A human crawls out of a mother’s womb, cries endlessly, it's fed, identifies its parents, it learns to walk and talk. Somewhere between these baby steps of natural growth, a baby starts the training. The training is strictly, devotedly followed by referring to a rulebook. Let's speak about this book. 

The book is an ancient one, launched eons ago by the premature form of homo sapiens. Since then the number of writers who wiped and rewrote the lines in it kept peaking. This growth was rapid in the beginning for a long time but it slowed down as if humans grew lazy to keep correcting, deviating, and adding something new to it every time. They just chose the easy path to keep following blindly and breezily. But at times, few from mankind did get up, felt the wrongness in the book, and chose to work on them which has indeed proven to be a dangerous path that involves hardships and requires a rebellious revolution with stubborn courage, confidence, assertiveness, and humility. More than all, to change there seems to require allies and more people believing, supporting, and raging for change. But to make it effective, to be followed by all, for that, an external invincible force is needed. This book has no definite physical form to describe. It just hangs there in the air gazing at us. 

The contents of this book are precise, commanding, and threatening at times. Let's see that by going back to that human child that was born. As soon as the sex of the child is known, the sound of its name is chosen from the books with consultations from the supernatural powers or alignments of constellations in the sky. Which is learned, practiced, and expertly given to the parents by the very humans who once went through the same old book. So the book says, If it is a male the name must sound masculine and sometimes match with the divine male forms like Rama, Krishna, Vishnu, Bruno, Anthony, and so on. In the case of females, we go for more sweet-sounding feminine names like Sita, Lakshmi, Rosa, Hasina, and Sophie. Some of those names as mentioned belong to unearthly beings whose characters are inspiringly designed and written by great artists of words in ancient times. These characters are believed to have lived at times before the beginning of living physical forms like humans, animals, insects, birds, trees, and plants. In simple words, science-oriented people is to say things that existed before the big bang or just after it. Supposedly, no one knows for sure about that. But the point is we don't go for the characters to name a mortal, we go with the sex of the characters. We do not name a female as Shiva even though we see her in her twenties as a woman with destroying fierce traits along with calm, naive philanthropic hands which are a few of the very qualities of the god Shiva. Similarly, a brilliant male teacher who imparts education to others is not named Saraswati in most cases. So is one of the rules from the book. The book does go about creating gender bias in the usage of language too. The naming process, the verbs, the adjectives used, and so on. The words, intonation used to care for a baby, the toy handed to a child, the dress designed, chosen, sitting manners, standing manners, the volume of the voice, and other details all teachings are gender biased. May not seem wrong, hard to accept that change is needed. But change is needed. Don't you think so? So what happens if we choose the other path in contrast to that book? Now comes the most important word of all, “Society”. The very first bullet star on the first page of the book is, 

“If you do not obey this book, you will be frowned upon and pushed away from THE SOCIETY”. The irony is that we humans make that society. This is how absurd it sounds. 

“The humans have designed a list of ways to live a human life which when not treated accordingly will be punished by humans.” 

But this reality is not seen or preached as it is. It is categorized with more complex ideas like Religion, Ethnicity, Race, Gender, Money, Employment, Age, and the list goes on. Starting from the name, the grooming of the baby, the toys it grabs to play with, and the emotions it displays, everything is in detail trained to be a man or a woman on the sole basis of the book. This idea of masculinity and femininity is molded in society to form genders called men and women. That is the difference between sex and gender. Sex is the way humans are born whereas gender is the way humans are constructed, and educated to behave. 

Keeping in mind the sort of ideologies of gender sowed in the early growing minds which is going to be effectively affecting the lives for a long time, One might argue that a person in the future would learn ways to be free from such biases but it would be printed hard in the core (like a black spot with a smaller radius or a larger one) when a person is raised in a way. Consciously or unconsciously it would pop out in furtive ways through the words we use, the expressions we give, the gestures, and the actions we choose to perform. But all these would just pass away with an oversight. And at other times it would take less or more energy to fight it and to see, to treat, to decide, to behave, for others, with others with equality. In between all these, not smudgeable effects, we do have great revolutionaries who have raised their voices against gender discrimination and have fought for their change and gained their rights. To attain one hundred percent of a Humanist perspective, for that it has to be poured into a child from birth from the parents who must attempt for good to break from the cult of the book followers. Which could be hard but we all have to start from somewhere for a better world and better life. 

With the lightning leap in the field of science and technology, the job, and earning opportunities in those areas have increased tremendously. And hence, to be in the money-making business and intellectual competition, every child has to pay attention to science and mathematics right away from the lower grades of school to grab seats in the prestigious colleges leading to a rich career and grand lifestyles in the future. Parents want better things for their children, better than what they have gone through. Dreams and desires they gave up to obey their parents who had to obey their parents, their parents, and so on and on. Commonly, all those generations are abiding by the book again. Computer science, mathematics, engineering, medical science, law, commerce, and all the occupations that are trending, that yield a lot of currencies are brilliant fields, with interesting aspects to learn, ever-evolving, and necessary. Yes, nothing wrong with pursuing them, aiming, and dreaming for them. But it has to happen only if a person has a passion for it. If dedicating time and energy to them gives meaning, satisfaction, happiness, and purpose to wake up every day, then yes, choose them, cherish them, and go after them. If it's chosen for mere monetary luxury then it would lead to a pathetically gloomy life, which is in contrast considered the best, the rightful way of living by the society that wrote them down on paper. In this pursuit, the magical things innovated by Sapien beings of storytelling through words, paints, dance, music, everything that falls into the rich realm of art is forgotten, neglected, and considered useless to pursue because of its unexpected turnouts in life. It is true that maybe writing and telling stories is not a necessary area in comparison to say a chemical industry or pharmaceutical that manufactures medicines for people to remain safe and healthy. So that is why being a teacher is considered or perhaps it does pay less or takes a time to gain a comfortable amount of money, which is a long voyage. But, aren’t we all surviving days with thoughts, feelings, and imaginations that speak, write, and paint words, and stories in the space of our minds all the time? Putting them on paper for others to access, learn, practice, and then find ways to express themselves, the way the world is seen, can be seen in the past, present and future. This art is essential to keep a record of our history and journey in this universe, to make ourselves stand out in the cosmos among the possibly existing extra-terrestrial lives out there. And to personally create a platform for every individual to find warmth, comfort, care, euphoria, company, inspiration, expression, love, and all those abstract ideas formed by us. Therefore, we need someone to make stories, film movies, paint walls, sing songs, and cook food, we need humans, more of them to keep doing art selflessly, and flamboyantly. In fact, if we think deeply, about all ways of living, and all jobs for surviving is an art in its way to those who are crazy about it. So, a newborn child needs freedom, needs the education to explore the acts acting in the world. They have to be introduced to all of them from the quickest rewarding road to the most simple, slow aesthetic roads. Freedom to be introduced, explored, exploited, and then choose independently their passions, and excitements. Along with this, they need identification and support to continue on that chosen path. To identify a child’s natural instincts and lean towards a particular arena of learning, parents, and teachers need to think beyond the routine ideas from the man-made book and the bounds of the so-called “Society”.

Forget about reaching great heights of success in science or art. Why is reaching great heights, and doing great work in bigger companies built by humans defined as respectable, and good? A simple tea maker under a thatched roof is also happy. That work too is equally important and respectful. No, the book does not mention so. Why cannot a son from a rich family background wish for a simple life to being a postman for a village, painting walls of the streets, or stitching clothes? Because people of his lineage have informed him carefully of the list of dirty works and clean works. He follows, not to shame his parents and not to be shameful in society. In this line, we forget that small chores and tasks completed by poor people sustain the survival and growth of all other bigger changes and progress. Everything is connected like a network giving and taking every possible help. The book already has a definition and consideration of life as a success, notable achievements, inspiration, and greatness. Don’t we all have our own definition of success, happiness, career growth, love, knowledge, learning, etc? Each mind and soul desires a lot of little things to do, but we hesitate, afraid to break the rules. Why is it wrong to choose comfort at a young age over racing around in the name of a career? Why does it not feel okay to accept a person who is content with less salary, waiting and toiling at home for a greater opportunity, studying to gain more learning with their parent's help? Why is it necessary to comment on and impose the lines to be followed in the book? Again, we need to identify and create our title and story of the way our life we want it to be and pray it. There are all sorts of unfairness in the world like poverty which has happened due to the unlimited greed of humans over the things they themselves have created to function together. Amidst all that irreparable stuff, we need to repair the rulebook first for better functioning and fairness for all. The old bounded small book is ruling us clandestinely, smartly. 

Going further from education and career, comes love, sexuality, relationship, marriage, family, procreation, reproduction, retirement, and death. Women must marry young, a stranger would be enough but she must marry to reproduce. Why comment on women living single in their forties? There are so many ways that can be derived from the world filled with unknown things that can drive a person to go on with life all alone. Then why are love, sex, marriage, and procreation given so much top of world importance? Aren't they just choices and not necessities? What is wrong if one woman chooses to be a radical feminist and bear a child using bioscience and be a single parent? Why can’t a man adopt a child and raise it alone? We have changing days, two men do fall in love, marry and raise a family. Similarly, women do too. Why not then, why can't we go beyond conventionalities? Why not give heed to the inner voice that knows the rights and wrongs for us as unique breathing beings? We are broadening and experimenting, but we need more and more people to burn the rules from the ancient pages. 

Take a word, mention a stage in human life, all of it is predetermined, decided retreat the same path written in the book. The book is annoying at this stage with its recurring appearance everywhere. The topic of how much everything is present rightly, wrongly, in length, in assertion, in threatening ways. The book says so, the book has it, the book should be followed, and the book is everything. The book, the book, the book. The earthly book for humans, by humans. 

Frustration but wait. Is it so bad? Can we think differently? Another perspective? Can the book be good? What would be the situation if it was absent? 

The absence of the book means chaos. We have no belief, no hope, and no direction to lead a life. So the formation of such a book is inevitable. It's going to happen every time the earth is wiped off with its civilization. Traces of the previous beings are taken by the new ones and they go ahead to co-create a new community with new writers who would keep updating, changing, and reaching the same saturation level. All happening, all over again, everything falling into a loop. 

Then it can be good. It is good. If a person enjoys abiding and laboring for society from the dress he/she wears to the life she chooses to wear, then, it is okay. The strict worshiping of ancestral culture is elegant. Indian tradition, myths, folktales, fairytales of religion, caste, and ceremonies are sacred, artsy to see, graceful to follow, and sometimes even peaceful. Temples are serene, they possess divine, peculiar energy with their bell sounds, mantras, astronomically significant construction, and blend of science and holy, all of it is worth, never vain. We have people who would wish to keep the work tradition of a family. Be a sculpture artist for generations. Passing the skills, and passions on and on to the next born. That too sounds proud, inspiring consistency, and unnerving commitment. 

We get back to the same argument of happiness here. Individualistic perception of gaining happiness should not be abandoned for the closing thought of fear, or the opinion of other people living around who are dedicated to the book. So the man-made book is not horrifying but we should not forget that it is not the only sole scripture present. It's just an option, a rough tryout by the older human civilization. Has to be treated as an option and never to shame someone who concludes not to choose it. Respecting, and valuing the deviations. Knowing, and accepting that the billions of stars in the sky appear similar, are made of a few same combinations of elements, but are unique in their ways that are unimaginable or unpredictable. So are we, eight billion people with different thumbprints, and different iris, yet the same in a hundred ways and unique in myriads of astonishing traits. 

Thinking about it, to conclude these circling, stimulating thoughts in an optimistic sight is to say that, we all need to write our own book of morality and principles to read, to follow, to update, to erase, to strike and rewrite, to tear and to burn, to love and hate, to be passionate and disgusted, to be okay and not be okay. All good and all bad. Even To start afresh with new fragrant papers. But we need to own our own books sanguinely, each one of us, secretly or openly, personally, a flexible one with the intention to exploit it with changing alignment of thoughts and feelings. Maybe we do have them already intrinsically that shouts with instincts, intuitions, soul, inner voice, or whatever it is that works mysteriously in every bosom beating but we just need a pinch of realization of its presence, a drop of patience to listen, a big push to act, a vast love to go on living with independence holding tightly to the self-created one. That person-specific book could have only one main goal, which is to attain, survive, sustain, breathe in every molecule of air with a filling sensation of contentment and happiness in the stuff we do daily to ourselves and to others around us. 

Yet again ain't the end all of these thoughts seem lame, rather whimsical. A revolutionary, leaping change, replacement of everything that is painfully bad with good seems impossible, unreachable, and we all are going to look up to the same old book for the years to come. We will keep looping with the stroll and holding on to that man-made, old, old book with a firm grip with a bunch of homo sapiens here and there spread in the planet trying to tear apart the conventional Man Made Book.

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