I'm Feeling Lucky

Most of us have a tendency to take things for granted. That's natural of course since the mind doesn't bother to think about something which will not affect our lives in any way(or so it thinks). But just think about it; there are more than 10 million species of living beings in this planet, out of which we were born as humans, the single most advanced and intelligent of them all.

For this simple reason, I feel myself so lucky to be able to sense and experience so many aspects of the world and nature which I would have missed otherwise. I have the ability to appreciate art, and to study and know about so many things. I would have been simply squashed under something if I was just a cockroach(though I can still get squashed under a truck on the road if I am not careful but probabilities are much higher for a cockroach; and also I am not trying to imply that insects are useless, they are wonderful creatures and I admire them too), or eaten up by some lizard. And that brings us to the prime advantage of being a human; they don't have any predators. Normally, animals constantly have to be on the lookout for predators. But since we don't have to deal with them we can spend our time in more productive ways. It is hard for me to imagine myself always living a life of fear hiding from creatures who want to eat me(Sadly though, this is also one of the factors for the uncontrolled growth of human population)

I feel myself even luckier, being born in a time of cutting edge technology and scientific advancement. Even as recently as 50 years ago, many current technologies did not even exist. And rate of growth is phenomenal. 30 years ago, we didn't even have a proper PC. The World Wide Web came to existence only 19 years ago! And see where it is today. I am 14 now, so by the time I get old (if I'm lucky enough to avoid fatal diseases or accidents)I might as well get to see flying cars or even people living on the moon!

And apart from my good timing, I even consider myself very fortunate being able to lead a comfortable life in a middle class family, because even many humans have to live in constant poverty(I know that I am just a child and haven't seen the difficulties of life but even then I would still be better off than someone begging on the streets). I pity the poor people when I see them in their miserable condition. There are orphans who did not get the love of a mother and a father; at least I have my parents near me. There are children who work when they are supposed to be going to school; at least I have access to good education.

Many times I see people complaining of so many things; they couldn't get the specific brand of shoes they wanted, they couldn't attend some party, work stress, even my own classmates complaining of exam stress. But just think of these people for a moment and we will find that our problems are nothing in front of theirs.

Some say luck does not exist, some say it does. As for me, life is beautiful.

Life, Death and Beyond

I'm sure everyone of us must have thought about this at least once at some point of time in their lives(if not yet then they will for sure). How were we born, what was that feeling of coming into existence, how does death feel like, where do we go after death, why do we die in the first place, what is our purpose on coming to earth, what is the purpose of life if one has to die someday?


Questions like these have fascinated, amazed, confused, frustrated and even angered people from almost all cultures since the dawn of human existence. They all try to solve this sort of problem. There is this line from the song bhaja govindam by Sri Adi Shankara

का ते कान्ता कस्ते पुत्रः संसारोऽयमतीव बिचित्रः
कस्ते त्वं कः कुत आयातः तत्वं चिन्तय तदिह भ्रातः

ka te kanta kaste putrah samsaroayamativa vichitrah
kaste twam kah kuta ayatah tatwam chintaya tadih bhratah

The word to word translation and meaning is
Who is your wife, who is your son, this world is very strange.
Who is yours, who are you, where are you from, that you must think here my brother.

In the end however they either acknowledge the fact that they cannot find answers to these questions within their human limitations or develop some sort of explanation of their own (giving rise to superstitions).

But the process of thinking all about all these situations brings about and makes us realize many things about life and how precious it is. They also bring about a sense of gratitude towards that one force or something that has given them life and the ability to live it and the chance to experience its wonders. Some call God (many in fact), some do not. They also bring that sense of felling small or powerlessness in front of the huge world and everything in it or the entire universe for that matter, that though we as human beings have progressed so much by virtue of our intelligence and yet there are so many things that we don't know of. It helps us to remain in our bounds and does not let us fall victims to our own pride and vanity.

So no matter how hard we think about death, birth, rebirth and all other metaphysical matters, we may never get answers. But the thinking process itself makes us appreciate things we may never have otherwise and hence leads us to lead happier lives.