Peace

The road is quiet
Patches of dry tar
Patches of clear sky
A faint scent of eucalyptus
Dim streetlamp
A lone man stands
Peacefully smoking
Occasional puff of smoke
Content with himself
Looking at the sky
A parked car
As though sleeping
To wake up at dawn
And break the spell
But for now,
The road is quiet

Phoenix

Walking on a lonely road

Patches of dark, without streetlamps

A cemetery beckons

Ghastly silence hinting at his fate

He keeps on walking

An act of defiance

Though in his mind he knows

That the battle is already lost

The graveyard smirks

"Telling him that one day, you shall come to me

And that is inevitable"

But he throws his head back and laughs,

"You think its surrender?

Its a brave man's battle, fought hard

With head held high and glory at helm

You shall take me for now,

But from the ashes i shall rise again".

 

Doodles

Paper in my hand,
A want to write my mind out
I look for the pen,
And something to write about

Aimless words,
Little sense they seem to make
Aimless thoughts,
About this world, real and fake

Why fake i say,
Reality is what i see around me
Why write i say,
The thoughts belong to only me

Pointless rhymes,
My thoughts do wander away
But write i do,
To say what i want to say

So, this is the cure for my itch,
A few words
Out of my pen and on my paper.

तदेव लग्नं

तदेव लग्नं सुदिनं तदेव , ताराबलं चन्द्रबलं तदेव, विद्याबलं दैवबलं तदेव, लक्ष्मिपते तेङ्ग्रियुगं स्मरामि 


This is the shloka that is spoken at almost each religious custom. What it means [crudely] is:
'It is the sacred moment, it is a good day, it has all the power of the moon and the stars [astrological], it has all the power of knowledge and fate when i think of your feet, oh lord Vishnu'


So by saying this we proclaim that we are investing all the power of stars, the moon, knowledge and fate at the sacred moment. And whatever we will start at this moment will have the power with it. This is said in a wedding, in a 'munj' and in a 'vastushant' and every such ceremony.


I became fascinated with this shloka during my cousin's wedding. The reason i became fascinated with it because i liked the tone of finality associated with it. It strongly asserts that as of this moment, every material power is with us, and the only thing required now is for us to use our will power and make right whatever we are embarking upon. 


In a wedding, it asserts to the bride and the groom that 'now that you have all of the power invested in you, it is up to you two and only you two to make the wedding succesful'.
In a munj it tells the munja that 'now that you have all of the power invested in you, it is up to you and only you to make sure that you successfully complete your education in your 'brahmacharyashram' and be ready to enter 'gruhasthashram''.


So i guess what it says is that it is up to us to make our journey successful assuming that every material power is with us. It also tells us a strange thing - that we dont need a sacred moment to embark upon something - we make this moment sacred by chanting this shloka. The reason this is strange is because we always find the exact sacred moment - muhurta - for a wedding / munj etc.


This is brings me back to my new years post of 2007 - that why we need a special day. It is a motivation thing - i think finding an appropriate 'muhurta' is for making the moment special - for motivating us to start whatever we want to start. This shloka makes the muhurta redundant by proclaiming that we make whatever moment we want into a muhurta. And that is why this one fascinates me.


This tells me that we shouldn't rely on stellar support - shouldn't rely on fate to do anything. We must assume that while travelling on the road ahead, we have full support of these things - stars and moon, knowledge and fate - and that the rest in only in our hands. And if anything goes wrong - we must bear the responsibility of it - because its only because our own doing and not the fault of stars.


I have always said this while giving advice to people and tried to follow it myself - in a  situation, all we can worry about are the things that are in our control - the rest, which is beyond our control,  we should not worry about because there is not a thing we can do about it. This shloka tell me exactly that.


I have been pondering over this for a while - the powerful message which the shloka delivers. So i choose this moment to publish my thoughts and hope that they enlighten me and others. 


तदेव लग्नं सुदिनं तदेव , ताराबलं चन्द्रबलं तदेव, विद्याबलं दैवबलं तदेव, लक्ष्मिपते तेङ्ग्रियुगं स्मरामि

A travelers log

Hello,
I am back after a long time - its almost time for my new years blog. So rather than having some arcane philosophical discussion, i am going to transcribe a travel-log here.

This is the log i wrote - yes, in a notebook - during my journey from LA to Pune and back. I have transcribed it word to word - including the spelling mistakes - my comments while transcribing it are colored grey.


The journey begins - LA to Pune

-Travel log 12/2 or 2/12 now that i am going back to India
-Long wait at the airport with expensive [3X of normal] food
-Long call with Santya
-Very long struggle to call Deepti @ Malaysia
-Pretty air-hostesses .. warmest service so far
-Announcement in Hindi 'देवियों और सज्जनों ' - first feel of homeland !
-Disappointment at finding out that there is no power outlet
-No stupid safety demos.. instead a corny video with a pretty air-hostess
-Reading light not focusing on my seat
-Bye Bye LA through the window
-Stupidity -- decide that the seat doesnt go all the way down -- tell an airhostess -- she tells me that there is a different button for that :P
-Complimentary OJ/AJ/Water -- [here i have written a word which i cant decipher]
-Complimentary beer !
-Malaysian airlines -- best so far [except the announcements in some asian language] -- [i didnt realize it was malysian :P]
-Watching Half Blood Price -- didnt even know the movie was out
-So far the journey is really good -- sitting next to a a very nice family
-Met a girl @ airport -- Speech therapist -- we got talking a bit -- reminds me of Richa
-HP and HBP -- why dont they stick to the book?
-I smell fish
-Too many announcements during the movie
-Movie boring
-Nice meal -- wine with meal, i dont take wine
-Hot tea instead of coffee - sounded similar
-Good long sleep
-Wake up -- potato bun
-Forgot to bring toothbrush and moisturizer
-Watching Ice Age-Dawn of the Dinosaurs
-Good breakfast of scrambled eggs
-Plane movement -- coffee spills
-Found out that the toilets have toothbrushes and toothpaste !
-Land @ Taipei - disembark
-@ Taipei airport -- Duty free stuff too expensive
-1 US$ = 32 Taiwan$
-Back to the plane !
-Again food -- hungry, so will eat anything
-On KL airport
-Found a terminal -- check mail !
-Wait for the girls -- Asha and Aditi to finish their stuff [here i should explain that Aditi is the girl i met at the airport, Asha is one my my friends here who was also taking the same flight -- i didnt know about that earlier]
-Tried calling Deepti -- failed
-Rush to Immigration -- dont want Deepti to wait long
-Talk to a girl -- Laxmi in the imm. line -- she looks charmed by me :P
-Immigration clear -- transit pass
-Eager to meet Deepti -- but cant find her
-Calling her -- cant seem to
-Currency exchange -- 1US$ = 3.32 Ringetts [the actual spelling is Ringitts and the abbreviation is RM]
-Calling Deepti again - cant get through
-Eat at BK -- just for internet access [BK is burger king]
-Last try to contact Deepti - failed
-Go to shuttle stop and take shuttle to hotel
-Nice room -- coffee !! and wifi
-Comp runs on 2% battery for half an hour -- miracle
-Laptop conks off -- realized that there is a power outlet!
-तहान लागल्यावर विहीर खोदने   [Suddenly i had an inspiration and started writing in marathi -- forgive me for the errors of transliteration]
- बैग मधे टूथब्रुश मिळाला !
-मस्त आंघोळ केली
-आता उकदतय थोड
-15 km / j [?] अशी पाटी होती
-परतीच विमान
-एअरपोर्ट वर 'Malaysian street food' -- ठीक ठाक होत
-परत आदिती भेटली
-विमानात बसल्या बसल्या झोप

The return journey begins - Pune to LA

-Another round of farewells @ home -- this time its much worse
-Met some of my best friends -- Swati, Rahul, Monica, Nikhil, Richa -- going back atleast with that satisfaction
-Journey to Bombay -- Sumo
-Fell asleep in car -- made the driver sleepy -- not good
-Stop @ Kamat again
-Lot of traffic
-Reach airport
-Took a walk to restroom -- alone
-Some time toe prepare myself for the departure
-Try to remain calm and smile
-Finally in
-Long wait @ counter
-Met everyone at visitors gallery -- made me feel like a prisoner visiting his relatives thru a meshed window
-Immigration and security done
-Eat a 100Rs sandwich and 100Rs cold coffee
-Making final calls
-Finally boarded -- sit on the wrong seat -- american couple makes me get up -- stupidity of mine
-Sit next to a a guy with 3 kids
-a pretty girl sitting behind me -- she has a sad kind of look
-Think of writing the log [ok, i started writing at this point - so the stuff on the return journey till now is flashback]
-Started reading the LA to Pune log -- got remined [reminded] of reading light -- checked -- does focus on my seat -- no troubles there
-Damn ! my seat is too far from the toilet
-Announcement 'Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls and Enrich members' !
-Again 'देवियों और सज्जनों' -- this time the feeling is of longing
-Free beer again
-Shouldnt have had lime with soda -- stomach acting weird
-White wine with dinner -- not bad
-No coffee with dinner :(
-Watching House
-Slept off
-Landed @ KL -- familiar territory
-Amazing how much the comfort level @ at a place increases [i have drawn an arrow pointing up] once you have been there before
-Malaysian toilets are pretty bad [i wrote worst - and rubbed it off not to be too critical]
-Sitting @ a cafe 'Delifrance' -- apparently french
-Finally some coffee and water
-1US$ = 3.27RM
-डोक्यात विचारांच थैमान सुरु आहे
-मराठीत लिहिल्यामुले अस वाटतय की रोज काहीतरी मराठीतून लिहाव
-Search for chewing gum -- 'दात घासन्याची गोळी'
-Go to a duty free chocolate shop -- no gum
-Go to a pharmacy -- happydent white
-Another security check -- cant take water in -- what a waste
-Guard asks to open bag -- momentary freakout
-Tried calling Deepti again! -- not in service
-Imagined the scene @ immigration in LA -- why am i freaking out?
-लिहायचा मूड नाहीये -- आत्तापर्यंत झोपून होतो
-Landed @ Taipei
-Toilets are cleaner and bigger
-It is cold inside the terminal
-1US$ = almost 38 Taiwan$
-A girl traveling to LA giving me looks -- caught her looking @ me a couple of times
-Parle poppins after ages -- still the same taste
-Same kind of restlessness
- I guess after a year, LA has become 'home away from home' -- Santya's term
-Just realized that i have a habit of keeping a copy of my itin in my left pocket -- i guess useful
-12 more hours to LA
-Set clock @ LA time
-Watching district 9 -- weird movie -- 'alien trans-species prostitution' -- what a horrible concept
-Bumpy ride -- very bumpy
-One bump was so bad that a small plea of forgiveness came to my mind
-The lady sitting next to me is very scared -- holds my hand -- almost crying
-We talk -- she turns out to be facutly @ USC -- works on HIV !
-The world is so small
-Bumps over
-Slept through most of it
-Bored by now -- i thik [think] long flights are useful in killing all the feelings of leaving home
-Almost there in LA
-Finally got coffee ! but the bumps start again
-Watch a corny video of CBP about carrying food
-Immigration and customs cleared -- no probs there
-Waiting for flyaway
-Its raining and its cold
-Journey from warm and sunny Pune to cold and cloudy LA is over
-So long



Phew -- that was a long blog.

Alright, hope its readable and hope you dont fall asleep by the end of it.

So this is it for my new years blog for now - will get back soon - have so many topics to write about.

Happy New Year everyone !

Through one's eyes

"You see the world being dark when you see it through dark glasses"

I read this saying somewhere, i may not have remembered it accurately, but in essence it is right.

The line talks about one's perception of things. And through experience, some good and some bad, i have come to realize that there is a vast difference between perception and reality ; and most of the times, perception holds more importance over reality.

Take the example of a court case - the evidence is reality , the crime is reality - however, the way the crime is punished [the actual function of the law] is based on perception. In American system, the members of jury decide whether the accused is guilty or not. Its based on their perception of the evidence and the case made by the lawyers. [It is perhaps a great thing that the Indian law - no matter what the actual thing is - has the symbol of the law 'goddess' with a set of scales in her hand and a blindfold over her eyes - to make sure that the justice given is free from the bias of perception]

Perception plays a far more important role in our lives. A lot of people have the tendency to see things as ' black or white ' or 'good or bad'. While it may be easier for the person to handle that, its not really good for them. When one sees things in black or white, they lose out on the true colors of life. One has to realize that things are never that extreme - they are always in different colors / shades. Sandip Khare and Salil Kulkarni have written in one of their poems

'' प्रत्येकाच्या मनातून कुठला तरी राग , प्रत्येकाच्या चंद्रावर कुठला तरी डाग "

But what people try to do is to classify things as totally bad - black or totally good - white. And this leads to expectations. E.g. someone who's clasisified as 'white' would always be expected to do everything perfectly - they cant slip even once - or they are re-classified as 'black'. But that is not the way things work in life, is it? It's true the other way round as well. Someone who has done something bad and is classified as 'black' will no longer be expected to do any good - and even if they do, its hard to redeem themselves.

The point i am trying to make is that one should see things as they are - more objective, and less biased - then only one can know the reality. People usually fall in either of the two categories 'optimistic' or 'pessimistic' - why isnt there a third category 'realist'. I have always considered myself a realist - i prefer not to be either optimistic or pessimistic about things - i prefer to see things as they are. People may think i'm either opti/pessimistic depending on their own perception of the situation, but for me its being a realist. But this brings us to the paradox with which i'll end the post.

When i say i see the real thing, its through my eyes - is that not my perception?

Cloning bloody cloning

Ok, now its Black Sabbath's turn

Forgive me Ozzy, Iommi, Butler and Ward

Cloning bloody cloning

you've seen plates through distressed eyes
you know you had to burn
the execution of your plans
did really have to turn
the day is done, the plates are old
the boss begins to show
the truth is out the boss is mad
but you don't want to know


nobody will ever let you clone
when your ask the reasons why
they just tell you that you're on your own
fill your cells all full of crap

the bacteria who have crippled you
you want to see them grow
the gates of lab are closed on you
and now there's no return
you're wishing that the hands of tech
would take your problem away
and you dont care if you don't see again
the light of day

nobody will ever let you clone
when your ask the reasons why
they just tell you that you're on your own
fill your cells all full of crap


where can you run to?
what more can you do?
no colonies tomorrow
labwork is killing you
dreams turn to nightmares
death turns to cells
burned out with experimentation
nothing more to plate

everyone around you
mocks at the cloning too
god knows and your boss knows
no more BLAST for you
cloning bloody cloning
nothing more in life
cloning just for living
living just for cloning