Just a few days ago, i came across this term, 'tabula rāsa,' after quite a while....and in a very unexpected context!...apparently there's a joint with the name in Delhi...i wonder why they would name a lounge 'Tabula Rāsa'?!....cause the phrase by itself has a really interesting meaning...it has its origins in Latin...tabula rāsa = blank slate (tabula = tablet & rāsa = feminine of rāsus = erased)....in human beings....it refers to a state where a person is unmarked by experiences....a 'virgin state of mind', so to speak....does this mean that people who come to this lounge come with the intention of starting off on a new note?....hmm...
sometimes i wish i could do the same....start over....with a clean slate....'tabula rāsa'...
The first time i came across this term was when i was in school (class 8 or 9)....tabula rāsa was the name of a 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' episode...i am a HUGE Buffy TV series fan btw....the first ever Buffy episode i saw was titled 'Witch'....i started watching it wen i was in class 7...and right from day one, i was hooked....obsessed, rather....Buffy used to be aired on Star World every Thursday....there was a new episode at 5 pm, a repeat at 9 the same night and then again at 8 am the next day morning....And on sunday again at 12pm....So, if i happened to miss the 5 pm and 9 pm broadcast, i used to actually bunk school to watch it the next day morning (cause my school began at 9 am)....and i used to watch it on Sunday as well...my parents tried to make me go to school a coupla times....but then i was a VERY adamant child.....
Anyway...going back to tabula rāsa....like i said....there was a Buffy episode by that name (season 6, episode 8)....and the title fit the episode's story perfectly....What happened in that episode was that Willow (Buffy's best friend and Sunnydale's resident witch) cast an amnesia spell by mistake....she meant to cast the spell only on Tara and Buffy, but it ends up casting a spell over all the characters...so they all wake up with no idea as to who they are....this leads to a lot of problems (du-uh!)....but more interestingly...it also kinda gives the viewers an idea of how the stories & characters could have been...like a parallel universe....
The episode made me think (like SO many things do!) about how it would be if i couldd start over....things couldd be SO different....i mean, we build relationships and bonds over YEARS...but what if i met the people i know not when i actually met them, but now, after i've gone through so many changes and am a completely different person than what i was...would we still forge the same kind of relationships we have today?....or would we have entirely different equations?....and could some extremely incompatible relationships actually work out now?....its something to think about, no?.....
Our experiences tend to create biases in our minds...and it's those biases that create or destroy relationships....if those experiences didn't exist (or happened later/earlier), the consequences could be surprising....
But it's also true, i guess, that experiences make us who we are...so it would be unfair to erase it all....a case of selective 'tabula rāsa', anyone? :p
sometimes i wish i could do the same....start over....with a clean slate....'tabula rāsa'...
The first time i came across this term was when i was in school (class 8 or 9)....tabula rāsa was the name of a 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' episode...i am a HUGE Buffy TV series fan btw....the first ever Buffy episode i saw was titled 'Witch'....i started watching it wen i was in class 7...and right from day one, i was hooked....obsessed, rather....Buffy used to be aired on Star World every Thursday....there was a new episode at 5 pm, a repeat at 9 the same night and then again at 8 am the next day morning....And on sunday again at 12pm....So, if i happened to miss the 5 pm and 9 pm broadcast, i used to actually bunk school to watch it the next day morning (cause my school began at 9 am)....and i used to watch it on Sunday as well...my parents tried to make me go to school a coupla times....but then i was a VERY adamant child.....
Anyway...going back to tabula rāsa....like i said....there was a Buffy episode by that name (season 6, episode 8)....and the title fit the episode's story perfectly....What happened in that episode was that Willow (Buffy's best friend and Sunnydale's resident witch) cast an amnesia spell by mistake....she meant to cast the spell only on Tara and Buffy, but it ends up casting a spell over all the characters...so they all wake up with no idea as to who they are....this leads to a lot of problems (du-uh!)....but more interestingly...it also kinda gives the viewers an idea of how the stories & characters could have been...like a parallel universe....
The episode made me think (like SO many things do!) about how it would be if i couldd start over....things couldd be SO different....i mean, we build relationships and bonds over YEARS...but what if i met the people i know not when i actually met them, but now, after i've gone through so many changes and am a completely different person than what i was...would we still forge the same kind of relationships we have today?....or would we have entirely different equations?....and could some extremely incompatible relationships actually work out now?....its something to think about, no?.....
Our experiences tend to create biases in our minds...and it's those biases that create or destroy relationships....if those experiences didn't exist (or happened later/earlier), the consequences could be surprising....
But it's also true, i guess, that experiences make us who we are...so it would be unfair to erase it all....a case of selective 'tabula rāsa', anyone? :p
