Opening Statements - 2012

Eschatological beliefs, transformation, mysticism, transition, apocalyptic and other things apart, it is hoped that this year will bring about positive change.

Redefining Oblivion wishes all of you a Very Happy, Healthy, Prosperous and Purposeful 2012, and beyond.

Footnotes: 

Opening Statements - 2011

The Ramparts of 2011

Post # 84

I don't know if this year has been one of adversity, opportunity or possibility, but for me this year has been one of hectic activity! A lot has happened and has happened fast. Certainly, this has been a very quick year outpacing almost all of its predecessors.

Inundated with work, I have been a wee bit negligent of my blogs, often visiting here in fleeting moments yet drawing a great deal of comfort and satisfaction from here and fellow-bloggers.

As is the case with every year, there are new learnings in life that grow in dimension with the passage of age - and this year has been a great teacher. It has taught me to focus on the inner strength to stay grounded and counter hardship and I definitely am a stronger person owing to the experiences that I have lived through this year.

In the true sense, all of us are headed forward in life and that each passing day delivers us into the future for the better, I have no doubt of. I have learnt that life isn't all about myself but largely about ourselves, and that togetherness in harmony is perhaps the best one can ask for at all times.

I'd like to sincerely thank all of you, my dear fellow-bloggers, my friends, family members, colleagues and associates for being kind and considerate and unconditional in your support and encouragement.

So, as this year draws to a close, I wish all of you a very safe, fun-filled holiday season and a truly happy, prosperous, healthy and blessed New Year.

This is my last post for 2011 and I will see you all in 2012 with a renewed sense of hope, happiness and peace, which I wish all of you and your families.

Footnotes:

The Ramparts of 2010

Merry Christmas

Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people living life in peace

You, you may say
I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one
I hope some day you'll join us
And the world will be as one

Merry Christmas, folks. Have a wonderful and safe holiday season! 

Footnotes:

John Lenon's 1971 masterpiece Imagine continues to be listed among the 500 greatest songs of all time.

Posts of the Past - A Tag

Its been a long while since I did a tag and when DI, of Destination Infinity tagged me to do an interestingly different one, I felt elated.

The tag is about listing my favourite posts so far falling in seven different categories. Apart from the good-feel of doing this, I naturally enjoyed revisiting some of my posts of and from a very different time, often reliving the time and frame of mind when I originally made them.

My Most Beautiful Post(s) - Normally there should be one listing under each head, but this one time, I chose to make an exception, for writing about childhood and those wonderful yester-years are easily the very best, evoking a great sense of nostalgia and cheer. The Flowing Brook and Idyll's Dream are a two-part series, I wrote about on the recollections of childhood, at the insistence of fellow blogger Vimmuuu of V-Lokam. They will remain my most beautiful posts for all time to come.

My Most Popular Post - Darfur, among places, torn in strife and war, has always been very close to me. Its longstanding pain enduring a sea of humanitarian crisis is difficult to be escaped by anyone. On Wednesday, April 08, 2009, I wrote a post titled Living Darfur, outlining some statistics of this ravaged nation. To date, this has been my most popular post, and also the most visited. I continue to receive visitors from many countries, landing up on this post and quietly assimilating some very disturbing facts outlined therein.

My Most Controversial Post - Sometime in September 2009, Indian Home Minister P. Chidambaram reiterated a well-known fact about how rude people from Delhi were. Having lived there myself and experienced the trait first hand, I wrote Republic of Rudness, the message of which I still maintain today. Needless to say, some parts of the blog-world took offense and termed my post biased, while I was only repeating what the world already knew very well!

My Most Helpful Post - There's nothing like giving and being witness to another's growth. So, when I got a chance to do some very little of that on the blog, I jumped at the opportunity. And, "when on the morning of 30th June 2010, 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."

A Post whose success surprised me - Everyone has a Superhero, a dream icon, who has been a source of deep inspiration. For me that icon came from Krypton as Superman. One can imagine therefore the collision of ideology with a fellow-blogger who happens to an ardent fan of the spider, er, Spiderman, I mean. The wrangling with Vimmuu, on a post about who reigns supreme, soon caught on like wildfire and quite surprised me for the children we became in the process and also for the way in which it was received.

A Post, I feel, didn't get the attention it deserved - Having written close to some 400 posts now, over a period of 7 years, I have been very fortunate that a good deal of them have been appreciated. I don't think I could single out any one post as being one that hasn't quite gotten the attention it deserved. That, much of my writing has been taking in good stride and earned some bit of recognition in the blog-world, I'm certainly very happy and humbled. No complaints!

A Post that I am most proud of - I'm deeply reverent of my family and the wonderful things they have done for me. I don't find an occasion not to remember them for all the good in me and I believe that my strength comes from them in innumerable proportions. I wrote Praying Hands as a tribute to my Father, whose "remarkable resilience and his patience which has furthered my upbringing in the most positive manner. But for his toil and unconditional dedication, the wonderful side of me would never have been possible!" This remains the post that I am most proud of, and will be for all time to come. 

2011: Year in Review

Found quite an interesting video doing the rounds made by Google. Thought it good to make a post of it.

Vijay Divas

40 years come to pass since India's victory over Pakistan following the war of 1971.

This post is to honour all those martyrs who ensured India's victory and also to pay rich tribute to all those who unconditionally continue to do just that - specifically, a certain someone who continues to be 'out-there' braving all odds for the saintly cause of national sovereignty.

Unsung hero, almost a star on the wall - Redefining Oblivion remembers you in gratitude and goodwill. Fare well and long may you live. 

Keralà Carte

Its walkways hold memories of many lifetimes, embedded in deep recesses within the confines of the mind's coziness and the heart's warmth. They have seen many of us grow up and step in the realities of life.

Every pillar, every wall, every passage ....... has a story to tell of the lives we lived and the times we joyously shared, in togetherness or by ourselves. Its permanence and enormity in spirit will warm the cockles of even the coldest of hearts and lift the spirits of the most fallen.

This magnificent edifice has in it us, as much as we have within us it's gracious omnipresence, and so we are in the real sense one - of the same, as we will always be, forever and ever, always and all ways. 

Tri-States

1100 odd miles, 3 states, 9 days later and having met a 100 odd people, I write in awe of my trip of the tri-states as being among the most memorable journeys in life so far.

Taking a well-deserved break from regular life, and travelling through the vastness of nature's brilliance of epic proportions, there was a real sense of disconnect from the ordinary and a passage into the amazing.

A new-found sense of belonging enveloped within, reassuring me that I felt right and well there and not here, reiterating the fact that life is also about the choices we make.

Footnotes:

Picture taken by me en-route to Kerala. 

Remembering Akroyd

Perhaps the name Aurobindo Ghosh wouldn't resonate as much in the ear until one drops the second part of the name and pre-fixes the honorific Indian title of Sri against the remainder.

From being a staunch nationalist and freedom fighter, transformed in due course of time as a philosopher, guru of yoga and a poet of eminence, this man's words that "Man is a transitional being. He is not final. The step from man to superman is the next approaching achievement in the earth evolution. It is inevitable because it is at once the intention of the inner spirit and the logic of nature's process" hold immense significance.

For me Auroville in Pondicherry has been a calling for a long time now and I hope to realize that dream, should the 'will' permit.

Redefining Oblivion pays respectful homage to this exalted soul. It was on this day in 1950 that he attained immortality.

Footnotes:

Dr. Ghosh, Aurobindo's father, chose the middle name Akroyd, for his son, to honour his friend Annette Akroyd. 

The Great Melt

Sir David Attenborough's voice and narration unequivocally lend credence and effort to any conservation attempt, world-over. As much as nature fascinates us, Attenborough's mannerism and style of conveying the message with elaborate detail aided by painstakingly thorough research make his presentation extremely enjoyable and wholly involving.

Something in the manner in which he talks makes one feel instantly closer to nature and understand the nuances of an otherwise seemingly complex world.



Footnotes:

A video-grab from Nature's Greatest Events courtesy BBC One. 

The Big Picture

For sometime now, Boston Globe has been publishing some very interesting pictures gathered from all over the world on a wide-variety of happenstances that are mostly current.

I've been an ardent fan of 'The Big Picture' so much that it is one of only 4 bookmarks permanently residing on my browser book-marker, and that I find time to relish it almost every day.

Undoubtedly, among the most celebrated photo-blogs, it is quite a treat to visit this space for what it offers - a cross-section of the world at large. 

The Green Lungs of Chennai

There probably isn't another place within a bustling metropolis in India which is some three square kilometers and a national park! Guindy National Park in Chennai is a rare occurrence indeed, one which is a shining example of human-nature co-existence at its peaceful best.

I suspect wildlife of the future will be concentrated only within tiny pockets, such as these, which will beg to survive alongside human habitation. Given the enormous pressure commercialization and modernization seem to be exerting on natural biodiversity, it does not take an intelligent guess to estimate the future of these wonderful expanses of exquisitely rare beauty.

Having visited the adjoining areas of the park over the past weekend, I was compelled to draw a small parallel to the outskirts of Ooty.

Footnotes:

Once covering an area of 5 sq kms (1.93 sq mi) of one of the last remnants of tropical dry evergreen forest of the Coromandel Coast, Guindy Park was originally a game reserve. It was owned by a British citizen named Gilbert Rodericks from whom it was purchased by the government in 1821 for a sum of  Rs. 35,000. It was established as a Reserve Forest in 1910 - Sourced from Wikipedia.

Picture taken by me during the stroll. 

Inside Tamil Nadu

India's biggest vegetable baskets lie across the expanses of Tamil Nadu. Motoring through its heartland this past weekend, we discovered a land of exquisite sights and sounds, and these marvels even in the smallest measure satiate the senses no end.

Traversing a small part of this great wonder, lush with paddy fields, neem trees and coconut palms wet with padded fertile soil, one is treated to sublime ways of life happily disconnected from the maddening rush.

Simplicity and contentment greet us every step of the 339 odd miles we drive through. There is a heightened sense of peace and blissful coexistence with nature which unfailingly offers bounties to all those who call upon her.

As day gives way to dusk, the sound of temple bells thronging faintly in the distance is heard amidst the carousal cries of birds on tree tops settling in for the roost. Warm aromas of spices fill the air indicative of many a hearth working their way.

Truth is, life's greatest gifts are evidently for the picking, elementary and free! And to experience them in abundant measure - blessed to be blissful! 

Open Air Cinema

Some of the best treats in life are elementary in nature and I just about figured that watching a movie in an 'open-air ambiance' could well fit into that list!

This is precisely what we did sometime last week! Driving into a serene location studded with trees at the periphery, we relished a not so popular but impressive flick under the night sky!

I wonder how many of us could really take the time out for some difference that life has to offer!

Thankfully, I did and I enjoyed! ;-)

11 Eleven

Quite a rare occurrence indeed, this 11-11-11 11:11, but certainly intriguing to read the kind of 11th century discussions that this date has triggered online!

Stairway to Heaven

On this day in 1971, Led Zeppelin released Led Zeppelin IV which till date is America's third-best selling album ever. It included Stairway to Heaven, 'the widely-considered best rock song ever recorded.'

Jimmy Page, the founder of the band, in recognition of the legacy the song created, said "the wonderful thing about "Stairway" is the fact that just about everybody has got their own individual interpretation to it, and actually what it meant to them at their point of life. And that's what's so great about it. Over the passage of years people come to me with all manner of stories about what it meant to them at certain points of their lives. About how it's got them through some really tragic circumstances ... Because it's an extremely positive song, it's such a positive energy, and, you know, people have got married to [the song]."

Stairway to Heaven is an iconic tribute to music in the true sense. It is a timeless epic and the result of creative excellence that remains unmatched and probably will continue to be so for all time to come.

Here come the Monsoons

Need I say anything at all about the monsoons and the effect on places such as Chennai?

With ominously dark, gloomy skies heralding the oncoming of barrages of lashing rain, it is going to be quite depressing and massively inconvenient for normal life.

I'm quite tempted to say; 'Wake me up when December ends!'

:-(

Remembering Mrs. G

Prime Minister for a staggering four terms, known for her charisma, astute political sense and her ostentatious display of authority, Indira and India have remained synonymous in the minds of many Indians for a long time, gaining iconic status.

It is coincidental that, on this day, I find myself reading her biography, authored by Katherine Frank whose work is not merely a biography, but a splendidly candid almanac, with remarkable detail, offering a very deep insight into the life of a dynamically complex person.

While Indira will forever be known for a strong culture of nepotism that she fostered, the chronicles of her life by Frank is truly the result of painstaking research involving a great deal of meticulousness and detail the like of which is seldom matched.

Footnotes:

Indira: The Life of Indira Nehru Gandhi
Author: Katherine Frank
Hardcover: 592 pages
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (January 7, 2002)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 039573097X
ISBN-13: 978-0395730973

And Peace Reigns

It was on this day in 1962 that the dreaded Cuban Missile Crisis came to an end with Soviet Union ordering the removal of missile bases in Cuba. Those 14 days in October reminded the world of how perilously close it came to annihilation when the fate of millions literally hinged upon the ability of two men.

In the days that followed, when heaved sighs of relief were breathed in unison, across continents, and among echelons of power executives, one man's words would, in some ways, stand out in reassuring humanity's ardent commitment and, in many ways, desperate efforts to stall evil and maintain peace. Then American National Security Advisor, McGeorge Bundy, was reported to have remarked that “having come so close to the edge, we must make it our business not to pass this way again.”

Assuredly, nature has its own ways of reigning in the renegade and maintaining order to ensure that peace is preserved. Illogical and insane acts of obdurate and deranged minds will be crushed by their own misdemeanour and general good will eventually prevail, reassuring the rest that the world continues to be a virtuous abode for the just and worthy.

Footnotes:

Pictures taken by me on Diwali. 

Here come the Lights

May this Diwali help us in casting away all evil from our lives and signify the return of God in the ultimate form. 

Redefining Oblivion wishes you a very happy, prosperous and safe Diwali.