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  • When people pull their face at the thought of picking up a crumb or a morsel of food that fell to the floor to clean it and eat it, I immediately see this picture in my mind. When yesterday’s left overs leave me feeling frustrated at the thought of having the same meal again, this photo creeps into my head. And worse still, when obese people plunge food down their throats in gluttonous volumes, and discard what they couldn’t finish because they reached the point of nausea, I think of this child.

    This child would probably develop the most beautifully calming smile, with excitement in his eyes, and gratitude in every breath if he were just allowed to share in the crumbs and left overs that so many of us discard out of embarrassment or extravagance, or greed and ingratitude. We’ve become too high class to eat crumbs off the floor, or to save left overs for later unless the left overs are from a distinctly extravagant or indulgent dish.

    There are times when the world leaves me feeling sick to my gut, and disillusioned at their fickle frailties. This is one of those times.

  • On Opinions and A-holes

    Something I realised this morning, and this may seem like a retarded realisation because it’s so obvious, but I realised that opinions most often reflect the mentality and competence of the person offering it, rather than defining what is being critiqued. It’s obvious that an opinion is simply someone’s point of view about something or someone, but given how often people feel damaged because of the opinions of others, I suspect that like me, many know the truth about opinions but few realise it.

    It’s like knowing that if you touch a hot coal, you’ll burn. But realising how painful that burn is only happens when you actually touch it. Same with opinions. Knowing that someone is an ass-hole for offering an uninformed opinion is one thing, but unless you realise it, you’ll allow that uninformed opinion to negatively affect you. In some cases, it could also lead to you being unrealistically deluded about your supposed greatness if you focus on the positive opinions of others only. 

    Tumblr is opinion heaven! We have undiscovered sages, gurus, geniuses, professors, scholars, legends and so much more. And then we click on their ‘About’ page and we realise that they’re still in high school, or still trying to figure out what it means to live independent of their parents, or worse still, they’re trying to figure out if there’s a life beyond Tumblr! 

    This week I’ve been in a decidedly abrasive mood with many around me. I’ve dumped my considerate tone and disposition in favour of a more frank and in-your-face demeanour instead. It probably won’t last, but at times I think it’s needed because often people take advantage and become lazy to apply their minds if they know that I’m always willing to take the time to explain the same thing over and over again until they eventually get it. So I guess I’m just as opinionated as many others on here. The difference is, most people’s opinions of me are like water off a duck’s back. Like farting against thunder. Like crying in the rain. It has no impact because I have learnt to be very selective about who I take advice or opinions from.

    This has been an opinion by one that many may consider an ass-hole. Not that I care. 

  • culturalcrosspollination:

    A lone worshiper in a mosque in Isfahan, Iran

  • Scenes from the Kruger National Park

    Zebra striking a pose
    Wandering elephant
    Grazing giraffe
    Giraffe grazing
    Little beggars
    Buffalo taking a leak at sunset
    Imposing elephant

    (c) Cynically Jaded

    Scenes from the Kruger National Park in 1997. Scanned in from prints captured by my very old 35mm point-and-shoot camera. We wandered too far into the park and ended up being about 80km (50 miles) away from the main gate when it was close to sunset. In our rush to exit the park, we came across a pack of hyena that literally brushed past the side of the car. Their glowing eyes at night was enough to scare the crap out of you, especially knowing that they were completely wild and not raised in captivity either.

    As we drove further on, I braked sharply at the sight of a massive towering shadow in front of me. There were no streetlights, so all I saw was this movement of huge proportions crossing the road. I soon realised it was an elephant bull followed by a calf. I had to crane my neck to see the top of it. By far the biggest animal I’ve ever seen in the wild. We eventually made it in one piece to the gate, and after a brief search of our vehicle, we were allowed to leave the park.

    If you haven’t been to or heard of the Kruger National Park, to put it into context, it’s size is big enough for the whole of the UK to fit in it, with room to spare. It’s huge, untamed, and beautiful. It’s one of the biggest eco-tourism attractions in the world. On this same visit, we saw lions, giraffes, monkeys, numerous species of buck, zebras, hyenas, snakes, tortoises, wildebeest, crocodiles, hippos, and so much more. The best part is that we saw it in their natural habitat, not behind a caged enclosure in a zoo. We drove at slow speeds for almost 10 hours through the park to find these beautiful animals.

  • Moderation of Purpose

    On my way home from work today I was stuck in traffic for much longer than anticipated. It seemed certain that I would miss Asr salaah if I stayed on my route, so I took a detour and stopped at a mosque along the way. The mosque was embellished with the moon and star symbol which left me mildly ambivalent about entering. However, given my recent realisation as described in a previous post I proceeded without paying much attention to the voices in my head trying to dissuade me from going in.

    I’m quite settled with the fact that there is more blatant and sincere worship of Allah in that mosque than any inclination towards the paganism suggested by that symbol. I was reminded about the many arguments and debates I’ve had around this issue and the recurring thought that the intrinsic value of the symbol is lost to Muslims. All that did was allay my concerns about performing salaah in that mosque. It didn’t alter my views about the symbol and its inappropriateness in Islam.

    Another comforting sight was the 99 names of Allah and the numerous Qur’anic verses inscribed on the walls around the inside of the mosque. That was reassurance that the structure was indeed built to praise and worship Allah. But the presence of that symbol still troubled me knowing that I stood below it, and was further reminded of it because of its inclusion in the design of the prayer mat laid out for the imam.

    But I managed to perform my Asr on time, Alhamdulillah, and I stayed for Maghrib with congregation as well. Perhaps this is the beginning of the moderation that I sought to achieve in this matter, even though there is still a strong urge within me to want to speak out against that horrid symbol to anyone that will listen. Perhaps that day will still come, Insha-Allah. Building better ties of unity with the community will hopefully make them more receptive to what I want to share with them when the time is right, Insha-Allah.

  • Disordered Minds – follow up

    The speech that I wrote for my niece seemed to have fared well. She received full marks and was asked to present herself and her speech to the regional head of department from the Department of Education in South Africa. She received more positive feedback from the HoD as well. 

    Earlier this week, she came to me again for advice, but this time it was about a poster she needed to compile for an Afrikaans assignment regarding social decay, or something like that. For some reason, I’m still the first person she seems to think of whenever topics of this nature come up. But the part that tickled me most about it was that she took the following quote from my original post, translated it into Afrikaans and reused it on her poster. The quote was:

    “Of all the things we take for granted in life, our power of choice is probably the most abused gift we’ll ever receive.”

    Then she looked at me and said that it was the quote that “I got from that Cynically Jaded guy”. She still doesn’t know that I am that guy. 🙂

  • In this sad world of ours sorrow comes to all, and to the young it comes with bittered agony because it takes them unawares. The older have learned to expect it.

    ABRAHAM LINCOLN, letter to Fanny McCullough, Dec. 23, 1862

  • A few random thoughts

    The ‘anything goes’ mentality is far more extremist than those that stand by moderation. It requires an extremist to allow anything to pass as acceptable without restraint, whereas it requires conscious thought, conviction, and balance to apply one’s mind to moderation. Yet the duplicity of society would incline you to believe that those that seek moderation are extremists, whilst the liberals are the free thinkers. Free thinking is often a phrase brandished about by those that seek affirmation and acceptance rather than those that are willing to stand for what they believe in without fear of ridicule or earning the ire of those they admire. 

    What’s worse is when this same thinking of supposed extremism is passed down to each following generation, resulting in ever more wayward teenagers with misguided passions. At some point, a generation dropped the baton. What should have been passed down as ageless wisdom was abandoned in the name of liberalism and social freedom, and none of the subsequent generations have been willing to stop the rot. For this reason, we find ourselves amongst teenage sages and pubescent gurus, neither of which have had sufficient life experiences to become the authorities they pretend to be on life, love, and philosophy. Such misguidance cannot be blamed on the students, but rather on the absence of teachers. 

    In the absence of role models and leaders, the youth are left to fend for themselves under the delusion of guidance from adults who are often too self-absorbed to realise that they are failing in their duty to raise adults, not children. Adults are often so insecure about their own worth, that they’re more focused on earning the social acceptance of their children by trying to be ‘cool’ parents, while the kids are distracted by their ‘cool-ness’ only to realise that they are ill prepared for life. 

    The inevitable result is the proliferation of labels that abdicate responsibility for our state of mind, and result in people living out the expectations of society based on the label attached to the specific permutation of their insecurity, rather than just realising that it is nothing more than an insecurity due to lack of knowledge or guidance that leaves us with so many troubled souls. Before we try to label the mindset of others that act out their insecurities in cryptic ways, we should make a simple but sincere effort to understand the source of insecurity that pretends to be bipolar, borderline, or any other contemporary term used to appease the conscience of absent parents.