A continuation....

The Tale continues.....Harbhajan Singh was working with the Indian Army and one day, as he went out to fetch some water from the river, he went missing...presumably got drowned. He then appared in a fellow soldier's dream and expressed a desire for a memorial (Samadhi) to be constructed in his name. So thus was born the Samadhi. Even after all these years, his belongings and the room he lived in, are immaculately maintained. Defense personnel come up to the shrine every now and then to seek the Baba's blessings. And on Sundays, they open the langar for the people who visit the shrine. It is also widely believed that the Baba has healing powers, so much so that, people place bottles of water attaching their name tags to them, in the premises of the Samadhi for seven days. After the week is over, they collect the bottle and drink the water for 21 days continuously. They believe that the water blessed by the Baba acquires healing properties and people suffering from bodily ailments can recover!!!

So after partaking the Langar , i took some photographs and was back in the car for the journey back. It was really cold there..plus it was drizzling..freezing absolutely ...and i wasn't adequately covered in woolens....i was in my jeans, t-shirt, sneakers and an angora wool cardigan ....and i shivered like hell.....what more can be expected at 13,600 ft????

On our way back, we stopped at the Tsongo Lake-- its a neat lake , placid waters amidst brownish mountains with patches of snow. During winter, the lake gets completely frozen. There were a row of shops on one side of the road --- selling local wares and ofcourse there were the Yaks ...really adorable....with their mop of silvery white hair, covering their face and forehead!!!! Clicked a few more photographs and we were back in the car pretty soon.

On reaching Sikkim, we stopped by at the flower show---- not too many fresh flowers though--- supposedly the orchid season had finished....so all we could see were a few vaieties of orchids, wild hydrangias in blue,pink and purple (hope i have got the correct spelling) and lots and lots of red anthuriums!!!! Reached the guest house by mid afternoon....ate a delicious plate of authentic ( authentic because the ones we get here are almost always filled with onions and the always seem to be half steamed!!!!) , steaming chicken momos and just hung around.

********

During my entire stay in Gangtok , i watched some amazing movies...old classics..." Gone With the Wind", "My Fair Lady"....some new ones too "Pride and Prejudice", " Charlie and the Chcolate Factory" (to be really honest...i didn't like it too much!!), "Bluffmaster" and some really forgettable movies..not worth mentioning here...

*********
On the whole the trip was great fun and i had a blast!!! One must visit Sikkim....its really beautiful .....

The Land of Red Panda and Orchids: Sikkim

19th May, 2006

The train was scheduled to leave Guwahati at 6.15 am and it did leave on the dot. A Bengali family and two Nepalese couple shared the compartment. The Bengali family had just completed a tour of Shillong, Kaziranga and Cherrapunjee as part of a huge entourage from Siliguri. They were constantly chattering about their visit to Kaziranga and how they saw the Rhinos and Elephants in the wild. With the kind of enthusiasm they demonstrated, I wouldn’t be surprised if they had scared the animals off!!!

The train halted now and then for brief moments (unscheduled of course). Just as we were approaching NJP, an aged man in our next compartment got into a heated argument with one of the railway staff and in his anger, pulled the emergency chain…bringing the train to a complete halt!!! When all this drama was on, we got to know that the AC vent in a compartment in a few bogies away had caught fire. So after almost an hour and a half of delay, the train pulled in at the station at NJP.

We had a quick lunch at the Railway Canteen ( Bhojanalaya) and soon began our onward journey to Gangtok. The roads were quite narrow but thick foliage lined both sides and wonder of all wonders, magnificent wild orchids of varying hues bloomed on the trees. And the waters of the mighty Teesta thundered, as it flowed by….a steady rumble wafting in the air.

Monkeys on the roads gave company to the passing cars and tiny hamlets dotted the mountainside. Small, makeshift shops set up on the roadside sold neatly arranged fresh fruits and vegetables. While exotic looking products (like churpi) were laid out in neat glass bottles.

There was another unscheduled stop on the way, when the right tyre on the rear got punctured. We finally reached Gangtok by around 6.30 pm. We checked in at a guest house called “Dho Tapu” – a very homely place located in the midst of the city centre. Dho Tapu gives an excellent view of the majestic mountains and the view after sunset is truly amazing with tiny lights lighting up the entire face of the mountain like sparkling fire flies!!!

20^th May, 2006

Visited M.G.Marg, the main city centre….browsed through shops selling local goods…very touristy. Ate lunch at this lovely coffee shop “Baker’s Café”—very warm and welcoming!! The interiors were done up tastefully in browns and greens, with soft lighting lending a warm touch. It offered a huge array of quick delights- pasta, pizza, sandwiches, muffins, pastries and the like at very affordable pricesJ!!!

21^st May, 2006

Woke up early and got ready by half past 7 in the morning. After a quick breakfast, pushed off by around 8.30. Our destination was the Tsongo (pronounced as Chongo) Lake at an altitude of around 13,000 ft and onwards to Baba Harbhajan Singh’s Samadhi at 13,000+ feet.

As we inched our way out of the town, we found 100s of taxis lined up on the road at the first check post—all headed towards the same destination. The roads were narrow but good (in fact much better than the Imphal-Moreh road, also a border road on NH 39, bordering Myanmar). Probably the GoI gives China priority over Myanmar and hence such excellently maintained roads. As we moved higher, the landscape underwent a change. The mountains had thick groves of conifers in varying shades of green—paler shades to the darker olives!!! Small hamlets dotted the mountainside and numerous prayer flags (white and coloured) fluttered in the breeze. One thing that was omni present at regular intervals was the defense forces—the Bengal Sappers, Assam Rifles, Border Roads Organization and the Indian Army—each with an eye catching name (“Nathula Eagles”) to match their dynamism and dedication at the frontiers.

As we moved further on, thick fog enveloped the roads and for brief moments, it seemed like we were actually “walking in the clouds” (yeah…it sounds clichéd…but it was true to the moment!!). With a veil of mist descending upon the thickly carpeted mountains and several naturally flowing water falls, the journey was not only pleasing to the senses but also very interesting. Colourful rhododendron plants peeped out of the mountainside--- carpet of red, pinks and magenta!!!

We reached Tsongo Lake quite early but we didn’t halt there. We moved on to Baba Harbhajan Singh’s Samadhi, which was situated further on at Nathula. The uphill journey was made more interesting by patches of snow in the mountains. Winter was long gone but a few patches had remained—hardened icicles, made dirty by the poisonous emissions of the passing vehicles. One could see the blackish-brown snow on the mountains along the road but it wasn’t tempting at all—not quite the kind I’d like to mess around with—seemed more toxic than fun!!!

On the way, also came across an ATM of UTI Bank at 12,400 ft and if that wasn’t enough, the highest cyber café in the world at 13,600 ft (isn’t that great)!!! Somewhere close to Nathula Pass (only 4 kms away…we couldn’t make it to the Pass as we didn’t have the requisite papers), there was a bifurcation and we took the road to Baba H. S’s Samadhi. There’s an interesting tale to it.

To be continued......

Hiatus....

Off to Gangtok, Sikkim for the weekend...so a hiatus from writing this blog...hope i will have interesting things to write about once i am back :). Till then...bye ...n take care...

Elephants, Cheetahs and more....

Yesterday, there was a surprise visitor at our institute….a monkey!!! There are numerous coconut and mango laden trees in the vicinity to entice it …so it just ambled along. Speaking about our fellow animal friends, on my way to work, I often come across elephants (domesticated of course). The ‘jumbos’ have been rendered jobless post the ban on timber felling. So in the morning, if one is fortunate, one can actually get to see these huge creatures with their mahouts maneuvering through the rush hour traffic, looking for work. They are seldom seen alone, they are either in pairs or sometimes the entire family (usually a tusker, a medium sized one and a small one) are seen trudging bravely on the hot asphalt. They draw stares (more of adoration than anything else) wherever they go. More often than not, people on the wayside offer them some food….bananas are a top favourite but it includes fruits, vegetables as well as leafy plants…..after all, since the elephants are a permanent fixture in the Indian pantheon as the beloved Ganesha, no one can resist the temptation to make offerings and appease the symbol of the deity.

Yet this ban has had a telling effect on their upkeep. Elephants are an expensive proposition in terms of its maintenance and daily sustenance. Considering their size, they eat massive portions of food and unless one is capable of providing that and also providing for its medical expenses, it is impossible to take care of them. In fact, in parts of Upper Assam, elephants (with their mahouts of course) have been compelled to go from door to door begging for food/ money. Quite sad actually!!!

******

The past couple of days, I’ve been watching programs on Animal Planet. One of those days I came across a program called “Mad Mike and Mark” where Mike and Mark made their way through an African Safari park capturing Cheetahs on their cameras. A rather remarkable thing was shown in that episode. My mother who was watching the episode swears that it was morphed but I think it was otherwise. Basically they showed Mike n Mark on an open roof jeep amidst a pride of cheetahs. As they continued filming them, one cheetah jumped up on the vehicle and sat on it, taking that as a vantage point to spot its prey….while Mike and Mark stood close by filming. If that was not enough, lo and behold, the cheetah came real close to one of them (couldn’t figure out if it was Mike/ Mark), sniffed it and licked his bald head…..man oh man…that was quite something I must say!! My mother thinks it was morphed…but I choose to disagree with her. I mean the cheetahs are not dumb (they are thinking , calculating creatures), maybe that particular cheetah realized that the 2 Ms were harmless and so they could be just be ignored or perhaps…better still… it was not hungry , ‘full to its gills’ as the saying goes!!! I don’t know what the truth is, but I wouldn’t want to believe that the people in Animal Planet would air a morphed show!!!

The other program I watched was one called “Lyndal’s Lifeline” (I hope I’ve got the spelling correctly). The particular episode showed the release of orphaned elephants (taken care of by people in a special facility) into the wild in Sri Lanka. An interesting thing aired on the show, was that of a special home for the aged and infirm elephants in Sri Lanka. The program showed how such elephants were given a good scrub (with a coconut husk) to exfoliate their dead skin, scrape the dead cells from their feet and if that was not enough….give them a good hot massage with herbs J J !!! I’m sure they loved it …….
*****

An appendum to the last post.....

Continuing on the comments section....there are no real technicalities involved...just write in what you feel. Much of what i write is a monologue most of the times...so i'm looking forward to being more interactive in the days to come...!!!

You guys can post your comments....

Hey ppl... now you can post your comments..have changed the settings....

Feeling rather sick...still in the office.
Will write in later.

Still I Rise.....by Maya Angelou

Still I Rise

You may write me down in history With your bitter, twisted lies, You may trod me in the very dirt But still, like dust, I'll rise. Does my sassiness upset you? Why are you beset with gloom? 'Cause I walk like I've got oil wells Pumping in my living room. Just like moons and like suns, With the certainty of tides, Just like hopes springing high, Still I'll rise. Did you want to see me broken? Bowed head and lowered eyes? Shoulders falling down like teardrops. Weakened by my soulful cries. Does my haughtiness offend you? Don't you take it awful hard 'Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines Diggin' in my own back yard. You may shoot me with your words, You may cut me with your eyes, You may kill me with your hatefulness, But still, like air, I'll rise. Does my sexiness upset you? Does it come as a surprise That I dance like I've got diamonds At the meeting of my thighs? Out of the huts of history's shame I rise Up from a past that's rooted in pain I rise I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide, Welling and swelling I bear in the tide. Leaving behind nights of terror and fear I rise Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear I rise Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave, I am the dream and the hope of the slave. I rise I rise I rise. Maya Angelou * Its lovely......very inspiring!!!

A stark reminder of atrocities on Blacks...

"STRANGE FRUIT" by Abel Meeropol (aka Lewis Alan)


Southern trees bear a strange fruit
Blood on the leaves and blood at the root
Black body swinging in the southern breeze
Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees

Pastoral scene of the gallant south
The bulging eyes and twisted mouth
Scent of magnolia sweet and fresh
And the sudden smell of burning flesh!

Here is a fruit for the crows to pluck
For the rain to gather, for the wind to suck,
For the sun to rot, for a tree to drop,
Here is a strange and bitter crop.

**** Very stark , in -your-face and quite dark. But i love it. Abel Meeropol wrote it as a reminder of the lynching and slavery that the Blacks were subjected to , during that time (1930s).

"Dreams" by Fleetwood Mac

Dreams by Fleetwood Mac


Now here you go again
You say you want your freedom
Well who am I to keep you down
It's only right that you should
Play the way you feel it
But listen carefully to the sound
Of your loneliness
Like a heartbeat.. drives you mad

In the stillness of remembering what you had
And what you lost...And what you had...And what you lost
Thunder only happens when it's raining
Players only love you when they're playing
Say... Women... they will come and they will go
When the rain washes you clean... you'll know
Now here I go again, I see the crystal visions
I keep my visions to myself
It's only me
Who wants to wrap around your dreams and...
Have you any dreams you'd like to sell?
Dreams of loneliness...
Like a heartbeat... drives you mad...
In the stillness of remembering what you had...
And what you lost...
And what you had...
And what you lost
Thunder only happens when it's raining
Players only love you when they're playingSay...
Women... they will come and they will go
When the rain washes you clean... you'll know


**** Wanted to post the lyrics of "You Oughta Know" by Alanis Morisette...but decided against it....people might just take offence at the lyrics. But its a good catharsis. and i quite like it..even though the lyrics might be considered blasphemous by some!!

Inspiring words...a must read!!!

Very Inspiring words......it is a must read, especially for those who are down and out and are often consumed by an overwhelming self -doubt (like me) !!!

Chk the link...for an audio version of the speech as well......

http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/stevejobsstanfordcommencement.htm

Steve Jobs: Commencement Address at Stanford University
"Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish."
delivered 12 June 2005, Palo Alto, CA

Thank you.
I'm honored to be with you today for your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world. Truth be told, I never graduated from college, and this is the closest I've ever gotten to a college graduation. Today, I want to tell you three stories from my life. That's it. No big deal. Just three stories.
The first story is about connecting the dots. I dropped out of Reed College after the first six months, but then stayed around as a drop-in for another 18 months or so before I really quit. So why did I drop out?
It started before I was born. My biological mother was a young, unwed graduate student, and she decided to put me up for adoption. She felt very strongly that I should be adopted by college graduates, so everything was all set for me to be adopted at birth by a lawyer and his wife -- except that when I popped out they decided at the last minute that they really wanted a girl.
So my parents, who were on a waiting list, got a call in the middle of the night asking, "We've got an unexpected baby boy; do you want him?" They said, "Of course." My biological mother found out later that my mother had never graduated from college and that my father had never graduated from high school. She refused to sign the final adoption papers. She only relented a few months later when my parents promised that I would go to college. This was the start in my life.
And 17 years later I did go to college. But I naively chose a college that was almost as expensive as Stanford, and all of my working-class parents' savings were being spent on my college tuition. After six months, I couldn't see the value in it. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and no idea how college was going to help me figure it out. And here I was spending all of the money my parents had saved their entire life.
So I decided to drop out and trust that it would all work out okay. It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made. The minute I dropped out I could stop taking the required classes that didn't interest me, and begin dropping in on the ones that looked far more interesting.
It wasn't all romantic. I didn't have a dorm room, so I slept on the floor in friends' rooms. I returned coke bottles for the five cent deposits to buy food with, and I would walk the seven miles across town every Sunday night to get one good meal a week at the Hare Krishna temple. I loved it. And much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on. Let me give you one example:
Reed College at that time offered perhaps the best calligraphy instruction in the country. Throughout the campus every poster, every label on every drawer, was beautifully hand calligraphed. Because I had dropped out and didn't have to take the normal classes, I decided to take a calligraphy class to learn how to do this. I learned about serif and san serif typefaces, about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great. It was beautiful, historical, artistically subtle in a way that science can't capture, and I found it fascinating.
None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life. But ten years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me. And we designed it all into the Mac. It was the first computer with beautiful typography. If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the "Mac" would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts. And since Windows just copied the Mac, it's likely that no personal computer would have them. If I had never dropped out, I would have never dropped in on that calligraphy class, and personal computers might not have the wonderful typography that they do. Of course it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college. But it was very, very clear looking backwards 10 years later.
Again, you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something -- your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever -- because believing that the dots will connect down the road will give you the confidence to follow your heart, even when it leads you off the well-worn path, and that will make all the difference.
My second story is about love and loss.
I was lucky -- I found what I loved to do early in life. Woz¹ and I started Apple in my parents' garage when I was 20. We worked hard, and in 10 years Apple had grown from just the two of us in a garage into a two billion dollar company with over 4000 employees. We'd just released our finest creation -- the Macintosh -- a year earlier, and I had just turned 30.
And then I got fired. How can you get fired from a company you started? Well, as Apple grew we hired someone who I thought was very talented to run the company with me, and for the first year or so things went well. But then our visions of the future began to diverge and eventually we had a falling out. When we did, our Board of Directors sided with him. And so at 30, I was out. And very publicly out. What had been the focus of my entire adult life was gone, and it was devastating.
I really didn't know what to do for a few months. I felt that I had let the previous generation of entrepreneurs down -- that I had dropped the baton as it was being passed to me. I met with David Packard and Bob Noyce and tried to apologize for screwing up so badly. I was a very public failure, and I even thought about running away from the valley. But something slowly began to dawn on me: I still loved what I did. The turn of events at Apple had not changed that one bit. I had been rejected, but I was still in love. And so I decided to start over.
I didn't see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.
During the next five years, I started a company named NeXT, another company named Pixar, and fell in love with an amazing woman who would become my wife. Pixar went on to create the world's first computer-animated feature film, Toy Story, and is now the most successful animation studio in the world. In a remarkable turn of events, Apple bought NeXT, and I retuned to Apple, and the technology we developed at NeXT is at the heart of Apple's current renaissance. And Laurene and I have a wonderful family together.
I'm pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn't been fired from Apple. It was awful tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it. Sometime life -- Sometimes life going to hit you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith. I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You've got to find what you love.
And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking -- and don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking -- don't settle.
My third story is about death.
When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: "If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right." It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I've looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.
Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything -- all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure -- these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.
About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. I had a scan at 7:30 in the morning, and it clearly showed a tumor on my pancreas. I didn't even know what a pancreas was. The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that is incurable, and that I should expect to live no longer than three to six months. My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctor's code for "prepare to die." It means to try and tell your kids everything you thought you'd have the next 10 years to tell them in just a few months. It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family. It means to say your goodbyes.
I lived with that diagnosis all day. Later that evening I had a biopsy, where they stuck an endoscope down my throat, through my stomach into my intestines, put a needle into my pancreas and got a few cells from the tumor. I was sedated, but my wife, who was there, told me that when they viewed the cells under a microscope the doctors started crying because it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery. I had the surgery and, thankfully, I'm fine now.
This was the closest I've been to facing death, and I hope it's the closest I get for a few more decades. Having lived through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful but purely intellectual concept: No one wants to die.
Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It's Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it's quite true.
Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma -- which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.
When I was young, there was an amazing publication called The Whole Earth Catalog, which was one of the "bibles" of my generation. It was created by a fellow named Stewart Brand not far from here in Menlo Park, and he brought it to life with his poetic touch. This was in the late 60s, before personal computers and desktop publishing, so it was all made with typewriters, scissors, and Polaroid cameras. It was sort of like Google in paperback form, 35 years before Google came along. It was idealistic, overflowing with neat tools and great notions.
Stewart and his team put out several issues of The Whole Earth Catalog, and then when it had run its course, they put out a final issue. It was the mid-1970s, and I was your age. On the back cover of their final issue was a photograph of an early morning country road, the kind you might find yourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous. Beneath it were the words: "Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish." It was their farewell message as they signed off. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. And I've always wished that for myself. And now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you.
Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.
Thank you all very much.
Top 100 American Speeches
Online Speech Bank

"Give Me One Reason" by Tracy Chapman

"Give Me One Reason" by Tracy Chapman

Give me one reason to stay here
And I'll turn right back around
Give me one reason to stay here
And I'll turn right back around
Said I don't want leave you lonely
you got to make me change my mind
Baby I got your number and I know that you got mine
But you know that I called you, I called too many times
You can call me baby, you can call me anytime
But you got to call me
Give me one reason to stay here
And I'll turn right back around
Give me one reason to stay here
And I'll turn right back around
Said I don't want leave you lonely
you got to make me change my mind
I don't want no one to squeeze me, they might take away my
life
I don't want no one to squeeze me, they might take away my
life
I just want someone to hold me and rock me through the night
This youthful heart can love you yes and give you what you
need
This youthful heart can love you ohh and give you what you
need
But I'm too old to go chasing you around
Wasting my precious energy
Give me one reason to stay here
And I'll turn right back around
Give me one reason to stay here
And I'll turn right back around
Said I don't want leave you lonely
you got to make me change my mind
Baby just give me one reason,ohh Give me just one reason why
Baby just give me one reason, ohh Give me just one reason why I
should stay
Because I told you that I loved you
And there ain't no more to say

**** I like the song....very apt.

I am what I am....

The events of the past few weeks have got me thinking…..about the person I am…..or I think I am. As an individual I love ‘my space’….i have my comfort zones and I am closely guarded about those( I’m sure A would vouch this). I have a set of friends here …but I’m quite a loner…..a solitary being for the greater part.

I have this almost compulsive desire to speak to people sometimes…some people….not everyone of course. Nothing exceptional, just chit chat about life…the mundane mostly. But I hold my self back. At the end of the day, one must not feel like a fool…..there should be some form of reciprocation…you can’t be the only one who is calling up all the time.

So to do away with this itchy feeling to call up…I keep the cell phone out of sight (Out of sight, out of mind ....so they say….but Freud would have begged to differ on that count!!!)….and distract myself by reading, listening to music or just doing something. ...

To be continued...

Lyrics......

Lyrics:


"EVERYBODY HURTS" By REM

When the day is long and the night, the night is yours alone,
When you're sure you've had enough of this life, well hang on.
Don't let yourself go, everybody cries and everybody hurts sometimes.
Sometimes everything is wrong.
Now it's time to sing along.When your day is night alone, (hold on, hold on)
If you feel like letting go, (hold on)
When you think you've had too much of this life, well hang on.
Everybody hurts.

Take comfort in your friends.Everybody hurts.
Don't throw your hand. Oh, no. Don't throw your hand.
If you feel like you're alone, no, no, no, you are not alone
If you're on your own in this life, the days and nights are long,
When you think you've had too much of this life to hang on.
Well, everybody hurts sometimes,Everybody cries. And everybody hurts sometimes.
And everybody hurts sometimes.
So, hold on, hold on.Hold on, hold on. Hold on, hold on. Hold on, hold on. (repeat & fade)(Everybody hurts. You are not alone.)


"ENTER SANDMAN" By Metallica.

Say your prayers little one
Don't forget, my son
To include everyone

Tuck you in, warm within
Keep you free from sin
Till the sandman he comes

Sleep with one eye open
Gripping your pillow tight
Exit light
Enter night

Take my hand
Off to never never land

Something's wrong, shut the light
Heavy thoughts tonight
And they aren't of snow white

Dreams of war, dreams of liars
Dreams of dragon's fire
And of things that will bite

Sleep with one eye open
Gripping your pillow tight

Exit lightEnter night
Take my hand
Off to never never land

Now I lay me down to sleep
Pray the lord my soul to keep

If I die before I wake
Pray the lord my soul to take

Hush little baby, don't say a word
And never mind that noise you heard

It's just the beast under your bed,
In your closet, in your head
Exit light
Enter night

Grain of sand
Exit light
Enter night
Take my hand
We're off to never never land

Music that soothes the soul...

Music that i'm listening to these days...

*Ian Anderson's album 'Divinities: Twelve Dances With God' ( A wonderful collection of instrumental fusion).Very soothing...and reminds one often of old Hollywood classics...dim the lights...let the cool breeze blow and its nirvana!!

*Coldplay's album Parachutes:

I love Spies, Yellow, High Speed, We Never Change and Trouble in particular.

*Kailash Kher's album Kailasa:

Teri Deewani and Allah ke Bandeh

There are some songs i like listening to at any given point of time...
Entersandman by Metallica, Everybody Hurts and Losing my Religion by REM.

Work, Meaning and Life....

So what do i really want to do in life? It is one question that is bugging me day in and day out. I am really confused between choosing from options as varied as engaging in developmental research (what i am currently doing) or perhaps going back to being a psychologist in a clinical setting. Perhaps one day i'll be able to merge the two and do something meaningful. I 'm not saying that the work I am doing now isn't meaningful ...it is....but there is such a huge gap between the research undertaken and the policies that are formulated and subsequently implemented...that it often throws up questions regarding the utility of the research . It is sad, because much of what we do is significant ....it is about indepth analysis of the causes of the prevalent conflicts in the region. There is an attempt on our part to understand the reasons why people are angry and frustrated with the State. Like i mentioned in my previous post, the policy of subsidies can only smoothen the wrinkles on the surface , it cannot weed out the anger festering within.

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The other day, i was watching a programme on CNN about cutting edge technologies changing the lives of people with disabilities. The programme featured a scientist from Toronto who had sucessfully developed devices for children afflicted with muscular dystrophy so that they could speak, play a musical instrument and learn to use their prosthetic limb. It also featured scientists from Japan who had developed a robotic suit that could be worn by individuals suffering from muscular dystrophy. The robotic suit could send impulses to the brain thereby activating the muscles in the legs.....which in turn could enable the individual to take steps. The third segment featured a factory manufacturing prosthetic limbs in Hanoi (Vietnam) using technologies from the US. The narrator tried to portray that as the manifestation of forgiveness on the part of the Vietnemese ppl post-War ...something like US-Vietnam Friendship....which i thought was a bit too sugary sweet!!! But that apart, what i liked about the programme was the work that was being done. There is no joy as the one u can get knowing how Your work can touch the lives of people. Thats the kind of stuff i'd like to engage myself in ..... more one to one interaction with the people....

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A job in the clinical setting perhaps...awaits me... :)