The Spidabutt

He who is not with me is against me!

-- Matthew 12:30 & Luke 11:23 -- The Holy Bible

The blogosphere has been known to enjoy a sense of calm, a lot of peace among it's inhabitants while being relatively incident free and contributing to the coming together of many wonderful minds individually and collectively responsible for some of the finest creative expressions known to the world! However, that very fabric upon which it has been diligently woven together, with multitudes of cultural interchanges and the warm bonhomie among it's co-creators is being gravely threatened!

Of late, two conflicting ideologues, one of evil and the other of it's opposer, have been fast engulfing this hitherto serene world and escalating in a very dangerous proportion, unprecedented in this sphere! Imminently about to create violent divisions, and factions, each sworn in their belief stronger than the other, this vast vestige of human intervention is surely coming to see the likes of the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Cold War, which one sincerely hopes does not manifest into a full scale war of epic proportions!

The person responsible for this is none other than Vimal Vijayan, popularly known to his friends, fellow-bloggers, family members and associates as Vimmuuu, and the contention is his ill-placed belief of Spiderman being the true superhero of the universe, which, as many of you know, is based on fallacies, lies and fantasies at best! So technically, here is someone who is ardently propagating what is malicious and false, knowing fully well that his claims are refutable and baseless. Worse still, over a series of exchanges, he has had the audacity to deride Superman in ways that would put the worst Indian politicians to shame! :) As a truly peace loving citizen of the  blogosphere, I offered him many chances to redeem himself and come clean, thereby accepting his monumental blunder and make amends by pledging his allegiance to Superman, something which he has sternly refused to do, even as I write this post!

Therefore, knowing fully well that a battle is at hand, I now call upon fellow bloggers to seriously contemplate and opine about the sides they are about to take, or, in the course of time, be forced into! Ask yourselves, if your true purpose lies in upholding the good or partaking with the evil? :) To think of it, there cannot be a web-spinning, creepy jerk of a joke that can be worthy of being recognized as a hero! Would you want to cast your fate at the hands of a spider? Or rather, the legs of it? (Spiders don't have hands, do they?) One that has no lineage of excellence and virtue but simply driven (madly) by impulses created as a result of a chemical reaction, that it has no control over? Would you want your children to be known as impudent beings, won over by the influence of malevolence? Remember what Edmund Burke said about evil that "all that is necessary for it's triumph is that good men do nothing?"

So, when the time comes, who would you find yourself being aligned with? I'm asking this to your respective states of conscious, as true keepers of justice and integrity! Responsible citizens with a clean slate, you don't have to be seen thinking hard on this, for the choice is simple! Is it not easy enough to support the just, and join the cause to exterminate the evil web-spinning horror and grant the world a measure of peace that we all so much owe it, as part of our duty? So then, come up without dither, doubt or fear and be part of Operation Spidabutt - mankind's singularly most concerted effort to rid the universe of iniquity!

Finally, I'd like you to be reminded that "he who is not with me is against me." :)

Twelve

What did you think? Time?

Now, there are somethings I'd so want to do, rather need to do, before I die! Call them wanton pleasures of a wishful man, but since they are on my list they become absolute must do's, speaking for myself that is.

1.Travel the world over and meet fellow bloggers, every single one of them I'm connected with, Moscow to British Columbia, Toruń included!
2. Visit the poles; Nothing beats tranquility and the massive white expanse, does it?
3. Para-drop from 30,000 feet; I want to do the helicopter spin! Sweetheart Samby, where are you?
4. Fly over the Everest; I'm guess I'm too incompetent to climb it, or even think of it!
5. Visit the headquarters of the United Nations and NATO! Even diplomacy needs some working understanding, I suppose, geo-politically speaking that is!
6. Scuba dive in the Mauritian waters; Maybe that's where I can be underwater and still get a tan! Talk about attitude, huh?
7. Donate, donate and donate! I learn't that from my parents! Ted Turner and Warren Buffet are textbook examples, at best!
8. Fly into space; Can you imagine how powerful and overwhelming a feeling it would be to be able to see the Earth when you are not on it?
9. Not get married, but have children; Sorry folks, no explanations here - no clarifications either! Haven't you heard that happily-married is just another oxymoron?
10. Meet Stephen Hawking! What can I possibly say about the father of time?
11. Go on a pilgrimage! Om Namah Shivaya! In case you don't already know, salvation is more than just a quest to embark upon, more potential than stepping out on a search for the Holy Grail, I presume!
12. Die young! Better to be a force to reckon with, than be a spent force!

Footnotes:

The human mind, it is said, is fickle and hence this list automatically becomes far from exhaustive! No sarcasms here, only realistic assumptions, conditions notwithstanding that is! Forgive me for appearing to be convenient.

Life 2.0

Gadgetry has perhaps changed our lives in ways we cannot possibly imagine. I'm not talking about the numerous benefits of being connected and to be able to hear and see each other, despite the distance! I'm reasonably sure user literatures have educated almost all of us enough to the point of being able to smartly distinguish one offering from another!

Whatever happened to the handwritten letter culture and periodical courtesy visits that were routine exercises during childhood? Quite like languages, cultures and people, these pleasurable aspects of life seem to be dying down at a pace that cannot quite be understood! There is a serious sense of individualistic realm that seems to have encroached upon our minds today, taking us far and further apart from one another, making us so aloof that we have begun to forget how we were together!

I'm not about to elucidate the wrongs and rights of such an upcoming trend. I'd rather leave the statisticians and the psychiatrists to publish their well learned facts over time. But, I'm surely concerned, if not always alarmed, about how perilously distant and single we have become, often seeking companionship in snazzy gadgets that allow us to view the world through a seemingly magnified perspective, not knowing that we are being robbed off the human element and most importantly a sense of forbearance, which was once so very abundant!

Little wonder, some enlightened soul once remarked that one telephone is necessity, two is luxury, three is opulence while none is paradise! I couldn't agree more!

Defining a paradox

Life is so full of paradoxes! Efforts do not always lead to desired results. Ends hardly justify the means. Right doesn't always mean being right and wrongs, are like what they say, almost always subjective! Even time and nature hold paradoxes. Things may seem ordained in a certain manner but they are rife with contradictions. Questions relating to life, poverty, results, mannerisms and so on do not have definitive answers and yet linger in us at all times, not very unlike the passage of water in a brook, unfamiliar of where it would end up over the course of time, or merely keep flowing on!

What really are these paradoxes and their purpose, I wonder! Are they stumbling blocks purported to arise and exist in order to contribute to our evolution which happens over a period of time? Do they actually serve as a measure of understanding oneself? Maybe they are randomly occurring variables coming to being as a result of a certain course of action? But having said that, one wonders why there is a compulsion to embark upon a certain path that leads to an action that results in a paradox!

I'm not sure if I'd be able to chart a path forward! I'm often riddled with possibilities and yet really unsure of how to walk! There is a reassuring voice inside, but I'm not too sure if it is bias that is being vocal in an effort to nudge me forward! Unbeknown to me, there probably is a story unfolding in time, or so I'd like to believe, one that will bring about some sense of clarity!

Not a day passes without the thought of what it is that I'm really waiting for! And the more I think, there are only questions, hideous and painful ones, all too far from the answers!

Hello, Mr. Hawking

Just the other day I was intently watching a feature of Stephen Hawking on TV and couldn't help admiring the man for his profoundness in passion and the ability to dream outside permissible limits, such as for instance, time travel! He has always fascinated me, and that began several years ago, when I first read his very articulate account of the universe, space and time, titled 'A brief history of time,' which, most certainly, is a very authoritative text on the four dimensions that we surround our existence in!

It amazes me beyond imagination how someone so severely disabled, (by motor neurone disease also known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or ALS), continues to delve into the nuances of space and time with a sense of ease and passion like that employed by a child during it's course of play.

What is certainly commendable about him is his ability to transcend boundaries despite his massive incapacity! Sometime in early 2007, he became the first paralytic to undertake a zero gravity flight as a precursor to his sub-orbital flight in space, which I'm not sure has happened yet.

Perhaps, the two things I absolutely like about him are, among others, one, his belief that alien life does exist in other parts of the universe, and two, his answer to the question of 'What came before the Big Bang?' which he asserted was meaningless, when he compared it to asking 'What lies north of the North Pole?'

Simply complex?

What do you like yourself to be seen as? Complicated, unknown, mysterious and unpredictable? Hold on, you aren't alone and that supposedly individualistic feeling of being unique in thinking or saying so is not so uncommon after all! Have you realized that it is a fad now, for people to say that they are complicated and not too easy to understand? I'm wondering if all of that jabber is as a result of serious insecurities from within, after all!

With relationships and their durations going bonkers with each passing day, it seems to be more of a statement, or an in thing for one to declare about oneself being complicated in the mind, and tough to understand, often failing to realize that such a statement almost always betrays one's fragile and utterly weak state of being, rather than appearing to sound uber-cool or chic!

Undoubtedly, the most appreciable state is that of simplicity, which if displayed from the outside wins admiration and if reflected from within, wins devotion. Simply, how difficult is that to understand? It's absolutely strange of how people, these days, don't want to be understood, when in reality that is exactly the biggest quest each one of us undertakes on a very continual basis, with or without realization!

Psychologically, perhaps, the ones who claim to be difficult to understand surely find themselves at loggerheads with their own personalities, coupled with a delusional understanding of the self that often borders on a very deranged sense of being from within!

Thank God for simplicity now!

The Russell–Einstein Manifesto

55 years ago, on this day, in London, a note was issued, urging world leaders to recognize and understand the threat of nuclear weapons in the hope of nuclear disarmament. It was signed by, among others, as the name itself suggests, Albert Einstein and Bertrand Russell.

Today, the cold war is history, but if estimations are to believed, there exist about 23000 active nuclear weapons, in the form of either missiles that can be launched within a matter of minutes, or strategic weapons placed in different nations. One can seek consolation from the fact that their numbers have fallen from the total of 65000 active such weapons known to have existed in the year 1985.

Reduction in the number of weapons of mass destruction simply isn't a solution, for the threat nevertheless looms large. For instance, a gun with 3 rounds poses just about the same threat to life as another fully loaded one. Treaties such as START, SALT and the NPT, among others seek the ultimate goal of eliminating nuclear weapons, however, they are not without flaws and bias!

The last time the world came dangerously close a nuclear conflict was in October 1962, during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Today, nations and people have come to work closely with one another thanks very much to the politics of diplomacy. Yet, the threat of a dirty bomb is ever present, thanks to a rabid proliferation network established by the likes of A. Q. Khan with the complicity of intelligence services of China and Pakistan, to name a few that is!

Therefore, E. L. Doctorow couldn't have been more right when, at the thick of the cold war, he wrote, that "it was first our weaponry and then our diplomacy, and now it is our economy! How can we suppose that something so monstrously powerful would not, after forty years, compose our identity?"

Footnotes:

Full text of the Russell–Einstein Manifesto

Goodbye my Lord! So long!

I have known them since 1986, and very intimately at that! To me, they have been iconic, and a very significant and powerful representation of timeless existence of courage, charm, strength and endurance.

They have been more than just a landmark and have known to have existed for over 80 years! Towering well over the tallest of man made structures here, they have been a symbol of nature's unconditionally everlasting process of creation to make this a wonderful place to live in. One cannot, therefore, possibly imagine the legacy, and void, that they leave behind in the minds and hearts of all those who have loved them and opened their eyes to them every single morning - me included!

On the morning of the 30th, sometime last week, as I was leaving for work, I heard an electrostatic hum of some machine. Stopping to gauge it's source, I realized that the culprit was a battery powered chainsaw being put to use to bring down two magnificent Eucalyptus trees in the neighbourhood!

What I could say about those wonderful trees, even in the most descriptively flowery language, will not make up for what they truly are, rather were, now since they have been consigned to history and exist only in the depths of our minds!

The last one fell yesterday, painfully, amidst a nasty persisting drizzle and the sweeping cold. I stood still, numbed by what was unfolding, ashamed at containing a beast-like rage and not being able to do a thing about it!

Charity does begin at home

That charity begins at home is perhaps the most compassionate statements one would hear universally! Nothing can outshine it in intent, good will and most importantly in being humane and cognizant of another person’s condition and the effort to constantly work towards remedial measures which are so much of a dire need in today’s circumstances.

Speaking only for India, I've made a compilation of the following facts and figures which are absolute shockers!

The World Bank estimates that 456 million Indians (41.6 % of the total Indian population) now live under the global poverty line of $1.25 per day. This means that a third of the global poor now reside in India.

A 2007 report by the state-run National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganised Sector (NCEUS) found that 77% of Indians, or 836 million people, lived on less than 20 rupees per day, with most working in "informal labour sector with no job or social security, living in abject poverty." However, a new report from the UN disputes this, finding that the number of people living on $1.25 a day is expected to go down from 435 million or 51.3 percent in 1990 to 295 million or 23.6 percent by 2015 and 268 million or 20.3 percent by 2020.

India is home to the world’s largest population of street children, estimated at 57 million. The Republic of India is the seventh largest and second most populous country in the world. With acceleration in economic growth, India has become one of the fastest growing developing countries. This has created a rift between poor and rich; 22 percent of the population lives below the income poverty line. Owing to unemployment, increasing rural-urban migration, attraction of city life and a lack of political will, India now has one of the largest number of child laborers in the world.

Street children are subject to malnutrition, hunger, health problems, substance abuse, theft, commercial sexual exploitation of children, harassment by the city police and railway authorities, as well as physical and sexual abuse, although the Government of India has taken some corrective measures and declared child labor illegal.

So, when on the morning of 30th June, Elizabeth Sholtys, Co-founder and Chief Executive of an non-profit organization called the Ashraya Initiative for Children (AIC), wrote me an email introducing herself and her organization and what they do, along with a request to show support for their efforts, I decided to feature them on my blog, knowing fully well that such a noble cause requires marathon effort, courage, persistence and above all a sense of dedication that cannot for once be compromised.

The Ashraya Initiative for Children (AIC) is dedicated to improving the lives and shaping the futures of vulnerable children in Pune, India by advancing educational opportunities, nurturing holistic development and building healthy, empowered communities.

AIC is in the running for $250,000 through the Chase Community Giving contest via Facebook. AIC is currently #12 in the list of more than 500,000 organizations, and is trying to secure more votes to move up to be within the top 5. Each organization within the top 200 will receive $20,000, but if AIC can make it to the top 5, they will receive $100,000 when the contest ends on July 12th. Only American organizations are eligible to compete, so there are very few other organizations that work in India participating in the contest (AIC is the only organization working in India that has been placed in the top 40 list).

Quoting Elizabeth Sholtys herself –

“Even $20,000 goes a long way for AIC - for example, it pays for ALL of the school-related expenses for ALL 200 street kids and slum children in our Education Outreach Program. This includes school tuition fees for both public and private schools, exam fees, uniforms, underwear, shoes, sweaters, hair ribbons, lunch boxes, textbooks, notebooks, pens, pencils, art supplies, backpacks, external tutoring fees for our oldest students who attend a year-long prep course to help get them ready for the 10th standard board exams, and many other things.

You can help make a huge difference in the lives of 200 extremely needy children, just by voting. And in honor of our 5 year anniversary, please spread the word to at least 5 (or more!) friends and family members and convince them to support our cause.

Thank you so much!”

Folks, take a few moments to visit the following link and caste a vote to ensure that this effort is sustained.

AIC’s campaign on Chase Community Giving contest on Facebook

Footnotes:

Statistical facts and figures, as per reports and publications, given hereunder.

Poverty in India 
Street children in India 
India: Urban Poverty Report 2009 

Ashraya Initiative for Children (AIC) on Facebook and Twitter

The official AIC video

CBC documentaries on AIC
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3 

Obscured by clouds

There is no bigger surprise than the one that involves surprising yourself with the ability of doing something that you thought you'd never be able to do!

-- Told to a friend during a conversation on Saturday, 26 June 2010

There are times I don't want to be me, but something monumentally different! I wonder where that thought comes from really. Is it as a result of a certain degree of understanding the self? I'm not proclaiming that I have reached the pinnacle of self-realization, I've hardly scraped the surface. Knowing the self all to well itself is an act of liberation I'm told, something that leads to bliss! And I can assure that there is no sense of self-loathing, despite any number of regrets!

But then what is it really that is making me think about being that something that is not me? I wonder! It has nothing to do with fear of any kind. Maybe it is the impulse of wanting to undo everything that was done in a manner that was done. Now, even if that were to happen, I realize very well that I cannot stop from being me or having been me before!

How does one alter the course of life? Is it supposedly easy to just walk away and change skins? What is the measure of achieving a radical shift? Hop, skip and jump, or just change gears?

Monsoon mania

Diplomacy can at best be described as an act of throwing your wife out of the window and singing love is in the air!

-- Anonymous / Writing on the wall

Now that the monsoons are here, I've got a lot of complaining to do!

It's not like I'm staying in a sweltering place where temperatures are a sorely killing issue! What begins to be a bright sunny day soon turns out to be a squall, which results in the momentary euphoria of the mind to fast become a damp squib!

At first there's warm welcoming sunshine with a mild caressing breeze. As the hours speed by, there's a looming clump of menacing cloud that multiplies faster than perhaps rabbits can reproduce! Then the mass turns dark gray as if to announce a sudden onslaught of it's new-found might! And lo, pour the rains throwing life into a tizzy! What continues is a rotten steady drizzle that wouldn't quench even the thirst of finger-sized bird, let alone a parched field!

And to make matters absolutely worse, there's the maddening echo of this someone whose orgasmic type yells, of "ah, what wonderful weather, what delicious mud, ooooh," puncture the innards of my ear to no end! Sickening to the gut!

So much for the number of weather widgets on my computer and two smart-phones! All I can do is seek solace in the adage that "the trouble with weather forecasting is that it's right too often for us to ignore it and wrong too often for us to rely on it!"

Note to the Lion

Dear Dad

Ordinarily, this note would have been very difficult to write, but what's making it easy for me is my million odd faults as a son and my being nothing of the sort that you envisioned and dreamed of me to be.

While other Fathers proudly bask in the glory and achievements of their children, here I am, a fitting example of nothingness, out of who nothing big can be expected. I'm not complaining, but merely admitting something that you already know and have known for a very long time now. So then, the question of why writing this note in the first place?

Well, for all of my misgivings as a son, I wanted to tell the world of how much you toiled in order to make my life rewarding and happy! Of all the times when you put me ahead of you to make sure that I had the best always and all ways! For having made sure that I went to fine places to seek education and had among the best of literature to read from! Ensuring always that I had a very good meal to savour when a lot of my kind went starving because they were not fortunate enough to have someone such as you for a Father!

We've had our differences and agreements, and many a times I could not reason your logic as you would have desired me to do, but I cannot say enough in appreciation of the wonderfully everlasting lessons that I have learnt from you! You have taught me far more than what books and exponents could and it is a shame that I cannot demonstrate any of that in a manner you'd have wanted to see!

I'm not writing this to eulogize you, that's not the objective and you know I hate to do just that! I'm simply telling the world that your absence would have made things unimaginably worse for me!

I'd have missed the opportunity to be a step closer to God had you not been around!

Enough said, I guess!

Footnotes:

Not quite a tribute on occasion of Father's day which happened yesterday! Just a random note in appreciation, would be more like it!

Take me away

I've been asked a number of times as to what my greatest fear is! In a very jocular sense and almost immediately after being asked so, always, I've retorted with the word 'myself!' And, I keep wondering what that actually would be, for all of us do have some sense of fear, most certainly, whether we choose to readily acknowledge it by saying what it is, or mean to keep that a secret and wear a whiff of confidence and an air of invincible importance in the attempt to convey a sense of courage!

Many of us have long passed the state of being afraid of snakes, heights, water or insensible actions, primarily as a result of mastery over the mind and experience, or rather an impeccable combination of both, which many a times proves to be a very staunch ally in the road of life, often helping us overcome even the most mountainous of obstacles!

So coming back to what I would term as my primal fear, you know what that is? It is the fear of witnessing the deaths of loved ones as my own life would progress into a seemingly endless tapestry of eventful handiwork supposedly given to extend only for that very purpose of being such a mute and wretched spectator! I fear, most, of being the one who would see endless deaths of friends and family without having the opportunity to conclude myself until such a point in time when all of them who matter the most have been expended! I have a very uncanny premonition that this one is going to be true, so much as I'm sure of my name!

Diagnostically speaking, I'm told Necrophobia is the term!

To the dark side of the Moon

Is there something such as dark energy, dark force or the like? I'm not talking in terms of physical cosmology or astronomy which relates to the energy that fills itself across space and is responsible for the rapid and continual expansion of the universe.

I'm talking of negative forces at work that can be destructive. I mean, every positive supposedly has a counterpart in the opposite? Can it be explained? I'm curious to know!

What exactly is a negative? It is believed to be more potent than just being an opposite of a positive force, one that is primarily intent upon creating a harmful circumstance in order to achieve a certain objective. But there is another side to this assumption, which seems to be a more prudent approach and certainly one that is comforting. What if there really is no positive or negative energy? Maybe all energy is neutral after all, until the point of our personalization of it, in the manner that we do!

I'd like to quote something very interesting I read off the internet; Look at determination as a common character trait. It is an intent that, if carried to one extreme can make someone so stubborn that they will never risk change. On the other hand, it can make people so determined to succeed that they will risk everything just to say they did it. The original energy, therefore, has no positive or negative connotation. It gets that based solely on how each of us use it. Sounds convincing?

Now, you'll forgive me for having titled this post after what is perhaps one of the most acclaimed musical creations in history! No dark forces at work here, I assure!

Put the sun back

I've written about this once before, but that's not stopping me from doing it once again!

Sometimes I wonder if it really is all that complicated to seek true love and be blessed with it! Is it so phenomenally difficult to arrive upon what is perhaps the most blissful times of life? Must there be a great deal of struggle to achieve it or can it be chanced upon just like one would arrive on a road to a certain destination?

Why then, does it prove so elusive and tiresome to be drawn into? Is it experience of instances before hand that makes one judgemental and careful? Or is it limited to the will of time to present such a wonderful situation to unravel in front of the patiently willing?

It's very easy, I presume, to maintain one's composure in the face of any adversity, particularly if you have made that very steadfast decision to remain glassy and supposedly emotionless and appear to put up a very strong face for the world to see! That is quite another something!

But then deep down, there is something of an emotion that wants, perhaps needs, a brush of wind to swish over the face with a whiffing caress and yet a sense of comfort that warms up the cockles of the insides!

Love is love, after all! I can't explain if you know what I mean! :)

Footnotes:

I want you to know that this was written in an absolutely positive mood and not otherwise. When on a rainy Sunday afternoon, my being capitulated to the wonderful yesteryear favorite of The Coral titled "Put The Sun Back," I found an instant connect between my mind and the keyboard which resulted in this post!

Why don't you spend sometime listening to this masterpiece yourself and get lost in the wonders of music and relish the moments so spent?

The White Mountain

The White Mountain (HD) from Constantin Philippou on Vimeo.

From where I am standing Dushanbe isn’t too far! And, Dushanbe is the edge of the world!

An expanse of wilderness sweeps me and I know it cannot be covered by even the speed of thought, much less that of light! The wind is cold and brutal but there is a sense of longing to remain where I am, and merely watch the wonder that unfolds ahead of me in a dimension that my mind, with it's umpteen limitations, cannot possibly comprehend! Time is certainly not a factor! The inside reassures me that there is nothing to hurry up for, so I’m calm and composed, free from the otherwise haranguing pursuit that doggedly plays ball with my mind!

Rich orange hues soon give way to shades of gray! Darkness falls and there are a million shining lights dotting the wide sky. They look like brilliant pearls saying something in unison that I strain to understand. Flashes of light erupt in many spots, all at once and almost always, often seeming to be patterns yet so random and incalculable! I cannot seem to focus my gaze on just one setting, though wanting to do just that! It is breathtakingly marvelous yet overwhelming!

A thousand voices call out to me from the sky and yet I know I cannot go, though I so much want to, or rather - need to!

Footnotes:

The White Mountain is a time-lapse video shot by Charles Leung and the marvelous background score was composed by musician Constantin Philippou.

It is to be noted that this post is purely an abstract and bears no connection whatsoever to the geo-politically significant city of Dushanbe in Tajikistan.

Time goes by

No, not Madonna's confessions on a dance floor! I'm talking of how unimaginably fast days are fleeting by!

Is it just me who is feeling so? What seems to be the reason? I mean, 2010 happened just a while ago and now we are poised to complete one half it! Is it that we are so engrossed in life and it's very mundanely routine happenstances, that we fail to notice the passage of time? Or is it that the collective stress of what we endure causes nature to push forward the limitation of time so that life maybe kind on us?

Remember childhood? That brilliant time of life when actually being lived would never seem to pass? Maybe it's our over zealous quest for the end that is perhaps driving us towards it at seemingly light speeds!

Good to keep thinking, but the truth is that there's no stopping the tick-tock!

I found a marvelous time-lapse video on the internet which perhaps is a perfect representation of how 'time flies.' Titled City Life, it is a creation of Spencer Black, and the fantastic background score is by composer Constantin Philippou. Do take a look!


City Life (HD) from Constantin Philippou on Vimeo.

One for the friend

To the world you may be just one person, but to one person you may be the world.

-- Brandi Snyder

There is perhaps nothing like catching up with old friends and talking about bygone times, relishing moments of life that have long been buried deep - as the vestiges of time, and be able to heartily laugh over incidents that are cherished and remembered as those great unifying factors!

It is certainly a matter of pure strength to be able to visualize and make a sense of togetherness woven over a fabric of love, respect and fondness that are not associated with any material underlying but purely based on the coming together of minds and hearts!

To be able to stay in sync despite adversities from many worlds, professional and personal, added with the brutalities of time and events - ah pure joie de vivre!

And, the finest of all pleasures, apart from of course living the moment, is to be able to envision togetherness in the days to come, uncorrupted by attitudes, selfish motives and a whole lot of more damaging dynamics!

God bless us all and keep us together!

Happy birthday RO

Redefining Oblivion turns 4 today!

Originally cast under a different space and name on July 21, 2004, this space is the result of an underdog's desire to reach out to the world in an effort to learn and experience the many wonders that are!

Today, after close to 6 years of having begun blogging, and 4 years of having experienced the joy of this wonderful medium known to us as Blogger, I am an extremely happy man, fortunate for being able to interact with wonderful people such as you, through who I see and know different worlds, rich in culture, well-being, happiness and above all else - a sense of togetherness like no other!

At this juncture, I'd like to whole heartedly thank my 5500+ readers and fellow bloggers from across 1043 individual locations in 99 countries for their 12000+ visits, tracked since the incorporation of the Google Analytics tracking system in December 2008 within this space! Your visits mean a whole lot to me and are a constant source of unparalleled pleasure and medium of interaction, something which I dearly look forward to!

I cannot say enough to express my love, sense of happiness and gratitude!

Love you all!

Timelessness experienced!

In a sense, all of us are travelling constantly, to destinations far and wide, within and outside!

There is always a sense of urgency combined with enthusiasm and hope, or despair, as the case may be, something that inexplicably knots the stomach of every traveller, experienced and otherwise. Travel has indeed become a very integral part of our lives, as a massive exercise of being able to deliver us from one destination to another, quite often one realm to another, it may seem!

We seek to move and change as often as we are, in the quest for something that we assume is within our grasp yet unknown to our minds, only defined as a certain place to arrive at, associated with memories, bygones or anticipations, to connect ourselves with time, past, present or future!

Then, in mechanically aided configurations, set in motion, while at travel, we cast away our anxieties momentarily in the hope that our lives will be better for the purpose that we have embarked upon, in the quest of! Our disposition, powers and limitations seem to bear uncanny similarities, fused together in waiting for time to pass. The only difference lies perhaps in our minds, burdened with differences of sorts many others will never come to know, much less understand!

But fate will most cruelly decree another course and turbulence will come without warning, although some of us will have had a sense of premonition! But then, it is too late and the inconceivable is set in motion to enact something that will change our lives forever, by bringing an end to it, in the manner and form that we know of existence in this realm. Time will cease to exist, and so will us, to be hence remembered as statistic and spoken about in memoirs!

Footnotes:

Redefining Oblivion mourns the tragic deaths of 158 passengers who lost their lives on-board flight IX812, that crash landed in Mangalore during the early hours of 22nd May. This post extends it's heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families and friends and also thanks providence and the good Samaritan souls in vicinity for saving the lives of 8 others who would have otherwise succumbed as a result of the accident!