December 25, 2014

                                                

My grandmother always says "Life is a camera so keep smiling...”  Yes indeed, we all smile and say “cheese” while getting a picture taken but if we look at the word cheese, it comes from Latin word caseus; its earliest source being proto-Indo-European root kwat-, which means “to ferment, become sour”. This obviously points to the fact that cheese is prepared by fermenting milk; however, it makes me wonder, does it have anything to do with being picture perfect and smiling even though you’re feeling like you are fermenting from inside? Just like cheese?? It is one of the most loved food all over the world and has around 1000 types... looks tempting, has a great color; but it is only made by fermenting...


Life is actually quite like a camera I feel...  What comes across our eyes or what we see and the reality could be worlds apart. When we look at the pictures taken by a camera, all we see is the image... but it never helps one understand what the person in the picture was thinking or feeling while posing for the camera.

Whether it’s Feta from Greece, Mozzarella from Italy, Cheddar from England or Gouda from Netherlands; cheeses are produced by lots of countries all over the world with their own twist and consumed heartily in thousands of recipes. Cheeses are mainly determined on the basis of their moisture content. We as humans are also bound to be different like different cheeses; though we are determined by lots of things like attitude, behavior, success, nature, and a lot of other societal norms rather than a mere scientific technology that simply measures moisture in food products. Science or technology hasn't even made a meter to measure how ideal or perfect a human being is... So what is ideal exactly?

What’s one got to do in life? How to face setbacks? What’s your goal? What does your future hold for you and how will your past impact it? These are the questions we often ponder about knowingly or unknowingly...


Cute cartoon mouse vector material
http://www.myfreephotoshop.com/cute-cartoon-mouse-vector-material.html  

This makes me go back to the time when I read a very intriguing book which seems to answer some of these questions, “Who moved my cheese?” by  “Dr. Spenser Johnson”. The book is about change in one’s work and life and the reactions of the change by two “mice” and two “littlepeople”- Hem and Haw (Hem and Haw is an American slang term for indecisiveness), who are miniature humans. They set out in the quest of finding their cheese-which represents happiness and success in a maze. One day both groups find a cheese filled corridor and start using it daily to get their cheese. However, one day the mice find there is no cheese left, but they set out to find more cheese elsewhere as they were mentally prepared for the surprise. Later, when Hem and Haw find the cheese is gone, they get angry and annoyed and Hem demands, “Who moved my cheese?” While Haw understands the importance of finding new cheese, Hem doesn't. Haw sets out alone in the maze to find new cheese after chiseling “If you do not change, you can become extinct” for his friend to ponder over on the wall of the old cheese corridor.



Don’t we all move about in the maze of life looking for our cheese just like mice? Well, it helps if you even think like them and just go about looking without sulking on any loss or debating about the prospective profit.  Even if we don’t understand the complexities of life, at least one thing is clear... Change is indeed necessary. Like paint that fades out in a while or the plaster that wears out in a while, we as humans tire out by our own selves and our own habits time to time. Once we change that, life is new and offers ample opportunities. So many species became extinct while we evolved as we were prepared for change. They say human kind has evolved, I say we have simply changed...  Those little changes made all the difference and gave rise to a mighty evolution.