RIFLE RANGE BOY

Harold and Maude (1971) Some look at life as full of doom and gloom, as a purposeless one. Whichever path one takes, we know what the final destination is, and the path leading to it can be paved with shrapnel and pain. Nietzschean and many existentialist philosophers perpetuate this idea. On the other end of the spectrum, others whose sole purpose of life is to savour the joy of being born as a human being push it to the tilt. They view the boon of birth as a gift on a platter to enjoy with no boundaries. The truth must be lying somewhere in between - between nihilism and hedonism. There must be a purpose in our existence, perhaps to somehow leave a tiny mark of legacy, no matter how small, in a small way to propel our loved ones, family or community forward. A community, hence a country, is, after all, is made of subunits of families. So, improvements in families will sequentially propel the human race forward.  We should probably  get our cues about life from the words of t...

Waiting for Godot (play, book) Writer: Samuel Beckett Thanks to MEV for the suggestion; for helping me in my journey to crack open my hard shell of ignorance.  Albert Camus and Samuel Beckett fall into the same category of philosophers-writers who lived through World War 2-ravaged France to build a very nihilistic view of life's purpose. Samuel Beckett, an Irishman, who spent a good portion of his life in France, can be credited to have started the 'theatre of absurdism' and received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1969 for his books and drama. The life that is laid in front of us is apparently meaningless. In this tragi-comic play, we are shown as headless chickens running, not knowing what to do and not knowing what is expected of us. We are so fickle, always losing track of our purpose and get swooned over easily by events around us. We eagerly await instructions from people in authority without an iota of a clue about the right thing to do. But we wait and follow like...

@PawanDurani  This Brahmana is from Melukote. Carries water for abhisheka from the Pushkarani down below to the Yoga Narasimha temple atop a hill. A steep climb of 300 steps, plus added distance from Pushkarani. He has been at it for decades now, 4-5 times every day. Body sculpted by devotion. https://twitter.com/Tasveer_wala/status/949470952240250881 This is more than a mere photo story. The servant of God takes upon himself his divine duty to carry water up to the temple. In simple terms, he is the modern-day Sisyphus. He carries the heavy load of water up the hill every day without actually having a target. He would never be able to fill up the hill or have a deadline when his repetitive duty would end. He takes the 'job' as his Dharma, his reason for his existence. He carries on this selfless and endless mission with the primary gain of finishing his job. He has to find happiness within the act of completing the job, knowing very well that...