A visit by an old friend

You can call it silly nostalgia, but today morning while myself basking in the sun I found an old familiar face that had been on and off my porch. More then often I have found myself mimicking the tone of my good’ol friend who happily sits lazying around eyes half open and shut. As he lay there for a minute or so I found myself connected to him like a call of the wild; or maybe just plain old mother nature in its infinitude faces. How often do you see a swift squirrel happily perched out with no human worry around.

Having read some pranic healing I have come to learn that all beings have an incessant energy flow which invariably connects them to the rest of the beings around and I tried to close my eyes in an effort to reach out; I guess the mere presence or my acknowledgement seems to heighten the effect and I felt a tinge of static current wiz past. After a few more minutes, I rushed inside to capture in those moments, to share in with the rest.

Untill you visit again; adieus.

The tax solution

"Put your best foot forward" that’s what the headlines of one of the articles in TIME magazine read; and it cascaded a chain of thoughts foremost being the ultimate solution to India's tax problem; you would still be wondering what I am talking about. As part of a long-term campaign in Shanghai, designed to rid the city of the shameful behavior before it hosts the 2010 World Expo, as many as 112,000 renegade pedestrians have been fined up to $6 each for jaywalking since May.

Wow, can you imagine what India's government could gather in a year if such a policy of banning jaywalking/spitting/urinating and throwing thrash on street gets implemented. The government could have a cash reserve overflow problem. No kidding.

I guess few years back smoking in public areas came underway and the response and after effects have quite been successful. Sometimes things like common sense requires a hard hand to back it up; because we swagger too easily. But I do think all our metros would really benefit from such a move, the city would be much cleaner.


(Image courtesy : Internet : various)

If only signs could help!!!

Mourning the dead.

Today while I was fully engaged in my work one of my colleagues in another building messengered me to ask about a person whose demise news had been just mailed across to everybody in office. He was a young lad who accidentally slipped and drowned. I didn’t knew the person and during our chat I just remarked "by now he would be checking in at the heaven's gate or the other one". To which my colleague was shocked at the indifference and cold heartiness of my attitude.

Then I wondered is it really wise to mourn for somebody you didn’t knew; does being in the same office make his/her death more meaningful or worthy of attention. Maybe I am using the wrong words; I should say "make it more of an emotional experience". We humans usually fathom such emotional experience by the point of commonality that bind us; whatever it may be. But how does this death be any different then so many deaths reported in paper each day.

Death in the actual tense is more of a loss for a person we know but for a person we don’t the only loss visible, is the close ones he/she leaves behind. Going through all those thoughts I wondered if we are really concerned or had feelings; do we channel it in a positive way, I mean go out consoling those near ones really shell shocked or maybe taking out time from our busy schedule to pay our respects to the material body which lacks a substance and we never knew who it belonged.

But what also I pondered is why in our culture we mourn the dead. I have seen that in many of the foreign countries when a person dies; it marks a culmination of a family reunion more so like a catharsis for all the family tensions; also they tend to enjoy the time, remembering the good things he/she was known for and celebrating life itself. Isn't that the crux of it all.


Maybe not all!!

For a second opinion I went back to a book Death at my doorstep I read few months back by our very own sardar Khuswant Singh; being a rationalist and over 90 he is the perfect guy to talk on a topic with perspective. In his book he takes a black and white picture and try to embalm colors that we may look at it the second time; and maybe right. The preface starts with a Lord Tennyson poem.

Sunset and evening star,
And one clear call for me!
And may there be no moaning of the bar,
When I put out to sea,

But such a tide as moving seems asleep,
Too full for sound and foam,
When that which drew from out the boundless deep
Turns again home.

Twilight and evening bell,
And after that the dark!
And may there be no sadness of farewell,
When I embark;

Before I close I quote lines from one of my all time favorite movie Patch Adams which sums it:

"What's wrong with death sir? What are we so mortally afraid of? Why can't we treat death with a certain amount of humanity and dignity, and decency, and God forbid, maybe even humor. Death is not the enemy gentlemen. If we're going to fight a disease, let's fight one of the most terrible diseases of all, indifference."

Rain rain go away

"... come again another day"; I guess the poet would have been sitting in Bangalore when he wrote this one and in the same predicament which gave him the motivation to carve this one out. Being a typical bachelor's weekend I washed in two dozen clothes just ready to be put on line which took me another fifteen minutes by the clock. And ten minutes later a drizzle, fearing the worst I retracted every single one, to my amazement that it stopped. So waiting for half an hour and gazing up the empty sky I took my chances again for my fifteen minute run.

Tip tip thud and what we have is a full blown downpour another half an hour later. And the poem was all I could think of two hours later; and I am still waiting...



Rain, rain, go away,
Come again another day.
Rain, rain, go away.
Come again some other day.
Little Johnny wants to play,
In the meadow by the hay.
Rain, rain, go to Czechoslovakia,
Never show your face again.
Rain, rain, pour down,
But not a drop on our town.
Rain on the green grass,
and rain on the tree,
And rain on the housetop,
but not on me.
Rain, rain, go away,
Come again on washing day. (now tha's unfair)
Rain, rain, go to Germany,
And remain there permanently.
Rain, rain, go away,
Come on Martha's wedding day.

My Todo List

Pooooh, returning back after a long time, office work had taken its toll. Though wasn’t hitting home at 11 pm, but still wasn’t getting time for other chores, my violin and my books almost seemed orphaned, so this weekend apart from re-adoption I thought to double check on my list. What list!! The one, many of us maintain before we hit the dirt or should I say meet our creator. Till now the list wasn’t official; it just existed in my head; getting reminded on and off. So I thought to put it on records. Here goes...

1. Learn a language, that’s a common one; although working in a German company I started with French; its something like our very own bengla almost sugar to the ear; but (now don’t laugh) my real inspiration came when watching matrix one of the characters said “I have sampled every language, French is my favorite. Fantastic language. Especially to curse with. Nom de dieu de putain de bordel de merde de saloperie de connard d'enculé de ta mère. It's like wiping your arse with silk. I love it.”. So I had to learn or atleast try! (Try b'cause with so many exceptions I couldnt keep up with it).
2. Try mimicking a fish, I mean learn swimming so atleast I don’t die in a well.
3. Go to a serene mountain side the ones you see on posters with a crystal lake and large meadow; and just sit there silently for hours with my soul mate; talking of which I haven’t got married yet and if you see my previous blogs life’s been playing some tantrums in that department.
4. Buy a nice home with a large library and a garden, and grow a coconut tree in the centre; that was before I came to Bangalore; now I will suffice with a few bamboos instead.
5. When I hit fifties; buy one of those old rocking chair lay it thud in the middle of my drawing room and listen to my favorite collection while a yellow labrador pants next to me. But as of now I can’t even think of a dog; too much maintenance; and that house is still on the list.
6. Learn to be a cook, atleast be able to try all those fancy recipes with the satisfaction that they were through my own hands.
7. Learn a musical instrument and I already chose Violin; its been six months now and a long way to go.

I guess I suffice with this now; maybe in a few years when I grow more wise; the list would increase, but as of now; let me spend some time on thinking how to go about each one.

Scribbled your one yet!!

PS: guess what, it could be just be another coincidence, for those matri sites I again came out to be the thousandth customer and they gifted me out a blender.