Dance

“Dance as though no one is watching you. Love as though you have never been hurt before. Sing as though no one can hear you. Live as though heaven is on earth.”

Book Review

Name:Tuesdays with Morrie

Author:Mitch Albom

I liked the book a lot. It is so beautifully written, discussing the basic questions of life.A non-fiction story of a professor and a student .The professor is suffering from ALS(amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) and  is soon  going to die. But he enjoys  his death and tries to be motivated as much as he can. They  talk about  world, feeling sorry for oneself,regrets,death,family,emotion,the  fear of aging,money,marriage,culture and forgiveness.The answers to each of these questions  is very thought  provoking.

I have written down the questions and  will give it  a thought from time to time. But one thing is clear  every one in  his life comes across a  Morrie  who  shows you the  way and leaves it to you to make a choice.

Some lines from the book were really wonderful and so i quote a few of them here

"Dying is only thing to be sad over ,Mitch.living unhappily is something else.So many of the people who come to visit me are unhappy"

"' But by throwing yourself into these emotions, by allowing yourself to dive in, all the way, over your head even, you experience them fully and completely. You know what pain is. You know what love is. You know what grief is. And only then can you say, 'All right.' I have experienced that emotion. I recognize that emotion. Now I need to detach from that emotion for a moment."

"Have  you ever really had a teacher ?One who saw you as a raw but precious thing,a jewel that, with wisdom,could be polished to a proud shine? if you are lucky enough to find your way to such teacher ,you will always find  your way back.Sometimes it is only in your head .Sometimes it is right  along their beds."

Book Review

Book Name :Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance.

Author:Robert M Pirsig.

This was one book which was difficult to understand. The title seems like it will talk much about biking but it is predominantly philosophy.

It is an unforgettable narration of  a summer motorcycle trip across America's North West(Idaho,Montana,Dakota,Minnesota) undertaken by a father and his young son.

In the book the author talks about quality, defines it , explains it , reasons it and ultimately sticks to a definition and tries to explain it. His say on quality was,"quality is the continuing stimulus which causes us to create the world we live in. All of it. Every last bit of it."

He talks about two basic approaches in life. First is the romantic approach where he gives the example of his friend who never takes much interest in understanding the parts of the bike and always prefers to go to a mechanic for getting the bike repaired. The approach is the classical approach where  you  know everything about your bike and  you try to maintain it every time .In the same context he talks about quality where he classifies  quality into Romantic and  Classic. He further subdivides the classic into Subjective(Mind) and Objective(Matter).

It will be better to quote some of the best lines :

"To live only for some future goal is shallow.It's the side of the mountain which sustain life,not the top.Here's where the things grow.But of course without the top  you  can't have nay sides.It's the top that defines the sides."

"What is good,Phaderus ,and what is not good-need we ask anyone to tell us these things."

"Coastal people never really means to the landlocked inland people -what a great distant dream it,is present but unseen in the deepest level of subconsciousness, and when they arrive at the ocean and the conscious images are compared with the subconscious  dream  there is a sense  of defeat  at  having  come  so far  to be stopped by a mystery  that can never be fathomed.The source  of  it all.

Party

The meaning of a party when i was a kid was always that Samosa chat I used to have with my brother. Probably that rs. 5 dish was so meaningful then. On any arbit evening we would have an eye contact and so the plan was on. We did not have to say that we are going for the snacks, it was obvious. I never knew from where he used to get that money and he will also never know from where i managed mine.

I will make sure that we go for the party again this time, sit on the table and desperately wait for that chat with the mouth getting wet.

Thanks

Whenever I sit and think about the last 4 years, it seems a dream.For the first time i started enjoying life. I did the things that I never had done in the other life.May be the right time to thank few people who introduced me to things which soon became my passion.

1. The first english song was,"comfortably numb" and i had heard it in Bl's room and ever since the list has just grown bigger.

2. Now every Saturday i wait for the EPL something which will always be there for the time to come. Thanks to Dedh for introducing it to me in the second year.

3.Always had wanted to read books but never had enough money to buy , probably it started with the Ganga hostel library and Middle.

4. Had never touched a computer before and I still remember Hypo teaching me to rename a folder. Probably that was something which triggered the  need to learn the basics.

 5.Topa for his carefree nature had always inspired me.

Country Roads

Every now and then I think of the trip to Arunachal. I must say as far as traveling is concerned it was the most exciting. I realized this a month ago when I was headed for Yercaud. No doubt the roads were good but the excitement was lacking. Every time  , every 5 km you would see a milestone which would make you feel that you are closer to the destination. I found them very distracting because though heading on the right road was necessary but the destination was never the purpose. The straight road lacked the adventure we had at every turn in the Arunachal roads. 

There are many ways of seeing this, some people may feel more real more, comfortable traveling on the straight road because there is always that security, that peacefulness about that road. But dancing roads are wonderful. You may call people who constantly change their paths as psycho but you will never understand their quest for the new. When every turn is different, uncertain, when every tree is of different color and on the same road the sun shines differently at different places you are forced to exult with joy. 

May be this is something to do with quality, because it is something which cannot be unified. To some degree two different people may agree upon the definition of quality but they can not agree on all aspects of it. Stability,  composure, goal, destination are the quality of the rational but changing paths time after time can never be irrational. After all these are terms which the society has coined to mold people into a way which they think is real and has quality.But quality is something left to you, for you to define and for you to follow.

Journey man

The date and the occasion has been engraved on the Wine cork and the cork is now resting in the collection box.

Another territory explored, though "The do list " is still infinite.

Yet all experience is an arch wherethro'

Gleams that untraveled world,whose margin fades

for ever and for ever when i move.

- From Ulysses by Lord Alfred Tennyson

Chatter

Me: Hi God u there ?
Me: Come on you are there just now you changed your status message to,"Engineers don't ping"
Me: U always prefer babes haan, come on be a man I want to ask you something.

God: Hi Abhinav after a long time whats happening ?
Me: He he I knew you will talk, you desperately need us there. But to be frank,  no one will join you because life really sucks at your place man.
God:U again started!!

Me: Listen last time I told you about what my Father says, may be i will remind you again,"You can't become an engineer, if you don't drink."
Me: But you went offline seeing this. I just wanted to help you out.  Open some good pubs at your place I am sure your problem will be solved.

God:I am leaving ....

Me: Are.. wait i wanted to talk about  something else. Send me an offline message antime you want to discuss on this topic.

God:Say fast I gotta go.

Me: Again Rakhi pinged, haan, come on she is doing wierd things these days , I don't know what suggestions you are giving her.
Me: See I am bugged by this Buddha fellow, what do you feel about him.

God:He is one of the few people I like.

Me: Ya and you also like Monica Belluci and dislike our race.
Me: Was reading this quote by him,"Live your life in happiness, even though those around you lead lives which are unhealthy, and wish to spread their illness to you. Be Happiness itself."

God:Be specific , I gotta go !!!

Me:Ok is drinking beer unhealthy by any chance ?
Me:Can you connect me to him so that we may have a group chat?
ME:Hey please  tell Diana also to join, her views will be great.
Me:Oh you again go offline ........See Rakhi is spoiling you , next time think of an answer and come and ya remember my proposal.

Book Review

Book name:Angela's Ashes(Winner of the Pulitzer prize)

Author: Frank McCourt

The book is about Mccourt's childhood.The place is Limerick,Ireland where it constantly rains and it is hard to keep dry. 20 years of pain and suffering.His father was a alcoholic and drank away whatever money he had. 3 of his 7 siblings died of hunger and malnutrition.He himself escaped death when he was lucky to fight back from a terrible Typhoid. Then he had a terrible Conjunctivitis as a outcome of picking so much of coal.

He lived in a house infested with rats and pests. The lavatory of the street was near the entrance of his home and any normal man would have long died of the stench.For many years they  managed from the money they got from the Christian societies.Having tea and bread for years and a Pigs head for Christmas dinner was a shame.He liked his father in the morning when he would tell him stories but hated him when he made them sing patriotic songs in the night after getting drunk.

Slowly he grew older and at the age of 15 he got a job as a telegram delivery boy. Then he did a couple of other jobs but the purpose was to save money for New York. The book ends with him leaving for New York where he begins a new life.