Practice what you preach

Every once in a while we all have crossed paths with a know-it-all who seems to be the wisest and most knowledgeable person present there. We all have been irked by such a magnificent presence not because we are jealous of their knowledge rather we are amazed and sickened by the fact which makes us question, "Is this guy for real? He is so full of himself!". Such imbeciles must be reminded of their folly and I think it is everyone's civic duty to make sure that person realises it! What's worse is when you are dealing with an issue, any issue, and this person casually walks up to you and hands you his two cents. Giving advice is fine and dandy, but what strikes me as really amazing is the fact that some people will offer you advice and will not follow it themselves ! Picture a scenario where you are feeling some sort of chest pain and this oracle descends upon you to help you with your problem. Here is what a snapshot of the dialogue may look like:

1: I am feeling some sort of a chest pain.
2: Goto the doctor and get it checked up. Where are you feeling this? Is it near your ribcage on the side?
1: Yeah that's it! What should I do?
2: Well most likely you have some sort of angina but I would suggest you goto the doctor.
1: Alright, I will set up an appointment soon. What did you do to ease it?
2: Oh me? Nothin' really I just let it pass.

Do you notice the humour and irony here? I sure don't find it funny especially when I am not fond of people encroaching my space and this I would consider my space. I have nothing against getting advice, that's fine and dandy, but what peeves me is that here is this person offering me advice but in a similar situation they would not follow their own advice. That is arrogant and rude ! People ought to think twice before dishing out advice!

With liberty and justice for all

These are the closing words from the Pledge of Allegiance every American must take when showing their loyalty to the world's superpower. We take such rights for granted , but I am not going to talk about how at times various nations and political vehicles abuse these unalienable rights, especially in third world nations ( this blog was kept to be strictly nonpolitical, since I am not fond of politics). Rather, I am going to talk about individuals and society and how THEY abuse these basic civil entitlements. Again, I will draw from my experiences in life. Not too long ago I was under the influence of cursing and i used to curse like a mad man. Not a sentence would I utter that did not contain some sort of profanity. I had some good friends of mine who tried to set me straight. I am thankful for that but there was a slight flaw in their approach. You see they reprimanded only me for what I did whereas there were others around them who did the very same thing ! Now that was unacceptable to me. I don't mind where people tell me to straighten my act, but what does get to me is when people do not apply the same rule to others. If you are going to take it upon yourself to policing then I suggest a comprehensive plan of action and not a partial one. Now some people would argue that at least they were trying to clean up some part of a dirty area. That is all fine and dandy but is cleaning up really that important where you break all code and ethos? Being vested with the power to bestow justice is a great power indeed and a noble one too, but turning a blind eye to examples where you know injustice is being done is even a bigger sin in my opinion.

This is not what is known as imparting justice rather it is very unfair. From this we can extend, and I am sure we can also find many examples in our lives, where we have had this situation arise. We should strive to have uniform policies in our approach to dealing with people. What we do not like in one person must be the same case for everyone else. Saying, "Oh he is my friend that is why I overlook it," is a pretty lame excuse as far as I can see. I would rather, not do something I not like and not chastise at all rather than not do it and chastise a few people. The idea being "justice for all."

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you

Isn't that such a beat around and oft-repeated phrase ? We hear this so many times that I feel it has lost its value. Once upon a time, I was accused of breaking this rule of life but I am glad that at that time my friend pointed this out that I was not treating others right; I used to make fun of people but could not take it when the position was reversed. I find that people who try and uphold the "morality" banner (the do-gooders) break this law often. For instance, I know people who would hate to have others get physical with them during a joke but then those same people wouldn't mind getting physical with you. All I would say is that try to at the very least nto do what you are doing but if you can not do that then do not get upset because someone is giving you a taste of your own medicine. Try to put yourself in the other person's shoes for an instance. I am against even those people who defend themselves by saying, "Hey, that person does not mind I make fun of them."
Yes, and your point being?
Look, if you do not like something yourself then don't do that same thing to others regardless of whether others mind it or not, that is just plain wrong and to all the do-gooders (not that being a do-gooder is a bad thing) do you not stop to think for once that this goes against all you believe and uphold?

Negativity

Feeling angry? Jealous? Hate? We all have felt down and low and some sort of negative feeling creeps upon us. It is natural to feel such ways at times after all we are emotional beings as well but I feel somehow that somewhere along the road we forgot what we were supposed to do in such situations. I mean we have all been told that these are bad and wrong feelings and should shun them as much as possible. I think otherwise. I say we ought to embrace these feelings and welcome them. Rather than block out such feelings we should try to investigate why we are feeling this way. Traditionally, if you said something of the sort "Hey man that's an awesome car that guy has, I hate him for having that, he always seems to have the luck," you could have expected a good lecture from someone telling you that feeling such a way is wrong and you should chuck the idea out. Instead, we should have the other guy ask him why he is feeling that way and let them know that it is natural to feel this but not a healthy lifestyle to adopt. Have them try to find the root cause of this state and then battle negativity that way you breed a healthier lifestyle.

Nice guys finish last

Sorry folks for not being regular with my blog now that school has restarted after spring-break. I promise I will be getting back on this soon, but for now here are some powerful lyrics from a famous Black Sabbath song called "Iron Man".

Has he lost his mind?
Can he see or is he blind?
Can he walk at all,
Or if he moves will he fall?
Is he alive or dead?
Has he thoughts within his head?
We'll just pass him there
why should we even care?

He was turned to steel
in the great magnetic field
When he travelled time
for the future of mankind

Nobody wants him
He just stares at the world
Planning his vengeance
that he will soon unfurl

Now the time is here
for Iron Man to spread fear
Vengeance from the grave
Kills the people he once saved

Nobody wants him
They just turn their heads
Nobody helps him
Now he has his revenge

Heavy boots of lead
fills his victims full of dread
Running as fast as they can
Iron Man lives again!

Nice guys do finish last and no one really pays attention to them.

Lyrics by Black Sabbath

The ripple

It was one of those nights where I was having a smoke, and this night it was not my favourite brand, but as I followed the misty smoke making its way through the atmosphere and cutting through the power lines, making visible a sharp and distinct shadow from the cables, another "inspiration" hit me. Tonight I could follow the path of the smoke a with far greater clarity than other times and I was astonished to see how far the smoke went and was still visible. I am talking a few metres at the least maybe three or four and I could amazingly see the smoke though not as thick and rich as it first left my mouth but yet clear enough for me to follow its random path. This experience made me realise how we affect society. We may lose track of the source of this effect but we feel its resounding aftershocks. Take for instance the wheel. We do not know when it was made or by whom yet we greatly derive benefit from its conception. Conversely, we can talk about the atomic bomb and how it has affected the world. So effects, such as these can both me desirable or not so, but we must rememeber that our actions regardless of how small they seem to us do affect someone at some point or another. It could be a young impressionable child, a friend, an enemy or whoever they maybe we must try to keep in mind the consequences of our actions. Of course one cannot always do that but there must be a conscious effort to try and minimise the negative effects as much as possible. Not meaning to brag, but I try not to jaywalk, smoke, or curse around children so as to not affect their young minds since they so easily pick up from grown-ups. My two cents at this hour of the night.

For the feminists

http://books.guardian.co.uk/extracts/story/0,,1733430,00.html?gusrc=rss

http://www.grandforks.com/mld/miamiherald/living/people/women/14120531.htm?source=rss&channel=miamiherald_women

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/features/booksmags/sfl-linorah15mar15,0,4745399.story?coll=sfla-features-books

So you think you want equality now? Not everything is as rosy as it seems. More on this soon. As the old adage goes "Be careful what you wish for".

And it makes me so depressed to see the gloom -- Abba

http://news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20060319/hl_hsn/studylooksatallthelonelypeople

Count me one of those lonely people and that's the way I like it, stay away from me.

courage

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060319/ap_on_re_us/iraq_fog_of_postwar

I wish I had this man's perspective and courage. I salute you Sargeant.

What goes up must come down

Once again my moment of inspiration came when I was out on my balcony enjoying my favourite smoke; as I was watching a slight drizzle hit the ground quietly, the famous proverb (if you can call it that) "what goes up must come down" came to my mind. I thought to myself briefly that whoever came up with that was one sad man. You have to notice that the subliminal message is very pessimistic and gloomy, which is fine and dandy by me since I am a pessimistic, cynical and gloomy sort of person. The phrase talks about things coming down but it left out an important detail; it never talks about how whatever it is got to the top in the first place. I feel too many times we don't notice the other half of things. So there I was thinking about this phrase while the rain dropped without a sound and I said to myself "what goes down must come up, eventually" unless of course that is where the whole deal ends i.e. at the bottom e.g. a bankrupt investor who dies whilst still in bakruptcy, but all things apart the bankrupt person should be able to end off at a place "higher" than when he was during his bankruptcy. So remember there is always a flip side to things and what goes up must come down and what comes down must go up, eventually.

Life is unfair

I really doubt it. Many people have this complaint where they think they have been handed the wrong end of the stick. "Life is so unfair," they say, "Look at him, he is so handsome and has plenty of money all because life gave him a gift of the gab." Just quit whining and suck it up is what I have to say. Life is not unfair. One has to realise that life has given everybody something desirable and some people have more of it that others. You just have to discover what it is that life gave you over others and try and build on that. Think for a moment, we all have strengths and weaknesses and we all wish we had certain strengths that others have and certain weaknesses that we wish we didn't have. One person may have a natural predisposition towards abstract ideas and the other maybe more practical. The person who is practical may wish he was more of an abstract thinker but that is not that case, so whining about it won't help him. Rather than saying life has been unfair because he did not get something he desired he should see that life has been totally fair to him. What is his gift is not the other person's. There must be one person out there who wished they had a more practical approach to problems. So you see life is not at all unfair. We all have certain qualities that are desirable by others and qualities we desire that are in others. Life is fair.

Know thyself

I have always been a firm believer in hard work over natural talent. True those who have natural talent always have a head start but if they do not work on it, their talent goes to waste. I am sure we have seen many examples around us where we have said "he is such a waste of good talent" and "here is one hard-working guy". Of the two which is more desirable? To me the answer is clear; nothing is more precious than a great work ethic. There are people who have used hard work in conjuction with their talents to end up with amazing results but then there are those who seem to exploit their innate abilities where they do the work just a few moments before it is finally needed. I have seen many examples of people who just sit at their books on the last day before a test and whiz it whilst me who has been toiling away for the past few days and I am still nowhere near the level of the wunderkind. I do envy people with such an ability and wish I had it myself but then again life has never been kind and tests people to varying degrees. Is it unfair then that these people do not put their talent to good use and waste it by doing things at the last moment? As much as I would like to say yes I still feel otherwise. They are not doing anything wrong they are playing the game within the rules and I do not think that procrastinating and then acing the following morning's paper is wrong. The thing these people have realised is that they understand their limitations and capabilities very well. Had they not they too would have been studying for days, like I had, but the scenario changes since they understand what they can and can not do. Kudos to these people for realising their potential and I say rock on! In the end I still feel hard work is the key to success no matter how much talent you have but hard work coupled with a knowledge of one's abilities is absolutely astounding !

Thanks

I just wanted to take time out to thank everyone who has come to my blog and offered me their support, encouragement and insights. Thank you Irshad for helping me start the blog. Thanks to Adnan Bhai, Haroon, Zaheer, Ahmed Bhai, Kamil, Rashid, Nadia, and Mr. Anonymous (Whoever you maybe but I have good reason to believe you are male) . Last but not least thanks everyone who took time to come to my blog. I would appreciate it if everyone could tell me what they liked and any ways I could improve my writing to further entertain and inform the world of my twisted opinions. Thank y'all !

quotes

"Genius is one per cent inspiration, ninety-nine per cent perspiration."
Thomas Alva Edison

"Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up."
Thomas Alva Edison

What you see is not what you get

A lot of the times in our lives we come across situations where all we needed to do was change the approach to something and everything fell into place. What I am talking about is perspective. Imagine a problem as a cube with each face coloured differently and no to faces having similar colours. If we look at the problem i.e. the cube, perpendicular from one face we see just that face and the limitations it poses which is signified by the colour. Now say we move along to the face right next to the one we were looking at, ninety degrees to the left. This face would of course be coloured differently. The problems is still the same but the approach has changed and we notice that the limitations of the previous face are not present in this one (maybe they might be) hence a new and fresh approach. What we would ideally like is to have the cube rotated constantly around an axis so we may maximise all the faces we can look at thereby giving us a very close to complete picture of the whole problem i.e. the cube.
It's all about the perspective. Even in other issues of life that are not so technical this idea of mainting perspective holds true. You have a relationship problem but tou fail to see your chortcomings, with a little help from friends and loved ones you can overcome whatever problem that you may have been having. Again, a fresh perspective is helpful.

Honesty is the best policy

We all have at one point or another in our lives been told to try and be honest, and truthful at all times. We are told not to lie, cheat, steal etc. from/to others. That is all fine and dandy and I am for such an education but I feel that a larger point has been missing from all of our lives whilst getting this lecture. What I am talking about is being honest to oneself. Somehow that message seems to glide by everyone and all we focus on is the outward aspect rather than the inward aspect of honesty. My belief is that it is more important to be honest to yourself than others. As long as you do not lie to yourself you are pretty much on the right track. Take for instance cheating off someone else in an exam. Now if the person is honest to themselves they would know that this is a wrong deed because at the end of the day they rob themselves of the benefit. Also, being honest to oneself would be in this case when the person cheats but knows what he is doing is wrong ! See the difference. Both are instances where the person has been honest to themself the only difference is that one person carried out the misdeed and the other did not. What would not be honest to oneself is when someone cheats and tries to justify their actions by some crooked-logic excuse. It is high time we started instilling this trait in the future generations as an individual that would be honest to themself is far less likely to turn out to be a bad apple. Going back to the cheating example and travelling forward in time we see that there comes a time when both individuals are tested in life on what they were tested ages ago. The person who did not cheat in all likelihood would clear the challenge whereas the person who cheated would most likely not clear it. Regardless, the person who cheated if he were honest to himself would realise the only reason he did not pass the test was because of his underhandedness whereas a person who rationalised his cheating would end up lying to himelf again and the circle would continue. Lying to oneself is a great disservice to mankind it broods nothing but a lazy individual who would rather hide behind the cloak of deceit than face the hard facts and realities of life. Think for a moment if we lied to ourselves all the time we would be living in a "fool's paradise". If you are not honest to yourself then chances are you would not be honest to others simply because you spend the most time with yourself and if your attitude is not healthy to your own self then I seriously have my doubts it would be healthy with others. I am not saying do not lie and be all truthful, nay, rather I am saying do not lie to YOURSELF ! The rest would take care of itself.

Objection to the objectification

One of my friends had said that maybe women dress-up in a particular way to enhance their self-esteem. That is fine and dandy by me, I honestly don't care what women dress in; they can wear potato sacks for all I care or run around naked! The point is I do not care what they wear. My bane is that women then have the nerve to blame men for things women do ! When women wear something sexually appealing to men the natural response of most males is to stare because they find that attractive and the weird thing is that women find the attention empowering but they do not want guys staring! Why bitch about it then? Women know well enough that a low-cut tank-top or mini-skirt will solicit oooh's and aaah's from men but then women at the same time are on the defensive. Why do you do that is my question.
Take for instance Tyra Banks recently. She posed as stripper to try and get into the male psyche but when the time came for her to show it all on the stage she backed out claiming that she could not go through such exploitation of women. Ha ! The nerve of her. I think she forgets that she was a Victoria's Secret model and a Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue model. She can get away from the argument by saying VS caters to women but what about SI's swimsuit issue?
If women need to enhance their self-esteem go ahead and do so by wearing what you like but do not blame your choice on men by citing objectification!

Let it shine on bright

While I was out on the balcony last night enjoying my favorite smoke I was noticing the full moon in all its grandeur as clouds made their way across the face of the moon. Being a person who enjoys the sun and it its blazing radiance and splendour, I remembered that the sun still shines at night and the moon is merely a mirror. The only difference is that we do not see the sun at night. Sometimes we have to take a step backwards to really take in the "big picture". The sun will always shine and we choose how we see it.

Objectification? I think not !

The other day I was watching a sitcom on TV and one of the girls happened to go through a process that enhanced her breast size (it was not an operation, just a temporary fix, for those of you who would be wondering). Well she sits next to a guy on the couch, who happens to be zoned out in his video game at the time. Needless, to say being a guy the guy notices and starts staring at her breasts. To that the girl responds by saying "Don't objectify me !". Now to a lot of women that would seem is what guys do, but ladies I ask you a question, why do you try so hard with make-up, breast implants, liposuction etc. if not but to try and gain a man's attention? Why do it if you don't want to be objectified? Do you not for once stop to think that what you are doing is really not the guy's fault but your own?
Once you have achieved your objective you casually toss the man away by putting him on the defensive with this objectification allegation ! Think for a while ladies, you do this to yourself so you may appeal yourself to men. Men do not go around asking women to wear make-up. Ask the men of the world and plenty of them would say they would rather not have their women wear make-up. Take a look at the Barbie doll that millions of girls around the world play with. Her figure was made keeping in mind what the perfect girl would look like. This sends a very wrong message to young women. Already they are in the "objectification trap". So ladies of the world please if you do not like guys oogling at you then lose the tank tops, the tight jeans, the mini-skirts because you give guys a reason to stare at you and then you blame it one us, oh so conveniently.

Mars and Venus

Aaah the age old debate between the two genders; the battle of the sexes; clash of the titans. Call it what you like but one thing is for sure, there always will be a difference of opinion between the two parties. Men accuse women of being too soft and women accuse men of being insensitive. Neither attribute befitting the accuser and aptly describing the guilty party in the eyes of the other. One thing is for sure you can't live without either one of them. Men need women just as much as women need men. Why then animosity then? Keeping in lieu of my KISS principle I would say there is a gross misunderstanding, a lack of faith on both sides, and irresponsibility and that neither side is willing to put in the effort to rectify the problem. Why they do not want to do that I believe is the over-dependency on one's current set of beliefs and the fear of letting them go. "What is I am wrong about them?" they think. The fear of being proved wrong only exacerbates the problem. I say step out of your comfort zone and really give the other pary a chance. Easier said than done, even for myself. So what does a successful relationship constitute of? Why one only has to take a look around and notice that the key ingredient is trust and willingness. A willingness to understand.
I have heard all too often from women that men are cheats and can't be trusted. I ask them why? They fail to come up with a logical answer and usually the answer is "'Cuz they just are, look you won't understand 'cuz you're a guy and you need to be a gal to understand." Ok then, tell me whatever you can, you know I am not an idiot and did manage to finish off college successfully, I can understand, I am sure of it ! The harsh reality is women themselves do not know why they hate men, but ladies you forget when a guy cheats on his partner ..... well he needs someone to help him cheat ! Usually, that is another woman. Why blame guys when you can blame women as well? They have just as big a hand as the guy maybe bigger.
If a guy finds his partner cheating on him, the guy usually directs his wrath towards the other man and THEN the woman. This I note is because guys are generally more macho and to win the woman's heart again they have to prove who is the bigger man and that usually means another fight. Once that is done away with neatly the guy directs his wrath at his woman. Guys you have to understand that you won't achieve much by bashing the other guy's head out and also your woman. For crying out loud choose one and move on ! A word of advice guys please do not always think of entering a girl's pants for once view her as she wants to be viewed; as a person and not a sex object !
With all said and done I still believe the two factions should try to be more open with each other and more understanding and also understand your responsibilities in that relationship. It's very easy to run away from the problem but much harder to actually face it and fight it.

More words

On a second note I would just like to add the fact that words in and of themselves are quite neutral and their context is what really determines their virtue. Take the universal word "fuck" for instance. The way I have used it right now i.e. as a n example, is neutral. It doesn't convey anything negative nor positive. It is still amazing to find people who would be appalled at the usage of the word in the sentence above. I would have to hear things like "well, you didn't have to use it now did you?", "couldn't you have censored it and used you know those symbols to hide what it really says?". These are all fine and dandy points and I have nothing against them but what these people fail to see is that I have not used the word in a negative context. I think it is important to teach our children and younglins about verbage. Rather than teach our children to not say these words I think it is important to teach them the value of the context; the deeper meaning if there is one to such shallow usage. That way I believe we would have cleaner mouths and a more intelligent society. It takes an idiot to start a ruckus at the hearing of a word. I am not saying that these words have no effect whatsoever. They can be used for dramatic effects and such purposes signifying intensity and anger but for someone to get upset and offended is really stupid. Just because you called me a "motherfucker" doesn't make me one does it? Only an idiot would really give value to that statement and usually the instigated party is looking for an excuse to start an altercation anyways, so this a convenient way for them to get the ball rolling and the finger pointed away from themselves simultaneously.
I do however, and quite strangely, belive such words have a therapeutic effect during anger. Just shouting aloud "fuckin hell" or "go fuck yourself" or something along those lines during anger does relieve the stress momentarily but for the sake of not heightening the tension because the other party is usually stupid I would not sanction directing such a tirade at anyone else. Then again such an effect is shortlived and it only increses the dependency on such words to relieve stress. So again an intelligent person would not use such words.
People seem to be caught up with the cool image such words seem to portray but then again people are generally stupid.

crime or criminal

What is worse; the crime or the criminal? We have heard the saying "hate the crime and not the criminal." Well, whoever said that I feel is an idiot and did not know what he was talking about. Why not hate the criminal? After all the culprit is the one who actually went through the process ro carry out the act ! Imagine briefly what the thought process of a villain's mind would be before carrying out an evil act. The fact that a thought process is present clearly implies that the person would know what they are doing and what its implications are ! Unless the criminal has a skewed idea of right and wrong I can't imagine anyone making choices that are quite reprehensible but yet people do it everyday ! So who should the hate be directed to? The criminal of course ! Hating a crime does not solve the problem. Remember a crime is an abstract idea waiting to be realised at the hands of .... well you guessed it the bastard criminal ! The saying was probably introduced by someone who has a feel-good attitude about everyone but does not take into account the potential for evil from people. I am not asking everyone becomes a cynic, rather I want people to keep an open mind and try to challenge the norms which in this case is between the done and the doer.

What's in a name?

Have you ever noticed how easily society imposes certain restrictions on people merely by the choice of words? We are taught as young 'uns that "sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never harm me." Apparently, this notion is lost in the adult world. Take for example, the issue of curse words. We have seen all too many times that a person swears at another person with the receiving party only to get a little pissed off and peeved. Now really I wonder who is more foolish the person cursing or the person being cussed at? The person who cussed ought to know that a word really will do no harm to another person unless the second party make a deal of it and give it undue importance. Another thing about verbage is how we use them for titles and restrict the application of what otherwise could have been more generally appealing. Take for instance BET (Black Entertainment Television) now by giving it such a name the viewership is largely restricted to black people whereas if they had not used that title they just might have reached a far larger audience. A person who does not find hip-hop or rap very appealing may associate hip-hop/rap as black culture and hence deprive themselves of exploring something new, when I am sure BET would have more to offer.

ready, set, go

Well this is my first post on a blog. I must say this seems a little daunting for a person like me who generally keeps to himself but I have always wanted to write but never knew what or where to start on. Maybe this might provide me with the impetus I needed, or not, who knows really. My focus here would be really to offer my thoughts and insights on a bunch of random subjects and gain feedback from whoever would stumble across this and care to offer their insights.

So what is my first random thought you may ask. Well I have always believed in keeping things simple and straightforward. If you have heard of the K.I.S.S. ( Keep It Simple, Stupid ) principle you would have an idea what I am trying to get at. Einstein said, "Everything should be as simple as possible, and not simpler." We get caught up in our lives trying to analyse different variables when the solution is rather simple. How may times have we had an "Aha!" moment only to realise that our original direction was misleading? Hence I firmly believe in keeping things as simple as possible.

What is simplicity? This is !