Sunday, February 10, 2008
A toast to the Human Spirit
Human beings are truly wonderful creatures, all-powerful and awe-inspiring. Over a span of approximately 2.5 million years, human beings have changed the face of the planet to which they belong. They have broken down and built upon, molded, reshaped and transformed every resource at hand to suit their whims and fancies.
The world we live in today is replete with man-made marvels, most of which we take for granted. I flew to Seattle this weekend and we hit some bad weather on the way. The thought of flying through a storm with zero visibility, safe from the elements of nature (and other airplanes) was humbling as well as exciting. And then I realized (on probably the 55th flight of my life) that just to be able to fly should be amazing. A metal container soaring through the skies carrying 200-odd people is a miracle by itself! Yet it was something I had never given a second thought to all this time.
This feeling of awe was further compounded by a visit to the Boeing Museum of Flight. The Concorde, super sonic jets, airplanes bigger than buildings, and some smaller than you had thought possible, space travel, micro-gravity simulated environments - all miracles within themselves, yet taken for granted by us. A person with no respect for science and the quest for knowledge has to be blind to the world around him.
But then it is us humans who also pillage and plunder till there is nothing left to take. Right beside the modern day marvels of flight we glorify war and the machines we created to kill each other. Man, the thinking animal, is still at its basest form, only an animal. We play mind games. We destroy each other and ourselves. We are arrogant to believe we are masters of our destiny and that of those who submit to our domination.
Not only do entire nations fight for power over other nations; there are also many simple men and women, leading mundane lives subjugated to the will of others. Domestic abuse in an air conditioned home is no better than in a cave. The quintessential search for a better life is defeated by ignorance and arrogance. Human beings are blinded by their own power, ruthless at times, in their wish to conquer all.
I just have to wonder, in this quest to conquer all, where do we draw a line? Where does it end?
On the way back I had the window seat with a clear view of Los Angeles as we landed. The lights spread out for miles. As we dipped closer, the brightly colored gems on black satin metamorphosed into little electric pulses glimmering on one big, neatly designed, circuit board. This circuit board, then became a little toy village with miniature houses and tiny cars, till finally the city slowly zoomed into view, larger than life.
We humans have taken what God gave us and transformed it. All that we behold is ours, for better or for worse. The world, as it exists today, is testament to the human spirit. And it still looks beautiful. I only hope we can keep it like that for generations to come.
by nutty at 7:16 AM |
16 Comments:
Very well written, especially like the way you compared the view from the flight to a circuit board. Really man has stretched all boundaries and created marvelous objects...we really should be proud of it. At the same time like you said...why do we fight, why is the need to conquer so great that we don't know where to draw the line? I think with all the environmental damage that we are causing, its time to step back and change our course before it gets too late.
I think the most perfect piece you have ever written... or maybe I agreed with you totally ... so it should be perfect!
the issue, I assume, you are refering to is far larger than just the damages and intricacies but the very fact that whats next and frankly does man/woman need it?
its new side of you i am discovering in this post... :)
What I don't understand is this - do the thoughts tht come to my mind so commonplace that others also think of the same thing... or are you and I twins from some past janam! Lol!
I'm saying this because
a) I've always associated cities with circuit boards.. when I look at a city from a flight, I think it resembles a circuit board; when Ilook at a circuit board (or like the motherboard in a comp), I think I see a mini-city there!
b) I was stuck in a flight in bad weather too this weekend, the small express jets.. and I was amazed at how we were keeping afloat.. and I was thinking of birds and how we managed to emulate them so well! Quite amazing what the human mind can achieve if we put our heads to it... and what it can destroy too!
Nice post... positive too! :D
P.S: I meant to say "are the thoughts", not "do the thoughts"!! Argh!
Ruchi - I don't think your thoughts are commonplace...but yep we sure all do think alike...by the way a lot of times I feel like writting on something and someone gets to it before me.
@chaitali - you seem to have sumarized it perfectly :) glad we agree ..
@anshul - :) I was basically pondering over the thinl line between ambition and obsessive greed. Human nature to conquer and possess ... it's more than a little scary .. but it's also the only fuel for progress... hence the thin line.
@cool - aage aage dekho hota hai kya ;)
lol! thanks I guess...
@still searching - I'm surprised at how many people look at the city and think of a circuit board! Birds of a feather I guess :) About our similarities - enough has been said already!
@chaitali (again) - hai na? hai na?
taagged!
u were excited in the stormy flight????? and i thought we were similar. when my plane so much as slides over a cloud i say every single prayer i have learnt in my 27 years. and here u're feeling excited???? oh dear...
@unpredictable - gah!
@zee - lol! I knew nothing would happen .. I mean c'mon gurl!! :)
Dont u be gahing me! Write woman .. write!!!
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Hmmm.. All I can think of in flights is when the damn thing gonna land.. :)
We humans are pretty destructive by nature.. Yes, we can love, care..blah blah.. but somehow we can manage to destroy everything others have worked for.. Be it relationships, people, companies or countries.. I'm just waiting for air rationing.. then probably we will realize how much damage we have caused or maybe by that time we would have adapted to CO2 and then end up depleting that also :)
Btw.. m bk.. extremeconflicts.wordpress.com :)
when you talk of greed you obviously take it to another level ...then it becomes a Q of ambition vis-a-vis satisfaction.
dunno if you really want to invoke that right now!
PS - read theory of Creative Destruction by Schumpeter.
all of us have these bouts of realisations.. and then we jst go back to leading normal ungrateful lives.. only if we cud make feeling grateful for wat we have.. a habit.. :)
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