Monday, May 08, 2006

The Multi-faced me (us)!

Yes! That’s true! I am multi-faced, so are, we all. Confused!? Well, I am confused myself when I think of this idea. I see myself different than as you see me. The idea of being different with different people! Can’t there be a standard ‘Guru’? I am just another normal being in this social world. I think I represent a majority of people. I know many who are like me, different at different times. Why is it always like this with me (us)?

I always observe people and their behaviour in groups and individually. Interestingly, they are not same, sometimes not even similar. They act, talk and behave different and what is more interesting is that all these changes constantly and takes the shape that fits into the environment around which they are at that time. They squeeze in to the form that just fits them into that milieu. The thought of mine is the reasoning behind it. To find answers for questions, Why do we do this? Why put on faces? Why can’t we be just one all the time?

Is it for money? Business reasons? Or ??? Isnt it cheating ourselves, be a chameleon and put faces. Surprisingly, many companies, especially internet ones cater for our needs for being multi-faced. There are always options to choose a ‘Public Profile’ and a ‘Personal Profile’ for one single person and many other websites allows creating more than one profile (Yahoo! for example allows you to create up to 5 profiles with one login).
Why do we need so many profiles, we are just ‘One’. One thought that struck me as I end this article is probably we all are trying to prove what great philosophers have always voiced
“Jeevana Ondhu Naataka ranGa, Naavella kevala PaThraDharigalu”
(Life is a drama and we all are actors),
but just literally!!!


PS: I have found some interesting pictures that could be related to the above idea, the multiple faces we have, how people perceive each other and how we squeeze into the environment taking different shapes and sizes.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hmm..your question itself has the answer. there cant be any 'standard' person in this universe. i think this behavioural changes may be due to many factors. be it for business/financial/personal/emotional/otherwise. well..as u put it in last para, some just act as chameleon and change colors..

it may not be a very significant point, but we are aware that Lord krishna himself had to act differently on different occassions,depending on the gravity of the circumstance/problem.as far as i know, He is the most multi-faced person i have ever known...hehe..
he acted to be asleep when duryodhana went for his help, just not to take kavravas side.He took a woman's guise to kill rakshasas (i think mohini avatar)..so on and soforth..

so buddy, dont strain ur brains as to why we are all multifaced..itz just another human trait. it is indeed difficult to find out a person acting like this has a genuine reason or simply cheating himself and others..

i too hv come across people who talk and change their versions according to circumstances..infact, I am multifaced too. But not to cause any harm to anyone by being so….i think it is difficult to find a person with pure n innocent heart these days.. even if we find one, so called 'society' and 'circumstances' change them..to act accordingly.


Gosh!!! my comment has become like a blog..:))

Anonymous said...

Real good observation! Thanks for bringing it up.

I think it's like a flute that can play many tunes or a phone that can dial many numbers. Like gvp said, different situations bring out different qualities inherent in us.

Sometimes, what we seem may be a strained attempt to be what we are not.. which is uncomfortable for everyone present.

From our related discussion on accents, I believe new natures, too, can be learnt. It may be strained initially but the sooner we slip into it the easier it gets.

Adaptability is an intelligent process which requires acknowledging your surroundings. Also beauty is when you pick up the current outer nature and dance in harmony with it.

We can be one single person but I don't think it's essential or necessarily 'noble' to limit your personality.

Another comment, another blog. :)

Anonymous said...

Hmmm....well, Guru, there's nothing wrong or alarming about being multi-faced as it comes naturally to all of us homosapiens. Changing ourselves according to the environment around us is what survival in the social world is all about. Isn't it??
More often than not the popular, successful and approachable ones are those who have mastered the art of being multi-faced.Communication is the one of important ingredients to success . So in order to communicate effectively with every individual, one needs to make himself/herself understandable (whether through words, actions or emotions) to that individual. The only way of doing it is by making himself/herself multi-faced as we may not come across the same kind of individual everytime.

Guru said...

As GVP and shruthi says i guess the circumstances do make us change..

as such we really dont have to be standard..or as shruthi says 'nobel limit of personality' and i guess ashwin's point of view is also correct with examples of successful people...they couldnt have been like that without putting on faces

Thats well said sudheer!! making equations with the variables of life!! that is a better idea!!

but i also like to think how would it be, without being multifaced!an ideal world??

Harsha S Rao said...

A nice blog. I have thought about it many times too...i liked (and can relate to) shruthi's comment "Adaptability is an intelligent process which requires acknowledging your surroundings. Also beauty is when you pick up the current outer nature and dance in harmony with it." Boy! What a sentence! :)

Guru said...

oh! yes... shruti is a master of words... her sentences make u read them twice and has great meanings... i liked it tooo... hats off shruti...

Chitra said...

Well, Guru, I have pondered over this thought of urs, being multifaceted for years now. Even today, I hate being someone other than myself to anybody around. But life throws at us different cards all the time and expects us behave accordingly.

I feel we are not multifaceted by choice, but by circumstances which demand us to be so.

Guru said...

@chitra.....I agree with you, there is much more than being yourself in life.. people, society and our circumstances as well..