Plato's Fault

Tick Tock

Tock Tick

Tick Tock!

Exam in 11 hours , 3 new questions to do and 34 more to revise. They hadn’t slept in 3 days due to the previous 3 back to back exams…..

Crushed Red bull cans and empty mugs which once contained black coffee lay on the hostel corridor along with 4 girls who were splayed across sheetless mattresses dumped onto the corridor from their respective rooms. The corridor overlooked the normally empty grounds of the hostel which was now patrolled by sleepless students scrambling about in despair.

JJ’s eyelids were closing in on her against her will. Not now baby… only 1 more exam then Freedom 4evaaa! Almost echoing the same sentiments, came a voice from the other side of the mattress with a hollow , dreamlike quality “You know what is the true freedom? Sleeping forever…for eternity”

The voice belonged to Kalra , she who loved saying crazy things for the sake of drama and she who sometimes was drama itself in a human shape. The third one , ‘Rambo’ had given up on life after being utterly exhausted and had taken the student’s route to conquer it – apply some Zandu Balm on bread and Bam! You got your energy. In rambo’s case since she was a bit big , she overestimated how much she needed and had way too much and now she was high as high can be and was just rolling around and annoying others.

Wait. What was that noise? Oh that’s anan

“After a certain point you just have to admit that NOBODY gives a flying ___ about what Plato , Aristotle or Aquinas gotta say. What about what we have got to say? I had no say when papa wanted me to follow his footsteps and become a lawyer. I must be the only person in India who wanted to become an engineer and wasn’t allowed to become one!”

She moped in her shrill sad voice as she always did. Her friends had only eye rolls to offer her. Rolling Rolling Rolling   

That’s what happens when you realise that you hate your career choice every exam time and resolve to tell dad you are quitting, only to come back placated, thanks to the latest iPhone he bribed you with. You lose the moral ground pretty fast. Sorry Anan

“ If you keep telling me this story I’ll end up writing it instead of this Hobbes theory lololol” JJ started crying out in laughter. She is losing it! And yes she is one of those cases who ‘say’ LOL. God bless them.

So JJ continued with her Hobbes theory despite lack of sleep and overdose of laughter. That dude apparently believed that law is a social contract that the first generation of beings voluntarily gave up their  rights for and the forthcoming generations have no option to get out of it. Isn’t consent material to any contract? This is just plain fraud and coercion on the state’s part! I don’t want skl , college , job , government , taxes , pathan notes and red bull cans! But I am forced to take part in all this because someone already decided what ‘civilisation’ is. Why can’t there be a strip of land where people who don’t wanna be part of the contract can like chill and make rocks out of fire without the government asking us to pay taxes. wHYY?

But before she could Rambo woke up with a start. She looked into Kalra’s eyes and smiled serenely. Kalra got scared and asked her “ what is wrong with you Behen..”

“ Behen! I have figured out life” she spoke manically not unlike a religious fanatic “ We have been going about it all wrong. The point of life is not being awake , the point of life , the point is to sleep! We are supposed to find food for energy purposes , eat them and go to sleep where we can live in our dreams , where anything and everything is possible. There is no limits of logic and physics in our head. We could enjoy being a millionaire and have an eight course meal and feel everything. Isn’t life all about feeling and perceiving. It is not what it is but what it can be. With more sleep and practice I believe we can control our dreams and that is how we fulfil our destiny. What the hell are we doing reading Plato and Aristotle when we can be our own thinkers? When did the world decide we have finished establishing rules. Omg I’m gonna copyright all this. Yipee! Bye losers , I’m becoming famous”

Rambo got up and ran to other parts of the hostel to scare more poor souls. The other 3 silent looked at each other not sure what they should. Wake up the warden and tell her that Rambo has lost it? But who wasn’t losing it? Some only more than others.

“ We ALL have theories and ideas. But we don’t publish it and force other people to study it in one day and make them go mad” wailed anan.

“I don’t think Plato set our exam papers anan..” quipped JJ.

“ Arey JJ , no one wants your stupid logic. Okay I am getting bored. Teach me something about your South India.” butted in Kalra

“ Kalra , if you can at least tell me the names of the 4 Southern states , I’ll try”

“I know that your name is Jayalalitha and that’s funny cuz your dead CM had the same name. Okay don’t get pissed. Mallu Land, Madras , telugu nadu and the other one I forgot”

“ Wow , I hope that you can retain at least the name of the people you have to write about tomorrow”

Mildly offended Kalra lashed out “ Tell me, does your Chinnai have Punjabi food like naan and butter chicken?”

JJ lost it , “ Enough of this b.s , I don’t live in a village. Obviously we have everything!”

“Saali , what I wrong with villages. Don’t show off your big city arrogance”

“ You started it , you racist prick!”

Sensing a cat fight which no one had the energy to fight Anan chipped in , “Guys! Don’t let Plato destroy our friendship. This is ALL plato’s fault!”

They hadn’t come to an agreement on that quite yet when a loud noise came from above shocking them. No guys it wasn’t Plato coming back to defend his now tarnished image but it was the drug addled Rambo! She had managed to find a dangerously high place to stand on.

“ Everything is fake! Dreams are what is. To prove this truth which no one seems to believe I am going to jump from here because I know that I am trapped in an eternal nightmare called reality.Cheer me on ladkiyon!”

Her friends gaped in horror as she took the plunge and came crashing down. Her eyelids were shut firmly and finally..

Tick Tock

Tock Tick

Tick Tock

The clock was ticking in the exam hall and Rambo woke up from her dreams. Didn’t know how much of that was a dream! Did she have zandu balm , was she on the roof , lol did she have friends by the name JJ , Kalra and Anan even? She didn’t know anything , couldn’t focus. However , she did recall the answer to Plato’s Republic. Truly this is all his fault.

The deep blue ocean

Sue Heck.

I have watched around 4 seasons of The Middle now and one character who fascinates me is Sue Heck. On paper , she is a stereotypical beliebing teenager who likes pink and who is what people may typically refer to as a ‘dork’. She tries out for everything and almost never makes any team. And that is what astounds everyone – Sue’s indomitable spirit. She NEVER gives up. Even when she sucks at it. Sometimes to her own detriment.

I am kind of her opposite. More like her tired Mother of three , Frankie. Frankie quits things when they get too tough. She plays out what ‘will’ happen in her head , arrives at her own foregone conclusion and quits. It is pretty sad considering that Frankie is in her mid Forties and that I have just started my Twenties.

Law school does that to you.

However , my slightly skewered to my favour contention is that , while being a Frankie is a big NO , aren’t we all really more Frankie than Sue? And what is wrong with quitting with something you are horrible at anyways?

Ok I sound lazy. Let me rephrase.

Isn’t being a Sue all the time a bit crazy and over virtuous? Knowing when to stop is  important too right? Using valuable time and resource running a cross country race which is already over by the time you have gotten up from your first mistake is just stupid. I know ‘participation is more important than winning’ and all , but sometimes smart work is better than hard work.

We are trying to be sharks in this ocean called competition but what if we are Harry Potter in his second task in the triwizard tournament without some Gillyweed? Totally useless. Is it better to drown than be equipped? Sometimes we know that we come to know that our oxygen cylinder is empty only after we jump in , we can never be pre equipped , we can’t just hope to life of pi our life away , waiting for a life jacket or divine intervention.

OR maybe that’s the difference? People with faith in a higher power tough it out in belief that they get rewarded in the end? Is this whole thing called life about that? Gritting your teeth through hurdles hoping for the light from above or any small sign?

So people who don’t believe are doomed from the beginning? So is faith going to be my gillyweed or am I just going to have to pre equipped and at my best if I am incapable of such massive trust in something I have no clue about?

What is your gillyweed gonna be?

As you can see I am more of questions than answers here. No I haven’t read many books by thinkers. I wanna reach there myself. And you are free to speculate with me in the comments column.