Rural vs urban

I think India must not sing in the tune of west. India urban-rural divide is seen in the light of infrastructure development and economic prosperity. And on those parameters rural India can be lagging behind.

There is another method of doing comparision. That is comparision with the index of happiness and satisfaction level. Rural folks are light years ahead in these index to their urban counterpart.
we should not measure happiness with the luxury stuff that prople accumulate in their entire life...but with the state of mind that produce happyness and bliss. Recently, people are gaga about the stock market boom and then fall into the gloom once sensex dips 1000 points.

They feel robbed and reduced to begger. This is all mind game. People in rural areas are only bothered about their crops and cattles , which is basic requirement for survival. Their loss can traslate into loss of life. But what they have to do if BSE or NSE sensex is crashed? Once a wise man said that sensex is not even affecting 3 percent of India's population and still media is frenzy about it. Larger issue are put at bay and the stock market talks and analysis is beamed at primetime and even live telecast is done.

What a farmer in Dhar has to do with the sensex's rise and fall. He is unaware of such things. Does that mean that he is not happy....hello.... he is much contended than the people who are making millions or billons through stock markets. So what is the magnet that pull people towards such futile worldly game.

Desire for misery ...yes true.... this is as real as craving for pleasure and happiness. So every desire has two sides.... if you have lust for wealth ...then there is also desire to give up all your money and assets. That is why many rich people abondoned wealth and property to pursue the spiritual or religious life. So beware,... growing prosperity in urban india may fuel desire for destruction and poverty and misery.

so blessed are those who have no desires...

enough for now

ahha..

ahha... finally i have got an opportunity to meet my friends who are stationed at baroda. I will meet them after a long time. This will be a brief vacation for me but I am going to enjoy the stay. Now since i have to leave tonight i do not feel like working now. (That i always feel so). I also want to see my old buddy who has been detached from me for a long time. Vikash is his name and i want to see him. Baroda is a place where i grew matured spending nearly one decade and got a bachelor and a master degree.

Mehul bhai is a regular visiter there and he comes to baroda twice in a year and stays for one month each time. He is happy and contended with his job and vacations. He says he can sustain only if he gets regular breaks...he is a bachelor and would remain so. He has vouched not to loose his freedom by getting hitched. He is Bhismapitama of our clan. He is revered by all of us. sabu is a great saint- philosopher-social worker-techie, his meditation zone is internet and he has created havoc among content providers by creating 50 websites in a short span of time. He is going to to get offers from global giants like google and yahoo soon.

bus ho gaya

Where are they?

There is no pain greater than the pain of separation. Destiny has snatched so many things from me. Friends with whom I have spent years, are gone forever. I don't know where they are. I don't know whether they are alive. They have simply vanished from my life. Where are those beautiful people?

Where are the delicacies I used to eat in my childhood? I haven't eaten them since ages. I have even forgotten how they looked like. Where are those festivals when mother and sister used to make mouth-watering food items? Where are those home-made sweets and farsan? Where are those childhood festivals? Gone forever.

Where is that excitement and passion for life? Where is that easy-going life? Where are those moments of peace and relaxation? where are those days when you never worried about money? Where are those days when you felt like the most happiest person in this world? Where is that careless youth? Where are those moments of intense depression? Probably gone forever.

Where is that passion for watching movies? Where is that passion for reading books? Where is that passion for singing? Where is that passion to live?

KISS principle

Life is moving very fast. I'm getting older and older. What have I learned so far? Or have I learned anything at all? I don't know. I know only one thing. I can remain happy if I don't make my life complicated. I don't need to worry about things which are not in my control. I love the KISS principle. It stands for "keep it simple stupid". This was taught to us for writing stories. But, I can apply it to every aspect of my life.

To make one's life simple isn't that simple. You really need to know your priorities in life. There are so many things which can distract you. But, once you are clear about the way you want to live your life, it becomes easy.

Living in a big city has its disadvantages. It makes your life complicated. Especially, in a country like India. You have to struggle for the most basic things. You can't enjoy anything. Still, why do we live in a big city? Because we don't get enough opportunities in our small towns.

Everyday, hundreds of thousands of people from all parts of India come to big cities. Those who are already living there don't like them. They want these people to go back. But, where will they go? They have come to the big city as a last resort. They don't like your big city. They don't want to live in inhuman conditions. But, they are forced to migrate. In their heart, they have a secret desire. They want to go back to their small towns where everything is so simple.

Ah, I have found out the root cause of my misery. Why am I feeling so uncomfortable since last few years? Why has my life become so complicated? It's not because of me. It's because of these big cities. I want to get away from this city life. Unfortunately, that's not going to happen for many years. But, I will not die in a big city. That's for sure.

MUMBAI

It is 5:30 in the morning and still very hot inside my room. Walls are radiating heat which was accumulated by them all the day. I am in Ahmedabad and now free for sometime to read as much as I want. May be I am going back to phursatgunj tomorrow as today I received a call from Kharchu. Finally he got the job and now he has to join from 8th of next month so he wanted to come back here and also wanted to go home once before he starts working as a network troubleshooter.

Mumbai is a cruel place. I don’t know and can not even make a blind guess now. Shall I ever be able to work there in Mumbai? A city of dreams or a dream city? It is okay to go there as a tourist but to work there is altogether a different thing.

My friends who worked there before and who are working there right now showed me such a wild picture of lifestyle there, especially traveling on Mumbai locals and through heavy traffic on roads and environment at workplace, that I think I am a total misfit for this kind of life.

Those who live there may be never think about this. And it is very easy if they don’t think about it consciously. They don’t meditate over there own condition and start enjoying misery. Even 50 paisa of consciousness can not tolerate such a mad race for doing foolish things at frightening pace.

This is misfortunate. But it is so. Those who live there can live because they never think about this.

And I have total faith in my friends when they say life is not easy in Mumbai. I even can feel it from the outside, far away here. I certainly can not feel the physical pain they bear when they have to fight their guts out to get on board of Mumbai locals, but I still can feel the constant mental agony they go through everyday.

Once I was there in Mumbai with Kharchu and Binny the fool. That was way back in 2002 I think. I don’t remember dates exactly but may be after the riots in Gujarat. And that was one very funny and mind blowing experience as a tourist there. I enjoyed every bit of that journey but my friends were tired of me as I was so slow.

May be I was the slowest guy at that time in Mumbai. Once I missed 4 trains in row from Mumbai central station towards Andheri. My Mumbai Yatra was very funny and was full of comic incidents from the very beginning and I shall write about that some other time.

After reading Shantaram one thing become clear in my mind that Mumbai is for people who are rich and for them who are poor. Mumbai is very cruel to those who dwell somewhere in between. I knew this fact from day one but Shantaram made it more clear and transparent.

Any way best of luck to all my old age friends, who works there and face all this problems. Kharchu is going to join the working middle class of Mumbai very soon and I pray to god that he give kharchu all the supernatural powers so he can get on board of Mumbai locals more easily. May god bless him and give him super-hero like powers so that his old and thin bones can fight and survive the Mumbai Madness.

No kidding, but this hocus pocus was not intended when I started writing about Kharchu, Mumbai and my ancient friends living there. But this is what ground reality is and this is very ugly.

May be Mumbai has everything she wants, a big body and even bigger a heart, and very bright and active mind. She has no soul. It is like America, so many cultures interwoven that they have lost their very identity. They have lost their soul.

They have no roots. Not standing or not going anywhere. They can not enjoy the music and can not enjoy the silence. From the outer it is almost same even in the small towns of India and even in remote villages. But only difference is that they have a little bit of soul left in them.

They are rooted, earthy and life is much more natural and even easy for both body and mind. When our body and mind is in perfect harmony then only we can feel and sense our soul. Then only we can be more natural and can feel ourselves. At least that is like that for me.

When we were in Mumbai I was the only one who was walking, everybody including my friends were running. Mumbai sucked and over ruled Kharchu’s and Binny’s mind. They were brainwashed. Aroma and air of Mumbai intoxicated both of them. I was spared because I was slow and not the one she liked very much.

Mumbai sucks and than throws you in to the dark corners of the city where no one can claim you back. One feels as if he is manufactured by some moving assembly line in a mammoth human mass production factory. One feels that everybody around him is same as he is. Doing and repeating same things again and again senselessly.

She has a heart but she has no soul.

A very warm welcome to you my friend, she is Mumbai.

Amish Community of America

It is not easy to maintain a 300 year old tradition in modern America but Amish Community has proved it that if you believe in nature nothing is impossible. Yes I am talking about the great Amish Community of America. They live in the remote regions of North America. They love nature and try to remain as close as possible to her. Just like few of us in phursatgunj they also hate all modern technologies and as far as possible avoid to use modern gadgets. They don’t use motor car or telephone for their conveyance or communication purposes. And they are most famous for that only.

After 1760 they migrated to Lancaster-Pennsylvania in America from Europe (northern parts of Germany) and settled there. They follow Anabaptist beliefs like other sects who arrived with them in America from Europe; they basically are Mennonites and little other similar kind of people. In those days in Europe Anabaptists, whenever found, were severely persecuted, tortured and killed just like old day pagans. So they left Europe and came to America. Jacob Amman become leader of Anabaptist and founded the Amish sect.

They follow certain set of rules described as ‘Ordnung”. There are no such written rules and that’s why may be they follow it with total faith. Here is a glimpse of their lifestyle:

They never use motor car, horse-buggy is only mode of transport they use and encourage their children to walk as much as possible.
They don’t use electricity and modern electric equipments. They just use oil lamps or gas lamps for their luminance purposes at night.
They don’t send their children to schools, they have their own schools where children learn German, English, History, Math and all other subjects but at free will.
They are farmers and they basically dress like farmers only in all circumstances. They don’t use tractors to plough but only horses are allowed.
They don’t have any churches and they pray at their houses turn by turn. They use it for the purpose of social gathering also.

Only thing I don’t like about them is that they say marriage is lord’s command and they always invariably get married between the age of 22 and 25. I don’t think anything divine is anyhow directly related with the system of marriage.

Few Pictures of Amish People:

Baul Mystics of bengal

Book the beloved is about Bauls of Bengal. When I was in the second year of college i bought that book from the phursatgunj Osho Library. And from that day it became my Gita, Quran and Bible. A scripture on no scriptures. They wander the countryside, singing their religious songs. Their beliefs are a mixture of many influences and traditions, such as Hinduism, Sufism and Yoga. They break away from many common Indian beliefs, including the age-old caste system, and the separation of Hindu and Muslim communities.

I love Bauls because their rebellion is total. They are just simple human beings. They are like hippies on right path. Osho says that their rebellion is even greater than that of Zen Masters and Sufi mystics simply because they don't belong to anything. They don't belong to any society, religion, philosophy, dogma, creed, institution, organization, university, family, friends, strangers and even fellow Bauls. They totally belong to themselves only.

They don't posses anything but an ektara and a duggi, two musical instruments. Music is their life and their god. A Baul mystic lolan fakir sings: "What form does caste have? I have never seen it, brother, with these eyes of mine!"

They have influenced Bengali folk music for centuries. Their love of music is of the celestial form and they worship sky as a whole. They worship their body as if god is nothing but the body. They dance and sing and move from village to village, always traveling and enjoying whatever situation they come across.

Bauls are true individuals. It is difficult to find two identical Bauls or even two who have few similarities with each other. They are neither Hindus nor Mohammedans nor Christians. They don’t follow any faith and by doing so they follow all the faiths. Lalon fakir the most famous Baul Mystic was inclined towards the Sufi faith (Suphi in Bengali) but he never followed it like Rumi and other Mystics. For them Quran is a formal scripture but for Lalon fakir his body was the only scripture he could read with open heart.

They have inspired so many Indian masters, writers, poets, philosophers and saints. Few of them even have sung more than 1000 songs. They never compose their songs, but just sing it and create it as it comes out of their heart. They are illiterate and don’t write their songs beforehand. They are against all kind of documentation and believe that nothing is permanent in this world but change. So we don’t know much about who created these songs. They just sing and dance and enjoy life.

A baul song:

How does the unknown bird come within the cage and go away from it?
If I could catch hold of it, I could chain it with my mind.
The cage has eight chambers and nine doors are affixed on it.
It is carved here and there, above these there is the main room
- within which there is the hall of mirror.
Oh mind, you remain illusioned with the desire of the cage,
Your own cage is made of tender bamboo,
Who knows when will it collapse?
Lalon says, 'Where does that bird flee by opening the cage?'

You can download these songs from:

Music India Online

Bangla Sangeet

Few of them for you to play online:

Baul Song 1:



Baul Song 2:

life is just bowl of cherries !!

What is there is there is truth of life. But seldom we do understand this wise saying. Especially life in Mumbai has been pulling me away from the truth and bliss. What is the point in spending life in such way that has no content, forget about bliss. but my past karma was not good enough to find the luxury of leisure time, at least a house to live and free food. Still i believe that i will get emancipation from drudgery of these worldly chores at some point of life. Time is running out of my hands and i am growing old and loosing my vitality. What will happen when old body will have some unfulfilled desires and wishes. There are certain things that I would like to do before i vanish into dark cave of old age, but where is the time for it (and money of course). It would be bad to have unfulfilled desires and unsatisfied body when i enter 2nd innings of life. But what is there is there; we cannot really do much about it. Even though, I hope to sail through river of life steadily with minimum trouble, if not smoothly and happily. With this note i conclude this scrap. Amen. thanks for bearing with me

Different Shades of Mirza Ghalib.

There is no doubt why so many admire him and look at him as the most wonderful poet both Urdu and India has ever produced. He indeed was the most famous among them all, not only during his own time but even 150 years after his death. I myself don’t understand Urdu a lot but as an UnLearner I am very much interested in his works. My intention is purely academic and that of UnLearning. Pundits of Urdu poetry say that the best way to feel and understand Urdu is to understand Ghalib. A man of great stature he stands out among great Urdu poets like Mir, Rumi and Hafiz. He was even better an expressionist than all of them. Not so elegant or graceful in expression I am unable to express what I feel about his greatness.

Ghalib was his pen name which literally means conqueror in Urdu and without any doubt he conquered uncountable hearts. What Shakespeare is to English literature is Ghalib to Urdu. His contribution not only to Urdu literature but to the world of literature in general is immense.

I am unable to decide what is better in Agra, Taj Mahal or the feeling that Ghalib roamed around those lanes of the city. Faint feeling of his presence must be there in the air of Agra and Delhi. Though his theme style and way of expression was different from Kabir, he was true descendent of him in many senses. Unlike Kabir his path was of love and devotion rather than Bhakti or worship, but the essence or meaning was and is one and the same. Today we can regret that we neither have poets like Ghalib nor Delhi-Darbar Mushairs but ruins of his words with us. Posterity of Urdu literature can never forget these lines from the maestro.

Piyoon sharaab agar khum bhee dekh loon do chaar
yeh sheesha-o-qadah-o-kooza-o-suboo kya hai?

[Khum = wine barrel; qadah = goblet, wine glass; kooza/suboo = wine pitcher]

When you drink look at the empty bottles around you. What is this wine barrel and wine glass?

No translation can express what can be expressed so well in Urdu.


Wine was the other great love of this great poet, besides the beloved. For him beloved were his lover and God alike. God was feminine for him. Urdu language has this beauty of describing things beautifully and more poetically than any other language. For Ghalib, wine was more important than anything else in the real world around him. For him it was an art as important as poetry itself, or may be more than that.

I can see few striking similarities between him and few of the literary giants of his time. He also was an aristocrat like Leo and Oscar. May be there is this strange relation between aristocracy and good writing and poetry. Genuinely I confess that most of the writers or poets I love are either from aristocratic backgrounds or they are very rich. May be only rich can have all the time and patience in the world to write about such things at length and they get admirers too. In last few days I have experienced this personally. They were rich not only in monetary terms but also in their ability of expression of feelings and understanding of human nature. They all were rebels. They never made noise about the social reforms because they knew that nothing much could have been done with the society. Their work just reflects how well they understand life.

Famous American journalist and literary critic Burton Rascoe rightly said, “What no wife of a writer can ever understand is that a writer is working when he's staring out of the window.” Leo experienced this during earlier part of his married life. Just in the beginning of War and Peace he put these words in Prince Andrew’s mouth, "Never, never marry, my dear fellow! That's my advice: never marry till you can say to yourself that you have done all you are capable of, and until you have ceased to love the woman of your choice and have seen her plainly as she is, or else you will make a cruel and irrevocable mistake. Marry when you are old and good for nothing or all that is good and noble in you will be lost. It will all be wasted on trifles. Yes! Yes! Yes! Don't look at me with such surprise. If you marry expecting anything from yourself in the future, you will feel at every step that for you all is ended, all is closed except the drawing room, where you will be ranged side by side with a court lackey and an idiot!... But what's the good..."

Ghalib’s relationship with his wife was even worse than this. Married at the age of 14 he was a true rebel while his wife a god fearing woman in worldly sense. Some of the most popular and the best work he gave the world were created between the age of 13 and 17. By the time he was 17 he said that he was ’through’ the poetry. He was born a wise and old man I imagine. Just like Leo and Oscar he also passed through mental agony during later part of his life. May be, knowing too many things too early in life was a cruse he suffered from throughout his life. Ignorance is really bliss. More and more you know more and more you suffer until you attain the fountainhead of ultimate truth. But that is a process, you have to know more and more in order to UnLearn things you have learned all your life. I think Ghalib failed here. It seems from the incidents in later part of his life as if all his efforts went south and he was unable to hold his frustration. This gaazal by him describes that better.

Those faces of death I see sometimes
in the rose and tulip but only a few

Daughters of the sun behind that sweeping dress
what were you thinking coming naked to the night

He is the one for whom sleep has widened
on whose arm your hair is lying

We made breaking the pattern a pattern of living
when friends kept dying faith overtook us

I have wept for all I have seen I am young
these cities should sleep in the dust of desires

Few of his letters have been translated in to English by Ralph Russel. Ghalib also contributed in the development of Urdu prose writing and gave it new directions. Few of his letters translated are also available for online reading.

This Shar best describes his rebellious nature as a lover.

Ragon mein daudte firne ke ham naheen qaayal
jab aankh hee se na tapka to fir lahoo kya hai?

You can listen to all beautiful songs and Gaazals by Ghabil sung by various famous artists here, including famous songs from movie mirza ghalib:





This is one very long Soundtrack, around about 10 hours of Gaazals. Drag-Drop progress bar on player to listen to different songs.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

P.S.Urdu and Hindi or Hindustani are very similar to each other and evolved side by side for almost 500 years.They are sister languages. They developed from the same indo-european branch of languages and have similar words and grammar. Both of this languages borrowed words from Sanskrit, Arabic, Persian and Prakrut.

Poet's full name: Mirza Assad Ullah Khan Ghalib written in urdu as:


Glossary for non urdu-hindustani speakers.
Sharaab-Wine, Sheesha-Glass, Qaayal-Bound, Ragon-veins, Aankh-eyes, Lahoo-Blood.


© 2007 20Box

Colors of Life

Holi Celebrations.
Smell the color, feel the color, taste the color.
March Celebrations Continue.

Curious about Colors of Life

A Letter to a Hindu

Before two days I was sick and tired and was unable to decide what to read and what not as my internet connection was going to remain down for next 48 hours. I have thousands of e-books but to read something on computer is real pain in the wrong place. After much confusion and hours of absentminded exercise I decided to continue with the two books I was reading at that time. But after few hours of struggling I decided to continue with only one book at a time and that was obviously the War and Peace by Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy. I found the other book, The Google Story by David A. Vise, full of information but very boring and rather chockfull. I had finished about 20 chapters from book I of War and Peace and now I am in no mood to continue with that book for next few days. But I must admit that I have enjoyed this book a lot and it gave me immense pleasure and satisfaction of reading unlike what happened with Dostoevsky’s Idiot. I am also reading few e-books by the same author which are in public domain now and can easily be downloaded from the web or are available for online reading. Few essays by Tolstoy and his letter to the editor of Free Hindustan with introduction by Mohandas K. Gandhi are worth a read. He also enjoyed writing tales and fables for children and was very much impressed by the ancient Indian books like Panchtantras.

In his letter to the editor of free Hindustan Tolstoy writes:

The reason for the astonishing fact that a majority of working people submit to a handful of idlers who control their labour and their very lives is always and everywhere the same - whether the oppressors and oppressed are of one race or whether, as in India and elsewhere, the oppressors are of a different nation.

This phenomenon seems particularly strange in India, for there more than two hundred million people, highly gifted both physically and mentally, find themselves in the power of a small group of people quite alien to them in thought, and immeasurably inferior to them in religious morality.

Further he argues:

What does it mean that thirty thousand men, not athletes but rather weak and ordinary people, have subdued two hundred million vigorous, clever, capable, and freedom-loving people? Do not the figures make it clear that it is not the English who have enslaved the Indians, but the Indians who have enslaved themselves?
When the Indians complain that the English have enslaved them it is as if drunkards complained that the spirit-dealers ...have enslaved them. You tell them that they might give up drinking, but they reply ...they cannot abstain, and that they must have alcohol to keep up their energy.

Most memorable line that surely is going to leave a long lasting impression on my mind from this letter was this one:

In the spiritual realm nothing is indifferent: what is not useful is harmful.

Mohandas Gandhi was very much influenced by the writings of Leo Tolstoy and what he says in the introduction to this letter confirms that strongly:

To me, as a humble follower of that great teacher whom I have long looked upon as one of my guides, it is a matter of honour to be connected with the publication of his letter, such especially as the one which is now being given to the world.

He concludes his introduction to the letter with the following lines:

There is no doubt that there is nothing new in what Tolstoy preaches. But his presentation of the old truth is refreshingly forceful. His logic is unassailable. And above all he endeavours to practise what he preaches. He preaches to convince. He is sincere and in earnest. He commands attention.

Now that shows how deeply he was influenced by Tolstoy’s preaching. I don’t know whether or not he was regularly communicating with the editor of Free Hindustan or with Mahatma Gandhi but one thing I am very sure about that he had deeply studied Indian philosophy, culture and literature.

He preferred not to refer his book War and Peace as a novel and said even less it was a history book. In the epilogue II, ch. 1 he says:

History is the life of nations and of humanity. To seize and put into words, to describe directly the life of humanity or even of a single nation, appears impossible.

Probably he understood this after knowing and understanding why Indians don’t write history or why they are against all kind of documentation especially if related to the history. Few of his quotes from this book force me to continue with my reading until I finish it in the near future:

Everything comes in time to him who knows how to wait.

The strongest of all warriors are these two — Time and Patience.

Words like this constantly encourage me to read more and more from his books and I find myself in meditative state after few hours of constant reading. The Kingdom of God is Within You. This is the book I have planned to read after I am done with the War and Peace. This book, classified by many as a work of existentialism, was written by Tolstoy during later years of his life and is regarded as most important of his religious works.

He truly was a genius. Compared with Dostoevsky his work is much more philosophical and very less complicated and to the point. I only have read two books by Dostoevsky and yesterday had had the third one, crime and punishment by the same author and that too a hard copy. But I have planned to gift it to my father and to continue with my reading of Tolstoy. After six months when I will be done with Tolstoy I will give it a second thought.

He is regarded, by some, as the father of the non-violence movement began during the later part of his life. Tolstoy died in 1910 and before that he formulated a unique Christian philosophy which adopted non-resistance to evil as the proper response to aggression. And the best thing about him was that he opposed the idea of private property and most of all the institution of marriage. Eight years after his death, his wife was heard to say, "I lived with Lev Nikolayevich for forty-eight years, but I never really learned what kind of man he was."

==========================================================================

This work is in the public domain worldwide because the author died at least 100 years ago. You are free to read this book online or can download e-book from various sources online and by doing so you are not violating any copy right laws.

Mid life crisis

It seems my 3000-years old friend Sabu is busy these days. He is regularly posting something on 20box. The blog looks pretty cool in its new avatar. I also wanted to post something. But, my friend’s laptop is sick these days. It has also become lazy after shifting home like its master. It goes to sleep whenever it wishes and doesn’t open its eyes even if it has some important things to do.

My life in Bangalore is dull. Age is no more on my side. Working in night shifts is taking its toll on my fragile body and even more fragile psyche. There is no more cricket either for another 20 days. I am tired. I want to go home.

I have made my first investment in equities which has been a moderate success. I intend to invest more and more in stocks going forward.

Another thing which is making my life increasingly difficult is the fast changing technology. Everyday I come across something new. I try my best to understand that and after few days that becomes old and in some cases obsolete. There is no respite in sight. Within few years there will be only two classes of people - tech friendly and tech ignorant. It will become very difficult for the second type of people to survive. And no matter how hard I try, I know I belong to the second category. I need to collect some money fast and retire or else I will struggle to survive.

Such is life

Cold wintry night. Honking noise of vehicles passing on the nearby flyover. Dinner was good today thanks to new caterers in my company. They are on a trial basis. Don’t know how long the good fortune will last. Roommate is watching some Jackie Chan movie on Star movies. He seems to be enjoying the stuff. It’s in English and without dubbing or Hindi sub-heads. No choice but to blog.

Shortened day at office as today is “Black Friday”, a day after Thanksgiving Day. The coming Monday is called “Cyber Monday”. Don’t know much about all this stuff. Think it’s some retailing gimmick in the United States. Not much work these days as the busy earnings season is over.

The celebration has begun. Two days of leisurely life. Already sipped two pegs of Signature whisky. Half of my life is over, still no girls in sight. But, I am not worried. God is kind. Some miracle is definitely going to happen. My palmistry knowledge says so. Don’t ask me how? Wait and watch.

With each passing day, I am losing my hair. Sad but true. My friends are dying. I can’t do anything but remain a mute spectator. Without a murmur or protest they are silently leaving this beautiful world. Dear Lord, treat them well, they have been loyal for 27 years.

Funny days ahead. Going to Chennai for my visa interview on Monday. My first visit to Tamil Nadu. Don’t think anybody in my family has gone that far down south. Will update you guys once I am back from the Dravidian heartland.

Enjoy your coffee!

As a rule, I treat all those mass mails as spam. But, this one forwarded by a dear friend is so good, I couldn't prevent myself to post it here. Happy reading!!!

A group of alumni, highly established in their careers, got together to visit their old university professor. Conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life.Offering his guests coffee, the professor went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups - porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal, some plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite - telling them to help themselves to the coffee.

When all the students had a cup of coffee in hand, the professor said:"If you noticed, all the nice looking expensive cups were taken up,leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress. Be assured that the cup itself adds no quality to the coffee. In most cases it is just more expensive and in some cases even hides what we drink. What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you Consciously went for the best cups... And then you began eyeing each other's cups.Now consider this: Life is the coffee; the jobs, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain Life, and the type of cup we have does not define, nor change the quality of Life we live. Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee God has provided us. God brews the coffee, not the cups.......... Enjoy your coffee!"

"The happiest people don't have the best of everything. They just make the best of everything."

PARADOX OF LIFE

RAJDHANI EXPRESS ON PHURSATGUNJ RAILWAY STATION.

Mother, my love

Those who know me well know that I am an extremely emotional guy. Anything can trigger pain in my heart. But, one sure thing is memory of my wonderful mother. For me, all mothers are wonderful. Blessing from God. I hate all those people who don't respect their mothers. It's a divine moment when a mother holds her baby. Different people have different opinions on who they consider as the most unfortunate person in this world. I am absolutely clear on this issue. Those who haven't received mother's love in their childhood are the most unfortunate ones for me. Everything else is secondary.

I am a spiritual seeker and take most relations in a detached manner except one. It's damn easy to make me cry. Just play a song which describes separation from mother and I will cry. Even when I am dead drunk, I desire for my mother. At this very moment, I have suddenly become sad. I respect my father, but I love my mother. I don't have that feeling for my father which I have for my mother. Though he has done a lot for me, father comes after some of my friends.

Mother has always stood by my side. No matter what. She knows that I smoke. She knows that I drink. I eat non-veg. Mind you for my Gujarati Vaishnav family, that's a big deal. She has always supported my crazy ideas. She was their when the entire world turned its back. Words can't describe her selfless devotion. Mother is very beautiful. No she isn't good looking in a conventional manner. But, for me her beauty is beyond words. She is my living God.

I always tell my friends that this is my last birth. But, if God wants me to come back again on this earth, I want only one thing. My mother.

Turning 29

It's official. I am 28 years old now. Almost half of my life in this fast deteriorating body is over. Most of my friends are in their 30's and there are no signs that they will "settle down" any time soon. Anyway, I am sure nobody in his right sense will give his daughter to pathetic friends. So the saga of "hopeless baba, pathetic friends" is going to continue forever... Winter is approaching and my beloved phursatgunj is calling. Sabu is busy. It's that time of the year, when the students of technology faculty have to pay for their sins.

On Saturday, we had a office party. After a few drinks, I also went to the dance floor and shook my legs for an hour. These days, on every weekend, we drink. Yesterday, we drank Antiquity Blue, which costs around Rs 635 in Bangalore.

The busy season continues at office. All work and 7-8 hours of sleep, makes my fragile body tired. But, I have no complaints. Few more years and inshahallah I will be totally free.I have also applied for trading account with ICICI. In a few days time, I will start investing in blue chip Indian companies. If it clicks, and God willing it will, retirement from work will be sooner than expected.

Winter is Here Now

good evening brothers

i dont know how to start as so many things happened during last 10 days. even in isolation so many things happen and you can not know how to discribe all the things. as baba says i am a natural writer but i think i am not one because i also need to think before i write. but as i have to write all the rubbish i dont much care what i have wrote and that is why it appears as if it is very natural. i am much impressed by the writing style of mr. paulo coelho. he is a good write i think. most of hte time i try to learn how to write when i am reading books and i just recently have developed this habbit and it really helps i think. i now read more consciously but still i dont remember things about the books i have read or the content very much. it is not my humbleness but my poor memory. ranjitsingh is always very generous about his comments and praises everyone and everything that come accross but i think i really have a very bad memory. someday i will be able to remember things but not in near future. i tell you so because this days i am reading an e-book: Memory Power. Use both your left and right brain.(it may be a good help to remember things when i prepare for the next exams at techo) Ha ha. i recently came to know that there are two brains or may be two parts of it or may be one brain inside our balls. i really strongly believe that 90 percent of the time man uses his balls rather than brains to interpret and understand things.
what i did in last 10 days of isolation? i dont remember everything but surly so many things must have happened asusual. money or no money, it does not make any difference i think. most of the time things happen even if you dont want them to happen. that is very natural. i again have to go to technology faculty to pay my fees. i again have to read all those books about microprocessors and control systems and radiating systems. i again have to study for one full month. (of course half-heartedly) i again have to cram all those things that does not make any difference in my life or my gurus' lives. i again have to go to check my exam dates. i again have to loose my mind over programming. i again have to prepare myself for last minute preparations. i again have to look at the things the other way, the way they are not natural. i again have to study for long hours which i dont like at all. i again have to slove really really tough problems of mathematics and electronics. i again have to call people so that they can provide me good material and assistance. i again have to visit old friends. (the only thing i like about the exams is this, i can meet all my old friends when they come for their respective ATKT exams. blessed are those who understands that exams are not like maha-kumbha.) i again have to write notes and stuff in my notebooks about crazy things like microprocessor instructions and radio engineering.( i dont think that i am ever going to use them in my non-practical life) i again have to bath to keep me awake. i again have to sleep very less so that i can prepare better this time. i again have to write this sentence again that again i am going to do few things again and again. i again have to.... forget. i dont want to write those one thousand and one things i dont like and have to do again for one full month. one month every six month is like hell for me. i dont know when will i be able to clear all the subjects but this time i have to go for 5 subjects only and i will prepare for 3 of them only so that i willbe able to clear atleast 2 of them and very soon will be in final year of the engineering. i can not imagine my self going to class room full of 20-odd year old kids. i came to know that few of my junior's junior's junior are now lab assistants and temperory lecturers. i dont think that they are going to impress me anyway but sooner or later i will be able to clear all the 39 subjects and a project, that is all that the course of engineering at techno faculty has to or can offer me. i can read a book a day if i dont have to appear in the exams but if you say that we will ask you questions after you finish your reading i can not finish a book in my whole life. 100 marks of exam can not teach you what microprocessor is and almost everyone knows this at techno faculty including professors and readers and students but still year by year they repeat the same damn thing and try to judge people from the three hours of crazyness. anyway i have to go for the exams and i am fully prepared for this. i shall try to clear all the papers in which i appear this time and should go to final year without any kind of backlog. i shall, with all my natural intelligence and proper use of faculties available, try to clear all the papers at a once this time and i am very positive about this. my positive attitude is the only negative thing, i think, that resides in my mind. or that is the effect of my nonsense inthing that i think that i have very positive attitude. in the wordly sense may be i am not a man with very positive thinking and attitude and very passive and receptive, but from inside i think my attitude towards life is very positive though it appears as if i am very negative and dull. the world inside is altogether a different thing and i can not discribe my natural positive attitude towards life using words or a keyboard and a blog as a medium.

but i am very happy now as i again will be able to wear my old osho cap as winter is about to arrive in phursatgunj. i can feel it in the air. mornings under the bridge are now more cold and beautiful. very soon winter will be here and i will be among those very few guys who are really loyal to samrat and other places around. we are only people who visit station at 3 in the morning in winter and we really enjoy that no one is there and we can have our tea at peace. such a joy to wear that osho cap.

i read a lot now. this is not a new thing as i always read a lot because that is the only and cheapest way to kill time with out wasting money or energy or resources. and as now i have a computer at my kholi in sardarnagar i can read a hell of e-books which i have collected. yesterday i read two of them and finished them in straight 11 hours as i was very much impressed with both of them. paulo coelho is a good writer. i am not very much impressed with his ideas about salvation but atleast his writing style is different and very interesting. i read two books, 11 minutes and veronica decides to die, both by paulo. 11 minutes deals with delicate subjects like prostitution, life, sex, sadomasochism, struggle and women. veronica decides to die is a short story about a girl who wants to die without any reason. both the e-books are good and i already have started reading two other books by paulo. maktub and i sat by river peidra and wept. maktub is a arabic word which litreally means :it is written. i will finish this two books and few other books like glimpses of world history and a book of short stories and than will try to concentrate on my studies. i think at this speed it is not going to take more than 5 days to finish all this 5 books and than i have to start reading microprocessors. such a boring and ugly thing to do just at the begining of yet another winter at phursatgunj. but i will tolerate this pain as i already have dragged a lot. now as i am really tired and bored of typing i will go outside and will smoke a cigi and will say bye bye to this cafe. i wont be able to back again very soon so may be this is my last post for this week and will try to post regularly about the things that is going to happen in my lazy life in next few very hectic weeks.

and at the end: biggest news announcement of the year.baba is going to visit New York. baba in america !! ha ha ha ha !! i can imagine myself as an engineer if i really try hard and if under the infulence of alcohol or drugs or smoke or tea or sleep. but i can not imagine baba in america, not even in the wildest of my dreams i can not imagine baba walking down the streets of new york and enjoying coffee instead of tea. i just can not. i know my imagination is good as i am a good chess player but still i can not imagine baba in america. anyway what he is going to do in america? he is on an e-learning course of something like that. (he told me but i dont remember things very easily) but this is really interesting. what he is going to do in america after his working hours or learning hours. i dont know and will never ever be able to know till baba will be back from america. till than wait and imagine if you can. now i am moving as i can not stop peeing. bye bye.

long live laziness, long live brotherhood.

In search of P.D. Ouspensky, and P.D. Mathew.

for last 2 hours i am search this e-book on the internet: in search of miraculous by P.D. Ouspensky.

our search began at 6 pm in the morning. i met bodhisamarpan baba at kalubhai's lari and we were talking about the books osho loved. he told me about a book by the disciple of Dr. G.I. Gurdjieff, P.D. Ouspensky. The book In search of miraculous is a rare one. we went to station book stalls and talked to our sindhi booksellers if they can arrange one for us. they agreed to help us but i think it is not going to work as we have only 1 copy of that book available in india and that too inside the personal library of osho at pune ashram which is not accessable. than i decided to go to railway station and asked the bookseller there that if he can help us out and what he said was very shocking: hai.. aa hu hoi sa? kai chopadi ni vato karo so. he is mad. than we decided to go to cross word tomorrow and search for the book. but i think we wont find one there as in gujarat only 10 people are interested in what GI an PD said and why they said what they said. than i decided to go to internet cafe in the afternoon and i am here. i have searched a lot with no result. google says there are zillions of results but i think not even one is useful to us. somehow through internet communities i will be able to arrange it if possible. afterall osho loved that book.

so now in search of miraculous has ignited a new search: in search of P.D. Ouspensky. this is my new timepass now. i will search it like a madman, like a whirlwind i will roam around the baroda and will try to find one copy. from this bookstore to that bookstore and this internet access point to that internet access point.

phursatgunj is a beautiful place, nothing changes here. i have watched that movie forest gump 16 times in last one month. nothing new is happening here and i am very lazy to even observe changes. for me it is same as it was before 5 years and will be same after 5 years. pehalwan again forgot the url, for him i have to paste it again here. www.blogger.com. and your id is lazyguru but i dont know anything about your password and you have to find it yourself. it also will be a good timepass for you tomorrow. in search of password by Lazyguru. it could be a bestseller if you take pain to punch few keys on your lazy computer's not so user friendly keyboard. i dont know what ranjitsingh is doing these days but as he says, no news is good news.
most of the time i imagine why we all lazy people are so lazy but i think that is the way of life. yes laziness is the way of life. today a drunkard enlighten me, asusual. i will talk about him later. his name was P.D. Methew. he can be in baroda and kerala at the same time. he is an illetrate intellectual. that is a big story and will tell you people about it later. he is funny as hell, amazing. as osho says, i love drunkards, they say such great things and no newspaper takes any notes. his life is full of tragedy and he made it a super hillarious comedy. for him self distruction is the way of life. i dont think i will be able to meet him again in this life but that one hour conversation was really juicy. i will miss him for the great things that he preached. our great moochad mannukaka was also very much impressed. will tell you the full story in my next blog as it can take upto 3 hours of typing and i already have typed enough today.

as promised i shall tell you people about the great forest gump. forest gump is a mentally challenged boy. he is weak in the ways of the world. but his ability to do things mindlessly and singlemindely is amazing. bodhisamarpan baba also loved that movie. the way he runs mindlessly for 3 years is amazing. there is no particular reason behind anything he does. he follow his heart. he never looks back. as his mom says you have to leave your past behind and have to walk on and on. he joins army, plays ping-pong, became a national celebrity, a sailor, a millionaire and much more i dont remember. his childhood girlfriend is also amazing. as his mom says: life is a box of chocolates, you never know what you will get inside. sweet or bitter. movie is beyond explanations and you have to watch it to understand. highly spiritual hidden meaning behind the movie. 5 stars out of 5 stars. a must watch. watch it if you can arrange.

today was a good day so many great things happened at i am very happy early in the morning. it is still dark outside and mosquitoes enjoyed my cold blood very much. now i have to make a move as i am in no mood to bore you people with another edition of lazicopedia today. today i have to go to the technology faculty to listen to fools talking part in an annual exercise of debate - the paramarash, as they say. how shallow their knowledge is and they shout like as they are selling pav-bhaji at baroda railway station. anyway i am not concerned and i go there just to kill time and enjoy foolish talks. subjects varies from ragging to world peace. we also have elections here in the university so it is really funny to go there and watch fools shouting, vote for idiot, vote for joker. but i dont care as it is a good timepass for me. in the evening i also have to go to gidc for that call centre job in which our employers are very much interested and i and umesh are not. shall tell you about great P.D. Mathew tomorrow till than good bye. great day.

long live laziness, long live brotherhood.