Celebrations...

A couple of days back, I had been to a friend's wedding. And also turned 33. Both occasions called for a celebration by conventional traditions. While weddings are "grand affairs", birthdays are relatively personal. But, both are celebrated, and I wonder why?

Not just personal occasions, but even community/national events… every other day, we have some or the other religious holiday, or some jayanti or punyatithi or a national holiday. Just another reason to celebrate or have a holiday.

What is the reason and logic behind having these holidays, and the so called enforced celebrations?

Then there are these “Hallmark” celebrations. Mother’s day, father’s day, lover’s day, friendship day, blah blah blah… it seems we need a special day to show our love and affection to our special ones… hmmmm

What is the significance? Why at all do we celebrate? What is the meaning and symbolism of particular days?

Why I love Android?

To be written when I have some free time :)

Largest Democracy or Banana Republic?

Few days back some bafoon from the "political circles"(?) called us a Banana Republic. Which is an understatement, if I may. It is a no-brainer. The current state of affairs is much worst... but still people went "how dare he..." nobody has the gut,s to accept the problem and then move towards the solution .. they are instead more interested in playing the "naive ostrich" ..

The first step of solving a problem is acknowledging it and admitting that, yes, there is indeed a problem .. and then looking for solutions.

If people don't allow someone to speak truth, isn't it a banana republic anyways?

Sleeping Beauties...

It is one of those nights.. Neo awakened by the blinking green cursor!! No, i'm not The One, nor do I lead a dual life.. coder at day and hacker by night! However, I do face the same questions, 'Who am I?', 'Why am I?'. Did I take the wrong pill? (Thanks Samee for the last sentence). Or did I take any pill?

No doubt, my work defines me. I'm making my own little 'dent in universe', by the work I do for living. I do wake up daily at around this time for our little princess and quickly go back to sleep afterwards. However, today, Mr. Mind has lots of 'work', technical details :P. Now, I understand, why soldiers suffer from sleeping disorders - awakened by the souls they put to 'rest'(?). Luckily, I don't have such haunting ghosts. But, have my own share of different kinds.. I'm sure each one of us has our own type of ghosts too.

This also makes me appreciate the contribution of my wife in bringing up our kids. Every night is similar for her - and this is true for every mother! That's why mothers are a 'respected breed of professionals'... no no no.. don't get me wrong.. I'm not equating motherhood to some 'livelihood earning' profession! But it is a tough 'job'! And unfortunately, it is not the only role that a woman has to play.. she's also a wife, she could also be a 'real' professional, and many other shoes to fill-in. Same holds true for a man - the focus somehow may be different. The species from Mars are more focused about their works, than let's say, looking after young ones.

So we keep on switching roles, but at the end of the day.. at night.. when we are supposed to strip out of all these roles and get some rest and sleep. Precisely at that moment, another role pops up!! 'Why am I?'-role, which is keeping me up now...

Many things are going around in life.. generally and of course, in a smaller sphere of influence around me and my family and our family. Makes me wonder where we are heading, as a race? Human race.. a race of people, deprived of sleep, by the ghosts of their lives? 

When will I find my 'white-rabbit'?

Go(o)d Particles

Seeing and believing are two different things. Seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling, sensing touch are all physical activities. While belief is something much more.. it's an abstract idea.. something similar to feeling.. the physical sensory organs create some reflexes which we all feel - a mix of physical and metaphysical .. the physical part leads to our actions and reactions while the metaphysical part leads to accumulation of experience and feeling which leads us to believe in a certain way and evolve a 'belief system'.. and a collective 'belief system' is known as... we all know what...

The concept of God and God, Himself, are difficult for us to understand. The common wisdom and common belief systems lead us to believe in things which we ourselves have never experienced.. here comes the concept of 'Faith'.. and to be 'labeled' as a 'good person' according to the 'society' or a 'community', one has to conform to this belief system and have faith.

Being Human...

I have nothing against Salman Khan's initiative by this very name. It does mean something good and is a good ad-line. However, every time I hear or see this 'logo' on T-shirts, I go crazy! As if we are all animals and these blokes are the only humans.. makes me want to wear a T with 'being animal' slogan!

Guys, you don't have to remind us.. we know "We're all Human Beings"!! Aren't we?? Atleast, 'social' animals for sure!!

I really wonder sometimes, does wearing clothes qualify/justify the 'social' tag? I mean.. without the clothes, we're are the same! Same anatomy, same body, same appendages, etc. Then how did this species aquire the special status of being called the 'humans'? Remove the clothes and we're all animals! Isn't it? In fact, there are many prowlers out there waiting to attack and tear someone elses clothes!

Don't the animal instincts of human beings mean anything or something?

Why then the false masks?

Why do we need to hide our feelings and emotions, similar to our bodies? Why can't we bare our immortal souls, just as we seek pleasures of mortal bodies? Or are we too human for that??

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Social Media!

Once upon a time, every newcomer in the corporate IT world used to have fun with the most widely used communication tool - Email. And the fun was 'forwards'. Remember hitting 'Crtl+F' and 'Alt+Enter' impulsively and shooting a mail with 'FWD' in subject line, perhaps coupled with some other keywords to ensure 'safety'! ;) And then, there were blokes who used to religiously send Thought-For-The-Day or Good-Morning mails as a daily ritual! There were forwards of good-luck or bad-luck striking if one forwarded the mail to x number of recipients, or fund-raising for some sick child - for every forward 1$ will be credited, or blonde-jokes, or about some social-cause, or some product promotions.. variety of subjects.. I vividly remember same images being recirculated with different stories! While few others just plain, out-rightly fake news, stories or urban-legends! And of course, there was also the spamming on personal mail-ids. Over a period of time people could sensibly judge and decide what is true and what is not!

Bobak launches Curiosity - Animation

Read more about this guy here - unofficial fan-club here

And about the NASA space mission here

Note: You'll be asked to install a small add-on from 3DVIA to run this interactive animation!

Body and Soul...

Source

It is always said that the body is temporary while soul is immortal. Have been hearing this ever since my childhood. And I always had this dilemma or question about death in humans/animals as compared to trees/vegetation. Animals supposedly have soul which at the time of death seemingly leaves the body, rendering it lifeless. What happens with trees then? Do they die at some particular instant or moment? Or they don't have soul?