Sustained Pleasure, Instant Gratification

Evolution, they say, is merely change, and so is all-pervasive. The world continues on its course, pre destined or laboured and subconsciously keeps evolving as well. This brings us back to the age old theory of Karma - Our actions today shape our future. Let’s separate ourselves from our body for a moment, because that is what we know of ourselves. Evolution & Karma will continue long after we are gone as it was long before we were born. So, is my course of life going to influence the coming generations as well? Am I not what I made of myself through my actions? Is there a role played by my ancestors and the historic world in shaping me up as well? Are they still active in my life? The answer is yes, and that is what evolution means. Which means that my Karma will affect the coming generations, as the growth of my mind in the 70 yrs that I live will determine where the next generation’s mind starts from.

So what am I supposed to do? Keep working hard to fulfill my ambitions, or worry about the state of my mind to positively influence the next generation? The answer lies in my ambitions. What are my ambitions? What are anybody’s ambitions? All ambition is nothing but one- achieving something that gives us complete satisfaction. The routes may be different, but the goal is the same. So the next question is how many of us know what complete satisfaction is. Not many I’m afraid.

As I dig deep into my memories, I can’t think of a moment in my life when I was completely satisfied; when I knew that I have achieved what I set out to, through my honest and sincere efforts. The only thing I can infer from this is that complete satisfaction cannot be achieved by achieving the goals you set out for yourselves. Wait, this leads me somewhere. I remember being completely satisfied before my 10th standard exams started, because I really enjoyed studying. Not even for a moment do I remember thinking about the result. I was simply too happy studying to think about my goals. On the first day of my exam, however, all the satisfaction changed to restlessness, because the idea of the result took birth in my mind. So, it is impossible to be satisfied with the result, as there is always something better that we could do, somewhere.

In this world of fast food & teasers how do we get complete satisfaction, and that’s important, as it will have a bearing on the coming generations. I think the only answer to that is to stop feeding the body and start feeding the mind and the soul for a moment. Lets immerse ourselves in the quiet pleasure of the smell of books and the silence of the library, the energy of arts and the dynamics of the static. For once you will mean it when you say “the pleasure was all mine”.

The idea is to bring books and art on the same platform, as we all know that nothing has shaped the human race more than books & art. Despite the Herculean role played by these two fields in shaping the society and despite the fact that both the media are nothing but two sides of the same coin, they haven’t been brought together.

The idea is to take a reservoir of knowledge, liven it up with energy, stir it with drama, process it with our free minds, unify it with the diversity of people and feed our souls.

Let us slow down for a moment and enjoy the sustained pleasure of this song, before thinking of the next.