Skyfall

'Shut your eyes and see', wrote James Joyce.

And what is it that we shall see, sadly no one wrote a manual for it. Why is it that some people can see things the way they are while others just fail to look beyond the superficiality we are presented with? I wish there were an easy answer. As I sit here, writing behind the computer screen wishing for a boon to understand the mechanism of finding answers to the many questions that plague my existence, it's hard not to feel dejected and cynical about expressing it. A friend sent me a quote about Zero. It reads as follows: The terms 'void' and 'zero' do not imply that nothing is present. 'Zero' is a point from which the scope for progress is infinite, and 'zero' is complete in itself. It's this nothingness I am afraid of, aren't we all?

There is a vacuum inside us that we all fear. Some people go insane trying to figure out the meaning of this void that dominates our psyche. Others who maintain their neurological balance are still somewhere searching for this troublesome phantom that creates an havoc in our everyday lives. We can't run away or dissociate ourselves from this ghost. It remains inside us and we have to fight him as long as we live. Perhaps this is where individuals with spilt personality disorders end up struggling and coping with the inadequate systems, we as society have created for them. Mental healthcare is one of the most sought after health systems in our country today. Yet we do not put enough emphasis on helping individuals deal with stress, depression and anxiety. Does our physical and social environment play a much more greater role in ascertaining to the needs of individuals with frail nervous systems? It definitely, does. Except, we are ignorant of such methods of mental health care available. We don't even recognise the signals of mentally ill individuals unless they end their lives. That is when the wake up calls and sirens start screeching but it is always too late till then.

I am writing about this here because of the pressure our fast paced lifestyles have put on us and the absence of a slow moment in our metro lives. All of us seem to have ingrained a chip in our bodies. If we stop, we are finished and if we slow down, everyone else shall tramp on us and move ahead. I read this very analytical and carefully researched article titled 'A world without Work' a few days ago. It details the world in another 30 years as a world where machines would function everything, an age where humans will not be needed because of their comparative work inefficiency with the machines. This is already a reality in a few nations, Germany for example. The bad dream that we saw in sci-fi movies of the late 90's about humans becoming extinct and Earth ruled by machines is sadly almost a reality in beginning. The planet inhabitants will reach a number of 10 billion by 2050 and everything that was predicted by Plato, Adam Smith, John Maynard Keynes will be seen in truth. It is now that this future seems to be the darkest hour in lives of those who dwell now yet don't wish to align themselves with the bitter reality of coming years. All the literature that speaks of Utopian future is soon to be a reality in another few decades. Which is why I still can't believe the callous attitude of indifference our global leaders have been holding so dear and which is why the irrelevant troubles of a few individuals seem to be so imbecile and worthless today.

I truly cannot figure out if my inner turmoil of an emptiness should be given so much importance when there are clearly bigger things that are waiting to devour our world in a few years' time. Or is this the zero from where I need to focus on my individual advancement that shall give justice to my existence today?