Thursday 6 June 2013

Cycle


As a kid, I knew only one meaning of the word ‘cycle’, and it was certainly an important possession that ruled my evenings. However, prefixes kept on varying, from a tricycle to bicycle and then the motorcycle, and these days, a totally unique one, Project cycle. When the latest prefix got significant in a sense of daily encounters, it all together gave a new dimension and meaning to the word cycle and hence some pondering became inevitable.

Cycle that symbolizes one of the greatest inventions of mankind, the happiness of parents when their child first strokes the pedals of tricycle, the joy of a kid that comes on the first ride with no training wheels, and the energy of an enthusiast performing stunts with his bike got altered into the paradigms of IT jargon. Keen over the multiplicity of the word cycle, the imagination hovered over the grounds of lingo and then landed on the term ‘life cycle’ that boggled the mind enough that it pedalled the way for this blog.

Upon looking further through the windows of my browser, many interesting facts, tales, designs and theories surfaced that portrayed the universality of the cycle or rather universality in a cycle. From being the symbol of an Indian political party to the Tour de France competition, the cycle has its imprint on several realms, either in figurative or literal terms. As per a theory in Physical Cosmology, Big Bang is described as the birth and Big Crunch as the end of a universal cycle, and the Puranas adding further to this states the occurrence of numerous such universal cycles. The Space-Time Continuum also talks about the relativity of space and time and their corresponding cyclical nature. These arguments of science and religion prompted the usage, universality in a cycle.  

And at this juncture keeping the above mentioned in view, the word cycle ceases to exist within the scopes of air-filled rubber circumferencing metallic spokes, rather it manifests into a shapeless cloud full of droplets from infinite sources that govern something as huge as the universe. The cycle in literal terms is the repetitive occurrence of events, like the waves on a shore striking the land repeatedly. Just ponder how waves glide over the sea, push the land, retreats humbly and then charges again with the same roar, riding on the strength of the sea. The cycle could also be a trap, and that's where Nirvana comes in the picture. Directed attempt to break free from this periodicity of day and night, happiness and sorrows, life and death.