Today, I got my medicine dosage of Valp reduced by half in the morning.

I got a nasty email from the online job working site saying I had used 3rd party images and that they might terminate my account. I haven't gone through it fully but anyway I have transferred whatever I earned there. It's funny when someone addresses you 'Dear Arvind' all along and suddenly changes it to plain 'Arvind'. My ex gf did the same thing in the last letter that she wrote to me and I resent it!!! But how the devil did the site come to know that I used a 3rd party image when I got it neatly blended using 2 other images, unless ofcourse he or she was snooping on me. It was not even a vector image that I had attached. I will be going through the whole thing with them. I might retaliate with a US lawsuit...just for the kicks of it. And I can wait all eternity. On the other hand, I may just shift over to another job site or take a regular job. Sabotage doesn't work always, does it? Or maybe I couldn't be 'supported' after the leaks. I can get another job but can one get another life? I still believe addressing the issue of a Tsunami is more important than the leaks.

Don't waste your life on me.

I have changed again my daily practice. Instead of clubbing Pathanjali Yoga and Sharanam, I'm separating it. So I will be chanting Om Namo Narayana instead of Maam Yekam Sharanam Vraja and also am going to listen to a recording of Mumookchupadi Charamaslokam daily. I think this will not change.

Professionally yours

A man went into a pharmacy and asked to talk to a male pharmacist. The woman he was talking to said that she was the pharmacist and that she and her sister owned the store, so there were no males employed there.
She asked if there was something which she could help the gentleman with.

The man said that it was something that he would be much more comfortable discussing with a male pharmacist.

The female pharmacist assured him that she was completely professional and whatever it was that he needed to discuss, he could be confident that she would treat him with the highest level of professionalism.

The man agreed and began by saying, "This is tough for me to discuss, but I have a permanent erection. It causes me a lot of problems and severe embarrassment. So I was wondering what you could give me for it?"

The pharmacist said, "Just a minute, I’ll go talk to my sister."

When she returned, she said, "We discussed it at length and the absolute best we can do is, 1/3 ownership in the store, a company car, and $3000 a month living expenses.

South Korea's new Defense Minister's name is North Korean Artillery Attack...LOL

http://www.voanews.com/english/news/South-Korea-Names-New-Defense-Minister-after-North-Korean-Artillery-Attack-110799349.html

The height of inefficiency by the Indian administration

http://www.hindu.com/2010/11/26/stories/2010112659540100.htm

Why does India even allow these guys to speak out? It's even more absurd to think that this guy is able to come out to another part of India when outsiders are not getting inside Kashmir.

Kashmir problem can be solved a lot easily by breaking the backbone of these greedy guys than on angry unemployed youth wanting a cause to direct their energy in. Restrict the guys movement, stop their electricity, disconnect their cell-phones, scare them a bit so they know what terror means (like the shake up that he got in this news...lol), pull up their friends and relatives etc. This must not be done from hatred. Someone who flares up problems must be made to realize that there is a penalty for his trouble-making activities. He or she gets the option to desist from fighting for a wrong cause and lose the simple joy of living. If he or she is sane, as he or she is usually is unless there is a damage coming from a bodily brain defect, he or she will pick it up. Okay..I guess the IB is already doing this with Geelani andsome others but maybe they need some training from the Russians on this. Unlike the Russians, our problem is critical.

Our Prime Minister is a great and good man...one of the best in the world. But like everyone, he has faults. One fault is that he has to listen to Sonia Gandhi, who is paving the way for her son Rahul to take over the mantle in the near future from him. Another fault is that he is not strong like Advani when it comes to dealing with terrorists. I'm no fan of his Hindutva but I know that he can be decisive. The only thing Indians can hope from him is that, if he cannot be strong enough, atleast he lets those who are strong to do the necessary job.

Oh...I speak from experience of having to face those similar discomforts. Ha ha ha

It's a man's world but there are still some gentlemen

Wanna date me, huh?
Let me check my purse, Mam...

After you, Mam.
How sweet of you...

God's Equation - Einstein, Relativity and the Expanding Universe

I went through an interesting link that I saw from a friend on Facebook. The link is below...

http://www.scribd.com/doc/24966310/God-s-Equation-Einstein-Relativity-and-the-Expanding-Universe
I was interested in seeing how it matched my own understanding of reality, which is based on some Hindu concepts. Most of it went tangent to my brain but at one point I came across this paragraph below which looked odd.

Einstein followed the line of reasoning that began with the "happiest thought" of his life. Still at the Swiss patent office, he conducted one of his famous thought-experiments. Einstein imagined a circle spinning in space. The center of the circle did not move, but its circumference was moving quickly in a circular direction. Einstein compared what happens in several reference frames, a standard tool he had used in developing the special theory of relativity. He concluded, using his special relativity, that the boundary of the disk contracted as it spun. There was a force acting on the circle at the boundary—the centrifugal force—and its action was analogous to that of a gravitational force. But the same contraction that affected the outer circle left the diameter unchanged. Thus, Einstein concluded, in a way that surprised even him, the ratio of the circle to the diameter was no longer pi. He deduced that in the presence of a gravitational force (or field), the geometry of space is non- Euclidean.

Kindly excuse my impertinence. I'm not an hotshot in physics. Whatever interest I have in physics came from studying for IIT, in which I failed twice. I had once wanted to be a great scientist but that aspiration only removed me far from living a 'wet' life. But whatever knowledge that became unavailable from my inability to go do a PhD in US, I got it as a byproduct when I studied Hindu scriptures like the Bhagavad Gita, Upanishads etc. I certainly don't have the intelligence of an IITian but I'm smart in a few things.

The first thing that any physicist must do is take up 'wet' physics and not 'dry' physics, especially in this topic. A wet physicist will merge himself or herself in the universe. A dry physicist is removed from the universe he or she is observing. The implication of this that the Atma is the Atom.  If you do not agree with the previous premise, you will not agree with what I post next...

This is the Hindu version of what Einstein has suggested...

http://www.swamij.com/centripetal-centrifugal.htm

Now, the only odd thing that I found in what Einstein concluded is that he is suggesting a shrinking of the circle from gravity. Whereas in the Hindu model, the circle is constant because there is a balance of centripetal and centrifugal force. This may be because he is practising 'dry' physics (in this case) by treating the object as without an initiative of it's own but under the influence of gravity. (Clue: how did the object get to be with the revolving inertia??? if only gravity was there, every object will get sucked into nothingness i.e. nihilism and there will not be any universe to have this wonderful blog post :-()

Thanks AE for telling me...

"I hope you love life as much as it loves you."

...trying sincerely

Mouna Ragam

Unromantic to drop the lady to lift the suitcase?

The role of a Guru

I read something like this in one of the Upanishads...don't know which one. It had something to tell on the role of a Guru....

When a person is exiled from a city by being blind-folded and taken to the middle of the forest and left there, the Guru unties the fold and points the direction of the city. The person then asks everyone on the way for directions and eventually comes back to the city.

This is the role that my Guru also played. Ofcourse I did most of the work, the 99% of it and some times we agreed to disagree. A Guru is himself on the journey and as the gap between the Guru and the disciple decreases, the relationship turns into that of 2 pilgrims exchanging notes.

Going to spend a hour a day on developing a website rather than on the novel

I'm not going to write professionally. Instead I'm planning to develop a website on BEtter Living, a website that focuses on making life better. I hope to get some money from it in the form of ad clicks or banner ad or maybe even a donate button if it turns out to be good. The website will be a way where I can discover life more as well as share whatever I know with others.

Maybe I will finish the novel some time in my life as a hobby. Better yet, I want to live my life as a novel.

That makes my work life...1 hour of non-profit volunteering + 4 hours of professional work + 1 hour of magazine-editorship.

Today I have worked for 4 hours this way...not bad.

Okay...the website is at (in a poor shape now) http://aafhey6w.facebook.joyent.us/betterliving/

Happy-go-lucky guy?

I was once like this. I hope he doesn't get carried away by the rat race and lose what he is basically.

We would give anything for what we have. ~ Tony Hoagland

That's one nice couple (I wonder what they are looking at...)

Never thought spying was this easy

People have different priorities in life.

I'm entitled to 20% of Tom-Foolery

Now that I have given the link to this blog to others, I'm becoming more conscious of what I write.

So to those who happen to read my blog, I expect you to take only 20% of my posts seriously (I'm not saying which 20%...that is my alibi...hehehe)


Pareto Principle

Google's also has a 20%

As a sample, decide for yourself...

1. "It's better to like beautiful girls than to be gay" -- Silvio Berlusconi, Italian Prime Minister, speaking about his latest scandal, in which a teenage girl told of the "bunga bunga" orgies she witnessed at his home when she was 17.

2. "I had a sickening feeling every time I thought about it. I still do." -- George W. Bush, writing in his new memoir, Decision Point, that he still feels bad no weapons of mass destruction were found in Iraq.

3. For NASA, space is still a high priority... -- Dan Quayle

4. I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky… -- Bill Clinton

5. China is a big country, inhabited by many Chinese… -- Charles De Gaulle

6. General…I can't name TheGeneral… -- George W Bush, asked to name President of Pakistan

7. And what do you do? -- Queen Elizabeth II, to four British guitar greats, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck and Brian May, at reception for British music industry at Buckingham Palace March 2005

8. A woman knows the face of the man she loves like a sailor knows the open sea. -- Horore de Balzac

9. A hard man is good to find. -- Mae West

10. A man can be short and dumpy and getting bald but if he has fire, women will like him. -- Mae West

My sister and me

While we were talking yesterday, my sister was asking what my cousin was doing, and I think in a slip of tongue, she asked "avanum vudhavakaraya irukkana?" i.e "Is he also still useless?".

Myself and my sister, we don't get along. I have thrown coffee at her face while she had even called police to complain about it (american style...LOL)

It's a matter of sibling rivalry that has over time grown out of proportions and it has turned out very ugly, we both hitting each other behind the belt.

I like her kid though because I find him like my father and because a kid is a kid.

We both don't even talk to each other straight in the face. It's just a difference in the way we perceive things. Today she asked me why I was sitting dull and I made a sign not to interfere in my business. She is a nice person just like everyone else is. We stay clear of each other 99% of the times. In the remaining 1% time, I just let it pass whatever she says and she knows that if she needles me beyond a point, I will not hesitate to slit her throat.

She has no idea of how life is going to be in the future. She thinks that being a good professional in a multinational company will ensure a good life. For 8 years after her marriage, she didn't have a kid. I asked her to do the Sathya-Narayana Pooja because it is supposed to bless one with a baby and she immediately got a baby. Now, I'm not taking credit from them on giving birth to the baby because I know that they both went through a lot before, during and after the delivery. Not having a baby kept her humble though she had the tendency to think herself too successful. Now that she has got a beautiful baby, she is getting carried away again.

Her husband is jobless in the US for 5 months now while I'm daily making progress on the job-front, even though it is at a snail's pace. They don't seem to realize that they are heading towards hell while I'm getting out of it. Neither do I feel good nor bad that this is what is going to happen. It's everyone's Karma. I agree that she is a good worker but she doesn't have any wisdom, any devotion, any meditative practice to calm herself down or surrendering herself to God. So what's she got is 20%. But since she is atleast a skillful and honest worker, she will eventually get salvation.

She thinks that I'm materially poor and I think she is spiritually poor. This is the difference in perspective that creates friction between us.

It's always important to be at ease with the big picture. After-all, she is my father's and mother's daughter and in the end, I'm no better or worse than her. But I cannot accept her unless she appreciates who I'm. But that's not going to happen for a very long time and so we go in opposite directions.

Harnessing Karma

Every action leaves a tangible result and a tendency to repeat it. So, even a small positive action is enough to shift from the vicious cycle to the virtuous cycle.

Wrong messages

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jFKAVM8BeOqhxL1nyx51HrJhK2Mw?docId=CNG.34d413ddaf37cdcea164fb9b026494b1.b41

I think it's a wrong message that Russia is sending to the world by saying 'no' to the Nobel Peace prize nomination. While I understand that the Norwegians, Lilliputians in the world arena, are using this prize as a political tool with the backing of the west, Russia could have done better by just abstaining or not responding. The ambassador could have told the committee...I couldn't get the flight ticket or I lost the flight ticket or I carry a STD. But what did the poor prize winner do to lose being recognized for his life-long struggle under a mammoth regime? Ofcourse, the Nobel committee gave the prize to Obama before he did anything and never gave the prize to Gandhi when he was the most peaceful worker of the last century. I'm not against the Chinese government because it's none of my business and it is up to them to create their own society just like how the Afghans or Americans or Indians want their own society. It is also indecent and against sensibility to try to impose one model of governance over another because people are different everywhere. Hindus or Americans cannot judge Muslims poorly on stoning because they themselves once had the practice of sati and witch burning. Outsiders can only raise the awareness without a holier than thou attitude and it is upto insiders if they want a change.

PS: I'm a Lilliputuian myself and I remain one.

Read this nice quote at the grocery shop today

"Do not quit.
If you haven't quit, you haven't failed.
Success is just the initiative after the failure."

Memory

My nephew Saashvath came yesterday from the US with my sis. He didn't really recall who I'm...and then I sang a 'family song'...something I used to sing to him (a tune that I don't know how I got) when he was here 5 months back. Hearing it, I think he started getting back the connection with me. And today...I took him for a walk on the stroller pointing to him objects like dog, crow, bike, tree etc. He then went into a deep sleep. When we woke up and he saw me, he looked at me as if for the first time and went after my sis...not only did he not remember the old times, but also just what we did a couple of hours back. I told him, 'I cannot keep singing you the 'family song' every time you forget me like this.'...lol.

Jokes aside, it is also a reminder of the fragile memory that people have. In this world, to be attached to anyone is asking for trouble. Anyway, in the days ahead, I have a companion in Saashvath, though he is not going to remember any of these times when he has grown up.

Alwarpeta aaluda, arivuraya keluda, ore kadhal ooril illayada

Alwarpeta aaluda
Uploaded by anji25. - Music videos, artist interviews, concerts and more.

BG18:66

Abandoning all duties, come unto Me alone for shelter; sorrow not, I will liberate thee from all sins.

It's not a privilege, it's a bloody order

Thinking on Me, thou shalt overcome all obstacles by My grace; but if from egoism thou wilt not listen, (to my advice), thou shalt be destroyed utterly.

Entrenched in egoism, thou thinkest: 'I will not fight'; to no purpose (is) thy determination; nature will constrain thee.

O son of Kunti!, bound by thine own duty, born of thine own nature, that which from delusion thou desirest not to do, even that helplessly thou shalt perform.

3 factors deciding the success of a team

1. The shoal behaviour where each member communicates and understands messages because of the similarities.

2. The command and control structure that is necessary for execution of decisions.

3. The growth of every member in the rank hierarchy over time so as to experience equal oportunities and shared responsibilities.

If even one of the above is not accounted for, the harmony of the team gets affected. For example, as to 1, a soccer player cannot play without passing. As to 2, only the captain can decide who shoots during the final penalty shoot-out. As to 3, a captain has to resign from the team when he becomes old and maybe then he can take-up the position of a coach.

This way, each can practice their sva-dharma (their own responsibilities) and then only it can be said that "Team Work, Works."

A hottie? A loser?

Some people think too much of me while there are also some who think I'm a loser. There is some truth in both. I can understand Michael Jackson, looking like a weirdo and after having put on a macho image in his songs, telling in an interview in a feminine voice, "I also bleed like everyone else when I get cut."

This is something that is true everywhere...the commons think the stars are privileged while the stars think the commons are happy and to add to this mess, the commons become the stars over time and vice versa.

Really...when Archana accepted my proposal and I had a good career, I had nothing else to wish for. But even at that time, I thought I lacked something. I did lack something though it was not what I went after. I went after, although unconsciously, greatness. Life gave me the greatest blow and took everything that I cherished away from me, except for the survival kit. Today, I understand that I had to undergo all that to get a broader definition of love.

I think I may have broken some hearts but this has nothing to do with anything with me. People try one another till they find the right one. I get rejected all the time by girls whom I feel attracted to strongly. But sometimes, it's just that circumstances cannot develop it any further and it fizzles out.

I may look like a romantic who can make a girl quiver under his gaze. But, actually I'm more like a paper tiger when it comes to romance. Even with Archana, I became bold only after she accepted me.

I have spurned some advances from girls recently. Like a recent friend of mine 'Ramya' on facebook. She seemed to be my kind of girl. Maybe I know who she is. Whatever, I'm actually a bit tired of romantic games. With Archana, I have played one too many...I indicate I'm interested in her...she indicates she isn't interested...I ask her if it's because I'm not good enough...she says that's not the reason...I open up more...she declines more...I talk casually to make her feel comfortable...she says friendship is nice...I become informal so she doesn't think love is a sin...she begins to like it but will not admit it...then I say 'goodbye', let's be friends always...she blushes and says, 'no, wait', but still doesn't say 'I love you'...I assume she loves me like in the movies and the books...she becomes excited that she is the object of attention...well...some of these things I have written in my novel...in the end, it's an one-up-manship game...who can prolong hiding their need for the other until the other comes craving on the knees. Forget it. I'm too tired of the games a girl plays. Maybe I'm not even interested in any girl...I don't know. I might not even get married. I have my own spiritual practice to occupy myself and anyway, I'm too old for silly romantic games. I don't know if I can even see a girl from romantic eyes because my perception of others has changed.

Things are too complicated for me. I'm maintaining my brain from going crazy like maintaining a nuclear reactor from exploding. Far more than myself, it is the love of the people who are behind me that is the stabilizing factor.

Sync. Out of Range?

The unknown good or evil doesn't affect anyone like how the infrared or the ultraviolet rays is not perceived by the human eye. The known good or evil affects someone like how when even many sense objects are around, only one is chosen and perceived by the senses due to the matching of the frequencies between the observer and the observed. Ponder this before you call me good or evil. I'm merely your own reflection.

Endhiran - The Robo

Unlike the Superstar, I'm...

2.60GHz of IQ
1.96GB of Ram
80GB of Hard-facts
100.0MBPS of Yogic-flying

If people consider themselves as the flute in the hands of Krishna instead of being the player, beautiful songs can flow like this one by A R Rahman.

Therefore do thou arise and obtain fame.

Conquer the enemies and enjoy the unrivalled dominion.

By Myself have they been already overcome;

Be thou a mere instrument, O ambidextrous one.

~ Bhagavad Gita 11:33

A burqa-clad woman is the most beautiful sight you will ever see. Enjoy...

Long-wave, deep, reverberating songs of whales

 http://www.cafeweltgeist.org/shoal/

Futurist Heiner Benking addresses how global online communication can become truly profound, truly global. Not short-wave superficial twitterings. Not a beeping sonar trying to detect new scenarios as they start to unfold. More like the long-wave, deep, reverberating songs of whales that can reach from pole to pole. Like the whales, humans must begin to use every means of communication that will enable large-scale orientation for our common journey ahead.

Jeremy Rifkin - The Empathic Civilisation

Giantess mom: Honey I blew up the kid

Screwball Comedy - Part 2

'Just as the same sky appears as white, blue etc. so, the same Atman is seen as many by the deluded'

'Everything that we see is Acyuta, there is nothing besides Him. He is I, He is you. He, the Atman, is all this; so, free yourself from the delusion of differences. The king, being thus instructed, opened his eyes to truth and abandoned the notion of distinct existence.'

[Yama says to his servants]: All this and myself are Vasudeva. He is the only One, the supreme Purusa and the supreme Ruler. Leave those whose minds are firm in the Infinite enshrined in their hearts, and keep at a distance from them.

'O gods! all that the goddess Earth has been saying is true; I, Siva, you and all this are Narayana; but the impersonations of His power are for ever; and excess or diminuation is indicated by the dominance of the strong and the depression of the weak.'

(Brahma says to Siva): 'O Soul of the universe, you and I are, as the cause of this world, one and the same; for the welfare of the world, we are separate in respect of our functions.'

'He, who has obtained your protection, has also obtained mine; you will, O Samkara! see yourself in no way different from me. Men whose minds are deluded by nescience (avidya) see distinctinctions such as 'I, he, thou, and this world with gods, titans and men.'

Mahesvara says in the Bhavisyottara-purana: 'Those who regard me or Brahma as different from Visnu are of crooked minds, fools, and are tortured in the hells below. Those foolish and wicked men that regard me, Hari, and Brahma as different, are guilty of a sin equal to Brahman murder.'

Again on the kailasa yatra of the Harivamsa, Mahesvara says: 'You are the beginning, the middle and the end of all beings; the universe sprang from you and is absorbed in you; I am you, the all-pervading. You are myself, O Janaradana! O Lord of the world! there is no difference between us, either in words denoting us or in their imports. Those glorious names of Govinda that are popular in the world are my names, too; he who hates you hates me; there is not a shadow of doubt (about this). I am the Lord of beings only as an emanation of you; there is nothing devoid of you, O Lord! Whatever is, was, or will be, is yourself, O Lord of the universe! There is nothing without you, O Lord of the lords!'

'The firmament with the sun, moon, and stars, the welkin, the points of the compass, the earth and the ocean are all held and supported by the prowess of the high-souled Vasudeva.'

''Visnu, the one great Being, pervades innumerable individual beings and the three worlds; and being the Self and enjoyer of all, and undecaying, He experiences [everything].'

Screwball Comedy - Part 1

Coming from a guy who has sought asylum in a foreign country

Exclusive: Don't mess with Pakistan - By Pervez Musharraf

Why the switch from guerrilla warfare to terrorist suicide strikes will not work

These bombings will not affect the enemy combat soldiers because they are aware of suicide bombers and are adequately defended. What these bombings will do is take out many non-combatant lives in the form of collateral damage ('innocent' lives lost but again it's their past karma that places them at a place where a suicide bomber blows himself or herself). So, there is a constant depreciation to zero in the numbers of those practicing suicide bombing culture.

“From fear of Him the wind blows; from fear of Him the sun rises; from fear of Him Agni and Indra and Death, the fifth, run." ~ Katha Upanishad

It's a man's thing

Why don't most Hollywood men have moustaches?



Hollywood Men

I say...if you have it, flaunt it.





Moustached Men

My cousin likes George Cloony and I like Karthik. But he is more handsome than me and I need some reinforcement in the form of a moustache. ;-)

Kashmir is India's 'internal' issue: US envoy

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Kashmir-is-Indias-internal-issue-US-envoy/articleshow/6931394.cms

Closing the lid?

Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg launches 'next generation of email'

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/facebook/8135442/Facebooks-Mark-Zuckerberg-launches-next-generation-of-email.html

Not content with a movie made on him?

Pamela Anderson writes to PM - halt leather trade

http://movies.ndtv.com/movie_story.aspx?Section=Movies&ID=ENTEN20100160160&subcatg=MOVIESINDIA&keyword=television&nid=66614

How about some trading of Silicone Breast Implants?

Yoga and Sharanagathi

In Yoga, the devotee holds onto God like how the baby monkey holds onto it's mother. Don't feel so bad if you like Yoga but resent being compared to a monkey...we have all descended from them. LOL

In Sharanagathi, God holds the devotee like how the lioness holds her cub. Sounds easy and cool??? Wait...the cub needs to have 100% trust in the mother...otherwise the neck can get seriously broken...LOL

Sensitivity

These days the Varuna Bhagavan seems to be sensitive to my post. I can understand from the Gita that rain comes from a sacrifice made but when I make a jackass post and it starts raining immediately, I wonder if he has to be reported for job appraisal.

If you meet the Buddha, DON't kill the Buddha

http://www.kwanumzen.com/pzc/newsletter/v09n10-1997-oct.html

The problem with those who wrongly interpret Zen is that they they are caught in a stale-mate between the 2 polarities. But there always exists an upward transcendental thrust that has a definite direction when the 2 polarities cancel each other and so oxy-morons like this..."If you meet the Buddha, kill the Buddha. If you meet a Patriarch, kill the Patriarch." don't really make much sense.

At some places, this quote is even attributed to the Buddha! Imagine the Buddha recommending His own assasination...LOL

The Buddha said, "Do not accept anything by mere tradition. Do not accept anything just because it accords with your scriptures. Do not accept anything because it agrees with your opinions or because it is socially acceptable. Do not accept anything because it comes from the mouth of a respected person. Rather, observe closely and if it is to the benefit of all, accept and abide by it."

The above is a plain, harmless, common-sense advice of the Buddha which has been unnecessarily extrapolated.

If you meet the Buddha or for that matter Jesus or Krishna or Moses or Mohammad, don't kill them. Just don't be enamoured by them, thank them for paying a visit, reduce their huge, larger than life size and pocket them in your heart...that way you will get their strength and one-day become one of them. These people answered nature's calls in their times but they also went ahead to answer God's calls.

Shimmers from the Shoal

  “Our traditional human institutions are like supertankers–inert, dinosaurs, difficult to change. What we have to do today is deconstruct these supertanker; we must move from supertanker rigidity to dynamic shoal-like flexibility. Shoals can respond to threat very quickly. Signals between the fish are almost instantaneous, allowing them to work together for the common good. We must move from rigid systems of command and control to the resilient flexibility of complex systems. New algorithms must emerge of multiple parallel processing, of distributed intelligence, of people power, to enable us to respond to crises quickly and globally. We can do it! We have the support structures and communication strategies to foster lifestyle change. The transition from supertankers to shoals is the imperative transition towards enabling solutions for tomorrow’s world.”

[Conclusion of http://www.apollo-gaia.org/PlanetEarth/index.htm]

Planet Earth, We Have A Problem

http://www.apollo-gaia.org/PlanetEarth/index.htm

Beyond the Tipping Point: Feedback Dynamics

and the onset of Runaway Climate Change

David Wasdell delivered this copiously illustrated presentation on the 29^th June 2008 to the Strategy-Planning workshop of the Tällberg Forum in the heart of Sweden. It was subsequently recorded in studio conditions and beautifully produced by the staff team of the Tällberg Foundation who also added an introduction by their Chairman, Bo Ekman.

After a basic introduction to climate dynamics, the powerful feedback system, already accelerating climate change, is analysed. It is argued that we have already passed the tipping point that marks the onset of runaway climate change, and are fast approaching the critical threshold beyond which the behaviour becomes unstoppable. The presentation concludes with an outline of the global strategy now urgently required to re-stabilise the life-support system of Planet Earth.

New scientific research, published since the video was completed, calls for a doubling of the figure used in the presentation for the strength of the water-vapour feedback. This adds 50% to the calculated power of current global heating and reinforces the conclusion that runaway climate change has already been initiated. The urgency of the imperative response to the global emergency cannot now be overstated. If you have problems viewing this web-video, please e-mail info@meridian.org.uk and request a DVD, cost would be no more than GBP5.00 to include postage, depending on where you live. Please also state whether you can play PAL DVDs or not.

Me to We

Amazing

Take It Easy

Anbe Sivam (Love is God)

Kamal: I can't believe it in destiny.

from "The Rainbow and the Rose" by Nevil Shute

"This place is a bit of a snare, I'm afraid," I said. "One thing leads to another."

She laughed. "Don't I know it!"

Predilections

Chess games don't go on forever. That doesn't mean a player wants the opponent to know this. Grandmaster Anand says Topolov sucked out many years out of his life in the final game of the recent Grandmaster Title Championship.

If you want to be my friend...

Don't tell lies to me. You are free not to tell anything that you don't want to tell outside.

I tell the truth and if I think something is best left unsaid, I'm silent.

I'm not raw. The validity of a truth rests as much in the trust of the one hearing as much as in the sincerity of the one saying. No amount of hard-facts can convince the doubting and analyzing mind but even the smallest sign or clue is enough for the one with the doctrine of the heart because he or she trusts himself or herself.

2 movies on HBO & Sony Pix

17 Again & Charlie Barlett...am I going back to my 17?

My work life

I looked for some online volunteering at United Nations online volunteering.

www.onlinevolunteering.org

I have twice worked before there on 2 projects. This time, while I went there in a spirit of service, I was pleasantly surprised to find an opportunity that is fun as well.

www.youth-leader.org is a positive-change making media NGO that has the backing of UNESCO. The job involves journalism...writing online content but I may even do some web development work for them. I haven't yet coordinated on the type of work that I will have to do. There are many interesting things about this...the people behind are spirited, creative, of different ethnicity, young and adventurous. I may be the oldest youth there...lol. These people are committed towards changing the world. I hope to have interesting interaction with them. Another good thing is this is a long term assignment and so I don't have to go through the process of applying again and again after each assignment.

I have also decided to continue writing the novel professionally, daily 1 hour. Initially I thought engaging in it is just a passionate venture and serves no purpose. But now I reason that I have some writing talent, have creativity, am self-expressive and can convey some message (he he) in my writing. So it can also be of the nature of service though I need to be careful not to go on a passionate ego-trip.

These 2 activities will take up 2 hours and so I will spend another 4 hours in web development. That will take me to 40 hours of work per week.

Presently I can manage to work for 3 hours daily. I will progressively increase it to 6 hours daily.

India has to lift Pakistan out of it's misery

Pakistan views India like how a daughter views the mother out of Electra complex or a son views the father out of Oedipus complex, like a competitor. But the reality is that Pakistan is an offspring of India. And today it's totally screwed and cannot help itself. It has to start respecting mother India. Now that India has even got a backing for UNSC permanent seat, it has a responsibility towards region i.e. South Asia. All the South Asian countries will then become prosperous and no more be known as developing countries.

Wikipedia could have a permanent Donate button

The founder of Wikipedia appeals every now and then for donation but also proclaims that Wikipedia does not charge anything. Well...spiritual happiness is available for free but material happiness comes at a price. So Wikipedia can have a permanent "Donate" button in the sidebar. This way, the rich can cover the costs of the poor while the poor can provide service by writing better content and Wikipedia will have their pay-check and job satisfaction.

The internet culture of putting a "Donate" button in the side bar is a nice thing. It is an example of unconditional love...it's saying, "I'm giving you what you want and you can give back whatever you have". It requires some courage to do it because there are those people, both rich and poor, who want everything on the internet for free. The problem for these people is that they will soon be hunting so much for freebies that their internet bill will overtake their gain in a freebie. But, there are also those who are grateful for a quality product, service etc. and are willing to pay a good price for it. This is a win-win situation for both the consumer and the provider.

What gives people courage?

 "Courage comes from recognition and a feeling of connectedness. To develop this kind of courage, one needs opportunity to encounter people who have not yet retreated or given up.  Positive examples, who induce courage and awaken a long lost longing for a fullfilled life that we can create ourselves and together."

~ Gerald Hüther (Professor for neuro sciences and learning research) in "The power of inner images – how visions change the mind, people and the world."

Zindagi pyar ka geet hi

Zindagi pyar ka geet hai
Life is the song of love
Isey har dil ko gana padega
Which every heart has to sing
Zindagi gham ka sagar bhi hai
Life is also the ocean of sadness
Has ke us paar jana padega
Which has to be crossed with a smile.

Jis ka jitna ho aanchal yahaan par
As much of the lap one goes through here
Us ko saugaat utni milegi
One gets back as much as an offering

Phool jeevan mein ghar na khile to
If in the flowery life, home does not bloom
Kaanton se bhi nibhaana padega
One has to play with thorns also.



Hai agar door manzil to kya
So what if the destination is distant?
Raasta bhi hain mushkil to kya
What if the passage is also difficult?
Raat taaron bhari na mile to
If one cannot get a night full of stars
Dil ka deepak jalaana padega
One has to kindle the light of the heart.

Zindagi ek peheli bhi hai
Life is also a puzzle
Sukh dukh ki saheli bhi hai 
A friend of joy and sorrow also
Zindagi ek wachan bhi to hai
Life is also a promise
Jise sab ko nibhaana padega
That everyone has to fulfil.



Zindagi pyar ka geet hai
Life is the song of love
Isey har dil ko gana padega
Which every heart has to sing
Zindagi gham ka sagar bhi hai
Life is also the ocean of sadness
Has ke us paar jana padega
Which has to be crossed with a smile.

Zindagi ek ehsaas hai
Life is a feeling
Toote dil ki koi aas hai
It is the hope for the broken heart
Zindagi ek banwaas hai
Life is an exile
Kaat kar sabko jana padega
That everyone has to lead.

Zindagi bewafaa hai to kya
So what if life is disloyal?
Apne ruthe hai hamse to kya
So what if our loved ones are offended with us?
Haath me haath na ho to kya
So what if we are not holding hands?
Saath phir bhi nibhana padenga
Our togetherness will have to be fulfilled.

Zindagi ek muskan hai
Life is a smile
Dard ki koi pehchaan hai
It is the identity of pain
Zindagi ek mehmaan hai
Life is a guest
Chhod sansar jana padenga
That has to leave the world and go.

I'm as dumb as this white guy (not Tom Cruise)

Getting out of facebook has left an emptiness that I hope will get filled in by blogging more here and following other bloggers.

Enlightenment is instantaneous. Liberation is gradual.

I have come up with a way to do my work, duty, service, karma yoga...whatever you call it.

I have decided to devote 1 hour daily to online volunteering. This is my spiritual practice which I expect will fan my capacity to work.

Karma acts quite fast in 2010.

10 minutes after posting something on sewage, as I go out for a walk, I get a warm bird dropping on my neck...LOL

I have felt that kaksteen and I both have this in common...that we both are bothered by the dirt in the world, the kind of dirt that is repulsive to look at, and that we both try to do something about it.

Ofcourse, we can get jealous of the other.

While I have not yet really mastered my capacity to help others, I have a suggestion for him. I told him to leave negativity...for example, the way he talks rudely or uses obscene words or even a website named after him that has porno stuff. His approach is like a doctor trying to cure a leprosy patient by hugging him to show his empathy. But if the doctor keeps doing this, he is going to be himself a leprosy patient one-day. The mind is a fertile land and whatever thoughts one implants in it becomes the reality, whether positive or negative, it starts growing. A doctor can best help the patient by prescribing a good medicine but not live the life of the patient to show empathy.

One may then ask...who is there to do the dirty jobs that keeps the other sections to live comfortably? Let's take the manual cleaning of the sewage in India. It's one of the worst plights that anyone can go through. These workers, whenever there is a blockage in the sewage lines, they have to get under the sewage water in the manhole and release any blockage. For a long time, I thought this water was that of drinking water or bathing water. Then it slowly dawned on me that these waters also take the excretions from the toilet. Now, when one section of the society is going to a fine dining restaurant, why is the other entering this sort of situations? It's a complex issue. For one thing and though this may sound callous, there is an element of karma in it. People generally don't become a sewage cleaner or a billionaire overnight. An ordinary worker leading a wrong way of life keeps on going down till one-day he is forced to work as a sewage cleaner to satisfy his hunger. The same way an ordinary worker works diligently to become a billionaire. The error in the understanding of people is that they look at a situation as a snapshot at that time and lament the injustice in the world. But does this mean the sewage cleaner has no redemption? Unlike Judeo-Christinity-Islamic belief of eternal hell, there is no such belief of an eternal hell in Hinduism. Hell in the Hindu belief is experiencing suffering as a cleansing process. It's a reversing of the direction of falling downwards to start rising upwards in evolution. So what's the solution to the sewage problem? 2 processes take place simultaneously. First, the worker says 'I understand that I have to work to live and my previous recklessness landed me in this poor job for which I have gone through enough. Now, I'm not taking it any more. If you people in the society cannot be careful enough in dropping things that can cause blockage in the drain or any other such things, I'm not going to get into it and you may as well experience the stink in your house or street or road. Second, some good souls from the society enact a law to stop manual sewage cleaning and make the sewage cleaning process automatic by using machines. This is what is presently happening here. At the end of the day, the worker gets a good job forgetting the past as a bad dream and can tell himself that what is considered filthy by humans is food to the pig.

kaksteen has great intensity, the greatest I have seen among Pravda members. It is for this reason that I gave him the name 'Vishnu' while naming everyone according to Vishnusahasranama. But it is all held in the prison of negativity. Now, positivity doesn't mean whites, the west, materialism and negativity doesn't mean blacks, the east, spirituality. A sewage cleaner lives half of his life in dirt and the rest in enjoyments like watching TV, having sex etc. Kaksteen seems to come from a well to do back-ground but still engages in these things. He may think that it is a part of duty or service...well, it is. But, when there is a better option, why take this? These are observations and not judgement. It's because I have no right to call myself better than a sewage cleaner who does his job properly when I myself have not worked till this time in the evening today. But as I posted once as my signature in that forum, "I have an opinion on everything!"


I don't really know how far my idea of him is true. I certainly don't mean that he is some sort of a saint! But once I read that his friend committed suicide by jumping from the building and so I thought he may be undergoing some of the psychosis I go through. Then, he was very popular among the Pravda members and so I thought that he must be having some good in him to warrant such backing from others.

He may resent what I have written comparing him to a sewage cleaner but I have written for his good, as equals.

My fav actor, my fav actress and a beautiful song. But is it grounded in reality?

Good morning...maybe I went a little far in my blog posts last night.

A newbie once asked me to modify my internet settings when I was in pravda to log into the network. Since that time, even though my brain is severely retarded to have common-sense, I'm aware that I'm a part of the network. Infact, now there is a feedback-mechanism...when I post something that is sensitive, my computer needs rebooting when I start it the next time. It looks like the network flushes out these internet activities of mine so that a hot-blooded intel or terrorist doesn't decide that it is Judgment Day. I'm sorry to cause you any stress this way but I try my best not to get worked up.

I also understand that there is real-time monitoring of my computer and internet activities. I tell this to those who have to sit and put up with me...you can relax and enjoy your job without getting neurotic.

Likewise...don't get stressed out keeping your hands on the panic-button. I won't get psyched out if you disconnect me every now and then for damage control. 

We are all in this together. Unfortunately, there is no dislike option. Even though Archana back-stabbed me, I'm still fond of her and love her, though I understand that she now belongs to someone else. Even though I have left the Pravda forum for good, I cannot leave the network. It' because both Archana and Pravda are very much a part of my life and happy memories, though sometimes gone bitter. Let's try to minimize the friction. I have never wanted more than my share of the world, which is the same as everyone else's.

For all my wanderings, I know clearly the way out and every day I go to my destination. Please do not waste much of your time on me. Go and live your life happily. My life is taken care of. You may keep in touch with me by sending me a 'Hi' in your own way whenever you feel good. You are also never far away from my thoughts. I may sound like a narcissist or an avatar come down to save planet earth, but this is not my real nature. I just want a normal life like everyone else.

My nature

Some people can ask me why I cannot be normal like others. I know that there are those who are sacrificing for me to live a happy life. But my mind is very retarded, paralyzed and comatized. I want to mention that I do not consider myself as someone special and who alone has this malady. You may think that this is an exaggeration but I once even told my counselor with all sincerity that I was not sure of us even talking to each other. I have broken window glasses hurting my hands to prove to my psychiatrist my problem, slit the hands with the blade so that my mom will understand my pain, stripped fully naked before her to get a full protective armour (hearing the story of Duryodhana's vulnerability in the Mahabharatha war), taken sleeping-pills to kill myself, crept to the terrace only to hesitate to jump from there and many other things.

People think that I live a comfortable life. And I don't blame them for thinking like that because they do their best to make me happy. And when I don't reciprocate, they think I'm ungrateful and feel sad that their efforts have gone waste. My way of showing gentleness, unconditional love and kindness is by not letting them see those dirty worlds that I deal with, both internally in my mind and externally out in the world. To give you an example, I prepare myself for any emergency in my mom's health which includes the decision as to when to unplug the life-supporting system. But my mom is not aware that I monitor her health in the back o my mind. She just thinks that I'm often in my blues. Again, I'm not saying that I'm the only one cleaning the dirty linen but I want you to understand that I try to clean some dirt that is around me.

The video is similar to my life except in 2 ways. I never had A Beautiful Mind, like an intellectual scientist though I aspired to be one, but I had A Beautiful Heart, like that of a hopeless romantic, which is my essential nature. The other difference is that the supportive role that the actress plays is for me played by my mother.

Sollikkolla vaayum illai, allikkolla thaayum illai...

karma

Kamal's perspective on violence in his early and later movie

Arjuna thinks that he is such a big-shot that he says in the beginning that he will not feel happy even if he gets the sovereignity over the 3 worlds, much less over earth, seeing his kinsmen killed. While Arjuna does have a pure heart, he is not just interested in Moksha. Being the best archer in the world and a prince, he thinks...why should I lower down to the cowherd Krishna? He thinks...this Krishna sure does have some bag of tricks with him and if I can get something out of it, then I will be great both materially and spiritually. He also knows that he is screwed and trusts that Krishna will not cheat him. So he surrenders name-sake at first. When Krishna finishes all the sermon where He gives all the wisdom He has out of compassion for him, He knows that Arjuna's ego needs to be reigned in. So what He does is...He changes "Tham Eva Sharanam Gacha" in BG 18:62 to "Maam Yekam Sharanam Vraja" in BG 18:66. There cannot be 2 Dons in the same family at the same time. The next in line has to wait till the present one drops down. Courtesy: Godfather Trilogy.

Today we see the same thing among westerners who come to Indian Gurus for a closely guarded spiritual secret but go around calling India as a third-world country.

My ex-classmate says he is working 100hours/week and I work less than 10hours/week. I need to make a big change in my work life.

Don't know if people hate me on facebook. It's one good thing compared to Pravda where if I make any careless post, I get drawn into flame wars.

Some people may think that I'm bad but if they were in my shoes, they will know that I do not live a life that is a bed of roses.

I live in a darkness inside myself. It's the deepest recess of the mind from which I peek out into the world without any idea of what is real or imaginary.

One can ask...who is asking you to live like this? I say...how else do you expect me to live when I have been back-stabbed, have no guarantee of life and lost in a world that makes no sense. I may or may not come out of this darkness but I don't complain much. It's because my debts to others or life or the world is getting reduced day by day and I can make myself believe every now and then that I do matter in whatever way. I may have screwed someone but Archana screwed me as well. There ends the debt I owe to others. Too bad if others cannot accept this logic...they have to examine their own karma and see who they have screwed and got screwed.

 Good night...

Damn it. This addiction to facebook is really frustrating. I don't make any intelligent conversation with anyone because I cannot relate with anyone.

I just want to spend my time working...getting lost in work. But I have still not got into the flow.

I don't want to disturb others with my own psychological problems. But I have no idea if I'm of use to others or a liability. There seems to be just a thin line of difference.

All this is idle talk. As Balqis says...

Verily Allah does not change a people's condition, unless they change what is in their inner self .

On with my journey...

mouna raagam

I have become addicted to the facebook so much that it's frustrating me. And what I say may be offending and some of my friends are bound to get irritated with my posts. I don't want to be like dominating or attention-grabbing.

So what's the alternative to FB and typing like this over here?

One thing is...when I become better involved with my work, it will automatically divert me away from FB and blogger. But getting to start working is a hurdle, though a very small one.

I have started applying Shri-Charanam on my forehead as a mark of practicing ananya bhakthi.

People may think that I try to influence things from my ego. But they have to examine whether they are any better than me to cast the first stone on me. My world's something different from what I post in Facebook. Just like Pravda, I will grow out of Facebook one-day.

The Advaitins who use Aham-Brahmasmi, to claim that they are God, the Vishista-Advaitins who interpret Seshatvam as being a slave to God and the Dvaitins who say that God is something remote are all wrong. The knowledge of God is unnecessary to love another though it can be of aid. Loving another is common-sense, pragmatic, a must and pays-off fast. One can pursue God in leisure.

All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players:
They have their exits and their entrances;

~ Sheikh'spear

I don't know why I'm still living. I have to live because I have look after my mom.

Life is so sick.

Ha! the greatest ever-lasting love song...

The innocent pure love of the teenage...what an ideal one has then of life...people may debate about whether it is true love...well, personally, I cannot say that I'm any more or less sincere than what I was when I stood transfixed too nervous to give the letter as Lakshmi passed past me, oblivious of my puny existence in her world.



With Archana, I thought I had found the true love. But I guess now I have no idea of what I can call it. I don't know if I can ever understand it. It's struck my Medulla-Oblongata, the boot sector of my brain and if that gets infected, I doubt if it can ever be disinfected.

bloody bastard arvind...you have a wonderful mother. why are you not happy enough with it??????????????

Too bored with life............................................

It's always important to have a sense of humour...so you can say that you don't mind the joke on you.

Today I learnt more about Pranayama from my counselor. Anandh to me is like Sandipini to Krishna, Dronacharya to Arjuna and Achrekar to Tendulkar. I also got a nice book from him on Pathanjali Yoga...from what I read of it, it looks very lucid and easy to understand.

I wish Archana was here next to me now. I don't know why I have to go through all this.

I think in around 75 days I will be out of my medicines completely. I'm quite normal even now but the problem is that these medicines have some side-effects.

Tomorrow is Deepawali. I have got for myself a nice shirt.

I miss my father. When he died, I was so much in depression that I hardly noticed his death. But he seems to have been reborn as my nephew Saashvath. I'm quite fond of my nephew Saashvath.

I have inherited my looks from my mother but the power of my soul is from my father.

Just 3 minutes to Diwali. I will go to sleep now so I can get up tomorrow on Diwali.

Just changed a little bit of my practice.

Pranayama cleans the mind, kind of like cleaning the temple. But it is not enough if the mind is left empty. One has to install the idol of God in the temple. Pranayama is the 4th step in Pathanjali Yoga. So, I'm going to do the Pathanjali Yoga instead of merely the Pranayama. The mantra I will be using for it is Maam Yekam Sharanam Vraja. The good thing about having this mantra is that not only does it form a part of Pathanjali Yoga but is also a way of Sharanam. Yoga is centrifugal while Sharanam is centripetal. By balancing these two, the object can be put into perpetual circular motion...kind of like launching a geo-stationary satellite around the earth...in spiritual terms, this is liberation.

So I will be doing the 4 Yogas with implicit Sharanam...Pathanjali (including Pranayama and using the Sharanam mantra), Jnana (a Bhagavad Gita verse a day), Karma (saying Krishna Unakke Preethi before starting on the work thereby dedicating the fruits of the work to Krishna) and Bhakthi (listening to Mahalakshmi Ashtothram and Vishnu Sahasranam). This will cover what is said as a conclusion in the Bhagavad Gita verses 18:65 & 18:66.

So there it is...the prescription that I need to follow. It cannot get any simpler than this for me.

I'm taking only Valp for mood balance and you know what? I just hit the bull on the eye...or should I say...the bull just placed it's eye where I was hitting...LOL

I have just read about Pranayama and it brings balance...yes...balance...and that is what is I still don't have. So that takes me to 99.8125% or 81.25% alright...I'm not sure which one exactly.

I have already started doing Pranayama today. Pranayama, for your info, works by balancing the ida and pingala (I don't know the specifics but it is left and right brain...also maybe cerebrum and cerebellum) and when they are balanced, the sushumna (maybe this is the medulla oblongata...maybe) gets activated. It's effects are very subtle and the practise itself takes less than 5 minutes. But just because it is easy, one should not do it excessively because these are very sensitive and the effects are supposed to come a little delayed...I'm visiting my doc to learn it properly though there are many websites that explain it.

I was very disturbed by not working well today as expected. But I pulled myself up and from now on I'm palnning to just follow a work methodology called Kolb's experiential learning...ofcourse by saying Krishna unakke preethi before starting so that I don't get bound by karmic results anymore. I have a pseudonym for it - ROTE i.e. Run - Observe - Theorize - Edit. The methodology is suchthat one can start at whatever level one is progressively evolve into working better with each iteration in the cycle. So I'm going to work mechanically i.e. by ROTE :-)

I was posting something about 2 miracles in my last post. This seems like the 1st miracle.