Elixir

(My entry for the creative writing (prose) competition at the inter-hostel cult fest “Manthan” at IIT-G)

They hypothesize it emerged in a primordial ‘soup’, a mix of alien and terrestrial spices that fortuitously lent itself to the origin of self realization. Though how things have changed. What is life now but these myriad experiences we share that lend themselves to multiple interpretations, for each one unique, combining into this unfathomably complex roller coaster ride.

All these events added to our lives, individual ingredients governed by a pre –determined recipe written by fate? The magical formula of our lives being brewed with a spell uttered over by the soul of the universe – a ‘God’? Or just simply random events thrown together in the chaos which are but chance and probability, yet seemingly to us a perfect blend of energetic boils and contemplative simmers?

Yet potions may be poured together and infused to create new ones. Are we not those? Each a different colour, exercising the variety of the spectrum – wonderful indigos, healing yellows, vibrant reds, jealous greens, toxic oranges and poisonous fluorescents – added by drops or bottlefuls; stirred in or distilled. The ripples of an addition disturbing the globular cauldron that is the world; alive in itself yet receiving energy from the ever burning fire of a glorious sun.

And still this world is part of a greater whole – a ‘Milky Way’ – the swirl of a galaxy, spinning around stellar matter in a vortex, forming the sparkling elixir of the universe of our existence.

-the poem whose name i still dont have-

(My entry for the creative writing (poetry) competition at the inter-hostel cult fest “Manthan” at IIT-G)

Distant memories
Of a time long past
My remembrances alive
Always seem to last

For you a gift
I forged from stone
Forgive me, my Love
Oh, had I known

It holds no value
For you are now gone
Yet your scent, in the air
Still lingers on

The seasons change
With the march of time
They say it heals
With the pass of time

Yet the scar still hurts
And keeps me from sleep
You face holds me awake
No counting sheep

In the freshest of mornings
My toes in the grass
Your fingers in my hair
Please, let this pass

Noon, under the boughs
Of our shady tree
Softly you sing
Now the notes pain me

The Sun moves to dusk
Your hand around mine
Sitting in the sand
A lonely glass of wine

You laugh out loud
To the open sky
Twinkling like stars
The trinket catches my eye

The sea tries to touch
But cannot reach
Retracting its hand
Along the beach

This wretched world
Now tries to take
Your last sign
With anger I shake

So I pick it up
From the froth
As it lies there
The anklet upon the seashore

Just an Idea, Sirji!

Over the past few days I’ve had a thought, rather a train of thought, running through the grey-beige jelly that is my cortex which I shall now share for your reading pleasure. It concerns the uniqueness and originality of ideas and also how we derive inspiration and let them out into the world.

Have you ever wondered how unique your idea is? No doubt its original, true, but apply the rules of probability to the question of whether anyone else ever thought up the same thing and then it doesn’t seem that impossible. There are, after all, 6.8 billion people on this earth (citation required) and that’s not counting the dead guys – and there’s quite a few of them too.

It doesn’t take similar experiences to add up in one’s cranium and churn out the same brilliant, light-bulb-glowing, eureka-screaming, kiss-ur-lab-assistant-even-though-he’s-a-guy flash. Sometimes 2 completely dissimilar sets can intersect over the same domain that encompasses the region of interest of the idea. So be skeptical at first when someone has the same idea as you, but be not surprised. Rather curiosity into your counterparts thought process could bring valuable insight and open further avenues of exploration that build up to a wonderful collaboration.

But, it still remains that we aren’t all that egalitarian. A lot of work goes into fleshing out and detailing an idea to make it useful and it is only jus t that one be credited for one’s hard work. I believe that the easiest way to ensure this or to ‘lay one’s claim’, as it were, is to tell the world about it. Keep your work secret until you develop and build up to a certain level of credibility and then scream it out on the rooftops with a megaphone – the louder the better. It’s a time worn observation that the first to get the word out is the primary in getting credit. This helps in more ways than one – talking to the world about your idea can get you fresh eyed inputs that again offer novel perspectives that you may not have considered.

Come to think about it, the funny thing in this whole argument is that idea is self applicable. The idea that ideas aren’t unique itself may not be unique and by corollary is recursive to the point where it loses meaning.

To conclude I’ll just say this –any idea no matter how unique or novel to its ideator, could have been thought up by others at any other point on the globe and at any time in history, but the lack of technology, will to pursue it or just plain laziness may have prevented that idea from sprouting into the world.