The Left Hand of Darkness

 

 

"Light is the left hand of darkness

       and darkness is the right hand of light." 

                            

The Left Hand of Darkness was suggested to me by the bookstore owner of "Luna". This is a book I would not have picked for reading myself but it ended up as one of the profound books I have ever read. Calling it a science fiction book is kind of a misnomer as it deals more with sociology and anthropology. 

It was a book way ahead of its times as she questions the adjectives that define most part of society - gender, pride, respect etc. 

"What is love of one's country; is it hate of one's uncountry? Is it simply self-love? That's a good thing, but one musn't make a virtue of it, or a profession...but that sort of love doesn't have a boundary-line of hate." - patriotism, nationalism, borders, immigration, nuclear wars, weapons - all poof in one statement. 

That gender plays an important part of what we do in our lives and what is accepted is still relevant, seven decades after the book was written. 

"A man wants his virility regarded, a woman wants her feminity appreciated, however indirect and subtle the indications of regard and appreciation." What a keen observation that shows how shallow the basin of our self-assurance is. Then she takes us through a society where this factor is irrelevant. Imagine! 

I was not surprised to learn that the book was banned for sometime in the US (country of origin) as it was supposed to be "bad influence" on kids. To be able to think of a society functioning solely on the strengths and capabilities of an individual without restricting them to pre-defined gender buckets must have been a terrifying thought. It is this fear that dictates what should be a kid's favourite colour - pink or blue. How do you fight that? It is as the book says "It is extremely hard to separate the innate differences from the learned ones" and the lines are blurring even more with the passage of time. 

I felt some parts of the book, like the passage of Ai and Estraven across the ice-sheet, were too long and detailed and some parts lacked details. But no one can deny the intelligence of the mind that thought of a world that so deeply questions all our beliefs with a "what if?".  The most difficult part about the book for me was to imagine the world that Ursula describes.For some part of the book, I dint realise who was the alien and who was the human . But I think that was one of the points of the book, to question all our assumptions of what "normal" should look like. 

All in all, a very moving book. 

Aham brahmasmi!

Back from a week long trip to a loooot of temples :) ...We visited almost 8-9 temples within a span of 6 days and boy was it worth it! Every temple had a story to tell and a few deposits were made to my knowledge bank ;)...These new additions obviously set my ball of thought rolling and as a natural consequence I am blogging ;)...
As a Hindu I have the previlege of worshipping hundreds of deities in various forms...If you observe, every deity stands for certain qualities...these qualities are'nt usually those with which a person is born , they need to be attained through the course of life with a lot of self retrospection and learning there by...thus they are usually branded as unattainable by human standards...It makes me wonder may be it is these qualities we worship and to give them form we associate a godly figure to it-if so hats off to the genius of our ancestors to have exemplified these lessons by personifying these qualities...This is where the second word of my title comes --"Brahmam"
On a different plane, why DO we have so many dieties? Can't we have a single god and associate all the qualities with Him? May be it is our ancestors' way of saying that everyone is different :) and you can't expect all the qualities in a single human being :) A way of promoting tolerance in us-- a train of thought that I am still not very tolerant about though :)...
There is a saying in Gita -- "You will attain moksha when you see yourself in others and others in you". The first one is but natural, but not many do the second one...This is where the first word of my title comes--"Aham"...This prevents people in executing the second thought...
But only the one who realises that the two words are inseperable also sees that only when you believe in yourself do you attain true happiness...
Know thyself - be your best critic.

My tryst with destiny!

Me: who are you?
Mr D: I haven’t been posed a more flagrant question.
Me: you continue to elude me, so why don’t you tell me exactly who are you?
Mr D: who do you think I am?
Me: a question is not the answer to a question.
Mr D: okay you seem to be a difficult customer.
Me : am waiting…..
Mr D: okay okay let’s see, I am what you make me to be.
Me : you are as obscure as ever.
Mr D : I am flattered by your interest in me.
Me: cut that out and answer me won’t you?
Mr D : okay since most of the time I am an object of blame and been looked upon with prejudice and since you have given me the benefit of doubt, I will answer you
Me : finally !!
Mr D: but there is one condition…
Me : there he goes again!!!
Mr D: you must first tell me what is it about me that mystifies you and what is it that you so seemingly want to know about me..
Me: well….
Mr D : I guess it’s now my turn to wait…
Me: people say you are someone who is predefined…
Mr D: and what do you think?
Me: I dunno….
Mr D: okay take a guess…
Me: hmmm.. I think nothing is predefined in life…
Mr D: very good…
Me : I am right am I ?
Mr D: partly…
Me: don’t start that again…can’t you be clear for once?
Mr D: okay I am like the end of the road, which is predefined…
Me: so you are already defined?
Mr D: nope as I said, only the end of the road is defined…the path you take to reach me is entirely your discretion …
Me: you amuse me…
Mr D: and you flatter me all the more…okay what else do you know about me?
Me : hmm lets’ see …people often refer to you when they are in distress…
Mr D: I seriously doubt whether it is a boon or a bane….
Me : I definitely think it is a bane…
Mr D: well I would feel very happy if someone in distress thinks of me as their support…
Me: yeah but always?
Mr D: well it does get on to my nerves sometimes …
Me: no it isn’t like that…you don’t understand…
Mr D: exactly what don’t I understand?
Me: its’ like they blame you for what’s happening… it is as if you are the cause for their grief…
Mr D: well I used to get angry when I was young but now I got used to it …
Me : so what you don’t get mad at them at all?
Mr D: you know what is the easiest thing to do when you are in distress?
Me : no…
Mr D: it is to blame someone else for it..
Me : but how will that help?
Mr D : it releases us from the burden of being responsible for our actions…
Me : but we are responsible for actions…
Mr D: I dunno whether you are naïve or you are trying to humour me…
Me : speak in English you fool…how can anyone else be responsible for things we do…
Mr D : have you ever heard of the term circumstances?
Me : yeah …
Mr D : don’t you think they also play a role in what you do…
Me : might be, but not always…most of the times we are in the circumstances we are because we acted in a way that has put us in that situation… its something like the cause and effect…
Mr D : a very good insight…if everyone thinks like you, I will be saved some attention… not that I don’t enjoy it…
Me: you enjoy it?
Mr D: well, being a celebrity is not everyone’s cup of tea…anyway…you say most of the times…what about the rest?
Me: well, those are the times I end up in situations which on retrospection I realize I have no need to be there at all….
Mr D : why do you think that is?
Me : I dunno may be its’ bound to happen that way…
Mr D : oh common don’t be such a loser… think
Me : it happens for a reason I do not understand…
Mr D : are you happy or sad about it…
Me : mixed…
Mr D : can you be clear?
Me : now you know how it feels?
Mr D : ok could you please explain yourself..
Me : well I sometimes feel helpless…I mean dependent on something has never been something I am used to…I feel like I should control the situation…I feel frustrated …
Mr D : I always look for an exception but ok as always the negative part came out first…now for the positive?
Me : well I feel so helpless I try to console myself just by telling myself may be something better will come out of it…you know what I mean don’t you?
Mr D: I might have a faint idea…
Me : oh common!!
Mr D: ok ok you know what I said I am partly defined?
Me : how can I forget?
Mr D : well, this is one of those aspects…it is the benevolence of the creator that I am so dynamic not to mention dashing…
Me : for crying out loud…don’t be so modest
Mr D : see god always puts us in these situations to bring out the best in us
Me: how can subjecting someone to pain bring out the best in them you moron
Mr D : now you are talking… it is simple god always gives us two choices in each situation …
Me: yeah I know that …everyone keeps harping about it…something like good and bad…
Mr D : how painfully obvious !! and not necessarily true..
Me : what do you mean?
Mr D : well , it’s just that when god presents us with a situation, yeah I am consciously using the word present, you’ll know later why, He also gives us two ways out…one is the right way
Me: hey that’s what I said….
Mr D : listen to me completely kiddo…the other one is what might make us happy…which need not necessarily be wrong…
Me: ok then the choice is obvious right … we’ll all pick the one that makes us happy…which idiot will pick the right one if it doesn’t make us happy?
Mr D : your blatant ness is like music to my ears…but it isn’t that simple
Me: what is not simple between picking something that makes us happy and something which only nutters will pick..
Mr D : well most of the times the thing which we think will make us happy will not…we just assumed that it will…
Me : so you feel we need to pick that seems not to make us happy at all…
Mr D : phew you are difficult aren’t you?
Me : well if you could explain clearly it will be easy for both of us…
Mr D : ok here’s the deal…it is this choice, to pick the right one is the essence of life-mine and yours…
Me: still don’t get you…
Mr D : it is the challenge with which god has presented you… the way you choose to deal with it decides the path and the time it takes for you to reach me…
Me: so the good guys reach you first by taking the right decisions and that’s why they don’t live long…
Mr D : I have never heard a more misconstrued version of what I said …
Me : so what happens if we don’t take the right decision?
Mr D: thats the beauty of it
Me : well one thing is for sure ,you and I definitely differ on our notion of what beauty is…whats so beautiful about that?
Mr D: well to start with if you take a decision, God puts you in one path and if you take another he puts you on another path…
Me : so they are right everything is predefined…
Mr D: you are tempting me use the M word but anyways don’t you see it is entirely your decision which way you go…
Me: but that’s a huge responsibility
Mr D : its what makes you what you are
Me: what if I choose to do nothing about it
Mr D : you are chickening out like most do… but think about it… if you choose nothing to do about it… even that’s a decision my friend…
Me : ok so its all like a maze aint it? A very complicated maze…
Mr D : perfect…but I wouldn’t bother much about the complication you know…that’s what makes it exciting
Me : so god has spent so much time on me alone?
Mr D : now you get it ? why I call it a present? Just think for a moment…if you are not where you are…think of where you might be and you would feel that may be this is better…because its where god wants you to be…
Me: yeah its unbelievable…I mean I suddenly feel so important…
Mr D: you are…
Me : ok where do you fit in?
Mr D : you still don’t see it?
Me : I have a faint idea…
Mr D : shoot…
Me : you are not what people perceive you to be…
Mr D: on the contrary I am exactly what people perceive me to be…I dunno what’s the fuss about me, but I do definitely enjoy it…
Me : you will continue to amaze me don’t you?
Mr D: grow old with me, the best is yet to be…