Words......language.....sentences

Had a very interesting discussion today at the office.
The point of conjecture was "Is having a knowledge of a particular language or its words and their meanings actually detriment to the way we emotionally respond to the spoken words or sentences"
What it simply means that if I was cursed or insulated or praised in Russian, Polish or Telegu or any other language that I dont know, my reaction will be absolutly nonchalant.
But if the curse word or insult or praise by the same person, if meted out in a language I am cognizant with - then I will rile up and react to it - maybe start arguing or cursing back or feel happy at being praised.
Even though language is a means of communication and a myth to supplement it - as there are so many out there - even a sign language - it still has a lot of bearing as to how we behave if we are aware of its phonetic resonance.
This resonance can depress, exhilerate, frustrate or simply irritate. But if this language is a noise to you (means the one you really dont understand) then life goes on happily no matter what is said about or to you!!!!!

Just some ?

- Do you feel that a Blogger can have a BLOC just like the writers have WRITERS BLOC
- Do you think it is time to change "PEN is mightier than the SWORD" to "KEYBOARD is mightier than NUKES"
- Do you feel like a "NIPPLE" as life always sucks !!!!!
- Dont you think that if you have a great LIFE INSURANCE and if you happen to DIE - every beneficiary will LIVE HAPPILY EVER AFTER except you
- Dont you want to thank Nehru and Jinnah today for giving us India and Pakistan - how else on earth could we have has such a great cricket rivalry (well bangladesh still has a lot to catch up)
- On the flip side - can you imagine an invincible team if we were not separate - Akram and Tendlya, Inzzy and Dravid, Dhoni and Afridi, and so on all in one team.....

Modern Slave :(

How a small trivial experience in in everyday life can OPEN YOUR EYES.
Friday my tool for social networking - a.k.a. mah blackberry decided to quit on me. Dunno what it was I was saying or clicking or pushing its wrong circuits - it just decided that it wants to be with me no more.
I had developed a special relationship with it and it knew very well that without it being around I will be like a speck of dust in this vast desert. It could not even be jealous as I had no other phone.....
The weekend has been horrible getting my life back on track. Was not able to communicate with anyone - had to miss important meetings.
Life came to a standstill and it still is till its other friend via mail.
Then I realized how I have become a slave to this little machine and as always there is a lesson I learnt from this episode - just like how we become reliant on people around us and they suddenly leave or die and life becomes a mess. Thats when we realize our own importance and start to scamper and gather ourselves.
But I have decided to fight this ;) and not be enslaved by these little machines - can I really do this in the modern day and age.

The Sea Inside

Another Classic movie I saw recently. "The Sea Inside".
I wont go into the storyline (you can read it with the link above). This movie moved me. It questioned what is Love - is it about possessing it - making the one you love suffer because you are selfish and cant seem to see life without him/her.
Or it is about liberating - and being unselfish - release the one suffering from the others clutches.
Similar idea can be witnessed in the Hindi movie "Fanaa" where Kajol liberates Aamir from his dilemma by killing him in the end. For me that was an unselfish move by her to end his life - which lightened the burden on him to choose between his love and his calling.

Only in Jersey : you park on driveway and drive on parkway

Another of my passion driving......

Being an Architect - I simply love to see places - all kinds of places. There is no intention to reach somewhere or do something - the intention is to glide and let the roads guide you.

I love to explore any place I go, driving around almost the entire day tirelessly.....just love to view the world from the front, frame by frame as it exposes itself - manmade structures or natural surroundings. The enigma that is this earth has so many flavors, colors, sizes and shapes......

I shared these journeys with a special person......but now she is around no more...

Now its me and my car. We have a special relation that a man and machine can have. It understands my moods, my ecstacies, my deliberations and drives accordingly. It is a zen like experience exploring the world sitting inside as it tirelessly rotates, takes the brunt of all kinds of weather, surfaces and other fellow cars.

I will end this with a song that I remember by Tom Cochran "Life is a Highway" (You Tube Link)

Life is a highway

I wanna ride it all night long

If you're going my way

I wanna drive it all night long

"Rue" Afza to Rooh Afza

Rooh Afzaa is a drink : here its is description from Wikipedia:
Rooh Afza is a a popular concentrated syrup invented by Hakeem Abdul Majeed and manufactured by the companies he founded, Hamdard (Wakf) Laboratories, India and Hamdard (Wakf) Laboratories, Pakistan, since 1907. The inventor never explained his choice of the name Rooh Afza, english speakers often refer to it as 'rose syrup'. It is a natural cold drink and a blend of pure crystalline sugar, distilled extracts of citrus flowers, aquas of fruits, vegetables and cooling herbal ingredients processed to impart its taste. Hakeem Abdul Majeed claimed that Rooh Afza was concocted using Unani medical principles. However, it is said that Rooh Afza means "that which tempts your soul" because "rooh" means soul and "afza" means which tempts.

Pay special attention to the last sentence. Sad folks are tempted to be "rue"ful and that takes the fun away from their soul - so trigger the ROO, banish the "rue" and enjoy the elixer of life.....just like every sip of the Rooh Afzaa.

Gods Inc (GI)

(Ringing, Ringing.....Choices, pressed 1 then 3 then 4 finally....my turn to talk to customer service representative from God's Inc.....Am on hold......(this message will be recorded for new born integration purposes).....waiting...click)

Me: Hello

GI Rep: Hello, this is Travis from God's Inc. How may I help you today....

Me: Hi, I have a question regarding ME, have some operating problems.

GI Rep: Sir, before we proceed I would like you to confirm certain things....

(He goes on to confirm my dad's, mom's name and place of birth - he gets my record in their database @ God's Inc.)

GI Rep: Ok sir, now what seems to be the problem

Me: I need to upgrade my operating system and memory to relate to other people.

GI Rep: Let me check your record sir....will be with you in a minute (puts me on a hold)

GI Rep: Sir, the model that ME-74 is built of is an experimental model. There are only 25 such models that were designed by Mr. God. Right now all those models are functional and active in different servers of the world. ME-74 are not allowed to upgrade or have any changes.

Me: Hold on, so you are telling me I am a Guinea Pig. A mouse !!!!!!!!

GI Rep: I cant say that sir, after we all are still HIS creation, but I do beleive that in your case it is somewhat like that.

Me: Damn, no wonder then I cannot proceed with simple daily functions as I am still primitive in my actions while all other BIOSes have been upgraded. Is there anyway I can attach a peripheral device to enhance what I have atleast instead of replacing it.

GI Rep: Sir, I am sorry that cannot help you. You are put there to undergo certain life events that we are monitoring constantly. The data received from you and 24 others put in different servers helps us design the future parts. ME 85-95 are ungraded versions of ME-74 and you mignt find them to be congrous to you but not similar.

Me: So without my consent I am helping others while I cant be helped. I have to undergo this trecherous journey without any respite from the INC.

GI Rep: Sir, I dont think you have a right to give a consent, you are programmed to transmit the data.

Me: (started poking my ears, checked my eyes and entire body...to see if there are any probes that are transmitting the signal...)

Me: So you are saying that virtually I have no warranty whatsoever on any of ME-74. It is a limited edition experimental model. So is there any possibility of ME-74 getting any help to make things a little easier.

GI Rep: Sorry sir, but you are an absolute. You were derived from experiments of ME58-68. And are an advanced version of those but a primitive version of the current. The only way you can get upgraded is that one of the other 24 ME is deactivated and their parts are reattached to you. But currently you are going through a phase where you might be shipped to a different server from the one where you were first transplanted and so are the others.

Me: Now I started to feel oblique. I am special but at the same time I am common. What luck!!!!!! So I will go, but is there any way I can leave a message for Mr. GOD.

GI rep: Sir you are lucky as he is in the office today, trying to figure out what went wrong with the model BUSH-2. He is in a meeting with the engineers to see how to decommision this model or atleast change its system. Hold on let me get him for you.

Me: Whoa.....I was going to talk with the master himself.....man I started sweating and became nervous. (after a long pause)

GOD: Hi, ME-74, this is the master speaking. You wanted to tell me something.

Me: In a fit of nervousness, yes Sir, I just wanted to thank you for this journey on earth but wanted to ask you why was I chosen for the experiment.

GOD: First of all, I appreciate you thanks. Dont despair though, atleast you have a journey that is exciting. There are many rejects in my office here. There is no special picking of you, it was random. So enjoy it while you can or else I will have to decommision you.

Me: No, its fine, now I know my place in this whole wide big world. I will carry on this exciting journey and keep transmitting you data to design a better ME in the future. (again I fidgited with myself to see if there is any probe on ym body)

GOD: Great, have a wonderful life and please dont hesitate to call us if you have any doubts or questions. Click.......

(If you like this fictional writing you will surely enjoy the movie The Truman Show)

Unfortunately Fortunate

The views put forth may not go very well with many readers - but this is something I do beleive and want to share it. I am not immune to emotions but I think I have the strength to overcome it.
All our lives we are somehow morose or sad and are always finding a reason why somethings did not go the way we wanted it to or assumed it to be. Why do WE have to face these sudden changes.
What have I done to get this and so on and so forth.
Happiness goes in a blink but sadness stares at us forever.

We trap ourselves into a cycle of self "mental molestation". What happens is that we tend to forget the great moments of our life, or just remember them as a sad memory, and also at the same time loose all this current precious time in our lives.
Everyone faces this quandary in all walks of life - career, family, relationships, friends........
Sometime ago I read this little quote "I've learned that our background and circumstances may have influenced who we are, but we are responsible for who we become." and in my solitude I mulled over it and it got me thinking (something that I do naturally every moment of life).

Arent we all slaves of our own doing. We want freedon from every aspect our our lives but dont have the strength to gain freedom from our very sad self. Freeing yourself from sadness to live those little moments of happiness that you experienced is what I think makes you fortunate in the most unfortunate circumstances.

I think one should feel fortunate that we have LIFE and try hard not to waste its nuances by going on celebrating sadness. Instead celebrate those moments that were really exhilerating in , relationship, career, family, friends - that you currently miss - feeling lucky that you had a chance to experience those great unforgetable moments. (many people dont ever get a chance to experience it)
Try hard to take that as a positive experience - Enrich the SELF, strengten your SOUL. A person who you did not know exists withing you....
It is easier said then done and many people think that this is a selfish unemotional approach - I agree but I am trying hard to be responsible for what I become henceforth and not blame the circumstances and the world.

My Dear Friend Murphy

Hope you have heard about Murphy's Law. As it states that "whatever hads to go wrong will go wrong" - but what if that wrong is your right your way of life.

What if you are put into situations and choices you get are "right" for the moment, feel the best thing to do - but actually are an apparition.

Amitabh had a friend "Tanhayee" in his famous song "mai aur meri tanhayee"....similarly I have a dear friend Murphy.

Every stage of life I am faced with choices that basically make me select them forcefully - as they are choices that are a result of another wrong choice I have made earlier - I know they are wrong but I am basically helpless. And so the cycle continues and the wrong has become right.

In life some people have to make adjustments - completely change themselves or simply fine tune their current position. But what do you do if someone related to you has to constantly make adjustments because Murphy has decided to be your best buddy.

Do you force them to make Murphy a part of their life..........

Surreal Bill

Date : Tuesday, 4th September
Time: 19:45 PM
Place : Barnes and Noble Union Square, NYC.
Event: Book release "Giving"
Cause:http://www.clintonfoundation.org/index.htm

A moment that will be etched in my memory for life. It overwrote all my current miseries and pains. That one moment when I stood in front of him and complemented him for his great work for humanity and how he is my inspiration of a true leader for life. That same moment when he appreciated my appreciation of his relentless work, sealed with a handshake and "GIVING" of his book.
That person is none other than the President Bill Clinton.

For me it was a surreal experience - where I am used to standing in long queues in India at various temples to catch a glimpse of GOD - who invariable does not speak - just is there. Here I waited for two-half hours along with people from all over the world - a similar experience akin to waiting at the temple - the difference, most people go and wait in the temple to ask GOD for something - here people were waiting to give appreciation and show support to what I feel is a modern day GOD - President Bill Clinton.