Point to Ponder

"Beauty is a summation of the parts working together in such a way that nothing is needed to be added, taken away or altered"

Elio Carletti (1925 - 1980)

Enigma

A mountain bathed in moonlight,
Bone chilling minus 9 degrees,
Howling Himalayan wind...

...Desolate, Intense & Stunning

I love wild cats!

P.S. The Mysterious Ones !!!

02 October 2008

After months of non stop work, Gandhi Jayanti's holiday came as a pleasant surprise. A much need holiday that I used to withdraw within myself and ponder over the events that have clogged my mind's bandwidth.

The conclusion - I need the follows:

Professional
1. Long term professional goal and plan
2. More money

Personal
3. Be less trusting
4. Be more logical & practical
5. Be less empathic
6. Learn to detach myself

Health
7. Need to take care of myself a lot more
8. Peace of mind. Need to unwind and relax

In short I need a renewed life (one without excess baggage) and to kick start that I need a holiday!

Midnight Visitor

Slippery

Okay...I goofed up!

I wished an acquaintance of mine 'many happy returns of the day' ... errr.... It was her wedding day!

Hell I never really liked that son of a goat anyway.

Just when I thought I was unique ... ;-)

Ode to the Nice Guys

Composition of a Wharton Undergraduate

This is a tribute to the nice guys. The nice guys that finish last, that never become more than friends, that endure hours of whining and bitching about what assholes guys are, while disproving the very point. This is dedicated to those guys who always provide a shoulder to lean on but restrain themselves to tentative hugs, those guys who hold open doors and give reassuring pats on the back and sit patiently outside the changing room at department stores. This is in honor of the guys that obligingly reiterate how cute/beautiful/smart/funny/sexy their female friends are at the appropriate moment, because they know most girls need that litany of support. This is in honor of the guys with open minds, with laid-back attitudes, with honest concern. This is in honor of the guys who respect a girl’s every facet, from her privacy to her theology to her clothing style.

This is for the guys who escort their drunk, bewildered female friends back from parties and never take advantage once they’re at her door, for the guys who accompany girls to bars as buffers against the rest of the creepy male population, for the guys who know a girl is fishing for compliments but give them out anyway, for the guys who always play by the rules in a game where the rules favor cheaters, for the guys who are accredited as boyfriend material but somehow don’t end up being boyfriends, for all the nice guys who are overlooked, underestimated, and unappreciated, for all the nice guys who are manipulated, misled, and unjustly abandoned, this is for you.

This is for that time she left 40 urgent messages on your cell phone, and when you called her back, she spent three hours painstakingly dissecting two sentences her boyfriend said to her over dinner. And even though you thought her boyfriend was a chump and a jerk, you assured her that it was all ok and she shouldn’t worry about it. This is for that time she interrupted the best killing spree you’d ever orchestrated in GTA3 to rant about a rumor that romantically linked her and the guy she thinks is the most repulsive person in the world. And even though you thought it was immature and you had nothing against the guy, you paused the game for two hours and helped her concoct a counter-rumor to spread around the floor. This is also for that time she didn’t have a date, so after numerous vows that there was nothing “serious” between the two of you, she dragged you to a party where you knew nobody, the beer was awful, and she flirted shamelessly with you, justifying each fit of reckless teasing by announcing to everyone: “oh, but we’re just friends!” And even though you were invited purely as a symbolic warm body for her ego, you went anyways. Because you’re nice like that.

The nice guys don’t often get credit where credit is due. And perhaps more disturbing, the nice guys don’t seem to get laid as often as they should. And I wish I could logically explain this trend, but I can’t. From what I have observed on campus and what I have learned from talking to friends at other schools and in the workplace, the only conclusion I can form is that many girls are just illogical, manipulative bitches. Many of them claim they just want to date a nice guy, but when presented with such a specimen, they say irrational, confusing things such as “oh, he’s too nice to date” or “he would be a good boyfriend but he’s not for me” or “he already puts up with so much from me, I couldn’t possibly ask him out!” or the most frustrating of all: “no, it would ruin our friendship.” Yet, they continue to lament the lack of datable men in the world, and they expect their too-nice-to-date male friends to sympathize and apologize for the men that are jerks. Sorry, guys, girls like that are beyond my ability to fathom. I can’t figure out why the connection breaks down between what they say (I want a nice guy!) and what they do (I’m going to sleep with this complete ass now!). But one thing I can do, is say that the nice-guy-finishes-last phenomenon doesn’t last forever. There are definitely many girls who grow out of that train of thought and realize they should be dating the nice guys, not taking them for granted. The tricky part is finding those girls, and even trickier, finding the ones that are single.

So, until those girls are found, I propose a toast to all the nice guys. You know who you are, and I know you’re sick of hearing yourself described as ubiquitously nice. But the truth of the matter is, the world needs your patience in the department store, your holding open of doors, your party escorting services, your propensity to be a sucker for a pretty smile. For all the crazy, inane, absurd things you tolerate, for all the situations where you are the faceless, nameless hero, my accolades, my acknowledgement, and my gratitude go out to you. You do have credibility in this society, and your well deserved vindication is coming.

Eye Opener...

Sometimes we refuse to see the obvious and for a couple of months I had been doing just that. It eventually took a trip in the hills of Garhwal for realization to dawn that I needed to visit a ophthalmologist.

So last Saturday I found myself registering at a posh South Delhi eye clinic. The very suave doctor made sure that I understood how our deteriorating environment coupled with my unhealthy lifestyle and erratic hours were the reasons for my slightly blurred headlights. So on Sunday afternoon, following the good doctor's advice (not that I had a choice in the matter) I found myself peering into a mirror at my bespectacled face. Needless to say it helped.

Later that evening armed with my brand new visionary arsenal, I settled down to watch some TV. It struck me as I flicked through the movie channels ... in fact it came like a lightening bolt...! Catherine Zeta Jones, Nicole Kidman, Rene Zellweger even Salma Hayek ... none of them looked the same! Age had effected what I thought were flawless faces, I could now make out their wrinkles even through the multi layered makeup.
I know this sounds foolish but what the hell, some myths are just not worth breaking!

Having witnessed the incredible effect of my new found eyes, I decided to take a break from clear vision and enjoy a slice of some freshly baked pizza. So there I was peacefully propped up in front of my TV on a couch made of pillows and with a strong current of dessert cooler air blowing into my face. I was carefully sprinkling my delicious looking pizza slice with oregano & chili flakes when it happened suddenly and without a warning. The mouth watering but deadly mixture of pizza seasoning flew up and went straight into my eyes @#$%^&*!!!!!!!

It was agonising. I do not have words to define how my eyes burned. Perhaps the reader will understand when I say that I ran to the bathroom and plunged my head in a bucket full of water and promptly set a new record by not surfacing for 10 minutes! (Indian Olympic Association, are you listening) For the next 2 hours my eyes were bloodshot red and resembled a real time photographic aberration. I guess even the resident ghost of my supposedly haunted house must have been scarred out of her wits to look me in the eye.

Those were the adventures of my first day of new visions and clear horizons. I now await another day of revelations.

Blurred Lines

http://rayshmadoodlez.blogspot.com/2008/07/karma-chameleon.html
The debate continues ...

Why do I even try ?

At times no matter how hard you try, some people never understand. I don't know if they do so on purpose or they are really confused or they have some inane and obscure motive of their own ... They point is that they simply refuse to see the logic. Makes me wonder why I tried in the first place.

I understand the concept of life coming back full circle but starting all over again from square one ... I draw the line.

Destiny And It's Manifestations

Destiny in actuality is nothing more than our perception of reality.

Linda Goodman might find my opinion extremely irritating but believe me it's only about the way we look at circumstances that life presents to us. It's like believing that a glass tumbler is half full or half empty.

It's completely in our hands to interpret and analyse a situation, determine our choices and thereby a course of action. The result of this hard work is something that we then attribute to destiny and find a convenient way to blame a nonexistent entity for our incorrect and often absurd perceptions.

Moral of the story: We truly are in control of destiny's manifestations ... after all its only a matter of perception. And we can manage that ... can we ?

One & Many

"Logic clearly dictates that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few"
- Captain Spock, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan

True but not universally correct. Why ?

At the grave risk of sounding extremely selfish, crazy with a micro outlook, I would like to say that unless the needs of the one are satisfied, the needs of the many can never be satiated.

P.S. - Did I say 'grave risk' ... I don't really care as long I believe I am correct.

While you wait for magic...

"...You need to be a little more mad, less sensible and...i dunno..."

Look Again !

She: The only thing standing between me and absolute happiness is Reality !

Me: The only thing standing between absolute happiness and reality is You ... Look Again !

Oooooooh ... Aaaaaaaah ...

Earth calling Moon Rocket ....
General question No. 9 !

Why O why do women absolutely drool over soft toys and discuss their varieties in the most animated fashion? They sound almost orgasmic !

Prize Catch

This is for all the women who dream of being 'Trophy Wives'

'The golden rule if you are a trophy wife is that you do not stray while the old man is still alive.'
- Sally Burton

PS - Sally the actor Richard Burton a year before he died.

Carnival of Rust

D' you breath the name of your saviour in your hour of need,
n' taste the blame if the flavor should remind you of greed,
Of implication, insinuation and ill will, till' you cannot lie still,
In all this turmoil, before red cape and foil come closing in for a kill

Come feed the rain
Cos I'm thirsty for your love dancing underneath the skies of lust

Yeah feed the rain
Cos without your love my life ain't nothing but this carnival of rust

It's all a game, avoiding failure, when true colors will bleed
All in the name of misbehavior and the things we don't need
I lust for after no disaster can touch us anymore
And more than ever, I hope to never fall, where enough is not the same it was before

Come feed the rain...
Don't walk away, don't walk away, oh, when the world is burning
Don't walk away, don't walk away, oh, when the heart is yearning

- Poets Of The Fall

Aha !

Today's fortune: You will always have good luck in your personal affairs.

QW: Wow ! Now I am really waiting :-)

Really...

If you have false hopes and continue to harbour them, then you are daft.

Addicted

Coffee is the best thing God created & then proclaimed 'This will save your life' !

Thats my excuse ...

Damn

It just keeps getting worse ... will this week ever end?

I'm Tired ... Seriosuly

... Rammed Car
Dripping Wet Phone
Grouchy Boss
Overworked
Underpaid
Backache
Headache
Endless Desires ...

I don't believe in destiny but if its really something then is this it?
I need a break !!! Please...

Artificial Inflation

Earth calling Moon Rocket ...
General question No. 8 !

Why O why do some women ... Okay hold on ... This deserves a story.

It so happened that a certain Son of Adam was walking down an endless corridor of a newly developed mall in the National Capital Territory of Delhi. As his eyes flicked between a flashy Levis store and a sombre looking book shop, something caught his attention.

Stepping out of the Levis store was a polite looking young lady. There was something odd about her. In fact what was obvious about her was that compared to the rest of her proportions she was rather well endowed ... err extremely well endowed.

Now we all know that staring is not taken well in our civilised society and through the course of the human evolution the male of our species have developed a special instinct known as the ‘Scan’. Scanning enables men to check out the opposite sex in a mere 'off hand manner' without raising any eyebrows. Naturally our Son of Adam too was born with this quality.

So in complete accordance to the will of Mother Nature he scanned the lady who by this time was barely a couple of feet away from him. What he saw jolted him. Across the front of her T-Shirt were the words – “Juicy Juicy Mangoes ...”

Perhaps in the days of yore and in the Garden of Eden this Son of Adam might have reacted differently but in today’s day and age of rising inflation all he wondered was ... Produce of China or USA?

Life & Learnings

Sometimes life can teach you the cruelest of lessons.

One of them is ... Hoping against hope is foolish because hope is not strategy.
And I'm not likely to forget this one.

The Last Resort

Sometimes I feel completely torn between the fantasies of my past and the impracticality of their future.

Will the bubble ever burst? And if yes, what will it take to break this reverie?

Will a 160 feet bungee jump liberate my soul? Or a 270 degree swing at 150 kmph wake me up? Or will it take a skydive from 10,000 feet ... The truth is I don't know.

Till then, life is all about 'The Little Pink Frock & A Box of Cadbury's Gems'

All the world's a stage ...

"Every magic trick consists of three parts, or acts...

The first part is called The Pledge ... the magician shows you something ordinary.
A deck of cards, or a bird or a woman. He shows you this object and pledges to you its utter normality ... perhaps he asks you to inspect it. Unaltered ... normal ?

But, of course, it probably isn't.

The second act is called The Turn...
The magician takes the ordinary something and makes it do something extraordianry. Now you're looking for the secret. But you won't find it. Because of course, you're not really looking ... you don't really want to know ... you want to be fooled.

That's why every magic trick has a third act. The hardest part ... the part we call ... The Prestige!
Because making something disappear isn't enough, you have to bring it back. Now you're looking for the secret. But you won't find it, because you don't really want to know. You want to be fooled."

And now I've been defined by Facebook ...

Sanguine
This is the word that best describes you! The dictionary meaning of the adjective sanguine' is cheerfully optimistic! You are usually happy and manage to turn most negative situations into positive ones. Your happy-go-lucky, impulsive and adventurous personality makes you fun to be around although some people mistake your self-confidence for arrogance. Your sanguine disposition will help your life be a happy one; just be wary of dreaming about castles in the sky and forgetting to focus on reality.

Me : Anybody ... anything else ?

Fact or Fiction

Earth calling Moon Rocket ....
General question No. 7 !

Why O why do women raise their leg when being kissed?
Most of the so called 'moment images' from both movies and posters showcase this as a symbol of divine romance.
Is this true and if yes ... what causes it ???

Its All About Perspectives !

Source : PhotoYear

Blind Love ?

Earth calling Moon Rocket ....
General question No. 6 !

Why O why do women more than often fall for a man for all the wrong reasons ?

They then do everything within their power to alter his personality to something they romanticise.

Objective achieved, they begin to miss the man they originally fell in love with and tell him that he has 'Changed' !

Wild Cat !

It was around 8:00 pm that I found myself driving through a densely forested state highway in the Lower Himalayas. Travelling along was a group of college buddies happily chatting away about a friend’s upcoming wedding. With Don Mclean's ‘Starry Starry Night’ playing softly in the car and the occasional night time jungle sound coming in through the open windows, it seemed like a relaxed and lazy drive.

We had been driving for about half an hour and the songs had shuffled to ‘American Pie’ when the jungle’s peace was abruptly broken by a high pitched screech. Possibly that of a Langur. I slowed down. Suddenly a herd of deer blasted out of the moonlit forest and leaped across the road, their feet barely touching the ground. I slammed the brakes.

We knew that this section of the state highway skirted along the Jim Corbett Wildlife Reserve, known for its tiger population. In hopes of getting lucky I pulled over to the side, switched off the lights and killed the engine. Alone in the middle of a moon bathed jungle and 40 kilometres away from civilization on either side, we waited...

... And waited and waited and waited. It took 45 minutes of sitting without movement and deliberate silence to break our patience. With a general air of disappointment and hollow words of ‘another time ... next time’, it was unanimously decided that we move on. I turned on the ignition, switched on the headlights, engaged the gear and swung back onto the road. Barely had I finished my turn when the car’s light caught a figure. I jammed the brakes once again...

There it was ... The BIGGEST Tiger (male) I have ever seen in its natural habitat !

Barely 12 feet away, it sat there staring directly at us unmoved by the lights or the sound of the engine. Perhaps he had been there all along. Perhaps he just knew that he was the King of the Jungle and that we were completely inconsequential. As if slow motion I slid the car back to its original position but kept the engine running. We sat there for about ten minutes, staring in complete awe at the massive wild cat which seemed quite unaffected by our presence and occasionally gave its tail a royal flick.

We didn’t realize when our silent interview with the tiger got itself an audience. Another car coming in from the opposite side had stopped. It was then that the tiger decided that he was no longer interested in us and after couple of minutes got up and royally swaggered off into the depths of the jungle.

As for us, we continued on our journey. Each one silent and lost in thought, perhaps in reverence to the wild beast that made our day. This time Don Mclean was silent.

Small is Beautiful

To Err is Human

Everyday in our lives we walk the very thin line between greed & aspirations. So blurred are the divisions that often we fail to distinguish between the two.

None are spared or can escape this complicated human trait that's so intricately wired into our thought muscles...............

SMS Wisdom :-)

To be is to do
Socrates

To do is to be
Vivekanand

Do be do be do
Scooby Doo !

Don't We ...

Its ironic that we faff to save our lives and yet claim that we need depth to lead a meaningful life.

The Wonder Years

Anatomy of Desire

One must give up everything to truly posses anything ...

Selective Amnesia

Earth calling Moon Rocket ....
General question No. 5 !

Why O why do women spend hours in front of a mirror color coordinating their attire from head to toe and then pretend to be unaware ?

If you happen to comment or compliment them ... the answer that you will hear in all probability will be as follows -

"Oh! (looking down) ... Am I ... Really, I didn't even realize ... (fluttering eyes) It like ... just happened ... you know"
...Pause...
"... But thank you !"

What purpose can this selective amnesia possibly serve?
Is it just attention deficiency? Then why deny ... say yes and move on ....

Any answers ...

P.S. - Just in case you were wondering if this was an isolated incident ... I'd say it cuts across every line in the feminine domain.

A Fortune Cookie's Words of Wisdom

Your conscience never stops you from doing anything. It just stops you from enjoying it.

The Simple Life !

A signboard in downtown New Delhi

Literally translates to :
One succulent piece of meat...
Two pieces of bread...
(perfectly gels with the universally understood word) ...Bar !

Warning, consumption of alcohol in any form may cause liver cirrhosis or cancer or both and is especially detrimental to mental and physical health of persons indulging in it in any form. Neither this website nor its moderator and owner encourage or promote alcohol consumption or its use in any way or form.

- Quest World

Low Waist ... On Sale !

In the midst of all the jostling at a jumbo clearence sale at one of the popular branded clothes store ... somebody was grabbing their pick !

Deja vu

Now this might sound a bit bizarre ... but for me it's a little surprising and sometimes disconcerting when suddenly things that I have interpreted, analysed and locked away for lack of better judgement or simply given up on are sprung upon me...

Today somebody asked me a question - Why don't you just make choices of convenience ?

Hell !
This subject of convenient choices has the knack of irritating me...


Of course I should ... I need to ... The whole world does it ... Fine !
Happy ?

Everybody knows that you've been faithful, Ah give or take a night or two !

Everybody knows that the dice are loaded
Everybody rolls with their fingers crossed
Everybody knows that the war is over
Everybody knows the good guys lost
Everybody knows the fight was fixed
The poor stay poor, the rich get rich
Thats how it goes
Everybody knows

Everybody knows that the boat is leaking
Everybody knows that the captain lied
Everybody got this broken feeling
Like their father or their dog just died

Everybody talking to their pockets
Everybody wants a box of chocolates
And a long stem rose
Everybody knows

Everybody knows that you love me baby
Everybody knows that you really do
Everybody knows that youve been faithful
Ah give or take a night or two
Everybody knows youve been discreet
But there were so many people you just had to meet
Without your clothes
And everybody knows

Everybody knows, everybody knows
Thats how it goes
Everybody knows

Everybody knows, everybody knows
Thats how it goes
Everybody knows

And everybody knows that its now or never
Everybody knows that its me or you
And everybody knows that you live forever
Ah when youve done a line or two
Everybody knows the deal is rotten
Old black joes still pickin cotton
For your ribbons and bows
And everybody knows

And everybody knows that the plague is coming
Everybody knows that its moving fast
Everybody knows that the naked man and woman
Are just a shining artifact of the past
Everybody knows the scene is dead
But theres gonna be a meter on your bed
That will disclose
What everybody knows

And everybody knows that youre in trouble
Everybody knows what youve been through
From the bloody cross on top of calvary
To the beach of malibu
Everybody knows its coming apart
Take one last look at this sacred heart
Before it blows
And everybody knows

Everybody knows, everybody knows
Thats how it goes
Everybody knows

Oh everybody knows, everybody knows
Thats how it goes
Everybody knows

Everybody knows

Hope

Hope. It is the quintessential human delusion, simultaneously the source of your greatest strength and your greatest weakness.

- The Architect

Tales of Ordinary Madness

"Intuition and romantic fatalism shouldn't be taken lightly"
-Love and Other Catastrophes

"The longing for a destiny is nowhere stronger than in our romantic life. All too often forced to share our bed with those who can not fathom our soul, can we not be forgiven if we believe ourselves fated to stumble one day upon the man or woman of our dreams? Can we not be excused a certain superstitious faith in a creature who will prove the solution to our relentless yearning? And though our prayers may never be answered, though there may be no end to the dismal cycle of incomprehension, if the heavens should come to take pity on us, then can we really be expected to attribute the encounter with the prince or princess to mere coincidence? Or can we not for once escape rational censure and read it as nothing other than an inevitable part of our romantic destiny?"
-On Love by Alain de Botton

Thats got to be the best excuse in the world for being a romantic fool. However, put so eloquently, even the fake cynic in me forgives the ones who think prince charming or lady love is right around the corner.