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Sunday, April 1, 2012

The Perfect Life by Anand Vardhan

The Perfect Life by Anand Vardhan
Soft music harmonising the nerves of your brain, a sweet smell drowning you into a lake of decreased sentient, you punched lavishly into the middle of your fresh-bun-like couch and looking through the glass walls at some brilliant example of architectural finesse, and silk trying hard to prevent itself from slipping over your pink skin...well that would be some Life.

There have to be other versions of that perfect life we dream of, but other than differing in a few details; they all converge to the same orthodox points.

As we grow up, we realise what we actually want from life, as the society shapes us in subtle ways. Some of us have the courage to pursue exactly what we want, while some of us simply get shepherded into the crowd. The reasons may be many: family, finance or simply inertia. In any case, dreaming does not stop. We pass our lives perfecting the notions of our perfect life. In the course we also learn to appreciate troubles; and sometimes sulk at them and our luck. We also find it easier to play the blame game. Generalizing this fact must sound naive, but in all respects these thoughts infect the most learned and logical minds as well, because nevertheless, the minds remain human.

A village headmaster might find himself completely satisfied at 65, having done what he thought was good and commanded respect from the society. That would be a near perfect and satisfying life for him. An entrepreneur (having relished all makings of an upper-urban life), on the other hand might regret certain decisions deeply, right to his deathbed. The whisker-thin route to standing out allows very few to squeeze through, after all.

The very definition of achievement and success rests inside an individual’s life. It is largely the resemblance between what we aspire and what we become. Shri Ramdhaari Singh Dinkar in one of his essays comments that one of the ways to live life is to set a high target and work relentlessly for it. If the youth finds contentment in the dead shells lying easily on the ocean sands, the worthy pearls in the ocean’s womb would never shine outside it. These appealing ideas direct an individual on the paths of hard work and perseverance. What we perhaps start looking for is perfection, without meaning to look for it. The perfection that is a product of the values that writers like Dinkar preach, is viewed as a tool to chisel out visions of our perfect life. We rush into perfection, and hence pass through it leaving it behind, like passing through smog; only to realize we have nothing to build our perfect life with. One of the subjects poets like Robert Frost have emphasized is the ultimate acceptance of life’s burdens. When we do not achieve something close to our dreams, we learn to settle for less. That happens to most of us, because we all dream and look for perfection. A regular teenager with a rebellious mind grows into a soothing, calm and visionary man who wants insurance for all things.

Whatever be the case, nature has filled us with itself. It is no surprise that we live in this perfect ‘best of all possible worlds’. It is not that a parallel world would not suit us, as I hear some people wondering about the consequences of oxygen being black, rather than colorless. Colorless oxygen is acceptable because we grew from its womb. We were not popped out suddenly into existence.

Also, it’s perfectly understandable that we keep looking for the best of all possible things for ourselves. But even nature follows laws, and even quantum indeterminism and chaos do not disturb the perfection it has. 

That definitely pushes us to a conclusion that there is no single perfect life. Every single thought of perfection is perfect at its own place, and in its own way. Such a thought also strengthens my beliefs against a Theory of Everything. The Grand Unification of nature’s laws is not possible; for then we’d have that ‘perfect theory’ which would be complete in itself. The very fact that consciousness leading to greatly different thoughts and ideas has been planted among human beings is an indication that there’s no single truth. There are many, perhaps infinite. To possess the truth is to change it, to have got it is to lose it.

The parallel-universe theories in science also make a big point, for where we are is a result of our Karma; as the scriptures say. And Nirvana; must be the truth that’s meant for us.

Author’s Bio
Anand Vardhan is currently pursuing his Bachelor of Engineering (BE) from Delhi Technological University, Delhi. He is an avid reader and takes an active interest in contemporary global issues and society. He is also associated with the NGO Make A Difference (MAD) that teaches orphaned children. He can be contacted at avrandomfusion77@gmail.com.

To download in PDF, click Essay by Anand Vardhan

2 comments:

  1. that was an excellent article bhaiya..
    u always look at life in an unique way, i must say..n that's a motivational factor for me..
    I always desired and tried a lot to become like u bt never succeeded..
    I know u don't require bt I wish u all the very best for ur future..

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'm really honored that you liked it :) thank u sooo much.

    ReplyDelete

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