Hoorray!

Seriously? Can a cat, or any other animal, however cute it might be, resemble someone you know? Some one says so in this post . No, I'm not saying it's not possible or it's stupid. But it's really weird to think that way. Hmmm... I do find that people actually resemble animals (which is the other way round of animals resembling people). Some people look like monkeys, who obviously are close relatives. And some people look like reptiles and birds. At times people's actions and words, unforcedly makes me liken them to animals. I know I'm not being too kind, but it's just a thought that flashes in my mind.

I ask a lot of questions. No, I change a lot of my statements to questions. Why? It induces people to respond. As a rule, questions beget more responses than statements. That way, I'm sure to elicit an answer - from myself or from someone else - most of the time. I naturally do ask a lot of questions - to myself. Even if it were intended to another person, I wait to ask. May be in the course of a talk or speech, my questions will be answered, instead of me jumping the gun. And many a time, I downplay my questions and don't ask them in public. I find it easier to approach someone and ask them questions face-to-face. This is also to create an opportunity to personally know someone. Asking questions crystallizes ideas or problems. It is then easier to express or execute the idea and find solutions to problems. Asking the right question, to the right person, at the right time is an art. It comes to a few people naturally; to a lot of others, with practice. So, if you need som...

Apart from being co-authored by Aravindan anna, which alone is reason enough to read the book, this is a path-breaking book. It brings into the limelight of Indian intellectual discourse the importance of Christian interference and indirect aggression into the sovereignty of India, through the artificially implanted Dravidian and Dalit identity politics. I have just began reading it and currently sailing through Chapter 3: Inventing the Aryan Race. It traces how the discovery of Indian philosophy, culture and science amazed European scholars initially and reached a peak when they began to romanticize India as the cradle of civilizations, praising its language and grammar, art and literature, philosophy and spirituality. This quickly gave raise to the lucrative discipline of Indology and related discourses beginning from late eighteenth to early nineteenth century. However, imperialism backed by Christianity and economic ambitions soon upturned the cart of Indian origin of the wester...

Yup. That's true. The Tricolor - more adorably termed the Tiranga - will not be hoisted this Republic Day. Can you believe it? I could not and am shocked! You should have already guessed the location by now; exactly, it is Lal Chowk in Srinagar. And no, this is not new. The tradition of flag-hoisting has already been obstructed last year . This year's controversy began with the BJP and the Abdullahs exchanging tirades. Abdullah junior announcing that " peace will be disturbed in Kashmir Valley, if the BJP hoists national flag " with Abdullah senior separately berating the BJP and BJP retorting to it . BJP will unfurl the Tricolor and not it's party flag. So why the hullabaloo? But Omar Abdullah wisely asks "officials and elected members will be unfurling the national flag across the state, why should the BJP do it?" We are asking, "Why not?" Mr Abdullah, sir. What's the problem with unfurling the national flag on the Republic Day? I...

Today I was working. In a mid-sized corporate company. I quit today. From tomorrow i'm taking up a new role. Many new roles in fact. Foremost among those roles will be - a student. It had taken me two years and a little more to make this decision; the one that was in the back of my mind all the time. But I was afraid. To make the change. Afraid of the initial period, where I might have to struggle. Afraid to leave the comfort and security and the routine. I was not confident to take that step and venture out in to the big, bad world - paradoxically. Not anymore. I'm raring to go now. There is still that small, tiny-winy bit of fear. But i'm confident of crossing any obstacle that would come across my path. This confidence originated in the understanding of the paradox. For I was already out in the big, bad world. If I decide to leave it, I would actually go to a more secure and stable world - from the world of money to the world of knowledge. I want to study and g...

Once upon a time, nine of every ten systems ran Microsoft Windows operating system. Microsoft was then the tycoon megalith in the world of computers and internet. Times have changed. Open source operating systems like Linux, and others from Sun, Macintosh have eaten into Microsoft's share. The monopoly that lent Microsoft the ability to bull-doze opponents is no more available. Microsoft, though, is still a megalith. In this age of internet and iphones -- two new monoliths are aiming to become the next megalith. Google and Apple. Anyone, who wants to find some piece of info on the internet, uses the "Google" search engine. This has sort of made Google omnipresent in every computer that is connected to the net. Google is used as the gateway by the people to reach the sites they want to view. Only a few people use other search engines like that of Yahoo! or Bing. By introducing more products like the GMail mail service provider integrated with the voice and video e...

The first time I came across the phrase "Spiritual, but not religious" was as an option for "Religion" when I signed up for Orkut. And I have found this phrase to be quite intriguing since then. As I started adding friends to my profile, I found many of them opting for this option. I doubt if they understood the meaning of this phrase properly. I am trying to understand this phrase too. Like jeans, pizza, coke, google, nuclear weapons, credit cards, gene modification, pollution, communism etc, this is an idea imported from the west. The two operating concepts here are "Religion" and "Spirituality" . And only if we understand what these two concepts really mean, can we understand the phrase "Spiritual, but not religious". When I think of religion these are what spring up in my mind - dogmas & doctrines, rituals & sacrifices, rules & restrictions, faiths & beliefs. These are considered as essential aspects of a rel...