People are almost always scared it seems to me at times. The fear is so real, that it hits you hard as an observer if you are paying attention to what goes on around you. It manifests itself everywhere, in every small thing that they do. It manifests itself in the words that are spoken and becomes such a part of the person that even in a small and meaningless triviality, the fear dominates words and actions.
It is so real that you can't be yourself. You can't say what you want to. It is the reason for the formation of herds. The fear of standing out leads to the desire of being considered as one of the crowd. The fear of being labelled an outcast leads of the suppression of any ideas and thoughts that deviate from the accepted norm. The fear of being rejected for yourself, leads to donning the personality of someone else......someone acceptable.....someone normal....
Why can't people say what they want to? It's the fear. If you don't like someone, to my mind, the easiest thing is to stay away and make it very clear that you wish to have nothing to do with him or her. It is not a very difficult thing to do.....if you try. And that is where the crux lies. For that is what most people are too scared of doing. It's reflected so frequently that people don't even realise it's happening.....
Guy1: Hey dude! How're things going?
Guy2: Cool man. Just came from a lecture. What about you? Everything fine?
Guy1: Yeah! Anyway, got a lecture to attend man.....wish they'd scarp the attendance rules.
Guy2: Yeah man, really.....anyway, you coming for the party tonight?
Guy1: Yeah....of course. How could I miss it?
Guy2: Haha! Thought so. See ya there man.....Ciao
Guy1: Yeah man....see ya....
Guy1 to partner: That guy is such an asshole.
Meanwhile Guy2 to partner: I hate that chap man...really I just hate him....
So, essentially the conversation served no purpose other than wasting time for both parties and catering to their fears. The fear of being disliked....of not being accepted by everyone....the fear of not being cool. The entire thing stinks of hypocrisy...and yet, it is exactly what people do....day in and day out.....smile at people they hate, joke around with people they abhor.
OK, this is a part of the post that somehow seems to have got lost in that awesome problem I had with the comments as well….
In “By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept”, he says, and I quote:
Love is always new. Regardless of whether we love once, twice or a dozen times in our life, we always face a brand new situation. Love can consign us to hell or to a paradise, but it always takes us somewhere. We simply have to accept it, because it is what nourishes our existence. If we reject it, we die of hunger, because we lack the courage to stretch out a hand and pluck the fruit from the branches of the tree of life. We have to take love where we find it, even if that means hours, days, weeks of disappointment and sadness. The moment we begin to seek love, love begins to seek us."
So, here he is arguing that one could quite possibly fall in love several times and with several different people. And that the feelings are different. There isn’t just one “love”. I had posted on this sometime earlier. I don't for a minute believe in the idea of "seeking love" though. It's not like a stone or even the proverbial needle in the haystack, that one can look for!!!! Anyway, he's hardly worth the dissection, so I'll let that rest.... Anyway, now let’s look at something else he says and what he means there.
In “The Alchemist”, his most popular work, he says, and again, I quote:
“It's easy to understand that someone in the world awaits you, whether it's in the middle of the desert or in some great city. And when two such people encounter each other, and their eyes meet, the past and the future become unimportant. There is only that moment, and the incredible certainty that everything under the sun has been written by one hand only. It is the hand that evokes love, and creates a twin soul for every person in the world. Without such love, one's dreams would have no meaning. Maktoub."
So, here the great idiot is arguing that “someone, somewhere is made for you”. It’s that detestable fairy-tale concept of love, which I truly hate. It also runs totally against the line of thought expressed in the previous verse from “By the River…” Like I said, he’s just a big hypocrite. And there are people who think he’s a “philosopher”. There are people who “live by his lines”. Errr…..which of them do you live by, may I ask??? Humbug! Then again, when you have feet of clay, I guess so will your idols…..
9 comments:
Coelho, an ideal? Nah, that's taking it a lil too far, really! At best a fiction writer, that's it. His Eleven Minutes sucked big time by the way.
As for other people not leaving you alone, it's true. They hate you coz they would've liked to be you, only they are too scared to be anything so radical as being who they actually are!
And it starts early, have seen it happening even in school. People always want everyone to conform, coz they conformed. How dare someone not meet their norms? How dare they differ?
oops, I mean an idol, not an ideal!
Hmm......a few other comments also lost along with the ofensive ones.....anyway, to repeat:
Neeta: I don't mean that he is an "idol", but I know several who do truly believe his hypocritical statements and idolise him in a metaphorical sense and there are also people who actually think of that nutter as a real philosopher. So, while I used the phrase as a metaphor, it is essentially true....it is also meant to be a more sweeping statement than just a statement on the feelings for Coelho....
Anon: Read that comment of yours before it got deleted. Yes, I agree with what you said......
very true... man
Awwrighetyy...lemme me put it this way.I dont understand how books can change lives,but yes,they can make you think.
The reason I recommend 'The Alchemist' to my pals is for them to know abt the 'Your calling in life' funda.It's no doubt,very imp for one to know wht his/her calling in life is.And realising your ignorance abt the same is the first step towards realising it.
Hypocrites,Mike...we all are.The degree might differ.But a world without hypocrisy is equal to a world with peace.Both impossible.
To me the problem is not so much hypocrisy itself. I have acknowledged earlier that each person in the world is a hypocrite at some point or the other. What astounds me though is the extent of hypocrisy. With so many people it pervades every facet of their being! They don't even know who they are any longer. the herd drives them, their own thoughts are stifled to the point that they are often just subconscious. It is something that is not pitiable any more....it is despicable....it is this that I speak of, not of....
As for Alchemist, there isn't a single thing in that book that appealed to me. I actually found it a bunch of tripe....something lacking in any semblance of substance. A piece of silly fiction written to appeal to the hordes of starry-eyed people in the world....just my opinion of course....
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