MIGHT OF THE MIND, writes Niranjan Iyengar

A few days ago my neighbor, Shahin (also the secretary of my building) asked a pertinent question while resolving an official issue, "Is the rule book created for our convenience or are we made to follow the rule book?" Of course, she wasn't advocating anarchy but was merely talking about the margin of discretion that needs to be considered while applying rules.

However her query unleashed a chain of thoughts in my head. "Mind over matter!" "Apply your mind and you can surmount any difficulties!" and several such lines eulogising the power of our minds are thrown at us throughout our lives and we follow them too.

But I have always been a little skeptical about the supremacy of the human mind. Being a writer I rely heavily on its machinations to create tales and hence its absolute power over us humans, makes me a little queasy.

Recently I read a book on the origin of thought in humans and it said that mind was just one of the weapons (like our limbs and senses) bestowed on us so we can survive harsh surroundings and protect ourselves from stronger predators. Humans used it effectively not only to survive but also to create a world conducive to comfort and longevity. But a lot of what exists today – Institutions, cultural ideas, ideologies -- AND a lot of what drives our lives today – ideas of success, power, religion, love – are all a direct result of the evolution of a human mind.

So then is it fair to say that the survival kit, which was meant to serve us has now begun ruling us? Has the weapon become the master? Instead of our minds helping us achieve what we NEED, are we running after things that our minds dictate? "All creative pursuit is a war between mind and body!" Bhattsaab (Mahesh Bhatt) had said to me many years ago. "The mind wants to attain things that the body has no interest in!"

Looking back a strain of this thought perhaps was the seed of Pooja Bhatt's film, Jism, which propagated that body knows no love! Of course all of this does not mean that I debunk the positives of the mind and insist that we all go back to being savages but we do need to tread cautiously when we decide to accept our minds as the deciding authority.

After all, what took nature millions of years to create – rivers, mountains, continents, forests – have all but been destroyed in the name of progress by the human mind (via industrial revolution) in merely two hundred years! Do we need a bigger example of its destructive nature?