Author Archives: Shalika Mugrai
Sour Times (my video proposal)
I chose to write about the song called “Sour Times”, by a relatively infamous artist actually, who is known in the U.K. as MC Riz. He has managed to create a fan following through his music, but is not so popular, as I would think nobody knows who I am talking about. Well, in the song, MC Riz talks about terrorism, through adding references of 9/11, and makes an argument against the accusing finger widely pointed at Islam for being the cause of it. Human ignorance is dangerous, and the need for humans to attempt to quickly explain everything they can is the major problem. People generally look to blame others for things, so as to quickly find a solution and still feel accomplished about themselves. Uneducated, ignorant people can be found very easily and widely in this world, and are prone to being brainwashed. The actions of people, and the weaknesses we possess cannot be used to target a whole religion and its followers. Riz argues that a religion is not the cause of terrorism, but people and the situations they are forced to deal with causes people to act in ways they otherwise wouldn’t act in.
This song touched me very deeply when I first heard it. It actually was my inspiration for some of the essays I wrote when applying to colleges. It inspired me, along with many other things, to think about doing something career wise in international relations, in which I currently am thinking about minoring in, but thats off topic. It is really emotional, in showing the extent to which humans can go to blame others, when in fact, they may be quietly committing the same injustices. Ignorance is very dangerous, and our need to blame in order to explain cannot always be justified. If humans continue to commit injustices against the peaceful, then this world can never become unified. This idea can also be appied to real life, and the many injustices people face today, in their everyday lives. It’s actually a very sad thing, that we as humans have not, even after all these years, been able to find a way to live in peace and harmony with eachother. What is missing, that is stopping us from doing so?
For my video I plan to do a mixture of background music with areas of video (slowed down) and areas of pictures shooting at the audience (fast). I will attempt to portray human ignorance and the need for humans to find answers, by focusing on the 9/11 attacks and perhaps incorporating things about other aspects of the idea. I actually did not want to use the original song, and instead use bits of other songs/tunes to go with the video/pictures.
If I told her
If I told her would she like it. Would she like it if I told her
Would she like it would she if told told her don’t like that I don’t like
If she If I told her that sense she does not make if would she like it
If I told her if I told her if she if she if I told her. If I told her would she like it if shut up if I told her.
Shut.
Shut up.
Up.
Shut.
Exactly as you should.
For your nonsensical whims
Surpass my brain
Your whims are surpass. Surpass of the nonsensical. The nonsensical of the surpass of the whims which my brain brain comprehend does not of the whims of the nonsensical.
But there is something there
Something I feel
Something is there that you are saying to me. Saying saying something that you are saying and something that you are saying to me is something, which is something that you are saying. And so something you are saying and so saying to me.
Saying to me to me to me.
A meaning. The meaning of the meaning of what you are saying, saying something in meaning, meaning something else, than what you are saying, meaning that of your meaning.
Grammar.
Rules of rules of grammar of rules that you don’t like. The rules of the rules of the grammar. The grammar’s rules of rules.
I don’t know.
Why you defy
The rules of the grammar\
Meaning of what you don’t say, of what you won’t say, of say of what you won’t.
It’s there
In that mess
There it is in that mess
In each line
That write you
You in that mess and that mess in each line
In that mess
And that mess in each line
The mess of each line
Where you are
In that mess
I see
I see I see I see and see and see and and see you and you and and you and and as and and as you and as you and as you. You are and You are, and you are and you are.
Telling me that something, of which is meaning
As something
As meaning
As telling
No Grammar
No Grammar
Telling me no grammar
More and more
Becoming clear and clear
You tell me
Of something of much meaning
In the meaning there is the something, of which the meaning
Is telling me you are saying something of no grammar. No grammar.
2012
Wow, i still can’t believe its already November. Looking at the calender right now, it seems almost unreal. It’s already November 15. Wow.
Where has the time gone? Has it really gone, or have I just lived through it too fast, to notice it? Is it possible to live through it too fast? Or have I just been so caught up doing so many other things, that I indeed have forgotten to actually “live” through it. I wrote a whole manifesto on the importance of taking it slow and easy and living each moment. I told others they should do it. Then why have I not done it? Time has just sped by. I can’t believe that I walked into this unknown atmosphere in August, with so many hopes and dreams, ready to live my college life. Now, in November, I look back at the past few months, and find that I really miss high school. College is different. College is hard. College life is hectic. College is not as much fun. Not yet at least. I think I might have just kept too many expectations. I should have come in terms with the fact that I am attending a commuter college. Is it so different from other colleges? I really don’t know.
December is approaching fast, and so is the New Year. 2012. Yes, 2012. The very 2012 which many people are afraid of. The very 2012 which some people claim will bring with it the end of this world. Yes, the very 2012. Should this scare us?
Of course, most people think its a load of nonsense. I don’t believe it either, but find it funny that “living your life” is being stressed more now that “death” is coming. Well why do we need something like “the end of the world” to make us think about life, all that we have not lived, and to make us start wanting to live and enjoy ourselves. Or even, why do we need it, if we believe in God, to make us start being ‘good’ before we die. Accidents happen all the time, and our lives can really end at any moment. So shouldn’t we be ‘living’ all the time?
If nothing else, the idea of the world ending in 2012 at least gives us a chance to look at our lives and acknowledge the fact that most of us do want to be happier and ‘live’ before actually dying. I know I do.
This song tells you to live your life (party) and uses 2012 as an excuse to do it. It uses 2012 as an excuse to start over, from scratch, and live the way we want to live, enjoying our lives.I think this verse really explains it:
No I’m not gonna follow
Anything that say anymore
It’s never to late to start living
So let’s start it with here right now
The Electric Slide Boogie
Christmas Eve 4:20 A.M.
and every body has never felt more alive
past time to sleep and rest
and too early to awaken
stuck in the midst of both
we sacrifice our sleep
for each other’s company
the night calls
through the first flakes of white peace
down the chimney
where children gather in huddles
talk and play and sleep and pray
for Santa and his toys
the living room is bursting
with a parade of family
not wanting to sleep
instead rejoicing within eachother’s company
on the electric boogie slide
making loud thumps
and shaking the house
so much
from amidst the overjoyed people
past the sweet aroma of coffee
brewing so early for the hurdle
and baking chocolate cakes
mixing with the sound of
delightful laughter
pleasant chit- chat
amusing rumors
sweet memories
across the porch and over the driveway
a beautiful gift
for the approaching neighbors
how impossible it is
to not be lured to live
The Happiest Place on Earth
So do you want to be happy? Then I suggest that you take yourself down to the happiest place on earth. Yes, the happiest place on earth! I suggest you take yourself down to Disney World in Orlando, Florida. I don’t think a single place in this world can ever be filled with so many happy people at all once, other than Disney World. Well I have to say that since both Disney World and Universal Studios are in Orlando, maybe the whole term can be applied to Orlando itself, as people generally visit both places, and everyone there is just so happy! I went down to Orlando in the summer with my cousins, and I’ve got to say, I probably have never felt happier or ever seen so many happy people. It was as if I was living in a dream world, which was just so perfect. Everybody emphasized ‘smiling’. For example, I went to a Dunkin Donuts there, and the guy at the registrar was smiling huge and telling each and every customer “Smile. It won’t hurt you to smile.” The positive attitude may come from it being the happiest place on earth. Everything besides the weather was perfect. If you love thunder and rain, which I personally do, then the weather may also be perfect. However, it was really hot! Other than that, I had an amazing time there.
Disney World is not only a place for kids, as many people may assume, but also for adults. It is a place where everyone forgets about all their worries, and just takes a break, immersing themselves in ‘the ideal world’ filled with magic. It has 4 parks which are filled with the magic and mystery of happiness. Happiness surrounds each and every corner of the parks. It all starts with the Magic Kingdom, where Cinderella’s castle is located. In the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique, little girls can be transformed into princesses. I loved was the electrical parade at night, along with the fireworks, and the presentation on the castle. I think everyone was especially moved by the presentation, in which images were projected on to the castle. It was a show in a way, promoting then idea that you should believe in the beauty of your dreams. I will never forget that heartwarming experience.
Another park is Epcot which is divided into sections imitating other countries. You can find the country’s food and cultural events in those areas. In the night, there are fireworks and there is a presentation on the big, white globe Epcot is famous for. Now, if you don’t find your country in Epcot, don’t panic, because you still have a chance to find it in Animal Kingdom, which is also split by countries. The other park is Hollywood Studios, in which you can experience all the magic of the movies, and even go on the Tower of Terror.
As you make your way across the parks, you get a chance to meet the characters and take pictures with them. You can watch the various presentations or musicals held throughout the day, enjoy delicious food, sing, dance, and become a kid again, living your own fairytale. The happy atmosphere produces happy people. Everyone is basically a tourist, most of them coming from outside of the United States. Everyone was very friendly, happy, and just there to enjoy. Evreryone had smiles on their faces, as they made their way thought the parks with the people they love.
I especially met many people from England, but I think that’s because of the Harry Potter park in Universal Studios, which I absolutely loved as well. For me, a huge harry potter fan, I definitely lived my dreams in Hogsmeade and Hogwarts. Drinking butterbeer, which I’ve only read about again and agiain in the books was enlightening. The castle and shops, from inside and outside, were just how I had imagined them. Even the bathroom lived up to my expectations, being just like from the books and movies.
If you want to be around happy people, experience the magic of happiness, and live your own fairytales and dreams, then Disney World is the place for you. Maybe even stop by to Universal Studios, the second happiest place on earth. I know I was very happy in both places, living a fairytale, a dream, like no other, with everyone doing the same around me.
Freud, oh Freud
So its 4 am. Why in the world am I still up trying to do my English homework? It may seem absurd, just as Freud does, but it’s really not, because I had a little nap earlier on. Well, I know I will regret this in a few hours, but I finally got myself to focus on Freud, and cannot stop until I have completely expressed my views on him. Freud is one man who not only interests me but also drives me crazy. I really would want to meet him one day, if he wasn’t already dead, just to figure out what kind of a person he is, and where his absurd thoughts come from. The first time I came across this man was in my ap psych. class last year. He is a profound thinker, who was obsessed with the human mind and internal drives. While I found interest in some of his ideas, I wanted to question his thinking and give him a wake up call for others. I mean he’s probably a nice guy and all. It’s just that some of his thoughts and ideas just seem absurd. All of us are humans, and so we all of course are always thinking, and finding ways to perceive and define the world around us. We all ask others and ourselves a ton of questions, to gain knowledge and help ourselves define the world a little better. So Freud was the same, except he questioned the world a little differently than we do. He questioned things like dreams, internal desires, the conscious, the unconscious, pleasure, pain, etc.
I found interest in his approach to dreams and his idea of symbolism and internal desires in dreams. I found the idea of the id, ego, and superego very interesting, as it classifies our internal desires and seems to make sense. However, I find his focus on ‘sex’ to be disturbing, especially with his whole pyscho-sexual stages of development and the sex drive being present in infants and children. Obviously he doesn’t mean it in a bad way, but simply as a drive that can be fulfilled for an infant by sucking to get food. However, he thinks that if needs are not met, it will later affect the baby’s personality in a bad way. In totality, I find this idea of his to be absurd.
I found Freud to be a little bit confusing in the reading, with his scrutinizing and analytical approach to the idea of pleasure and pain. He looks closely to see its relation to “the quantity of excitation present in the psychic life” and discusses something called “traumatic neuroses”. He is the kind of person who just seemed to make matters more complex than they really were. His abstract thinking is a cause of this. However, I enjoyed reading the case of child-play in which a child was studied to see how he reacted to pain and pleasure within his play. It was very interesting to discover that an 18- month old child was able to deal with the pain he received when his mother left him by turning the idea into a game of asking his toys appear and disappear. When his mother died when he was 5 years old, the boy was not sad at all. This shows the profound effects one’s childhood can have on their future. The boy turned the pain, when he was young into a game, it seems that even when he got older, he still thought of it as a game. This idea of the importance of childhood has also come up in some of Freud’s work, and may be one of the few things I could agree on with him.
The Allegory of a Cave
Education is a process that involves many stages. As we progress through our lives, we learn by observing our environment and the people around us. Plato’s allegory of a cave shows the profound effects of education on humans. When one prisoner is released from his bonds, he begins to move through the other stages, by learning. He realizes that the shadows were nothing more than reflections from light cast on the people walking behind the wall. When the prisoner is dragged out of the cave, he discovers what true reality is, in the form of the “visible world”, or one that has trees, flowers, houses, etc. He achieves ultimate ‘intellect’ when he realizes that the sun is the cause of all of these things and figures out the stages he had to pass through to reach it were all in the process of learning. The goal of education was to push this prisoner out of the cave as far as possible, so out of curiosity and wonder, we would keep going further, until he could go no more.
This allegory shows the human condition justly. It shows that when humans are born, they start out at the lowest state of learning, with no education, but only an imagination, which allows them to perceive whatever they see as reality. This can directly be related to the prisoners chained in the dark cave, for whom reality is nothing more than the shadows they can see straight ahead of them, which is ultimately made by fire and people carrying statues walking behind the wall. However, as we grow, we learn to make sense of our surroundings and slowly discover reality. We learn as we interact with the world around us, and thus pass through many stages of learning, as we get older. This can be seen as the prisoner who is freed progresses through the cave. Those who truly discover reality and achieve wisdom can said to be truly educated, and can directly related to the prisoner who went out of the cave and discovered the world, and the sun as being the cause of it. However, is there an end, to which education can ultimately lead us, or does the process of education keep on going throughout our entire lives? Well according to Plato, there is. He defines “the limit to our inquires”, or the ultimate thing we strive for, as being “the form of good.” This is the ultimate object of knowledge, or the state or reason and truth. This man, who has been pushed to achieve ‘the form of good’ as Plato says, is a ‘philosopher-king’. In Plato’s scenario, one who is prone to lean towards good can only be pushed to become a philosopher-king so that he may come back into the cave and rule all the other citizens, for only a man with no desire to rule can rule well and justly.
Reading this allegory made me remember a concept from Hinduism known as ‘moksha,’ which can directly be related to the allegory. Moksha is a concept of Hinduism, which according to the Britannica Concise Encyclopedia is “the ultimate spiritual goal, the soul’s release from the bonds of transmigration. The soul, once entered upon a bodily existence, remains trapped in a chain of successive rebirths until it has attains the perfection or enlightenment that allows it release. The methods by which release is sought and attained differ from one philosophical school to the next, but most schools consider moksha to be the highest purpose of life.” For many people who practice Hinduism, moksha is “the form of good” which is sought after and is the highest thing to achieve. As Hindus believe in reincarnation, the many cycles of life can be directly compared to the stages of learning in the cave. The most basic stage of imagination would perhaps to a Hindu be the lowest cycles of life, or ones in which they are in the lowest caste, as Hindus believe in a caste system to determine karma or deeds of previous lives. Being in the highest caste, such as of being a ‘Brahmin’ may perhaps be the sign of progressing through the cave. Of course, the ultimate goal would be moksha, or achieving a state of liberation of the life and death cycle, and of enlightenment or knowing everything. Some people who apparently achieve this state come back to preach the world, like the philosopher-kings do, and they are known as ‘gurus’.
-Shalika Mugrai