Are we losing it?

I hope the title to the blog entry made you wonder...what the hell is this about?!

Are we losing it......what?? Duh!

But since I have already managed to hold your thought, let me ask you..... are we losing it?

Yes, I think we are losing it...and this it has varied meanings for different individuals...

Let us jot down a few probable 'it' definitions:

1. Zest for Life
2. Time for loved ones
3. Satisfaction in our achievements
4. Empathy towards others
5. Sympathy for the sufferers
6. Happiness for our peers
7. Humility towards our seniors
8. Zest for trying new food or culture
9. Taking up exercise as a hobby
   

I think the list can go on and on and on and on and on and on.....I mean, how more literally can this list go on? Maybe it would never stop!?

So when was the last time we:

1. Decided to do something new by taking out time from our 'so busy' schedule
2. Decided to pack up early from work and taken an early train / bus than the 'usual' to spend more time with family.
3. Take a back seat and feel grateful to the almighty for what he has bestowed on us.
4. We saw someone not as 'good' as us, but instead of putting them down told them that they had what is takes to be good enough.
   
5. Gaze at the world, see what people are suffering through and feel sympathy towards them
6. Felt happy for the joys of our peers rather than alleging foul play or foul means or pure luck factor
7. Agreed that when we are corrected by our senior, we do have shortcomings which may need to attend to.
8. Agreed that food is more important than the conversations we have over it or the entertainment we subject ourselves to while eating
9. Agreed that without exercising we wont even reach half of the age of the generation before us.
   

This too is an illustrative list of things which we may have stopped doing... and this list too can go on and on and on and on....

So what is this whole post about? I have made certain realizations which I would like to act on. Now it could be your turn?

If the above situations and examples have made you realize that for you too a certain aspect of life has been lost or has taken a backseat and it needs to be revived, then this post has been successful.

If you thought this post was a useless waste of time, well then my friend... arguments between you and me will go on and on and on and on and on .... ;)

Blind Faith......Sounds Familiar?

FAITH - A word used often and abused more often than that. People have faith. We have Faith. You Have Faith. I HAVE FAITH.

Faith is a beautiful word. It implies trust, a good feeling, positivity and more importantly absolves man of his continous quest to ask and get his questions answered in a scientific way. We all say we have faith. Faith in GOD, in ourselves & in our loved ones.

What really is Faith?

In simple words, the feeling of being guided by a power / energy beyond our understanding, for our own betterment is faith in GOD. Faith in others or ourselves is assurance that what we perceive people to be, they indeed are that way. It is a liberating feeling, it gives you peace in your ever questioning mind. Its a beautiful thing....But in today's times it Maligned and creating a problem for all of us. And what people perceive is that Faith of Certain people is deterimental to society, what they do not see is that Faith is not what is the problem. The problem is BLIND FAITH.

Blind faith is something that I am personally along with a lot of people in the world witnessing in our lives since the past few years. Blind Faith In Religion takes the cake. It is what creates our problems today. Terrorism, Communal Riots, Religious Disharmony, Prejudice towards Women, Castesim, etc are all rooted through the menace of Blind Faith.

It frustrates me to see people with a herd mentality. With no real purpose of life beyond accepting certain "CUSTOMS" as "THATS HOW IT IS". Elevating OBSCURE, SELFISH, EGOISTIC, BOASTFUL People to the position and category of "NO QUESTIONS ASKED ". What they say " GOES ". !! No man of Religion BOASTS, HURTS OTHER SENTIMENTS, MAKES TALL CLAIMS TO BE DIVINE, USES HIS POWER AND EGO TO DRIVE OTHERS TO HIS MOTIVES. There is no MAN in History to have asked people to BOW DOWN TO HIM, OR TAKE HIS WORD FOR EVERY ACTION OF THEIRS. Satisfying his EGO over the lives of others is the primary conquest of such men. SUCH MEN ARE A THREAT TO SOCIETY. Osama Bin Laden is an International Celebrity in this department. But beware !! There are some local ones in India too . MORE IMPORTANTLY IN ANY RELIGION, SUCH MEN ARE THE DEVILS AGENTS. . Thats as simple as it gets. Faith is GOD given. It comes only when GOD wishes. But BLIND FAITH, thats handiwork of the devil. He blinds a person into doing things jus coz someone "wishes" it to happen, jus the way he tricked Adam and Eve into biting the forbidden fruit.

However the solution to this problem is very easy. It has already been mentioned in this note 3 times. Can you answer this??

Ironically the problem and solution to this is " QUESTIONING !! ". We dont question, is what creates this problem, and we question gives us the solution to this problem. Ask yourself first about any thing you do, and if the answer prompts and points it towards the fact that another Human Being who Claims to possess "THE KNOWLEDGE", is making you do it , question him FIRST !

We have forgotten to question. What, Why & How are simple 3-4 lettered words but can unearth some of the most explosive truths that are hidden.

I am not a scholar or a religious leader or Antaryami, but in whatever I have understood and learnt in my relatively obscure existence is that no religion or holy man practices injustice or imposing his will over the will of others. So let people make thier own choices and decisions. Coz they too have a right. Stop the Brainwashing and Blind Faith !!

However, still if next time you just go with BLIND FAITH....remember...your prejudice to not ask justified questions will put u and your loved ones at risk.

Before I sign off with my thoughts here's some thoughts to ponder over:

Faith... Must be enforced by reason...When faith becomes blind it dies. - Mahatma Gandhi.

In faith there is enough light for those who want to believe and enough shadows to blind those who don't. - Blaise Pascal.

If you don't have faith in your people in the field, you are lost. If that faith is blind faith, then it is not faith at all, just maladministration. - Ray Cave.

The meme for blind faith secures its own perpetuation by the simple unconscious expedient of discouraging rational inquiry - Richard Dawkins.

The further the spiritual evolution of mankind advances, the more certain it seems to me that the path to genuine religiosity does not lie through the fear of life, and the fear of death, and blind faith, but through striving after rational knowledge. - Albert Einstein.

Biggest Democracy!

We are amidst the election season right now. The biggest democracy in the world has gone to polls. We chose to be a democratic country, so that the people could decide who they want, to be the leaders of the country.

But is that really happening anymore?

Lets take a look:

1) Leaders are made from candidates who choose to contest the elections.
2) Candidates are chosen from the people who run political parties.
3) People who run political parties are powerful people with lots of varied interests.
4) Most of them have court cases against them.

So when we look at it, are we really choosing the people we want? The real picture is that, our choice is limited to the choice of the parties, which run at the whims and fancies of powerful people.

Democracy, maybe not. Hippocracy, May be yes.

So is it really democracy, or autocracy of a person, being camouflaged as democracy?

People in India, vote for parties with specific ideologies.

Fundamentalism, communism, secularism, minority favoritism...

These are the ideologies floated.

But are these parties really following it?

We need to verify, whether we actually believe in all this stuff...

Only when we will objectively decide, we will know whom to choose.

By now choices have been made, and elections almost decided, and another drain of our hard earned resources has taken place, to choose who will make money, who will be irritated because they cant, and will throw allegations.

At the end of it all...what about us?

Let the frustrations for the next five years (hopefully !) begin !

Plight of CA Students !

The Chartered Accountants (CA) institute of India, requires a student to complete 3 / 3.5 years of compulsory internship with a CA, so that he gains practical knowledge of the business before being certified as a CA in his exams.

Recently, the Chartered Accountants (CA) institute of India came out with a notification, binding all students with the following regulations:

1) CA student under going internship with a CA, cannot take a transfer to another CA, within the same city.

2) The distance between the 2 offices must be minimum 50 Kms

3) The only other reasons permitting the transfer are; medical reasons, or transfer of working parent to another city.

These regulations have been brought into practice for one and only one reason:

TO STOP INTERNS UNDERGOING DUMMY INTERNSHIP BY REGISTERING THEMSELVES WITH A CA AND NOT ATTENDING WORK AND MAKING MERRY UNOFFICIALLY.

LET ME MAKE IT CLEAR...I AGREE THAT THIS MENACE MUST BE STOPPED.

But because of this notification, the freedom of an intern is severely affected .

Now the big question is........ IS THIS FAIR??

A simple argument in this matter is :

The starting point of any dummy internship starts when a CA mutually agrees with a student to give him a fake registration and undergo dummy internship. so instead of pointing the fingers at interns and making their life difficult, why cant it be made difficult for the CAs who wilfully carry out such acts?

The reasons why an intern would like to change his place of work are:

1) Exposure to different work than the work offered by his current CA (principal)

2) Difference of opinion on how to things should be done.

3) Better stipend package in order to remain motivated and not feel exploited.

4) Traveling problems.

5) Need for change. ( mental fatigue )

6) Growth issues.

7) Change to firms that carry out performance appraisals and conducts seminars for knowledge addition.

The list goes on.......

Also, an intern cannot take a transfer in his last 12 months of internship. Many interns are qualified CA's in the last 9 months of their internship. So is it fair to make CA's work as interns? Again, the freedom of taking a transfer has been denied.

so is this a fair ruling...??

I have used my freedom of speech...

Now, Can you shed light and help me strengthen / weaken this thought of, my already made up mind?? ;-)

I pray that the governing body will review its decision and come up with a better solution for this menace, so that the interests of the student community are not hampered.

Hi...This is the Commonly Uncommon Man aka The Firestarter...

I know the 2 names sound as two different personalities, but thats who i am...a multi-dimensional human being with an opinion on....well say just about everything !

So who am I??

I am a simple guy from India, with the mind of a very common but yet a very liberal and forward man....

So whats the intention of this blog?

To objectively provide a honest view of the things / events happening around the world, especially in India....without subjecting my thinking to the very stereotypical topics that govern our decisions, choices and preferences.

Bottom line...The Firestarter is biased towards the truth and this bias compels him be a non-biased writer.

So if you are looking for an honest answer..or an honest take on things...feel free to get in touch with me....

Because only when you speak the truth in this highly complex world, is when you start creating chaos...and the person who can create chaos is always known as "The Firestarter".