The internet has been truly liberating. By any standard it has put the world at our fingertips. I find the internet useful for a large number of tasks, information, entertainment and even conducting work. But here is a flip side – has the internet changed the way our brains are responding to the incoming overload of information. From being minds that look deeply into the nature of things, issues, universal principles (scientific, spiritual, geographic etc.) and conducting in-depth analysis; have we become “information grasshoppers” skimming a little bit of everything? With such a multitude of information, with the ease of hyperlinked data and threads, does the brain lose its ability to focus? The ability to narrow in on a topic – like say in a good 300 page book – is that quality of the mind disappearing? Because the brain keeps adapting to how information comes in – in the early days it was oral, then the written word with paper and books and now TV and the internet.
Continue reading “Information Grasshoppers: Does the Internet distract us?”Author: Dennis Taraporewala
Storyteller, Business Owner, Musician, Life Strategist.
The Bane of “Hero Worshiping” and Being a “Fan”
What does it mean being a “fan” of someone or something? Most celebrities have a “fanclub”. What a funny and strange club to have. A group of people who do not know or understand you, but keep mindlessly showering their adulation on you, following your movements etc., because of their own mental projections onto you. In fact if most “fans” got closer, got to know and perhaps lived with the celebrities they adulated, they would realise they are normal human beings, struggling with the same challenges and working out their destinies like anyone else.
My take is – stop hero worshiping. Say no to it. If you have to Hero Worship anyone, worship yourself, love yourself, honour yourself. By “yourself”, I do not mean the self serving egoic melodramatic side of your personality. But more the inner being, the one that makes you breathe, the flow of what makes you aware of the universe, the underlying consciousness or awakening in your heart. Any other form of hero worship, simply gives your inner power away; by honouring Yourself you create your own inner pillar, around which you can build your life.
IPL After Parties: A Concocted Show
Many people, especially Indians are very quick to criticize say someone like the Singapore government, for putting on directed and concocted shows. But what about these new IPL “after parties”? They seem like a miserable drill the cricketers follow, night after night after night. Not only does the show seem completely put on (at least to this author), women are invited, celebrities perhaps flown in and the cricketers seem like they have to “keep up” with this new party culture; and all-in-all it looks like a sad and forced regimen for everyone. To top it all you have VJ’s and some others, pouncing around in over-excited tones, acting like it’s the greatest party on earth. Unfortunately, most of the visuals indicate to the contrary. The cricketers look jaded and tired, the VJ’s over-the-top, the invited mini skirt women flashing false smiles and celebrities who look like they would rather quickly get to their hotel room to get a good nights sleep. But its a free country and so people are free to celebrate and do as they please, but I would caution readers to be mindful before consuming boring visuals of a “put-on” party, weather on TV, in print or on radio. True celebration comes from the inside, through a solid understanding of your own inner being…no wonder you never find Sachin Tendulkar at any of these concoctions. Great example.
Seeming Everyday Reality?
Most people are grounded in the seeming reality they see around themselves. Their work, their career, their job, the people they meet, their social life, their friends and family. But what about those who have glimpsed a different reality, a different inner world, a world filled with love and happiness, of rest and rejuvenation, of wondrous music and dance. Once that inner glimpse is seen, how do you still remain ambitious, how can one plot anyone’s’ downfall, how to play politics at work, how to even be remotely interested in a job; the larger question is – how to bring that glimpse of a vibrating and throbbing inner universe, into not only your daily life, but the daily life of everyone you touch – your friends, family, clients, the people you meet, the taxi driver, the person on the road.
Dennis Taraporewala 