The truth about Cats and Dogs!!!

Has anyone wondered what kind of a hypcrotic society that we all live in? For starters, any rule that we want 'others' to follow, have merely been created for our own convenience! Something that really comes to our attention today, is the differences between what is perceived to be humane and what is perceived to be inhumane! While you may be wondering why the title of this post has been named 'The truth about Cats and Dogs', I wanted to use an analogy to elaborate on a topic long seen in this age as Business As Usual!

Its a known fact that Cats and Dogs are some of the most popular animals that become personal pets to millions of people around the world. There are even laws across several countries protecting these Cats and Dogs against human violence and ill-treatment, and rightly so! Does this mean that all animals which are termed 'not pets' though still being 'Herbivorous' really cause a serious threat to Humans in the food chain so as to justify merciless killings or even articulated slaughters? I would only like to think not!

By this I mean, before anyone with a clear conscience can state that he/she feels sorry for an injured cat or dog, maybe they should ask themselves how many animals' deaths they were responsible for in the past week/month! And all that for what? A tasty meal? ABOMINABLE!!!

Its that time of the year again...

Its that time of the year again... Yes, its the holiday season...

Its been a real long while since I wrote anything here, but I do plan to come up with a lot more posts in the coming year... What more, it'll have a lot more variety in topics and themes... Am really looking forward to good times, good things to come and great things to achieve and learn!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!

satyam, gnanam, anantam brahma...

satyam - the truth...

gnanam - the wisdom...

anantam - the joy...

brahma - the selfless self...

its all about...

attitude... the best friend one can have, or the worst enemy one could fear...

back in the days when i used to be in grad-school, i had a tremendous experience of meeting kids from various backgrounds... some would think they are kings and queens of the world, some would think they are the greatest losers to have ended up in grad-skool in the first place... there were a bunch of them, whose attitude i could never forget or bear... it was the first week there that semester, and the international students association had organized a welcome party for all incoming students... while we were all in the process of meeting fellow students, there was this bunch standing in a corner... they were literally discussing the last names of students, and their regional/cultural/religious origins, basically mocking at atleast one of those things... though i meant to go right at them and bash them up, i realized that we are all educated to behave in cultured ways, and dissent is reserved for brutes...

as far as the school, it was a great place for getting an education... a calm, peaceful college town... the place itself was not buzzing with party-activities as such, but campus events kept the atmosphere quite happening... time and again, i would meet students who would basically crib that the place is dead, and is not as happening as their home-city (a Mumbai, or an NYC)... Despite coming from a reasonably big city (Chennai) myself, I neither had the time nor the energy to crib and be frustrated about it... Infact I only enjoyed the calm and the peace of such a learning paradise...

it is a matter of mind, most problems are... especially when we constantly complain of things that we do not have, while failing to appreciate the wonderful things that we DO have around us... how many times in a day do we actually realize that somewhere in a developing country, the money we just spent on a cappucino would have been sufficient for an entire meal's cost? or, how many times in a day do we actually do the right things, even if trivial? like being judicious with electricity or water usage or not driving a fuel-gulping-SUV?

one of my most favourite slogans... "attitude is everything" - sums it up... the truth is out there... but alas, the horse can only be taken up to the lake... to drink it up though, the horse is on its own... the will, leads the way!

do you...

do you respect pedestrian signals? or, do you just behave like those big-city-brutes who are so busy to even notice the stop-signal in front of them?

do you take care not to litter? or, do you just trash the world around you?

do you care not to be rude or harsh to people around you? or, do you come across as an arrogant egoistic person who is too good for fellow-beings?

did you take time today to be thankful for what you have, and to make that tiny yet positive difference in someone's life? try a smile...

"I used to think the God is Truth... But I realized that the Truth is God" - M K Gandhi...

"For all theists, God is Love... For those atheists, Love is God" - Anonymous...

a few random thoughts...

ever thought why it gets so silent and uncomfortable while in a slow elevator with a bunch of strangers who would not look up to see you in the eyes? try some office elevators...

ever tried to cross a pedestrian walkway in a crowded parking lot, when no one wants to yield to you despite you trying to help out a senior citizen cross the road? try walking in parking lots in the Bay Area, CA...

ever gone to a X-Mart, stood in an endless line only for an irritant rep at the counter show her sick attitude on you and yelling at you for bringing an item without its price tag stuck on to it? try going to a 24-hour X-Mart at some 11-PM or so...

ever tried to walk on a sidewalk when you are not only expected to speed-walk, but are abused and called names merely for slowing down or stopping? try going to a city which also has the same name as its state...

a popular quote goes:

Live in NYC but get out before it makes you too hard... Live in Northern California but get out before it makes you too soft...

have you given your thought some food today?

One drop at a time...

The oceans are vast and deep, but what makes them so are the induvidual drops that they are made of...


Have you ever yielded to a pedestrian and looked into their eyes to feel their gratitude? Have you taken time to talk to that friend of yours who needed a minute of yours, to open up and share? Have you controlled your temptation to pickup a fight when there was enough reason yet not enough value on a heated debate over a sales counter?

Have you ever shared or lended anything close to you, to someone in dire need? Have you ever thought of all the poor and hungry people when you have a meal, and been thankful for what you have to eat?

Where does social responsibility end, and personal responsibility begin? Ever wondered how the world would be if each of us had this personal moral responsibility to live humane, be it toward fellow-humans or not?

Oh those horizons...

The hopes they bring...

If not for these drops, where would we get...

If not one drop at a time, how would we sail...

One drop at a time...

Is all it takes!!!

Beautiful Day

"Beautiful Day" - Lyrics - U2

The heart is a bloom
Shoots up through the stony ground
There's no room
No space to rent in this town

You're out of luck
And the reason that you had to care
The traffic is stuck
And you're not moving anywhere

You thought you'd found a friend
To take you out of this place
Someone you could lend a hand
In return for grace

It's a beautiful day
Sky falls, you feel like
It's a beautiful day
Don't let it get away

You're on the road
But you've got no destination
You're in the mud
In the maze of her imagination

You love this town
Even if that doesn't ring true
You've been all over
And it's been all over you

It's a beautiful day
Don't let it get away
It's a beautiful day

Touch me
Take me to that other place
Teach me
I know I'm not a hopeless case

See the world in green and blue
See China right in front of you
See the canyons broken by cloud
See the tuna fleets clearing the sea out

See the Bedouin fires at night
See the oil fields at first light
And see the bird with a leaf in her mouth
After the flood all the colors came out

Its a beautiful day
Don't let it get away
Beautiful day

Touch me
Take me to that other place
Reach me
I know I'm not a hopeless case

What you don't have you don't need it now
What you don't know you can feel it somehow
What you don't have you don't need it now
Don't need it now

A beautiful day...

The philistine and the philosopher… Part 2 – For the sake of arguement…

No matter whether we believe in something or not, for the sake of arguement we do go about strongly defending our own point/s of view... however factual or otherwise it may be...

The deep sense in this kind of belief comes from a concept known to lesser mortals (like us) as Ego... The Ego in a philistine (the non-believer in philosophy) keeps him blind-folded to the wonderful world of philosophies and arguements... The lack of Ego in a philosopher, on the other hand, keeps the philosopher continue doing what he/she does best - philosophize...

While it may only sound to be a vague term, the 'philosophizing' concept has its own history, science and great past associated with it... More on this in blogs to come...

The philistine and the philosopher… Part 1 – The definitions and getting started…

Do we ask the question ‘why’ or ‘why not’? Or do we just go ‘whatever!!!’? Do we think we ‘must’ question the facts? Or do we think we must stop talking about things and start acting instead… If someone asks questions, does it mean he/she is lazy and spends too much time talking about things than rather doing? Or does it actually have mean it is only important to ask the questions?

The philistine says that it is almost sinful to merely discuss what could be, when it actually can be made to what it needs to be… The philosopher tends to ask if it is worth it, if it is the right way, and if it is getting where it needs to be with the right approach and attitude…

All the conventional wisdom, the wise-men and the experts, the messengers of knowledge, and the glorified philosophers of the past... All of it leads to everything but one… Is there a clear answer to any of these questions? In a world of materialistic survival guides, of mechanical routines and chores, of tasteless freedom, of reward without respect, and of value without pride, we can clearly make the cut from the wisely to the mistaken… Every mistake that we make - is only another step we take - another step in the right direction – in the quest for perfection…