Operation Rolodex

Life is almost always motivated, for many, by achievements, both in the realm of professional and personal domains! Therefore, also, a great deal of focus and efforts are directed towards achieving that very objective in what can become a terribly ongoing process that never really comes to an end!

But then, to think apart, and to take a few steps backward really, one must pause and every so often subject the self to a meaningful exercise of introspection.

Coming to do just that, I find it is about time that I kicked in 'Operation Rolodex' to my life. Derived from the words 'rolling index' this term is an indicative of a 'rotating file device used to store business contact information.' Now, if that makes you wonder why I chose to use such a quintessentially ubiquitous accessory of work to title my post and the exercise I choose to detail, please be assured that the words, or rather meaning of 'rolling index' is what appealed to me while I thought about the process itself.

Anyhow, summary descriptions apart, the Rolodex of my world is very simple; it is a mission to build a credible and lasting happiness index, or quotient, that ensures, more aptly, that the feeling itself comes from within and lasts for much longer than anything supplemented by an external object or entity! I hope to therefore build a huge positive emotional bank balance as part of my asset capital to last me for a lifetime, which in turn will help me, among other things, also, to build very equitable and positive relationships!

Some inclusions, surely are, including but not limited to, Blogging, Blogger Meets, Calvin & Hobbes, Easy Sunday Mornings, Music, Reading, all of which are aimed to generate the high-fix! :-)

And, what's more? Rolodex is open forum! No Anti-Trust engineering really!

Chennai today

Very rarely do I miss my Monday morning post! So one can imagine the sequence of events that unfolded yesterday, here in Chennai, owing to the rains that were nothing short of being inundating. The sheer spell and the unrelenting barrage took me by surprise! And for someone who is affected by the slightest change of weather, literally, one can imagine how that feels!

Anyhow, that has come to pass and there is a certain state of tranquility that prevails presently. But surely, the episode itself echoes very deep realizations of how minuscule a force we are in the face of an adverse natural circumstance that comes to be!

And then, as Terri Guillemets, wisely stated, 'weather is a great metaphor for life - sometimes it's good, sometimes it's bad, and there's nothing much you can do about it but carry an umbrella.' I couldn't agree more!

The all time favourites - Movies

Fellow blogger Destination Infinity tagged me a few days ago, in his post titled "My top three movies of all time." Jumping at the chance, especially for the kind of a complete movie buff I am, I was delighted, primarily for being able to make a post of the many wonderful treats I've richly enjoyed so far! Nothing perhaps is more of a pleasure than to catch up on an epic over a quiet Sunday morning, in perfect solitude! So here goes my list, one that is more than the required three, a liberty I've taken owing to the pleasure accorded! :-)

Gandhi - This 1982 biopic, starring Ben Kingsley, picturing the life of a timeless icon is certainly a must watch for the manner in which the story is portrayed. Three words that can at best describe the after-watch feeling; powerful, lasting and evoking! Certainly a collector's item and a timeless classic!

Shawshank Redemption - It is one thing that Stephen King's novella Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption forms the basis of this epic, and yet quite another of how well the impressive star-cast brought about more than just life on the celluloid. Quite the description of how Tim Robbins and hope are synonymous now, if anything at all. And there is no doubt about the fact that hope drives a man insane!

Schindler's List - If Thomas Keneally's book Schindler's Ark made waves in the literary world, it's marvelous adaptation on screen by Steven Spielberg created nothing short of history! I'm sure many of us who watched the movie were transported into the somber and grizzly world of the Płaszów concentration camp. One man's marvelous tribute "in memory of the more than six million Jews murdered." Couldn't say more!

The Great Escape - Staying with Nazi Germany but viewing the unfolding of events from a very different vantage point, this 1963 epic starring Steve McQueen, James Garner, and Richard Attenborough, among others, is an on-screen adaptation of a book by Paul Brickhill which details the true account of a mass escape from Stalag Luft III prisoner of war camp, in Żagań, Poland. Vivid, picturesque in setting and thoroughly well coordinated in the effort of portraying the series of events that took place in exact detail, this creation is an absolutely must watch for any history enthusiast!

The Jungle Book - None but Rudyard Kipling could have told us the tale of the Indian jungle in the way it was done. So, if the names of Mowgli and Sher Khan have become household, it is surely because of the legacy of one man who envisioned the wonders of the Indian outbacks and made efforts to portray its wonders in vivid imagination and detail that would never have been possible by another!

Great Expectations - The story of one man and his love for a woman, and the sequence of events that unfold! All of this wants me so much to read the work of Dickens. I see a great deal of childhood in this and for some reason many a thing so vivid in the mind, yet those that I could never come to terms with. Expectations and them being great are just about two very different things I suppose!

Godfather - The iconic reference to an offer that could never be refused and the kick-thrill to envision a strong rebellious parallel, powerful and discrete, all permeating and inimitably marked in mannerism of a thought, this movie is more than just a tale of a few people and their doings. It perhaps is the mindset of a system that longs to establish a lasting presence in the very ecosystem that democracy has come to roost!

An Unfinished Life - Robert Redford and movie super stardom of supreme excellence are synonymous in more than just many ways of semblance. Iconic, impressive and lasting in the manner of portrayal, I could not settle for one or any, in particular, to be descriptive of that excellence I spoke about. Perhaps, the best way to convey my intent is to make a mention of this super drama that prevails like no other!

Legends of the Fall - Adapted from a novel by Jim Harrison, only Brad Pitt, Anthony Hopkins and Aidan Quinn, among others could have fitted best into this super epic detailing the pre-world war I times set in western United States. There are all the elements of togetherness and otherwise detailed in there, of coming together and separation, life and death and a sense of reckoning that is richly unique in the manner portrayed. I guess there could be nothing more powerful and captivating, for the mind and the heart, than the feeling of glossing over bygones that seem so long long ago!

Braveheart - Little can I do in my efforts of trying to separate the identities of Mel Gibson and Sir William Wallace especially for the manner in which the portrayal was made in quest of a purpose that was insanely difficult at the face of mounting adversity. But energy, passion, persistence and perseverance add a great deal of zeal in winning over even the most toughened enemy as is seen, and 'freedom' comes at a rich price 'purified by pain' and often suffered at the hands of betrayal and treachery!

I could go on for miles on just the names, without any of my illustration or interpretation, especially for the fact that there are so many more of these that are iconic and truly characteristic of creative excellence. But I must conclude here, for now, with the understanding that there exists much more in everything than what can actually be told!

Celebrating Calvin & Hobbes

To describe childhood as having been magical is an understatement. In truth, there can be no possible description of childhood! And for those of us who have been fortunate, thanks to a bankable familial structure that remains even now intricately woven around us providing unending comfort and security, yesteryears are moments that are cherished for all time to come!

This post in particular is an articulation of celebrating childhood, or rather the child in us that we eventually come suppress as a result of a failed recognition of what we need to be, as opposed to what it is that we truly need to be, the answer being happy!

So for me, childhood stands singularly apart for one very good and big reason, apart from, of course, the many other wonderful things that went into making it. That one factor, or if I may say avenue, of unending happiness and joy came from William Boyd "Bill" Watterson's epic creation of Calvin & Hobbes, which has to my soul, by far, been the most appealing piece of pictorial literature bearing supreme levels of intellectual excellence, yet so elementary and cheerful. That feeling of bliss, I'm sure you understand, is timeless and shall continue forever! And as this momentously fabulous creation has come to turn 25 (though having ceased to be renewed in 1995), I thought it apt to make a mention of how my childhood has been a celebration of times, thanks to this timeless wonder!

Boy, I cannot tell you how much I admire anthropomorphism, in the way it should be - Just like how it has been depicted as in the case of Hobbes! But just before I close this post, I'll leave you some splendid lines from the mannerisms of an avant-garde post-modern icon, Calvin! :-)

I think the surest sign that there is intelligent life out there in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us.

It's hard to be religious when certain people are never incinerated by bolts of lightning.

Pretty convenient how every time I build character, Dad saves a couple hundred dollars

Are you suggesting that this appliance didn't aggravate me with malice aforethought?

Well, it just seemed wrong to cheat on an ethics test.

If warped values are the price of a vicarious thrill, so be it!

I try to make everyone's day a little more surreal.

People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don't realize how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world

These are interesting times. We don't trust the government, we don't trust the legal system, we don't trust the media, and we don't trust each other! We've undermined all authority, and with it, the basis for replacing it! It's like a six-year-old's dream come true!

If it was completely different, school would be great.

Leave it to a girl to take the fun out of sex discrimination.

Why waste time learning, when ignorance is instantaneous?

As a math atheist, I should be excused from this.

This one's tricky. You have to use imaginary numbers, like eleventeen ..

I go to school, but I never learn what I want to know.

In my opinion, we don't devote nearly enough scientific research to finding a cure for jerks.

That's the difference between me and the rest of the world! Happiness isn't good enough for me! I demand euphoria!

To make a bad day worse, spend it wishing for the impossible.Life's disappointments are harder to take when you don't know any swear words.

I like maxims that don't encourage behavior modification.

I wanted to be a neo-deconstructivist but Mom wouldn't let me

There's never enough time to do all the nothing you want.

A kiss to build a dream on

Introspection is fantastic! It tells you what the mind had envisioned as against that what the heart wanted versus what actually happened. But before you are about to embark upon that quest, make certain what it is that you'd want to be stronger, the head or the heart! And imagination, mind you, can take you far further than comprehended!

A very long time ago, something changed in a manner that I cannot possibly explain! Days seemed as normal as they could be, but the elements were strong, and I found myself whimsically wondering of how I would contend with the wrangling forces hard hitting within the head, as a result of what happened outside of it. And then, there were dreams that the mind persisted for some reason. Walking almost always alone, thankfully, in the expanses of vivid natural picturesque, every moment meant something, something that bore a strange connection to something that I knew nothing of! Heck, must have been surely something!

Curiosity can sometimes get the better of you and unaided, you find yourself going deeper into realms unknown! Time passes by, no doubt, but there is a complete void that it leaves behind, akin to the feeling of work incomplete at the end of every day!

As the evening unfolds, and sweet solitude dawns, there is a heightened perception of what is and not, against what should and not be. Math, I'm sure is easier. But, such is life too! Debates rage, on how and why, often throwing up more questions than answers! And I set to wonder what difference would have been, if I had the moment, for a moment, to make the moment, or something of that sort!

Today, some three decades have come to pass and I cannot term what it is that connection or the lack of it can be termed as. But I do know very strongly that it is not a figment of the imagination. Maybe it all just happened, as it happened, but no denying that it changed a great deal of what life is! There was some kind of gradual gradient like fill-in that I did come to terms with, but the battle is ongoing and pauses are not longer than the need for catching a short breath and exhaling a sigh! Whatever do I call this? Learning? Experience? Or chance?

Surely, no end to efforts in fitting a square into a circle!

Rendezvous with the Realist

It is uncommon to meet someone who has a very realistic perspective of life that is commendable, and therefore to have spent some quality time with such a person is truly a memorable experience, one that will surely be lasting in impression!

Issam Siddique is not your next door guy, nor is he one who can be considered to exhibit a characteristic mentality of the herd! This perhaps is his greatest strength, of course, combined by his ability to articulate perspectives very very well. In him, there lies a person of purpose, of clarity and persistence which is remarkably appreciable.

Therefore, not surprisingly, we got along extremely well, thanks to a chemistry that was nothing short of being electric! During the relatively short time that we spent together, we spoke about businesses, excellence, inspiration, mindsets, passion, books and people - all of which found commonalities and agreements among us with surprising ease. One can imagine then, the amount of delight when given a chance to meet someone so similar in thoughts and perspectives, despite very different backgrounds and conditioning!

Perhaps, the one thing that I would appreciate Issam the most would be for his remarkable ability to be cognizant of the world around without ever losing sight of the most trivial detail that many would consider insignificant.

It is not often that you meet someone who reflects truly what is within, but that when you do, you surely will know!

Beyond Rangoon

There couldn't possibly have been better news emanating earlier this week from the wires than that of the release of Aung San Suu Kyi. I hope this is the beginning of many marked steps towards political reform in a troubled nation, long embattled by strife, war, a worrying social apparatus and most importantly - a people bordering on hope and despair on an extremely thin margin!

I thought it worthy to share excerpts from her 'Freedom from Fear' speech made in the year 1990, which is most inspiring, conveying a sense of hope to the despaired and promising a future to those who have appear to have none!

"The effort necessary to remain uncorrupted in an environment where fear is an integral part of everyday existence is not immediately apparent to those fortunate enough to live in states governed by the rule of law. Just laws do not merely prevent corruption by meting out impartial punishment to offenders. They also help to create a society in which people can fulfil the basic requirements necessary for the preservation of human dignity without recourse to corrupt practices. Where there are no such laws, the burden of upholding the principles of justice and common decency falls on the ordinary people. It is the cumulative effect on their sustained effort and steady endurance which will change a nation where reason and conscience are warped by fear into one where legal rules exist to promote man's desire for harmony and justice while restraining the less desirable destructive traits in his nature."

Today, in seeing a glimmer of hope, Redefining Oblivion pays tribute to this icon and prays for the well-being of the people of Myanmar, who have long been subjected to unspeakable oppression, in the hope that they may soon be able to live in freedom and dignity, removed from the fear of systematic and socially supported mistreatment and exploitation!

Cheerio Master Blaster

It was on this day in the year 1989 that Sachin Tendulkar made his debut as an international cricketer!

To witness someone so consistent in performance, to be able to achieve excellence over excellence, and much more, with unfaltering pace and poise, is a rarity, and truly a matter of immense pleasure, something that will stand unparalleled.

I don't quite see the need to wax over his momentous achievements in this post - somethings simply need no elucidation whatsoever! East is east, spoken of, or otherwise! And do remember, this is coming from someone who has not even the slightest inclination to understand cricket!

Next on my list of books to buy; Sachin: The Story of the World's Greatest Batsman by Gulu Ezekiel

Folks, I'm confused really; there are 5 biographies published about this icon! Which one/s do I pick off the shelf? Any thoughts?

A and I

A and I first met in the year 1997! Firm shake of hands, round of introductions and exchange of pleasantries later, we realized instantly that there was a great deal in common, especially in the manner in which we thought, and that set about the beginning of what was to be a very warm relationship, that was truly one of a kind.

The passage of time brought us closer to one another, earning us the title of being 'brothers-in-arms!' In the offing was a friendship that was being built on very strong foundations of trust, admiration and respect. Eventually, it wasn't too surprising to have found an unspoken level of understanding developing among us. It was as if there was a great deal of inherent trust that has been in existence from much long before. Surprisingly, we were very different from one another and I'd like to believe that the strength of being complementary in togetherness was what brought us together and so definitively closer. A had off-the-shelf solutions to almost everything and viewed situations in a very pragmatic manner, much like how a mathematician would study equations with utmost focus on accuracy and logic!

But there are no perfect endings to wonderful beginnings! What began so brilliantly well was eventually brought to ruin owing to my immaturity and insensitivity, and we parted ways, almost in the likelihood of never being able to come face to face again! Years passed, places changed, perspectives altered and yet bygones remained in the mind with an impassable sense of guilt that the past could have been better scripted.

But that was until now! As is always the norm after a rainy squall, the glorious sun comes up to accentuate the life cycle. Clouds part and there is light, there is a new glimmer of hope and a promise of a brighter future. The storm withers and the beaten path begins to take shape again!

Today, some 13 years after, I couldn't ask for more than our momentous coming together that is historic! Having shed away the bygones, I find myself being welcomed with more than just open arms. My sense of elation cannot be described. There is only so much that I can conjure up in words to tell you how I feel - to be able to relive those wonderful moments once again knowing fully well that this 'homecoming' is a path charted out by destiny rather than by chance!

Rendezvous with the Spider

How someone so wonderful as Vimal (aka Vimmuuu), of the V-Lokam fame became the spider can be read about here and here! But that is beyond the point and not withstanding!

It thrills me beyond words to tell you about a truly wonderful meetup with a fellow blogger, something which was much like the coming together of old friends who have known each other and their ways, comfortably, for a very long time!

Vimmuuu is one of those people who is remarkably composed and characteristic of his display of tranquil poise, something that will win over even the most toughened heart! His ability to be grounded and yet remarkably eloquent is an attribute of charm and character that is rarely seen! Now, add a great deal of affability to the equation and who you meet is someone very warm, cognizant of the many multitudes of life's prevail and most importantly as real as reality itself, without any prejudices whatsoever!

Over some truly heartening southern fare, we found instant bonding that grew in proportions during the terribly short rendezvous that turned out to be a very momentous occasion for me! I can at best describe this as akin to meeting a childhood friend who carried with him a wealth of goodwill and warm gestures that made me feel happy and prized beyond expression!

Truly, it is destiny and not chance that brings people together!

Wishes on Deepavali

Light is not so much something that reveals, as it is itself the revelation! 

-- James Turrell 

Redefining Oblivion wishes you and folks a very happy Deepavali. Please accept my hearty wishes on the occasion, with prayers for good health, well being and prosperity! May the goodness of light and wisdom prevail in our lives enabling us to be better people, always!

Madras Central

Chennai, (erstwhile Madras), is a confluence of many cultures and ideologies, thronging from regional politics of the Tamil Dravidian kind to almost insanely iconic references to Rajinikanth! Being the idl-vada-sambhar capital of the world, it, perhaps, can be accorded as being the titular abode of the quintessential south Indian who oscillates from between Tanjore and Tennessee! So, when the winds of change directed my sails to head to Chennai, a little something spoke from within, in a mix of ecstatic enthusiasm and cautious optimism, and here I am, in a place unknown, calling it home for an indefinite period of time!

At 371 years of youthfulness, this bustling beacon of the South is a behemoth that never sleeps, allowing it's perpetually milling-around denizens to constantly make routine journeys within and outside it's confines that would put cross-country marathon men to shame! It is in this bustling metropolis that I have come to realize how nomadic we have become in the quest for a purpose, an exercise - every once so often, almost always invoked by destiny! One gets a mix of reactions upon landing here, some of which evoke old time charm and yet others that propel in the mind an urge to immediately be part of an expansive stream of professionals living hi-speed lives in a never ending quest for sustenance and success! Visiting Chennai, one immediately feels that there is an ample measure of tradition co-existing with modernity, which is among the many elements that make up a place, as well as the many definitely vivid and stark dichotomies echoed by the dualities of life! Rapidly coming to terms with a vast and ever-changing assemblage of people and prospects, diluted with multitudes of culture and customs, one attempts, in a very personal yet imitable manner, to seep in and become part of the flow that is surely overwhelming in scale.

But there is much more to this place, than just being India's second largest exporter of IT enabled services or being known for culinary delights that appeal to the inside or being an important host of Indian classical and carnatic music! And that is unique, something that is arrived upon differently, purely aided by perspectives and understanding, on a very personalized and individual basis. During the course of my stay here, it is that differentiating factor to myself, that I hope to understand through rich measures of experience and happenstances in my life, along with the many peculiarities that my eyes will so meticulously feed to the mind in order to make a definitive comprehension!

I look forward to very refreshing times, and most importantly to the prospect of being able to meet some very dear fellow-bloggers, here in Chennai, with whom I've shared such a wonderful equation! Suddenly, it appears that there is a whole lot to do, at the mercy of such less time, probably an overcoming feeling that is as a result of the effect of change! This is certainly the beginning of a new era, one of new promises, new challenges and hopefully new avenues of happiness!

So, Chennai, here I am, or must I rather say Vanakkam?

For the love of the game

I haven't had the least bit of passion for cricket, and possibly never will, but surely understand the electrifying thrill that a game generates, enthusing millions alike - quite the something that I derive from watching football!

But, it is certainly disconcerting to see Indian cricket embroiled in controversy and a legal mess, that could well have been avoided! As if Lalit Modi hadn't done enough, recent developments concerning the Kochi IPL team have added an all together new level of reality to the scene.

With growing concerns over issues surrounding ownership, equity, bids, loans and ventures, I'm wondering what it is that really makes these 'enterprises' ambassadors of sports, than just being front-ends of shady deals smartly orchestrated as being sport! So much for the game!

Beginning and end - The philosophy

What we all call the beginning, is often the end!

Life has many ways of brining learning to those in the quest! It simply depends upon one's frame of mind and receptiveness to accept it! With each passing moment, curiosity is addressed with plentiful instances of  the purpose and therefore to remain shut off from happenstances takes a great deal of effort no matter however foolish that may seem to be!

This one time, I was blessed to have someone shape my perspective of what it is that we want and how it is that we set to achieve it. And the underlying theme of simplicity was not lost in the process, one bit! Every once a while, we are faced with a circumstance that tests our character to the very end and the winner often is the one who has emerged learned in the process and systematically internalizes the needful.

So then, when I came face to face with the beginning, a wise visitor lost no time in taking me to the end and making me question my mind as to what really it was that I wanted. Having produced a clear affirmation, I was asked to work backwards into the process of how that something would have to be constructed. The exercise made me summarily list a number of aspects that I viewed as being absolutely necessary to achieve the end and also elucidate the means of achieving each one of them. When the conversation was complete, I was left overwhelmed at the simplicity of thought that had been behind this guiding principle!

Truly, now I am convinced that it is the end that defines the beginning while also justifying the means to achieve that envisaged state. Come to think of it, birth and death are really one and the same, in terms of the purpose for which we are all created, because despite the beginning it is always the end that is in the quest, don't you think?

Surprises galore

Hold on to your thoughts! Do not let your imagination get the better of you! And most importantly, do not let the title of this post mislead you! Surprises are not always meant to be nice and they have a way of arriving unannounced, thereafter, creating a complete shakeup in the manner in which one's thought process is structured, questioning the very assumptions made to help understand life and its ongoings in a better manner.

In a world where the principles of excellence and efficiency are nothing short of driving forces, one naturally expects entities to be wiser with experience, if not always by education or an innate sense, but it seems clearly that such an expectation is utopian and far-fetched, for you'd be rudely jolted at the fact that there is nothing short of a whole populace that can at best be described as miserably foolish and intellectually challenged, surely beyond the possibility of repair! And, as if that wasn't already worse enough, these elements are comfortably ensconced, or rather embedded, at the very helm of affairs!

I'm wondering if it is a fundamental problem associated with the Indian mindset that sets it to emphatically, and at most times arrogantly, rest in the belief that competence and excellence are apart from what is normal! Perhaps one could attribute it to faulty genetic inheritance, en masse? But there remains no doubt for me to be assertive and complete in my belief that within the realm of space and time, here, now and forever, there will continue to be us and them - co-existing in agony! That should set a lot of them thinking more than just once if ignorance really is a state of bliss, while I sincerely hope that my sarcasm is seen as illustratively educative.

Come to think of it, life never really ceases to surprise me!

From the wishlist

It is difficult not to be charmed by the expansive wonders of the Masai Mara or the Serengeti. And the more I watch them being showcased on television, the more the urge, or rather the calling, to visit these absolute wonderlands. Truly, there perhaps is nothing more appealing to the inside than the nature. It makes me wonder, at length, how intricately perfect the system is, for being so thorough, sustaining to itself and its occupants, and yet being so absolutely flawless, all of which is governed by rules so innate, yet so simple!

To be able to traverse the wild country, swathed by the evergreen grasslands, home to a host of beings so rare and majestic, and to experience at first hand the beauty of a setting that is so much in contrast to any other on Earth, must be a certain something to reckon with!

But more importantly, such a place, I'm reasonably sure, will do a great deal to shape one's perspective of life altogether, and be able to understand life better, even though displayed at length and in characteristic of a very raw and sometimes gruesome nature, which makes me recount the mystical words of Abe Gubegna, to whom it was recited that "Every day in Africa a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning a lion wakes up. It knows that it must outrun the slowest gazelle or it will starve to death. It doesn’t matter whether you are a lion or a gazelle. When the sun comes up, you better be running."

Viva Shera

Truly, alls well that ends well!

New Delhi can heave a huge sigh of relief after a near picture-perfect completion of the XIX Commonwealth Games, which began amidst controversy and blood baying, largely clouded by questions of India's capability to host an event of such magnitude and splendour!

While some sections within the media have dubbed the event as a treat for the senses, and yet some others continuing to harp about how the Scottish bagpipers wove an inimitable spell during the finale, the fact remains that the nation can toast to its successful conduct of the games and retire on a very memorable note.

Having said that one needs to also really look beyond just people, culture, heritage, customs, pomp and all, in an effort to build and strengthen capability!

Could the Olympics be far ahead then?

Destiny calling

I find myself traversing uncharted waters, into realms that I've not been into before. Naturally excited, I pace with enthusiasm and yet find myself cautiously optimistic of the journey and the path that I am to embark upon. A mix of emotions overwhelm me and I restrain the heart from overpowering the instincts of the head, in an effort to be rational. But, the more I try to be methodical, I find myself fraught with instances that I have not witnessed before. Such perhaps is the way of life, often nudging the traveller to undertake a course that will enrich learning in ways that cannot be fathomed!

With all the seemingly picture-perfect planning and meticulous detail that we drown ourselves into, it is very important to always provide a substantial margin of space for the unforeseen change, thereby creating a very strong buffer, purely for the purpose of being able to adapt to situations as and when they unravel.

Despite all of that we do or choose not to, there are some things that happen or do not. One may call that plain chance or an incident of destiny! That decision, with all of its decisiveness, lies purely at the behest of the experienced!

Eight below

It'd have been much easier for me to talk about Paul Walker and his furry buddies in the 2006 American adventure film, if you go by the title of this post, that is!

But that is hardly the case when it comes to talking about one's life and the varied influences that govern it's every pace, however insignificant it may appear to be. And this is about one such influence that has plagued me for what I could easily term as a millennium! Curiously, it is not a force, nor a person or for that matter neither a factor that can be easily noticed. It is merely a number!

The number 8 has played roles in my life, almost always, in ways and means I cannot really describe in words, and it still puzzles me of how seemingly random incidents, occurrences or references could bear the ominous influence of this now hairy-tentacled, omnipresent monster that I have come to view with a great deal of emotion that could largely border on a sense of being overwhelmed!

For starters, I was born on an 8th! All of the places I took in school, inclusive of my roll numbers, positions, patterns, scoring and a whole lot more bore the hallmarks of 8. I would automatically be assigned an 8 number whereever I presented myself! As if all of that wasn't already enough, my secondary school leaving examination identity had 8 written all over it! And just when I thought I had this eerie demonic influence outside of my life for good, I came to grapple with the fact that it was only the prelude that played so far and the beginning was really yet to begin! Thereafter, every number associated with me had extensive elements of 8 white-washed all over, ranging from employee IDs, access codes, plastic currency cards and seating patterns, just to name a minimal few!

Years later, now, upon looking back, I find 8 ruled instances in my life, larger in number than the stars in the sky and the grains of all of Earth's sandy shores put together! Just what determines this unsettling coincidence is still a matter of sheer intrigue!

But theres so much more to life, I understand! And live well I will, even if means to be under the shadows and spheres of the 8.

Remembering the Mahatma

Each one has to find his peace from within. And peace to be real, must be unaffected by outside circumstances. -- Mahatama Gandhi

Footnotes:

Image Courtesy: Google