2 August 2006 – 19:45 – Home
Those who don’t like to watch news because the news disappoints them must think twice. I heard three people in last few weeks saying that how much they hate watching news and how much they feel better when they ignore the world news. Isn’t it insane to say such a thing? Aren’t we feeling more human when we suffer for others’ pains as if we ourselves get hurt? Isn’t it our nature to feel sorry for others and to do something –if possible- to change it? I can not stand the people who are laughing and saying that “I don’t watch news because they are all sad”. Well, you would not say this thing if you were the one who suffers! It is also beyond belief. I don’t believe people’s sincerity when they say this. I think they do not know what they are saying or they are not aware of the gravity of their words. When tsunami hit the Andaman coasts of Thailand, can any Thai person dare to neglect those suffering people? When earthquake hit Pakistan, can any Muslim dare to feel nothing for those who are trying to survive in the freezing weather? Is it another sign of being human to be selfish and to care for only our own tribes? I believe in one thing: We are human when we have freedom and we are more human when we use our freedom to help others. That is the only excuse which can give a meaning to our miserable life. I am not saying that I do care enough for the people who suffer but at least I try my best. Feeling sorry for those who are in need of help is the first step. Then next steps like helping them or calling people for help come after that. One of the hadits of Prophet Muhammad says this: If you –whoever- sees a bad thing, change it with your hand (by physical work), if you cannot, change it with your tongue (say something to change it), if you cannot, with your heart (share the sadness). The last one is the bottom level of faith… (My own translation from Arabic may not reflect the real meaning but it seems ok)
I need more time to read and write. Since I started my new job, I read much less and write very insignificant things. Last two months, not a single short story has been written! It is a bad sign and I have to change myself. Cutting internet hours can create at least one hour extra everyday. I am trying to use less and less internet in these days. I removed chat programs from my computers so I will not waste my evenings with chatting with old students or friends. I really like to chat but it is very time-consuming. It is an addiction. Not so different from alcohol! I feel lonely when I am offline and somehow when I am online I feel like as if I am plugged in to a large organism which breathes and grows same as me. I am part of it and whenever I leave it, I start to worry about my absence. This might be an existential phenomenon since it is much related with loneliness and anxiety of missing something! I stupidly read news about sports events in Turkey, listen weather report in Istanbul, and try to get more information about unknown rock stars of Turkey etc… Yesterday, I have learnt A also listens the weather report for his hometown. I felt better for a while since I was not the only one. It reminded me the beautiful opening of Milan Kundera’s last novel (The Ignorance). He mentions the roots of the word “nostalgia” at the beginning and he explains different meaning of the word in different European languages. In one of the Northern European languages, he says that “I miss you” means “I want to know what happened to you” . Basically, I miss Istanbul means; I want to know how Istanbul is now! How is the weather? How are the gulls? How is Bosporus? How are the stray cats? How is Beyoglu? How are the theaters? How are the street vendors who are selling ‘simit’ or ‘pilaf with chicken’? How is the summer? How are the trees with ‘erguvan’ purples? How are the ferries crossing the Bosporus everyday without feeling bored of same water and same people?
Yesterday I went to one of the toilets in the school. Surprisingly it was very loudly! Not because of a natural sound but someone was playing music with the highest volume in the toilet. He was the guy occupying next booth. I have seen whistlers, singers, frequent flushers before but never seen a man with his telephone-mp3 player before. I was actually irritated with the noise because I like silence in toilet. Isn’t it our privacy to feel the isolation from others and feel away from others’ judging eyes for a while? I like that silence or at least the natural sound of water or even the flush! One should be more careful not to disturb others in the toilet.
Today morning, I started running again. I woke up at 6 am and without any plan I was outside at 6:10 with my sportswear. I run around 2 km without stopping and made some push-ups at the beginning and at the end. When I started running, I heard B’s voice behind me, ‘come on Al, come on’. I did run! I guess it is impossible to forget the days I run together with B. Whenever I stopped, I heard him saying, ‘what are you? A mouse, come one, run more!’ I was tired and without caring what B said I climbed to my apartment at the third floor. When I entered my apartment, I was exhausted. I drank some water and some carrot juice to feel better but nothing made me feel better until I saw the message from my brother. He wrote that he finished all the authorization process of my diploma at Foreign Ministry of Turkey and Vietnamese Embassy in Ankara. I forgot all my tiredness, felt joyful and smiled. I thought a beautiful day could not start better than this…
Those who don’t like to watch news because the news disappoints them must think twice. I heard three people in last few weeks saying that how much they hate watching news and how much they feel better when they ignore the world news. Isn’t it insane to say such a thing? Aren’t we feeling more human when we suffer for others’ pains as if we ourselves get hurt? Isn’t it our nature to feel sorry for others and to do something –if possible- to change it? I can not stand the people who are laughing and saying that “I don’t watch news because they are all sad”. Well, you would not say this thing if you were the one who suffers! It is also beyond belief. I don’t believe people’s sincerity when they say this. I think they do not know what they are saying or they are not aware of the gravity of their words. When tsunami hit the Andaman coasts of Thailand, can any Thai person dare to neglect those suffering people? When earthquake hit Pakistan, can any Muslim dare to feel nothing for those who are trying to survive in the freezing weather? Is it another sign of being human to be selfish and to care for only our own tribes? I believe in one thing: We are human when we have freedom and we are more human when we use our freedom to help others. That is the only excuse which can give a meaning to our miserable life. I am not saying that I do care enough for the people who suffer but at least I try my best. Feeling sorry for those who are in need of help is the first step. Then next steps like helping them or calling people for help come after that. One of the hadits of Prophet Muhammad says this: If you –whoever- sees a bad thing, change it with your hand (by physical work), if you cannot, change it with your tongue (say something to change it), if you cannot, with your heart (share the sadness). The last one is the bottom level of faith… (My own translation from Arabic may not reflect the real meaning but it seems ok)
I need more time to read and write. Since I started my new job, I read much less and write very insignificant things. Last two months, not a single short story has been written! It is a bad sign and I have to change myself. Cutting internet hours can create at least one hour extra everyday. I am trying to use less and less internet in these days. I removed chat programs from my computers so I will not waste my evenings with chatting with old students or friends. I really like to chat but it is very time-consuming. It is an addiction. Not so different from alcohol! I feel lonely when I am offline and somehow when I am online I feel like as if I am plugged in to a large organism which breathes and grows same as me. I am part of it and whenever I leave it, I start to worry about my absence. This might be an existential phenomenon since it is much related with loneliness and anxiety of missing something! I stupidly read news about sports events in Turkey, listen weather report in Istanbul, and try to get more information about unknown rock stars of Turkey etc… Yesterday, I have learnt A also listens the weather report for his hometown. I felt better for a while since I was not the only one. It reminded me the beautiful opening of Milan Kundera’s last novel (The Ignorance). He mentions the roots of the word “nostalgia” at the beginning and he explains different meaning of the word in different European languages. In one of the Northern European languages, he says that “I miss you” means “I want to know what happened to you” . Basically, I miss Istanbul means; I want to know how Istanbul is now! How is the weather? How are the gulls? How is Bosporus? How are the stray cats? How is Beyoglu? How are the theaters? How are the street vendors who are selling ‘simit’ or ‘pilaf with chicken’? How is the summer? How are the trees with ‘erguvan’ purples? How are the ferries crossing the Bosporus everyday without feeling bored of same water and same people?
Yesterday I went to one of the toilets in the school. Surprisingly it was very loudly! Not because of a natural sound but someone was playing music with the highest volume in the toilet. He was the guy occupying next booth. I have seen whistlers, singers, frequent flushers before but never seen a man with his telephone-mp3 player before. I was actually irritated with the noise because I like silence in toilet. Isn’t it our privacy to feel the isolation from others and feel away from others’ judging eyes for a while? I like that silence or at least the natural sound of water or even the flush! One should be more careful not to disturb others in the toilet.
Today morning, I started running again. I woke up at 6 am and without any plan I was outside at 6:10 with my sportswear. I run around 2 km without stopping and made some push-ups at the beginning and at the end. When I started running, I heard B’s voice behind me, ‘come on Al, come on’. I did run! I guess it is impossible to forget the days I run together with B. Whenever I stopped, I heard him saying, ‘what are you? A mouse, come one, run more!’ I was tired and without caring what B said I climbed to my apartment at the third floor. When I entered my apartment, I was exhausted. I drank some water and some carrot juice to feel better but nothing made me feel better until I saw the message from my brother. He wrote that he finished all the authorization process of my diploma at Foreign Ministry of Turkey and Vietnamese Embassy in Ankara. I forgot all my tiredness, felt joyful and smiled. I thought a beautiful day could not start better than this…
deneme
YanıtlaSilit works
YanıtlaSil