Sunday, February 25, 2007

Puzzled...Sunday Scribblings

This time the Sunday Scribblings prompt is puzzled. This word in itself is very puzzling. It has different connotations for different minds. What is puzzling for me might be normal for another. The big question is what all I am puzzled by?

I am puzzled by many things, some big, a few trivial. Religion, culture, caste, creed come under the bigger issues. Why do we fight because of those is beyond me. How can one human being believe himself to be superior to another is beyond my understanding. I wish for each one of us to respect the other, co-exist peacefully, if not with love. Call me a moron but that’s how it is with me. Maybe I am simplifying. Maybe I am wishing for the impossible, dreaming for the impossible. Ending it with a little thought:

Equality is what I wish-
puzzling over impossible dreams.
Better I get a dish-
& finish that chocolate-chip ice cream...


Click and get more puzzled.

36 comments:

GoGo said...

Now I want chocolate chips. :)

RuKsaK said...

a conumdrum i'm not sure of the answer to is whether a person who believes in equality is superior in some way to one who does not. Raskolnikov had a rather unpleasant answer to this one which, one way or another, cracked open the 20th century.

Kamsin said...

Chocolate chip ice cream seems like a very sensible way to deal with a puzzling situation. I think it boils down to fear and ignorance. We fear what we do not understand, and feel threatened by it, so we fight to retain our sense of security. Well that may be one reason anyway.

Borut said...

Life as a puzzle? Or a jigsaw puzzle? Reminds me of a wise man's saying: If a warrior finds a problem which seems insurmountable, he/she abandons it for a while. He/she occupies himself/herself with something else. Whatever. He lets his/her thoughts meander...!?:)

gautami tripathy said...

gogo: You are welcome to share mine!

ruksak: We can argue either way. This is never going to end. Pleasant unpleasant is our pereception. Raskolnikov was entitled for his own.


kamsin: Turning to chocolate chip icecream is what most of us are doing. Questions we can't answer, we simply turn a blind eye.

gautami tripathy said...

borut: It is like certain mathematics problems with me. If I don't get to it, I leave it for a while to come back later. But that I can solve.

This? No answer...

Borut said...

Okay then, your ‘puzzling’ poem has made me look into the Introduction to Sir Richard Burton's* Kasidah:

... 'Happiness and Misery are equally divided and distributed in the world' !?:)

*The 19th century British explorer, translator and poet, who also spent some time in India - one of my favourite persons to quote.

polona said...

your scribbling has an almost haibun-like quality.
ah, the issues of life, the universe and everything...

Waspgoddess said...

Oh, lovely poem and very thought provoking post.

I agree with Kamsin that ice cream is probably the best solution to any puzzle.

paris parfait said...

It really is an incredible thing that equality proves so elusive in this world. For all our education and experience, people still behave like babies - "that's mine;" or "I want that and you can't have it" or "I have more than you." We are all more alike than we are different; the trick is to focus on our similarities rather than the differences. Anyway, in France they embrace the differences - and I think each country, each people has its own special, unique charm. Too bad so many people are afraid of those who are different than themselves.

Becca said...

It is puzzling that such a simple ideal like equality seems to cause humankind so much difficulty!

Very thoughtful post...and I love the poem!

Tammy Brierly said...

I too am puzzled by people not realizing we are all equal. Pass the ice cream!!!

Anonymous said...

You are right on with this. People make things so complicated and difficult, and we could all just be appreciating and getting to know each other and enjoying our beautiful planet and each other! How amazing would that be?

You've also named one of my favorite ice creams. :)

On a hopeful note, I don't think your dreams and wishes for equality are impossible. I think we all just have to do our parts.

Regina said...

This question has been around since the beginning of time! The sun and rain shines and falls on us all...

strauss said...

In the eyes of ice cream lovers everywhere, we are all equal.
Yes I too, am puzzled by the ridiculous notion of inequality - it certainly is a question for the ages.

Don Iannone, D.Div., Ph.D. said...

Good one Gautami. Love ice cream too.

As for the puzzlement, questions are great for us...make us stretch and grow. As for fretting about the answers...not sure they will ever be as important as the questions.

Enjoyed this one. Thanks.

Keshi said...

we get confused only when we try to understand puzzles that can never be explained. Such as Religion and Caste.

:)
Keshi.

Michelle said...

Nice Sunday Scribbling entry. I agree, I don't understand how one person can think him or herself better or more deserving than another.

Anonymous said...

I loved the way you ended your post - very poetic and yummy.
Thanks for dropping by my site.

Pecos Blue said...

I agree we cut anyones wirist and we all bleed we are all made of the same blood veins etc--esp---when they can now trace that everyone has come from Africa!

Yes said...

What a subtly simple and many-layered little poem...
and I think chocolate chips in vanilla is a metaphor, too...

J. Andrew Lockhart said...

I need ice cream, too. :)

floots said...

sounds good to me :)

Anonymous said...

Yes, why should we even need to puzzle over what makes sense to us already? (to live peacefully and harmoniously as people? Excellent post.
Thank you, I'll join you in chocolate. :)

Anonymous said...

I think you have said what many of us feel.

Pat Paulk said...

Time better spent!!

magiceye said...

reminds me of john lennon's 'imagine'

gautami tripathy said...

polona: Thanks. I never thought of that. As you know, Haibuns end with haikus. This one doesn't. I will try writing one. Very interesting genre.
Haigas, I have written, I can write. You are too good in haigas. As is Andrew. I am learning.

Jone said...

"How can one human being believe himself to be superior to another is beyond my understanding", It is beyond mine as well. I love the ending....made me hungry for ice cream.

gautami tripathy said...

Dear all,

This is something which will go on and on. But I can't stop asking even if it has no answers. I will ask as long as I can. It is nothing new but I will continue with it.We should never give up on it. Where there are questions, there is hope too. What I have come to know is that most think this way. So why is the world the way it is? May be the "most" says it all. Most. Not all.

Meanwhile, I will go back to my ice cream. All of you are welcome to share it with me.

Unknown said...

I agree with kamsin. Sometimes the only answer to life's puzzles is some ice cream. The next question is which flavor.

Anonymous said...

Beautiful reflection. Some things are amazingly astounding in how we interact with each other over differences.

dsnake1 said...

somehow, simple things are made complex, and we are all dragged into the mess.

awww, pass me some of that chocolate-chip ice cream. :)

gautami tripathy said...

sarala: any flavour...even vanilla. Very comforting.

cheryl: We make everything complicated.

dsnake1: I second you on that. Ok, have some!

Lotus Reads said...

That was a nice word and you provided a really great scribble to go along with it. You're right, one person's puzzlement is not necessarily another's. Also, what puzzles me today is not probably going to puzzle me two days from now. So many things are puzzling me at the moment, perhaps I'll take a stab at the word myself!

gautami tripathy said...

Do that, Angel. I was puzzling over you being gone missing from my blog.

Love you, girl.

Hugs!