Ganymede

Staring up, at the night sky, I can see Jupiter – a mere speck of light. Jupiter is only distinguishable from the other stars in the night sky by the fact that it does not sparkle. Yet I know that this small spark of light is actually a world by itself – a gas giant so big that no human probes have ever reached its center. And, just a few thousand miles above the surface of this gas, another world revolves around it – the satellite called Ganymede.

Ganymede is amongst the four satellites of Jupiter that are nearest the planet. Apart from these four satellites, there are another eight, less formidable satellites. Throughout the history of the solar systems, this satellite system has retained its awesomeness. Ganymede is relatively docile amongst Jupiter’s satellites. It happens to be in just the right distance from the giant, and to be rotating in just the right momentum, to counter the fierce gravitational pull that would otherwise tear it apart, or leave it in an electrostatic flux state, like Lo, another satellite in the neighborhood.

The daylight temperatures on the surface of Ganymede are well below freezing point on earth. Night-time temperatures dip even lower. No terrestrial life can survive here. Yet although this world remains sterile to life as we know it, it still retains its majestic beauty. Out there, in the great, vast gulf of deep space, the satellite continues on its circular march around its giant mother – a spherical knight doing the rounds around the one eyed gas king. In a sense, Ganymede is keeping vigil on the gas king.

Such thoughts tumble through my mind – that millions of miles away from our watery planet, lie another world, made mostly of gases, yet commanding 12 solid worlds around it. And one of them, called Ganymede, has retained its mysterious nature just as well as it has retained its satellite loop around the gaseous planet.
Mysteries in deep space. Forever kept away from our prying eyes by millions of kilometers of deep space. I sigh. Oh well, maybe one time, we will crack the time-warp code, and travel through hyperspace. Then will the entire universe open up before our eyes, in all its glory… and all the attendant awesomeness.

Dreaming in color

By Jove, it’s said that nature abhors a vacuum. And hence in the absence of real external stimuli, the human mind conjures many a fantasies. These fantasies take up the mind, possess it, and if we allow them, they can propagate themselves up to the time when they materialize into reality. Unfortunately, we rarely do that. Held back by non-optimal paradigms, we look into our fantasies, smile wistfully, wish them away, and come back to mundane reality. In so doing, we bury our true potentials. The greatest graveyard in this universe is full of daydreams, fantasies and castles in the sky.

Yet this shouldn’t be. We are gifted with a most noble gift – the gift of imagination. We possess, at any one time, the power to take up our destiny, mould it, and make it fit the wildest fantasy. We have the ability to dream in color, and thereafter watch as the external world hardens into a cast resembling our full-color dreams. For whatever is in the mind, can be expressed. Whatever is envisioned can be created. And the only price for this is that extra courage to stare our destiny in the face and reshape it. Few people ever summon this courage.

As mortals, it is our highest duty to leave a mark on this earth. It is our bequeathed responsibility to dream, think and live in full color. We should always strive to see the entire color spectrum in all our endeavors. We should leap-frog from the mere neutral shades that our lives sometimes descend to. Then, and only then, can our spirits live in complete harmony with nature.

… Heed thee these words, and never stare a fantasy down.

Mistakes and human nature

Humans, by their very makeup, are driven by needs. The way these needs vary over time is best described by Maslow’s Need’s Hierarchy. In this hierarchy, there is always the underlying reference to the fact that human nature is neither good nor bad. Society makes it so. The need to exist within a social system exerts upon us some social pressure – much like living in any other institution does.

By extension then, the mistakes that we make are usually a result of a lack of information. Some mistakes are unavoidable, given the context and the personality involved. Other mistakes, while avoidable, still occur – mostly because humans are fallible, and we are not perfectly consistent in our principles. Because of this, mistakes should be seen as but products of our inherent nature. They should be perceived as powerful insights into our nature – a way of learning about our strengths and weaknesses.

Unfortunately, mistakes are widely condemned by society. With good reason too, by the way. Mistakes can be very costly, especially in the modern, corporate world. At the least, they can be a great inconvenience. It is therefore a good thing to feel guilty about mistakes. However, some thought groups take this situation a step further and make people feel guilty about imaginary mistakes. This is especially seen in some religious groups – where the adherent is supposed to repent every day for all mistakes – real and imagined.

The problem with imagined mistakes is that they are an unnecessarily burden. They take up unmerited resources – time, space, thoughts and so on. In some societies, they can even prove fatal – as some religious adherents result to a daily self-flagellation routine. All these costs are not logically justifiable.

Thus, if the society is to move forward, people should understand the following;
1. Mistakes are inherent in every new venture.
2. New ventures are necessary for human progress.
3. Ergo, mistakes are a part and puzzle of human progress.

Any system that does not observe the above premises is flawed, and should be discarded.

Lucidity

Like the edge of the razor, so is the human intellect… when it is freed of all numbing, absolutely misleading comfort zones. For the human mind has inbuilt capabilities to take up any situation, however grave, turn it on its head, and make the best of it. However, in order for this to happen, the human needs to be released from mundane rituals – and cares that ultimately lead nowhere in particular. Unfortunately, most human minds are forever entrenched in a cyclical rut that only deepens the more the human struggles. Few people dig themselves out of this rut.

Now the essence of lucidity is the ability to envision reality – and the courage to look at this reality straight on. For the truth is that reality is awesome – and actually intimidating to the conventional mind. But the determined mind, when faced with this marvelous sight, overcomes the initial, overwhelmed feeling, and embraces reality, willing it to shine a light into ultimate destiny. This determined mind wrestles all nay-saying ghouls and maintains a perfect vector through the wilderness of reality. And, ultimately, this determined mind prospers where others fail.

Truly, lucidity is a rare gift indeed. Let those who have it treasure it for its fathomless worth.

Prelude to enlightenment

Cast away your paradigms, oh mortal; get thee rid of all presumptions.

For in all knowledge assumed a priori, lie great potential for self deception. In order to gain wisdom, and understanding, you need to look at the world from a child’s eye. Ask, of anything beheld, why. Ask, of anything imagined but not beheld, why not. This is the greatest source of creativity – the gravy upon which human success and prosperity feeds. Break away from traditions and dogma – let your mind roam free. Out there, in the wilderness of thought space, lie great truths and revelations. But in order to perceive them, you need to take hold of all unmerited beliefs, examine them, and cast them away, if they prove to a falsehood.

This is the great path to enlightenment. It is a path walked by few, and completed by even fewer. But happy are they who do complete this journey – for they hold the secrets to this life. They know the what and why of life. They also know the glorious nature of this universe.

And, dispassionately, they know better than to mar this beautiful vista with human folklore.

Balloons in life

Sometimes, life takes on an intriguing twist. You’ve got this set of problems, and so set about solving them. But the more you solve, the more you come up against new sets of problems. It’s like an inflated balloon: push in one side, and another part bulges out. So you push in the new bulge, and hope that no other bulge occurs. Ultimately, you resolve to push from all sides, making sure that there’s simply no chance of a nasty bulge anywhere. In real life, however, it’s usually hard to account for all potential problems, and boy, don’t problems breed!

As the New Year rolls in, it might be prudent to start with a set of down-to-earth, attainable goals. The hope, of course, is that these goals don’t carry unwanted baggage. But this is just a hope. The reality is time bound, and unrolls at time’s own pace. So should we sit around and hope for the best? Experience says nay. Wait for fate to smile on your complacent self, and things will spiral out of control. Even though the very act of keeping things in control sometimes breeds other problems, the effort to keep things in check has to be maintained.

Such is life. Cyclical. Balloony.

Into 2009

A New Year.... with new tidings...

... for the old is gone... and the new is come...