Life needs bad experiences or rather experiences to shape us. Without experiences/intense experiences also we grow, but its like sculpting rock with erosion, while intense experiences are sculpting our personality with a pickaxe. May be a rough cut with pickaxe and then smoothened down softly with errosion of time which works like water and works slowly makes a good personality.
14 December 2016
10 December 2016
Accepting Bhakti yoga and Karma yogi.
Why is it such a big deal? What is the problem with accepting Bhakti or Karma yoga? Many urban Indians or westerners may have problem with accepting Bhakti yoga or Karma yoga as a way to enrich their life.
Bhakti yoga is the yoga of faith and devotion and losing ourselves by being one with the object of our devotion. Karma yoga is the yoga of action, In Bhagavad Gita , Krishna says "Do your duty, and dedicate the results to me". It is the yoga of selfless work without any expectation of rewards.
What!! Work without rewards? Am I a slave? How can anyone work without caring about what they will get paid for it? or even with out a salary?
Devotion and faith? Is that even compatible with reason and intellect? and How can I lose myself? What about my self esteem?
These are the thoughts that come to the mind of a modern yogi. Our sense of entitlement and fairness makes it very hard to accept or believe in work without rewards or unconditional devotion.
It also brings to mind abuses of the past, slavery, misuse of power and lowly paid working classes, all this could happen with Karma yoga. Religious bigotism and religious wars, women sacrificing their health and food for the sake of family, abuse of ordinary people by priests by misusing their devotion to gather wealth, all this could happen with Bhakti yoga. How could it be a right path for anyone?
May be there is a different way to look at this? Let us try to explore it more deeply.
One of the most beautiful spiritual and religious movement, Sufism, The songs and poems which were written 100s of years ago by Rumi and Kabir still touch our hearts, It is the most tolerant form of Islam, It is Bhakti Yoga. The Krishna temple of Udupi has the idol facing backwards. It is said that one Bhakta of Krishna, Kanaka Daasa was not allowed into the temple as he was low caste. He went behind the temple and prayed, God was so moved by his prayer that the idol turned around and the temple walls crumbled, to give Darshan to Kanaka daasa. Bhakti yoga was a very powerful movement which gave power to oppressed castes in this way. Historically it was possibly the only way available to women and lower castes/classes to God realisation. Many rebellious personalities who stood against society were Bhakts, Meera Bai who dared break all the shackles put on women in her devotion to Krishna, Kabir and Sai baba who broke religious barriers between Hindus and Muslims are all part of Bhakti movement. One of the most loving men on earth Jesus, his teachings are all about love and Bhakti. Buddhist metta meditation is also Bhakti feeling.
Bhakti can also be towards nature, Shinto is a religion in Japan, which worships streams, mountain, forests and animals and they see life or sprits in all things nature, Such a gentle and loving and respectful attitude towards nature all over the world would have never led to the damage and destruction that is happening on earth today. What is it but Bhakti yoga or devotion to nature? Native American people see themselves not as separate from nature but as part of the forest. Bhakti yoga is most common type of religious sentiment found across the world. It only goes sour when people forget the unconditional love in their heart and let their sense of self become rigid and small.
Let us look at our sense of self, What is Myself? my sense of self limits to my body, I am as far as my body extends what ever is outside that is the other. That is how humans perceive it. Can it be any other way?
Surprisingly yes. Some studies on Killer Whales have found that, Their brains are wired in such a way that their sense of self extends to the whole pod. They may be different bodies who feel pain and sensations separately but they see themselves as one! Loss of one whale in the pod, probably feels like loss of arm or leg to them.
How would humans live, If their sense of self extended beyond themselves to the whole community or to the whole world?
Karma yoga makes us expand our sense of self and work for the sake of the other, this other can slowly be expanded to include the whole world.
Karma yoga is a very profound concept which makes us live in the present moment. The only moment which is ever real is the current moment, the past is in our memory and future in our imagination. The rewards which we seek for our work are always in the future and is thus not real. It is of utmost importance that we value our actions for their own sake in the present moment.
The work is the reward in itself. it is like enjoying the journey as much as the destination. artists are familiar with this concept, They make art for the joy it gives them not for the price it brings, but in karma yoga you dont choose a job that brings you joy, but you bring joy into what ever work that needs to be done.
Karma yoga does not make us subjugated to others but makes us one with others, Karma yogi will not take abuse but will fight against for the sake of greater good, As Arjuna was advised to do by Krishna.
Modern day problems like care of older people, expensive health care will all vanish if everyone participated in Karma yoga.
Lastly, There is very interesting initiative called Ugly indians, who have taken up cleaning up garbage and dirty public toilets voluntarily in big cities in India as a cleanliness drive. Surprisingly the number of people who attend such events are huge and they pay money to do the dirty work, without thinking that its not their job, and without thinking that those people who are supposed to clean it are not doing it. That is the power of karma yoga.
Hope this essay will help modern yogi see Karma and Bhakti yoga from a different perspective and help them accept it.
Bhakti yoga is the yoga of faith and devotion and losing ourselves by being one with the object of our devotion. Karma yoga is the yoga of action, In Bhagavad Gita , Krishna says "Do your duty, and dedicate the results to me". It is the yoga of selfless work without any expectation of rewards.
What!! Work without rewards? Am I a slave? How can anyone work without caring about what they will get paid for it? or even with out a salary?
Devotion and faith? Is that even compatible with reason and intellect? and How can I lose myself? What about my self esteem?
These are the thoughts that come to the mind of a modern yogi. Our sense of entitlement and fairness makes it very hard to accept or believe in work without rewards or unconditional devotion.
It also brings to mind abuses of the past, slavery, misuse of power and lowly paid working classes, all this could happen with Karma yoga. Religious bigotism and religious wars, women sacrificing their health and food for the sake of family, abuse of ordinary people by priests by misusing their devotion to gather wealth, all this could happen with Bhakti yoga. How could it be a right path for anyone?
May be there is a different way to look at this? Let us try to explore it more deeply.
One of the most beautiful spiritual and religious movement, Sufism, The songs and poems which were written 100s of years ago by Rumi and Kabir still touch our hearts, It is the most tolerant form of Islam, It is Bhakti Yoga. The Krishna temple of Udupi has the idol facing backwards. It is said that one Bhakta of Krishna, Kanaka Daasa was not allowed into the temple as he was low caste. He went behind the temple and prayed, God was so moved by his prayer that the idol turned around and the temple walls crumbled, to give Darshan to Kanaka daasa. Bhakti yoga was a very powerful movement which gave power to oppressed castes in this way. Historically it was possibly the only way available to women and lower castes/classes to God realisation. Many rebellious personalities who stood against society were Bhakts, Meera Bai who dared break all the shackles put on women in her devotion to Krishna, Kabir and Sai baba who broke religious barriers between Hindus and Muslims are all part of Bhakti movement. One of the most loving men on earth Jesus, his teachings are all about love and Bhakti. Buddhist metta meditation is also Bhakti feeling.
Bhakti can also be towards nature, Shinto is a religion in Japan, which worships streams, mountain, forests and animals and they see life or sprits in all things nature, Such a gentle and loving and respectful attitude towards nature all over the world would have never led to the damage and destruction that is happening on earth today. What is it but Bhakti yoga or devotion to nature? Native American people see themselves not as separate from nature but as part of the forest. Bhakti yoga is most common type of religious sentiment found across the world. It only goes sour when people forget the unconditional love in their heart and let their sense of self become rigid and small.
Let us look at our sense of self, What is Myself? my sense of self limits to my body, I am as far as my body extends what ever is outside that is the other. That is how humans perceive it. Can it be any other way?
Surprisingly yes. Some studies on Killer Whales have found that, Their brains are wired in such a way that their sense of self extends to the whole pod. They may be different bodies who feel pain and sensations separately but they see themselves as one! Loss of one whale in the pod, probably feels like loss of arm or leg to them.
How would humans live, If their sense of self extended beyond themselves to the whole community or to the whole world?
Karma yoga makes us expand our sense of self and work for the sake of the other, this other can slowly be expanded to include the whole world.
Karma yoga is a very profound concept which makes us live in the present moment. The only moment which is ever real is the current moment, the past is in our memory and future in our imagination. The rewards which we seek for our work are always in the future and is thus not real. It is of utmost importance that we value our actions for their own sake in the present moment.
The work is the reward in itself. it is like enjoying the journey as much as the destination. artists are familiar with this concept, They make art for the joy it gives them not for the price it brings, but in karma yoga you dont choose a job that brings you joy, but you bring joy into what ever work that needs to be done.
Karma yoga does not make us subjugated to others but makes us one with others, Karma yogi will not take abuse but will fight against for the sake of greater good, As Arjuna was advised to do by Krishna.
Modern day problems like care of older people, expensive health care will all vanish if everyone participated in Karma yoga.
Lastly, There is very interesting initiative called Ugly indians, who have taken up cleaning up garbage and dirty public toilets voluntarily in big cities in India as a cleanliness drive. Surprisingly the number of people who attend such events are huge and they pay money to do the dirty work, without thinking that its not their job, and without thinking that those people who are supposed to clean it are not doing it. That is the power of karma yoga.
Hope this essay will help modern yogi see Karma and Bhakti yoga from a different perspective and help them accept it.
1 November 2016
science blindness
It was Karva chaut again and as it happens I was having an argument about why it is sexist, The counter arguments were many, but interestingly some were "scientific"
Second clue, My friends husband had convinced my arts educated friend into believing that she has to leave the window open when switching on the electric heater, or she would run out of oxygen in the room! 😂 WTF????
Gives you a glimpse into non geeky minds,Science is not universal in all minds!! Shocking! but true.
They are intelligent, very well functioning people. BUT THEY DONT KNOW BINARY NUMBERS!!!! They dont know that burning consumes oxygen not just anything hot!! They dont know things which I think is basic knowledge. They didnt study science may be?? some have studied science, even Master of Science! They are SCIENCE BLIND! Knowing the scientific reason for something is probably very low priority for them.
I have also noticed lot of forwards and memes with lot of "scientific" explanations. Like
Go mata di Jai
If cow-ghee and rice are cooked together, two powerful gases called ethylene-oxide, propylene-oxide are released. Propylene-oxide is the best gas used for creating artificial rain.
Sindhoooor ;-)
It is interesting to note that that the application of sindoor by married women carries a physiological significance. This is so because Sindoor is prepared by mixing turmeric-lime and the metal mercury. Due to its intrinsic properties, mercury, besides controlling blood pressure also activates sexual drive. This also explains why Sindoor is prohibited for the widows. For best results, Sindoor should be applied right upto the pituitary gland where all our feelings are centered. Mercury is also known for removing stress and strain.
The people who write these things? Are they rolling on the floor laughing or are they just some dumb f***s? >-) About the swearing, I hate these buggers.
(ok wait for it, there is an insight in here, not just ridicule and ranting :-p)
Go mata di Jai
If cow-ghee and rice are cooked together, two powerful gases called ethylene-oxide, propylene-oxide are released. Propylene-oxide is the best gas used for creating artificial rain.
Sindhoooor ;-)
It is interesting to note that that the application of sindoor by married women carries a physiological significance. This is so because Sindoor is prepared by mixing turmeric-lime and the metal mercury. Due to its intrinsic properties, mercury, besides controlling blood pressure also activates sexual drive. This also explains why Sindoor is prohibited for the widows. For best results, Sindoor should be applied right upto the pituitary gland where all our feelings are centered. Mercury is also known for removing stress and strain.
The people who write these things? Are they rolling on the floor laughing or are they just some dumb f***s? >-) About the swearing, I hate these buggers.
(ok wait for it, there is an insight in here, not just ridicule and ranting :-p)
I am always shocked that people forward such things, Dont they read what they are sending??
I am more than shocked when I realise some people thought all that was true, until I rubbished it. How can people not realise that such obvious shit is NOT some scientific gold?
are they like THAT stupid?
Clues to this on My friends 40th Birthday, I joked that he is only 28 years old in hex, 0X28 you know, like hexa decimal numbers. Most people didnt get it.
What do you mean hex?
You know Binary numbers, Octal, Hexa demimal ?
Ummm What?
Oh God! you are a Geek!
I realised bankers, architects, CAs, soldiers, basically 99 % of the people outside the geek circle dont know hexadecimal numbers!!
What do you mean hex?
You know Binary numbers, Octal, Hexa demimal ?
Ummm What?
Oh God! you are a Geek!
I realised bankers, architects, CAs, soldiers, basically 99 % of the people outside the geek circle dont know hexadecimal numbers!!
Second clue, My friends husband had convinced my arts educated friend into believing that she has to leave the window open when switching on the electric heater, or she would run out of oxygen in the room! 😂 WTF????
Gives you a glimpse into non geeky minds,Science is not universal in all minds!! Shocking! but true.
They are intelligent, very well functioning people. BUT THEY DONT KNOW BINARY NUMBERS!!!! They dont know that burning consumes oxygen not just anything hot!! They dont know things which I think is basic knowledge. They didnt study science may be?? some have studied science, even Master of Science! They are SCIENCE BLIND! Knowing the scientific reason for something is probably very low priority for them.
Most people when they forward those thing , they dont even know that all this "scientific" reasons they are forwarding are any different from the other real science they see. They genuinely cannot differentiate between the lies and truth, they are science blind!!!!!
I know! Its true.
test it.
24 October 2016
Pro life
Are they environmental conservationists? No, they dont a shit about environment.
They are vegan or vegetarian then? Caring for animal life! Lol! No! On the contrary they support recreational hunting!
This is US, they must be the guys who want to ban guns. No!!! They are fighting against gun control.
They must be against wars? Nope!
Against black peoples deaths in police shootings?
Against death penalty?
Then how the fuck are they pro life??? Morons. ( when you derive your morals from a book ... thats a topic for another post)
Anti abortionists calling themselves pro-life, cant they be sued under unfair advertising act or something?
16 October 2016
zindagi gulzar hai
I think the draw of the Pak serial is more to observe the culture than the story for me. I am very curious to know how similar and how different they are. In search of Shiva in Pakistan was the book which made be really curious about the country and its past. How deeply etched the shared Sikh Muslim culture was to Pakisthan, such a pity partition happened. It made me realise that our assuption that countries keep getting more liberal with time and that urban areas are liberal than rural may not be universally true. Also made me realise how deeply etched history is in the present and how culture is accumulated history.
I have always been an advocate of throwing away old for the new, My new was mostly western, I now realise, Dont be hasty in throwing away, because We may be swayed by the wrong "new" like Pakistan's "new", for example is unfortunately Saudi Wahabi culture, where as their old is more tolerant mix of sufi, shia culture which imbibed/retained the Hindu/Sikh culture.
How people dont give away old traditions but just fit them under new religion was interesting,When you think about it Brazils carnival does not exactly fit in with Vatican Christianity, does it?
In Spite of trying to break away from India and Hindu past with a vengence, I was thrilled to hear references to Sita and Blessings like sada suhagan raho!! (of all the things) in the serial.
12 October 2016
Cultural remix
Watch 2-3 Korean dramas, completely immerse yourself in them and then suddenly watch a Pakistan drama. Thats it. Add to that western culture all around me and on TV and 80s Indian culture in my head!
That was enough to get a good brain freeze and a real messed up head :D
I cant believe how confused I got and how I got a real headache by doing this, my brain was so confused, it was ridiculous. Real headache I got 😀 This is what is called a culture shock? :-)
K Drama super cute and innocent romance, which I love, then the Super conservative Pak romance where the word Mohobat. was uttered once only in episode 15 :) and then Mix it up with moronic teenagers smooching disgustingly in the tube station. culture engine in my brain couldn't take it, It burnt out!
It took me 3-4 episodes to realise that this guy and this girl are actually girl friend and boy friend in the Pak drama. Ha ha! Takes me right back to high school days when I thought romance was fictional, happened only in movies :) See this is exactly how 80s India was :)
Actually another confusion was that this was a Pak drama has some substance , I realised most of the stuff we watch these days Korean or hollywood - No substance, only entertainment. hmmmm!
That was enough to get a good brain freeze and a real messed up head :D
I cant believe how confused I got and how I got a real headache by doing this, my brain was so confused, it was ridiculous. Real headache I got 😀 This is what is called a culture shock? :-)
K Drama super cute and innocent romance, which I love, then the Super conservative Pak romance where the word Mohobat. was uttered once only in episode 15 :) and then Mix it up with moronic teenagers smooching disgustingly in the tube station. culture engine in my brain couldn't take it, It burnt out!
It took me 3-4 episodes to realise that this guy and this girl are actually girl friend and boy friend in the Pak drama. Ha ha! Takes me right back to high school days when I thought romance was fictional, happened only in movies :) See this is exactly how 80s India was :)
Actually another confusion was that this was a Pak drama has some substance , I realised most of the stuff we watch these days Korean or hollywood - No substance, only entertainment. hmmmm!
I want to be buried and not cremated, and I want to be buried without a coffin. cozy in the soil, being eaten away by earth worms becoming compost, one with earth, not in a cold coffin shrivelling! I am an earth person not a fire one.
What a weird thought!
This is what happens when you plant(bury) 200 tulip bulbs, you start thinking you are one bulb yourself! I must be one nut! ground nut! he he!
1 October 2016
If this world is a game of chess
who are the pawns and who are the players?
In life? I am spectator or player or pawn? play different roles at different times?
30 September 2016
Are we going to run out of raw material to sustain life on earth?
Does it sound crazy?
When you talk about Reincarnation. People ask this question, how does the population of the world increase? If each person has a soul and the soul is recycled , the number of people alive should be same, isnt it? How are all the extra people being born?
I said they are being born like waves out of a sea, a sea has waves but it has enough raw material to make infinitely more number of waves than those at the surface, sometimes less waves sometimes more waves.
Then I thought why go for such a vague example? Just like earth actually - how is earth making more and more people ? Its the same earth but there are so many more people than there were before. Earth does not get any more matter than it already has ( Earth gets energy from the Sun, but Sun also does not get any more energy than it already has ) Its the same amount of raw material all along.
Shocking realisation - Earth is finite!!
What we consumed as animals or as primitive men was minuscule, everything is recycled by earth by decay and death, so the raw material for making life/making more humans/animals looked like it is infinite so far but Now??
Look at the materials we have now and how much! look at the garbage dumps. We are locking up the raw material into things which cannot be used to make life for a really really long time. Is our uncontrolled materialism and consumption going to snuff us out? Are we threatening the capacity of earth to make life? Are the signs like global warming and major disruption of climate a sign of this?
We cut away forests, killed and ate animals to extinction but we were so few it didnt matter ( or may be it did even then, 10,000 years ago lot of animals went extinct, it may have been because of humans ) but Today? We are consuming like crazy - Plastics, Chemicals which were never present on earth before. Just look at the western world, how we buy, how we consume. It is giving me chills.
I saw a skip full of thrown away furniture yesterday and it gave me the chills. Is this the biggest evil which we are refusing to see?
the world as we know it may not be so for long ( Or the shit is going to hit the fan? )
I am really worried
We have had a generally stable 70 odd years ( for the urban Indians and westerners, not if you are in Africa or middle east or for that matter anywhere outside my bubble :-( ) Our parents and us have seen a world in which things have steadily got better, technology got better, more money, prosperity, society got better, less crime more law n order( in spite of !what is the world coming to these days! laments) more freedom especially for women, more education etc etc
I am getting this bad nagging feeling that this is going to change n the next few years.
The chaos on this world is steadily increasing
The stupidities of the past 100 odd years are bearing fruit
The progress of the past years is demanding its price.
In fact much of the progress is not looking like progress at all.
The instability causing things
refugee crisis in Europe
Brexit
Race relation ships in the US grow worse
person like Donald Trump is a potential presidential candidate for the most powerful country on earth
Russia Ukrain Turkey
Steady growth of Isis
Radical Islam keeps getting a stronger grip in the wider world.
Left wingers going so far left as to give rise to right wingers.
Such things and much worse have been happening all over the world last 60 years, then why are things in Europe/US more important. Frankly they are. So called World war does not mean it involves the world, it means the powerful Europe and America are part of it.
Mindless/heartless science
What was Sci-fi is becoming a reality.
Robots - robot was used to kill a guy by US police, albeit it was remote controlled robot
we all have our heads so much in virtual reality, everything is online and hackers are getting closer and closer
GMO - I love the idea of resurrecting dinosaurs but I dont like insect resistant potatoes or non seeding hybrids or humans who can live for ever X-(
GMO for food to prevent world hunger(??) why we waste away 1000 of kilos of food because it is ugly
Reality of the food /farming industry - Treating animals like objects, literally without imagining that there is life in them
Designer babies - gene selected babies, GMO people, rich people will have better genes than poor people, people will live for ever and not die?
Reality of the advertising industry - how much we have been fooled, from soap to mouth wash to eating cereals and avoiding fats to Teflon. Everything you know so far is probably a lie, told by advertisers in 1950s
Short-sighted science/ aimless science - we are spending more researching how to grow hair on bald heads than on curing Ebola.
World spending pattern, how blind we are. we spend so much on make-up and sports and movies. We dont give a shit about world hunger, we are only going to make GM wheat which will slim you down or something .
Difference in economic status between countries..
Most of it was always there in the world, world suffering is probably less now, in-spite of all these things but we never had the power to destroy ourselves and earth along with us before.
Population bomb - population of of 7.4 billion, Nuclear bombs, Genetic engineering are scariest but thats not the most dangerous, , plain old meddling is good enough, hunt away animals to extinction just for food, cut away forests for food, consume like crazy. more than anything else.
Consumption is scaring me, for this long in the history of earth last 3 billions years or so, earth had enough raw material to sustain life. Are we doing to run out of basic raw material to sustain life? ( this is for another post.
Earth will survive, life will survive, I am genuinely scared about the fate of human race.
We have had a generally stable 70 odd years ( for the urban Indians and westerners, not if you are in Africa or middle east or for that matter anywhere outside my bubble :-( ) Our parents and us have seen a world in which things have steadily got better, technology got better, more money, prosperity, society got better, less crime more law n order( in spite of !what is the world coming to these days! laments) more freedom especially for women, more education etc etc
I am getting this bad nagging feeling that this is going to change n the next few years.
The chaos on this world is steadily increasing
The stupidities of the past 100 odd years are bearing fruit
The progress of the past years is demanding its price.
In fact much of the progress is not looking like progress at all.
The instability causing things
refugee crisis in Europe
Brexit
Race relation ships in the US grow worse
person like Donald Trump is a potential presidential candidate for the most powerful country on earth
Russia Ukrain Turkey
Steady growth of Isis
Radical Islam keeps getting a stronger grip in the wider world.
Left wingers going so far left as to give rise to right wingers.
Such things and much worse have been happening all over the world last 60 years, then why are things in Europe/US more important. Frankly they are. So called World war does not mean it involves the world, it means the powerful Europe and America are part of it.
Mindless/heartless science
What was Sci-fi is becoming a reality.
Robots - robot was used to kill a guy by US police, albeit it was remote controlled robot
we all have our heads so much in virtual reality, everything is online and hackers are getting closer and closer
GMO - I love the idea of resurrecting dinosaurs but I dont like insect resistant potatoes or non seeding hybrids or humans who can live for ever X-(
GMO for food to prevent world hunger(??) why we waste away 1000 of kilos of food because it is ugly
Reality of the food /farming industry - Treating animals like objects, literally without imagining that there is life in them
Designer babies - gene selected babies, GMO people, rich people will have better genes than poor people, people will live for ever and not die?
Reality of the advertising industry - how much we have been fooled, from soap to mouth wash to eating cereals and avoiding fats to Teflon. Everything you know so far is probably a lie, told by advertisers in 1950s
Short-sighted science/ aimless science - we are spending more researching how to grow hair on bald heads than on curing Ebola.
World spending pattern, how blind we are. we spend so much on make-up and sports and movies. We dont give a shit about world hunger, we are only going to make GM wheat which will slim you down or something .
Difference in economic status between countries..
Most of it was always there in the world, world suffering is probably less now, in-spite of all these things but we never had the power to destroy ourselves and earth along with us before.
Population bomb - population of of 7.4 billion, Nuclear bombs, Genetic engineering are scariest but thats not the most dangerous, , plain old meddling is good enough, hunt away animals to extinction just for food, cut away forests for food, consume like crazy. more than anything else.
Consumption is scaring me, for this long in the history of earth last 3 billions years or so, earth had enough raw material to sustain life. Are we doing to run out of basic raw material to sustain life? ( this is for another post.
Earth will survive, life will survive, I am genuinely scared about the fate of human race.
23 August 2016
Take that AXE and Dove are both Uniliver brands
AXE - treat women like objects
Dove - see inner beauty of women
What exactly is the value of Uniliver? - Sell more stuff.
Dove - see inner beauty of women
What exactly is the value of Uniliver? - Sell more stuff.
You have not changed at all
These days my relatives love me. ( haha! you are thinking shouldnt they? or So? or Showing off? or things like that)
Well, When I was younger, I got a lot of ... Ahem "comments" . Why dont you dress up! why don't you wear a saree or make up! Why you cut your hair so short! Why are u always reading books! Talk to people. Too serious. Too silly always acting like a kid. Why dont u sit properly etc etc etc Not appreciated for my good bits, like studying well, frugal, not greedy and not seeking attention etc! Hello! I have some good points too!!! Really! it seemed like being me was not really desirable :-)
and Now...
They just love me - the reason - "You have not changed at all! Deepa!"
LOL! I keep thinking Yeah!!!!!! but you din like the same me before! :-D ( Not that I am complaining :D )
Now it was become, Deepa doesnot dress up, so simple she is, So down to earth, no airs -doesnot care about looks. So well read. They also lovingly say - You used to sit like this even when you were a kid,Deepa! he! he! he!
Its not just one relative. Its all of them! Strange :-D
Now comes the gyan part. As it always does :P
I was thinking this and I realised.. I have infact changed.
Not in the aspects I was criticised on and the aspects they admire me for not changing but I have changed as a person.
I had an edge before, I was totally immature and arrogant, snappy and short tempered. Now I am nice ( er :-P ), can confidently say not arrogant, have lost the edge, slowly, very slowly trying to be a better person, and for most parts not so snappy, okay! for most parts I said! not SO snappy I said! :-P
They din dislike me for the above reasons, that was just a symptom, Now the like is also not for those reasons, its also a symptom. I think its the person underneath that they sense. ( which now is bordering on AWESOME :P )
Well, When I was younger, I got a lot of ... Ahem "comments" . Why dont you dress up! why don't you wear a saree or make up! Why you cut your hair so short! Why are u always reading books! Talk to people. Too serious. Too silly always acting like a kid. Why dont u sit properly etc etc etc Not appreciated for my good bits, like studying well, frugal, not greedy and not seeking attention etc! Hello! I have some good points too!!! Really! it seemed like being me was not really desirable :-)
and Now...
They just love me - the reason - "You have not changed at all! Deepa!"
LOL! I keep thinking Yeah!!!!!! but you din like the same me before! :-D ( Not that I am complaining :D )
Now it was become, Deepa doesnot dress up, so simple she is, So down to earth, no airs -doesnot care about looks. So well read. They also lovingly say - You used to sit like this even when you were a kid,Deepa! he! he! he!
Its not just one relative. Its all of them! Strange :-D
Now comes the gyan part. As it always does :P
I was thinking this and I realised.. I have infact changed.
Not in the aspects I was criticised on and the aspects they admire me for not changing but I have changed as a person.
I had an edge before, I was totally immature and arrogant, snappy and short tempered. Now I am nice ( er :-P ), can confidently say not arrogant, have lost the edge, slowly, very slowly trying to be a better person, and for most parts not so snappy, okay! for most parts I said! not SO snappy I said! :-P
They din dislike me for the above reasons, that was just a symptom, Now the like is also not for those reasons, its also a symptom. I think its the person underneath that they sense. ( which now is bordering on AWESOME :P )
20 July 2016
Connie Wills/BellWeather/How do I know its not fiction
Ok ok I said I was not bloggign because I didnt have a laptop any more, Well now I have one. And still not blogging. Excuse exposed I suppose. :-)
Well so I decided to write something as and when I was in a high about something. If you ask me one thing I love about myself, at this point in time I would say I read! I am loving it.
I am loving this book by Connie Wills. BellWeather.
I love Connie Wills, Now that I think about it, 3rd female author I have been in love with. Are they writers or scientists? I love authors who make me feel like this. Ursula Leguin now Connie Wills. Diana Whyne Jones I have been in love for a long time, She has been generous with her writing. I am afraid I may finish off even that. No, she is not Sciency but she is Witchy not in a witch may, but in a good witch way like Jessa is. Jessa is another author I am friends with on facebook, she believes in woo-woo. I know woo-woo doesont describe it any better than witchy. Magic-y? new Age( argh! now That is a fad ) anyway that kind.
Yeah Sciency/Witchy women authors Rock( as A would say)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connie_Willis This is Connie. She is sciency and has a sense of humour to boot, sarcastic one. Love :-D
Ok back to BellWeather - bellweather kind of means trend setter . It means the lead Ram( male sheep, which leads the folk. Tho in the book BellWeahter was a girl sheep). This book is about fads. Oh fads fads fads, its about a scientist who is studying fads. Sociologist., I love anthropologiss and sociologists. Anyway she is talking about fads and Ouch! Ouch ! Ouch! How this hits home, Sometimes I wince because I am following fads ( especially these days related to fittness) Othertimes I agree with her How I loath fads and fadders - barbie and pink and hair ironing etc. and yet another is things I really like and do and like and had been doing for a long time become a fad Meditation/yoga/trekking. I hate the feeling. Hopefully I will still be there when the fad passes, Hope I dont care enough about this to not stop things just because they are faddy?
hmmm, Its fiction and super funny - That brings me to another thing. I know "KNOW" that the things mentioned in this book are real. Like when she talks about Einsten having measels or about discovery of benzen ring. I used to watch Elementary - series about Shelock Homes ( yet another! I know!) I also believed the facts(?!) which were mentioned in the series, I found myself quoting out of Series. Dead Clade Walking to be precise. Then I realised, I hadnt googled it or found out much about it, How did I decide that it was a fact and not part of fiction, When Starwars talks about Science I dont believe it, I dont believe it when X files people talk about stuff Why did I believe this? I googled and it was indeed a fact, I googled many Geeky things shown on that show and all were true. My instinct was correct, but I have no idea how I had decided that. It is a bit scary, what if I had got it wrong :D I would be like those people who believed about Mars attacks being real when a play was broadcast on Radio :D
Big Bang theory also always mentions facts, but I discounted them, When Rajs dog is sick by eating chocolates I didnt believe that chocolates were harmful for dogs. In fact they are, Big bang theory is accurate about most things it tells apparently. Still.. I dont automatically file it as fact, actually I dont even google and verify I just laugh and forget. Except when they talk science, like Srojengers cat for example :-)
Well so I decided to write something as and when I was in a high about something. If you ask me one thing I love about myself, at this point in time I would say I read! I am loving it.
I am loving this book by Connie Wills. BellWeather.
I love Connie Wills, Now that I think about it, 3rd female author I have been in love with. Are they writers or scientists? I love authors who make me feel like this. Ursula Leguin now Connie Wills. Diana Whyne Jones I have been in love for a long time, She has been generous with her writing. I am afraid I may finish off even that. No, she is not Sciency but she is Witchy not in a witch may, but in a good witch way like Jessa is. Jessa is another author I am friends with on facebook, she believes in woo-woo. I know woo-woo doesont describe it any better than witchy. Magic-y? new Age( argh! now That is a fad ) anyway that kind.
Yeah Sciency/Witchy women authors Rock( as A would say)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connie_Willis This is Connie. She is sciency and has a sense of humour to boot, sarcastic one. Love :-D
Ok back to BellWeather - bellweather kind of means trend setter . It means the lead Ram( male sheep, which leads the folk. Tho in the book BellWeahter was a girl sheep). This book is about fads. Oh fads fads fads, its about a scientist who is studying fads. Sociologist., I love anthropologiss and sociologists. Anyway she is talking about fads and Ouch! Ouch ! Ouch! How this hits home, Sometimes I wince because I am following fads ( especially these days related to fittness) Othertimes I agree with her How I loath fads and fadders - barbie and pink and hair ironing etc. and yet another is things I really like and do and like and had been doing for a long time become a fad Meditation/yoga/trekking. I hate the feeling. Hopefully I will still be there when the fad passes, Hope I dont care enough about this to not stop things just because they are faddy?
hmmm, Its fiction and super funny - That brings me to another thing. I know "KNOW" that the things mentioned in this book are real. Like when she talks about Einsten having measels or about discovery of benzen ring. I used to watch Elementary - series about Shelock Homes ( yet another! I know!) I also believed the facts(?!) which were mentioned in the series, I found myself quoting out of Series. Dead Clade Walking to be precise. Then I realised, I hadnt googled it or found out much about it, How did I decide that it was a fact and not part of fiction, When Starwars talks about Science I dont believe it, I dont believe it when X files people talk about stuff Why did I believe this? I googled and it was indeed a fact, I googled many Geeky things shown on that show and all were true. My instinct was correct, but I have no idea how I had decided that. It is a bit scary, what if I had got it wrong :D I would be like those people who believed about Mars attacks being real when a play was broadcast on Radio :D
Big Bang theory also always mentions facts, but I discounted them, When Rajs dog is sick by eating chocolates I didnt believe that chocolates were harmful for dogs. In fact they are, Big bang theory is accurate about most things it tells apparently. Still.. I dont automatically file it as fact, actually I dont even google and verify I just laugh and forget. Except when they talk science, like Srojengers cat for example :-)
Inheritance ( Game of Thrones spoiler Alert + Rant Alert)
Why does every great person have to have hidden parentage and have great parents? Is greatness always inherited? Cant people accept that a random guy/ a bastard/ an Orphan can be great? Does he have to secretly have king and queen parents to be great?!! Are there no self made men/women? X-(
This is a rant about a twist in Game of Thrones, everybody is raving about.
I m angry. I am angry that the good guy is a prince, he was a bastard but actually no! he is a prince.
The guy who really was a bastard was evil guy.
It is sad.
Krishna also He was a cowherd but amazing skills, but he was stolen from the womb of a queen.
( May be there are others who are shown to be great inspite of being ordinary people, may be my confirmation bias is preventing me from seeing those stories. Jesus? ( but he was son of god wasnt he ;-) )
It is the problem with the story writers or the audience?
Or is it a reality of life, my liberal mind does not accept? No! in real life there are many great men who didnt come from royal families. Gandhi/Stalin/Hitler. last 100 years are a good example of this.
Last 5000 years are a good example of greatness only coming down from parents (not because ordinary people were not capable, but there were very very few avenues for normal person to be different from his parents) Actually that makes a very stronger argument in favour of nurture than nature? :-P
Also genes do play a very big part in what we are, so does bringing up. In case of animals genes pay a much bigger role. In case of humans? How much? no body knows.
Conservatives will lean towards believing genes do more and Liberals will lean towards nurture.
This is a rant about a twist in Game of Thrones, everybody is raving about.
I m angry. I am angry that the good guy is a prince, he was a bastard but actually no! he is a prince.
The guy who really was a bastard was evil guy.
It is sad.
Maybe its just a way to make the story interesting and I shouldn't read all this into it? It doesn't bother others. People just love just love hidden parentage stories.
It is a very common plot, age old - Karna! he was charioteers son but was amazing at warfare. Then plot twist. he was son of a queen.Krishna also He was a cowherd but amazing skills, but he was stolen from the womb of a queen.
( May be there are others who are shown to be great inspite of being ordinary people, may be my confirmation bias is preventing me from seeing those stories. Jesus? ( but he was son of god wasnt he ;-) )
It is the problem with the story writers or the audience?
Or is it a reality of life, my liberal mind does not accept? No! in real life there are many great men who didnt come from royal families. Gandhi/Stalin/Hitler. last 100 years are a good example of this.
Last 5000 years are a good example of greatness only coming down from parents (not because ordinary people were not capable, but there were very very few avenues for normal person to be different from his parents) Actually that makes a very stronger argument in favour of nurture than nature? :-P
Also genes do play a very big part in what we are, so does bringing up. In case of animals genes pay a much bigger role. In case of humans? How much? no body knows.
Conservatives will lean towards believing genes do more and Liberals will lean towards nurture.
11 July 2016
The Guest House
This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.
A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
As an unexpected visitor.
Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they're a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.
The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
meet them at the door laughing,
and invite them in.
Be grateful for whoever comes,
because each has been sent
Every morning a new arrival.
A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
As an unexpected visitor.
Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they're a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.
The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
meet them at the door laughing,
and invite them in.
Be grateful for whoever comes,
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.
-Rumi
Sufi Buddhist Yogi are all the same.
ideas of beauty = I am rich
What is beautiful? What ever pleases our eye. What pleases our eye? we can easily be trained to find one a particular type of thing pleasing. It is not hardcoded, It is programmed by our conditioning and day to day life.
What we consider as beautiful in a woman? Definitely not grimy hands with mud stuck in the nails! LOL! Gardening did that to me, I hate gloves, so I did a bit of digging and mud, black mud stuck to my hands like glue, I think I am getting old and mud gets lodged in the wrinkles :P
I thought about all the long nailed soft clean hands on women and think, these guys! ( or girls) how do they garden? wearing gloves obviously, they must go into lot of trouble and take lot of care to keep the hands like that.
Why did long nails become beautiful? ( Why is being beautiful always kind of inconvenient? ever thought of that? I have! Always ! :P) Was it because in the old days it was used to show people that, Hey I am rich. I don't do any house work! You want proof? Look at my hands! Hah!
Women did real work in those days and you couldn't fake beautiful hands even while doing all the dirty work, like pulling rope to get water out of wells and chakki peecing. So it was proof enough.
Tied up feet of chinese women showed that their father/husband/who ever was so rich that she could survive without even walking! God!
Along with long painted nails, there are other symbols of beauty which are just symbols of weakness really like - soft hands, untanned skin( pale skin) , delicateness and daintiness, no scars, high heels...All showing I can't work so I must be rich.
For that matter, bling like gold, diamonds etc jewellery which "enhances" a womans beauty..... Ha ha! It enhances your beauty my declaring to the world that you are rich! :D
It is not secret at all, it is hardly about beauty at all is it ? It has always been about Wealth??
Now like peacock feathers, we are concentrating on the symbols and not on the meaning, long nails no longer means you are not required to do any house hold work but still stands as something desirable/beautiful. Even tho even today rich have found new ways to show off their exclusiveness expensive cars/branded labels etc
What we consider as beautiful in a woman? Definitely not grimy hands with mud stuck in the nails! LOL! Gardening did that to me, I hate gloves, so I did a bit of digging and mud, black mud stuck to my hands like glue, I think I am getting old and mud gets lodged in the wrinkles :P
I thought about all the long nailed soft clean hands on women and think, these guys! ( or girls) how do they garden? wearing gloves obviously, they must go into lot of trouble and take lot of care to keep the hands like that.
Why did long nails become beautiful? ( Why is being beautiful always kind of inconvenient? ever thought of that? I have! Always ! :P) Was it because in the old days it was used to show people that, Hey I am rich. I don't do any house work! You want proof? Look at my hands! Hah!
Women did real work in those days and you couldn't fake beautiful hands even while doing all the dirty work, like pulling rope to get water out of wells and chakki peecing. So it was proof enough.
Tied up feet of chinese women showed that their father/husband/who ever was so rich that she could survive without even walking! God!
Along with long painted nails, there are other symbols of beauty which are just symbols of weakness really like - soft hands, untanned skin( pale skin) , delicateness and daintiness, no scars, high heels...All showing I can't work so I must be rich.
For that matter, bling like gold, diamonds etc jewellery which "enhances" a womans beauty..... Ha ha! It enhances your beauty my declaring to the world that you are rich! :D
It is not secret at all, it is hardly about beauty at all is it ? It has always been about Wealth??
Now like peacock feathers, we are concentrating on the symbols and not on the meaning, long nails no longer means you are not required to do any house hold work but still stands as something desirable/beautiful. Even tho even today rich have found new ways to show off their exclusiveness expensive cars/branded labels etc
29 April 2016
self serving bias and some toilet gyan(!)
Does self serving bias helps us feel good about ourself. we give excuses for our failings. and those that have low self esteem and are depressed have accurate evaluation of how good they are?
If we place our self worth on our looks, our money, our education , our job or our relationship this is what happens. Some spiritual books say we are worthy just as we are even if we strip out all these values.
This made me see Satya Harishchandra's story in a new light. He was a king, he lost his power, his family, his money his job and looks... Still he was him, The righteous man. is this what that story trying to tell us? It is not about being truthful, Its about maintaining integrity?
( and now ..How is this related to self serving bias? :-S )
People say if you stop feeling bad about loss of something then the world will end up in chaos - but will it?
That's probably because our tasks of today are motivated more by things going bad rather than things feeling good. If I don't work I will starve, if I don't clean the toilet it will smell. doing something to feel good is kind of looked at as a sin, But isn't that just a matter of perspective.
If I don't clean the toilet it will stink = Clean good smelling toilet makes me feel good. If I am striving to make a good toilet, I will exert more effort to make it good than if I am motivated to avoid stink, I will be happy making the toilet nice and every time I pass by I feel good too.
Its just a matter of perspective, If I don't clean my toilet my friends will come and judge me, will give the same task a sense of anxiety and nervousness, I will not enjoy my work until I get a stamp of approval from my friends. so its not the task at all but the attitude that matters.
>:-)
Another rant about US
Okay! I am going to be judgemental today. What the heck! a girl can have a bitchy day! ok!??
America is like the shallowest country in the world or something.
I got a forward today, funny one!
Our(India) PM is single, Opposition leader is single, lady CMs form North - Mehbooba, South Jaya, East Mamta di and West Anandi ben - all single :D Bachelors Zindabad. :-)
Got me thinking, US president cant be single can he?
He has to have a wife and kids to be in the white house! Single President :-O no no!
Putin is single as of today, In fact is he not tall he is 5 7
you cant be an American president if you are shorter than 6 ft.
All the psychology books go on and go about this concept, tall is good for leaders! Only true of America, because Americans are bloody shallow! This does not apply to other countries.
Does not apply to India, we have had decidedly Ugly PMS Narasimha Rao and Deve Gowda :D I am not being mean, India is not looks oriented! look! Can they be President of US? No way!!
Handsome, tall with a perfect looking family and pretending to be Christian. (American President has to be Christian, India is a very religious country but India has had Atheist PM(Nehru), Low caste, High caste, Sikh PMs.)
That's how they roll and they are supposed to be the most developed country on earth! Huh!
America is like the shallowest country in the world or something.
I got a forward today, funny one!
Our(India) PM is single, Opposition leader is single, lady CMs form North - Mehbooba, South Jaya, East Mamta di and West Anandi ben - all single :D Bachelors Zindabad. :-)
Got me thinking, US president cant be single can he?
He has to have a wife and kids to be in the white house! Single President :-O no no!
Putin is single as of today, In fact is he not tall he is 5 7
you cant be an American president if you are shorter than 6 ft.
All the psychology books go on and go about this concept, tall is good for leaders! Only true of America, because Americans are bloody shallow! This does not apply to other countries.
Does not apply to India, we have had decidedly Ugly PMS Narasimha Rao and Deve Gowda :D I am not being mean, India is not looks oriented! look! Can they be President of US? No way!!
Handsome, tall with a perfect looking family and pretending to be Christian. (American President has to be Christian, India is a very religious country but India has had Atheist PM(Nehru), Low caste, High caste, Sikh PMs.)
That's how they roll and they are supposed to be the most developed country on earth! Huh!
growth (rant)
Seriously are you nuts? Are you really scientific and logical and clever person?
How is growth a sustainable model (Except may be for the galaxy :p Then again it is expanding and not growing )
Chinas economy has - hold you breath - slowed in the growth rate, It has not slowed, growth has slowed down. and it is worrying.
Same with companies, one more insanity in our present culture. growth growth growth, everybody talks about growth
Just look at your self, what would have happened to you if you kept growing , not just growing but with increasing pace every year, year after year.
Look around you trees animals plants, they grow and they stop and they die, Its called cycled on life.
Only thing that grows grows and grows and kills its host and itself in Virus ( to quote MATRIX)
You morons, why are you targeting growth and growth and growth.
Chinas economy is growing growing growing .. China is dead collapsed, long live China.
Earth population is growing growing growing, Earth has collapsed, long live earth.
MORONS
How is growth a sustainable model (Except may be for the galaxy :p Then again it is expanding and not growing )
Chinas economy has - hold you breath - slowed in the growth rate, It has not slowed, growth has slowed down. and it is worrying.
Same with companies, one more insanity in our present culture. growth growth growth, everybody talks about growth
Just look at your self, what would have happened to you if you kept growing , not just growing but with increasing pace every year, year after year.
Look around you trees animals plants, they grow and they stop and they die, Its called cycled on life.
Only thing that grows grows and grows and kills its host and itself in Virus ( to quote MATRIX)
You morons, why are you targeting growth and growth and growth.
Chinas economy is growing growing growing .. China is dead collapsed, long live China.
Earth population is growing growing growing, Earth has collapsed, long live earth.
MORONS
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