Desire Vs Object of Desire

And I always thought that fragrance was what separated the God and the Origamist; hope you are not treading on thin ice here calling creations of God paper flowers...and, even if they are, the fact is irrelevant for the admirer, for he bows to his desire, not to the object of his desire- for he wields the power of imagination to elevate the object to any level. He craves for thirst, not water; with power of thirst he can create water any where, even in desert. As long as he abstains from consuming the product of his imagination mirage and reality do not differ for him, empowering him to elevate reality. The pinnacle of proximity and abstinence is what reveal highest form of beauty (true admirer knows this), for beauty is nothing but the tension in senses because you are so close and yet do not touch. One touch of finger and the decay begins. To "want" is glory of beauty, to "have" it is its death. Beauty begins and ends with delirium, and a touch is beginning of its end.

-Pulastya

To a makeup artist:

Makeup is what makes fantasies real; and cosmetics are arrows of God of sensual love in the hands of a mortal artist.  But, only worthy artist can rise to the status of Cupid, so more power to you. Beauty, as they say, is nothing but what brings joy to those who have eyes to behold it. Makeup gives a form to the beauty that fits the fantasies simmering in the eyes of beholder (his), and gift of sanguine self belief to the beheld (her).

I, however, in your case can think of a pitfall;  knowing that dominant colour of feminine is green,  how in the world the women that you turned into fantasies would ever leave without a tinge of envy and self doubt  if they start to compare themselves with the artist (you).

-Pulastya

On Evil

Evil acts end up doing more for the world than mere good words. They, if nothing else (not withstanding the fact that mostly it’s difficult to find absolute evil; and necessary condition for evil to exist is that it must exists only in others!), make evil evident, and thus caution and awaken the sufferers from a condition where they are vulnerable to it. Good words, on the other hand, are a mere noise, manifesting the anxiety of weak observer.

On Character

The character is the empirically recognised, persistent, and unchangeable nature of an individual will (Schopenhauer). Consistency (therefore predictability) of behaviour, independent of consequences entailed in that behaviour, defines the character.

In public discourse ordinary character is distinct from extraordinary because latter gives preference to general good over personal good. Though both of these are acceptable with a value difference, what constitutes bad character here is having no consistency of behaviour at all.

One’s action are predicated on one’s character, and one’s image is a consequence of one’s actions. So character is precursor to image. The genesis and effectiveness of image lies in its communicability. More consistent is the behaviour, clearer the image, therefore, more communicable it is. In public life this communicability is most important for your views to be wide spread (acceptability of views, however, will depend on how closely they are aligned with prevalent acceptable norms, or expectations of a group.)

Now the times have changed. The advent of mass media has freed the image from the bounds of character. There is no need to grow an image organically through practiced behaviour, now it is possible to manufacture it. Because, the exposure is not direct anymore, but through a medium, and this medium is manipulatable. So much so that it is possible to manipulate not only the projection but also the receiver, i.e. psycho- biological capacity of humans through psychedelic repeated exposure, preying on limited capacity of humans to analyse and understand beyond what is obvious to their senses.

Having to go back to history and mythology for role models only perpetuate the problem. The role models coming from there are not real-world (in the current times) and a challenge to relate to. Also, over a period to time, in order to serve the purpose of those writing the history or propagating the myth, these role model invariably turns larger than life. These heroes of past are rarely flawed, but in real life -in present- they always are. Flawed hero are also complicated to understand, and always lose in competition with simplistic allure of a perfect hero, who, by the way, is impossible to emulate. Allure of a perfect hero gives more power to manufacturers of image, for it (a perfect hero) can only me manufactured.

A world now so finely structured that it is driven only by ideas and thoughts, and much reduced physicality, is bound to be dimensionless; and strange, too, at first. Like a dream. Like “ The Matrix”. In such a world  image supersedes the character, for character can not exist as a mere idea, image does. As the possibility of directly observable action reduces the need for character becomes redundant, replaced by (manufactured) image.

-Pulastya

On Nehru

Nehru, a thinking man. Speaks with depth on the issues of history, Socialism, Marxism and philosophy of life. The most erudite of our prime ministers so far, by far.  I wonder how intellectual capacity dwindled so much in the descendants. The interview is more about “Nehru-the individual” and he seems to revel in it, and in  his perception (may be true also!) of his value for India (opening exchange). This interview was after 10-11 years after independence, when the euphoria of independence still lingered perhaps, giving country and the man a feeling of inflated self worth; war with China and subsequent defeat were still in the future; the sleaze of politics in a democratic setup hadn’t breached his aura yet.  I feel sad thinking about his last days though. He saw his professed idea of world and life failing him with his own eyes; his chance of creating a very individual legacy as the builder of independent India was severely dented by this failure, pushing him back to the pantheons of freedom fighters for securing a place in history, which was a crowded place. The man was one of those who could project the world as a beautiful place-a romantic (Bajpai could be another one). Such men reach the top of a democratic setup rarely, and only by accident of history. And, always a turbulent aftermath succeeds them, for thoughts can only creat a masque to cover the reality but can not subdue it. A patch turned in to a garden in wilderness is always reclaimed by the jungle once gardener leaves, in his case it happed sooner.

Existential Contemplation

Caution: to start to think “ who am l!”’ and “ why am I!” is a sign of over-grown and under-utilised intellect. It’s (this line of thought exploration) like substance abuse which gives only a high but is of no use in real  world.

For, more you start to understand more you get alienated (despair is the reward of wisdom, for flow of all things is predecided and towards decay, and understanding this comes with understanding that one can’t do anything about it...which results in despair. In many ways ignorance is truely a bliss!), and most everyday actions start seeming superficial to you. Turning you in to a fatalist.

You may possibly chose other ways in real world to keep your mind engaged to prevent it from becoming self destructive (by engaging in such existential thoughts)-like those kings who having built a large armies are constantly at war to prevent it from turning inwards.

-Pulastya

Haiku

approval tempts
masochist souls
or the guilty ones

-Pulastya

Haiku

breaching equanimity
through guilt holes
words hurt

-Pulastya

Existential contemplation

Loneliness, solitude- emotional, and physical states of disconnecting with people around you. Both, mostly, are independent of each other. Loneliness is cauterising the wounds, nerve by nerve, for closure; solitude helps in paying attention to something bubbling inside you to get a life of its own. Great lover chases (and ends up with!) loneliness, great poet craves solitude. But the greatest lover and poet is but one who seeks and gets both, loneliness and solitude.

-Pulastya