Sunday, April 29, 2007

Sanctity of Human life

"There's something I would like to understand. And I don't think anyone can explain it.... There's your life. You begin it, feeling that it's something so precious and rare, so beautiful that it's like a sacred treasure. Now it's over and it does n't make any difference to anyone, and it is n't that they are indifferent, it's just that they don't know, they don't know what it means, that treasure of mine, and there's something about it that they should understand. I don't understand it myself, but there's something that should be understood by all of us. Only what is it ? What ?"

We the Living, Ayn Rand... an enjoyable novel about the sanctity of human life set in Soviet Russia.

The girl who utters these lines is sentenced to imprisonment in Siberia and knows she will never return home.

Thursday, April 26, 2007

Ramblings

Was reading this strip of Calvin & Hobbes where Calvin has a really rough day in school being bullied and harassed by his classmate Bully -Moe.

Walking in the woods with Hobbes, he says : I don't understand it.. What makes some people so greedy and mean? Why is it that some people don't care what's wrong and right ? Why don't people try to be nice to each other ?

Hobbes, in his trademark philosophical style, comments that the problem with people is that they are only human after all!

Simple yet so profound...

It is human I suppose, to err and yes, it does hurt and pain a lot, when we go through such times. We never realise the latent power within us which hurts someone close to us, before it is too late. We are so caught up in our worlds, in our sense of what's right and what's wrong that we do not think twice before uttering a word or acting indifferent and unconcerned... but is this all there is to life?

There is a time, flavour and season to everything life offers. Seasons change and so do people.
Like how a bud blossoms and grows into a beautiful flower, only to wither in a short while...Then a new bud comes in its place and the cycle of life goes on and on....

And we need to adapt to that and move on. Keep shedding the extra baggage of hurt & grief accumulated over a period of time, feel light and continue walking on this wonderful road, with its everchanging terrain of plains, plateaus, valleys and hills , called life.... oops.. I realised I somehow missed the Beach out there in the middle :(

It aint worth holding grudges and sulking for too long!!

Tuesday, April 24, 2007

"I must launch out my boat.

The languid hours pass by on the shore- Alas for me!

The spring has done its flowering and taken leave. And now withthe burden of faded futile flowers I wait and linger.

The waves have become clamorous, and upon the bank in the shady lane the yellow leaves flutter and fall.

What emptiness do you gaze upon! Do you not feel a thrill passing through the air with the notes of the far-away song floating from the other shore?"

Gitanjali, Rabindranath Tagore

In search of Truth?

Standing in the witness box in a court hall (thankfully not that crowded) was quite an experience to me, despite my being in the legal profession.

Things always appear different when it happens to you.

So there the judge ushers me to the witness box and the clerk asks me to swear, pointing at a dirty cardboard piece on which a white piece of paper is stuck....I am asked to read it aloud : "I swear in the name of God that I would speak the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth"

I muse to myself.. what if i object to swear in the name of God? then I swear by the Constitution of India ? Should I really swear on something?

What is truth? Is it merely confirmity with Fact and reality ? so abstract, it is, I can almost feel its weight on my shoulders....

And then The Bible says " And the Truth shall set you free"

Freedom.... now, this shall be a separate post some other day.....

Saturday, April 21, 2007

My favourite colour last two weeks has been blue… seriously …..

Lying down with degenerated back muscles, writhing in pain, looking at the white ceiling and the rotating fan does seem to put life in perspective…. when I mention this to a dear friend of mine, she immediately chirps, can I bring pink stars and put them on the ceiling so you can not look at the dreary white but at the glittering stars!

I guffaw and tell her make it blue stars! Not pink – I just don’t like pink too much!

She’s assured me she is going to take me shopping and buy me a beautiful pink dress.

Lets see….. :))

Thursday, April 05, 2007

I am instant messaging with my Boss in the US and updating him about a prospective client (Big one).

After the discussion, I type "Hope we get them."

And my boss immediately replies, "no not like that...Hope is not for Winners! We got them, end of story."

Wonder if this holds true for most times in life?

Maybe Hope is really for Losers.... who are so conditioned by their loss to hope for something better in their lives, jobs etc..Not sure

We go where our minds take us... so what if the mind is unable to make up its mind?

Never mind.