Redefining Oblivion

There are three stages to a man's life,
The first is gaining vision - something that I have long passed.
Then there is opposition - something that I'm facing now!
And finally there comes recognition - I will gain it with time.

- Anonymous.

Nothingness has always been a very unsettling state for the body, mind and the spirit.
A state of nothingness is always a state of confusion despite the magnitude. And Oblivion has been part of time since time itself!
Usually we fail to comprehend the impact of a state of confusion until it has long gone, which is the very reason why we fail to deal with such a state in a very proactive or a prudent manner.
There is not steadfast solution to deal a confusing situation much as there is no by-the-book approach to solve a confusing problem. All problems create some amount of confusion which consumes valuable time and effort. A great deal of time is spent to ease confusion and strangely, despite all sound qualifications of superior judgement, only a limited few are able to handle such situations with professional ease.
An inability to handle or resolve confusing situations is not an indication that we are bad situation handlers, it simply is a sign that we have not devoted enough time to understand the essence of the situation by applying proper thought and thereafter action.

Why are confusing situations confusing in the first place? Because they are confusing!
Now, this is itself a confusing answer but then nobody said confusing situations are easy to handle, since such instances are expected largely to impede the speed of thought and thereby action. The one thing that needs to be understood the most is that confusing situations can only be resolved if the resolver is free from confusion. Therefore, the best action during turbulent times is to understand the importance of presence of mind and remain calm despite whatever the situation might throw up. Panic and disturbance add to the confusion that is already prevailing and in no manner do they help solve a situation.
Depending upon the reception of the mind, any and every situation can be confusing thereafter leading to faltering actions due to which arise a multitude of mistakes often referred to as Faux Pas or a blunder of sorts. A blunder does not usually happen all of a sudden, but is a result of a series of faltered actions. Time too plays a huge role in the manner of which a situation presents itself in reality leading to a full blown state of confusion. And then of course, there are the variable elements such as people, places, actions, connections and action-related inputs and outputs.
However, the simplest reason for a menacingly confusing situation is the result of an action having been done with the wrong intention, by the wrong person, at the wrong time, with a wrong frame of mind leading to wrong results.
While dealing with confusing situations can be a daunting task, the outcome and the manner in which the situation is dealt with is a huge indicator of the trait a person has.
After the incident even the fool is wise. But, the trick lies in neutralizing a sticky situation before it manifests beyond control, and for such an outcome to be expected, the handler of the situation needs to be absolutely calm and wary of pace depending upon what the outcome itself should be.
More often than not, all of us display a sense of urgency combined with uncalled for panic during testing times. This is largely due the fact that our conditioning guides us to display so.
While it is easy to blame a person for having displayed an action that was totally unnecessary during a confusing situation, it would not be wise to do so, for every single one of us reacts differently given handling problems at hand.
While disaster strikes, it is always wise to sit back and give it a few moments before pondering over a course of action at lightning speed. No action is always better than a hasty and even more confusing action that could in one way or the other compound the level of problems.
Every wise decision which assumes the form of action is a direct result of good thought, and good thought can only be manufactured at a time when the mind is free from pressure and devoid of the burden of urgency. Some of the best decisions are those that are taken and implemented with poise. Sometimes an action may be a direct solution to a problem, but one also needs to consider and understand the fact that despite having thought about and ready to implement what is a good action, that action could in the long term have certain repercussions related to people or problems. Therefore, such actions would be wrong to implement despite their immediate ability to calm nerves and liquidate a situation.

The purview of the human mind is in many ways limited despite its ability to focus and work upon a multitude of aspects all at the same time. Intelligent decisions are those that consider facts and how they can address problems at hand and still maintain an amicable and conducive environment with the passage of time. Every short term solution can and will at some point of time throw a number of surprises in the long term not because such solutions were worked upon with an ulterior objective but because they have been implemented in a poor and unrealistic dimension.

Most of us are often in no position to judge relevance until long after the fact. This should not be taken as a problem or a limitation for most of us cannot and will not be able to fathom a situation until it has long passed. What we can at best do in such circumstances is to learn. Experience can be a great teacher and can rescue many (most) of us from making the same mistake twice. And more often, situations despite their complexities have some kind of similar bearings one way or the other. The cue is in relating to experiences and how one had solved similar situations in the past. A certain degree of logic, prudence, patience and sincere effort should see any human being through a stumbling block.

For me, like anyone else, a confusing situation is a major source of pain, however I try to limit the pain to a certain time and by a certain extent after which life jumps back to normalcy.
I have in no means been a champion in handling situations and perfecting their outcomes, however, I do certainly have handled quite a number of such experiences which have taught me a good number of valuable lessons.
Personalities are formed with experiences which are a result of tough situations. What we are and what we become depend on the kind of experiences each of us are subjected to,
experiences both good and bad. Every single experience conditions our personality in a positive manner depending upon the manner in which we perceive it and express our receptiveness.

Although oft repeated, we do not always realize that life is not a bed of roses and that we all go through some tough situations from time to time. What we really need to do is understand the gravity of such situations, learn from our actions or those of others rather than actually subject ourselves to cold mistrust of life. Life probably is a manner in which time rules our lives and time is a measure that cannot actually be quantified. Time can be a witness to a good number of progressive stages and at the same time can also ensue the happening of a number of unwarranted situations that we do not desire to experience. But experience them, we must for we have in most cases not choice. What we can perhaps do is to allow time to aid us to become better people. Something like making the best of a bad bargain.

I have to close this post with the following lines which came via an email sometime today.
"Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved."

Enough said!

547 days later.......................

It's 21st August 2006, a year and a half have passed since I joined GE.

A huge milestone packed with various experiences all of which have in some form or the other greatly contributed to reform my person!

Over the last year and a half, I have set my foot on many different places, many of which I had longed to go for years now. I've seen how it is to work for a conglomerate multinational in its most grassroots levels. I've been on the table and under the knife thrice.
I've matured with each passing day, striving constantly to become something better than the usual!

F-316 JVT which was my abode for more than about a year now stands 'former' home and in my quest for merging with nature and becoming one with the self, I now stay at a place called Mayfield Gardens which many regard as the back of beyond. The welcome sight of peacocks straying in a brushed yard not too far from where I stay continues to thrill me as ever.

Kappu has moved to Pune assuming the role of a Manager with a very prominent BPO and Bodhi has left for Calcutta for an indefinite period of time.
Vishal Samuel has become part of the LSA team replacing Alka Shukla who has moved within Healthcare.
Rohit Goel a.k.a Randy Gold who is my former boss will soon become my next boss replacing Amrita a.k.a Amy.
Folks back home continue to do better and Deepu looks forward to re-starting his career.
Adi & VJ continue to do well and keep talking to me off and on much to my re-assurance explaining to me all the time that life will dish out some of the best opportunities provided one has the patience to wait for them!
Brij continues to be a source of some of the most amazing collections of music and films that I've ever heard or watched!
Catching up with friends have been the piece de resistance; Rahul Maroli & Rohit D'Cruz both of whom went to college with me at St.Aloysius, Mangalore (1996 - 1999) landed up at my doorstep 7 long years after I last met them!
The feeling was overwhelmingly good.
Most of all, one of the best things that happened in the very recent past was a chance telephonic conversation with my best buddy Alex ARJUN Abraham, also a friend from college!
I had for a number of stupid reasons chosen not to stay in touch with this superbly mature intellectual and avoided all his genuine efforts to connect when finally I simply lost him and could not trace him excepting a few small ocassional inputs of his whereabouts and doingwhats which in itself were very sketchy, when finally on August 20th, I got his contact number from another college buddy Jacob Vishal Abraham!
The world is a very small place, despite it's long and vast expanses that may seem excruciatingly huge and far.
It was a feeling like never before to call on someone whom I had not spoken to in 7 years, let alone meeting up. Much as usual and to my expectation, it hardly took a few seconds for Alex to recognize me and our 36 odd minute chat was very similar to how we would talk when in college.
It seems that the more things change, the more they remain the same.

Ani (Ramakrishnan) & Vinu have gotten married. Many more seem to be waiting to get themselves into the knotting game.

My own self seems largely 'sobered' due to extensive amounts of self-introspection and (uncalled for) analysis at all times. I spend most of my days at work and during the weekends remain glued to books, televison and music which interest me more than many things that I used to do. I do not mean to convey that I have come of age, but merely wish to illustrate a phase in life which many of us experience at one point of time or the other.
Change is a very important part of life and only change remains the one thing that is permanent. Whatever so one may be, or aspires to become, change is the one aspect that will continue to be an inevitably permanent part of life.
Change is good provided it yields positive vibes and outlook. Change is important so that life stays in sync with with the passage of time. And time is nature's way of not letting everything happen all at once.

A large part of the year is over and while most of the country and the world are preparing to welcome the winters, Delhi continues to reel under the extreme heat combined with disgusting humidity and hot winds.

In short, a huge number of things have changed.
But, I am still expectant of a lot of good things to happen. Life has for sometime been very numb, devoid of activity and goodies! I sometimes wonder as to how many more long years do I need to wait for some basic things in life to happen. I'm tired of constant efforts being matched with no results. My levels of motivation have slurred down phenomenally and I now seem to lack the vision to go forward.
For the first time in years, I now feel, I do not possess the zeal to fight my way forward.
I'm extremely disturbed at the fact of being a nobody.
Obscurity and nothingness which have been the pillars of my 'thoughtcentral' suddenly seem to be relating to my everyday life in a very imposing manner.
It's much like being in a dark wet alley without knowing where to head.
Life has become dark and dingy and I painfully fake a smile trying to appear calm and unperturbed.
Everyday living has been rendered a very painful and depressing chore.
My inner self is contantly in pain and I see no immediate solution.
I know not what to believe or trust for every path that I walk through is one form of deception or the other.
27 years have been a while too long and dreary now.
Some of my friends & folks reassure me (with great effort) that changes are imperative and that some of the best things are yet to happen.
But then, have I not been hearing them for years now?

My questions to the man above.................

Where are you now? Where have you been? Are you there at all?

Reality Unknown - is the reality that we know real?

"When some are lost, can't find their way,
a number of them stray, to where you have come today."

The universe and its contents - both known and unknown have long fascinated the human mind and have been a subject of constant exploration and research at a scale never imagined or sometime publically acknowledged.
Knowledge and ignorance thereafter have always maintained a long and unbridged gap, something that will never be balanced for want of critical imbalance in an attempt to gain a defining edge over the other entity.
The question of whether we are alone in the universe has remained unanswered for a very long time now. Although mountains of evidence establishing 'the unidentifiable third kind' has surfaced from time to time, government acknowledgements confirming the same have never been made and authorities across the globe have commonly and collectively denied such reports and often rubbished as wishful thinking.
Amidst the wildly staunch opposition between either camps, a certain supposedly true (read possibly true) concept has gained emergence and strong belief with the passage of time.
Strange as ever as it may sound, this concept came to be known as The Theory of Alternate Reality. Synonymously known as The other dimension, Alternate Realm, Parallel Universe and so on, the concept theorized (with good supposition) the existence of (many) alternate worlds.
All these supposeldy exist in a condition and environment with no relationship whatsoever to the world that we have come to know and be a part of.

Are we really alone?

Illustrated by myth and historical legends of being a hiding place for the dark forces, the concept of alternate reality is not one of recent times. It seems, atleast, such a belief existed since the wake of intelligent civilization itself, intelligent because our relatively small intelligence could only fathom an unknown realm and remain extremely limited to understanding its nomenclature perhaps forcefully influenced by an unknown external mechanism.
Therefore, could the possibility of being 'one of the many' be as old or perchance older than our own existence. Much much much older?

The concept of alternate reality has spawned many an interesting additional theory, one of the most popular of them being Time Travel.
Originally written and conceptualized by yesteryear Sci-Fi author H. G. Wells in the book "The Time Machine", humanity was introduced to the four-dimension model of classical physics and interpretation of time as a spatial dimension in which human beings could travel given the right equipment.
And then we heard of something called Hyperspace. The concept of hyperspace illustrates the existence of a parallel universe that could be a medium of travel faster than light. Hyperspace is known to contain entry and exit points that could transport matter from one dimension to the other. Quite interestingly, it is believed that the time taken to travel from one point to the other within hyperspace is shorter than it would be in normal (known) circumstances.
Hyperspace, it seems, can exist within the Earth too. Higher spatial dimensions on water and in the air are believed to facilitate ships and aircrafts to travel faster and easier while also covering vast distances within a short period of time!

However, the most common usage and illustration of the concept of alternate reality happens in science fiction. Countless numbers of movies, documentaries, books and of late, games have been made with Alternate Reality as the central theme.

As scientists and authors began to explore the underworld, another popular concept emerged.
The concept of Multiverse. A multiverse or meta-universe is the hypothetical set of multiple possible universes including our own that in a group form part of all physical reality.
Multiverses have found substantial illustration in physics, fiction and philosophy.
The term 'multiverse' was coined and popularized by the science fiction author Michael Moorcock.

In the year 2003, the Scientific American Article - Parallel Universes, May issue presented an observation that stunned me as I read it:

Level 1: (Open Multiverse), A generic prediction of cosmic inflation is an infinite ergodic universe, which, being infinite must contain Hubble volumes realizing all initial cconditions - including and indentical copy of You about 10^10^29 meters away!

The question of whether we are alone in the universe stands outdated which brings us to possibly one the strangest suppositions ever;

Is the reality that we know and dwell in, real? Or is it another realm that connects with a realm of alternate reality?

The Indian Tricolour - Fluttering higher than ever

It will be necessary for us Indians, Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Jews, Parsis & all others to whom India is their home to recognise a common flag to live and die for.

Mahatma Gandhi

The flag was first flown and recognized as the Indian National Flag in Hamburg in 1942.
On 15 August 1947 the dominions of India and Pakistan were established. India adopted the familiar horizontal tricolor of orange, white, and green with a blue Ashoka Chakra at the center. The tricolor had been used, unofficially, since the early 1920s as the flag of the Indian National Congress, with the colors representing Hinduism (orange), Islam (green), and a hoped-for unity and peace (white).
More unofficially, the flag was patterned on the other example of struggle against British imperialism.
Most often, a blue spinning wheel was shown in the center, derived from Gandhi's call for economic self-sufficiency through hand-spinning.

The spoked Ashoka Chakra (the "wheel of the law" of the 3rd-century BC Mauryan Emperor Ashoka) replaced the Gandhian spinning wheel to add historical "depth" and separate the national flag from the INC party flag.

Meaning of the Flag

The Indian flag is a horizontal tricolor in equal proportion of deep saffron on the top, white in the middle and dark green at the bottom. The ratio of the width to the length of the flag is two is to three. In the centre of the white band, there is a wheel in navy blue to indicate the Dharma Chakra, the wheel of law in the Sarnath Lion Capital. This center symbol or the 'CHAKRA' is a symbol dating back to 2nd century BC. Its diameter approximates the width of the white band and it has 24 spokes, which intends to show that there is life in movement and death in stagnation. The saffron stands for courage and sacrifice; the white, for purity and truth; the green for growth and auspiciousness.

The Constituent Assembly which drew up the Constitution of India, adopted, on 22 July 1947, the tricolor as Independent India's National Flag. After a debate, the Dharma Chakra (of Emperor Ashoka) was included in the central white stripe of the flag, instead of the Charka (used symbolically by Gandhiji and also included in the flag used by the Indian National Congress). The same Chakra adorns the State Emblem adapted from the Sarnath Lion Capital of Ashoka in addition to the motto from the Mundaka Upanishad, Satyameva Jayate which means: Truth alone triumphs. The Chakra or the wheel symbolizes the Power of the State governed by Dharma, which is the primordial Indian system of justice which is the bed-rock, not only of governance but of the socio-politico-economic edifice itself.

The following is an extract from the preamble to the flag code of India as posted on the official Home Ministry website of the Indian government.
The significance of the colours and the chakra in the National Flag was amply described by Dr. S. Radhakrishnan in the Constituent Assembly whichunanimously adopted the National Flag. Dr. S. Radhakrishnan explained -"Bhagwa or the saffron colour denotes renunciation of disinterestedness. Our leaders must be indifferent to material gains and dedicate themselves to their work. The white in the centre is light, the path of truth to guide our conduct. The green shows our relation to soil, our relation to the plant life here on which all other life depends. The Ashoka Wheel in the centre of the white is the wheel of the law of dharma. Truth or satya, dharma or virtue ought to be the controlling principles of those who work under this flag. Again, the wheel denotes motion. There is death in stagnation. There is life in movement. India should no more resist change, it must move and go forward. The wheel represents the dynamism of a peaceful change."

Reproduced below is an extract from Jawaharlal Nehru's address to the Constituent Assembly for the date on which the national flag was adopted (Tuesday, 22 July 1947)
"I present this Flag to you. This Resolution defines the Flag which I trust you will adopt. In a sense this Flag was adopted, not by a formal resolution, but by popular acclaim and usage, adopted much more by the sacrifice that surrounded it in the past few decades. We are in a sense only ratifying that popular adoption. It is a Flag which has been variously described. Some people, having misunderstood its significance, have thought of it in communal terms and believe that some part of it represents this community or that. But I may say that when this Flag was devised there was no communal significance attached to it."

At the same meeting of the Constituent Assembly, Govind Das added:
"There is no touch of communalism in the three colours of the flag. Panditji (i.e., Jawaharlal Nehru) has already told you this in the course of his speech. It is true that at a time when the colours were red, white and green there was a trace of communalism in the flag. But when we changed these colours to saffron, white and green, we declared it in clear words that the three colours had no communal significance."

One of the spurious meanings of the Indian flag states the color of saffron/kesaria stands for patriotism (balidaan), white is for simplicity and peace, green is for agriculture (kheti) farming (kisan) and greenery (hariyali), the navy blue wheel in the center is the "Ashoka chakra", the wheel of progress.

The Flag Code

On 26th January 2002, the flag code was changed. After 52 years, the citizens of India are free to fly the Indian flag over their homes, offices and factories on any day. Except some basic rules to follow while flying the flags, all other restrictions have been removed. Now Indians can proudly display the national flag any where and any time.

There are some rules and regulations upon how to fly the flag, based on the 26 January 2002 legislation. These include the following:

The Do's;

The National Flag may be hoisted in educational institutions (schools, colleges, sports camps, scout camps, etc.) to inspire respect for the Flag. An oath of allegiance has been included in the flag hoisting in schools.

A member of public, a private organization or an educational institution may hoist/display the National Flag on all days and occasions, ceremonial or otherwise consistent with the dignity and honour of the National Flag.

Section 2 of the new code accepts the right of all private citizens to fly the flag on their premises.

The Dont's;

The flag cannot be used for communal gains, drapery, or clothes. As far as possible, it should be flown from sunrise to sunset, irrespective of the weather.

The flag cannot be intentionally allowed to touch the ground or the floor or trail in water. It cannot be draped over the hood, top, and sides or back of vehicles, trains, boats or aircraft.

No other flag or bunting can be placed higher than the flag. Also, no object, including flowers or garlands or emblems can be placed on or above the flag. The tricolour cannot be used as a festoon, rosette or bunting.

Disclaimer:
Material presented in this post has been adapted from the following source;
http://www.hampshireflag.co.uk/world-flags/allflags/in.html

India - Evolution Unlimited

08:49pm on Monday, 14th August 2006.

The eve of India's 60 years of Independence.

New Delhi along with many other cities in the world is cautiously treading by each passing day.
The heart of the Indian republic is bustling with festive fervor, patriotic spirit and a very strong call for increased national integration.
However, there is tension in the air and with every passing moment anxiety grips tight on every section of the society. The grim possibility of a terrorist attack looms large and the contradiction of celebrations with potential disaster marring it remains a very real danger!
Only days before, European Intelligence agencies uncovered a very well concerted terrorist plot that involved Heathrow, the International Airport in London. And this time, authorities decided to take this threat very very seriously which is very very good.
Elsewhere, the news of a UN sponsored ceasefire in Lebanon brought a trickle of good news.

India has for years now dealt with the threat of International (Cross-Border) Terrorism without much global support. Since independence, we have been grappled by a much smaller yet deadly
enemy that has made a mission out of its existence to fight us thick and thin. We have been bled time and again in a manner the world is yet to imagine. Thousands of Indian civilians and Armed personnel have lost their lives defending our ever growing, ever changing soft-porous borders.
The menace it seems is growing at a pace which is now unimaginable and soon would become uncontrollable. Radical foreign states moved and deeply inspired by fundamental religious ideologue continue to operate 'terror factories' within and outside or nation.
The world's largest democracy is under threat and it appears that we are now moving into a phase that has not been comprehended.

What is more concerning is that this malignancy is soon spreading across the globe at a very fast pace and despite international organzations and bodies such as the United Nations having imposed stringent mechanisms to check terrorism, nothing substantial has been achieved.

Days before the Independence Day, the American Embassy in New Delhi issued a stern warning to the Indian Foreign Department quoting their 'unnamed' sources that they had credible information of a large scale terrorist plot that would shake the National Capital along with some prominent soft spots. It is common knowledge that our neighbour constantly endeavours hard to strike us during instances of national celebration, the notion of the American Embassy having uncovered a subtantial piece of vital information is highly questionable. We have not yet forgotten 9/11 yet, have we? Of course, there are folks (high-up) who believe that 9/11 was engineered by the US government itself. Having watch the movie Fahrenheit 9/11, I must say that I am quite re-affirmed to believe that theory.

Anyhow, it is not the victim who needs to be focussed upon during this moment of anticipation.
(Anticipation does not necessarily mean that we expect the worst to happen. In intelligence and operational terminology, it simple means a state of well-preparedness)

Here are a few measures that can be implemented so as to combat the menace of terror;

Immediate halt of all state-sponsored terrorist activities,
Building of a better, stronger and more relevant international organization that is free from bias and lop-sidedness,
Consensus on the fact that terrorism is to be fought head on despite whatever its objective and justification; and most importantly
HOT PURSUIT

For those folks who do not undertand the implication of the term Hot Pursuit, it simply means the right of a soverign nation to attack an entity should there be credibly established evidence of state sponsored subvertive action. It is common knowledge that PoK and Pakistan itself are home to more than two dozen training camps that systematically train and

Its half past nine, websites, news channels and many other electronic media constantly dish out instances of alerts, blockades, security measures and advisories aimed to make the common man's life normal and easy as any other day. Except here and now, there is nothing normal!

Sometime tomorrow morning when the Prime Minister drives to the ramparts of the Red Fort to hoist the Tricolour and deliver his message to the nation, a huge well programmed system invisible to the ordinary eye would be constantly monitoring the ground, waters and the skies with a heightened sense of security with the primary objective of staving off any untoward incident that might have been conceived by the evil force that resides across the border and has succeeding in implanting many of its own within our folds.
The local police along with other intelligence agencies and the armed forces will be working overtime to protect the nation on it's birthday. The spirit of democracy will be strengthened with a renewed sense of patriotism and belonging.

And as the glorious Tricolor is raised into the air by one man surrounded by his absolutely essential National Security Guard detail, more than a billion hearts, barring caste, creed, economic status, languages and time-zones, will sense a feeling of unique pride and privilege in witnessing a nation reborn with reaffirmed courage and refreshed passion mixed with a revived sense of commitment to excellence, respect, well-being, progress and prosperity.

We have resolved to defend this nation from any threat that may lurk in any corner of this world, irrespective of however remote it may be. We stand united to fight any war that may threaten us. We have yet professed virtues of compassion and regard for fellow human beings and upheld the magnificient attribute of Democracy.
We will not shake for our foundations are built on the platforms of love, understanding and peace. However, given the situation we shall not hesitate to retaliate in the most brutal form should an attempt be made to disrupt our peace.

Jai Hind

Celestial Wonders

Heres li'l list of tid-bits to tinkle the mind.........

Antares is the 15th brightest star in the sky. It is more than a 1000 light years away.
And what is a light year ? The distance travelled by light in one year.
Which is 9.4607 × 10 12 km or 63,240 AU or 0.3066 parsecs.
The distance that a particle of light (photon) will travel in a year - about 10 trillion kilometers
(6 trillion miles).
The nearest star to our sun is four light years away, and our galaxy is about 100,000 light years across.
Despite its odd name, a light year is a measure of distance, not time.
It actually designates the distance that light can travel in one year, which equals 9,460,000,000,000 km.
A ray of light travels 186,000 miles per second!
And here is the most interesting fact;
Time taken by Sunlight to reach the Earth = 8 minutes

Finding Neverland

The never-ending quest for bettering the best and still feeling incomplete is actually a sense of ambition deeply imbibed in the metaphyche of the human mind (not to be confused as an attribute of the soul). Such a quest in my life is what I've termed as Finding Neverland.
The reason I call it so is not because of the possible fact that there could be / is a place of such a kind, but because there actually is none at all.
Neverland, as much as the name suggests, is probably one that does not exist in reality (I have not however ruled out the possibility of the Other Dimensions). However much so, Neverland can be reached. It probably is a state of mind for some while being a phase of life for some others. But for me, it simply does not exist.

Why? My alter-ego, which is as much as a person that I am (in many different opposite ways though) does not actually permit me to reach neverland although I'm sure if there was a place so, it would perhaps be as good as heaven itself. Such is life that while the heart actually advises you to address the basics of life and keep them strong, the mind urges and later commands you to embark upon a journey which is long, ardous, meaningless, robbed of time and a great deal of unwanted effort! But then, sustainence is a key aspect to all our lives and one needs to always build a strong footing on which life can be well-balanced rather than make it hang in there in a very precarious and awkward manner. Therefore, addressing the calls of the mind and the body are extremely important and must be conducted in a very well orchestrated manner to avoid the risk of running amuck.

So there comes the element of perfection (something that I have been talking about from time to time), the single most notable anomaly in the matrix of human programming. Perfection is in itself reserved as a prerogative of the Gods, an act / state which cannot be gained by the Human Kind at all since the code was never incepted into the programming in the first place let alone the prospect of combining artificial intelligence into robotics. I however am not denying that AI and Robotics will not take the world onto a different level. Remember Kawasaki in 1985 ? The Tech World was slammered with tonnes and tonnes of everything but affirmative conviction! I recall arguing widly with my cousin Vikas who stepped up his salvo committing that the Human genome and its superbly written code could never be implanted into anything other than Human. But how sure of this can we ever be? Could we not develop a mechanism that could eventually circumvent the power of creation and rectify the long hated presence of the anomaly in the code? Think I'm talking straight out of a CIA Delta document? Think again.
It is fairly easy to fathom a world apart from that that we know and live in. Going by the very simple logic that we might not (always) be the only ones inhabiting the universe, this probability
seems more of reality than Science Fiction from the pages penned by Issac Assimov.
Then would surface a question as to why we have not discovered life forms outside of our realm of living. Two answers to that. Do we ever know how far and wide-stretched the universe is?
Or better still, do you and I have any access to that which is already known to a handful?
Whatever the question, the answer is an emphatic No.

Thereafer, the concept of Neverland may and most possibly will exist in another dimension unknown to the simpleness of the human mind despite its superbly unimaginable and unknown proportions. And no matter how much folks such as me would in one form or the other refuse to believe the concept of Neverland, we know and acknowledge somewhere deep down in our fickle minds the very existence of something that we choose to deny so verciforesly!
Stupidity, escapism, lack of a sense of equilibrium to understand that the element of human does not actually form anything that is supposedly the most important constituent of the universe or perhaps ambition clogging the minds signal of reality leading it to believe that Finding Neverland would in all possible ways lead to a sense of complacency that would put the mental evolution to a complete standstill thereby throwing us into the darkest ages of life ever.
Imagine, every single Human being on Earth were to find neverland, we would live perhaps in a state of perpetual bliss and off guard at all times converging to perhaps Humankind's greatest defining moments ever, something that could lead to our extinction en masse!

Are you going to ever pause for once and think why?

Subjectively and progressively the most vicious of intended 'cyclops' in the entire code, why must I not believe that we are being created and destroyed and created and destroyed over and over again ? For you to better understand what I am proposing to illustrate, let me take you through an eposide of evolutronics that I once chanced upon while watching the Discovery Channel.
25000 years later...................................The Earth is a barren planet with no evidence of life on the crust. The Scorching Sun has ensured that all living creations come to a grinding halt on the surface. With temperatures running upto 200 degrees centigrade on the higher side, and an excruciating lower side of -400 degrees, any and all living molecules would cease to exist.
But evolution seems to have found a way to guard its purpose despite the most hostile of conditions. Deep below the surface an army mills through semi wet colonies burrowing deeper inside. These life forms are superble adapted to living below the surface and would not ever require to venture into the open at any time whatsoever.
Sinister that it may seem, these twelve legged creatures have remarkably perfected levels of intelligence. They seem to be spending a large part of their 180 hour long day growing colonies - colonies of the last living mammals in order to help them retain their primary staple diet!

Can you then imagine the fate of human beings? Finding Neverland seems to have been a long past dream that may have once come true but no longer holds relevant

Threatended by shadows in the nights, and exposed in the light!

Epilogue

Finding Neverland is a an amazingly well cast tale of magic & fantasy inspired by the life of James Barrie, the real-life author of the well acclaimed children's classic - Peter Pan.
Set in London in 1904, the film is a fictional account of Barrie's creative journey to bring Peter Pan to life. The starcast includes Johnny Depp, Kate Winslet, Dustin Hoffman & Julie Christie.
I have in no way attempted to discredit this wonderful work of art, however, I have via this post attempted to convey a distinctive message of relativity combined with imagined variations of life and some consequences that may result thereof.
This post is a figment of my imagination and thanks to Discovery Channel for their wonderful portrayal of The Future of this planet!

Legends of the fall

This blog is a result of the inspiration (& motivation) I obtained after meeting a seemingly long lost friend. Let me introduce Dr.Tarun to you.

I first saw the movie the Legends of the Fall sometime in the year 1999 some five years after it had made it to the silver screen with an amazing star cast of Anthony Hopkins (my personal favourite), along with Julia Ormond, Brad Pitt, Aidan Quinn, Henry Thomas and Karina Lombard. This (perhaps first of a kind) screenplay epic was centered upon a Father and his family set in midtime America.

The Opening statements bowled me off my feet and mind all alike. And for all those years that have passed by with or without incident, I have from time to time sought comfort and peace from a set of words perhaps best said at the most correct moment;

Some people hear their own inner voices with great cleanness.
And they live by what they hear.
Such people become crazy, or they become legends ...

And then began a neverending quest to explore the inner self while almost parallely attempting to lead a life of a legend or a crazy soul. Almost all of us have inside a huge and largely unknown proportion of legendary craze, which is what makes each of us what we truly are. The thinking mind has always been a great source of distress and anxiety for it wraps itself on every superlative of physical and metaphysical life itself making the container of that mind wandering vividly in a eonic quest for unanswered questions and unspoken answers. A human being evolves with time and evolution is in everyone of us. What we have been before are not always what we are in the present let alone the future. And this aspect of change needs to at all times be welcomed with open arms and an open mind unless detrimental ofcourse.

So, when Tarun called me a person with repressed anger to huge proportions, I suddenly found myself thinking a lot about the past. Surprisingly, after such candid words, I still felt so much at ease talking and urging to talk more for the sense of joy in gauging a person as to how much has been perceived about me is I guess easily an instance of light year rarity and penultimate bliss.
What made me feel so easy opening up to someone I had never known? The same feeling one has when the other person seems to know the deep ends of your own personality and still remain composed and comfortable despite your misgivings whatever that might be. I had forever battled with my inner self knowing a great deal that it remains very different from the real me (or rather the seeming me being starkly different from the inner self that constitutes the person that I am). A raging battle that has continued for ages with the sole purpose of establishing my person as the way it is, which at all known times has been one of supreme difficulty and unimaginable grief despite the forever 'expected' cheerful disposition.

September (date lost in time)

Dear Mother,
l think l may have found my place in this world.
Helena is a city tumed modern ovemight.
lt's bursting with the energy and vitality of our times.
l feel alive here.

Which is what Alfred writes when he intends to marry Samuel's girl

The quest for an answer is as old as civilization itself. Life, we all believe is for a purpose, one that is dutifully and unfailingly expected to me assumed, understood, respected and realized within a certain span of time which is usually decided by the Creator himself.

The breathtaking setting in which the movie was shot along with its heavy and deep characters combined with James Horner's stunning music makes this movie a must watch at all times, happiness and sorrow alike. Then when Tarun almost suddenly blurted out along with me (in unison) that normalcy is relative, I tried hard to breath a quick sigh of relief without actually displaying any sign of emotion whatsoever. True indeed, ALL OF US, are normal in our own sense of normalcy which is hugely relative depending upon a number of external factors such as time, people, circumstances, state of mind, sense of self, ability to perceive and understand and what not. We have in us very different characteristics that define what we are and what we are not. However, these elements are subject to a number of changes at unknown points of time.
The key lies in knowing what it is that one wants, needs and loves.

l remember when he was a boy.
l thought Tristan would never live to be an old man.
l was wrong about that. l was wrong about many things.
lt was those who loved him most who died young.
He was a rock they broke themselves against, however much he tried to protect them.
But he had his honour and a long life, and he saw his children grow and raise their own families.
Tristan died in the moon of the popping trees.
He was last seen in the north country, hunting.
His grave is unmarked, but it does not matter.
He had always lived in the borderland, anyway.
Somewhere between this world and the other.
lt was a good death

Most of us, most certainly pass through what sometimes seems to be an improbable rather uncharacteristic phase, but do understand that there has not been and neither will there ever be a defined standard on how one needs to lead a life. All that is known to us that life begins and ends, the precedent and the antecedent will never be known as has the origin of life itself. What one can at best do is to live life at the best levels of consciousness of the inner and the outer selves alike and apart keeping in mind the necessity of the moment.

Tarun gave me an insight into life like never before, like none else and I thank God for that.

I still believe that some of the best things are yet to happen. This is with a deep sense of reverance for the fact that the worst is also to come and pass.

Life is now, I'm not going to have to wait for things to come. I'd rather go where I need to for what I am built for.

Human engineering someone remarked, is certainly hard-wired programming.
I beg to differ (not meaning to sound cliched), for I believe it is a lot more, a great deal more!

Mother - A tribute to you!

When you came into the world, she held you in her arms.
You thanked her by wailing like a banshee.
When you were 1 year old, she fed you and bathed you.
You thanked her by crying all night long.
When you were 2 years old, she taught you to walk.
You thanked her by running away when she called.
When you were 3 years old, she made all your meals with love.
You thanked her by tossing your plate on the floor.
When you were 4 years old, she gave you some crayons.
You thanked her by coloring the dining room table.
When you were 5 years old, she dressed you for the holidays.
You thanked her by plopping into the nearest pile of mud
When you were 6 years old, she walked you to school.
You thanked her by screaming, "I'M NOT GOING!"
When you were 7 years old, she bought you a baseball.
You thanked her by throwing it through the next-door-neighbor's window.
When you were 8 years old, she handed you an ice cream.
You thanked her by dripping it all over your lap.
When you were 9 years old, she paid for piano lessons.
You thanked her by never even bothering to practice.
When you were 10 years old, she drove you all day, from soccer to gymnastics to one birthday party after another.
You thanked her by jumping out of the car and never looking back.
When you were 11 years old, she took you and your friends to the movies.
You thanked her by asking to sit in a different row.
When you were 12 years old, she warned you not to watch certain TV shows.
You thanked her by waiting until she left the house.
It became worse in Those Teenage Years:
When you were 13, she suggested a haircut that was becoming.
You thanked her by telling her she had no taste.
When you were 14, she paid for a month away at summer camp.
You thanked her by forgetting to write a single letter.
When you were 15, she came home from work, looking for a hug.
You thanked her by having your bedroom door locked.
When you were 16, she taught you how to drive her car.
You thanked her by taking it every chance you could.
When you were 17, she was expecting an important call.
You thanked her by being on the phone all night.
When you were 18, she cried at your high school graduation.
You thanked her by staying out partying until dawn. Growing Old and Grey:
When you were 19, she paid for your college tuition, drove you to campus, and carried your bags.
You thanked her by saying good-bye outside the dorm so you wouldn't be embarrassed in front of your friends.
When you were 20, she asked whether you were seeing anyone.
You thanked her by saying, "It's none of your business."
When you were 21, she suggested certain careers for your future.
You thanked her by saying, "I don't want to be like you."
When you were 22, she hugged you at your college graduation. You thanked her by asking whether she could pay for a trip to Europe.
When you were 23, she gave you furniture for your first apartment.
You thanked her by telling your friends it was ugly.
When you were 24, she met your fiancé and asked about your plans for the future.
You thanked her by glaring and growling, "Muuhh-ther, please!"
When you were 25, she helped to pay for your wedding, and she cried and told you how deeply she loved you.
You thanked her by moving halfway across the country.
When you were 30, she called with some advice on the baby.
You thanked her by telling her, "Things are different now."
When you were 40, she called to remind you of a relative’s birthday.
You thanked her by saying you were "really busy right now."
When you were 50, she fell ill and needed you to take care of her.
You thanked her by reading about the burden parents become to their children.
And then, one day, she quietly died.
And everything you never did came crashing down like thunder.

Courtesy: An unnamed source who will forever inspire me!
Originally posted on http://almostsunday.rediffblogs.com/ on Thursday, Aug 26, 2004, 11:27pm

The Anatomy of Courage

What it really is, why we need and when

Courage certainly has very little to do with the way a person looks or appears to be. It truly is a frame of mind and thus something that has to come from within. It is perhaps the one thing that most of us need badly and yet falter to possess at the right moment.It's not about blood and guts or being funky gutsy for the feel or kick of it. On the other hand, It is more to do with the kind of people we are deep within.

It is an extraordinary capability to be courageous at the right moment, for it shapes our personality in a manner that is unique, tough and yet mannered.
Maybe the biggest problem with most of us lies in assuming that we already have in us limitless amounts of this splendid quality.
Worse still, we do not actually know what the very fundamental of that word really means.
cannot really define courage but let me tell you that at a time when the world said that I was wrong and I knew otherwise, I reflected strength and gained more of it with every passing moment. That indeed is courage.
Courage is when you know that you are right deep down despite teething opposition, it is when you trust yourself even when others refuse to lend you a helping hand, it is when you have that something in you which makes you absolutely certain that you can.
It is when you have an air of confidence that is undisputable.

There is an old axiom that reads thus, "The worst things in life are intended to make you better and not bitter." To me it is a way of life.
You don't have to be bold and baring fangs to prove that you have courage. True courage is from within, when you know yourself all the more better.
Time will certainly dish out instances that test our mettle and I'd say that's how I got that cheeky li'l stuff deep down into my system. It's about the way we handle things, see things and reason them. It's about the unflinching faith I have in me that tells me "This too shall pass."
And quickly commit myself to believe that "The worse is yet to come!"
In the end, I emerge the victor, despite no battle being fought ever!
But then life is always a battle, of survival, even if we don't really acknowledge it. And that fuel that passionately drives me forward without risking a loss of faith in my own self is nothing but Courage.
It certainly holds good value to me since that's what makes me the person I am.
A fighter that I am, there is nothing that can stop me from being me or getting to what I want.........thanks to that thing in me what I call courage.
So much for still waters and the calm man.

This is a post (Sep 24,2004 06:42 pm) from my previous blog http://almostsunday.blogspot.com

Looking back, for a reason

It's a great feeling to be reunited with someone or something or anything that has long been considered lost.
I've always loved that moment of accidentally stumbling upon that long lost email / postal address or contact number that for years had been safely tucked away in a ragged diary.
Even more exciting is to receive a response from that supposedly non-exsitent contact.
What is it that wants us to go back in time?
I'm not sure I have an answer, but it certainly is a feeling of truly unparalleled excitement when I find a long lost buddy or chancing upon a long forgotten incident from the pages of a very old logbook.

And as I sit glued to the chair, zipping away 'hi-hello' e-mails on my computer, I can't help but think about those times when life looked free from all the evident and resident evils.
I believe that a person's past shapes his future, his everything indeed and that the more one looks forward, the more it is that one cherishes the time bygone.
It is argued often, and baselessly, that life is nothing more than a journey which, much like everything else has a beginning and a definitive end.
But then, strangely enough, that's not all, for if life was a mere journey, why would we do so much more than just travel?

A journey it is, beyond doubt, but with a great deal of difference, for it is here that we begin to know what we are, what we can be and what we need to be, three seemingly similar approaches, each of which in truth is hugely variable from the other.
Such is the phenomenal degree of change during this journey that all of us almost certainly undergo a transformation paved by way of experience and knowledge.
At this overwhelming juncture of a confluence of a gazillion powerful thoughts, I cannot but help recollect a truly inspiring and perhaps an equally intriguing adage that goes thus;

"There is a time in life when you have all the time to sleep and yet you don't,
and then there comes a time when you'd love so much to spend the time sleeping but unfortunately there seems to be no time................,
and then there comes a time when you have all the time and you want to sleep but alas! you don't feel sleepy."