Flickering Stability
February 1, 2008
Wavering, a little to the left and now more to the right,sometimes almost out but then resurrecting itself in to an almost prairie fire.Then buckling down in to an almost negligible flame.The same pattern would then repeat itself.Watching it was way more interesting than watching the usual sitcoms that he was used to.Life’s luxuries had a flip side to it, in the sense they made you miss out on the tiny lessons that nature provides and thus miss the greater joy.
So did it mean that when the candle stabilized its flame, it had achieved what it set out to achieve in the first place ? Did it mean it was stable ? If so, is that good ? Is that what we should all strive to be ? Stable ? Figure out all our issues, wax and wane on them , stumble upon a solution and stabilize.
What really is the fun in that ? Stability ? And what if stability is just an illusion , a temporary recourse that nature provides the candle and then wavering is just an inevitable event that would eventually follow ? Maybe the wavering is fun, figuring out the infinite possibilities and fighting with them all in the actual goal of life. Maybe we all have goal of our life wrong, he thought . why should it be the destination that is final goal ? Maybe its the cheat code in the game of life that we all miss to acquire. Its the waxing and waning , figuring out our way through the jumbled maze of life that is the purpose. Its finding time to go for a walk in the twilight,talk to old friends and reminsence, spend time with family,pursue your interests like painting even if your painting abilities would not stand a chance before a kindergarden kid.
It was nice to be in this dark with just a candle flickering next to him. It helped him gain perspective.Maybe the darkness is not so bad after all. A single flame which was not very sure of its lifetime told him how inspite of a long life ahead, he was not living it at all. Life had a great teacher. Irony.
Suddenly he was blinded by light. His HD television started off again.The fan above him started rotating with all its might. His latest iPhone started screaming out loud demanding his attention.It took him a moment to come to this world.
“Yes,Atul here”.
“Yes, sir, I can talk”.
“No , sir, I am not busy this weekend, I can work”.
“Yes, and i will get this months goal setting done”.
“Good night sir”
He turned to see the candle. The flame had gone out.It seemed meaningful though. Its journey,its life.
Yes,Darkness seemed much better.
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1.
dhivya arasappan | February 1, 2008 at 9:27 pm
Nice one Nivi! I loved the analogy- between the dancing candle flame and our changing lives. How do you come up with such stuff?!
And I have to say I feel like I’m getting a good picture of ur current mindset and where you are wandering about in life right now thru several of your posts… and that’s always good!
2.
Maverick | February 1, 2008 at 9:29 pm
Hey very nice blog. The image in the beginning adds a nice flavor to the blog. Yes I totally agree with you that the struggles that you go through in your life (waning) and the few moments of happiness that you derive by talking to your friends, following your passion (waxing) holds the real key to life. Most of us keep on waiting for some or the other huge thing to happen in life and that blinds our eyes to the tiny bits of enjoyment that we can have form mundane things.
And the realization only dawns to us in one of these odd circumstances like looking at a flickering candle.
The narration style is typical you. The ending in particular. I wonder why the name “ATUL”. It would have been really cool if the name was rahul coz then he would be the one having an iphone and HD television:)
Anyways, a nice read as always.
3.
Anuradha | February 2, 2008 at 7:01 am
once again kudos! bowled over!
the pic was very good… kinda set the whole tempo of the post
loved your analogy of the flickering candle light to “Life” in itself… yes it made sense! it jus made me look at life with a brand new perspective….
“Maybe the wavering is fun, figuring out the infinite possibilities and fighting with them all in the actual goal of life.”… loved this line dude. yes i guess it is the journey in itself, the potholes and the smooth roads, the traffic jams and the long drives, the rainy days and the sunny days, that make life worth living…
awesome post! made me THINK and RETHINK
4.
Srinath | February 2, 2008 at 8:01 am
“Maybe the darkness is not so bad after all” —> First things that seem to catch the attention on this post…These words did not seem to be new from Nivi.. few earlier post speaking abt beauty of darkness… do i c a pattern??
The content has been presented in ur regular exquisite style with an amazing down to earth analogy… but wats life without stablity..may b we need to define wat one means by stability… if ur defn of stability is lack of change… i go with u… but according to me stability is the state of equilibrium in adversity … the unwavered resolve to continue amidst hostile condns…
But again.. i really liked ur presenataionand conciseness of ur post… the posts are becoming better and better with pictorial depiction of the ieda and tremely relevant and apposite represenataions…
A fan.. alaways a fan;)
Cheers,
Srinath!!
5.
abs | February 2, 2008 at 9:13 am
nice one
6.
Archana | February 2, 2008 at 4:00 pm
Very well said nivi.. U have a way with telling things and I love it the most in ur posts.. its subtle and it expresses the feelings end-end.. and as all have mentioned u r improving ur writings with every post.. keep them coming.. these posts keep us in touch as i relate to every one of them.. guess this is wat u call virtual bonding!!
)
7.
AR | February 4, 2008 at 3:35 am
Purpose is an illusion. Purpose is what people try to obtain so as to have a sense of belonging. The flame has no purpose. The reason, if you may, is that you lit it. Therefore, it is. The flame will exist as long as you want it to.
This is the same thing about life. It is an illusion. I guess that is what our ancestors called Maya. This is the illusion of life. Life is what you perceive it to be. Purpose is what you deem it to be. You are alive, because you are. Plain, steady, wavering, simple, complex, on, off, everything is in your head, everything in your mind, everything in you!
8.
Harish | February 4, 2008 at 5:43 am
very very dark and subtle. There are so many symbolisms and hidden meanings that I wonder if they really mean what I think or whether I have got it wrong
Either you got reminded of your old working days….or some friend of yours has bored you to death about his work life and all its mishaps in his life.
Tragedy…life….struggle…..artistically brought out
9.
adithya | February 8, 2008 at 3:53 am
Dude I have to start from the beginning.. loved the picture totally.. beautiful one… and it was followed by an even more awesome writing… The wavering of the flame and the symbolism with what we miss out… all the tiny lessons of nature… completely bowled and really really thought provoking. Loved the thought you brought out here… Stability is definitely and illusion and a cheat code… giving temporary relief… but it’s the course to it which is more important… I have always wondered… we are all in a maniac pursuit of our dreams.. or like you call it the destination… and assuming destination is the final goal… what after that?.. what after reaching the final goal… like you said.. its all a cheat code… then human mind as it works… would look for another goal….another destination… dreams/destination is something we are always after and if they are satisfied then another one.. and the cycle continues. So I guess what I am saying is.. like the candle there would be a stabilization for a small time and then the maniac pursuit begins again..
And Nivi.. like I always say.. the punch in the beginning and the end continues with your blogs… I mean what an “ Irony”.. inspite of realizing all this… Like the character in your story… all of us ( including me) would to this… but after we do close the window… we get back to chasing our dreams.. our destination..
10.
dhivya arasappan | February 8, 2008 at 11:42 pm
Hey nivi- This is a much nicer template! Looking good
11.
Jagdeep | February 9, 2008 at 7:02 pm
Awesome. This time i did understand it
12.
Karthik B | February 12, 2008 at 4:44 pm
This is exactly why I dont like power cuts.. they screw up ur mind.. candles are fine but never stare into the flame (and of course the flame can never be as interesting as y’House’ or ‘Heroes’).. I dont like looking at things in a different perspective cause that is a time when u start thinking that u are really not leading a life as happy as u think u are..
stability is good for sure.. its what everybody strives to achieve.. but like u said.. stability is transient.. u keep getting those gusts of wind that jolt u out of the stable states..
nice one nivi.. nice analogies.. love it..
13.
Lazy Lavender | February 19, 2008 at 10:56 am
@ Nivi, I did chance a glance at your blog a coupla times, but never read the posts. Awesome, is the word(which I generally use to describe anything that pleases me, anything I consider good-to-great)
Now I am gonna dig up all your posts and read all of them.
14.
nivik | February 20, 2008 at 4:22 pm
@Lazy Lavender
Thanks! welcome to by blog and please keep visiting
15.
Destination Infinity | March 5, 2008 at 3:52 pm
Purpose , is not the only reason to assume….
Destination Infinity.
16.
Ramlal | March 26, 2008 at 4:51 am
Really good analogy. many people are devoid of a virtue called contentment. If one is happy with what he has, he will be stable.