Special grant to madrasas to celebrate Independence Day

Rediff reports that according to the 11th five year plan, madrasas will be given special grants to celebrate Independence day and Republic day. WTF??

Dialogue

Location: A completely and totally deserted Science A building in University of Calgary
Actors: Yours truly and random, dressed to threaten man

YT is watching talk by Vandana Shiva on Bigpicture.tv. RDDTM is walking by the area and suddenly decides to accost YT.

RDTTM: Grrrr... hmmmm.. As-Salamu Alaykum
YT: (taken by surprise) hmmmm.. what?
RDTTM: Can't you understand? As-Salamu Alaykum.. Blah blah blah blah blah (says something in an unknown language)
YT: Sorry. I cannot understand your langauge.
RDTTM: (With a total sense of disbelief) Oh!! Where are you from
YT: (Giving him a stare and pausing for a few brief seconds) Heaven
RDTTM: What??? Which country are you from? Pakistan?
YT: No
RDTTM: Iran
YT: No. (Pausing again for a few seconds) Hmmm... India
RDTTM: Ohhhh.... (With a super scornful voice and look) oh... India..

and then RDTTM walks away.

I have been accosted by random people in such a not so comfortable manner in India but this is the first time in Canada. Was fun!!

Meri Maa

This song from 'Taare Zameen Par' absolutely kills. Anyone who has seriously experienced depression due to loneliness can relate to this so well. Stories of loneliness, stories of depression are'nt helpful to relate. First hand experience of loneliness, first hand experience of seeing so many faces around but none to talk, first hand experience of a desperation inside for some stranger to talk to you and enquire about you is needed. If you have that, you certainly can relate to this.

Tips to avoid procrastination in grad school

• Setup your favorite browsers homepage to your supervisors web page

• Get a photo of your supervisor and put it on your desktop

• Change the alias of all your friends on your instant messenger to your supervisors name.

• Get your friends to threaten you that you will be washing chopsticks in some restaurant if you don't work.
  

Unless you are extremely inventive in identifying means to procrastinate, this will help a great deal. :D

Money

50hrs a week we spend
on work with no useful end
work which only enables us to spend
pointless to do that till life's end

We call ourselves mankind
sadly most of us are not kind
lifetimes go waste in search of richness
causing paucity of time and energy for kindness

Food we eat when hungry
but money we search even when not needy
food we stock for its lifetime
money we stock for our lifetime
the more food we eat, the less we need
the more money we earn, the more we need

Consciously getting out of this madness
shifting ones consciousness from richness
and placing it on kindness
will cull mankind's sadness

Wish I could open up to my blindness
my blindness to my greediness
wish I could cull my madness
and chip in my two cents for the common happiness

It rained cats

An interesting tidbit that a friend alerted me to my mail - Operation Cat drop. This event so beautifully explains the interconnectedness of everything and how badly a incomplete view of nature can screw up things.

Unbroken continuum

Sense it
the unbroken continuum
that pervades and
that which is omnipresent
that which is between every pair of objects
visible and invisible

Between you and the tree out there
the tree and the bird above it
the bird and the sky above it
the sky and the sun above it
and between you and the sun too

Its right here
the continuum
right now
and its always been here
and will always be
can you sense it?

Gujarat CM roots for extra-constitutional killings!!!

Modi owns up Sohrab killing

Can Indian politics stoop lower? Is there a theoretical lower bound on how low they could go? So spookily reminds one of Hitler saying 'If the Jews didn't exist, we would have to invent them'.

Ek Calgary mein ek partha raghu thatha

If you are not familiar with tamil movies, the above title will not make sense. If you did'nt get the above title, get someone familiar with tamil movies to explain the context of this scene - 'ek gaon mein' (Oh yeah.. ridiculously horrible acting.. but once you know the context and the fact that very few tams know Hindi, it is really funny). My hindi learning experience in Calgary has been similar :).

1.) Was speaking to a friend about Sanskrit and suddenly realized that another good friend's father is a Sanskrit professor and I turned to him and said...

'Tera baap sanskrit ka prof hai na?'

The reply came with a rather unusual stern face, 'Saala.. kya bol rahe ho?' :D

Took some explanation to make him understand that it was an error... hehe..


2.) Was teaching another friend tamil and was explaining relationships in tamil. That day I was teaching relationships and was explaining the tamil word 'periyamma', which refers to ones mom's elder sister. I did'nt know the hindi word for that relationship and hence explained it. Unfortunately, after I started explaining, I forgot the word for elder in hindi for a crucial few seconds and I ended up saying..

'Teri maa kee................' (long pause) :D and then I said.. 'badi bahen ko kaise bulavoge'?

Her face turned red and she said.. 'kameena.. gaali kyoon de rahe ho... maine kya kiya?'

Thankfully, she knew my Hindi skills and we both had a good laugh when we realized it :)


3.) Went to a friends house for some puja during Diwali and found a photo of some old guru. Wanted to feign interest on the guru and wanted to ask his name and so I asked..

'Uska naam kya hai' :D

'Unnnnkaaaaaa'... was the stern reply..... :)


... and so continues my hindi escapades!!!!

Material and its beauty.

Material world, made of matter is so beautiful ..
Material world, a reflection of the immense spiritual world ..
Material world is for our understanding to get into the spiritual world ..
Life is so beautiful when we understand this and use materiality to cross the ocean of life.

Wisdom

I had been to the edge of my life,
I saw wisdom ..

Where were you when I lived,
Why do show up when I die ..?

I was searching for you outside,
keeping you inside,
lived and died an unreal life ..

To live what I saw,
In this life,
I turn my ..

wishes as real,
ego as nothing,
material as divine, and
divine as life ..

As I find myself,
I find you .. and will find ..

the death is no end,
the birth is no beginning,
the life is a continued story,
the present is only real ...

the wisdom I saw long long ago !

ஞானம்

வாழ்வின் எல்லைக்கு சென்றீருந்தேன்,
கண்டேன் ஞானத்தை ...

முடிவில் தோன்றிய ஞானம்,
வாழ்வில் தோன்றவில்லையே ? ...

எது மறைத்தது என்னை,
தேடீனேனே உன்னை,
கண்டது வெறும் மண்ணை ...

முன் இறப்பில் தோன்றிய ஞானம்,
இப்பிறப்பில் அறிய ...

ஆசையை கலைத்து,
அகத்தினை எரித்து,
பொருளை இறையாக்கி,
இறையை வாழ்வாக்கி,
வாழ்கிறேன் என்னை.

வாழ்ந்து ..

நான் .. நானா௧ ...
நானா௧ .. நீயாக ...

அன்றும், இன்றும், என்றும் ஒன்றென ...
பிறப்பும், இறப்பும் பொய்யென ...
நேரமூம், காலமும் இன்றென ...
பெற்றென் இஞ்ஞானத்தை.

Delhi, Gujarat, Nandigram

1984 - Delhi anti-sikh riots


2002 - Gujarat riots


2007 - Nandigram pogrom

Congress was in power for the first one, BJP in power during the second and the CPI(M) in power for the third one. Can you find any difference between the three?

God and Satan

Neither is needed for good and bad events. The best of actions that the human mind can ever conceive can be and regularly gets done by humans and the worst evil act that the human mind can ever synthesize regularly gets committed by humans.

கேட்டேன்

அச்சம் அறியா இதயம் கேட்டேன்
ஆசை அருக்கும் வல்லமை கேட்டேன்
இயற்கை நானே என்ற உணர்வு கேட்டேன்
ஈசனை எங்கும் காட்டும் பார்வை கேட்டேன்
உண்மை உறைக்கும் ஆற்றல் கேட்டேன்
ஊழ் வெல்லும் திண்மை கேட்டேன்
எண்ணம் விண்நோக்கி செல்ல கேட்டேன்
ஏக்கம் இல்லா நாள் கேட்டேன்
ஜந்தும் என் சொல் பணிய கேட்டேன்
ஒற்றுமை எங்கும் நிலைக்க கேட்டேன்
ஓயாமல் உழைத்திடும் உடல் கேட்டேன்
ஔழதம் கேட்கா யாக்கை கேட்டேன்

One night of solitude

It was 2 am in the morning and Sheeba wakes up with huge bang in her head. Her whole body was shaking and there was intense pain in the back of her head as if a thousand needles were injected together! Heart thumping faster than ever... she could hear her heartbeat. With shaky hands, she touches her temple to feel the nerves.. lo! they were bulging out and were beating equally fast! Looked like her heart and head were competing with each other.

"Hmm... Am I dying? Or am I having a nervous breakdown or was it a bad dream that left me in this state?".. She asked herself. Without even a clue of what was happening to her, she sat down and tried calming herslef. Picked up the bottle of water by her bedside and drank it all in one go! It tasted different! Sheeba felt her forehead again.. no.. it was as cold as ice! No trace of fever. Her hands and feet were freezng too! She was thinking to herself.. this could be an effect of a very bad dream or an indication of falling sick. To avoid panicking, she sat down on her bed, heart and head still beating fast.. closed her eyes and tried calming herself. Immediately a series of pictures started flashing in front of her eyes. She felt as if she was watching a slide presentation of her life! Pictures after pictures... more pictures kept rolling..

Her life as a kid, school, parents, family, friends, home town, different experiences, work place, beautiful mountains, places she had visited.. everything kept rolling one after the other. Pictures of her brother, the games they played, the fights they had, the arguments they had, the warm hugs.. she opened her eyes. "No, this is no good. I should not get lost in my past right now. I need to get some sleep.. have a long day to go tomorrow".. she tells to herself and decides not to drown in flow of picturesque memories instead grab some sleep before she geared up for a long day ahead.

She sinks back into her bed, hides herself under the warmth of her comforter. 5, 10, 15... 30 min pass and she would not get any sleep. She was completely awake and her brain was active. Suddenly she remembers her mother saying "start counting when you cannot get sleep. That would put you to sleep immediately". So, she starts counting.. 1, 2, 3... goes on and on and after sometime she realizes that she had counted over a thousand and still no sleep! Hmm.. she chuckles and feels happy that she had disproved her mother! Immediately she picks up the phone and calls her mother. When the number was being connected, she has several thoughts running in her mind. "What if mom is asleep? or what if she is busy with some work or what if she is not at home, what if she gets scared that I have called her up at this unusual hour?" .. Her fingers press the off button involuntarily. " No.. I need to talk to her. I cannot stop this urge". Sheeba dials the number again...and disconnects it once again when she has those thoughts. "Oh.. what is wrong with my fingers? Why can't they stop this nonsense?" She grins and after sometime repeats it again. After several such attempts, she finally decides not to do that anymore and divert her attention at something else.

Well, how about talking to a close friend? She picks up the phone again and dials his number. "Well, would he be annoyed? Or maybe he would get worried. Possibly he may even come to see me if Im ok. Oh.. it is not reasonable to wake him up at this hour and trouble him. I will not do this." She tells herself and disconnects. But within seconds, she was redialling his number. Again... has series of thoughts and feels like it would be weird to call him up at that hour and disconnects. Her fingers would not listen to her anymore. Involuntarily they would press the redial button and she would then disconnect it within a few seconds. This goes on and on..

"Hmm.. what am I doing? Let me do something else instead of crazily pressing buttons over the phone", she said to herself. Her head was still heavy. To get rid of the pain, she swallows a pill. Since it would take sometime for the pill to be effective, she picks up a book "Blindness" and starts reading. As she goes through the first few pages, she realizes that it is a depressing book talking about a city where everyone are blind. There was no point in reading it anymore. Thinking this, she puts the book back in its place and looks around in her room.. hopeful of finding something interesting to do. Suddenly she gets a thought.. "why not clean the room?" Sheeba had always been a well organized person. Her room was clean as usual. But to keep herself engaged, she decides to clean her room and starts organizing stuff on her table, her bookshelf, clothes.. within an hour she had cleaned up the whole place again! She had a smile on her face. At the same time she had a feeling.. a feeling of loneliness.. she felt like crying. Falling back into her bed, she covers her face with her hands and starts weeping. Tears just keep rolling.. nonstop!

It had been quite sometime since she was staying alone, away from her home, away from her parents.. and she had been through so much of pain, fear and loneliness that she had no clue of what kind of mixed feelings she had in her mind. It was as if the tears were not just tears, but bundles of emotions wrapped up into small crystals of water! She wept and wept for quite long until her eyes would not produce anymore tears. Then she felt much better. Her heart was now less heavier. It was about 6am by then.

Sheeba walked over to the window, and looked out. It had snowed outside, very mild, and it looked as if someone had painted it all white with a paintbrush. A squirrel was actively looking for food. She watched the squirrel for sometime and felt happy that it was lonely too.. but very active. Sheeba's life had been so full of experiences. Every experience had taught her something new. Some experiences had filled in more energy and enthusiasm in her and some had left her devastated. But she had made sure to fight back and keep moving ahead. Watching the very active squirrel, she suddenly felt like she had new enthusiasm filled in her again. A night of extreme solitude had helped her relieve pain and filled her with new energy.

With a huge smile on her face she goes into the kitchen to make herself some coffee...

Farm suicides

1.5 lakh farm suicides from 1997 to 2005
Farm suicides rising, most intense in 4 States

Read these two articles on 'The Hindu'. The five States Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh (including Chattisgarh) and Kerala are the ones that have the stigma of having the most farm suicides. This is depressing news indeed. Of course, no one cares. If Sensex falls by 1000 points, the whole country will be worried about the bloodbath on dalal street. What makes this news more poignant is that except AP, none of these states are water starved. Makes one wonder... hmmm...

Fear

"Am I afraid?" I pose this question to myself every time I am in an introspective mood. Invariably the answer is yes. The follow up question would be 'What is it that I am afraid of?' Invariably, I am unable to nail it. I am not able to make a roster of things that scare me to death. Is it that the list (if it exists) is too complex for me to put down or is it that I am confused? Or is it just that I am afraid to face reality? Is it the same with everyone else too?

Our lives these days are full of "Fear". At every stage of our lives we fear. From the little kid to the dying old man.... all have fear.

Fear of failing, fear of falling, fear of not getting admission into school, fear of not getting a job, fear of loving, fear of being loved, fear of loneliness, fear of being in a crowd, fear of not getting married, fear of not having an affair, fear of having a relationship, fear of not having a relationship, fear of not finding the right partner, fear of infections, fear of diseases, fear of being adventurous, fear of not having a good luxurious life, fear of speaking, fear of not being liked, fear of being judged.... and the list goes on! Just endless!

Lets forget the fears of physical harm and look more at the emotional fears. These emotional fears take a huge toll on our lives. We are no more what we are. We hide ourselves in a cocoon of fears and portray a completely different "self" fitting into all the norms and patterns that which the society calls "Normal". As time progresses, we get sufficiently inured to these fears that we start fearing losing these fears coz we become the sum total of all our fears. We become non-entities without our fears.

The classic example of fear taking a toll would be the unfortunate truth that our 'likes' and 'dislikes' are dictated by our fears. Fear of being judged a non-conformist, fear of being rejected, fear of being a failure, fear of not being accepted and many other variants of these fears decides what we like and what we don't like. Thus, we set agendas to our emotions. Starting from the simplest thing to the most significant things, our fears rule the roost.

This split within ourselves, between what we actually are and what our fear makes us be, has horrifying consequences. It reduces a human, full of emotions and possibilities, into a machine at best and a corpse at worst. Externally, the person has a shape and form, but internally, unbeknownst to the rest of the world, the person has a totally differnt shape and form. A large chunk of the persons life is wasted in arbitrating the fight between these two parts. Just contemplate for a minute about the scenario when this fight stops. In my humble opinion, its so splendorous and wonderful. The possibilities are huge and the person will live his/her life to the fullest.

The fact is, we all suffer from "Multiple Personality Disorder(MPD)". We mask ourselves into different personalities and portray them as and when it fits. Why is it then only a few people are treated for MPD??... when the whole society is sufferring from this disorder? Can something be done about this?

Unless our fears do not harm anyone else and also we do not land up being "paranoids of fear", affecting ourselves completely, it is reasonable to have some amount of fear. The best we can do is, stop doubting everything and anything and stop having agendas for our emotions! Just be ourselves and give room for some lunacy every now and then and let our emotions flow.

After a month long of continuous fear, introspection, retrospection, discussion with friends... I have been able to answer my question partially...

Atleast now, I can face the reality and proudly say that "Yes, I am afraid" and treat myself with some lunacy that we all crave for, but never really have the courage to do it in real because we are all bugged by the huge bug of "Fear"!

Diwali Special!

The Diga was gloomy one afternoon... reason being... she had seen some videos of child labourers in Sivakasi that morning. A good enough reason for anyone on earth to feel sad about...

To calm down her feelings, she calls her not so amiable friend.. the Tam for a walk. They walk for a while silently. The Tam is confused about this behavior of the often overzealous diga. Not able to tolerate the silence anymore, he goes...

Tam: Hey diga! What's up? Why are you so gloomy and silent today? Is everything ok with you? Is anything wrong with your work or any problem at home? Speak up!

Diga: Saako... sumniro!(enough.. keep quite). Im in no mood to talk today.

Tam: Why? What happened? Never saw you so reticent.. Please tell me..

Diga: You tams! You are murderers!

(The tam is taken aback suddenly...)

Tam: What are you blabberring? Why are you calling us murderers? Are you nuts?

Diga: Nuts? You call me nuts? You... you tams... you kill children! Have you seen the Sivakasi video?

Tam being a proud tam... never could he take such a blame. He goes...

Tam: Diga.. think and speak! Do not say like that. We do not kill children. By the way, which video are you talking about? What Sivakasi? What murder?
I do not know anything about it!

All I know is, Sivakasi is the largest suppliers of crackers in India. And that is a reason to be proud of!

When I was working in Bangalore... on the day of diwali, I could not find a shop selling crackers! Later on I got to know that crackers are sold out of the city in some stupid playground! Ridiculous! During diwali you do not have crackers. And to get one.. you have to travel out of the city! What a diga nation! No crackers! Im proud that in my tam nation we make crackers and burn as many as we want!

This was enough for the diga to become outrageous. Without a second thought she jumps at the tam.. and punches him on his face and shouts...

Diga: You tam! You idiot tam! You have child labourers in your nation! And you support it! Ridiculous! I hate you!

Tam: Hey hey.. stop this! Child labour is in every state in India. Show me one state which does not have child labourers. People in glass buildings should not be throwing stones on others.

Diga: Shut up!

Tam: Have you visited the hotels and messes in Bangalore?? Everywhere kids are seen working.

At this the diga shouts at the top of her voice..

Diga: Atleast we do not burn kids alive!

Tam: Hmmm...atleast we kill only ourselves.. not others..

Diga: Shut up you idiot! You kill kids.. what could be more gruelling crime than this?

Tam: You buy the products... stop importing crackers from tam land

Diga: You have policy notes for child labour..but nothing is done. We too have.. but atleast we have policies for every taluk and such a brutal crime is not prevalent in diga nation.

Tam: Stop buying crackers from Sivakasi then. You buy all the crackers and instigate the villains to employ the kids

Diga: Ha! You may say that you are the one who are supplying 90% of the fireworks demand in the country. Thats appreciable. But it shouldn't be achieved at the cost of children's health, education and prosperity. And you.. being an intellectual.. you support it... even if it is for the sake of argument

Tam: Hmmm.. thats not true. Lots of things are bad. Today is the first time you have brought up this issue. I say surrender.. Satisfied?

Diga: Well... surrender... but im not satisfied... Im brutally unforgiving.

Tam: Hmmmm...that is indeed a big problem :( cracker factories no doubt.

Diga: I will never burst crackers ever again. I promise myself.

Tam: Great!!!

Diga: What about you?

Tam: Definitely not.

Diga: What not? You will not burst or not promise?

Tam: aaha... lawyer diga! Diga MA BL
I will not burst crackers
pothumaaaaaaaaa????

Diga: Never in your life...

Tam: Yup yup. For sure
No way will I burst crackers

Diga: Neither will you ever allow anyone in your family or friends to do so. I mean.. atleast you will try to stop them.

Tam: yes yes

Diga: Good!

Tam: Finally I can see some smile on my diga's face! Thank god!

The diga gives a broad smile... and then they continue walking silently again... and the diga starts...

Diga: Hey you stupid tam.. have you seen those videos??

And the fight continues....

PS: Check out these links about the Sivakasi child labourers.

1. http://www.nerve.in/news:25350098091
2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zt6YLUnWCsc
3. http://www.indianexpress.com/story/236541.html

Sex education

A person whom I have met a few times in Chennai said the following in a discussion on this topic in a mailing list I subscribe too. I loved this.

... more than sex education, gender education would be great where stereotypes about each gender are broken down, so that boys don't end up being sexually frustrated, misogynistic men and girls don't end up being subservient men haters...

All I want to say is... Amen!!!

World Bank to give $944 mn loan to India

This news item appeared in rediff today.

Laozi, philosopher in ancient China, said in his book 'Tao te Ching' that 'thorn bushes spring up wherever the army has passed'. I think that statement could be adopted to our times too. We could say that pollution, exploitation and resource depletion will spread on an epidemic scale in all places the World bank and the IMF have cast their eyes on.

The world bank is NOT our nice neighbourhood well to do man whom we can rely on to take care of our sudden financial needs. It is controlled primarily by the american government which in turn is controlled by transnational corporations. So, no such benevolent act of world bank comes without threads attached. You can find tonnes of resources on the Internet and possibly in your local bookstore on the workings of the World bank. One starting point could be this site - '50 years is enough'.

The news item referred to earlier does not mention what concessions India had to make to the all powerful TNC's to get this loan. It would be interesting to know them. Also, it explicitly states that 64 of the 944 million dollars is going to Karnataka. Caveat diga nation!!!

Sports

The Tam was having a tough time that day. He had a longer than the usual 3 hour meeting with his supervisors. That meeting went on for 6 hours. No. They were not trying to figure out the meaning of life. They were just trying to get that elusive proof needed for the Tam to complete his thesis. Also, he had a reasonably big fight with one of his supervisors on some lemma. The Tam really wanted to say 'Thesis sign pannatiyum kutram kutrame!!!' (A parody on a old tamil saying. A poet has a fight with Lord Shiva and says to the lord that even if you open your third eye, a mistake is a mistake. This one by the Tam means, even if you don't sign my thesis, a mistake is a mistake). But, alas, he never got to say that as the person whom he was having the fight was not Indian. Nevertheless, after such a tiring meeting, he went to the digas house for dinner.

No matter what the other persons mental state is, these two can never talk for more than 30 mts without a fight.

Diga: Did you see the cricket match yesterday? We got so badly thrashed by the Aussies.

Tam: Yeah yeah. I did see it. All because of that dumb diga Dravid. He played too slowly.

Diga: Hello. Don't say anything about Dravid. He is the wall and without him Indian cricket is nothing. Also he is not a born diga.

Tam: Yeah yeah.

Diga: What yeah yeah. Digas have contributed to Indian cricket phenomenally. So many cricket stars in the recent past are from the diga nation. Dravid, Kumble, Prasad etc... Even Uthappa, the biggest upcoming star, is a diga. Mind it.

And she goes again. Listing the greatness of the diga nation. The tam still not yet completely out of the 6 hr meeting, is not fighting at full strength.

Tam: Yeah yeah.

Diga: What da? No enthu to fight or have I cornered you today. I think its the second case. Who was the last significant Tam cricketer? Kris Srikanth? That was 20 years ago. You guys dont even contribute to the countries most popular sport.

This finally got his adrenalin flowing.

Tam: We dont contribute to dumb games like cricket. We are smart and intelligent people. We contribute to the game of brains, the game that was oringally invented in India, the game people with the highest IQ's play.. chess. Look at Viswanathan Anand. He is the world champion in chess. How many grandmasters has the diga nation produced?

Diga: Dont rest on the laurels of one Tam da. That too a guy who does even stay in India. He stays most of the time in Spain. Do you know that?

Tam: Yeah yeah. Wherever he stays, he is still a Tam.

Diga: You will never accept defeat. Stupid fellow. Try to contribute to Indias most popular game. Even you watch every match. Remember that.

Tam: Yeah yeah.

And she realized that he was in no mood to fight today. So, she decided it was time to have dinner. They went had the roti cooked by the diga after that.


Statutory warning: This is purely only for fun. The tam and diga participating in the series, love the other persons language and culture just as theirs. No harm intended to anyone in any way whatsoever.

Tissue Paper

The title sounds very errant. You might be wondering why did I choose to write about tissue paper among all the other things in the world! Well, it all goes on my another encounter with truth of life.

"Tissue paper" as we all know is to be used and thrown. It has no other use.. not even is it recycled! Unfortunately, we all fail to understand its importance in our lives.

Similar is the case with people too. At some point or the other, most of us get used by someone else just like a tissue paper. To wipe away tears, to dry off sorrows or even just to feel good.. all of us use someone else as an emotional tissue paper. And most of the times.. the tissue paper is not even given a second look and is dumped straight into the garbage and forgotten completely.

Only if we could try and understand the importance of these tissue paper like people in our lives, we could be better humans. But we hardly care about it and hardly bother about spending sometime thinking about it.

People are not meant to be used like tissue paper. We are humans.. having the same feelings, pain, emotions and love. There is no difference among us. All of us need to be heard, cared and loved. Then why be avaricious and always intend to take benefit from others? Why not try and show some selfless attitude?

The reason behind this covetous behaviour is our egomaniacal society which directs us all the time. Result is, we "Love things and use people". Only when people change themselves mindfully, topped with some sensibility and sensitivity, we can expect that "Use things and love people" would occur.

ஏமாற்றிய நிலவு

ஜன்னல் வழி வந்து
மின்னும் ஒளி தந்து
படுத்திருந்த என்னை
பார்க்க வைத்தாய் உன்னை

விளையாட வா என்று அழைத்தாய்
யாருமில்லா இடத்திற்கு இழுத்தாய்
உன்னில் மயங்கி எழுந்தேன்
உன் எண்ணம் புரியாமல் விரைந்தேன்
என்னுடன் விளையாடுவாய் என்று நினைத்திருந்தேன்
மேகங்களுடன் நீ உறவாட ஏமார்ந்திருந்தேன்

காத்திருந்தேன் காத்திருந்தேன்
மேகங்கள் விலகும் என காத்திருந்தேன்
நீ என்னை நினைப்பாய் என காத்திருந்தேன்
எனக்காக நீ வருவாய் என காத்திருந்தேன்
நேரம் அறியாமல் காத்திருந்தேன்

நேரமும் அழிந்தது
உன் எண்ணமும் புரிந்தது
என் தவறும் எனக்கு தெரிந்தது
காற்றும் என் உதவிக்கு வராததால்
உனக்கும் என் ஆசை புரியாததால்
ஏமாற்றிய உன்னை மறக்க இயலாமல்
வீடு திரும்பி படைத்தேன் இம்மடல்

Gults

The tam got another result for his thesis and hence is on 7th heaven. He is supposed to meet the diga in the ground floor of ICT (a building in University of Calgary). He runs down the stairs humming the song he was just listening in his office.

Tam: Sorgam enbathu namakku...

That was the first line of a famous tam song from a little old kamalhasan movie called nammavar.

Diga: Sutham ulla veedu thaan

Wowie... The diga completes the second line of that song. The tam is taken by surprise and stares at her like one stares at a victorious indian cricket team.

Diga: Why are you staring like that.. it is scaring me...

Tam: You know this song? I never thought you would know this.

Diga: Hey gubaal... I know many tam songs idiot.. unlike you tams.. here.. take another sample.. chinna chinna aasai, sirakadikkum aasai.. muthu muthu aasai...

The tam is even more surprised. Thats a super famous song of rahman from a national award winning movie 'Roja' by Maniratnam. He is also laughing as the words were pronounced wrong. Nevertheless, it was awesome for a diga to know so much about tam songs. He is truly surprised and wants to congratulate her. But...

Diga: See gubaal. Learn from us. Don't be like the frog in the well. Listen to other movie songs also. Stupid tams, you are all so narrow minded that you never listen to other songs.

Now... The 0.1% wish to appreciate vanished. The tam wants to teach her a lesson.

Tam: See. I have already answered this. Our movies are way better and our songs are way better. There is no comparison. So obviously, other people listen to our songs. We don't have to... hehe...

Diga: Idiot... dont give me such dumb answers.. do you know atleast one diga song or not?

Tam: Of course.. I know a song.. Last time I sang it to you, even you didnt know that song...

Diga: Which song?

Tam: Tic tic tic tic tic.. tic tic tic tic tic.. How can I not know this song of Rajkumar.. almost zen like lyrics... if you come tomorrow, it will be too late.. if you come today, it will be too early... you pick the time.. tic tic tic tic tic tic tic... (link to song at end of post)

and the Tam starts laughing loudly. The diga is stunned by this onslaught as she didnt expect him to sing this...

Diga: Dont laugh at such songs.. Have you ever seen the stunts of Vijayakanth.. stupid fellow..

Tam: tic tic tic tic tic tic tic tic tic tic tic...

Diga: Saaku maado... (stop it)... lets not tease our own movies... gult movies lend themselves way better to such comments.. hehe

Tam: Yeah yeah.. that too.. as long as Balayya movies are around...

Diga: hehe hehe hehe... train was sent back.. omg!! (link to scene at end of post) I can never forget it.. JAIIII CHENNAKESHAVA!!!!!

Tam: JAIIIII CHENNAKESHAVA!!! JAIIII CHENNAKESHAVA!!!

Diga: Hehehehehehe... what ideas... we should kick them for such movies... lets unite and kick them..

Tam: Ok.. cool.. may all the tams and digas unite against the gults....

Diga: Amen!!!

Statutory warning: This is purely only for fun. The tam and diga participating in the series, love the other persons language and culture just as theirs. No harm intended to anyone in any way whatsoever.

PS: No offence meant to gults. Both of us have many great gult friends. We simply pull everyones leg and this time it was theirs. Thats it.

PPS: These are not made up conversations. They are typed out as they happened with little spices here and there. Thats it.

PPPS:

1.) tic tic tic song

2.) train move back scene

Reality

Don't even attempt to perceive the true nature of reality. Such a dualistic approach is essentially self defeating. Instead, merge thyself into reality and become one with it.

In other words, do not try to be nature friendly or environment friendly. Thats nonsense. Realize that thou art nature.

Krishna sweets

The tam being someone who can devour sweets like hell, it was not surprising that the friendly fire of the two friends was on the arena of sweets. This day, the tam was outnumbered as there were two digas in one of the digas' house fighting the tam.

Diga1: Have you ever visited Krishna sweets in Bengalooru?

Tam: What do you mean?

Diga2: Come on yaar. You were in Bengalooru for 1.5 years. Don't tell me that you didnt visit Krishna sweets even once.

Tam: What? What are you guys talking about? Krishna sweets.. how could I have not visited it? Many many times. You don't need your teeth to eat their mysorepak. Delicious!!!

Diga2: See, you tam. You are in love with a diga sweet shop.

At this, the tam gets a little pissed off. Naturally.

Tam: What.. why are you guys blabbering like this? Krishna sweets is our own sweet shop. It has so many branches in chennai and it has a branch in almost every locality in Coimbatore. For your kind information, its based out of Coimbatore and its a tam shop.

The two digas are stunned at this as they didnt know this. After feverishly googling krishna sweets for sometime, they sheepishly grinned and agreed that it was actually a tam shop.

Diga1: It might be a tam shop but it is famous for a diga sweet. Can't you guys make money by making your own sweet.

The two digas started to laugh as they thought they had the tam pinned.

Tam: Its actually a shame on you. We can make your sweet better. HeHe.... :)

Diga1: That does not matter. What matters is plagiarism. Don't copy, you copycats.


and the battle continues...



Statutory warning: This is purely only for fun. The tam and diga participating in the series, love the other persons language and culture just as theirs. No harm intended to anyone in any way whatsoever.

Misc thoughts

There is a state in India called Kerala. Keralites like to call it 'God's own country'. Unfortunately, someone else has other ideas. They think its their own dumpyard. Stinking!!!

Rediff (and many other news sites) have been reporting the so called bloodbath in Sensex over the past few days. Analysts have decreied SEBI policies that resulted in the the loss of more than a billion investor dollars. Virtual non-existent money lost in gambling and will be remade soon. Virtual tears!!

A lot of people talk about peak oil. Many debate about its significance super passionately. I wonder if it would be more germane to talk about peak greed, peak stupidity, peak fear???

Rabid optimist

Received this poem on a mailing list. Apparently this was written by someone called 'Satinath Sarangi'. I don't know why, but I find this poem to be enchantingly beautiful. I've read this so many times since morning and I can't seem to get enough of it.

Yes,
I am a rabid optimist
For me
Every tree that continues to stand
Every stream that continues to flow
Every child that runs away from home
is an indication
that the battle is not only on
It is being won.

You may tell me about
the nuclear arms race
And all I can tell you
is that an unknown child
held my hand
with love.

You will try to draw me
into the plateau of practical life Tell me
that not only god
but all the religious
and irreligious leaders are dead
And all I can tell you
is that across the forest
Lives a young man
who calls the earth
his mother.

You will give me the boring details
of the rise of state power
after every revolution
And all I can tell you
is that in our tribe
we still share our bread

You will reason with me
And I will talk nonsense like this
And because
the difference between breathing
and living life
is the difference between
reason and poetry
I will read poems to you
Poems full of optimism
Poems full of dreams
And maybe a poem better than this

Modern Purananooru

Purananooru is an ancient work in tamil. It is a collection of 400 poems by different authors. Poem 192 by 'Kaniyan Poongundran' is the most famous amongst the 400. It famously states 'yaathum oore, yaavarum kelir' i.e. 'all towns are my hometown, all of humanity are my brethren'. This work is a modern adaptation of that work. Unless you know that poem, the following will not make sense. Apologies if this does not make sense to you. The translation is given below but the attempted humor might be lost if you don't know tamil and the original poem.

yaathum probleme, yaavarum supervisore
proofum resultum pirar thara vaara
vetti time passum super workum avarro ranna
aapu puthuvathu anre
result inithu ena magizhthandrum ilame
neervazhi paduvum punaipol
gradlife supervisor muraivazhi paduvum
enbathu pazhutha grad student kaatchiyin thelinthanam aagalin
publish seitha periyorum grad studentae
publish seiyatha siriyorum grad studentae


Everything's a problem, all are supervisors
Proofs and results don't come from others
False work or true work is a personal choice
Being scowled at by all and sundry is nothing new
Results don't make us go overbaord
The river predestines the path of the boat
Similarly, supervisor predestines the path of the grad student
Thus, have we seen in visions of experienced grad students
Hence, thou art a grad student if thou publish
even better, thou still art a grad student if thou publish not

One early morning after a strenuous yoga session...both tam and diga digging into some breakfast(bought by the tam) at Coffee company...

Suddenly the tam grabs the digas' glass of water and drinks it all at one go!!
Good enough reason for the diga to get terribly annoyed...

Diga: Hey you idiot tam... how dare you drink all my water??

Tam: So what? What's the big deal? Go and get yourself another glass of water...

Diga: You tams... you are so thirsty all the time. Not just my glass of water... you also take away all our Cauvery water!

Tam: You selfish digas... you think that Cauvery river is your personal property! I would not be amazed if one day you claim the Bow river(river in Canada) as yours!

At this, the diga gets pissed off and picks her bag... pretending to leave...

Tam: Hey diga... sorry da... please do not go

Diga: Well, I could consider staying only if you promise to pay for coffee for the next 10 times

Tam cannot say 'no' as the diga is his best friend... and they continue sipping coffee with something new to discuss...

Statutory warning: This is purely only for fun. The tam and diga participating in the series, love the other persons language and culture just as theirs. No harm intended to anyone in any way whatsoever.

Export

With an uncharacteristic aggressive swagger and tone, the tam approaches the unsuspecting diga and...

Tam: U digas are cunning and super manipulative.. as always..

The diga is startled by this unexpected onslaught.. as its usually her who throws the first punch.. never one to let go of a chance to fight, she counters...

Diga: Abhey.. Kya bakwas.. what happened now?

Tam: You exported amma to us.. u should have kept her with yourself.. what else can you call such people?

Diga: Hehehehe...

She obviously can't control her chuckle anymore...

Tam: Amma vs Deve Gowda would have been far better than Amma vs MK... take her back...

She just can't control her laughter now and is laughing out loud....


and the battle continues...


Statutory warning: This is purely only for fun. The tam and diga participating in the series, love the other persons language and culture just as theirs. No harm intended to anyone in any way whatsoever.

Almost missed a Nobel Prize!

How important is sharing information? After spending quite sometime now in research, I have realized that not every information must be shared... especially those(like highly confidential information about starfishes not having brains!) which may possibly give the other a chance to win a Nobel prize!

The two important rules to be followed are:

1. Never cc an e-mail(that can contain critical information like the one above) to the one person whom you think is a potential competitor in winning a Nobel prize.

2. Always cc an e-mail which contains dumb information to that one person... just to ensure that he/she is in good humor.

This lesson was learnt recently, thanks to the person who taught me this lesson, but unfortunately did not think that the information meant to be hidden could be shared by someone else too!
Thank god! I had almost missed the huge opportunity of winning a Nobel prize!!

Fight for Language supremacy - Jnanpith vs Bharat Ratna

Tam and diga are having coffee (bought by the diga) at Goodearth (sells organic, fair trade coffee).... having general conversation about african mysticism... Suddenly the topic changes to kannada movies.. Unexpectedly, the racist tam takes a dig on diga movies and the diga is forced to respond...

Diga: I know the tam language and also I have watched so many tam movies..and you stupid tam....you inspite of staying in diga nation (the tam was working in Bengaluroooooooooooo for sometime) for over a year and a half, let alone learning the language.. you have not even watched one diga movie!! Shame on you!

Tam: In India there are only three centres that produce good/popular movies, hindi, tam and gult. Since we already get the best in our home nation itself, we do not have to go out for good movies. We have directors like Manirathnam, musicians like Rahman and actors like Kamal Hassan....so we do not have any need to watch other language movies, especially diga movies.

With this, the tam thinks he has scored a point and is grinning from ear to ear... Not knowing that the diga is gonna blast him for this..

Diga: This just reflects your contempt for other languages...especially diga language. We are open minded and hence watch other language movies. Because of this culture of ours we accept everyone... and this has made us and our language rich.

Language being the pride point of the tam, he cannot stand this onslaught... He decides to confront the diga head on...

Tam: Don't even think on comparing the languages. It is a losing battle for you. Tam language is so much more richer and older than the diga language.

The diga being a super proud diga, can't stand someone (that too a tam) ridiculing her dear language...

Diga: What nonsense! How can you say that? Diga language is way more richer...

Tam: Anyone who knows little history knows that tam language is older and richer. We had our grammar written down in a book when you guys had just stone inscriptions. For your kind information, the book tolkappiam was written in 150 B. C. Our literature is more than 2000 yrs old and is naturally richer than yours.

The diga decides enough is enough and decides to use her brahmastra..

Diga: Don't make a fool of yourself by living in the past. Live in the present. Do you know about Jnanpith awards? Do you atleast know what it is given for? Digas have won 6 jnanpith awards for literature since independence. We are the highest winners of the award in India. Do you know how may tams have won?

Tam: Jnanpith....What??...no clue!

Diga: You dont even know what that is and you are talking about languages.. Tams have won it only twice. This clearly shows that diga literature is way more richer.

Tam: Don't be a dumb-diga... don't play the numbers game with me. Do you know that there is something called Bharat ratna awards...Tams have the highest number of this award in the country. We have 8 Bharat Ratna awards so far... and in a vriety of fields ranging from politics to science to music to philosophy.. Do you know how many digas have won?

Diga: No clue...

Tam: Digas have managed to produce only one man in 60 yrs who was useful for the country. Only one Bharath Ratna - Vishveshwariah. Because of this...should I say that tams are more valuable to the country than digas?

Never expecting this, the diga is a little taken aback...

Diga: Shut up you stupid tam!! Bharath ratna is the most polictically manipulated award in India...whereas, with Jnanpith..that is not true.....

Tam: No no no..... what nonsense.... you have lost it... I'm not talking anymore...

They continue sipping hot coffee...avoiding looking into each other's eye... after sometime (about a min...) look at each other and laugh out loud...


and the battle continues...


Statutory warning: This is purely only for fun. The tam and diga participating in the series, love the other persons language and culture just as theirs. No harm intended to anyone in any way whatsoever.

Hosa lekhaki - Sneha 'the diga'

If you are wondering what those strange sounding first two words are, don't worry. You are the majority. They mean 'new author' in kannada. Yes, there is one more author to this blog and thats Sneha.

Despite she being a 'dumb diga' (in my opinion) and I being a 'stupid tam' (in her opinion), due to a strange quirk of fate we have become friends here in Calgary. Though she frequently pisses me of by alluding to cauvery water and I frequently get under her skin by pointing to the electricity supply to Karnataka from TN, we have managed to remain as friends and this has surprised even us. Fact is indeed stranger than fiction.

Sneha is vastly experienced in life. Vastly as in colossally, enormously, gigantically, hugely, immensely, massively, monumentally and stupendously. Seriously. Am not kidding. It would take most of us more than half a life time to experience stuff she has and in fact many of us might not even experience so many things in a complete life time. Also, she is a phd student in chemistry and often hits people around with words like 'XRD', 'solid state' etc (which have incidentally been banned from this blog). In her past time, besides reading lots of books, she cooks and feeds a lot of hungry and starved souls here :).

You can expect a lot of our Tam vs Diga fights to be posted here. Also, she will author a series called 'phd tragics' modelled on phdcomics. Though this one will not have too many cartoons, I am sure it will be a really awesome series (given her experiences in her phd). Of course, there will be posts on other topics too.

Welcome Sneha. Come and enrich this space with your knowledge and experiences.


PS: Please appreciate me. It took me tremendous strength and courage to set aside my tam pride and male pride to invite a female and that too a diga to come and enrich this space. lolz!!

Burma

If you've been following news with a little more than a passing interest, you would have noticed all the news about the horrific incidents in Burma. Utterly shamelessly, our nation has not even condemned it in strong terms. How different are we from a rapists' accomplice who tacitly condones the rapists' actions for monetary or other purposes? Shame on you India. Feels horrible. This is not something new. Apart from a brief period after the 8888 uprising, India has been licking the asses of the oppressors in Burma for their gas. Nothing can capture this more vividly than the following cartoon (obtained from the end of this article).

More cartoons can be found here.

Having nothing ..

How come nothing will make wonders. Well, this is how .. ?

A greedy man will always say he doesn't have something ..
A less greedy man will always say, I could have had something ..
A man of nothing will always say, I have everything in this world ..

Today I guess I'm a man of nothing, had little sum for the month, but was able to donate some of that .. This was an awesome feeling that ran about me, the very moment I felt I would share something. I had never donated so much when I had everything, yeah would have, but the ratio was very petty, but why did I felt giving away when I had almost nothing? ... hmm quite fuzzy, probably the nothing was not absence of money but absence of greed.

It was a wonderful feeling by giving and not getting. I guess having nothing will make one have everything? Nothing really makes a difference, makes freedom and happiness.

.. perhaps thats why poor people are singing and happy ..
.. perhaps thats why they call God as nothingness ..

regards.

Moral of the story

The set of friends should not have subsets.

The story of the moral will be posted soon :)

Kaettaen kaettaen

Roomoma homegamaya
Boredomoma excitementgamaya
Existenceoma lifegamaya
Solitudeoma companionshipgamaya
Calgaryoma Chennaigamaya

Hyper-planning-osis

Many, and I mean manyyyyyyyyy, of us suffer from this. Quite possibly, the root cause of all diseases that plague the human society.

Love

.. perhaps the most beautiful thing in the wide world ..
.. perhaps the only thing where the heart speaks and mind just listens unquestionably and naturally..
.. perhaps the only language is silence ..
.. perhaps the only way to absolute ..

I love you ..

Mad JAT* disease

I have been infected by this by a jat here. Pasting a conversation that I had recently with the jat. I feel sorry for myself.

Anjali: tell me
Anjali: who comes first
Anjali: egg or chicken?
Partha: neither
Anjali: both
Partha: hehe.. how??
Anjali: chicken has egg in his hand
Anjali: so problem solved
Anjali: both come first
Partha: wow!!!! but if chicken has egg in its hand, then howz it standing
Partha: it cant stand on one leg right
Anjali: ya but can fly
Partha: then egg wil fall and break
Partha: so then chicken will only come first right??
Anjali: hey if u will fly and have something in ur hand
Anjali: u will held it properly
Anjali: with both hands
Partha: no... coz the nearby chicken will throw stone at it
Partha: so it will srop the egg
Partha: *drop
Anjali: hey it takes time to become chicken from the egg
Anjali: and god did't send whole gang of chickens
Anjali: only one with egg
Partha: ok so then the cow might throw
Partha: cows dont like flying chickens
Anjali: why?
Anjali: cow will not have problem
Anjali: bcz cow does't have wings
Partha: but they dont like chickens.. especially flying ones
Anjali: why?
Anjali: and who told u
Anjali: and if cow knows ..how to throw stone then no one will cut the cow
Partha: the cow that u renamed as chicken
Partha: told me
Partha: that it doesnt like chickens
Partha: from the day u renamed it
Anjali: ya
Anjali: but this cow came later from that egg
Partha: is that egg.. cows egg or chickens egg?
Anjali: u decide
Anjali: what do u think?
Partha: hmmm... I think its a stone egg.. made to cheat us
Anjali: no
Anjali: never
Partha: hmmm.. how do you know?
Partha: who told you?
Anjali: otherwise we will never have chickens on earth
Anjali: ok listen
Anjali: chicken( feamale) comes with egg
Anjali: that egg becomes male
Anjali: and then both of them produce others
Partha: wow!!!!! u need to given a phd in biology for this
Anjali: thanks
Anjali: i know
Anjali: i don't know ...........why people are always confused abt the concept of ....who came first
Anjali: chicken or egg
Partha: they are all stupid
Partha: those who are confused
Anjali: ya see
Partha: they should consult Dr.Anjali Singh
Anjali: ya
Anjali: tell them


If you are wondering that who the two idiots having the conversation are, one is a masters student and the other is a phd student. Thats how grad students are.. if you didnt know!!!!

* If you dont know what a JAT is, u r at safe distance. Good. Keep it up.

Heed thy Cassandra

Eisenhower famously warned the public (in his farewell speech) about the major problems that the world could face as a result of the military industry. Watch the documentary 'Why we fight' to know more about that. According to that documentary, Eisenhower would often say in private that only god can save the world if a person who does not know enough about the military like him becomes the american president. I think, his prophecy has gone the way of Cassandra. He acted as the worlds' Cassandra and his prophecy has been ignored as is evidenced by the multi billion dollar war industry.

Proud day

Its indeed a proud day for all the PIGS - poor indian grad students. One of us made his debut in phdcomics today :D. Yipeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!

இடுகாடு

ஆலயமாய் திகழ்ந்து விளங்கியது
இடுகாடாய் துவண்டு கிடப்பதேன்?

Sukinda & Vapi

These two hitherto unheard of towns in India have now become (in)famous. They are amongst the top 10 most polluted places on the planet. Now, isn't that such a wonderful tag to attach to your town. Unfortunately, to most of the industrialists, these two towns are mere externalities.

More girls and less boys

No, I am not talking about the dream of teenage guys. This is a much more serious issue. The Independent reports that Toxic chemicals are skewing the gender ratio badly amongst the tribes in the Arctic. Scientists opine that lifestyle choices in the industrialized world has a lot to do with this.

Despite the Arctic's pristine environment, the area functions as a pollution sink for much of the industrialised world. Winds and rivers deliver a toxic tide from the northern hemisphere into the polar food chain. Scientists have traced flame-retardant chemicals used in everything from industrial products to furniture, phones and laptops to the food chain, finding high levels of these pollutants in seabirds, seals and polar bears. The Inuit have traditionally relied on a hunter- gatherer's diet almost exclusively made up of marine animals, making them especially vulnerable to toxic pollutants.

அமாவாசை

நிலா காணவில்லை,
நேரம் தேயவில்லை,
துணையும் அருகில் இல்லையே

தெண்றலின் முத்தம் உறைக்கவில்லை
இரவின் மெளனம் விளங்கவில்லை
பெளர்ணமி இங்கு இல்லையே

Planet Earth and Human beings

The earth is like a laboratory, material in its being, and taking its own evolution to move, balance or rest.

Human beings are the highest evolution of Nature given the sixth sense to understand, percept, enjoy and reason what am I doing here?

While any material has a beginning and end, its not for the spirit inside. The attachment of spirit to material-being brings it again to the material world, else to something else which humans can find through spirituality.

We should know the basics of our being and then things will form in the Natures will and not human will. Hope this can answer the reason behind the human evolution.

ஆசை

ஆசை அரிந்தவன்
ஈசன் அறிந்தவன்

or is it...

ஆசை அறிந்தவன்
ஈசன் அரிந்தவன்

or is it both?

Yoga

Construction and destruction are redundant. To be free from them is liberation. The journey from realization to freedom is yoga.

Theoretician

The only breed of researchers who can stare at the full moon for hours together and mentally compare it to their sweet hearts face but still claim to be working aka formulating theorems. Blessed ones indeed. :D

Closed room

A guy and a girl together in a closed room can do many, many things. If you cannot think of other things but that one thing, you really need to grow up - in age and in thoughts.