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.

Chak De India - We like to dream!

While watching this movie, I too go caught up in the story and the fantasy of India winning the Women's Hockey World Cup (!). But as the movie ended my brain started screaming 'wake up!'

The girls are cute and the casting was done really well. A mainstream movie, for once, highlights real life issues like the hypocrisy of people, the segregation based on States and the problems faced by people from the North-East. It tries to show achievement of great things by a diverse group of people. Addresses the neglect of all sports in India except Cricket especially the women's teams.
But most of the issues seem to be inserted for the heck of it. One doesn't see or hear of them ever again (for example women in sports and the problems faced by people from North-East). These seem to be inserted to appeal to the people and to try and ground this movie in reality.

They also used some real hockey players (State and National Teams) in this movie. Komal Chautala is a state and national level player (real name: Chitrashi Rawat). But no where in the movie do they acknowledge the fact. Many people I am sure would have been un-aware of this fact. They could have shown it along with the titles.

The movies tries to be about overcoming odds and success over difficult circumstances/fighting the system. But in the end it is about Shah-rukh Khan getting his respect back. The movie ends and begins with Shah-rukh Khan. After winning the 'Women's World Cup' the last we see of the Indian team is their arrival at the airport! We don't even see how their families react or what happens to their problems!

The movie also zips through certain places without actually making any sense. For example the issue with 'man to man marking' seems to have been added in just to allow the girl with the ego to re-enter the team. The entire scene is just about 1min 10sec long and the main tactic for beating man-to-man marking seems to be few hand signals.

As a friend pointed out, the real players are overshadowed by the professional actors who were cast for the role. Furthermore all the major roles have gone to professional actors.

To conclude this, I think this movie tried to show everything. The scope was just too big. There have been many successful 'sports' movies with much smaller scope. For example: Hip Hip Hurray, Lagaan and Jo Jeeta Wahi Sikandar. This tells us that to prove a point one need not show the team winning a World Cup. One can base it much closer to reality rather than make the movie into one long dream!

But in the end I hope the people don't think of it as a dream and once the movie is over, go back to their lives and narrow world views. Hope this does bring a change in people. Change is one thing that we need, as a nation, as a people, as a race.

Change in the way we dream, the change in the way we think about certain things and a change in what we believe.

My Perfect Two Week Wedding!

My perfect wedding should have lots of mystery.
It should have a duality about it. One side for the public, one side for the families and close friends.
So have three functions:

1) Cocktails / Dancing - for my alcohol loving friends! And family members and general public! The best booze, the best music and the best food!

2) Marriage - for everyone. Night muhurat (I wish!) because I feel night weddings are amazing and mysterious. As the new day breaks you also enter into a new life!

3) Reception - the rocking grand finale. In a VERY VERY posh place. Formal and informal both. So that my friends get a chance to dress up in their best clothes!


The key is not to have these functions in one go. But to space them out! So one weekend have the cocktails then next weekend have the marriage and the weekend after that have the reception.
That will give everyone time to recover and will allow having small gatherings in between. Therefore by the end of the 2 week wedding my friends and family will know my wife-to-be through and through and hopefully I will know the people on my wife's side as well!

It might pose certain problems because out of station visitors may not be able to get away for so long. But well, 2 functions can be combined I guess.. or spaced across a weekend.

Of course in all this one has to take the girl's opinion into mind as well!

Talking about weddings.. here is what a friend suggested:

PK: c u can try something like getting married on moon

or may be in a space ship

me: :D

waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah

u mean to say

PK: :) hahahhaha

me: next 40-50 year i am not gonna get married?

:D coz i am sure all this wont be possible any time soon... even if it becomes possible in the next 10 years it will be expensive n i will have to wait to EARN that much money! ;)

Air of Triumph!

Title: Air of Triumph

An inspirational picture. The background of this picture may not be clear to someone who has not played this game. What you see is a human knight in armour standing on a rock. What you don't see is that in front of him is a vast Orc army waiting to attack. Behind him is the equally big Human army.

Whenever I am sad, depressed due to some big problem that has just landed in my lap, I look at this picture and put myself in the shoes (or armour!) of the knight. Looking through the helmet, above the shield, at the vast army ahead of me. Each one waiting to take me down. The heat. The sweat. The blazing sun. I always imagine the air of triumph. To motivate me. To make me fight on. However bleak the odds might be. However tough things might seem.

Also it reminds me. I have my own army. People who care about me, my intelligence, my experience, my luck, my good deeds. These are my army. They will back me up.

God willing, I shall triumph over my problems and live to fight another day.

It is from the game WarCraft III. More desktop art from the game (including this picture) can be found here.

AC-130H 'Spectre' gunship

The AC-130H Spectre gunship is one of my favourite military aircraft. I just love the concept! Combination of artillery and aircraft!

First some data:

Primary

Function: Close air support, air interdiction and force protection
Builder: Lockheed/Boeing Corp.
Power Plant: Four Allison T56-A-15 turboprop engines
Thrust: 4,910 shaft horsepower each engine
Length: 97 feet, 9 inches (29.8 meters)
Height: 38 feet, 6 inches (11.7 meters)
Wingspan: 132 feet, 7 inches (40.4 meters)
Speed: 300 mph (Mach .4) (at sea level)
Range: Approximately 1,300 nautical miles; unlimited with air refueling.
Ceiling: 25,000 feet (7,576 meters
Maximum Take-off Weight: 155,000 pounds (69,750 kilograms)
Armament: AC-130H: 40mm and 105mm cannons; AC-130U: 40mm and 105mm cannons and 25mm Gatling gun. AC-130Us are being retrofitted with 30mm Mk-44 single barrel cannons in place of the 40mm cannon and the 25mm Gatling gun.
Crew: AC-130U - Five officers (pilot, co-pilot, navigator, fire control officer, electronic warfare officer) and eight enlisted (flight engineer, TV operator, infrared detection set operator, loadmaster, four aerial gunners)
Deployment Date: AC-130H, 1972; AC-130U, 1995
Unit Cost: AC-130H, $132.4 million; AC-130U, $190 million (fiscal 2001 constant dollars)
Inventory: Active duty: AC-130H, 8; AC-130U, 17; Reserve, 0; ANG, 0

Here is a picture:
Here is a video:

This is the kind of firepower you would want to call in, if you have irritating neighbours. This baby can flatten stuff from miles away in the air, that too quite neatly. No messy bombs required. Its 105 mm canon firing from such height gives the round large amounts of kinetic energy. If more precise targeting is required then one can always use the Gatling guns (firing about 600 rounds a minute) with its 25mm calibre or the 40mm canon.

Brings water to my mouth! :D

Check out the video for a demonstration of its fire-power.