soulmates

For the uninitiated, this was my take on a thread on Ryze.

I say, considering the population of this World, and with faith in the concept of Probability; there is a soulmate for everyone. Come one, come all! Who knows, maybe more than one! Finders keepers!! But then Probability being what it is, what are one's chances of finding the above marked soulmate?

There are two thoughts that emerge from this.

One, the possibility of having more than one soulmate. I shall overlook the criteria of age (within reasonable tolerance limits of our own) for now - it makes our hunt that much easier. We all have what has commonly been written down as frequencies, wavelengths or (physics apart), vibes that we share with people we bump into. At times, so strong are these vibes that a mirror might give a more fuzzy image. A person who can see through you more than you can, who understands you more than you do. Would we call such a person a soulmate? Let us grant that. But what about the rest of the human race? Sure there's another specimen out there with a different set of fingerprints, but similar vibes, what do we do now? This poor soul, lonely until now, is out to indulge in bigamy!

Two (an offshoot of point one), the chances of finding one, were our needs to change through time. Just added to the complexity didn't I? (Are simleys allowed here? If not, FYI, I am smiling) We are humans and our needs keep changing. Since our hearts and minds are interlinked, their needs change too. A tug-of-war between the two might end up in a change of course somewhere down the line. What about the previously unearthed soulmate? Does it cease to hold throne and succumb to a new entity with vibes to match? A New and Improved Soulmate!?

I, with my weakness for binary options, reach two outcomes.

One, have multiple soulmates (if we are convinced about defining one) and vibe with all of them, simultaneously or individualy through the course of life. Two, scrap the whole idea, be with yourself and enjoy life the way it is.

My understanding may be flawed here, but I eagerly await comments.

chained

chained and forbidden
when I am with you
strangled and overwhelmed
as I try to be with you
Freedom, when I run away

longing for togetherness when I am away from you
under the weight of togetherness when I am with you
Depressed and joyless
I seek togetherness
when I am away from you
I seek an escape from
Solitude
Freedom, when I ran back to you

I am everything with you, I am everything without you

~~~

with a little help from Jyo :-)

ergonomics revisited - II

yes, life is sure a cake walk here in the US. but like a friend mentioned, how can one possibly walk on cake and make an easy task out of it!? what about the slippery cream and all the cleaning that one has to do later? bottomline, every attempt here is a conscientious effort at giving life a comforter. you dont need a cushion to break your fall 'cos everything is a cushion! ever wondered why it takes a show like fear factor to inflict yourself with hardship!? try a trip on the 5:43 virar fast in mumbai. will bet your adrenalin would have given you more thrills than you could have prayed for! (purists from a more rustic existence argue that the virar local is a pleasure trip)

walk into the nearest walmart to be submerged under a plethora of do-it-yourself tools. you might find anything from the odd tool-kit to a whole barbeque grill sitting there calling your attention. the kind of stuff you might find elsewhere in specialized stores, you find it here in your neighbourhood walmart. and no, i am not walmart's brand ambassador. come weekend and it is very common to find boats being hauled onto dollys and trailers and families(?) headed towards the nearest shore/river/lake. its just a part of your life! duh! do you need to be a goliath to handle all these!? excuse me no! you have tools to help you out! (nothing would stop you from doing what you would want to) probably this approach emanates from the freedom-gene code thats engrained into the american DNA. mammoth sized vehicles with power drives, power windows, power doors, intelligent sensors everywhere to allow the most immobile to be well, mobile. oh yes, nothing in this can go wrong. poka-yoke extreme! nothing is left to chance. why! you are even told that hot coffee is... er... hot :-) (just in case your tactile senses fail you, the lady at the counter will be there to remind you so)

vehicles of all sizes just abound this place. and thats another point worth looking at. the roads, if not anything else, are out to impress any newbie. with endless stretches of freeways, you could practically scout all of america on a set of wheels. i am told this mammoth network was an outcome of the US administration's plan to get the country out of the great depression. must be! seems to have worked! what further strikes me is the cost of fuel and how they manage to keep it that way!

sample this. if i were to reach houston from lafayette, LA (where i currently am) and back, a flight would cost me $800 upwrads. or, i rent a car for $150 (insurance and rental inclusive - a free estimation), fill in a lavish 20gallons ($40) and some misc expenses that would total to a reasonable $200 - mind you, for a round trip. An hour's flight with its essentials totals to 3hrs and the road trip lasts about 4.5hrs. in effect, 1.5hrs of my trip is valued at $300. 1.5hrs that i would save by letting myself be stuffed in a 20-seater jet; which i might otherwise spend crusing peacefully on the road admiring the lush landscape that abounds the freeways. i wonder which option an individual who respects his senses would take.

is it any wonder why this land behaves like a permanent magnet?

the american beauty

beauty is skin deep. yeah, sure. tell that to my boots! look around you. go to a restaurant, a drug store, a shopping mall. who would you find at the counter? a male? probably yes, provided he looks and/or talks like a female. it doesnt take a while to get a hang of people's priorities here. its obvious how pleasant it is to have a lady walk up to you, take your order, help you select your footwear/attire, or even give you directions.

in a land where first impressions mean a coup or the boot, one ought to know better. switch on the tv and you find infinite ads on anti-aging creams, slimming tablets and what have you. magic wands that would make the mirror change its face the next time you stand in front of it. did you know that your teeth grind each other when you are fast asleep!? well, scientists here know that and marketers have jackets that prevent you from gnashing your teeth while you fight your fiends in dreamsville. what would you call this? a cosmetic or a health solution?

a walk in the clouds

 

Rows and flows of angel hair
And ice cream castles in the air
And feather canyons ev'rywhere
I've looked at clouds that way...

~ Joni Mitchel

calling it a surreal experience would be understating what i felt today. yes, being confined in the metal case was a dissappointment in a way. felt like opening the door and just reach out to those clouds... touch them... pull off a piece like ball of cotton candy and bring it back home. glistening in the glory of sunlight, shining with angelic brightness and dark on the underside ready to shower itself onto the lands below... i've looked at clouds that way...

riding the rainbow

 

a pot of gold on the other side of the rainbow.... am already half way up!

the rain had just stopped and the sun breaking out in the skies. the air was still wet with the rain and nature presented itself in its most gracious form... the rainbow! a giant arch of colours, bursting out from the earth below right through the skies.... could this be for real?

I dreamed I could fly
Out in the blue
Over this town
Following you
Over the trees
Subways and cars
I'd try to find out
Who you really are

~ Roxette