A Bend in the Lane

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.

If you stumble, pick yourself up and search for your place under the sun. Make the best of everything and do all things to the best of your ability. There is a place under the sun waiting for you. Rock the boat, but do it no harm. Leave no footprints, Leave just legends.

Most have heard of this book. Some haven't. Let me find you some thought provoking excerpts - ** "We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way ." "In some way, suffering ceases to be suffering at the moment it finds a meaning, such as the meaning of a sacrifice." "It did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us. We needed to stop asking about the meaning of life, and instead to think of ourselves as those who were being questioned by life—daily and hourly. Our answer must consist, not in talk and meditation, but in right action and in right conduct. Life ultimately means taking t...

The other day, during one of the many arguments with Sgt Tpy, he uttered something outrageous-  "Guys need to be witty, girls just need to be pretty." No, Sisters, he is still alive. I didnt kill him. I know. I am slacking. I shall. Soon. Promise.

I am going to vacation here - Am i excited? Sorta. Well, I cant rub it into my sister's face though cuz she beat me to a more fancy place - Hawaii. Am I packed? About two days ago. What will I be reading on the trip? Machiavelli's The Prince Have I packed sunscreen? The anti tan doesnt work on me. So, I am gonna come back only 23 shades darker. Have I cleared work? umm. ummm.

There is a secret club out there – a club that belongs to die hard fans of the movie The Lion In Winter (ever heard of this movie? At least seen the play? No? Shame on you! Weep tears of repentance this very instant!) I belong to it. Before I continue raving about it, I should probably tell you what the heck this movie is about. The Story King Henry II (the aging king at 50 .. hence the metaphor, the lion in winter) wants his youngest son, John (later Mad King John), to succeed him as the King of England. Eleanor of Aquitaine, his estranged Queen, wants Richard to be king (later King Richard the Lionheart). Henry's mistress Alais, sister of King Philip of France has her own ideas. Verbal assassinations, broken alliances, wanton liaisons, and sharp-tongued banter spice medieval intrigue with contemporary wit. What LA Times said, "The Lion in Winter has more wit in every speech than some hits have in an entire evening...a growling, snarling, skin-piercing, skull rattli...

I was reading Xenephon's Memorable Thoughts on Socrates the other day and was quite captivated by this certain chapter that shows Socrates in great light. Read on, you shan't be bored. At least read the bolded parts. I thought they were pretty fantastic. CHAPTER VI.  THE DISPUTE OF SOCRATES WITH ANTIPHON, THE SOPHIST. It will not be amiss to relate, for the honour of Socrates, what passed between him and the sophist Antiphon, who designed to seduce away his hearers, and to that end came to him when they were with him, and, in their presence, addressed himself to him in these words:—"I imagined, Socrates, that philosophers were happier than other men; but, in my opinion, your wisdom renders you more miserable, for you live at such a rate that no footman would live with a master that treated him in the same manner.  You eat and drink poorly, you are clothed very meanly—the same suit serves you in summer and winter—you go barefoot, and for all this you take no money,...

I was googling the web for schools that adopted the Socratic Method for teaching. I was appalled to find that there were hardly any. Even not many colleges use the Socratic Method (barring laws schools and a few liberal arts college like St Thomas Aquinas College…which by the way is a pretty 'cool' Catholic college in California that has no textbooks except the 'Great Books' of great men, where there are no majors or minors or specialisations for the four years of education). Honestly! I mean, sure, Socrates can be a pain lots of times. Reading the Republic beyond Book 4 gave me a splintering headache. But, just reading his dialogue teaches Logic and Rhetoric that are no longer taught in many schools as subjects.   I found this interesting experiment a volunteer conducted in a Grade 3 classroom. It's pretty awesome how he simplified Binary Arithmetic to the third graders using nothing but questions (aka SM). I wish someone had taught me permutations and combin...

Should we be proud about the achievements of our fathers and forefathers?   Don't say 'of course' right away. Give it 2 seconds of thought. I first had this argument with a couple of pals on a train. Without reaching any particular conclusion, we changed the topic after a bit, as it raised a lot more ideological differences than were necessary when embarking on a vacation. Recently, it surfaced again. So, I posed the question to a eight or so people. Most, including Mom, felt along the lines of, "Of course. But not to the point of haughtiness."   There was just one who, said, "No. Maybe happy, but not proud. Because you didn't contribute to their achievements." My take exactly. Personally speaking, I have numerous reasons to be proud about my grandpapa and even my great grandfather. But, I am not proud about them. I view their achievements with gladness and admiration. But not pride. I wonder if this is just me being the fundamentally e...

My sister, who lives somewhere in an undisclosed town in the Great Mid West, usually gifts me a sack full of beauty products every time she visits me. Subtlety was never her forte I suppose. A week ago, I opened this exquisitely packed set of 'body butter' that she gave me this Feb. (Note to all boys who are reading this post: body butter is a schmanzyfancy name for moisturizer, which is something we women rub on our skin to prevent it from drying among other things) There were six medium sized tubs packaged in pastel colours and sleek black lids, quaint seeming words printed in fonts evocative of a bygone era. Each tub had a separate name, for e.g, the tub I first opened was labeled "Warm Ginger Bread". Other labels were, "Vanilla Pound Cake" "Caramel Something Something", "Crabapple Eatable Thingie" and "Vanilla Yada Yada". And, just below the label was an old school recipe for warm ginger bread or vanilla pound cake ...

Auden is to be read sitting beside your window, during the silence when the creaking crickets pause for breathe on a moonless night, with a golden lamp lighting the page and a green snake twirled around your neck for company - But all the clocks in the city Began to whirr and chime: "O let not Time deceive you You cannot conquer Time. "In the burrows of the Nightmare Where Justice naked is, Time watches from the shadow And coughs when you would kiss. "In headaches and in worry Vaguely life leaks away, And time will have his fancy To-morrow or to-day. "Into many a green valley Drifts the appalling snow Time breaks the threaded dances And the diver's brilliant bow. "O plunge your hands in water Plunge them up to the wrist; Stare, stare in the basin And wonder what you've missed." "The glacier knocks in the cupboard, The desert sighs in the bed, And the crack in the tea-cup opens A lane to the land ...