The beauty of life consists
in the unknowns and the unending searches and researches –the unending process
of evolutionary trends in everything.
Let us get our facts clear
that personal sentiments and emotional binding will impact every human being- only
the degrees of impact may vary from person to person and situation to situation.
We all must acknowledge that we are neither sure about all the ingredients in the
cauldron of life nor can we claim to know the complete process of churning.
These are my reactions to the
book Arun Shourie’s book, ‘Does He Know a Mother’s Heart?’
I have also given at the end the
links to many excellent reviews and reactions to this book.
There are literary works that prompt our philosophical inquiry; some
that appeal to our emotions; some that soak us in sentimental stuff; some that
hold us with suspense; some that unfold wisdom; some that trigger our adrenal; some
that make us to contemplate; some provide certain templates to certain issues;
some just take us into an island of imagination; some that sink us into the
world of intense thinking; some that appeal to our aesthetic senses and
cultural sensitivities and so on. But there are certain books that somehow
provide combination of all these because such works contain both a biographical
narration and the biographer’s personal reactions, observations and an
unquenchable thirst to find reasons and an urge to find logical meaning for all
that happens in life and not an outpouring of hysterical frustrations or decadent desperation especially from someone who cannot afford to perch on the
ivory tower of dispassionate indifference and engage in emotion free debates. This
is one such work.
Everyone is a victor in some
aspects and victim in some other aspects of life. Compassion, concern and
clarity permeate unsolicited in the process of search and realization in moments
of suffering and sorrow than during moments of happiness and victory.
Starting to research in
topics which have too many unknowns, sometimes including the topic itself, is a
very tough task indeed. It suffers from a very objective and dispassionate approach
and analysis more so, if handled by a person who unfortunately is himself a
player and part of very sorry state of sad situations which have panned out in
life and whose consequences he is forced to face on a day to day basis. People from
outside can sit in the comfort of their normal or cozy life and either choose
to be indifferent or show pity or make the journey along with the author to search
for answers.
Here in this particular case because
of the nature of uncertainties and unknowns coupled with presumptions becoming
the premises and rational and /or scientific intellectual perception [fortunately
or unfortunately, till now in human evolution, the best known and easily recordable,
retrievable and reusable means of deciphering] the tool used to decipher the
unknown it becomes difficult to understand, much less explain everything.
We as well as our rational
and scientific intellectual perceptions are still in the process of evolution
and therefore we do not know yet either the total scope of their capacity or
the extent of their shortcomings to deal with many issues of life in general.
This is the very beauty or element of the mystery or part of the unknown, not unknowable,
aspects of life that sustain our everlasting processes of search, interest and
scientific and philosophical inquiry and expand our understanding of many
aspects of life and enhance the evolutionary emancipation of mental faculties.
The more we worry about our
lack of understanding we start the process to understand better and the moment
we become aware of our inability to understand many things [either through
humility or due to inevitability] then wisdom may or can unfold through myriad
means and unravel gradually the ingredients of the cauldron of life.
Scriptures, scientific discoveries
and inventions, philosophical explanations,great thoughts, ideas, actions, events,works of art etc all are revelations popping out
of as parts of the evolutionary process of human understanding of life. But we must be aware that they are not the whole of life nor can anyone well versed in any of these aspects claim to be possessing the key to understand the whole of life nor are they even answers to all aspects of life that we know of. Life is lived moment to moment and we try to understand life , the meaning and purpose of life by utilizing all the faculties we think will help us understand life better.
But with the help of scriptures,
scientific discoveries and inventions, philosophical explanations etc we must form
various rules to play the game of life in the best interests of every life.
So, one obvious lesson of
life is that any one method or every method to understand life is either valid
or inadequate as everything is in a process of evolution and constrained by contextual
confines and restricted by tools of perception.
One obvious moral code could
be that ultimately everyone can choose any method to understand, experience and
live life, of course, ensuring to the
maximum extent possible, that the methods chosen do not affect the life of
others and environment.
I felt many relevant materials
pertaining to the observations made above by me or through me along with the
questions in the authors mind may be found in the following links as most of
the contents of the book both at emotional and intellectual level:-
New Year with a New Realization of Reality
SCIENCE AND SPIRITUALITY
MORALITY
Religion
is understood better by synthesis than by analysis.
Religions grow better by
syncretism than by antagonism.
As D.J.Mercier, the Archbishop of Malines has
said even “Sound Philosophy sets
out from analysis and terminates in synthesis”.
Regarding religious differences, men of vision
and wisdom have explained and warned repeatedly knowing well that the common
man with his limited perception and the fanatic by limiting his perception may
engage in petty fights and arguments over differences.
The inevitable fact of life and
stark reality is that whatever we may have planned or planning to plan may not
be the plan that unfolds in life in all sphere of life irrespective of whatever
label we may give to that as fate or destiny or however we may try to ignore it
or work hard to justify it.
This does not mean or need not necessarily lead to the
conclusion that we must not plan and that there is no use in planning.
Links to many excellent
reviews and reactions to this book:-
