Middle Finger!

AI generated caricature of Frank Gehry 

You think looking into a mirror is easy? Mirror as a metaphor for people, situations, memories, plans, actions, words.... No it is not that one can not face the mirror ; that is the easy part. Mirrors generally are benign, empathetic and even benevolent at times. It is what the mirror reflects back, that is bloody uncomfortable! Specially what it says about who you really are as a person. Truth be told one is in fact dead scared to face oneself! That makes people look away, avoid, run and hide from a mirror.

You can of course show the middle finger to the mirror! Not everyone is as lucky though. During a press conference in Spain a journalist did ask Gehry to comment on the criticism that his Bilbao museum design is more of a "show off"! Gehry gave him the middle finger! Plain refused to look in the mirror.

Gehry was the pioneer user of 3 D design software originally developed for the space industry. His parametric design language completely turned the "Form follows Function"  dictum on its head. Curvilinear  sculptural form came ahead with  function adapted to it almost as an afterthought. His use of non standard material like titanium added a level of exclusivity to his projects and therein lie some other criticisms around project costs; longevity of the buildings and maintenance challenges.

Gehry worked unbothered by the noise. Although his work has been labelled deconstructionist , he hated labels and considered himself to be an artist with his work as his creative expression. To share a secret with you ; I think of his work as a super sized sculpture too. Trouble is sculpture does not have to function as a building. Should a building function as a sculpture?  I fully appreciate and recognize Gehry's great standing in modern architecture but I am unsure if it  essentially is where architecture should be heading. There; I said it! I  hope no one comes after me with hammer and tongs. Well Gehry just passed or he would have flashed his middle finger at me!

Ancient scriptures explain what 'Dharm' is? It is simply doing what is right ! "Right", is informed by Desh and kaal; ie the location you are in and the time period you are living in. We were given an intellect and an instinct which we are required to educate, hone and sharpen all the time. It will show us what is right and what is not. It always comes through in my experience. Largely we ignore the little voice in our head at our peril!

Some times it is alright though. You should choose oneself and show a middle to what is troubling you! You should gather the courage to strike out a different path even when you are on it all by yourself. Show a middle to the company that leaves you mid stream one way or the other. Challenge here is false pride & inflated egos that cloud judgment. 

There is just a thin line between self respect and selfishness; between reason and excuse; between being carefree and being careless;  between love and manipulation; between being assertive and being aggressive; being sagacious and being scheming; and certainly between being careful and being a coward!

May God grant the wisdom and honesty of this distinction to everyone! May everyone really love what they see in the mirror!

And just on that note today I was gladdened to see a little boy and his younger sister being walked home from school by their mother as I was parked by the sidewalk. Both children were picking up snow by the fistful; rub it onto their clothes; throw it down; repeat; laugh; wade in the next little snow bank after two steps; lie down in snow after another step; get up cuddle their mom..... all in the space of ten meters that I could watch. Without actually showing a middle they were showing a middle to cold; a middle to worries; middle to undue haste and a middle to all pretensions! 

Do you think such sterling innocence will ever be afraid to look in the mirror?   

 

 

 

Lost Again!

 Representative Image. "Scream"!

We all want to win at all times but normally life  does not work like that. It will make us bite the dust from time to time. It is not important that you lost; rather how you pick yourself back up, dust your clothes and get back on the program; that is what matters.

 

We all have our own individual coping mechanisms to deal with a disappointment. Some people cry when no one is watching; some go for a long walk; other's talk to a friend; have a coffee, read, sketch...... many ways , all very valid! I have tried most of them and they really work. We fail an exam; we prepare and try again. We suck at baseball;we quit and try ping pong! Some losses are easily replaceable some are not.

 

Even in the case of  some one close passing. A systematic approach to grieving exists that culminates in a final good bye. There is a finality to the whole thing and human  survival instinct ensures that life goes on. The loss slowly becomes a dull ache over the years and then a sad memory.

 

What really happens when there is no physical death but you lose an individual close to your heart? This is a real hard one! There is a very steep recovery curve here. Depending upon the individual circumstances it could take a lifetime to come to terms with it. In all cases it is a lengthy  process even when we deploy every available coping strategy. I have heard it can be done! My own experience differs though. Maybe I am weak.

 

Can you lose the same person twice in a life time?  Yeah; I know; some of the God's chosen do have all the luck! No body is dead but everyone wishes they were not even born ever! The stench of loss becomes so pronounced that you can smell it oozing out of every cell in your body. It permeates everything you see, hear or touch. It places you on the precipice of a deep bottomless gorge. Taking the last step into the void feels like relief!

Can there be any recovery from such a colossal loss? One will have to live with this festering malignancy to the end of their days and just pray- pray for an early release from this jail called  the human world.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Death of a Quarter!

During my  school days my mother always packed a lunch for me. It was extremely rare for me to bring any money and buy my lunch like a lot of other kids used to. Primarily because my mom believed that outside food is not healthy and more importantly there was not a lot of spare cash in the house. On the rare occasion I got any money instead of  a home packed lunch , it was around 5  Paisa; 1/20 of a Rupee. It was sufficient . To see and hold a quarter Rupee coin was a  rare curiosity and a very exciting thing for me. In such a scenario one of my classmates used to bring a quarter every day  to splurge during lunch break and  once in a while he would bring two quarters. On that day the generous soul that he was would warn a couple of us in advance of the party we can expect . It would invariably fall on my shoulders to buy stuff for one quarter and he would buy with the other quarter for 3 or 4 kids to gorge on junk food. I would eat my home food as well as all of that junk  ! Did not want folks at home to know about this. As I  spent someone else's money I always wondered how nice it would be if that quarter became entirely mine to do as I please and not just as a designated purchase officer. Quarter coin  was the stuff my childhood dreams were made of!

Well, I realized my dream as time passed  on and eventually I  had access to a quarter of my own . In fact  I had  many quarters to do as I please. But by then it had lost some of its purchasing power. You could still buy a  big safety match box or two cadbury's chocolate eclairs; a cup of cardamom tea or a good quality filter cigarette or even a three pack condom. It was money that could buy you a big bunch of green coriander. Enough to flavour your curries for a week. It would buy  two banana's or a  heavenly mango. In winter you could buy a medium sized guava,cut to your satisfaction  sprinkled with black pepper and rock salt or a  small bag of toasted peanuts or a "barbequed on coal fire" sweet potato which happens to be the best thing ever in this world. For me at least! A quarter was still money! And yesterday that coin of my dreams died ! It was withdrawn from circulation. It is no more a legal tender.  It became Just a piece of inert metal. Adios , my dream! You gave me a  goal,a lot of hope and happiness. Go now and  rest in Peace ! God bless you!


You have to wake up from your dreams in the end! There does not seem to be any other option. Even the place I live in currently , only use of a Quarter coin is as a token to release the shopping cart outside the grocery store. It is not unusual to find a cart  with the coin in it already . People no longer bother to take it back since You can't buy anything with it. Even in the dollar store ! Everything is a dollar or more; obviously.  It is just a reflection of life. Our dreams are like that quarter. Far from reach in the beginning. And eventually when we reach it we find that the "quarter" has lost value dramatically. Sometimes it is worthless.


No matter how many kind of quarters die on you. Quarters are what dreams are made of. The trick is to never stop dreaming. There are other unreachable coins out there. You never know how quickly they will come within grasp. It maybe sooner than in the past before they turn impotent or die.And boy, just like my school days you will be able to gorge to your hearts content! Hopefully along with everyone dear to you.