Sunday, March 30, 2008

Destiny (2)..!

In the last entry i was talking about "The Alchemist",...or actually i just wrote some quotes or paragraphs i was sent b4 i read the whole novel ,..& as it was long i decided to comment in another entry,...so here we go...!


firstly when i read this part of the novel i felt as if it touched sth in my mind ,....mayb a couple of years ago i would've just said ...what a silly novel or what the hell is he talking about?!....but being in certain state of mind made me astonished by this part ,...dunno y,..but mayb coz i felt how true it can b,....or mayb coz i felt better to find out that it's sth common & not just a kind of insanity to keep thinking about futuer,.... choices,...available paths,....opportunities,...threats .....simply thinking about Destiny as he calls it all the time ....!!


i guess what i'm talking about is clear for whoever read the novel,.....but let's dig deeper in the issue....!!


the novel mainly talks about that shepherd who had a dream about a treasure in the pyramids area,....& to follow his dream he had to travel from Europe to egypt in a time when transportations was not that easy ,.....he me different ppl,..he money was stolen which stopped him & made him about to give up,....but through meeting some wise ppl & getting involved in various situations,...he could carry on & reach the pyramids after around 2 years,......& there he didn't find any treasure ,..instead he found a man who told him that he was idiot coz he followed his dream as that man had a similar dream about a treasure in the town the boy came from,...& he thought he was wise enough not to follow a silly dream....!!
so after all the boys went back to this town ,..dug & found out the treasure...!!


surely it's not the whole novel,..it's just my approach to summerize an important point i wanted to stress on......& mayb the novelist goes far sometimes in a fantasy or a fairytale way ,...but overall u can feel the words of wisdom & the philosophical approach of life in most of the situations in the novel....!!


& if we look deeper in the treasure issue we can c that the treasure was the destiny he was following ,....it was vague,..he didn't even know what exactly was looking for....he just knew that he was in his way to sth valuable & he had to work for it even if he didn't know it coz it worthed all the effort & the time he had to spent,.....& that was his motive ,....& whenever he was about to get satisfied & stop following his destiny he met some1 who reminded him of how important his journey was ,... how important to follow the omens in the universe ,..carry on till the end & never stop ,...& he did despite all the difficulties & threats he met on his way.....!


surely there came times when he felt that evth happening was a kind of a curse & couldn't find an explanation for anyth ,...but at the end and after he finished his journey & got the treasure he found out that the real treasure was the experience he lived & the ppl he met in those couple of years ,...he found out that he gained alot,..much more than a tangible treasure ,...& he found out that he would've lost alot if he didn't follow his dream as the man he met at the pyramids ,.....!!

he actually made sure of what the author says that " Life really is generous to those who pursue their destiny"....!!


mayb the part of realizing all that came at the end of the boy's journey in the last page in the novel & wasn't that detailed ,...& that's how i felt life works ,.....we may live years confused,..feeling sth wrong is going on,..unable to explain whatever happens ,..seeking sth vague ,...feeling bad about being lost in crossroads...........etc.....till a moment comes when evth is revealed & than we can look to the past & know how each single tiny thing happened was arranged by Allah in the best way ever......!!


unfortunately as this comes in the end of the journey ,...we just go in tour lives & forget that ,...but mayb that's y Allah sends messages or ''omens" as the novel says to remind us .....& that happened to me intensively in the previous months through convos with others or a novel or whatever,....& that's y i was touched by the novel although it may seem less than a normal novel for others....!!!



so here i'm trying to live my days ,..follow the omens,..pursue my destiny,....hoping that life will b generous to me for seeking it,...& looking forward for the day when i'll look back in satisfaction & know y i took certain paths instead of others & after all thank Allah for guiding me & arranging my life the way it was :) .....!!


Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Destiny..!


Around a month ago i was sent the following part from "The Alchemist" ,...with the red highlights in it,......i've heared about this novel since years but didn't have the chance to read it,....so after reading those quotes & being in a certain state of mind made me borrow it within few days & read it although i was sooo busy ....!!
& as it's kinda long part & i dnt have enough time now to write my comment about this part & the whole novel's idea,...i'll let u read it for now -if u r interested- & i'll comment in the next entery ISA ...!!


---------------------------




"For several reasons. But let's say that the most important is that you have succeeded in discovering your destiny."

The boy didn't know what a person's "destiny" was.
"It's what you have always wanted to accomplish. Everyone, when they are young, knows what their destiny is.At that point in their lives, everything is clear and everything is possible. They are not afraid to dream, and to yearn for everything they would like to see happen to them in their lives. But, as time passes, a mysterious force begins to convince them that it will be impossible for them to realize their destiny."


None of what the old man was saying made much sense to the boy. But he wanted to know what the "mysterious force" was; the merchant's daughter would be impressed when he told her about that!
"It's a force that appears to be negative, but actually shows you how to realize your destiny. It prepares your spirit and your will, because there is one great truth on this planet: whoever you are, or whatever it is that you do, when you really want something, it's because that desire originated in the soul of the universe. It's your mission on earth."


"Even when all you want to do is travel? Or marry the daughter of a textile merchant?"
"Yes, or even search for treasure. The Soul of the World is nourished by people's happiness. And also by unhappiness, envy, and jealousy. To realize one's destiny is a person's only real obligation. All things are one.And, when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it."


They were both silent for a time, observing the plaza and the townspeople. It was the old man who spoke first.
"Why do you tend a flock of sheep?"
"Because I like to travel." The old man pointed to a baker standing in his shop window at one corner of the plaza. "When he was a child, that man wanted to travel, too. But he decided first to buy his bakery and put some money aside. When he's an old man, he's going to spend a month in Africa. He never realized that people are capable, at any time in their lives, of doing what they dream of."


"He should have decided to become a shepherd," the boy said.
"Well, he thought about that," the old man said. "But bakers are more important people than shepherds. Bakers have homes, while shepherds sleep out in the open. Parents would rather see their children marry bakers than shepherds."


The boy felt a pang in his heart, thinking about the merchant's daughter. There was surely a baker in her town.

The old man continued, "In the long run, what people think about shepherds and bakers becomes more important for them than their own destinies."
The old man leafed through the book, and fell to reading a page he came to. The boy waited, and then interrupted the old man just as he himself had been interrupted. "Why are you telling me all this?"
"Because you are trying to realize your destiny. And you are at the point where you're about to give it all up."
"And that's when you always appear on the scene?"
"Not always in this way, but I always appear in one form or another. Sometimes I appear in the form of a solution, or a good idea. At other times, at a crucial moment, I make it easier for things to happen. There are other things I do, too, but most of the time people don't realize I've done them."



Sunday, March 02, 2008

Dystopia..!

One day i was asked by some1 who travelled a couple of years ago abroad to work for PHD ,..."How is Egypt?!",...

i answered "u just can predict how's everything going on if u look to the past & the present ,...they r the real indication for the near future ,...just look carefully to the trend & u can feel what's happening without seeing it,....!!

"
mayb it can b a pessimistic point of view although i call it realistic ,....but we can't ignore the fact that nth comes from nowhere & what happen now is a result for what we lived 2day ,...& consequently what's gonna happen 2morrow is a result for what's happening now to a certain point,......& based on my belief that the net motion in our society is negative i can say that i have concerns about the future....!!

surely what reminded me of all that is Dr.Ahmed Khaled Tawfik's latest novel "UTOPIA" which i read a couple of days ago ,...it belongs to the Dystopia trend (the vision of a society that is opposite to utopia).......he's kind of imagining the worst case scenario for egypt in specific if the same conditions remains with some changes in the whole world ,....(around 15 years from now...)!!

the novel goes through the lives of the rich who get richer & the poor who get poorer showing the opposites,...& showing how evth is ruined ,...ethics ,..humanity,...etc,..... how the ppl on both sides lost their humanity & turned into horrible creatures worse than animals ,.....& how few of them struggle to keep part of their humanity ,....!!!

it may seem a kind of a shock,...& some readers may feel that it's a fantasy ,...but i c it a bell to make ppl wake up b4 everything is destroyed,.....& who know mayb one day ppl will remember this novel as an old true predictions & if that happens i wish to b out of this life not to c that coming true ....!!!

after all whatever our POV's in the dystopia issue r ,....it's a novel that worths reading ....!!