On the pursuit of happiness

It was a hunt for happiness that I started,
And I searched in every corner and nook.
Every tool did I use, and every technique did I try,
but I was overwhelmed by the effort it took.

I felt like my  whole life was a lie,
And my head swelled with pain and sorrow.
The future felt flustering, and the present, perplexing,
and I thought I was trapped, with no hope for tomorrow.

Everything around me seemed dark and dull,
And the only hue left in the world was gray.
With all my strength, I tried to flee,
but I could not get far,try as I may.

And then, an epiphany emerged from within,
It felt bright, like a lamp that illuminates a shade.
I had finally realized that happiness was not to be found,
but it was simply a choice to be made.

Fear,the monster.

Fear renders one motionless,
and causes one to shake and shear.
It paralyses one from within,
and makes all joy disappear.

Fear clouds one's mind up,
leaving confusion and nausea in it's wake.
It  brings forth gloom and helplessness,
and causes the world around one to break.

Fear can seem insurmountable,
and drain all hope away.
It can seem like ages left,
before one can even sway.

What can defeat fear, then ?
Nothing but joy and hope and acceptance.
One shall learn to be joyous,
and learn to live a live that's less tense.

Birthdays on Mars

The measurement of the passage of time is important to us, as sentinent living inhabitants of earth. Of all the methods available to us, the day-night cycle, based on the earth's rotation and the annual cycle, based on the earth's revolution around the sun are probably the most important.

Almost all organisms on Earth have evolved what can be described as 'biological clocks', calibrated by the solar cycle, but this is food for discussion for another day.

Here, we ponder about the effects of cultural implications of a different 'diurnal cycle'(The day-night cycle) on lives of people. Let us consider, for instance, the act of celebrating birthdays. One's birthday is obviously an annual occurence, providing a marker for the passage of each year. And as the Earth's rotational period and revolution period is fairly constant, one is justified in using it as such. Now, we assume an hypothetical situation in which there exists a settlement of humans on a different planetary body, either a different planet or a moon:

If, for instance, a colony of humans made a settlement on Mars, they would initially 'suffer' the interplanetary equivalent of 'jet-lag', in this case being 'confused' about the diurnal cycle on Mars, as opposed to Earth. i.e, all life on Earth is adapted to living on Earth, with the 'biological clocks' or 'circadian rythm' being calibrated to the diurnal cycle on Earth. Thus, when faced with a different cycle length, the human body will be 'confused'. But of course, the length of a Martian day is almost equal to the length of an Earthly day, so this problem is somewhat rendered 'solved'. The other 'cycle' that impacts life is the annual cycle, or the length of the Earth's revolution aorund the sun. This cycle is responsible for bringing different seasons, and this calibrates the biological clock in other ways too. The duration of a Martian year is almost twice the duration of an Earthly year, and this would make the seasons on Mars longer too. Thus, the initial settlers on Mars , if they decide to celebrate their birthdays based on 'Earth-time', they would be celebrating it at almost halfway through the Martian year. Perhaps, over a few generations, the descendants of the 'original' settlers would have bodies that are adapted to the Martian cycle rather than the Earthly cycle (Apart from the gravitational difference etc).

If the settlement were made on the moon of a planet, the problem is further compounded as the revolution of the moon around the planet would further change the day-night cycle, and the annual cycle etc.

It is certainly interesting to think about how life evolves in accordance with it's environment. I certainly do hope that mankind sets foot on other planets, someday, in the spirit of exploration and learning.

Alternate universes - Sherlock

Fictional settings are obviously placed in alternate universes whose 'histories' diverge from our universe in ways, both big and small. In this post, I'll attempt the 'analysis' of one such fictional universe - That of the British television show 'Sherlock', which  presents a contemporary version of the Sherlock Holmes stories, originally authored by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The show primarily stars Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock Holmes and Martin Freeman as Doctor John Watson, among others, and each 'incident' that happens within the show, is essentially a mirrored version of the original stories, obviously updated with cultural and technological references that are relevant in the modern day.

So, apart from the obvious deviations, such as the existence of the characters, and unfolding of certain events etc, the other , not so evident differences in that universe are :

->  The non-existence of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle : Arthur Conan Doyle did not obviously exist even in the original stories, and even if he did, he certainly was not the famous author of the Sherlock Holmes stories, that he was in the real world.

-> The non-existence of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle implies the non-existence of his other works - The Lost World, and other works featuring the character of Professor Challenger etc. This would also mean that the Micahel Crichton novel , 'Lost World', if it existed in this universe, would be called by a differnt name.

-> The abscence of works by other authors, and other fictional works that were originally inspired by Conan Doyle's original books. For example, Agatha Christie's character Hercule Poirot was at least partially influenced by the popularity of the detective genre initiated by the original Sherlock Holmes stories, and he would probably not exist too. Also, the character of Dr.House on the television series House M.D is based on Holmes, and this would also be rendered moot. Another instance that I can think of is the Marvel comics character Destiny, who in the Marvel universe, is supposed to be Irene Adler - A character from the Sherlock Holmes canon.

There are obviously a lot more differences than just he ones that I have written about here, and I leave that to the speculation of anyone who might be reading this. And of course, if you haven't watched the show, do so soon, for it is indeed quite good.

Sorry, wrong planet .

This post is dedicated to all those who feel, or at some point of time in their lives,have felt that they're stuck on the wrong world.

There are many reasons why one might feel that way - Not being able to fit in well with conventional social situations is one possible reason. Disagreement with certain courses of action, and reactions expected of people is another possible reason. And of course, there is always the possibility of not being able to follow up with conventional expectations of what one should or should not do, with conformism to 'conventional ideals' being a universally asked-for conjecture.

We, the other 'earth-born-aliens' are many more in number than what you can imagine. We are very much real, and you are not alone in your bemusement with the world and it's workings. We are unique in our own ways, and yet tied together by the common-thread of not being bogged down by unnecessary daily rituals or by redundant protocols that serve no discernible purpose.

So, fellow 'other'-worlder, do not fret, for we are here to live our lives in our own way, and no one can oppose our methods and our means. Our idiosyncrasies define us all, and our consuetudes are what gives color,to an otherwise drab world.

'Now' matters

Life keeps happening, whether one wants it or not. Time keeps moving forward , beyond our control. Nothing seems to matter in the long term, but it is not so. Our emotions , our thoughts and our actions are our own. We can be stripped of everything material that we own, everything that is tangible yet, no one can rob us of those. We think , we live , we feel and we create , not because it leads to tangible rewards, but because it drives us. We are alive only as we have the power to do these things,and we , as a species have thrived for so long because of our abilities to do so.

Nothing may seem to matter in the long term, including our individual existences , and while this may be true,to an extent, we exist in the present moment, and we ought to live in this moment, exist simply because it is joyous to do so, contemplate things around us, feel awed by existence itself.

Our moment is now, and we ought to seize it. Purpose is momentous and wide-spread, rather than a localized entity that we ought to trace. Carpe Diem !

Hate and all his friends

I'm revulsed by People with prejudices,
who seldom pause to ponder;
I dislike conceited chaps,
with egos stretching from here to yonder.

I loathe the compulsive dominant ones,
who are ever ready to gloat;
I despise those who mock other folk,
in attempts to self-promote.

I abhor those who falsely claim to be,
what they are and can be not;
I'm scornful to those who claim other's chefdoeuvres,
either in whole or in part.

I detest all those persons,
who can be described as I've said;
I hate them all with a passion,
and I'd rather have them dead.