Nothing is as tough or as easy as we think it to be. Saw one of the world cup matches, where a single commentator was weaving a story around the entire match so seamlessly, that I just was struck at how much of effort he must have put in not just before the match (probably had his share of ‘helpers’ who feed him the data, still its only good if you have the presence of mind to apply it at the right place and right time), but also his ability to pick up the general tempo of the whole game when he sees something happening during the match, and also think and comment as to what would happen after the match.
The best in business are good, everyone knows that. But why? I can imagine his 'player list' full of stats, interesting trivia, a few ‘did you know’ scribbled or printed out next to each player, coach, staff, team, crowd, country, and even sometimes against the television audience themselves. And the ability to pick them and bring them out as a casual point requires not just background prep, but also constant presence of mind, and observation. For example, one of the matches, when one of the subs missed the ball completely and got the defender in front of him, the commentator remarked ‘and that’s the first contribution of the newly subbed xxx, I’m sure the coach didn’t send him in to do that!’. And it was a South Korean player, all of whose names sounds so similar.
The commentators are one of the unsung heroes in making the matches more interesting, sometimes more controversial, but mostly helping the audience keep up with the pace of the match, however fast or slow it might be. Always thought commentators job was the easiest, maybe not that easy after all…
Friday, June 25, 2010
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Epic Novels
List of favorite sequels / series of novels over a period of time….
Children Fantasy: HP series; Artemis Fowl;
Sci. Fi: Star Wars
Comic Sci Fi/Fantasy: Hitchhikers Guide to Galaxy
Fantasy: LOTR,
Tragic Fantasy (for the way the series fantastically started and tragically lost the plot somewhere along the way): Wheel of Time series, Song of Ice & Fire series (not bad, could have been better)
Fiction: Yes Minister, Yes Prime Minister. Jack Reacher series + other crime fiction series based on detective
More to add, that’s all that I can think of for now….
Children Fantasy: HP series; Artemis Fowl;
Sci. Fi: Star Wars
Comic Sci Fi/Fantasy: Hitchhikers Guide to Galaxy
Fantasy: LOTR,
Tragic Fantasy (for the way the series fantastically started and tragically lost the plot somewhere along the way): Wheel of Time series, Song of Ice & Fire series (not bad, could have been better)
Fiction: Yes Minister, Yes Prime Minister. Jack Reacher series + other crime fiction series based on detective
More to add, that’s all that I can think of for now….
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Keeping Count
It's officially 101, but hey who's keeping count.. this one's a special one, just my old rant style... disclaimer: "My blogs are mostly impulsive, so hope no permanent misunderstandings occur as a result of them. That usually happens in person."
Things I should do and I’m not doing. I think this would be a way to keep score of what matters, and to settle score when time’s right.
1. Keep score. Lost count of the times when I’ve just let go of slights. Always thought and believed that it was the right thing to do. Unfortunately it seems the world doesn’t always work that way.
2. Do my own thing. There’s a difference between knowing the path and walking it (Matrix!!). I thought the gap can always bridged based on trust, and doing it myself or along with others doesn’t matter, as long as it can be done by people I trust. Never trust anyone to do what you’ve set out to do yourself. The thing which hurt the most is not the lack of effort, rather the indifference when it comes to things that you hold dear. It hurts, and it’s time to put an end to it.
3. Burn, and burn some more. Nothing worth is achieved without getting burned. The bigger it gets, the more painful it’s going to be. Grin & bear it, but be ready to be burned, burned real bad. Eventually it’ll make sense.
4. Keep posting. Going to keep this a regular event, every time a good thought, bad thought, indifferent thought, inspired thought or just no thought comes to head. This should help in keeping score rather than random blogs.
5. Opinions? Got to establish a ‘circle of trust’ for sounding & receiving opinions on what works for me. Got to weed that part out of the system of actually receiving ‘opinions’. Can’t expect any understanding, everyone’s got a life of their own to be bothered about other’s life, unless they stand to gain from it.
6. Life’s a ride, enjoy it while it lasts. No point keeping eyes shut and then talking about it after it’s over. No point describing it to others, feeling right should be good enough. Enjoy the feeling and life’s a whole new ball game.
7. Money? It’s got to be pocket change. Never gone after it, never will. It was, is, and should always be only means to end, not the end itself. Hope this part of me never ever changes.
8. Fall for the right reasons. For reasons that matter to me, willing to fall. For anything else, there’s the door, don’t hit yourself on your way out, I'm not the fall guy!
9. Doing good. Why? Because I can, because I want to. Because it matters to me. ‘Never cause any harm, at the same time never let anyone cause harm to you’ was the motto till now. From now onwards, it’s got to be do what you believe in, and along the way do good to people who believe.
10. Learn: the day I stop doing this, is when I have given up cherishing life. Still years ahead, learn everyday till then.
Things I should do and I’m not doing. I think this would be a way to keep score of what matters, and to settle score when time’s right.
1. Keep score. Lost count of the times when I’ve just let go of slights. Always thought and believed that it was the right thing to do. Unfortunately it seems the world doesn’t always work that way.
2. Do my own thing. There’s a difference between knowing the path and walking it (Matrix!!). I thought the gap can always bridged based on trust, and doing it myself or along with others doesn’t matter, as long as it can be done by people I trust. Never trust anyone to do what you’ve set out to do yourself. The thing which hurt the most is not the lack of effort, rather the indifference when it comes to things that you hold dear. It hurts, and it’s time to put an end to it.
3. Burn, and burn some more. Nothing worth is achieved without getting burned. The bigger it gets, the more painful it’s going to be. Grin & bear it, but be ready to be burned, burned real bad. Eventually it’ll make sense.
4. Keep posting. Going to keep this a regular event, every time a good thought, bad thought, indifferent thought, inspired thought or just no thought comes to head. This should help in keeping score rather than random blogs.
5. Opinions? Got to establish a ‘circle of trust’ for sounding & receiving opinions on what works for me. Got to weed that part out of the system of actually receiving ‘opinions’. Can’t expect any understanding, everyone’s got a life of their own to be bothered about other’s life, unless they stand to gain from it.
6. Life’s a ride, enjoy it while it lasts. No point keeping eyes shut and then talking about it after it’s over. No point describing it to others, feeling right should be good enough. Enjoy the feeling and life’s a whole new ball game.
7. Money? It’s got to be pocket change. Never gone after it, never will. It was, is, and should always be only means to end, not the end itself. Hope this part of me never ever changes.
8. Fall for the right reasons. For reasons that matter to me, willing to fall. For anything else, there’s the door, don’t hit yourself on your way out, I'm not the fall guy!
9. Doing good. Why? Because I can, because I want to. Because it matters to me. ‘Never cause any harm, at the same time never let anyone cause harm to you’ was the motto till now. From now onwards, it’s got to be do what you believe in, and along the way do good to people who believe.
10. Learn: the day I stop doing this, is when I have given up cherishing life. Still years ahead, learn everyday till then.
Yesterday's blog
I’ve blogged enough about the choices and how it matters! Yep, I agree with whatever I’ve written (it’s 100, so gotta be true!). Still there’s a feeling of obsessing over a particular phase of life and focusing on it in detail. The part that matters is sure this, but there’s more to life than just thinking about choices. Here I go, having a different opinion on myself. In the process of talking about things that I know, things I think I know, and things that I don’t know and doesn’t want to know, I left out one important ingredient - The thought process. These thoughts don’t occupy my head everyday, it flits in and out occasionally, and sometimes I hold on to these, and sometimes to others.
Education or lack of thereof, experience, and some lessons that my parents have always insisted that I imbibe in my life, all add up to life lessons till now
(1) Respect elders! They are what they are today because of the paths that they chose to take. They have their own set of reasons, opportunities and circumstances which determined their course of life; it’s not for me to judge them based on that. Besides, some of the best lessons on life I have learnt are because of looking at elders with that respect. Every time there is a clash of thought between the ways I see it and the way others see it, I would like to ‘engage’ them through arguments to modify or solidify my perception of things.
(2) Learn! Every day, every minute there is something happening, life is happening, not just mine. By just keeping my eyes, ears and mind open I have benefited in understanding how people are, and what values they cherish. Mouth needs to be shut, but unfortunately my parents didn’t insist enough on this, so I keep rattling a lot of nonsense as a course of habit. Not that I’m complaining – sometimes when I say things out loud is when I realize that this is the output that I get when certain ingredients are fed into my brain, so I learn from that too!! Whew! Got to be consistant!!
(3) Constant activity! Only constant for me in my life is now. I realize that I make far too many mistakes, & I could either spend a lifetime making & obsessing over them, or make things at double speed when I am still agile, and then choose to slow down at times when I feel is right. Life matters, but at the pace that I want it to be, not at the pace which others deem fit for me. So I keep pushing & sometimes pausing, to keep learning, to keep making mistakes, to keep moving on, to making newer mistakes.
(4) Be all inclusive by default. i.e. don’t choose, just be and let be. This I ‘earned’ through the process of being always the quiet guy, my way reaching out to ‘like minded’ folks. This is a funny phenomenon, I can’t quite place where I know that someone’s going to be a good friend to me or not. Generally I estimate the kind of ‘space’ that a stranger needs to make them comfortable and rarely breach that….. I’ll save this for another blog. Point is I don’t write off someone based on first impressions, most of the time I form an opinion (as I mentioned in Pet Peeves) but don’t close the door.
(5) Know the good side and the bad side! (It was something that I learnt about a decade back). I might have said this before, but yeah, I believe that forming opinions about someone based on one encounter is not something that I prefer to do. I tend to add experiences of knowing, seeing and moving with the person to fill their character (most of the time clouded by my bad judgment). It all goes for a toss if they upset this stack of dominoes. But my ‘fuzzy logic’ is that the longer it takes, people tend to get more comfortable. They then start being more consistent with their character. Then the ball is in my court to take it or leave it, & I’m fine as long I have space to be myself as well!
All of the above can be manipulated to anyone’s advantage, but then that’ll be a lesson in itself!
Education or lack of thereof, experience, and some lessons that my parents have always insisted that I imbibe in my life, all add up to life lessons till now
(1) Respect elders! They are what they are today because of the paths that they chose to take. They have their own set of reasons, opportunities and circumstances which determined their course of life; it’s not for me to judge them based on that. Besides, some of the best lessons on life I have learnt are because of looking at elders with that respect. Every time there is a clash of thought between the ways I see it and the way others see it, I would like to ‘engage’ them through arguments to modify or solidify my perception of things.
(2) Learn! Every day, every minute there is something happening, life is happening, not just mine. By just keeping my eyes, ears and mind open I have benefited in understanding how people are, and what values they cherish. Mouth needs to be shut, but unfortunately my parents didn’t insist enough on this, so I keep rattling a lot of nonsense as a course of habit. Not that I’m complaining – sometimes when I say things out loud is when I realize that this is the output that I get when certain ingredients are fed into my brain, so I learn from that too!! Whew! Got to be consistant!!
(3) Constant activity! Only constant for me in my life is now. I realize that I make far too many mistakes, & I could either spend a lifetime making & obsessing over them, or make things at double speed when I am still agile, and then choose to slow down at times when I feel is right. Life matters, but at the pace that I want it to be, not at the pace which others deem fit for me. So I keep pushing & sometimes pausing, to keep learning, to keep making mistakes, to keep moving on, to making newer mistakes.
(4) Be all inclusive by default. i.e. don’t choose, just be and let be. This I ‘earned’ through the process of being always the quiet guy, my way reaching out to ‘like minded’ folks. This is a funny phenomenon, I can’t quite place where I know that someone’s going to be a good friend to me or not. Generally I estimate the kind of ‘space’ that a stranger needs to make them comfortable and rarely breach that….. I’ll save this for another blog. Point is I don’t write off someone based on first impressions, most of the time I form an opinion (as I mentioned in Pet Peeves) but don’t close the door.
(5) Know the good side and the bad side! (It was something that I learnt about a decade back). I might have said this before, but yeah, I believe that forming opinions about someone based on one encounter is not something that I prefer to do. I tend to add experiences of knowing, seeing and moving with the person to fill their character (most of the time clouded by my bad judgment). It all goes for a toss if they upset this stack of dominoes. But my ‘fuzzy logic’ is that the longer it takes, people tend to get more comfortable. They then start being more consistent with their character. Then the ball is in my court to take it or leave it, & I’m fine as long I have space to be myself as well!
All of the above can be manipulated to anyone’s advantage, but then that’ll be a lesson in itself!
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
365-14 (part 2)
A year ago, I posted this blog about a 14 day week. That’s what I’m counting down to now…. Times change!
Friday, June 18, 2010
Raavanan - review
Time for another update.. this time on Raavanan… Saw the movie, managed to get tickets for ‘first day, first show’ at PVR, Goregaon. The best part was the movie, the not so good part was the before and after efforts to go through the tedious process of getting up at 8 am for a 9.30 am show.. we managed to get in about 5 minutes late, but still awake and curious. and now the rest of the day is like being in zombieville.
The movie’s first half was an attempt to keep the viewers guessing, with deliberate curiosity created at times, with bits and pieces of information. The overall story as such reminded me of Raavana Prabhu (Mohanlal), which was also based on the same theme – I guess every movie made of guy kidnapping girl and trying to woo her in his roguish way, could be categorized as such….. Ravanan! Anyways, the plot of it was rather predictable, so the surprise value had to be in terms of the visuals and the modern day adaptation of it. The characterization of Vikram/AB Jr., I believe is loosely based on the Naxal type of an anti-hero. Whatever it is, it touches briefly on the issue itself, but rather uses the character to narrate the story.
Second half is where the story picks up. There are episodes of sheer technical brilliance in the movie which also helps move the film forward. Apart from that, Vikram as Raavanan is great, but I chose to watch this version first so that I can understand most of what would go on at the Hindi version. Though the tamil version sure looked like it was not their original choice of medium (it released here with hilarious subtitles) the cast was weak (in Tamil), and the dialogues could have been much better written and spoken. Some clear areas where the spirit of the movie was maintained (& sometimes lifted) were in the music dept, the cinematography, Vikram – absolutely brilliant (I’m a bit biased since I watched most of his movies), and Mani himself – the thoughts behind creating and narrating a story which connects and portrays such a story without visibly compromising on the tempo, or plot must surely be a work of a genius. The efforts and hard work of the filmmaker also stands out. I want to watch the hindi version and I hope overall verdict should be good for the efforts – it sure wasn’t a let down for me.
Initial reviews suggest that its all style and no substance… to all those ‘critics’ and film reviewers, just one thing to say… get off the arm chair commentary and try imagining or creating these sequences. The movie hits me hard because of its bewitching beauty, style, and also the simple way of weaving a story without stretching itself. Somewhere you’ve got to draw a line at how far you are willing to go to narrate and just let the visuals express them and hope the audience appreciates the lack of a forced narration. I think in that aspect this movie deserves better than what the initial ‘critics’ judge it to be worth.
The movie’s first half was an attempt to keep the viewers guessing, with deliberate curiosity created at times, with bits and pieces of information. The overall story as such reminded me of Raavana Prabhu (Mohanlal), which was also based on the same theme – I guess every movie made of guy kidnapping girl and trying to woo her in his roguish way, could be categorized as such….. Ravanan! Anyways, the plot of it was rather predictable, so the surprise value had to be in terms of the visuals and the modern day adaptation of it. The characterization of Vikram/AB Jr., I believe is loosely based on the Naxal type of an anti-hero. Whatever it is, it touches briefly on the issue itself, but rather uses the character to narrate the story.
Second half is where the story picks up. There are episodes of sheer technical brilliance in the movie which also helps move the film forward. Apart from that, Vikram as Raavanan is great, but I chose to watch this version first so that I can understand most of what would go on at the Hindi version. Though the tamil version sure looked like it was not their original choice of medium (it released here with hilarious subtitles) the cast was weak (in Tamil), and the dialogues could have been much better written and spoken. Some clear areas where the spirit of the movie was maintained (& sometimes lifted) were in the music dept, the cinematography, Vikram – absolutely brilliant (I’m a bit biased since I watched most of his movies), and Mani himself – the thoughts behind creating and narrating a story which connects and portrays such a story without visibly compromising on the tempo, or plot must surely be a work of a genius. The efforts and hard work of the filmmaker also stands out. I want to watch the hindi version and I hope overall verdict should be good for the efforts – it sure wasn’t a let down for me.
Initial reviews suggest that its all style and no substance… to all those ‘critics’ and film reviewers, just one thing to say… get off the arm chair commentary and try imagining or creating these sequences. The movie hits me hard because of its bewitching beauty, style, and also the simple way of weaving a story without stretching itself. Somewhere you’ve got to draw a line at how far you are willing to go to narrate and just let the visuals express them and hope the audience appreciates the lack of a forced narration. I think in that aspect this movie deserves better than what the initial ‘critics’ judge it to be worth.
Thursday, June 17, 2010
The thought train
Thought process flows from emotions. It’s as freewheeling as it gets. Sometimes it’s a necessary evil, sometimes it’s an unnecessary burden. While letting the occasional thought control you is ok in my book (I haven’t reached the state which Vivekananda or any other great men have talked about), it’s also important to observe the mind at work during these times. The following is an attempt to follow the journey of one such ‘thought train’…
Time: Late at night.
Place: At home, staring out blankly on a rainy night….
The ‘thought train’: While it doesn’t take much to swing my emotional pendulum, I also realized that even at these moments I have a choice at hand, and exercising the choice might not be a bad move if I understand the consequences of my action, rather than just letting my emotion carry me. Sometimes I need to change the current thought process in a way to get charged, like doing the opposite thing of what I am used to doing, if I’m not feeling good about what I’m doing.
I’ve been trying to find the source of all thoughts, the origin of which is needed to understand my ‘constant’ state of mind, not just the emotional part. One source, the true essence of every person that makes a person unique, is in their core, like a seed. Along the way we may sprout a lot of branches, and even bend or break a few of these branches, but the tree’s core is always true, and what we want to base our life. At least I believe that…
A thunder catches my eye, back to now... Presentation over, time for Q& As on above…
Q&A:
Q: ‘Have I found it, ‘the core’?’
A: That’s a tough one to answer – I guess I believe I have, but then my truth might be different from life’s truth. Only life has to prove me wrong. I’m not going to let that worry me, at least for now.
Q: ‘how do I know I’ve found it’?
A: Whenever I think (more like meditate) on the options at hand, and the choices that I might take, for some ‘choices’, I feel that something lets go and thoughts and ideas begins to flow much more freely, without any control imposed. And I look back at the choices that I have made in life, in career, the one common factor is the ‘letting go’ aspect. When I enter I have no expectations, just that I should earn my spot, belong there. Then eventually, the stopper comes and corks the flow. Either ‘corked’ by others, or the aspect of other roads, other options which I feel are necessary to explore.
Q: Why?
A: I often ask myself ‘why am I not content with what I have?’ And the answer varies based on my emotional state of being. When I am content in my career, that’s when ‘the road not taken’ seems more of a need than a luxury. Constant need to change, evolve would be my best guess for a reason (although it sounds pathetic), or ‘pursuit of happiness’, or destiny/fate…
Thoughts help only in understanding about me, not about understanding the external factors at hand. I’ll settle for 50% contentment & understanding any given day.
Q: Lots of loose ends, vague answers in the above thoughts. Is it that I don’t complete these thoughts, or that I complete them, but ‘censor’ them?
A: Like I said, for me many of the thoughts when I meditate are about exploring choices. Sometimes I realize that as I think through and plan to execute on thoughts, I might reach a crossroad of choices there and beyond. Sometimes the crossroads are early on in the journey, sometimes it’s later on. Like life’s purpose, I have only eye for the destination, and the journey is just means to the end. So when I start off, I tell myself I reasonably expect to travel in such and such way. Whenever in crossroads its usually the judgment of what seems to be the best course to reach the purpose that determines the path. Before getting ahead to all that, its important that it becomes a reality only if I actually action my thought. Not if it’s all just thought! So yes, some are deliberately vague, and some I know I much choose from the choices only after I travel that path, not before.
Q: A little bit more on the ‘presentation’. So what do I want to base my life on?
A: Well, I don’t want to be deliberately vague on this one, so will try to best explain my thought train: Starting point for everyone is always the roots of their ancestors. I believe from my own experiences I have learnt a lot on the choices and actions of my cousins, my uncles, basically my family, and friends on the paths they have chosen. So in essence I have travelled a parallel path on what many have travelled in their journeys. Now when I reach crossroads and see the trails of their paths cris-crossing, I am confident that I have so far chose to walk in the paths which are consistent with at least some of the choices that elders before me have experienced. That’s on the journey till now. I’m not saying that I followed one path or the other, but that I made occasional choices consistent with the thought process of the people that I respect.
Q: ‘Emotional pendulum’. So how do I base choices on if I can feel good about something and yet feel bad about the same thing later on?
For me, the learning part excites me, but the stagnation part feels constrained / contaminated. I feel if I don’t completely empty parts of life when I’ve reached a saturation point, I might become stale without constantly learning. It’s this constant need to keep both doors open, to allow fresh insights into my life and empty the parts which I don’t want to keep, is what keeps me going. So I don’t feel good or bad about something, I feel the need or lack of to be associated with it. That’s what I base my choices on. I feel that if there are some aspects which I like that I might lose as a result of my choice, then I try to (a) do something about it if its worth it, (b) fix it if its broken as a result of my action, (c) carry the memory, if its good but immovable, or (d) let it go - lay it to rest and move on. Again all of these choices and actions, I have in my control.
----------------------------------
Another thought, another day...
Time: Late at night.
Place: At home, staring out blankly on a rainy night….
The ‘thought train’: While it doesn’t take much to swing my emotional pendulum, I also realized that even at these moments I have a choice at hand, and exercising the choice might not be a bad move if I understand the consequences of my action, rather than just letting my emotion carry me. Sometimes I need to change the current thought process in a way to get charged, like doing the opposite thing of what I am used to doing, if I’m not feeling good about what I’m doing.
I’ve been trying to find the source of all thoughts, the origin of which is needed to understand my ‘constant’ state of mind, not just the emotional part. One source, the true essence of every person that makes a person unique, is in their core, like a seed. Along the way we may sprout a lot of branches, and even bend or break a few of these branches, but the tree’s core is always true, and what we want to base our life. At least I believe that…
A thunder catches my eye, back to now... Presentation over, time for Q& As on above…
Q&A:
Q: ‘Have I found it, ‘the core’?’
A: That’s a tough one to answer – I guess I believe I have, but then my truth might be different from life’s truth. Only life has to prove me wrong. I’m not going to let that worry me, at least for now.
Q: ‘how do I know I’ve found it’?
A: Whenever I think (more like meditate) on the options at hand, and the choices that I might take, for some ‘choices’, I feel that something lets go and thoughts and ideas begins to flow much more freely, without any control imposed. And I look back at the choices that I have made in life, in career, the one common factor is the ‘letting go’ aspect. When I enter I have no expectations, just that I should earn my spot, belong there. Then eventually, the stopper comes and corks the flow. Either ‘corked’ by others, or the aspect of other roads, other options which I feel are necessary to explore.
Q: Why?
A: I often ask myself ‘why am I not content with what I have?’ And the answer varies based on my emotional state of being. When I am content in my career, that’s when ‘the road not taken’ seems more of a need than a luxury. Constant need to change, evolve would be my best guess for a reason (although it sounds pathetic), or ‘pursuit of happiness’, or destiny/fate…
Thoughts help only in understanding about me, not about understanding the external factors at hand. I’ll settle for 50% contentment & understanding any given day.
Q: Lots of loose ends, vague answers in the above thoughts. Is it that I don’t complete these thoughts, or that I complete them, but ‘censor’ them?
A: Like I said, for me many of the thoughts when I meditate are about exploring choices. Sometimes I realize that as I think through and plan to execute on thoughts, I might reach a crossroad of choices there and beyond. Sometimes the crossroads are early on in the journey, sometimes it’s later on. Like life’s purpose, I have only eye for the destination, and the journey is just means to the end. So when I start off, I tell myself I reasonably expect to travel in such and such way. Whenever in crossroads its usually the judgment of what seems to be the best course to reach the purpose that determines the path. Before getting ahead to all that, its important that it becomes a reality only if I actually action my thought. Not if it’s all just thought! So yes, some are deliberately vague, and some I know I much choose from the choices only after I travel that path, not before.
Q: A little bit more on the ‘presentation’. So what do I want to base my life on?
A: Well, I don’t want to be deliberately vague on this one, so will try to best explain my thought train: Starting point for everyone is always the roots of their ancestors. I believe from my own experiences I have learnt a lot on the choices and actions of my cousins, my uncles, basically my family, and friends on the paths they have chosen. So in essence I have travelled a parallel path on what many have travelled in their journeys. Now when I reach crossroads and see the trails of their paths cris-crossing, I am confident that I have so far chose to walk in the paths which are consistent with at least some of the choices that elders before me have experienced. That’s on the journey till now. I’m not saying that I followed one path or the other, but that I made occasional choices consistent with the thought process of the people that I respect.
Q: ‘Emotional pendulum’. So how do I base choices on if I can feel good about something and yet feel bad about the same thing later on?
For me, the learning part excites me, but the stagnation part feels constrained / contaminated. I feel if I don’t completely empty parts of life when I’ve reached a saturation point, I might become stale without constantly learning. It’s this constant need to keep both doors open, to allow fresh insights into my life and empty the parts which I don’t want to keep, is what keeps me going. So I don’t feel good or bad about something, I feel the need or lack of to be associated with it. That’s what I base my choices on. I feel that if there are some aspects which I like that I might lose as a result of my choice, then I try to (a) do something about it if its worth it, (b) fix it if its broken as a result of my action, (c) carry the memory, if its good but immovable, or (d) let it go - lay it to rest and move on. Again all of these choices and actions, I have in my control.
----------------------------------
Another thought, another day...
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Past, Present & Future
Whenever in doubt, I reflect on my past choices that has brought me here in the present, and I’m immediately reassured of facing the future!
Friday, June 04, 2010
Why I am not a great fan of TOI (hate is too strong an emotion for a newspaper)
Reason 1: Syndicate news: It’s rare to find an original article written in the paper, almost like searching for a needle in the haystack. Don’t believe me, try this simple exercise – if you read a great article one day, just google up the article and you’ll find the same story in various international papers, and would have probably originated somewhere in a small time newspaper in America or Europe, or an online article. True story.
Reason 2: ‘Glamour sells’ is their motto: They feed people with pictures and gossip rather than well written articles. So first thing in the morning whether I like it or not, my mind’s not the one that’s stimulated… WTF? No wonder this city’s going to the dumps.
Reason 3: Commercial to the core: Whenever they do find an original idea, its usually reader suggested, or some activist / social cause motivated. It’s a great effort, if you are not profiteering from it. Don’t tell people what to think and then make yourself the banker and pocket the money. I loathe their efforts in trying to ‘change India’.. To what? To something that they like, that they can sell?? Yes, they are good at Marketing – valid point, but it doesn’t mean that you replace creativity and opinions with marketing materials!
And the list goes on.. sure I like the odd gems that sometimes shine out from the big pile ofs… hay, but hey who am I kidding. Never realized newspaper was essential part of the day until I started reading TOI!
Reason 2: ‘Glamour sells’ is their motto: They feed people with pictures and gossip rather than well written articles. So first thing in the morning whether I like it or not, my mind’s not the one that’s stimulated… WTF? No wonder this city’s going to the dumps.
Reason 3: Commercial to the core: Whenever they do find an original idea, its usually reader suggested, or some activist / social cause motivated. It’s a great effort, if you are not profiteering from it. Don’t tell people what to think and then make yourself the banker and pocket the money. I loathe their efforts in trying to ‘change India’.. To what? To something that they like, that they can sell?? Yes, they are good at Marketing – valid point, but it doesn’t mean that you replace creativity and opinions with marketing materials!
And the list goes on.. sure I like the odd gems that sometimes shine out from the big pile of
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