Misconceptions in my life (Part 1 and 2 integrated!)

Inspired from Vatsan’s blog.. I elaborate below some of the misconceptions I have had in this 21 year old life in a chronological order. I think it’s a very good thought-extracting topic; a good writer could exploit it splendidly.

Ø The common "well-frog" syndrome. I thought the place where I lived in, Pallavaram, comprised the whole of India. Whenever we used to return from our chithi’s or athai’s house, I’d exclaim “We’re back to India” when the train grinds to a halt at the Pallavaram station.

Ø Romanticizing Rasna. I guess I had drunk about 1258 gallons of Rasna till my 8^th std. I remember the shop near our pallavaram house where the guy there, instead of handing out the drink in the form of the usual packets-cost was then 1.5 Rs-, served it in a transparent plastic glass that resembled a wine glass. I fell for it. I imagined myself getting immersed in it like a drunkard. And there was a stage when I thought perhaps Rasna was the one that was driving me. Since I was serious about this, it qualifies as a valid misconception. I’d think about images of me going to a critical stage and doctors trying out rasna as the final remedy. Wow. I open my eyes and utter the utterly boring “Where am I”.

Ø Fear of fathering a tree! I guess this is also quite common. Whenever I accidentally swallowed the seed of a sapota or an orange, I’ll be stuck in hell. “Damn. In spite of all the care and precaution!!” The next few hours, I’d pass with constant fear; sensing any abnormal movement in the stomach. “Yes. You can expect a full grown Sapota tree sprouting from your tummy within a week”, chithappa commented. He was right, I thought. If it needed nutrition, I knew my belly could provide it with plenty. Tummy was something I was quite famous for since my childhood. My friend forever. Chithappa continued, “For what else have you been provided with an umbilicus other than to allow the seeds that you accidently swallow to sprout through? Drink enough water, will you?” I pictured an enormous tree with dark brown barks jutting out of my umbilicus. Paati was winking at me signaling not to take this seriously. But I thought he talked sense. Though I ‘got lucky’ each time, the fear didn’t leave me for long!

Ø “I’m God!” I was not exactly obsessed with the thought as I regularly committed ‘sins’ . But it popped up frequently. It was not an “Aham Brahmasmi” type of thought either. More like “Ahameva Brahmam” I’m the only God. An incarnation of Shiva. I even went on to prescribe a spiritual solution to one of my friends whose father was a chain smoker. Then, when I found that a lot of the so-called sins are fun, I thought God was an idiot, not supporting any. I’m not an idiot. So I’m not God. Hence the theorem. So this seems to be the only misconception, I came out of, rationally! Jokes apart, there was one good that this misconception did to me. I used to meditate-about nothing or meditate about some things I found intriguing- during those times, fuelled by this thought perhaps. That itself could have revealed the truth that I’m not God or that I’m not the only God rather. It just proves that whatever path you take, if you take it seriously, it will ultimately lead you to the Truth; Even if the initial path was totally out of phase with the Truth.

Ø Married to the answer paper! Every time I tie the answer sheets during an exam using the thread given to us-( I make sure I tighten the knot thrice-), I’ll have a uneasy feeling that I’ve been wedded to the papers. And worst of all… “Will this paper give rise to baby papers? Will they come looking for me” And when I confront my parents or paati with this fear of mine, all I got was a “Chi.!”.

Ø Thatha is immortal. You should have seen him. He was, by the conventional definition of age, 68. But he had the enthu and strength that you could expect from a 25 year old. Still had taut muscles and a ganeer vibrant voice.. Had great penchant for carnatic music. The only minor things that betrayed his age were the grey hairs and his bald head. He’d come by 6.30 in the morning to our pallavaram house, just blocks away from his’ which we call paati veedu, , freshly bathed smelling of Lifebuoy, Vibuthi pattai and a slender wet sandal streak lining his forehead. He’d glance at The Hindu, argue with my dad on political matters- was an ardent reader of Thuglak and a staunch supporter of BJP- I saw him as a sleep-destroyer rather. He used to walk for several miles per day buying vegetables in the T-Nagar market for the families of all his three daughters in chennai. He constantly urged us to walk. Leg Motor Service, he called it passionately. I hated walking back then. No amount of cajoling will make him relent. And no Rasna-my favorite life saving rasna- on the way home from the pallavaram station, a long winding 3 km journey. His house was his favorite friend really. He was with it as it took shape from a clump of bricks oddly arranged to a complete house named Jaya Nivas.. Very few have been the circumstances when the house was locked up without anyone during the night. Whatever be the situation he’ll make it a point to return to it at the end of the day. He watered all the trees lifting water from the well and by making up channels to the individual trees. Switching on the motor was a rare event. Obviously we never saw him suffering from any disease. No cold or cough. He was immortal obviously. Death licking thatha was unimaginable. But cancer made it possible; cancer, that was known only to attack people inside the TV box-. We were more stunned than saddened. Like Priam watching the statue of Apollo getting desecrated. Though he was horribly struck down by the disease, we still picture him as the strong, smiling one carrying two hefty bags of vegetables to our house.

Ø Action and reaction acts on the same body.

I had this misconception, surprisingly, till my fourth sem - after passing Engineering mechanics with an A grade. I’m stunned with the present educational system permitting people to complete a course with a good aggregate even when they are actually very weak in the basics. The third law was obviously wrong I thought, only applicable to static conditions when the body rests on a surface. It has equal action and reaction acting on it then. But for dynamic situations the action and reaction will turn out to be different. I recently saw the postings of a guy in physicsforums.com asking “Imagine a javelin is thrown right into the eye of a person tearing it into shreds- a horrible scenario actually-. How can action and reaction be equal? Why are you people so adamantly holding onto a law which you know is wrong?” This captures the essence of the feeling , I had, regarding the third law.

The following are more ‘serious ‘misconceptions, though I personally feel there isn’t any fundamental difference. We learn and unlearn continuously and as long as we’re open. They are serious in the sense my present world view is new and recently evolved from these misconceptions-previous world views- :)

Ø “My life is much better than that of these!” This is a thought that often crossed my mind seeing say, a woman in a crumpled saree waiting in the bus stand with her child, a construction worker, peddlers in the beach, small shop owners-the kind of shops existing only to sell cigarettes, beedis and sodas- etc. I actually thought they couldn’t enjoy even a moment’s happiness. Their life is doomed. They are dying to live a life like me. (Though I now wonder what made me feel so; my life had always been what one would be tempted to call ‘much below average’ – Not a single sports event won-not with this tummy, no!, Essay competitions-no! orator-No no.. Padips? First rank all the time?- no way! Alright damn it. Atleast a gang around me doing something worthwhile like picking up fights? – uhh. I didn’t even have the courage to watch a realtime fight, fearing the stray bullet, let alone start one. Then what, I still wonder. The interesting thing is that just as I thought these people would be dying to have a life like me, I yearned to have a life like those of some people I met viz., relatives with air-conditioned houses and refrigerators whose side doors were lined with juice bottles, guys in funky wears, sporting cool gadgets and bikes, and the ones who effortlessly lectured on a plethora of topics making people awed.-chronologically arranged here too-. I haven’t completely come out of this misconception yet. Blame it on human frailty.

Ø “Brahmins are the brightest and brilliant. SCs don’t have brains!” Yes. See the world around. Most successful persons are Brahmins. Kamal, Sujatha, Kasthuri rangan,Rajaji, M.S.Swamintathan, M.S.Subbulakshmi, and me! :D Brahmins, I thought, were gifted by God himself- Perumal, Shiva or Brahma, I was not sure. The last, likely. SCs are ditched with no brains. They are a bunch of idiots. They cannot have analytical ability or logical thinking. It just wouldn’t make sense. Screw the ones who talk of equality. Don’t they see for themselves that there is a vast difference? Brahmins’ genes are specially crafted, I felt; A funny thing about genes. People love burdening the genes with all these responsibilities without having the faintest idea what it is. So initially my hatred for the quota system was purely because it sought to hurt the Brahmins. It irked me to see a lot of SCs and BCs having got a fraction of my Cut-off, yet having comfortably got a seat in IT, which I so coveted but ended up in Automobile.

Ø Humans are the most superior of all the creations; God’s favorite. He was the one destined to do all the great things- even controlling other animals and the environment as a whole. The whole eco-system lived at the mercy of humans. This is what the alarmists and make-the- world-“greener” propagandists still believe or want to believe.” Save the other species” is just a reaffirmation of their Human superiority theory. And I did believe in it too.. As if there is nothing else to believe in. Just like the child goes on from school to undergrad college to doing MBA(in India atleast) as if that’s the God-guided way to live. Similarly the Human superiority theory had been forced into my thinking from early on. Crichton opened my eyes. A further reading and contemplating made me aware of the complexity of life and the trivial role we assume in the giant scheme of things. I came out of this and the previous misconception in this way. When nature preferring humans sound stupid, her preferring a section of humans called Brahmins now seems ridiculous! Classify and you can go on classifying endlessly. Unify and you can go on unifying endlessly. Reaching "1" feels more beautiful than reaching infinity ; hence i prefer the latter. A hundred years from now-along the alarmists’ way-, believe me, the world will be much peaceful and serene.

Ø Discovery, Nat-geo etc are sources of flawless information

This is perhaps the usual misconception we tend to have after getting bored by the kind of shit we see in the regional channels. No need of mentioning the conventional high regard we’ve for the foreigners (from US and Europe I mean). I too had it; loads of scientific equipments, animations, great illustrations. These guys rock. No screwing around here, i thought. But Einstein’s view that “Insanity is infinite” is true. I’d suggest you watch Kolangal instead of Smash Club. :D

(Caveat: I'm just saying they are not always perfect and 100% true but always much better than watching a mega serial)