The Infant Age of Structured Creativity !

Just imagine this scenario. An invading army is very close to our border and waiting for the right moment to strike and unleash their brutality on us. Supposing the weather is extremely cold and an important strategic soldier fails to be up and ready for the war. Think about the consequences in such a hostile & combative environment . The catastrophe will be immense and beyond the bounds of our wildest imagination. The chaos and pandemonium that surely ensues after such a lethargic portrayal of indiscipline will definitely create a frenzied furore across the length and breadth of the country.

It simply gives us the shivers when we merely imagine this hypothetically impossible situation and its possible potential ramifications. 

But, this is what is happening in real life due to lack of discipline and self restraint in our people. The gross misuse and abuse of freedom made me wonder as to whether the Britishers had done the right thing to give us our much needed independence in the first place.  Such is the appalling dearth of discipline in the country - be it the media with the reporting of their news, politicians who rule the country, eminent personalities and celebrities involving themselves in scandals and the list can forever go on in the upper echelons. Coming to the next strata of population that occupies the vast majority of our motherland , even we are not disciplined. Right from simple adherence of traffic rules to payment of taxes, loyalty to our spouses, sincerity in our work  - the list can again continuously go on - we not only misemploy our freedom but we exploit it to our undue advantage without giving much heed and forethought to the consequences of our actions. For instance, if the old man hadn't come in the wrong direction then I wouldn't have had the accident in the first place and sustained the painful injuries which I am suffering now. What if I had died in the accident!! I wouldn't have been able to hear his apology also or write this blog now. That small act of his indiscipline cost me an arm and leg - literally and metaphorically. Even in my workplace, I had requested my boss to grant me the privileges to access Youtube for my Market Intelligence report. One of my colleague comes cooly and asks me to open Youtube for watching some trailers and comedies!!  I had to calmly tell them that "I have work to do. There is a proper place and time to watch those videos. Please watch it in your home". These are just simple and sample real life scenarios. I am sure even you would have encountered such normal and wild acts of indiscipline in your life too.

I understand that people cannot be military-like over night. But, there is a certain permissible level of indiscipline that is acceptable like keeping ones room untidy, not shaving, not grooming oneself properly etc as the net effect is only for the concerned individual. In my opinion even those things can be improved. But, this kind of indiscipline is much better than the kinds that harms other individual and public property.

When confronted with being undisciplined, some carried the belief that creativity should stem from being completely free and unbound to restrictions and that disciplined people are too structured and systematic in their way of life. In a way, they have a point. But once when it comes to creating a compelling and persuasive message that needs to be shared across to a particular group, the use of creativity in such a situation cannot be employed to build castles in the air. Rather, the creativity must be tuned and be given a proper shape and structure so that the intended point reaches out to the target audience so that they appreciate the crux of the message in a better light.

Being creative for the sake of creative to be different from others does not add much sense to the people any more. The huge difference lies in the way we are being creative so that our creative ideas are meaningful and adds value to others thereby enriching their lives. This makes our creativity to be more purposeful thereby making a difference in this world. This is precisely what Steve Jobs did with his more than successful ipods or iphones. He radically innovated on the existing walkmans or mobile phones to create a simple and simply dashing and dazzling ipods and iphones that the consumers cherished to have it as their prized possessions.

Structured creativity is also a type of creativity that must be judiciously used depending on the circumstances. But even for this type of creativity to develop, grow, prosper and flourish, a congenial, conducive and the correct environment should be laid out as a fundamental platform for an individual to explore and tap into their infinite creativity.

Let me just give an example to illustrate this point further. Supposing someone asks me " I want a car under sub 4m". I can come up with a wild and ground-breaking idea of a double decker car with 6 wheels and doors opening only from one side. But, the feasibility of this idea might take a hit when this creative idea is to be implemented in reality. On the other hand, if some one tells "I want a normal car under sub 4m with new features that can be practically implemented". Then again, we need to have a proper feasibility study of our fresh, new features but at least the scope of our creative thinking can be very focussed and targeted to reach our objective efficiently and effectively.

Ultimately, the context defines and mandates how wild our creativity should be for a particular situation. When we are writing a novel , then we must be highly creative and put in all our visualization process into the big picture to have the perfect novel, infused and peppered with facts and history, if necessary, like the way Dan Brown does in his books or it can be truly creative like the way JRR Tolkien created a new land, history, species and language in his "LOTR" trilogy.

Whether this blog is a result of structured creativity or the result of an untamed creative idea that eventually became so organized and methodical, I leave it to you.

The Karmic Love - A Teaser

Countless triangular love stories have been written and depicted in novels and movies alike. I wondered why not give the stories a new tstwi and a run for their money through The Karmic Love.

The  Karmic Love has been pending in the pipeline for a very long time - 2 years - to be very precise. It will not be just any random romblog but also portray a very close reflection of my personal life for some of the characters in this tale. 

Without much ado, I would like to give a glimpse and gist of the story.

The teaser:

A loves B who loves C. But, C is madly in love with D. Unfortunately and unknown to A, D loves A. Upon the arrival of E, D immediately falls in love with E. One character discovers that she is a lesbian during the course of the story. A's best friend also has a crush on B.

Who marries whom? Does at least any of the 5 characters eventually and ultimately become a romantic pair ?  Best friend's crush crushed or became a joyful happy ending?  What happens to the lesbian?

For answers to these probing questions, kindly wait, watch and follow my blog column regularly.

PS:

F marries one of them in the story.

The Sweet Hurt

Aristotle once said "The ideal man bears the accidents of life with dignity and grace, making the best of circumstances". 

Like how we used to take a relaxed walk in the park, this quote gently strolled into my mind when I was working on Tuesday in my bay amidst the intense pain caused by my severely sustained injuries in the road accident. On Monday evening, I felt I was okay despite my severe lacerations, abrasions and gashes on my hand and leg. The doctors were very surprised that I had no fractures for such an awful accident. They had asked me to take bed rest for a couple of days. I did exactly what was told for my body to heal and recover itself. So, I decided on Monday evening that the time was right for me to go to work on Tuesday in spite of the my mom's repeated insistence to stay at home and take rest on Tuesday too. 

As usual, I started to work by 820 am. But, instead of reaching by 9am , I reached the office by 920 am. It was not the traffic. The problem was that I couldn't grip the accelerator properly as a severe abrasion on my right hand and laceration near my right elbow prevented me from driving at the appropriate speed. To make matters worse, when I gripped and turned the accelerator using my right hand, I could feel the tremendous gravitational pull near my right elbow. I realized it was just the strain that was caused due to the immense pressure that I exerted when I kept my elbow straight during the drive. After a harrowing driving experience, I reached the office by 920 am. While parking the vehicle, one of my colleague was exceedingly appalled on seeing the state I was in. I did not realize that my situation was THAT bad until then. This was just the beginning. My entire team were horrified when they just gave me a superficial look at my hands. I was thanking God that they did not have the opportunity to see my knees. The gash was beyond the normal words of description. I knew then I had committed a grave crime by going to the office in such a disturbing condition. Wrapping up my work and giving the schedule for the week to my team, I left from work by 5 pm. 

The return journey was as torturous as the morning drive. The only difference was that the searing pain had multiplied exponentially to inexplicable magnitude. I drove straight to the hospital to have my injuries examined by the doctor. Having had a few comforting & chiding words from her, I realized that my guilt was killing me inside for going to the work place in that agonized plight. 

"Your best teacher is your last mistake" - This adage gave me the much needed easement and relief from my guilt. But, it was still persisting in my system like a impending volcanic eruption. Ultimately, I grasped the core crux of the matter and finally got the picture accurately - "We see things as we are and not as they are" 

There is always always always a silver, gold or platinum lining to every situation. It is just that we need to keep both our physical and mental eyes in complete unison and in a state of consciousness to receive the message when we start looking and analyzing things differently.

Though the nasty hurt is very bitter even now, there is a gentle pleasantness in it too. 

The Ugly Beautiful

Arjun (screaming): No. I don't want politics. It is a highly stinking sewage

Manivanan: If you call it sewage, then why not get into it, clear it up and make it pleasant for everyone?

Forgive my poor translation but Sujatha's well-chosen and well-worded slap on the face dialogue in the Tamil film "Mudhalvan" sums up the perfect state of affairs concerning the politics in our country. 

I am not going to go into the formal politics regarding our netas and babus who govern our country. They are highlighted, displayed and portrayed by the media in rich limelight everyday giving the much needed entertainment factor for us besides the deep betrayal, disgust and resentment that we feel for them at their attitudes, behavior, dishonesty and overt lies. I felt that I would rather explore the day to day politics which we encounter in our lives.

I wake up in the morning and after completing my morning rituals, I commence to work @ 820 am so that I can wade through the traffic easily and reach my office by 9 am. Stepping down from the stairs, you would want to peacefully take your vehicle and start to work. But, our esteemed neighbour will find the perfect time to carp " You had parked your vehicle in my space last night". Despite having a valid and genuine reason, I know that if I start explaining myself to him I wouldn't be on time to work. Muttering an apology and starting to work, you know that however safe and sound you drive, there would still be persons to criticize your driving. You drive rash. You get scolding. You drive fast. Scolding. You drive slow. Scolding. So, to avoid these comic characters, you drive to the extreme left/right of the road - Yep. the guess is right - we would still be luxuriously showered with unprintable words that are too strong for our delicate ears. After a successful scolding session, I manage to eventually reach my office between 855 am & 9am everyday. Now, the real drama starts. You work sincerely. You get spoken behind your back that you are being artificial. Ignoring the catcalls and focussing your effort and energy on the task in front of you, the web of people to speak behind your back just keeps on increasing at an alarming rate much faster than our galaxies expand. I know and understand that I cannot antagonize any colleague however brazen they are with their comments. Office Politics at its peak to the extent that even Mount Everest seemed smaller to such petty politics. So, what do I do now. Get a very quick 10 minute coffee break to ease up the tension and have a quiet time for myself. Unfortunately, we will have another situation here. I would be standing in the line to get the token for the coffee. Then suddenly you will find an over smart person trying to cut the queue citing some random XYZ reason for their actions. You do not want to pick up an argument with them. What do I do "Yes please". It does not stop with it. Similar situations happen to you during lunchtime also. So, the morning session is done. When you have calls and the client is being unreasonable in their demands, you know that it is not at all possible. They might even bite our heads in the process. But, in the most professional and polished demeanour, we enlighten them that what is possible is possible. The rest is not impossible but difficult to implement right away. So, the calls stretch till 830pm in the night and sometimes late into the night depending on the time zones. Patience. patience. patience. After a gruelling day's work, you once again encounter the same scolding scenarios before and at last reach your home sweet home. You have you wifi on and check the messages. Smile at funny updates and status and your mom gets suspicious that you are in love with a girl. She starts asking probing questions in unthinkable and unimaginable ways that even a seasoned lawyer would have to come to your mother to take up training classes with her on the art of asking questions. Just like how a warrior defends their kingdom, you defend against your mom's inquisitive questions. Finally, dinner is served. You have your dinner and hit the rack for the loop to continue again. 

This is when I felt something was terribly amiss. The loop needs to stop else I felt I would continue to be a victim of the circumstances again and again and again. So, what was actually happening here?

I realized that the moment people came together, formed and framed societal rules, politics became an integral part of the society. Every person has their own expectations, mindset, beliefs, attitudes, their own definition of right and wrong and has their own unique levels of patience and tolerance. I gradually became aware and cognizance of the fact that politics has pervaded into the very DNA of our system. I comprehended the indubitable truth at last and finally came in tune with the reality that escapism is not the way out. So, to traverse and wiggle through this complex interactions with multiple stakeholders, instead of running away from politics - be it home, office etc, I understood that it's I who needs to stay firm and hold my ground diligently by taking up responsibilities for each and every action - big or small. 

Politics - As I saw it - Poly: Many and Tics: Blood sucking parasites. That's how I viewed politics to be. But, since my realization on the truth, there's a beauty now in this harsh and cruel game. The everyday challenge. The daily fun. The day-to-day enjoyment.

To sum it up, Life is really and literally how we want to see it - It is red when we wear a red glass and green on wearing a green glass. The choice is always ours to know when to use which glass.

Epilogue:

Just wanted to try a different writing style for this blog so that a true and accurate picture is given in a simple, direct, straight forward and lucid terms.

The Grand Fall & the Big Guffaw (Part 1)

It was a Friday like any other Friday. I had wrapped up all my work and sent mails to my superiors updating them on the day’s status. Everything was done and dusted by 730 pm. It was going according to plan. But, as they say ‘Man proposes. God disposes’. I never knew that the day would transpire into such a very eventful evening.   The drive to my home was satisfactory and enjoyable. Usually, I had to wade through the ocean of traffic. As it was Onam, the roads were punctuated with clusters of vehicles here and there. So far so good, I was right on schedule.  The plan was to catch up with my friend after a long time and watch “The Man from UNCLE” in Sathyam. I had a hurried dinner at home and started by 915pm taking into consideration the Anna Salai traffic and the metro work that was supposed to be happening there. After a minor traffic hiccup in Velachery, I geared up on my gearless vehicle to be on time to meet my friend. Criss crossing and traversing the myriad cars, buses, two wheelers apart from the unprintable swearing and scolding by the auto wallahs, I finally reached the Aalayamman Temple signal. I heaved a sigh of relief that I could reach the theatre atleast before 1020pm. I never knew at that time that God was silently laughing from above and eagerly anticipating the exciting happening to happen. As soon as the signal turned green, I was flying like a F1 driver. All of a sudden, out of the blue, an old man came riding on his cycle on the wrong side of the road just few metres in front of me. It took me by complete surprise. To make matters worse and complicate the situation further, the old man was literally shaking his handle bar giving me mixed and confused signals whether he wanted to ride to my right or left. The only possible solution for me in order to avoid hitting him was to apply the brakes and then observe whether he had made up his mind to go in a particular direction on the wrong side of the road. The brakes were applied. As luck would have turned out, at that rushing speed of 75kmph, I skidded when my brakes were applied. The night and absence of road light caused me to not to see the sand that were scattered on the road. My Angelina Jolie flew in one direction and I fell on the opposite side thus creating a big thud. All I could see were hazy things and the loud horns that were screaming at me from behind. I realized that my specs were not in their normal position but lying around somewhere in the rubble. Two gentle gentlemen lifted me and helped me to a nearby safe enclosure. The gentlemen were asking me whether they would like me to take to a nearby hospital and I answered them that the abrasions and lacerations needed to be washed up first as the sand was hiding and occupying the injured area. I was actually surprised at myself that despite the serious accident that I was able to think clearly. They bade me goodbye after asking me to go the doctor and have a TT. I was thinking furiously, forgetting the pain, as to how I was able to remain calm and think clearly when any sane person would have fainted at the sight of blood dripping and flowing across the elbow and leg. Finally, it hit me - MEDITATION. Meditation really helped me at that point of time to see things as they were without panicking or getting scared. Cleaning up my wounds with minimal water so as not to infect and aggravate the wound, I made way for Sathyam to meet my friend in the same blood dripped and scratched body condition. I parked my vehicle in the premises with great difficulty as it was then the pain started to kick up and shoot in my hand. After exchanging pleasantries to my shocked friend on seeing my condition, I noticed the time – it was exactly 1020pm. I had lost complete track of time and was actually surprised to know that I was still on time as per the plan despite the herculean change of plan by God. Seeing my state, we went immediately to the Sathyam emergency ward to get the first aid so that I can visit the clinic and get a TT later after the movie got over.  When the loud and shrieking DTS effects ritual were completed during the first aid, we thoroughly enjoyed the wry spy comedy very much despite my friend jokingly complained that I smelled heavily of Dettol during the course of the film. After laughing out to our heart’s content, we made our way to the nearest nearby hospital for the TT injection and a professional clean up of the sustained injuries. Once when the doctorial formalities where completed after waking up the entire hospital, I mumbled my sincere apologies to them for waking them up at such an hour of night. Finally, after our “See you soon” were exchanged, I drove back unhurriedly to my home. I felt someone was looking from above while I was driving. Casting away my hyperactive imagination cells, without much ado, I quietly scrambled to my bed without waking or telling my mom that I was badly injured in that wee hours. I thought that instead of giving her the shock then, she can herself discover on seeing my condition when she wakes up the following morning. Thinking thus, I started to go to sleep when I heard someone was laughing uncontrollably and hysterically. Startled by the boisterous roar of laughter, I wondered who it can be so sadistic to laugh at my sad plight. Then, I realized that my hyperactive brain cells were once again playing and pulling tricks on me. Asking them to be quiet for some time, I was about to go to sleep, when I started to hear a ‘Jal Jal’ sound outside. The windows started to rattle on its own accord and the dogs started to bark incessantly. I knew this time it was real.  Something was out there lurking behind the windows and watching me. Now, I realized that it was the same thing that was watching me when I was driving back home. Despite my severe pain, I gently climbed down my bed to check out this mysterious I-do-not-know-what-it-is. I opened the window very slowly. The dogs had stopped their barking. There was a heavy stillness in the air. I felt the eerie silence to be very haunting. It was there looking right at my soul and giving me the same hysterical laugh.

......to be continued & concluded..... 

Sycophancy - The ultimate lunacy !

In this dynamic and rapidly changing world, there are countless right instances which irritates and frustrates an individual that literally fires up your anger beyond the normal words of description. Corruptions, endless manipulations by the media, female foeticides, Manual scavenging, duplicity, double dealings and I can continue ranting the innumerable diseases that has deeply penetrated and pervaded into every inch of our society. But, there's also one other important aspect in the list which makes me to feel nauseated at the very thought of it - being a sycophant! For all the Tarantino fans who had watched Django Unchained, I wanted to slap Stephen's character when he used to say 'yes yes' in that deep servile tone to Dicaprio. I know it was just  a movie . But, my sense of right and wrong was so strong that Stephen's character made me to lose myself whenever Stephen , to put it in tamil, "jaalrad' Dicaprio despite I knew Django Unchained was a work of art and that Stephen was a fictitious character. Unfortunately, there are many such Stephen's whom we encounter in our day to day lives. I am sure there would be at least one Stephen in your work atmosphere - The guy/girl who says extremely bad things about their boss beyond his back but flatters and butters them up by saying 'ah ha ho ho' in front of his face to be in their good books for a good appraisal. The worse part is that when confronted they justify their actions by saying that they are being practical and that every one does it. It would have been their interpretation and perception about the world. But, their distorted reality is not the actual reality. There are still very few people left like me who condemn this act to be highly deplorable and view these persons to be highly despicable and hypocrites. They falsely think that toadying people can serve their interests in the long run. But, it happens otherwise as every action has an equal and an opposite reaction

Every cloud has a silver lining. It is really difficult to deal with such people when your value system is not aligned with theirs. But, it gives a tremendous scope of opportunity to test our own integrity and will power amidst such double standard boot lickers who will try to lure you into their abominable world to "ching chang" at every opportunity. Likewise, what I have learnt from my experience is that when you interact with these kinds of people. you can actually become open minded and tolerant and understanding to the world around you without surrendering and giving up on your values.

Penitence - The confessions from a lackadaisical

Soccer is the most popular and watched sport in the world with more than 3.3 - 3.5 billion fans across Europe, Africa, Americas, Asia etc. The spread and reach of Soccer is such that it is estimated that this high octane sport is played by over 250 million players in at least 200 countries. The numbers are mind boggling. But, there is just another game in the world which trounces Soccer in terms of the sheer magnitude of the numbers and is played by most of the 7.3 billion world's population on a daily basis. The game's name is blame and it is the most widely acclaimed universal sport that is played by men and women alike at one level or the other at some point in their lives.

The most overused and trite expression for escaping the consequences of our action is to say " I did not have time to do so and so activity". How many of us would have said this in our lives till now to different stakeholders - mom, dad. brother, sister, teachers, friends, relatives, pets, managers, bosses and the endless list can be kept on listed endlessly! Writing has always fascinated me as it gave me the complete freedom and creative scope to explore the abyss of my subconscious to be innovative in my expression. As a kid who used to devour comics and then moved on to fiction, I have always had the penchant for writing. Being an active blogger during my engineering days , I found out very recently and acknowledged, accepted, admitted and confessed that it had been more than 720 days since I had written something new - something fresh - original - to uphold the magnificent greatness of this admirable art. Though I had been conceiving an interesting story line to pen down for my new blog, never even in my wildest dreams I was aware that the 720 days had vanished like a wisp of smoke.

When I was in the know that it had been more than 2 years since I had a blog entry against my name, my first reaction was "Time - the unpardonable culprit". Then, instinctively, my intuition bell started to ring and I understood very clearly that it was I who was culpable and punishable for my negligence in discharging my rightful duties to this sacred art. The only problem with me was that I used to update my blog whenever I had an interesting experience - seen, heard, read or experienced personally - in my life and then weaved into an intricate story. When I started to time travel in my memories, I realized that I could not mentally see even a single, tiny and an iota of instance that was remotely close to the spelling of interesting. It was then I had another bout of monstrous epiphany. I comprehended the indisputable fact that the involvement in my professional work and studies had made me to perceive life as one dimensional - wake up, eat , work hard and sleep, thus forsaking the natural occurring exciting events that were unfolding right before my eyes and nose. I felt I had been isolated and shut off amidst the thick of happenings and understood that my right brain ceased to exist for the last couple of years. I remembered Lord Krishna's majestic and eternal voice in the Bhagawad Gita " Self-knowledge is the fire that burns away your ignorance and enables you to think crystal clearly". He was right. He has always been right. I realized that instead of idling away my free time even after a tiring week's worth of work, I can very well put in enough efforts to be more productive by whetting and honing up what I love to do most.

Just like how Birbal used to point out Akbar's mistakes in his own humorous and witty style, I realized that I need to be my own jester to take full responsibility for all our intentional and unintentional wrong doings to make a difference in this world.

EPILOGUE:

This may not be a story. Slowly but surely it gave me the perfect opportunity to write again to vent out and liberate my repressed feelings after I discovered my folly , thus marking it to be one of the most interesting and insightful days of my life.