Aum...

I have always pondered over this quintessential question that has troubled mighty brains over the ages: The Life-death cycle.

I have debated different permutations and combinations of life-death explanations with several people. This was what I did once again during the weekend with my Uncle. The essence of what we discussed is written below. Many of the things were quite new and surprising to me.

A human mind has a lot of desires. All actions, aspirations, dreams and thoughts are based on desires. These desires include desires of the mind as well as the heart. The ability to think and reason out is also born out of the passion of achieving your wishes. Until you satisfy them, the mind will not cease.

Further, fulfilled or achieved desires or dreams lead to other desires and dreams. For an example, a man on a bicycle wants a car. A man on a car wants the latest feature upgrades on his vehicle. With one leading to another, the human mind travels expanses searching for means to accomplish the wishes. Sometimes the mind is not able to fulfill them because of several reasons like old age, dubiousness of the desire, impracticality and so on. In this case the human soul, (This by the way is not your mind or intellect. Intellect itself is a non-entity) tries to find another body in which these desires are likely to be achieved.

Let us forget the soul jumping part, I found it a little too fantastic and Uncle also did not have enough reasons to back it up. The point is, once you start controlling your desires then the mind and soul slowly realize that they are one. This also leads you to the revelation that you are truly your Creator. In other words you realize the outside world is only Maya or an illusion created by you and you alone can control your destiny. You would also realize there is life beyond just desires and aspirations. You will be able to enjoy true happiness.

Though I might not fully agree to a few things, it is one of most reasonable explanation I have found for life and death.

A for apple, I for iPod…:)

Yipeeeeeee!!! I am also a proud owner of an Apple iPod Shuffle. Thanks to Unni and Divya!! Those generous souls gave it to me as a birthday gift.

Apple iPod is the arguably one of the best thing I have ever seen. In fact I like their instruction manual better than the gadget itself. Technical ignoramuses like me find it very easy to understand and follow the directions given in the manual. The very fact that the manual is only six pages long and does not have more than two sentences in each page, but still effectively manages to explain the know-how of the gadget is simply awe-inspiring.

To top it all, the iPod actually smells of raw apple. Laugh as you might, but I can smell an apple flavor. It could be the scratch perfumes that are generally used or it could be just another figment of my imagination. So, all the iPod Shuffle users out there let me know if your Shuffle has a magical smell too.

My darkest secret ever...

I was thinking of what to write next when I realized that my creativity just decided to take a vacation the minute I started a blog. (Proof: Read last two entries)
Highly annoyed with myself, I tried to snoop around my friends’ blogs for ideas. You might call it plagiarism but I call it collective collaboration of thoughts. Here are a few ideas that I thought i could write about:

1. What i like and don’t like about xyz place?

Wow! That sounded like the ideal topic to start. But i ended up with one very forgettable page of 'What i like’, which even i couldn’t read without stifling a yawn. And also being a lousy Chennai fanatic, i couldn’t bring myself to write the ‘don’t like’ part without feeling ungrateful.

2. Post cartoon strips and give smart comments.

To start with, smart comments are really not my thing. I also couldn’t think of anything better than 'ROFL', 'check this out' 'this is hilarious’ and so on. Further all the cartoons i found were either too cheesy for my taste or too corny for anybody's taste.

3. Write a poem.

I couldn’t help but lol’ing at the very ‘idea’, let alone write. My poetic skills stop with making rhymes that are a way too juvenile for a blog post.

4. Delete the blog.

This sounded like the best idea so far. Then again, all my principles about 'never quitting once i start', started going round my head, making me go on a roller coaster guilt trip.

With all the ideas trashed mercilessly, i was wondering what to do next when i swiftly realized i could actually fill up this space with the trashed ideas! After all it was my blog, my trash, and people read it at their own risk.

So thus ends my next blog entry after three hundred words of sheer nonsense, hackneyed humor, two cups of tea and of course plenty of wasted energy.

Moral of the story: Never get carried away by the 'attention seeking' headline gimmick. You will surely end up reading crap like this! (This entry might have irritated you and probably made you swear that you would never come back to this blog again. Any harm caused by curling fists or tearing hair-roots out was purely intentional).

Debacles, disasters and discoveries too!!

This post is dedicated to my blog title:

It is the most important day in my life. It just has to be perfect’, was my first thought when I woke up on my first day as an entity of the employed class. I could picture myself going for a meeting, heels clicking all the way, attending a call, typing away furiously on a computer … when my alarm which had lost all its patience started to howl in full throttle once again. After earning disapproving glares from all my roommates I finally struggled out of my bed to get ready.

I had been extra cautious (to the extent of being paranoid) and had ironed my clothes, readied my certificates and even kept my dingy cupboard locked for fear of burglary! But I preferred to keep a reproachful silence when one of my roommates pointed out that there wasn’t much; the bandit in question would just have to do with a couple of ironed dupattas and documents.

Disaster struck only after a hurried bath, when my ironed kurta decided to glide down gracefully into a tub full of water. I could see my lucky charm sag and become worthless in front of my eyes even before I could dive in to save it. With one point down and a manic enthusiasm to make the day perfect I moved on to make breakfast. Like the most famous Murphy’s Law, ‘Anything that can go wrong will definitely go wrong’, my breakfast too was catastrophic. After a meal of burnt rice, sugarless malt, and a bruised ego I ran to the bus stop only to realize I was still in my bathroom slippers. Where were the Karma points I accumulated over the summer?

Finally when I hopped on to a bus, after a sprint to and from the bus stop and hostel, a sense of exhilaration overcame me and I heaved a sigh of relief. That too was short lived, all thanks to Dhivya, my friend, also a new joinee who decided to arrange her certificates in a neat order. I realized I had left all my documents locked up in my precious little cupboard. A ‘all horses let loose’ chase involving a super fast auto driver, an adrenalin rush and a very grouchy Dhivya followed.

We reached on dot at the office only to find out the lift was out of order. We began our long trek to the seventh floor with my Karma points hitting an all time low. Of course I managed to slip and fall on my face on the way up, hampering our flight for a few minutes. When I finally reached the office doors I couldn’t but help smiling wide. I had made it! I had come to a place I had been longing for and could truly call mine.

It seemed completely surreal. Plush interiors, swipe card, phone, separate cabin, and all I could do was just sit - dumbstruck. I kept comparing each passing luxury to the complete debacle my morning was. How many days had I waited, just to enter the office? The mere thought of being able to achieve a part of my dream was calming and I realized that all good things come to you, only if you truly deserve it. It also taught me that I had miles to go before I could completely become worthy of what was being given to me. I had the resources and I had to prove my worth.

Here were people ready to help you and all you had to do, was let them. It really did not matter how many times you slipped as long as you learned to dust the mud off and never lose the zeal to prove yourself. With that in mind I blissfully forgot the day’s fiasco and decided to make a sincere effort to truly become a deserving employee.

Hail blogspot!!!!

Hi,
Anything to do with pressing more than a few buttons, has addled my brains from the time of my whiny infancy. Somehow technology and me have been at each others' neck. I can't understand technology and technology can't stand me. Yes, i am the lousy conservative who still prefers filling lengthy forms, licking photos and sticking them on paper instead of going the easy e-way. I almost had a stroke once, when i tried booking train tickets online. There were too many click here, click there, commands and i almost flipped when the screen went blank for a few minutes, only to return with my ready to print e- ticket. But, my heart had already jumped out by then.

In short, i can't stand computers. But, when i realized my job had plenty to do with ONLY computers, i decided to befriend technology a lil bit. Well, starting a blog can't get me anywhere, but at least it is a beginning. I could follow the 'three easy steps to start a blog' almost perfectly!! So hail blogspot for making life more easier. Looking forward to blogging!!
Cheers,
Varsha