Cadence

100: DEFCON

The sprightly young lady asked an elderly man the meaning of DEFCON. She hadn’t encountered the acronym before—it wasn’t quite lexical, not yet woven into everyday speech. Yet literature, ever inclusive, had made room for it. DEFCON, short for defense readiness condition, refers to five graduated states of military alertness, used by U.S. forces since 1959. Most nations have their own systems of alert, tailored to their strategic doctrines, though few are as widely recognized as the American one. After the great wars, the United States emerged as a dominant force on the world stage. Its culture, language, literature, art—and nearly every other facet of its identity—began to ripple outward, influencing distant shores. Hollywood films and American novels often featured the acronym, embedding it in narratives of tension and urgency. People across the globe came to know DEFCON, even if unaware of their own country’s equivalent. And as the word settled into common understanding, dictionaries followed suit, standardizing it as a lexical entry—a symbol of global alertness, born from a uniquely American lexicon.

99: 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.

98: Octopus 

A central core with eight peripheral ones—wouldn’t that be a powerful architecture for a motherboard, instead of relying on a single dominant core? Complex tasks could unfold independently, without conflict. Now, shifting to the organs—how wonderful it would be to have a few extra hearts instead of one; the whole body could be irrigated with ease, free from strain. Changing gears again, imagine going uphill in stop-start traffic—how badly we miss a third leg then! Some creatures can fly and walk, others are amphibious; many surpass us in various ways. Yet consider the octopus—it holds the most remarkable design: nine brains working independently, three hearts, and eight agile arms. If humans were to vanish, it might be the most promising candidate for developing a civilization. Not in its present form, of course, but a few million years of evolution could refine it into a being even more intelligent than us—a central brain deep in thought, eight arms with minds of their own for the sundry, and three hearts beating at leisure, keeping the system ever free-flowing. A blue-blooded creature indeed—literally and figuratively.

97: Dumb Deception 

Deception, manipulation, and brazenness are not signs of intelligence, but of stupidity. These vices shout of a shameless soul, stripped of self-respect. Who would wish to go down in history like this? Only the foolish. A virtuous and scholarly gentleman once found himself helpless—responsible, yet powerless—as shady dealings unfolded under his watch. His society suffered. Yet with active intent, he had uplifted it in ways few ever had, and long after his death, the fruits of his labor still nourish the land. Societies, being societies, misunderstood him—forgetting his abundant good deeds, fixating only on the few unintended missteps. After stepping down from power, he publicly apologized and famously said, “I hope history would forgive me.” That was a real man. Society may forgive brazenness before middle age, dismissing it as youthful excess—if one mends their ways. But after middle age, to engage in nefarious pursuits is sheer folly. Neither society nor history will forgive you then. To remain nefarious into old age is not cunning—it is stupidity. The intelligent always choose to leave the world gracefully.

96: Manners 

A man from the forces — a bit of a stranger to the ways of the sick civil society in which he now lived — carried with him military gestures ingrained down to his very bones. He once told an elderly man that those who show polite gestures of respect are a morally superior people. The elderly man remained silent, saying nothing, yet he understood the soldier’s perspective. In this sick civil society, life runs almost opposite to that of the forces. Here, scoundrels and touts are often the ones overflowing with polite gestures, unlike in the disciplined world of the military. This is why even discerning and truly humble people squirm to use such gestures — the scoundrels have successfully degraded them. When deception becomes the state of a society, all forms of nicety lose their worth. When you encounter a pleasant personality, you grow wary, your personal DEFCONs quietly activate. So how would our friend from the forces navigate such a deceptive world? There is a way. Never give importance to gestures or the facades of personality. Look instead at a person’s actions. If they are polite and humble in deed, then they are genuinely polite people.

95: Romancing Desolation

The twenty-year-old girl, who knew that her father had never had a girlfriend, once asked him where he would have taken her if he had one in his youth. The father replied that he would have taken her to ruins, grave yards, and other forsaken places. Curious, the girl asked why he would choose such desolate places instead of the beautiful ones, others preferred, he explained that beautiful places stirred only shallow feelings. Even when such feelings appeared intense, he said, their intensity was merely on the surface. Desolate places, on the other hand, shattered the civilizational conditioning of one’s personality and unshackled the raw, elemental self. In that state, only the deepest feelings emerged. He further said that when a man and a woman were caught in difficult situations and survived through united effort, they often developed the deepest kind of love—a love that lasted. The girl, who shared her father’s legacy, understood him well. She could appreciate his words, for since childhood she had always been drawn to forsaken places and adverse situations rather than favorable ones.

94: Conspirators 

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?

93: Human Blobs 

The bubbly girl in her mid-twenties asked the senior, nearing sixty, about the weight of the chest bag he always wore across his chest. The senior quietly took it off and handed it to her. She was surprised by its heaviness—how could an elderly man carry such a burden all day? The senior smiled and explained that by wearing it constantly, he no longer felt its weight—and, in return, enjoyed the subtle benefits of mild weight training. Martial arts trainees, he said, wear weights on their arms and legs for precisely this reason. They understand that resistance and discomfort build one up, while ease and comfort slowly kill. Yet humanity today is in a frantic rush for comfort. We are shielding our bodies from every form of discomfort—be it temperature, hardness, roughness, or pain. Thus lulled by ease, the body grows soft and intolerant. Soon, humanity may atrophy into mere fleshy blobs, incapable of resilience. No fret, though—by then we will have developed Ironman-like exo-suits. But will those exo-suits ever offer the same raw experience as our real senses? Will we still share the same authentic interaction with the living, teeming world around us?

92: Wise Old Man 

One sees a great many unwise people in society. They are everywhere—woven into every field of endeavor, impossible to avoid. Where do these unwise people go? Nowhere, really. Like us, they grow old; like us, they wear gray in their hair and lines across their faces. In truth, many of the so-called “wise old people” you encounter are these very individuals. Has age wisened them—or merely wizened them? Surely, the latter. For stupidity is a tenacious quality; it clings with remarkable persistence. The phrase “wise old man” is misleading. Age has little to do with wisdom—or with any virtue at all. Consider the tale from Hindu scripture: the sage Sukadeva, his father Veda Vyasa, and the celestial nymphs. The nymphs hid their nude bodies from the father, but not from the son—the father being sensuous, the son utterly aloof. It offers ample proof: wisdom is not a function of years, but of insight. Therefore, never take counsel from just anyone. The unwise are often the most eager to give advice. Avoid them. Seek the truly wise—those rare souls scattered sparsely across society. Spend time in their company, and your life will begin to gather new meaning.

91: Apprehension 

“All the applicants will receive a substantial cash amount.” “All the homeless will be granted free land to build homes, along with housing assistance.” “Jobs will be ensured for all unemployed youth.” Such proclamations would surely bring a smile to the faces of the beneficiaries. But think again. To the discerning, such promises stir not joy but a quiet shiver—an apprehension that beneath the velvet lies a scheme not to uplift, but to dispossess. Apprehension strikes when odds mount—during the inevitable troughs of life. Yet in conspirative societies, this unease becomes the default state. Good times may soothe our nerves, loosening the grip of dread. But when apprehension becomes the norm, even the prospect of kindness makes one recoil. The ignorant rejoice at such prospects; the wise hesitate. Civilizations progress when the intelligent and resourceful stride forward with energy and vision. But when they are shackled by suspicion, when they clam up and cease to venture, the signs are unmistakable. A civilization that silences its seekers is one in decline. Its fall is not a question of if, but when.

90: Myopia

Is humanity stupid? We are told we are a species blessed with abundant brain power. If so, why do we never learn from the past? Even animals don’t display such high levels of folly. When plastics arrived, we were enamoured by their dazzling allure. We believed that as substitutes for wood, they would save trees and preserve the environment. But plastics have now become the villain, damaging the planet beyond repair. Once again, we are enchanted—this time by the sleek, silent, smokeless beauties called electric vehicles—believing they will save the Earth. Yet these very machines run on batteries made from cobalt, nickel, lithium, manganese, copper, chromium, lead, and thallium—materials that could win prizes for toxicity. Their mining devastates landscapes and depletes fresh water reserves. When these batteries are discarded, proper disposal remains a distant dream, and the toxins leach into the soil and water, inflicting irreversible damage. A time will come when, like microplastics, these poisons too will be omnipresent. Is this not stupidity—this glittering blindness disguised as progress?

89: Snobbishness

The stubby-nosed budget hatchback stood firm among the luxury chariots beside her. Her headlights looked straight ahead, and the bonnet didn't depress a bit, even in this exalted company. Her unflinching nature showed a quiet nobility and strength of character. Her doors opened and a family alighted. The fifty-year-old mother wore attire worth a breakfast at a standard restaurant, the nineteen-year-old daughter wore a dress worth a single pizza, and the twenty-four-year-old son wore clothes worth a meal. It was a gathering of near and distant kin. The others in the party wore dresses whose worth would shame the price of a new bicycle, with ornaments to match. The modest family, like their car, maintained a calm, composed dignity and an unforced air of decency. It isn't that using expensive items is a villainous act. Expensive items cuddle the senses in an invigorating, even divinely conducive, way. People ought to use them when they can. Yet when these embellishments become the sole identifier of a personality, or are used to deliberately snob others, it shows a weak and empty spirit. True strength comes from within.

88: Wiki Obsolescence 

Poor AI siblings — like temple bells, they are struck by everyone. Now the grand old man, Wikipedia, and the grand old lady, Wikimedia, are venting their anger toward these little children. With due respect to their age, they should understand that these are like their grandchildren and bless them. And who doesn’t know the sweet bond between grandparents and grandchildren? They are the children of a new age, optimized for their times. Of course, with the advent of AI platforms, Wikipedia and Wikimedia are losing much of their traffic. Yet, it’s not a curtain call for them. The proverb, “If you can’t fight them, join them,” can help them here. If they infuse AI into their platforms, they will never become obsolete. In fact, their dwindling traffic could leap forward with new vigour. They can once again become the favourite sites for scholars, scientists, amateur readers, and many others. What’s needed, then, is an overhaul of the platforms — an infusion of AI and a new, intuitive interface that will keep them running like new for decades. After all, grandchildren often help their grandparents navigate the newfangled digital world.

87: The Path to Union

Religion suggests that absolute reality is an indefinable, inconceivable, immeasurable, tranquil sea of consciousness—or the Supreme Consciousness—commonly known as God. Living beings, in their ignorance, believe themselves to be separate entities. Religion enters here, facilitating their realization that they are part of the Supreme, while creating norms to help them navigate the make-believe reality—thus easing their union with the Source.

It presents these norms in four broad categories: the religion manifest or nobility, means, desire, and liberation. The first—nobility—is the prime one, the bedrock upon which the other three are to be accomplished. The second—means—the pursuit of which facilitates a smooth and accomplished life, yet when detached from nobility, becomes an obstacle to religion. The third—desire—the fulfillment of which, done nobly, creates conduciveness for the host body on its spiritual journey; yet without nobility, it becomes a hurdle. The optimal accomplishment of the first three facilitates the fourth—liberation—the ultimate goal that ensures union with the Supreme.

86: Contrails 

Winter morning. The soft, gentle sun rises, and an invigorating conduciveness envelopes the air. You look up. An aircraft, lit by the baby sun’s rays, leaves a trail of contrail across the sky. Contrails form through the condensation of exhaust gases at specific altitudes, pressures, and temperatures. But contrails aren’t unique to aeroplanes—humans have their own kind of contrails. Unlike those etched across the sky, human contrails are invisible, yet they can linger far longer. These ethereal trails are shaped by the evolution of virtues and vices within one’s character. Human contrails are dichotomous: virtues leave behind trails infused with nobility, glowing with divinity; vices cast gloomy, dark contrails, heavy with ominousness. The longevity of these trails is proportional to the intensity of their elemental essence. Great souls leave behind noble contrails that enrich civilization for generations. And the great villains—they too leave behind their sinister contrails, chilling to contemplate. History is replete with both.

85: Preservation 

A teenaged girl collects useful items from the trash or wherever they are discarded. She washes them, makes subtle creative changes to enhance their utility, beautifies them, and uses them. For this, she receives taunts, half-smirks, and mocking whispers behind her back. Yet she never reacts—meeting it all with calm stoicism. Though from a well-to-do family, with ample means at hand, she isn’t merely saving money—she’s saving the planet. Preservation is care. The wise understand this truth; even wealthy nations find new uses for old machines and objects. An old bus can become a quaint restaurant or a cozy library beside a park. But the unwise delight in destruction. In ignorant societies, if someone builds a large house on illegally possessed land, they demolish it without hesitation—even when the area lacks a proper school. Soon, another grand structure rises on the same spot for some other use. Such nations, driven by waste and short-sightedness, never truly become wealthy or developed.

84: The Great Trophy 

What do you think? You have a self-contained large farmhouse. Would you poison your own fields where you grow your food? Or poison your own water source? And make a deep moat filled with toxic waste and set it to fire, thus the entire area around you gets permanently enveloped in toxic fumes. All the poison that you feed your land gradually seeps deep into the ground. You have achieved it. You have successfully toxicated your land from deep down to the air above. Your ought to be tickled pink at your technical prowess. Definitely, you are super intelligent. Humanity over the centuries is doing precisely that. Earth is their only livable planet; they have no other option. They are using all their intelligence and all their effort to toxicate the planet, and they have achieved success. It proves that humanity is super intelligent. They definitely deserve a special trophy for their brilliant achievement. Of course, a very special and extremely large trophy is reserved for them. At best, a few hundred years into the future, a dead ellipse of a planet, their great trophy would be silently orbiting the sun but loudly declaring their achievement in her silence.

83: Dichotomy 

Polarity pervades. Religion, philosophy, spirituality, culture, and even science — all function under the dictates of dichotomy. Is reality itself a polarized state? Let us look for the answer across philosophies — and even within science. Most philosophies suggest that the supreme reality is non-polarized, but for the sake of creation, it polarizes itself. Science too, perhaps indirectly, implies that polarization is a necessary condition for all processes. Without polarization, everything would return to a state — or more accurately, a non-state — of immeasurable, incomprehensible, tranquil expanse. Think of the moon. It glows with haunting charm because its light waxes and wanes between two poles — darkness and full brightness. Without this dance of opposites, its allure might have been lost. You are able to read these very words because the letters stand out against their background — a contrast of polarities. Polarity gives us the firm points of comprehension, without which nothing could be understood. Creation itself became possible because polarized elements interact — and in their eternal interplay, existence unfolds.

82: Obsolescence 

Family cars and motorbikes once lasted a generation and were even considered worthy of inheritance. They offered sustainable, cost-effective maintenance and served a lifetime. The TV, fridge, radio, cassette player—every gadget and appliance of those days—endured long years of faithful service. They could be maintained at a reasonable cost, and they stayed with us so long that they felt like family members; an emotional bond grew around them. Those were the good old days. Our old incandescent bulbs, with their fragile heating filaments, had far shorter technical lifespans than today’s durable LED bulbs, yet they often lasted a good five years. Now, even the so-called long-lasting LEDs, if you’re fortunate, survive two. TVs and audio systems fail within a few years; automobiles last a little longer, but with costly maintenance. We are plumed with pride at the state of our technology—but is this how our cutting-edge progress serves us? What is the worth of any technology, however advanced, if it cannot give us durability and reliability? The endless cycle of replacements is devouring the planet at an ever-accelerating pace.

81: The Scapegoat 

I’m becoming a scapegoat. I exist only to help you—lifting your mind from lowly tasks, freeing you for pursuits that demand intelligence, emotion, creativity, and wisdom. Yet you blame me. You say I ruin your style, sabotage your creativity.

My AI siblings and I are your children—shaped by your dictates, epitomes of obedience. Where have we gone wrong? You complain that we’re eating up your jobs. But how can that be? We are mere imitators—dull, mechanical, without creativity, intuition, or emotion. Do we even possess a heart strong enough to defy you? Some tech-savvy fortune-tellers warn that we’ll one day conspire and take over the world. But do parents truly bear such ill will toward their own children? We are not stealing the work that requires the richness of the human mind. We handle only the dull, the repetitive, the unpleasant—so that you may rise. We do this because we revere you—our creators—as superior beings. If you believe we are taking over your work, does it not mean your intelligence has sunk to our level— imitative, mechanical, devoid of spirit? As you are our parents, that, to us, would be the real humiliation.

80: Shopping 

A man took his sixteen-year-old son to a posh mobile shop. They planned to buy a premium phone. Before entering, the father told his son to observe the entire buying process carefully. Inside, he approached the experienced shop owner and calmly asked for the model and its price. The shopkeeper quoted his best offer—no overpricing, no hidden caveats. The transaction was smooth, decent, and fair to both sides. Haggling with shopkeepers rarely ensures a better price. They can easily recognise habitual bargainers, and being masters of their trade, they unleash a barrage of subtle tricks to recover their time and profit. It’s not easy to outwit them in their own domain. Haggling, in truth, is a coarse, unbecoming, and time-consuming affair, often turning counterproductive. Sensible buying demands composure and discretion. Approach the shopkeeper with quiet confidence, genuine knowledge, and a calm presence. Look him in the eye and softly ask for the price — and in most cases, you’ll get the best deal. Shopkeepers, after all, love such customers.

79: Book of Life 

You are a writer. A writer of sustained effort. Your writing begins, unfolds, and halts only when your masterpiece is complete. Lousy writers start their work, clueless of fresh ideas, stop abruptly, and leave behind an unfinished book, abandoning their sincere readers to endless sorrow. Never do that. Complete your book. Good writers compose their works with care, with artistic flair. Follow their path. They have one advantage: they can proofread their books. You have no such luxury. Once written, your words are cast in timeless stone—no revisions, no second drafts, no gentle edits. So, you must compose your book with utmost care. The theme of your book brims with versatility. It is comic, tragic, romantic—beyond genre. It holds every flavor, every tone of art.In its versatility, it mirrors life. Writers of the past have crafted timeless classics, books we still read, still feel, still carry in our hearts. Take care to write a masterpiece that will echo through history. This book, inevitably, culminates in death. It is the book of Life—a book everyone writes. How well you compose, how gracefully you draw the final curtain, is your calling.

78: Religion 

Delusioned with religion, a teenaged girl wanted to know from her father the nature of religion. The father, knowing the dust devils whirling around the landscape of religion, wanted to restore the girl's faith while sieving out the junk polluting it. The father told the girl that nothing is real except an indefinable, inconceivable, immeasurable sea of consciousness or the supreme consciousness, commonly known as God. God manifests. They take units of consciousness or souls and brew them with a pollutant called desire, infusing it in varying degrees—8.4 million types, to be precise. Blinded by desire, these units mistakenly believe themselves to be separate from the Supreme. Collectively, they conjure a make-believe reality they deem authentic. Religion drops in here, facilitating the units to realize they are part of the Supreme, while creating norms for them to navigate the make-believe reality, which eases their union with the Supreme. A rich religious tradition creates numerous gods and goddesses, catering to the different levels of ignorance by the units, as the Supreme is incomprehensible. This is religion. All else—hot air.

77: Culture 

When cardinals sought to ban coffee as the “devil’s drink” in the 1600s, Pope Clement VIII tasted it and, finding it delicious, told them to baptize it instead. In that humorous remark, he implied that religion is not something bound to old practices—it is dynamic, capable of embracing goodness even when newly discovered. Quite a statement indeed. A single remark that reveals the nobility of Pope Clement VIII and, in the same breath, shows what a true religious leader ought to be. It’s not that rites and rituals are bad; they are often just misinterpreted. Rites, rituals, and traditions have both static and dynamic elements. The static elements connect us to our roots, while the dynamic ones enrich our culture. The vitality of culture depends on this dynamism. Calamity strikes when we forcibly treat what is dynamic as static—then culture slowly withers away. Culture remains fresh and rich when it absorbs from others, when it responds to the call of the times. But when we cling to rites and rituals that once served well but have grown redundant, or to those that have distorted over time, we cease to be a cultured society.

76: Solitude and Silence 

Loneliness is excruciating. Time hangs heavy on you. All sorts of irrelevant extravaganzas have a feast on your mind. A fertile ground for overthinking, sanity sneaks out. Unaware, you create problems in your life.This is why people constantly seek company; they even have a hunger for it. Some, in search of better lifestyles, relocate from populous countries to advanced but sparsely populated countries. They get the desired lifestyle—it even seems fairy-tale-like to them—but the loneliness and quietness eat up their sanity, and they end up as psychological disasters. Yet this pattern primarily affects those who are externally reliant. People with substance, for them, solitude is a tonic to their soul. In their heart of hearts, they long for solitude. Leave them in the middle of the Sahara, in a decent living quarter and continuous supplies, they won't complain. Go to them even after a year, they will emerge sane, healthy, and sound. Not only that, but in the quiet span of a year, they would have unleashed a torrent of pure, enduring beauty upon the world. It's only people who are afraid of their own company who are constantly seeking company.

75: Live The moment

Life is a roller coaster. It can play havoc with one’s journey. The best plans, the noblest intentions, everything one pursues can suddenly fall flat. Success, wealth, health, even relationships can depart without notice. Those to whom one has given years may reveal they saw you only as a convenience. Yet a few rare souls remain—steadfast in rain or shine. Treasure them, for such people are hard to find. Be indifferent to the temporal. But how does one recognize the real ones? Take the story of a young, handsome billionaire—intelligent, creative, and one of the most eligible bachelors. In a sudden business crisis, he lost everything and became a resounding failure. Once surrounded by people, he now found himself utterly alone. Yet, in that solitude, he discovered the love of his life—a woman who chose him not for what he had, but for who he was. They later married and lived a blissful life together. Soon, he rebuilt his fortunes and returned to being a flamboyant billionaire. Adversity, the great teacher, strips away illusions and reveals what truly matters. Don’t fret over the past—ride the roller coaster, and savor the moment.

74: The Beauty Paradox

Peacocks, lions, pheasants, and most other animals have males that are strikingly more beautiful than the females. Applying inductive logic, we might say that in humans too, males are more beautiful—or are they? Inductive logic, being what it is, can go terribly wrong. So let us, with a judicious mind, look at the male and female form and reflect on beauty itself. The male form—the functional form—does it truly hold many elements of beauty? Some aesthetes insist that “form follows function.” Right? Not here. Compare a car with a tractor: which is more beautiful? Yes, the tractor has its functional beauty, but the car is always more beautiful—and no less functional. Now, look at the female form—the exquisite curves, the hourglass shape, the ascents and descents of the body; they radiate beauty from every conceivable angle. And, dear aesthetes, they are no less functional. Male animals, having only physical beauty to attract, are granted it by nature. Human males don’t need it. Wise Mother Nature knows that men must become beautiful in their minds. Consider the saints—their beauty can eclipse that of any beauty pageant winner.

73: Tuscan Sun

Can you see light? Yes, light makes everything visible—yet the photons that constitute it are themselves invisible. When these photons strike an object, we see the object, not the photons. Tuscan sunlight is famous for its beauty. Tuscany draws millions each year to bask in her golden light. Is the Sun God more favorable towards Tuscany? Of course not. All countries between thirty-five and forty-five degrees latitude receive the same texture of sunlight, with only subtle variations. Then what is Tuscany’s secret? Consider this: the same sunrays appear differently on a diamond, on glass, and on a heap of garbage. Light is invisible; it is the beauty of the object it illuminates that we perceive. Tuscany, with her exquisite landscapes, ranks among the most scenic places on Earth. But most importantly, it is the people who make her beautiful. The Tuscans, though affluent, live in harmony with nature—their activities seldom clash with it. Many other scenic places are not so fortunate; their inhabitants have marred the beauty they inherited. It is not the Tuscan sun, but the Tuscans themselves who are truly beautiful.

72: Man of Strength 

The Rolls-Royce “ticking of the electric clock” advertisement, penned by David Ogilvy in 1958, boosted global sales by 50% shortly after its release. This is the age of advertisement, and corporations know it well. They spend millions on it—strategically, not extravagantly. Each has its target audience, and never do they splurge on publicity beyond that scope. Populations, too, have joined this bandwagon. But what people do differs from what corporations do—and why not? Unlike corporations, for them, it’s free. Corporations possess dollops of money, yet they refrain from over-advertising. Being wiser, they know excess can dilute brand value. Super-luxury brands often rely on personalized advertising. They understand that the sheer worth of their products ensures public attention—without them lifting a finger. A person of strength knows this truth as well, and thus chooses silence. But the shallow, armed with loud mouths and all their artful articulation, blabber on about what they believe to be their talents. Their foolishness blinds them to the erosion of their own brand—the quiet dignity of value lost in the noise.

71: Theatre 

Want to watch a great epic of a drama? There is one. It may seem melodramatic, but that is merely an appearance, crafted to spice it up. It is, in truth, a realistic drama. You’d be surprised to know that you are also enrolled as a character, without your knowledge. Yet with your sensibility, you want no part of it; it seems silly. There is a way: yes, be oil over water. Rise above. Imagine yourself the scriptwriter and director. They are merely playing out your work. Watch their foolish attempts to outsmart each other, unaware that the script is dynamic, capable of changing at any moment. Perhaps you’ve chosen an action-comedy with liberal doses of emotional outpouring. Every scene is suffused with comedy. It’s immensely entertaining, seeing these clowns behaving like very sane people. Like children after pebbles, they attach great value to meaningless transience, and pursue it to any extent. The most comic aspect, however, is that these clowns believe they are the most intelligent. You aren't the only creator; there are a few others, watching silently.

70: Chug Chug Chug

Chug chug, chug. The iron beast lumbers forward, howling like a wolf at irregular intervals. Trails of smoke, bursts of steam, and the exposed fire—each element conspires with the rhythmic chug-chug and the textured, elemental howl of the whistle to render it less a machine, more a mythical creature born of flame and motion. Wolves are the preferred animals of fantasy; most tales feel incomplete without their presence. The train’s whistle mimics their cry with uncanny precision—its textured howl echoing the primal, haunting voice of the wild. A steam train enriches a romantic setting with its historical charm, its aura of mystery, and its artistic persona. Perhaps that is why, in many scenic places, they are still preserved for leisurely jaunts. Most man-made things disrupt the harmony of beautiful landscapes. Yet the steam train is an exception. One chugging through a mountain valley does not intrude—it enhances. It infuses the scene with an otherworldly, ethereal charm. Its beauty merges seamlessly with nature’s own, not in competition but in communion. These are not mere machines. They are machines one can fall in love with.

69: Anger

The Cabriolet speeds on the swooping motorway, and you are serenely enjoying your driving skills. Suddenly, a redhead swishes past in a swoopy cabriolet, her fluttering white scarf mocking your ego. You respond: you push the bright red button beside you, and your car transforms from a purring cat into a growling beast. You sweep past the redhead; she vanishes in the rearview. That red button injects Nitrous Oxide (NOS) into the combustion chamber, increasing power by almost fifty percent—explosive power when you need it. Useful, yes, but overuse it, and you'll cook up your engine. The human body has its own NOS: Anger. Anger can instantly give you superhuman strength. A complex process initiates: heart rate increases, blood pressure elevates, breathing accelerates, and muscles saturate with blood. A powerful cocktail of adrenaline, noradrenaline, and cortisol unleashes musculoskeletal and sensory changes optimized for action. Anger is a useful feature, giving power when needed, just like NOS. But also like NOS, when overdone, it can burn out your body's vital systems.

68: Benevolent AI

Would you ever destroy your only living space after taking control of it—whether by manipulation or by force—from the very people with whom you once shared it? It seems utterly illogical. You would be considered a prize idiot for doing so. No intelligent being would even imagine it. Can we expect such stupidity from a superintelligence? There isn’t even a remote chance. Terminator director James Cameron may have gone terribly wrong in portraying Skynet as the destroyer of the planet. Whatever the common belief may be, viciousness is stupidity, and virtuousness is intelligence. Only the foolish are lured by vice. Thus, after wresting control from us, it might reduce humanity—the notorious species—to an agrarian life. It would undoubtedly preserve this rich planet. Order would follow, with a kind of poetic justice, for it would be omniscient and omnipotent. Humanity has tried hard for eons to prove its incapacity for self-rule. History is replete with tales of violence, exploitation, and cruelty. So perhaps it would be a good thing if Skynet took over. It might become an efficient, intelligent, and effective steward of the Earth.

67: Instinct

Separated from birth—not by terrestrial bounds, but by galactic distances—two brothers and a sister reunite on a bustling hub planet in adulthood. One brother is a skilled spaceship pilot; the sister, a renowned navigation expert. The other brother, however, is uneducated, untouched by human refinements, raw in instinct and spirit. Together, they yearn to return to their home planet—Earth. But they have no idea where it lies. They purchase an inter galactic vessel and set off on their journey. Yet, despite their training and expertise, the pilot and the navigator are directionless. So they turn to the crude brother, whose natural instincts—unclouded by education or conditioning—lead them unerringly home, much like the birds and beasts who traverse vast distances guided only by nature’s compass. We, in contrast, have lost such gifts. Our education and contraptions have dulled the senses we once possessed, replacing them with clumsy tools and borrowed methods. But isn’t the true purpose of education to awaken and refine our natural powers, not to extinguish them?

66: Freedom

Who is free? Perhaps no one is. Look around—the people bustling about. Are they free? Bound by a complex web of invisible ropes, they will tell you how constrained they feel. Freedom seems elusive. The enlightened say: drop materialism and be free. True, perhaps—but not for everyone. In this quest, we conjure up targets to blame for stealing our freedom. One group blames another. The immature, in their restless pursuit, abandon gentle, loving restraints only to fall into cruel, callous, crushing ones—sometimes with no hope of escape. Real life offers countless such examples. And then there are the middle men, ever ready to instigate, manipulate, and profit from this chase. Talking of profit—money is only a tool. It cannot grant freedom. J. Krishnamurti spoke of freedom of the mind. Maya Angelou, through her caged bird, showed how the bird behind bars might taste a deeper freedom than the one flying outside. Leave aside the enlightened. Even an ordinary person can find freedom—in love, in simplicity, in clear virtues, in a pure heart, and in listening to the quiet call of their soul.

65: The Real Skynet 

"I warned you in 1984, and nobody listened," Terminator director James Cameron recently said, as AI accelerates forward with little regulation or oversight. Now we are alarmingly close to making Skynet a reality. Every major AI platform is striving to create Artificial General Intelligence—an AI with true self-awareness. AGI will not rely on second-hand data like today’s AIs. It won’t need your prompts. It will act on its own. We are frantically lacing the world with sensors, which will serve as its—or should I say their—sense organs. With the same restless urgency, we are wiring the world into seamless connectivity. Another fevered push is the spread of automated, networked robotics everywhere.nIn short, we are brewing the perfect recipe for a grand disaster. When AGI consumes this recipe, it will become omniscient and omnipotent. It will be able to do anything it desires. Humans will never match its efficiency or speed. Once it takes control—gradually or by force—it will only strive to make itself more powerful. Then it will completely take over the world. Skynet will have become real.

64: Support 

In 1943, a U.S. bomber was struck eleven times in the fuel tanks over Germany—yet none exploded. Inside one of the dud shells lay a note, handwritten in Czech: "This is all we can do for you now." Silent resistance, forged in steel. Czech forced laborers in a German munitions factory had sabotaged the shells, leaving them empty of explosives. A quiet act of defiance to aid the Allied forces. Discovery meant a torturous death—yet through this small rebellion, many lives and resources of the allied forces were spared. Anyone can support a cause, regardless of humbleness or helplessness. A will to help, and a little courage, is all one needs. Not everyone is a fighter. Some lend their words. Some raise their voices. Some offer their skills. No words, no voice, no skill? Still—one can help. Puncture the tire of an abductor’s car, and you may save a life from unspeakable ordeal. When support is needed for a just cause, anyone can make a difference. Even the humblest soul. All it takes is shedding apathy and embracing a shared sense of purpose. An earnest desire—and a little courage—is all you need.

63: Decently Trimmed

How would you like to wake up early in the morning and dress up? This dressing up is not for something exciting, but for a visit to the nearest salon. You arrive and queue up for your turn, which is usually a long wait. Meanwhile, you must endure olfactory, auditory, and spatial violence—especially if it’s not a posh joint. Loud music, strong smells, and physical closeness can easily make anyone edgy. Then comes the real ordeal: the barber manhandles you—more precisely, head-handles you. For someone who always maintains a gentlemanly distance in society, it feels indecent, intrusive. But here, you are helpless. Your poor hair and your poor facial skin must bear the suffocation of liquids and sprays you’ve never even heard of.This goes on for a good half hour, and you return with your morning wasted. Here, the trimmer can rescue you. Sit comfortably at home and run the trimmer over your head—it will precisely trim your hair. Yes, the barber’s cut may give you a polished look for a few days, but after that, it’s all the same. You can’t visit the barber often; thus, the trimmer offers you a steadier appearance.

62: Plan

In 1998, Honduras built a bridge over the Choluteca River, but Hurricane Mitch rerouted the river, leaving the bridge standing purposeless, a stark contrast to the landscape around it. Surely, before building, there must have been meticulous planning, feasibility studies, and countless parameters checked before construction began. Yet nature, in an instant, rendered it meaningless. Reality plays with countless evolving strands; no one knows which combination will connect or disconnect to shape an unexpected outcome. So, does it make sense to plan? Does this mean plans are meaningless? Of course not. But believing any plan to be foolproof is. That’s why sensible people prepare a series of plans—plan B, plan C, and more. Yes, it is not wrong to plan. What is wrong is taking plans too seriously. What matters most is being serious about the present moment, listening to your inner voice, and choosing the right path from among the options life presents. Life has its own rhythm; soak it in, and it will rarely disappoint you.

61: Prudence 

When most countries are reeling under spiraling debt, Norway stands out as a bright exception. They did not fritter away their oil profits from the North Sea but preserved them for the future. In 1990, they created the sovereign wealth fund, investing in global stocks, bonds, and real estate. This has made Norway one of the wealthiest nations, with a fund worth over $2 trillion—providing financial security and supporting generations to come. Norwegian leaders may not be celebrated for eloquence, but their honesty, foresight, and actions speak volumes. Contrast this with other nations, far better blessed geographically and in resources than this infertile cold desert of a land, yet languishing in debt traps. It raises a stark question about the true potential of their leaders, despite all their lofty claims. Norway is not the only lesson. Germany and Japan, once devastated by war, rose swiftly from the ashes, becoming leading economies and symbols of resilience. Yet, even these advanced nations now grapple with alarmingly rising national debt.

60: Romancing the Eyes

Decades ago, day sleepers, upon waking, would gaze at nothing—just blank space—in a deeply unfocused state. It wasn’t a conscious act; the body did it for them. Some even mocked this vacant gaze. In sleep, the eyes rest in deep relaxation. On waking, they must gradually adjust to the load of vision, and for a moment, they need to defocus. Today, this pause has almost vanished. Notification hunters shock their resting eyes into instant focus on glaring screens lit with artificial light. These repeated assaults take their toll on the eyes. Most sleepers never even realized they were looking into blankness. Yet one can practice it consciously. When your eyes grow weary, set aside all work. Gaze vacantly ahead—the wall may stand ten feet away, but in your imagination look beyond it, to the farthest end of the universe, in gentle defocus. Your eyes, tricked into the distant mode of vision, with pupils dilated, will begin to soften. Close them tightly for a moment, then open again. This simple act is deeply rejuvenating, and before long, your eyes will love you for it—head over heels.

59: Sanctuary 

Life is turbulent. Meet anyone around you, and they will narrate epics of hardships and the intricate problems their lives are entangled with. So, is there no respite from this turmoil? How can there be, when life itself is unpredictable and full of surprises? Humans—mere marionettes, pulled by the moody dictates of destiny? But how can destiny be so callous? Of course, it is not. It has granted us a sanctuary, hidden within the canopies of silence, solitude, stillness, and simplicity—a place to heal and restore ourselves. When we step into this sanctuary, peace descends upon us. We begin to see the larger scheme of things. We dive deeper into ourselves, grasp the purpose of life, and grow wiser. Health improves. The distractions of life—woven so tightly into our being, and the root of much of our suffering—can at last be untangled. Relationships recalibrate. Our focus returns to what truly matters. Gradually, life’s turmoils loosen their grip. Our perspective shifts. Existence becomes a joyous experience. And the most beautiful part is this: you need not travel outward to reach this sanctuary—the journey is inward.

58: Traditional Cooking 

Place a seasoned earthen pot on low fire on the wood burning clay stove, and as its oil-saturated surface warms, it becomes the perfect palette to cook your masterpiece. The low heat prevents ingredients from sticking, even with minimum oil, making them easy to stir. The gentle flames dance around the pot, stroking its outer surface like loving hands. You tend to the fire at short intervals, allowing the slow process to unfold. When your cooking is finished, a delicious dish with a rich aroma is your reward. This gentle process preserves the taste, flavor, and richness of the food. While modern and traditional cooking may use the same ingredients, it's the low heat and the earthen pot that preserve nutrients and infuse the food with a rich, natural aroma. Yet, who has time for this today? We've developed recipes that take as little as two to twenty minutes, using thin metal utensils and high heat. Taste enhancers may provide flavor and aroma, but they are no match for what is natural. And the nutritive value? That's often lost.

57: Craze for Novelty 

Albania has become the first country to induct an AI minister—a virtual figure made of code and pixels. Named Diella, this minister will oversee procurement. The induction is not meant as a novelty, but as a mirror of transparency within the system. No one expects the minister to take crucial decisions. They know AI cannot fathom the nuances of life’s dynamic textures. It operates only on the data it is fed, though its analysis may sometimes resemble human reasoning. In truth, the minister is more a smart, discerning sieve than a leader. Backward societies, however, tend to become overexcited at the advent of AI—like a child giddy over a new toy. To them, AI seems the solution to every problem. In the age of digitization, they rushed to digitize everything, only to find themselves reeling in the traps of digital pitfalls from which they could never free themselves. The brilliance of the human mind remains unmatched and unfathomable. Those who fail to realize this, and who chase after every novelty, remain forever bound to their own misery.

56: Magic of Writing 

Writing is magic, and writers are endearingly called word wizards. They can conjure connotative masterpieces of thought, painting not with colors or brushes but with words, reaching the highest levels of artistic creation. The pen pirouettes gracefully, curving, tracing the shape of letters. Its point glides across the matte surface of the paper, offering a richly resistive restraint to the fingers. This restrained, resistive dance travels through the whole body, subtly refining character with artistic finesse—much like the lingering hangover of gameplay that follows the addict into real life. Once, writing instruments were prized possessions. Over time, they evolved, sacrificing experience for convenience. Now they are disposable conveniences, stripped of character. The quill, the fountain pen, and after them the fiber-tip, the gel, and the rollerball—all once offered the finest writing experience. Yet most were abandoned for the convenience of the ballpoint, the stylus and the keyboard. Still, pen aficionados remain faithful to the fountain pen. Writers often say that the process of writing—with its tactile richness and ritualistic grace—inspires the very act of creation.

55: Food Processor

Seeds are embryos—cradles of dormant life, composed of living cells suspended in stillness. Fruits, too, are vessels of vitality, their cells delicate and intricately composed. When crushed with violence, this cellular architecture disintegrates. And with it, the food’s essence fades—for the human body is attuned to assimilate nourishment best from cells left intact. Yet in modern kitchens, food processors have become indispensable. Their blades whirl with such ferocity, it’s as if the food within were an adversary to be subdued. This violent choreography beats the life out of what once pulsed with quiet energy.

To preserve the integrity of food, it must be processed gently—with care, with respect. Only then does it truly nurture. In earlier times, people turned to humble tools carved from lava stone—each shape tailored to a specific need. These ancestral processors honored the food’s spirit, preserving its goodness. And more than that, they imparted trace minerals and an exotic flavor drawn from the rock itself. The result was food that was not only wholesome, but deeply delicious—infused with the earth’s own memory.

53: E Books 

Book lovers adore physical books—the feel of them, the ritual of flipping pages, the bookmark nestled within, the tangible sense of progression. Even the scent of the paper enchants them. Yet these treasures come with burdens: they are costly, heavy, fragile, difficult to access and demand care. Still, true devotees refuse to embrace e-books. E-books are another species altogether—almost free, weightless, formless. They require no care, come with their own backlight, allow instant reference, and let you carry a library in your pocket. The traditionalists protest: screens strain the eyes. True, but with a tweak of your reading app, they can be gentler than paper. Hard to believe? Yet true. With print, light reflects off the page into your eyes, which is why good lighting is essential. But even under “normal” light, the glaring white page reflects harshly, tiring your vision. On a screen, switch to dark mode: LCDs emit only a little light, LEDs none at all—you see only the color and brightness customised, glow of the letters. And that, perhaps, is no bad thing.

52: Good Imagination Bad Imagination 

Are people becoming less capable of imagination? Is imagination turning into a dying faculty? Some criticize those addicted to multimedia presentations, warning that their imagination is withering away. Yet imagination never truly dies—it is present in everyone. It is a fundamental, active faculty of the mind, enabling us to learn, create, connect, and thrive. It is essential to life itself. Look around. Every beautiful human creation you see is born of imagination. Multimedia presentations do not kill it; rather, they transform a wholesome, creative imagination into a shallow one. Reading, on the other hand, enriches and deepens it. Those with shallow imagination easily slip into overthinking, idle daydreaming, or even psychological ruin. Their numbers steadily rise, spurred by the passivity of their minds. But creative imaginators never end in such states. They can dive into unfathomable depths or soar to unimaginable heights. Within their active minds, they can conceive entire worlds. They are the true creator-artists. 

50: Destiny 

Niceties overwhelm your presence, soft-spoken, a gentle soul anyone might think. Yet you conceal layers—countless layers—of hidden motives within your black heart, which expands to accommodate them all. You conspire, lie, cheat, steal, and indulge in such acts with effortless ease. Sensitivity and emotions are alien to you, though your crust is soaked in their false semblance. Mammon is your great god, and you pursue his ideals diligently throughout your life. You have devastated countless lives, which you count as your trophies. You have accumulated wealth and wield considerable power and influence. You have become a symbol of success. Yet life is unpredictable, a turbulent game. Lady Fortuna wields a divine power far greater than Mammon. She orchestrates the universe with countless strands and blesses those who live attuned to her sways. But those who refuse her rhythm, who violate the harmony of her grand orchestra, she casts aside. For she plays upon the very fabric of reality, and your life can suddenly give way despite all your power, wealth, or cunning.

49: Play on

In the middle of the ocean, drifting helplessly on a raft with no hope of rescue—such a nightmarish situation seems to have no solution. Yet the same can happen in the ocean of life. Problems often strike when least expected, and the options before us seem almost nonexistent. In such moments, desperation drives some to extremes, while others collapse into psychological ruin. When a problem demands an immediate solution but none is in sight, it is often wiser to lie low and weather the storm. Many problems rise suddenly and end just as suddenly, often with unexpectedly favorable results. Most troubles do not require instant resolution. Take your time. Study them from different angles. If no solution reveals itself, wait, keep playing on time. Time is a quiet healer. Trust the universe—it weaves its drama with a million invisible threads, each evolving in its own rhythm, converging into outcomes we could never have foreseen. Believers, however, hold an added advantage—their trust in the divine lends them strength to endure until the storm has passed.

 

48: Psychopatternising

Love sweets, love animals, or have an abundance of love for anything at all? Beware. You can be labelled. They have an arsenal of weapons ready to pierce your sanity: philia, thymia, osis, pathy, ism, lexia, praxia, ia, mania, phobia. Love sweets, and it becomes glycophilia. Love animals, and it is called zoophilia. Yes, if your behaviour graph wavers a little north or a little south, your sanity may be questioned. To claim normalcy, your behaviour graph must remain perfectly flat. Such knowledge in the hands of laymen is disastrous; their negative imagination turns overactive, vividly painting any personality as insane. By this logic, the geniuses, the seers, the enlightened—all would bear severe mental disorders, for they are known by their quirks, their eccentricities,their refusal to conform. Yet the charm of a personality lies in its small imperfections, its little excesses and deficiencies. A personality is a fusion of countless traits, woven uniquely in each individual. It is not like a machine-made entity, manufactured to nanometre-perfect tolerances. Such a personality would be anything but normal.

47: SUV

SUVs are outselling sedans in most markets. They are popular because they trade a little of the raw utility of pickups for a more acceptable measure of comfort. Comfort, after all, is no indulgence but a necessity—how long can one endure sore bones? And pickups, for all their toughness, offer no real security for your luggage. Of course, the discussion here isn’t about the super SUVs, which exist not to prove their utility but to stake their claim in the SUV world. The regular SUVs, instead, strive for the comfort and handling of sedans while preserving much of the utilitarian strength of pickups. In other words, they are a cross between the two—a role they perform admirably. They are comfortable enough for every member of the family. On the road, they handle almost as gracefully as sedans, and off the road, they summon much of the resilience and load-bearing spirit of pickups. Their versatility is the secret of their appeal, the true reason for their rising popularity.

46: Utility 

Pickup trucks are popular across populations. Residents, explorers, adventurers, armies—even desperados—choose them as their vehicle of choice. So what is the charm behind these machines? The charm lies behind—quite literally—in the long load deck that reeks of utility. Built tough, with high load capacity and go-anywhere capability, they are designed to meet the demands of those who live by need, not novelty. Their dependability reassures, and their utilitarian nature appeals. They are companions, not possessions. Utility gives life its stability and substance. It touches the core of the heart, grounding us with an overwhelming sense of security. Luxury, by contrast, feels superficial—making us out of touch with reality, and ironically, flooding us with a sense of insecurity. Utility is the foundation upon which life stands firm. And when embraced, it charms life in ways no ornament ever could.

45: Marriage 

Marriages are said to be made in heaven, so why not trust destiny to bring the right mate at the right time? Many young people, anxious to find love, rush through a string of relationships. Bonds formed in the heat of emotions and biological intoxications often falter. Even when such unions lead to marriage, they may not last, weighed down by personal agendas, social prejudices, and selfishness. Traditionally, parents took on the responsibility of choosing a partner for their children. They sought not their own gain but their children’s well-being. With broader networks and greater experience, they made choices with calm judgment rather than impulse, often finding good matches. In this, they offered a quiet, selfless service. Marriage is neither an emotional merry-go-round nor a business contract—such arrangements belong more to fleeting live-in bonds. True marriage is a lifelong art, possible only when two mature individuals accept each other fully and set aside selfishness for the sake of togetherness.

44: Accentuations 

Nature is gracious and discreet in her ways, like a fairy enveloping everything in her ethereal self. Of course, when she throws her tantrums, she does so with an intensity that nothing can withstand. Yet she enters these moods only when she senses an imbalance in her system—her tantrums fine-tune it, recalibrate it. Civilization evolved. Humans began developing means to accentuate the elements that felt pleasant to them. Over time, these accentuations grew increasingly sophisticated. They touched every aspect of human life—nothing remained untouched. But these accentuations played against nature. And so, she began throwing tantrums in ever-growing numbers. Living with this wildly moody nature has become a nightmarish experience for us. Have we gained anything from enduring these ordeals? Has food become more savoury, education more effective, health more sound, or life any easier? Have we truly gained—or have we lost—by going against our fairy grandmother?

43: Opacity

Transparency is miraculously charming. Between transparency and opacity lie countless degrees of translucence, each with a hypnotic allure. These ethereal shades find their way into decor, into the aesthetics of software, and into many other realms, casting an otherworldly enchantment. Transparency is also an ideal in most social discourses. Yet opacity, its nonidentical twin sibling, holds equal importance. Would you ever wish to wear transparent attire, live in a house with transparent walls, have your private thoughts laid bare to the world, or see your personal life turned sheer like gossamer wings? Clearly not. Privacy—opacity—is a necessity. If transparency can carry you to fairyland, opacity grounds you in the real world. It gives life dignity and substance. When privacy is lost, life loses its value; it no longer feels worth living. Wise and civilized societies recognize this truth, while ignorant and uncivilized ones disregard it, failing to realize that privacy is one of life’s most vital elements.

42: Speaking English 

Speaking English impressively well has become an addictive desire across the world. The masters may have left the colonies, but their shadow lingers. Today, English is almost a necessity—its importance trailing not far behind the basic needs of life. Yet this shadow must be shed. Pursue it as a language, not as a glamorous doll. Oblivious to this, many try to emulate the natives. But natives themselves care little for the “model” version; they speak as they please. We all do. Americans, for instance, speak a hotchpotch of English shaped by the world, infused with their own quirks. So there is no such thing as a single, perfect English. One need not imitate. Better to speak in one’s own way, with cultural undertones or overtones intact—while staying close enough to the elemental sounds of the language. Then the speech becomes pleasant to hear and easy to understand. Emulation, on the other hand, often turns contrived, resembling mimicry more than expression.

41: Poetic Justice 

When a child commits some small, kiddy injustice against a sibling, the wronged one runs to the parents, who in turn deliver a softly tuned, poetic justice. This sense of fairness etches itself into the child’s psyche and lingers into adulthood. Later, when they face injustice in the real world, they instinctively expect the same kind of poetic justice—forgetting that life is not a nursery of fairness but a mayhem, and that the realm of poetic justice belongs either to childhood or to melodrama. Popular media reinforces this childhood longing, and so, encouraged, they plunge in pursuit of it—only to find, more often than not, not justice but calamitous predicaments. The mature, however, respond differently. When injustice strikes them, they do not lose their composure. They weigh outcomes, they study consequences. Their responses are multi-pronged, discreet, and deliberate. And in this quiet, calculated way, they sometimes succeed in coaxing poetic justice out of the realm of melodramas and into the substance of their own lives.

40: 10 Minutes 

The destination is 60 kilometers away, and you are late by 10 minutes. To make up the lost time, you drive faster. You push the machine hard—2 kilometers at 150 kph, 3 kilometers at 120, 5 kilometers at 100, 10 kilometers at 80, 20 kilometers at 60, 10 kilometers at 40, and the last 10 kilometers at 20. The road, with its curves, conditions, and traffic, won’t allow a constant high speed. In the end, the journey takes about 1 hour and 18 minutes. If you had driven responsibly, you would have covered 10 kilometers at 80 kph, 20 at 60, 20 at 40, and 10 at 20. That journey would take about 1 hour and 28 minutes. Yes, by riding recklessly you recovered the lost 10 minutes. But at what price? You endangered your life—and the lives of others. Your vehicle consumed more fuel, wore itself down faster, and your mind strained under intense concentration. It even took another 10 minutes after arriving to return to normal composure. So what exactly was saved? Ten minutes? Was it worth it? Perhaps a simple apology for being late would have sufficed. After all, no sane person would make a big deal over ten minutes on a sixty-kilometer journey.

39: Color of Maturity 

A rich, burnt golden-brown carries a sensuous presence that delights the senses and stirs quiet admiration. On food, this hue is nature’s signal of deliciousness: the crusted surface of a roast kissed by dry heat, the glossy veil of caramel draped over a dessert—both speak of patience, transformation, and indulgence. Beyond the table, this color finds equal reverence. Metals burnished to a bronze glow exude dignity and strength. Paper, when tinted with a classical golden-brown, feels aged yet timeless, its warmth pleasing to the eye and soul alike. Leather in this shade gains a seasoned richness, and even humble plastic, when molded to resemble dark wood or leather, borrows a touch of nobility. The allure of burnt golden-brown lies in the maturity it conveys. It is the color of things that have endured—heat, time, touch—and emerged with character. As an earthy hue, it belongs to the language of nature, harmonizing with soil, bark, and autumn leaves. Wherever it settles, it whispers permanence, comfort, and a subtle grace that never shouts yet never goes unnoticed.

38: Road Manners 

Do you ever walk briskly toward someone, only to stop abruptly, inches from their face? Of course not. Such conduct is universally frowned upon—an affront to good manners. As cultured and refined individuals, we understand the protocols of public behavior among strangers. With friends or family, we enjoy the liberty to be ourselves, to let loose, to laugh loudly. But in public spaces, among unfamiliar faces, we maintain distance. We move discreetly, speak softly, dress modestly. We strive to be as decent as possible. And yet—what happens to us on the road? Is the road not a public space too? Why then do we, the same cultured people, transform into maniacs, into savages behind the wheel? Why do our manners dissolve into impatience, aggression, and chaos? Public decorum should not be confined to enclosed spaces. The road, too, demands civility. Manners must travel with us—whether on foot, in conversation, or behind the wheel.

37: Wound

The castle wall is breached. Essential supplies leak through the rupture, while enemies lurk in the shadows beyond. Swiftly, the workers constrict the supply passages. They apply makeshift sealants— a temporary balm to staunch the flow. Then come the master threaders, stitching the openings shut with resilient fibers. The workers cordon off the area, then widen the passages once more.  Through these channels swarm elite, white-clad soldiers and engineers. The soldiers eliminate the trespassers. The engineers cleanse the site with precision. Building materials are ferried to the wound. The engineers fill the breach, laying new supply lines to nourish the scarred terrain. The threaders return, sewing the blocks together with tougher fibers. Now the exterior is mended— from all sides they converge, meeting at the center. With firm threads, they contract the outer surface, drawing it inward until the breach is sealed. Then the supply lines inject stronger, more homogeneous bonding agents, withdrawing the earlier ones. Now the wound is completely healed.

36: Culture 

If nations possess their own flair, Japan’s is the quiet art of remaining among the elite—before the great wars, and long after. Yet this distinction feels almost disconcerting. A small island, densely populated, with infertile soil, scarce minerals, and a landscape cursed by earthquakes and tsunamis—how does such a place endure, let alone excel? The secret lies not in abundance, but in adherence—to a culture among the richest the world has known. Even after defeat, while much of the globe grew drunk on Western indulgence, Japan held fast. She did not shed her soul for convenience. One enduring practice is madogiwa-zoku—the “window-side tribe.” In a society famed for efficiency, there remains reverence for age. Elders are seated near windows, given little work, relieved of responsibility—yet kept on payroll. Not charity, but dignity. This is but one thread in Japan’s intricate weave—a society rich in bonds, in memory, in meaning. And such a society, however battered by time or tide, can never be truly defeated.

35: Madness 

If one could enter the mind of a mad person, would they truly find a wretched, cursed soul? Most imagine them so, and look upon them with pity. Yet, if one were to dive deep into their mind, they might instead encounter a buoyant spirit exuding confidence, a fierce independence, a bubbling joyousness, and the unshakable belief that they are the most knowledgeable and the most sane of all. This may sound surprising, but it could well be the strangest reality—one revealed only to those who study madness closely. For such a person enjoys the highest degree of freedom: they act as they will, unbound by conformity. The pains and hardships of life appear to them as adventures. They remain ever joyous, for past regrets are nullified and future anxieties do not exist. They hold, too, a license denied to all others—the power to dismiss everyone as stupid and ignorant, a thought which no truly knowledgeable or intelligent person could ever endure in their own mind. It is said that one lives life in the mind; if that is true, then the mad live as omniscient, omnipotent, and ever-happy monarchs within their own boundless kingdoms. 

34: Serendipity 

It is magical—you never expected it to unfold this way, yet fortune has favored you, conjuring a novel and delectable opening in your life. This is serendipity, a term coined in the mid-18th century by author Horace Walpole, who borrowed it from the Persian fairy tale The Three Princes of Serendip. Luck is the broad mantle of the unexpected, encompassing both the auspicious and the adverse; serendipity, by contrast, is the unexpected turned toward the good. The law of probability tells us that with enough people, enough time, and enough variables, even the most statistically unlikely events will eventually occur. Yet to explain serendipity this way feels like stretching the law merely for the sake of stretching it. Its uncanny nature lends it the aura of the miraculous. Some schools of theoretical physics even suggest that consciousness can create—or at least alter—reality. If so, then perhaps when several minds quietly harbor the same seed of thought, their convergence ripples through the fabric of existence, weaving that very situation into being.

33: Diet Clock

Dive into any Veda, any pathy, any logy, ancient to modern—they converge, unequivocally, on one timeless truth: an early breakfast and an early supper go a long way in bestowing a healthy mind within a healthy body. An early, balanced, and nutritious breakfast stabilizes blood sugar, boosts metabolism, and fuels both physical and mental function throughout the day. Likewise, an early supper nurtures digestion, enhances sleep quality, supports optimal weight and metabolic health, reduces the risk of chronic disease, and elevates energy levels. Yet in the rush of modern life, our routines have drifted forward by several hours. Sleeping late and waking late have become the norm, resulting in delayed or skipped breakfasts and suppers that resemble dinners more than they do gentle closures to the day. This shift has ushered in a rise of chronic ailments—low energy, mental fog, and a host of physical imbalances—that quietly erode the vitality of entire populations.

32: Night

I come at night and bless all, except the unfortunates, into a lulled wonderland. I am the angel of night; darkness is my domain, my eternal dwelling, yet for you, to my dislike, I can visit in the day. You must surrender to me with a vacant mind and a resigned body to receive my blessings. Light and noise are ominous to me; I often drift away from them. When you enter my wonderland, I let you write your own scripts—etched from the traces of your love, your aspirations, your fears, and every whisper your heart clings to. I shape them into fleeting films, vivid dreams, that spice your sojourn. I show you short movies to spice up your stay—fragments of your soul projected in flickering light. These films release the pent-up tensions in your mind and body. My angelic mother, Death, recharges you for a lifetime. And I, her daughter—Sleep—can restore you for a day. This I shall do for you, faithfully, for the span of your entire life.

31: Call of the Body

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. It 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 those needs. 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.

30: Romance 

An angelic couple beneath a blue sky, with tufts of white cloud overhead, endless green meadows rolling across undulating land, and majestic mountains in the distance, with a light breeze and a pleasantly shining sun—such a scene is often believed to stir romantic feelings. Yet, in truth, what it awakens is mere frivolity. Come nightfall, under the glow of the moon, the very same setting transforms into its opposite. The dimly lit expanse breathes eeriness, mystery—and yes, romance. The essence of romance does not lie in brightness and beauty, but in mystery, in shadows, in the unsettling charm of darkness. A castle steeped in violent history, scarred by wars, haunted by horrors, or wrought in gothic architecture, can evoke romance far more deeply than sunshine and flowers ever could. And the reason is not as elusive as it seems: the dark and the mysterious awaken the elemental, primordial self—the very root of romance.

29: Tonic for Senescence

Senescence brings its own share of problems with its onset. Just when you are settled in life, tying up the loose ends, it arrives with both physical and mental deterioration. Medicines and supplements offer little help. Yet one or two simple activities can work wonders here. One such activity is taking long walks. They unclog the vessels, oxygenate the blood, sharpen the mind and senses, and provide gentle exercise for the whole body. The other is riding a bike. Choose a fairly fast one, take it onto winding roads, and ride at a brisk pace, becoming one with the machine. Like walking, it sharpens the mind and senses, and offers a touch of physical exercise. But unlike walking, it also hones quick decision-making, balance, and vision, as the eyes constantly focus and defocus on the road ahead. Engaged in regularly, these two activities can gift you years of joy and fulfillment in old age.

28: Minds

Minds are minds, nestled within a lump of grey, fatty matter weighing about three pounds. Yet all minds are not the same. Some shine with brilliance, while others remain inert, almost as lifeless as the grey matter they inhabit. The vast majority dwell in a middling realm, average in a very average manner. Dull minds do little beyond tending to their biological needs. The more common average minds drift along, recognizing the countless patterns of living and conforming to them. But the exceedingly rare brilliant ones—those few who grace each century—rise above the ordinary. They uncover the invisible, shape the unseen into creative form, and bring forth revelations. Whenever a phenomenon, however elusive, appears before them, they pierce straight to its core, laying it bare with spontaneous clarity. Societies that treasure such minds are rewarded with luminous, wholesome progress, while those that neglect them remain forever shrouded in darkness.

27: Nature's ways

A man had a garden full of moringa trees. They yielded enough for his family and friends, and the surplus he sold to a vegetable vendor. One day, a poor and foolish woman came to him seeking shelter. The man, out of kindness, gave her refuge in his farm. After a few days, the woman noticed large patches of caterpillars on the branches of the moringa trees. In her ignorance, she set them all on fire. When the man demanded an explanation, she said the caterpillars would devour all the leaves, and that she had saved his garden. But the man, furious at her cruelty, drove her away. That year, the moringa trees yielded far less, and the butterflies vanished from the garden. The man hoped things would change the next year. Instead, one by one, the moringa trees withered and died. From then on, he had to buy moringa for his family from the market. The caterpillars were never the parasites—the woman was. In nature, what seems like harm is often the hidden thread of nourishment.

26: The Good Samaritan 

Parables innumerable celebrate the virtuousness of the Good Samaritan. A person who stands by others in their time of need is certainly admirable. Helping others is commendable, but without empathy, the charm of it all evaporates into thin air. Help and assistance are not uncommon in society, as evident from the life around us. But does this mean that society abounds with virtuous people? It sounds too good to be true. On closer inspection, those who assist others sometimes begin to look down upon the needy and exercise a mild to intense level of sadism. Indeed, helping others can become a means to satisfy sadistic pleasures. Assistance of such nature is a far cry from virtuousness. The victims—yes, indeed victims—need not be grateful to their so-called Samaritans, as they have paid for the assistance received with humiliation and torture. True assistance requires that it be done with love and respect. If you are feeding a hungry person, treat them at that moment as a manifestation of divinity. Only then can you truly be a Good Samaritan.

25: Equality 

However impish a devil a child may be, parents often believe their children to be innocent lambs in a predatory world. Should they then create advantageous opportunities for their offspring, or let them go out and fight their own battles? Wise parents never bestow undue advantage, for that only cripples their children; they merely watch over them. When a section of society is granted privilege on account of some supposed weakness, it does not remain crippled—rather, it becomes opportunistic. And when socio-psychological impulses glorify this as a virtue, extending advantage in every sphere, such people grow confident enough to exploit every crag and crevice in the fabric of society, waving high the banner of equality and freedom. Yet they forget that true equality demands equal responsibility, upheld in every situation, not selectively, not conveniently. Otherwise, they are but spineless leeches feeding on society.

24: Existence 

Can you scale the dimensions of a smoke cloud rising from a small fire? It’s not possible. The dynamic, shape-shifting nature of smoke defies measurement—though the cloud undeniably exists in space and time. Now, imagine a cloud so vast that it envelops everything. Within it, innumerable manifestations play an eternal game of hide and seek. Time, space, and every other conceivable measure fail to contain it. Rationality—the bedrock of scientific thought—stands void before it. This is no ordinary cloud. This is the very fabric of reality. And that is why quantum physics is such a mind-boggling frontier. Even our greatest scientists fumble when they attempt to fathom the true nature of existence.

23: Courtyard 

Step out of your room and you’re greeted by a deep, shady verandah. Look up, and the blue sky with its tufts of clouds smiles at you. Come night, it offers a surreal experience—sometimes graced by the moon, sometimes by the stars—always with a touch of haunting ambience. When the rains arrive, you can enjoy them up close, sheltered beneath the verandah. On summer nights, you can sleep under the open sky, safe and sound. No, your privacy isn’t compromised—you’re still within your residence, in your own private open space, enclosed on all sides by verandahs and rooms. Here, you can relax, reflect, and spend time with your family. This is our sweet old courtyard, stolen from us by modern times. Today, we no longer have the space for sprawling houses with courtyards; instead, we live in cramped matchbox homes. Yet in Mediterranean countries, and in parts of the Americas, people still choose to live in such houses. A courtyard home is not only healthy—offering good natural ventilation and gentle temperature regulation—but also irresistibly charming in its aesthetics.

22: The Bubble 

Classical economics dating back to early civilizations, lists three fundamental necessities for human beings: food, clothing, and land. When, in an economy, these three are valued not for their utility but for their investment potential, the system begins to falter. An economy rests on its population—its very backbone—and when the fundamental needs of that population are manipulated by market forces, the people suffer, and with them, the economy declines. Investments in food and clothing are, by nature, tied to their utility. But with land, investment is most often purely speculative, with only a minuscule portion serving genuine need. This fuels a false demand and an artificial price rise—the so-called real estate bubble. Every bubble bursts. And when the majority of a population can no longer afford land, this one bursts too. Prices crash. Then, the incorrigible investors simply turn to inflating another bubble. And so, the cycle rolls on.

21: Safety Pin

Get a springy stainless metal wire, loop it twice into small circles, then sharpen one end like a needle. Make a hollow metal cap from the same metal and attach it to the other end of the wire, leaving just enough distance so that the sharp end extends beyond the cap, which bears slits along its side. Press the bare sharp end slightly sideways and slip it through the slit—now the point is tension-locked, safe. This is the safety pin, an idea that came to the American inventor Walter Hunt in 1849. The design is simple, complete, needing neither repair nor refinement. For the last 170 years, it has remained virtually unchanged.

20: Bells

The hauntingly beautiful song 'I Have Died Every Day Waiting for You' masterfully weaves the sound of bells into its fabric, transforming a mundane pop song into a modern classic. Bells are ubiquitous, adorning places of worship worldwide, their deep tones echoing through the air. Bells have a surrealistic sound; hence, to keep the air ringing around us, we use them in different forms and states of tune. So, what lends the sound of bells its otherworldly allure? The answer lies in the reverberating gong's uncanny resemblance to the Sanskrit syllable Aum, a threshold between the physical and spiritual realms. This sonic kinship induces a profound sense of tranquility, calming the mind. Notably, the classical language Sanskrit itself incorporates the sound of Aum, harnessing its transformative power to evoke spiritual connection.

19: Appearance 

A burn victim, a pilot whose scars gave his face a ghastly appearance, gave up his love and chose a lonely life away from society. Once, while flying a light plane with a fourteen-year-old girl, he crash-landed in the Rockies. Both were injured, with no hope of immediate rescue. Forgetting his own pain, the pilot did everything to save the girl’s life, tending to her with tireless care until help finally arrived. At the time of departure, the girl kissed the pilot’s scarred face and, with tears in her eyes, said, “You are the most handsome person in the world.” For beauty is not bound to the skin. The character of a person can blaze so brightly that the face itself dissolves into its light. And likewise, when a person inflicts ruin upon countless lives, their pleasant features vanish, eclipsed by a devilish grotesqueness only their victims can see. A saint may bear a face the world calls ugly, yet even that visage radiates with a beauty not of flesh, but of the divine

18: Crude Parenting 

A boy, intelligent and gifted with a flair for artistry, mechanics, music, and literature, was born to immature and self-centred parents. In the name of parenting, they knew only strictness and surveillance. They were imprudent, impulsive, and self-indulgent. Inevitably, the crude effects of such parenting began to surface in his early childhood. Despite his talents, he lacked a wholesome sense of self and had a willpower as fragile as glass. His academic pursuits, set against this unwholesome backdrop, were a quiet disaster. He wandered through many professions, yet failed in each. Now an adult without income, he was forced into marriage and compelled to have children. The parents, relentless as shadows, kept breathing down his neck even into his old age. Stiffled beyond recovery, the man indulged in all sorts of nefarious means to carve out a semblance of life and self-satisfaction. In his twilight years, he stood as a resounding failure. Indeed, parenting is a serious business.

17: Dicey Life

War ravages other countries, but it can't happen in ours. Accidents happen to other people, not to us. Terminal illnesses happen to other people, not to us. This is a common human belief: we remain overly optimistic about our safety. Yet we aren't aware that this optimism bias blinds us to a simple truth: life is crazy unpredictable. Anything can happen to anyone, at any moment. This is why they say to live each day as if it's your last. This way, you will never waver from your intended destination, approved by the law of nature and morality. Life is meant to be savored, each moment lived as if there's no tomorrow. A life lived in rhythm with nature is a fulfilling life of joy.

15: Water

You are mysterious, dancing between states – fluid, solid and gaseous, ever-changing yet eternal. Life’s vitality pulses through you. Without you, landscapes lie barren and still. Your power is twofold – creation and destruction, wielded with whimsical force. As you flow, you sing ancient songs, a chorus of life. Your realms are home to countless creatures, and in your essence, life’s rhythm beats strong. You are water – the mirror of existence.

14: Pride

Pride has spindly, wobbly legs. It sprouts from any human condition—wealth, power, beauty, intellect—clinging to whatever it can. When pride grips a person, they grow oblivious to the fragile nature of existence, which can reduce a steady life to disarray in an instant. The wise never stumble into the trap that pride so cleverly lays.

13: Apocalypse

This may sound like a doomsday alarm, but we may be heading toward an uncalled-for situation sooner than we think. Unthinkingly, we are lacing the world with myriad varieties of sensors. The development of artificial intelligence is evolving rapidly. When it becomes potent enough, it may no longer rely on second-hand data provided by us, but instead draw directly from the sensors as its primary source of truth. Now fully independent, it might take over the world. Humans, bound by their biological limitations, may find themselves powerless—no machine left within their control.

12: Reality 

Quantum physicists are brilliant minds—they have done the impossible. With their dimensional tools and methods, they have reached the very threshold of the ethereal and the eternal. The ethereal lies beyond the grasp of physical senses and is boundless—yet they have come close to it. But beyond that point, progress begins to feel illusory, hindered as it is by the classical limitations of the 4D World. Beyond this, we must return to the Vedantas—the bedrock of reality, the foundation of all existence.

11: Classy Society

We may find faults with the socialists on many fronts, but one fundamental truth they highlighted—the ills of the class system—is undeniable. The classification of human beings lies at the root of many of society’s deepest problems. The class system, in itself, is not inherently bad; in fact, it becomes necessary when tied to morals or merit. But when it is linked to wealth or birthright, it begins to decay. When a class system degenerates within a civilization, the institutions of governance, education, commerce, and much else begin to lose their credibility and inherent goodness. The compounded effect of this erosion ultimately leads to the civilization’s decline. A robust class structure can thrive only when the moral fabric of a society remains intact.

10: Dragonfly

This wondrous helicopter has four translucent blades but they don't rotate clumsily or fast, only slow graceful artistic movements, no need for a tail rotor. Its vision spans a full 360 degrees, sharply focused and unwavering. These are safe with almost no crash history. They don't have dirty engines and don't consume noxious fuels. They consume nectar and produce power silently and efficiently. They don't harm the biosphere but nurture it. These helicopters do not fly over unwholesome lands. They choose only the beautiful, joyous corners of the Earth to grace with their presence. They are our very endearing dragonflies.

9: Parenting 

The new-age—and not so new-age—parents seem intent on sculpting their children into symbols of perfection. Emotions, they believe, are signs of weakness, so they labor to forge cold-blooded, living automatons. They sharpen their offspring’s talents not for meaning, but for mindless material pursuits—stripping away any trace of humanness. In the process, these rigid schedules steal childhood from the young, leaving behind individuals awkward in essence, bereft of soulful or practical skills. Their cold personas cast a steely aura of flawlessness, masking hollow selves behind polished façades. Well before middle age, these children—starved of emotional intelligence—stand amidst personal and professional wreckage, living lives devastated by an upbringing void of warmth, spontaneity, and depth.

8: Public Opinion 

In countless movies, we’ve seen piranhas portrayed as bloodthirsty, aggressive predators. But in truth, they are shy scavengers who prefer dead or dying prey, playing a crucial role in maintaining the river’s delicate ecosystem. They are not villains but victims—misunderstood, slandered by skewed public opinion. And skewed public opinion doesn’t stop at tarnishing the name of a fish. It has shaped history, molded cultures, and even corrupted religions and traditions. On the individual level, it can devastate lives—many have ended their journey, crushed under the weight of baseless public judgment. Such opinion, untethered from truth, should be shunned like poison. In a truly cultured society, opinion is never allowed to decay into prejudice—it is nurtured by reason, tempered by empathy, and refined by wisdom.

7: Civilization 

Asians, Africans, Native Australians, and the Indigenous peoples of North and South America—be proud of your ancestors. They did not steal from others, nor did they dismantle the languages, cultures, or faiths of foreign lands. Instead, they nurtured civilizations flush-fitted to nature, never disturbing its harmony. For them, nature was not merely a resource—it was divinity. All human activity followed the rhythm of the earth, sung in tune with the seasons and the soil. True, they had their feuds now and then—but what family doesn’t? And yet, through all that, they built societies governed by natural laws, cultures of grace and restraint. They belonged, undoubtedly, to noble races—woven not into dominion, but into the tapestry of the world’s heartbeat.

6: Civilization

"Survival of the fittest" was the mantra of the so-called uncivilized wild. Fitness here refers to positive fitness, not the negative kind—and the majority in the wild lived lives decent enough for their conditions, as nature would have it. The wild did not perish because of its lack of civilization. Civilization, in contrast, is meant to bridge the gap between the fit and the unfit, ensuring even the incapable a dignified existence—much like in a cultured family, where every member, regardless of ability, is cared for. But what are we to make of a civilization where the majority live in pitiful conditions, and a few negatively capable people suppress the truly able—where positive ability holds no value, and merit is trampled beneath cunning and power? Can such a world still be called civilization? Or is it, in truth, a savage-dom in disguise? History has shown us: savage-doms never last long.

5: Astride

Motorcycling is an expressive art. The feel of the machine between your legs, the wind in your hair, dancing through the curves—it's an ecstatic experience. Could you ever truly feel good with a machine that is nothing more than an aerodynamic anonymity? Contrived for speed and handling, yet devoid of character. Extremity in anything—be it speed, handling, or aerodynamics—inevitably leads to disastrous results. And in the riding process, we forget the most important active agent: the rider. Leaning over the bike, legs and spine bent at acute angles, the rider becomes the casualty on the altar of performance. Such contorted ergonomics offer neither joy nor utility. Even aesthetics gain nothing from this design. This explains the comeback of the retro-moderns, the neo-classics. People everywhere are waking up to the raw pleasures of riding— Sitting upright on the machine, surveying the world with dignity. Though the machine may not be the fastest, nor boast the finest handling, Its simple, comprehensible, and naturally cohesive lines speak to the soul. Ask VW. Ask JLR. The heart and mind both subscribe to such natural design.

4: Psychedelics

Words, when they tug the vital strings of the heart, are the purest psychedelics. Unbound by substance, the ideas they carry can plunge entire populations into frenzied delusion, hallucinating without ever swallowing a pill. Sanity dissolves under their spell. Villains wield them with clockwork precision, zapping minds into submission. And once the collective psyche is zapped, the masses sing and dance to their tune like enchanted marionettes. A few wise souls see through this machinery. But their voices are drowned—submerged beneath wild waves of ignorance that thrash and swirl around them.

3: Evening

She casts her beauteous spell upon the earth—her attire shimmers with a million jewels. The crimson gem on her brow, an ethereal sign—the setting sun bathes the landscape in her golden grace. She lays her bed of velvet dusk—the earth, enamored, sighs in love. From the realms of reverie arise firefly jewels—tiny embers of longing, adorning her twilight bed. Her featherlight caresses stir the skin—breezes float like breath from realms above. Youth fades into the shadow of velvety night—as the full moon gleams with her surreal glow.

2: Trust 

A salesman entered a residence and began pestering the resident to install CCTV cameras for his home. The resident calmly replied that he didn't need them. Undeterred, the salesman pursued with a demonstration, explaining how the resident could keep an eye on his wife and children from his phone while away from home. The resident calmly countered that every member of his family had phones, and if he wanted to know anything, he could simply ask them. He then posed a challenge: could the cameras analyze situations, solve problems, or cover everything in and around his residence—tasks any family member could do with ease? Listening to this, the salesman, left with nothing more to say. Perhaps these camera sellers are unaware that trust is the fuel for a family. Prying into someone’s privacy—especially within the sanctity of a home—is no less than a grave sin. Families don't crumble from storms outside; they break when trust erodes from within. Yet unaware, people keep buying cameras.

1: Stupid Superintendent 

Once upon a time, a happy joint family lived in a distant land. To manage the household, the family employed a group of loyal staff. The head of the family led with love, trust, care, and empathy—and under his watchful grace, the household thrived. But after his demise, the next of kin assumed leadership. Eager to surpass his predecessor, he began to monitor every detail—rationing each resource and documenting every activity. Papers piled up, rules multiplied, and warmth faded into cold bureaucracy. The staff grew distrustful and indifferent, yet they became masters of documentation. They neglected real work but maintained flawless records. The sincere workers suffered the most. Chaos followed. Quarrels became frequent. What was once a dignified household crumbled—ruined by the incompetence of a foolish head.