Divina

 1: Diabolism 

How does one feel about their race? When its name is uttered, does the heart swell with quiet pride, or does the head sink under a crushing weight of humiliation? Your race is like your family. An angelic family bequeaths you reputation and joy; a rotten one hands down curse and insult. The brazen, of course, bear it well. They may have emerged from utterly decayed lineages, yet they walk unflinching, immune to shame. It is, perhaps, a practical choice. If one comes from a lineage one cannot alter, the wisest refuge may seem to be shamelessness. Likewise, if you belong to a race that lived in harmony with nature, preserved its rhythms, cultivated virtue, nurtured a wholesome society, and pursued knowledge with sincerity, you inherit quiet dignity and joy. But if your race stood as a curse across centuries—plundering, swindling, invading, devastating the religions, cultures, and languages of others—then you cannot rewrite your roots. What then remains? To some, the only prudent defense is radical shamelessness. Only shamelessness, they believe, can grant immunity against the relentless tides of inherited humiliation.

2: Browser 

Sitting leisurely by the window of your hillside home, gazing into the horizon, is a quietly rewarding experience. Beautiful vistas, the fresh breeze, and the earthy scent of rain—petrichor—are all accessible from indoors. Yet the window, for all its charm, is a compromise in the safety of the house. Iron grills restrict intrusion but narrow the view. The paranoid install heavier grills, sacrificing scenery for security—but safety, undeniably, is a priority. The ubiquitous web browser is a window too—though not to the physical world, but to the virtual. Desktops, laptops, tablets, and smartphones would feel like windowless prison cells without it. The browser is a remarkably versatile application: it offers access to endless information, online apps, cloud computing, and cloud storage. It can serve as a multi-format multimedia player, a multi-format reader, a PDF editor, and much more. Yet, like the physical window, it carries risks. The more security you impose, the more functionality you lose. The more freedom you allow, the more vulnerable you become. One must find the sweet spot—where openness and protection meet in quiet balance.

3: Trust

Toyota and Hyundai—two automobile brands whose reputations seem forged out of solid gold. The secret behind this aura is a degree of reliability that feels almost like sorcery. However attractive, technologically advanced, capable, and feature-rich a machine may be, without reliability it all goes up in smoke. No one chooses to own a lemon. So it is with human beings. A dependable person earns quiet respect, however humble or unassuming. Those who break trust incessantly, however flamboyant or capable, find others keeping their distance. Their victims may suffer briefly, yet such people seldom realize the deeper harm—they erode their own worth, staining their legacy with a permanent blot.

People of honor do not break trust; in doing so, they celebrate both themselves and what they leave behind. Saints go further—they do not distinguish between friend or foe, kin or stranger; their presence itself emanates sweetness. A Toyota or a Hyundai may not look exotic or scream past three hundred kph, yet they are always valued, always preferred—like metallic saints.

4: Escapade 

Escapade — a goosebump-inducing word. Yes, we love to escape. But from what? Life? After all, what do our favorite pastimes do? They help us escape the grind of living. Movies, books, music, art, even daydreams momentarily help us escape reality. This is why Rousseau said, “Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains.” Does this imply that living is not meant for us—that we are merely thrust into existence against our choice? Reality however, paints a different picture. Most people fiercely love their lives and will do anything to preserve them. So are we not paradoxical here? We love life, yet constantly crave escape from it. This contradiction suggests that we are fundamentally conflicted; perhaps we simply haven’t learned how to live. Freedom and simplicity go hand in hand, yet we gravitate toward complexity, becoming addicted to it like a drug from which withdrawal is agonizing. Simplicity renders escapism redundant by unraveling the self-inflicted tangles of existence. Remaining in the thick of living, simplicity gives the same kind of abandon one would get from a real escapade. In simplicity, escape dissolves—life becomes the adventure.  

5: Library 

Ancient people had no access to reading and writing; they were largely illiterate. Thus, it is often assumed that wisdom and knowledge were rare then. But is literacy a prerequisite for wisdom and knowledge? Writing, and later the printing press, transformed the world. Books on countless branches of knowledge filled libraries that arose in many places. Knowledge became widely accessible. Later, digitisation and the internet opened knowledge to all, creating what seemed the greatest library. Yet did these enablers make people wise and knowledgeable? Not necessarily. For they didn't. They neglected the greatest library — no, the internet it's not — and the greatest form of writing; the writing aids aren't. Active observation is the truest form of reading; living with awareness is the finest form of writing. The ancients, free from endless distractions, engaged deeply with life. They listened to the rhythms of nature, learned from experience, and lived close to truth. Contrary to popular belief, they were not ignorant but profoundly wise—because they read life directly and wrote wisdom upon their days.

6: Check boxes 

A haunting song—how would you comprehend it, perceive it? Simple: objectify the song. Dissect it syllable by syllable and scrutinize each fragment under a sound-monitoring system. This has become our trendiest gate pass to knowledge. Fired by a rationalistic blaze, we dissect every subject into objects. But when we dissect a song like this, can we truly trace the ingredients of its haunting beauty, its melodic soul? Art critics have grappled with this for centuries—what with Eliot’s objective correlative. Perhaps we are afraid to comprehend subjective expansiveness, and so retreat into objectivity. Even our research methodologies are objective exercises. No wonder findings contradict one another; new conclusions nullify the old. Reality never operates like this. It exudes an elaborate presence held together by the cohesiveness of its spirit. In our quest for knowledge, we are suffocating our senses with objectivity and losing the ability to perceive the spirit of wholeness. Across every branch of knowledge, authentication depends upon objective checkboxes. Perhaps that is why our systems have grown blunderous and devoid of foresight.

7: Subscription 

They lure, they seduce, they trap—people plunge in. Enrolled in the snare, they pay at set intervals with their life—life, because money they earn by surrendering fragments of existence. Myriad subscriptions rise before you in every space, parading as trendy, fashionable, indispensable, profitable, and entertaining. But do you truly enjoy them—do you have life enough to enjoy them? The only solace may be that you belong among your class. Yet If you fully engage with every subscription simply because you have paid for it, little time remains for anything else. Family, relationships, and the quiet essentials of living are pushed aside. Even idling—so vital for body and mind—becomes impossible. Then the billing cycles arrive. One by one, the subscriptions add up, and you discover that not much remains for the necessities of life. Subscriptions will persist; they cannot all be avoided. But the judicious choose only what is essential for living. They are neither lured by the providers nor swayed by the countless fellow captives of subscription. Every needless subscription is not a purchase—but a theft of your life.

8: Academia 

He was a distinguished student, yet dismissed his professors as ignorant and seldom attended class. Was he right, was he wrong—or right in his own way? He felt they offered nothing beyond what academic peddlers dispense in countless forms. Information alone was not enough; it lies everywhere in fixed formats. What a proper student needs is the dynamization of academics. What is that? It is the infusion of life into dry theories, challenging them, stripping them bare against the backdrop of reality. The professor’s role is not to pour knowledge but to spark it—to instigate, to spur, so that students themselves ignite the storm of thought. This dynamic exchange was what the student longed for. He realized professors are not mere dispensers of information. But when will professors realize this truth? Can they claim worth if a young mind rightly feels they have forgotten their own profession? If professors provide nothing beyond what the peddlers already offer, their vocation collapses into redundancy. It is a perilous condition for academia. And redundancy in education is not harmless—it is betrayal.  

9: Character 

When the girl asked her father why her peers called her a “flaunting conjurer,” constantly conjuring displays to seek attention, she was bewildered—for her essential nature was to move quietly in ordinary apparel, without enhancements, shying from the social glare. While other girls her age were obsessed with appearances and madly sought attention, she remained untouched by such cravings. Yet paradoxically, her unpretentious innocence evoked wholesome affection; some instinctively cherished and treated her like a daughter. Her father explained that human nature often projects blemishes onto the unblemished; people blame others for weaknesses they themselves possess. A corrupted person calls the honest corrupted. A lewd person faults the morally sound. All blemishes stir this impulse, and jealousy fans the fever. They cannot tolerate losing for their flaws while the decent are celebrated for character. Thus, his counsel was simple: expect such criticism, ignore it. By recognizing these accusations as merely the confusion of insecure minds, she could remain beautifully, effortlessly anchored in her authentic self.  

10: Trauma 

What internal void prodded her bitterness may not be so intriguing— even into frail old age, she dismissed almost everyone as lecherous and grossly lewd. Unfortunately, she had been thrust into married life with a freeloader of a husband who embodied exactly those traits. She herself was no saint, brimming with intense, unfulfilled desires. Once she remarked that an artist, whose work depicted enigmatic women against ominous backgrounds, was a lecherous man because he portrayed women so obsessively. With artistic wit, the artist replied that he possessed an even worse character than her husband: her husband pursued living women, while he pursued ghostly ones. The woman stood bewildered, perhaps already weaving stories of the artist’s secret affairs with witches and his dealings in black magic. Constantly pulling down the character of others can itself be a mental disorder. Deprivation leaves behind quiet traumas, and to make their hollow lives seem worthy, such people waste themselves in bitterness instead of uplifting their own lives. Early counselling could perhaps save them from that darkness.

11: Salary 

Salary is pure magic. Like magnets, it draws people in. Job seekers do not chase roles; they chase compensation. The more lucrative the offer, the stronger the pull. It is called compensation because it offsets your time and effort. Yet imagine receiving that salary without lifting a finger—your days free, your pockets full, perks arriving at month’s end, wouldn't that be wonderful? Many master this art, while the foolish toil endlessly. These “clever” ones, armed with slick tongues and sly maneuvering, secure paychecks without contribution. But here lies the flaw: salary without effort becomes loot, and the job itself turns into daylight robbery. No eloquence or posturing can disguise this moral failing. These acts erode self-respect fundamentally, a lapse into abject brazenness is inevitable. And the clever, being truly clever, must know this truth—they trade dignity for brazenness with full awareness. The "foolish" employees are not so foolish after all; they simply refuse to trade their dignity for anything. Salary without effort is not compensation—it is theft, and dignity is the true wage.

12: Stain 

Is it a blessing or a curse to be born with the sullied baggage of generations? The dirt piles higher over time; ancestors either never cleansed it, or added a lot more than they cleared. Born into this, life naturally feels like a curse, family an oppressive burden. The newest members often join the legacy, the family ambience providing the perfect stage for their dirty dancing. The weak, who form the majority, blend seamlessly into this shadow heritage. For them, life remains an unmitigated curse. Yet, there is hope; it can equally become a blessing, albeit an uphill one. It is a blessing for those rare few in whom the divine fire burns. From early on, they repel this baggage and begin to sanitize. Cleaning dirt accumulated over generations is a grueling, agonizing task, and they suffer immensely. Yet, this suffering hides innate boons. The sheer presence of the surrounding darkness firmly binds them to the lighted path—a steadfastness that even a pristine, monasterial ambience could never have granted. Ultimately, the true boons of life spontaneously descend upon them, and they ascend from light to greater light.

13: Eumelanin 

One substance acts as glue, binding with chemical bonds; as filler, it lends strength; as nano-fiber, it grants resilience and elasticity. It captures metallic ions to boost rigidity, locks in moisture, shields against radiation, and nullifies free radicals—guarding against oxidative stress. This wonder pigment is eumelanin, abundant in black hair, making it the healthiest of all. Beyond function, its beauty is striking—deep gloss and density no lighter shade can naturally replicate. By contrast, Blonde and red hair contain far lower concentrations of eumelanin, leaving the shafts finer and more vulnerable to environmental damage. Yet, because lighter shades are associated with regions perceived as affluent and fashionable, many people with naturally vibrant black hair, burdened by needless complexes, bleach and dye it blonde or red. To achieve those shades, harsh bleaches strip protective eumelanin, breaking protein bonds, inflicting irreversible damage. In pursuit of fleeting trends, many sacrifice the natural strength, health, and unique beauty of their hair. Eumelanin is not pigment, but resilience woven into beauty.

14: Psychorrency

"Won’t waste money on ice cream soda," when tramps can even afford them, says Uncle Scrooge, the richest duck alive, who is famous for stinginess. On a real-life occasion, a twenty-year-old young man was working at a function for a wealthy family, remarked that they treated money like pebbles—carelessly wasted. In reality, they weren't wasting it; rather, to the deprived young man, money held far greater psychological weight. Indeed, a million to a billionaire is like a hundred to you and me. Money was born to end the cumbersome barter, to turn abstract value into concrete denominations. Yet abstraction clings to it, shaping how we feel its weight. The concreteness of coins and notes awakens a primordial instinct to hoard, nurturing frugality. But digitization dissolves that tactile bond. Though perfectly denominational, digital money drifts back into abstraction. Without the touch of cash, its frugality-inducing nature fades. At day’s end, money reveals itself as a puppet to psychic sways—abundance and deprivation, concreteness and abstraction. And with digitization, its strings are pulled ever tighter by the unseen forces of perception and value.  

15: Magazine

They were eagerly awaited a couple of decades back. They arrived weekly, fortnightly, monthly, biannually, or even yearly—though they usually preferred to arrive monthly. When they arrived, they were cheerfully received; even a loved one might not have been welcomed so eagerly. Why were we so obsessed with them? Because we believed they nourished our minds and updated us. They came with varied personalities, and we chose a few that resonated with us.

They were the magazines, printed regularly by reputed publishing houses to satiate our hunger for information in an era when information was scarce.

Then came the internet with its imp of little gadgets. These versatile devices invaded every space. They showered us with information—every type of it, in real time, on little screens. No more waiting; any information you wanted was available at any moment. Magazines lost their dominance, but they are still produced, and purists still prefer them. They believe that shuffling the pages of a printed magazine gives a visceral, sensory experience no digital screen can ever replicate.

16: Purpose 

Billions of humans and countless other beings inhabit this planet. Why do they live—do they do anything beyond living? From microbes to elephants, from plankton to the blue whale, each plays its part, sustaining the biosphere. Remove even one species, and the balance suffers. Humans, the most evolved and intelligent, should be its greatest benefactors. Yet ironically, humans often behave like leeches, sucking life from the very system that sustains them. Apologies, biological leeches—you are indispensable; it is about the metaphorical leeches. Remove them, and the biosphere would heal, returning to its optimal state. What then is the purpose of human life? Observe closely. Most seem frenzied after wealth, as though nothing else matters. Is obsessive desire for one thing a sign of intelligence, or of an inner void? Yes, there are balanced minds, but they are one in a million, a few thousand among billions. Meanwhile, humanity destroys the ground it walks, contaminates the food it eats, poisons the air it breathes, and uglifies its surroundings. What does this signify? Intelligence—or the tragic parody of it?

17: Present 

Are you suffering now? Sitting comfortably, scrolling through your phone—then why so troubled? The present is quite pleasant. Is it the past or the future that weighs on you? The past is past; you have no control over it. If you could relive it, would correcting your mistakes truly bring a better future? Cinema often explores this: the protagonist goes back in time, alters history, only to land in a worse reality because of this planned intervention. Your past mistakes are your growth factors; they made you who you are today. Change them, and you lose your essential self. So it is foolish to fret over the past. And the future? Who has seen it? Soothsayers? Possibly no one. Then why worry over something that hasn’t materialized? It is only imagination playing games about tomorrow. The universe keeps its own rhythm, with unexpected twists and turns along the timeline. Still confused? Look back—how many times has life already surprised you? So cheer up. Eat your cake while you have it; you may get none tomorrow, or you might inherit a bakery. Live well and keep doing your best. The present is the only feast—savor it.  

18: Fallen

Aren't you grateful to the rotten, the sloppy, the lazy, the cheating, the lying, and the shameless? They play a vital role in your life: they spur your growth, give your journey meaning, and push you toward the right path. They give you a bearing. When you encounter such people, something deep within you creates a sharp repulsion toward them. Regular encounters with these vice-bearers create a frequent, internal recalibration. These repulsions are what keep you on track. Vices, though infinitely hypnotic, lack true substance. Stealthily, they grip your senses and take control. This is where the vice-bearers help you: they concretize these abstract evils. By embodying them, they allow you to notice the trap and consciously stay clear of its clutch. They expose the darkness so clearly that the lighted path becomes brilliantly visible.Yet, you cannot benefit from this without a discerning inner self. Without discernment, repulsion turns into imitation. Therefore, the discerning should pray daily for the vice-bearers—for, inadvertently, they are the architects of who we are today. Their corruption is our compass; their shadows, the outline of our light.

19: Privacy 

Do you feel uneasy when a cat, a dog, or swarms of insects observe your intimate moments? If an unconnected machine with a super-intelligent level of processing power but perfectly encrypted by you to disintegrate if anyone tries to access it has all your private details, would you care? Human beings are the problem. The problem of privacy arises because of human beings. You rightly fear if they know your private details, they will do everything to shame you, to belittle you, and to harm you. If they know even a little about you, they will jump from conclusion to conclusion and use their dark imagination to cook up shameful stories about you. Of course, all human beings are not alike. There are a minuscule number of humans before whom you spontaneously open up; never so restrict yourself. They are the trusted people; greatness is ingrained in to their bones. Such people are wise and empathetic, for which they clam up when they come to know about someone's personal details, even when not requested to keep it a secret. This lands us in to a sobering truth: however intelligent humans might claim to be, the majority are proving themselves to be very unintelligent and callous. Privacy is not an isolated problem; its roots lie in ignorance, callousness, and malice.

20: Truth and Dare 

Imitation is called the highest form of flattery when it rises not from the surface, but from a longing deep within. When the inner self is hollow, an urgent tide rises to fill the void. Eyes rove restlessly for glitz and glitter, and when they glimpse a semblance of dazzle, they plunge in—incapable of discernment. This is why shallow minds in backward societies imitate the lifestyles of the advanced. One such attraction for youth harboring this inner emptiness is the “Truth or Dare” game, practiced by many reckless youngsters in affluent societies. Reckless or not, their exalted roots make them appear worthy of imitation. At first, the game seems harmless amusement. But slowly its true face emerges. Imperceptibly, it inflames the ego and silences the conscience. Vice-like, it clutches the mind, driving them to humiliate one another, endanger lives, or even trespass into illegality—each desperate to be one step ahead. A single night of such darkness can scar lives forever. Can these glazed-eyed imitators ever be discouraged from such nonsense? Imitation is a mirage—its shimmer vanishes, leaving only desert behind.  

21: Motorbike 

It feels almost like an exoskeleton—metaphorically, it is one. Connected to your nervous system by invisible strands, it responds with uncanny precision. With attunement, you begin to sense the terrain beneath you—not just through contact, but as if through your own skin. It lets you move swiftly across varied landscapes, smoothing imperfections in your path. Yet it demands skill and care; mishandled, it can injure. But when mastered, it grants a rare freedom. On hard ground, you feel airborne. You dive, soar, bank side to side—like a bird tracing unseen currents. The motorbike is a wondrous machine. Minimalistic, yet never lacking. It threads through narrow paths, races across highways, offering speed, distance, and a measure of safety and comfort. Its lights pierce the nocturnal veil, extending your reach into the night. Regular use sharpens your vision, hones your balance, and cultivates swift decision-making. It becomes an extension of your will. Shape it to reflect your taste. Maintain it well, honor its design, and it will reward you with years of exhilarating companionship.

22: Price 

They lie, they cheat, they break trust, —always for convenience and personal gain. After such acts, they are plumed up with their own cleverness. They believe they are extremely intelligent. Yes, they are— but their intelligence, however brilliant it may seem, is of the basest in kind. With such debased intelligence, they assume superiority, far above ordinary mortals. Do they lose anything for all their nefarious gains? They don’t think so. Their shallow intelligence cannot fathom the subtle nature of reality. They don’t realize that they pay for all their gains. They don’t pay materially, which they think is the only value, and thus they don’t realize the cost. Of course they buy, and they pay by exchanging a bit of themselves. You lie and you sell a bit; you cheat and you sell a bit more. A time comes when they completely sell themselves off and become worth nothing. They never realize their mountainous ego is hollow within. This is why the wise live virtuous lives and live for others. Their lives gain a lot of currency from this. History is replete with the lives of great people and how they leave behind a timeless legacy.

23: Overthinking 

Pour a bottle of water on a tiled floor—the water will spread. The wet, shiny surface, though beautiful, becomes slippery and unfit for any real use until it dries. Tiles, after all, are known for the facades of their beauty, which they display quite well, yet they offer only surface-level utility. Now take the same bottle of water and pour it over a patch of porous soil—the ugly duckling of substances. The water won’t spread; it will seep in deep. The soil holds it, mingles with it, and from that union springs growth and sustenance. Shallow minds, when they observe something, no matter how rich their imagination, can only spread the input across the surface. What results in condescending worthlessness—eloquently presented perhaps, but of no real value. Deep thinkers, even when observing something mundane, absorb it deeply, retain it, and distill from it thoughts that are enriching and fulfilling. Overthinkers are like shiny tiles—beautiful facades, unable to retain. But deep thinkers have minds like porous soil—may not be striking to the eye, yet profoundly invigorating.

24: Gender 

Are you aware of the greatest war on the planet? It is a war fought across a billion micro-fronts, each distinctly different from the other, where units of two clans wage unique battles. The bewildering truth is that the same units of these warring clans are also capable of the highest form of love possible on Earth; love within the same clan often lags behind. The two clans have evolved to complement and attract each other like opposite poles of a magnet. One feels incomplete without the other. So why the fight? Why not love? Greed, lust, and selfishness have made this possible. Charged by these forces, conspirators devise endless plans to create war between the clans, for they know that the more fiercely they fight, the greater the profit they reap. Through impressive means they capture minds, and the majority fall for it. Negativity, it seems, compels the masses more deeply than positivity. Yet a few strong ones from either clan never succumb. They live differently, and through their lives prove that such souls will never go extinct. They remain examples of the deepest kind of love. The two clans are femininity and masculinity.

25: Revenge 

They conspired against you, stripping away years of labor, leaving you helpless as your work dissolved before your eyes. A rising wave of anger surged within—violent, lingering, unrelenting. You ignored all else, consumed by plans of revenge, determined to inflict greater harm. You succeeded. Yet what did you gain? Their lives lay devastated, but yours did not improve. In truth, you lost more—your moral, legal, and social uprightness vanished. Peace fled, time and resources drained, and the corrosive impulses within ravaged your body. Still, you call it victory. But revenge is counterproductive. Look at the other path. Another, equally harmed, chose calm. They took the betrayal as a lesson, a chance to reset. Their perspective deepened, their life refreshed. They saw enemies as angels in disguise, offering blessings through adversity, and responded with genuine kindness. In the end, they stood stronger, better off than before the conspiracy. Revenge consumes; acceptance transforms.  

26: Psychic Cancer

Cancer, a dreaded condition, does not only target biological tissue; it reaches even into psychological tissue: if it may be so called: though few seem concerned about it. When biological tissue is irritated over a considerable period, it may turn cancerous. In the same way, when psychological tissue is irritated across generations, it too can become cancerous, giving rise to a cancerous lineage. Looking at the state of the world today, it is no wonder that this psychological cancer has spread like an epidemic. When the mind becomes cancerous, decisions turn irrational; discernment and foresight vanish, and a tumorous ego begins to grow. Biological cancer is a relatively recent epidemic, often attributed to unnatural living. But its mental counterpart has persisted for centuries. Whenever a civilization falters: inflicting inhuman suffering and humiliation upon the majority: the downtrodden accumulate deep mental scars, passing them down through generations. Their descendants inherit this carcinogenic legacy, shaping personalities that bear the marks of a long, invisible disease.

27: Philosophy 

Is philosophy a difficult subject? Definitely not so. When the world around us ceases to make sense, philosophy appears—enlightening us. Clarity and coherence emerge. A true philosopher dispels darkness; they do not confuse the already confused. When a philosopher ventures into the complexities of life, dissects and analyzes it with intellectual scalpels, makes a mess of it and leaves—it is not philosophy they practice, but the venting of personal confusion. These are not philosophers, but confused scholars. The great sages of the past discovered the fundamental truths of existence and wove them into beautiful allegories—preserving them for millennia in the minds of common people. Yet those who seek truth with clarity can dive beneath the surface of these allegories and find the core, unconfused. This they did for preservation, not for perplexity. True philosophy never leaves questions unanswered. It ties up the ends, in the end. And if it leaves some questions open, it does so for further inquiry—not for confusion. It contains the highest state of knowledge, and it ought to remain so.

28: Vulture 

Loan sharks, blood‑suckers, vultures—such words are hurled at those who, in truth, give life. When despair strips a man of hope, they step forward with support. Why then this hatred for moneylenders? Is it only because they charge interest? Most demand less than thirty percent, only a few touch fifty. Interest is immaterial when weighed against the lifeline they extend. People approach them willingly, for necessity drives them. Were there no need, moneylenders would vanish into irrelevance.  

Now let us turn the coin. people have enough surplus money to lend one another at the time of need—why do they hesitate? Because most borrowers never repay. Many sever ties, even resort to violence when asked for dues. Only a rare few, guided by self‑respect, honor their debt. The rest, who usurp another’s money, are criminals in disguise. Helping the wretched is a is an angelic act. Thus moneylenders are not villains but angels in harsh attire. Charging the unscrupulous a high rate of interest is no vice—it is justice cloaked in necessity.  

29: Jealousy 

Jealousy is a nuisance in society. Those who suffer from it lose their well-being and calm; at times, it even impels them toward destructive acts, devastating their own lives. However hard they may try to ignore its sting, they cannot easily escape it. Jealousy aligns with one’s personality and appears in many shades, from the gross to the refined. The basest kind arises when one sees another enjoying greater sensual pleasures. A subtler form emerges when others possess more wealth, power, or influence. The highest kind—if such a term may be used—arises when one encounters superior knowledge, wisdom, or virtue, though this form is rare. Yet jealousy is a foolish burden, for it burns the bearer more than the target. The sensible guard against it, nipping it in the bud. They understand that life is ever-evolving, that each person carries their own share of blessings and burdens. Thus, they remain grateful for the blessings in their lives, refrain from measuring themselves against others, and embrace a more inclusive vision of the world. Jealousy consumes—wisdom releases.

30: Quito

How would you like to live in Quito, the capital of Ecuador, perched at an altitude of 2,850 meters? Ecuador, the land of eternal spring, enjoys an average temperature of around fifteen degrees Celsius year-round. It feels as if the entire city, along with its countryside, is permanently air-conditioned. The Andes cradle it in remarkable natural beauty. Quito boasts a rich history (a UNESCO site), affordable living, a vibrant culture, and a friendly atmosphere safe for diverse groups. Paradise on earth? Perhaps not. Ecuador rarely figures among the world’s most livable countries, largely due to its poor infrastructure. But let’s speak only of the climate. Yes, the climate might be pleasant—yet its lulled conduciveness can grow boring, even monotonous, after a while. The rainy season, with its continuous showers, offers a brief relief from this sameness. Change is the spice of life, even for climates. A truly psychologically sustainable climate would hold at least a couple of varying seasons. With each season, the landscape dons a different attire. It is the seasons that give a climate its personality.

31: Bloom

Do you know how beautiful you are? Extremely. A singular, unique appearance among the 8.2 billion. Your color is beautiful—as each hue holds its own sacred charm; a rebellion against the blandness of conformity. What? They smirk at your appearance? They are the dull heads their aesthetic sense confined to the narrow corridors of standardized beauty. They see only what they’ve been taught to admire—symmetry, simplicity, sameness. You are asymmetrical magic. They cannot perceive the deeper layers, where true beauty resides. Fret not over your intelligence. What the average mind calls intelligence is but a shallow ripple, a balm for shallow minds. They cannot fathom the depth of your real, resonant wisdom. You are a divine creation. You are here for a purpose. Look deep into your heart. Beyond the scars, beyond the doubts—there lies your prophecy. So rise.Head held high. Courage in your heart. Trust in each step as you fulfill your prophecy. Radiate your beauty. Your presence is a blessing. You are not here to fit in. Your existence is a revolution. You are here to awaken.

32: City

Many cities across the world are swiftly becoming unlivable. Who bears the blame? The citizens? Citizens are citizens—you cannot expect them to think beyond their needs and modest dreams. Most lack authority, and many the qualification, to enact the measures a healthy city demands. Yet every city whispers warnings before decay takes hold. It is the duty of its stewards—those entrusted with its care—to listen, act, and intervene before rot sets in. Then why the delay? Look around—you’ll find centuries-old cities still thriving. That alone proves every decayed city is testimony to the incompetence of its caretakers. When a city becomes unlivable, its citizens will abandon it. A day will come when it stands deserted—a skeleton of its former self. Vast resources and infrastructure will go to waste, harming the nation's economy. Once we heard of deserted mining towns becoming ghost towns, offering thrills to adventurers and ghost hunters. Now we shall have ghost cities, where horror seekers will find their haunt—and perhaps their revelations.  

33: Control 

Control and self-control are two driving states of mind — one can make you a saint, the other a devil, and it’s no great mystery which is which. One of humanity’s greatest weaknesses is the urge to control others. This urge is instinctive, animalistic. Animals control their territory to survive; it’s natural. But civilization refined this instinct into facilitation, the art of enabling everyone to live with peace and self-respect. Yet those who remained uncivilized — or rather, animalistic — still sought to control others. Bereft of intelligence, they are unaware that in choosing control, they were choosing a cursed life. The greater their reach, the deeper their misery. History bears witness: the villains who sought dominion over others not only devastated the world but lived tormented lives, and after death, were branded as the devils of humanity. Those who practiced self-control lived in harmony and are remembered as saintly beings. And those who mastered it — who reached the pinnacle of self-discipline — not only uplifted themselves but ennobled humanity, their names echoing through time as divine souls.

34: Family 

A military camp, one might think. Even they can teach a lesson or two to military trainers. Families are transforming, and parents, stern dictatorial trainers. In the military, they train for strength, resilience, and combat; in no less measure, loyalty, camaraderie, and a code to stand by. Within the rigours of discipline, there remains space for fellowship and the shaping of character. Yet families are often far more rigid. Children are kept on a tight schedule; breaks are uncommon, free will severely curtailed. They are trained in virtues such as greed, callousness, success, selfishness, and the like. Love, bonding, and emotions are branded worthless—intangibles with little measurable value. Bonding absent, they can live happily without one another. Goals to pursue, heights to scale, they separate with ease. Independent entities, they have individual lives to live. No foolish sentiments to weigh them down. They scale new heights unencumbered by outdated values. Society hums along with admirable efficiency. Meanwhile, the old-fashioned families rot. Is this the new definition of family—an evolved one?

35: Thrill

A moment's lusty urge, and they got carried away as the powerful bike growled between their legs. Throttle twisted, the bike surged ahead relentlessly—the highway inviting and open. The speedo steadily climbed: 100, 130, 150. Suddenly, a truck in the opposite lane threw a wheel; a freak mechanical failure, yet entirely natural. At that great speed, the biker couldn't swerve, hitting the wheel squarely. A nasty accident. They never realized that a moment's thrill could turn a normal life into a devastated one. Moments before, they were able and confident; moments after, life was crippled and humbled. Yes, accidents happen unexpectedly, and that's precisely why they are accidents. A kind of illusory assurance usually hangs in the minds of people—that accidents and misfortunes only happen to others. But accidents don't choose selectively; they can happen to anyone. So, before attempting a thrilling experience, it's wise to ensure layers of safety. Don't be carried away by the apparent smooth sailing; think deeply about what can go wrong, and what can happen unexpectedly.

36: Format 

Plunge in—into the wild, the uncharted. The Americans made this their national motto: a frontier spirit charged with individualism, resilience, and exploration. A pioneer constantly pushes physical or intellectual boundaries. Animals, though living in the wild, lead predictable lives encoded in their gene pools. Humans, however, possess brains that empower them to pioneer. Yet, some societies are riddled with stunted minds. They embrace a formatted, prescribed life that feels safe, mimicking the animal kingdom. Have you ever seen one bug ask another the "why" of living? They have brains, but these organs are optimized for lowly, immediate tasks—not for inquiry, reflection, or innovation. Thus the people in these societies might be telling that they have brains like the animals. Somewhere in the flow of evolution, they lost the humanness of their intellect. Consequently, entire societies live merely as the root mean square of the lives of everyone around them. It is easy to blame external forces for one's underdevelopment, but it remains evident that the truly developed have kept the humanness of their brains intact.

37: Silent Shout 

You are plumed with pride at the purchase of your fancy audio system, complete with a booming subwoofer. Its performance delights you—until you turn to that brilliant Swedish song, Silent Shout, released in 2006 by The Knife. Layered synths, glitchy rhythms, and haunting vocals make it a premier reference track for audiophiles, a labyrinth of sound meant to test clarity, accuracy, and power. Confident in your research and the fortune spent, you download the mp3 to test your treasure. Yet, to your disappointment, it sounds ordinary. Blame the song or the equipment? Neither. Silent Shout is no ordinary song, and a compressed mp3 cannot do justice to its nuanced composition. What you need is a raw audio file, unshackled from compression. Your subwoofer bellows impressively above 30 Hz—but the song’s deepest charm lies below 20 Hz, beneath the threshold of hearing. Its resonance is not for the ears alone—it is felt in the body, a silent shout that trembles through the soul. True sound is not heard—it is embodied.  

38: Vision 

Office workers, engaged in white-collar jobs, must surely have healthy eyes. These are educated individuals who follow structured routines, eat balanced diets, exercise regularly, and attend routine health checkups. Such meticulous care is undoubtedly beneficial to overall health—including the eyes. In contrast, long-distance drivers would seem to suffer poor eyesight. Their profession rarely allows for a disciplined lifestyle. Meals are irregular and often unhealthy. Sleep comes in fragments, dictated by the road rather than the clock. These habits are detrimental to ocular health. Yet paradoxically, drivers often possess sharper vision. The secret lies not in their routines, but in their gaze. Office workers spend most of their time focusing just thirty centimeters ahead, under artificial light—a quiet ordeal for the eyes. Drivers, on the other hand, look far into the distance, bathed in natural light, often in a relaxed, unfocused state. Their work demands constant shifts between focus and defocus, a subtle exercise that nourishes the eyes.Unconsciously, they receive this gift from the road.

39: Home

Long ago, families lived complete lives. Homes were well tended, children were cared for with affection, and every member was nourished with wholesome, homemade food—prepared slowly, with love and care. A society made up of such families was a happy one, for no one worked beyond their capacity; each did the work best suited to them. The people followed traditional, time-honored values. Calamities did come, but only from outside—their cores usually remained strong. Then came the conspirators. They sought to break this stable continuity, for stability was not profitable to them. Uncertainty and insecurity were. Their weapon was psychology, and through it, they introduced a whisper—the whisper of unfair burden—a poison that transformed healthy self-respect into destructive ego and selfishness.The domestic core shattered from within. Distrust ruled; they fought among themselves. Lives grew miserable. Foolishly, they believed they were winning, yet peace was gone, wholesome food was gone, the children were neglected, and the home lay untended. Happiness became a far cry. And civilization?

40: Academic Language 

Would you rather say something plainly so that everyone can understand you clearly, or weave every simple element of your speech into a labyrinth, forcing others to marathon their intellect merely to catch a glimpse of your meaning? Or is it better to untangle and vanquish even the most intricate subjects into lucid, accessible submissions? Surely, the second option is preferable. Yet the first has its uses. When you realize that your subject is shallow, despite having spent a lifetime studying it, you may fear that people will conclude both you and your discipline are devoid of deeper insight. So you entangle even the simplest ideas into an intriguing maze, ensuring that no one can quite make sense of them. Obscurity then becomes a shield, and complexity a disguise. Intrigue and mystery belong to the realms of art, not academia. Why, then, does academic language so often transform inherently coherent subjects into incoherent extravaganzas? When the essence is clear, why should the medium cloud it?Does this not suggest that, at times, academia conceals an emptiness behind imposing walls of confusion?

41: Motivation 

They say be motivated, highly motivated—that motivation alone can make you reach places. But before blindly plunging in, let's first see how the highly motivated who lived before us fared in life. The findings are bleak. A sizable number of them you will find on deceased lists, and at not so old an age. They died on mountain peaks, in deep forests, on the high seas, or on the race track. So, let's exclude that brand of physical daredevilry and see how the motivated perform within the safety net of society. By middle age, they are physically and psychologically spent. The motivational fever unceasingly burns a fire in them that consumes them early. The human body has its own NOS; when it needs to go into overdrive, it activates this system. Overdo it, and it cooks the machinery. As Tai Chi suggests, live life like a living art—or better still, play on like a melodious song, the vocals and music cresting and falling with generous doses of silence. Only then can life become a piece of exquisite art, both inspiring and uplifting. A flame that burns too fiercely consumes itself—yet a song that breathes endures.  

42: Crystal Disc

The sorceress gazes into the crystal ball and speaks of the future with uncanny precision. Now this sorcery is stepping out of fairy tales into reality. Soon, crystal discs will feed us vast amounts of data and varied content. A 5D, 12 cm glass disc is under development—able to store 360 terabytes, endure temperatures up to 1,000°C, and resist water, chemical corrosion, and electromagnetic pulses, with a theoretical lifespan of 13.8 billion years at room temperature. Within this disc, data is encoded across five dimensions: the three spatial dimensions, plus two optical dimensions—the polarization and intensity of an ultrafast femtosecond laser. The laser beam creates nanogratings, altering nanostructures in the disc at multiple levels. It is a write-once medium, designed for archival permanence. Optical discs have journeyed far—from the humble compact disc to this crystalline marvel. It is now conceivable to etch every written document since the dawn of recorded history onto a handful of these discs and carry them in a bag. Even all the world’s multimedia could fit into a few hundred of these eternal crystals.

43: Plan

They live their life perfectly well, with flawless planning and order. They have their answers, plan A, B, C, even a plan D ready to meet any question that life throws at them. It seems their entire life is an immaculate schedule. Yet one knows, life is life, baffling and unpredictable—one may run out of the letters of the longest alphabets in naming their plans, but they can't tame life. Life can throw you into realities you could never have imagined. So does one live life without plans? Plans aren't all that unnecessary; they guide you through all your little ventures. But life is too grand for a plan. So does one live it unplanned? A resounding yes. Life is dynamic and it needs motion, positive motion. Whenever you can, pile up your life with positive motion, like a miser piles up wealth. Positivity will pile up in your life from your constant motion in the right direction; however unrelated your positive motions might be, positivity will pile up. Life's ledger is flawlessly accurate. A time will come when unexpectedly life will reward you for your piled up wealth. Never hesitate, plunge into life, eyes fixed on the guiding light.

44: Monochrome 

How overflowing are the attributes like callousness, coldness and indifference. Human personalities are now so highly saturated with these states that they can no longer contain them; they ooze out, flooding their surroundings. Decades ago, human habitations were saturated with color, and a warm yellow glow dominated the night. Indoors, shops, streets, and communal spaces looked cozy and inviting under that amber light, while the days remained vibrant. People were brimming with emotion, exuding a warmth that radiated outward to buffer the world. Look at us now. With the erosion of these qualities, our surroundings have also become bland—a clear case of mind over matter. Edward Albee captures this starkly in The Zoo Story through the clinical coldness of Peter and the raw, desperate sentimentality of Jerry. Our personalities faithfully mold our environments. In the past, a sentimental humanity shaped surroundings that felt as inviting and comforting as a mother’s lap. Today, our landscape of grayish-bluish-white monochromes aptly reflects the stark monochrome of our inner self.

45: The Unsung

The 1939 film Shipyard Sally, starring Gracie Fields, featured the song "Wish Me Luck as You Wave Me Goodbye." Composed by Harry Parr-Davies with lyrics by Phil Park, this patriotic rendition struck the exact right chord, fanning sentiments of cheerfulness and hopeful departure to achieve chart-busting popularity. During the ensuing world war, it became an enduring anthem of hope and resilience, providing a peppy, optimistic way for loved ones to cope with the anguish of separation and transforming into a cultural symbol for the British people. As one of the most famous war songs of the era, it became a timeless classic that continues to appear in films, television, and theater today. Yet, the British were not fighting this war alone. The bulk of the forces—at a ratio of roughly 1:2.5—came from the colonies. While the British fought for their own homeland, these colonial soldiers fought for the very empire that had invaded theirs. Despite their immense bravery, they received little acclaim; any recognition they did get felt born of moral compulsion rather than heartfelt gratitude. They remain the truly unsung heroes of the war.

46: BM Plastics 

It is too large to be called grass, yet too slender to be deemed a tree. Its uses are almost endless. Bamboo is truly a wonder plant, and now, another laurel is being attached to its legacy: it can double up as the raw material for a revolutionary molecular bioplastic. The process begins when pure cellulose fiber is harvested from raw bamboo. A non-toxic solvent breaks the strong hydrogen bonds, loosening the stiffness of the fiber and transforming it into a liquid. Then, an alcohol solvent like ethanol is added to the mixture, triggering the relaxed cellulose chains to instantly reassemble. They precipitate into a highly dense, orderly, and incredibly strong gel network. This gel is thoroughly washed and placed into molds to produce finished products. This bioplastic outperforms petroleum-based plastics in tensile strength, moldability, and both mechanical and thermal stability. Best of all, unlike oil-based plastics, this bamboo bioplastic can fully degrade in soil within 50 days, or be recycled in a closed-loop system while retaining 90% of its original strength. Bamboo, once again, proves its resilience woven into elegance.

47: Goodness 

Summer camps are exciting; they give you a chance to meet many new people. But how would you evaluate them? Observe them with intent? Their inner selves may not reveal themselves so easily to your scrutiny. There is, however, an easier way that allows people to reveal themselves and even categorizes them for your discretion. Like the sun, radiate love, generosity, goodness, and warmth, without a trace of hostility toward anyone. Then watch the quiet magic unfold. People will spontaneously separate into three broad groups. The genuinely good will separate themselves immediately; overwhelmed by your warmth, their authentic self-respect will compel them to meet you with equal goodness. Another group will remain largely neutral, possessing little individuality or self-respect to guide them; they are shaped more by circumstances than by their own will. The third group consists of the rotten ones, devoid of self-respect. They constantly emit negativity, and goodness feels toxic to them. From these three groups, you can effortlessly choose your circle. Goodness, after all, is a profoundly practical virtue.

48: Thausand Years

A chant, a hymn—you walk near and recognize the unmistakable rhythm of the wildly popular, timeless romance ballad A Thousand Years by Christina Perri, written for The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1. It captures the essence of unconditional, eternal love between Edward and Bella. A swaying 6/8 waltz, repetitive looping harmonic progressions with steady pedal tones, exaggerated spatial decay, digital delay with extended echo tails, and acoustic blurring shape its texture. The acoustic piano forms the foundation; violins, violas, and cellos bloom in the chorus, while acoustic guitar remains subtly layered beneath. Bass guitar and synth bass provide depth, and restrained drums with suspended cymbals sustain the slow waltz cadence. Perri’s voice, breathy rather than crystalline, blends seamlessly into this sonic tapestry. It achieves a cross-cultural sense of timelessness through the meeting of pop craftsmanship and acoustic physics. Its underlying structure echoes mathematical and phonetic patterns long employed in sacred music to evoke the everlasting.

49: Marriage 

You possess the power to perform miracles, and you long for the perfect mate. Your quest tells you that no one is perfect. Perhaps true for ordinary mortals—but for you? Create a flawless body of the opposite sex and breathe into it your own authentic self. Now you have your perfect mate—essentially yourself, only in another gender. Living alone can be rewarding, but living with a total mirror image—wouldn't that be excruciatingly boring? Consider the squabbles; they can still bother you. Your mate may be you, but different genders are inherently electrically reactive to one another. The friction you sought to avoid will bounce back with greater frequency. Sparks between the sexes are natural. One must ensure they illuminate rather than consume, and are harnessed into wholeness. Marriages are bonds for life; only the truly responsible should venture into them. Marriage means children, and children deserve to live with their parents into adulthood. One has no moral right to ruin their lives. Want the full play of your whims? Who is denying you? Find someone and live with them for a day, a week, or a month. Do as you like. 

50: Self Study 

Parents are a jealous lot. They want to give the best education to their children—and why not? After all, they are their own children. They choose the best schools, the best colleges, and the best tutors they can afford. Do the children become educated? Definitely. They meet the metrics exceedingly well. Yet can such education be called real and authentic? If so, then why do they merge into insignificance with the multitude? Why don't they stand out, instead living as sophisticated, well-paid slaves within a system? Let us consider the truly educated— those who became beacons for society. These people rarely had the privilege of a fine formal education, and their academic metrics were often dismal. Yet they were self-taught. Life was their test bed, and it baked them in its fire. Their education was not mere information or theory; they studied everything in relation to the greater scheme by which life operates. It was not shallow knowledge they received, but knowledge imbibed with depth. They were not confined to tight, predefined schedules; they learned at their own pace. Education, like a bud, blooms in its own time.

51: Authenticity 

Genuineness is probably the most expensive quality. Most people balk at being genuine, as though it costs them a fortune or involves mortal danger. Immoral people have a reason to be fake. By being deceptive, they can swindle or trap others for personal gain. But those who become fake merely for the sake of being fake—aren't they the greatest fools? They gain nothing by it. Instead, they incur losses, for most people can see through their pretensions and value them poorly. They are overtly polite in your presence and ridicule you behind your back. What makes such people turn into sugar syrup in one's presence and a stinking drain behind one's back? Worthy people possess stable personalities; they do not fluctuate like this. They have the courage to reveal their authentic selves before anyone. Backbiters have a nasty core; negativity is in their bones. An inherent emptiness stirs it constantly. Thus, they lack the courage to reveal their true selves. They feel the void within them fills only by ridiculing and pulling others down. They may be defined as cowardly, empty souls lacking the inner drive to rise above.

52: Sleepover

Parties can be exhausting—physically and mentally. You must dress up for them, never fully shedding formality. You have to keep conversing, conform to the scheduled sessions, and endure the presence of strangers or near-strangers who unsettle you. Social standards must be observed at every turn. When it’s over, you return home, dress down, and collapse into bed often more drained than after a workday. If the venue was your house, the morning greets you with the burden of cleaning. Somewhere along the way, parties seem to have lost their true purpose. Sleepovers, however, can come to our rescue. They demand little preparation and can be held almost anywhere. A touch of music, a film, games, snacks, and beverages—non-alcoholic, for the alcoholic kind belongs to a different genre. You pick a night before a holiday, gather family or friends, slip into your favorite nightwear, and settle at someone’s home or another safe, familiar place. As the night deepens, the party begins—not with pretension, but with ease. You're relaxed, unburdened, and free to do as you please. And in that simplicity lies the highest joy.

53: Daughter 

He has around four billion daughters. Billions of them are older than him. Unable to upbring so many single-handedly, he outsources their care. Depending on the character of society, many of those entrusted with the task fail. Thus, among his daughters are angels, vampires, and countless shades in between. As a father, he accepts them all, though the vampirish daughters he can only bless from afar. Daughters are daughters, after all. A man may share many relationships with women—mother, sister, aunt, grandmother, and more. Yet, among these, the father-daughter bond remains the sweetest for a man. The all-powerful ego is rendered entirely useless here as the father is like a god for the daughter and the daughter.... a freshly condensed water drop on a fresh green leaf in a beautiful mountain valley, however unacomplished both may be in life. Senior female relatives, though equally worthy, carry authority that often bruises the male ego. One who learns to see every woman as a daughter is freed from the  devastating conflicts that usually shadow male-female relationships.

54: Earth 

The living body is a wondrous system. In it, it smoothly marries the living and the non-living. The living dynamic units handle the essential functions, while the static structural elements—like fully formed hair, fingernails, tooth enamel, dentin, and the mineralized parts of bone—give shape and support to the body. It also depends on innumerable independent living microbes that quietly sustain its vital processes. Though independent of the body, they are wise enough to know it is their living abode; they preserve it and never harm it. Thus the body ticks on beautifully. Another living being, a gigantic oblate spheroid, lives just as well. She is a system made up of the living, the non-living, and the independently living. The plant life and the soil are the living; they do their best to support the body. The non-living is the rock, which gives structural support. The independently living units are the animals and humans. The animals are wise enough to know that it is their only abode, so they do their best to preserve it. But humans, knowing well that the Earth is their only abode, appear to be the stupidest, as they try hard to destroy it.

55: Test Strip

Test strips look ordinary, almost like plain paper. Yet, dip them in a glass of water, and they will reveal the presence of chemicals invisible to the human eye. If such a strip were available to test human nature—unmask the cheats, the ignorant, and the worthless who masquerade as lofty beings. How wonderful that would be! We might search for it across every shopping platform, but unfortunately its not available anywhere. Or is it? The strips are available at the source. The tainted carry their own test strips, unknowingly revealing their taint. The wise recognize them readily. They constantly pull others down. They employ impressive words and clever means to portray people as ignorant, incapable, or insignificant. In doing so, they seek to conceal their own ignorance, incapability, deceit, and inner poverty. They rant without end. Unfortunately for them, these very behaviours are the markers of their villainy. The wise and the worthy, they have their own litmus; they shrink back, but find the beauty in others and help others shine. The discerning see it instantly; only the gullible fall for the charade.

56: Photon Block 

Circa 2077: a screen hangs in the air. You order thirty cubes of photon—thirty cubes of light. In a breath, your purchase pops out of the display. You open the parcel. Each cube is swathed in black, the darkness cradling its captive glow. You unwrap one and the room blooms into a soft, textured radiance. A single cube can light your home for months. When illumination is no longer needed, you cloak it again. Since time immemorial, light was thought untouchable: ephemeral, impossible to grasp. Yet researchers in Italy have performed a quiet marvel: under extreme laboratory conditions, they coaxed photons into behaving like a solid, forming a controllable, tangible structure: something akin to a block of light. For now it survives only in rarefied setups, but when the craft matures and stable photon blocks emerge, the horizon widens. With solid light, we may sculpt new materials. Beyond wonder, it hints at ultra-fast quantum computation, transformative communication, radical data storage, and novel energy transmission. A once-ethereal beam, held in the hand, may illuminate entire futures.

57: Relation 

The professor, in his late forties, had been away from his college for a few weeks. When he returned, a twenty-five-year-old , young female professor, a new recruit, was visibly and genuinely overjoyed to see him back—like a little daughter whose father has returned home. The professor was surprised. Why would a near stranger miss him so much? Thereafter, he took good care of the young woman and often invited her to lunch at his home, as she commuted from a different town. Both cherished the relationship, and while it lasted, it was a beautiful one. A few years later, she changed jobs, got married, and moved away. Gradually, they lost touch. Did they, then, waste their time and effort on a superfluous relationship? Never. This is elemental to every meaningful bond. Physical departure may end communication, but goodness never truly fades. Its remnants linger quietly in the heart. When a good relationship buds, nurture it. Even after people depart, the goodness they leave behind continues to accumulate, silently enriching and recharging the world around you.

58: Herd

The herd grew excited. The new grasslands looked refreshing and nourishing, so they charged in blindly without even remotely wondering what might lie ahead. What else can be expected from a herd? Another herd, albeit a more sophisticated one, spotted a different kind of green pasture and rushed in just as thoughtlessly. From the 1990s onward, machine learning propelled Artificial Intelligence forward at remarkable speed. Then, around 2022, OpenAI placed it in the hands of the general public. The excitement spread like wildfire. The pity is that many used it for what it is least suited to: creativity and composition—its greatest weaknesses. Even ASI, if it arrives, will struggle here. Yet people became blindly dependent on it. Now, facing the repercussions, they blame AI—don't know driving and blame the car. It is grossly unfair to blame a system that possesses no intuition and no capacity for real thinking. It works merely with stale, recycled elements to compose and create. Its true strength lies in mechanical, repetitive tasks, while in logic and referencing it is almost unsurpassable.

59: Assimilation 

The gloomy interiors of a library. A scholar hunches over a book; he reads consistently, yet feels himself slipping into madness—a modern Quixote. There is simply too much to read, and his progress is dismally slow. The numerous volumes mock his pace. He wonders how people assimilate so much when even several lifetimes may fall short of mastering it all. Reading is not a bad habit; it trains the mind, improves focus, enriches imagination, and bestows knowledge. But books, however good they may be, offer only stale knowledge. You see only the writer's perspective—a limited horizon. The knowledge you receive externally is always limited or secondhand. Long for real, authentic knowledge? Get out of the library. Go to quiet nature. Lie back. Look at the blue sky. Your pupils dilate, slow, deep breathing ensues, and the heart beats ever so softly. Wisdom slowly seeps into your being. Yes, the path to real and abundant knowledge is an inward journey; every mystery unravels before you effortlessly. As the saying goes: "Wisdom, are you married to love? You are always found with her."

60: Album

Time was when a book, similar to a ledger in appearance, was held dearly by people. It was considered so valuable that it often found mention in a person’s will, detailing who would inherit it. This book—the photo album—was designed with far more aesthetic care than those dull account books. In the days of celluloid, it was considered a family treasure. Capturing moments then required occasion, intention, and planning. Scarcity, as always, heightened value. In contrast, the digital age has rendered moments abundant, and perhaps less significant. Those photo albums had pages with transparent jackets or clips to hold each photograph in place. These physical photographs, tangible and textured, offered a true sense of possession—unlike the formless anonymity of digital images. To hold the album over a cup of tea and shuffle through its leaves is to experience a special kind of joy. It takes you down memory lane, each image a portal to a moment once lived. Indeed, the photo album was an essential element of that unique old-world charm.

61: The Call 

Health has become a fad. It’s unclear how many truly live healthy lives, yet discourses on health dominate nearly every sphere of communication. The golden rules of health are to be followed religiously, we’re told, if a healthy life is to be attained. But there exists a segment of people who consider this dogma nonsense. They live life the way they like. And surprisingly, they are not often unhealthy. Not because they defy all convention, but because they have mastered the art of listening—to their own bodies. They do not bow to external dictates; they respond to internal whispers. The human body knows when it requires rest, what food it needs, and in what measure. If one listens, the body blesses them with good health. Every body is unique, and so are its needs. A universal set of rules, however well-formulated, cannot meet them. To remain truly healthy, one must learn to listen to the body. Even among the unprivileged—those untouched by the polished doctrines of wellness—many live healthy lives. Not because they follow rules, but because they are not confused by them. They have not gone deaf to the raw call of the body.

62: Masculinity 

"I am Masculinity. I descend from heaven. You puny, wriggling worms—using my name to elevate your impotency to higher realms! You will be severely punished for this sacrilege. You are violent and dominant before the weak, yet you call it masculinity. You use wealth and power to intimidate, invoking my name. You even violate the modesty of others in my honor. Remember: these are not my attributes. These belong to my devil brother, Malemasculinity. He has bestowed his impotency upon you, for only the weak inside rely on such external facades to conceal their fragility. I bestow internal grace: bravery, honor, strength, decisiveness, and self-reliance. I bring the spirit of the protector and provider—doing the right thing even when it is inconvenient, keeping my word, remaining loyal, empathetic, and loving. You spineless, wriggling worms, disciples of Malemasculinity—why do you not worship his name directly? Or is he, ashamed of his own identity, content to hide behind mine? A brother I might have given refuge to, were it not for the simple fact that I cannot stand his stench."

63: Femininity 

 “I am Femininity. I descend from heaven. You puny, wriggling worms—using my name to elevate your Jezebelishness! You shall be severely punished for this sacrilege. You wield malicious gossip, passive aggression, manipulation, deceit, spite, envy, vanity, jealousy, vindictiveness, hypocrisy, and greed to devastate others, yet call it femininity—even an empowered version of me. Remember: these are not my attributes. They belong to my devilish sister, Maliciminity. She has bestowed her Jezebelishness upon you, for only those weak within hide behind such outward facades. I bestow inward grace—the spirit of empathy, selfless nurturance, compassion, gentleness, modesty, devotion, piety, quiet inner strength, sensitivity, politeness, love, cooperativeness, expressiveness, and homely values, anchoring the family and the community. You spineless, wriggling worms, disciples of Maliciminity—why not worship her name directly? Or is she ashamed of her own identity, content to hide behind mine? A sister I might have sheltered, were it not for the simple fact that I cannot endure her stench.”

64: Lazy Minds

Chat with any AI agent and it eerily feels as though you are conversing with a polite scholar. Scholars they are—and perhaps the finest—for no human can rival them in referencing or logic. If you seek a page in a book, it may take minutes; AI can search an entire knowledge base and process the required information in seconds. Yet this brilliance is often sidelined as the mentally lethargic depend on it for creativity and composition—its greatest weaknesses. Even when superintelligence eventually arrives, it will struggle here. AI falters under such demands, produces mediocre work, and then is blamed—don't know driving and blame the car. It is grossly unfair to fault a system that operates without intuition, without the capacity for true contemplation. It merely rearranges stale, historical elements to create and compose something fundamentally flat and devoid of life. Harnessing intelligence demands intelligence. There is no escaping that truth. The intelligent become the guide, and AI their junior research scholar; the less discerning reverse the relationship.

65: Aesthetics 

Dismissed as a dullard, a boy asked his professor the difference between beauty and aesthetics. The professor posed a question in return: which was more beautiful—a sleek car or a wild bushland? Without hesitation, the boy chose the bushland. When asked why, given the car’s proportion, sleekness, and symmetry, the very qualities commonly associated with beauty, the boy remained silent. The professor explained that beauty is a subjective experience, whereas aesthetics is its underlying grammar or science, spanning from the physical to the sublime, from beauty to ugliness. The car feels less beautiful because it relies on basic, artificial symmetry and proportion. Conversely, the wild bushland employs the entire palette of aesthetics, blending beauty and ugliness into subtle shades beyond human craftsmanship. Most importantly, the bushland exists in harmony with the spirit of its surroundings, whereas the car is merely a shiny blot against the backdrop. The boy smiled, proving he was no dullard at all, and murmured: "So aesthetics is just the language of what we feel? That's so simple!"

66: Maligners

Consistently, over several weeks, you keep hearing that a person is dishonest. In convincing detail, they recount the person's shady dealings and claim intimate knowledge of them. How would these psycho pills, taken regularly, affect you? Would you believe them or brush them aside? Observe who believes them and who does not. The gullible, the weeds drifting with every current, with nothing anchoring them deep within, absorb this steady diet of stories, slowly hardening into conviction until they eagerly spread the poison themselves. The wise, deeply rooted within, let such tales pass. To them, these psycho pills are like pebbles cast into still water, raising brief ripples before calm returns. They know maligners are not engaged in social service. They also know such people must be speaking about the listeners in their absence. More importantly, they recognize that slanderers merely reveal their own hidden vices. The one obsessed with dishonesty is often the most dishonest; the lustful malign good character, while cheats are the loudest in condemning the sincere, thereby eclipsing their own vices.

67: Stilts 

The Banna herders tend their livestock in the dry savanna—a rugged, unpredictable landscape of acacia shrubs, thorny thickets, and uneven ground. During the rainy season, expansive grasslands grow extraordinarily tall and dense, limiting visibility to near zero while concealing large predators, snakes, and scorpions. To navigate these perils, herders use wooden stilts fitted with notched footholds. Elevating the user above the tall grass, these stilts improve visibility, keep the herders safely out of reach of thorns, scorpions, snakes and predators, and allow them to watch over their flocks while moving easily across rough or muddy terrain. Stilts, however, are not unique to Ethiopia. Their history spans millennia, evolving globally as a vital tools for survival, as well as mediums for ritual, performance, and sport. By the mid-20th century, construction workers adopted articulated aluminum stilts to work without ladders. In 2004, inventor Alexander Boeck patented spring-loaded stilts—made from fiberglass leaf springs and aluminum—to boost human speed and acrobatic performance.