blue kitten, but she was going to give the picture to Luke to put on his bedroom wall and the wallpaper in his room had blue and white stripes. There, finished. She looked up, wanting to show Luke his picture. But, he was nowhere to be seen. Not on the tricycle. Not on the frame. Not in the playhouse. Then she saw him… He was standing on top of the tallest stack of building blocks she’d ever seen. And, it was beginning to wobble.

Hey, Careful!

“Look out, Luke!” she called.

Hearing Kerry calling to him, Luke grinned and waved. Then the grin faded. Beneath his feet the tower was starting to feel all wobbly.

“H-e-l-p,” he cried, as it began to sway. “Whoooa.”

His arms were waving like windmills as the blocks at the edges started falling to the floor. Leaping up, Kerry rushed to her brother’s rescue. Grabbing a chair, she set it down beside him and scrambled on to the seat.

“Jump!” she shouted, holding out her hands towards him. Looking very scared, Luke grabbed her hands and jumped. Crash went the tower, scattering rainbow-coloured blocks all across the floor.

“Cool,” grinned Luke, looking back at the empty space where he’d been standing a moment ago. Just then, Miss Moss arrived, her shiny black shoes squeaking like frightened mice.

“Oh, Kerry, what a clever girl you are,” she said breathlessly. “Thank goodness at least one of you is sensible. You could have hurt yourself, Luke, and then what would Mummy have said? Now then, I think, perhaps, we’d better do something nice and quiet until she gets back, don’t you? Like making salt-dough animals, perhaps?”

But the twins weren’t listening. They were too busy racing one another to the top of the climbing frame.

Playschool, Kerry decided, was going to be fun.

Nobody is exempt from stress. Stress is a fact of life. So, also our ability to deal with stress. Here’s proof.

Understand your limitations. Create an inner setting of harmony, healing and buoyancy, but also manage stresses in life well.

Stick to core values. All of us have our own set of core values — big or small — which uplifts our life and destiny. Know, and use, them well.

Stick to the basics. When you get too entrenched in the nitty-gritty of your professional career, you do not listen to your natural instincts. You forget your own primitive needs, or feelings. There is a way. Take a few minutes off from your chores, everyday, and immerse yourself in meditation for 15-20 minutes.

Think differently. Do not always think with a straight-line approach to dealing with stress. Think out of the box, even when there’s no box.

Laugh. Laughing your heart out has deep therapeutic effects — it is said to be even better than exercise. Laugh.

Do away with schedules and planned holidays. Stress management does not ask for a planned, expensive, or quick trip to a tranquil location. It calls for some of the most simple, inexpensive, and abundant pleasures of life — like spending quality time alone, or with your family.

Let go. Unwind.

The mind is something quite beyond Descartes’ maxim: “I think, therefore, I am.” The more we go within the mind, the more we go beyond; and, the more extensive the cuddle, the more you go beyond. We all know it: that within the world of matter is the body, even though that fundamental body goes beyond matter in several ways. Our feelings and emotions recognise a world; they also fuse consciousness, the past and the future, even when the body is at rest — in sleep.

When we delve deep within the mind, the mind becomes quiet: there’s also boundless stillness. And, as the soul begins to mumble, we materialise into a state that we may never have imagined existed. It is a condition that is beyond consistency and judgment. It is also a “sound” junction where the mysterious eternity breathes life into perishable time — of the timelessness of bliss itself.

It’s also something that is transpersonal, beyond personal identities; a mode that is always within and beyond. You may have experienced such peak experiences: of both awe and charm, without knowing its essence. You may call it a unique stage: a juncture where the soul begins to expand permanently into consciousness. It may not be all-encompassing, yes, but the fact is: the soul can squeeze the aggregate dominion of mysticism, and plumb its own depths of mystical fervour.

In so doing, it can bestow a new connotation to life, and convey sanctity to every aspect of the psyche.

I do not wish to make a pretentious show of secularism.

It is not possible to push this bitter medicine down the throats of people, who are addicted to sugar-coated remedies. Art, literature, music, film and drama have fallen woefully short of the noble goal of preaching universal brotherhood.

Exaggeration often defeats the very purpose of the medium chosen to convey the message; just as an unnecessary single attempted by well-set batsmen en route to winning a cricket match for their team, sparks a collapse and turns the tables.

Home Messages

Using imagination to drive home messages may work well when one wishes to brainwash sane individuals to fanaticism, but it rarely works well the other way. Bombing a temple or a mosque to smithereens may take a few minutes, while building them would have entailed painstaking years’-long labour. The Manichean tussle between light and dark is ageless and timeless. The light which the said media shines from time to time serves to dispel darkness momentarily, but sadly can never really be a panacea or elixir to the ills that have come to characterise the modern-day hate and fear-ridden society.

As far as films go, a film which depicts strong, undying friendship between a Hindu and a Muslim [there have been many such films in Bollywood], is often counterbalanced by one which showcases terrorist acts, and portrays Islam as a violent and aggressive religion out to spread havoc in the world. Introducing a duty-bound Muslim policeman, who puts duty above religion and plays a key role [often as a martyr] in vanquishing his co-religionist terrorists helps, but only as an exception to the rule. The Rule still rules the non-Muslim minds and hearts. Three hours of exhilaration and, perhaps, an inclination towards fellow-feeling with the maligned religion, is like a dream, which ends when one steps out of the cinema theatre, picks up a tabloid in the stands and reads about suicide bombings in some other part of the world. It is quite like kids believing in Santa Claus for three years and then rubbishing him as an object of fantasy. This applies, it goes without saying, to anyone. It is not just the Hindu point-of- view towards Muslim, but also the Muslim point-of-view against everyone else in the world.

King Khan Can

Photo Courtesy: http://wallpapers.oneindia.in

This piece was inspired by the movie, My Name Is Khan [MNIK]. Notwithstanding the hysterical nonsense [and the limitations referred to in the previous paragraphs] which sometimes characterises Hindi commercial cinema to woo the audience and rake in the moolah — a must-be in order to recover the investments made in producing the movie in the first place — it must be said that Shah Rukh Khan [SRK] has done a good job in representing the peace-loving and cultured Muslim community around the world [which excludes the groundswell of terrorists], as a goodwill ambassador.

At a time and juncture when Muslims are all being tarred with the same terrorist brush, this film, which can very well be considered as a kind of a sequel to Chak De [quite like Khaled Hossani's A Thousand Splendid Suns can be said to be a sequel to The Kite Runner] — both serving the same purpose, of dissociating terrorism which unfortunately has become synonymous with Islam, with the religion and its pristine tenets per se. Rizwan Khan of MNIK may well be Kabir Khan of Chak De reborn, or a like-minded twin brother of Kabir Khan. In other words, the war against terrorism is not war against a religion. Certainly not, and thinking thus would be a very inhuman and cruel thing to do, especially if one has tried to read and understand the Koran. It is a religious text, not a “HowStuffWorks” for terrorists.

There are some nuggets in the movie which could possibly be played again and again to reverse-brainwash, if the Gandhian ideal [advocated in Lage Raho Munnabhai] is adopted as one of the battle-arrows in the quiver. The most striking one is the scene in which Zarina Wahab [who plays the protagonist's mother] sketches two pictures — one of a person giving a lollipop to a boy and the other pointing a gun to his temple — and asks her son which one is the Muslim and which one is the Hindu. He responds innocently that both men look alike and it is hard to say.

Inspired Goodness

Religions are always good. The basic purpose was not to divide, kill, hate and conquer. The same with scriptures and religious texts as well. The purpose here was not to incite or intimidate, but inspire and spread goodness and peace. It is the religionists who are either good or bad. A bad apple would obviously make the other apples in the basket bad, over time. But, as long as the other apples do not turn bad, they are not to be bracketed along with the bad one in the basket. Separate, and handle each apple on merit. Handle each person on merit, as an individual, a unique one with his own strengths and weaknesses. Identify the strengths [interpreted as Good], strengthen them further, so that the weaknesses [interpreted as Bad] are automatically upended.

Whether the ruckus caused by Shiv Sainiks was stage-managed or pre-programmed as a publicity stunt is not known, but SRK surely made a major lapsus linguæ — too bold and indiscreet at that — when he labelled Pakistanis as good neighbours. Given the history of the past and the issues being tackled on the political front between the two countries and the mayhem caused by terrorists trained in the country in November 2008 in Mumbai, that was foolish. To some extent, what Bal Thackeray said, about non-politician celebrities being discreet about what they say in the media, holds water. Not in the case of Sachin Tendulkar though, but surely in the case of SRK. This observation is not being made by a Hindu who happens to be an Indian, but by an Indian who, perchance, is a Hindu. For that matter, yours sincerely, in mails sent out from his Yahoo E-mail signs with “God’s Will Be Done/Insha’allah.”

I like the sound of the word “Insha’allah,” and, of course, I am not a terrorist. It just means the same as the four words to the left of the front-slash, within quotes.

On February 14, 2010, three days after the 19^th anniversary of the release of Nelson Mandela from the Robben Island prison; on the day the Proteas had not been able to capitalise on the centuries scored by Hashim Amla [of Asian origin] and Alviro Petersen [Cape Coloured], I watched the Morgan Freeman-starrer Invictus along with my wife.  Perhaps, not the most fitting film for the occasion [it was Valentine's Day], but most certainly a film to remember the day by.

I have read Nelson Mandela’s autobiography — Long Walk to Freedom — twice over — and the book marked a distinct turning point in my life, quite like the visit to, and the short sojourn in Johannesburg did [Refer: Lessons From Jo'burg [Upanishabd, August 1, 2009], by this writer]. I read the poem Invictus for the first time, in the mid 1980s, at school. It was one of the dozen or so poems in the English language textbook. It would only be appropriate to recall the 16 inspiring lines by William Henley below:

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

Mandela’s Message

Photo: Richard Jansen van Vuuren, Johannesburg

Mandela, during his 27-year-long incarceration, sought inspiration from these lines by Henley. It is said that one should not pray to God to lighten one’s Cross, but rather for the strength and courage to shoulder it. The first paragraph teaches man to thank God for this strength, and see it swell up even as troubles loom large. The second talks about stoic courage — heroic and manly, and an indefatigable spirit with unshakeable trust in God. The longer the acid test, the stronger the victor. In the movie, Morgan Freeman [who plays Mandela] passes on nuggets of wisdom gained from experience to Matt Damon [playing Francois Pienaar, the national rugby team captain in 1995], who is under tremendous pressure to keep the South African flag flying high on the rugby field. The sportsman, unlike his apartheid-supporting father, is touched by Mandela’s humility and graciousness. Though this was not the poem which Mandela is supposed to have passed on to Pienaar in reality, but a copy of a Teddy Roosevelt speech, it may as well have been this instead. Pienaar then visits the cell in Robben Island with his team, tries imagining what Mandela would have gone through during his incarceration, and marvels at the ability of the man to pardon the Afrikaaners who had subjected him to all the travails.

The “menace of the years” Henley refers to, ceased to be one, when Mandela looked at it as a challenge to be overcome, borne and surmounted. The few minutes Pienaar spends at Mandela’s office leads to what one may label as a transfusion of faith, and the physically-tough rugby star understands and comprehends the indispensability of spiritual strength if the physical vitality has to yield rich dividends.

Touching Moments

There are several touching moments in the film — like when Pienaar calmly tells his teammates who are offended by having to learn the South African Xhosa national anthem — Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika, that it just means God Bless Africa, albeit in another language. Then, there is the post-victory scene, when Pienaar asks Chester, the only native African on the rugby team, to utter the thanksgiving prayer on the team’s behalf.

There are riveting messages about leadership — like the clichéd leading by example, for instance. The Xenophonic definition of a good leader — a combination of passion and detachment, vision and common sense, energetic, full of stamina, ingenious, careful, straightforward and crafty, loving and tough, generous and greedy, trusting and suspicious, wishing for all and ready to sacrifice everything — can be recalled at different junctures of the film. Leadership is verily a crown of thorns, not a bed of roses. It is a privilege which comes along with gargantuan responsibilities — something which leaders and managers of teams and companies these days ought to understand. Of course, the politicians at the helm of affairs as well.

And en passant, the power of purposeful poetry was brought out wonderfully enough. Just four stanzas have the power in them to change lives, move mountains, build nations and make history — something which even the psalms in the Bible or the stanzas in the Gita, or the passages in the Koran may fail to. Thanks Clint Eastwood for the wonderful movie. I would be sad if it does not bag a few Oscars.

“Do you pray to Girl-god or Boy-god?” The four-year-old’s question had me thinking for a moment. “Err, both,” I said. “And you?” “I pray to Girl god when I want something. She sits in a flower, smiling. I’m sure she won’t get angry, if I ask her for things. But Boy-god has gadgets. He will kill bad people and ghosts. So at night, when I get scared, I pray to Boy-god.” “Gadgets?” I asked. “Yes.” Little fingers pointed out at the trident, the Sudarshana, even the conch, the drum, or the battle-axe parshu depicted in the colourful pictures of various deities in the book that we were looking at together. “But, sometimes even the Girl-god has these gadgets,” I pointed out to the picture of Durga. “Oh yes! Then she’s even more dangerous than Boy-god. A bit like Mama when she scolds Daddy real bad!”

The sex of godhood has always been an interesting issue, explored from time to time. As is the characteristic of the gods of polytheism, there have been male gods and female gods, and some, like Moon, are sometimes masculine and sometimes feminine. Although the differentiation, based on gender, is denied in high-religion, in the religion of the masses the desire for a differentiation based on sex is often fulfilled right from the Madonna cult in Catholicism to the Goddess Kwanyin in Buddhism, the Shakti or the Matrikas of Hinduism, to faiths based in tribal societies.

Psychical Anthropomorphism

The images of gods differed according to their work and intentionally or unintentionally bore human features. Writes Gustav Mensching in his book, Structures And Patterns Of Religion, we must distinguish between physical and psychical anthropomorphism. The most widely spread form is, doubtlessly, physical anthropomorphism as we find it in Homer. Mensching discusses how this corresponds with the portrayal of god as a perfect human being in Greek art.

Photo Courtesy: http://www.jnanagnikula.org

Most ethnic religions imagined at least a part of their gods in human forms. However, researchers have pointed out that this led to the danger of humanising god; it removed the distance between god and man, but not always in a healthy way. If gods were “people,” in the sense that they had personalities, then they were also open to feelings, acts and transgressions that were found in human beings.

Mensching argues that the animal-like and non-human features of a deity [whether in the form of male or female] have been born out of the tendency to give expression to the “quite different” in the being and existence of god and so to avoid anthropomorphism. Ancient faiths also maintained their tendencies to have a multiplicity of gods, both male and female, among other varieties, that were closer to human beings and were vivid and functionally different. Quite like the four-year-old mentioned at the beginning of this piece, they could then turn to these gods for help according to their area of work, thinking that the individual god had powers to grant boons or relief in the particular matter about which the appeal was made.

Supreme Divinity

While more often than not the supreme divinity was a male, a father, there were times when she was a female. Like amongst the Hintubuhet of New Ireland, or with the Todas and Kavis of India. Among the Bantus of South Africa and the Bavili and Fjort people, the male god, the supreme divinity of the skies, receded into the background while the female goddess of the same name took over. Her sacred secrets were said to be revealed only to women. The significance of the female deity is amply evident in the Matrika cult during the Kushana and Gupta periods in India. They have inspired some of the finest art and inscriptions of the period. Observes Varahamihira in the Brihatsamhita, “Matrikas should be endowed with beautiful breasts, a slender waist and full hips so that female beauty may be created.” She doesn’t stop at holding a child in her arms. She does it all from riding a bull, holding a trident in hand, from flying on a Garuda to wielding a mace, from a lotus in hand to a garland of skulls around her neck, from a rosary, a book, a bow and even the kamandalu or the water-pitcher of the ascetics, the “girl-god” has not been very different from the “boy-god” with his gadgets.

Complementary Connect

However, with a closer look, the male and female divinities both stand for the same properties. The Matrika cult was closely associated with the Tantrika form of Shaivism. For the initiated Shaktas, a Durga or a Kali is the manifestation of the cosmic life in constant and violent regeneration. The Shaivaites see the Shivalinga as an image of the rhythmic creation and destruction of the Universe which expresses itself in forms and returns, from time to time, to its primal unity. Both of them are by no means contradictory, but in fact complementary.

Ultimately, everywhere in the world, irrespective of the gender of god, all of us display the same yearning, love and respect for the Divine. Millions of people have sacrificed themselves in order to defend what they consider as the Father divinity, Mother divinity, or the son of divinity. So, whether we pray to the girl-god, boy-god or child-god, a real encounter of the holy, in every faith, has been experienced by those who are lucky among us. It is only when we realise this, can we respect the conviction of other faiths.

As the calendar turns to a new month, many resolutions have been put away with the rest of the New Year’s activities. However, for many of us, it’s still a time of new beginnings. A new beginning, a fresh outlook on spirituality and a course for how it will affect our lives in the coming months.

Some of us are excited by change and can find the good in any down period. Seeing the brighter side of life not only benefits us on a superficial level, but also within ourselves. We have the ability to obtain an all-access pass to an enormous amount of inner creativeness that helps us afford the luxury of happiness and peace of mind, heart and soul.

Usually the practice of tapping into our vital source of love and fulfilment takes a bit of work — you need focus and discipline. During off days, it’s good for us to set aside time to unplug from the world and rely only on our senses to guide us. Enjoying simple tasks, such as quietly reading a spiritual book, relaxing through meditation, or listening to soft sounds, allows us to feel calm and figure out our true desires. Just sitting quietly alone in the sun with our thoughts is a good practice and can also point us in the direction of our life’s purpose.

Wang Ho!

A friend Wang Qi from China came to me feeling down some months ago. She asked for advice on how to find her purpose in life. She was a bit unsatisfied with her teaching career and felt  something was missing. I couldn’t give her an exact answer as to why she was feeling lost, but I came up with some ways to help her. First I asked her, “What are you giving back to life at this moment?” This question usually helps pull a person’s mind out from self and back on life as a whole. She was unable to answer.

Photo Courtesy: http://www.oneinchpunch.net

We tend to sometimes become disillusioned with life, feeling that it owes us something for our hard work. We work in this universe as pieces to a bigger puzzle — our abilities and talents are the unique shapes of one beautiful picture. But, when we forget or misinterpret our purpose we can start to compare our successes to others, or worse yet, life becomes a tad dull because we serve only the purposes set aside by our influences — parents, media, or society.

The second activity involved getting back into shape [yes, exercise]. We generally feel good about ourselves when our bodies are in good shape. So, we started doing cardio three times a week. Jogging along the stream near our house also served another purpose: discussing her goals. Though our jogs were comparable to barely walking, we had fun laughing, sharing, and growing. We first talked about her dreams of the past. Then, we discussed her hobbies, talents and things she liked to do for fun.

Next, we created a short list that involved creative activities like drawing, painting and craft-making, setting aside an hour a week to do them. During these creative sessions, she discovered she was a talented artist. She was able to turn ordinary items into eclectic and intricate pieces of art. She turned soda cans into miniature model chairs with tables. She used shiny rhinestones broken off her sandals to create a falling leaf picture. She made beautiful accessories for her collages. She took her talent and used it to make gifts for friends, sell hand-made jewellery at work and draw characters in one of my children’s book series.

Pursue Your Flair

Up until this point, she never knew she was good at art, so she never pursued it. In fact, her talent is considered a waste of time in her hometown. Our casual 10-minute jogs turned to 20-minute runs where we would focus on her specific plan of action to achieve her dreams of fulfillment in her life. Last, she began venturing out during her creative hour to take pictures of the local people and shops in town. All this time, deeming myself as special with a camera — even purchasing an expensive Canon to prove my ability — my skills held no weight to her works of art called “pics.” Even a simple picture of autumn leaves rendered comments on Facebook. Her eyes paid close attention to detail and she found beauty in simple things that others would rather look over. She felt in her heart that taking photos should be a part of her life as a career and, at once, pursued her dream. Her once frowned face glowed with excitement whenever she took photos or made craft. We celebrated her new-found gifts as victories, since she not only found joy in life again, she was giving back to it. More recently, she has been working on her Website each week, posting photos, and is waiting for approvals to publish her children’s book with illustrations.

We all have something to offer life in the form of our inner potential and abilities. Her Chinese roots were not conducive to a creative environment, so she ignored her gifts. But without her talent, a piece of life is missing from the puzzle.

Some of us may lie dormant with our gifts for many years. It is up to us to find out exactly what we can do to contribute to our journey while on Earth. Don’t miss another opportunity, or moment, in life to start something new. Sit down in a comfortable room, turn off the electronics for about an hour, and think quietly to yourself about what you really want.

Find a new creative gift that might just help change the world in a small way. It could be the next big thing out there is you!