In Quest of Knowledge

Imagine time flowing backwards. The clocks ticking anti, fallen leaves going up and becoming green again, the dead coming back to life, cellphones, laptops and all the cool-awesome-tech-stuff disappearing...Oh wait! Enough of the imagination thing. You cannot just imagine your life like that or can you?

Imagine yourself walking miles to study under tress in open air. Gaining knowledge was tough back then but now it's easy. A google search... Oh stop! Is it really that easy? Just because you have Google and Bing to search stuff and Ctrl-F to find things quickly do you think getting knowledge has become easy? Think again!

The most important question, why are you in a quest of knowledge? If you seek knowledge because you need an answer to a question or you need to reply and shut someone up in that debate which is going on on Facebook and you open a new tab and start typing, "what is...", you're not gaining knowledge. If you are gaining knowledge so that you can brag about it before other people, you're defying the whole purpose of knowledge.

What is the quest for knowledge? It's the same when tiny insects run after sources of light, a thirst which can only be quenched by the soil of your grave. And you seriously thought alcohol was addictive? Try tasting a drop from this ocean, you'll want to suck it up all.

True knowledge is meant to make you think more and shout less. It is meant to make you wonder and want more of it. A touch of knowledge will make you arrogant but a dip in this sacred pool will make you humble.

I take an example from my own self. At an early stage of life I used to think that I am an awesome programmer and I know everything but then I got more into it and I realized that if the entire earth were full of water I hadn't even tasted a tiny drop in totality. You think you're cool? Dude try assembly language.

Why knowledge? For sharing for sure. When you die, nothing will remain after you except the knowledge spread by you. But people will learn from me and ditch me? For this I have a solution I use myself. Teach people and learn something more and better. This way you'll teach everyone and will still have an edge over them.

Knowledge is open! Knowledge is free!

Happiness

"Mumma I want those glasses," shouted the boy while the family came out of the auditorium. It was the first time he had watched a 3D movie. All the cool and colorful stuff in an extra dimension fascinated him. He thought that the world would look awesome and come alive when he looked through the glasses. Little did he know that the world was already awesome and cruel enough in its three dimensions. About the life, yes, the world has been dead partly of late.

"No, son. We have to return the glasses back to the cinema staff after watching the movie."
"No, no. I want it, I want it." he cried again.

His father went inside the hall again and purchased the glasses. The worker was reluctant to give it, but money, you see, can buy almost everything. He gave the glasses to his son and they got into the car.

"Why does this not look as it looked inside? It's not the same."
"It's the same boy."
"No, it's not the same." the boy shouted again as his father drove the car.
"If it's not the same then throw it and shut up." the mother replied, irritated.

The boy pressed, disfigured the glasses and threw them out of the car.

A group of street children ran after the car. They used to run after every shiny, swift car. One of them saw the falling pieces of glass. He picked them up and gazed at them for some time. The glasses were colorful, red and green. He smiled like he just found a box full of jewels. He took a piece of glass and looked through it. The world looked beautiful with a greenish tint. Then he took the red piece and kept it over the other eye. He gazed at the beautiful patterns his tiny eyes created in the air in amazement. He laughed and ran towards his friends to show them the miracle.

Someone was happy in the end.

Walking Alone on an Empty Road

I drift lifeless in this weary night
Not cognizant of these dark ways
A tear in my eye blurs my sight
Souvenir of bright, beautiful days

I hear the sound of leaves, dry
Crushed like my life, torn apart
Like a soft, muffled cry
I hear their echo in my heart

I turned around with a firm belief
Of someone in this way unknown
But the sight multiplied my grief
An empty road with shadow of my own

I looked up at the moon profound
Prepared I was to shout aloud
At this happiness I just found
When she hid behind a chunk of cloud

The Feeling...

It was 3 AM in the night. He couldn't sleep because of an uneasy feeling, a feeling which can never be described in words of any language. A feeling which is only understood by the one who has experienced it in life. A feeling when one moment you find your chest laden with tonnes of grief that you feel like you're buried deep beneath a catacomb and other moment you feel so empty, so void that you stop sensing anything inside your rib cage, it's like you've snatched your own heart off and thrown it miles away.
In the bright sunlight he may be the most practical and logical man walking on the planet but at times like these he wanted to hold someone and cry like a baby. But practicality you see can inject life into a dying person. He thought that the best workout for an emotional state like this is to analyze the griefs and destroy them individually. So he closed his eyes and started thinking about his problems. After few minutes of deep thinking he found that he had no griefs at all, though his heart appeared to be swollen with them. Here is when the unexplainable part of the feeling comes, you don't have any visible problems. You're just so empty inside that you want your chest to be hacked and chopped into tiny pieces until it stops feeling anything.
His practicality shook him again. He knew that in such situations of distress talking to the people you love helps a lot. But who'll get up at 3 AM for him? Yes, definitely his mother. But if he called her at this time and told her about his situation she may possibly freak out and not be able to sleep for the rest of the night. He decided to call his girlfriend instead.
"Hello, listen baby I'm feeling so distressed. I don't know what's happening to me. I'm just scared."
"What? Scared?"
"Yes, I don't know. I'm going mad maybe, but I need you right at this moment to hug me and console me."
"See baby I can't understand what you want to say. I had a very busy and rough day today. I was sleeping..."
"Ah. Okay baby you sleep. I'll manage."
He disconnected, not because he got sad but because he knew she was saying the truth, her drowsy voice confirmed it and also because he knew he was talking gibberish in an attempt to explain his feeling. But he wanted her to be near him at that very moment. "I love you. Please hug me.", he texted. He knew she won't read the message but it somehow made him feel secure.
He closed his eyes and took deep breaths. But soon he had to open them to give way to the tears oozing out. He buried his face in the pillows and after a few seconds it was the morning alarm that woke him up.

Jihad

“Allah mentioned in His holy book, ‘And when the sacred months have passed, then kill the polytheists wherever you find them and capture them and besiege them and sit in wait for them at every place of ambush’. The command of your Lord calls you to kill them. Kill the Kaafirs, kill them all” their leader shouted raising his rifle.

“Indeed Ustaad” said Qasim in agreement holding his own rifle firmly.

Qasim was their best bet. His copper lined sword has slaughtered numerous Kaafirs and his gunshots have popped hundreds of brains. He has been the leader of numerous battalions sent for the ‘rights of Muslims’.

“The Kaafirs are destined to burn in hell. Let us go and coerce them to Islaam so that they may get into Jannah” the leader said again painting his plan with a tint of white.

“Let’s go then” shouted Qasim.

Qasim along with his partners went to the busiest market of the town. He parked his bike near a tailor’s shop. His bike loaded with bottles of diesel and Ammonium Nitrate. He went about twenty meters away and stopped thinking that it was the optimum distance to observe the show. Another bike loaded with explosives was parked at a nearby grocery store.

Qasim looked at his surroundings, put his hand inside his pocket and pressed the remote button. The detonator sparked and the bomb exploded with a deafening sound. Qasim put his left hand into another pocket to press the detonator for the second button.

A child approximately two years of age sat on the street near the grocery store crying and calling out for his mother. He was two young to understand why everyone was running in chaos. Qasim’s eyes met the small child’s eyes. He closed his eyes and pressed the button. The child’s body was thrown six meters away burnt beyond recognition.

Qasim started walking to the meeting place of the ‘mujahids’. His childhood flashed in his mind, when his parents were slaughtered in front of his eyes in the 2002 Gujarat riots. A saying of Prophet Muhammad flickered in his mind which commanded people not to kill women, children and old people or destroy plants even during wars. He knew for sure that killing children wasn’t good at least.

He went his home instead, opened his copy of the Qur’an and started reading Chapter 9.

“And if any one of the polytheists seeks your protection, then grant him protection so that he may hear the words of Allah. Then deliver him to his place of safety. That is because they are a people who do not know”

Now he knew that the chapter was concerned with wartime, fighting for your defense, behaving good if any of the opponents seeks help from you.

Qasim held his teeth tightly and headed to the meeting spot. He quietly sneaked inside their leader’s room.

“Hello Sir………Yes Sir the job is done, Qasim did it……..Yes Sir this time you’ll win the election……We have spread enough terror….HaHa” the leader terminated the call.

“You bastard! You made me kill people for money” Qasim shouted.

The leader shouted for other goons. Qasim pointed his pistol towards their leader. Another goon came and shot Qasim on his hand. Qasim cried with pain.

Qasim was put in shackles and brought in front of everyone.

“He has been maligned by the Kuffar” their leader shouted.

“You’re a shame to Islam” Qasim shouted back.

“We are soldiers of Islam. We are here to spread it. Shoot him.”

“There shall be no compulsion in the religion. The right course has become clear from the wrong. So whoever disbelieves in evil and believes in Allah has grasped the most trustworthy handhold with no break in it. And Allah is Hearing and Knowing” Qasim recited.

A bullet was fired into his head.

“Oh..Lordd. Forgive m…” Qasim mumbled before his breathing stopped.

Vision

I was walking alone on a derelict street. It was beginning to get dark with no sign of moon in the sky. December nights are cold but that night was extraordinarily chilling. The breeze struck my chest as a group of recently sharpened spears thrown with the very intention to rip the soul apart from my body. I dragged the zip of my jacket to the highest point available for the slide. The cold metal touched my neck and seemed to extract all heat from my numb body in one go. I lowered the slide a bit.

The only thing that helped my eye have a vision of objects was a lamp post about hundred meters away. I ignited a cigarette to pump some heat into my lungs. The fog made things barely visible beyond the lamp post. I somehow dragged myself to the lamp post. I looked up and saw the beautiful white beams emerging from the lamp. The fog made it very easy to see the trajectory of the rays. The leaves of the tree nearby sieved out the light rays which came as perfect tangents and spread radially into the atmosphere.

While I was busy analyzing the beauty of the scene, the lamp dimmed, sparkled bright again and got quenched. Damn! The only source of my vision was gone. I closed my eyes in dejection and kicked the dust on the street.

After a while I opened my eyes and looked onto the street. My pupils got dilated to collect extra light from the atmosphere. To my surprise I was able to see. I looked up and saw the moon emerging from beneath the dark clouds.

It wasn’t a full moon though.

Bullet Of Peace

People mistakenly assume silence to be peace but if you look deep down the stream you'll see that actual peace is attained by the sounds of flowing water, chirping birds and soft wind.

Silence is golden at times even synonymous with peace at few instances but surely you cannot induce peace by shutting the mouths and eyes of people forever.

Peace is only attained by open communication, by love and respect for others. You don't throw drones at the ones you want to be peaceful with.

Peace is no bullet to hit a target, don't turn it into one.