Friday, September 19, 2008

Meaning of Life

For ages people have sought the meaning of life - what all this is about? Why do we exist? Do we exist? What is the purpose of our lives? What happens when Id clashes with Ego?

Pseudo-medically speaking, life could very well be defined as a sexually transmitted disease with a 100% fatality rate. Not a good feeling now, is it? I found the meaning of Life in the English dictionary under L. You could also try Googling it.

There are various other attempts at exploring all this by people from Plato to Douglas Adams to you. 42!

People try to make their lives meaningful by the pursuing diverse paths. Alexander the Great, Genghis Khan and Adolf Hitler have immortalised themselves in history by the world conquests they achieved. Prophetics, cult leaders and God impersonators have immortalised themselves in history by the belief systems they spread. Hugh Hefner, Charlie Sheen and, Ron Jeremy by the number of women they bedded. Movie stars and musicians by their performances. Jeffrey Dahmer, Ted Bundy and Jack the Ripper by their murderous obsessions.

Religions in general say that it is about doing good, avoid evil and thereby achieving salvation as paradise, nirvana, end circle of life, become one with God, world peace, etc..., depending on the system of belief. Of course, “doing good” and “evil” also depends on which religion we are talking about.

Eerily enough LIVE spelled backwards is EVIL! This should have meaning provided that English is the divine language.

In Islam, the purpose is clearly defined in Quran: “And I did not create the Jinn and mankind except to worship Me...” (Quran, 51:56-58). Simply just that. Not to strive to achieve paradise or 72 virgins. Just worship God. Reward shall be chosen later. But then again it all depends on the person’s mazhab, apparently.

In Christianity, it is supposedly the same as with any other Abrahamic religions. However, there are these exceptions such as Nuns who strive to be the bride of Jesus.

In Hinduism, it is about finding a way outta this shit of a life of suffering. In Buddhism, it is about achieving some Nirvana (and thus finding a way outta this shit of a life of suffering). So life you get being born as humans, or platypuses, or a cell in the lining tissue of a horse’s rectum, etc... depending on how good you were in the previous life. So no divine judgement; just your own self blindly trying to find a way outta here.

The scientific approach to it indicates that our lives are not that special – that it is just a fluke of nature, with no special place in the big scheme of things beyond evolving to more survivable beings. This gives less importance to an individual as well as its species. This concept becomes a problem especially because it removes that warm feeling of oneself being important over other beings and of having a future which we can control. No more significant than a bacteria hurtling through space on a ball of matter.

Why does some people get away with murder while others can get prosecuted for things as simple as burping in public? This is where the “life is not fair” prerogative comes into play. Push this a bit further and ask “How far will you go with evil deeds if you could get away with anything?”

We have come a long way from Eve feeding apple to Adam (or Big Bang), each with our own life, born under different circumstances, defining how we want it to be, and measuring how it is not so. So what does your life (spanning an average 50-100 years) mean to you and everyone else? What makes it meaningful? And how are you going to achieve it?

Me? An apportunity... to make a difference... with magic spells, of course.

Sunday, September 07, 2008

Vote Maumoon Abdul Gayoom

Coz he’s the only candidate with presidential experience.
Coz education, tourism, religion, finance sector thrived under him.
Coz he is educated, mannered, and collected.
Coz he has the required leadership qualities.
Coz he is from Male’.
Coz he has enough staff working under him to be able run a government.
Coz he brought democracy to Maldives.
Coz he has separated powers under democracy as he promised.
Coz he forgave us when we were bad.
Coz he is sincere enough to allow Maldivians elect a President.
Coz he is the only person who truly cares about us.
Coz why go to “Another Maldives” when we belong to this Maldives?
Coz why vote for a bunch of immature, inexperienced kids when he is the most mature and experienced amongst all candidates?
Coz he is merciful to pardon death row inmates.
Coz he is THE man for all islands.
Coz he is still able to manage a government even through his so called dementia and disillusionment.
Coz he is humble enough to walk amongst the common people.
Coz he is humble enough to pray amongst the common people.
Coz he was the one who discovered and brought forward the phenomenon of Global Warming to the international arena.
Coz he has connected the whole world to Maldives by building an embassy in almost every country.
Coz we won SAFF 2008 Championship gold under him.
Coz he created Hulhumale’ from nothing.
Coz he bridged Hulhumale’ with Male’ across the vast ocean.
Coz he can develop housing for the homeless.
Coz he can eradicate the drug problem.
Coz he can bridge the religious divide.
Coz he can fix the economy.
Coz with him, Maldivians would get universal health care.
Coz he can deliver justice.
Coz he can wipe out crime.
Coz he can stop the daily rapes and paedophilia.
Coz we should give him more time to complete the developments he is bringing for the country.
Coz after 6 terms, he would know where the inefficiencies lay in the previous attempts at running a country.
Coz he sacrificed 30 years of his life serving us.
Coz he’s the only one who will fulfill his promises.
Coz he’s the only candidate who made realistic promises.
Coz who else is there but him?
Coz all other candidates are much worse than him.
Coz whatever evil he committed would have been committed had there been anyone else in that position.
Coz whatever negative things people say about him are simply not true.
Coz so far nobody else has been able to succeed him.
Coz rationality should not be a hindrance when what we really need is what is best for Maldives.
Coz it is the patriotic thing to do.
Coz it is the right thing to do.
Coz he was smart enough to setup a Qudhus fund after the Maldives accepted Israel as a legitimate state.
Coz he was able to apply similar concept to the Zakaath funds as well.
Coz he shows us the righteous path.
Coz he provideth.
Coz he has prior knowledge of moon sightings.
Coz he can do both Astronomy and Astrology.
Coz he knows Arabic, the language of Islam.
Coz he was awarded Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George.
Coz he gets divine inspirations.
Coz he is all omniscient.
Coz he has proved himself by producing a translation of Quran in Dhivehi.
Coz he has such ambitious, successful and professional family members that most of them managed to get top posts in the government purely through the merit of their qualification, sometimes being able to even hold multiple profiles.
Coz how can you go wrong with a guy who displays an open palm for his symbol.
Coz under his presidency, even a tsunami couldn’t wipe out Maldives.
Coz he is God’s gift to Maldivians.
Coz it is his destiny.
Coz Maldives is what it is today coz of him.
Coz I am what I am today coz of him.
Coz he is immortal and we will never ever have to find a replacement.
Coz if Maumoon wasn’t there, Maldives wouldn’t have been there either.
Coz there is no Zaeem, but Maumoon.
Coz I testify that there is no Zaeem, but Maumoon.
Coz he was sweet enough to attend my best friend’s wedding party.

Long live Maumoon, ever living Zaeem of Maldives. Lead long and prosper.