#mhanthung

The wind beneath my rusted feet

long before i kiss Life goodbye,

will soar and Eagle i'll beat

race to catch the maker's eye.

  Chains that pulled me down

and aspirations, my gentle foe

oh! how easy to leave this town

how hard to keep on grubbing the Toe.

  Someday the transition so smooth

never occurs to a Genius' brain,

all his life with Axe and wood

so little he works to maintain-

  the lamp that burns and burns

yet clouded from the naked reality,

The Layman in his whim learns

Life itself is a mischievous diety.

  And when i meet him, the maker

who, i believe in his exalted glory,

give his hand, A single pompous beggar

Of what i am and i persist

irrational whims unsolicited,

sully the framework at least

dreams far from being whetted.

    Of every flower is a story

grand it may be in design,

weathers away in its uncrowned glory

drowned in the sublime texture of wine.

    A step well taken, direction unknown

vanity thou has spoken well,

of all the golden realms shown

I find my Utopia in my hell.

    Least I, in my countenance prejudiced

befall on every mortal hereupon,

the blessing to an extent biased

let misery be your silent weapon.

    I dare not say, Amen

for The Tempest is on the horizon

on aboard, I, a layman

Why am I here? Is there meaning to all that I am experiencing? Is there any purpose to human existence whatsoever? Is life all about trivialities soaked in much exalted vanities and whims? Throughout the centuries, the search for the meaning to human life has vexed philosophers, troubled theologians, stumped psychologists and in a nut shell, challenged everyone. Deep within every person there is an aspiration to discard pretension and pursue a fundamental and indispensable question- the meaning to life?

                   The human sense of purpose is a powerful one. And the need to know and be in that purpose is one of the deepest longings of the human heart. Whether prompted by success or despair, by a gaze at the night sky or a conversation with a friend, the question that has anguished all men through all time has become ours as well. Although there is an intensely personal aspect to the question, we have the sense that it addresses much more than just our own individual destiny. Famed Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910) had a similar realization and set the question this way: “Is there any meaning in my life that the inevitable death awaiting me does not destroy?” But perhaps David, the ancient Jewish king and poet, best framed the question in its universal relevance when he addressed it to his God:

             “When I see your heavens, the works of your fingers,

               The moon and the stars, which you have ordained,

                What is mortal man, that you remember him,

                And the son of man, that you visit him?”

                                     Raphael’s masterpiece The School of Athens (painted between 1508-1511) captures the spirit and dream of the Renaissance. Poet Lucretius writes, a sanctuary where “the commonplace thoughts of ambition, vanity, and thirst for gold, give way to search after truth.” The painting depicts a magnificent temple where the greatest minds of antiquity reunites to confront once again the greatest questions concerning man. Occupying center stage in this sort of all-star event are Plato and his brilliant pupil, Aristotle. Onlookers gather about to witness a disputation of the rarest kind on the highest plane. Plato speaks of humans being chained in an earthly cave, unable to see the transcendent and heavenly reality that shapes the earth. His fingers points skyward, as if to show that the origin of all truth lays there. However, Aristotle differs. According to him, understanding the world we live in, and especially the laws of nature, is the key to truth.  Aristotle in contrast to his master directs his right hand downward, as if to show that here is where we find truth. On the stage, in the right corner stands Zeno of Citium, a wizened old man carrying a young child in his arms. The principal founder of Stoicism in his shriveled and sober face displays ample hallmarks of Stoic way of thinking. Next to him we find the young and plump Epicurus, crowned with vine leaves and most presumably defending hedonism- the belief that the principal aim of life is pleasure. Opposite to them are the scientific and mathematical geniuses. Euclids demonstrates to his four students the wonders of a compass and geometry, suggesting that the world can be understood by mathematical laws. While next to him, holding globes is the astronomer Ptolemy, seeking to understand his place in the cosmos.

                                   Even though majority of the masses have rarely studied these Athenian legends and their philosophies, their search for meaning to the human condition and purpose resonates within us, because like them we all are seekers. An eminent historian succinctly states, “We all want to know why. Man is the asking animal.” Franklin Baumer labels this question concerning the meaning of man as a “perennial question,” one of the “deepest question man can ask about himself and his universe… perennial because man cannot help asking.” According to Blaise Pascal, it is man’s demand for a why that makes man, and man alone, miserable. It would not be too much to add that only when we have the answer to this why are we truly satisfied.

 (My first composition 'DOUBT'. Funnily I came with the intro solos just half hour before the actual recording)        

              SOMETIMES WE'RE CRYING

              SOMETIMES WE LAUGH

              LIFE IS SO ODD WE CAN'T MAKE IT OUT

              TODAY IS BRIGHT

              BUT NOBODY KNOWS

              WHAT TOMORROW IS, IT'S STILL A DOUBT

  THERE COMES A TIME WHEN YOU LOOSE YOUR HOPE

WHEN WHAT DO YOU THINK IS NOT WHAT YOU GET

SOMETHINGS ARE EASY FOR YOU TO REMEMBER

BUT SOMETHINGS JUST HARD JUST HARD TO FORGET.

  WORK TO BE DONE IS GREAT BUT LIFE'S SO SHORT

BIG ARE DREAMS YET TIMES IS LESS

THOUGH THE WAY IS ROCKY AND FULL OF THORNS

Here are few snippets of matchless witty remarks and anecdotes by 3 of my favourite personalities acclaimed for their humor, wit and zest for life. I had had collected them painstakingly all this years but now, I share them with you all. Enjoy.

I shall start with the man much renowned for his statesmanship, oratory and rudeness but very few can match his wit. Here are some of Sir Winston Churchill’s witty quotes,

”He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire”

”He (Mr Attlee) is a modest little person with much to be modest about”

”I may be drunk, Miss, but in the morning I’ll be sober and you will still be ugly”

”You can always count on the Americans to do the right thing- After they’ve tried everything else”

“I am fond of pigs. Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals”

“I am prepared to meet my maker. Whether my maker is prepared for the great ordeal of meeting me is another matter”

“I am always ready to learn although I do not always like being taught”

Next in my list would be Samuel Langhorne Clemens, the literary giant of America, author of classics like The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Adventures of huckleberry Finn. He is better known by his pen name, Mark Twain. Here are some of his classics,

”I didn’t attend the funeral but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it”

”Why do you sit there looking like an envelope without an address on it?”

”I never let schooling affect my education”

”Cauliflower is nothing but Cabbage with college education”

”My books are like water; those of the great geniuses are wine. (Fortunately) everybody drinks water.”

”Civilization is the multiplication of unnecessary necessities”

”It is better to keep your mouth close and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt”

Finally, He is Wit personified. My personal favourite. The man outrageously blessed with oodles of intelligence, beauty, street smartness, humour and razor sharp wit. I am talking about none other than the author of “The Picture of Dorian Gray” Oscar Wilde. Here are some of his gems,

“A man’s face is his autobiography. A woman’s face is her work of fiction.”

“I have the simplest tastes. I am always satisfied with the best.”

“Experience is simply the name we give to our mistakes”

“Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much”

“I think that God in creating Man somewhat overestimated his ability”

“Give me the luxuries and I can dispense with the necessities”

”The English country gentleman galloping after a fox - The unspeakable in full pursuit of the uneatable.”

”But what is the difference between literature and journalism? Journalism is unreadable and literature is not read. That is all.”

“America is the only country that went from barbarism to decadence without civilization in between.”

“As yet, Bernard Shaw hasn’t become prominent enough to have any enemies, but none of his friends like him.”

“We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.”

Let me end with an anecdote or two.

A pompous speaker who had a great opinion of himself gave a long after-dinner speech. He then made the mistake of turning to his neighbor on the top table, who happened to be Oscar Wilde, and asked, ‘How would you have delivered that speech?’ ’Under an assumed name’, pat came the reply from Oscar Wilde.

George Bernard Shaw once sent Winston Churchill two tickets for the opening night of a new play with a note which read:

“For you and a friend - if you have one.”

Churchill replied promptly: