Just finished watching " The Man From Earth". A movie of astounding imagination. "A kinda latitude of what we happily call reality, In which, as everybody keeps saying... anything's possible."

Could such a thing happen? Not a question I am interested in. What I am interested in is the meaning of it all. The meaning of existence. Arguably, not an easy matter to comprehend. But, As some people say, " Its not enough to be in somebody's shoes. You have to walk a few steps in them too." This movie steps into Man's shoes and then takes a few steps.

We can never fully understand what events shaped the lives we are now living. But, when we do try to look back and figure out what has gone on, what we see astounds us. We see our own follies, mistakes, embellishments and erasures in the course of history, which we know must have happened. But, can anybody really quote Jesus or Buddha or even Chanakya verbatim? Can anybody know what is true and what isn't?

What is the foundation of the belief structure that we have built around us? Is it not enough to know that being kind and good is all that is required? Why do we have to bring the word of GOD into all this?

What is our purpose? To live and let live. To be the best as individuals. To enrich our society. To help fellow Man. Is that enough or do we need more?

Best religion? Reason with compassion.

Does God exist? Does it matter?

Are we alone in the universe? Maybe. Maybe not. Let's keep looking.

What else?

I think this covers it all.
( Quote from the movie: )

What do you see when you see a feather lying on the ground? Do you see, in your mind's eye, its flight downwards? spiraling through the air, sailing in the wind. Do you see the winged wanderer's stroke through the air? Do you feel the freedom of open skies and strong winds?

I do.

Saw a feather spiraling down. Here's what it brought to my mind

( Read more )

I have been dipping into the Shakespearean literary well lately. Finished "Julius Caesar" last week. Now reading "Macbeth".

I can't really make my mind as to who is worse. Macbeth or lady Macbeth. I have refrained from looking at literary commentaries and am trying to make sense of it all by myself. I guess Parijat is right. It would take at least two to three readings to really understand Shakespeare

PS: I think I should take Literature reading classes.

Strength in Unity.
Unity in Diversity.
Unity though Faith.
Faith,
absolute, unwavering,
in the concept
that forms the very fabric
of Democracy.

Freedom!!!!
-Me

PS: Watch "V for Vendetta". Worth the time and more.

Should I really be Happy :-/

Frodo Baggins You are 15% Insular, 69% Sociable, and 15% Cupidinous!

You are friendly and open with almost everyone you meet, albiet in a quiet way. You love your home but the world is a wide place and you want to know and experience everything you can about it. You think of others before yourself at almost every turn.

My test tracked 3 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 6% on Insular You scored higher than 49% on Sociable You scored higher than 8% on Cupidinous

Link: The Which Hobbit Are You? Test written by fordim on Ok Cupid, home of the 32-Type Dating Test

There was a time when I had these lines by heart. Glad to have them back.


( The eternal lines by Ram Prasad Bismil )

Just came back from a movie which I didn't think that I would like. To be frank after the "Mangal Pandey" Debacle I thought I would never like an Aamir Khan flick again.

Proven wrong. Feels good.

Most people have thought of this as an amazing movie. Though, some have disagreed. I thought the movie was superb. As somebody just mentioned to me, it has a subtle point directed at us, the young. And the point, though subtle, is clearly portrayed/brought out through a hypothetical scenario. NO ONE in their right minds would kill a minister to prove a point. It would be misdirected action to say the least. No Indian government(I hope) would lathi charge a mass of innocents, in front of mass media, to quell a peaceful demonstration. They have to worry about saving their seats of power. A superficial view of the movie would make the storyline seem crap to an intelligent eye. But, deep below the surface, it is a call to wake up to the world around you.

We, the people, wait till a tragedy strikes home, somewhere close to us. And, then too, most of the times we just say "what can we do?" we blame the omnipresent overpowering "System". What we never realize is that we are the system. We create the world around us and then we sob at our inability to change it.

Can something be changed? Common answer : NO. Reason: One person can't change everything(read- too much effort involved ). True answer: YES. Reason: Because we want it to change. Requirements: Urge to change and effort to stand up to the challenge.

Post Movie conversation:

Ques: What inspiration did you get from the movie?
Ans1: (Not Verbatim) The scum of the society cannot be removed. (Hindi Movie viewers may refer to "Gandi naali ke keede" dialog from Movie "Hum")
Ans2: Things CAN be changed. If you want them to. (HOW???? remains to be answered.)

Quote: Real life Sucks.
Thought in my mind : Perhaps because we let it suck.


There is still hot blood in the youth of this country. All is probably not lost. We have not forsaken our Motherland to run for greener pastures(May be because it is also turning green, slowly but surely.) I say hot blood remains because I have seen it boiling over in the small town youths. But, from the same small towns are we(me and the likes of me), the neo-Technocrats, who shrink the definition of the world to suit themselves. Now I can understand what my brother thought or thinks. Why he stays at the roots while I try to reach for the lofty heights. I remember having a discussion with him a few months ago which went some thing like this.

Me: Why do you worry about the world so much? Why worry about everybody but yourself?
Bro: I am worrying about myself too. We are a part of the world we live in. If there is anything wrong with the world, in general, it would affect us too. Indirectly. But it would.
Me: My world is my family, friends and loved ones. If they are fine, I am fine. I don't need to worry about others. Moreover, It does not matter how much I think about changing the world, my career and well-being of my family comes first. I would never have time to really DO anything. So why waste time thinking about things I can't do?
Bro: You can't do anything that you don't think about. Even if you have time.

I shrunk my world to include just the people around me. Some people do even better and have a world for themselves. I still don't know if I was right or wrong. But, I am sure about one thing, I have no right to complain about the "System" if I don't consider it a part of my world. Probably I should.

Now, I am thinking...

Your Life Path Number is 5

Your purpose in life is to life freely and collect experiences. You love life - new adventures, new people, new ideas. You are very curious, and you crave novelty in all forms. You tend to make friends easily, and you enjoy the company of all types of people. In love, you are fun and even a bit intoxicating. But you won't stick around for long. You are impulsive and spontaneous - which sometimes leads you to do things you regret. Sometimes you can be overindulgent with food, sex, or drugs. You have many talents, so many that you are often scattered and unfocused.

Your Birthdate: September 3

Being born on the 3rd day of the month is likely to add a good bit of vitality to your life. The energy of 3 allows you bounce back rapidly from setbacks, physical or mental. There is a restlessness in your nature, but you seem to be able to portray an easygoing, "couldn't care less" attitude. You have a natural ability to express yourself in public, and you always make a very good impression. Good with words, you excel in writing, speaking, and possibly singing. You are energetic and always a good conversationalist. You have a keen imagination, but you tend to scatter your energies and become involved with too may superficial matters. You are affectionate and loving, but sometimes too sensitive. You are subject to rapid ups and downs.

I was having a chat with my colleague about Motivation in general. As I was giving her a philosophhical dose about it, she asked me point blank question, "What drives you?" I thousand answers came to my mind but even before I came close to uttering them I could see that they are just cooked up reasons good enough to keep an interview board happy. But the occasion warrented actual reasons. "Curiosity.", I replied, "Curiosity is what drives a person, a human, to whatever he/she does. The will or the quest to find out how things work or what would happen if I did something. Thats what drives me."

As soon as I was finished, I knew this isn't it. Ain't I doing this for myself? for a selfish motive? "Of course, there is a desire to make a niche for myself. To stand out. To be known thru my work. A lil bit of ego, you might say. Thats reason no 2."

Again thats not it. Whats missing? There IS something. Something stronger than both of these. Yeah, got it. " The will to make things work. Gimme a broken equipment and tell me that some people can repair it. Then I would say, 'If others can, then I can'. I'll give it all I've got till I make it work. Its ego and curiosity combined that drive me. Given a task I would like to see it to its end. It might not work in the beginning but I'll make it work."

Yes, I guess thats it. If it has been done before, I can do it. If not, better. In my field of work I have an advantage. I know it can be done. I have the ultimate example. The brain. I can make it work because human mind does it everyday every minute, every second.


I know what drives me. I guess....

My friends Collage

~mighty_stylus~

LJ friendsCollage.

Brought to you by pratibha75 and teemus.

Had a wonderful weekend in Pune with S. I have to say the city has a charm. It is just a wonderful place to spend some quality time. Just mingle in the young crowd with every other person as nonchalant as you. Well for all food enthusiasts, Pune has some real treats to offer. From thick stuffed parathas to excellent chinese food. solzaire has already shared a good Mutton place here. Well let me share two places which might interest all you food junkies out there.

1) Chitanya - The Paratha place. Amazing parathas. Situated on FC Road. Good for a light budget, heavy diet treat.
2) Fat Kong - This was a sudden find. S and I were walking down Junglee Maharaj road somewhere near Kamat fast food place ( another good food place). The objective of the walk was to find an optician (ostensibly) to fix my broken glasses and to get away from S's irritating roommate. Suddenly, we spot this chinese restraunt across the street. We entered to spend some time together but ended up having wonderful meal of "Chicken Tapanyaki" and "Prawn Taiwan Rice". The Tapanyaki thing was amazing. The only other similar dish which I have had and rank above this is the Roasted Duck at "Mainland China" in Aamchi Mumbai. solzaire can you share your Tapanyaki experience here.

Can't wait to go back again

Some LJ entries have been due a long time... I guess its time I made some entries. The last few days have seen me go thru a lot of ups and downs, on various fronts. An up in my personal life brought a smile to my face which was pasted there for 3-4 days and surfaces at strange times even now. Thanks Shrutz for the advice...atleast I did something right for a change. Work has been going on so fast that I am finding it hard to keep pace with it. Well, Given the trend of last year This surely should be marked as an 'up'. A hectic work schedule for the last 2 days and a room cleaning saw me taking to the bed due to headache, bodyache and cold(allergic reaction to dust). Now that I am up and somewhat ready, back to work.... still I guess I'll be more regular on LJ from now on.

PS: welcome to the blog world pearlmist

Your Element Is Air

You dislike conflict, and you've been able to rise above the angst of the world. And when things don't go your way, you know they'll blow over quickly. Easygoing, you tend to find joy from the simple things in life. You roll with the punches, and as a result, your life is light and cheerful. You find it easy to adapt to most situations, and you're an open person. With you, what you see is what you get... and people love that!

Spent the night before the last under the blanket of stars. Sleeping on the terrace of my hostel. Me and a friend talking ourselves to sleep, while feasting our eyes on the beautiful "rice lights on the ceiling".

And then I spent last night cooped up in the department. What a day!

It feels so great to know a person so well that you know whats going on in his/her mind even before he/she says it. Just talk to my elder Bro (My best friend ever). Even as we talked I felt a connection, a bonding that I never feel with anybody else. The feeling was accentuated by the fact that I hadn't talked to him for over a month now.

Now, since, he is elder I *always* bring on the issue of his marriage. Today, as I jovially asked him to find a girl for himself, he paused a split second more than usual and was caught. I had amazing fun teasing him red. I could actually see him go red in my mind's eye. I miss home. Don't we all.

Inspired by sampada , who brought a haiku revolution on LJ. Here's a Haiku on Research Scholars

( PhD Haiku )

I wrote this as a comment to vipul's recent post, but then thought its too long for a comment.
---


The way life is " Chase your dreams, catch them, then dream some more".

We leave our footsteps on the snow of time with our eyes on the peaks ahead and sometimes we look back to find that some footsteps which were with us have branched off or vanished.

We realize that some of these were the footsteps of ppl who held our fingers when we were searching for new peaks to conquer, too afraid to take risks. It was then that the pushed us with an encouraging smile and a confident push.

Some are of companions who walked a distance with us sharing our falls and ecstacies. Those who pointed us to our aim when we were despondent. Who gave us new dreams to dream. and we became one as we dreamt a common dream.

Then, suddenly, one day we notice that the companions have parted. One day we find a set of feet walking in another direction. some silently slip away when we are not looking, too busy in our own lives. Some part with a word of parting. Some part with heavy hearts. But, they part.

Then we reflect of our association with them. We stop to think of the journey we had together. Then, somebody, taps us on the shoulder and we lookup to find new faces smiling to us/ for us. Travelers again, like us who see a peak to conquer. Who are dreaming dreams that we are dreaming. You know what I see. I see a kid from delhi, a loud guy from Kolkata, a crackpot from kerla and a tom cruise from mumbai.

Then we walk. We walk till we reach the mountain pass where our paths will part. But, for now, we walk.

For months I had not been lonely. I had good company around, still have, so wasn't alone. I had a contented heart, so wasn't lonely. Now, something is missing. Once again I have a feeling of being left out in the jungle with no gear. Hmm, gotta do something bout this.... will work out something. I hope its for the better.

"Ho shuru hardin aise" - I was humming this tune from nescafe ad around 7:30 this morning, sipping on my Maaza. Then.. it started.

First I didnt get breakfast early in the morn and didnt have the enthu to go outside the campus. So came back to the hostel with the intention of washing my clothes (which were supposed to be washed during the night) and then having a good bath before going back to deptt.

The string of events that now transpired could blow anybody's brains...
1) As i was taking out the clothes (soaked earlier yesterday) from my bucket to put in the wash tub. I realized that there was something wrong with some of them.Suddenly.... realization dawned on me. It seems that a pillow cover decided to show its true colors when soaked and all the other clothes just went green with envy. Yes, half the clothes in my possession in mumbai now have a dark florescent green tint and some have most beautiful patterns marked on them. Three of my T-Shirts fell victim to this tragedy.

2) As if that was not enough.When I entered the bath I found the shower ( which is just a water outlet over my head, with no pretense of having a shower at all.) running at a decent pressure. As I finished applying soap suddenly the water pressure started oscillating as others in the wing started and stopped their water taps. so there I was covered with lather and a bare trickle hitting my head. As I was about swear out loud, the water mercifully and suddenly redoubled its original ferocity. Thankful to all the wingies I hurriedly completed the bath and turned off the tap, only to realize that that sudden splash of water was not a boon after all. The water, after bouncing off my head, had soaked my fresh cloathes hanging on a hanger nearby. So it happened that I walked back to my room (i live at a hostel) with my vest clinging to my back. Grrrrr....

3) Came back to the room thinking nothing can go wrong now. Now to the task of preparing to wash more clothes.As I was putting the next pile of clothes to soak in the bucket-full of detergent-water, the towel which was wrapped around my neck so far suddenly decided to slip. She must have a hair of some good cricketer in her, cause with a clean square-cut it sent the box full of detergent clattering across the floor. Gr8, now I had wet feet and a floor strewn with detergent crystal. I wanted to die/cry/scream(in reverse order).

4) Handled the detergent emergency with as much efficiency as a monkey with a razor blade. Now, to dress-up and go to the deptt. Where's the T-shirt which I was supposed to wear. I turn around and find a blue corner of the above said shirt peeping above the surface of water. Good, NOW, what am I supposed to do? Streak off to the deptt. Hence the result..... am garbed in a cream/offwhite formal shirt with a coffee brown cotton trouser. Nice,huh? Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

Life ........ I have nothing to say.