Smart one!

"In my next life I want to live my life backwards. You start out dead and get that out of the way. Then you wake up in an old people's home feeling better every day. You get kicked out for being too healthy, go collect your pension, and then when you start work, you get a gold watch and a party on your first day. You work for 40 years until you're young enough to enjoy your retirement. You party, drink alcohol, and are generally promiscuous, then you are ready for high school. You then go to primary school, you become a kid, you play. You have no responsibilities, you become a baby until you are born. And then you spend your last 9 months floating in luxurious spa-like conditions with central heating and room service on tap, larger quarters every day and then Voila! You finish off as an orgasm!" - Woody Allen

"Who says we don’t exercise ? we jump to conclusions, drag our feet, throw our weight around, stretch the truth, climb the ladder, pass the buck, beat around the bush, bend the rules and go around in circles !!"

It's spring fever. That is what the name of it is. And when you've got it, you want - oh, you don't quite know what it is you do want, but it just fairly makes your heart ache, you want it so!
~Mark Twain

Pick a new dream

The gap between the life you lead in your head and the life you actually live yawns wide.

You live in your dreams, but dreams may die.

Don't get shattered, never ever cry.

The world is big and has lots to give.

Pick a new dream... that's the way to live.

News at glance

Apna nation celebrates its 60th Republic Day. I spend some time surfing on the net and all the news discharging websites still talking of three subjects constantly – Barack Obama, Satyam Scam and Slumdog Millionaire.

The websites have a zillion pictures and copious info of Barack Obama’s inauguration when he was sworn in as America's 44th President. First 100 days of Obama’s presidency is what’s on news. Elected on a message of change – change is expected both in foreign and domestic policy. People are expecting so many things out of him not only in US of A but all around the world. A beacon of hope - he is put under a microscope by all the media and all his moves on daily basis are recorded to feed us with pleasure. His wife - his kids equally - with no exception.

Then there is this Satyam scandal going on where Ramalinga Raju admitted his massive fraud in manipulating the earnings to scrape in more money every quarter which resulted in the fudged amounts growing higher and higher. There have been a number of companies with very shady accounting practices and who indulge in such inappropriate business strategies, but Raju has been doing this for last couple of years and on a larger scale and trying to cover it up. The end result being, all the other Indian Software companies doubted to be tarnished.

Lastly the movie Slumdog Millionaire - God! Show mercy on this one. An interesting rags-to-riches love story interwoven finely amidst a backdrop of a reality game show and most impoverished environs of the country we call slums, narrated in a fascinating manner and coupled with stirring music of A R Rahman. The movie has been the talk of the town for quite sometime now. Has received so much of flak for nothing. I mean - a movie is a movie is a movie. Film critics might as well stop frittering away their time for all the dent they make on moviegoers for watching a decent movie and appreciating it. A good movie is just a good movie no matter who the film maker is – doesn’t matter whether he is an Indian or a foreigner. The purpose of the movie is to just sit and enjoy the movie for what it is meant to be. The movie after winning 4 Golden Globes is all set to head for Oscars scooping in 10 nominations in different categories which by the way is remarkable... SO, will Slumdog Millionaire win the Oscars ?? Now that’s a millionaire question in itself, but truth be told… I give a damn! It has already managed to stir a BILLION HEARTS which I think is a phenomenal achievement for any film maker.

The weather has changed for the better. Sunday’s snowfall has gone as suddenly as it had come, sliding down the sides of the buildings and disappearing into the drains. And the sun is all bright and swell in the skies pouring luxuriously from all the windows. A good day so far for bathing in the sunshine for my vital vitamin D. Very important therapy these days here.

“If you want to walk quick, walk alone. But if you want to walk far, walk together!” - African saying

Quotable quotes

It is always good to ponder and today was no different... Here are some interesting quotes. Each one heavy with compassion and fact.

“Do not be disappointed if the world refuses to help you out. Remember the words of Einstein - ‘I am thankful to all those that said NO. Its because of them that I did it myself’.”

“Love yourself. Flirt with your understanding. Romance with dreams. Get engaged with simplicity. Marry genuineness. Divorce the ego. That is a good life !”

“If you find the whole world against you and you are alone, what will you do ? Just turn around and you will become a leader of the whole world.”

“The road to fulfillment is never a straight line; learn to navigate the twists and turns and you will find something of value in every result.”

“It is hard to wait for something you know might never happen - but, its even harder to give it up when you know its that very thing you wanted”

“What is forgiveness ? Its the wonderful smell a flower gives when it is being crushed”

“ Death is not the greatest loss in life. The greatest loss is what dies inside us while we live.”

“The strategy of life is so very strange, just when we have all the answers, life changes the question !”

"There are only two questions that human beings have ever fought over, all through history. 'How much do you love me?' And, 'Who's in charge?' Everything else is somehow manageable. But these two questions of love and control undo us all, trip us up and cause war, grief, and suffering." — Elizabeth Gilbert (Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia)

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaosto order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow. - Melody Beattie

The best is only bought at the cost of great pain

"There is a legend about a bird which sings just once in its life, more sweetly than any other creature on the face of the earth. From the moment it leaves the nest it searches for a thorn tree, and does not rest until it has found one. Then, singing among the savage branches, it impales itself upon the longest, sharpest spine. And, dying, it rises above its own agony to out-carol the lark and the nightingale. One superlative song, existence the price. But the whole world stills to listen, and God in His heaven smiles. For the best is only bought at the cost of great pain…or so says the legend".

-Colleen McCullough

Funny!

Someone very close to me was reminded of his childhood chemistry teacher Kartik Tilakam, a tamilian who also filled in for some of their English lessons.
The teacher had a very peculiar way of announcing the word ‘Moon’ whenever it appeared in the text and that sounded very funny. He always went like – A ‘yum a ‘woh’ a yet another ‘woh’ and a ‘yen’ is MOON.

I was quickly reminded of a similar incident, from my post graduation days, where a lecturer teaching Industrial Microbiology was giving a lecture on Brewing. He frequently bumped into a word we hardly could make sense of… he kept saying ‘cham-pa-ge-nee’ as if it were to be some female sounding name like ‘Champakali’, only later realizing that he was referring to ‘Champagne’ – an alcoholic beverage!

It’s funny how some people are peculiar with what they say and what they do and just stick to what they believe in and never bother if things fall in general norms of acceptance.

Kind of amused me today!

-Manasi

Destiny

Eat, Pray, Love addresses so much about the human condition on so very many levels. It is a veritable gold mine of insights, sage advice, and exquisite writing. There are sentences I would read and get so lost in, I could not proceed and would instead close the book and savor every word contained in it.

I would like to share here an excerpt Liz Gilbert says about Destiny that I really like:

Destiny, I feel, is also a relationship – a play between divine grace and willful self effort. Half of it you have no control over; half of it is absolutely in your hands, and your actions will show measurable consequence. Man is neither entirely a puppet of gods, nor is he entirely the captain of his own destiny; he’s a little of both. We gallop through our lives like circus performers balancing on two speeding side-by-side horses - one foot is on the horse called “fate”, the other on the horse called “free will.” And the question you have to ask everyday is - which horse is which? Which horse do I need to stop worrying about because it’s not under my control and which do I need to steer with concentrated effort?

This makes me wonder… Ain’t it very true … that god’s timetable plays a major role in designing our destiny and your destiny is not always the one you seek, but always the one that finds you?

-Manasi

Believe it or not!

'Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia' is the fear of long words.

My Favorite Sounds ...

With senses, we discover the world around us - our amplified powers of perception, expanded sense of hearing and reception, our mounted sense of touch and feeling, our distended aptitude of olfaction, our heightened gift of taste and piquancy, our increased capacity for reason, love and happiness, all of which are qualities we develop over time.

An enlightening pastime is to make a list of favorite things that impact the senses. Not only does it provide a challenging exercise for the mind and memory, but it sharpens our appreciation of these golden moments in time… Besides the sound of music there are sounds that make me exhilarated and alive or quite and calm… Let me share with you my ten favorite sounds.

Melodious singing of the Koel (Nightingale) in the dawn or at dusk in the month of May during our summer vacations.

Geet and Sangeet are the soul of any Indian wedding. We as kids always scurried to our gates to the sounds of a ‘Baraat’ – A marriage procession passing by for their loud band, dance and merry.

The shrill sound the aero plane made every time, passing over our heads when it either took off or was about to land long back when we lived very close to the airport.

The sound of a cheerful baby chuckling in amusement for something it doesn’t even know or recognize.

The sounds of the water in a running stream or a gushing waterfall or lapping by the shore.

The harmonious notes of the wind chime coming from the patio of a house on the top floor in the lane opposite to mine.

An overcrowded stadium singing the national anthem.

The gentle breeze of the wind whooshing through the trees.

Sounds of silence – utter and complete. Perfect silence while watching the moon and the stars. Absolute silence in the mountain lake at sunset.

The softness in Love calling ‘Sweeto’ when back home after work.

-Manasi

“All of nature begins to whisper its secrets to us through its sound. Sounds that were previously incomprehensible to our soul now become the meaningful language of nature.” - Rudolf Steiner

Purpose

The word "Purpose" haunts the heck out of me today.

I think this quote says it all -

The purpose of life is not to be happy - but to matter, to be productive, to be useful, to have it make some difference that you have lived at all. ~Leo Rosten

Eureka!

Hey... have you ever noticed, how if you have an unresolved problem, that you just cannot find a solution to, all you need to do is sleep on it?
This is very true for code.
What seems to be a big jumble at 1am, comes together in minutes at 5am. Believe me. And the bliss is inexplicable!

-Manasi

Most Beautiful Words In English I Like

I was just wondering as to what and how would I answer if someone asked me, the twenty most beautiful words I could think of, in English. That’s something to ponder upon. ... Let’s begin, I would say and quickly jot down the words here, not necessarily in the order from one to twenty. And why do I consider them beautiful? I would say, they simply sound beautiful to my ears and also for what they really mean. I would add by saying, I definitely like their usage while they are uttered, when they are listened to or even tripping on them occasionally while reading. Actually you know what, nothing special about them. Still, for some reason they go right through me and love the way they make me feel and I guess are dearer to me.

Inorder to embellish their essence, listed below are quotable quotes for each of these words that I consider most beautiful in English.

Sweetheart - "That life is richer, sweeter far, for such a sweetheart as you are!”

Mother - Most of all the other beautiful things in life come by twos and threes, by dozens and hundreds. Plenty of roses, stars, sunsets, rainbows, brothers and sisters, aunts and cousins, but only one mother in the whole world." ~ Kate D. Wiggins

Butterfly -"Just living is not enough," said the butterfly, "one must have sunshine, freedom and a little flower." ~ Hans Christian Anderson

Chocolate - "All I really need is love, but a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt! Forget love - I'd rather fall in chocolate!!!"

Enthusiasm - "If you aren't fired with enthusiasm, you will be fired with enthusiasm." ~ Vince Lombardi

Eternity - "To see a world in a grain of sand,
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,
And eternity in an hour.”
~ William Blake, "Auguries of Innocence," 1810

Laughter - "Laughter is the best medicine" ~ Proverb quotes

Delicious - "Fudge is a noun, a verb, an interjection, and delicious!" ~ Jessi Lane Adams

Tranquility - "Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquility." ~ William Wordsworth

Twinkle - "Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are.
Up above the world so high,
Like a diamond in the sky.
Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are!" ~ Jane Taylor

Fantastic - "Until we're educating every kid in a fantastic way, until every inner city is cleaned up, there is no shortage of things to do." ~ Bill Gates

Darling - The poet's darling. ~ William Wordsworth, "To the Daisy"

Amazing - I thank you God for this most amazing day, for the leaping greenly spirits of trees, and for the blue dream of sky and for everything which is natural, which is infinite, which is yes. - E.E. Cummings

Moments - "Life gives us brief moments with another...but sometimes in those brief moments we get memories that last a life time..."

Fragrance - "Love is like a beautiful flower which I may not touch, but whose fragrance makes the garden a place of delight just the same" ~ Helen Keller

Hippopotamus - “There is an eagle in me that wants to soar, and there is a hippopotamus in me that wants to wallow in the mud” ~ Carl Sandburg

Passion - If passion drives you, let reason hold the reins. ~ Benjamin Franklin

Sunshine - "It takes both rain and sunshine to make a rainbow."

Tomato - "A world without tomatoes is like a string quartet without violins." ~ Laurie Colwin

Dreams - "Dreams are like stars...you may never touch them, but if you follow them they will lead you to your destiny."

When I researched a bit on this I found that the British Council, the government agency that promotes British culture around the globe, quizzed more than 40,000 people in 102 non-English speaking countries on their favorite words. According to the survey results, the top ten most beautiful words in the English language are as follows:

Mother
Passion
Smile
Love
Eternity
Fantastic
Destiny
Freedom
Liberty
Tranquility

-Manasi

Eyemotion!

When an eye captures an emotion I call it an Eyemotion!

I came across this wonderful picture when I was doing my little research on Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. Two tiny ducklings happily paddling around in a white tea cup with spillover water around the cup... I simply loved the picture for the sheer joy it exuded out of me by mere looking at it for its kalos kai agathos as the Greeks called which is nothing but the singular balance of the good and the beautiful.

-Manasi

What Did You Do Today?

This is a good one!

One afternoon a man came home from work to find total mayhem in his house. His three children were outside, still in their pajamas, playing in the mud, with empty food boxes and wrappers strewn all around the front yard. The door of his wife's car was open, as was the front door to the house.
Proceeding into the entry, he found an even bigger mess. A lamp had been knocked over, and the throw rug was wadded against one wall. In the front room the TV was loudly blaring a cartoon channel, and the family room was strewn with toys and various items of clothing.
In the kitchen, dishes filled the sink, breakfast food was spilled on the counter, dog food was spilled on the floor, a broken glass lay under the table, and a small pile of sand was spread by the back door.
He quickly headed up the stairs, stepping over toys and more piles of clothes, looking for his wife. He was worried she may be ill, or that something serious had happened. He found her lounging in the bedroom, still curled in the bed in her pajamas, reading a novel. She looked up at him, smiled, and asked how his day went.
He looked at her bewildered and asked, "What happened here today?"
She again smiled and answered, "You know every day when you come home from work and ask me what in the world did I do today?"
"Yes" was his incredulous reply.
She answered, "Well, today I didn't do it."

“Yes, it's hard to write, but it's harder not to.”

My posts have been very mechanical lately and I know that, but I blog anyway, even if I have little to say of real interest.

It is about discipline and for some reason I find this stuff easy to do, just throw words at your key pad and hit publish. Perhaps it is because I have done enough historical research (for fun) to know that what is interesting now is not necessarily the most interesting thing for people at a later time.

So if I haven’t blogged for awhile, I will sit down and write something, anything as long as it is done.

My apologies to those who read blogs looking for well written, insightful posts and get tangled with my irrelevant literature. I don’t actually think I write anything well or insightful, but I strive and will sure come up with something interesting very soon ....till then....cheerio!

Write to be understood, speak to be heard, read to grow...

-Manasi

"Oh come on! That hurt a little!"

Have you ever wondered which hurts the most: saying something and wishing you had not, or saying nothing, and wishing you had?

Cool one!

This one is real cool to lighten my day!

The Lone Ranger and Tonto went camping in the desert. After they got their tent all set up, both men fell sound asleep.
Some hours later, Tonto wakes the Lone Ranger and says, "Kemosabe, look towards sky, what you see?"
The Lone Ranger replies, "I see millions of stars."
"What that tell you?" asked Tonto.
The Lone Ranger ponders for a minute then says,

"Astronomically speaking, it tells me there are millions of galaxies and potentially billions of planets.

Astrologically, it tells me that Saturn is in Leo.
Time wise, it appears to be approximately a quarter past three in the morning.
Theologically, the Lord is all-powerful and we are small and insignificant.
Meteorologically, it seems we will have a beautiful day tomorrow.
What's it tell you, Tonto?"
“You dumber than buffalo chip. Someone stole the tent."

-Manasi

The only way to avoid mistakes is to gain by experience. The only way to gain experience …is to make a mistake.