Randomness

Randomness plays a huge part in our day-to-day lives. Whether we like it or not, we want it or not, it does affect us in many ways, shapes our behavior and thinking, and many times, the path we choose is the result of how we react to many random events in our lives. People may call this randomness by different names, some may call it destiny, god's will, luck, opportunities, or whatever name they find fit to describe that event. The reason why we don't call it randomness is that we humans hate randomness, we love and crave predictability. Humans love to find answers to all their questions and this is one of the main reasons for our progress so far. The innate curiosity of the human mind has resulted in many inventions and discoveries which transformed our lives dramatically. Our need to have certainty in our lives is monumental, it is evident from the ways we have structured our surroundings. This need for certainty is the reason why we invented and preserved the concept of family, marriage, homeownership, money, national boundaries, laws, etc. This list is very long and can go forever. The point is, that we strive to have certainty in our lives as much as we can, we are not comfortable when things become uncertain. At the same time, humans are curious about what's next? At some point in our lives, most of us ask the question why me (when something bad happens to us)? Or why not me (when something unusually good happens with others)?

Randomness is so prevalent in our lives that it is hard to ignore it, that is why we give call it by so many different names. Many things that happen around us are a result of random happenings. We can always find reasons once the event occurs, as it is said, it is always easy to connect the dots backward. It is easy to explain once you know the full picture after the event has happened. Most of the time we can find out why an ambulance arrived within minutes and saved someone's life or why it was late and the person couldn't be saved, why some team lost from the winning situation, why we got the job, or why we didn't, why some businesses work and why some don't. However, it is hard to predict any fullproof formula for any of these things. As I said, we try our best to structure things around us so that we can avoid randomness as much as possible, but it still plays a huge role in our lives.

So, what shall we do? Just keep quiet and wait for random things to happen to us? Definitely not. We should try our best to do what we want to do and factor in the role of randomness. If things work, good, if they don't, move on. If we try our level best, the result is not in our hands, and if it's not as per our expectation, not our fault. Remember, there are many things apart from our own efforts which can be a deciding factor towards the final result. The purpose of this post is not to discourage or demotivate anyone but to make readers aware of the role of randomness and appreciate it. Once we recognize the role of randomness we tend to focus on our own efforts and not worry overtly about the end result. Anxiety, stress, tension, etc. are parts of our day-to-day lives, many times, they help us to stay focused and act as a reminder of what needs to be done. We must use all these feelings to our advantage. Appreciate the role of randomness, maybe it will help to understand or ignore some things happening around us, including some election results that even experienced pollsters get wrong. 😀

Thanks for reading and please share your opinion about this topic. 

New Beginning

This is a new beginning for me. I used to write my diary fairly regularly. I have so many of them stacked here and also in Pune, my hometown in India. I started writing a diary when I was in school and have most of my diaries with me, telling some stories at different stages of my life, and it's always very interesting to go back and read a few chapters from your own life. My life has been a very incredible journey so far, full of very interesting encounters and experiences.

For the last few months, I have been reading a lot in the field of mythology. My aim is to understand the deeper meaning of life. What is religion? What is God? Why do people believe or don’t believe in God? What is Moksha? Why do different people or sects advise different ways to achieve Moksha? What are the incarnations of Vishnu? Why were they necessary? And many, many questions like this, I can’t list all of them, but I have many more questions, and they keep on popping up in my mind so many times whenever I read a particular text or listen to some seminar on mythology, or attend any religious gathering. I see people around me and always think, why do most people follow certain rituals without understanding the logic behind them? Most of these rituals, when introduced, did have some sort of reasoning or logic behind them, but rarely do people try to understand it and analyze if it’s still valid or reasonable thing to do. Why do they believe in scriptures blindly without even trying to understand their meaning? Why?? I also wonder why these doubts or questions don’t come up in other people’s minds?…either they know the answer, or they are ignorant, or they don’t care, or they are incapable of thinking like I can…But I am also a normal person like most people around me, born and brought up in a very humble atmosphere, so why do these questions keep coming to me? My parents didn’t force me to follow any particular belief; they were busy setting up their life as immigrants in Pune, they tried to provide us a decent life to the best of their ability, and I am really grateful to them for that. They gave us a lot of freedom to choose our careers and also the way we want to live. I read many Marathi books during my college and school days, maybe these books had a profound effect on my thinking and behavior, so I consider myself lucky in this aspect.

I am reading and thinking a lot these days and trying to find answers to these questions myself, and I think I am heading somewhere. I am sure I will reach my destination, and I am determined to walk until I get there. This is not a road map or guide or mantra to achieve self-realization instantly; these are my thoughts, and you have the right to agree or totally disagree with them, debate about them, raise questions or concerns about them to me, and be sure that I will try to answer them to the best of my ability.

I don't promise to answer everything. I am here merely to help you seek the right questions along with me. The answers lie within us. Wherever I interpret the scriptures or any writing, whether I understand their real meaning or not, is not my concern; if they help me and you uncover our minds and discover our reality, then this effort has served its purpose….Let the discovery begin...let's enjoy this journey together.

Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing.