Screaming Eyes...

Things don’t always work out ‘exactly’ as you had planned.

My plan for the morning was to wakeup early, grab a quick bite, check my emails, and start catching up on my research-related readings. However, all of that changed from the point I checked my emails...

You ever had the feeling as if something has been calling you? And when you finally get there you see how every little thing has indirectly urged you to look into it.

I guess, it started a few days back when my mother mentioned this news-item she saw on TV about Elephants. She told me about a particular “festival” in India, where villagers gather with their Elephants and take part in a competition to see which Elephant has the tallest neck...?

I sometimes think it’s completely OK to be uneducated – but to be an idiot? That’s just something else. I can understand if they can’t grasp the concept of “global warming” – but competitions based on the performance of any animal is inhumane.

Well, as the news team looked into the matter, they realised that the owners of the Elephants tend to place a small blade near the Elephants ear. So, in order to save his/her neck from touching the sharp blade, the Elephant constantly lifts its head up and up and up. Apparently, one of the Elephants noticed the poking blade on another, and ended up killing a few humans. See, now, in all honesty, I don’t feel bad for the loss of those lives. I, in fact, feel bad for the Elephant, who has been labelled “mad” now – and will probably be caged and killed eventually.

Then for some odd reason, the name PETA has popped up a number of times within conversations (including some with myself). I still didn’t bother even looking into their website, until, the email this morning –

A friend, who visited Modhesh Fun City yesterday, just happened to mention about an area where they had caged animals – and it just felt depressing. Ironically, if you googled “Modhesh Fun City,” one of the few articles that will pop up will read “Modhesh Fun City spreads the message to save the Earth.”

So, I felt the need to at least look at PETA.org. I already knew once I’d visit the page I’d end up feeling a little helpless and almost depressed. I think this comic portrays that emotion well.

Aside from Nike sponsoring an athlete who takes “dog-fighting” as a hobby – I noticed a whole segment dedicated to animal testing procedures at Covance laboratories. Have a look at what is marketed (the soft-image of a comforting medical professional in her clean white Covance coat) and what actually happens (just look into his eyes, and you’ll imagine the scream). I saw a 20 min documentary on the issue. The documentary, apparently, resulted in Covance being fined for violations of the Animal Welfare Act. But, does that really change things?

I’ll end with Kahlil Gibran’s story, once again:
In my father's garden there are two cages. In one is a lion, which my father's slaves brought from the desert of Ninavah; in the other is a songless sparrow.Every day at dawn the sparrow calls to the lion, "Good morrow to thee, brother prisoner.

Bitter!

“Life, is misery...” GB said that… Back in 500 BC, I think.

A lot of us seem to talk about how the world ‘used’ to be a better place. How ‘things were much different back in my days.’ But were they really? Sure we’ve progressed in terms of technology. From fists to arrows to guns to ‘weapons of mass destruction’ - but the plot is still around the same lines.

“Life is misery...” It’s odd, but, it seems that the simplest and smallest of statements tend to be the ones that encapsulate the whole spirit of things that are vast or indefinable. Life... Death... God...? -- like, “Death is a Pony” or “God is a Barista named Sushi at a secret café in (location withheld)”

“Life is misery...” GB said that in pure honesty. It’s not meant to be a negative statement. It’s supposed to be a motivating one. It’s like saying, “the well is deep” -- now that you know that, chances are, you won’t jump in and drown yourself. Or will you?

I sometimes feel, we all ‘see’ where the complications are... We ‘know’ where the misery is... But we still choose it. In fact, a lot of times I think we pick misery over happiness – and consciously! Our misery is like a trophy... Happiness is just momentary, but misery, you can frame – you can show it to friends -- the pain-staking journey you’ve been through...

“Life is misery...” But, as Brian Shelby said, “It's the sour and the sweet. And I know sour, which allows me to appreciate the sweet... Because, without the bitter, baby - the sweet ain't as sweet...”

Tomorrow Morning...

Well that's alrite, if that's alrite, we're 2000 miles but still that's alrite...

Well, I am back.

Back "home", until I find a new one -- but also back to this blog....

If you look around you'll notice our state-of-the-art facility -- (hi-tech message deleted to maintain honesty and Godliness).

Well, nothing really... Just redesigned the header and changed the colour-scheme. I hope this inspires me to stick around and make some time for this blog...

Anyways, I m back in Dubai.

People still don't make sense... I still don't care... And overall, we're all "developing", apparently -- so, no one really complains...

Well, I write this as I take a break from writing my research proposal... So, I know it's not much -- but it's good to keep it simple... After all, simplicity is the essence of Lao Tzu's words...

Enjoy your day....