THEORIES THAT FASCINATE ME… 1

I am a great one for concepts, ideas and theories. They tickle my mind, stretch my imagination, get me excited… Most times they are theories I read about in some book. At other times I come across them when I am doing some research for a client on the ‘Net. Then of course, like-minded friends tell me about something wow and I google the subject to learn more.

There’s the ‘Parallel Lifetimes’ theory that I read in Dean Koontz’ “From the corner of my eye” – truly mind blowing stuff which got me to check out quantum physics. Then there’s the ‘Butterfly Effect’ that made me rush to the Video Library and pick up a movie of the same name. Richard Bach’s ‘One’ about how all of us are actually ‘one’ is fascinating too.

One of the earliest theories that caught my imagination was something I read in “The Magnificent Obsession”. This was before Satellite TV, before the Internet, before Google. Yes, we did live (and quite happily, I may add) in those ancient days! Well, the book in question was a prescribed text when I was doing my graduation in English Literature in Chennai. Written by Lloyd C Douglas and first published in 1929, the book was not available anywhere. Some of my more studious classmates and I searched high and low and finally found a small library that had just one copy. The Library was being run by a book-loving family in Besant Nagar and we borrowed the book to read it in turns. I have forgotten the storyline, the characters, the ending. But what I do remember is one thought “If you knock on the door long enough, it will open”. Simple but it got me thinking. It meant if you want something badly enough you are sure to get it. A related concept would be that if you want something badly enough, the whole universe conspires to give it to you. I have put this theory to the test many times and it has rarely failed me. My marriage to Sunil – against all odds – is probably a good example. There were times when Sunil and I being together seemed well nigh impossible. Yet I had these three words written and framed, a talisman I kept close at all times: “Someday. Somewhere. Somehow”.

I had almost forgotten my ‘Magnificent Obsession Theory’, when Ranjana recently mentioned it in a mail to Anu. Thinking about it I once again reminded of how we were blessed by so many things that we so badly wanted. This does not mean that God has no role in it. God does. He probably wants to know how badly you want something. And if you don’t get something, despite wanting it badly enough… maybe what you want is not really good for you. Think it over!