The Bible and its Prophecies...

Recently I was reading about the so called 'prophecies of the Bible'. The text talked about how the Bible predicts things. Some of which have come true and some are yet to come true.

It got me thinking about how we use religious texts. We use them mostly to push our own ideas. We interpret them in our own way and use them as a basis for spreading our own idealogy and proving or disproving theories. From justification of violence to creating false hope.

I think all religious texts tell us how to live. They are good for the here and now… they were good when they were written, they are good now, and shall remain so in the future.

The main reason for this is: these texts were written by humans for humans. The essential human nature has not changed. We still do many of the same things that we did back then. The method might have changed but the act hasn’t.

We still get up, go to work, come back home, sleep, eat, make love, produce babies and so on.
Our core emotions are still the same. We still love, hate, get embarrassed, get jealous etc.

What made us human back in the days of the Bible (or any other religious text) makes us human even today (and hopefully shall continue to make us human in the future!)

Therefore one should accept the Bible and OTHER religious texts not because they help us in prediction but because they help us understand ourselves.

The interpretive analysis of the Bible and connecting it with prophecies can be done with any religious text. But we should remember this, when we interpret something as complex as the Bible (or for that matter The Gita, The Ramayana, The Quran, The Torah etc.), we do end up putting our own knowledge and beliefs in the interpretation. No interpretation can be purely objective.

Therefore just accept the religious texts as a window into your soul and nature. Not as a guide to what is going to happen tomorrow.

Why?

Because your tomorrow, is largely in your hands!

Flowers of the Arctic

Posting some old pics I came across from my Yellowknife, Canada trip, thanks to a friend!
These pictures were taken using my Sony camera.

Nokia 6110 Navigator

NOKIA 6110 NAVIGATOR

The phone with the slider open.

The 6110 Navigator is the latest phone from Nokia. It is a slider phone as you can see above. The slider mechanism is quite solid and feels reliable. The screen is a 2.2inch QVGA high resolution one (just like the E65).

It is a 3.5G phone (supports HSDPA) and has a front facing camera for video calls. Just above the camera is the light sensor which modifies the brightness and keypad lights based on ambient light. This is quite useful and saves the battery life. So for example when you are in a well lit area the keypad buttons don't light up. But as soon as the lights go down (say when your in a movie theatre) the keypad lights come on.

This phone has 7 main interface buttons and a 5-way navigation/click key in the centre.

Two buttons below the screen (blue light) are for selecting the screen options. The green/red keys are for connecting/disconnecting calls with the red key doubling up as the power on/off key. There is the traditional 'Menu' key and a cancel 'C' key. The final key (in between the 'C' and Menu keys) activates the GPS application (yes the 6110 Navigator has in-build GPS!).

On the left side there is a programmable 'My Own Key' which you can set to any application you like for one click access. On the right there is a +/- key used for the camera and volume control along with the shutter key.

The 6110 compared with Sony Ericsson P990i.

Volume: 89 cc
Weight: 125 g with battery
Dimensions: 101 x 49 x 20 mm

As you can see the phone is not all that small (especially when you compare it to some of the Samsung sliders) but then again it has TONS of useful features. The metallic finish ensures that keys feel sturdy.

Top view, from L to R: Power connector, cradle connector, 2.5mm headphone jack.

The phone has quite a few different connectors all over the place. The top part of the phone contains the power, cradle and 2.5mm headphone jack (which makes it really easy to use your normal headphones with it!). On the left side it has a small-formfactor USB port which means you don't need a special data cable to connect it with your PC and a Memory Card slot (microSD - 512mb card comes free with the 6110 in UK).

The main screen with the Light Trails theme.

The interface is very well designed and the software really quick (especially when compared with some of the Sony Ericsson phones). The phone comes with Real Player, MP3Player and it also has built in FM-Radio. It comes with QuickOffice and PDFReader application and of course special GPS applications, maps and navigation software. Games are bit boring (just Snake and Marble).

The back view with the slider and camera shutter open, note the GPS antenna.

The main camera on the phone is a 2.0 Megapixel one with flash. It is protected with a shutter. In the above picture the stereo speakers can also be seen below the camera housing. These stereo speakers provide 3-D affect and allow the use of '3-D ringtones'. How useful that feature is, well that is up to you! With the slider open the GPS antenna can also be seen.

The Nokia Navigator map application, note the Navteq and Route 66 logo.

The mapping application uses Route66 software. The GPS is really powerful and was able to do a cold start within 2 minutes. Hot-fix is established equally quickely. The software application is surprisingly powerful for a small phone like this. 2-D/3-D views, landmarks, places of interest, pedestrian option, digital compass and many other features packed into the software. If your operator supports it, you can pass your location on to them and they will dynamically update 'places of interest' within the software, based on your location!

The top-view map with the GPS running.

It is a fairly feature packed phone. I think the phone would have been successful even without the GPS. But the GPS adds that extra punch to the list of features. With a large number of supported countries (with maps) this is the kind of phone which you would WANT to carry with you all over the world!

Without the GPS, the 6110 would have been just another 3.5G smartphone. But with the GPS it becomes much more than a phone.

The Negatives

Well I did not have many complaints with the phone. A minor complaint was a lack of good application software and the fact that a 3.2 megapixel camera would have really hit the spot. Perhaps, also, Nokia could have been a bit less lazy and made a slightly larger screen (rather than re-using the screen from E65!).

The Final Word

If you were looking out for a GPS receiver, you should instead go for this phone. Just think of it as a GPS receiver with a smartphone and camera built into it rather than a smartphone with GPS.

The Road - Thoughts of a Traveller.. through music!

The wide open road has lured many people. Some people take the road in search of fame, fortune or even a simple two square meals. Some take the road for adventure and the infinite possibilities it offers. Some take it because they are forced to use it on their way to work.

The concept of the road leading to my front door has always fascinated me. How if we start following it, who knows where we end up!

Tolkien reminds us:

The Road goes ever on and on

Down from the door where it began.

Now far ahead the Road has gone,

And I must follow, if I can,

Pursuing it with eager feet,

Until it joins some larger way

Where many paths and errands meet.

And whither then? I cannot say.

Similarly Robert Frost tells us:

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Frost also reminds us how important it is to decide which road to take. Tolkien on the other hand stresses on the need to explore and the eager spirit of the true traveller who travels not to reach a destination, but travels to keep follow the road as it bounds ahead of his feet.

As always the poet William Barnes shows us that we ALWAYS have a choice, in his poem Linden Lea:

I be free to go abroad,

Or take again the homeward road.

In the true spirit of the explorer I always used to be fascinated about how as you move away from your house things become less and less familiar.

How among a familiar road unfamiliar sites can be seen. A new secret discovered. A view seen from a different angle. The world changing depending on which road you were on. Different approaches to an intersection of roads.

As a child I used to travel around the highways of North India with my father in our car. I always used to sit in the front. I always used to be fascinated about how subtle the change was as the roads split and met. How first you left the colony, then the area and then finally the city.

The open highway with its small villages through which you would zip at 70-80 kmph, barely registering in your mind. Your attention always on the road ahead.

The slow change in the air, the weather, the smells and that noises. From the quite of the house to the mad rush and pollution of the city and then the wide open spaces of North India! To imagine all this at my doorstep! I just have to follow the road!

But the open road is not always a happy place. It is also a very lonely place. The Beatles have expressed this quite accurately through their song 'The Long and Winding Road':

The long and winding road

That leads to your door

Will never disappear

Ive seen that road before

It always leads me here

Lead me to your door

The wild and windy night

That the rain washed away

Has left a pool of tears

Crying for the day

Why leave me standing here

Let me know the way

The long open road can be a very lonely place. When you are travelling alone or when you loose your travelling companions. Or when the road ahead and behind is lost. When the road leading to your loved one is long behind you. When there is just you and the road.

The beautiful imagery of rain on an open road with a lonely traveller represents the pain of loneliness and a life without love. Where no one is there to show you the way home or to offer you shelter. Where you are alone.

:)

The Road Goes Ever On and On by J.R.R. Tolkien

The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with eager feet,
Until it joins some larger way
Where many paths and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say.


This poem is given in the Lord of the Rings (The Fellowship of the Ring).

It talks about how all roads start from our door. The moment we step out of our door the road is open and free. The road that ends at our door (or begins for that matter!) connects us with a world of infinite possibilities!

Each time we open our front door and start on that road what we don't realise is that the journey might be few minutes long, or it could be a journey for life!

The road keeps meeting other roads and so on.

You could step out of your house and travel anywhere in the world! That is the freedom offered by the humble road that leads to your door!

Linden Lea

LINDEN LEA - “Translated”

Music by Ralph Vaughan Williams
Words by William Barnes

Within the woodlands, flowery gladed,
By the oak tree's mossy moot,
The shining grass-blades, timber-shaded,
Now do quiver under foot;
And birds do whistle overhead,
And water's bubbling in its bed,
And there for me the apple tree
Do lean down low in Linden Lea.

When leaves that lately were a-springing
Now do fade within the copse,
And painted birds do hush their singing
Up upon the timber tops;
And brown-leaved fruit's a-turning red,
In cloudless sunshine, overhead,
With fruit for me, the apple tree
Do lean down low in Linden Lea.

Let other folk make money faster
In the air of dark-roomed towns,
I don't dread a peevish master;
Though no man do heed my frowns,
I be free to go abroad,
Or take again my homeward road
To where, for me, the apple tree
Do lean down low in Linden Lea.


This English Folk Song has been one of my favourites since way back in 1996-97 when I heard it for the first time.

It reminds me of the simple life where you don't need an ipod to enjoy the music of birds or a digital camera to appreciate the beauty of nature. A time when even going to the next town down the road was a big thing. A time when it was easier to amuse ourselves.

The lines which I have highlighted have special significance to me. I like them a lot.

Simple Guide to Maintain Relationships

Each successful relation, be it girlfriend-boyfriend or a simple friendship or a family relation, can only be sustained if it has:

Movement

Stability

Any successful relation is all about maintaining movement and stability.

Relation requires stability to weather the storms which can threaten the bond.

Relation requires movement to prevent stagnation and to carry the bond through problems and issues.

The responsibility lies on the people involved in the relation to take care of the above.

How to provide stability and maintain the movement. That is the key to maintaining a relation.

If you feel that your relation with someone is not going as well as it should be, try and figure out what is lacking. Whether it is the stability or the movement.

Many times you may be involved in a relation which is lacking one of the above. It may be that the two people are not compatible or a relation may not be feasible if the two people involved in it, taken together cannot provide movement and stability. This can happen if say two people involved are only capable of providing stability or movement but not both.

This doesn't mean you break the relation. It may just mean that you should have realistic expectations from it.

The Animal Instinct in me

Suddenly something has happened to me
As I was having my cup of tea
Suddenly I was feeling depressed
I was utterly and totally stressed
Do you know you made me cry
Do you know you made me die

And the thing that gets to me
Is youll never really see
And the thing that freaks me out
Is Ill always be in doubt
It is a lovely thing that we have
It is a lovely thing that we
It is a lovely thing, the animal
The animal instinct

These are a few lines from my favourite song - Animal Instinct by the Cranberries.

A Flower Blooms

As the night ends and the first light of dawn breaks the sky. A flower blooms.

Power of the humble Flower!

The humble flower. So many varieties, shapes, sizes, smells, colours!
Being able to say so many different things.
'Say it with flowers!' That's the power of the humble flower. So delicate, so weak. Yet something that humans cannot do without. Everyone likes flowers (except those who don't like them!).

Flowers can be gifted, bought, eaten, smelled (among other things!).

Flowers give you that boost when you feel like crap. Flowers can give you that comfort when you feel sad. Flowers can give you that enthusiasm when you feel that life is dull.

Flowers have the power of stirring things up!

Send your good friend some flowers! See the reaction! See the surprise!

These days all you need is a credit card and good taste to surprise the special people in your life.

So go ahead! Send someone some flowers! Make their day special and bright! :)

And of course you never know, some flowers might be headed your way right now! ;)

What does it mean to be an Adult?

So what does it mean to be an adult?
Does it mean earning money and surviving on your own, without help from parents?
Does it mean cooking your own food and cleaning your own clothes?
Does it mean taking your own decisions?

I think becoming an adult means shielding your parents from stress, pain and worry. That is what being an adult is about.

Remember when you were a child, your Mom would get up before you, no matter whatever time she slept at night, prepare your breakfast and lunch, then wake you up and send you off to school. She made sure you were comfortable and happy.

Your Dad would be awake before you as well. Getting ready for the day ahead, the toil and labour so that you could have your needs fulfilled. Coming home late in the evening much after you. Tired and exhausted yet happy to see you playing with your toys or watching TV or doing your homework (in case you were an ideal child!).

They were like pillars holding the roof over your head, protecting you from a tough existence.

They had issues many times. They fell ill, they had problems at work, stress, emotional issues. But all the time they never told you how they felt. They never shared all their problems with you. Many issues you were not even aware of. Being a kid you probably didn't even realise that issues existed. You were too happy in your own little storybook world.

That is what being an adult means. When you are able to shield the people you love from your problems. When you are able to take all the stress and show them nothing but a smile. That's what your parents did for you.

One day you will start doing it for them. As they enter the end of their working life and it is time for them to enjoy the fruits of their labour you will start keeping your issues from them. In the beginning it will be small issues like minor illnesses and daily stress which will increase to major issues. You will take their issues as your own. You will make sure they are kept happy and are disturbed as little as possible with problems. You will of course inform them when things go seriously wrong, that is when you do need their support. Hiding problems doesn't mean alienating them. They will always be there to provide support.

When you start treating parental support as a God given privilege rather than a necessity, that is when you can start calling yourself an adult.

PISCESLAB - updated

My website... updated with new photographs and content.

A funny video...

Trying to teach a dog to play the pan-pipe is not easy! ;)

About Diya - The First Venus

Well now my old memories have been triggered.

The first girl I remember, in my life.
Her name was/is Diya. We used to sit together, I think in the 3rd or 4th class.

We used to sit on the first desk in the second row from the door (which was towards right). Our classroom in those days was on the ground floor.

She and me liked a toy in common. It was a pencil sharpener in shape of a telephone, with a plastic wire for the telephone cord and blue buttons.

She left school. I remember her standing up and facing the class as the teacher told us she was leaving. I remember I was a bit shocked to see her go. When she left, I guess I lost all touch with her.

I wonder where she is now and what is she up to?

Pain is a Privilege

I feel sharing pain is a privilege. When you share your pain with someone, then you are elevating them above other people around you. It is a privilege given with great difficulty. It carries heavy responsibility for the person it is given to. It is a privilege not to be accepted without a clear mind.

So if someone shares their pain with you, try and put yourself in their shoes and actually feel what they are feeling. Remember always, you are privileged to see it.

Next time you feel like saying 'I can feel your pain', make sure you actually mean it before you say it.

Next time someone tries to share their pain with you, take it seriously.

Remember also sometimes the sharing process may just bring the person back from the edge of collapse and give them a new lease of life.

A Post Dedicated to G.

She was with me when I was happy, those were the last days of happiness and childish innocence.
She was my partner till 5th class in school. After that I lost contact with her. We were 10 then.
Few months ago, she tracked me down through Orkut. We were 26 then.

We re-connected after 16 years. It felt as if the years just hadn't passed. That we were still the same. Somewhere within us we were still kids and still happy and still innocent.

Yet many things had changed. I had learnt the meaning of love, pain and death. She had gotten married.

She used to appreciate my air-plane drawings and I used to be curious about 'Misha' magazines which she used to read. We used to cheat at exams.

I think she will always remain my special friend. The first person I bonded with. The person who knows and shared a part of me which no amount of pain or problems can take away.

The part of me which I keep locked away deep inside me.

Thank you G. for making those memories special.

:)

A Picnic!

The Beginning of the End

The Lords of Football!

Love, Hope, Hate and Faith

At one time, I used to be a great believer in Love and Hope. But then Life taught me a few good lessons.

Made me realise all these good emotions are not really good. They always make us more dependent on external factors and circumstances. The main reason is because we humanise these emotions. Pure Love becomes Conditional Love. Hope becomes Expectation.
Very few people are capable of Pure, Unconditional Love or Hope without Expectations. It takes a lot of experience to achieve this.

There is one emotion that we are very good at adapting in the purest form. That is Hate. We tend to keep Hate in our hearts and bring it out without reason or external influences. Hate gives us the warm feeling in our heart. When our insides start burning and we direct our thoughts in the purest form of hate towards ourselves and our surroundings. This emotion doesn't make us dependent on external factors. We can express hate in most situations easily.

Then comes Faith. Faith is the one thing that doesn't need dependence on anything external. You can have Faith in yourself, in God or in Luck. These things don't have an external manifestation. They do not depend on thoughts or actions of others.

What is the resultant of this post? Are we never to Love or Hope and only to Hate and Keep the Faith?
In my opinion, Love and Hope in their humanised forms are VERY dangerous. Conditional Love and Expectations make us do so many things. Then one day when the Condition is gone and Expectations have been shattered we feel as if Life has taken a Left turn. But since most people would find it difficult to have unconditional love and hope, I guess hurt and pain is the price we must always be prepared to pay to be able to love and hope. Therefore love and hope hide a negative aspect under their positive shell.

Hate is one of my favourite emotions to study. There is something powerful about it. Hate can motivate people in ways that Love cannot. Hate hides a positive aspect in its negative shell. Hate is good as long as it is harnessed. The same way burning fuel is good if its energy is harnessed.
A side effect of hate is purification. When you emerge from the flames of hate many unnecessary things have been burnt away making you feel lighter. Hate always starts with an external source. You hate someone, you hate something. But then if it is allowed to grow. It quickly takes over everything. Slowly, hate is the one thing that you feel.

At its purest there is perfect Hate for yourself. Where no external source or target is needed. You just hate yourself. That is when the true emergence takes place. IF and ONLY IF, you think at that point of time 'why do I hate myself'. In the light of hate are your smallest flaws revealed. Once revealed they can be removed.

Faith is something one should always have. It is one thing that the person has control on. Faith comes from within. It doesn't need an external source. God doesn't advertise, yet people have faith in God. Whatever comes from within you, you can control.

I am sure many people will not like me posting such a post, but this is what life has taught me. If you were lucky enough to get a different lesson, then please do share with me.
:)

And Life Takes a Left Turn....

Sometimes life can feel like an endless drive down a highway. Things keep happening with clockwork regularity. You get up, you go to work, come back, eat, sleep etc. Just like on highway you encounter certain signs on a regular basis. Signs for rest-stops, traffic signs and signs giving directions. You know where you are headed and you know how to get there.

But ever so often you come across a blockage on the road or some other problem that compels you to take a left turn. That is what I mean by 'Life takes a left turn'. In such a situation you are sure of where you want to go but not about how you will get there. That is when all our plans shatter and one feels like one has gone off the map. That is when the regularity of things is broken and luck/destiny/fate slips into the situation.

When you encounter such periods in life. Where it feels as if you have driven off the map and there is nothing to guide you. Just relax. Remember this quote:

"...with no other light or guide than the one that burned in my heart."
- The Dark Night of the Soul by St. John of the Cross

You always have a guide with you. That is the light that burns in your heart. This is not the light of love. This is not the light of hope. Those things make you dependent on external factors.

This is the light of faith. Faith in yourself and your luck/fate/destiny/God. That wherever you end up that is where you were meant to be. That your guiding light is never wrong.

Keep the faith... remember.

A Question of Love

The other day a question came to my mind.

Is it possible to fall in love with someone whom you have never met?

Of course humans are very good at fooling themselves so you may (on the surface) fall in love with someone who you have never met. Two questions arise from this:

- Can you actually call it love in the traditional sense?

- What kind of a foundation does this love give the people involved to build a relationship on?

What I think is, that it is possible to fall in love with a persons mind and soul without meeting them. But it never does provide a stable platform for a serious relationship. It is the physical side that rules everything. Much more than mind and soul. It is the physical stuff that nag us. It is that which may become a point to fight on.


Ideally, in love, there should be a balance of the mental with the physical. To complete the trinity of love one must fall for the person's mind, body and soul! Therefore to build towards a relation and to fall in love completely with a person, you need to match the mental with the physical. Only when you completely love a person, can you say you are in true love.

If you love a person's mind and soul only, then they can be your soul-mate but may not be able to be your life-partner because life is very much physical.

Life-partner is not only a person who you want to talk to everyday, but is the person you want to sleep and get-up with, eat and drink with, live and die with for the rest of this life.

A non-physical (in other words purely long distance) relationship has one big big advantage. It has the same effect as the setting of the Sun. Just as when the Sun sets the stars and the universe around us is revealed the same way when the physical is taken away or hidden from us, that is when the person's nature and thoughts are revealed.

The stars are always there just that the sun outshines them, making them difficult to see. The same way sometimes the physical side of things (looks etc.) makes us loose focus of the things that usually don't change a lot with age, like nature, mind and soul of the person. A purely long distance relation doesn't allow us to focus on the physical side of things for too long and makes us
look into the person within the body. This is both a good thing as well as bad, as I have already discussed.


The original question shall, therefore, remain unanswered because there is no single right or wrong answer for this question. I feel the answer depends on the people involved and the circumstances surrounding them.