STRAY THOUGHTS 

We have been outta touch for some time now. Sorry about that. Guess I got a little disorganised and there were no starry** stray thoughts.

Did u guys miss me ? I guess not, coz if you did, somebody would have said so. Right ?

But that brings me  to my stray thought for today. "CHANGE !!"
Remember this word ? It was used by a tall, wiry, black gentleman called Barrack Hussain Obama to do the impossible and become what no one could have imagined, the C-in-C of USA, much to the chagrin of the Republicans and their constituency the RED Necks and the white shrouds with the peaked caps and burning crosses, and the amazement of the rest of the world.

But stop and wonder what is it, in this word that grabbed the imagination of the world and created a miracle in the most paradoxically conservative of nations?
CHANGE- is among the most basic of all human instincts.

Everyone wants change!! The wife wants to change the husband and his habits to suit her own concept of how he really should be. She wants her husband to be rich like Mukesh Ambani, handsome like Arjun Rampal, intelligent like a scientist, and perform like Jacques Casanova the legendary philanderer of yore and humorous like Baman Irani.

 The husband on the other hand,  wants the wife to be good looking like may be a film star, intelligent like an Einstein, as sporty as a Steffi Graf and at the same time perform like a porn star. He knows very well in his heart that this is an inconceivable combination yet he wants to CHANGE her anyway and tries his best till either a divorce or death do them apart!

Did you know that your entire life and all events in it are  fixed and have always been; there is nothing in it that you can change?  Before you raise hell and howl in protest, let me ask you a very simple but profound question.
Look back in time and answer which of the events in your life were actually controlled or "CHANGED" by you? Here's a list:
-your birth, where you were born, type of parents, number and type of siblings, gender of siblings, size, colour, nature  and looks of spouse; children: size, no., looks: dwarfs or giants. How many and at what intervals, education, profession.

You will note that all of these have been beyond an iota of your control. You have had nearly all of them presented to you as fait-accompli. The rest have been the creation of circumstances (read: nature, or MAYA or fate).
Note that nowhere does your effort or thought or desire play any role.

Why do we then talk about and desire change so much ??

Jagjit sang a ghazal in his initial appearances as a singer. "दुनिया जिसे कहते हैँ , जादू का खिलौना है! मिल जाये तो मिटटी है खो जाये तो सोना है !!! "
The world is a magic toy!! Whatever you get, is valueless; what you don't get, is as valuable as gold!!!!

I guess that sums up the word "CHANGE"!
It is our inherent instinct to do better, to come out on the top of the heap. This sentiment, worthless as it may be, is at the base of all human endeavours.

But is it always desirable ?
Do we really need it??
Sometimes yes but most often not. You do need to change a worn out piece of clothing or the tyre on your car, or a defunct battery.
But do you really need to change a spouse?
Even if you become the emperor of the world Guru Nanak says, "you are only sitting on a heap of sand"---
"बालू कि डीप  ज्यों वसुधा को राज है " !!!!

While the urge for change supposedly has its material benefits, it brings in its wake aftershocks such as great upheavals, disruptions, ruined and unhappy families.

Think about it and go and talk to a few who have actually caused and managed great change; at the end of it all are they happy ? Are they satisfied with the quantum and the type of change that they have brought about? Or are they looking to change some portions of the already in place change? Or are they dissatisfied with the result of the change??

I dare venture a guess that no one  will give you an unqualified YES as an answer!!