Their Trash, Their Treasure

Trash for a world,

Treasure for another

I stand by the street

As a silent observer

Filled with the unwanted,

Tossed in with disgust

Rifled for the needed

A boon to the cursed

Tiny hands look in me

Eyes glitter with joy

Sometimes a morsel

Or a broken toy

A toy with a story

A book old and torn

Of past full of glory

Yet those tiny hands hold them

And make them their own

A trashcan you say

As you walk away

Yet I see two worlds

Every single day

Look up

Non-conformism and Hateful Scorn are different things. Going through my facebook feed I noticed a few statuses/pictures scorning Mothers Day posts. Got me wondering, what is acceptable to these uber cool, sarcastic judges sitting on their self appointed e-social high grounds?

These are commonly scorned upon:

•        Selfies
•        Baby Pictures
•        Engagement/Wedding Pictures
•        Vacation Pictures
•        Food Made By Me Pictures
•        Political Views
•        Location Check-ins
•        Game requests

Today, Mothers Day posts were mocked, saying: "show her some real love, not on facebook." Wonder why these people think that if I put up a status for my mom, it is exhaustive for the amount of love I have for her and not exclusive of it.

What is the kind of content that they would approve of? It is interesting to think about what they really would talk about on their social networking profiles if not about what others have posted. Facebook/Twitter/Blogger and the likes have created this group of hateful people that mistake needless scorn for sarcasm.

It is a little sad to think that the first thought that comes to their head seeing a Mother’s Day post is that it is insincere. If you are busy looking down upon everything, you miss all the good stuff. Look up, be happy.

Stop and look...

Walking down a lonely road

I stop to look and think

My daily chores, the incessant monotone

Flashes by, and time goes in a blink

Each day of the week seems the same

A day to finish, and reach the next

Yet when we do, it starts again

And we trudge on, with tomorrow’s pretext

To life we add each day anew

Yet at the close, it seems to me

A day less, a day lost

To dreams that could be

A daily wait to leave my desk

A weekly wait for a weekend rest

The same cycle goes on and on

And then we see that months are gone

So stop awhile and look around

Look for dreams waiting to be found

For things that make your day worthwhile

For memories that would make you smile

Each day would add and multiply

To the wealth of life

And not pass you by

What we need

How did one figure out how to use soap.. or make it ? What to eat what not to eat? How to grow a crop? How to find electricity… ? Then you suddenly think about how we don’t have such revolutionary discoveries or inventions today, or at least none that we know of or appreciate. Brings me to think, is each generation dumbing down? Where are the Aryabhattas, the Newtons, the Shakespeares, the Da Vincis of today? (Please don’t judge the list, it’s random, and I’m too lazy to research and make a more comprehensive one..) So, on putting some thought and weighing against evolution, dominance of the stronger genes, that conclusion wouldn't be so true. Come of think of it, we’re really innovating in fields of technology, phones and video games to say the least. Then why don’t they impress us as much as inventing the telephone? Or making the first soap bar?

I think it is because, those innovations were need-driven. They solved a problem, as compared to ones now which are more luxury-driven. We already have a comfortable set of inventions, tools and sufficient knowledge. We know about gravity, we have electricity, we can do basic math and can easily communicate. Hence, the innovation today mostly seems an improvement.

Maybe to really create something revolutionary, one should start looking at questions that need to be answered, problems that need to be solved. From what I understand Need seems to be a bigger motivator than Luxury. Maybe when a seriously gifted and curious individual spends time in improvising an already good gadget or thinks he can be the next  Zuckerberg by some really cool idea, that genius is looking in the wrong direction.

There are many needs we still have to fulfill, they may seem altruistic, but they are problems that need to be solved. Maybe innovators probably need to look for a different motivation. Maybe a unique contribution.. to health, to education, to alternative energy models, to sustainable honest political models, to viable economic opportunities for all… Altruism might not equate to profit on face-value, but a need-driven innovation would probably be revolutionary, profit would then just be one of the perks. 

Think of it, I would always buy something that I need before something that I want.

A Fraction

A random conversation,

"So, you believe in life after a death ? a soul?"

"I like to. It's a possibility, one that I like."

"Heard of evolution? Believe in that?"

"Yes. But, what makes you think that, that is all? What if that is a sub-set?  What of beyond?"

It began. “How?” you ask..

“There must be a cause.”

But, now I ask that

If there was,

What brought that there?

What caused the cause?

The more I think,

The more I blink,

In confusion and in clarity

The more I know,

The more I grow,

The more I learn of my naiveté

 We learnt that one

Was where it begun

The smallest ever count could be

But, part by part

Later we learnt

That one was what

They yearn to be

What we know now

Is Less than one

A fraction of infinity

This poem seems incomplete... befitting I think. 

Why? Because.

Opinions are formed: Neither stolen nor borrowed, both ideally and grammatically.

When we are kids, we are taught things. Out of the inherent curiosity in a human being, we ask why. In an ideal world, that question should be answered. However, mostly it isn't. So we hear children parrot opinions, and proudly assert that they are true because:

• Mommy said it is.
• Daddy told me.  
• Miss told the class.

Cute.When a grown up does the some, not so much. 

Unfortunately, most kids are either told not to ask too many questions or fed the universal, "because that is what it is...because I am telling you..." You can either be curious or believe that, the latter seems the popular choice. Growing up is not limited to age or size. Growing up should ideally entail the ability to hone your judgment and form your opinions. I very specifically say, form. They either form out of your own experiences, or from thought you put into forming them. If it is borne out of a discussion with someone else, it should first be filtered through your intellect and judgment, and eventually, if satisfied, be added to your list of opinions. Without that process, you have just borrowed or stolen someone else’s opinion and repeated it.

I am generally a very opinionated person, and always have a lot to say about them, ref: blog and my incessant talking. Leads to many arguments at times too.. Oh well. Even so, I am very particular about saying; I don’t know when I don’t. Or, I have no clue, when I haven’t. I may sound a fool saying that, but I find it better off than being made a fool by pretending otherwise.

The quality to be able to answer the why following an assertion is rare, and personally very much appreciated. You might choose not to answer, for whatever reasons, but one shouldn't fail to.

Ignorance when admitted is knowledge, when pointed out, stupidity.

This is what it is

It might not be all stars or gazing from the balcony

 It isn’t what I knew or what I thought it ought to be

But now I know, this is what it is

What it feels like, what it should be

It might be a little tough

A little smooth, A little rough

But this is what it is

What is ours, what is meant to be