Bemused am I listenin to them say that I, that I know of philosophy for it is not their fault it is but the fault of philosophy that it should run so deep
like the river that splits the sea so gently at times and yet it also cuts the mountains so powerful and yet so elegantly
philosophy is like a river u can never touch the depths, nor can you swim against it you can only flow in it like the water, but only till it carries you beware of the fall if u may call it so for it u who then say that i know philosophy
Alright fellas, been sometime since this space got updated. Here's a brand new series of posts which are the brainchild of one of the most arseholes of my friends, Nishant (aka Nishu). In a certain state of mind, when my chat messages cannot be borne by anyone of the esteemed guest in my gtalk list, this guy turns out to be the revelation.
Anyways, so I will keep posting in this space the gyan messages that I am bestowed with in a certain transcedental state of mind.......
..................sMoke..................
everything is so ethereal
nuthin is what it seems, twists and turns and fades away like the smoke
never to be found again
u can only feel it there
but u cannot c it there
it lingers on like a being
although it is but a smoke
so shall be us
and it is that very linger
that reminds us of the ones around us
like the smoke
they shall turn, so shall they twist
and in the end, they shall fade away
never to be found again, only the reminiscence remaining
A group of atheists filed a lawsuit on Tuesday seeking to remove part of a state anti-terrorism law that requires Kentucky’s office of homeland security to acknowledge it can’t keep the state safe without God’s help. American Atheists Inc sued in state court over a 2002 law that stresses God’s role in Kentucky’s homeland security alongside the military, police agencies and health departments.
Of particular concern is a 2006 clause requiring the office of homeland security to post a plaque that says the safety and security of the state “cannot be achieved apart from reliance upon almighty God” and to stress that fact through training and educational materials. The plaque, posted at the Kentucky Emergency Operations Center in Frankfort, includes the Bible verse: “Except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.”
“It is one of the most egregiously and breathtakingly unconstitutional actions by a state legislature that I’ve ever seen,” said Edwin Kagin, national legal director of Parsippany, New Jersey-based American Atheists Inc. The group claims the law violates both the state and US constitutions.
Kentucky isn’t the only state dealing with religious issues, but Ed Buckner, president of American Atheists, said it’s alone in officially enlisting God in homeland security.
Funny rules and funny world. Trust thee almighty....All hail..........
The recent terrorist attacks on Mumbai have been seen with both hatred and sympathy all around the world, hatred for the ruthless attackers and sympathy for the people that were killed as well as the jawans that laid down their lives trying to save more innocent lives . It was an ordeal that would be remembered for long, more so because the trauma spanned for more than 2 days. Those 2 days were the most traumatic and painful hours for the families and the people who were involved in the tragedy, beyond any doubts.
A total of 188 people lost their lives in the attacks, with many more injured but nonetheless alive. There were prayers all around the world for the safety of the people who were held up captive during the attacks. People forgot their daily troubles and prayed for one cause, the well being of the tragic people battling for their lives. Being an atheist myself, I realized how mundane the concept of religion is. Humanity and conscience are of more relevance in this world rather than the concept of religion.
If religion cannot bring people together for the good of themselves and other communities around them, then we ought to look for some other form of belief that can do so. This belief of mine to discard religion got strengthened as the Mumbai saga unfolded. We prayed not for ourselves, but for others. Take an introspective moment and try to honestly realize how many times do we pray for our own benefit. You will realize how hollow the concept of religion is. During the course of time, we have digressed from the true form of religion and molded it to suit our needs. We fight on it, we debate on it, we even kill for it......how hopeless the state of man.
See also the helplessness of God in answering the prayers of people whose relatives and loved one's lost their lives, but look at the belief of people who prayed and their prayers answered in form of safety of their relatives. Chance or fate, call whatever you may, I prefer to call it as Hope. Believe in any form of God or none for that matter, but never let go of Hope. Hope drives our sincerest of emotions in times of need, and takes the form of prayers that come out for well being of others and ourselves. Pray to make others life better, what good are prayers whose inception stems from selfishness.
Take a moment and think about it, it is time we realize what we believe in and what we reject. Whatever it maybe, it should only be for good. I am proud to be an atheist and take pride in staying away from petty arguments on religion, I have thoughts that can reach to more people and not sects of religion or community. Isn't channeling your thoughts for the benefit of everyone out there the purpose of life ..???? I say Yes and act the same way, let reason guide your belief.
As Rene' Descartes said:
" I know of no other qualities that contribute to the perfection of the mind; for as to the reason or sense, inasmuch as it is that alone which constitutes us men, and distinguishes us from the brutes, I am disposed to believe that it is to be found complete in each individual; "
So here's the backdrop. Me is sitting at my place here in Africa and (another) weekend has arrived. Not a thing to be much excited and create an ado about, it can get a lot painful at times here, trust me. Somehow after seeing off a rather lame Saturday, there's still this freakin Sunday to deal with. So I, inspite of being loyal to the rising sun, make a sincere effort to wake up atleast past 9. And as seen on tv, it ain't that hard to follow this change. I lethargically wake up at a good half past 9, way to go I tell myself.
So after feasting on a free breakfast at this place around 10, I go for a refreshing bath out of daily habit (duly skipped on Saturday). I come out all fresh and my first thought is Damn, why the hell did I do that for. I was should have been happy being lazy, atleast a reason to doze off again. But hey, what's done is done. So I sit down at a quite place and chalk out the rest of the day. On the agenda first is to disturb the nice people living in the neighbourhood who have had made the mistake of knowing me. I head over to some friends nearby and wake 'em up from their peaceful Sunday sleep. It's not a morally correct thing to do but when you are up, who the hell gives a damn to others eh ;)
So there I am at their place even without their interest in me being there and keeping them from going dead again. But hey, I am diligent in whatever I do regardless of opinions and so I don't budge from there. There still are nice people left in this place, they offer me a breakfast even after the agaony (imagine that). So converting that nice breakfast of parathas into my lunch, I cleverly avoid the pain of going out to get lunch :). I finally decide to let the poor souls to rest in peace and I hit my place at around 2. I remembered that I had a movie to attend to. Finished the movie and its still only 4. Damn.
Now I have still a good 6 hours before I can make an effort to go to sleep. So I open the fridge and realise that I have a can of juice, a soft drink, milk shake and a case of beers in there. Damn, how did I forget to finish any of those. So I stand there with the fridge door opened just gazing at the different options. But hell, after watching so much about energy conservation, I decide its not a good thing to keep the door open and stare at the stuff. So I, as a good green citizen, take out all the options on the table and start thinking about which one to gulp down. I have so much time that I am actually weighing each drink against the other.
Finally, the beer wins (as ever). I always trust my unbiased decision towards these kind of situations :). And with the whole case next to me, I sit down and start writing my day here. Lord help me what will I do after I am done with this, but don't worry I should be fine. They will last me for the whole evenin :)......Good choice eh.......Loggin off and attending to my duties....
You see, it is all so true when some say that life gives you all the angles to the same situation over a course of time. Experience is the name given to it (I prefer to call it irony). I have personally had a fascination about cars, a trait not so different from the rest of the male youth. Ever since I had learnt to drive a car, which was at a very early age of 13, I was more and more interested in new cars coming out in the market. At the age of 19, when I was more adept at driving, I always felt the urge to drive something more classy, something more powerful than the normal Indian cars around that time. It so happens that you don't necessarily get behind the wheels of such cars until and unless you dad is filthy rich, which is not the case with me :(.
I always remembered a song by Five for Fighting called 65 Msustang. This song has so much passion written into it, that every time I hear this it reignites the fantasy of taming the beast. Now all the while I had been waiting for a chance to do this if I ever get out of India. Here comes the best part, I do get a chance to get out of India. But wait, even before you start thinking on a positive note, let me just give you the lyrics of the song:
She's my time machine She's my rolling memory She's my family And I love her so She knows my secrets well But her back seat won't ever tell She's no Jezebel
My '65 Mustang rides along Every mile's another song And what I don't remember She never forgets That little girl ain't let me down yet It all comes back to me When I turn that horse's key I'm 17 or 23 Or bringing home my first baby Like Dad did when the '65 was three
She's been four colors We've broken forty laws She goes where she wants No matter what the cost
No power nothing here AC's 2 by 75 Yea you got it man You roll em down and drive
My '65 Mustang rides along Every mile's another song And what I don't remember She never forgets That little girl ain't let me down yet It all comes back to me When I turn that horse's key I'm 17 or 23 Or bringing home my first baby Like Dad did when the '65 was three
Don't need to play no new CD's She's enough music for me I Don't need no new AC Cause she's cooler than I'll ever be
My wild Mustang She's waiting on me Ready to take us away Sail across the sea
When I'm on her back I'm the boy each man should be She's My Family Tree
My '65 Mustang rides along Every mile's another song And what I don't remember She never forgets That little girl ain't let me down yet It all comes back to me When I turn that horse's key And she roars to me...I'm 23 Or bringing home my first baby Like Dad did when the '65 was three
She's my family
So now I am in Africa. If you know about the Christ, you must also know of the Anti-Christ. ....................... And so I can aptly say that I am driving an Anti-Mustang here. Its a Wagon R African version This car is like a skeleton who has been beaten to death and had the shit kicked out of it. All the parts function independently unlike a normal car which has everything going together for it. When you take a turn, the first sound that comes out is a chassis being twisted. Once you are in the turn, the wheel goes berserk and just freezes. Once you are out of the turn and accelerating, the engine just dies on you. It takes 3 minutes to reach from 10 to 70 on the speedometer. You can empathize with the engine pushing, pushing and just pushing to get along.
Now there are many other sounds that this car develops every now and then, but I ain't no car expert to understand if its the stomach or the liver that has malfunctioned this time. The only reason that I don't get away from this car, even though I can, is that I treat is as a old man nearing the death bed. I have to stick around it for so long as it is not dead, I have to see it die peacefully. I can't let it depend on someone else for it's last wishes. I shall push it to its death in no time now :)
"You can shed tears that she is gone, or you can smile because she has lived. You can close your eyes and pray that she'll come back, or you can open your eyes and see all she's left. Your heart can be empty because you can't see her, or you can be full of the love you shared. You can turn your back on tomorrow and live yesterday, or you can be happy for tomorrow because of yesterday. You can remember her only that she is gone, or you can cherish her memory and let it live on. You can cry and close your mind, be empty and turn your back. Or you can do what she'd want: smile, open your eyes, love and go on.”
Well, I am sure that most of you believe in crap like destiny, or fate as they(the enlightened) call it. Till 2 years back my only reaction to this term was bull$hit or total piece of crap. But we all know how comforting life is, reminds us of all the little things we tend to avoid and disregard. And it sure does remind the hard way, there ain't no nicer way to it trust me. Too bad that I actually started liking the torture and grew fond of it, nice retaliation to the almighty :) (up yours). And yes, I am sort of an atheist so please don't hold that against me.
So it so happened that the pot of my bad karma from all my previous incarnations exploded and I was completely smothered in what came out flying in all directions. It all started 3 years earlier (and still continues....) when I got posted in Chennai and thought that my life couldn't have gotten any worse (this was a gross understatement). Things were starting to look very bleak for me and I felt like even before I started my professional career, I was already way down on my personal one. That place was horrible the first few months, gross. No food, no chicks, no hangouts.....I mean every (young bachelors) inquisitive question ended up in a big NO. There was never ever a freakin Yes.
And then after three months things took a turn for worse, my evolution in the new land had begun. The creature had started adapting to the surrounding and finding new avenues to match his instincts. Merrily along similarly evolutioned species with whom yours humbly explored the dark realm of Chennai. No matter how hard the lord tried, the man didn't lose heart (Badde dil wale hain ji). Slowly and steadily we started contacting others who also had been through dark time after being thrown into oblivion (spelled Chennai). All the cursed NO's were turned into YES, future NOs were also planned ahead and transformed as a YES. Life couldn't have been better than that time, such was the adaptation. If Charles Darwin would have been alive, he would have had to quote us in his works on evolution. We witnessed and underwent the change that others to come were to follow, we were the harbingers of all the nuisances one could do in that dreaded place to survive. Some friends of thee still remember the motto "Chennai rocks" very well.
The once Forsaken land was now our Dominion............ and then happened the inevitable.......damn u lord.....those were the exact words this man shouted in distress..........
