Tuesday, October 03, 2006

tick tock

is greatness really in the genes or does it get diluted with each passing generation? only recently i chanced to meet the great grandson of Lokmanya Tilak and i thought that i would get the feeling that comes when you're in the same room with a slice of history. but what i saw was a young, handsome man, sitting behind a huge desk, with a black and white portrait of his famous ancestor over him, looking perfectly, well, uncomfortable!
that same week i heard tushar gandhi on TV trying to justify why his form of gandhiism didn't make an impact on politics. and i was left wondering... often one's place in history is only about good timing.
the beatles were a hit coz they were at the right place at the right time. would they have made as much of an impact on people if they had appeared earlier or later? similarly there are so many great people in our midst today who will remain unknown coz, "their timing is not right".
which brings me back to the old saying:
There is a time for everything under the sun..
A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to uproot the plant.
A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to tear down, and a time to build.
A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance
A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to be silent, and a time to speak.

haves and have nots

there are different kinds of people you meet today: the ones who are in synch with their lives and those who are not. the latter are usually the ones who are living the eternal lie. yes, they are seeing new places, trying new restaurants, trying new designers, redoing homes. but look into their eyes and all you can see is intense boredom.
only recently i met a friend who had had a life altering experience read divorce and she seemed to be scared. even though she had a great career ahead of her she looked scared. the loneliness scared her, and the fact that she might live really long with no one to chat with on a rainy day.
but then again i have met so many people in their 50s and 60s who even with scores of kids are completely alone. and they have the same fear. the fear of being alone.
in fact, more women today are showing signs of insanity very early on purely on the premise that they will die all alone. while men handle it by becoming irritating, women try to get past it by acting strong and in doing so, lose it along the way thus alienating themselves even more as no one wants to be with them.
the one thing that cheered me on was a single friend of mine in her 50s who told me that she was looking around for a good retirement home where they have yoga, meditation, and interesting people to spend the last few years of your life with. supposedly a place like this actually exists! so even if it attracts a band of very loony people, at least, there will be a method to the madness? and lots of hope for everyone who dreads the fact that people today are living well into their 90s... all alone!