Wednesday, December 31, 2008

In code

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

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Women...

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. 

Thursday, December 25, 2008

The Agony of Incomplete Reads

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

Thursday, December 11, 2008

News & Headlines

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

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

The haunting beauty of Raintree County

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.

Thursday, October 30, 2008

A Lighted Hearth


Thursday, October 09, 2008

A Leaking Ship - 2

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.

Friday, September 19, 2008

Are Finders Keepers?

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 work for free cuz i love my job".

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

To Live In Times

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.

Monday, September 15, 2008

Blog Format

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

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Big Bang Day

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.

Saturday, September 06, 2008

Doyle & Edalji

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.

Tuesday, September 02, 2008

You Know You Are Getting Old ...

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

Campaign Wit

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,

Sunday, August 24, 2008

A Thought on Olympics

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!

Friday, August 22, 2008

Oil! Oil!

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.

Tuesday, August 05, 2008

How Should We Live?

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

Friday, August 01, 2008

Malice

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.

Thursday, July 31, 2008

Pink Shoes & Bombs

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 disappointing the way we all move on so quickly. But, professing anything more than shock, like for example professing grief, anxiety, tension, nervousness, will be taken for hypocrisy and melodrama. So one just feels claustrophobic, says a prayer and goes on talking about frivolous things.

Monday, July 28, 2008

Hairy Woes

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

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Step by Step

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.

Friday, July 18, 2008

Unbearable Lightness of Being


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.

New Hands and Old Burdens

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.

'New hands' have been left a broken world, Mr Mandela. And I just dont know whether these new hands can fix it. It is all very distressing and I need to lie down now. Or some gardening.

Oh hang on a minute, I dont even have a potted plant, let alone a patch of green.

Wednesday, July 02, 2008

Mandela's Bday Present from Bush

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!


Sunday, June 29, 2008

Bumble Bee

Crocheted this silly bumble bee bookmark on a laaazy Sunday aftie.


You can have one, if you are nice to me :-)

Thursday, June 26, 2008

The 'Re: Fw: Re: Re: XYZ' Generation

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 collateral damage and drama, when a freshmen Yours Truly sent a mass-email to my entire dorm at college. I should have written about it and gotten an A, like this guy did for his Culture Shock class at MIT -


*****

" Picture this...On October 23rd 2006 at around 1:00 am, a freshman, let's call him John, sends a seemingly innocent email:

"Hey, did anyone find/grab/steal a brown Aeropostale Sweatshirt from the Physics Lounge in building 8 on Friday? I was in there working on a Pset on Friday and I stepped out for a moment and the next thing I knew it was gone. If you found it please contact me. My fraternity's pledge pin was on it and I need it back."

           The email was sent to a mass email list consisting of East Campus, Bexley, Random Hall, Next House, MacGregor, Baker, and Senior House, among other dormitories. A young lady, whom we shall call Elsie, replied: "You should probably die." John hit the "reply to all" button and sent this email:

"WTF. So apparently this one's a bitch. Sorry for spamming but if you don't want to get forum mail you can leave the mailing list instead of being rude. I don't know this person and she probably doesn't have any friends but if anyone sees Elsie, tell her to fuck off for me. Thanks. And thanks to those who were actually helpful."

           Kristin, from Senior House, also hit the "reply to all" button and let John know her low opinion of him, how lame he was to lose his sweatshirt in the first place, how lame he was to send an email to the entire school, how lame he was not to realize that an average MIT student spent 30 seconds reading his email, which amounted to a loss of around $300 of future earnings, and on and on. She actually did some math to determine that. Patricia seconded Kristin. Then Peter, Scott and Dan. Within a few minutes, John received a huge pile of very nasty emails. Fortunately, MIT students value community and the importance of keeping everyone informed. Therefore, everyone who replied hit "the button" - reply to all.
A brother in the Pi Lambda Phi fraternity, sensing the situation was running out of hand, thought it would be noble to reply to all too:

"We're all MIT students and we should be mature enough to understand this situation. John, a pledge brother of mine, has lost a sweater and is deeply upset because it had on it the most valuable emblem of fraternal brotherhood: the pledge pin. I'm sorry that anyone might be irritated with the many emails you get from being on your house mailing list. But if you have a problem with these announcements, go to MIT web services and unsubscribe from your house mailing list. Thanks to the hundreds of others of you for understanding. I think John deserves a lot more respect and those who don't have the experience and qualifications for being a fraternity pledge should have nothing to say. Thanks and have a good night".

           Little did he know that his email would be the spark that ignited a flurry of more than 150 emails that night. He was called obnoxious for thinking he was better than "us" because he was in a fraternity. (Remember that the email was sent to dorms). Fernando pointed out that fraternities suck and only losers join. Julia asked if her not having a penis dangling between her legs means she had no right to express her opinion. Zos wrote a wonderful piece on how soldiers of certain orders had pledge pins to help them survive being captured by the Japanese sometime in the 19th Century. The email was more graphic than I am willing to put in print. He said it was valuable advice that one may use to prevent getting captured and sent to Guantanamo. Yes, the connection between Guantanamo and the pledge pin doesn't seem to make sense, but trust me, it does. Stacy tried to dissuade people from sending more emails by writing a 250 word essay and sending a modified version of a poem by Pastor Martin Niemöller. Later in the night Koo enlightened us by saying that the poem was actually written by the Nazis glorifying the sending of Jews to concentration camps, so would Stacy "just go and fuck herself." Scott, an electrical engineering and computer science major, sent a story of Vlad the Impaler. Vlad is known to have killed between 40,000 and 100,000 people during his reign. He ruled Wallachia (now a province of Romania) three distinct times over the course of his life with the second reign being the bloodiest. The email listed many of the methods he used to impale his enemies and law breakers. The readers were given advanced warning not to read on if they were in any way faint-hearted because the descriptions of the impaling Vladd practiced were graphic and brutal. For example, one unfaithful wife had her breasts cut off and was then skinned and impaled. While she was dying, her skin was on a table right next to the stake.
           Due to the versatility of the MIT student's mind, the simple subject of a lost sweatshirt generated stories from history, current affairs, definitions and descriptions of all the airports in the U.S.A, the pros and cons of fraternities, the reason why Sloaners (people from the MIT Sloan School of Management) are the bombers (cool people), to hundreds of other topics. Those who were fortunate enough to read these emails could testify that all had a moral and helped castigate, abuse, confirm or contradict some earlier email. A grammar freak's contribution was expressing how sad she gets when people write "an hero". The next twenty or so emails hit her hard with criticisms of her freakiness and why no one cares about spelling. We deal with integrals and sigmas and numbers, not words. This is MIT, right? Suggestions for "an hintententinal error", an horse, an hamburger, among others, were floated and argued for. At the end of the night, solid support for "an hero" was found from the urban dictionary and http://www.encyclopediadramatica.com/index.php/Mitchell_Henderson. The latter is a funny extension of the issue. George, the freshman who is taking 18.701, which is a senior mathematics course, took two hours off his pset to analyze and contribute to the "Re: Fwd: Lost Sweatshirt" thread - even though he was keen on getting an A in a Pass-Fail Freshman semester. Before the end of the night, a Facebook group - "I Participated in the Great Campus-Wide Sweatshirt Search of 10.23.06" – was formed. I am a proud officer of the group with the title "spammer." Our beloved group has 29 members so far and everyone is an officer. We believe in equality.

In the wee hours of the night, six students got some costumes together and made a movie in Bexley with a cast from the spammer email thread. It highlighted the events of the night including John's habit of punching girls in the face. (John is the one who lost the sweatshirt). I must mention that at MIT, we stay awake till 3:00 am sometimes doing psets (problem sets). But then we still have some time off to make a movie or two. Clearly, if you are looking for creative, energized, innovative and smart people in the country and the world you can count on MIT, even in the wee hours of the night. I read the responses all night and took twice the time to do the calculus pset due the next day. By 5:00 am in the morning, the activity had died down even though some more emails were sent the next day. But that wasn't all. A party to commemorate this once-in-a lifetime event was organized for the following Saturday night. Posters were all over campus the next day inviting everyone to the "Lost Sweatshirt" party.
           So if you thought that we only do high-tech research at MIT, you are wrong. If you thought MIT has only nerds who don't know how to communicate (like you see in the movies), you are wrong. If you thought that MIT students are clueless about anything that isn't math, you are wrong. We can make movies, we can correct grammar, we can respond to emails faster than we can respond to calls, we can relate what we learn in class to relevant day-to-day occurrences, we respect the right to educate John and similar-minded people by inflicting some pain, we respect the right to keep everyone informed, so we always hit "the button." We love and hate fraternities, we don't just wear pledge pins without knowing their histories, we have exotic ways to spend our free time between psets, we teach our schoolmates about responsibility, we love life, we live large, we are MIT."

Monday, June 23, 2008

Newton's not Turing's Apple

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 -

  1. An earlier Apple Computer logo featured Sir Isaac Newton under an apple tree.
  2. "Rob Janoff of Regis McKenna Advertising designed the logo with the apple representing "the acquisition of knowledge." This account goes on to describe how Steve Jobs added the rainbow colors to the logo Janoff designed to emphasize the Apple II's superior color output. "

Yaksha Prashna

Felt like posting excerpts of the immortal wisdom of Dharmaraja'a answers to Yaksha Prashna:

  1. What rescues man in danger? A.Courage is mans salvation in danger
  2. What is faster than the wind? A. Mind
  3. Which is the biggest vessel? A. Earth that contains every thing in it.
  4. What is happiness? A. It is the result of good conduct
  5. What is that abandoning by which he is loved by all? A. Pride
  6. What is that loss that yields joy and not sorrow? A. Anger
  7. What is that by giving up which man becomes rich? A. Desire
  8. 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.

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Facts and Opinions

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.

Monday, June 16, 2008

Chai in a Bag

Inexpressibly, I found this photograph incredibly touching

Nat Geo Traveller's Places of a Lifetime Quiz

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

Saturday, June 14, 2008

It's Not a Lost Cause ...

... 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.

Friday, June 13, 2008

Miranda vs. Arizona

... 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.

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Insomnia

...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.

Monday, June 09, 2008

Miracles on Monday

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.

Tuesday, June 03, 2008

Nil Desparandum

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

North By Northwest

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 scenes, we conjure up dark, dimly litted scene, closed/enclosed spaces/corridors/rooms, shadows etc etc, innit? Now, take the legendry Crop Duster scene in N by NW. It's a chilling scene. But everything about it is contrary to the usual features. It's set in the praires of Illinois, in the vast wheat fields. in the afternoon. no shadows, no corners. no enclosed spaces. In fact the hero has no where to run for cover. And yet the first time you watch it, you grip the cushion in anxiety. I thought it was all remarkably original for 1959.

Plus, Cary Grant's  one liners are chuckle worthy. His character, Roger Thronhill, is a fast talking, acerbit wit. The dialogues are so witty! Especially, those when he first meets the stupendously charming villain, played by James Mason.
Some dialogues below (thanks to IMDB) -

Roger Thornhill (Cary Grant): And what the devil is all this about? Why was I brought here?
Phillip Vandamm (James Mason): Games, must we?
Roger Thornhill: Not that I mind a slight case of abduction now and then, but I have tickets for the theater this evening, to a show I was looking forward to and I get, well, kind of *unreasonable* about things like that.
Phillip Vandamm: With such expert playacting, you make this very room a theater.

.
Roger Thornhill (Cary Grant): Now you listen to me, I'm an advertising man, not a red herring. I've got a job, a secretary, a mother, two ex-wives and several bartenders that depend upon me, and I don't intend to disappoint them all by getting myself "slightly" killed.

Watch it!

Friday, May 30, 2008

Wise Words Overheard On A Thursday Night

<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 summary of the Q&A at the end of the talk. He had some points that I have always believed in and resoundingly agree with. I am sorry, but this summary Q&A is devoid of the humor and the many wise anecdotes he injected into his answers-

Question: When do you know it is the time to let go?
Answer: Right Now! This very instant..[insert anecdote]...Remember, life needs to be a journey of choiceless awareness. Forgo desires, and believe that 'This Too Shall Pass'. Let go now!

Question: Sai Baba tells us to practice selfless, unconditional love for everyone. But in this modern era, it is often perceived as a weakness and you can be taken advantage of when you practice this. Please advise.
Answer: Why should you let go of your good habits because of the faults of the other person? [Here he narrates the fable of a Yogi and Scorpion] Unconditional love is u-c-o-n-d-i-t-i-o-n-a-l. Without a desire for a result. Not even a desire for the other person to treat you well in return.

Question: Sometimes I wish God can be contacted with a phone call when in a dilemma. How do I communicate with him for answers?
Answer: Oh! Now people want to get God a cell phone too eh? Look, you dont have to talk to God. He is within you. God is within each of us. Listen to him. You may call it your intuition, inner voice, whatever. But, you will hear a voice when you listen and pray.

Question: How can you reconcile the existence of God with the fact that often innocent people get hurt because of the crimes of others? If God exists why do so many bad things happen to good people?
Answer: Who are you to judge that a person is innocent? How do you know the Truth? You do not even know what happens in the next minute, how can you be sure that the innocent are innocent, and the evil are evil? God is omnipresent, omniscient, limitless, boundless. He knows your past, present and future. He knows the Universe's past, present and future. He does everything for a reason. [Insert the anecdote of the King with the Amputated Finger] Comfort yourself with the faith that everything happens for a reason and it is all for your own good. If you cannot comprehend how it could be for your own good, then remember "This too shall pass".

<end>

Right, now, you can go on and call me banal, trite and stale. But I do take comfort in it all. Especially because they resonate well with my own personal beliefs.

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

NICE

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.

Friday, May 16, 2008

Agneepath

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.

Thursday, May 15, 2008

Not-so Unconditional Faith

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 when you realised that right there, in that one microsecond of your 25/45/80 years of your existence, you have been unconditional?

I have examined myself a little. I have faith in God because by and large he has been generous to me. I love my family as they put up with all the torture one goes through to have me around. I donate because I have no great desire to own things with money. So, I suppose, life has been kind enough to allow me the luxury to be an armchair idealist, discussing unconditional faith in God. Others might not. When one goes through what the biblical Job has gone through, one has the right to judge the nature of someone else's belief. Till then, I probably should shut it, and let people believe in God for their own reasons. One's faith is one's private affair.

I apologise. Sincerely.

Friday, May 09, 2008

Senator Obama on Race

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 Says:
After Obama wins the presidency this speech will be referred to as his ‘I Have a Dream’ moment.


Some people were more pragmatic -

Ruthless People Says:
A uniting, intelligent, articulate, thoughtful, president who can string two complete sentences together?
That would be Change.

{harika adds - I guess, Michael Moore's 2004 slogan 'Anybody But Bush' lingers}

Anyhoo, I urge you all to read, at the very least, the now famous excerpts.

Wednesday, May 07, 2008

The Genographic Project

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, promises -

Your results will reveal your deep ancestry along a single line of direct descent (paternal or maternal) and show the migration paths they followed thousands of years ago. Your results will also place you on a particular branch of the human family tree. ... For example, if you are of African descent, your results will show the initial movements of your ancestors on the African continent, but will not reflect most of the migrations that have occurred within the past 10,000 years.
Enthralling, if you ask me!

Monday, May 05, 2008

My Sister, the Gardener

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 the summer of 2004, I went berserk with a rake and a hoe at the bottom of her backyard. I went on a digging and weeding rampage - uprooting veronicas, crabgrass, dandelions, and other weeds. I dug and dug, ripped dastardly weeds, stamped touch-me-nots, chopped at this random tree root that appeared out of nowhere, cut worms in two (just kidding), threw tufts of grass at curious squirrels ... basically did a very noisy job of helping to clear the vegetable patch. Then I helped her put some foul smelling manure, rolled around in it for a bit (just kidding) and helped till the soil some more.

By next summer, when I visited them again, all my unpaid for, free of charge, slavish efforts paid off. The veggie patch was blossoming. It was a modest success, if only the damned rabbits were taken care of. A neighbourhood band of rogue rabbits chewed all her veggie plants in the patch and made a general nuisance of themselves everyday. Even before i came, she put a low fence around the patch. But thieving wabbits being wabbits, jumped over the joke of a fence and continued nibbling away her plants and generally filling their greedy tummies. So every time we opened the backdoor noisily, out popped 4-5 wabbits in the air and quickly scattered away into the field beyond their fence. If it wasnt so damn irritating it was quite a funny sight. At one time, i went at them like a screaming banshee which scared her neighbours more than the damned rabbits. She soon solved the problem by putting a fishnet over the veggie patch.

If you notice in the background of the below pic, the brownish low fence in front of the white fence is the vegetable patch. To the right, in the back ground, the wooden stand was built by my brother in law to hold all her pots. A sort of artsy backyard functional garden piece. I guess. In the foreground are just 0.1% of her plants this summer. They will soon be planted in the patch in the backyard.

Before you think she is a homely gardener, let me inform you that she kicks ass in driving large manly equipment. She is licensed to drive large hydraulic CAT excavators, like this -


and CAT Motor Grader (model 140M) like this


and CAT Backhoe Loader (Model 420E) like this -
which all, if you ask me, look even more monstrous than the formerly mentioned eggplant.


She is also into sports cars. She drives this yellow mustang (notice, it has a very macho license plat no. that goes 'DREAMZ') -



She is likeable. doesnt bite your head off if you pry, a little irritable and sulky, but by and large a sensible, generous soul who goes about pottering around her house and her garden before she pokes her nose in other people's affairs. (This is a very rare quality in women. So, dont write off the magnificence of that quality.) She seems to like me. She brought me one suitcase full of goodies from the glorious nation of the United States of America. For this reason, I also like her.

Saturday, May 03, 2008

To Know When To

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?

Evil Drip by Drip

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

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Rosemary

"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."

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

My First Tag

'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). Or Mohana Leela.

Finish This Statement. "If I Had A Lot Of Money I'd…"
travel a bit by air, water, road. Settle down to do some gardening while simultaneously fund a top-notch geriatric home.

Do You Drive Fast?
Umm…Is 50km/hr fast?

Do You Sleep With A Stuffed Animal?
Technically yes. But only because my pillow unravels into a 2m long green, slimy snake. Never slept with teddy bears and other furries.

Storms-Cool Or Scary?
Awe inspiring. So that would be, cool.

What Was Your First Car?
My dad's car. Don't know its model. brownish and looks sensible.

Favorite Drink:
Badam Milk.

Finish This Statement, "If I Had The Time I Would ….."
learn to fly, learn Latin, Korean, French, Esperanto, attend a Vedic school, attend Kalakshetra in Chennai and get a dance degree, read all the Latin classics, learn gardening and work as a asst gardener, climb up the peaks of Kilimanjaro, Mt Fuji, Kota Kinabalu and couple more sidey mountains, learn to …    

Do You Eat The Stems On Broccoli?
With gusto.

If You Could Dye Your Hair Any Color, What Would Be Your Choice?
  A tinge of brown.

Name All The Different Cities/Towns You Have Lived In.
Vizag, Singapore, Houston, London, Oxford,

[definition of 'living' being staying in a place for more than 3 months continuously]

Favorite Sports To Watch:
Olympic Games.. I know, I know, it ain't a sport. But hell, I watch every sport during the Olympics. And of course, India vs Pakistan matches

One Nice Thing About The Person Who Sent This To You:
Not Applicable.

What's Under Your Bed?
My bed is actually part of the wooden parquet. So, it has these really cool, hard to detect drawers which slide out in a jiffy to reveal my messy life - I stow away my costume jewellery, financial statements, 6 non-functioning earphones, ipod, papers, files, everything, note paper, bed time reading, aroma candles, lamps, paper clippings, knickknacks.... I mean everything..

Would You Like To Be Born As Yourself Again?
Yeah. I like myself a whole lot. (no that wasnt a joke)

Morning Person Or Night Owl?
Both. Its not the timing, it's the quietness I get during dawn and twilight. So both.

Over Easy Or Sunny Side Up?
Scrambled.

 Favorite Place To Relax:
My toilet or a quiet library or a movie theatre

Favorite Pie:
Blueberry.

Favorite Ice Cream Flavor:
Vanilla.

You pass this tag to -
Anyone who wants to pick it up.

Of All The People You Tagged This To, Who's Most Likely To Respond First?
Lame Q.


Tuesday, April 22, 2008

An extract from Claudius, the God

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 to perpetuate the memory of the enormous honour that I had done him, by drinking from a similarly chased gold cup every day for the rest of his life. In answer I sent him the stone cup asking, in exchange, for the reproduction of the gold one as a memento of the charming incident."

Tuesday, April 01, 2008

More Native American Wisdom

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.


Crowfoot's Dying Words

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.

Sunday, March 30, 2008

Tongue in Cheek Guardian

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]

Friday, March 28, 2008

Somethings Never Change

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.

Monday, March 24, 2008

Some Help for Monday Mornings

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"

:-)

Thursday, March 20, 2008

Why Are Men So Exasperating?

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 to be that way. Its the design
Dad [more puzzled]: Eh? You mean its supposed to be worn inside out?
Me[patiently]: Dad, i aint wearing it inside out. Its the design.
Dad[even more puzzled]: You mean they instruct you to wear it inside out?
Me[accusingly]: YOU have no clue about the current fashions.
Dad[mumbling and grumbling ]: Well, i dont rightly understand rags that are being passed off as clothes these days. Not even our village beggar used to wear such  rags.
Me[sulkingly]: So, I am not pretty is it? Thats it, innit?
Dad[grudgingly]: Well in spite of wearing the rag inside out, you look alright I suppose.
Me[considerably cheering up]: Promise?
Dad[resuming watching news]: uh-huh
Me: ....blah blah blah....

But, honestly, why are men so exasperating?

Monday, March 17, 2008

'Seven Social Sins'

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

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?

Friday, March 14, 2008

Why did so many Nazis flee to Argentina?

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 will be imprisoned or dropped into the Pacific. But, it might be your turn a few years down the lane. So you rather not rub Country C's allies or even some party in Country C in the wrong way. This results in an extradition culture that could sometimes provide a haven to Jack the Rippers and Son of Sam and so on..

Monday, March 10, 2008

"Oh! Sun, Oh! Land."

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.

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

A Leaking Ship

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.

Saturday, February 16, 2008

Caulfield's Complaint Is So Mine!

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 tantrums, etc etc the usual 5 year old's behaviour. But, at times of need, I have often been very perceptive and very wise. But, they rarely remember these moments (It is not important whether these moments of wiseness come but rarely. The important thing is whether they come when needed.) Sigh! I suppose one behaves in a certain unique way with every person in one's life.

One of Those Days When You Feel Old in Your Bones

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.

Wilde Witticisms

"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!

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

From Xenophon's Memorable Thoughts of Socrates - 2

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."

Monday, February 11, 2008

Happiness Makes Us Insensitive

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?

Monday, February 04, 2008

Two Kinds - An Elaboration

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 wondered whether you are nice because it comes naturally, or because you are afraid of the consequences? Would you still not put your hand in the cookie jar, if there wasn’t a CCTV watching your every move? Would you pilfer pennies from the kiddos if you didn’t have to worry about your soul? Would you cheat on your partner if you didn’t have to face judgement? Simply put, would you still be good if you didn’t need to be good? Would you be nice, only and only, for its own sake?

Some will say ‘aye’. Some may say ‘depends’. But there are some people who will actually say ‘no’. These are the cowards I am talking about. They are nice because they are too afraid to be otherwise. They use it as a camouflage to hide their weaknesses.

I have always believed that fear is more potent than goodness. For most people at least. It isn’t goodness that restrains humans a lot of times. It is something more powerful - fear. Fear of judgment. Fear of consequences. Fear of loss of power/ego/honor/.

I am not saying being nice is being weak. Heck! It’s downright an achievement to be nice these days with the world going to the dogs and all. What I am saying is, niceness has become a camouflage for the weak.

To have flaws is natural.
To struggle to triumph over these flaws is worthy of respect.
To hide these flaws behind a façade of niceness…now that, my dear reader, is cowardly. And cowards are dangerous people.

So the next time you pat yourself on the back for being nice, ask your conscience whether you were good for the sake of goodness and not because you were a coward. Then really listen. For the answer shall tell you the stuff you are made up of.

Saturday, February 02, 2008

Two Kinds

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 …


Friday, February 01, 2008

No Time For Conversation

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 eons. My JC best pal hasn't been contacted since his Turkey trip. It aint that anybody is sitting around and missing me. We all have lives to live. It's just that, I haven't been doing my part with some people.

Then I tried working out why I have been self absorbed lately. Its okay to be self absorbed. We need to introspect before we are good company. But being obsessed with oneself is not okay. And I have begun to harbor an unhealthy obsession with being the moral paragon. Lately, I've been taking everything as a test of integrity or wisdom or faith or <fill-grand-sounding-ideal-here> ideals that I hold dear. Now, its beginning to grate. I mean, a little more of this, I could probably be a TV evangelist.

Demanding the most of yourself is the best thing you can do to yourself. But demanding to be perfect at the expense of a little bit of fun is a bit of an overkill. So, I should probably loosen up, giddyup and have my little bit o' fun while the laughs last.

Thursday, January 31, 2008

Plan of Action for the Weekend

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

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

O Tempores! O Mores!

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 carry on the long walk when we know that nothing is for keeps and nothing is constant except, death? Why lead an existence that doesn't seem to have a purpose?

These questions aren't original. They have been asked a guzillion million times before me, and will be after me. That's okay.
I also know that some have found answers. Others haven't. That's okay too. But, what's not okay is to put in a half-hearted battle just because the answers don't seem to come. It's criminal disrespect for Life. And lately, over the last couple of years, I have been guilty of this.

Perhaps I have been in an unstimulating environment for too long. Perhaps I need to move on. To get away. To set ablaze to backups, to spit in the face of caution, to reap the wild winds.  Go. Fly. Live.

For now I shall go for my lunch hour walk. Perhaps I shall run into Jedidiah again.

Monday, January 28, 2008

Run As Wild As You Wish

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

Numb.
Empty.
Vacuum.

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

It Happened One Afternoon

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 or a career woman judging from the din (or the absence of it) in the kitchen in the afternoons. Whether someone in the house has a lot of patience if the garden is full of blooming rose bushes, or very little of it if its full of crotons. Whether....well I dont remember many. Actually, they no longer seem close to Holme's deductions anymore. Although as a kid, I thought they were pretty swell . I guess I have to stop being delusional.

Fine! Okay! Si! I admit, I lost touch. But the love for House Watching hasnt diminished. So, this particular lunch hour walk, I found some ridiculous houses. The most outlandish one was a mansion that was fashioned with Tudor windows and gables. Garn! Squat in the middle of Singapore in the 21th century! It was very ugly, pretentious ugly and positively comic. Well, then again, you do what you want with your money. I found some beautiful homes too. This one particularly old house caught my eye. A cat was sleeping on the compound wall which had ivy creeping all over. Giant tree in the yard groaning in the wind. Azaleas popping from flower tubs. Many many beautiful wind chimes hung in the patio. They were dancing madly in the breeze. It was a spectacle worth hearing. The cat yawned lazily. I think it was pregnant. It was a picture of harmony and contentment. The house was weathered and well lived in. It was a happy house.

Anyways, i digress. So, I finally reached Exeter Rd, at about 15 minutes after the clocks chimed 1300hrs. Which clocks you ask? The bells of St Joseph's Institution for Juniors. So, I ran into hordes of sweaty, unruly boys, running around to meet parents or to board their buses and generally creating good natured ruckus. Right off Exeter Rd, there is a mammoth sized pedestrian overhead bridge with endless steps. I began climbing up these. The view from the bottom of the stairs was quite brilliant. Practically a Stairway to Heaven - blue blue skies, white white clouds, showers of dried yellow leaves from surrounding trees in the wind.

Then. Then I noticed a 9 year old St Joseph's boy, with a huge backpack slung over his back. He was right at the top of the stairs all set to descend. But instead of climbing down the stairs, he hopped on to the steel bannister adjoining the stairs of the over head bridge and began descending by sliding , swooping, gliding at a speed of atleast 100km/hr. I am talking about the height of about some 50/60 odd stairs. He had more elegance than the Man on the Trapeze you saw in your circus visit 23 years ago. Insouciance, a careless grin, wind in his hair, hands open in a gesture of easy confidence.

So much that I instinctively stopped mid step, watched him with increasing admiration. It was over in a blip. But I was gobsmacked by the whole beauty of it. So much that it hit me in the pit of my tummy and I found that I was holding my breathe.

When he reached the foot of the stairs, I couldnt help but exclaim, "Awesome!" That was when he noticed his audience. And believe you me, I kid you not, this charmer of a tyke winked at me with a huge grin! And jaunted off in a easy gait that foretold that if life treats this 9 year old right, he will have the world in his hands. Or at the very least, he will break a couple of hearts.

All this while, there was another boy racing down the steps, calling out to this tyke, "Jedidiah! Jedidiah!" (Yes, St Joseph's is a Catholic Inst. U can guess from the names! Not that it matters of course). This second kid he saw me watching with admiration, gave me a thumbs up sign while passing and said, "He's good, aah?" I laughed and carried on climbing the stairs.

There are moments in your life when you feel something monumental has just happened and you fumble to grasp its full meaning. This is not one of them.

Then there other moments in your life when something quite random happens and you are reminded of the joie de vivre you had as a kid or the premonition you always had as a kid of grand things to come, a sorts of auspicium meliori Aevi except not in the coming era, but in your coming days, in your very life and that "Life [still] remains a blessing, although you cannot bless", although you are all grown up.
This moment was of this kind

A bit o' sun, a gust of wind, a patch of blue skies, a twinkle in the eye and an insouciant soul are good things for the lethargic soul.

Friday, January 18, 2008

What Is Yours...

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.

Thursday, January 10, 2008

Men Never Listen When You Say "I need to talk"

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 hair straightened again? "

...

silence

..

..

Dad [blinks]: eh?
Me: [suspicious that he hadn't noticed I straightened my hair about 9 months ago] Dad, you know that I straightened my hair, dontcha?
Dad [desperate to get back to TV, and very unconvincingly]: Of course.
Me[poking him for attention]: Dad, so should I straighten it again?
Dad [fiddling with the remote]: "Its alright I guess"
Me[exasperated]: "You mean, its alright now when its curly or its alright to straighten it?
Dad: "Yes"
Me[poking insistently]: "Dad, that's a Multiple Choice Question. Not Yes or No question"
Dad[reading the teletext news]: "uh-hmm"
Me[whining]: "Maaaaaooooommmmyyy. Dad never listens to me."

Tread With Caution

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.

 

The Adjective Extremism

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.

Friday, January 04, 2008

Home Is Where ...

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.