What a bad timing. When the market is going south all over the world because of wall street collapse, treasury is sticking in public face by launching the penny.
This is like "Hey see these pennies, you are going to have only this as your savings in future"
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Monday, September 22, 2008
Fake Contest
Whatsup with these politicians and film stars visiting golden temple all of a sudden. Shahrukh khan and now Rahul Gandhi. Politicians use to visit the temples when there is an election in the hindu majority area, dargas in muslim populated area.I think now they have added Golden Temple to the list i guess.OK I understand these politicians. They are mean, manipulative and self-centered, ego maniacal bastards. Looks like this is not enough, now filmstars have to follow their neta's.There is national integration in only "who can fake the most contest". So who's next...
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Money for marks?
There is an article in Washington post today about students getting paid for getting good grades.
My immediate thought was about our middle school math teacher Vijayalakshmi missJ. That’s how we called her. She would buy us a Diary Milk chocolate if we get centum in math and anyone getting above 90% would get an éclairs. I remember people would feel sorry if they didn’t get the coveted DM chocolate. At that time I think DM cost about 5 bucks. I know many kids in my class who hadn’t eaten one in their life. I had a good opportunity to get them almost in every test. I would eat the chocolate slowly when I am walking on my way home and would flaunt to my sister about it. She would ask me to get it for the next time. I rarely give her the entire bar not intentionally but the chocolate taste simply lures me to commit the sin of eating it. Things aside, I would say a simple candy motivated me when I was kid to study hard. So I would assume giving money is like a DM to kids like me. Chocolate was more symbolic for love and appreciation but I cannot say the same thing about money. It would mean something for older people but for kids there should be gifts and presents rather than monetary gains. I think it is a bad idea to teach them that they have to study hard to earn more money in the future. It may be the reality of life but is it what they wanted to teach kids?
My immediate thought was about our middle school math teacher Vijayalakshmi missJ. That’s how we called her. She would buy us a Diary Milk chocolate if we get centum in math and anyone getting above 90% would get an éclairs. I remember people would feel sorry if they didn’t get the coveted DM chocolate. At that time I think DM cost about 5 bucks. I know many kids in my class who hadn’t eaten one in their life. I had a good opportunity to get them almost in every test. I would eat the chocolate slowly when I am walking on my way home and would flaunt to my sister about it. She would ask me to get it for the next time. I rarely give her the entire bar not intentionally but the chocolate taste simply lures me to commit the sin of eating it. Things aside, I would say a simple candy motivated me when I was kid to study hard. So I would assume giving money is like a DM to kids like me. Chocolate was more symbolic for love and appreciation but I cannot say the same thing about money. It would mean something for older people but for kids there should be gifts and presents rather than monetary gains. I think it is a bad idea to teach them that they have to study hard to earn more money in the future. It may be the reality of life but is it what they wanted to teach kids?
Wednesday, March 05, 2008
Words of wisdom
"Infinity multiplied, divided, subtracted and added by infinity is infinity. Infinity is infinite, an endless thing, so the universe is also an endless thing in which we are nothing; we are not even an atom or an electron or proton." - Brihadaranyaka upanishad
Pre school classes on astrology
Well this is from a pre school level book that i am reading on astrology.
The Zodiac or Rasi Chakra is defined as a belt of the celestial sphere extending 9 degrees of the ecliptic (the apparent orbit path of the sun around the earth in a geo-centric scheme).
The movement of the Sun through the Zodiac comprises the month (Masa) and the point of time of sun’s entry is known as Sankramana.
The most basic and universal unit of time is the day or Dina, which extends to 24 hours. Multiples of these give us weeks, months and years. A day can be further divided into hours which in Indian astrology is Hora, and is equivalent to an hour which are ruled by the planets in the following order: Arka, Shukra, Budha, Chandra, Manda, Jeevo, Dharasuta Sun, Venus, Mercury, Moon, Saturn, Jupiter and Mars rule each hora in a cyclic order, which repeats itself.
A day comprises three cycles of seven horas each, plus three hora of the next cycle. According to Hindu astrology, a day always start at sunrise. For example - Sunday begins with the cycle sun, Venus at sunrise and after completing three cycles, the three hours left would be Sun, Venus, and Mercury. The next day starts with the fourth hora of the cycle, which is ruled by Moon, and hence the day is called Monday. Thus each day of the week is named after the planet ruling the first hora of that day at sunrise. A week, consisting of seven days, named after the planets is called Varam.
Apart from the 12 solar months, there are 12 lunar months called Masas named after the Nakshatra (star) in which the full moon occurs in each successive month.
The year, known as Samvatsara, has two sections of six months each known as Ayanas. The Northern declination of the Sun, when it appears to move between the signs of Makara and Mithuna is called Uttarayana. The southern declination when the sun appears to move between Kataka and Dhanus is called Dakshinayana.
A year is further divided into six seasons known as Ritus. The Seasons Two months of the year form one season.
A solar day starts from sunrise till next sunrise. A lunar day, known as the Thithi is calculated from the longitudinal distance between the sun and moon. There are 30 Thithis in a lunar month distributed over 360 degrees, thus each Thithi has a span of 12 degrees. There are 14 Thithis in the Shukla Paksha and 14 Thithis in the darker half with Pournamy and Amavasya being the other 2 days of the month.
Most of the above are more like a trivia to me. I started studying the basics and just got lost without a teacher. May be someday i will find a guru to learn.
The Zodiac or Rasi Chakra is defined as a belt of the celestial sphere extending 9 degrees of the ecliptic (the apparent orbit path of the sun around the earth in a geo-centric scheme).
The movement of the Sun through the Zodiac comprises the month (Masa) and the point of time of sun’s entry is known as Sankramana.
The most basic and universal unit of time is the day or Dina, which extends to 24 hours. Multiples of these give us weeks, months and years. A day can be further divided into hours which in Indian astrology is Hora, and is equivalent to an hour which are ruled by the planets in the following order: Arka, Shukra, Budha, Chandra, Manda, Jeevo, Dharasuta Sun, Venus, Mercury, Moon, Saturn, Jupiter and Mars rule each hora in a cyclic order, which repeats itself.
A day comprises three cycles of seven horas each, plus three hora of the next cycle. According to Hindu astrology, a day always start at sunrise. For example - Sunday begins with the cycle sun, Venus at sunrise and after completing three cycles, the three hours left would be Sun, Venus, and Mercury. The next day starts with the fourth hora of the cycle, which is ruled by Moon, and hence the day is called Monday. Thus each day of the week is named after the planet ruling the first hora of that day at sunrise. A week, consisting of seven days, named after the planets is called Varam.
Apart from the 12 solar months, there are 12 lunar months called Masas named after the Nakshatra (star) in which the full moon occurs in each successive month.
The year, known as Samvatsara, has two sections of six months each known as Ayanas. The Northern declination of the Sun, when it appears to move between the signs of Makara and Mithuna is called Uttarayana. The southern declination when the sun appears to move between Kataka and Dhanus is called Dakshinayana.
A year is further divided into six seasons known as Ritus. The Seasons Two months of the year form one season.
A solar day starts from sunrise till next sunrise. A lunar day, known as the Thithi is calculated from the longitudinal distance between the sun and moon. There are 30 Thithis in a lunar month distributed over 360 degrees, thus each Thithi has a span of 12 degrees. There are 14 Thithis in the Shukla Paksha and 14 Thithis in the darker half with Pournamy and Amavasya being the other 2 days of the month.
Most of the above are more like a trivia to me. I started studying the basics and just got lost without a teacher. May be someday i will find a guru to learn.
Panchangam
The Indian almanac is known as the Panchangam, which means ‘having five limbs.’
The pachangam gives information regarding the basic divisions of time according to ancient hindu traditions. These are the Thithi (phase of the moon), Vara (day of the week), Nakshatra (star or constellation through which the moon is passing), Yoga (a sensitive point in the zodiac derived by adding the longitudes of the Moon, the Sun and a constant which is 930 20’) and Karana (half a Thithi).
In addition, the Panchanga gives tables for the correction of the time of sunrise of longitudes, the time taken by the sun to traverse each Rasi (zodiac sign), the Navamsa (9th Division) chart, the Shadvarga (6 major division) chart, the Sayana (tropical) position of the planets based on Driganitha (astronomical data) and so on. The basic information is according to the Siddhantas (astronomical and mathematical treatises) with corrections made accounting for the Ayanamsa (precession) for the year.
The Hindu concept of time is divided into four eras (Yugas). Krita, Treta, Dwapara and Kali yugas. The Hindu astronomers assume the planets to be in a line of mean conjunction with the first point of Aries at the beginning of a Maha Yuga. The planets would come back to their initial relative positions the end of Revati (Zeta Piscium) and the beginning of Ashwini at the beginning of the next Maha Yuga, at a place on the equator 76 degrees East of Greenwich.
They calculated the period of a Maha Yuga as 4,320,000 years. Currently, we are in Kali Yuga into its 52nd century.
Maha Yuga is made up of 12,000 Deva Samvastara (years of devas) or 4,320,000 ordinary years. 71 Maha Yugas constitute one Manvantara (308,448,000 years). 14 Manvantaras or Manus make up one Kalpa or Brahma Dina. The end of each Manvantara is said to bring about changes in the earth’s gravity and other visible changes in the Universe.
We do the the Sankalpam mentioning that we are in the 7th Manvantara in which 27 Maha Yugas have passed. We are now in the last Yuga (Kali Yuga) of the 28th Maha Yuga. We are still in the beginning of Kali Yuga with 4,26,939 years yet to elapse before it ends.
The fact that the rishis (seers) could conceive of such vast stretches of time speak of their scientific brilliance. The Vedas are a storehouse of scientific and rational knowledge and also supra-scientific knowledge (Gnana).
The pachangam gives information regarding the basic divisions of time according to ancient hindu traditions. These are the Thithi (phase of the moon), Vara (day of the week), Nakshatra (star or constellation through which the moon is passing), Yoga (a sensitive point in the zodiac derived by adding the longitudes of the Moon, the Sun and a constant which is 930 20’) and Karana (half a Thithi).
In addition, the Panchanga gives tables for the correction of the time of sunrise of longitudes, the time taken by the sun to traverse each Rasi (zodiac sign), the Navamsa (9th Division) chart, the Shadvarga (6 major division) chart, the Sayana (tropical) position of the planets based on Driganitha (astronomical data) and so on. The basic information is according to the Siddhantas (astronomical and mathematical treatises) with corrections made accounting for the Ayanamsa (precession) for the year.
The Hindu concept of time is divided into four eras (Yugas). Krita, Treta, Dwapara and Kali yugas. The Hindu astronomers assume the planets to be in a line of mean conjunction with the first point of Aries at the beginning of a Maha Yuga. The planets would come back to their initial relative positions the end of Revati (Zeta Piscium) and the beginning of Ashwini at the beginning of the next Maha Yuga, at a place on the equator 76 degrees East of Greenwich.
They calculated the period of a Maha Yuga as 4,320,000 years. Currently, we are in Kali Yuga into its 52nd century.
Maha Yuga is made up of 12,000 Deva Samvastara (years of devas) or 4,320,000 ordinary years. 71 Maha Yugas constitute one Manvantara (308,448,000 years). 14 Manvantaras or Manus make up one Kalpa or Brahma Dina. The end of each Manvantara is said to bring about changes in the earth’s gravity and other visible changes in the Universe.
We do the the Sankalpam mentioning that we are in the 7th Manvantara in which 27 Maha Yugas have passed. We are now in the last Yuga (Kali Yuga) of the 28th Maha Yuga. We are still in the beginning of Kali Yuga with 4,26,939 years yet to elapse before it ends.
The fact that the rishis (seers) could conceive of such vast stretches of time speak of their scientific brilliance. The Vedas are a storehouse of scientific and rational knowledge and also supra-scientific knowledge (Gnana).
16 Selvam
This newyear i got a message that i forgot to post here. My bro sent me this
1) Kalvi - Education
2) Arivu - Knowledge
3) Aayul - Longevity
4) Aatral - Dexterity
5) Ilamai - Youth
6) Thunivu - Valor
7) Perumai - Respect
8) Pon - Gold
9) Porul - Wealth
10) Pugal - Fame
11) Nilam - Land
12) Nanmakkal - Good progeny
13) Nalloolukam - Good surrounding
14) Noyinmai - Good health
15) Muyarchi - Perseverance
16) Vetri - Success
and ended it saying "you should get 16 more".
1) Kalvi - Education
2) Arivu - Knowledge
3) Aayul - Longevity
4) Aatral - Dexterity
5) Ilamai - Youth
6) Thunivu - Valor
7) Perumai - Respect
8) Pon - Gold
9) Porul - Wealth
10) Pugal - Fame
11) Nilam - Land
12) Nanmakkal - Good progeny
13) Nalloolukam - Good surrounding
14) Noyinmai - Good health
15) Muyarchi - Perseverance
16) Vetri - Success
and ended it saying "you should get 16 more".
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Girl, Plane and Spirituality
My visit to my friends place in Chicago brought me new perspectives to my approach of relationships.
This is not the best time for me to write about my Chicago trip as i just flunked an interview. I should have known well before the interview started that i wasn't qualified enough for that position. I am sure one would end up in embarrassment if he tries something out like this without any real stuff. Well neither getting embarrassed nor taking such shots are new to me, So i am moving on and am going to write about this trip.
Naga and I thought of visiting my friend in chicago as it's been a while since we met. Naga dropped out because of some personal reasons. So i ended up spending three days all by myself with my friends family. We did nothing but eating and lazing in the couch chatting and watching movies. We went to the car show on saturday and as usual both of us got quickly bored looking at all the beautiful cars. Well then is that all i am going to write about?
I think i can come up with something... Here we go..
I met this girl near the pretzel shop in laguardia. I didn't speak to her but i was quietly ogling at her. She was eating the pretzel phili style with mustard on it. A normal New yorker would despise this blasphemous act of spoiling the culinary magic called 'pretzel'. Anyway i slowly moved towards her to have a friendly conversation which most of friends would call 'kadalai'.
I said hi to her and asked if she is from 'Phili'. I felt like a stupid when i asked that question to her as my only reason for asking such a lame question is because of the mustard that she added. She replied in negative. So i told her why i asked that question. She smiled and said that she is from Chicago. Honestly man all i know about chicago is the deep dish pizza and my friend lives there. Although i have read about the Mafia's in today's world in some of the books i figured out that it would be an uninteresting topic that you can bring up to a girl. So i said 'oh, the place of deep dish pizza'. She smiled and now she got the que that i am trying to indulge in a conversation. She asked if i am chef in a sarcastic way and gave a wry smile. My ego didn't let me take that so i said "well if you want to call me that i am fine with that even though my friends call me food lover". Both of us exchanged smile for that and she said the flight has been delayed because of the traffic today. I didn't waste a second to ask her if she cared for a drink. She said why not. So we walk to the Irish pub in the airport. She asked for a Guinness and i ordered a smith wick's. I kinda like the red ale i said. So she goes do they drink beer in India, she asked me as if i am the first Indian she ever met in her life. Had it been a guy i would have given a rude, snobbish answer with an attitude but i couldn't say no to her. I started explaining about different drinks that Indians like and so on trying to show her how smart ass i am. After a long answer for her short question, i asked her if she is Irish. Like all the Americans she said my mothers side is polish and east European and father's side is Irish, Scottish and so on. I cared for less but still pretended to be interested. I noticed that she had an amgen bag, so i asked if she is a doctor? For the first time my guess about her was partially correct as she told me that she is a clinical toxicologist. I had a great sigh or relief as i didn't want her to think that i am making up so many things just to keep the conversation going.
Now, i really got interested in what she did and i guess she understood my sincerity and started explaining me what she does and where she studied and one hour later somehow our topic came to number of times she has seen people dying on her. It was quite interesting when she brought up that topic because that's one of the topics that i discuss often with my brother. My brother and i are always fascinated at the impact of seeing one's death. It reminds us of the mortality of creatures and helps us to remain sane and rationalise many things that we otherwise would be very disappointed at. I asked her what she felt about it and how did her personality and outlook toward life changed. She thought to herself for a while and then she slowly continued, 'Many times, i see people almost in a dead state, we try to bring them back to life, sometime you get upset for few hours if you see small babies die, aside that, i take it more like another dead person that's all'. I asked her if she is able to apply the same logic to her near and dear too?. She was quite for a second, i quickly apologized for my stupid question and started to explain her why i asked that question. She stopped me with her answer, 'Yes, i think i do', ' I think i can take even my near and dears death in that way' she said. I was startled at her answer. I know the next question that i am going to ask her will show if she is really faking the answer or she is truly speaking her heart. If she gets furious then i thought i would conclude that she is faking or otherwise. I decided to go on anyway and asked her 'Why then marriage or any other stuff that you everyday is even necessary?'. She smiled and asked, 'why not?. I said, 'Well it doesn't add up, you are impartial even to death then why to do something to enjoy or suffer?'. She took a while to understand what i meant to ask and then she said, 'Well thinking philosophically i would agree but see it this way, its more of work that you do and everything is just an action. The outcome is unnecessary to explore'. Her answer surprised and shocked me pleasantly. The girl who is far west in her thoughts and beliefs yet speaks Vedanta. I asked her if she is familiar with eastern philosophies. She had no clue about it.
I figured that we already spoke enough heavy topics, so i thought i will get back to my kadalai. I went on to talk about her interests and she was explaining me about white sox and the cubs rivalry and how she went to watch a Bear's game on a snow day and so on. When we landed in midway. She asked me where i was going, i said to the downtown Chicago and i had no clue of where my friend lived. I spoke to my friend and got the train station where i had to get down and coincidental she was going to the downtown too. We both continued our conversation and she was showing the all the places from the train and explaining me like a tour guide. When time came to bid good bye, i said 'Have a nice life'. She smiled and wrote down her phone number for me. :).
This is not the best time for me to write about my Chicago trip as i just flunked an interview. I should have known well before the interview started that i wasn't qualified enough for that position. I am sure one would end up in embarrassment if he tries something out like this without any real stuff. Well neither getting embarrassed nor taking such shots are new to me, So i am moving on and am going to write about this trip.
Naga and I thought of visiting my friend in chicago as it's been a while since we met. Naga dropped out because of some personal reasons. So i ended up spending three days all by myself with my friends family. We did nothing but eating and lazing in the couch chatting and watching movies. We went to the car show on saturday and as usual both of us got quickly bored looking at all the beautiful cars. Well then is that all i am going to write about?
I think i can come up with something... Here we go..
I met this girl near the pretzel shop in laguardia. I didn't speak to her but i was quietly ogling at her. She was eating the pretzel phili style with mustard on it. A normal New yorker would despise this blasphemous act of spoiling the culinary magic called 'pretzel'. Anyway i slowly moved towards her to have a friendly conversation which most of friends would call 'kadalai'.
I said hi to her and asked if she is from 'Phili'. I felt like a stupid when i asked that question to her as my only reason for asking such a lame question is because of the mustard that she added. She replied in negative. So i told her why i asked that question. She smiled and said that she is from Chicago. Honestly man all i know about chicago is the deep dish pizza and my friend lives there. Although i have read about the Mafia's in today's world in some of the books i figured out that it would be an uninteresting topic that you can bring up to a girl. So i said 'oh, the place of deep dish pizza'. She smiled and now she got the que that i am trying to indulge in a conversation. She asked if i am chef in a sarcastic way and gave a wry smile. My ego didn't let me take that so i said "well if you want to call me that i am fine with that even though my friends call me food lover". Both of us exchanged smile for that and she said the flight has been delayed because of the traffic today. I didn't waste a second to ask her if she cared for a drink. She said why not. So we walk to the Irish pub in the airport. She asked for a Guinness and i ordered a smith wick's. I kinda like the red ale i said. So she goes do they drink beer in India, she asked me as if i am the first Indian she ever met in her life. Had it been a guy i would have given a rude, snobbish answer with an attitude but i couldn't say no to her. I started explaining about different drinks that Indians like and so on trying to show her how smart ass i am. After a long answer for her short question, i asked her if she is Irish. Like all the Americans she said my mothers side is polish and east European and father's side is Irish, Scottish and so on. I cared for less but still pretended to be interested. I noticed that she had an amgen bag, so i asked if she is a doctor? For the first time my guess about her was partially correct as she told me that she is a clinical toxicologist. I had a great sigh or relief as i didn't want her to think that i am making up so many things just to keep the conversation going.
Now, i really got interested in what she did and i guess she understood my sincerity and started explaining me what she does and where she studied and one hour later somehow our topic came to number of times she has seen people dying on her. It was quite interesting when she brought up that topic because that's one of the topics that i discuss often with my brother. My brother and i are always fascinated at the impact of seeing one's death. It reminds us of the mortality of creatures and helps us to remain sane and rationalise many things that we otherwise would be very disappointed at. I asked her what she felt about it and how did her personality and outlook toward life changed. She thought to herself for a while and then she slowly continued, 'Many times, i see people almost in a dead state, we try to bring them back to life, sometime you get upset for few hours if you see small babies die, aside that, i take it more like another dead person that's all'. I asked her if she is able to apply the same logic to her near and dear too?. She was quite for a second, i quickly apologized for my stupid question and started to explain her why i asked that question. She stopped me with her answer, 'Yes, i think i do', ' I think i can take even my near and dears death in that way' she said. I was startled at her answer. I know the next question that i am going to ask her will show if she is really faking the answer or she is truly speaking her heart. If she gets furious then i thought i would conclude that she is faking or otherwise. I decided to go on anyway and asked her 'Why then marriage or any other stuff that you everyday is even necessary?'. She smiled and asked, 'why not?. I said, 'Well it doesn't add up, you are impartial even to death then why to do something to enjoy or suffer?'. She took a while to understand what i meant to ask and then she said, 'Well thinking philosophically i would agree but see it this way, its more of work that you do and everything is just an action. The outcome is unnecessary to explore'. Her answer surprised and shocked me pleasantly. The girl who is far west in her thoughts and beliefs yet speaks Vedanta. I asked her if she is familiar with eastern philosophies. She had no clue about it.
I figured that we already spoke enough heavy topics, so i thought i will get back to my kadalai. I went on to talk about her interests and she was explaining me about white sox and the cubs rivalry and how she went to watch a Bear's game on a snow day and so on. When we landed in midway. She asked me where i was going, i said to the downtown Chicago and i had no clue of where my friend lived. I spoke to my friend and got the train station where i had to get down and coincidental she was going to the downtown too. We both continued our conversation and she was showing the all the places from the train and explaining me like a tour guide. When time came to bid good bye, i said 'Have a nice life'. She smiled and wrote down her phone number for me. :).
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
TET - Holiday experience in Nam
Traveling as they say, is always an enriching experience. For the past 4 years during the Lunar new year holidays , we have been traveling only to the local beaches, or the river side resorts and spend our time eating and getting drunk. But this time when my Vietnamese friend invited me for visiting their family and friends during their most important festival " Tet", I decided to visit Vietnam . That's how it began.
The preparations were over before well over a week after obtaining the necessary travel documents etc.
Our journey began on Tuesday morning by bus from Phnom Penh at 7'o clock to Ho Chi Minh city erstwhile called Saigon. The journey was uneventful apart from the brief delay at the ferry crossing across the Mekong river called Neuk Loung and the immigration formalities at Bavet-Moc Bai border crossing.
We noticed a curious thing as the driver suddenly had dropped to 20 km/ph speed after he crossed the border from 110 km/hr average speed. Then we noticed on a roadside coffee shop a group of traffic policemen sitting with their speed checkers and the camera on.
We laughed and the driver too laughed. Soon after he resumed his usual speed again after he received periodic hand wave signals!! from the drivers coming in the opposite direction.
We reached Ho chi Minh city, at 2 in the afternoon and I proceeded alone almost immediately after getting a phone card to my friend's place called Can Tho city which is 220 km south east of Ho chi Minh .
In spite of the holiday season the taxi driver charging me only the normal fare made me wonder. On the road side and atop houses and buildings we could see the yellow star in red, Vietnamese flags flying with yellow " Konrai" pookal in front of the houses, with " Chuc Mung Nam Moi" meaning wishing you a happy new year in gold letters welcoming the visitors.
The well carved roads snaked along busy cities and towns full of lush green coconut, mango, and atthi trees broken by vast paddy fields made the 3 hour taxi ride pleasant. Wherever one can see it was only green.
I arrived at the Can Tho city ferry terminal at half past five in the evening and while waiting for the taxi to board the ferry, were greeted by the smiling faces of street vendors selling pork sausages called Xuc xic and a slightly less sweeter form of Kozhukattai wrapped in bamboo leaves wearing their Nuoc la , the conical bamboo hats.
Arrived at the hotel where my friend awaited me in the lounge and after a steaming bath and a changeover to fresh clothes, felt fully refreshed.
After that, we went down and sat in the restaurant which had comfortable rattan chairs facing the river. The entire place was lit with bright serial lights and red lanterns marking the arrival of New Year and the place was abuzz with young men and women with their families and friends.
We started our dinner with the local Saigon beer, and it is quite shocking for people other than South East Asia to see them fill their beer glasses with ice and then pouring beer on top of that. It was a nice experience anyway.
We ordered tom yum soup cooked in Vietnamese style and the hot and sour soup was a heavenly start. Our main course consisted of a fish, Ca in Vietnamese steam cooked and sautéed in oyster sauce and spiced with shallots, ginger and lemon grass and white rice.
We had our fill as I had not had my lunch and after a few bottles of beer, and the cool gentle breeze made us sleepy and we retired to our rooms.
The next day started with a motor bike ride to my friend's house which was 20 minutes from the city. On our way my friend bought 2 cases of beer and sweets from the grocer nearby. It gave me a clear indication that I will not be returning to my room in the evening in a sober note.
Anyway, we proceeded to their house through labyrinthine motorway along a canal and we finally arrived at their house, where people were waiting in their doorsteps to greet us. My friend later told me that this was the first time a foreigner has come to their house.
All along the way, people were curiously looking at me because of my complexion and a stocky frame which differ from their lean and short frames. As soon as I entered their house they gave me a glass of ice cold water, which made me think of the similarities in our cultures. Then my friend took me to her mother's tomb which was nearby and we burnt incense over her tomb and laid down the sampangi flowers which we had bought.
Then we sat down in the main hall where people were arranging plates full of meat, rice, fish, sweets and nuts and glasses.
As soon as I entered there they shouted" Xin Chao" a friendly greeting means hello and gave a glass of beer called Bia in Vietnamese. I was overwhelmed by their show of friendliness and responded happily.
Each glass will be started with a Mot, Hai, Ba, Yoooo, cheer and well before noon got drunk.
Then, as I had been informed earlier all the children in the family lined up for the ceremonial greeting and to receive their good luck money for the New Year called "Li Se". The money is given in a red and gold cover to the children and younger people and will be kept as a good luck charm for the entire year.
Strict vegan travelers will find it extremely difficult as almost all the cuisine contains some form of meat or egg. Even the salad at times when not asked specifically will be served with minced meat in it.
I wanted to try and enjoy the local flavor as I thought it is only just and hence did not search for any of our Indian restaurants.
The next day being the actual New Year day, my friend took me to the famed red pagoda which is situated on the river side just opposite the imposing Ho Chi Minh statue and park. The entire street was filled with incense smoke and konrai flowers and sampangi flowers and we went and prayed there before the Buddha and the other Bodhisattvas.
Then we started on a boat cruise along the Mekong delta and boats are for hire for a three our ride. The speed boat which had only my friend and me as passengers took us to the famed Can Tho water market where the people from the villages along the innumerable canals of the Mekong come to display their produce.
The boats sell goods ranging from vegetables, flowers, fruits, meat, and all types of wares. Bigger boats had along side their flags, display their wares attached to a long pole so that even from the distance customers can come to their boats to buy their goods. After that the boat took us to an island in the river where the Cantho city authorities have developed a park which has various features like canoeing, wind surfing, water skis, and a number of restaurants and food courts . After spending some time there we retired to our rooms and returned back in the evening to the riverside for a stroll and spent our time in one of the numerous coffee houses in the area.
The next day gave me some anxious moment as the bus which had planned to depart on Saturday has been cancelled and there were no means of transport available as all were booked earlier because of the holiday season. Relieved finally when my friend could arrange a ticket in a speed boat which shuttles between a city called Chu doc which is on the upper reach of Mekong where the river enters Vietnam from Cambodia.
The boat from Cantho was cancelled due to the holidays and it was available only from Chu doc.
It was a thrilling experience to travel by speed boat along Mekong which one should experience it personally. I must have felt overjoyed if my brother would have accompanied us during this holiday.
The four hour journey to Phnom Penh brought an end to the pleasant lunar New Year holidays and the beginning of the year of the Rat, and as the locals believe brings a year full of pleasant memories and good fortune.
- Ashok
The preparations were over before well over a week after obtaining the necessary travel documents etc.
Our journey began on Tuesday morning by bus from Phnom Penh at 7'o clock to Ho Chi Minh city erstwhile called Saigon. The journey was uneventful apart from the brief delay at the ferry crossing across the Mekong river called Neuk Loung and the immigration formalities at Bavet-Moc Bai border crossing.
We noticed a curious thing as the driver suddenly had dropped to 20 km/ph speed after he crossed the border from 110 km/hr average speed. Then we noticed on a roadside coffee shop a group of traffic policemen sitting with their speed checkers and the camera on.
We laughed and the driver too laughed. Soon after he resumed his usual speed again after he received periodic hand wave signals!! from the drivers coming in the opposite direction.
We reached Ho chi Minh city, at 2 in the afternoon and I proceeded alone almost immediately after getting a phone card to my friend's place called Can Tho city which is 220 km south east of Ho chi Minh .
In spite of the holiday season the taxi driver charging me only the normal fare made me wonder. On the road side and atop houses and buildings we could see the yellow star in red, Vietnamese flags flying with yellow " Konrai" pookal in front of the houses, with " Chuc Mung Nam Moi" meaning wishing you a happy new year in gold letters welcoming the visitors.
The well carved roads snaked along busy cities and towns full of lush green coconut, mango, and atthi trees broken by vast paddy fields made the 3 hour taxi ride pleasant. Wherever one can see it was only green.
I arrived at the Can Tho city ferry terminal at half past five in the evening and while waiting for the taxi to board the ferry, were greeted by the smiling faces of street vendors selling pork sausages called Xuc xic and a slightly less sweeter form of Kozhukattai wrapped in bamboo leaves wearing their Nuoc la , the conical bamboo hats.
Arrived at the hotel where my friend awaited me in the lounge and after a steaming bath and a changeover to fresh clothes, felt fully refreshed.
After that, we went down and sat in the restaurant which had comfortable rattan chairs facing the river. The entire place was lit with bright serial lights and red lanterns marking the arrival of New Year and the place was abuzz with young men and women with their families and friends.
We started our dinner with the local Saigon beer, and it is quite shocking for people other than South East Asia to see them fill their beer glasses with ice and then pouring beer on top of that. It was a nice experience anyway.
We ordered tom yum soup cooked in Vietnamese style and the hot and sour soup was a heavenly start. Our main course consisted of a fish, Ca in Vietnamese steam cooked and sautéed in oyster sauce and spiced with shallots, ginger and lemon grass and white rice.
We had our fill as I had not had my lunch and after a few bottles of beer, and the cool gentle breeze made us sleepy and we retired to our rooms.
The next day started with a motor bike ride to my friend's house which was 20 minutes from the city. On our way my friend bought 2 cases of beer and sweets from the grocer nearby. It gave me a clear indication that I will not be returning to my room in the evening in a sober note.
Anyway, we proceeded to their house through labyrinthine motorway along a canal and we finally arrived at their house, where people were waiting in their doorsteps to greet us. My friend later told me that this was the first time a foreigner has come to their house.
All along the way, people were curiously looking at me because of my complexion and a stocky frame which differ from their lean and short frames. As soon as I entered their house they gave me a glass of ice cold water, which made me think of the similarities in our cultures. Then my friend took me to her mother's tomb which was nearby and we burnt incense over her tomb and laid down the sampangi flowers which we had bought.
Then we sat down in the main hall where people were arranging plates full of meat, rice, fish, sweets and nuts and glasses.
As soon as I entered there they shouted" Xin Chao" a friendly greeting means hello and gave a glass of beer called Bia in Vietnamese. I was overwhelmed by their show of friendliness and responded happily.
Each glass will be started with a Mot, Hai, Ba, Yoooo, cheer and well before noon got drunk.
Then, as I had been informed earlier all the children in the family lined up for the ceremonial greeting and to receive their good luck money for the New Year called "Li Se". The money is given in a red and gold cover to the children and younger people and will be kept as a good luck charm for the entire year.
Strict vegan travelers will find it extremely difficult as almost all the cuisine contains some form of meat or egg. Even the salad at times when not asked specifically will be served with minced meat in it.
I wanted to try and enjoy the local flavor as I thought it is only just and hence did not search for any of our Indian restaurants.
The next day being the actual New Year day, my friend took me to the famed red pagoda which is situated on the river side just opposite the imposing Ho Chi Minh statue and park. The entire street was filled with incense smoke and konrai flowers and sampangi flowers and we went and prayed there before the Buddha and the other Bodhisattvas.
Then we started on a boat cruise along the Mekong delta and boats are for hire for a three our ride. The speed boat which had only my friend and me as passengers took us to the famed Can Tho water market where the people from the villages along the innumerable canals of the Mekong come to display their produce.
The boats sell goods ranging from vegetables, flowers, fruits, meat, and all types of wares. Bigger boats had along side their flags, display their wares attached to a long pole so that even from the distance customers can come to their boats to buy their goods. After that the boat took us to an island in the river where the Cantho city authorities have developed a park which has various features like canoeing, wind surfing, water skis, and a number of restaurants and food courts . After spending some time there we retired to our rooms and returned back in the evening to the riverside for a stroll and spent our time in one of the numerous coffee houses in the area.
The next day gave me some anxious moment as the bus which had planned to depart on Saturday has been cancelled and there were no means of transport available as all were booked earlier because of the holiday season. Relieved finally when my friend could arrange a ticket in a speed boat which shuttles between a city called Chu doc which is on the upper reach of Mekong where the river enters Vietnam from Cambodia.
The boat from Cantho was cancelled due to the holidays and it was available only from Chu doc.
It was a thrilling experience to travel by speed boat along Mekong which one should experience it personally. I must have felt overjoyed if my brother would have accompanied us during this holiday.
The four hour journey to Phnom Penh brought an end to the pleasant lunar New Year holidays and the beginning of the year of the Rat, and as the locals believe brings a year full of pleasant memories and good fortune.
- Ashok
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Random Events ?
Prediction is nothing but establishing relationship between random events and(with) time.
- There may be a definite relationship between events however random they may seem. To identify the pattern in occurence with the event in the world or connecting the dots with careful observation reveals the interplay of the very creator.
From my notes
"tasmaat sarveshu kaaleshu mamanusmarah yuddha cha"
--'Therefore under all circumstances remember Me and then fight' (Fight means perform your duties)
--'Therefore under all circumstances remember Me and then fight' (Fight means perform your duties)
Impediments to sound mental health:
Greed - for power, position, prestige and money.
Envy - regarding others' achievements, success, rewards.
Egotism - about one's own accomplishments.
Suspicion, anger and frustration.
Anguish through comparisons.
Greed - for power, position, prestige and money.
Envy - regarding others' achievements, success, rewards.
Egotism - about one's own accomplishments.
Suspicion, anger and frustration.
Anguish through comparisons.
To cultivate sound philosophy of life:
Identify with inner core of self-sufficiency
Get out of the habitual mindset towards the pairs of opposites.
Strive for excellence through work is worship.
Build up an internal integrated reference point to face contrary impulses, and emotions
Pursue ethico-moral rectitude.
Identify with inner core of self-sufficiency
Get out of the habitual mindset towards the pairs of opposites.
Strive for excellence through work is worship.
Build up an internal integrated reference point to face contrary impulses, and emotions
Pursue ethico-moral rectitude.
- Read this in an article longtime back in a magazine and scribbled it in my notes. Don't remember the original author of this.
What do one's Boss mean to his job?
I met my friend after couple of months. He is one of the few people who became instant friends with me even before we met. He and I worked in the same company but in different countries. He was one of the subject matter expert in the field of business i was dealing with, so i spoke to him almost everyday for an hour either officially in the conference call or for individual questions.
We sometimes spoke about the cultural similarities and differences between his country and India. Since both of us are not from the US, all our fun ends with poking someone from the US. Anyway he somehow came to the US last year for another position. So i met at last after knowing him for about couple of years. I moved to a different company now but we still meet once in a while off the work to discuss something that is not related to work and of course some office gossips.
This time when i met him, we went to a bar near the south sea side in the NYC. It's a fine bar where they serve refreshing home-brewed beer. The names of the beer are really exotic to me but they are nothing but typical native American like 'Cherokee Bash', 'Indian River',' Apache Slide', 'Dakota horse', etc (translated names). The trend in that bar is to order a 'season five' or a 'voyager 7' beer. You can make out from the names they are a set of 5 or 7 beers brewed in-house. They are served in a 1/2 pint glass (approximately 250 ml) in a circular plate with numbers from 1 to 7. They advice you to start from 1 and move up the number. They also give you a description of each beer. Its really fascinating to drink different varieties of beer in a single sitting. You feel like a brew master tasting the beer. We can easily make out the taste of the different ingredients of the beer. The beer made out of barley tastes different from the one that is made from wheat. Some strange ingredients that a beer could be made are from oats, rice and sugarcane. I knew that they made hard-liquor like rum from the sugarcane but never knew that they could make beer out of it. Anyway i liked the light-fine brewed wheat beer than any other beer. The close second is the traditional barley beer. Enough of the digressing from the topic, me and my friend were enjoying the beer and sharing stories from our side. We spoke about food, wine, history of warfare (both of us share this interest) and office politics.
My friend was telling me that our CIO left the company after 29 years of service. I knew our CIO really well. I mean my cubicle was next to her room. So its impossible for her to avoid me. Also i have seen her in some presentations and conferences of which i was always a passive listener. I always had a great respect for her as she is extremely brilliant. She had worked on every aspect of the business from procurement to marketing and from inventory management to IT. Although her style of approach is debatable and old-fashioned according to me, she is definitely brilliant. Also her influence on the other senior executives and the board was always very high. So i always thought that she is one of those people who would never retire and never get fired from a company. The news of her resignation sure did catch me by surprise. I asked my friend what's the official reason and what's the actual reason for her resignation.
Like any other company, our company always had an official stand on anything and then there is always a rumor mill. Most of the time the rumor mill is intentionally started at the level just below the senior executive to get the truth across the company. I have witnessed this few times myself. In one of the meetings with a senior executive in marketing, he told me over the lunch that the reason for one person leaving the company may be because he stepped into many people's foot, meaning he pissed off his bosses. When i came out and verified with few other people i found it to be true. So in this case my friend is close to people who are in the level to start the rumor about our CIO. So i asked him the truth or the rumor version of the story. He told me that our CIO was asked to report to the new COO who recently joined the company. There seems to be a clash of ego there. I was told that our CIO was eyeing for that job but the board needed a change in the senior management and intentionally rebuffed her and made her report to the new COO. This enraged her and she quit. This incident makes me to conclude one thing.
It doesn't matter what position you are in the company. Your immediate boss and (or) one above (may be) is one of the main reason for you to be in the company or leave the company. This is time tested and even across nations, culture holds good. In my limited personal experience and from experienced people whomever i spoke with have all agreed with me on this.
Monday, September 17, 2007
Arranged Indian Marriage
Some of my friends had written on the same topic before. Some of their ideas are similar to mine but some are very different. I tend to think that many of us blame the society and faith for individual mistakes. Some even go to an extent of commenting on some subjects like experts that they have no expertise on. My friends are no different to this.
Like any other culture in the world, Indian culture is full of contradictions and subtleties. In India the culture varies from region to region and within the same region amongst the castes. Some people call it a curse. I would tell those people are no different from communists or any other fundamentalist because they cannot accept people as they are and want everyone to be the same. Nature hasn't created everything alike that includes humans too. Everyone thinks differently and has an individuality. Equality can be achieved only by accepting the difference and not by disregarding everybody/everything. If we disagree lets not follow. By forcing everybody to agree with our ideas we become no different from other fanatics who follow the very same that we oppose.
My friends had written about arranged Indian marriage. Although some have questioned the very idea of this, one guy in particular had taken social issues into consideration like dowry. The dowry system in India started with a very good intention in the past. The girl child in the family was given the fair share of the property from parents wealth. As the society was mostly agrarian, girls were given land's worth in gold or other forms of wealth and men in the family retained the land. Some of the trading communities gave some initial investment as the dowry so that the in-law can start his own business. All these were voluntary as parents wanted the well being of their kids. Like most of the good concepts things get tarnished over the course of time. When traditions lose values it has to change. I agree with that but who can change is a big question.
Dowry in the modern world is more enforced by woman on another woman. I rarely see man in the household demanding dowry. The solution to the problem lies with the woman. I am not trying to be a chauvinist here blaming the women folk entirely. I am just trying to point out that the solution to a problem can be found only by looking at the right cause of the problem than lashing out at everyone.
I remember a conversation that happened between my friend who worked for the late PM P.V.Narasimha Rao, and the current cabinet minister Mani Shankar Aiyer. My friend (woman) is a great proponent of women's rights and freedom on education. She was lashing out her views on male chauvinism and men suppressing women to Mr.Aiyer. He quietly pointed out to her that she and her brother were born to the same mother. If chavunism exists it arises from one's mother so appeal to your mother if you want to change something and not to your father. My friend understood the gist of what Mr.Aiyer was trying to say and even though she doesn't accept with his logic accepted the truth in his argument.
Coming back to our core topic of arranged marriage one of my friend had also discussed about "jadakam paarkum padalam" in our marriage. For believers it makes more sense for non-believers its just the squares. Just because one doesn't trust, truth doesn't never becomes false. That is the very nature of science. We can either prove it or disprove it but until proven wrong the corollary always holds good. I am not an educated person to understand the nuances in the astrology but at least i am not foolish enough to discard it without giving a careful thought about this subject that has been there for many centuries if not for millennium. There is definitely another school of thought that would argue prove its right then i will follow it. I am OK with their idea. But we always perform our actions on what we perceive as right or wrong and NOT on what astrology says. Even if we follow what jadakam says, it is because we believe that jadakam can be right. That being the case why should we question the validity of this fine subject although some interpretations are questionable.
To believe or not is in the human mind. As marriage is always a congregation of two like minded people and family i don't see anything wrong in accepting/giving dowry, see/not-see jadakam as long as there is mutual consensus. Society has to change from within and not from outside. I strongly believe that a third person has no right to define whats good for the other.
Just to point out that most people who oppose the above and call it a social evil do in fact have an unwanted pressure imposed on themselves to get married before a certain age. What a hypocrisy?
Like any other culture in the world, Indian culture is full of contradictions and subtleties. In India the culture varies from region to region and within the same region amongst the castes. Some people call it a curse. I would tell those people are no different from communists or any other fundamentalist because they cannot accept people as they are and want everyone to be the same. Nature hasn't created everything alike that includes humans too. Everyone thinks differently and has an individuality. Equality can be achieved only by accepting the difference and not by disregarding everybody/everything. If we disagree lets not follow. By forcing everybody to agree with our ideas we become no different from other fanatics who follow the very same that we oppose.
My friends had written about arranged Indian marriage. Although some have questioned the very idea of this, one guy in particular had taken social issues into consideration like dowry. The dowry system in India started with a very good intention in the past. The girl child in the family was given the fair share of the property from parents wealth. As the society was mostly agrarian, girls were given land's worth in gold or other forms of wealth and men in the family retained the land. Some of the trading communities gave some initial investment as the dowry so that the in-law can start his own business. All these were voluntary as parents wanted the well being of their kids. Like most of the good concepts things get tarnished over the course of time. When traditions lose values it has to change. I agree with that but who can change is a big question.
Dowry in the modern world is more enforced by woman on another woman. I rarely see man in the household demanding dowry. The solution to the problem lies with the woman. I am not trying to be a chauvinist here blaming the women folk entirely. I am just trying to point out that the solution to a problem can be found only by looking at the right cause of the problem than lashing out at everyone.
I remember a conversation that happened between my friend who worked for the late PM P.V.Narasimha Rao, and the current cabinet minister Mani Shankar Aiyer. My friend (woman) is a great proponent of women's rights and freedom on education. She was lashing out her views on male chauvinism and men suppressing women to Mr.Aiyer. He quietly pointed out to her that she and her brother were born to the same mother. If chavunism exists it arises from one's mother so appeal to your mother if you want to change something and not to your father. My friend understood the gist of what Mr.Aiyer was trying to say and even though she doesn't accept with his logic accepted the truth in his argument.
Coming back to our core topic of arranged marriage one of my friend had also discussed about "jadakam paarkum padalam" in our marriage. For believers it makes more sense for non-believers its just the squares. Just because one doesn't trust, truth doesn't never becomes false. That is the very nature of science. We can either prove it or disprove it but until proven wrong the corollary always holds good. I am not an educated person to understand the nuances in the astrology but at least i am not foolish enough to discard it without giving a careful thought about this subject that has been there for many centuries if not for millennium. There is definitely another school of thought that would argue prove its right then i will follow it. I am OK with their idea. But we always perform our actions on what we perceive as right or wrong and NOT on what astrology says. Even if we follow what jadakam says, it is because we believe that jadakam can be right. That being the case why should we question the validity of this fine subject although some interpretations are questionable.
To believe or not is in the human mind. As marriage is always a congregation of two like minded people and family i don't see anything wrong in accepting/giving dowry, see/not-see jadakam as long as there is mutual consensus. Society has to change from within and not from outside. I strongly believe that a third person has no right to define whats good for the other.
Just to point out that most people who oppose the above and call it a social evil do in fact have an unwanted pressure imposed on themselves to get married before a certain age. What a hypocrisy?
Monday Morning
Yet another Monday morning. Dull and boring as usual. I really don't feel like working and i come with the same thought almost every Monday morning. The question about existence and working to survive predominates any other thought that comes to my mind. I start to wonder why humans choose to be like this when animals don't care and still survive.
Whenever i speak to people who have spent most of their life working always tell me that i need a reason to work if not work will become really monotonous and boring. Even these people were not able to explain me convincingly why we humans have to behave differently from animals. Is that because we are incapable of getting our own food like animals or we simply want to beat the time?
If scholars agree that one cannot totally win over time and only protract the happening at a certain time why are the humans simply fighting to protract the time. Why do we care if it happens at time 't' or 't+1' ?
Why humans have to be humans and not be another animal? The question always lingers my mind and never gets answered.
Whenever i speak to people who have spent most of their life working always tell me that i need a reason to work if not work will become really monotonous and boring. Even these people were not able to explain me convincingly why we humans have to behave differently from animals. Is that because we are incapable of getting our own food like animals or we simply want to beat the time?
If scholars agree that one cannot totally win over time and only protract the happening at a certain time why are the humans simply fighting to protract the time. Why do we care if it happens at time 't' or 't+1' ?
Why humans have to be humans and not be another animal? The question always lingers my mind and never gets answered.
Friday, September 14, 2007
New York
My friend moved to New York recently. I went to visit him in the west side. His apartment is walkable from the Central Park.
The apartments in NYC are known for their shoebox size rooms and exorbitant rents. My friends apartment is no exception. Its a 14x10 room and the rent is 2800$.
I fell in love with the view from his apartment. One can see the central park from his apartment. For a brief moment i thought of renting an apartment in the city. Although staying in the city doesn't make sense to me as my work is in Stamford. Still the city life was sucking me like a sponge.
I have two options in my plate. One to find a job in the city and then move to the city or find an apartment in the city and find a job later. Both are feasible options but my mind is always wavering. Even though i like the bustling city life i also like the relaxed small town life in Stamford.
Last year my rule was to "act, when in doubt". This year i have decided not to act in doubt. So i convinced myself that crappy apartment space is not helpful and i am staying in Stamford itself.
The apartments in NYC are known for their shoebox size rooms and exorbitant rents. My friends apartment is no exception. Its a 14x10 room and the rent is 2800$.
I fell in love with the view from his apartment. One can see the central park from his apartment. For a brief moment i thought of renting an apartment in the city. Although staying in the city doesn't make sense to me as my work is in Stamford. Still the city life was sucking me like a sponge.
I have two options in my plate. One to find a job in the city and then move to the city or find an apartment in the city and find a job later. Both are feasible options but my mind is always wavering. Even though i like the bustling city life i also like the relaxed small town life in Stamford.
Last year my rule was to "act, when in doubt". This year i have decided not to act in doubt. So i convinced myself that crappy apartment space is not helpful and i am staying in Stamford itself.
Monday, September 10, 2007
Islam and Terrorism
First of all let me be honest, I don't know enough about Islam or terrorism to comment about it. Of late i hear a lot about Islamic terrorism and sometime people synonymously use Islam and terrorism. It hurts followers of the religion, makes me to write this blog.
Some facts before we go further into this topic. Its a fact that Islam is one of the most violent religions but people forget the fact so are many other religions like Judaism and our own Hinduism. The religion that are relatively peace loving are Buddhism and to many people's disbelief its Christianity. Buddhism came as an offshoot to Hinduism preaching only the peaceful side of Hinduism and Christianity that of Judaism.
Even though the above said religions may have started for a peaceful cause (debatable) people always wanted to take things that they wanted to take and interpret it in the way that is best suited for them.
Religions and beliefs have always been exploited by the rulers for the economic reasons and to wage war on other nations(which again is just a political boundary). Its simple to gather more people for a common purpose like religion than for any other purposes. Especially when its a congregation religion like Islam, Christianity or Judaism.
The above fact being said, the only thing that is true and has remained true in this world is the humans primitive instinct to fight. To fight for what is a million dollar question. We fight for anything from Women to Money, Land, Gold, Rubber, Rice and now oil. All through out the history people have fought in the guise of religion primarily for the economic prosperity or territorial safety. As they say history is always written by the victors. Things get written and re-written during the course of time.
So having said that humans will fight for one thing or the other, commoners always get affected in the course of this action. Who is to be blamed? I would say "no-one". I strongly believe in the Darwin's theory and i think one should be wise enough to adapt to the surrounding and thrive. Now Islam fighters are blamed as terrorists. So be it. Anyone in the side that prefer war should believe them to be terrorist and pursue a war against them. Anyone that believe they are just jihadists may support them and perish in the war(or win). The third option is to exploit the war mongering people on both sides and reap riches or the last option is to be a careful by-stander and talk only what the society feels right or to have no-opinion on the issues like this.
People who don't fall into any of the above 4 categories are the most confused people who question their faith and go on proselytising the goodness of their religion. I conclude that faith has got nothing to do with any shit that is happening now be it war on terrorism or Islamic terrorism.
Some facts before we go further into this topic. Its a fact that Islam is one of the most violent religions but people forget the fact so are many other religions like Judaism and our own Hinduism. The religion that are relatively peace loving are Buddhism and to many people's disbelief its Christianity. Buddhism came as an offshoot to Hinduism preaching only the peaceful side of Hinduism and Christianity that of Judaism.
Even though the above said religions may have started for a peaceful cause (debatable) people always wanted to take things that they wanted to take and interpret it in the way that is best suited for them.
Religions and beliefs have always been exploited by the rulers for the economic reasons and to wage war on other nations(which again is just a political boundary). Its simple to gather more people for a common purpose like religion than for any other purposes. Especially when its a congregation religion like Islam, Christianity or Judaism.
The above fact being said, the only thing that is true and has remained true in this world is the humans primitive instinct to fight. To fight for what is a million dollar question. We fight for anything from Women to Money, Land, Gold, Rubber, Rice and now oil. All through out the history people have fought in the guise of religion primarily for the economic prosperity or territorial safety. As they say history is always written by the victors. Things get written and re-written during the course of time.
So having said that humans will fight for one thing or the other, commoners always get affected in the course of this action. Who is to be blamed? I would say "no-one". I strongly believe in the Darwin's theory and i think one should be wise enough to adapt to the surrounding and thrive. Now Islam fighters are blamed as terrorists. So be it. Anyone in the side that prefer war should believe them to be terrorist and pursue a war against them. Anyone that believe they are just jihadists may support them and perish in the war(or win). The third option is to exploit the war mongering people on both sides and reap riches or the last option is to be a careful by-stander and talk only what the society feels right or to have no-opinion on the issues like this.
People who don't fall into any of the above 4 categories are the most confused people who question their faith and go on proselytising the goodness of their religion. I conclude that faith has got nothing to do with any shit that is happening now be it war on terrorism or Islamic terrorism.
Friday, September 07, 2007
Happiness
No matter what work is to be done today
Do it in the best possible way
For today's work is food for tomorrow
and just tomorrow
Decide how you wanna live and do your deeds
Limit your needs
Don't be greedy
And share the excess with needy
Believe in today and tomorrow
Hope is the only key to unlock sorrow
Crave for more money, food or sex ever
For it may give happiness never
Life is for real so why pretend for others
You don't have to invent new things to be happy
Success is what you define and what you want to be
So whats the key to be happy
They say,
Happiness comes with ego satisfaction of showing utmost bravery!!
Bravery comes with confidence, confidence with knowledge, knowledge with continued hard work and discipline teaches hard work.
So, is discipline the first step to happiness?
Potato - The wonder food
Urulai kizhangu as we call it in Tamil is arguably the most liked vegetable in my place.
I was reading about potato and its origin in wikepedia today and i was amazed when i found out that there are at least 3000 varieties world wide. The impact of potatoes on many cultures is very interesting to read.
Urulai kizhangu is very easy to prepare. Some of the easiest food items that can be made are boiled potatoes, fried potatoes, aloo bindi masala(potato with okra, tomatoes and spices), pepper potatoes, french/curly fries, oven roasted potatoes, cream potatoes. Some of the uncommon varieties of making potatoes are milk potato, potato and eggplant, paneer potato, etc.
Some claim potato can heel acne.
Yoga practitioners say potato to be neutral vegetable and its fit to be taken once in a week as a substitute starch.
I think potatoes were as important in the 15Th century as oil in today's world.
I was reading about potato and its origin in wikepedia today and i was amazed when i found out that there are at least 3000 varieties world wide. The impact of potatoes on many cultures is very interesting to read.
Urulai kizhangu is very easy to prepare. Some of the easiest food items that can be made are boiled potatoes, fried potatoes, aloo bindi masala(potato with okra, tomatoes and spices), pepper potatoes, french/curly fries, oven roasted potatoes, cream potatoes. Some of the uncommon varieties of making potatoes are milk potato, potato and eggplant, paneer potato, etc.
Some claim potato can heel acne.
Yoga practitioners say potato to be neutral vegetable and its fit to be taken once in a week as a substitute starch.
I think potatoes were as important in the 15Th century as oil in today's world.
Thursday, September 06, 2007
Nation and boundaries
Independence Day, Republic Day and India-Pakistan match(es) are the only days when every Indian becomes patriotic.
Last week i was chatting with a friend of mine. She asked me if i spoke Hindi. She could have guessed my answer as she very well know that i am from Madras. So i smiled and said "Hey, remember i am from Madras". Like a typical Indian she asked me as to why i didn't learn Hindi as its our national language. My answer made her really furious. I said we need the country called India only because we need a passport (Well i mean only the passport :-)).
Then, as she was angry like a kali i slowly asked her to define India first. Is India a political boundary? if so is it the one drawn after 1947 or before?
I have come across this same topic many times in the past. I, for some reason could never comprehend the idea of patriotism. Scholars always say "No nation, no home ". I always wondered how the jewish community who never had nation or a home for the past 5000 years preserved their culture pretty much intact. They disprove the very fact that you need international boundary to preserve your culture. So culture cannot be a reason for being a country. We indians, infact boast that we are a land of multiple culture. People who have travelled reasonably well in India would agree that not even the basic religious ritual is done in the same fashion across the country.
Economic interests could be another reason for being a country but who's economy will be a question then. If the business goes down in one place one can always move to another. If you cannot move then you perish (theory of natural selection). Even animals have the instinct to move to a greener pasture. I hope human beings didn't forget some fine lessons learnt as an animal in the course of our evolution. So nation building is for the losers or people who want to exploit the losers and become rich and famous amongst losers. This idea could be extrapolated to anything "Team building", "Company Building", etc. All the above loser talks are management mantra of today's world.
In the Ithihaasam's and puranman's there has been a greater emphasis on personality development. It emphasises people to follow their own path. To follow is a common man's attitude(loser's attitude). If to lead is exploitation, then we have a question of what is the ideal path? The answer is a simple 'En Vazhi Thani Vazhi' mentality. It urges everyone to have a unique path to attain mukti. In layman's term attaining mukti is nothing but to be a human being with acceptance to everything or being dispassionate to everything(0 or infinite). People sometime think what Rajinikath says is a mere punch dialogue. Well its a punch dialogue with more inner meaning.
Ancient wisdom of classifying varnam's is very confusing even to scholars. It has always been debatable in the intelectual community. There has never been a consensus in accepting who's a brahmin. There is some consensus to the idea of who's a kshathriya and a vysya. There is definitely a consensus in accepting who's a sudra as the rule is simple. Anyone who doesn't fall into the other three is sudra. The parameters set for the three varnams are very high and 99% of today's people wouldn't fall into any of the 3 varnams. I am leaving the 1% as an option-unknown. That being the case we are just shades of sudras in today's world.
How appropriate Krishna is in his Gita when he says that more towards the end of this cosmic cycle kali, there would be more dependence on each other even for simple day to day activities making us all sudra(s) in this world. Be it Arjunan or Duroyadhanan or Krishna, urged people to fight like warriors and fight to prove their ego, their valor. No where they urge them to fight for a nation or for a common cause.
If the very foundation of our culture emphasises on attaining brahman why are we still parochial and fight about caste, language and man made national boundaries. I ended my conversation with my friend by saying "To define India i must be able to define who is an Indian first. To define who is an Indian i need to define/understand who am i first? " until then India is only a name in the passport for me. I rest my case.
Searching continues...
Last week i was chatting with a friend of mine. She asked me if i spoke Hindi. She could have guessed my answer as she very well know that i am from Madras. So i smiled and said "Hey, remember i am from Madras". Like a typical Indian she asked me as to why i didn't learn Hindi as its our national language. My answer made her really furious. I said we need the country called India only because we need a passport (Well i mean only the passport :-)).
Then, as she was angry like a kali i slowly asked her to define India first. Is India a political boundary? if so is it the one drawn after 1947 or before?
I have come across this same topic many times in the past. I, for some reason could never comprehend the idea of patriotism. Scholars always say "No nation, no home ". I always wondered how the jewish community who never had nation or a home for the past 5000 years preserved their culture pretty much intact. They disprove the very fact that you need international boundary to preserve your culture. So culture cannot be a reason for being a country. We indians, infact boast that we are a land of multiple culture. People who have travelled reasonably well in India would agree that not even the basic religious ritual is done in the same fashion across the country.
Economic interests could be another reason for being a country but who's economy will be a question then. If the business goes down in one place one can always move to another. If you cannot move then you perish (theory of natural selection). Even animals have the instinct to move to a greener pasture. I hope human beings didn't forget some fine lessons learnt as an animal in the course of our evolution. So nation building is for the losers or people who want to exploit the losers and become rich and famous amongst losers. This idea could be extrapolated to anything "Team building", "Company Building", etc. All the above loser talks are management mantra of today's world.
In the Ithihaasam's and puranman's there has been a greater emphasis on personality development. It emphasises people to follow their own path. To follow is a common man's attitude(loser's attitude). If to lead is exploitation, then we have a question of what is the ideal path? The answer is a simple 'En Vazhi Thani Vazhi' mentality. It urges everyone to have a unique path to attain mukti. In layman's term attaining mukti is nothing but to be a human being with acceptance to everything or being dispassionate to everything(0 or infinite). People sometime think what Rajinikath says is a mere punch dialogue. Well its a punch dialogue with more inner meaning.
Ancient wisdom of classifying varnam's is very confusing even to scholars. It has always been debatable in the intelectual community. There has never been a consensus in accepting who's a brahmin. There is some consensus to the idea of who's a kshathriya and a vysya. There is definitely a consensus in accepting who's a sudra as the rule is simple. Anyone who doesn't fall into the other three is sudra. The parameters set for the three varnams are very high and 99% of today's people wouldn't fall into any of the 3 varnams. I am leaving the 1% as an option-unknown. That being the case we are just shades of sudras in today's world.
How appropriate Krishna is in his Gita when he says that more towards the end of this cosmic cycle kali, there would be more dependence on each other even for simple day to day activities making us all sudra(s) in this world. Be it Arjunan or Duroyadhanan or Krishna, urged people to fight like warriors and fight to prove their ego, their valor. No where they urge them to fight for a nation or for a common cause.
If the very foundation of our culture emphasises on attaining brahman why are we still parochial and fight about caste, language and man made national boundaries. I ended my conversation with my friend by saying "To define India i must be able to define who is an Indian first. To define who is an Indian i need to define/understand who am i first? " until then India is only a name in the passport for me. I rest my case.
Searching continues...
Wednesday, September 05, 2007
Funny Bone
It happened to my friends -
Girl hanging out with her friends in the bar, guy approaches and says, "would you go out with a 35 year old guy if he sleeps with a teddy bear"...as she smiles and says, "I wouldn't"...the persistent guy rephrases the question " would you go out with a 25 year old guy who sleeps with a teddy bear"
Girl waiting in a bar, guy approaches her and says, " how old are you", the girl says 35, looking surprised the guy says "What a coinciendence, i thought so" and leaves.
My friend has been looking for a bride for sometime now. This girl that his parents have fixed him up with calls him up and asks him to go through her blog. No wonder he asked for my help to read the bog. The blog is 300 pages long.
Girl hanging out with her friends in the bar, guy approaches and says, "would you go out with a 35 year old guy if he sleeps with a teddy bear"...as she smiles and says, "I wouldn't"...the persistent guy rephrases the question " would you go out with a 25 year old guy who sleeps with a teddy bear"
Girl waiting in a bar, guy approaches her and says, " how old are you", the girl says 35, looking surprised the guy says "What a coinciendence, i thought so" and leaves.
My friend has been looking for a bride for sometime now. This girl that his parents have fixed him up with calls him up and asks him to go through her blog. No wonder he asked for my help to read the bog. The blog is 300 pages long.
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