Digging for Meaning

I am surprised at myself - at my surprises and the lack of its reflections. Its been 2 days since I came from Finland, my first visit to Europe. While going through my photographs and videos of the trip, I was surprised by the total absence of pictures of life in Europe. Finland surprised me with the beauty of its people. It was in their upright walk, their immaculate dresses, their ever present smile, the amazingly helpful nature and sheer handsomeness. It was in the many lakes, the crisp air and the one might-be-aurora miracle of nature on the norther horizon. It was in the beautiful architecture of its old (new by Parisian standards thought) buildings, its nordic walking/ biking citizenry and so many more things. And it is exactly these very things that I have not photographed at all. Well, yes, I am not very comfortable taking pictures of unknown people - I feel it is amoral to take pictures of others without their knowing, and even if they know, publishing it online withou...

Levi's has come with another commercial from their 'Go forth' campaign. Here's an embedded video of the same. It instigated me to write what I felt about such advertisements, in the form of a poem. It follows the video, please scroll down. An empty shell of decaf coffee and air conditioned adventures. Running in the city streets stamping out mindlessly images of its own. All the running flattening the world into a 2D image-nerium from a living breathing 3D world of yesterday. 'You are a kid' & 'you are the next living leader of the world' and all that lies in between is a piece of cloth that drapes beautifully and consequentially. The 21st century gods in jeans and T-shirts and shades smile their blessings on you - you whose image is now as big as those very god's. And smiling sideways, the gods bestow powers on the soles of your designer shoes and the threads of the Made-in-Bangladesh shirts. The global dreams ...

Holiness What does it mean to be holy? Is it supreme happiness? Is it an ability to help others? Is it clairvoyance? Is it wisdom? Is it purity & unity of thought and action? Is it an ability to influence? What is holiness? At Kee monastery, we met these wonderful monks. Most of them have spent their entire lives here. The one with halo hails from Kibber. He has been a monk here since he was a kid. He had such an infectious and ready smile, it was hard not to smile along. He was curious about us. His curiosity was ego less. He was down to earth and unassuming.  The first time I saw the halo in the picture, I thought it couldn't be. Perhaps, its just a lens flair. Or is my doubt, stemming from my ego - that holiness must have accompanying grandeur. Flair or no flair, there is certainly something for me to learn here. Perhaps holiness exists in the rank of men and women - people like us. Its in their acceptance of themselves, that they find their holines...