CAT&CHAOS

Be Hungry,Be Foolish

2011-10-06T22:34:00.000+05:30

IN REMEMBRANCE : AN OLD POST OF JANUARY 2009, INSPIRED BY STEVE JOBS'S 2005 COMMENCEMENT SPEECH AT STANFORD:

I have often pondered why Indians lack that spirit of inventive ingenuity in engineering technology (NOT mathematics, fundamental sciences) .......the unprecedented, the avant-garde, the original !

Sure we have Vinod Dham, Arun Netravalli, Amar Bose and several more who are superlative achievers in their niche fields of technology, both in management and R& D, but nearly all of them actualized their potential and burgeoned while away from India. And NOT all fundamental technology!

I wondered aloud at 3 different occasions in the recent past and here are the reactions..............

A middle aged Electrical Engineer from BITS who exhibited potential during school years with several prizes for science & innovation and who now "markets" million dollar engineering solutions (not in India any longer) ...he blamed it on the dead weight of several years of subjugation by colonists (and others) which was a blow to our self esteem and a confidence buster. ..........the pity mode!

A 30 something graduate in automobile engineering from a premier REC down south, born into a family running a successful auto ancillary enterprise, who trained for 2 years in a car giant manufacturing facility in Europe, worked for some years in an Indian automobile company and now has ventured into setting up of a design services company branched all over India........................he almost verbally pummeled me (after several beers) for even suggesting that Indians lagged/lacked in modern technical accomplishment with arguments which were not too compelling via the rich history of scientific, mathematical, architectural achievement route ............the belligerent patriotism mode!

A bright spark ambitious engineer from IIT, hand picked by a global commercial aircraft manufacturer to intern in their US plant, who picked up a pilot license en route, and after a stint with another European manufacturer is currently on deputation in India with a commercial airline in their route planning, test flying et al division ........he sort of agreed with me, no justifications-no rationalization. My query about what percentage of the IIT alumni since its inception in the 60's had made successful/path breaking contributions in the field of technology was met with a sullen "no idea, check with the IIT website" which could be attributable to his turning 30 that very day :-) .............unapologetic yet NOT apathetic mode!

So I am yet ambivalent......perhaps there is a paucity of that gene of pugnacious innovatory enterprise or perhaps the climate of nurture/enquiry via education or opportunities is absent or perhaps as Sudhir Mishra pointed out in a TV program in another context ...we celebrate too soon (and for too little, we get complacent with small glories) or perhaps we need to prodigiously BE HUNGRY, BE FOOLISH as summed up in a simple yet brilliant speech by Steve Jobs at the Stanford commencement speech in 2005.

I leave you with this inspirational food for thought in 1 ,2 , 3 , 4 , 5 parts, delivered by Bill Gates at Harvard in 2007.

finding of the day

2011-09-02T17:03:00.001+05:30

my pre tween daughter

has taken the mantle

of an

"argumentative indian"

PoV

2011-08-30T09:37:00.000+05:30

Annathem for some,

Annathema for some others,

the rest Annaligned.....

2011-08-18T00:26:00.002+05:30

is wondering what would it feel if mind is wiped clean of ALL its memories.

2011-08-18T00:24:00.001+05:30

is suffering from avian schizophrenia... a night owl or a morning lark??

2011-08-18T00:23:00.000+05:30

am coming to the conclusion that desire for utopia on earth is just a figment of chimerical aspirations. Humanity thrives on chaos!!!

2011-08-18T00:18:00.001+05:30

is feeling a disconnect...feels that she is watching the world from an extraterrestrial vantage point!!

2011-08-18T00:13:00.001+05:30

Its takes more than wings and amphetamines to make you fly!!

2011-08-18T00:09:00.004+05:30

Whats in name....no seriously,why do we have names? We chew over it and we stew over it ! Identification? Symbolization?(Hoping that the lovely literal attributes of our given name stick) Affection? Personalization? Individualization?

2011-08-18T00:09:00.003+05:30

wants to go on a longgg sleeping vacation and return back to exactly the same time space where she "took off". Yeah yeah I know...Einsteins theory of Relativity et al!!!

2011-08-18T00:02:00.002+05:30

New Word Coinage (inadvertently) : coincidentently= intently coincident = alter ego. Other meanings vividly come to mind, but I will stick to this one! :-)

2011-08-17T23:55:00.001+05:30

If I had to chose between a black hole and vacuum for my mind, I would probably chose a black hole....but what a waste!!

2011-08-17T23:49:00.001+05:30

reminiscence, rambles,racket,repartee,resurgence, reality checks, rains and rajma

2011-08-17T23:46:00.002+05:30

"Powertoni,the M word, Number Two after Scotland Yard,Black Collar Workers, Vadapav-Eaters' City, A City in Heat, Distilleries of Pleasure, Memory Mines, Sone ki Chidiya......." Danny Boyle and Maximum City ???!!! More likely Bombay Lost and NOT Found!

2011-08-17T23:45:00.001+05:30

Cartoon of a "cartoon" is NOT half funny!!

2011-08-17T23:42:00.001+05:30

Rule of thumb: Twiddling your thumbs for too long will render you all thumbs!

2011-08-17T23:36:00.002+05:30

I very recently heard a quip that we Indians are a nation full of people who just love their "shortcuts" (a method, procedure, policy, etc., that reduces the time or energy needed to accomplish something. ref:dictionary.com.)...... so are we just improving our individual efficacy/productivity when we jump traffic signals,break queues,pay bribes etc etc?????

2011-08-17T23:34:00.002+05:30

" Sim az mabud wa zarb az Nand Ram."

http://www.kashmir-information.com/Kilam/chapter20.html

2011-08-17T23:31:00.001+05:30

If osmosis is a gradual, often unconscious process of assimilation or absorption, then can reverse osmosis fix degenerate minds???

2011-08-17T23:29:00.001+05:30

Today it finally dawned upon me after so many years....a fine print rider which accompanies every Indian drivers licence and every Indian motor registration: "You are entitled to stop your vehicle in the middle of any 2 way narrow road for upwards of 5 minutes and have your private conversation with any citizen of India who may be a pedestrian or a fellow motorist".

2011-08-17T23:28:00.001+05:30

Bumper sticker of the day..on a Bombay registered car on a Poona street:" Nice Person,Wrong Planet !!"

2011-08-17T23:27:00.001+05:30

In dog years I am 301 years old! No wonder I feel dog tired at times!!

2011-08-17T23:26:00.002+05:30

India is a democratic country in its truest sense.....we allow mercs,beemers,porshes,nanos, marutis ,2 wheelers,3 wheelers, 2 legged mammals, bullock carts, cows,goats,sheep,buffaloes,dogs, statues,mini shrines......equal space on tjhe roads. Apologies if I have missed out any category.

2011-08-17T23:22:00.000+05:30

A paraprosdokian (from Greek "παρα-", meaning "beyond" and "προσδοκία", meaning "expectation") is a figure of speech in which the latter part of a sentence or phrase is surprising or unexpected in a way that causes the reader or listener to reframe or reinterpret the first part.

"If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate." — Henry J. Tillman
"I belong to no organized party. I am a Democrat." — Will Rogers
"She got her good looks from her father, he's a plastic surgeon." — Groucho Marx
"I've had a perfectly wonderful evening, but this wasn't it." — Groucho Marx
"One morning I shot an elephant in my pajamas. How he got in my pajamas I don't know." — Groucho Marx
"Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read." — Groucho Marx
"When I was 10 I beat up the school bully. His arms were in casts. That's what gave me the courage." — Emo Philips
"If I could say a few words, I would be a better public speaker." — Homer Simpson
"If I am reading this graph correctly, I would be very surprised." — Stephen Colbert
"Mark my words. No, Mark, I really need my words." — Stephen Colbert
"I show up at the party, bear with me. That's it. I get there and I have a bear with me." — Little Britain
"If all the girls at Vassar were laid end to end, I wouldn't be surprised." — Dorothy Parker
"I don't mean to sound bitter, cold, or cruel, but I am, so that's how it comes out." — Bill Hicks

2011-08-17T23:19:00.002+05:30

"frugal – meaning the sparing use of the things one has – derives from the Latin word frugi, meaning the proper profit or value from something." wonder how "proper profit" transitioned to "sparing"/ abstemious?

“Munafa utna hi ho jitna khane mein namak”....

2011-08-17T23:18:00.002+05:30

Psychologist William James has written that whenever 2 people meet there are really 6 people present. There is each as (s)he sees (her)himself,each as other person sees (her)him and each as (s)he really is. So when I am speaking with someone, who is speaking with whom?

2011-08-17T23:17:00.002+05:30

"A little beyond perception's reach, I sometimes believe that life is two locked boxes, each containing the others key"..a Gruk by Piet Hein

2011-08-17T23:14:00.005+05:30

"Right now I'm having amnesia and deja vu at the same time. "...Steven Wright

2011-08-17T23:14:00.002+05:30

staring out at the dusk waning light and in relative quiet i am being treated to a symphony of wind chimes swaying gently + call of a crazed drongo flitting back an forth from a tree branch + domestic hum + distant periodic honk of a vehicle ruined by a volley of sneezes..... music of life!

2011-08-17T23:12:00.001+05:30

A group of 40 years old buddies discussed where they should meet for dinner.

Finally it was agreed upon that they should meet at the Ocean View restaurant because the waitress's there had low cut blouses and were very young.
______________________________________

10 years later at 50 years of age, the group once again discussed where they should meet for dinner.

Finally it was agreed that they should meet atthe Ocean View restaurant because the food there was very good and the wine selection was good also.
_____________________________________

10 years later at 60 years of age, the group once again discussed where they should meet for dinner.

Finally it was agreed that they should meet at the Ocean View restaurant because they could eat there in peace and quiet and the restaurant had a beautiful view of the ocean.
_________________________________________________________

10 years later, at 70 years of age, the group once again discussed where they should meet for dinner.

Finally it was agreed that they should meet at the Ocean View restaurant because the restaurant was wheel chair accessible and they even had an elevator.
____________________________________________

10 years later, at 80 years of age, the group once again discussed where they should meet for dinner.

Finally it was agreed that they should meet at the Ocean View restaurant because they had never been there before !!!!!!!!!!!! !

2011-08-17T23:10:00.001+05:30

it is not the lack/deficiency of any of the 5 senses nor of the 6th sense (if it exists) BUT the lack of COMMON SENSE which impairs our perceptions about the world/her people!

2011-08-17T23:09:00.001+05:30

so why can't we have a "laugh" break instead of a coffee,tea,smoke break and a "laugh" bar where we can buy and indulge in our fave kind of humor (and perhaps get drunk silly) ??

2011-08-17T23:07:00.001+05:30

what if we all had nine lives and a vivid memory of each of our past lives?

2011-08-17T23:06:00.002+05:30

in a few cases distance does not make the heart grow fonder, it bring unfathomable relief!

2011-08-17T23:01:00.002+05:30

why does creativity actively seek an audience? ...or not? intrinsic value remains unchanged inspite,no?

2011-08-17T22:54:00.002+05:30

"stonewalled" an adamant and errant 4 wheel driver on the wrong side of a one way street into reversing all the way back! gave me a weird sense of satisfaction!! :-)

2011-08-17T22:52:00.004+05:30

laughing so hard that your stomach hurts and your face aches is the most cathartic/ rejuvenating activity ever! to quote stephen chbosky, "nothing in the world like a sore stomach for the right reasons."

2011-08-17T22:48:00.003+05:30

there is this bird i can hear every morning which calls out "o twit o twit o twit".
keeps me well grounded!! :-)

2011-08-17T22:47:00.002+05:30

when dusk does dawn....
day dusks into night.
dawn dares the night...
its but a rhythmic flight!

dream pun:

2011-08-17T22:46:00.002+05:30

A guy goes to a psychiatrist.

"Doc, I keep having these alternating recurring dreams.

First I'm a teepee, then I'm a wigwam,
then I'm a teepee, then I'm a wigwam.

It's driving me crazy.

What's wrong with me?"

The doctor replies,

"It's very simple.

You're two tents (too tense)."

http://www.worlddreambank.org/2/2PUN.HTM

2011-08-17T22:45:00.002+05:30

time for "dreamathlon" therapy. realism overload alert.

2011-08-17T22:44:00.000+05:30

"Google turned 12 yesterday. So this is the last year you can ask Google anything. Next year it's going to be a teenager so you won't get a straight answer."

September 29, 2010

2011-08-17T22:42:00.001+05:30

kiddo's early morn question of the day:" when do dreams end?".
am still mulling over a suitable response.......

2011-08-17T22:41:00.002+05:30

an acrostic by my daughter on her hand made birthday card to me...:-))))

M ama is my best friend..
A nd she loves me and me her too...
M agnificent mama,i'm so lucky....
A ma, ama, my mama!

actvity of the day....

2011-08-17T22:38:00.000+05:30

saw a civet (its shiny button eyes mostly) up a tall tree (thanks to our neighbours) and then remembered the movie the bucket list and kopi luwak , one of the most expensive coffees of the world and how the coffee is prepared from the partially digested berries defecated by the civet.

more wisdom for the day

2011-08-17T21:58:00.002+05:30

"You know your children have grown up, when they stop asking where they came from, and refuse to tell you where they are going."

wisdom for the day

2011-08-17T21:57:00.002+05:30

“We do not grow absolutely, chronologically. We grow sometimes in one dimension, and not in another; unevenly. We grow partially. We are relative. We are mature in one realm, childish in another. The past, present, and future mingle and pull us backward, forward, or fix us in the present. We are made up of layers, cells, constellations.”
—Anais Nin

a twist

2011-08-17T21:55:00.000+05:30

Descartes walks into a bar

and the bartender says,

“Hey, Descartes! Can I get you a drink?”

And Descartes says, “I think not,”

and disappears.

One Liners....

2011-07-29T16:00:00.000+05:30

There is (a)

tee-thing

between a

Twit and a Wit....

CAT

an abstract from abstraction.....

2011-07-24T21:41:00.003+05:30

The history of this abstract of colors ...the CAT brand of pointillisms if I may:-) ...is about 6 years old.

Fine art is not a subject hubby dearest likes to gush about, BUT Van Gogh is one artist he is truly impressed with, both his life and his work. Irises happens to be his favorite Van Gogh . Come July six years ago, hubby's birthday on the 25th and I was as usual wondering what to gift him...something that he would not buy himself AND what I could afford to buy!! Arriving at the dead end of my wits, I asked.. nay pestered him to suggest suitable options. At the end of a weary day of questioning (for him) out popped a "copy of Irises"..rational being that he loves it and I would be putting in more energy than I would have in a couple of hours of gift shopping venture. So brimming with enthusiasm I go shopping for the supplies and there I was all set to produce my version of the masterpiece!

To cut a 6 year old story short, come 25th, the painting was at stage 2.5 of 10 of completion and hubby was presented an incomplete CAT masterpiece. And the easel with the incomplete canvas stood witness to every birthday thereafter and as a ritual every July since, I readied my painting supplies for some sliver of inspiration to complete the painting ....to be packed back for an annual hibernation. Until last week!!

Way past midnight, sleep had evaded me and birthday gift hunting restlessness created some sort of force field around the canvas and I found myself with brush and paint and some avatar of the Muse!

And there she lies ready, nothing like intended and finally complete! My birthday gift to hubby. He approved!! :-)

p.s.: Being an equal if not bigger fan of Irises, I will eventual paint a copy....that is a promise to myself.

my thought for the day!

2011-07-14T13:51:00.002+05:30

Somehow the image of that toy attached with a spring to a surface comes to mind when I think of Bombay today and of so many of us.

Just like that

2011-06-11T22:26:00.003+05:30

"People get a sore throat when they talk too much, I get a sore throat when I don't talk !", said my teary 8 year old when she was admonished for her chatter....... the most spontaneous and original defense ever!! :-))

Van Gogh's Irises

2011-05-05T22:25:00.008+05:30

blues-arching away!
orange glory serenades white bloom....
is vincent's story?

http://blogs.getty.edu/iris/van-goghs-irises-haiku-verses-from-readers-an-invitation/

Random musings--yet again!

2011-04-24T00:42:00.001+05:30

Is it only me but I find it strange that my 8 year old daughter chooses to actively, nay vehemently, believe in the existence of God even though there is one parent who openly expresses agnostic views about the very concept!

I cannot pin this down to a lack of an inquiring spirit because, for the most, her innate nature compels her to question every phenomena she encounters till she finds assuage in form of a reasonable and logical explanation. So either to her nascent mind "God" intuitively seems too involuted and omnipotent a subject to hazard skepticism or the faith comes naturally to children and over time they may chose to believe otherwise or perhaps children have this overwhelming need to trust any entity that according to popular world view "protects" and "takes care of them" just like they do of parents......

In any case my hope is that her beliefs , whatever they be, will reinforce her moorings and propel her towards a fulfilled existence!

Pictorial Musings

2011-04-11T15:52:00.006+05:30

More B&W: Nature's Filigree

2011-04-10T22:50:00.003+05:30

Sunshine in a Crown of Thorns!

2011-04-10T22:34:00.001+05:30

waterscapes

2011-04-09T23:32:00.000+05:30

Red-Eye---no reduction!!

2011-04-09T23:15:00.001+05:30

Of Cinnamon, Coffee, Amber, Hazel, Chestnut.....of Sepia Delights

2011-03-08T18:07:00.004+05:30

And softly the evening came.....

2011-02-14T00:18:00.002+05:30

copyright Anupama Tiku Dhar

Black and White and Somewhat Gray.....

2011-02-03T12:20:00.016+05:30

Moonlight Sonata

2011-01-31T12:13:00.001+05:30

picture copyright Anupama Tiku Dhar

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQVeaIHWWck&feature=related

FLIGHTS OF FANCY AND BALLOONING DELIGHTS!!!

2011-01-24T23:17:00.000+05:30

just like that...

2010-12-19T23:16:00.001+05:30

‎"We are just an advanced breed of monkeys on a minor planet of a very average star......but we can understand the Universe..... that makes us something very special"...so says Stephen Hawking.."

Perhaps "understand" is a mathematically/metaphysically reconstruction of what is out there.

And perhaps there is a "uncertainty principle" of sorts at play here...more we "understand", the lesser humaneness around that we can quantify, maybe?...

Ego is what separates us from monkey and adults from child!

An MP(member of parliament) took offence to being called an Underdog..

2010-11-08T12:45:00.003+05:30

....He wanted an apology for being referred to as a DOG!

This inspires a DOGgerel.....

In a DOG eat DOG world,
UnderDOG was DOG tagged out of his DOG day!

..."DOGgone it", he said, "am I a DOGgie? ,
DOGged I be in getting an apology"....

Ve(wo)rse description of the goddess of insignificant stances....

2010-10-27T17:20:00.010+05:30

A RUN down DITtY
CASHing in on not so MERE...
ROYally screwed INTEGRAL geometry!

CAT's eye view on definitions....

2010-10-27T14:08:00.001+05:30

(based on an old blog entry)

A Realist is an Optimist in Wolf's Clothing.

A Realistic Optimist is one who keeps the wolf's clothes on standby!

An Optimistic Realist is one who keeps the sheep's clothing on standby !

A Cynic is one who has tried and rejected both sheep's and wolf's clothing and thinks its best to stay naked!

A Pessimist is one who has a wardrobe full of sheep's and wolf's clothing, but will never try any....is convinced it will cause severe allergies!

Humor

2010-10-14T12:45:00.001+05:30

When Humor vaporises, its all Gas!

Humor is fluid,Humor is dry,
Black can be Colored,
Sass can be Crass,
Greener on the other side...

is not all Grass !

copyright CAT

2010-09-20T23:28:00.003+05:30

When Dusk does dawn....
Day dusks into Night.

Dawn dares the Night...
its but a Rhythmic Flight!

copyright CAT

The More Things Change

2010-08-04T21:24:00.000+05:30

The U.S. standard railroad gauge (distance between the rails) is 4 feet, 8.5 inches.

That is an exceptionally odd number. Why was that gauge used? Because that's the way they built them in England, and the U.S. railroads were built by English expatriates. Why did the English build them that way? Because the first rail lines were built by the same people who built the pre-railroad tramways, and that's the gauge they used. Why did "they" use that gauge then? Because the people who built the tramways used the same jigs and tools that they used for building wagons, which used that wheel spacing. So why did the wagons have that particular odd spacing? Well, if they tried to use any other spacing, the wagon wheels would break on some of the old, long distance roads in England, because that's the spacing of the wheel ruts.

So who built those old rutted roads? The first long distance roads in Europe (and England) were built by Imperial Rome for their legions. The roads have been used ever since. And the ruts in the roads? The ruts in the roads, which everyone had to match for fear of destroying their wagon wheels, were first formed by Roman war chariots. Since the chariots were made for (or by) Imperial Rome, they were all alike in the matter of wheel spacing. The U.S. standard railroad gauge of 4 feet, 8.5 inches derives from the original specification for an Imperial Roman war chariot. Specifications and bureaucracies live forever. So the next time you are handed a specification and wonder what horse's ass came up with it, You may be exactly right, because the Imperial Roman war chariots were made just wide enough to accommodate the back end of two warhorses. Thus we have the answer to the original question.

Now a twist to the story...

When we see a space shuttle sitting on it's launching pad, there are two booster rockets attached to the side of the main fuel tank. These are solid rocket boosters, or SRB's. The SRB's are made by Thiokol at their factory in Utah. The engineers who designed the SRB's might have preferred to make them a bit fatter, but the SRB's had to be shipped by train from the factory to the launch site. The railroad line from the factory had to run through a tunnel in the mountains. The tunnel is slightly wider than the railroad tracks, and the railroad tracks are about as wide as two horses' behinds. So, the major design feature of what is arguably the world's most advanced transportation system was determined over two thousand years ago by the width of a horse's ass!!!

Don't you just love engineering?

Epic paradox

2010-08-02T18:08:00.002+05:30

did bill watterson beat christopher nolan to it?

2010-08-02T18:07:00.000+05:30

Musings of the un-mused.....

2010-06-27T11:00:00.012+05:30

I don't want to facebook, I don't want to surf the net,I don't want to watch the TV, I don't want to be stimulated via discussion by participation nor by observing while forming my mute opinions,I don't want to network, I don't want to 'hope to change the world',I don't want to be inspired,I don't want to "create" something,I WANT TO BE STILL......

I want to live in my head! And wallow in the essence of the collective comprehension of the universe as I see it. Is that regression (used to do this as a kid) or progression or mere depression...NOT!!!!

And in rebellion to the spirit embodied in the above "rant", maybe I will now go pour over the newspapers ......nah! Am off to drench and drown myself in a dog eared tome till I emerge out for some fresh air!

Amused?

....CAT

2010-05-30T01:29:00.008+05:30

Trees
in
various moods
discovered
during the summer hols

Eye Candy......

2010-04-10T00:04:00.003+05:30

Flowers and Greens

Picture Perfect...

2010-04-09T23:59:00.004+05:30

Sunset

The red whiskered bulbul

2010-04-09T23:52:00.006+05:30

bulbul e hazaar daastaan

The Mystery of the Purple Sunbirds....Intense Gymming

2010-04-09T23:49:00.005+05:30

check it out.....

2010-03-27T17:51:00.001+05:30

Thought Transference!!

Don't know
if there is a scientific basis to it,
but I have experienced it on several occasions.

Could evolve into an uber efficient means of communication!!

CAT

2010-03-25T09:43:00.003+05:30

It is interesting to observe
how some people argue about a subject
over a longish period of time.....
their views NOW are
diametrically opposite (surreptitiously or deliberately ??)
and a third person
would be none the wiser
as it has been projected as the initial point of view.

CAT

2010-03-10T20:10:00.002+05:30

In a few cases,

distance

does not make

the heart grow fonder,

it brings unfathomable relief!

CAT

A dream assignment worthy of Narendra Modi......

2010-02-24T21:30:00.004+05:30

An advisor (with special executive powers ) to Omar Abdullah and to the state of Jammu and Kashmir. Since the state of Gujarat is revelling in Modi magic he can now afford to take an indefinite sabbatical as chief minister there and divert his special skills to turn round J&K....resurrection of the economy (replace the current stone pelting enterprise for one /induce industrialists to invest) ,revival of tourism (clean the goddamn clogged lakes/river), rehabilitation with due honor of the displaced pandits, make terrorism and associated spin-offs history and finally getting brand ambassadors to queue up right from Banihal pass!

wot say!!

CAT

2010-02-18T15:25:00.003+05:30

It is not the lack/deficiency

of any of

the 5 senses

nor of

the 6th sense (if it exists)

BUT

the lack of COMMON SENSE

which impairs

our perceptions about the world/her people!

CAT

2010-02-04T07:26:00.006+05:30

Thought for the day...make it pre -dawn!

Have we all turned 'comfortably numb'?....

The cacophony that surrounds us, a distant hum?

Oh...pins and needles!

CAT

2010-01-08T22:58:00.002+05:30

Ethos,

Mythos,

Pathos,

Bathos....

Life!!

CAT

Random Question

2009-12-17T16:07:00.005+05:30

I have successfully managed to muddle my kid, all 6.8 years of her!!

The other day kiddo pointed out to a random man on the street while being chauffeured by moi, from school to home," Does he believe in Gandhiji?"

She has been taught in school that she has to be "good" because God is watching all and that God has created everything around her and of course all the other beautiful "truths" about God have been revealed to her.

Now was this question directly proportional to hodgepodge created in her mind because of my questioning existence of God AND because of the healthy dose of Gandhi they are exposed to in school and the near legend/God like iconic status attributed to him?

So should I try uncloud her befuddlement or let "wisdom" which comes with age (ahem!!) take its natural course and unravel it for her ???

2009-12-09T21:26:00.006+05:30

Doppler Shift of Irrationality:

Apparent increase (decrease)

in Irrationality

when the source of problem

becomes closer/personal (more distant)

to the observer!

CAT

2009-11-26T22:22:00.001+05:30

Am wondering

if India

had an equivalent of Thanksgiving,

when would it be??

2009-11-25T16:16:00.007+05:30

I MAY be in the process of being swin(e)dled (out of my senses?)!

So(w) among other thoughts hogging my mind , the one bo(a)ring question was:

What would be the ramifications on economic structure and society, if it was mandated globally with universal top approval ratings ,that for the next 25 years, those whose net worth (as per current valuations) was above USD 2 million and growing, would be required to be progenitors of a minimum of 3 and the "lesser" mortals RESTRICTED to one or none?????

OINK!! :-)

2009-11-20T16:46:00.002+05:30

"Does'nt it seem just everybody shouts at each other nowadays?

I think its because conflict is drama. Drama is entertaining and entertainment is marketable!

Finding consensus and common ground is dull. Nobody wants to watch a civilized discussion that acknowledges ambiguity and complexity. We want to see fireworks!

We want the sense of solidarity and identity that comes from having out interests narrowed and exploited by like-minded zealots! Talk show hosts. Political candidates, news programs .All become successful by reducing debates to the level of shouted rage.

Nothing gets solved. But we're all entertained."

- Calvin (Bill Watterson)

2009-11-19T22:00:00.001+05:30

India is a democratic country in its truest sense.....

we allow mercs, beemers, porshes, nanos, marutis ,

2 wheelers, 3 wheelers,

2 legged mammals,

bullock carts,

cows, goats, sheep, buffaloes, dogs,

statues, mini shrines......

equal space on the roads.

Apologies if I have missed out any category.

2009-11-18T22:45:00.001+05:30

In dog years

I am 301 years old!

No wonder

I feel dog tired at times!!

2009-11-16T12:11:00.003+05:30

I recently came across this exquisite Native American Proverb.....

"THE SOUL WOULD HAVE NO RAINBOW IF THE EYES HAD NO TEARS."

I have been thinking past days.....

Are rainbows overrated?

Is the human soul so frail that it craves for that silver lining around a dark cloud?

Or is it etched on the human psyche to anticipate the sun bringing out the rainbow after a rainstorm?

Do we need crutches to propel ourselves forward?

Should we reject the old adage.."Its always darkest before dawn"?

And prepare ourselves for the new reality...."Its darkest before pitch black"?

Or I am in a dark mood and the sun will soon come shining through and lift the clouds? :-)

2009-11-15T00:21:00.001+05:30

Perfect 10

is not a

Perfect Number!!!!

CAT

2009-11-14T20:50:00.002+05:30

Today it finally dawned upon me after so many years....
a fine print rider which accompanies
every Indian drivers licence
and
every Indian motor registration:
"You are entitled to stop your vehicle
in the middle of any 2 way narrow road
for upwards of 5 minutes
and
have your private conversation
with any citizen of India
who may be a pedestrian or a fellow motorist".

CAT

2009-11-10T12:22:00.000+05:30

Watching out of my window

a fledgling hawk (I live by the river side)

learning to spread its wings…….

the tentative wing flaps,

overtures of movements,

letting the air pockets guide it,

sometimes steering, gliding,

then soaring up towards the sun……

the exhilaration of first flight...

seen this before,never fails to fascinate!!

CAT

2009-11-09T22:33:00.002+05:30

The universe is expanding,there is evidence of the existence of a parallel universe.

Minds are contracting, there is evidence of the lack of coexistence with a parallel mindset!

What a contradiction!!!

2009-11-07T23:20:00.000+05:30

“I used to wake up at 4 A.M. and start sneezing, sometimes for five hours. I tried to find out what sort of allergy I had but finally came to the conclusion that it must be an allergy to consciousness.”

James Thurber.

So how do I switch off my consciousness or my sneezing???

2009-11-05T23:28:00.003+05:30

Procrastinators

are just

"last minute rush" junkies

in disguise!!

copyright CAT