I really really really don't.
Most people, expect me to know everything. Specially since I'm all grown up now. Eighteen. That's a pretty big number.
But I really really really don't know.
One minute I want to believe that the world is made of all good people. And that there's goodness in every heart. I stop to give a beggar a penny. I see a kid help an old lady cross the road. I see a guy getting out of his car, in the middle of the road, and picking up and putting a puppy on the footpath. I hum to myself. I see a person kicking a beggars bowl and scattering all his money. I hear ambulances screaming to the site of an accident caused by a drunk driver. I see a son dropping off his parents at an old age home. And the next you're proven wrong.
One minute you want to believe in love. You see it all around you. I see a couple, aged 60, walking hand in hand. I see a guy help clean ice-cream off his girlfriends nose. I see someone buying a huge bouquet of red roses. I hum to myself. I see a couple breaking up. I see my friend cry because her boy friend was blackmailing her. I see parents fighting. And the next, you get your heartbroken.
One minute I think that everything will be good. That no matter how hard times get there's going to be a happy ending. I give the little girl tugging at my skirt, a penny. I see someone get up and offer a seat to an elderly person, who was standing, in the bus. I see a handicapped person smile and enjoy his ice-cream on one leg. I see a person on a wheelchair hum to the latest "right here, right now", and I feel a smile creep on. I see people hug eachother. I see tears in the eyes of those saying goodbye. I hum to myself. I see a person swear at a guy on a wheel chair, for stopping in the middle of the road. I see people bashing eachother up. I see a kid being tortured by some other rich kids. I see the longing and terror in eyes. And I start to question how everything will ever be good again?
I understand that life is about change. It's about happiness and joy. It's about hurt and healing. It's about contradictions. And that's what this post proves. But I wonder... if every person were to do something so as to make the bad non-existant would the meaning of life change? Will there be no good without bad to compare it with? Will there be no pain? Will there be no person who needs/wants to shed tears?
so u'd rather see people die of hunger and no one making an effort to help them?
u'd rather see people send their parents to old-age homes instead of taking care of them when they are at their most vulnerable, like they did for us?
u'd rather people kept killing eachother?
hmm... eventful.
?????????!!!!.....???
If there is no BAD. How will you recognise GOOD (no Ravana then no one wud have know Rama)? Just give it a thought.
I don't think there's really any bad or good; there's just stupid and not stupid. George Bush isn't really EVIL. He's just stupid. Even the rowdies in the street kicking the beggars aren't fundamentally BAD. They've just been misguided, have been brought up badly. I try to see the good in people, and I can see that you do, too. I think there's always hope for people, however little there may be of it.
And Preetika, I suggest you stop giving "pennies" to beggars. I'm sure they'd find rupees much more useful.
Kaushik
The good and the bad karmas basically balances life. If there is any kind of miscalculation or if there is a stronger impact on one of karmas then there is chaos in life. So wiping out bad is not gona make the world a better place to live at all.
I would say here the key word is finding a fine balance.
none of you are helping!! pah.
Good would have no meaning without bad. You wnt knw whats gud if you have no bad to compare it with. So shud one stop trying to eradicate the bad?
Kaushik, you are correct abt the stupid part of it (as usual). There is good in everyone. And that's what we shud try to see. Thats what i DO. but still... does that mean you let the hungry die of hunger? let families die of cold because they have no shelter above their heads?
Because you see, the good part in all this is:
1. Build safer houses.
2. Appreciate the food you have and waste everyday just 'cuz ur in no mood to eat it.
3. Keep wasting. you have to keep people hungry so that others realise how to appreciate what they are given. Social service.
right?
Balance is good. So for every good thing u do. Do a bad. balance it baba??
Well, what can I say...I agree with kaushik on george bush. He is not evil. He's too dumb to be evil. But there is bad in this world. Not everyone is as stupid as george bush. Some of the smartest people in the world are bad. Osama Bim Laden can't possibly be called stupid, and he's certainly not good.
"If there is no BAD. How will you recognise GOOD" - A very ignorant perception of good and bad. If this is the case, everyone can just resort to committing crimes and also get praised for saying they're balancing the good and the bad in the world. That is stupid.
You've got to see the good things in a person. I agree with this. But you can't stop with that. You'll have to try and kick the bad things out his arse too.
All in all, it's too broad a topic to debate on - good or bad. "Good" or "bad" is too vague a word to really give a thought to. Something that I perhaps thought of in class 1.
Preetika,
First of all, Happy New Year.
Secondly, I can't offer advice or sage wisdom. I wonder the same things too. Sometimes I'm existential and other times I'm a hopeless romantic. I ponder and frankly, none of your questions will ever get you an acceptable answer. You'll always ponder. I don't think anybody knows what to make of life or love. However young or old they are. I turned 18 this past year too, and I understand when you say people suddenly expect you to turn into an adult overnight.
I think that evil doesn't exist. Every "evil" deed has some justification. However stupid or un-sensible that justificattion is. Some things make sense only to some people at some times. Society and religion deem what things are right and what are wrong.
So just take one day at a time, keep acting as you judge best and believe in something you want to even if the rest of the world calls you ridiculous.
*phew* tough question you've penned there...
it's not about eradication of bad people or deeds it's just about over expressing our good sides more often...the two can never be separated but their levels can definitely be monitored...thus we still see samaritans in the otherwise labelled as "bad bad world"
...and about being only 18, its when you are young that utopia seems real, let it be like that
THAT my friend is reality.. we could probably do something about it but like you said, contradictions will always sprout. It leaves you with a sense of hopelessness.. wondering whether anything at all is worth it.
can u believe i invoke such wisdomous thoughts??!!
I'm gnna have to read the darn post again before i make an attempt to figure out what each of us is trying to say and then say something..
...now i know how much each of you groan at the sight of each new post!!
lotsaluv
i've been through this.
the whole routine. contemplation, pondering, the works.
you know what you end up deciding?
there is no point
you can't have a perfect world hun, of course wishing for it is nice and all - but i wouldn't. I would like to play in the dirt before i get my gold - i'll love the gold even more, y'know what i'm sayin'?
@amelie: na.. wudnt be able to agree with you over there, even if i wanted to. 'cuz thats one thing i've stopped believing in; that there is no point. the minute you give up, you lose. and i dnt want to do that.
Also, im not talking about working hard and then finiding success as you've pointed out in your search for gold. i'd go by the rolling in the dust too. but that's not what im talking about.
@dhruva: you are right. Good and Bad are very vague words. but i really think we shud all give some thought to, and work at, making the gap between the extremely stupid and the least stupid narrow.
@Kaushik: yeah, i'd appreciate those too. :)
@triya: yep. i do believe every action has some justification. sometimes its enough, at others its not. i guess i'll jst keep following what this heart of mine has to say.
@navneet: i can almost see you with white hair, dentures and a walking stick saying "oh! what it was like to be 18 at one time..." :) personally i think.. when this utopia wears itself out, the charm of life is lost... hence, my insistence, which is rarely met with too much opposition, that i'm an 8 year old ;)
@sharanya: everything is definitely worth it luv. dnt ever think it ain't or you'll forget how to smile.
thanks guys! looks like i put you through one helluva thinking session!
lotsaluv!
[nice template]
@PREETIKA: i despise that caricature you've penned there....au contraire: i've black ravishing hair(though its getting halved exponentially)...not to mention and equally devilous mind conjuring up all sorts of possibilites and the not so possible ones as well.
KEEP THE UTOPIA GOING...AND INCLUDE ME TOO
@sis: thanks a lot siS! hope it lifts your spirits. lv ya!
@navneet: nice try. but tough luck.
:)
Its been over a week since I have been trying to complete and I think I've finally managed to put in words what I wanted to convey after reading your post "yeah??"... Since I do not have your mail id, I'm posting it here. Pls delete this comment after you've read it. Here it is...
:)Everyone has his or her own perception. I do not quite agree that there is a balance of Good and Bad. Infact, I believe that there is an imbalance. Coming to that a bit later, for now, the question that we should ask ourselves is who defines what's Good and what's Bad? And what actually is Good and what actually is Bad?
For those of you who believe in Karma; if a beggar is gettin kicked at, he must have done something "Bad" previously (or in previous life) to deserve such a life. And if he is getting punished for his prior actions, is it "Bad"? Who defines what morality is? If the person who kicks the beggar is at loss of moral values, so is the beggar who is begging! God never created rules for any society. But the societies made rules for themselves and went on dictating whatever they sought right.
Forget the balance of Good and Bad and just concentrate on WHAT IS Good? AND WHAT IS Bad? My intention is to draw your attention to "RELATIVITY". Einstein coined this fancy word for not just science, but for the logic that defines every facinating thing around us. And this same terminology explains a lot about our subject of discussion. We all know, "What might seems Good to us, might be viewed as Bad to others!" Relativity! We catagorize things Good or Bad depending on the standards we have set. Relativity! Doing something Bad for Good of others! Relativity!
Now coming back to the balance of Good and Bad. Like you said, "I understand that life is about change. It's about happiness and joy. It's about hurt and healing. It's about contradictions." I'm asking you, won't the definition of Good and Bad change if every person were to do something so as to make the bad non-existant? What seems Good to us today, in a world filled with Bad, might seem Bad tomorrow when today's Bad becomes non-existant! As long as we are humans with the mind of a chariot bound to horses of emotions, there will be pain.., there will be tears...