“A lie is an excuse guarded –Jonathan Swift”
Nobody has ever lived his life without speaking a lie except for a mute. Infact the only difference between LIFE and LIE is just that of an ‘F” (wonder what that F would stand for).
Everybody lies…intensities differ. Lies can be harmless or harmful for the speaker or for the listener. I classify lies in many categories based on intensity, frequency and repercussions. These categories are as follows:
1) Excuse
Intensity: Low
Harm: Low or maybe none
e.g. Boss: Why haven’t you done your work?
Our Liar: Sir, my wife’s pregnant and so had to take her to hospital.
These are low intensity lies usually used by escapists trying to get out of a situation. The convincing factor starts to decrease if the frequency of its usage increases. I use many. If I ever say “I can’t do it because I’ve a headache” or maybe like “I’d prefer to stay at home as I’m ill.” then just know I’m making an excuse ‘coz if you know me well you know I’ve never had a headache and secondly, if I’m ill the only thing I’d like to do is get out of my house.
2) Ignorant & Involuntary lie
Intensity: Very Low
Harm: Harmless
e.g. Calvin: How much time are you gonna take to reach?
Our Liar: 5 Mins and I’ll be there
This is a very low intensity lie and can be used by anyone. This is usually a spontaneous statement made by a liar and mostly comes out impromptu and without thought. This is usually followed by an excuse if the lie is detected.
3) Betrayal lies
Intensity: High
Harm: Harmful
e.g. Wife: Dear why is there a lipstick mark on your neck?
Our Liar: Honey I girl was standing too close in a metro and it was jam packed.
Such liars are those whom we call back-stabbers. Frequency for such lies are very low ‘coz one of such lie is enough to take you to hell. If detected can be very very harmful.
4) Gossips
Intensity: Medium to high
Harm: Low to medium
e.g. Our Liar: Guys did you know Peter’s dating his ex?
Such lies are often for fun, seeking attention or for defaming someone. Such kinds are either absolutely harmless or can be extremely harmful for those for which they are aimed. Usually accompanied by giggles, laughter, surprised looks or raised eyebrows. Such lies are usually preceded by statements like “Promise you are not gonna tell anyone” or “I bet you haven’t heard about this.” These are generally spoken in whispers or passed through small notes of paper rolled/wrapped in a very special form.
These are some of the classifications. So there are gossips, betrayal lies, excuses, ignorant & involuntary lies and then there are just plain LIES. I can’t describe them in a proper fashion as there are no specific or tailor made framework in which they are said or take place.
People say (read as People…includes everone) that if a lie benefits someone it isn’t a lie. I must say this is been THE MOST USED thing in a man’s life. I’m a big escapist and I use excuses more than I use a flush in a day. Even though I’m quite good with my excuses, people who know me well can figure out the truth. Darn these eyes or whatever gestures that make it obvious that I’m lying. Anyways, this is something that applies to everybody. Lies can be detected by observing ones’ gestures so keep on observing and you’ll know what I’m talking about ;)
“Don’t do what you’ll have to find an excuse for”
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Snowballing on Gods & Kings
“God made everything out of nothing, but the nothingness shows through.”
9PM and I was as usual loitering on the web. Suddenly I come across an article on Varna System and its origin. I go deeper and deeper. The snowballing comes into picture and one thing leads me to some other place and that leads to another. My exploration into Hindu and Greek mythology and a little research in the reigns of different kings explained how various evils of our society (and the evils of other cultures) came into being.
Our Hindu society believes there are three main Gods, the triad….the Trimurti (the Creator, the Preserver & the Destroyer) and all other basically are avatars of these three. But what I can never understand that if they were the deities of the Supreme Being, how could they do so many atrocities and evils. The answer was simple….Karma is for the mortals and not the immortals. There are many instances that came to the front e.g.
a) Varna System, that gave birth to the Caste system in India was actually followed since the time of the Gods (remember Rama eating Shabri ke ber, a Shudra)
b) Rama’s killing of a Shudra, Shambuka
c) Hanuman burning Lanka and killing of thousands of Ravana’s subjects who did not have any role in any misdeed
d) Rama leaving Sita
e) There are many examples of incest in Hindu mythology (Mathara Mupathya, susara Mupatithe, Puthrartheetha. Sagamarthi, Napathra loka, nasthee thath. Saravam paravo vindu ha, dasmath Puthrar tham. Matharam suransathee Rehathee).
f) Some new theorists believe that incest sex was common among Brahmins so as to increase the population of Brahmins as inter-caste marriages weren’t allowed.
Greek Gods and heroes were a step ahead in womanizing and adultery. None of the Gods and heroes limited their love to just one woman. Same can be said for the Mughal emperors who preferred wasting their riches on making specialties for their uncountable wives (& no it’s not jealousy, pure hatred for the Mughal kings) than on their subjects. Our Gods are no less. Polyandry & polygamy are outlawed by Hindus. But we forget King Dashratha (father of Rama) had three wives, Krishna had 16,108. Famous example of polyandry can be that of Draupadi. According to the scriptures, a Hindu marriage is indissolvable in life. Still polygamy was rampantly practised in ancient Hindu society. An address by Bhishma to King Yudhishthira in the Mahabharata, succinctly endorses this fact: "A Brahmana can take three wives. A Kshatriya can take two wives. As regards the Vaishya, he should take a wife from only his own order. The children born of these wives should be regarded as equal." (Anusasana Parva, Section XLIV). Hypocrisy at its best. I can recall a very hit number “Wo kare to kahein ras-leela. Hum karein to character dheela hai”. Some believe that Christianity has a hint of male chauvinism endorsed by the very high preists of that time.
I believe there are flaws….in everyone and when I say everyone I include the Gods. But the problem with people was when the religious teachings were preached by the high priests and pandits they moulded them to their comfort and hence gave rise to bigger evils, the caste system being one of them. One can hardly forget Kherlanji massacre, 2006 dalit protests in Maharasthra and the attack on Sant Ramanand (my blog post of the Butterfly effect refers to the attack on Sant Ramanand in 2009). These molulded preaching actually buried the significance of Karma, Monism and instead pushed useless ideologies like idol-worshipping, dharma rituals, etc. What we forget is that the complete web of religions and the ideologies concerning it has been woven by human beings themselves who were in a way prejudiced and biased. A man is imperfect and so is his creations and discoveries.
“Karma is what stops poor man killing the rich.”
9PM and I was as usual loitering on the web. Suddenly I come across an article on Varna System and its origin. I go deeper and deeper. The snowballing comes into picture and one thing leads me to some other place and that leads to another. My exploration into Hindu and Greek mythology and a little research in the reigns of different kings explained how various evils of our society (and the evils of other cultures) came into being.
Our Hindu society believes there are three main Gods, the triad….the Trimurti (the Creator, the Preserver & the Destroyer) and all other basically are avatars of these three. But what I can never understand that if they were the deities of the Supreme Being, how could they do so many atrocities and evils. The answer was simple….Karma is for the mortals and not the immortals. There are many instances that came to the front e.g.
a) Varna System, that gave birth to the Caste system in India was actually followed since the time of the Gods (remember Rama eating Shabri ke ber, a Shudra)
b) Rama’s killing of a Shudra, Shambuka
c) Hanuman burning Lanka and killing of thousands of Ravana’s subjects who did not have any role in any misdeed
d) Rama leaving Sita
e) There are many examples of incest in Hindu mythology (Mathara Mupathya, susara Mupatithe, Puthrartheetha. Sagamarthi, Napathra loka, nasthee thath. Saravam paravo vindu ha, dasmath Puthrar tham. Matharam suransathee Rehathee).
f) Some new theorists believe that incest sex was common among Brahmins so as to increase the population of Brahmins as inter-caste marriages weren’t allowed.
Greek Gods and heroes were a step ahead in womanizing and adultery. None of the Gods and heroes limited their love to just one woman. Same can be said for the Mughal emperors who preferred wasting their riches on making specialties for their uncountable wives (& no it’s not jealousy, pure hatred for the Mughal kings) than on their subjects. Our Gods are no less. Polyandry & polygamy are outlawed by Hindus. But we forget King Dashratha (father of Rama) had three wives, Krishna had 16,108. Famous example of polyandry can be that of Draupadi. According to the scriptures, a Hindu marriage is indissolvable in life. Still polygamy was rampantly practised in ancient Hindu society. An address by Bhishma to King Yudhishthira in the Mahabharata, succinctly endorses this fact: "A Brahmana can take three wives. A Kshatriya can take two wives. As regards the Vaishya, he should take a wife from only his own order. The children born of these wives should be regarded as equal." (Anusasana Parva, Section XLIV). Hypocrisy at its best. I can recall a very hit number “Wo kare to kahein ras-leela. Hum karein to character dheela hai”. Some believe that Christianity has a hint of male chauvinism endorsed by the very high preists of that time.
I believe there are flaws….in everyone and when I say everyone I include the Gods. But the problem with people was when the religious teachings were preached by the high priests and pandits they moulded them to their comfort and hence gave rise to bigger evils, the caste system being one of them. One can hardly forget Kherlanji massacre, 2006 dalit protests in Maharasthra and the attack on Sant Ramanand (my blog post of the Butterfly effect refers to the attack on Sant Ramanand in 2009). These molulded preaching actually buried the significance of Karma, Monism and instead pushed useless ideologies like idol-worshipping, dharma rituals, etc. What we forget is that the complete web of religions and the ideologies concerning it has been woven by human beings themselves who were in a way prejudiced and biased. A man is imperfect and so is his creations and discoveries.
“Karma is what stops poor man killing the rich.”
Thursday, June 16, 2011
All That Glitters Isn't GOLD & All That Screams Isn't Ghost
Sitting out under the dark sky with friends, hearing and sharing (though I seldom shared any, was mostly a listener) ghost stories is something that each one of us has done in our summer vacations. Goosebumps and an uneasy night sleep- those were the side-effects of those fun-filled stories. I loved listening to such stories, rarely ever wondered what went behind these stories. I was always fascinated by them and wanted to go out chasing some ghost. I wanted my own ghost-story too. Wanted to be a ghost-buster hehehehe…funny I know. But then I was too young then.
As I grew older (not that I’m very old) I realized that many of the stories were mere manifestations of my friends. Some story-tellers wanted to gain attention, some wanted to scare others and some made fool of others just like they were made by another story-teller.
Yesterday, one of my friends told me what happened to her when she stayed at her old (or rather new) house in her native place. She experienced some weird occurrences or rather Paranormal Activities in and around the house. People believe in the good and the bad. For every matter there is an anti-matter, for every head there is a tail, for every tear there is a smile (ok now it’s getting philosophical :P). If there is darkness, against it there will be a light. I too believe in it. But then for every demon/ghost there has to be an angel. And, I haven’t seen any of the two.
Haunted houses are not rare. But are they really haunted or are they just like a Loch Ness Monster theory in our heads. People see ghosts and hear strange whispers in old and abandoned houses, which later get the name of Haunted House. One must remember that just as our visual systems are programmed to see faces, so is our aural system conditioned for hearing human voices and hence those whispers.
It’s not just the whispers that result in people believing into the existence of the third kind. Many report strange noises like that of moaning, hissing, scratching and screaming. Some deaths have been attributed to as a result of ghost killings in haunted and abandoned houses. Now that you people are my regular readers I’ll let you on few secrets:
Strange Happenings and their reasons:
Hissing sounds: Barn owls (very common in and around abandoned buildings) , water in pipes
Moaning: Wind
Tapping sounds: wind, window panes, fans
Scratching: Rodents, insects and bats
Screaming: Foxes
Deaths: Carbon monoxide poisoning due to improper air ventilation. People have blurred visions and headaches which are actually symptoms of mild carbon monoxide poisoning which instead are attributed to ghosts.
There is no definite proof for anything that people say or claim (including me). But at the end all I want is for those ghost stories to be true, so that I can again pack my bags and go ghost-busting.
P.S. I’ll be writing more on this as soon as I get back from my Bangarh visit, which is in my list of destinations.
As I grew older (not that I’m very old) I realized that many of the stories were mere manifestations of my friends. Some story-tellers wanted to gain attention, some wanted to scare others and some made fool of others just like they were made by another story-teller.
Yesterday, one of my friends told me what happened to her when she stayed at her old (or rather new) house in her native place. She experienced some weird occurrences or rather Paranormal Activities in and around the house. People believe in the good and the bad. For every matter there is an anti-matter, for every head there is a tail, for every tear there is a smile (ok now it’s getting philosophical :P). If there is darkness, against it there will be a light. I too believe in it. But then for every demon/ghost there has to be an angel. And, I haven’t seen any of the two.
Haunted houses are not rare. But are they really haunted or are they just like a Loch Ness Monster theory in our heads. People see ghosts and hear strange whispers in old and abandoned houses, which later get the name of Haunted House. One must remember that just as our visual systems are programmed to see faces, so is our aural system conditioned for hearing human voices and hence those whispers.
It’s not just the whispers that result in people believing into the existence of the third kind. Many report strange noises like that of moaning, hissing, scratching and screaming. Some deaths have been attributed to as a result of ghost killings in haunted and abandoned houses. Now that you people are my regular readers I’ll let you on few secrets:
Strange Happenings and their reasons:
Hissing sounds: Barn owls (very common in and around abandoned buildings) , water in pipes
Moaning: Wind
Tapping sounds: wind, window panes, fans
Scratching: Rodents, insects and bats
Screaming: Foxes
Deaths: Carbon monoxide poisoning due to improper air ventilation. People have blurred visions and headaches which are actually symptoms of mild carbon monoxide poisoning which instead are attributed to ghosts.
There is no definite proof for anything that people say or claim (including me). But at the end all I want is for those ghost stories to be true, so that I can again pack my bags and go ghost-busting.
P.S. I’ll be writing more on this as soon as I get back from my Bangarh visit, which is in my list of destinations.
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Alpha...Tango...Charlie!!!
I’ve had this old & kinda historic fascination with all the slangs used by the US military guys. Ever since I started playin Counter-Strike or Medal of Honour or in recent times Call of Duty: Modern Warfare & MW2 I’ve always sought these slangs in the dialogues of the animated characters in the game. Even in the movies these slangs are so often used that one can not miss them. One must have quite frequently heard these sentences “Two Tangos at 3’o Clock” wherein a guy refers to 2 targets standing at the right. Similarly bird is referred to any flying object such as a helicopter or a flying jet. The instances just quoted by me were two of the very simple and popular ones. I went deep and dug out some of the not-so-popular ones but are certainly tricky and it was a lot fun figuring out what it meant. The more I racked my brains on them the more fun it turned out to be.
Before I go on mentioning those on my blog lemme remind you that the military guys are very decent & at the same time very indecent. Decent ‘coz they refrain themselves from using words like f***, instead they use Foxtrot. Indecent ‘coz d**k is always used as d**k. So here’s a sneak peak into the domain of Military Slangs.
Note: Check for answers below. Try figuring it yourself and it’ll be fun. Trust me. I’ll start with some easy ones
1) Meals on wheels
2) Pineapple
3) Pocket Billiards
4) Powerpoint Commando
5) Red-light ranger
6) Semper Fi is the motto of US Marine Corps & means “Always Faithful” now what does Semper Fu means hint…it’s a combination of Semper Fi & Kung-Fu
7) My fav: Armored Cow
8) Blanket Party
9) Camel Jockey
10) Eating Irons
Now comes the tough ones
1) Left handed salute: Showing disrespect. It’s actually a punishable offence if you do this in army to a senior
2) Shamurai: Person really gud as an imposter (comes from Shamming or faking)
3) Shit-hot: outstanding or AWESOME
4) Shiney-arse: officer with desk-job….kinda apt
5) Shit-patrol: an officer designated for latrine duty and burning shit buckets using diesel while on field
6) Cluster Foxtrot (polite way of saying Charlie Foxtrot or Cluster F**k) : Disaster resulting from many errors
7) Bunny Suit: Chemical/Biological suit
8) Indecent synonyms for mouth: Cum dumpster & Dick holster ;)
9) Suck Thumb: Shut up & stop complaining
10) The day the eagle shits: Payday
11) Tits-up: Dead (4 d obvious reasons)
12) Un-ass: Get up
13) Walking mattress: Promiscuous woman
14) 0-3: Marine haircut (zero inches on sides & 3 inches on top)
15) Zoom bag: Flight suit
16) Ali Baba: Local thieves in Iraq
17) Alpha, Mike Foxtrot: Adios Mother F****r (used in the movie A-Team twice)
18) Balls: 12 midnight ‘coz it is represented by 0000 hrs which luks like 4 balls
19) Beat ur face: Push ups
20) Big D**k Contest: Combat competition
21) Bravo Foxtrot or Blue falcon (buddy f****r): Unhelpful fellow soldier
22) Brass: power/top-rank officer
23) Broke-d**k: Handicapped soldier
24) Bullet sponge/Bullet stopper: the infantry guy at the front in a war
25) CAT Fooed: Completely & Totatally Foxtroted
26) Desert Queen: Promiscuous unattractive lady officer
27) Desert dairy: Promiscuous overweight lady officer
28) Guardian Angel: A soldier who provides cover and overwatch from an elevated position
29) Hit the silk: Eject from an aircraft with a parachute
30) Sheep: Civilians
Will keep updating these at regular intervals. Till then Over n Out.
Answers:
1) Mobile kitchen
2) Hand-grenade 'coz of its shape
3) Hands in pockets
4) A soldier always explaining things with useless high tech presentations
5) Army men who spend most of their times at the red light areas
6) Combat style
7) Canned milk
8) Kumbal kutayi (in Hindi)
9) Arabs
10) Cutlery
Before I go on mentioning those on my blog lemme remind you that the military guys are very decent & at the same time very indecent. Decent ‘coz they refrain themselves from using words like f***, instead they use Foxtrot. Indecent ‘coz d**k is always used as d**k. So here’s a sneak peak into the domain of Military Slangs.
Note: Check for answers below. Try figuring it yourself and it’ll be fun. Trust me. I’ll start with some easy ones
1) Meals on wheels
2) Pineapple
3) Pocket Billiards
4) Powerpoint Commando
5) Red-light ranger
6) Semper Fi is the motto of US Marine Corps & means “Always Faithful” now what does Semper Fu means hint…it’s a combination of Semper Fi & Kung-Fu
7) My fav: Armored Cow
8) Blanket Party
9) Camel Jockey
10) Eating Irons
Now comes the tough ones
1) Left handed salute: Showing disrespect. It’s actually a punishable offence if you do this in army to a senior
2) Shamurai: Person really gud as an imposter (comes from Shamming or faking)
3) Shit-hot: outstanding or AWESOME
4) Shiney-arse: officer with desk-job….kinda apt
5) Shit-patrol: an officer designated for latrine duty and burning shit buckets using diesel while on field
6) Cluster Foxtrot (polite way of saying Charlie Foxtrot or Cluster F**k) : Disaster resulting from many errors
7) Bunny Suit: Chemical/Biological suit
8) Indecent synonyms for mouth: Cum dumpster & Dick holster ;)
9) Suck Thumb: Shut up & stop complaining
10) The day the eagle shits: Payday
11) Tits-up: Dead (4 d obvious reasons)
12) Un-ass: Get up
13) Walking mattress: Promiscuous woman
14) 0-3: Marine haircut (zero inches on sides & 3 inches on top)
15) Zoom bag: Flight suit
16) Ali Baba: Local thieves in Iraq
17) Alpha, Mike Foxtrot: Adios Mother F****r (used in the movie A-Team twice)
18) Balls: 12 midnight ‘coz it is represented by 0000 hrs which luks like 4 balls
19) Beat ur face: Push ups
20) Big D**k Contest: Combat competition
21) Bravo Foxtrot or Blue falcon (buddy f****r): Unhelpful fellow soldier
22) Brass: power/top-rank officer
23) Broke-d**k: Handicapped soldier
24) Bullet sponge/Bullet stopper: the infantry guy at the front in a war
25) CAT Fooed: Completely & Totatally Foxtroted
26) Desert Queen: Promiscuous unattractive lady officer
27) Desert dairy: Promiscuous overweight lady officer
28) Guardian Angel: A soldier who provides cover and overwatch from an elevated position
29) Hit the silk: Eject from an aircraft with a parachute
30) Sheep: Civilians
Will keep updating these at regular intervals. Till then Over n Out.
Answers:
1) Mobile kitchen
2) Hand-grenade 'coz of its shape
3) Hands in pockets
4) A soldier always explaining things with useless high tech presentations
5) Army men who spend most of their times at the red light areas
6) Combat style
7) Canned milk
8) Kumbal kutayi (in Hindi)
9) Arabs
10) Cutlery
Saturday, May 28, 2011
The Angry Rat-o-Racer
“The world is burning in the fire of desire, in greed, arrogance and excessive ego.”
Few days back I checked out one of my friend’s status message on FB, and it read “Sad thing about the rat race is that even if you win it, you still are a rat”. Very rightly said. I’d like to add another corollary to it. The saddest part of the rat race is that it never ends. Eventually another one starts.
I see everyone (when I say everyone it includes me too, although I’m much like a hamster than a rat) engrossed in their respective races that they forget many things. How many times do we get out at night and just stare at the skies and try counting the stars OR How many times does one feel happy when one sees the rains not because it brought the soaring temperatures down but coz it made those leaves look greener.
Have we ever tried to compare our lives and the lives we lived in the past? Have we ever compared that how many times there is a frown on our faces and how many times there is a smile? How many times there are angry words coming out and how many times there are chuckles of laughter coming out of our mouth? My friends say “Oh boy, I was in fits of laughter when I heard….” They never really are in fits of laughter. It’s been long that I’ve seen people in fits of laughter. A laugh that is so long that’ll grow a mouth in your stomach just to shout “Stop laughing you idiot or I’ll die of contractions”. But I’ve seen people in fits…..fits of anger.
I’ve observed people around me and how they’ve changed with time. Anger has replaced smiles and laughter. Ego has replaced generosity. I see people filled with ego and overflowing with anger. Even the little and rare praises that come out of people are often sarcastic. This change makes me sad, not because of their behavior but for them. They lose on what could have been theirs just because they let their anger and egos cloud their minds. Ego and anger is contagious. True. But so are smiles and laughter. It’s written in the Rig Vedas that ego is the biggest enemy of humans. It’s is this ego that makes us keep running in this so called race.
The rat-race has in its clutches every one of us. The value of money has so greatly increased that the value of human bonding has decreased. All our lives we run to earn and when we have what we had set out for (although the target is always an illusion and rarely does a rat-racer achieves it) it seems we are old enough that we can’t enjoy our prize. People around me save money and I don’t see the exact reason why. Maybe I’m a fool that I can’t see it or maybe they are good runners of the rat-race and I don’t want to be one. I’ll any day prefer a relaxed life with a small account balance than hush hush life with huge deposits for which I will not have time.
There is a lot I can write on this but I’ll rather end it with
Facts of a rat-racer as written in the RAT BIBLE
Fact 1: A rat-racer shall never be satisfied.
Reason: A rat-racer never wants what he gets and never gets what he wants
Fact 2: A rat-racer shall win a surprise gift after winning a race
Fact in actuality: Surprise gift is ANOTHER RAT-RACE
Fact 3: A rat-racer will never be alone
Fact in actuality: True. It will always have companions following it like a Vodafone pug
The companion is called Ego and greed
Fact 4: A rat-racer after winning will have that top of the world feeling
Fact in actuality: Will stay there alone until someone pushes him off the top coz eventually other rats shall reach the top just to push the other one.
Fact 5: A rat-racer shall enjoy the life to its fullest when it’s over
Ambiguity in statement: “it’s” actually refers to LIFE coz the rat-race never gets over
Remember a rat-racer laughs and all rat-racers laugh with him, he cries and he cries alone.
“The world is burning in the fire of desire, in greed, arrogance and excessive ego. Let us all extinguish it with simplicity, generosity and smiles.”
Few days back I checked out one of my friend’s status message on FB, and it read “Sad thing about the rat race is that even if you win it, you still are a rat”. Very rightly said. I’d like to add another corollary to it. The saddest part of the rat race is that it never ends. Eventually another one starts.
I see everyone (when I say everyone it includes me too, although I’m much like a hamster than a rat) engrossed in their respective races that they forget many things. How many times do we get out at night and just stare at the skies and try counting the stars OR How many times does one feel happy when one sees the rains not because it brought the soaring temperatures down but coz it made those leaves look greener.Have we ever tried to compare our lives and the lives we lived in the past? Have we ever compared that how many times there is a frown on our faces and how many times there is a smile? How many times there are angry words coming out and how many times there are chuckles of laughter coming out of our mouth? My friends say “Oh boy, I was in fits of laughter when I heard….” They never really are in fits of laughter. It’s been long that I’ve seen people in fits of laughter. A laugh that is so long that’ll grow a mouth in your stomach just to shout “Stop laughing you idiot or I’ll die of contractions”. But I’ve seen people in fits…..fits of anger.
I’ve observed people around me and how they’ve changed with time. Anger has replaced smiles and laughter. Ego has replaced generosity. I see people filled with ego and overflowing with anger. Even the little and rare praises that come out of people are often sarcastic. This change makes me sad, not because of their behavior but for them. They lose on what could have been theirs just because they let their anger and egos cloud their minds. Ego and anger is contagious. True. But so are smiles and laughter. It’s written in the Rig Vedas that ego is the biggest enemy of humans. It’s is this ego that makes us keep running in this so called race.
The rat-race has in its clutches every one of us. The value of money has so greatly increased that the value of human bonding has decreased. All our lives we run to earn and when we have what we had set out for (although the target is always an illusion and rarely does a rat-racer achieves it) it seems we are old enough that we can’t enjoy our prize. People around me save money and I don’t see the exact reason why. Maybe I’m a fool that I can’t see it or maybe they are good runners of the rat-race and I don’t want to be one. I’ll any day prefer a relaxed life with a small account balance than hush hush life with huge deposits for which I will not have time.
There is a lot I can write on this but I’ll rather end it with
Facts of a rat-racer as written in the RAT BIBLE
Fact 1: A rat-racer shall never be satisfied.
Reason: A rat-racer never wants what he gets and never gets what he wants
Fact 2: A rat-racer shall win a surprise gift after winning a race
Fact in actuality: Surprise gift is ANOTHER RAT-RACE
Fact 3: A rat-racer will never be alone
Fact in actuality: True. It will always have companions following it like a Vodafone pug
The companion is called Ego and greed
Fact 4: A rat-racer after winning will have that top of the world feeling
Fact in actuality: Will stay there alone until someone pushes him off the top coz eventually other rats shall reach the top just to push the other one.
Fact 5: A rat-racer shall enjoy the life to its fullest when it’s over
Ambiguity in statement: “it’s” actually refers to LIFE coz the rat-race never gets over
Remember a rat-racer laughs and all rat-racers laugh with him, he cries and he cries alone.
“The world is burning in the fire of desire, in greed, arrogance and excessive ego. Let us all extinguish it with simplicity, generosity and smiles.”
Friday, April 29, 2011
No Generalization is any damn good except this one
Before I continue with my post I’d like to assure you that:
1) I’m not a male chauvinist or a sexist and certainly not an MCP
2) I’ve no intentions to hurt the humans belonging to the opposite sex
3) All the incidents described below are actual and have not been exaggerated
4) Please do not mail, text or post anything that I’d not like ‘coz that in turn will be considered as “You agree to what I say, it’s just that you hate listening and reading the truth”
I’d written this post long back but I held it back as I knew my friends from the opposite sex would differ from it (read as HATE it). I’ve already got some life threatening calls from some of the women gang-leaders but the fearless walk free ;)
Yes, I’m generalizing and summarizing my complete post in 4 words…WOMEN ARE POOR DRIVERS.
Enraged ladies- pour a glass of water on yourself, giggling guys- your driving isn’t that good either and ladies who are nodding at this- I respect you for accepting it.
I make this statement not under some pistol nose nor due to any animosity. This generalization has been made totally on the basis of the incidents or rather accidents witnessed by me. Lately I’ve seen a lot of accidents and most of those involved my dear ladies.
Incident 1 or rather accident number 3438728: A Santro is trying to take a U-turn in between a cut in the divider and runs into a Nano moving at its own slow pace and in its lane. The guy in the Nano tried hard to brake. The tyres make a screeching noise and come to a halt but the Santro still hits into the Nano. The lady in the Santro scared with her hands shaking drives off without even stopping to apologize.
Incident 2 or rather accident number 3438729: A brand new red Figo is waiting at an intersection for the signal to turn green. The signal turns green and car moves ahead but suddenly out of nowhere a car comes from the right and both cars come to a screeching halt. A girl with her phone in her hand (was obviously talking earlier) comes out and hurls some abuses to the driver of the Figo. He being a nice guy thanks God that his new car is safe doesn’t say anything to the girl trying to jump the light. Then after she’s done with the abusing she gets back and drives off.
Such incidents go on and on and I won’t bore my drivers with it. My point is that the women drivers are more careless while they are breaking the traffic rules ( and to top it off they don’t ever apologize). My universe is small and so is the sample but then my experience is huge enough to justify my generalization. I initially thought (when I’d written this post earlier) that the reason behind the poor driving is their slow reflexes but after a lil research I realized the reflexes of women are as good as men. So what might be the reason?
Good question (but an easy one). The reasons are:
1) More violations of traffic rule
2) Ignorant of the traffic rules
3) Poor observations (or rather busy observing the vanity mirror)
4) Much higher tendency of talking or texting on the phone while driving
A research report by John Hopkins suggests that in a year (in America) there were 5.1 million accidents involving a male while 5.7 million accidents by the other sex counterparts even when the number of male drivers was 10 times more than the women drivers. (Source: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9647900)
I’ll end my post by something that’ll ease your driving ladies: Keep your eyes on the road and not on the garment shops passing by. For you to enter them you’ll have to stop your car (at the parking) and not keep them moving at 60kmph. Keep your handsfree handy coz you need two hands while driving. And last but not the least for God’s sake Red light means STOP and green means GO J.
Remember it’s never too late to learn and as a matter of fact I know some good driving schools with good instructors. Call me if you need their contacts :P
Drive safe…it’s better to be Mrs.Late than being Late Mrs……
1) I’m not a male chauvinist or a sexist and certainly not an MCP
2) I’ve no intentions to hurt the humans belonging to the opposite sex
3) All the incidents described below are actual and have not been exaggerated
4) Please do not mail, text or post anything that I’d not like ‘coz that in turn will be considered as “You agree to what I say, it’s just that you hate listening and reading the truth”
I’d written this post long back but I held it back as I knew my friends from the opposite sex would differ from it (read as HATE it). I’ve already got some life threatening calls from some of the women gang-leaders but the fearless walk free ;)
Yes, I’m generalizing and summarizing my complete post in 4 words…WOMEN ARE POOR DRIVERS.
Enraged ladies- pour a glass of water on yourself, giggling guys- your driving isn’t that good either and ladies who are nodding at this- I respect you for accepting it.
I make this statement not under some pistol nose nor due to any animosity. This generalization has been made totally on the basis of the incidents or rather accidents witnessed by me. Lately I’ve seen a lot of accidents and most of those involved my dear ladies.
Incident 1 or rather accident number 3438728: A Santro is trying to take a U-turn in between a cut in the divider and runs into a Nano moving at its own slow pace and in its lane. The guy in the Nano tried hard to brake. The tyres make a screeching noise and come to a halt but the Santro still hits into the Nano. The lady in the Santro scared with her hands shaking drives off without even stopping to apologize.
Incident 2 or rather accident number 3438729: A brand new red Figo is waiting at an intersection for the signal to turn green. The signal turns green and car moves ahead but suddenly out of nowhere a car comes from the right and both cars come to a screeching halt. A girl with her phone in her hand (was obviously talking earlier) comes out and hurls some abuses to the driver of the Figo. He being a nice guy thanks God that his new car is safe doesn’t say anything to the girl trying to jump the light. Then after she’s done with the abusing she gets back and drives off.
Such incidents go on and on and I won’t bore my drivers with it. My point is that the women drivers are more careless while they are breaking the traffic rules ( and to top it off they don’t ever apologize). My universe is small and so is the sample but then my experience is huge enough to justify my generalization. I initially thought (when I’d written this post earlier) that the reason behind the poor driving is their slow reflexes but after a lil research I realized the reflexes of women are as good as men. So what might be the reason?
Good question (but an easy one). The reasons are:
1) More violations of traffic rule
2) Ignorant of the traffic rules
3) Poor observations (or rather busy observing the vanity mirror)
4) Much higher tendency of talking or texting on the phone while driving
A research report by John Hopkins suggests that in a year (in America) there were 5.1 million accidents involving a male while 5.7 million accidents by the other sex counterparts even when the number of male drivers was 10 times more than the women drivers. (Source: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9647900)
I’ll end my post by something that’ll ease your driving ladies: Keep your eyes on the road and not on the garment shops passing by. For you to enter them you’ll have to stop your car (at the parking) and not keep them moving at 60kmph. Keep your handsfree handy coz you need two hands while driving. And last but not the least for God’s sake Red light means STOP and green means GO J.
Remember it’s never too late to learn and as a matter of fact I know some good driving schools with good instructors. Call me if you need their contacts :P
Drive safe…it’s better to be Mrs.Late than being Late Mrs……
Thursday, April 28, 2011
He who strays discovers new paths
"I haven't been Everywhere, but it's on my list"
I think I’m late on this. I should’ve written this when the memories were fresh, but now that I’ve sat down to write this each and every moment of my trip to Leh has started to rush down the memory lanes again.
I like ad-hoc trips but this trip was one that coulnd’t have been an ad-hoc one. I started planning for it long back. Everyone around me was aware where and when was I leaving. My excitement level was so high that even if I smiled people around me asked “kya hua kuch naya plan socha liya kya Ladakh ke liye”. If I was online surfing, there’ll be atleast three tabs open on my Google Chrome that’ll be related to Ladakh. In short my excitement was quite visible.
I won’t be describing the details of my trip as I’ve already done hundereds of times infront of all my friends. Some actually have started to carry ear-plugs along. But that obviously doesn’t bring down my enthu to tell my stories (I'm refraining myself from carrying loudspeakers n mike to describe my Ladakhi adventures)
I’ve been to places and each time I go to someplace nice a thought appears in my mind “why can’t I settle here….settling here wud b gr8…”. A similar thought reappeared when I was at Leh. But after traveling parts of Ladakh and visiting many villages I realized that a life there is tough. Ladakh witnessed floods in August 2010 and the rehabilitation work was visible even during my visit. I saw the place where the song “Satrangi Re” from the movie Dil Se was shot. The place was in ruins. This realization actually instilled some fear. A life in Ladakh is not a walk in a park.
I’ve always considered mountain people a little slow (sorry Pinky but u’ll have to agree with me on this one) and a lil dumb but I started respecting them after my visit. I’ve never ever seen people 
so humble. A person is walkin infront of you, look into his eyes and he’s bound to say Juley (Hello in Ladakhi). Forget about gals, I’ve never heard a guy who’s a total stranger to me say Hello. I’ve only heard strangers ask “Does this metro go to rajiv chowk?”, “Which road goes to AIIMS?”. The other thing that’s so visible is that the people there are very very hard-working (although they don’t open their shops on time and to top it off they close their shops early).
The trip was obviously memorable because of the locale and the people but what made it even more memorable was the mountain goat (aka Pinky) who gave me company. THANK YOU.
A place like Ladakh is so quiet that at times even when you’re thinking you can hear your own voice in your ears. The place is so cut-off from the hustle-bustle of the cities that the only bustle that you can hear is the breeze passing by your ears. Even the bustle of the breeze is common to human ears. What's rare is the hearing of human voices. The place is away from all the anger, motives, ego, hypocrisy, lies and above all the rat race. And unfortunately I got to see a lot of it just before my trip. The only thing that kept me going was the planning that I was doing for the trip.
I’m so deeply in love with this place that I’m afraid that I’ll ever fall in love with some other place ever again, someplace that can bring down Ladakh from the number one spot. I have whole of my year (all the coming months) planned up and it’s the Valley of Flowers that’ll be the next place that can, if not beat then atleast come close to Ladakh’s adventure. Till then Ciao.
Cheers for the most ultimate adventure called LIFE...
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