Freedom is sweet indeed
I finished my doctoral program last week and finally joined the small band of people known as the philosophers; the first thought that came to my mind was "Freedom is sweet indeed". No wonder some people are ready to sacrifice everything, even their life, for a taste of freedom. Although I was supposed to be enjoying the student life all along for the past 5 years, I could not shake away an omnipresent feeling of restraint on my mind; and quiet strangely I had become used to it. I realized what I was missing only when I defended my thesis.
Over time people tend become indifferent to their curtailed freedom because of one of our primal survival instincts - adaptation. We all, as living beings, have mastered this art of adaptation and it is indeed a very useful trait to possess. Usually adaptation starts out as a response to an unsolvable problem in the environment but for some of us it ends up becoming a habit. Only a select few, the free thinkers among us will be restless, as restless as an eye with a mote wedged between the eye and the eyelid. These are the ones who will put their foot down and refuse to adapt beyond a reasonable point. They will bring out in action what all others were only dreaming or wishing. It will be up to those handful to realize, inspire and lead the rest of the mass. And those in the masses will need to take the critical step of catching the tide and breaking free. An alliance of a free thought and a mass of liberated minds can do wonders.
Over time people tend become indifferent to their curtailed freedom because of one of our primal survival instincts - adaptation. We all, as living beings, have mastered this art of adaptation and it is indeed a very useful trait to possess. Usually adaptation starts out as a response to an unsolvable problem in the environment but for some of us it ends up becoming a habit. Only a select few, the free thinkers among us will be restless, as restless as an eye with a mote wedged between the eye and the eyelid. These are the ones who will put their foot down and refuse to adapt beyond a reasonable point. They will bring out in action what all others were only dreaming or wishing. It will be up to those handful to realize, inspire and lead the rest of the mass. And those in the masses will need to take the critical step of catching the tide and breaking free. An alliance of a free thought and a mass of liberated minds can do wonders.
PS: Picture - courtesy MS Word clip art.
posted by AK @ 9:52 PM
6 comments
6 Comments:
Dear Dr.Arun....good to know that you are finally enjoying the beautiful and sweet 'Freedom' and some free time too :). I completely agree to your comment that people are becomming indifferent to their curtailed freedom. I feel it is not only for their survival, but also because people forgot the sweetness and happiness involved in being free. They started living comfortably even though their freedom is being curtailed beyond boundaries. We definetly need more people to inspire and lead the rest towards freedom
Well said!. Freedom is not the right to do what you want but the power to do what you ought. Few think out of the box and very few are insanely courageous to act on it. It's like someone willing to lead by putting their foot down into a swamp knowing that the swamp might be deep enough to swallow you. Somewhere someone has to make the first step and be willing to be ridiculed.
Freedom to do what? :) Are you going on a month-long cruise in Alaska? I'm not sure, I've never been a student for that long. But then work life, has its own pros and cons. Pro, you have the financial security and freedom, but then, cons are also endless. Whatever be it, you will definitely enjoy it for the first few years. That too shall pass.
Man, am I getting too philosophical here?! Not like me at all :)
This comment has been removed by the author.
Hmmmm....I believe that society has placed a sort of taboo on freedom itself....I mean just think about it...ur unemployed then u have everyone behind u to look for a job.....n then once u have a job..alas its akin to signing away ur freedom....even vacations are no longer really vacations....working from somewhere away from ur cube is more like it...!!
If u really think it...if ur free then ppl think something is wrong w u...!!
Congrats on this great achievement. I know I'm a bit late on commenting here but anyway I guess its better than never. I feel freedom is more relative nowadays. What are we free from? Or is there really anything called freedom out there? It's all in the mind. We tend to chain ourselves and make ourselves feel that we are not free or it could be the other way round. Proclaim our freedom when we are actually shackled. How do we know the measure of our freedom? A robot's freedom can be described based on its 'degrees of freedom'. But then, its just for its physical movement. I feel as long as we are a part of the physical universe, there would be no way that we can really experience freedom. We need to get up every morning, we have to go to work, we have to eat, we have to face our boss, we have to anticipate something bad, we have to think about finances, we have to think about our family. The list is endless. Miss a single event out of this and your life may end up in chaos. If you really need to experience freedom, you need to transform yourself and place yourself in a 'universe' that runs on laws that 'you' have set. Something that is possible 'only' in your mind!
Post a Comment
<< Home