Sunday, March 04, 2012

Perspectives

Perspectives are eternally in flux. They are never constant. They vary in a continuum as far as human beings are concerned, depending upon their circumstance, disposition, aptitude, success or failure. Perspectives have no reality because ultimately they do not have a constant point of reference. Large can be small, rich can be poor, poor can be richer than the poorer. Beauty or absence of it, or the measure of it, vary, and therefore appreciation or rejection.

Our sun is the largest object as far as we are concerned, in terms of our knowledge of its distance, volume, its contents, its emanations. Actually, we are products entirely of whatever the sun ejected, which became our building material. And yet, this very sun is scientifically accepted as a mediocre star in our own galaxy (not to mention some stars in our neighbouring galaxies which might almost occupy the major portion of their galaxies themselves), which is supposed to have a billion stars, far larger and presumably more complex and fascinating than our own, even if hazardous to any form of life.

Watching a football match from the ground, our vision encompasses the running, kicking, players, spectators, noises they make, goal-keepers prone to being lost in their own thoughts; but the same vision alters so completely if you get into a helicopter and hover over the playground. Then you see the village. You see a woman, unaware of the football game, buying vegetables. You see a man smoking hookah and watching over a child crawling towards a well, etc.

From my childhood, altering perspectives of objects and events has been a continually fascinating saga. One verse in Gujarati (I think that the full name of the writer contained Govardhandas and something, but I can be wrong), which, therefore, I cannot forget reads:
Mota Nana Vadhu Motama, To Nana Pann Mota
Vyomdeep Ravi Nabhbindu To Ghar Divda Sa Khota


Large Is Small In Larger, So Then Small Is Also Large (in smaller)
If The Enormous Light From The Sun,
From Which The Glow Of The Firmament Comes,
Is But A Small Dot, Then Why Not Appreciate
The Tiny Lamp At Home

The idea of the simile being that the sun is so large, yet so small in the sky; the wick of the lamp in the home is so small, yet it lights up the house.

So then, what is the difference: eternally shifting, drifting, teasing, evasive perspectives.

For those of us humans who are aware and sensitive to the issue of perspective, the phenomenon is bringing a shift in our perception of ourselves, our lives, and our place in the enormity of schemes. We are suddenly as small as ants, or worse, less than atomic particles; or, most of all, non-existent as far as the larger perspective is concerned. I feel very foolish for taking myself seriously. I feel vain, that I had an idealism and I wanted to improve the world, if not the universe. Have I made any ripple, posting these ruminations onto this website, even in my own house, let alone in my colony, city or elsewhere. Had I not written, the world would not have suffered any kind of affliction or deprivation. So then comes my theory that man's ability to survive in this world is in direct proportion to his ability for self-deceit. By that count, I am deceiving myself, and existing, although maimed by this knowledge. Look what consciousness of perspective does and can do.










Illustration of perspectives from Worlds Within Worlds: A Journey Into the Unknown by Michael Marten, John Chesterman, John May and John Trux. (Each of the first four pictures is enlarged one hundred times the area of the preceding one. The other pictures are in increments of ten.) -------------------------------------- Charu wrote: Composite of slivers Is the world to him, and he Thinks the world of it

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Composite of slivers
Is the world to him, and he
Thinks the world of it

charu