Anything Everything

The universe consists of millions of galaxies of varied sizes and shapes. Every galaxy consists of millions of star systems, like our own Solar System. Our Sun is just an average star. One among billions of billions. But, one thing is sure. Sun is no ordinary star. It has 'The Earth' revolving around it, which has Life.

The Earth is the home of a myriad of creatures. But, the only life-form that has the potential to change the face of this planet is the human beings – Homo sapiens . Highly evolved, highly intelligent species ever to walk on this planet. We are indeed special – very, very special! I won't go into the controversial topic of origin of mankind or the cruelties done by man to nature and to his own siblings. This is an ode to human beings.

Oh! Brain, thou maketh Man. Man is intelligent. Kudos to brain. Weighing about 1400 grams, this highly entangled mass of neurons is the control station of ALL of our activities. Hunger, thirst, muscular action, senses, thought, imagination,memory are all the products of the various neural networks. Artificial neural networks are one of the engineering fields that simulates the connections inside the brain to produce efficient computing systems.

Thumb – Fingerprint on History. The major milestone in the development of human civilization is the opposable thumb of man. We have, and ONLY WE have opposable thumb. This superior property enabled us to make tools and weapons, grab them, and use them with ease. This is the start of civilization, without which we still would have been jumping off tree tops.

Eyes – Uncovering the Truth. Our eyes are far, far better than the most modern cameras. Our eye itself is a digital camera. It converts light into electrical pulses and send it to the brain. But, the sensitivity of our eyes in dim light, our ability to see a range of colours from violet to red in the spectrum is a very rare ability. Not all life-forms can see, only a few can. Amongst those who have eyes, only a handful can see a wide range of colours. We are part of that elite group. Our binocular vision enables us to have depth effect. It enables us to have a 3-dimensional portrayal of the things we see. It also enhances clarity of vision.

Bipedal – Walking tall. Look around yourself. How many other beings can walk tall on two legs? Only man can, no one else has that peculiarity. Of course, some forms of chimpanzees can walk in two legs. This is considered as a milestone in the evolution of mankind. That is the reason why Homo erectus , the first ancestor of man to walk on two legs, is considered an important link in our developmental history. Walk with pride!

Mind – Key to all Mysteries. The human mind is the key to all the mysteries around us, while still remaining the greatest of all mysteries itself. The darkest of man's questions and it's answers are present in the mind. Human mind has immense potential that is yet to be understood fully. This mind is the seat of wisdom, imagination, love, empathy, good and evil. Unleash the good and lash the evil inside.

Imagination, thou hath changeth the world. This article would be incomplete without the mention of the imagination of humans. We have been bestowed with a highly intelligent brain. This brain enables us to imagine a multitude of ideas on every other topic on this universe. Without this power of imagination, we would never have made any of the modern amenities for increasing our comfort. All the gadgets around us, all the technologies we depend upon were once wild imaginations. Every scientific hypothesis is the imagination of a genius. A theory is a proven imagination. All works of fiction are the offspring of an imaginative mind. Imagination sows the seed in the fertile mind of a writer. The idea is conceived in the womb of mind. The product is finally delivered after a period of creative maturity.

Sure, Man is beautiful (and so is woman!)

All these are not just the features of human beings. They are the gifts with which we are blessed. In the past, we used them to change ourselves, and the world around us. We have more and severe challenges in front of us. Break free our imaginations from the trammels of conventions. Let them choose their destination. They will bring you the honour of being remembered by the coming generations.