The Dance of Regret

I lay awake in bed,
Waiting for sleep to bear me to
Lands of mystery, strange and wonderful,
Lands seen never in waking hour.

Yet sleep did not come and my troubled mind
Did bear me to past deeds done, past sins unatoned for;
And like a dark wind disturbed
The resting leaves of Regret
In the forest of my mind of many falls ago.

And the leaves and the wind they danced together,
They danced to the tune of Regret;

And in these verses, now, in ink made
I find the leaves put to rest
And the wind dances a lonely dance
And bears no more on it Regret,
The wind in its lonely dance now teaches
Lessons from Regret.

Yet time stays not still and the seasons change
Until fall it is once again.
And as the fall advances and the wind sings,
The leaves resume the Dance of Regret.

The Future – A Vision in the Present

Year 2006 A.D., The Present Day:
War, strife, poverty, anger, hatred, love, courage, fear, heroes, villains, all of them, products of emotion. That’s the world as we see it today. Could there be a world without war, poverty, strife, fear, a world without even love and courage? The way I see it, nay, the way I envision it – yes. And its called the Future! A future made possible because of the invention of the Restrictor Chip or WonderChip.

Year 2129 A.D., The Future:
Future, a word laden with anticipation. Anticipation of what is to come, for you, for me, for humanity. Anticipation of progress and prosperity, of technological innovation, even of destruction. What do I anticipate will happen in the time to come? I don’t anticipate. I envision.

In my mind’s eye, in my world within our world, I see not human beings but human units. Human units who are extracted from the mother’s uterus while still in the embryonic stage and stored in an ‘Embryo Bank.’ The way I see it, in this Embryo Bank, a chip will be placed under the hypothalamus of the unit’s brain – the Restrictor Chip, about the size of the an adult human being’s finger-nail.

The chip will perform many functions – primary and secondary. The primary function of the chip, as the name suggests, will be to restrict emotions. Whenever the chip perceives a situation which is likely to give rise to emotion, it interfaces with the brain and does not allow expression or indeed even the feeling of emotion. We often find many uncertainties and perils in today’s world that find their roots in emotions. Thus, the chip will make us efficient units in addition to making the world a safer place. This chip has the potential to stop wars, thereby making it possible to divert all expenditure on war so that it can be utilized for constructive purposes. This chip will also effectively put an end to corruption and vested interests which would mean easier administration for countries and all countries on par with each other.

However, it may be asked how one is to raise a family, or have a ‘real’ conversation, or make vocational choices, for example, without emotions.

Well, the answers to these questions are simple – what with the embryos being stored in the Embryo Banks, there won’t be any need to raise a family.

As for having a ‘real’ conversation, the chip will be built with a function called ‘emotional tolerance.’ In this case, when the human unit is doing something insignificant, like having a conversation with friends, the chip will perceive the situation to be safe for a little expression and feeling of emotion. Thus it will tolerate the expression of emotions in certain exceptional circumstances. Emotional tolerance will also come into play during reproduction. The chip, after communicating with the brain will determine the ideal time for the body to reproduce, and at that time, emotional tolerance will kick in. After the moment has passed however, emotional tolerance will cease thus leaving no attachment after the experience.

When it comes to making choices, indeed most of our choices are based on emotion, vocational choices for instance, the chip will determine from the brain where an individual’s potential lies. For example, if an individual’s potential lies in banking, then the chip will give the individual an objective list of banks where he could get employment and instead of an interview, the bank’s computer will draw inference about the person from the chip and that’s that.

The chip also has secondary functions. One of them would be a medical function. In this case, if a unit’s health is endangered, the chip will automatically secrete ‘healing microbes’ into the body through the individual’s endocrine glands and that will take care of any harmful foreign bodies within the unit.

The other secondary function of the chip is to act as a link between the unit’s brain and the technology of the day. I should stress here that the chip doesn’t control the brain but, in fact, works in tandem with it. Through the chip, the unit would also be able to make the equivalent of phone calls of the day, access the FutureNet and receive his salary.

The life of the chip would range from 120-150 years. When the chip stops functioning, the human unit will be unable to work and use his office. Thus he then goes into ‘retirement.’ The shut down also makes the unit vulnerable to infections and illnesses and thus he is able to die a natural death.

A Day in the Life of a Unit in 2129 A.D.:
Imagine you are asleep. Its time to wake up. The WonderChip sends an electrical impulse to your brain to wake you up. Then it perceives a situation which might produce in the human unit the desire for coffee. It sends another impulse to your brain which will have the same effect on the unit as a cup of coffee.

You then step out of the ‘snooze-tube’ fully energized, as all your vital nutrients have been replenished while you’ve been asleep. Thus, there is no need to eat. You step into the ‘cleansing unit’ for your ‘bath’ and it coats you with a transparent film called the ‘second-skin’. This is a must to keep out UV rays from the sun as the ozone layer now no longer exists.

Then you leave for work. Those who work on Earth are carried by ‘transport tubes’ to their places of work. Those who work on other planets are teleported onto a space station orbiting Earth. They then take a spacebus which carries them at light speed to another space station orbiting their planet of work. They teleport to their offices. When a unit enters his office, the tasks for the day are uploaded onto his WonderChip and he can’t leave the office until he is finished with the tasks for the day. He has no desire to leave for work. He is efficiency personified. At the end of the month, his salary is credited to his chip and when he spends, money is deducted from his chip. Once he is done for the day, he goes back home to the ‘snooze-tube.’

And so that is my vision of the future, imagination unlimited. I’m no science expert, but from my research I’m convinced that most of what I’ve spoken about can be fulfilled. The only question is will we want to live such a colorless existence? The only factor hindering this vision from coming true is our fear of living dreary, emotionless lives, so in essence, the only hindrance to this vision coming true, is emotion.

here's a poem...

An Unjust Son

The first sense of this world you gave me,

The first sight through you I saw,

The first sound I heard was your voice -

Laden with love and care.

And as on my journey I started,

Scared and lost -

All things new to me,

You were there beside me,

Your warm Light revealing the dark path.

Yet from you that Light I stole,

Leaving you to stumble along the dark path

As I continued on my journey with haste,

Leaving you behind.

Yet that stolen Light, your warm Light,

Still glowed brightly it did,

Guiding me along my way.

And soon the warmth of your Light melted my heart,

And dear Mother, my folly I realised.

So I waited, waited for you

So I could return the Light to your life.

But, alas, too far ahead I have gone

While in the darkness you are lost.

And so I set out to find you, dear Mother,

To return the light to your life.

Alonso Takes Historic Monaco Win

Fernando Alonso won the first Monaco GP of his career on Sunday after an exciting race that saw Schumi start from the back of the grid. Schumacher who had claimed pole position in the qualifying session on Saturday was sent to the back of the grid at the start after race stewards found him guilty of intentionally blocking the track and hindering Alonso's lap.

Alonso got off to a good start maintaing his lead through St Devote at a circuit where ovetaking is impossible. Mark Webber followed him in second place, while Raikkonen went through the corner in third, before taking advantage of a mistake by Webber to get into second position. At a circuit where technology is secondary to a driver's skill, Raikkonen heaped the pressure on Alonso. However, Alonso kept his head on his shoulders knowing that Raikkonen couldn't get past and controlled his pace with a champion's guile.

After the first pit stops, Mark Webber's retirement necessitated the intervention of the Safety-Car. It was then that Raikkonen's chance of winning his first GP of the season went up in smoke, quite literally, when one of the Mclaren's heat shields caught fire. This meant Alonso went unchallenged for the rest of the race.

Michael Schumacher, meanwhile drove an absolutely flat-out race, never giving up and finishing fifth after starting from the pitlane and executing his one-stop startegy to perfection. By the end of the race Schumacher had caught up with Barrichello and was challenging him for fourth place and in the process setting the fastest lap of the race. Giancarlo Fisichella drove a lacklustre race to finish 6th and the second Ferrari of Felipe Massa finished 10th, also starting from the back of the grid.

But it was not to be Ferrari's day as, after Raikkonen's retirement, Alonso cruised to the chequered flag. Juan Pablo Montoya kept Mclaren honours by finishing second while jubilant David Coulthard, sporting a Superman cape took Red Bull Racing's first podium ever.

The outcome of the Monaco GP puts Alonso 21 points ahead of second-placed Michael Schumacher, making it tougher for the German to take back the World Championship. But with only six rounds of the season done and dusted, the German remains in the hunt for a record eighth World Championship.