The Balance of Life

When devastating blackness envelopes us, we need light to see the day,

When blinding light sears our senses we need some darkness to soothe our nerves,

Yin cannot exist without yang,

The good will not look good if there was no bad. So here’s a list of things to bring balance to our lives!

If the painful past haunts you,

Think of the expectant future.

                       

If something sinister troubles you,

Then, think of something noble.

                       

If you’ve run like mad,

Also learn to sit like a turd .

                       

If you’ve helped someone,

Learn how to kick up a fuss.

                                               

If you’ve had a brush with the law,

Change the law for the good.

                       

If you’ve sung Praises to the Lord,

Indulge in your sweet fetishes.

If you’ve gained a pound,

Then lose a freckle.

    

If you’ve paid money for nothing,

Then charge a bomb for something.

If you’ve gotten used to life,

Don’t allow life to get used to you.

For there can only be balance in the living world, God only knows what’s on the other side!                  

                                    

Age of Dragons 

With the breath of fire

A look of deep menace

Swirling and curling in their hides

A dragon did exist once

Not as a myth or a legend

But as a living breathing testament

Of only one creature's power

To rule our minds

And be able to exist in every culture

If the Viking, Norwegian, Greek, Chinese or even the Indian culture has ubiquitously mentioned one creature, it has to be the dragon. The power and mystic of this reptilian being has been such that theories are abound that the creature must have existed in some form or other.
Maybe it was my recent cinematic experience where I saw Smaug rise from molten gold and proceed to desolate Lake-town or perhaps it was yesterday's Game of Thrones episode where I saw mere tiny dragons transformed into ferocious mutants ready to take on the world.
Whatever may be the reason, these creatures will always remain part of our culture no matter how modern or how old. That is the significance of these creatures and may the age of the dragons never die.

  

Beauty of angst

I'd like to explain angst with a simple example. Here's David and George. While George is an aspiring writer David is his counterproductive friend. David doesn't realise that George's inconsistencies stem from an underlying need to 'make it as a writer'.

George: Jeffrey Archer! How in bloody God's name does he write so well?

David: He claims its because he went to prison.

George: Really, now did he...

David: Yes, got arrested a while back, something he lied about some wanker.

George gets up and begins pacing the kitchen floor his thoughts deep within his own mind. He picks up a nail cutter that is lying by the cheap kitchen table.

David: Clay and friends gonna be here any minute mate.Get the beer in the fridge, might as well start off before they're here. Will you grab one for me?

George doesn't bother answering because he hasn't heard a word his friend has said.

David: George! What's the matter? 

George picks up his dark leather jacket and rushes to the door.

George: Don't wait up for me...for sometime.

David: Why! Where you off to?

George looks at the dirty nail cutter in his hand. The blades are all jutting in a sickening order of bluntness. He pockets it with a dirty grin and an insalubrious intention. 

George: I'm off to get arrested. But don't you worry about me. I'm gonna be just fine.

He slams the door tightly shut.

David is left wondering what he said that made his friend so angst-driven.

As you can see, just as there can be no success without purgatory, there can be no art without angst. It's so important that you will find people going in search of it.

But how does one identify an angst-driven person? Let's try to see some real-life examples. Traditionally it would be someone with a long beard and trails of black hair that have turned grey over the years due to neglect. Sri Sri Ravishankar??? Yes definitely. Prahlad Kakkar, most definitely. So there are two classifications for angst, one is the Spiritual Guru Angst and the other is the Common Man's Angst.

What about women? Hair and beard can hardly be considered viable indicators. While women have lots of one, there is a complete lack of the other. So I think we need to tweak it for women this way - dark eyes, sagging skin, devilish mane. Shehnaz Hussain?? What about unstarched cotton saris? Does a certain Ms. Banerjee come to mind?

Guilt and shame are supposed to drive people towards angst. Which is why prisoners around the world have the bestselling art shows. Apparently, thieves die to get their hands on some prisoner art. When they get caught they go to prison and make their own art. Other thieves in turn covet these prisoner's art and so it goes on... they thieve and they go to prison...and on and on. So do you now see the cycle-driven angst or the angst-driven cycle, whichever way you prefer to see it?

So we've seen the different types of angst and the nature of angst itself. Now we'll see the different levels of angst. A man has everything in this world? So you might think what angst could he possibly have? That's not true however. A person with high income and high societal place can also have high levels of angst. While it is more common with people with less income and low societal value. But things are getting around, and we are frequently seeing people with no apparent reason driven towards angst. Such people are called Anst-driven Perfectionists. They have perfected the art of angst. Such people are so worthy in their fields that it is rather unworthy mentioning them here! I'd just like to say that they are the greatest minds and the greatest philosophers.So guys the bar has been set pretty high. We need to buckle-up and reach the Paradise of Inimitable Angst. That is the only way.

P.S - I sincerely love all the people I have mentioned in this article. To prove it, I ask myself the same question. What drives the angst in me? I have to say, its my tiny eyes, bulbous nose and perspiring palms. There you have it, now we're even aren't we?

Next chapter: The mental agony of angst.

(Please do share your encounters with angst!)