Friday, June 15, 2007
Thursday, June 14, 2007
A Cup of Life (inspired by prashantva)
A CUP OF LIFE
Here is a nice one...
A group of working adults got together to visit their University
lecture.
The lecturer was happy to see them. Conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life.
The Lecturer just smiled and went to the kitchen to get an assortment of cups - some porcelain, some in plastic, some in glass, some plain looking and some looked rather expensive and exquisite.
The Lecturer offered his former students the cups to get drinks for themselves.
When all the students had a cup in hand with water, the Lecturer spoke:
"If you noticed, all the nice looking, expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is normal that you only want the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress. What all you wanted was water, not the cup, but we unconsciously went for the better cups."
"Just like in life, if Life is Water, then the jobs, money and
position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold/maintain Life, but
the quality of Life doesn't change."
"If we only concentrate on the cup, we won't have time to enjoy/taste
the water in it."
---------
I wish we all had not looked at the cup and stayed together ;)
Shally
Here is a nice one...
A group of working adults got together to visit their University
lecture.
The lecturer was happy to see them. Conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life.
The Lecturer just smiled and went to the kitchen to get an assortment of cups - some porcelain, some in plastic, some in glass, some plain looking and some looked rather expensive and exquisite.
The Lecturer offered his former students the cups to get drinks for themselves.
When all the students had a cup in hand with water, the Lecturer spoke:
"If you noticed, all the nice looking, expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is normal that you only want the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress. What all you wanted was water, not the cup, but we unconsciously went for the better cups."
"Just like in life, if Life is Water, then the jobs, money and
position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold/maintain Life, but
the quality of Life doesn't change."
"If we only concentrate on the cup, we won't have time to enjoy/taste
the water in it."
---------
I wish we all had not looked at the cup and stayed together ;)
Shally
Friday, June 8, 2007
Identity crisis
Its been quite a build up but maybe the best time to write is when you feel all mixed up inside. On the plus side it could mean you come up with colors or a lot of crap. Anhow I was reflecting on the question of identity so I write what I think.
What do we relate to the most? I mean when look to define yourself for your own self, there is something you identify with, right? The thought, the mind or the images that keep flashing about. Milk? Idli? Pakodas? Paranthas? (Foods of India is the theme)
An interesting concept from the Indian (or desi depending on where you live) wisdom. Ahamkara is a word that means I-ness. It often makes a mistake by identifying itself with the impressions on the mind. It is said this association that gives rise to the psychological Ego or the apparent individuality. (A more thorough exposition is http://www.swamij.com/fourfunctionsmind.htm)
So the moral of the story (or kitsch) is observe the mind and the thoughts and think over it...or maybe dont 'think' about it...hmm, explore!
- Ryokan
What do we relate to the most? I mean when look to define yourself for your own self, there is something you identify with, right? The thought, the mind or the images that keep flashing about. Milk? Idli? Pakodas? Paranthas? (Foods of India is the theme)
An interesting concept from the Indian (or desi depending on where you live) wisdom. Ahamkara is a word that means I-ness. It often makes a mistake by identifying itself with the impressions on the mind. It is said this association that gives rise to the psychological Ego or the apparent individuality. (A more thorough exposition is http://www.swamij.com/fourfunctionsmind.htm)
So the moral of the story (or kitsch) is observe the mind and the thoughts and think over it...or maybe dont 'think' about it...hmm, explore!
When all thoughts
Are exhausted
I slip into the woods
And gather
A pile of shepherd’s purse.
...
Like the little stream
Making its way
Through the mossy crevices
I, too, quietly
Turn clear and transparent.
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
Going Gulzarish on the "Green Green Grass" of Home
Here's the deal.. an idle romantic in his heat induced delirium, typing away on the more inconsequential things in the world. But, then again, its those inconsequential things that are worth the world. So here I am.. 9 months and thensome days later back in Delhi. It feels good to touch the green green grass of home.. so the song says, but the grass in Delhi has its own shades. Green or not, it is still mine.
The first thing that hit me about Delhi the moment I stepped into the aerobridge was the heat. It felt like stepping into a boiler, but strangely enough, it felt good. In fact, the 40 odd degrees on the Celcius scale never made me feel better.
Its funny how these past months in the US have made me more aware of the discrepancies in my own country, and yet I feel belonged in the dusty roads and the chaotic traffic here. For some reason, the cars here look suddenly smaller, and the colours, definitely more vibrant. The language on the street is suddenly more relatable, and food becomes yummier. To say that all this ruckus brings about a tranquility would sound oxy-moronic but it would not be far away from the truth. I have free time on my hands, and there's something here that make me romantically inclined enough that Mehndi Hassan sounds better and Gulzar.. well.. Gulzar is amazing independant of the geographical coordinates.
Its a work-in-progress, this romance with Delhi, because Delhi gives you newer reasons to hate the dysfunctional system, and even more reasons to love the feeling of being at home.
Home is where the heart is, suna to tha, ab dekh bhi liya.
To put it in a Gulzar-ish way, yahaan ki garmi bhi apni hai, aur wahaan ki thandak bhi parayi.
The first thing that hit me about Delhi the moment I stepped into the aerobridge was the heat. It felt like stepping into a boiler, but strangely enough, it felt good. In fact, the 40 odd degrees on the Celcius scale never made me feel better.
Its funny how these past months in the US have made me more aware of the discrepancies in my own country, and yet I feel belonged in the dusty roads and the chaotic traffic here. For some reason, the cars here look suddenly smaller, and the colours, definitely more vibrant. The language on the street is suddenly more relatable, and food becomes yummier. To say that all this ruckus brings about a tranquility would sound oxy-moronic but it would not be far away from the truth. I have free time on my hands, and there's something here that make me romantically inclined enough that Mehndi Hassan sounds better and Gulzar.. well.. Gulzar is amazing independant of the geographical coordinates.
Its a work-in-progress, this romance with Delhi, because Delhi gives you newer reasons to hate the dysfunctional system, and even more reasons to love the feeling of being at home.
Home is where the heart is, suna to tha, ab dekh bhi liya.
To put it in a Gulzar-ish way, yahaan ki garmi bhi apni hai, aur wahaan ki thandak bhi parayi.
Friday, June 1, 2007
Who tops the list......
I wish I had the flare of writing like Bhola, the clarity of thought like pauli, command over english like sharma, way with words like daddu, enthusiasm like shelly, spirit like Jaat, smartness like chadha, kapil's sense of humor, sahablal's patience and fayaz's energy...
Well on second thought why do I need all this when you guys are around.
Its 10 in the morning, new build hasn't come yet and I feel like looking really busy staring at my screen, so i thought why not jot down some thoughts about all the dogs in our group. After all we all love to read about ourselves. Remember the cynosure epidemic, which sharma identified... in himself and then we all showed signs of it... trust me it still persists.
Its weird, just at this very moment, when I was writing this, rana pinged me and just then I realized I forgot one guy. The jaat gods are always there helping these jaats, giving us hints of what the ultimate truth is, but I choose to sit in denial on this.
Dear rana, how can we forget it/him. The kid would make tea for us.... anytime of the night, get daru for us ...anytime of the night and would get into daddu's bed.... anytime of the night , no wonder daddu gets sad talking about him . he is missing the tea.
I just had a lightening thought and figued out the person with the highest degree of haraminess.....our dear sharma, hamara bhagwaan. This conclusion has an explanation.
Yeh to sabb maante hain .. jitna haramipana bhagwaan karr sakta hai.. woh koi bhi nahi karr sakta...He is weird and has weird ways of taking one's ass (no homosexual connotation here, this is just a metaphor). So on the same note, sharma is slimiest and most harami. He tops my list and would continue to do so till he drops me from his list, in that case we both can mutually decide upon kaps, our bitch, available to anybody, anytime.
Well on second thought why do I need all this when you guys are around.
Its 10 in the morning, new build hasn't come yet and I feel like looking really busy staring at my screen, so i thought why not jot down some thoughts about all the dogs in our group. After all we all love to read about ourselves. Remember the cynosure epidemic, which sharma identified... in himself and then we all showed signs of it... trust me it still persists.
Its weird, just at this very moment, when I was writing this, rana pinged me and just then I realized I forgot one guy. The jaat gods are always there helping these jaats, giving us hints of what the ultimate truth is, but I choose to sit in denial on this.
Dear rana, how can we forget it/him. The kid would make tea for us.... anytime of the night, get daru for us ...anytime of the night and would get into daddu's bed.... anytime of the night , no wonder daddu gets sad talking about him . he is missing the tea.
I just had a lightening thought and figued out the person with the highest degree of haraminess.....our dear sharma, hamara bhagwaan. This conclusion has an explanation.
Yeh to sabb maante hain .. jitna haramipana bhagwaan karr sakta hai.. woh koi bhi nahi karr sakta...He is weird and has weird ways of taking one's ass (no homosexual connotation here, this is just a metaphor). So on the same note, sharma is slimiest and most harami. He tops my list and would continue to do so till he drops me from his list, in that case we both can mutually decide upon kaps, our bitch, available to anybody, anytime.
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