A quote for a day....

 There has to be a way to insure oneself against 'twilight' just like thefts, fires, accidents...

Thank god...'GOD' had other plans....

A quote for a day...

One should never change to the extent that the next time when he/she wakes up...the mirror asks for an introduction....

Eye opener...

Was sitting in the balcony…with eyes closed, as always deep in thought…and suddenly I heard a sound….first thing I did is to quickly open my eyes …almost as a reflex action…and then tried to listen to the sound…tried to find the source of it….isn’t that a bit irrational?.....a sound is necessarily a primary function of the ears…still what I did (I guess we all do) is to open the eyes first…and then rely on the ears?...guess we always tend to do that… Do the ‘sense of hearing’ feel the inferiority complex? Do all the other senses feel cheated at times? That we do not give enough due to them…for us human beings…our ‘visual capability’ …our ‘sense to see' is the predominant sense amongst all the senses….that’s what matters…we feel more secure when we can ‘see’ the things…that’s why even after hearing that sound…I chose to open the eyes first, get that sense of security back…get the sense back that…yes I know where I am…whats happening around me…that I can see…and then tried to find out where the sound is coming from…

And another thing came to my mind…amongst all the senses…visual sense is the only one which you can easily choose to reject voluntarily….i mean you can choose to open or close your eyes easily…but you can not choose ‘not to hear’…if there’s a sound …you will hear it …(you can of course decide not to ‘listen’ to it though J)…if there’s a smell…you will smell it…(no pinching your nose doesn’t shut off the smell entirely..so that does not count)…if there’s a touch…you will feel it….its that simple…is that why your visual capacity is more important to you than anything else…with that capability you feel confident, you feel secure…you feel ‘in control’….

Remembered two instances in the past…my sister studied in Dnyaprabodhini School…they used to carry out this experiment regularly in the school as a part of their school activity, the teachers use to randomly or sometimes voluntarily select some students, then they were blindfolded and they were asked to remain in that artificial ‘visually challenged’ state….for a certain period of time…all they have to do is to rely on their ‘other’ senses to move around….the experiment was meant to teach them the importance of the capability to ‘see the world’ and to make them aware of the plight of ‘visually impaired’ children…

The second instance was when I saw the movie ‘Ninja Assassin’ a few days back…A handful of children were trained to become potential assassins in the movie….as a part of their education…some ‘chosen’ students were asked to spend one year of their education..blindfolded….so they had to reply on their other senses for survival…for a period of a year…to prepare them ahead of their hardest life as an ‘Assassin’…

I have always wondered…what is more difficult….the people who r blind since their birth or the people who lose their visual ability due to illness, accidents or such things…at some later stage of their life…is it harder for them ‘cos they knew what they r missing …but of course I don’t want to take away the pain of ‘not knowing at all’…that must be terrible too…

There’s apt phrase in English….when we comprehend something…when we understand something in conversation….what phrase we use often…no not ‘I understand’…we say ‘I see’…that’s what matters…

Living & Non-living...

 Saee : Is mango a living thing?
Me: No
Saee: Why?
Me: Does it move? Does it talk like you?
Saee: No
Me: Does it eat or drink like you?
Saee: No
Me: Thats why it is a non-living thing
Saee: Then why the mango tree is a living thing...if we get mangoes from the same tree?

Thats the end of conversation...i couldnt answer in a flash...and she was happy that i couldnt answer :)

But yes that sets me thinking...as if i need an excuse to think...why a fruit is not a living thing....'cos once ready, we pluck it from the tree...we take it away from a living thing and make it non-living...but that doesnt mean we are the culprits...it is sure to fall down one way or the other because now it has stopped to grow..it has reached its maximum capacity to grow.....

So in short...a thing which is not growing...or which stops growing becomes a non-living thing....'can move', can walk, can eat, can drink all are secondary things....

But the question remains...if the mango still contains a seed that will potentially give birth to a living thing yet again...is itself in the transitory stage...tree-mango-seed-tree.....in the sequence...but still mango and seed are non-living...

ok..another question...do we consider 'seed' as living? no..why...? it actually will start growing now...it should be considered a living thing...why wait for seed to grow into a plant to consider it living?

Can we apply the rule to us? No...but the bottom line is same...when we stop growing....we are dead or as good as dead...we sometimes call it death...sometimes call it stagnation...when we are alive....

How funny...a fruit when dead ( i mean theoretically dead...stops growing) is when we can use it most....and a person when dead has no use whatsoever....

Heaven and Hell...

Ok...so the that day finally....'m in front of God....in a queue waiting....oh...that never changes...a queue it is...just like the good old earth days....and 'm a person who firmly believes in following the rules...no i mean i was a person...hard to believe there is no 'i am' now...anyway...forget the 'tense' part...'m no more alive....so all these earthly things...why should i worry...so not 'i am' but 'i was'....ok...

...so the God is sitting on the throne and deciding the fates of people one by one...heaven or hell....a place of pure bliss (or eternal boredom maybe...) or a place where u wil be sent for infinite punishment for the finite number of sins u hv commited in whole life...now thats  a tad unfair..isnt it...

anyway....my turn....God looks at me..and consults with his advisor....complicated? yes...very complicated....decision is difficult...my merits and demerits are being carefully evaluated....he deliberates..deliberates...and decides...'take her to paradise'....
my fate is sealed....everybody moves in anticipation...but i stay put...confident, assured.....not again...i mean 'after my life'....:)

and say...''oh..wait...i dont want that...i thought death will finally clear me of my existence....i dont want to live in either heaven or hell....if u want to reward me...clear my existence...if u want to punish me...clear my existence...give me total freedom....delete me completely...give me just that 'death'....and nothing else....

And i thought 'death' is the end in itself...the end of 'choices'...

Just in time...

It feels like I have been waiting and waiting and waiting all my life…doing nothing else…and have spent a major part of my life….waiting….and still haven’t got used to it…and then to make matters worse…I married a man who equally values time…so nothing has changed…I used to wait alone…and now we wait as a pair….sometimes patiently and sometimes otherwise….yeah…yeah…I belong to later part of it for most of the time…but guess we belong to a minority in this nation that is always…with some exceptions of course…late…just why cant people land up on time?

And in addition….’m blessed with a sister and sis-in-law along with their respective husbands who never waste a single chance to take a dig at us…’but if u know we will be late as always…just why do you come on time…then get irritated…?...this is their response after arriving at least half an hr late whenever we decide to meet…

Maybe working with Japanese guys has worsened me further…I remember when my boss used to say…’meeting at 10a.m.’….he used to mean…we will start talking exactly at 10a.m….and he used to be there in the meeting room 5 mins before the actual time…papers neatly arranged, notepad ready with a pen to take notes…meeting room lights, projector, computers everything checked and ready….well the simple English word 10a.m. used to mean different for different people….for all the other guys in our company…10a.m. meant they will start yawning and moving from their place somewhere around 10a.m….they will switch off the PC…get off from the chair…take a quick bathroom break…chat with other guys on the way…flirt with receptionist and then sometime around 10:15-10:20….they will arrive in the meeting room with a grin on their face…ridicule written all over the face for my boss…why ‘cos he was on time…and then he will take out all his anger on me after the meeting….how come you Indians never value time…and on and on….

We, Indians are (ill) famous for our late-coming ways….more powerful the person….more likely his complete indifference towards time…no public event starts on time…no bus or train operate on time….no guest speaker arrives on time…no not even a private function at home starts on time…so…the train is only 10 min late…great…hey....its almost on time…why r u cribbing?.....its fashionable to be late….and criminal to be on time….

And this ‘bas 5 min’ or ‘bas 10 min’ is the biggest joke in our country….your PC starts making weird noises …you hurriedly call your software guy….what will he say…’ma’am bas 5 min mein aaya’…..and those 5 minutes can stretch into half an hour, hour, hours or even days…Somehow those 5 minutes go into an infinite loop…’tomorrow along with those fated 5 minutes never come’…..