Reading

Past few weeks I have been reading short stories by leo tolstoy. So far I have read:

The Death of Ivan Ilych
The Kruetzer Sonata
The Devil
Walk in the light While there is light

Presently, I am reading Hadji Murad.

Of these, so far I have liked The Death of Ivan Ilych the best and then Hadji Murad. One particular sentence that struck me hard from The Death was "Ivan Ilych's life had been most simple and most ordinary and therefore most terrible".

While reading the Kruetzer Sonata and Walk in the light While there is Light I couldn't help but compare the main characters to Ayn Rand's for the simple reason that they would keep going on an on expounding a particular philosophy in what would seem like lots of pages. Then it seemed like the author was talking to you in the garb of the character.

While reading the Death of Ivan Ilych I kept thinking about Nikolai Gogol's The Overcoat.

On Society

Is it possible to bring peace and prosperity to a society with an organized effort ? Can an organized effort bring about change in a society ?

The Invite

"Why don't you hang out with him more?", she said to her son, "Maybe you'll gain some knowledge from him." Without stopping, she turned to me, "You guys should study together more often. Where do you live? Our house is right near school, come anytime you like." "Yes beta, we always tell him, look at the topper in your class, see how he gets those percentages. Why can't you. You should get good percentage marks. Ask him how he gets them", said his Dad turning to me. "You teach him a little bit. You are so intelligent. I am sure he'll do well in your company. You know, he works really hard, but somehow doesn't get the marks".

My new friend had been asking me to visit his place, it was so near to school. Today both the parents were home.

The System

One fine evening a few years ago, three of us waited for a cut chai at a tea-stall. Old tea had run out, new was being made. Our conversation meandered it's way to the system. How the lowest suffer the most being uneducated. How hopeless things were from their perspective. How spoiled the politics was, eating away things meant for these people. Could anyone, could we do something to change it ? "Once I finish my internship, I will attempt for the IAS", my friend said. Not for from us, a middle-aged man sat squatting, hands on his turban. We guessed he was a daily laborer, as that area was usually the place where people came from neighboring villages every morning, to find work. He too waited for the tea. "Look at him, I want to do something to help these people. I believe if I have the power, I can atleast do something, somewhere. A peeli-batti, lal-batti is that power".

I met him last year, at a common friend's place. I knew he worked for a government office. His sharpness had been replaced with rotundity. He taxed the poor and wealthy alike, I heard, to make ends meet.

a few lines a day

Starting today, I will attempt to write a few lines a day, for a few weeks.


Type. Delete. Type. Delete. That's how first few lines have gone. Somehow I stumble to a start. Yesterday, was one of those days when I was feeling worn out. When you are in the grip of such thoughts, you never remember that tomorrow will be a new day. You feel stuck. And yet, as I walked in to work today, I felt the warmth of the sun liven up my spirits. A tree swayed gently in the morning wind. I noticed birds chirping nearby. A few moments of silence later, I felt well. Yesterday's feeling of being stuck had disappeared. Today was a new day.

Stumped

What do I do in that spare time, when I am not all about myself ?
Umm. Hmm. Stumped. I don't remember having such spare time.

Moral Human

What is morality ? Is morality right doing ? Is an act moral or the human ? Is there a difference ? In my perception, there is. If I say a human is moral, it doesn't make sense. I believe lying, cheating, is natural to humanity, like anger, lust and greed. Infact, if we look at it a little closely, lying and cheating, are instruments of self-preservation and fullfillment. Fullfilment of conflicting desires.

Good News, Bad News

Another emerging IT city

While Bangalore continues to host the bulk of India's IT business and is home to more than 1,500 top firms, poor roads and traffic woes are now pushing IT firms to look beyond Bangalore -- to newer cities like Chandigarh, hundreds of miles north

Good because chandigarh is on my list of cities to live in !
Bad because Chandigarh is apparently one of the most beautiful cities of India. Imagine it has been only a few years since IT came to bangalore, and bangalore has migrated from is one of them to was one of them!

Early Detection, Early Response

Larry Brilliant in a TED talk, talks about his early life, his work in India, how smallpox was eradicated in India, and an important lesson on how to stop the next pandemic.

Video here.
You might want to download it, instead of streaming.

Renaissance Song

From wiki today:
that King Henry VIII was a talented musician and composer, and his song Pastime with Good Company became a popular tune throughout Renaissance Europe and remains a choral favorite?

Here's a rendition of it.
Lyrics in the wiki link.

A lively day

After a nice shower and a brunch, I now sit on my patio floor. It is a beautiful, beautiful spring day. Just below me there is the lawn of my complex. Two dandelions smile brightly in the sunlight. Gentle winds flow through the grass and the trees alike. The grass is well mowed. It feels as if someone has spread a soft green carpet in my yard. It looks calm, but as I look closely I find a lot of activity. With every wave of wind, the blades swing here and there, sometimes wildly. There are a few trees in my sight. A huge one to my right. Their barks look old. Spring has brought new leaves and young branches. They dance to the winds, with no particular movement and yet, they appear to move in a rthym.

The surroundings are abuzz with the birds chirping loudly. Blue sky streches over, with a flew clouds scattered in the sky here and there, and over the mountains. The mountains appear hazy in the brightness. Occassionally a car passes by. A few birds walk on the road, searching for food, and a bee buzzes near me, rushing madly. What makes this day full of life, is perhaps all these things happening together. I find it a luxury to be able to sit silently in this environment. Friends, family, my home, all kinds of memories waft in my thoughts, like the clouds in the sky. I am going to take my bike out now, go fill air in my tyres, and take ride on the boulder creek path. After that, it will be time for tennis.

Argh !

I feel so lonely today. There are some tiny sadnesses gnawing at me and of the scores of friends and relatives I have, I can't think of a single person I can unfold to. Argh. And yet, just by writing this out, I already feel better. Heh.

मंजिलें

हर मंजिल पहुंच हमने कहा
कुछ मकाम और हैं
अभी यह पाना है, यह बनाना है
कभी कभी यूं लगता है
यह हम मंजिलें बना रहे हैं
या मंजिलें हमे बना रही हैं ?
इतना हमे पता है
इमारतों के इस जंगल मैं
हमारी ईमारत बड़ी हो रही है
तुम्हारी झोपड़ी कि ऐसी कि तैसी
हमारी ईमारतें खडी हो रही है

Tanha

kis से कहें ki तनहा हम हैं
अकेले लोगों कि इस महफ़िल मैं
क्या तनहा कम हैं ?

Shelly Does Run

In this video
You've seen her in an Indian movie. Starts with L. That song is by snow patrol. I really like those lines "to think I might not see those eyes"

Insanity Update: I've heard this song a number of times in last few days. A huge number of times. 10. Umm. Sane enough, right ?

Ok make that 100. Now ?

"Slower, Slower we don't have time for that"

Tub. Tuboo.

We were discussing the movie Namesake. I haven't seen it yet and my friend said it's an ok movie. He was most impressed by Tuboo. "Tuboo has acted really well", he said.

Sunset

Witnessed a lovely sunset today, while running towards the mountains. Engulfed in shades of blue were the mountains. And as the sun set behind them, the backdrop became full with orange. Bundles of rays appeared to shoot straight up to the high sky. Others scattered to illuminate the canvas. For a few moments the mind was captivated by the beauty of the scenery. It forgot to plead "Stop stupid, how much will you run, the legs are killing me". And then I thought, nice view..came in good time. Should run at sunset time again.

And yes, ran about 3.5 miles today, in about 33 mins.

Taking up Running

I am preparing for a 10k run. Ran 2.9 miles in about 28 mins, on our third run. I have never been a serious runner, but there were couple of years atleast when I jogged, apart from sugar-high outbursts in kindergarten. 10th grade, and final year undergrad. Though from when I can remember, running and walking are two activities, which I've a natural liking for.

Aside. I pondered over this question today: Sigh. I have forgotten the construct. What we need is telepathic recording, so what I am thinking gets instantaneously recorded on some medium aside from the sphagetti in the head.

Broken M-key

Ha ! So I am not the only one in this cosmos with a misbehaving M key. There's someone else too !

ilaaz-e-dard

dard kya hai maloom hai
ilaaz kya hai, yeh bhi maloom hai
magar is dard ka ilaaz kya hai
bas yahi nahi maloom hai

Poetry Today

Sit

Sit, drink your coffee here; your work can wait awhile.
You're twenty-six, and still have some of life ahead.
No need for wit; just talk vacuities, and I'll
Reciprocate in kind, or laugh at you instead.

The world is too opaque, distressing and profound.
This twenty minutes' rendezvous will make my day:
To sit here in the sun, with grackles all around,
Staring with beady eyes, and you two feet away.

-- Vikram Seth

Tired of unpressing deadlines, I was random-surfing indiauncut.com,
and came across this poetry, which I distantly liked
As lazy is this afternoon as it is boring,
and without any unpressing deadlines, I wondered about the narrator
if it's old, wild or resigned
hurt, fallen or declined
musing or just passing time
that were all these attributes of the narrator
or mine

Work

Is hafte shayad tunnel ke end se light dikhegi
aur main dungeon se aazad ho kar khuli hawa main saans loonga !
Kuch hi din huye hain gadhon ki tarah kaam karte
Par aisa lagta hai
Muddatein gujar gayi hain aaram karke