Digging for Meaning

i am done with Paulo Coelho. whats the point of reading something that doesn't question you, makes you think or provokes you? My thoughts and rationale is a bit similar to what paulo advocates through his writing. its creepy to find out that your thoughts are not yours alone, they are not as original as you thought them to be. that, perhaps unconsciously i might have absorbed these thought streams from the milieu. the whole thing in effect questions my own thoughts a lil more piquantly, cuz the simplicity and calmness of these philosophies that he tries to provoke makes them look a little less credible and almost moonie'ish . that is perhaps one reason why i never read more than 2 books by one author. (well i read 3 of Salman Rushdie's but then again his books weren't just fantastic education, but brilliant entertainment to me as well. :D ) a book educates me, questions me and holds me in its grip for some while, when everything around me, i gaze through the book's ...

on the way back home today, i was startled with a little green and black thing flying in front of my face. i quickly jerked back with a step backwards. it took a moment for me to realise that it was a butterfly. well, it has been quite a while since i had seen one. a butterfly in this gas chamber we call mumbai, should be wonderful sight, a rarity to capture forever in one's heart n head. but, the gas chamber has made the butterfly such a rarity, that like every alien thing, our brain forgets to understand beauty and the first instinct it activates is that of killing or steering clear of the abnormality. lessons to be learnt: 1. dont become an abnormality, atleast in other's eye. don't be a 'freak'. 2. instincts know no beauty. if you must show, educate beauty to others, do it gradually.

just a thought.. i don't understand why all of a sudden a foreign government's election result has caused such high media hype in US. People who don't even know where iran is, are 'protesting' (cyberspace can be a playground for the utterly idiotic and gullible out-of-lifers ) against apparent rigging of election. 'travesty of democracy'.. bull crap, funny how scores of other dictatorships or rigged election elected governments with help of US never get the kind of coverage that iran is getting now. do i see here a ploy by US to create ground for it to go for Iran? hm.. saying the obvious. free press they say.. one can engineer a thought culture just as easy these days, as perhaps it was 100 years back. we haven't become any smarter.. ___________________________________ Social protest as a measure of democracy i think that protests happening at a place are a measure of democracy. well then what about Lalgarh in west bengal? what naxalites are doing, is t...

while traveling. while sitting idle alone. while walking on the road in the middle of night. the crowd of thoughts vanish and what remains are the loose ends of life that need resolved. its beautiful the way thoughts starts untangling the commotion and living behind a crisp reflection of the chiseled self. it requires no efforts from me. they are like strong waves on the beach, which takes away the everyday trivial thoughts (to which we are wedded, beyond our control.), and uplift me into the simple domain of life (as in 'alive'). hence these days i relish the long local train travel, the road back home to Nasik, the walk on city streets after work. The tired body is not a good home for mundane thoughts. As it expels them, the nourishing self-reflecting thoughts swim in and comforts the soul. __________________________________ The excellent trip to Leh has spoiled me. i so thoroughly enjoyed the chance meetings with people, the absolute no planning, being alone at times, that...