Life.

Alright, i think i have dabbled enough with humour or atleast attempts at humour! I think its high time i wrote something serious. For one thing, if one jokes too much, there is the danger of not being taken seriously ever! For another, as my good friend Jack would say, there would be no "spice in life"!

I thought long and hard about what i could write about. Then i realized that the thinking was consuming too much of my energy and decided that i would write about what most philosophers and want-to-be philosophers would form their first opinions on. Life. Even if i searched far and wide, i would not come up with a more complex, more abstract, more sought after, more debateable topic than this! Besides, life is so complicated and deep that no matter how many different perspectives have already been offered to explain it, one can come up with new insights if only one gave it enough thought. For any aspiring philosophers out there, i would suggest one important thing. Before you start ruminating on the meaning of life, do make sure that you have either already had a hearty meal or are in the middle of a light snack if the last meal has proven to be inadequate. I speak from experience; all this thinking just makes one terribly hungry! No wonder wise men have said that one needs food for thought!

Not that i have read many philosophical treatises. But i have definitely read people's home grown theories; the ones that appear in the middle of a long and involved story, usually followed by interesting insights into how the particular theory is going to help the protagonist get on with his/her life! The most prominent trend in these situations is to present an analogy. For example, life is like riding a bicycle, life is like a box of chocolates, life is like an onion(oh yes, ask me about it later and i shall explain that one!), life is a quest and so on. My favourite one is the one with the box of chocolates, for obvious reasons! So i decided that i would present an analogy too.

Well, i think that life is like sailing a ship. When its calm and peaceful, you have the most wonderful time and feel grateful for just being there. The sights and smells and sounds are so exquisite that you cant ever have enough of them. You refuse to think that even placid waters might one day turn into an angry and avenging force. But they do, and thats when your mettle is tested. To survive, you have to stay focussed and keep believing that you are going to see calm seas once again. But most importantly, you have to know when to hold on to the helm and fight against the elements and when to just let go. And if you survive, and the sea has raged itself out, life becomes wonderful once more. The sea tests you all the time, just like life does. Shallow waters, deep oceans, rocky enclaves, blinding storms, pirate ships(??) are all part of the same journey. It takes patience, fortitude, skill, hope and an unquenchable zest for exploration and adventure to live through it all.(Actually it all fits in beautifully and i believe i have come up with a near perfect analogy. Well, the only thing that i cant explain satisfactorily is this concept of sea-sickness! How can you explain life making people throw up?? Any suggestions?)

I have to admit that it might be possible that someone somewhere must have thought of this one too! After all, phrases like "troubled waters" "smooth sailing" and "at the helm of things" must have orginated from someone's imagination! But i swear that i didnt borrow this idea from anyone! You see, i came up with this one in my sleep! Right before the dream about prince charming sweeping me off my feet! Well, now you have to believe me right??