The 3rd AIMS International Conference at Indian Institute of Management, IIM Ahmedabad 

Me nd my looks.. is it the french connection... who cares... 

At Kaup Beach, Near Manipal, Udipi, Karnataka 

"u only see what your eyes want to see...."

Thought perception and its concurrent distortion

Isn't it ironical. Have you ever thought about the fact that at every corner and perhaps smallest moment of our lives, we go through this intricate maze of situations and events whereby we have to take decisions, react in response to an event occurring in our surroundings. The event may or may not affect our lives at all whatsoever We are in this maze of various events. And at every crossroad, we are given a number of paths from which we select one and proceed to the next realm of existence. At times we just take roads because we have to select one out of a number various options. At times, out of the various paths there may be this particular route which goes smooth, unattached whatsoever to any situation. Yet it is a human tendency, wherein we ignore this obvious path, and choose for a path that is perhaps suggesting or embossing a particular point of view.

Usually the common folk call it as forming an opinion. It is considered to be the natural course of action whereby the common folk consider it as their natural born intellectual and fundamental right to perceive things and forming an opinion. They look into the situation and then as per the judicious use of intellect and underlying selfish motives, a particular response is formed. A smug of satisfaction is derived once an opinion is formed. Primarily what happens in the psyche of a person is that he see a given situation and then tries to evaluate on various factors like social acceptability, self motives, benefits, manipulation, morality or innumerable other factors. An individual sees the various aspects and weighs the pros and cons of a particular point of view and then after various battles between the heart and the mind, between logic and emotions, between sanity and insanity, between the left and the right hemispheres of the brain, finally one path is selected. One point of view is justified to the mind and then we confer it the status of an undisputable law. We convince ourselves that the decision that we have taken is the most appropriate one. So much that we become ready to defend our perception at all costs. At times, we convince ourselves about our perception so strongly that it becomes difficult to imagine a difference of opinion. Its as if one part of us convinces the other part of us in totality that the point of view that we deem correct is indeed the best course of action and that it is undisputable under any circumstance. We remove all elements of doubt whatsoever from our mind.

All of us, have various measures and yardsticks, rather a set of codes to define our interactions with the society. There are a set of guidelines based on which we interact with the world. We, ourselves have a particular image amongst people as well as within us. We have a general image of the kind of person we are. Perhaps unconsciously or consciously, based on our past years of existence, we know the kind of person we are. We develop a certain notion on the kind of person we are and how people perceive us. This may be largely attributed to various factors. Often in our early developing years, we build up an image of the kind of person we want to be and correspondingly as years go by, we become to a large extent an image of the portrait we had made in our mind years ago. We react in a particular way. We think in a particular way. We carry ourselves in the society in a particular way. We present ourselves in a particular way. Every minuscule part of our interaction with the world is in a way according to the person we are and the image we have amongst people. Initially, we only have an image amongst people, but gradually we become an integrated part of the image to such an extent that we as a person and our image become inseparable. Based on the person we are and our thought process, we move forward in our life and face various hurdles and challenges.

We think we have attained maturity. We know how the world works and how we move forward. We often think we are stable, calm and mature. We are strong as a rock and no one can change us or move us whatsoever. We think of ourselves as the undying force that has never been questioned by people since ages. But what we don’t really understand is that we contribute our so called maturity to the lack of real challenges. A real challenge is one that actually shatters you and your whole concept of stability and makes you start all over again.

The biggest irony in life is that life puts us on a crossroad which we have faced many times before. A sensible question arising from you is that what is the irony if we are put on a crossroad which we might have faced innumerable times earlier. Like I said before, we are often put on a crossroad wherein we have a number of paths to choose from and based on our decisive powers we select one path which we deem best. We select a viewpoint and endorse it with our approval. In future whenever we are in a similar situation or a crossroad, we have no difficulty in selecting the path, based on our past experience. What is ironical is the situation under which we are put on the same crossroad.

The big difference is the situation under which we are put to test. Often there comes a time in our life, which jolts us hard enough to wake us up from our peaceful dream and smell the coffee. A time when we are put to test by facing a situation that is different from anything that we might expect. The situation that is called “The Unexpected”. A situation which rocks every aspect of our existence and questions our very own maturity and stability that we proudly flaunt. A situation which we never expect or a situation that violates us in every aspect forcibly and then blatantly stares at us in the eye and questions us with a naked fury and anger “What are you going to do now ?” It’s as if destiny is picking up a fight on us, unnecessarily provoking us, intimidating us and challenging us. Life is trapping us into the claws of a situation from which we can’t run away from. We simply have to face the situation. A situation that is perhaps crushing us and pulling is into whirlpool of humiliation or social mockery and you just can’t run away from it. It is this painful situation where you yourselves dig your nails deep into your own skin, deep enough to make you wince in pain and bleed, yet not letting you take the nails off. You cry with tears of blood which flow endlessly but even they don’t give you respite from the humiliation and ostracism. You feel like a fool and all your maturity and stability suddenly vanish. You look helpless and naked, nowhere to run or hide. Perhaps life makes us face the worst times and the worst situations. Yet at times, the worst times and situations bring the very best out of us. Everything changes.

You must be wondering as to what is it that I am trying to convey. Well the basic essence of what I am saying is that usually we go through our lives based on our set of principles and yardsticks, based on our thought process and our way of thought perception. We feel comfortable with the way our life goes on and we think we have achieved maturity. We have a way of thinking and a way to look out of the window and perceive the truth. Yet, there comes a time in our life which changes everything. It violates us and challenges us and perhaps humiliates us. It is like a nightmare. And there might be a situation where we have to take a point of view that is completely in contradiction to our usual thought process. We might have to support a point of view which we were totally against. We might end up advocating for a point of view that we might have been totally been against. This is the biggest irony, which reveals how vulnerable we are despite all our self induced stability or the false picture that we pretend to portray in society. How pathetic we get, by justifying a fact at one point of time and suddenly defying it in totality at the next point. We don’t do it with our own will, we are forced to base on the situations that we face.

This is the essence of thought perception and its concurrent distortion. It is all a part of a game. We only see what we want to see. We twist and distort reality in every possible manner only to suit us. We change our thought process to suit ourselves. The reality is that to any given situation, there are innumerable ways to tackle it. There are innumerable numbers of perceptions. If you see an object placed in front of you, there are different images formed based on the way you decide to look at it. You can look at the object in innumerable ways based on your angle of view in a 3 dimensional plane. Similarly, every crossroad constituting a situation, there are many ways to tackle it. And there are lots of people who support each point of view. Madonna says the same in her song Frozen “You only see what your eyes want to see.. …”. There is nothing in this world that can be termed as correct or incorrect. It is all a matter of how you see things. What may seem suitable for one group of people, the same may seem vehemently incorrect for another group. In fact any one particular individual also faces the same situation. What he deems as apt and right may suddenly become not so apt. Its all a game of kaleidoscope. You rotate it and the picture changes. You rotate it more and a newer picture emerges.

Everything depends on the basis on which you judge things. If you see Mettalica video “Turn the page”, it addresses a similar issue. If we are asked for our views about prostitution, most people categorize it as immoral trafficking of flesh, dirty, nasty and the list goes on. But if you see the video, it presents the other side of the story. It gives you the point of view which is firmly held by people who are termed as sex workers. To them it is nothing incorrect. They justify their means of livelihood as a means for providing a better future for their children. While I am not taking sides, I am simply saying how a simple thing like prostitution finds support from different type of people.

If you talk about one individual changing his point of view in course of time, the best example that comes to my mind is that of a person who has fallen out of love. How easily we change our point of view and it surprises us as well. A person who falls into love for the first time, has such dreamy eyes and the most beautiful image about life. He is so engrossed in his love affair that he can’t think of anything else. He gets entwined with his love to such an extent that he can’t open his eyes and look what is happening around. He is blinded by lust and passion. He thinks of his existence is connected in totality with his romance. He finds it difficult to imagine the worst that can happen to him. He doesn’t know how life would be without the person he loves. Deserting in the middle of an affair seems to be the biggest nightmare. And the irony is that when the biggest nightmare comes true, the same person justifies the other point of view. He stops believing in love. He looks at how ugly life can be. He goes through the ugly part of life and he finds surprised at how easily the boy with long dreamy eyelashes suddenly changes and becomes the man who doesn’t believe in love whatsoever.

To look at life in a spiritual level, it is simply a journey that we make. There is nothing that can be deemed correct and nothing can be deemed incorrect. All that matters is what you believe in. what seems correct to the mind, body and soul is what is correct. And perhaps, change is the essence which has made human civilization progress time immemorial. Change in any possible way leads to different theories and hypothesis’s. Change is what humans fear most. Every human action has an underlying motive to make life stable. Perhaps with the various possible ways of perception, it leads to different points of view and newer ideologies. This is the essence of human societies. Different concepts and thoughts arise. Some persist, some decay. But what survives permanently is enthusiasm and zeal with which we look at life and face new challenges. Perhaps as we perceive and concurrently distort, we contribute to the development of human civilization by preventing stagnation of the mind.

A seven-mile walk is not easy in the rain.

This is story was authored in a span of jus 5 minutes....

A seven-mile walk is not easy in the rain. I realized this the next morning. Head throbbing and spinning, throat dry, trying to emerge from the hang over last night.

All seemed blurred. Vision marred. Walking like a zombie down the road. Having no sense of direction, you go on and on the never-ending path to horizon.

Drinking all night alone in loneliness, I finally drag myself outside for a gasp of fresh breath. I lit a cigarette and walk on.

Life was filled with loneliness. Only companion I had was my solitude and my cigarettes. Friends for lifetime. Walking out at night, I roam down the road and see this beautiful and petite lady standing alone smoking a cigarette. She seemed to be just another mirror image of myself, one who is standing all alone and smoking in tranquility and serenity.

It starts raining and pouring. I have no senses. People are running around for shelter. But let them. Should I ? Why should I? Nothing else matters. I have my friend like always. My friend is there through all times. Suddenly I look and see that this friend is no more. The rain has attacked and preyed on my friend, washing and drowning away its existence.

I see the last cigarette in my chest pocket. The last of my companions. I search for a match stick but I seem to have none. Desperation is gradually engulfing me as I see my friend looking up to me in anticipation and begging me to bring him to life. My friend is asking me for my companionship and I can’t refuse him. I look back at him reassuringly and try to search for a light.

I approach the lady. She smiles. I smile. With a sense of urgency to counter the loneliness, a few greetings are exchanged in the rain. She holds my hand and looks back reassuringly just the way I looked at my cigarette and starts to walk. She starts leading me down the road as if she has all the answers to my uncertainty. At a deserted stretch of road, she comes close to me. My head is still spinning and vision blurred but acknowledging whatever is happening. She pulls me towards herself and locks me in an embrace. Her warm breath so near me. For an instance this moment doesn’t seem to end and I’m in this frenzied psychedelic void from which I can’t emerge.

From nowhere emerge the ghosts. The ghost is after me like always and is coming towards me. A group of four goons are approaching me from one side. They are running towards trying to pull me down. The cops are coming from the other side. I try to analyze but I can’t. All I can do is panic. And so I do. Lightening crackles and the sky is ablaze for an instance and for that instance the realizations dawns upon me. I realize the mess I am in. Being heavily drunk, standing with a prostitute near Times House in the vicinity of a graveyard and surrounded by goons and cops from both side, I realize its time to run. I try to run but I don’t seem to be having any place.

All my life I have been running and so again I start running. I run for my life like an animal. He bile and booze coming up my throat, but senseless, feet numb, throat dry and vision blurred. I look back and nothing. I look ahead and nothing. Darkness and rain still behind me.

Somewhere I fall and I have no sense afterwards.

Next thing I know is someone is waking me up. I see this rickshaw charlie waking me up. It is dawn. The sun is about to rise. I see myself fallen on a milestone on the highway. I stand up but my legs refuse. I fall down back into the slush. I take the support of this small milestone and get up finally. It read 7 miles. I realized I had run all night for 7 miles. For what? For nothing? No this can’t be.

I see my friend still looking up in anticipation. I take him out, give him the honor of my lips and my hand reaches down to the pocket and I feel something solid. I stop momentarily running my hands down the length of this solid object. What is this?

A lighter. A lighter in my pocket and still I ran for 7 miles.

Nah! A seven mile walk in the rain is not easy but trust me, its worth the it for the ecstasy and satisfaction you get from the cigarette after the last drink.

I smile and walk away thinking of the Johnny walker ad Keep Walking and laugh out loudly on myself. Finally like always I was Me, Myself And My Milds.