Reluctance

Its interesting to notice that there is such a longing for change and very little acceptance for the same. this is no blanket statement but its amusing to note that change is ridiculed and longed at the same time. it maybe the human need to exercise control, implying that not only do we want change we also want to control exactly what kind of change we want and where we want it.

that form of reluctance to change is still heard of. if you thought human reluctance ends there..READ ON. recently i had a lecture on Gandhi in college, it was about the father of our nation as spoken of by a biographer called Eric whose second name now i forget. anyway the lecturer was talking about Gandhi's sex life...not that i missed the curtain-fall silence in class. but the interesting thing happened at home when i shared this with my parents and other adults. they found it hilarious. In his time, Gandhi had been quite verbal about this aspect of his life; his journey to the vow to celibacy..but people i spoke to rejected the concept even though they had heard various manifestations of this idea of Gandhi.

it made me think about the Gandhi my father introduced me to as a little girl through books and stories. was it Gandhi the person or the Gandhi the propaganda? was the father of our nation becoming a projection without even knowing it? why is it so hard for people to accept that Gandhi was a human..and that like other human beings he had different dimensions to his personality..that he too is quite capable of erring?

if the hushing was because of the topic of sex..PLEASE!! don't even get me started on how sexually explicit the Hindu way of life is. our Shiva lingam, our carvings in caves and the biggest testimony of all..kamasutra!!!!

if the hushing was because of some sort of conditioning that we are put through. then that needs some thinking doesn't it? you know there is really something very interesting about the human mind. when we get some new information, or are exposed to something that is novel, we spend more time in trying to differentiate it and classify it into something than trying to accept it, understand it and absorb it..if there is a new actor in the industry..is he a comedian?is he an action hero? is he a melodrama king? if he isn't one then he has to be the other and if he doesn't fit..he is redundant..if that is not close mindedness then what is? if one is interacting with a space we cant identify with then she should either be a witch or be mad if she is neither???..well she has to be one of the two....it could also be our desire to make things simple..classification is often held synonymous with simplifying and filtering information.

there is something i have noticed in older people(again not making any blanket statements..its open to discourse)their experiences and life paves a shift in their way of thinking..it goes from being open-flexible to a linear way of thinking..its like moving on the road...from a junction to a one-way street...interesting are the ways of the man..

another thing..i might even be the older person i have described above..its probably the unidentifiable conditioning...or of course (the most comforting classification to all this)it could be bull crap!