Sunday, December 7, 2008

A VISION

Have you ever observed children playing with toys? Let us suppose that 5 children are playing with different toys, and one of those children has a beautiful toy that everyone else admires and envies him for. He agrees to let everyone play with his toy and shares it quite congenially. However, one boy desires to obtain that toy for himself, he is envious of the other boy and decides to bully him into giving him that toy for himself. Once he is denied the possession of the toy, he might do one of the 3 things from the following:
1. He will sulk and cry
2. He will steal it
3. He will fight with that child and take it away from him

Does this situation remind you of our world today? There are so many people out there who are envious of others and who do not appreciate what they have. There are so many people who always want just what the others have. In the above case at least, the kid can be reprimanded and the unfairness of the situation can be explained to him. How do you do this with adults who are old enough to think that they hold the upper hand in every situation? How do you reason with politicians who are corrupt enough to think that they should have free access to the taxpayer's money. How do you rationalize this world and create a situation where everyone can live amicably?



The one solution that I can think of is to give every human a dream, a vision, a thought so compelling that he would help in any way to make it come true..........
The vision of a new world.

Let me show you a picture that has developed in my mind, that I improve every day. This vision could be OUR vision, this vision could be reality.

I christened this vision "ATLANTIS".

Envision a scene where you are walking along a road that is beckoning you towards a new land, towards new people and a wealth of knowledge. As you walk, the wind dances a tango with your hair, the misty sky sheds a tear or two on your upturned face that is being caressed by the cool breeze. You feel a tingle of anticipation as you walk around a bend in the road and come to your destination. The path now descends into a plateau, the swaying tall grass adjoining the path welcomes you cheerily and the flowers greet you with a fragrant kiss! You step onto a cobblestone path as you behold a fountain made of pure white marble, the water springing up into the air with a joyful glee, a symbol of freedom and an epitome of joyful abandon. As you move further ahead, you notice a child sitting under the shade of a tall oak tree. You go towards him, and perceive a few other children lounging in the garden; one is seated on the low branch of a tree while another is lying on his stomach on the ground balancing himself using his elbows. The environment is peaceful, the children are relaxed and carefree, yet you find some change in their behavior. You move closer only to find that they all are immersed in the extensive world of Maths! Yet another surprise greets you as you venture further into the garden, you locate the Maths teacher who is instructing a group of kids on how to build their own slide and see-saw! If you would have waited around to talk to the Maths teacher, you would have learned that the children were being taught to build everything with their own hands, they were being taught to be independent, they were being reared to fly!

TO BE CONTINUED
allvoices

11 comments:

Arjun said...

Oh My God..!! What a fantastic post...!!

I mean, u r just gr8. How could u think of all this...
eagerly waitin for the continuation......

Cheers..!!
Arjun

CRD said...

people being trained to make their own world...being taught to be self-made..wish it had to be like that..

alas, we're being taught to hold onto heirlooms..

eg:raj thakeray's "sons of the soil" principle.

well written

cheers
CRD

u.D. said...

Whatever description of the "Atlantis" vision has been penned down into the blog truly feels like one that exudes a fresh air of panorama, one that every individual would wish for. A ten on ten for the splendid style in which Atlantis is described....
....However I'm extremely curious as to how the bridge between vision described and the questions asked will be built.
So please do continue yiur "TO-BE-CONTINUED" as soon as possible.

u.D. said...

Gosh...really well written, poonam...i just wanted to read it once again and it sounds more brilliant than the last time i read it.

passer by said...

wake up :P

as for the child..there will be a fourth one..who'll break it if he can't get..the point is why only one of the children was given a beautiful toy?

thus the presence of have not becomes a political necessity, what would be the role of the moderators if all children were obedient . a utopia (your atlantis) though reads good should never exist.. cos its hunger that makes us work..

Unknown said...

@passer by
Thanks for the comment, but you just contradicted yourself.
Firstly you asked why only one child was given a beautiful toy, then you said that hunger makes us work!
I wanted to differentiate the have's from the have not's, hence I gave only one child the most beautiful toy, does everyone in the world have a Ferrari?
The point is that if you can see that someone is better off than you, you work to improve yourself and get to that point where you have earned everything that the other person has! The key word is "earned". Our politicians steal, they don't earn, that is the picture I was trying to portray.
Atlantis is not a place where everyone has everything, it is a place where everyone WORKS to get what they want, where people work for knowledge, where the poor do not resent the rich and vice versa, but everyone is happy with their station in life.
Am sorry, but you did not understand my vision in the first place.

passer by said...

touché.. your vision perhaps didn't/won't sink in ..

1.everyone who is better than me is not because he is better than me..
2.the moment all are happy with their station in life.. life would become stationary.

Unknown said...

@passer by
Are you not happy with your life?
I am joyous every morning just coz I am alive and in the belief that I have another day to make all my dreams come true.
I am currently doing 3 projects at a time:
1. An FIR filter design for hearing aids
2. An LED project for testing their efficiency in different conditions.
3. Am learning about MSP430 which is a new low power chip released by Texas Instruments on which I will be soon conducting a workshop.
So am I stationary just because I am happy? No ways, in fact my peaceful state of mind makes me strive even harder coz I am sure I can achieve anything if I dream it, see it and believe it. I enjoy the fact that I am learning so much, I enjoy the journey of life because I believe that I have something in me to give the world, I can contribute in on my own way, however small that contribution may be.
If this self confidence is inbuilt in everyone then every man will inspire himself to greatness!
And in this state of contentment I do not even compare myself to anyone to see who is better than me, coz every person is different from the other.
This does not mean though, that the world is a fairy tale, there wil be problems, difficulties and even days on which I may not feel like getting up out of bed, but that can be overcome, that too shall pass!

passer by said...

ceasefire :).

Unknown said...

You didn't start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world's been turning;
We didn't start the fire
No we didn't light it,
But we tried to fight it!!
Thanks for the debate...

PRATHAM said...

Ever read JRR Tolkien's 'The Silmarillion'? It paints a scintillating portrait of the elvish islands of Eldamar and Valinor - a land bereft of decay, death, sickness and pain. A land inhabited by elves - the fair lords of wisdom. The fragrant beauty and the blissful solitude of that 'magic isle' do not, however, bring happiness to its people. The immortal elves of the isles are worried by the suffering inflicted by men on each other - even though the men reside on a land very far away (Middle Earth). Reading that book carries me away to that wonderful land - to its fair speech, clear songs, merry folk, golden sunrises and blue twilights. I close the book, and I'm sucked back to this God forsaken world filled with blood, dust and despair and I resent being born as a human. Our world was once that magic isle called Eldamar, but we have long since mutated. We are so deep into the darkness that we now fear the very thought of light.....

Sorry if I sound full of despair but thats how I feel today :(