Is Utopia perfect?

This world of ours is not perfect. That must be the understatement of the century. It is flawed, flawed beyond compare. There are innumerable problems with it. The ubiquitous poverty. It saddens ones heart and guilts ones spending. It refuses to be eradicated. We have been able to eradicate small pox, black plague and many more complicated diseases, but when it comes to raising the standard of living of people in our world, we are yet to find a solution. Innumerable economists the world over write thousands of books on the subject yet we can’t find a lasting working solution. If we took the wealth of the 10 richest people in the world, you can eradicate poverty and hunger 10 times over. Bill gates has enough money to buy a country, yet even US considered to be the most developed country in the whole world suffers from poverty.

A whole host of other problems- terrorsim, unemployment, health care, mortality rates etc etc.. I mean there are so many problems in the world. It is still unbelievable that we can send people to the moon but can't find a solution to get a poor man decent health care. It boggles the mind and rattles the heart. In the world of indexes, there is one index I particularly like called the happiness index. It measures the happiness of people living in a country.

They say money can’t buy you happiness, but then it absolves you from unhappiness from a whole host of other problems. So imagine for a second that you are the richest man in the world; equivalent to say 10 bill gates. You are so rich that Lord Kubera will be put to shame. With this money, what can you do you wonder. You go about eradicating problems in the world until one day the world becomes the fabled Utopia. You have done it. There is no more poverty, no more hunger. No citizen has want for anything. He has everything that he needs. All thanks to you, you are the sole man responsible. You will be remembered for generations.

Now you are living in Utopia. The perfect world. A world with of equitable development, where there is no caste no creed. Concepts like rich and poor do not exist. There is no high class or low class society. There is no corruption. The government is for the people, by the people and of the people. The roads are paved, housing for everyone. Everyone has jobs and every job is respected. All jobs are paid so as to ensure a high standard of living.  

What I wonder is would one be happy in such a place. Would you be happy in such a place? In utopia there is no place for artists, musicians, painters, poets etc. You would ask why? To create art, there has to be burning passion. Passion is normally stimulated by angst, hurt, betrayal, loss, bereavement. But such feelings don’t exist. Classic example is the quality of rock songs of the 70’s and early 80’s to present day songs. There was a burning desire to break free from the shackles of the’man’ Hence, you had an array of the best rock n roll the world has ever listened. But then you would say happiness should exist, right? By happiness all its derivatives like love, belonging, satisfaction, achievement. But contrary to what we believe aren’t these feelings relative. If everyone is happy, isn’t no one happy. How do you distinguish one feeling from the other? All feelings will be mellowed, subdued. Passion will be extinguished. It ceases to exist.

This was basically an answer given to me by my primary school teacher (I don’t remember the name of the teacher) when I all in innocence had asked what would it be to live in a world absolved of all problems. She said that the concept of Utopia only exists in the mind of us humans. That is why she says that the poorest man can find happiness and the richest man may not. It also doesn’t necessarily equate to wealth. I mean you can be physically deformed, or suffering from an incurable disease. But, if in your mind you can find the joy out of your surroundings and people, then there is your utopia.

How apt and how true that explanation remains. So think positive and your world at least in your eyes is a utopia.

Your views on this matter are highly appreciated. It may not be perfect, but it's what we got.

Poem/prose on a train journey

When it comes to writing poetry, I have always refrained from it. Not particularly out of shyness, but the very fact that I am terrible at it. But as always I try my hand. This happened whilst I was on a train journey ( not again, you say.. hehe.. yeah!) and I was contemplating on things I am not good at. This was a long line of thought mind you. So many things I am not good at. But there was one I was particularly not good at and that was poetry. I never liked reading it and was horrible at penning it. I still don't know what is a poem or prose and hence, the title of the blog! So in the confines of the 3rd AC compartment, I made the valiant effort of giving it a shot. (Don't hold back on your comments/critiques/ or plain abuses because of the disclaimer. )

Dhak..dhak..dhak…

The train hobbles along,

Through the tiny openings of glass and curtain, I watch

Showing kaleidoscopic events of a million dreams.

A glimpse into their lives, we peep

Moments so fleeting, it ceases to be memorized

But we watch nevertheless

Dhak..dhak..dhak…

Amidst the slow, rumbling of wheel on track

Our eyes devour the moments

But moments so short-lived,

It desists being a memory

Where do these moments go I wonder?

To which lonely abyss are they banished?

Lived for once, forgotten forever

A moment’s glimpse, in a moment lost.

Dhak..dhak..dhak…

Observations on a train journey

This aimless scribble was scribbled on a train journey from Trichur to Nellore. 

Adjoining my compartment are two siblings. Two siblings of the best kind - brother & sister (I am partial as I too have an elder sister). Sister is the elder of the two and she knows it. Both of them are oblivious to the fact that they are not alone in the train. It doesn’t for a second enter their thoughts or actions. The sweet ignorance of innocence. They have made their compartment their own very domain. A domain filled with fun, happiness and a lot of imagination. I envy them.

My estimate of age of people is not accurate but nonetheless, I make a bold guesstimate that the sister must be around seven while the brother a five. Being the elder one, she decides which games to play, almost authoritatively.  The young boy has only love and admiration for his elder sister and follows her whims and fancies without a thought. There is no dissent in this kingdom. The queen has the undying loyalty of her young knight. It’s impressive how she can get the little boy to do anything for her. At the same time she is protective of his feelings and well being. He slips from the seat and almost falls down. She quickly grabs his hand pulls him back onto the seat.

He is trying his best to impress her. He even makes the bold attempt to sing a song and performs in a cute way to keep his sister entertained. Their games grow louder and more animated. The mother is not impressed and asks the command center to quell the noise levels of the troops or in this case the lone soldier. The sister admonishes the little one. He is visibly getting depressed. But lo! She throws him a bone. She asks him to sing along with her but in slightly lower decibel levels. He is ecstatic. His joy knows no bounds. He gets so excited, unable to control himself he starts to jump up and down. The sister gives him a glare but then quickly starts to sing. It’s a childhood song. The brother joins in but in more subdued tones. They sing the song beautifully. Only like a brother and sister can. 
I get lost in the melody, the memories and of a childhood gone by with a wonderful elder sister.

I like 'LIke'

My favorite button on Facebook is the "Like' button. It' such an amazing tool, that does so much for so little. With more friends/acquaintances on Facebook and more adding by the day, it becomes next to impossible to keep track of posts by friends. So in order to show quick appreciation for something you liked but probably are never going to in-depth or comment on, the 'Like' button is the perfect choice. It says so much. Also, there is an anonymity associated with the 'like' button, in that, you don't expect people to reply back to your like. So you needn't fear of repercussions on the web. You liked it , that's it. Nothing more, nothing less.

What is really surprising is that Facebook has still not come out with the 'Dislike' button, but in a way that is a good thing. They are trying to keep the positive attitude on FB. This was a key feature that was missed out by Orkut, Myspace et al. It led to their downfall (although orkut still exists in some countries). But this time around, Google is leaving no room for mistakes. On Google plus, you have the +1 button. It has not become a rage like the 'like' button, but I am sure it will get there.

The "Like ' button probably has saved millions of man hours. With the average user having spend a minimum of four hours on FB (you may call it a waste, I call it connecting with people), the "Like' button is in essence improving the efficiency of mankind. So, there is so much that the world owes to the 'Like' button.

So if you liked reading this post, please 'Like' it. Thankfully there is no dislike button!