Theories of Everything

Wangst

2011-12-22T13:36:00.002+05:30

“Decadence hath many names,
And many of them I now answer to,
For when hoisted by my own petard,
Why blame should I the trickster world?”

This wasn't my idea of standing on my feet.
To be a lackey, who lacked servility.
To be the angry and reckless girl I am,
Rather than the sensible woman I thought I really was.

I am a cog in the wheel, a necessary one,
As I knew I would be one day,
But realized I perhaps too late
That necessity does not imply importance.

Another in my place would had more patience,
To either tolerate or quietly jump ship,
But alas! not I, I'm afraid to say,
Going quietly isn't really my forte.

So I take to Drama, and with much fanfare,
I proceed to undo all that I've done,
Forsooth I say, 'What is reputation!
If not the unfaithful shadow of true character?'

“It's not really all that much of a deal,
It was just a job that was well done,
By them, who made me hate myself
So much that just to spite the face,
I would very gladly cut off the nose.”

The Trite Tale of the Brooding Bloodsucker

2011-03-21T14:04:00.000+05:30

GRAPHIC VERSION

4 fingernails, hard as diamond leave the bark of a tree scarred

MALICE BE MY ORNAMENT

Pan left to right on a ruined village with bleeding corpses on the streets

EVIL BE MINE PRIDE

Pan toe to head (in profile) of a silhouette of The Vampire Protagonist (our hero) – a tall young man on a wind-lashed slope overlooking that village

FASHIONED IN THY VERY IMAGE

He turns

I SHALL TURN THY TIDE

The moon rising over dark and creepy woods

THUS SCHOOLED IN THE SONGS OF THE WILD

A black and white photo in the flickering candle light – blood trickling down the top. Subject: our hero when he was still human, with his fiancée

I DROWN MEMORY AND NATURE

People screaming in terror, running helter-skelter, seeking refuge in churches (or temples). A very scared woman (a la The Scream) pointing towards someone

PEOPLE KNOW ME AS THE DEVIL’S CHILD

A clergyman (or a Hindu priest) declaiming from a pulpit (or the steps of a temple) addressing a huge crowd. Pan out to the church tower (or shikhar/gopuram)

AND I CONTEST NOT THEIR PRELATURE

A bunch of kids (they could be in college) around a bonfire – camera seeks out our hero, dressed in jacket and jeans – dark colours, sitting apart from the crowd – final frame has the bonfire on the right and the hero on the left

PERHAPS THAT’S WHY, FROM THE DEPTHS OF HELL

A gust of wind, hero pricks his nose and turns – cut to The Hapless Belle (our heroine) who’s walking in

WAS SENT MY WAY, THIS HAPLESS BELLE

Hero stands up and looks at her

HER VISAGE SWEET, FOR NO FAULT OF HERS

Cut to hero’s eyes wide with shock

BURNS INTO MINE EYES

Heroine stops in her tracks, having noticed the hero

SHE KNOWS NOT WHY, BUT STILL AVERS

She opens her mouth, apparently in greeting, but the hero turns on his heel

OF OUR LONG-FORGOTTEN TIES

Hero throws away a corpse he’s freshly drained

KNOW SHE CANNOT MY EVIL WAYS

Flashback: Hero’s fiancée, from the photograph, revealing her fangs and biting him

NOR OF MY BLOODY PAST

Hero watches heroine surreptitiously from the shadows…

BUT WITHOUT HER SCENT I AM SPENT

…and she suddenly feels his presence and looks around, at which point the hero flees to the woods at preternatural speed and stops at a tree trunk, where he thinks of her and collapses to the ground

AND WITH IT I CAN’T LAST

The hero’s thoughts: torn between the gorgeous fiancée of the past and the beauteous heroine of the present

RENDERED HELPLESS BY THE VAGARIES OF TIME

Hero breaks something (a mirror?) in frustration – splinter cuts his hand – cut heals instantaneously

INURED TO THE STRENGTH OF THE AGES

Hero collapses to the ground screaming, looking towards the heaven

I AM CRUSHED AND ROBBED OF REASON AND RHYME

Hero on the forest floor, lying like the dead, the dilemma still looming

AND LEFT, A CARRION OF IMAGES

Heroine with a lantern, separating from a search party, makes her way to the very spot where the hero is lying prostrate

MEANWHILE SHE MAKES, UNINFORMED, HER AMOROUS ADVANCES

She stops when she reaches him and bends down (to take his pulse?) – he opens his eyes and slowly sits up, unable to move away or to take his eyes off her

UNSLAKED THAT I AM, I CAN’T HELP MYSELF, AND I RETURN HER GLANCES

Cut to a dark alley scene, heroine walking alone, street gang at her heels – she starts running

THUS DOOMED IN LOVE, THIS WAY OR THAT

Hero jumps out of nowhere, heroine walks into him – he steadies her and faces the bad guys

I ALLOW MYSELF THIS PLEASURE

Fistfight; hero throws the last goon bodily out of the frame

I THROW THE FUTURE TO THE WINDS

The couple embrace, the fiancée comes out of nowhere and looms at the corner of the frame, glowering at the scene

AND THE HERE AND NOW I TREASURE

ENDSCREEN: “THE BEGINNING?”

What would you wish for?

2010-08-31T01:11:00.001+05:30

Me: I believe, that the things thatbelong to me and the people that belong with me will find their way to meeventually, and I to them. I have nothing to wish for.

Him: You may not wish to acquire, butyou might want to reject some things and people. Wouldn’t you wish for thatchoice?

Me: I don’t believe in duality, dear friend.Darkness in my opinion, isn’t even the absence of light – it is just theinability to see it.

Rituals and Observances

2010-08-16T13:46:00.001+05:30

I seem to have 'bettered the instruction', as Shylock would have put it, in the observance of fasts and sundry rituals. Or so say many of my friends. So it occurred to me to ask myself, why do I do it?

I'm not sure I can quote health reasons any more. Admittedly, fasts at least aren't much fun either.

I am not religious enough to be motivated simply by the spiritual and other benefits promised by associated legends. Legends are merely entertaining. And I don't value entertainment above sleep and nutrition.

I am not a masochist. I am a devotee. I believe that fasting will strengthen my will and my body. And by improving through my own actions what I've received from Him, I am sure I will please the object of my devotion.

I write this with the prayer that my well-wishers are comforted, and that I may succeed in my objectives.

Criminal Proceedings

2010-08-16T10:44:00.000+05:30

For the love of God, stop this madness, this tarring and feathering of a brother at fault. Stop this violence that springs from retaliation.

He who has shown courage in confession must warrant repayment by compassion.

Stir not the hornet's nest, in search for justice. For rest assured that thou shalt receive justice in full. For he who points a finger at another will find three pointed back at himself.

Imhotep & Mithra

2010-05-18T16:48:00.006+05:30

The city of Takshashilà, in Emperor Janmajeya’s reign, washost to a university of great repute. The city had the distinction, amongsimilar centres of learning, of also having one of the highest GDP’s, owing toa number of emerald and silver mines unearthed by the snake-worshipping tribeswho once resided here.

Here lived, in the twenty eighth year of the regent’scareer, a student of law, named Sandhàtà. He came from a clan of low-casteminers in the forests of northern Jhàrkhanda. At 14 he had displayed a veryorganized, very different approach towards mining and metallurgy, which wasfortunately seen as a sign of a promising academic career by the tribal elders.He was send to Pàtaliputra that very year during the annual tribute payments tothe King of Magadha, who in an act of rare benevolence recommended him to theTakshashilà University in Gandhàra.

Also among the university’s cosmopolitan students that yearwas a student of astronomy, known as Jeb. He belonged to a family of affluent Assyriantraders in Thinis, the capital of Upper Egypt, settled there for nearly eightgenerations now. His family had gained favour with the Pharaoh by forgingcritical marriage alliances with the nobility. And it was in exchange for apromise of such compliance that Jeb’s mother had allowed him to get toTakshashilà on a myrrh-trading ship.

And so it was fated that the two would meet in this charmingcity, during the picturesque festival of Sharada Navaràtri, which culminated inthe beginning of the academic year. On the ninth day, the day of the feastingof sacrificial meat, in a stall selling pork buns, Sandhàtà accidentally droppedhis hot bun on Jeb’s lap.

They spoke to each other in Sanskrit, a language foreign toboth. Sandhàtà’s few, yet eloquent words drew a cascade of wit and pleasantriesfrom Jeb, and soon he was drawn to the other as a river is drawn towards theocean.

Their friendship blossomed over the year like lotuses bloomwith the rising of the sun. Their days began with bunking the perfunctoryprayer sessions and ended in walks in the city’s gardens or in games of dice.They talked of what shone in the heavens and what lay in the bowels of theearth, of the waves of the ocean and the vagaries of human nature. In time theybecame inseparable, and in the second year of their study, Jeb accompanied hisfriend to his abode in the South of Magadha.

It was here, during the tribal festival dedicated to theyakshinìs or fertility goddesses of the forests that Jeb‘s kohl-lined gray eyesmet the anjanì-lined brown eyes of Mahua, the betrothed of Sandhàtà. Neither uttereda word, for there was nothing between them that words could give expression to.They rejoiced with Sandhàtà’s kin, as details of the wedding were planned. Andin this bittersweet disposition, Jeb left with his friend.

The months rolled by in Takshashilà just as happily asbefore and soon it was Vijayàdashami again. But ill winds blew in the news ofthe death of the Kuru emperor, and the King of Magadha showing his true colourswithdrew all scholarships he had issued – including Sandhàtà’s. Needless tosay, Jeb came to the rescue.

They completed their studies without further event. Both beingfine youths of 21 summers now, it was time for Jeb to return to Egypt, where hewas to continue the family tradition of marrying the only daughters of powerfulmatriarchs, and for Sandhàtà to pursue a career in the court of Pàtaliputra.But the gods had other ideas.

One of Jeb’s elder sisters’ fleets had been caught smugglingolive oil from Cyprus, and in an act of extreme xenophobia, the whole familywas sentenced to exile in Muab. News of this scandal reached them in Gandhàra,and Sandhàtà who was now a Doctor of Law boldly decided to cross the seas andaccompany his friend to Egypt.

In Thinis his credentials were accepted by the PharaohNarmer, then reigning for the twenty first year, and as counsel to Jeb’s familyhe was able to restrict the sentence to just his elder sister and her children.Impressed by Sandhàtà’s erudition, an influential scribe offered his daughterRenizneb’s hand in marriage to him, with the promise of establishing him in theThinite court. Silenced by gratitude, Jeb witnessed his friend’s fall totemptation.

Thus, when Sandhàtà returned home to bid his tribe farewelland be married a second time, he was accompanied by his new bride and oldfriend. Seeing this state of affairs, Mahua refused the alliance and indefiance of Sandhàtà boldly asked for Jeb’s hand in public. Jeb was momentarilyshocked, but was encouraged by his friend to accept, which strengthened his ownwill. And so our newly-wed heroes proceeded to Egypt, never to return.

Mahua and Jeb’s marriage, as was inevitable, was frownedupon by his family, who went to the extreme step of disowning him when herefused to divorce her. Luckily, Jeb was offered the position of The Master ofthe Temple Scribes in the holy town of Sais in Lower Egypt, which he gladlyaccepted.

Two years passed thus, as Sandhàtà’s influence grew in thecapital, and Jeb’s repute rose among the priests and scholars. The politicaldivide between Upper and Lower Egypt was scarcely strong enough to keep thefriends apart, as they frequently sailed up and down the river. Even the timeswere changing in conspiracy with their friendship. Young Menes, son of Narmerand heir to the throne of Thinis was eyeing the conquest of the Nile Delta, tofulfil an ambitious plan of uniting the two kingdoms.

In the twenty third year of the Pharaoh’s reign, Mahua and Jebwere blessed with a daughter. An overjoyed Sandhàtà immediately saileddownriver to see his friend. Renizneb, who was still childless and green-eyed,hatched an evil plot as she invited Jeb and his family to Thinis.

Renizneb’s family was a key supporter of Menes’ design andher uncle a prominent part of its execution. She plotted with him to have all fourof them caught in the revolts in the river port of Ankh Tawy en route to Thinis.The ingenuity lay in the fact that she and her husband would easily slipthrough due to her allegiances, and Mahua & her child would be put to death.

Well things went wrong, for her, as her uncle was slain andthe revolt quelled by the forces of the Lower Kingdom. Sandhàtà was found guiltyof conspiring with her uncle and sentenced. Jeb, in spite of being in danger ofcondemnation himself, pled on his behalf. His pleas fell on deaf ears. HoweverSandhàtà could convince them that Renizneb was innocent and was given time toescort her back to Thinis, during which Jeb would stand as his bail &proxy.

Once in Thinis, Renizneb knew it would be a matter of timebefore Menes’ forces turned the tables and Jeb would become more than a proxy.She delayed her husband long enough, and soon he was out of danger. Fortunatelyhe realized her scheme in that duration, and fled to Jeb’s aid after divorcingher.

He reached Ankh Tawy just as Jeb was about to be thrown tothe crocodiles, and narrated his tale. Astonished by his devotion to hisfriend, the newly crowned Menes pardoned both of them and established them inthe new capital of united Egypt.

Sandhàtà married again eventually, and left the bar forgood. He went on to become a polymath – architect, physician, scribe and HighPriest, and served four Pharaohs – including the Pharaoh Djoser, under whosereign he was deified as Imhotep (Egyptian for Sandhàtà). Egyptologists todaysearch for his tomb in vain, because he was cremated in accordance with hisnative religion.

Jeb wrote several texts on astronomy and mathematics, and wasmost famous in his ancestors’ land of Assyria, where his works were publishedunder the name of Mithra (Sanskrit for Jeb), and was also deified later by thefollowers of Zoroaster.

Though the chroniclers of their time have rendered thesecelebrated names disparate, their tale is whispered still in the cells of theuniversity ruins and the harbours along the Nile. The sands around Thinis andsacred Santhal groves narrate till this day, this story of true fraternity thatwas not established by ties of blood. This tale I dedicate to my friendseverywhere, with a promise of sorority, just as true.

This story is composed of exactly eighteen references to a legend, mystery orhistorical event. Happy Hunting! – Ishita Roy

Jatayu & Sampati

2010-04-29T15:09:00.001+05:30

Jatayu & Sampati

The Legend of Ram... The Big Brother

2010-04-20T14:22:00.002+05:30

Most tales that talk of the victory of good over evil talk also of the merits of unity and universal brotherhood. But the epic of Ramayana outdoes them all, by being exclusively a tale of many sets of brothers, full and half. Each set of siblings seems to serve as the vessel for a different message, but the fact that the story revolves around fraternity is the biggest message of them all.

The Children of Kekasi

The Ramayana is very accurately the tale of the rise & fall of Ravana, Kekasi’s first born. It is interesting to note that every event in his downfall was the doing of one of his siblings.

It is Surpanakha who introduced Rama to her brother, and instigated him to avenge her humiliation and the massacre of her clan at Janasthana by targeting Sita as Lakshmana had targeted her. Blinded by rage to the fact that the attacks were not unprovoked (a fact that Ravana didn’t know or care about), she goaded her brother to wage a war that he would never return from.

Both Kumbhakarna & Vibhishana gave him good counsel, and tried desperately to save their family. And while both made widely different choices after their counsel was rejected, both are equally responsible for Ravana’s downfall.

Vibhishana’s desertion only brought things to a conclusion, in the sense that he revealed Ravana’s mortal weaknesses and aided the progress and health of the monkey army. But Kumbhakarna’s support, however unwillingly given, actually served to encourage Ravana towards his end. Had he followed his younger & wiser brother, Ravana might have changed his mind.

It is to Kumbhakarna’s credit, however, that when on the battlefield, he recognised Rama & the other leaders to be the prime enemy, not his brother.

The Kings of Kiskindha

Bali and Sugreeva had different fathers, but monkeys being matriarchal creatures, it never bothered them. Here too, the elder brother falls when he fails to listen to his brother’s explanations. If ego was Ravana’s folly, rage and spite were Bali’s. Unlike Vibhishana, however, Sugreeva’s motives in allying with Rama were not so much about siding with righteousness, as it was about delivering his vengeance.

In his vindictiveness, in his sheer impatience and even in physical appearance (as a frustrated Rama found out), Sugreeva matched Bali. But even as he repented on his deathbed, Bali could not match Sugreeva‘s grief over losing him.

The Grandsons of the Sun

Oddly enough, the paragon of brotherhood in this tale seems to be a pair of vultures, Jatayu and Sampati. In their childhood, the brothers had started a race to the very top of the skies. But as they got nearer to the sun, it very nearly scorched Jatayu. Sampati, the elder, rescued his brother at the cost of his own wings. Later, even as he learnt of his brother’s death at Ravana’s hands, Sampati finished what Jatayu had started, by pointing out Lanka to Hanuman and his team of searchers.

The Half-Brothers of Kosala

In sharp contrast to the full siblings who caused the downfall of their eldest, and consequently their clan, are set the heroes of this story, who stand together in spite of the heavy politics of the women’s quarters. Such unity among step brothers is unheard of even in the Treta yuga, and Valmiki’s emphasis on the bond between Rama and Lakshmana, and Rama and Bharata, and Bharata and Shatrughna, portrays his own tone of surprise at such an occurrence.

The relation between the identical twins, on the other hand, is taken for granted, and while each twin favours a different half-brother, neither is shown to be indifferent or hostile to the other’s favourite. Even Lakshmana’s suspicions about Bharata are only short-lived, and severely chided by Rama.

Of course, it may be argued that the half-brothers’ closeness is attributable to their being parts of Vishnu’s essence – or the Charu, and the order in which it was administered to the 3 queens. But even this argument is just demonstrative of the scepticism against such a thing occurring naturally. Besides, birth order is just as easily a determinant of the twins’ favourites. Eldest and youngest stick together, as do the ones in the middle.

But the fact is that they all stick together, hear each other out (unlike the monkeys), take each others’ counsel (unlike Ravana), and watch out for each other (very like the vultures). And it is such fraternity that is the foundation of strength and prosperity – this is Valmiki’s message.

प्रगटे है चारों भैया, अवध में बाजे बजैया

Mors Mortis

2010-03-26T22:58:00.004+05:30

Death is a poorly understood phenomenon, in spite of the sheer volume of philosophy and research dedicated to understanding it. One potent indicator of this is the prevalence of myths and legends about the undead.

These lores and legends talk about the consequences of an interrupted transition to the afterlife. The creatures that are born out of such consequences have been described differently across the ages, and much can be surmised about the original purpose behind describing them and the inspiration behind those descriptions.

Classification

I. Incorporeals – Ghosts, Spirits, Poltergeists, Banshees, etc.

These are apparitions which arise spontaneously as a consequence of the deceased having unfulfilled desires. More often than not, the cause of death is foul play, but COD and post-mortem treatment are not a major criterion for their origin.

These beings are not attached to corpses, but are very location specific.

II. Reanimated Corpses – Zombies, Mummies, Inferi, etc.

These creatures are generated by special post-mortem treatment and usually have limited sentience. In the rare occasions that they have a will of their own, such as in the case of Frankenstein, it is usually derived from the past experiences of the inhabitant of the corpse in question. Cause of death is deciding factor.

III. Modified Corpses – Vampires, Lycanthropes, Dementors, etc.

The living body is sustained by food, breath and water, and has corresponding powers and limitations. When the body loses the capability to sustain itself and hence its life-force, death occurs. Theoretically, death can be ‘cheated’ by modifying the mode of sustenance. Naturally this gives rise to a whole new creature, with different powers and limitations. The term Undead is most usually applied to such creatures.

Lycanthropes, such as werewolves, and Mr. Hyde, are creatures that are capable of dual existence i.e. both in human and supernatural forms, the latter being parasitic on the former. Vampires, on the other hand, are immortals, requiring blood or some other form of life force – ichor, or chi, for example – for sustenance.

Vampires

Vampire lore is one of the most enduring legends in the world. Its timeless appeal is attributable to both its foundations and its adaptability. I present here some of the key components of the lore.

Blood

Blood is one of the two liquid connective tissues, and along with breath, the very symbol of vitality. It is unsurprising, therefore, that it is held in reverence. But unlike breath, blood is also intimately linked to procreation, which makes it especially venerable; fit for a sacrifice to the gods, even.

World over, various rites and practices have been reported that are founded upon the sanctity of blood. These practices range from the Mayan human sacrifices, to the smearing of jurors’ lips with blood before they passed judgment, in Ancient China. Most notable among these is the Catholic tradition of Corpus Christi – the symbolic partaking of the blood and the body of Christ.

Thus, one of the original reasons for condemning vampires was that they partake of the essence of godliness, the divine offering – in effect denying and denouncing the divinity of the Deity.

Evil

What makes a vampire fundamentally different from a mosquito? A mosquito wreaks much more havoc, is zealously hunted, yet never condemned – merely accepted as a part of creation. Why then, are vampires not treated as a separate species and left at that?

More often than not, it seems, vampires are punished as humans are, because they have lost their humanity. But is the resemblance to a human adequate reason for judging a vampire on the human scales of good and evil?

Is it that like the humans, vampires are damned by an Original Sin of their own, because their progenitor was created out of an act of heresy or a curse?

These are only some of the questions that arise out of the possibility of such creatures. The fact remains that evil has been as misunderstood by humans as death has been. Perhaps the vampire legends are an indicator – a litmus test of sorts – for the concepts of good and evil popular during the creation of those legends. Dracula, for example, is described as being wholly evil. Modern tales like the Vampire Diaries and the Twilight Saga, however, ascribe to them a choice, an attempt at redemption.

Eternity

The fact that senescence and death are essential to the renewal of life on this planet, give them a place of honour among the theistic laws of the universe – all those are born, must die. The vampire legends give them the powers of immortality, but not invincibility – they can still be destroyed.

Nevertheless, the vampires’ existence, if only in theory, tells of a way to flout this divine law. And it is for the transcendence of this law that vampires are also often condemned. But all legends concur on one thing – that eternal life itself is punishment for seeking it.

Life can be harsh, even for those who are seemingly well provided for. It requires courage to face the here and now, and live every moment. Much has been written about life being wasted on the living. Imagine how much harder it would be to try to live on for eternity, with nothing but a conscience (if any) for company.

This is most prominent in Anne Rice’s works, whose vampire protagonists fight the eternal battle between the loneliness of the damned and their lust for preternatural power.

Whatever they may be, sentient, or evilly so, or maybe just a glorified human, the concept of vampires is definitely unfamiliar to those who do not see death as an end or to those who’ve never believed in any evil force like The Adversary, and generally find both death and evil easier to accept.

The western mentality makes it hard to accept both Death and Evil. And hence the origin of the lore surrounding the Undead in the Occident. Creatures who have cheated death. Creatures who resemble humans yet prey upon them. Creatures who must do evil to sustain themselves.

These things, vampires and such, are powerful insights into occidental ideas of death and evil. The lore is ubiquitous and contemporary, because they deal with questions which are eternally on the western mind.

How Indra became king

2010-03-07T19:32:00.000+05:30

...Then the Lord omnipotent, the Bramhan, created the five elements, and the five sensibles. To perceive them he created the five sense organs and five organs of action, to react to them. He created the mind with its four components, and from these twenty four elements he created the cosmic being - the prototype of all creatures to be...

...And for each of these twenty four elements, He incarnated himself as a master or mistress - Chandra, master of the subtle mind, Dhara for the earth, and so on. He called these masters the Devatas...

...As the ages passed, however, dissension grew between them, as they fought among themselves for superiority. To destroy their conceit, and to establish order, Bramhan appeared in the form of a yaksha...

...The devatas were perplexed by the shape-shifter, and decided amongst themselves that whoever could determine its true nature, would be crowned sovereign among the gods...

... When Agni accosted it, it appeared as a piece of straw that he could not burn; to Vayu it appeared as a feather he couldn't blow away... and so on and so forth till all but Sakra, the Lord of the eyes, met it. To Sakra, it became invisible...

... And Sakra, the mighty thousand-eyed deva wondered what could create an obstacle to the very element that he was master of , and realized that it could only be his own creator. The Lord then acknowledged his answer and crowned him Indra, king of the gods, master of the rainclouds.

*******************************************************************************

This tale describes the Sankhya account of the genesis of the universe and the Vedic pantheon, and the coronation is described in the Kena Upanishad. The story talks not only of the superiority of Sakra among gods, but of the eyes among all sense organs.

Truly, eyesight is the strongest of the relatively weak human senses. We are gifted with binocular vision, i.e. the power to judge depths and distances, for example. The ancients noticed this, and it is reflected in the etymology of the Sanskrit word "Pashu", meaning animal. The word literally means "those who can see".

Mid-term Anthology

2010-02-20T02:32:00.004+05:30

My encounters with verse this term were mostly of the order of doggerel. Here’s a few worth display. Written in the last few minutes before I left for home last term...

Thanatos

Water in my cupped hands
Trickles swiftly by,
I sit by myself waiting
For my time to die.

Last term it was HRP, this term, SRM. And so the cycle continued...

Amen

Adder's bladder, eagle's eye,
Roofie tainted apple pie,
The merciful YHWH hath looked my way,
Now my days go happily by.

Also written in the same class, but expressing dismay over PRD (tools), BFM (terror), Marketing (Ronin) and STM (games), was this.

Alas!

Tools of terror, Ronin's games,
Sissy knights & brazen dames,
The poetess me is made undead,
By this topsy-turvy chivalry.

I was sitting next to Mausami, hoping to keep her amused with these verses, when I happened to look back and found that the interest of even the twin rubies was ebbing away.

But who?

Sparkling water loses shine,
And muffles his gay song.
The season I try to keep amused,
But I can’t hold on long.

Another day, another uninteresting lecture, I wrote my notes on a brand new notepad. The title for this poem stems from the fact that I found an interpretation for this poem (3 actually) after I wrote it.

Hermeneutics

Colours on a tinted paper,
Rarely appear true,
But lack of paleness scarce affects,
The richness of their hue.

Same lecture, different theme - the सुभाषितानि

Maxims

The darkness of ignorance,
Doth many fancies make,
A halter thus innocuous,
Appears as a snake.

Fear inspires reverence,
Reverence desire,
All hope of seeing light,
Is extinguished by such fire.

In striking similarity to my HRP course, I found myself unaccompanied by my trusty file in many an SRM class, the first time due to the fact that I’d just returned from the Visarjan of the Goddess. Fortunately, every time this has happened, I have managed to make a fair and duly embellished copy of the notes. The yields:

Full Moon

I first glimpsed my true love,
Alas on such a fateful day,
Although my shafts had hit him true,
They’d wounded him the wrong way.

The Refuge

Every once in a while, comes a time,
The most prosaic must resort to rhyme,
When the mind cares not for the mores of the gross,
And the soul is lost in depths sublime.

For the uninitiated, in Greek Mythology, Hypnos (sleep) and Thanatos (death) are twins.

Hypnos

O Somnus Deo, Lord of rest,
Don't you put my powers to test,
For how may anyone well-disposed,
Refuse thy charms and make protest?

In an inanely trite STM guest lecture on entrepreneurship, it hit me harder than before, that I wrote just to keep the cogs in my head running...

Quality

I'm bored and sleepy,
I really need to leave,
I can't help but writing,
In such quality.

My prose is dying,
My verse doggerel,
And yet I can't stop writing,
Such dense drivel.

My eyes are drooping,
My hand is disarrayed,
But I've got to keep writing,
Or I'll be dismayed.

Another lecture, different passions, different meters...

Poverty

Heartstrings ache & gizzard growls,
At the sight of pleasure, scowls,
How may I faultless my soul placate,
And reconcile to my poverty.

Jealousy

When the scorching hype,
Burns not the actor so lit,
Shadows cross my life.

And one fine day, I was suddenly the most sought after person. It was RAJAXI night, and I found myself without pen or paper or Bare Act in a Law presentation class. So I borrowed some, and decided to keep myself engaged. Four doggerel verses later, something sensible came out. The first and last one describes peoples' various attempts at creativity, and the reactions that some of them face.

Classroom Battles

Beautiful minds fill the rows
flanked by comrades.
Armed by notions several
they fight for grades.

Attempt at Sense

Ennui pushes my pen
Inanity flows as ink
Such is the sorry result
When I write before I think

The Law of Pleadings

So if you got a valid point,
Don't you bogey that joint,
For the law of pleading is misleading,
And will all your pleas ignore.

Cows with Guns

Towering folks short on guts
Face cow-dung
Big promises and bigger buts
Will be hung

After that I swore to end my romance with doggerel. This means that I rarely give in to my urge to write nowadays. But then promises like that don’t last long. Here’s one describing a friend’s SRM ppt.

Measures

Water minus fluidity,
Chills me to my funny bones.
I bare my teeth in mirth,
To conceal my slaked thirst.

Sometimes the sight of ointment (salve) can bring you pain. It happened to me, making me write this...

Paucity

The sight of alien salve
Opens sore wounds.
Yet even lowly salt
Remains to them elusive.

All in all, life's been good. Winter has given up the stage to summer, with spring visible only in the deciduousity of the deodar trees. I've given in to the dangerous habit of extreme sleepiness, while ensuring that no one, not even me, can blame yours truly for lack of diligence and enterprise. As the countdown to the end of this term starts, I wish all my companions (willing or no) in the journey of life, as much self-awareness, as they can tolerate.

The Legend of Ram... The Khiladi

2010-01-26T17:06:00.004+05:30

The story of Ram, like one luminary rightly pointed out, is themed after what later came to be known as the archetypal theory i.e. the fight between Good and Evil. But long before the story existed, or the character itself, there was just a name - that of Ram.

The first lesson in Sanskrit grammar is of noun declension. And the first masculine noun to be traditionally taught is the word Raama, and the first feminine noun, Ramaa (Another of Sita's names). The reason is far from religious. Both words come from the root Ram (pronounced rum) which means 'to play, or to have fun'. The noun form therefore means 'player'. The idea is, that knowledge of grammar is the key to be a player of words, hence the choice of the first noun.

How this secular and seemingly innocuous word took on the power to invoke both devotion and hatred, hatred strong enough to threaten our noble republic is what I intend to discuss today.

*****************************************************************************************

The religious system that goes by the name of Hinduism today, is what a theologist would classify as 'polytheistic', i.e. worshiping multiple divine entities, which are parts or representatives of a single Almighty being/consciousness. But history is proof, however, that these entities have always vied for dominance over public consciousness, in the form of cults and cult wars.

Most ancient polytheistic religions, like the Egyptian for instance, were wiped out largely because of the weaknesses induced by constant warring between the cults. And in the same fashion, Hinduism too was once threatened.

The Hindu religion was (and still is) composed of numerous cults, of which finally six had dominated (one exclusive to the south of India). Four of the deities involved were reconciled, by giving them the status of family, i.e. Shiva, Shakti and their sons Ganesha and Karthikeya. The Solar Cult reconciled with all five cults. This resulted in the formation of essentially two remaining factions that clamoured for domination - the Shaiva and the Vaishnava. These cults fought possibly the bloodiest of the battles ever fought in the name of religion, easily surpassing the eight crusades combined. It is in these conditions that the Name was born.

Now the vaishnavas' chief and most powerful mantra was the asthakshari "Om namo naaraayanaaya", of which the essential, or original syllable was the syllable "raa". The shaiva equivalent was the panchakshari "Om namah shivaya", of which the original syllable was the anusvara sound "m". Pronouncing these powerful sounds together resulted in the word "Raama" which was already attributed the meaning of 'player'. This was the most potent discovery in Indian history and theology. For now a phonetic form was discovered that contained not only the powers of both the dominating schools of spirituality, but also gave the image of an Almighty who was "the player", and whose creation were all pawns.

Valmiki's Ramayana was indeed written with the purpose of unifying the cults into a single faith system. It starts with the story of Valmiki's reformation, aided by the name "Raama", clearly establishing the precedence of the name to the character. Although the character himself was an avatara of Vishnu (then the dominating deity), he is shown throughout his journey as a worshiper of Shiva and his family, and as a scion of the Solar clan. Later in the epic, we come across an instance where Hanuman uses the name of Raama to repel the arrows of Raama himself, proving the powers of the name to be superior to the avatara himself.

The years passed, and the war was by no means over, although no longer as physically manifest. In time Vaishnavism took the upper hand, and the name which was previously neutral was firmly associated with Naaraayana. But its powers were never undermined.

In the Vishnusahasranaama (narrated by Bheeshma in the Mahabharata), Shiva responds to Parvati's query by saying "the name Raama equals and exceeds the power of all of Vishnu's thousand names, and by chanting this name alone may humans derive the benefits of reciting the whole Vishnusahasranama"

******************************************************************************************

Valmiki's intentions in naming his hero "khiladi" however, wasn't as religious as it was spiritual. His inherent message seemed to be "you are not pawns of any power, but players yourselves - remember your powers, and live by them".

The idea was, that the Lord has created the universe to be a self sustaining system, with its own laws. It is a gameboard in which the Lord has split his attentions into moving the various pawns, our bodies & characters, giving them sentience. But, engrossed in the gameplay, we lose the realization that we are not beings of the gameboard, but the player Himself. We, all of us, are the Lord descended into the gameplay. We are all avatars. But this loss of memory makes us feel that we are the characters, the pawns. The intention of Valmiki was to refresh our memory, to make us realize that we're masters of the gameplay, that we're responsible for our destinies.

Raama, by virtue of his name itself, is a apecial avatar. He realizes that He is indeed a Khiladi. Throughout the epic, we see him making choices, with the determination and confidence that he was making his destiny. And he was constantly reminding his companions to do the same. Through his life, we are all taught how not to be manipulated by the situations, but to use them .

Today, on the day we celebrate the birth of our republic, we need this lesson more than ever. For only in acknowledging this truth and accepting the responsibilities that come with this power, can we claim to be true citizens, or even living beings.

Humanity

2010-01-08T19:46:00.001+05:30

This is a picture of my study, the room I spent most of my waking time in. Not that I actually study though.

A VERSatile Term

2009-12-19T01:09:00.009+05:30

It all began with the SIP. Was the process as random as it was touted to be? I pondered about it. Finally, I came to the conclusion that...for all that I can say or do, I’ll get what life drifts my way. But in spite of that I’ve a boat to float, and distant lands to explore...

The Drift

A boat to float, an axe to grind,

Some taken, some left behind,
For all that I can do or say,
I’ll only get what comes my way,
Both truths I have to reconcile,
And not get stuck in life’s turnstile

One fine HRP class, the day we were taught the R & S plan; my attention flickered for the first time with dangerous intensity... Soon I was dreaming of Vikram Seth’s Frog... Neither stones nor prayers nor sticks, Insults or complaints or bricks...

Dwarfed by the Drivel

Drips, feathers, and thumbscrew leathers,

Putrid words and two-pronged swords,
And all the things that get the soul to shrivel,
Are all outdone, they’re dwarfed by the drivel.

The next class... Induction & placement... I was suddenly reminded of Prof. Prithviraj H. Soni...

Faulty Faucet

Filled frustum with a faulty faucet,

Lynches lustre from a lucky locket,
Pious plea from the profoundest pocket,
Requests release from this reeking racket.

The same class, different rhythm... Nitwit, blubber, oddment, tweak... In response to the gassy ppt.

Global Action Strategy

Idle thoughts will leave no trace,

Little substance, too much space,
What head or heart or soul divine,
Can tolerate such gimmickry?

The Equivocator

Kiss the snake and smooch the frog,

Feed the swine and slay the hog,
Put even Janus to such shame,
That he resorts to heresy.

The aforementioned person’s response to mid-term feedback...

Payback

Six score people and three more,

Take the cue and fuel uproar,
Poor old dusty rusty James,
Dances merrily on the flames.

Then I woke up after the ad hoc fast I observed in honour of the completion of PMIR batch placements; I felt weak (a hitherto unobserved occurrence in my experiences with fasting), so I had needed a nap. The next day I missed my beloved repository of poetry and assorted class notes (a really handy notepad along with a notepad and pen holder). I searched high, I searched low... alas! It was gone...

Grief

Syllables weep and letters cry,

Words fall dumb and ideas die,
Grief for those who are now long gone,
Puts those expected on standby.

They died not from the cold without, but from the cold within... And so I pondered about the true source of my hatred and suffering...

The Cold Within

Hated icons sting the eye,

Torture eardrums, neurons fry,
But seeking source, I come to find,
Not the cold without, but the heat behind.

Mad at the loss of my random limerick rhymes, I clutched at their fast disappearing remnants...

Water In My Cupped Hands

Rhythms of my past ruminations,

Echoes and odd emanations,
Balderdashy exclamations,
Lost to my lamentations.

Succession Plan... I drifted to the fall of the Angel Castiel. But the poem was completed in the first AFM guest lecture.

Vagus

Decadent lanes in cities plagued,

More from devices than vices base,
The entrails, limbs and life blood suffer,
From the tortuous traitorous train of thoughts.

These three directly followed Vagus, on the same occasion.

Blind faith

Rosy hues turn into the colours of gore,
Veils vanish between the morrow and yore,
When doubtful fire melts not the wax of sin,
The wick burns out; there is darkness galore

TAXI

Take a look beyond the veil,
Where voices die & letters fail,
What mortal heart not made of stone,
Can be so averse to verity?

Unheard Tales

Floating leaves on a silent stream,

Pass their lives in equal silence,
The world cares not for their silent scream,
But turns away in deafening silence.

The day that culminated in SIP wetnite... A highly productive and successful day... Another trio

Brainless Rapture

Amos wounded by his own shaft,

Had set his eyes on Psyche,
So when we began the HRP draft,
We traded brains with a monkey.

An ode to my dear friend Aditya Gupta...

The sage Kashyapa had two wives,

Diti & Aditi – with two lives,
One brought forth demons, the other gods,
One ate snails, the other gastropods.

সিয়ার

জাতে মাতাল তালে ঠিক,

যে না ভজে তারে ধিক,

পিতা সম পালে প্রজা,

নিয়ত কিন্তু নহে সজা

And then I wrote a few verses of purely academic nature, till one day the “poetic attack” grinded to a halt...

Claviceps purpurea

Rocking candies, fluffy clouds,

Seeing music, tasting shrouds,
Whatever infected my sweet prose,
Feasted also on my poetry.

Saddened by the demise of my VERSatility, I sat next to Ruchika, out in the open, after the Law exam, to pen down my least favourite pieces...

For Amrit, the Sworn Enemy of Verse

My friend Amrit, he hates a rhyme,

And I worship all verse sublime,
To make him mad, and ruin his day,
I sent these five lines his way:

“Each word that makes a verse,
Each beat that makes a rhythm,
Every crystal that is not amorphous,
Is an illusion of order
In a universe destined to chaos.”

Ode to Lucifer and the First Born

When Lilith raised her lone head,

And did not to her equal succumb,
She left us both wiser and dead,
And left Utopia to the dumb.

Because it is in hunger that we seek the truth,
It is in bareness that we weave its semblance,
It is in the depths that we are cleansed the most,
And it is the bringer of light who keeps us from eternal darkness.

As an afterthought, I wrote an alternative, rhyming version of the second stanza, which reads like this:

Because only the hungry can succour find,
Only the wounded can heal their kind,
Only the depths can truly scour,
And the bringer of light keep us from the dooming hour.

Since I’d just written a law exam, I asked myself if crime paid or not. I decided that it did.

Scot free

Eaten sugar, told lies,

Given very bad advice,
Done every offence in the book,
Look dad! I’m still off the hook!

And then I thought of free will, and the debate on its existence...

The Marionettes

One by tail, the other by horn,

Sowed the kernel, reaped the corn,
Reduced all creation to finger puppets,
Alas! Found to oneself strings attached.

Epilogue: The lost notepad was found (this post wouldn’t have been possible otherwise), and I await my last exam, expecting a last spark of such productivity. All words fail to express my love and gratitude towards my friends (and to those who have unknowingly or unwillingly benefitted me), for making this term so awesome.

PS: When in doubt, remember G for God, G for Google

The Legend of Ram... The Don

2009-11-16T11:56:00.001+05:30

Human history is replete with instances when tales expand to epic proportions, and capture the minds of the populace. In time, the institution of religion decides to encash on this popularity to suit its own purpose.

The latest (relatively) in this category is the tale of Harry Potter, which the Vatican had promptly denounced, on the grounds that it glorified witchcraft. But perhaps religion is losing its hold on public consciousness - or it was simply beaten by the mania.

But one of the oldest in this category of tale-turned-scriptures is our own Ramayana. My interest in this tale is as deep as in Harry Potter. I've followed this epic since childhood - and in more than one version, always in the search of true story.

And so, I begin a series of posts on everything that is known or said about this tale, and I hope you enjoy it.

"Don की तलाश ग्यारह मुल्कों की police को है ..."

The relation seems loose, but it's there. The first aspect that one has to face in an attempt to study this tale is the sheer variety of versions. Not just national, but International. The legend of Rama is part of people's lives in all of south east Asia - Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Phillipines, ..., the lot. The King of Thailand is called Rama to this day (Presently, Rama the IXth) and the capital area in Bangkok is called Ayutthaya. Traditional shadow puppetry of Indonesia lives around this theme, and Indic temples and traditions accompany the tale in all of these countries.

Like the Don's infamy, Rama's fame covers a lot of ground. And while the plot remains the same, the characters sometimes go sea changes - Hanuman, for example. A paragon of asceticism in India, Hanuman is otherwise unanimously portrayed as being a womaniser elsewhere. This and many other things prompt the reader to probe beyond the facts, and to the real meaning behind these legends.

But most of all, the ancient coexistence of these variants tell us that the tale is older than religion itself, and has a profoundness that is universally revered.

Guest Post - Nerdspeak - KPJ

2009-11-15T01:07:00.002+05:30

In reality the situation didn't get so nerdy but I couldn't stop to pen it's extension!

DAY 1 (THE BEGINNING)

Me: You know why I “text”ed you, right?

She: No

Me: So was the “No” for dinner or you had no idea what I was talking about?

She: No for both

Me: Ohh :( ... So are we gonna ever meet before the Universe decelerates to singularity?

She: No

Me: And if the Universe bounces back & forms Earth-like planet again with creatures like you & me - then would you meet?

She: I might think then

Me: But it will take, if LQG is correct, at least 14.5 billion years for the universe to collapse and 14.5 billion years to form you and me... that makes a total travel time of 29 billion years!

She: LQG?

[NOTE: She didn't even read the main part of the text! Or probably she misunderstood LQG with lmao]

Me: Loop Quantum Gravity

[NOTE: I waited for 5 minutes and she didn't reply me back]

Me: Aahhh... what if an anti-you & anti-me are taking dinner in a parallel universe?

She: I don't care

Me: But then there action creates waveforms that superimposes in our universe... and hence the probability of the wave function describing our dinner increases?

[NOTE: I believe she didn't understand the point of my last text and hence didn't reply. But I was far from giving up]

DAY 2 (THE EXPECTATIONS)

Me: Hey I have a much cooler and nerdier plan! Do you wanna come for Star gazing open house tonight?We can literally watch supernova remnant and globular clusters with telescope!

[NOTE: I was careful not to use abbreviations like SNR and GC. Also I thought she might find it extremely romantic when I show her that the line joining last two stars of Big Dipper constellation coincides with the Polar star. I was having all sorts of goosebumps but...]

She: No

Me: We might witness a miracle like optical signals from an alien (as there are more than 300 exo-solar planets) or might see Betelgeuse explode! :P

[NOTE: If she was an astronomer/physicist she knew I was making things up as optical signals can't travel to far or etc... I thought I could excite her “normal mind” with these words but without even carefully reading my text she went...]

She: I don't believe in miracles

[NOTE: She tried to be rational like “me”... As an usual habit, when I don't know what to say, I simply shoot a quotation of Einstein or someone equivalent. It usually never matches with the situation but I thought she might just concentrate on the main words.]

Me: "There are only two ways of living life: as though nothing is a Miracle, or as though everything is a Miracle!" - AE

[NOTE: No reply... I guess she didn't get the point of the quote (if there was any) and neither did I wanted to miss the open house. So I stopped bugging]

DAY 3 (THE CONCLUSION)

[NOTE: This time I knew I shouldn't be nerdy but...]

Me: You know you are like a boson!

She: What???

Me: I mean you are neither in a quantum state of being “beautiful” nor being “nerd”

[NOTE: I pressed the “send” button incidentally]

She: WTF

[NOTE: The reply came faster than ever before]

Me: My bad... sentence left incomplete :P ... I mean you are both beautiful and intelligent... as if you can be in both the quantum states and contradict Pauli Exclusion Principle!

[NOTE: I didn't get into technical details that she followed the Bose-Einstein statistics and hence be in both the quantum states. Anyways she didn't reply for few minutes...]

Me: My empirical observations suggest that you generally don't reply my text message as you can't understand my emotions.

She: What emotions? Say clearly

[NOTE: I was waiting for this instance]

Me: You know you have made my life like a Heisenberg's particle... I am living life filled with uncertainty! I know I like you and I also want to be with you but Nature is not permitting me either of that... Now you say what should I do?

She: Get a life

Me: But... never mind!

[NOTE: I wanted to say to her that she just described a paradoxical statement as “I am living” is equivalent to “having a life” and to get a life I have to first die and then find a life... NEVER MIND! Such is sad tale of mine :( ]

- KPJ

Dialogy... KPJ

2009-11-14T18:58:00.003+05:30

Well, one learns something every day. So here's an excerpt from KPJ's reply.

karan.p.jani: well

first I added that link on facebook so that entire world can read! :d

specially the ones who know me!

me: m honoured

22:56 karan.p.jani: I am pretty sure hardly anyone understood it as the article was too technical

me: was it?

karan.p.jani: I followed it only because

me: u asked for it

karan.p.jani: a) I was interested to know what you wanted to say

22:57 b) Because I am reading Sartre et al. which are much much more complicated then this!

me: ah! of course!

karan.p.jani: but I like the way you proceeded your argument

me: he argues otherwise?

karan.p.jani: the rational logical argument approach!

no its hard to understand first of all what is he arguing for!

22:58 me: hahaha

karan.p.jani: nevertheless coming back to the blog

me: ya

karan.p.jani: my honest opinion

let me first write it completely

and then you reply

me: ok

22:59 karan.p.jani: I found your language usage different then your regular tone

your arguments were true

but for some unknown reason it wasn't you

it wasn't your thoughts

as if it was a mosaic

of other people's thoughts

23:00 I know that you once said me

"Man is the most unoriginal creature"

and I agree with that

but your "human" part was missing in the argument

23:01 you were logical, rational, might be even scientifically accurate but you weren't Ishitia

I read it and was admired that you took the effort to write a whole blog for me

23:02 but I am sure if we had a conversation the argument would have proceeded in a different way

like you could have created examples and situations that would have been sufficient for me to get the direction

well... sorry if you felt disappointed but I really dont intend to hurt you

23:03 it was a friendly critique

me: not at all

karan.p.jani: thats it!

now shoot!

me: u are a very fine observer

23:04 and m not disappointed

Dialogy... Amrit Jami

2009-11-14T18:52:00.001+05:30

My illustrious, diligent and talented friend Amrit Jami (better known by variations of his surname) once had a status msg that quoth

"jaage hain ... soaae nahin..."

Being jobless myself, I sought an explanation. Here's what ensued ...

me: to ab soo jao

11:07 Jami: he he

me: y did u stay awake?

Jami: i was workin

on somethin

me: hmm

11:08 u got some sort of magic power

u were properly awake in afm

Jami: arre

dis is my fav subject

how can i sleep

me: mine 2

11:09 but i slept thru anyway

Jami: he he

me: maybe i need more practice

Jami: no

u jus need 2 focus

me: well get some rest

Jami: sleep

is always under ur control

me: m doing the same

11:10 Jami: u jus need 2 hold ur mind

me: i doubt that

Jami: jus dont let it stop thinkin

and u wont fall asleep

d moment u let it stop

u sleep

me: u r telling me the secret of atibala

m going to post this on my blog

11:11 chow

Jami: atibala?

me: it's a mantra that vishwamitra taught to rama and lakshmana

whi;le they were helping him

11:12 it enables one to be healthy without sleep

Jami: ok

wow

me: they were taught another mantra

Jami: see

me: it's called bala

11:13 Jami: one doesnt need 2 read all mythology 2 know it

me: guess its power

i know

just my preferred way

11:16 Jami: he he

yes

predferred way

My insomnia and ensuing somnolence in AFM class had got me thinking of the Ramayana. As a matter of fact, I'm thinking of starting a series on it. So thank you Amrit for inspiring me, and get well soon (He's got a backache).

A Holiday Called Life

2009-11-14T18:33:00.000+05:30

The things that we do, in the course of survival, are seldom questioned. It is our other-worldly pursuits, so to speak, that are brought under the scanner.

Life, says the philosopher, is what exists beyond the business of survival. When you are certain that you can make it through the day, the rest of the day is a holiday.

Welcome then, to the holiday called life.

The realm of the living is populated by many kinds of holidaymakers. Some are busmen, some are compulsive travellers. Others are lotus eaters, and perhaps still others who are unclassified.

Busmen are people who spend their holidays doing the same thing that they do for a living. They are addicted to the thrills, chills, and by that extension, the miseries of the game of survival. When they’ve beaten the wooden jungle, they create one out of concrete just for kicks. And then they lament about their misfortunes. Truly, life is wasted on these lily-livers.

Then there are the compulsive travellers. Their sole aim is to cover as much ground as possible. They have a simple belief – the journey is more important than the end. They care not about purpose, not even about pleasure. They believe that they have one life – and they intend to do it all in that period. And as you know, like velocity and time, grading is relative, and the travellers are only relatively better than the busmen.

But as far as holidaymakers go, in my opinion, the lotus eaters take the cake. They care neither about the arrow of time, nor the vagaries of space. They live in the here and now and are unaffected by the illusions of duality. Sins tempt them not, neither do virtues beguile them. They see the world not as it was, can or should be, but as it is. Only of these people can it be said with conviction – that life is not wasted on them.

So, is life wasted on living?

Well, it depends on the liver.

Me, in verse

2009-11-01T13:14:00.003+05:30

What I do, wherefore and why,

I know not and the days go by,

Here that I am, whence did I come,

Where will I go, these are just some,

Queries that I have, and forsooth,

I won't flinch in the face of the truth.

When it's play, it's just that, a game,

But done for a living, it's not the same,

By the time I knew, my days were spent,

Upon my resolve, I had to repent,

Disgraced by the Monarch, and out of spite,

I left Sangraal for the Jesuits' light.

My hand, my pride, the place I reside,

I am within and beauty outside,

What I see, I get the same,

If I lose it, I am to blame,

Strange bedfellows, my mind and me,

An empty manger, not a place to be.

Karma with Karan

2009-11-01T13:13:00.002+05:30

Love

2009-10-20T15:02:00.003+05:30

Many scriptures and other profound writings in the past have been presented in a Dialogue format - most notably the Bhagavat Gita. I too propose to adopt something similar here. Here's an excerpt of a chat between my sister and me. (I think the world of my sister, and I may be excused for it)

21:00 Aritri: love s nt done lik buisness

neway kp it ur way

21:01 me: i agree

but love is something that should make u rise

not fall

true love increases one's powers

remember kikio

Aritri: i noe

nice :)

21:02 me: she was lost in inu yasha's thoughts

her rival priestess thought that falling in love made her spiritualy weak

and attacked her

21:03 but in spite of being lost in thought

she not only repelled the attack nonchalantly

but also practically destroyed the enemy priestess

this example is etched into my mind

21:04 and u must remember it too

i don't know if m in love

in fact m trying to find out if m capable of such a thing

but i care for these ppl

21:05 i think so atleast

and probably that's something like loove too

coz it inspired me to apply those fundas

which i didn't even know properly abt

21:06 that's all

temme what u think

21:08 Aritri: bravo

m amazed

realy

u inspire me

pls blog this thingy up

me: no way

21:09 will be teased to no end

Aritri: arey

pls blog it up

man dis s wat ppl

die 2 hear read

dey need dis clearance didi

do sum social service

So, upon her request, I narrate this excerpt from a famous Japanese Manga storyline.

"Once upon a time, the world was inhabited by humans and demons. The latter came in all shapes and sizes, and like humans, in all personality types. Those who were kind and good sometimes fell in love with humans, and raised mixed families. Those who meant no good to any creature were slain by monks/nuns and priest(esse)s.

We talk of a time when there existed a Sacred Jewel (history and name irrelevant to us now), guarded fiercely by our heroine, a priestess named Kikio. Evil demons and humans sought this artefact with equal enthusiasm, for all the reasons typical to such fairy tales.

But one fine day, an exceptional individual came to seek the stone. Born of a human mother and a demon father, he had had a tough time growing up. Neither the humans nor the demons would accept him, and his mixed blood had unusual properties (not of interest here). Sick of being in no-man's land (no-demon's land, actually), he sought the powers of the Jewel to turn into a fully fledged demon. Meet the hero, Inu Yasha.
Well, needless to say, they met. Also needless to say, it was love at first sight.

Strictly speaking, priestesses differ from nuns (in the Japanese form of Buddhism) in that they are ascetics - they can't get married. So this was, sort of, bad news in a lot of respects.

So, word got out. A rival priestess (name both irrelevant and difficult), who was evil, btw, decided that the time was ripe to wipe Kikio out. Assumption was, since the priestess has fallen in love, her spiritual powers have weakened.

So one evening, when Lady Kikio sat on the riverbank, contemplating her beloved, our villainess struck. Too bad for her though. For the thing is, losing herself in his thought had made Kikio 4 times more alert, and 10 times more powerful, and with a casual flick of her bow (she was always armed), she not only deflected the aforementioned attack, but wiped the villainess out.

fin"

Ignorant as I may be of many things, I do believe that being in love magnifies one's powers, and this tale is one of my favourite examples.

It's only words... Part II - वान्ग्मयम तपः

2009-10-16T15:12:00.002+05:30

Words are constituted of two parts - the phonetic, or sound, and the intrinsic meaning. The phonetic part is manifest- it can be heard, recorded in writing/audio, and reproduced. The meaning is unmanifest- it can only be perceived or understood.

One ancient school of thought described God the same way. Divinity was expressed in the manifest form as Creation, and as the Unmanifest form that was the Spirit or Paramatma or whatever one might call it. In fact, so strong was their concept of duality, that their official language had a singular, plural and dual form.

Seeing this similarity in between the nature of God and words, they held words sacred, and professed that the art of good speech was tantamount to penance - वान्ग्मयम तपः

The school of thought is of course the Shaktha/Shaiva school, whose credo is:

वागर्थविद सम्वृत्तौ, वागर्थः प्रतिपत्तये |

जगतः पितरौ वन्दे, पार्वती परमेश्वरौ ||

Salutations to the parents of all Creation, Parvati and Parameshvara, who are inseparable, just like the sound and the meaning (of a word) are inseparable.

Divinity theories aside, there's no denying that words are powerful tools in the aid of mankind. Wielding them skilfully requires true penance. But using them well is penance too.

Long before Socrates' triple test, our scriptures defined that anything to be said must satisfy three criteria: सत्यम्, प्रियम्, हितम् - It should be true, it should sound good and it should be well intended. Such speech is truly an offering to God, and pleases all who hear it, and never fails to fulfil it's intentions.

So with the best of intents, I pray that this Deepavali, Ganesh, Lakshmi and Sarasvati, bless us with the power to win over the recruiters with our words (and deeds, but mostly words).

It's only words... Part I - Etymology

2009-10-16T14:18:00.003+05:30

E PLVRIBVS VNNVM - one, among many. This is one of the two inscriptions on the Great Seal of The United States of America. বিবিধের মাঝে আছে মিলন মহান - among the various, exists this great union. This is a lyric from a Bengali patriotic song, referring to what is technically known as The Union of India or The Indian Union.

There cannot be union without communication. But what happens when the means to communicate becomes the instrument of diversification?

The parable of the tower of Babel tells us of such consequences. In a nutshell, the story goes like this:
Ages and ages ago, the twelve tribes of Israel decided to pool in their technological expertise and build a tower that would take them straight to heaven. Infuriated by this arrogant intent, God created a multitude of languages, making communication between the tribes effectively impossible. Since the tribes couldn't understand each other, they couldn't coordinate and build the tower, and their ambitious plans were laid to waste.

Biblical parables aside, the languages of the world, while being distinct, are definitely not distant. Shown below is a graphic taken from my sister's project

This brings us to another branch of knowledge that is closely related to mythology - we call it etymology - the study of words and their origins.

I'm inclined to quote Prof. Srinivasan, our OB-II prof here - that a language is more than a sum of its grammatical syntax and vocabulary. A foreign speaker, who's an expert on a language can be easily differentiated from a native speaker, because the former would not have the body language, the slang or the attitude of the latter. All this simply because he wasn't brought up in that culture.

Etymology however focuses only on the vocabulary of languages, and can give valuable insights into the history and the mindsets of the speakers of the languages. But again, there is also a matter of perception.

Take for example the words for left - sinistra in Latin and gauche in French. It is clear that they're the origins of the English words sinister and gauche, both with very negative meanings. Dan Brown related the fact that the left side has traditionally been associated with the 'Feminine Principle', to the prevalent male chauvinism of the Dark Ages and thus explained the etymology of these words.

While this theory is plausible, I draw your attention to another very gender-neutral explanation to the same phenomenon. Do you think it is a coincidence that left handed people make only 25% of the human population? Before you point out that left-handedness is a recessive trait, let me assure you that it's not the cause for the actual demographics.

Maybe, just maybe the low survival rates of left-handed people caused a stigma to be attached to the phenomenon of left-handedness, and anything related to the left side. Hence the origins.

The point in mind was that etymology, like mythology, has tremendous powers of revelation, if used carefully. With this short piece, I leave you to ponder on the true meaning of 'It's only words...'

... to be continued

XL Suuktani

2009-09-30T16:04:00.002+05:30

I wrote these shlokas in the Crederity PPT. I'd be happy to know if anyone could translate them before I post their meanings. I'll add more shlokas and their translations soon. (Plz excuse the lack of halantas, and Kudos to the Google people for developing such an awesome transliterating interface)
आकर्ण्य यस्य सुस्वरं, द्रष्ट्वा यस्य वदनं |
त्रिश्णाम नाशयते येन, तस्मै सद्बांधावे नमः ||

कोमलं हृदयं यस्य, शोकनिवारने रुचिः |
मतिमान बलवन्तश्च, तस्मै वल्लभाय नमः ||

My OB PLP

2009-09-05T12:37:00.000+05:30

In this personal learning paper, I intend to discuss not the content of the course, but what I learnt by attending the classes – both about myself and about the subject.

In the very beginning, the subject of Organizational Behaviour seemed to me an attempt to formalize, through theory and jargon, what is commonly known as ‘common sense’. It was a bad attitude, because it prevented me from learning anything at all.

The only life I’ve known so far is that of a student, and I’ve learnt to trust my teachers completely. So when encountered with a subject that seemed wholly unworthy of study, and that too by so respectable a teacher, in an institution of such calibre, was rather disconcerting. Even my father, who’s an MBA in finance, spoke highly of the subject. All of this compelled me to reconsider my view.

I commenced my soul searching by trying to relate what I learnt to subjects I was more familiar with, i.e. the pure sciences. The very backbone of this viewpoint is that there exists a chain of things in nature, and various levels in this scale come under the purview of various sciences. The very fact that this hierarchy exists, justifies the study of all hierarchies. In fact I recalled that one of the things that motivated me to do an MBA was to understand the hierarchy in the artificial chain of things – the economy, for example.

One of the first pillars of OB is that people will inevitably form groups. Thus, even though in OB-1 we focus on the individual, experiments like the Hawthorne one and the various theories of learning and motivation prove the power and influence of groups on people. In that way people are like atoms. A silver atom, for example, has the power to kill the highly dangerous MRSA bacteria when in isolation, but loses that property when it is part of a wire. Similarly, copper loses its superior conducting powers when made into nanotubes.

As a student of Biology, I had the opportunity to get to learn about the basics of this subject under the head of Ecology and Behaviour. We learnt that all behaviour in the wild originated from one motive – the preservation of one’s genetic makeup, even if it meant reducing or destroying the chances of another creature of the same species i.e. the object of all behaviour was to ensure that the creature left viable offspring. And that all other needs and motives could be traced back to this one.

Take the case of the butterfly, for example. Upon hatching, the caterpillar does nothing but eat, so it can pupate properly and become a butterfly. This creature spends its time pollinating flowers of the plants that it knows will be food for its future generations, mates, lays eggs (if female) and then dies.

The behaviour of solitary, selfish herd and colonial animals (other kingdoms as well) could be equally explained by this one need. In a true colonial situation, for example naked mole rats or ants or bees, each member is practically a genetic clone of the other, so it doesn’t hurt to have only one reproducing member.

Students of ecology and behaviour rarely venture into the domain of Human Behaviour, even if they do realize that there is an inevitable linkage. I realized that Freud, who didn’t sound like an ecologist to me, was probably also referring to this same point of view in his notions of infantile sexuality.

Exceptions in this theory, of course, are grouped under altruistic behaviour, and are more difficult to explain. For example, emperor penguins fight over the adoption of an orphaned chick, which is not genetically close to either prospective parent.

Humans are by no means wholly altruistic, but do seem to display a component in their behaviour that doesn’t comply with the prevalent theory. And I am glad that I got the opportunity to study theories of need and motivation that capture that component. With each passing day, I understood the relevance of the subject.

But perhaps the strongest link I perceived was that between models of perception and Optics. I mean Rayleigh’s criteria for resolvability of images is exactly what is implied by the perceptual grouping models.

At the end of it, I realized that the fundamental premise on which this field is based is not just that Human behaviour is explainable and predictable, but that it can and should be managed to the advantage of the organisation. OB isn’t just about knowing others, it is about knowing myself.

The opiate of the masses

2009-08-25T20:32:00.000+05:30

For any algorithm to run, some minimum input data is required. Now imagine an algorithm that can fetch for itself the data that it requires in order to run. Stressed by the exercise? No problem, just think of the lowliest creature you can think of - maybe a virus.

A virus is essentially a strand (single or double) of nucleic acid - which is basically the algorithm with the purpose of replicating itself - enclosed in a protein coat. When it comes in contact with a suitable host cell, it injects its genes into the host where it is transcripted and translated into the proteins and replicated - basically, copies are made. these are assembled into new viruses, which flood the host cell till it bursts, and then are sent out. When not in contact with anything alive, it simply lies there, doing nothing.

This was life, from the virus' point of view. I draw your attention to the way it spends its lifetime.

If you're of the view that creatures can be grouped from least evolved to the most evolved, then consider a ceature from the middle of that ranking - a butterfly, maybe.

Upon hatching, the caterpillar does nothing but eat, so it can pupate properly and become a butterfly. This creature spends its time pollinating flowers of the plants that it knows will be food for its future generations, mates, lays eggs (if female) and then dies.

Notice again how it spends its lifetime.

Look now at a lion. A highly evolved creature. The leader of the pride, in fact. He doesn't hunt, but gets the biggest share of the spoils. He defends his territory and his position in his pride, and mates when his lionesses are 'on heat'. Apart from that he only sleeps.

What a waste of talent, isn't it?

Idea is, at both extremes of lifeforms, we've creatures with a lot of 'free time'. I'd define free time as any amount of time not spent in doing survival tasks. Basically, free time seems to follow an inverse bell curve.

The difference is, can this free time be utilized?

____________________________________________________________________

Back to our algorithm. It needs minimum input data to run. So does every lifeform, to survive.

A sapling needs to find water, sunlight and nutrients - therefore it has a rudimentary sensory and motor system that attracts its shoot to light and away from gravity and its root towards water and gravity.

The more things a creature needs in order to survive, the better sense and locomotory systems it has.

It so happens, the more evolved a creature is, the more things it needs to survive, and hence, we have the creatures with the most 'free time' also having the best sense and locomotory systems.

Somewhere along the evolutionary ladder, this double convergence of time and resource turns into a triple convergence. A creature with highly developed sensory processing centre with time to spare from tasks of survival. How does it engage the idle yet powerful system? Simple, by probing into things apparently unconnected to its survival. And thus are generated the first probing questions and their first attempts at answers.

Sometimes, the business of Q & A seemed more interesting than survival itself. So here was Homo sapiens neanderthalis, a social animal, with an ice age to survive, and abstract questions to answer. What did he do?

Simple, he invented religion. An institution that had the following functions:

Define socio-political relationships and hierarchies
Define the ways and means to subsistence i.e. the processes of hunting, farming, etc.
Define the judicial system
Provide the answers to abstract questions, such as about genesis and destruction
Provide spiritual and psychological guidance

These were the functions of the institution of religion, as concieved by our close cousins the neanderthals, and adopted/propagated by our own ancestors.

The ages passed by, each time stripping religion of one of its functions till at long last only the last listed function was relevant to it.

Religion has been a very useful tool, as well as a potent weapon. Which of these conflicting roles it will predominantly play in the future, will depend on the practitioners of the religion.

Meanwhile, the wealth of answers constituted from all religions of the world (living and extinct), and the customs that stem from them, create the massive corpus of knowledge known as Mythology.

On this pensive note, I leave you dear reader, to attend my OB project meeting.

All in good time

2009-08-25T19:25:00.000+05:30

No matter who we are, where we are, the one thing that we are never seperated from, is our past. While some of us confine ourselves to cribbing or raving about our own little lifetimes, some others feel incomplete if they cannot make an attempt atleast to delve into the mysteries of genesis itself.

The fact is, people of the latter kind have always formed the majority of the human race. Which is what led to the most ingenious of our inventions - religion; and the most essential of our discoveries - the scientific method. Certain people, among which the Theosophists are the most prominent, believe also in the exixtence of another method - the occult method. But more on that later.

What I wish to say is, that in studying either theology, science or theosophy, we essentially study the same subject - our past - our History.

History as an independent subject also exists, and follows certain methods. It relies upon a body of evidences, i.e. records and the ingenuity of scholars to reconstruct the events past based on them.

Biology, for example, is natural history, and relies on fossil records as well as the DNA of living creatures.

The starry sky, is a picture of the universe that many years ago, whence the light that we see actually left the respective celestial bodies.

The same can be said of rock strata, which to a Geologist, speak volumes of the history of our planet.

In searching for Theories of Everything (TOE's) and Grand Unification Theories (GUT's), physicists try and unravel the mysteries of the big bang itself.

But not all records are tangible, and most are ambiguous. In my opinion however, there are two types of records.

One type of records is photographic. The other is holographic.

A photograph records the intensities of light falling on the film. It captures the scene instantly and can be accessed instantly - by the unaided eye.

A hologram records the phase difference between the two LASER sources that are made to fall on the scene to be captured, and can be accessed again only with the aid of a LASER source.

Most records used for formal purposes are photographic, like the fossil records. They are usually unambiguous, i.e. they do not require any interpretation.

The holographic records, which require decoding, constitute a body of knowledge called Mythology.

Being of a, let's say curious mindset, I sought to unravel the mysteries of creation since a very early age. Indeed, it is this thirst for knowledge which led me to pursue the pure sciences to a level as serious as graduation - I am a Physics major.

But I've had an equal measure of exposure to mythology as well. At an age when the elders of the family indoctrinate the young ones in their prevalent religion, I was taught to enjoy the stories without being compelled to believe them to be true.

This was how I became a mytho junkie and this is what I feel mythology means to mankind. As for more details, all I can say is that they'll come, all in good time.

This is Ishita

2009-08-09T12:11:00.003+05:30

This is my sister's gmail account, and I use this because I'm too lazy to make my own.

Having described myself adequately, I now say a prayer:

Shayane Padmalabhamcha

I next move on to thank Himanshu Kumar, who's inspired me to blog. Thanks also to all my batchmates, for preventing homesickness.

The purpose of my blog is to discuss mythology, in general, because I like stories. The first story would be a folktale.

Once, in a drought-hit village of India, a farmer began to work. Seing the futility of his activity, Lord Shiva appeared to advise the poor creature. "What purpose does your ploughing serve? There will be no rain, as I've ordained it."

"You made the world, my lord," replied the farmer, "and you made the Law that sustains it. If I'll do my part, I'm sure the Law will take care of the rest."

"Do you imply that the Law is greater than Me?" thundered the deity, "You shall witness this contest, and retract your very thoughts." So saying, he went to Amaravati, abode of Indra, the raingod, and commanded him to withold the rainclouds from that region.

"I'm bound by Your Law, sire," said Indra, "if the frogs of that land croak, I will have no choice but to release my rainclouds.". "Rest assured, for that shall not happen."

His next stop was of course, the Frog Union of India, who assured him compliance, under the condition that not even a single firefly would appear in front of them, in which case, Legally bound as they were, they had to croak.

Frustrated by the length of the chain of command He'd created, He went to the Firefly Adda and warned them appositely. Luckily for Him, the unhappy chain ended there.

That very evening however, it rained in adequate amount in that village. Dumbfounded at the occurence, the Lord rushed to Indra, who palefacedly explained that the frogs had done the mischief. The frogs placed the blame upon the fireflies. But the fireflies denied it.

Being omniscient, Mahadev knew the fireflies weren't lying, and so He went back to the frogs, who vehemently maintained that they'd spotted a firefly, and that one was blinking even right now. Indeed, the Lord spotted a blinking light in the fields, and went to investigate.

It turned out to be our hardworking farmer, who was now weeding the fields by torchlight, which due to his bobbing action, seemed to look like a firefly from afar. Thus defeated by His own Law, the Lord Ashutosh, returned to his abode.

I'd read this story when I was younger, at which time it didn't sound half as silly. Reasoning apart, the moral of this story is a serious one. Humans invented the game of chess, and the rules of playing it. Humans are also the players, and when they descend in the form of the chess pieces, they're bound by those very rules. So it is ordained in this Game of Life, that if we do our part in acomplishing our goals, not even the Creator can conspire to prevent their fulfilment.

With this, I close this blog, and proceed to partake of Sunday Lunch.