Sunday, January 27, 2008

When the wheel gets stuck...

Ever wondered what happens when the wheel gets stuck? Or what is the point when you decide that the wheel is stuck? Any layman like me without a honors degree in physics would say "You know the wheel is stuck, when it is not moving". Fair enough, no revolutions, no motion, no change in frame of reference, no energy used, no work done, WHEEL IS STUCK.

So what is the point, what is there to even ponder about it, leave alone write about it. The current state of affairs as it stands in my life,my wheel is rolling, technically that is. I am on course for a doctorate from a premier institution in a field that interests me a lot. But a deeper insight into it, I realize my wheel is stuck. I stand enlightened at this moment of time, that the wheel that rolls exactly the way it had been rolling for the last million moments, using up energy, but doing no work, changing positions, but stuck in one frame of reference is a stuck wheel. Monotonous revolutions with monotonically non increasing enthusiasm is a salient feature of a stuck wheel. In other words, my life is not going anywhere. I am going places, I am doing things, I am actively trying to be active but my wheel is stuck and I am not happy about it.I remember a movie where they very astutely metaphored life to boxing; "boxing is an unnatural act, that everything in boxing is backwards: sometimes the best way to deliver a punch is to step back... But step back too far and you ain't fighting at all".

I realize the irony in it, to get my wheel moving I need a brake. But if I brake too hard, my wheel will veer off course. I love driving, but this is my life that I am driving and I don't know when and how hard to brake....

Any suggestions????