“I transformed from an idealist to a grueling cynic.”

I live in New Delhi but I am currently enrolled in an American university via their distance education program. I am working on an associates degree in “Information Sciences and Technology”.

Not necessarily a turning point but over the last several years I did transform from an idealist to a grueling cynic. I can’t look at something and not consider the complexity of the context that surrounds it. It’s never black and white anymore.

Education has always been a challenge for me and I have never been comfortable with the idea of choosing one particular career over all the other possibilities that exist. It’s fair to say that I am still somewhat conflicted about my academic future and unsure about what comes next.

We forget that consciousness is easily the most precious and complex commodity in the entire universe.

Its continued preservation and expansion are the highest of all human responsibilities. I hope that humanity will transcend brutality at some point in our evolution and take on a bio-centric world view instead of just bickering over resources and politics. A super-massive black-hole doesn’t even come close to being as complicated as a single blade of grass.

I wrote a little poem to summarize this point of view -

They Live

In some corner of the universe,
There is probably a planet with purple winds and pinkish seas,

Where turtles encased in titanium live well over one millennium or perhaps,
just a couple centuries they live,
till they are satisfied of living they live,
till they have seen,
all there is to see they live through all colors of life they live,
till they are old and wise beings.

When a turtle is tired and has no more desires,
When it has seen,
all there is to see.
When it is ready step back,
into the depths of oblivion,
Whence it first came to be the turtle then sheds its titanium shell and politely,
Asks for a leave.

- Abhijeet