Cogito Ergo Sum
Ramblings of an eccentric mind (me) with his egregious valet (Jeeves).
The objective of this discussion is best summed up by Groucho Marx, “These are my principles. If you don’t like them, I have others.”
Life
Aristotle believed that the telos of life is happiness. St Augustine suggested the telos is to love God. Martin Heidegger argued the only telos is to live without denial of death.
Over the years, for the lack of having anything better to do, philosophers have attempted, argued, debated and as expected, failed to conclude the so called ‘Purpose of Life’.
We are here with a reason, for a purpose. Or, are we? Maybe there is no reason for the way things happen. Maybe, God does play dice. But it is rather discomfiting to think that we would spend our lives not knowing why we are here. More so, to think that there actually is no reason at all. That one single thought dawns upon us our absolute inconsequence and insignificance in the whole scheme of affairs.
Me : ‘Jeeves, between God and happiness which should I pursue?’
Jeeves : ‘Happiness sir. God is over worked and over searched.’
God
‘God in his wisdom made the fly. And then forgot to tell us why.’ – Ogden Nash
God is a thought, we abuse and fear in the same breath. Born out of imagination, sometimes as a conscience keeper but mostly as a bearer of our insecurities, our selfish interests are best served when the notion itself is kept mystic and fleeting. So finding God is like chasing a thought, quixotic and self failing. Not that it has to be so, just that it is designed to be so.
I spent half a decade searching outside and another half searching within. Purely to suit my convenience, I christened God as something I could identify with without falling into a warp of time, soul and consciousness in times of dilemma. I figured conscience is the closest I get to this thought and that if need be, double roles as God for me. Sacrilege? Sure, put me on a cross!
Jeeves : ‘Sir, our revered pastor always states that finding God is finding happiness’.
Me : ‘Very true. Now I know why I am happy when his sermons end.’
Happiness
‘If ignorance is bliss, this lesson would appear to be a deliberate attempt on your part to deprive me of happiness, the pursuit of which is my unalienable right according to the declaration of independence. I therefore assert my patriotic prerogative not to learn this material. I’ll be out in the playground’ – Calvin to his teacher
If I could know what would keep me happy for the rest of my life, I would do just that. At this point, let me raise a toast and propose a hypothesis: To stay happy I can search for things that make me happy, which in the first place I am searching only to be happy. Vicious circle, infinite loop or a drunken thought – happiness is any and all of the above.
Good music makes me happy any day. Floyd, Beatles, Dylan, Clapton, Eagles and many more – I have many sources to a happy evening. So do great books. And wonderful movies. And delicious food, especially in the august company of my friends Jack, Johnny and Glen.
I seem to have an extremely low threshold of happiness. More often than not, a single strip of Calvin-Hobbes will suffice.
Me : ‘Jeeves, what else could be the secret to my eternal happiness? I have a feeling I am missing something…’
Jeeves : ‘Perhaps your friends sir. With no good reason, you always miss them.’
Me : ‘Oh I get by with a little help from my friends…’
Friends
‘Things are never quite as scary when you’ve got a best friend’ – Calvin
The mark of a man is by the friends who vouch for him. And in that respect, I have been blessed. While some of my friends have stayed on because they could not find another freak to reverberate at their obnoxious levels of eccentricity, others have stayed for well intentioned charity. Irrespective of the ways they stick, I make sure that they don’t leave. Now that I have for once put it in words, it sounds rather unfair on them.
Jeeves : ‘I think sir, you like your friends because they love you. But they love you because they are your friends. Another vicious circle I fear?’
Me : ‘If I say yes, you’ll call me a selfish egocentric narcissist pig. But you know what, we all are pigs. And pigs mind you, are fabulous lovable animals. And prey, don’t you ‘vicious circle’ me?’
Love
‘Men marry because they are tired; women, because they are curious; both are disappointed’ – Oscar Wilde
Love is a losing game. Well said Amy.
On another musical note, love is a bitter sweet symphony. I will be brutally honest. I am scared of the whole ‘love’ business. Getting it wrong is an intimidating thought. It means you will wake up to dull mornings for the rest of your life. And nothing could be scarier than that.
Contrary to opinion, I don’t think love is about what two people bring to the table. In many ways, it is about what the two choose to keep out of the table. If the paraphernalia of possessiveness, conformity and control is kept out of picture, love does seem a worthwhile proposition. You may argue that love then is just the same as friendship. Exactly, and really, what’s the problem with that? The irony is that almost always love starts with friendship and then, friendship ends with love. When I say end in this context, I mean ‘The End’.
Me : ‘This love is a very strange thing Jeeves. Irrespective of whether I fall in or fall out, what is certain is that I will fall…’
Jeeves : ‘Sir, everything has to fall. So said Newton’
Me : ‘Everything..huh?’
Jeeves : ‘Everything. Except character sir.’
Character
‘Pretty convenient how every time I build character, Dad saves a couple hundred dollars’ – Calvin.
Character is like the law. We bend it, amend it and often ignore it at the call of our troubled minds. It is our sovereign right to judge every other person on character, except ourselves of course.
I am not too sure if character should be cast in stone and preserved at the lofty pedestals of prophecy and not practice. Come to think of it, as we tread along we evolve our identity and with it, our character. So, as it seems, we are not born with character. But by the time we die, we may choose to have one.
The bigger question though is, ‘what is character’? Once again to suit my pedestrian levels of intelligence, I have thought of it simply as a sense of righteousness. But, isn’t the conundrum of right and wrong itself subjective? True and that’s precisely why I need character. Not getting anywhere, are we?
Well, let’s just say, ‘To each man his sense of right. And to each man his own character’. As for the women, I have firmly believed that they are born with character. Pun intended.
Jeeves : ‘There was this cliché saying that was very successful in muddling young minds by mixing priorities of health, wealth and character. Would you remember that sir?’
Me : ‘Yes I very much do. It says ‘Show me the money!’ ’
Jeeves : ‘Robbed of sanity, bereft of character, my sir you dream of money’
Dreams
I have a dream. That’s great Mr Martin because so do all of us.
Frivolity apart, what amazes me is that the man had one dream. Most of us have many. Because we term our whims, fancies and wishes as dreams, we rarely realise what is that one dream we have. Wishes are a plenty. Someday I want to give a live rendition on my saxophone. Someday I wish I write something worthwhile. Someday I want to open a pub and call it ‘Johnny B Goode’. But, do I have a dream?
Yes I do. One constant thought that I wake upto every morning. Every night I ponder if I got any closer today. I don’t know if I will ever get there. But I must confess, I like living with a dream. It gives me my telos.
Jeeves : ‘Sir, there was this fine gentleman who spent his life interpreting dreams’
Me : ‘I cannot imagine why would one do that’
Jeeves : ‘Destiny sir. He started by unsuccessfully trying to discover the male reproductive organs of eels. He then thought cocaine was a wonderful analgesic and prescribed it to friends and family. Finally he died of cancer.’
Destiny
What are you trying to tell me? That I can dodge bullets?
No Neo. I am trying to tell you that when you are ready, you won’t have to.
What if the matrix is real and all we do is play out our pre determined roles. As a starter, it is pretty dampening to know that our actions have no consequence whatsoever. Why slog all our lives only to realise that what we achieve is beyond our control. What if, it indeed is written?
On the contrary, maybe destiny is never about what we become. Rather, it could be what comes of us. Maybe it is not about matter at all, but just the mind. You could either question it all your life. Or leave it as an answer long after you are gone. Our destiny could be the legacy we leave behind. Destiny could be a choice.
Me : ‘Jeeves, what do you suppose could be my tryst with destiny?’
Jeeves : ‘Incongruity, Imbecility, Death.’
Death
‘I had a lover’s quarrel with the world’ – Robert Frost’s epitaph
Death is definitive. And in its face, our lives so diminutive. It is perhaps the only absolute truth that exists. The end will come. And when it does, will it invoke fear?
But then, is fear not a consequence of regret. Which means that if we were to regret the way we spent our lives, we will most certainly fear the fact that we will die. This makes me believe that death is actually all about life and the way we choose to live.
Just think for a moment, what if I knew the end was near? Would my choices in life be any different? If yes, I know what to do. A life without regret would mean a death without fear.
Me : ‘Jeeves, do you think it is possible to die in happiness and peace’
Jeeves : ’Sir, do I get paid for my answers?’
Me : ‘Jeeves, you never get paid.’
Jeeves : ‘In that case, my dear sir, why don’t you go ahead and die. I’ll let the world know of your happiness. And mine too.’
Chutzpah
‘First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.’ – Bapu
If there were ever a word to describe an attitude, this must be it. Inherently vague and etymologically void, chutzpah symbolizes empiricism and its audacity.
Put simply, it means to question. To challenge norms and think different. To never cower to fear or pander to mediocrity. One virtue that has fuelled unmatched excellence from a historically endangered ethnicity. I have never come across a word more discerning or a virtue more compelling.
Me : ‘Jeeves, do you know that over 170 Jews have won the Nobel Prize. And this is excluding the Peace Prize’
Jeeves : ‘That is wonderful sir. Four US Presidents have won the peace prize for understandably ushering peace by waging wars.’
Me : ‘Let there be light…’
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I would like to apologise for dragging the above mentioned gentlemen and women into my realms of randomness. But I guess, these are the perils of being well known.
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Very Well written piece… jeeves is interesting.. and not surprising that you still managed to drag “Bapu” in the whole picure