Life's Infallible

Failure to achieve something makes us ashen with grief and we feel as if life is finished and “I am an utter useless”. But is it really so? Does failure to achieve something indicates our incapability or insufficiency? Each of us has failed at some point in life, at times we have failed in reaching our personal goals and at times our professional goals have remained far from reach. Sometimes, simply not achieving what we have aspired makes us feel defeated. Why can’t we consider failure as just an event and not a person? I feel enthralled to remember Thomas Edison’s quote on Failure “I have not failed; I have just found 10,000 ways that won’t work”. Failure never means that I am a failure, it just means that I have not succeeded yet and there are a lot of scopes coming; so next time I know my moves better because I have learnt from my past failed attempt.

Oftentimes, we come across young people committing suicide because of love failures. Now this is a very common type of setback encountered by many. Well my question is- Is it really a failure? I would rather call it an experience. Some make a big deal about it while others chose to just forget and move on. But I am sure most of the folks have experienced incidences of this kind during late teens or early adulthood. But those who have ‘moved on’ have realized that things eventually fall in place and most of those people have found love again and are living a happy and satisfying life. However, those who went to an extent of killing themselves are the biggest losers. Perhaps, they are an ultimate failure. I have very close friends who made their aching heart a beautiful feeling and that inspired them to write beautiful poetry or create great music, in a way immortalizing that short love story which never reached its conclusion. Failure sometimes enlarges the spirit. You have to fall back upon humanity and god. I was watching this newly released Imtiaz Ali’s movie “Rockstar” by Ranbir Kapoor. Indeed, Ranbir is one of the most potent descendent of Prithvi Raj Kapoor according to me. He has much more substance than any other new generation Kapoor, which is evident from his subtle acting skills. Well, I was bringing in the reference of this film which is about this simple middle class Delhi guy who has a larger than life dream - of being a rockstar like Jim Morrison! But all he gets from his reluctant audience is ridicule and humiliation. He's at his wit's end, when he realizes that all musical stars, all artists in fact, have one thing in common. And that is tragedy. They all have tragic lives. They have all suffered painful heartbreaks to become what they are. Whereas, his own life is an oasis of peace. Unless he does something drastic, he will never become a rock star. That’s when he tries to woo a girl who is totally unreachable for a guy of his standards. All he wanted was to experience a heart break.

Well, this movie had a funny beginning. But life definitely gets a much deeper meaning when you have an unfulfilled desire of some sort. So, it won’t be completely wrong to say that failure makes you a stronger individual with deeper sense of life.

Actually speaking, there are no secrets to success , it’s the result of preparation, hard-work and learning from failure.

 I would like to mention a small instance from my own life. While in the school I was very poor in my second language subject Hindi. In my 9^th standard final exams; all I scored in Hindi was 35 out of 100, which was not even a pass mark. I was not a bad student though, but Hindi was my proven weakness. Scoring good mark in Hindi was tough even for the brightest guy in the class, and on top of that I was not just miserable in that subject, I was incapable of scoring even the pass marks. Class 10^th final exams were fast approaching and my parents were worried that my score in Hindi will eventually pull my entire percentage down in the matriculation exams. And after that 35 in the last exam it was quite obvious. But as I said failure in one attempt makes you more focus and if you truly analyze it, you can figure out what did not work for you and as a result it prepares you to plan your moves so that you don’t repeat the same mistakes again. Like they say- “By failing to prepare, you are actually preparing to fail”. I was quite adamant this time, I wanted to succeed whatever it takes, I put my heart and soul in that subject. And with those special attempts I managed to secure the highest mark in Hindi that year which was 91. Now when I think retrospectively I feel if I had not scored that 35, I would have also not scored 91. This is because if like everyone else I would have had got 60 percent mark in my 9^th class exam; which was considered a good score especially when it comes to Hindi. I would not have put that extraordinary effort and that would have fetched me nothing more than another 60 % marks in that subject. But just because I failed once; I was extra careful and I had a proper planning in place to not repeat my mistakes. So, technically, failure is an opportunity to begin again more intelligently.

However, men who put effort to do something and then fail are infinitely better than those who don’t do anything and succeed just by luck. Because they don’t get the chance to refine themselves. Success and Failure both add dimensions to our lives. And Lastly, I can’t resist quoting J.K.Rowling, The creator of Harry Potter, from her speech at Harvard Commencement Address in 2008, She goes “It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well have not lived at all. In which case, you've failed by default”.

Ultimately, the decision lies with us- we have to decide for ourselves what constitutes failure, but the world is quite eager to give a set of criteria if you allow it to do so.

Kaleidoscopic Nature

First snow of the Season(Photographed by Sudarshan) 

Right now the outside temperature is -8 Degree Celsius and I am sitting in my bed, astounded at these snow clad trees and the pavements outside the window. How can it get so very white as if there is only one universal color- white? I could never imagine that white can look so beautiful. White is supposedly the symbol of peace and at this moment I can feel a spiritual peace just at a glance of this supra-mundane view outside. However, after those extravagant colors of fall, I find it hard to believe that all colors have vanished overnight and the canvas is white again. The changing fall foliage never fails to surprise and delight us. Indeed, it’s difficult to digest that the same scenery which was vivacious and charismatic only couple of days back is now serene and peacefully lying- all white.

Snow fall (Photographed by Sudarshan)

One interesting thing to observe the deciduous trees like  Maple, Aspen and oaks which changes color once summer ends thus, making fall foliage so colorful. There is a series of chemical changes that makes this possible. Knowing the science behind this makes this even more interesting. To begin with; most of us know that the chemical called chlorophyll helps make photosynthesis happen. Chlorophyll is the green pigment that imparts green color to the trees.

As summer ends and autumn comes, the days get shorter and shorter. This is how these trees "know" to begin getting ready for winter. During winter, there is not enough light or water for photosynthesis hence these trees will rest, and live on the food they stored during the summer. They begin to shut down their food-making factories. The green chlorophyll disappears from the leaves. As the bright green fades away, we begin to see yellow and orange colors. Small amounts of these colors have been in the leaves all along. We just can't see them in the summer, because they are covered up by the green chlorophyll.

The bright reds and purples we see in leaves are made mostly in the fall. In some trees, like maples, glucose is trapped in the leaves after photosynthesis stops. Sunlight and the cool nights of autumn cause the leaves to turn this glucose into a red color pigment. The brown color of trees like oaks is made from wastes left in the leaves after the food factory shuts  

Indepence Pass,CO(photographed by Sudarshan)

It is the combination of all these chemical changes results in the beautiful fall foliage making autumn the most colorful season of the year. One thing I particularly like after the dried leaves shed off and covers the pavements and the roads, and that’s the crackling uproar of those dried leaf while walking on them.

Eventually, this is the first time in my life I have witnessed a true riot of colors in Colorado this year. I visited Aspen with my family and we were bewildered to see those yellow Aspen trees miles after miles. Yellow was so pronounced that it appeared almost artificial. Aspen is the most photographed place in United States.

Aspen,CO,USA(photographer by Sudarshan)

I grew up in Assam when I have always thought that spring is the most beautiful season as that’s the time when I could see flowers after a very dry winter. Somehow that sweetness of summer and the kindness of winter mingle together to form the best possible combination for the flowers to bloom. So traditionally spring has always been envisaged to be associated with romance and falling in love. However, for me personally these were the months of hard work, examinations and lot of late night studies. After living is Colorado I have realized that autumn is the best season of the year at least in here, it’s refreshing and so very colorful.

Maroon Bells,CO,USA(photographed by Sudarshan)

Autumn is a fashion treat for the voguish folks, especially for those who love wearing colorful clothing; during fall those garish colors replace the pastel shades predominantly worn during summer. Fall fashion is all about stylish jackets and mid-calf or knee high boots. Boots offer a great fashion statement, be it a sued ones or sophisticated leather ones they are very much “in” during fall. Wear those chunky jewelries and team it up with your outfit to add that zing that matches up with the harlequin trees around. It offers a great way to welcome winter when you can hardly flaunt your silhouette wearing those light, flowing and colorful fabrics. Winter’s harshness asks for layers of clothing which can save you from hypothermia.

This year winter arrived earlier than normal. Before the fall could properly wind up; with trees ritualistically shedding all their dried leaves, snow fall started bringing down the temperatures below zero degrees right in the month of October. This is a little unusual as autumn succumbs to winter late October or early November every year.

Every time with these varieties of changes nature is trying hard to give that message that it’s worth to be flexible. Flexibility brings freshness in our lives with time and as we age. When the Mother Nature herself is not rigid and subjects herself to constant changes then, is it not a commonsense to be diligent enough to imbibe this in our own lives?