The “General” has no “Journal”……..
The author (me) implies that the most general and simple-appearing subjects in this world, have no journals written to them. The information-heavy and wisdom-rich text books and journals are in fact written for the rather much more complicated subjects and disciplines namely, Science, Mathematics, Literature, History, Geography, Computers, and you name it.
Hence, when it comes to answering the questions that prima-facie appear too simple, it is actually one’s inner conscience and sense of self-consciousness that does the job. However, we see that the children of today are facing the challenges in finding the answers to these simpler questions, which our elders might want to dismiss as trivial topics or concerns.
Then, to think of it, it definitely has to be a serious problem that the youth of today is facing, and which perhaps, our ancestors and forefathers found very easy to manage.
Let’s try to ponder over this, and try to see where does the problem lie.
Let’s go back in times…………………
Our ancestors called themselves the Arya Putra or the Noble race. The “Bharatas”, as they were called, was for the reason, that they were those people, who were reveling in the light of Consciousness. They were “LIVING” and not just living. I hope you get the difference here. Now this is well before “Hinduism” or any other religion came into picture. Their style and thought of life was devoid of any religious bias and caste-ism. This philosophy of theirs, resulted in prosperity, harmony and spiritual growth. They were strong and emotionally very stable. Something, which if you will see, is a major missing in today’s world.
The reason is simple — Back then, our ancestors “together” believed in a common philosophy that created a conducive environment where each one of them reflected on the higher pursuits of life.
Now, obviously I wasn’t there to be bringing this on the record today and be confirming it so confidently. Everything is a mere pronouncement of what the elders in my family have mentioned to me over these years, or some of it through what I have read myself.
Let’s talk about Bhagwad Gita for instance. It is so pure in its teachings and literature, that the mere mention of it by me will get me a lot of attention here, and some of it can be unsolicited for the nature of its critique. 😀
Well, I will keep it very neutral and independent of any religious or communal trigger.
I have a feeling, that I have done a major mistake by not having paid much heed to what is taught in Gita, over these years. The ignorance has been innocent obviously, as I was unintentionally oblivious to the spiritual teachings and knowledge given in it. Just like most of you, I was busy mugging up and trying to understand the science and mathematics, that I was told, will certainly benefit me in my future. And, now to give a convincing angle to my expression, I wouldn’t lie that the Science & Mathematics haven’t helped me. They have done their job to get me a job.
Yet, there are still so many questions in my life, that I fail to find an answer to. None of those text books have an answer to my questions. The questions are very general, yet so specific. What makes them general is that one doesn’t need an understanding of a scientific or literal discipline, to answer them. At the same time, what makes them specific is also the fact that none of the established disciplines provide an answer to them.
I know the analogy is paradoxical. Let me give you some examples for an easier understanding :-
Questions like…………….
- Why me?
- Why not me?
- Where will this take me?
- What if this goes wrong?
- What if he/she ditches me?
- Do they like me?
- Do they hate me?
- Can I do this?
- Will this be the right thing for me?
- When will that happen?
- Who can fix this?
- Who is my friend?
- Who is my enemy?
- Is it the right time?
- Is it risky?
Once in a while, you would have asked yourself these questions. Isn’t it?
After all, contemplation, self-analysis, soul-searching, etc. are all our favorite modes of timepass.
Down the line, when you are totally exhausted of all those thoughts that have troubled you, you suddenly realize that those thoughts were nothing but some useless piece of your own manifestations, which if not paid much heed in the beginning itself when those thoughts are in their nascent stage; they eventually find their way out from our system via some abrupt emotional drainage or some outdoors physical sport-like activity. In either case, we end up getting back to the normal. Which, apparently is the WAY OF LIFE.
Let’s face it, this is LIFE AS WE KNOW IT…
Another example of such strange behavior from us humans in our day-to-day life is the way we approach our problems. For what can be solved through a minute of a strong and focused rumination, we tend to ignore the seriousness and gravity of the problem at its first sight and don’t allow it to sink in for a while. We try to avoid looking at it in depth at first and keep parking it for later. By the time we actually think of attending the problem, we have :-
- exhausted ourselves of the endless procrastination
- lost the zeal already
- forgot the actual original problem statement
- start facing the monday-blues regardless of the week-of-the-day
- don’t know where to start now
- and if we show the courage to start, we end up finding ourselves in a time loop. We come back to where we started in a never-ending-loop.
Reason?
It’s simple. We avoided the problem when it should have been attended. We started late. For what we could have been solved in a short span of time, will now take us months & years to sort.
I am a Computer Science professional.
I can give you a relevant example from my domain. If by any chance you are accustomed to the programming culture, then you will get the gist at the first go. And, for those don’t get the idea, worry not; as I shall explain the gist.
Meet Jack….
Jack is a friend of mine.
Jack is a Python enthusiast. Python is a general purpose programming language that was created by Guido van Rossum.
One day, I asked him to print the items of a list that I provided him, in a manner that the list items are printed in one single line, separated by space.
Jack had actually missed my previous class of Python where I covered the concept of Lists, Tuples, and other sequence and iterables. I laid an imperative emphasis on the usage of asterisk in unpacking iterables / arguments. Jack thought of missing this class thinking that he already knows a lot about Lists, Tuples, Dictionaries, etc. However, what he did not know was the usage of Asterisk if he is ever asked to print the elements of an iterable sequence, in one single line.
I wanted Jack to learn an lesson. I was glad that by this Python question, I was not just giving him a Computer Science lesson but an important life lesson too.
The conversation went like :-
Me : Hey Jack, I m giving you a list in Python. list_ = [1,2,3,4,5,6]. Can you print the elements of this list in a single line, space separated?
Jack : Like just print it in a straight line, that’s it? Don’t you think it is too simple to accomplish?
Me : Well, am sure it is. Seems like you have a great hold on the programming concepts of Python. Why don’t you try your hand on it and get back to me with your solution? You may take your time. I am right here. Come back to me once you are ready with the solution.
Jack : Oh come on, I don’t need to even spend a minute on this. Well, here’s the solution as I can think of it right away :-
Me : Bravo, Jack! That definitely does the job. But I think I was looking for a more short and quick solution. Now I don’t know whether you are aware of the behavior of Asterisk (*) when used before the arguments / variables that own lists, tuples, dictionaries, etc. or any kinf of iterable sequence?
Jack : Oo. When did you teach that, Shivam? I am unaware of it.
Me : Well, you missed the class yesterday, thinking that I shall only teach the topics that you already know, but somehow you now realize that you were absolutely wrong, as I covered a topic that has the power to essentially save unnecessary time that you spend on solving a problem which does not even require that amount of effort and time. This problem can be solved in just one line of code.
Jack : Looks like, I shouldn’t have had those pre-conceived notions. Clearly, missing the class was a big fault. Anyway, Shivam can you please help me with your solution. How would the Asterisk solve the problem in one line of code?
Me : print(*list_)
Jack : Wow, that’s it?
Me : Yes, Jack. You know it now! 😃
If I know it right, the Jack went back home that day with a few lessons for life. I will leave it you to think whether these lessons matter or not :-
ONE : Never judge a book by its cover.
If Jack did not have pre-conceived notions about the quality and scope of what would be taught by me in the class that he missed, he would have definitely cared to attend the class and apprise himself of the concept of Asterisk.
TWO : There’s always a better way to do something.
Well, Jack learnt it by accidental embarrassment. I wanted him to learn by his own choice.
THREE : Always ask, if not sure.
To be honest, one area where I feel Jack did well. He did not shy away from asking that was the actual short and smart solution that I was looking for, from him.
Let’s get started then.
On three….
ONE…..
TWO…..
THREE…..
See you!
