by Manjit Handa
It is incredibly intricate to be fond of something or somebody absolutely and I mean the complete personality of anything or anybody. That is because each of us is constituted differently and so are our likes and dislikes. But that does not mean we get detached from anything we abhor. It is all about tolerance.
People say that if we like 90% of any body then chances are we would find it easy to stick on to that thing or person. But does that mean, if we differed more percentage, then we would walk out or even recoil from the company of such a person? Personally I would still differ.
Can we actually love or hate something completely and categorically? It is not only impossible but childish to go by such a possibility. It reminds me of Nietzsche, who sees beauty and exaltation in Tragedy (as in the genre and not mere emotion), which he extendedly talked about in his The Birth of Tragedy.
Nietzsche argued that being all scientific led to nothingness. Modern Man (or at least the philosophical type) has bloated his self with an insatiable lust for knowledge and as a result is dying from opulence. Thus, Nietzsche showed dissatisfaction with the 'modern' way of life which has no sense of art and has an utter inability to see grandeur in tragic and human finitude, and in return wants the crutches of Science to help make it richer (as in material saturation).
This consumer culture is the result of the triumph of the utilitarian (The Birth of Tragedy), scientific man who insists on firmness and tangibility—a Man, who although possesses heart, spirit or creative imagination, is shutting those quarters and only showing up as a lazy manipulative consumer.
Settling for anything is what Nietzsche was against. The Hegelian tension between thesis and antithesis is what he cared for. Not the synthesis. For in the tension lies the strength stimulating moment. He cared for invoking the Appollinian man who used reason with will as an art of transforming the untamed and passionate Dionysian Man into great products of imagination.
Not only did he reject the reason-driven Platonic Man, but also the Freudian irrational Man. What he was looking for, is that idiosyncratic spirit and creative capacity of Man which is what makes a life WORTH living.
Even if you find God, in hindsight, it is the striving for Him that you will find more pleasurable.
It is the first anniversary of this magazine, we have done little but there is that undone vast and proudly we admit that it is an enjoyable journey. Each month we take pleasure in the striving and completion of one issue. We hope to continue for long and the fun lies in not knowing what is yet to come.
Doting on the state of between this and that…
Amidst, Manjit
