A few words to start with

First of all, I would like to thank Gopal for having come with this great idea of creating SoftlinkersWorld. Its indeed exciting to know that there is a place where you can write, and there are certain people who are going to read it. I have often found myself being accused of making offensive statements, hence, writing, to me, seems a safer option. I can at least read it several times, and apply various ethical formulae to it, to ensure that it is not offensive, and if at all it is offensive then it is offensive to all and sundry and no one in particular.

 Well, I really experience a sense of freedom because of the fact that unlike Shashi Tharoor,  I do not owe an explanation to anyone for whatever I write. This freedom reminds of its counterpart, that exists by virtue of the law of duality, the fear, that surrounds us in our everyday life. On a close scrutiny, one would realise that, it is this fear, that has taken all our individuality away from us. We are forced to do things in a certain way, we are forced to follow a certain routine, we are forced to live our lives in way that resembles pressurized water flowing through a pipeline. Always under pressure, tensed, marching ahead towards a destination that has not been chosen by us but the destiny.
 Further introspection leads us towards the fact that we ourselves have created this fear for us.  And we are slave to it. Fear of losing peer recognition, fear of losing social recognition, fear of being odd man out, fear of losing job, fear of losing money and other countless phobias. We often try to fool ourselves by going on vacations, by being away from this routine life for a small period, to assert our freedom. But it hardly helps. We are back to our cocoon within a few days and become a part of the same cycle.
 Now one will ask,  what am I trying to say here ? Well, I am not suggesting anything. Just a food for thought. I myself am struggling with this fear, I too am a victim of myself. But I have begun my struggle against this fear. I salute all the comrades who are there with me in this struggle, whether I know them or not. I wish you all the best if you want to join.

I remain.

Abhai.

The genesis of this blog

It is human nature to judge people instead of accepting them as they are. We have a myopic vision and tend to have a view of people, which is often tainted with prejudice, mistrust and plain selfishness. On the other hand we also have this tendency to guard our real persona from others, hiding behind the garb of a falsely perceived identity, one that we want to project ourselves as, to gain acceptance in society. Not that the society cares, it is we who have this mental conception. Mostly we hold back our true nature, just to fit into other people’s perception (or rather what we ‘Think’ to be other peoples’ perception) of us. Broadly we can categorize people into types, some being arrogant, consider themselves superior to others, some wallow in their deep rooted inferiority complex; still others tread the middle path and along with the majority; lead a nondescript life. As a result we lose connection with our true self. We miss the opportunity to live a wholesome, complete life and end up being miserable.

I had a chance recently to go out for dinner with my colleagues which was sponsored by the company. It was a wonderful experience where I could get a glimpse of their true nature. It was amazing to see people, who were otherwise perceived as insipid personalities, display their natural wit. The informal occasion brought out the true nature of some of my colleagues though many still preferred to hide behind their false personas and put on a guarded show.

It was then that the Idea occurred to me to initiate a forum where my co-workers can openly air their opinions and general view on any subject under earth. I am not sure how successful this endeavor will be. Nevertheless I have taken the onus upon myself to set the precedence and hopefully it’ll convince all Softlinkers to participate and contribute their mite and bytes. Perhaps it’ll help us understand each other and also ourselves better.

There is a saying in Tamil which roughly translated means ‘Only if you speak out your illness can it be cured’. I sincerely entreat my fellow Softlinkers to come forward and speak about themselves, their passions, their beliefs, likes and dislikes or anything they wish to share with all.