As you like it

Are events and happenings in this world preordained?

Is it true that things happen as per the congregation or combination of planets?

Well, I am a novice and surely not qualified enough to answer the aforementioned questions. Then why do I ask these? By asking these questions, will I be branded as a superstitious person and by brushing aside these questions terming them as silly, will I be considered as somebody who is rational?

I know questions lead to questions just like one lie leads to a hundred lies, but let me tell you that the reason for this series of questions has to do with what happened last Sunday-not in my personal life, but on this earth under the bright and not so bright sun.

Traditionally, the second Monday of the Wimbledon Championships is known by the name ‘Manic Monday’ and this is because of many reasons prominent among these being the fact that the Men’s and Women’s quarter finals happen on that day and since so many leading players (aka stars or to put it simply seeds) are part of thick action on different courts, it is inevitable that some of the stars/seeds are shown the door by lesser known players who in all probability will become future stars.

If you find the previous paragraph complex and somewhat difficult to comprehend, I must tell you that it was not written with the objective of confounding or confusing you and that it just happened.

Could this also be the handiwork of some planet or its conjunction with some other planet which resulted in my writing that paragraph in one single breath?

Oh, I am back to square one now. So, before the square becomes a circle- or rather a vicious circle-, let me give the reason for those 2 questions. In a way, it is not that difficult to guess in case you are a sports lover and in case that ‘lover’ is replaced with the word ‘fanatic’ and that ‘sports’ is filtered to mean just two sports-Cricket and Tennis.

Reams and reams have been written ad nauseam about the two Events-more about the one involving the bat and the ball-  which happened at a place called London last Sunday and therefore I am not getting too much into that. But what I will get into are what those two Events convey and what these teach about Life.

Firstly, what was common between the two Events?

See-saw battle with the game swinging from one extreme to the other, Winner(s) decided by ‘tie-breakers’(thankfully I didn’t spot anybody in the audience with a tie) and by a new rule, the one who was vanquished having more support across the globe than the one who emerged victorious, the vanquished missing their opportunities with bizarre tactics and rash shots(in the case of cricket it was a rash throw!)...

In more than one way, luck played a major role and that precisely is the reason for the first two questions.

Despite playing so well, why did the two lose? Was it because of the new rules or was it because of complacency? Or better still, was it because of ‘fate’?

That brings me to one very interesting video which was being widely circulated in social media in which a person who claims  he can predict the future, ‘predicts’ that the one who finally lost would lift the World Cup..At the top of the video blink these words- ‘recorded on the 1^st of Jan 2019’.

Now, if it is a fact that everything in this world has already been decided and that it follows a prepared script and that the planets are responsible for all actions, how is it that this ‘prediction’ turned out to be false?

By saying this, does it mean that I am a rational person?

I don’t know. But all I can say is that the beauty of life lies in its unpredictability and it is but natural for things to be uncertain. We just need to observe all these like an outsider and ‘just enjoy’.

Easily said than done?

Well, listen to this piece from ‘Sila SamayangaLil’(2018).

This piece, in my opinion gives the crux of life.

It is of course a pure western classical piece, but I find strains of Shanmukhapriya. This may have to either do with my familiarity with both forms of music or the composer’s propensity to meld the forms or both. But again, what do we achieve by breaking our heads with questions? Is it not KaNNadasan who said ‘Happiness or sadness, finally aren’t the questions which remain in a man’s life?’( ஏன் என்ற கேள்வி ஒன்று என்றைக்கும் தங்கும்/மனிதன் இன்ப துன்பம் எதிலும் கேள்விதான் மிஞ்சும்)

There are four layers to the first bit of the piece. There is that solo violin, the strings, the chorus and the guitar. How many layers does a human life have?

The chorus slowly raises its voice from 0.19 and start sounding prominent. How many people raise their voice in Life?

The music flows like a stream till 0.36. Life itself is a stream.

It is the chorus which dominates with its humming from 0.37. How many people have dominated/have tried to dominate/ us? How many times have we dominated/have striven to dominate/others in our Life?

An eerie sound appears at 1.13. Life is full of fear and dreadful things. Or is it?

The cello and horn follow (1.16) and give us a melange of feelings. Life is a mixture of all emotions and at times we are unable to define the emotion neither are we able to define the reason for that particular emotion.

The group of strings move again like a stream with the horn joining them. How we wish life was as smooth a river!

There is a sudden percussion sound at 1.58 and at 2.02. Sudden jerks do happen in our life and how we balance ourselves is in our hands.

The strings move back and forth from 2.02. Does it denote the sudden twists and turns in our life? Or is it the competition from others? Probably, it is the need to be more alert and active?

The music in the beginning repeats itself, albeit with some changes from 2.39. Life has come a full circle? Wheels of life changing?

Predictable or unpredictable, life is beautiful...

..whether it is the overthrow or the overhead smash.

All the world is a stage and all men and women merely players, said the Bard of Avon.

Yes, it is true..But the only difference is that the players (pun intended) script the play.

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