Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Reflections …

If time had a color, it would be grey.

On this eve, I almost said a prayer to never have another year like 2013. but then I thought of some blessed moments of the passing year that I can live and relive for the rest of my life like seeing my sister looking for me at the Melbourne airport holding a blue sweater in case I was cold or the angel I babysit telling me “when I grow up, we should be sisters” or a trip to homegoods with my BFF or story telling on a drive with crazy laughter with my auntie or change of job or spiritual Mondays or serving coffee to the ones who need it the most.

Time is like a river, it cannot stop or turn back. Memories are like the erosion caused by this flowing water. Why just memories; time makes experiences, hurts, cynicism, wisdom, relationships, morals, spirit, attitude and evolve our definitions of love, respect and character.


I don’t really know if New year is an event to celebrate. It a mere attempt to compartmentalize time. But somehow this "mark in time" forces us to reflect, retrospect, review and re-evaluate our lives which by the way we don't completely own and control.

We lives are made of the strength we derive from our faith in God, love & support of family & friends, opportunities, evasion from misfortune, the blessings of health, light of wisdom, understanding of our purpose, ...a concoction we can pray for but not predict …. in short the "shade of grey" of the times to come is something only time can tell.

So till then “our mission” whether we “choose to accept it” or not, is to count our blessings, pull-up our socks and like a dear friend says “Shine on”. 

Sunday, October 13, 2013

Furlough Humans?

Recently my church scheduled some classes to teach singing. I got really excited and start dreaming how, if these classes work, I will be able to sing in the shower without the water pipes bursting open. I was really bumped when these classes got postponed. To deal with the disappointment I promised myself that I will google and learn. After all, internet knows it all.

Then i realized that recently for one reason or other I am opting internet over asking a friend, waiting for an instructor, talking to a business representatives or even calling customer service. From my visa worries to bank interest to car troubles, for work, for recipes and every other information I need, I simply use my laptop. Internet along with the self-checkout in stores and public library, facebook, emails, TV, telecommuting with team at work… has reduced human interactions with “real” people and brought them to an all-time low.

It’s amazing how human interaction can easily be made optional

In India, when you need your car serviced, you call up a friend to accompany you to the service station and bring you back with him/her so you don’t have to wait for hours while your vehicle is being serviced. And of coarse, also, help you get your vehicle back,later. In case you don’t have a friend available to help you, you can still wait at the workshop. While you wait, dealership employees will regularly come by and offer you free beverages and snacks to ensure good customer experience.

Here, in US, the dealership,“to help you avoid human interaction” offers a courtesy vehicle that you can drive around while your vehicle is being serviced. In case you decide to wait for some reason and not opt for a free drive; you have a cable TV, brewed coffee and free vending machines stocked with snacks and beverages at your disposal. So you get the same “good customer experience” just human less. 

Climate is changing. I don’t evolve too quick,so I am still holding on to my “Fridays with humans”, for now.

Saturday, October 05, 2013

Opinion Ordeal

Information not only imparts knowledge, it also bestows us with opinions. It is almost impossible to read newspapers, watch TV, talk to people, hear, see, smell, taste, think, basically experience and process life without making opinions.


Opinions can be fun. I still remember that I had a discussion with a friend on politics on the roof of a third floor house while enjoying a beautiful Bangalore evening. It was a rather unique experience. My friend and I put across our views, without the emotionally charged words, high-pitch voice, irrationality or intolerance that usually accompany a discussion of the two dramatically opposite ideologies viz. socialism and capitalism. Neither of us was swayed by each other’s view point but both were enriched, enriched in knowledge and patience. 

Opinions are complicated. Just like the information that builds them, are more often grey. And if one ever has the time and patience to put together comprehensively, I believe all opinions are “correct” irrespective to how different they may sound.

But yes, today time and patience are low.

Because today we don’t have to be a leader, a new paper editor, a TV journalist, a celebrity columnist or a social worker to put forth our opinion in public. Facebook, blogs, twitter and other social media sites are our podiums where it’s our discretion to practice passion, intelligence, irrationality, maturity, compassion, corrosion, idiocy or obnoxiousness, as we express our opinions. There is no social responsibility, no need for editing/revisions and definitely no need to be sensitive. 

We can support Narender Modi or Rahul Gandhi; take sides of Trayvon Martin or George Zimmerman; have our opinion on Judi Arias trial; decide if America needs TSA or its ODing on Security; like or dislike Obamacare; perceive miss America as a terrorist; support or oppose gays rights, have faith or be a proud atheist; believe our  parenting style is perfect; support guns or gun-control…. We can openly speak your mind. We can also take on the ones you don’t agree with, by name calling and insults and “FB unfriending”, yes there are many ways to display our immaturity.

Opinions are incriminating. I must be African-American if I think George Zimmerman is guilty; I must be pro-muslim if I don’t want Narender Modi to be the next prime minister of India;I don’t know how to shoot if I am for gun control; if I support Obama I support Obamacare.

What if I think George Zimmerman was guilty because he had the car and the gun, he should have had the commonsense to de-escalate a situation where a boy would not have lost his life; what if I believe that for a country whose biggest strength and weakness is its population, we cannot afford a leader who want to the prime minister by dividing the country, besides of coarse being pro-human and pro-Indian; what if I really love guns, but seeing our failure to curb mindless mass shooting, i want to give gun control a try; what if I think that one of the greatest leaders of present times Barak Obama, fought this hard only for a partial solution, why can’t their be insurance free healthcare.

Opinions vary, reasons behind similar opinions also vary. But the class of opinion holder is not reflected by the fearless or persistent expressing of one’s opinion, rather by his or her tolerance and respect for a different opinion.

Sunday, September 29, 2013

Found the secret for Six Pack Abs …

In creative world it’s easy and “almost” recommended to get an audience by manufacturing controversies and stirring-up-the-pot by inaccurately citing history, maligning popular leaders, talking ill about communities and religion especially the ones who will react, paint nude deities, defend ones obvious plagiarism or a simple bar brawl/road rage … oh and yes if you a big tongue, tongue dance at MTV awards ;) …Hence I am talking about Six Packs. :)

Last Tuesday I worked till wee hours in the morning and got up “early” for a crucial meeting and then drove to work for a video conference. Due to craziness at work, I decided to go any check my appearance before the video call. I gauged myself and decided that I looked “ok” despite little sleep and too much coffee. But then I noticed my outfit and got baffled. I tried very hard to remember if this was the same shirt and jeans that I wore the day before. In my exhaustion I could neither remember what I wore the day before nor remember the events from the hectic morning in order to trace where i picked up the cloths and get a clue if they were fresh or worn.

That moment I accepted that I will have to quit my job to be “magazine” pretty or “moderately fashionable”. 

So yes getting six packs of abs is not on my mind even remotely as I struggle to stay healthy, comply to my TV/words with friends/scramble with friends/Netflix/writing addiction and still pay my bills.

And as far as I know my most of regular readers … you doctors, teachers, businesspersons, managers, movie makers and IT professionals … sail on the same boat …  

Six pack abs is not a unicorn, it’s more like winners of the multi-million dollar lotto; a number small or big enough, however you see it, to constantly tease you.  Make it kind of theoretically possible but practically impossible if you are not in the business of looking good.

I don’t believe Six pack of abs will medically help me. I will die from cold when I wear cropped winter wear over my cropped t-shirt everywhere including office and church. Because if I ever get them, I ain’t hiding them… but if you know me, you will know I prefer unity. That’s the secret. J

Friday, August 09, 2013

Australia Diaries: Chapter Melbourne


Life is all about senses. When you see, you hear, you taste, you feel, you talk, you move, you laugh, you cry,  you savor the passing time.. you are alive.

I came to Melbourne to meet my sister after six years. I didn't just meet her, i lived with her.

i saw her smile, i heard the love in her voice,  i tasted pampering, i felt the security of family, we talked about everything under the sun and the grey clouds of this amazing city, i moved on her instructions like i always do, i laughed with her, we cried too ... we missed our parents.

We lived with Sharad, Anu and Abhi. We had serious fights over music, intense planning for effectual site seeings, agony over missed exists in our road trips, pain on paying for outrageously costly car parking, celebration of home cooked meals, "smart-ass" comments and comebacks, precious morning chit-chat over breakfast, family dinners, avalanche of shopping, surprise at nature's beauty, gazillion coffees and teas, many trips around neighborhood and many more down the memory lane, worries over loved ones, a story to tell on everything, struggle to find enough layers to stay warm, understanding the relevance if "masterchef"....taste of a life-style ...

Abhi's persistence to feature in "reflections" and get his due credit as my trip planner and adviser who drove us around, teamed-up for site seeing, song gathering, sister's temper management and more..... showed his caring and careless side with equal effulgence.

In Melbourne, we saw "the great ocean" road, yaara road, eureka tower, st kilda beach, downtown, highpoint mall , albert park and much more.. but despite the glorious high-rise, beautiful greens, ravishing countryside, green ocean... for me the most beautiful reason and experience of this trip will be my sister....




Tuesday, August 06, 2013

Australia Diaries: A Picture ...

... says a thousand words . Few of my favorite words of this trip ..





Written in a public rest room somewhere on the Great Ocean Road. Its true, wisdom can be found anywhere.










Australia is lush and green. be it Tasmania, Melbourne countryside, drive through the rain forest to 12 Apostles or the green ocean. and just to add another shade to the "green envy" they even make the swimming pools green too ... at the Cataract Gorge, Tasmania
















At the Graffiti Park at Launceston, Tasmania. Idle kids and their unleashed imagination.










The tear glasses... notice the small buckets under the rims. ne of the most brilliant and funny things i ever saw. Found at Ballarat, the gold rush village.















A post box in country side Tasmania, an angel made from empty beer cans. Goes to say that alcohol can make mundane things look beautiful







I never thought i could see a penguin in the wild without visiting Antarctica, until we visited the St. Kilda Beach. It was so cold that the jackets and jeans felt permeable to the wind. Walking on the long wooden plank leading to the middle to ocean against very strong wind currents did not feel like a very smart idea until we went to the rocky habitat for the beautiful creatures and found this beautiful shiny, grey-blue penguin.


Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Australia Diaries: Chapter Tasmania

The problem with being born in a desert state (Rajasthan, India)  and living in another desert state is that you become "Green-Crazy". And obviously you don't know because, the most green you get to see in Phoenix, Arizona is on starbucks coffee cup...

But when you land in Tasmania, Australia... you lunacy is exposed. Its a hilly terrain, all covered in green. The emerald of nature scattered with cattle in the countryside and houses in the city, but at no point of time you miss the color of this state. I was told that winters has caused the trees to shed leaves and be "less green". Of course, I did not dwell on this thought as its absolutely beyond the realms of imagination. And I was too busy behaving like a dog chasing his own tail, with obsessive and quick turning, running, clicking, moving, capturing as much beauty i could in my modest camera and even iphone where i was being rushed and did not have enough time to take out the camera.
Country Side on Way to the Cradle Mountain
Dove Lake, Cradle Mountain
More of Country Side
Cataract Gorge,Launceston 
Cataract Gorge,Launceston - another View


Grrrrrrrreeeeeeeeeennnnnnnnnnn

City of Launceston 

The Cafe at Cataract Gorge were filled with "food seekers"



There is definitely something called "too much beauty!!" for one geographical location. Sigh!!!!

Thursday, July 25, 2013

Australia Diaries: Prolouge

i can't usually put my travel in words. most of my important travels are towards family, and i experience the vacation with melting heart and gushing emotions. hence it is difficult to cast them in a travelouge.

like when i visit jaipur, my mornings are filled with papa instructing mom to "quiet down" the noises of pans n pots as she cook my fav breakfasts; days are filled with living every moments in the security blanket of the two people who will love me unconditionally, forever; evenings are spent eating dinners that my mom had been planning for weeks in order to remind my tastebuds of all her dishes, in the limited time; and nights spend feeling sad, that one more day is over...

this is no good, non-resuable, immpractical mumbo-jumbo

this trip should be no different, except that i am travelling to the only member of my family who "think" my "awesomeness" needs work.

so far the flight in the 52 seat plane from phoenixto LA has been unnerving. the plane creaked, purred and crackled moving through the cloud cover. i kept getting reminded of my sister's smartass comment "sit in the middle of the plane, to assist its balance" grrrrr. 


ecstatic, excited, exuberant and very emotional .... let the magic begin!!!!!!

Friday, June 28, 2013

Introducing: My Alter Ego


My creative partner Manu and I were talking about writing some original quotable quotes, so he suggested I should think and write as my alter ego. Of course, he thinks I am all kind of crazies, with all possible psychological doodles in my brain. But this one I am not or should I say, I was not.

I went to the fountain of knowledge (Wikipedia) and found “An alter ego (Latin, "the other I") is a second self, which is believed to be distinct from a person's normal or original personality”. And started the Godisque effort of creating someone from my imagination, Joe Weed(adding a googled pic to help visualization; similarity with any Hollywood superstar is unintentional).

Let me introduce Mr. Joe Weed to you. His eyes have a stillness, a peace, a non-judging, non-calibrating, non-needing, non-seeking, non-longing simple vision; a vision to see through the smoke of everyday clutter, through the screen of fake busyness, images, beauty, faces to impartially observe life; his words speak to express facts as they are without the robes of kindness, political correctness, compulsion to be understood or agreed with; his heart harbors no hurt, looks through joys and walks away from pain, he can tear apart from jealousy, acceleration of successes, despondency of failure, itch of despair and has mastered the ability to forgive in order to stay free. His mind is beautiful. He does not worry about his future or the future of his loved ones. He doesn’t relive the past. He thinks simple, unattached thoughts, observed analysis, no affiliations and no restrains.

He is wise enough to know that the life need not be hoarded, be scared of or be in awe with; naïve enough to be excited at its unfolding and skillful enough to sit beside it, enjoying the company.

I can’t wait to get to know him better. He seems worthy of my headspace.

Thursday, June 06, 2013

Racially Yours!!

So a friend from Mangalore teased a friend from Tamil Nadu about his love for curd rice. My tamil friend got seriously offended and branded my mangalorian friend as “racist” …

Now I am thinking that how can “fish-rice” (manglorian friend) teasing “curd-rice”(tamil) be so unacceptable when most “daal-baatis” (rajasthani’s) and “chola batura’s” (punjabi’s) still think that below “vada-paav” (Mumbai) everything is “rice & coconut oil” (south india)… 

Racism is bad and severe. But this episode is not racism, its a cliché. Cliché’s about color, culture and race are not offensive, though decisions based solely on them are.

When we see people with white, black, yellow, brown skins, when we hear male-female voices, when we notice ethnicity and nationalities; known cliché’s run in our minds. And if we don’t have any, they are made as we go through life, … a lot of people make up their mind with their experiences like working with a micromanaging Indian manager or friendship with a i-speak-my-mind New Yorker or very efficient Asian store attendants or good Venezuelan car salesman or coupon savvy Mexican teammate or crafty IT contractor.

If all stand-up comedians are to be believed, cliché’s can be funny; old people say cliché’s hold wisdom and talkers skillfully use them as funny icebreakers. Though I think it’s just human nature of find patterns and do hasty/whimsical classification of events and people.

Anyway, I say clichés fun. And if we misname them something sinister like racism, they don't cease to be fun ...

Sunday, May 05, 2013

Our English is bad only…


Warning: As an Indian, I have all rights to make fun of Indian English and no matter how close you feel to Queen Elizabeth, this article applies to you.

If in Hindi you think and translate in English, people may understand what you are saying but it doesn’t make you English’s professor.:-B

Picture this; we had a System Analyst who used body gestures to complete his sentences. In a meeting where most participants were on phone he said “its uploaded there” for the document in discussion and vigorously made head gestures to point to his laptop where the folder location of the document was open. The meeting, of course, left participant clueless and frustrated. 8-|

Another friend drove me nuts because she insisted on saying”Come, let’s go” every time. I tried to explain her that “let’s go” is good enough and that ‘come’ was really unwarranted, till a Tamil friend educated me that that it’s a word to word translation of a Tamil phrase. 

I personally, feel like the “national integration” of bad English. I have learned wrong English constructs made from literal translations of almost all regional languages of India. :-S

Yesterday, a guy suffering late hours on a Friday like me said and I quote “I don’t know where little little time goes”. I almost choked myself, suppressing my laughter. I was proud of myself, to identify incorrect english despite hearing and speaking it most of the time. =))Like when a nasty team member, throwing around his weight around wrote “copy me in all communication without mistake” … >:P

I say “English’s goddess, if not to improve my English, teach me to at least distinguish between the good and the bad” [-O<

Saturday, March 23, 2013

ART: Affordable Retail Therapy


If someone ever tries to sound wise and ask you “Can money buy happiness?” Tell them “Obviously yes!! Never been shopping, bro”

Retail Therapy is a shortcut of happiness. Except two problems, first, filling the house and wardrobe with spontaneous shopping is painful to see every single day, after the high to managing the many colorful bags in your few fingers fades.

Second and bigger problem is that most of us have access to only “sweat money”. It’s not important if you have a lot or very little of “sweat money” but because it’s hard earned money that you know how you earned, when you earned and how much you earned, such money is not easy to spend.  

So how do you “buy” the happiness, without spending money and filling your house and wardrobe with things what will make you cringe after a week.

You google it!!!

Oh I mean google/facebook/pinterest/wish/amazon/zales/tiffany/homegoods/jungle/designemporia/amrapali it …

You can indefinitely and uncontrollably browse for this you need and what you just like looking it, without driving around and being an inconvenience to the sales person breathing down your neck. Type, quantity, quality, need, budget, price, durability, space in house and wardrobe…nothing matters. You can browse on emerald necklaces, patio furniture, swarovski chandelier,rugs  all you want. It is poor man’s/woman’s shopping. The added advantage is definitely transcending continent boundaries so you browse through unlimited number of sarees, kundan jewelry, potli purses, terracotta décor items…. 

It is lame i admit, but works for some of us ...

Saturday, March 16, 2013

No Karma


We all know the concept of Good karma and bad karma. Good karma is better than the bad karma, but there is something even better than the Good karma … No karma.

Doing nothing is the best thing to do. We all dream of an errand-less, responsibility-less and schedule-less day. “Doing nothing” is not being lazy or procrastinating. It’s meditation. It’s out of body experience where you see the hustle-bustle of life from outside.

I don’t know if it’s true, but by description “heaven” is the place where people are peacefully lazing around. There is playing of harp and feeding of grapes and pouring of wine, but outsourced to the contractors (I so hope this is true J ) . The rightful occupants are blessed with doing nothing.  While in hell is where people are boiled, fried, flogged and made to run errands.

May be god created us to do nothing. And like we always mess his good plans, we took upon us ourselves, to do the unholy task of planning, managing and executing unending chores.  Along comes the stress of the pending tasks, the guilt of not getting to them and the worries of their ever increasing number.

It’s time to give up on our damaging instincts of being an executor and embrace the holiness of nothingness and drift in the ultimate happiness …


Tuesday, February 05, 2013

Love Your Carbs


I am the biggest advocate for carbohydrates …

Carbs are happy food. Food is not happiness but happiness and celebrations are associated with food and feasts. But not just any food…

Pumpkin pie represents thanksgiving and rum cake Christmas. Which holiday is represented by kale juice and avocado salad? After a breakup who eats a bunch of lettuce and which game is watched drinking green tea. Wedding vows are not followed by a meal of granola bars and Fruits are not cut to mark birthdays. Comfort food seldom comprises of carrots and celery.

Why deny that potato is delicious in any form? Flour and rice are best entrees, adding meaning to all vegetables and meats. Cake, noodles, bread, pita, parathas, chips are all possible because of flour and rice. Sugar is inevitable and represents all that is good in life.

Life is not unfair. It has a lot to offer, until some of you subscribe to health magazines and start counting your calories J

Monday, February 04, 2013

God and Religion ...


A very wise friend once told me that GOD and religion are separate.

 

As per the definition of religion: the belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially a personal God or gods

 

If I indulge in analyzing this statement I am intrigued by two phases, one  “the belief in and worship of a superhuman” I do not necessarily agree that when we believe in God you have to worship him. We need to trust him and have faith, but an act of worship is complicated. We need a relationship with God. Remember we need, not God. I do not believe that God is God because we believe that he is GOD. Also he is God for all, I do not think that he sees an atheist suffering and do not comfort him or deny him safety or love. We need a relationship with him and we need to remind us of him because we need that peace of being watched over, the peace of being loved and the motivation to be a little better. We should be allowed our version of belief with or without the worship.

 

Today, my prayer group talked about trust in God. I think trusting God is very simple and natural. I am not saying when we are down and are told “God does things for a reason” or “God will be there for you”. I am talking about just us and God. We trust in him and walk in his shadow till we have to think about it or talk about it or prove it to someone. We can’t explain it but we trust him. In fact I think at times religion casts doubt on this trust because we may not believe in some aspects of religion. And because we are told that religion is the path that leads up to the lord, we start to put our doubt in our trust on Lord.

 

  Second term that I really like is “personal God”. After been brought up in the land with maximum number of names and descriptions of God, I adamantly believe that there is only one God. But there is more, he is a personal God.  My God knows me, he knows my strength and weaknesses, my pain and tears, my tensile strength and breaking point. He is there for me when I need him, I do not have to share him with any one. He is really a personal God even if he is also the God for everyone else.

 

Now we search for a definition for God, we get the following

1 [without article] (in Christianity and other monotheistic religions) the creator and ruler of the universe and source of all moral authority; the supreme being.
2 (god) (in certain other religions) a superhuman being or spirit worshiped as having power over nature or human fortunes; a deity:a moon godan incarnation of the god Vishnu

 

I object to both definitions, the problem I see with the first is “all moral authority”. I do not perceive God as an authority, leave alone “all moral authority”. Because if he was one, he should have disowned us, all of us long back. Authority can only judge but not forgive, guide, love, redirect, nurture and protect. So God cannot be called an authority of any kind.

 

The second definition “spirit worshiped as having power over nature or human fortunes”. I do not perceive that God has power over my fortune for a very simple reason. I believe that if God had power over my fortune, my eyes would have never known what a tear is nor my heart would have never been introduced to pain. We, all of us are like a class of four year olds at a preschool and God is our class teacher. He works round the clock to protect us from us. He let us do what we need to do and be what we need to be, looking over and after us. He sits in his place vigilant and concerned. He guides us, teach us and empowers us be happy and confident, to laugh and run around. But we do not always listen to Him and when we fall, we magically find him helping us on our feet and alleviating our pain.

 

So if I had to define religion I would say “A way to remind us of GOD presence and mercy, so we do not forget that we are protected and are being watched over” and my definition of my loving personal God is “The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing

Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Angels


Life is an act of trapeze. We are focused artists who go through life leaping from one situation to another, from bar to bar. We are sincere in our efforts to make successful moves and jumps.

But we not always succeed. At times we fall. And its only when we fall we notice them… the angels. They are like the safety net built to protect our fall, reduce the hurt and get us back on our feet.

Angels come in all shapes and sizes. They are family, sincere old friends, fresh new acquaintances, a chatty shopping assistance, a hugger at church, the manager of car rental, a talkative team member, a kind God seeker, a lonely friend, a workplace acquaintance … Some know our situation and work to alleviate it while other unknowingly provide their healing touch. kindness is all over

We also act as angels knowingly or unknowingly. Over coffee, over phone, in person … not always aware of what we are responding to and the chords of heart we tug on.

God cannot be everywhere so he places his people to save us. 

Wednesday, January 09, 2013

Who is in control?

So who controls our lives and the scripts of a mundane yet unique drama that unfolds everyday....differently for each of us.

In a good phase of life, we usually respond to this by saying... we do. With our efforts ,sincerity and courage... we determine and get the life we want for ourselves...

In a bad phase of life, its either god or destiny... Destiny is a more negative representation of what is beyond our control. because destiny comes across as unknown, undefined, uncompassionate owner of our lives...
God and his ways on the other hand are more peace and hope invoking as we believe that our creator knows and understand what he wants us to endure and learn ... and find ourselves part of a bigger picture. We believe he stands beside us in our suffering and will intervene as necessary

But coming back to the question on the control, all theories seem flawed....

We are usually in control making our life better only when appropriate opportunities like our family to education to country of birth , are favorably provided to us.... Also each blow of death, disease, loss brings us to our knees and find us all vulnerable and weak

Destiny, sounds more like random set of events which makes little sense. Also success and happiness are not really the accidents destiny is known for.... so it cannot be the sole play-writer...

God, as a believer, i have faith in. But some unseen, unspoken and unnecessary sufferings are hard to be assigned as a design of his kindness...

May be its the uncontrollable combination of what God's kindness bestows on us, what randomness of destiny throws our way, what circumstances shape, what time carves, what we achieve with our hard work, what we ruin because of our fears and complexes, what people around us make/break/influence...