A Bend in the Lane

In vs vt da xz bi sw! PS: The cipher key is ' A Beginning'

There is a sad statistic out there on the net that 90% of women will have at least one new year resolution that states "get in shape" or "lose weight". Thought this might be a tiny reminder to appreciate and accept your body. 

Bibliophiles must know the agony of the assault of to-read books on book shelves. The books that one buys in an ambitious impulse but somehow never got around to finishing for whatever reasons - the print is too small, the writing sucks, i dont feel for the characters, there is a typo on pg156 - ad infinitum.  Last I checked, here's my wicked list - 1. Andew O'Hagan's Our Fathers 2. Mahabharata 3. Freakanomics 4. Art and physics 5. Plato's The Republic (never got beyond Book IV) 6. Chomsky for Beginners 7. The Hill Station by J G Farrell

Why does it matter what Oprah Winfrey weighs now? Why is it headlines on CNN? Why?

Excerpt -  "Nothing is left of the dead but earth. Can you refute this wisdom? --Perhaps I can. -And how will you do it, hero boy? --By the legend of my life, with which I refute all sophistries. By a myth of homecoming and a myth of resurrection. Come back to Raintree County, wandering child. Remember the great deaths and the great homecomings. Come back, and bring a sprig of lilac. For you will always be on trains and coming home, and the legend that recalled you from the City will always be tingling along the wires of the Republic. Come back to Raintree County and find your home again. And you will find again the sphinxlike silence of the earth. Knock hard, young hero, on the gates of death. Listen to the wail of the train at the crossing. This is the myth of America and of those who cross America on trains. This is the myth of those who come back home.

I have a leaking ship to captain right now. It needs all my atttention. Can I like bore you with my thoughts, say after October 18th? I suppose, you shall all be able to survive the deprevation just fine, as my two cents worth are not really worth two cents. Anyhoos, let's not say Good Bye, but rather Till We Meet Again on October 18.

Actually they are not. I've always been terribly dissapointed with Indy Jones - he finds treasure and he never claims it for his own. Ditto with Nancy Drew (who by the way is so annoying with her model citizen act, calling the authorities after discovering ancient treasure). Well one guy on some Gold Prospectors forum was mightily peeved over ownership rights of found gold and vented his frustration thus - A)They would come under the antiquity laws. B)They would come under national treasure laws C)They would come under normal treasure laws. D)They also would be under normal mining laws. E)They could come under native repartition laws also. F)Some how, the Jesuits could have a claim too. I say, what is the point of breaking your back while trying to find The Dutchman mines or Oak Island's money pit, when you actually cant keep the gold? I mean isn't that being dumb? I know the journey is all exciting and yadayadayada but isnt that like saying something dumb like "I wor...

To live in times when names like Lehman Brothers; Merril Lynch will no longer exist. In times when an omniscient insurance company teetered on the edge of collapse and finally gets taken over by state! Egad! I am finance-challenged. Despite that, I cant help but feel a growing sense of dread in the pit of my tummy, and a perverted tingle of excitement - one that 49ers may have had when setting out to 'go west' to find gold in caravans, in boxcar trains. Except that we ain't going west. And there aint gonna be any gold awaiting at the last stop. And the only people who shall come good out of these times are the kind who sold water then.

My blog format is screwed. Blogger sucks :-( Or i suck :-(

Folks! Today is Big Bang Day. The very day when the LHC ("Big Bang Machine") will be switched on (two years behind schedule) at CERN. And, possibly, as we speak, the condition in that 27km tunnel will be similar to the condition of the universe about a billionth of a second after Big Bang! The greatest scientific endeavor since we landed on moon.

You may have heard of the highly publicised involvement of Emile Zola in the Dreyfus Affair in France. Interestingly, not many people know about the infamous Great Wyrley Outrages and the subsequent crusade of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to free George Edalji ( a Parsee + Scottish 'Indian' man). Even Wikipedia does little justice to this fascinating case. The Edalji case has almost been forgotten, while the Zola was eulogised as "a moment of conscience in humanity" for his involvement in the Dreyfus scandal. It's puzzling cuz, both cases were similar - A popular literary figure (Zola, Doyle) crusading for justice, working against establishment and government to free the accused (Dreyfus, Edalji) who was being discriminated due to his religion/race (Jewish, mixed blood-Catholic). If you get a chance, pick up the Booker nominated "Arthur & George" It does the case justice.

...when your collegemate's wee-little brother adds you as a friend on Facebook.

I dont know too much about Sen. Joe Biden. (We shall soon though now that he is the Democrat Vice Presidential nominee.) But, I thought he was a witty when I heard his famous one-liner about Republican Rudy Giuliani's Presidential campaign in 2007 - "There's only three things he [Giuliani] mentions in a sentence: a noun, a verb and 9/11." Also, heard he is a powerful orator. That should be helpful cuz personally, I think oratory is not exactly Obama's forte. He has too many pauses, "err", "umms" in his speeches. Interesting days ahead,

I am watching the 2008 Olympics ceremony as I type and it struck me that the world has heard the Chinese national anthem so many frigging times (51 times + 1 time during the opening ceremony) that i betcha a lot of us have it practically memorised!

I know we are all very preoccupied with Bolt's 9.69 sec 100m, and how many chicken sandwiches Phelps eats for breakfast and other trivia that makes a whole lot of difference in our lives. So, i am almost feeling guilty about posting this link for you to read and well..think.

How should we live? "Through knowledge for its own sake, curiosity, the craving to know things as they really are."

begin rant; Oh! Why dont we all shut it and mind our bloody/unbloody business? Oh, why dont we just stop bothering people and shoo away and do our own thing instead? In defeat malice, in victory revenge seems to be the order of the day. Malice, malice, vomit, malice. Yeah, I know. Everybody is nice, unless proven un-nice. But if everybody was nice, why are such shitty things happening right now? You and I think we are exceptions. Well, think again. We are just ignorant. In addition to being filled with malice. We deserve one another. end rant; Sidey Irrelevant Note: Perhaps malice is the reason why I never liked the name Alice/Alaise or the Alice in Wonderland/Through the Looking Glass.

What's with shoes and girls, you guys ask? Beats me too. How shoe shopping can be therapy baffles me. Being in a mall for more than 50 minutes is all very disturbing. But trying to cramp my broad toes into an area of 2 cm by 2cm is very distressing and I need to go home and lie down after the effort. Some lunatic stole my Nikes a year or so ago. Instead of shoe shopping, I dug out these 7 year old Reebok's out of the shoe rack and began parading around Singapore in the embarrassments called running shoes for 9 months or so. My dad even threatened that either I stay or the shoes stay. Finally, a month ago I was bullied into shoe shopping. Got some pink Nikes. They look awright, I suppose. I mean, I wear the ugliest Dr. Scholl's in town, so pink shoes aren't gonna dent my self-esteem much. I have matching pink socks to go with. Why are we garrulously talking about shoes and hair when bombs are rocking the Old Country? I dont know. Honestly, it's all terribly disappo...

I need a hair makeover. Something drastic. Chop Chop Snip Snip. Any ideas?

Here I recall a line from my all time favourite movie The Lion in Winter - Eleanor of Aquitaine, utterly spent from the bitter fight she just has with Henry II, asks him in unguardedly - Eleanor : "How did we get here?" Henry: "Step by step" Isn't that true? Isn't that how you become your destiny? Step by step, choice by choice. And at the end of the day, will you be able to live with the choices you made that made/unmade you? When shadows lengthen, and I am solitary, can I face my face in the crooked mirror? Have you lived the destiny you wanted? What gnawing regrets are you harboring? Hush, now. Listen carefully. To the whispers within. Hush, now.

The book brims with poignant wisdom about human emotions and motivations for human actions. It has many timeless and some brutal truths about human emotions and weaknesses. A lot of it rang true. A lot of it was distressing. Especially the message that the major/minor decisions we take really come from very simple motivations, and that how your life turns out is largely dependent on these decisions made because of these silly motivations. It was rather frightening for someone who believes that we make most decisions by weighing the good and the bad consequences in some form or the other. Kundera argues that what we perceive as good is really our personal kitsch. I would read it if I were in a exploring mood. It ain't light reading. But you ain't gonna stop reading once you start.

There are some very rare days when I read my morning news and I get depressed. Today was one of those days. Mr Mandela recently said , "It is time for new hands to lift the old burdens; it is in your hands now". These words call for passionate, honourable wisdom. Sounds rather heroic, innit? Well, with all honesty, I dont really feel like carrying these burdens. These burdens like Oil costing an insane $130 per barrel now when it only cost $40 in 2005. I saw the price of rice bag I buy double in 3 months. Terrorism is now a domestic issue for most countries. War and assorted injustices happening in Iraq and in Afghanistan. Things dont look so good in Africa. Especially in Zimbabwe and Sudan. Things dont look so great down in Antarctica either, with that ice shelf collapsing in March and all. Bird Flu scares are too frequent. We are exposed to more carcinogens than ever. The person in front of me in the line in the supermarket asked for double plastic bags for her groceries...

George Bush has a HUGE birthday present for Nelson Mandela. Mandela, is now taken off the US Terrorist List. Which means, Mandela can travel to the USA without a waiver from Condi Rice. Now, how is that for a big bonus? I mean what more could a 90 year old respected world leader ask for in life?  I mean, seriously!

Crocheted this silly bumble bee bookmark on a laaazy Sunday aftie. You can have one, if you are nice to me :-)

Ever experienced logging to email and getting a seizure upon noticing that you have 70 new emails? And all of them replies to the original email, or reply to the reply to the original email, or reply to the reply to the forward of the email. As in "Re: Re: Re: Fw: Re: Re: XYZ"*. And upon opening the 45th Re: Fw: Re: Fw: Re: Re: XYZ* email, you notice that the contents are as far removed from the original topic as can be? Admit it, you are guilty too. [* where subject XYZ can be "Hangout at My Smelly Room on Friday the 13th" or "Who Stole my Muffin in the Fridge in Office Pantry Level 34?" or "Farewell, I am Finally Leaving" or "Movie Plans for 13 December 2023" or "End War in Iraq by Signing This Petition Which Nobody Reads" or or ..well you get the drift] Well, I found the below extract, hilarious and so true to us, the Generation  Re: Fw: Re: Fw: Re: XYZ'.  Something similar happened, albeit with less coll...

There is this cool urban legend that the logo of Apple Computers (multi colored, striped apple with a piece bitten off) was a tribute to 'father of Artificial Intelligence' , 'father of Cryptography' , 'father of Computer Science', Alan Turing. Much persecuted during the WWII because of his homosexuality, Turing committed suicide/accidentally killed himself/was assassinated (whichever theory you believe in) by eating a cyanide laced apple. His cleaning lady found him the next day with a half bitten apple beside him. However, its an urban myth. The Apple Computers logo is a tribute. But it's a tribute to Newton's apple, not Turing's apple. And the compelling evidence is from Kelley Advertising - An earlier Apple Computer logo featured Sir Isaac Newton under an apple tree. "Rob Janoff of Regis McKenna Advertising designed the logo with the apple representing "the acquisition of knowledge." This account g...

Felt like posting excerpts of the immortal wisdom of Dharmaraja'a answers to Yaksha Prashna: What rescues man in danger? A.Courage is mans salvation in danger What is faster than the wind? A. Mind Which is the biggest vessel? A. Earth that contains every thing in it. What is happiness? A. It is the result of good conduct What is that abandoning by which he is loved by all? A. Pride What is that loss that yields joy and not sorrow? A. Anger What is that by giving up which man becomes rich? A. Desire What is the greatest of all wonders in the world? A. Every day man sees creatures die. Yet those who live seek to live for ever.

Late senator Daniel Moynihan said that people are entitled to their own opinions, but not their own facts. How absolutely true, and how often we forget this while getting all tangled up in our opinions.

Inexpressibly, I found this photograph incredibly touching

London -  I scored 6/10 :-( How did you fare?

... I have some remnants of talent. A cellphone case I made over commute and lunch hour - Admit it, its rather shady, innit? Oh, well, I picked up the crochet needle after a 7 year sabbatical. So, I guess I can be excused.

. .. a landmark case that mandated a 'Miranda warning' before arresting a criminal suspect. Without this Miranda warning an incriminating statement bu a suspect will not constitute as admissible evidence. A typical 'miranda warning' sounds like - " You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to have an attorney present during questioning. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you. " PS - Yes, I lunched in and hence, went berserk on Google.

...is when you stare into the golden glow from the green lamp above your head counting sheep and wondering at the silence of the fourth hour of the new day. By the fifth hour you arise to post a lame post on your already lame blog.

A 4 hour Monday meeting has been canceled! And to think that the very thought of this meeting made me take 35 minutes to get out of bed this morning. Miracles do happen on Monday! PS: On a side, the title has been inspired by a 1940s tearjerker I saw yesterday, "Miracles in the Rain". Jane Wyman as usual made me reach out for my Kleenex.

Nil desparandum! Nil desparandum! There is light at the tunnel. Tread the path Consilio et animis. Nil desparandum.

North by Northwest is my favourite Hitchcock. Close runner up would be The 39 Steps. Though, separated by decades, both movies have the famous Hitchcock touches - The McGuffin. Man on the Run Mistaken Identity Blonde woman embroiled in espionage When I first heard of the McGuffin touch, I thought it was all jolly clever of Hitchcock. The whole movie/plot revolves around this "McGuffin" (which could be an idea/plot/secret/person). But its inconsequential to the movie, what this McGuffin is. What is important is the drama that results around the McGuffin. For example, in The 39 Steps, the whole film revolves around this quest to uncover what The 39 Steps is by the hero, but what the 39 Steps is ultimately unimportant to the plot. What happens in the hero's quest is essential to the movie. Hitchcock also can be terribly original. Take certain chilling scenes of North by Northwest - he revelutionised the thriller genre. Think about this, when we talk about horror/thriller s...

<Skip this post if you do not wish to get a heavy dose of spirituality or the whole works.> <I told you to skip it. You still want to read? Fine, suffer.> Yesterday, I attended the first in a series of spiritual talks that are being given by a visiting professor, Prof Anil Kumar. I shan't go into all the song and dance of the purpose of these talks, except that they are highly enjoyable not only because of the insane humor the Professor injects into spirituality, but because he tends to address the usual doubts that ail ordinary believers of God. He talks about how God is the truest form of unconditional love and that all human relationships are bound by one or another form of give and take. Human relationships, be it mother-child, wife-husband, guru-sishya, friend-friend rarely are unconditional. (Interestingly, I recently posted about this very point.) That the only love that is unconditional, boundless and limitless is that of God's. Here is a rambling summar...

There are inspiring stories behind all those orgs like Asha for Education, CRY, Habitat for Humanity...But the story behind NICE is very simple. It is the man who is inspiring.  Sri Poornachandra Rao so inspired another man that, a decade after meeting him, the inspired man featured a character based on Sri Poornachandra Rao in his touching road movie Gamyam . I looked up NICE's annual report to find that the org isnt too big for our non-monetary donations (pens, books, chairs) to seem feeble or our monetary donations to disappear in administrative charges. SIN$130 covers a child's 1Y education. $130 for a year of knowledge. That's what I spend on 13 movie tickets. Take a look . Dont be lazy. You may or you may not wish to donate. But read his story.

A towering verse penned by Sri Harivanshrai Bachchan - Tu na thakega kabhi, tu na thamega kabhi, tu na mudega kabhi, Kar shapath, kar shapath, kar shapath, Agneepath, Agneepath, Agneepath. Edited to add meaning as requested - My literal translation: You shall not tire ever, you shall not give up ever, you shall not turn back ever, take the oath, take the oath, take the oath, Path of Fire, Path of Fire, Path of Fire My shallow broad translation: Swear that you will persevere resolutely, with the test of fire, without ever tiring, without ever giving up, without ever turning back.

I was talking to Jayesh about how faith in God should be independent of the joys and misery God puts us through, that Faith should not be conditional. I scorned people who did otherwise. But after the conversation, I got off my judgmental horse and realised that I was talking pure idealism that even I (gasp!) have not matched up to. Most human relationships are conditional. We love because we are loved. We help because we are comfortable.  We feed because we are well fed.  I am not making sense am I?  Oh dear, let me try and explain. Did you ever feed someone - a beggar, your child, mother, whoever - when you were going hungry? Do you love your family/partner/dog without expecting something in return? Did you ever donate your (not your dad's, mom's, ancestral) money to a cause you believed in when money was hard to come by? Perhaps not all of us have been in such situations, so lets just simply ask, have you been unconditional? That one glorious shining moment w...

Like the other 10 million blogs, I have decided to do a post on Senator Obama's speech on Race. Anybody who lives on Earth and has access to mass media could not have missed the Race speech he gave a couple of months ago. Like many of us, I was too busy to read the whole transcript. I just read the excerpts on MSNBC and NYT and saw some clips on Youtube. I thought it was a fantastic speech. That was before I read the whole thing. Yesterday, I decided to read the whole speech. Mid way through, I got so worked up, and eyes began welling up that I knew i had to actually see him utter these magnificent words. So, I went on Youtube and heard him. The whole 37 min. Gentlemen, anybody who heard this speech and still doubts that he can be the president the world needs to have, should quickly move to Mars.The response was overwhelming. My Oxford roommate, who is a poet, actually wrote a poem about Barack Obama after the speech. Here is one response i found online - peaceful easy feeling Sa...

I was looking at all the projects that National Geographic Society is providing grants for when The Genographic Project caught my eye. The Genographic Project, touted as a landmark study of the human journey, is the making of an atlas of the human journey, the tracing of our ancestors steps, where you and I really come from, and how did we get there from that group of African ancestors over 60000 years ago? It sounds phenomenal! A 5 year project involving scientists and IBM researches (for cutting edge genetic & computational technologies) entwining genetics, anthropology and technology. There are some phenomenal visuals about human migratory history in the site. The exciting thing is, you can actually participate in this study. With a painless cheek swab you can sample your own DNA and submit it to the lab. Then the project people run a test to your DNA, it reveals your ancestry and the journeys that they made over 60000-10000 years ago! The project director, Dr Spencer Wells,...

My sister is a gardener. She likes plants. Plants seem to like her too. They bloom under her eye. Take for example the record sized eggplant she grew last year. It actually resembled a bulbous freakish purple monstrosity. I wish I could just show you what a terror it was, but unfortunately, I deleted the pictures she sent me of this monstrosity as they gave me seizures. This spring she managed to germinate many seeds and transfered them into 80 pots. She will soon get her husband to transfer the potted plants to the vegetable patch in the backyard and the flowerbed in the front lawn. She grows her own veggies - carrots, tomatoes, eggplant, okra, or whatever catches her fancy. She also grows flowering shrubs - tulips, poppies (no, not for pot), geraniums, violets, azaleas, blah blah blah. You get the drift? Quaint, innit? Below is a picture of a few of her tulips she planted around a lamppost in their front lawn. I dare say, I contributed to this passion of hers in the beginning. In th...

One needs to learn many things in life. To become wise and stay young at heart. To know the time to pry and the time to be quiet. To know when to shake hands and when to hug. To know when to talk and when to listen. To know when to  carry the joke farther and when to draw the line. To know when to try and when to let things take their course. To know when to have secrets and when to let people in.  To know when to fly the nest and when to plant your roots. To know when to sow and when to work the harvest. To know when to hold on and when to move on. A quarter of a century wasn't quite enough. Would the rest of the 40 be enough?

A fool fills himself with evil a little at a time.

"Gardeners say that the seed of rosemary never grows in French soil, but if you pull off some little branches of rosemary, strip them down toward the base, hold them by the tips, and plant them, they will grow again. If you want to send rosemary branches a long distance, wrap them in waxed cloth, sew them up, anoint the outside with honey, dust them with wheat flour, and send them where you will."

'Twas fun to do. Might be tiresome to read though. Last Movie You Saw In A Theater: El Orfanato, a Spanish spookie . What Book Are You Reading: Malcolm Caldwell's Blink Favorite Board Game: Taboo Favorite Magazine: Ever heard of The World & I ?(although I have grown out of it) And, someday, I would like to say The Economist here, if only I understood 60% of the analysis in there. Favorite Smells: Distinct scent of grandmama's zari sarees and skin. Bath and Body Works Gardenia Lily body splash.  Crispy air right after the rain. Freshly mowed grass,  Sea Spray. Favorite Sound: Wind chimes tinkling, sounds of a gale, church bells tolling, voices of a couple of people. Worst Feeling In The World: Helplessness in the face of injustice small or big. Disappointment with oneself. What Is The First Thing You Think Of When You Wake? Depends. Mostly God. Favorite Fast Food Place: Subway. Future Child's Name: Sathya (irregardless of sex of baby). ...

Sorry, I haven't been able to think/blog as much as I would like to. But I was re-reading certain parts of Claudius, the God ( a present from a friend :-) ) and thought it was pretty telling of how sharp witted Emperor Claudius was contrary to historian's belief that he was dull witted- " Before I forget it, there is another story that I want to tell about a stolen gold cup...Once I [Claudius, the Roman Emperor], invited a number of provincial knights to supper - and would you believe it , one of the rogues, Marseilles man, went off with the gold cup that had been put before him. I didn't say word to him, but invited him to supper again the next day and this time gave him only a stone cup. This apparently frightened him, for the next morning the gold cup was returned with a fulsomely apologetic note explaining that he had taken the liberty of borrowing the cup for two days in order to get the engravings on it, which he much admired, copied by a goldsmith; he wished t...

This time, its Big Elk's wise words - "Do not grieve. Misfortunes will happen to the wisest and best of men. Death will come, always out of season. It is the command of the Great Spirit, that all nations and people must obey. What is past and what cannot be prevented should not be grieved for ... Misfortunes do not flourish particularly in our lives - they grow everywhere." Such seemingly simple calming words are difficult when faced with circumstances that the Omaha Indians faced - disease, war, disappearing hunt, intruding white men, pressure to become 'civilized', etc.

are : "What is Life? It is the flash of a firefly in the night. It is the breath of a buffalo in the winter time. It is as the little shadow that runs across the grass and loses itself in the sunset." Wise words of a wise man.

I was reading the Guardian Books section (yes, i have to drop names just to try and pass off as belonging to the intellectual gentry) when I saw this tongue-in-cheek ad on the page. I loved the "Go on George, its free" line in the third column best :-) [click on the image, you can see it better]

I came across this excerpt while reading Count Belisarius by Robert Graves - " It is a well known that almost everyone in the world is discontented with his trade or profession. The farmer would like to be an emperor, the Emperor would like to plant cabbages; the lean captain of a trading vessel envies the big paunched wine shop proprietor - who returns the envy dissatisfied with his stay-at-home life." That was during the 6th century Roman Empire. It holds true even today.  I suppose some things never change.

Jayesh replied to my post "Monday Mornings" in the following way - "Suggested happy thoughts just for Monday mornings: (1) Your boss might be on vacation / call in sick / get hit by a falling aeroplane (2) You will be promoted today to President from Vice-President (in charge of Photocopying, Faxing, Taxibooking & Getting Yelled At By Painful Clients) (3) they have replenished the coffee in the vending machine (4) Friday is JUST 5 days away (5) Retirement is JUST 35 years away (6) Your zodiac forecast says that you just might travel to Cambodia in two weeks with some really really cool people" :-)

I wore this very 'Abercrombie & Fitch' sorta purple skirt that has this very gunny-sack, ragged and faded feel to it. My grandmother definitely wouldnt have like it. In fact she would have pointed out that her maid wears better rags than that. Anyhoo, I was feeling very attractive in this skirt, and needed some feedback. If you havent already noticed, i need constant feedback from the men in my life. So, I approached the single most important male figure in my life, my dad. He was (you guessed it), watching news. Me : Dad? Dad : Uh huh. Me : Dad, am I looking pretty? Dad [without giving me a glance]: Uh huh Me [whining]: Daaaaaaad Dad [looking up]: Uh huh? Me [doing a pirouette]: Dad, look! Look! Am I looking pretty in this skirt? Dad [slightly puzzled]: Come a little closer. Me [pirouetting some more]: See, its pretty, innit? Dad [puzzled]:  you are wearing it inside out. All the thread and seams are on the outside showing. Me [blinking]:Dad, its supposed t...

Food for thought : " Politics without principle, wealth without work, commerce without morality, pleasure without conscience, education without character, science without humanity, and worship without sacrifice. " ~ MK Gandhi

Monday mornings are such ghastly, hateful things.How does one survive 'em? Call in sick and stare at the ceiling for ages? Take urgent leave and sleep in? Stay at home and watch reruns of Days of Our Lives? Quit the job and become a gardener? There needs to be one thought, one damn happy, inspiring thought that should make it worth while to endure a Monday. One happy thought. What could it be?

Why Argentina? Well, number of reasons. But simplistically speaking, here are 1-2-3 - 1. Many Germans began to migrate to South Am since the 19th century. So, the SS men/ fugitives could integrate with the community there without raising any suspicions. 2. Although Argentina declared that she was neutral, Juan Peron, the then President during WWII was a known Nazi sympathiser. 3. Argentinian extradition laws are pretty rigid. Getting a fugitive extradited from Argentina is a Herculean task. Historically speaking, South American governments like Chile, Argentina, etc were always bogged by one coup or the other. Leaders often flee to neighbouring countries for political asylum or otherwise. Hence, South Am countries as a general rule have very strict extradition laws that seem to 'protect' fugitives. Think about it - You are President John Doe of a South Am country. You allow President Bud Joe who escaped to your country after a coup to be extradited to his Country C where he wi...

Aye, its "Land Ahoy!" The leak has been plugged. I sailed the high seas and am back on land. I can safely say, that I have a lot of time to bore you all till the paint peels from the wall.

I have a leaking ship to captain right now. It needs all my atttention. Can I like bore you with my thoughts, say after March 8th? I suppose, you shall all be able to survive the deprevation just fine, as my two cents worth are not really worth two cents. Anyhoos, let's not say Good Bye, but rather Till We Meet Again on March 8.

Sometimes, you come across a few lines which sum up exactly what you think or thought up of except that somebody else had already thought it up 50 years before you did and hatefully, had written it down so much better than you could ever hope to. Sometimes you hate that somebody for that. But most times you feel a certain kinship with that somebody. Well, there were so many many many instances of the later kind while I was reading Catcher In the Rye. Take this excerpt - "And yet I still act sometimes like I was only about twelve. Everybody says that, especially my father. It's partly true, too, but it isn't all true. People always think that something's all true. I don't give a damn, except that I get bored sometimes when people tell me to act my age. Sometimes I act a lot older than I am -I really do- but people never notice it." Holden Caulfield's complaint is mine! It is so true. Take how I behave around my folks - childish , pouty, throwing mock tant...

I was struggling to describe how I felt really old in my bones while I was sitting on a bench in the field behind my office just yesterday. But I needn't have tried. Tolkein said it all, much more hauntingly, much more beautifully- I sit beside the fire and think of all that I have seen, of meadow-flowers and butterflies In summers that have been; Of yellow leaves and gossamer in autumns that there were, with morning mist and silver sun and wind upon my hair. I sit beside the fire and think of how the world will be when winter comes without a spring that I shall ever see. For still there are so many things that I have never seen: in every wood in every spring there is a different green. I sit beside the fire and think of people long ago, and people who will see a world that I shall never know. But all the while I sit and think of times there were before, I listen for returning feet and voices at the door.

"One is sick to death of cleverness. Everybody is clever nowadays. You can't go anywhere without meeting clever people. The thing has become an absolute public nuisance. I wish to goodness we had a few fools left." ~ Jack Worthing in The Importance of Being Earnest PS: Its a pretty damn funny play!

Found this para in the above book worthy of some mulling over - " [Socrates on] being asked what was the best study for man to apply himself to, he answered, "To do well;" and being asked farther whether good fortune was the effect of study, "On the contrary," said he, "I think good fortune and study to be two opposite things; for what I call good fortune is, when a man meets with what is necessary for him, without the trouble of seeking it; but when he meets with any good success after a tedious search and labour, it is an effect of study.  This is what I call to do well; and I think that all who take delight in this study are for the most part successful, and gain the esteem of men, and the affection of the Deity.  Such are they as have rendered themselves excellent in economy, in physic, and in politics; but he who knows not any one thing perfectly is neither useful to men, nor beloved by the gods."

Have you observed how, happiness makes us insensitive? Like when you were happy, you couldn't comprehend or were patient enough to hear out or really feel for someone who's in not so great state?

The last post (Two Kinds) got me into a bit of fix. As many as 5 people contacted me with a range of questions – Person 1: “who are the people you referring to in particular?” Person 2: “just curious, what incident brought this up?” Person 3: “you talking about me?” Person 4: “what makes you think so cynically?” Person 5: As much as I am pleased that people actually read my blog, I was a little peeved with the pathetic fix I managed to create for myself. I dislike acting like one of those muddled people who think in circles and create trouble, most of all for themselves. As I like hearing myself talk and as I have plenty of other urgent things to attend to, I shall now set out to elaborate. Why are we nice? The simplest explanation is that we are innately good. But its far too simple to be true all the time. Are we nice from choice or from lack of choice? Did that tiny voice ever question you ‘would you still be nice if you had the guts to be otherwise?’? Ever w...

There are some people who are nice because it is their nature. Then there some who are nice because they are too cowardly to be anything else. The first kind are harmless, the later kind lethal …

Yesterday, a friend complained that it was very hard to catch me over the weekends and that appointments with me have to be booked in advance. And to illustrate his point, he was trying to make a plan to hangout when he is actually overseas. This made me do a double take and was a bit of a shocker, if you ask me. I have often prided myself about my availability to friends. I am usually game for trying things or simply sitting down for a good conversation. Conversation is key. I forget things easily. But I don't forget conversations easily. Take my college years. More than the lessons, more than the laughs, more than the trips, I remember exact details of so and so conversation and the effect it had. So, for a pal to accuse me of being unavailable for a good conversation troubled me. I went to bed thinking. True, it has been a while since I did the library jaunts with RR, or eaten a good morsel with Unpredictable. I haven't pinged XL, or met with S and a cluster of others in...

A declaration of my plan, just so that I actually carry it out, instead of it merely being a pretty Post It decoration on my wall. - Hit the library for 12 hours - Long overdue coffee with pal – 1.0 hour - Run in Botanical Gardens: 2.5 hrs - Hit Neil & Cantonment Rd and drop by antique shop on nearby Spottiswoode Ln– 2 hrs

There was a time when life held glorious promises. Promise of new lands to explore, of green valleys to wander in, of brooks to wade in, of peaks to scale, of people to inspire, of yarns to spin, of legends to make…. Oh the heady promise of dizzying freedom from winged flight of endless possibilities. Where have they all gone? What was a burning torch of passion, is now a mere flickering ember. A mere glimmer. A faint tinkle rather than the mad peals of bells. Have too many practical decisions snuffed the magic out of life? Has everyday monotony of a life lived ordinarily taken toll? Socrates thought that the best advice he could give his friends was to do all things according to their ability. I thought, until and when I find my answers, I have to do just that – make the best of what I have and do all things to the best of my ability, with dignity and integrity. But, it's not enough. What makes these sorry daily battles worth fighting? What is the prize? Why c...

I spoke to a friend for a long time yesterday. It is very hard to follow the wise line "Run as wild as you wish, but do not faint." I thought I had it all figured. I don't. I still fumble. I still faint.

Numb. Empty. Vacuum.

It happened during my lunch hour walk yesterday. I was ambling along the streets behind the huge field which is behind my office which is behind ...well never mind. 'Twas lovely weather. Heavenly breeze and a kindly Sun occasionally peeking through fluffy white clouds. To digress, I confess that I like to go 'house watching'. It's a habit I might have picked up as a kid growing up in Vizag, cycling along the roads in the MVP and Lawsons's Bay area, looking at houses lining the streets, sensing their aura - whether they were loved or unloved, happy or sad, imagining the stories that the houses might have witnessed. There is an art to House Watching. Not that I have mastered it. But I know a couple of things. Especially when it comes to guessing about the people in the houses. The no-brainers are whether there are kids or old folks living in the house, depending on toys strewn in the yards or well used lawn furniture. Whether the woman of the household is a homemaker ...

You may want something. But not at the expense of your self worth. Strive, but dont lose sight of your principles. Nothing in this world is worth losing your integrity for. Nothing. Let it go. If it was yours, it will come back. Let it go. And you shall be free.

Men are so tiresome. They never pay attention when you say "I need to talk". I mean just the other day, I had something of great importance to discuss with Dad. So, I sat down next to him on the couch while he was watching TV, Me : "Dad, I need your honest feedback. Are you listening? Dad [with full attention]: "Yeah what is it?" Me : "Well this thought has been troubling me for a bit, for a while actually. You know, like I am so totally in a dilemma. You could actually say its a sorta like a conundrum, but then its kinda bizarre. But whatever. I mean, I have been seriously thinking that I shouldn't do it. But then there are various reasons why I haven't totally written it off yet……[noticing that Dad's eyes were wavering back to the TV, so poking him] Dad are you listening ? Dad [guiltily]: Yeah. Something is bothering you. Me: Yeah so I was wondering if I should blah…blah…blah…yada...yada...yada. So you tell me, should I get my...

Nothing is for keeps. Not loves nor hates, not music nor words, not tears nor laughs, Listen to the whispers of your heart. Listen carefully. Tread with caution. This is life.  

Have you noticed, that perfectly innocent words like 'nice', 'tolerable' 'satisfying' have grown to have a negative connotation? I mean, so much so that, it's as good as insulting to describe a boy or a dress as 'nice'. We have to be extreme in the choice of our adjectives - It was awesome. The food was divine, the music was awful, mind blowing, fantabulous, abysmally pathetic ….. I admit that I am guilty of this sin too. We have to return to more steady adjectives and reverse this adjective extremism.

I have lived in Singapore for extended periods of time. But I have never been emotionally attached to the city state. So saying, however, I did not feel like an intruder as you do in a city you are visiting for, say, a month. But this one month during my parents' absence, I've been feeling like an outsider in this city. I have been walking along familiar paths, and yet, there is a sense of not belonging. Every day as I walk back home from the train station, I don't feel like I am going home. Now, I am not a very emotional person. I can survive and be fine without many people. I didn't need to come home for holidays during college because other unseen lands beckoned to me. I don't need to talk to my parents everyday because a world of exciting acquaintances awaits me. But, I suppose, the human parts of me are still in tact for it has dawned on me that, right now, home is where my parents are. Not my heart is.