Path and the goal

Who seeks for heaven alone
To save his soul
May keep the path
But will not reach the goal
While they who walk in love
May wander far
Yet God will bring them
Where the blessed are.

Henry Van Dyke
The Other Wise Man

Found at a blog titled "A Lust For Life"

Land of Opportunity

"India is the land of oppurtunity,
an oppurtunity to eliminate inequality,
an oppurtunity to provide equal access to facilities to every citizen."

- Arpit's Blog

Carl Jung says...

The creation of something new is not accomplished by the intellect but by the play instinct acting from inner necessity. The creative mind plays with the objects it loves.

A shoe that fits one person pinches another; there is no recipe for living that suits all cases.

It all depends on how we look at things, and not how they are in themselves.

The brain is viewed as an appendage of the genital glands. (Comment upon Freudian psychology).

"The foundation of all mental illness is the avoidance of true suffering"

Man needs difficulties; they are necessary for health.

Children are educated by what the grown-up is and not by his talk.

- Carl Jung
Psycho-Analyst

Age of Imagination

Had to meet a person who is ages ahead of me in terms of experience and age too.
Had a lot of apprehensions about how at all I will face him or manage myself before him.

Then contacted one of my friends who knows the person very well... well at least he has been in touch with him on a regular basis. My friend told me that the person is too alone (a side-effect of old age these days) and he feels great whenever anyone goes to meet him. That single fact evaporated all my hesitation. But then I cogitated for few minutes on the thingy that ppl call "OLD AGE". Out of the cogitation on "how to remain young" came the quote

"Death can limit Life but not its Imagination"

Looking ahead for the meeting. :)

Pirates of Content

Yesterday I watched the movie "Lage Raho Munnabhai". Saw Munna doing Gandhigiri.
After the movie ended, I became conscious that I had bought the ticket in black. This moved me strongly to take an oath not to buy tickets in black in future. But then I started extending the oath. What about the pirated music I download from net? And those pirated movies that I see with my family?

For now I want to restrain myself watching movies with tickets in black for the next 3 months. But regarding piracy I hold very different views from the cyber policing people. I think our business model hasn't evolved with technology. We still sell things the way we used to thousand years back (except few exception like web services supporting themselves with pay per click, pay per call models). We still sell content like any other goods. That we need to change.

Update: For more on "Change and not blame", read James' ideas here and here as comments on the news of launch of a new online video service, Guba, that will automatically detect and flag copyrighted video.

Heat generates more heat

Don't know how to assuage the pain arising through the burns I got in a useless debate.
I don't want to accept that I don't some XYZ concept.
It's only that my way of explaining things was different.
I thought about sending the other person a mail with detailed links on the concept but then I thought "I know the concept, I know that he too knows but he is not convinced that I also know. Its only the gap of misunderstanding that made us feel that the OTHER doesn't know. So why generate more heat."

But I am burning and the burns led me to spoil my blog with the above charcoal.

tamanna aur Tamanna

After a long time, my brain's decaying poetic part has something to say
People suffering with literature allergy should better close their senses

nazar ki baat ko dil mein utar lete hain

juhki aankhon ka yeh dhoka hum ek pal mein jaan lete hai

tumhe laga ki pa gaye hum us afsaane ko

na karo aisa mazaak aur dard do deewane ko

tamanna aur tamanna mein farq hota hai

ek laati hai dil mein kashish, doosri ko dekh kar chehra surkh hota hai

bas aaj itna hi kahunga tumhe mere dost sun lo

umr jaa rahi hai chhod kar jawaani ko, ishq kar lo

shayari hai nahi bani ishq paane walo k liye
yeh to cheez hai bachi kuchi lut jaane walon k liye
ishq ki kurchan jab itna nasha karti hai
kya hoga anzaam iska ishq karne walon k liye

It's all in the approach

"Power crisis"
POWER that drives everything from devices to governments to news channels.

---HEADS---
Committees and research groups predict future power usage and govt.'s and companies get themselves ready to meet the demands. And as always, demand wins over supply and the game starts all over again.
Problem: We target the wrong thing or rather the partial problem. Our aim is to achieve net demand-supply balance and in that government is not the only one to blame for.

---TAILS---
Have we ever taken demand more seriously than supply?

Approach 1
Why not ban those companies that produce less-efficient power devices?
Approach 2
Why not improve our power consumption habits? Why not we take the initiative to buy power-efficient devices and let the power-hungry ones get eliminated naturally from the market? Why not we take the initiative to inculcate discipline in power consumption?

Remember companies can bribe governments but not the entire population.
They don't sell products, they buy habits.

Fact:
"A huge chunk of the electricity used in the US is actually wasted by AC to DC power adaptors for electronics and also for standby mode in other types of electronics (TVs, VCRs, etc.)"

So next time, for everybody's sake, please don't leave your PCs, TVs ... in standby mode.
You can save a lot not only for yourself but your future generations.
You just need to press a switch to bring light to others' dark homes.

One more point to make in support of HARMONY which you might think is nowhere related to POWER consumption.
Two people are reading in separate rooms because they can't sit in the same room and read. Power goes off and since their inverter(a kind of power bacup) can only drive 1 tubelight, they have no other option but to sit in one room and read. [With examinations on their head, they go for it]. Imagine if they would have been sitting in the same room and reading like this before the power went off. If in the same manner everybody would have been using power, the power supply would have been there twice the time it is usually there.
My own room, my own TV, my own mobile, my own family --- such individualistic notions are leading to exponential growth in instability of every kind. No doubt these are the things that are also boosting consumer economies of today's world.

Nothing more to say but my old punchline - Faster development, Faster Extinction

Some one-liners

Question mark is a beginning, Full-Stop is a sojourn

How we Indians celebrated 15 August?
Independence from Terrorism by dependence on Security

A new breed of ornaments have mushroomed these days - Digital Ornaments (Mobile, Ipod, USB drives)

Message to the developing and the developed...
Faster development, Faster Extinction

Companies can bribe governments but not the entire population.
They don't sell products, they buy habits.

Money - Language of Pragmatism/Practicality these days

Met a person on my train journey. Had debates on practicality and difference between the Indifferent attitude of a Mumbaikar and a New Orleander.

He told me
There's a difference between being selfish and being cruel.

I told him
Everybody has his/her own boundaries of practicality.

Smile vs. Laugh

Just few days back while returning to my home, I was thinking about what is it that makes somebody laugh (instead smile) on something and vice versa.

• Is smile symbolic of less happiness than laugh?
• Does laugh originates only from humor?
• Is smile more emotionally related to mind than laugh?

Can anybody throw light on my above curiosities?

Liquid Stages of Life

Credit: JustElite

What made Rama Lord Rama?

Last weekend after my pooja, while I was pondering upon Rama, my mind triggered this question

What made Rama Lord Rama?

The immediate answer I got was his sacrifice of power to keep his father's words and came the quote

Sacrifice is the highest form of bravery.

But then didn't other ascetics in ancient India choose the life Rama went for?
Moreover, Krishna didn't go for any banwaas. What is the equivalent sacrifice he made?
And all those qualities that are ascribed to [super] heroes flashed in my mind - Conviction - Determination - Commitment - Strength - Far-Sightedness - Knowledge - _ _ _ _
And also came those controversial stories that non-followers talk about like Rama's unfair treatment to Sita etc.

And then came the question

What makes super human or a super hero a GOD?

I pose this question to all my readers.

For the time being, I have my mother's teachings to keep me calm.

Imbibing their qualities is the true worship of those great souls
(deified or non-deified).

Note:- This article titled Is Superman = Jesus? forced me to break the rule of not blogging more than once a week.

Is India meant for non-right-brain activities only?

Shocking but ...

Pink says that most technologically based industries are telling engineering schools the same thing. "They are saying, 'Don't give us technicians, people who only do routine work; we can send that to India. We need people who can think across disciplines.'"

Came across this while reading an article on Beyond Technology that outlines a lot of good points supporting usage of one's right brain.

Above paragraph seems to be a result of the image our mushrooming IT industries might have made or the myopic knowledge the writer/speaker has about India or may be the writer is trying to address the concern of his countrymen about outsourcing drains.

Articles on Contemporary India
Men and Ideas: Curse of Seniority by Gurcharan Das
Quota crisis opportunity to take off, says Moily: from hiking teachers’ pay to tripling college enrolment
Why no Indian Buffett or Gates?

Temple vs. Tourist Spot

Last week I visited two very famous temples in Maharashtra - Sri Siddhivinayak Temple Mumbai and Panduranga Vithhal Temple, Pandharpur. #

There are many things that are burning inside me after visiting them. For now, I am just summarizing a typical temple scene.

Typical Temple Scene

• Long serpentine Queues competing with the longest in the world surrounded by iron fences and walls accompanied with hawkers trying to sell garlands, beverages and eatables.
• Bare-footed devotees trying every other alternate to get a quicker and longer sight of the deity's idol like
• getting in Q hours before the temple opens
• pushing, VIP pass
• breaking queue
• jumping the iron fences that I got to see in Pandharpur
• Thanks to terrorism, security people live closer to GOD.
• CCTVs used both for security and calming the queue by putting their deity LIVE, soon companies will have to approach the deities for a brand ambassador.
• Priests asking you to part away with at least a 50 rupee note and offer it to the deity. The heftier the amount, the more seconds you remain in front of the idol. They also sometimes ask separately for dakshina. This is what happened with one of my groupmates recently.
• The common belief among the followers as Rajiv Malik quotes:

  "Many ardent Hindus live by the conviction that the mere sight of this temple's central icon of Lord ... assures spiritual transformation." [That is only one of the thousand things people want assurance for]
  

A shocking fact that I came across through this piece of news article on Kali Temple

"Long serpentine queues of bare-footed devotees waiting for hours to get a “darshan” of the Devi may be common elsewhere also, but the Kali Devi Mandir here stands out for the large amount of liquor and sheep which are offered to the goddess on the occasion of Ashtami." [Kali Temple seems to make asuras out of them]

Is this what true Hinduism all about? For that sake I question every other religion in this 21st century, a continuation of the darkness, the human beings have lived in since their inception.

I appeal to all Bapus, Moraris, sants, sri sris and all such religious corporates - Can't you bring light in such people's dark minds in lieu of the Laxmi endowed on you?

# Other famous religious places that I have paid homage to are:
Vaishno Devi, Jammu * Neelkanth * Jwala Ji * Haaji Ali Dargaah, Mumbai * Akshardham Temple, Gandhinagar * Doodheswar Nath Temple, Ghaziabad

Increase English Vocabulary

Those who are looking for improving their English esp. word power for exams like GRE, SAT should visit NYTimes and read articles on language written by William Spahire.

In every article, he picks up a word, part of some news, and discusses etymological evolution, usage in various contexts. You will also learn at least 7-10 good , if not new, words. By good I mean words rarely used by an average English literate.

Update

I gave my GRE and scored 600/800 in Verbal.
I had mugged up 3500 words [Barron's wordlist], mostly alien to me in one or the other way in around 3 months time, on an average 2 hrs a day.
Though I could retain 2800 just before GRE.

I would like to share the strategies I tried to attack my weak vocabulary
Newspaper reading
These days newspapers like TOI consciously present them(esp. their editorial section) with a focus on students preparing for competitive exams involving strong English vocabulary.
Though its a well known fact that editorials usually involve unusual vocabulary, TOI takes special care by ensuring that its articles covers words from Barron.
All About Words: An Adult Approach to Vocabulary
I read first 4 chapters of this book and it was real enlightening.
It helped me build an appetite for words
Another thing that acted as a friend, philosopher and guide were the 2 dictionaries that I bought
Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary
Oxford Illustrated Dictionary

They helped me understand subtle differences in words and fine shades of their meanings.
I literally sat for over 600 words and read from the dictionary. But give the time constraint, I could not continue this exercise for all words.

More later .... need to run for dinner

Digital Divide vs. People Divide

If people can get any song they like, why should they listen to their friend's music, or (horrors) listen to the music selected by a group of barflies? By allowing people to have whatever they want, are we destroying that ability to get along?
- Sarah Gilbert blogs About those killers: does digital music kill community?

I think Sarah's blog about Fry's theory stating that with mass customization and digitization comes loss in community and the thrill of the hunt for that one good song in an otherwise terrible
jukebox is something people should be conscious about when they use gadgets like iPods, MP3 players etc.

These days, we are constantly searching new technologies and business models for narrowing the digital divide between urban and rural people to hunt down "lack of access" to information and communication technologies. But in this run, we should not get hit by the problem of people getting divided across iLines.

Technologies that allow people to hide in their own [mental] cocoons are a threat to the community spirit. Remember, Man is just not a being, Man is a social being.

Don't know, hum kis talaash mein hain?

There is one program on DD called talaash(search) wherein they everytime introduce you to a new kind of employment opportunity.

Yesterday, they told about the business of making leather toys (mostly animal toys like tiger, elephant etc.). They told that there is a big market especially outside India. Madhya Pradesh is the leading business centre for this. They also mentioned that its a low capital business, provides good employment opportunities to lot of poor people and the export revenue is increasing at a good pace. Therefore, govt. has started providing them incentives. In addition to this, there is something called Gandhi Shilp Mela which runs throught the year in various parts of the country. This provides a stage to showcase there work.

Now my views.

Animals killed to make leather. -> Leather used to make animal toys.
Under the umbrella of Gandhiji (who was against killing of animals) mela, these objects are showcased.
Gandhiji's philosophy was to make leather from the animals who die natural death. But in this fashion oriented world, people need separate formal and informal shoes, leather accessories like jackets, purses, and what not. So to meet this demand, we can't wait animals to die !!!
Such kind of world should be drained of resources. Only then we would learn the value of things nature provides us.

Note:DD is DoorDarshan, our national channel if people have forgotten.

mere khaali haath

On invitation from my kathak teacher, I and venkat went to palaspe gaon, beyond panvel, navi mumbai to hear Dhrupad from Ustad Zia Fariduddin Dagar but landed up having just a good dinner and returning dissatisfied as the performance (which was to be continued till late in the next morning) got finished hours before it was scheduled to due to some reasons unknown to me. I felt guilty of eating the food without attending the performance but couldn't help as I wasn't told before I finished my dinner (@ 1.00 am, 15th March)

Anyways, the happiness of getting such an invitation still remains with me as this was the 1st invitation I got, inspite of lot of ICM lovers existing around me who visit such performances on a regular basis. May be they don't consider me as an ardent ICM listener.

Anyways I am optimistic about the future as my teacher has promised me that I will get such invitations regularly from now and with more promising schedules.

More about Dagar bros., their tradition and family roots.
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2000/20000414/art-trib.htm#1

Note: Gundecha Bros. have learned in the same dhrupad gurukul in palaspe gaon.
proud to visit it. :)

Battle with Self

An African saying - "Man’s greatest battles are the ones he fights within himself."

That's what I am doing these days. Fighting a battle with my own black self that stops me from disciplining myself. Though this blog entry is not a treatment to this disease but just a formal realization of what all I am into and how can I come out.

In this huge city, I don't find a single peaceful place where I can purify and pacify my soul. I am getting cooked for the desperation to eat me in the end but not able to save myself.

First time I realize that Discipline is not something one needs to forcefully comply with but to develop a taste for like other things.
Note: Loss of apetite for food is considered a disease because it serves our body's energy needs.

One more thing that I heard from some radio show or magazine is that Organization in any system is must for it to work smoothly. Imagine what would happen if everyday our body parts change places as per their own will!! Similarly, We start failing when we change routines routinely.

Actually over time, I feel I have developed taste for Disorganization. I wanted not to stuck in a machine-like daily routine like other morons but that has made me go on the extreme side of the other end. I don't know whether this disease has struck me or not. Because it's not like I don't like to keep my room organized though it does messes up frequently. The disorganization in my life is more related to my daily activities due to abrupt mood swings.

OK. Let me list some jobs that I want to do routinely.
Keeping mobile for charging
Sleep @ 10.00 pm
Rise @ 6.oo am
Surya Namaskaar - 2 rounds
Siddhasana - 15 mins
Pooja in Padamasana - 10 mins
Get ready before 7.30 am
Limit mail checking to just 4 times a day (9.30 am, 2.00 pm, 5.10 pm, 7.45 pm[if possible])
Blog check days - One weekday, Saturday, Sunday (time spent/ day not more than 30 mins)
Listening music - 40 mins
No headphones in ears while sleeping
Daily Reading - 1 hour (related to general CS topics)
30 mins(related to topic of interest)
Dinner @ 8.30 pm max
Registering my expenses in the diary

Humans are the new Beast

Are you just a non-Vegetarian or a non-human? Find out yourself-

• If YOU LIVE IN COLD COUNTRIES and wear FUR
• If YOU have ever purchased WOOLEN MATERIAL
• If YOU have ever used a MONKEY or a living organism FOR EXPERIMENTS
• If YOU have eaten EGGS and MEAT FROM BIRDS
• If YOU have ever derived pleasure from VISITING A ZOO or a CIRCUS

If Yes then You don't deserve even a pig's life.

• Would you want to watch as someone poked a spear into your mother or father?
• Can you even imagine the agony of being roasted alive on a grill?
• Do you even think you can tolerate a blade slicing through your skin just because someone wants fancy clothes made of human skin?
  

LET US ALL MAKE IT a VOW to stop non-vegetarianism, stop cruelty to animals, never visit a zoo or circus, never buy woolen, fur, silk or unnatural clothes, never buy an animal product... because everytime we do these things, remember one of our brothers from the animal world is dying a merciless and undeserving death...

Credit: This is an excerpt taken from an orkut community forum posted by somebody. I just lost the link and therefore couldn't link to him.

Dreams and She (sapne aur woh)

People usually ask - "koi nayee khabar"

Mera zawaab...
kya karun zindagi khabar hi nahi banati
raat aati hai roz uski yaad, bas woh nahi aati

When I slept to forget her...
ayenge woh is tarah humein kya pata tha
soye the hum to unko bhool jaane k liye

Do away with the word mankind

Most of us like eating fish, but nobody wants to cuddle them. The consequence is that, while otters, seals, elephants, rhinos and even foxes have powerful political constituencies to fight for them, mankind is doing disastrous things at sea without anybody seeming to care much.

I think we no longer deserve to be remarked as MANKIND. First do away with the word MANKIND.

Ban on trawling is not a solution to preserve aquatic life. We need to decrease the demand to such a level that trawling becomes economically inviable. For that the small step one can take is stop eating fish. You can start by reducing the amount you eat. I understand the demand of people living near the sea-shore. For them, it is the only food available in abundance. But what about people living in other areas like plains etc.?

Nature provides for everybody's need and not for everybody's greed.

We can blame trawlers for being greedy but what about the useless need we have developed. Do we all require sea-food to remain healthy?

Do remember: if Nature gets infuriated, nothing stands before it!!

• Guardian Unlimited Special reports Special report: global fishing crisis
• We need to start caring about fish, or there won't be any left
  
• A guide for the concerned fish eater
• For the concerned fish-eater, what's safe, what's healthy and what's sustainable
• 'There is a greed revolution among the privileged classes'
• Ideas that have harmed mankind by Bertrand Russell
• Ideas that have helped mankind by Bertrand Russell
• Gentle Genocide - A Cartoon Film by Mark Fiore
• Are you a Non-Vegetarian or a Non-Human? - Rahul Gupta
  

Living Rock mountain

Credit: Neatorama

Can You Find the Mother and Child?