March 10, 2009

All You Need Is A "Will" To Smile

My Earlier Experiments with philosophy: The Dilemma, The Fog
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“Golu, Will you try answering one question for me?”

Sandeep kept looking at Kajal in amazement, visibly surprised at this sudden request.

“Why is it that wounds which are not visible to naked eye hurt the most?"

Sandeep shook his head. He doubted there was anyone who could answer that question with perfect confidence.

But Kajal’s voice was ringing with confidence as she continued. “That’s because while a physical wound inflicts damage on your body, these wounds tear open your mind and soul. This pain is excruciating, because the damage is done to your psyche and not your body.”

Sandeep nodded, appreciating her logic. He was the perfect listener. The one who was all ears if the speaker wanted his complete attention. And after all that his best friend Kajal had gone through in the past couple of months, he had made it a point to be there besides her as a pillar of strength.

Kajal broke into tears the next moment. Sandeep frowned at the sight of her confidence shattering to pieces and tried comforting her. She was weeping inconsolably.

“Golu…Why did it happen with me daa? Everything seemed so picture perfect. It took only a wind to shatter my dreams. These shattered pieces of glass cut deeper into my skin at every passing thought of his. I am losing myself daa. I can never be happy ever again. I am bleeding every moment. Every song reminds me of him. Every place brings back old memories. My wounds will never heal Golu. And I can’t go on like this. I have to learn to mask these wounds. From my parents, my friends and the outside world. I don’t seem to be getting anywhere daa. Please help me with this question that keeps on raising its hood in my mind every now and then. Will my wounds heal first or will I learn to mask them first?” She again broke down after asking that question.

It was Sandeep’s turn now to act confident. He gently stroked her hair and gave her a tight hug.

“Bhondu…..those two questions are seemingly different and difficult, but the answer is interlinked and not that hard. It’s like killing two birds with one stone. It’s finding the right stone that is of utmost importance here.

Take the human body as an example Bhondu. It’s such a complex machine. It’s unbelievable to think that a lump of muscle evolved into atriums, valves, ventricles and arteries resulting in a continuous supply of oxygen to the brain, all in such a way as to make it actually control the parts and enabling the body to spring to life. It’s like turning on the ignition of the car with the heart serving as the engine which pumps the fuel to all the parts. Or take the human eye. As Ryuji from Ring trilogy admits that it’s next to impossible to imagine that a piece of skin evolved into a cornea, a pupil, an eyeball, an optical nerve connecting it to the brain, all in such a way as to make it actually see. It’s hard to believe it all happened by chance. There first had to be a will to live, a will to breathe, a will to see, buried somewhere inside living things. Without it, these mechanisms would never have taken shape.

You can even take the example of sea turtles. They dig the earth and lay their eggs therein before heading back to the ocean, leaving the hatchlings completely at nature’s mercy. After hatching, young turtles may take three to seven days to dig their way to the surface. But they do dig their way out. They do it with their sheer will. Hatchlings distinguish light intensities and head for the greater light intensity of the open horizon. After reaching the surf, it dives into a wave and rides the undertow out to sea. They continuously swim for about 24 to 48 hours after entering the water, enabling it to get into the deeper water. A new born pushing its stamina to the limit and fighting odds just to survive. It’s hard to believe it all happened by chance. There had to be a will to fight, a will to survive, a will to challenge.

It’s the “will” that matters Bhondu, a will to heal, a will to spring back to normalcy, a will to forget. If a lump of muscle, a piece of skin and a hatchling can will and attain the impossible; you only need a will to fight your internal demons. It’s an impulse. Where that impulse comes from, I have no idea. It may come from close quarters like your family, your siblings and your friends. It may also come from unexpected quarters like taking up your hobbies, providing an outlet to your creativity and knowing the true you. That’s the precious stone you need to search for Bhondu. You have to find it. I can only help you in the search. But it’s you who have to catch hold of this precious stone called “will” and kill those two faced demons which keep raising their hoods. Which I know for sure my Bhondu will!!”


## This is my attempt to answer the question that Kajal aka Pink Orchid had asked on her blog, "Will my wounds heal first or will i learn to mask them first?"I am sure that she might have got way better answers than this one, still hope my mindless scribblings in the name of philosophy would remotely be of some help.

22 comments:

  1. Hmm... philosophy... something that I do enjoy reading, and though your words make sense, I prefer keeping God out of it...

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  2. A Paulo coelho in the making :) (Heartfelt cheta ;) )

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  3. @akansha

    agreed..accepted...took God out of the one para that i had included him in ;-)

    Was just trying to put across the fact that normal human beings blame God for their bad days...that was no philosophy...i did not use God to explain the question, but just the fact that Aparajita was blaming god for her present state, which lot of us do ;-) ....but your preference...my command...changed it to something more abstract....hope you would like it now...cheers!

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  4. @nan

    omg! that was some comment!! *yey* *does a lil Mithun jig*

    jujubeeeee ;-) he he....

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  5. And guess u forgot to check part 4 of ALAR ;) Am awaiting ur comments

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  6. @nan

    heading straightaway to comment...read that yesterday itself but the comments section was not opening...will comment rightaway nan....mind it!! ;-) he he

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  7. guess it din open yet :( chi how unfortunate :( and am sorry for flooding this place with ma comments :-|

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  8. yeah Sandeep it all is a matter of will I guess then.. :) thank you..


    on a second thought the protagonists could have been Sandeep and bhondu na :) :) :)

    thank you for answering my question Sandeep..it does feel a lot better.. :)

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  9. @ Sandeep

    chech ur mail... have sent u sumthing...

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  10. there could be no perfect answer to that question!! more than the write, the examples you used impressed me .. really good observation and usage :)

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  11. oye so sweet!! i am jumping ... 'toink' toink' :P

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  12. hey hey ....om my dear friend....philosophy ehh!!!!

    i loved reading the fog and moment and new this post has really touched me and i am glad that u have written something close to my jaan....

    i love u for writing this post broo.....am very happy . ...my happiness has no bounds today....thanks meri jaaan

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  13. i bet my jaan got the answers to her question

    Will my wounds heal first or will i learn to mask them first?

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  14. ur very creative and ur thoughts r way too high bro....with these beautiful example of a turtle u have mesmerized .....

    i mean to say that example was apt and really beautifull.......i wish i cud help my bhondhu singh in some way ....but still thinking....

    bhondu nw u alright naaa

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  15. @stibu: you are one adorable friend.. thank you.. :)

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  16. @sandeep: i am so glad to see the label 'golu-bhondu'.. i will go label mine too.. :D

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  17. thanks a lot meri jaaan...i am very happy for that

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  18. beautifully written twin...really...all 3 of these pieces of urs r sooo very touching...

    the para -
    “Golu…Why did it happen with me daa? Everything seemed so picture perfect. It took only a wind to shatter my dreams. These shattered pieces of glass cut deeper into my skin at every passing thought of his. I am losing myself daa. I can never be happy ever again. I am bleeding every moment. Every song reminds me of him. Every place brings back old memories. My wounds will never heal Golu. And I can’t go on like this. I have to learn to mask these wounds. From my parents, my friends and the outside world. I don’t seem to be getting anywhere daa. Please help me with this question that keeps on raising its hood in my mind every now and then. Will my wounds heal first or will I learn to mask them first?”

    - cud so much relate to it....but i feel some wounds dont heal..u just hav to learn to mask dem from d world..one needs to learn to pretend n its not dat tough..u just have to act happy...n no one will ever get to know how u feel from inside..

    n also its so difficult to get dat "will" when u know dat u r losing d only thing u want...everyone is not dat strong..


    but yes..described amazingly well wid these examples...it was both sweet n philosophical....ek do aise post aur twin n den i will give u a doctorate in philosophy! ;)

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  19. nice breaking down of the complex topic and it explanation through simple but effective examples... guess there is lot to learn from you... esp the philosophical view of life.. these might be just words..but these words does are for sure a motivation factor...when somebody who's confused reads through them and relates to it...

    maybe you link all the posts that relate to life,living,emotions etc and importantly philosophy into a sidebar or a button..so that anybody can clickthrough them... people who genuinely need this kind of counseling may benefit immensely ;)

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  20. *sigh* as nan says, Paulo coelho!

    how we love guru :)
    How he worth our love!

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  21. OMG..!!! This was at its philosophical best.... Wat better answer can one get...

    Am totally touched.... I'm taking inspiration from this.... :)

    Cheers..!!
    Arjun

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