Let there be light?

"Dilon mein tum apni betaabiyan leke chal rahe ho, toh zinda ho tum." - Javed Akhtar's lyrics in Zindagi Naa Milegi Dobara

“You must have chaos within you to give birth to a dancing star.” - Neitzsche's quote in the opening line of The Dirty Picture

The concept of Pain (dard) as a prerequisite for good music as explored in the movie Rockstar.

Being Human

The following is an essay I wrote as an assignment for a course on Writing that I am pursuing as a part of the Young India Fellowship. The essay builds on to the ideas explored in "On Compassion" (Barbara Ascher) and "The Death of the Moth" (Virginia Woolf). Read along even if you haven't read these essays.

The means or The end

What do you do when you believe in a cause but not in the movement? Does the end justify the means? Is utilitarianism the way out? It's been a very major debate since long. Mahatma Gandhi believed in the approach towards freedom more than freedom itself. And, people blame him for that because he called off the Non Cooperation Movement after Chauri Chaura and because he signed the Irwin Pact without negotiating for Bhagat Singh et al. But can you so easily give up your ideals; doesn't the aftermath of the result depend on how you achieved the result? I found myself asking similar questions to myself recently.

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