Building your belief system

Of the handful of authors I follow, Sujatha is my favorite across languages. Though his books are only in tamil, his writing style is nonpareil, if one considers the timeline in which he published his stories. Being ahead of his time is something that sits lightly on him as his thought processes were always advanced. He is one of those authors who took to the concept of simplifying things and telling in a nutshell to a whole new level. He can talk about Chekov, Nabokov, Einstein , complex algorithms, tongue twister medicine, computers, hi-fi science fiction and human emotions everything at layman’s level and probably the frontrunner is bringing science fiction to tamil audience. In one of his advice/suggestions/recommendations, he has a ten point formula for leading life. The very first point is the basis behind this post.

He states that, everyone should have a value system – an unshakable belief – something to hold on to. It can be god, your favorite hero/personality, nature, own self or anything. But everyone should’ve some unflinching belief system, without which people often go rudderless. I’ve seen those recommendations of Sujatha, many times in circulation as forwards and posts on social media. The moment I read the first point, I would be stumped to proceed further. I never follow any one hero or personality. Same goes for god, of whom we’ve plenty in all forms and kinds. And nature is my closest to belief system which gets shaken badly in times of disasters. If finding the purpose of life is an never ending quest, having your belief system is mandatory – which is typically the navigator to guide in your quest. As for belief in my own self I am pretty sure of my weaknesses than any of my strengths.

A recent example of a friend mine is the trigger behind this post. His devotion for a matinee idol is borderline fanaticism and would go to any length to defend the superstar against anyone, be it family or friends. He has recently found a way to commercialize his passion and is reaping rich dividends in the form of fame and funds. What surprised me was the ease with which he cashed in on his passion and the coolness with which he went about it. When there was a conversation around this topic, he said I am way too idealistic for this world and is too much of a conformist. Accepting the fault lines is the first step on forming any belief was his argument. Maybe he was right. There is nothing perfect anymore and searching for a perfect thing/reason for following is no longer logical or sane.

My dad passed away 4 months short of turning 60. If I go by the same benchmark that gives me a little over 2 decades to get my answer.