.C's Random Ramble

Gods and Devotees: Wondering aloud, seeking answers

2011-06-22T19:17:00.005-05:00

This post is in response to http://sahajapatel.wordpress.com/2011/06/20/yes-indeed-the-gods-must-be-crazy/ by my friend. I request all my readers to read the original post, without which my post does not make complete sense. Comment there too if you wish, and here too if you will. In any case, please ensure that the comments are either going to be a cause of enlightening or an effect thereof and that they are not going to hurt anyone’s sentiments in an inhuman way. Thank you!

Below is my response.

I am glad you wrote out your feelings clearly. This is the first blog post I read from you, and I do like it for the content and the presentation.

While I don't stand by your side of the faith, I can clearly see the stand that makes complete sense to you. Thus, I try to understand this much - tell me only if you feel that my question is not to offend but to know your answer sincerely:

God is omnipresent, I agree, and can take several forms, I agree too. "God is in Sathya Sai Baba" - I don't have any issues accepting this. But, my issues comes up when someone says "Sathya Sai Baba is (the) God". God is in you, in me, and in all the atheists and theists alike - that's what I believe in. When I don't say "Kiran is God" or "Sahaja is God", I would not also say "Sathya Sai Baba is God". (By the way, I went to Hindu temples, churches, mosques, Buddhist aaraama-s/temples, and Jain mandir-s in the past, and prayed to the God at all those places of worship.)

It's a feeling of assurance that the God is in some form - physical or not - at all times among us, but why should that form/presence be confined to local pockets/individuals? I can understand and accept sthala-maahaatmyam (power/sanctity/greatness of a place) but why attribute godliness to certain individuals only? When God is omnipresent, He/She is present in all life forms, from bacteria to blue whales. Why is it necessary that one should give one living, human form to God? I know Religion does that all the time, so that people have something to place their faith on. But apparently, your posts clearly tells that you are beyond that stage where you have to see God in a place of worship or in a particular form! Thus, comes my question: Why do you think God is “more apparent” in one human being than in any other form of life?

A further word of clarification:

The concept of incarnations (avataar) is different. I liked my guru Sree sirivennela Seetharama Shastry’s explanation about it: That God could possibly stop at not creating evil or at destroying evil with just one swoop of a hand but God takes the trouble to come down [avataraNa (Skt.) = the act of descent] sometimes to restore dharma so that we earthlings can learn by example and start following similar protocol (by giving time and opportunities for evil to transform into good and then be righteous/virtuous enough to “kill” the evil – at least metaphorically speaking – before we pronounce ourselves authorized to do so, and so on).

Excepting in the incarnation as Krishna, God had never claimed to be the God! Even Rama says “aatmaam maanusham manyE raamam daSarathaatmajam sOham yasya yataSchaaham bhagavan tat braviitu mE” (I think of myself as a human born on earth, by name Rama, as the son of Dasaratha. You, O God!, tell me what I am and why I am like this.) when he was being "reminded" by Lord Shiva and others that he was the Lord Vishnu himself. God’s purpose of incarnating Oneself time and again is clearly stated in the bhagavadgeetaa SlOkam “paritraaNaayaa saadhUnaam vinaaSaaya cha dushkRtaam dharma samsthaapanaarthaaya sambhavaami yugE yugE” (To free the Good Samaritans of their suffering, to destroy the evildoers, to establish dharma, I happen [to come down] in every eon.) And, the sequence of incarnations is also quite clearly mentioned. I don’t have issues in accepting Buddha as an incarnation of God (since I don’t attribute religion to God!) or in telling myself that every enlightened individual must ensure swadharma-vartanam (living by one’s dharma) until the tenth incarnation of God comes in the form of Kalki, descending from the Heavens (very much like The Bible’s Book of Revelation reads).

So, repeating my question in another form, would I be wrong if I do not acknowledge God in one particular human being a-temporally, when I know God is omnipresent?

N.B.: Please note that I have NO questions about the enormous service that the Sathya Sai Baba has initiated. This post is not about the service of a human being and/or an organization that the human being initiated. In fact, this post is not even about Sathya Sai Baba, as even you may actually realize upon a second reading/reminiscence.

Welcoming 2011...

2010-12-31T23:18:00.003-06:00

Only a "bit" of information changes - from 0 to 1 - from 2010 to 2011. If we think deep, that's a whole new state of existence!

(Translated from my own Telugu blog post):

A second lost in utter haste, would it ever return?
Would each part of the day explain its own lesson?
...
Time doesn't pity, like us humans, if you falter or fall,
Nor until you come does even a minute of it stall!

(The original Telugu verse is a part of a lyric composed by "sirivennela Seetharama Shastry, but it's the language of our hearts - that's singular, yes, because these cautionary statements are being rendered by one unified voice that belongs to all of us!)

..."Your questions are yours [to resolve]", the time reminded us, only after already hinting us that "the answer is within the question". Off goes 2010 without fail, and 2011 has to come in surely too. Between this switch, how better did we get, how many/what did we reform, what/how many lessons did we learn? - these are the only important questions. Before the new year brings more lessons, revising the old syllabus thoroughly is our part. We do not complete that exercise, the fear of time doesn't change how many ever calendars may come and go. It's not the new year that we must welcome, but it's our own selves that we must proactively cleanse before we enter the temple of a new year. It's said that fear or devotion form the basis for our customs. We should know whether we are welcoming the new year with fear or devotion or an ignorance that knows neither ...before time runs over us.

A weekend morning…

2010-12-04T09:29:00.001-06:00

Ah, it's Saturday morning in early December! What do you expect? Sleep? ...Alas! I had to go to the lab for an 8-hour shift that starts at 8 a.m!

Bicycling three miles is not something I saw as an issue... if only it didn't snow all night! I knew I would have this experience in this Winter, but I didn’t expect it so soon, given that the first hint of snow was only the 1st of December; today is just the 4th. The experience started as an "Oh my, awesome!" one when I saw the heap of snow on the seat of my bicycle and the handlebar. Within a mile... I was like "Oh my God, awful!" ...Of course, anyone should say that - at least after slipping, falling, and sliding on the road "very smoothly" without even a forewarning... all in less than a second! What's more? I repeat the act after 100 meters or so, this time even more gracefully... so neatly that I can't even realize why my cycle chain came off its wheel! And, even that, I notice only after going for a “take #2” on the same act immediately after I get up - my shoes developed a new sole of ice and were sort of shaking hands with the road, thanking it for the makeover!

And, oh yes, the chain came off, and there’s no thinking of trying to set it back. After all, I had done that earlier on this same bicycle in the cold of a night, and it took me about 20 minutes to get it all done, not to mention the amount of grease I covered myself with! I saw a car coming towards me, and thankfully, it was a lab security officer going on rounds to find people like me (or that’s what he said)! Without him, it’d have taken me a long time to reach my lab, due to the slippery walk dragging along a bicycle, and did I mention the backpack with a laptop in it? (Oh, yes, I fell down all the three times with the backpack still on me!)

Before I tell out the moral of the story, I cite a little piece from Sreemat-bhaagavatam: Lord Krishna fights with Jambavan(tha) for a long 28 days and takes out all the energy out of the bear-warrior. (28 days of duel, man!, I am always amazed when I realize that! After all, even the Great Battle at Kurukshetra, with all those lakhs of soldiers, lasted only 18 days!) And, when Jambavantha expresses his inability to fight and pleads the Lord, Lord Krishna transforms himself to the previous incarnation of Lord Rama and explains why he had to fight. After killing Ravana of Lanka, Lord Rama asks the great warrior Jambavantha to seek a wish that he can grant, and Jambavantha wishes that he wants to fight one-on-one with Lord Rama after having seen how great a warrior the latter is. Lord Rama smiles and only says that his wish shall be fulfilled in due course of time, in the next yuga/eon. Reminding Jambavantha of this episode, (Can we use “reminding” to talk about a previous yuga? I guess we can, if we can talk about a bear-warrior talking in a human voice and living through eons!) Lord Krishna says that the wish had just been granted! ...So why I did I cite this story before telling the moral I learnt? Yes, like you might have guessed, I wished that I’d ride a bicycle in snow and see how it’d feel! Ah, what a foolish wish to seek and how nightmarish when such a wish comes true! (No, my wish wouldn’t last 28 days, but I am sure that I’d have to “carefully” ride my bicycle so many times in snow nevertheless this Winter.)

Oh, yeah, I loved the experience. No, really! Only, I’d have to drop by the roadside where I locked the bicycle to a “Stop” sign, and drag it along from there. I may even get a chance to fix the chain and ride it – again in snow – if it’s not snowing right then! Who knows how crazy I am! I don’t...

Ten years…

2010-02-25T03:38:00.001-06:00

Feb. 22, 2000 – That was the day when I stepped down a country outside India for the first time! (The airport in Frankfurt, Germany takes the credit though it was but a pit stop in my journey to the United States. Atlanta, Georgia was my port of entry in the U.S.A.) Ten years… ten years passed and I spent about 8 years and a half in the U.S.A! Most of it was in Ruston, Louisiana – that’s not just “some time” – in fact, I spent most of my life in Hyderabad (~12 years), and the secondmost was in Ruston! (I lived in Kurnool for ~7.5 years.) Okay, I’ll move on… into things that (may) matter.

What can 10 years do to anyone? A lot… but the answer depends so much on one’s age, and circumstances, and family, and society, …and life, of course!

What happened to me in 10 years? When I tried to list the good, the bad, and the ugly… and “publish” only things that are passable in public mention, a few highlights came up:

* Life outside India: For someone who loves India so much, this might seem the toughest thing… but no, why would I miss something I love? India is, and will always be, (in/with/around) me!

* Family: Now, that’s mostly out of scope for a “publishable” blog, but spending about 2 years with family is …less, more, alright? Again, the family that I love is with me. I did lose some people on the way… it pains, ever!

* Friends: For someone who spent nearly 50% of life with friends, it’s tough to separate family from friends - call me an emotional fool, but that’s what I always have been. Some friends, whom I don’t even want to call friends but only treat them as family, got closer than before the 10 years, and a few walked out of my life. It hurts to this day, to miss one of my dearest brothers for over 8 years… since Jan. 16, 2002… some damage is irrepairable. (At least one brother returned… and a lot more joined the flock in my heart. Time to rejoice? Time to forget the lost one? Never!) Most people who were close 10 years ago are still dear, and that’s something I still cherish – that’s something that tells me I am not “all wrong”… A lot more walked in and walked out, some casually and some closely… But, nothing is more hurting than the first wound that’s afresh always. I am sorry, brother, I still am… and I shall ever be! (Oh, by the way, let me admit that I wounded myself and several others too through my wails and wounds!)

* I: What have I done to myself?! Where am I!? Am I still around? This is the question that lingers on my mind each day, sub-consciously most of the time (thankfully), and conscisously several times in 10 years! A few attempts to end it all, a few attempts to try to learn what’s happening internally (albeit with external help), a few attempts to “refresh” and “reload” myself like a webpage by rejuvenating myself from my ashes (burning myself in the pyre of my poetry), several successful yet futile attempts to be “correct in everything I do”, several attempts to try to love people unconditionally (yet expecting reciprocation and thus failing myself many a time), all the while trying to keep myself “alive” …without knowing what happened to ME! Peace… has been evading me - as much as I avoided it – and short-(lived) temper had been a friend that took me in many a time. I succumbed to the temperament that hugged me tight and assured me that I can turn to it in any situation - against any individual/group/circumstance – the temparement that told me to accept my peacelessness and move on into the vanity of the vacuum that I soon learnt to call L-I-F-E. It took an effort… a lot of it… to believe that my people were not mine (And, how can they be, when I am not “I” any more?) and those that stayed with me thought I didn’t change any bit! Strange, isn’t it, that people who were in touch thought that I didn’t change in many ways (despite my attempts to clarify to them that I changed), and people who lost touch thought I changed a lot (though I struggled to prove that I didn’t change any bit)! …Wait a minute, what am I doing here?! Brooding over the past? Or, leaning over the future? Since when, my dear self, did you stop living in the present? How can I remember, when I lost the sense of time!? Yeah, yeah, ten years… it’s a sudden realization, of course! As sudden as all the rest of it is!

* Society: This has been my best teacher, friend, philosopher, guide, mentor, …and tormentor! All in all, it’s been my best love! (What else can I love unconditionally, when I expect something in return from every individual, God included, that I love!?) The Society of the last ten years made me a much better poet/writer, apart from reminding me that I was an aesthetic, artiste, critic, reviewer, student, learner, teacher, guide, philosopher, friend, lover, giver, taker, …parasite, maniac, rouge, escapist, and various other things unpublishable! Most of all, Society made me realize that I exist! That’s most of what I can today call “juice of my life”! Isn’t that why I push it constantly and try to expand it beyond all known bounds!

…One thing is certain. I did lose a lot of “something”… something that belongs to my family, to my friends, to my society, and to my self – innocence, purity, patience, piety, serenity of my own Ego! The child in me is still alive… struggling each moment to be alive …for all those rightful “owners” that I just mentioned! As much as I failed, I still can be quite successful at keeping a lot of my parents’ hopes on me shattered, at keeping my friends’ minds puzzled about my mindset, and keeping myself guessing about me still trying to understand myself while I try and answer all queries about anything else in the grand old Universe!

Ten years… what can ten years do to you? Time passes, of course… don’t let yourself pass! I am struggling with myself right now… but I know I am not letting myself pass with time! …I started writing my first major (English) prose aboard the flight from Mumbai to Frankfurt, ten years ago… “My Experiences outside India”, I titled it. It never moved on beyond a few days, yet all of it is fresh in my mind, how many times ever I may “format” and “reformat” my mind! See, I am alive! After all, what can mere ten years do to YOU!?

How to cleanse or better a system? (Part #0)

2006-05-13T11:29:00.000-05:00

This post has been moved. All the series shall continue there.

N.B: There's no particular reason for this decision. This "orphaned" introduction to the series had been dangling on this page too long now, also hindering the process of translating other thoughts into blogs. Thus, I thought I shall take my own sweet time for the "series" and continue with my Random Ramble here.

RDB - A generation ...awakens?

2006-04-05T13:01:00.000-05:00

Rang De Basanti (RDB) - a movie that most of the Indian youth liked in the recent times. What's with these patriotic movies that people catch on? Several people have appreciated Sarfarosh, but that didn't bring Hindus and (Indian) Muslims any closer. Lagaan wouldn't probably have been such a huge hit if it involved something other than cricket. Swadesh was only a moderate hit, yet half of those who saw the movie do not know Association for India's Development (AID). Given the scenario, what social impact will RDB now have? That's my primary concern soon as I pause appreciating the technical gloss the movie has to offer. Without a social impact, if the movie just brings some money to the producer and more movies to the cast/director, I am unhappy yet. (Well, I am happy actually, if someone follows suit the formulaic way and goes about making a similar movie with Gandhi instead of Bhagat Singh in its central theme, but that's a different story now.)

RDB raises spirits of the youth, gives them a feeling that they can be the change, tells them to stand up and protest the way Indian politics is. But, if all the male leads in the movie conspire to commit a crime (yes!), and then continue on to preach that the youth can bring a change by joining politics, administrative services, military, etc., what message are we passing to the youth exactly? I still feel that the current youth might not even think much more than merely appreciating the movie. Even if someone wants to do something, there's no proper channel to put their thoughts in, no person or organization to guide them. Most organizations that rose lately to serve the society are unfortunately either confined to local pockets due to practical implications or are affiliated to the existing political parties/ideologies.

Such movies as RDB were there in the past, and there'll be more in the future. (In fact, I dare to say that RDB's plot, and not the presentation or the spirit, is something that vaguely resembles a 1994 Suresh-Vani Viswanath-starrer Telugu movie titled "marO Quit India", which I am sure, not more than a handful of us have heard of. This parallel is drawn by yours truly, since I was the one who watched the Telugu movie twice within a span of one week... I'd not have got a chance to watch it ever again if I waited for another week!) bhaarateeyuDu (Indian), nijam, aparichituDu (anniyan), yuva, and probably yet-to-go-on-sets satyaagrahi and satyamEva jayatE are all the same in their theme... but a majority of these movies show violence as a tool to eradicate certain individuals causing harm to the society. Unfortunately, that's not even a remote part of a practical solution. Why did a revolutionary hero like Bhagat Singh not live till the time India was independent? Name one such revolutionary who did live till then. A method that doesn't sustain itself/oneself until the solution is realized is plainly impractical, in my humble opinion.

My final word on this is thus: Let RDB or some other movie on the same lines rise the spirits. Let the generation awaken, but then, let the generations that follow take the path of non-violence, which largely was the reason for Indian independence. Or, at least, let the path be something that sustains the passers-by of the path until the goal is realized.

Jai Hind!

Random Replies

2006-03-25T09:08:00.000-06:00

Still in response to “The Egoistic Me”, and “Cruise Control”:
Okay, yes, I admit I digressed a lot in my previous post, due to its irrelevance to the context you brought up the “ego” issue. The Ayn Rand’s book is nevertheless a good read, and is still in context, by the way. Now that you wrote another post that tangentially takes off on the concept of ego, I shall try to organize my thoughts on both these posts.

Ego doesn’t necessary mean bad, I reiterate anyway. What makes ego bad is disrespect towards others’ ego. About the bad ego, I am with you. Luck, in itself, is inexplicable, and how snugly it fits into the picture of ego is a different thing. What you said is right – people blame luck when they lose or the other one wins, and this is bad ego. However, as long as you regard others’ ego to be as big as your own, I think you’re not wrong or overconfident in assuming that it was your capability and planning that helped you achieve. Well, that’s enough said about Ego.

Routine is always monotonous, in fact, on the road or not, since the ride goes on. You’ve got a good analogy there – about road and life – but it’s only partially seen. Like we spoke, road is largely under control by rules of the government, and life is only influenced, not governed, by the rules of the society. It’s your choice to take which road you want, when to drive, how to go about the whole ride, who to take along, etc., and all this, in my humble opinion, is as important as the analogy that you struck on.

There’re other ways of looking at the Ferrari example – the Ferrari is neither your ego nor does it depict the lack of chance to prove yourself; it may be that you are in no hurry, and want to let the Cadillac pass anyway, with due respects to the “old Cadillac”. Or, may be, you do not want to be in the big bully’s path! See? Are these bad too?

By the way, is “cruising ahead” the soul goal or not? You seem to have contradicted yourself! I might agree that cruising ahead is not the soul goal, but then, staying put is not allowed by the rules of the society anyway; you should move anyway – choices, such as the direction you take, the speed you go, etc. are still in your hand! And, why do you think “reaching home safe is the foremost goal” for the soul? Is there a home, anyway? Which one are we talking about now?

Delay is not defeat, yes, but isn’t “defeat” the word in the dictionary of “ego” most of the times? Is that bold-facetype font addressed to the ego of yourself and/or the co-passengers? Ah, the co-passengers! You call them “real mess”? That’s only when you let them speak so loud as to influence or disturb your concentration on the road. Play your own music, and make sure they enjoy it too!

Continue blogging and I’ll ride along too.

The Ego... Me or You

2006-03-22T06:02:00.000-06:00

This comes as a reply to “The Egoistic Me” (with permission from the original author):

Like I told you already, brother, you spoke only of the negative ego, and never mentioned there was a positive counterpart! Thus, here I go, starting with some italicized text that I wrote in a different context a few years ago. (References such as maaya or Rebirth bear relevance to the original context, and may thus be ignored.) I am no philosopher by training, but I feel that most of my rambling is acceptably true.

“Ego” is not always bad. In fact, “ego” is what keeps oneself very much in this world. If one is not egoistic, one cannot “feel” or “exist”, or even “exist the feelings” or “feel the existence”! Ego is not selfishness or self-centric nature. Ego is oneness – the true belief in “one” existence – the essence of most of the world’s philosophy. The nature of the human mind may define it narrowly sometimes and in some cases, but it’s not as harmful as it’s thought to be! That’s why most philosophies of the world preach that ego must be sustained, while life itself must be trivialized!
...
Equating ourselves with our desires is the famous and debatable maaya! Once we realize this and hold our “ego” higher than our “desire” and not worry/care about “hypocrisy”, the maaya is shattered for good! The “ego” is then the only existing entity – yours or mine does not matter! It’s The Ego! This is the unification of the jeeva-atma and the parama-atma! If an entity called God exists (as one or in multitude), the Gods unify into one, and that one identifies itself with The Ego. Death of The Ego never occurs – it’s eternal – the Absolute! Where, then, is the question of Rebirth? Or, would you know ever if there’s a Rebirth at all? The Ego diminishes in itself, shrinks, expands, fills the world, divides itself,
establishes itself in multitude, ...it’s the same Soul in every being – It never dies, it never withers, it never deteriorates, ...all It does is “exist”.
...

A disciple (unable to recollect his name – was it Ramananda?) suggested Vivekananda in his last days that the latter should undergo surgery for his kidney trouble, and that money will pour in to aid the Master. The Master –Swami Vivekananda – replied: “Why don’t you understand? I cannot live in this body any more! It’s too worn out to hold me! I need more space. I need to spread out into the world and carry out my deed...” (paraphrased from one of the publications by Sree Ramakrishna Math) – This “I” is the Ego!

I agree you already stated we’re not all Vivekananda-s. Well, of course, but we can take the good of what he said, like most other things we might have learnt from someone else including Vivekananda, can’t we?

Finally, not to make it too long, I’d end here for now, suggesting you to read Ayn Rand’s Anthem. :-)

Things are moving...

2006-02-26T03:58:00.000-06:00

First, there was Paritrana. Then, I knew the emergence of Bharat Uday Mission (BM). Then, I was referred to two Yahoo! Groups, WeWillHelpYou (WWHY) and ToMakeADifference (MAD). Of all, much to my surprise too, I did not associate myself with the very first one and the most-widespread among all, Paritrana, yet! With others, I did join their Yahoo! Groups (including BM and BM-USA for the first one), and am observing the proceedings a bit silently and didn’t get into “action” anywhere yet, but well, I am involved anyway, mentally at least!

Why didn’t I associate with Paritrana, then? I am not exactly sure yet, but I guess it’s because I knew it, albeit formed by IIT-ians, as a political outfit first. BM is not going to be a political party until 2010-2011, as they state on their website, and I realize from their Group that they’re well into social activities already! Well, if the fire dies out by 2010, good still, since a died-out enthusiasm does not influence Indian political scenario. If the fire doesn’t die out, better yet, since it’s an enthusiasm that had been withstanding the societal affairs and the very state of it for the last five years then!

The other two are a lot different, in fact – there’s nothing political about them, now or in future. Moreover, these are not backed by brains such as IIT-ians or other students – these are real common people, just ordinary ones like you and I, who came together as a group (Well, two groups, yes, but there seems to be a lot of overlap among their members anyway!) to do greater good, within their reach, for the society! And, at least MAD is now celebrating its first anniversary as I type this! Isn’t it a pleasant thought that assures some confidence about the helping people in the group, and about the group itself, and about the way it’s striving to change things in the society? (In fact, these groups are more about helping needy individuals and families with monetary and material help in needs such as individuals’ education and/or health.) How can one be sure that the help is actually reaching the needy, if the organization itself doesn’t have proven track record or credibility? Well, the name is not popular, but it’s the faith that matters – the skeptical one can check out the groups’ archives, and files, to be sure for oneself!

I told a few people about all these organizations, but not many were enthusiastic. All these were people who expressed their desire to make a difference, but they just don’t have much time or space in their mind to get into action, mentally at least, at this time of their life, I guess. I am fine with it, and optimistic still, that these groups do get the recognition they deserve – at least, those who received the help feel that, and I am happy! And that’s exactly why I am more for the latter three groups than Paritrana – I don’t want to be associated with something that gets a name anyway. I would rather want to be a part of what needs an extra hand, and mind. I’m waiting for strength – moral, financial, social, and personal – to get into “action”, so to say.

Suddenly, humanity seems to have many more beacons to show the way – definitely not stand-still, inert beacons – I’m talking about the real beacons that always show the way, those that move with you, those that are with you! There've always been some, and there are more now, and there'll be more in future, and there is, at one time, light all over the place!

Traffic in India: A solution proposed

2006-02-12T09:17:00.000-06:00

This is from my own experiences in the city of Hyderabad in the year 2005, the last time I went to India. This is a solution that I found good enough to be implemented by anyone, and I wish people take cue and do the same as much as possible. This is applicable to all roads, all cities, all vehicles, and (nearly) always! This is from one person’s experience – so let’s be optimistic that this can be seen in all of our experience!

When you go on the road, if you see that a vehicle is violating a traffic rule – the most common being a red signal violation – do this:

Note down the license/registration number for the vehicle. If it’s a government-owned (RTC) bus, also note down the depot it belongs to (even the abbreviated name will do) and the start and end termini in its route.

Also, write down the date and time of the event, along with the best description of the place of occurrence.

Call the Traffic Police Control Room (you can get the appropriate number by calling 100 or directory enquiry in your city), or the Traffic Hotline/Help-line and lodge a complaint. If you can, get a policeman to write down the complaint on a “penalty ticket” (challan, as we call it in India) for the same.

The Traffic Police Control Room staff in Hyderabad informed me that the penalty ticket shall be sent by post to the vehicle owner’s registered address, and after three such penalty tickets that go unanswered, instructions will be given to seize the vehicle on sight. In the case of government vehicles including buses, the driver will be identified by the date and time of the event, and the penalty will be deducted from his salary. Three such penalties will require him to retake a license examination.

Believe me, people, this is really effective and does the job to a great extent. For instance, let’s assume I violate a traffic rule somewhere. If someone sees me and does the above, and I get a penalty ticket at my home, I may not care once. What if I get another one, and another one? Would I not panic, and go pay at least the last, and then stay put following rules as much as I can, ideally speaking? Well, I agree that many people might not be living at the address listed on their license, or even worse, some people might be driving someone’s vehicle! But then, we cannot let everyone pass just because of these exceptions!

At least in Hyderabad, the police were strict and sincere enough to write a penalty ticket for a police jeep that crossed a red signal when I lodged the complaint, also mentioning that it was a police vehicle!

It's a Relative Wor(l)d!

2006-01-26T05:37:00.000-06:00

This comes as a reply to "The Real World" (with permission from the original author):

Positive and negative, success and failure, good and bad, real and virtual, you and I – everything is relative to something else. The mirror, which we believe so much to be showing the actual picture, deceives us by interchanging the right and left! You stand in front a mirror, raise your right hand, and call it "right" still, but you obviously don't call the same reference when it's someone else other than your reflection. Can you become I? Can I become you? If you answer affirmative, bingo! That's where your mutually opposite terms unite into One, don't ask which one!

Everything happens for your own good, yes. Even if you hit the consoler, it's for your own good – since it takes out your frustration for a second, and it's for the consoler's own good, since he/she would then be cautious when playing the consoler the next time! :-)

Bad doesn't become good if you just think everything happens for good. In fact, like I was saying, there'd be no more good and bad, there'd be just One – the issue. Anything as pure and clear as water is just as pure – colorless, tasteless, odorless! Thus, things don't "turn out" good – things just seem good, ...and that's when you go wrong (another "relative" term)! Why wrong? Because, bad is bad, but bad teaches lessons, and lessons are always good. If you turn a blind eye to bad, bad doesn't stop being bad, obviously, and you're now blindfolding yourself to the circumstances and to the truth. You got one thing right, bro! The cycle repeats – that's what a cycle always did! :-)

Think confident, yes, but did you think this: Is "confident" good?! Yes? Are you sure? Think again. Did you not lose sometimes when you were confident? ...when you knew the end result confidently but finally were in for a big surprise?

So, my point is this: Bad happened and it is definitely bad... ("so feel bad" is what you said. You may say that again, I don't mind!) but then learn the lesson û that's always good. If you feel bad and leave it at that... hmm! I'll tell you a short story here – a story you may have heard in a different context: Chanakya set out on some mission. On the way, a thorn pierced his foot. For the man he was, he was so enraged that he found that thorny bush in the darkness and set it afire, waited until it burned down, and ...walked on his mission. If bad happens, and all you do is feel bad, then it's like leaving your mission in the middle, in order to set the bush afire. Where's your mission? Pursue it, continue to pursue it!

Those who "boast" of their positive nature... first, don't you want to see that as confidence? ;-) If not, you may be biased, no? People with positive nature have more than a pinch of doubt and anxiety, sure, but then, they're still "positive", and you may want to call it "confident". Words – you choose them, brother! Hope for the best, but be prepared for the worst – I believed this since long. Only later did I realize that this was preached in Vedic, Western, and Chinese philosophy alike! What does that tell you, sir? And, by the way, not all failure is laughing stock! We get our stock of laughing from success too. :-)

"...high goals can help". Positive about it? Or confident? ;-) Or both? Or optimistic? Or hopeful? ...See, each word is different, and each one fits the bill with some positive aspect to it. Positive or negative, it's all one thing – attitude. Realization – this, too, is something that has been held high by several schools of philosophy!

Imagine, analyze, realize, believe, implement... this is the protocol. If this fails, there's something else you missed – introspect. Break things into "modules", check each one for its validity, join them all. If you don't get a valid result, the "joining them all" was not seamless. Check for errors, repeat. Do I need to tell more? :-)

I'd like to hear others' input.

I finally knew. The change is in me!

2005-07-19T19:37:00.000-05:00

After a long time, I know! I didn't know what I was doing all this while, but finally, I am back! I am not just back, but I realized I am new. Well, the basic me is still here with me, not necessarily in me though!

Now, what made me realize today that I am not the same old one? A lot of things that were happening since long were hinting me, hence the previous entry in my blog. The bubble finally burst now, a few moments before I type this post! And, I am using this great service to make note of this never-before event!

For the first time in my life, I voluntarily gave up a friend! Well, that was what he was, until we broke. Several times in the past, situations like this one arose, and I always stooped down as much as I could, and sometimes more than that, and mended the relation. Now, in this case, I didn't find it necessary! This guy was a lot important friend to me - a caring person, someone concerned about me all the time, and a person who needed my care and support sometimes. The world was green, and the larks sang sweetly always! Money played Satan, and (his) "credit history" was His weapon! This guy (Let's call him "J" ...no, it doesn't stand for jealousy here!) says I didn't stand by my word and it affected his credit history! He is true, I admit, but the way he expressed his anger and anguish made our friendship a history! No, actually! Not any more! If I am asked now, I don't even want it in my history!

I never knew I can denounce a person and a relation! I always felt bad if someone cut off a relation! And, sometimes, I felt sad that I don't do that! Now, I "achieved" it! Should I be happy? Why not!?

The world is still green, and larks never disappoint! I sing along... there's a lot in life, and a lot more, and still a lot more! Welcome, life!

Things have changed... or is it me?

2004-11-28T01:13:00.000-06:00

Well, the changes may not be major really, but changes are changes.

Till a few days back, reading English novels was very unlike me, and in the two days that I hadn't posted, I completed another novel - an old (1981) novel "Invisible Fire" by Pat Graversen. Sort of thriller, the novel was not really a great one, and had an ending that wasn't all that dramatic (or, rather, too dramatic?)

I was a night person, and now, I'm trying to be otherwise, for the n^th time! Let's see what happens with this trial.

My career seems to be an issue of concern too... I'm a doctoral student of Biomedical Engineering, but now, how long would I be a doctoral student? Would/Can I wait long enough to get a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering? I don't know yet, but I know I still am as passionate about a Ph.D. as I was before I started, as passionate and devout as I was as when I was a six-year old child, when I probably first committed myself to Ph.D. in some field.

And, how unlike me is this! I, till now, didn't justify my posts on both margins! I generally never forget to do that with formatted text... but well, I think I'm seeing too much of change reading volumes between fineprint!

So long...

What's in a name?

2004-11-25T03:16:00.001-06:00

...What's in one of my names, rather, is the question! So, here goes:

When I was a student of (Bapatla) Engineering College, I used to spend most of my time in the Computer Center (CC, as we used to call it). Students of my batch nicknamed me "CC Kiran" at that time. We had C programming language as a part of curriculum, by the way. Someone noticed that I wrote my name as "Kiran.C", (short for "Kiran Chakravarthula", actually, that's how I used to write it) and thought that I was so immersed in C programming that I, by mistake, wrote my name in the "filename.c" format! That's when "CC Kiran" transformed into ".C Kiran" (read as "dot-C Kiran"). Later, my friends saw that I was good at C programming, (by the time they saw me working with graphics and felt that I was good, I was actually not good at C... that was BASIC graphics that I was working on!) and then "dot-C" became a complimenting nickname for me. Eventually, I became a better programmer in C language and rose up to the level of deserving the name (in 1995, in Bapatla, which means I need not be a real geek!).

That's the story of my name ".C", which I use on my books and belongings, and also on my website, as a "trademark". (The "!" beside the "TM" indicates the exclamation in having a person's name as "trade"mark.)

As a sidenote, there's another guy in Chicago that I met on chat a few years ago, who was called "dotC" in engineering (reason unknown), and then there's another school-junior of mine who was also called "dotC" for the same reason as mine.

Still a newbie I am...

2004-11-23T19:29:00.000-06:00

...but so what, I have three visitors now! (Teja, I dutifully engaged myself in more B2B publicity - by linking your blog from mine :-) !)

...but so what, I already inspired another friend to start bloggin'... he didn't yet post anything, and has the regular newbie answer "I can't think of anything worth posting..." (See, I already sound used to this kind of expression!)

...but so what, I'm posting a second blog today, which means I can now think "of something worth posting" or "what actually goes into this blog thing"!

...but so what, I already caught up with the habit of making my posts regular. (As I was telling Teja in an offline conversation, I can at least boast of my blog when I have to prove my time sense, which I generally exhibit poorly!)

...but so what, I also comment on another blog regularly. (And, I plan to visit your blogs too, Kiran & Alam - borrowing the nick from Teja.)

...but so what, I should learn when to stop!

At last...

2004-11-23T19:10:00.000-06:00

...I got two more readers to this blog, thanx Teja! :-)

...I completed the novel "Omerta". I liked it... I always like tactical revenges by the protagonist - they are not unpredictable but at the same time each tactic the protagonist uses is always a thrill to the readers (and the antagonists, of course).

I don't think I'd want to spend time on it now, but what I felt after reading this novel was "Why don't I bring out a Telugu novel inspired by this, a novel that can be modified to be a grippin' movie script?" But, well, to be honest, I'm not good at producing prose in Telugu or in any language, and I have never actually ventured into movie scripting yet! Moreover, this is not the first English novel that made me feel so - I somehow like to convert any literary work into Telugu, I feel. Thanks to my laziness, readers are saved most of the time!

Still Undecided...

2004-11-22T18:39:00.000-06:00

I, still, am not sure as to what goes in here. Well, I guess this is a usual newbie-blogger feeling, and I also think I'd not be sure even after a few days! So, I'd better get used it, I now feel.

First, to answer my comments, (Can I do this or not? I don't know!) Teja, it's not that I am "something", but the photo means that I am "some thing". You didn't get me, right? Forget it, even I didn't get it right! :-P

I may be an avid reader, but I rarely read English novels - I can count them on my single hand (not considering the numerous novels in Hardy Boys series some 15 years back, and a few other such series). I tell this because this time I started (reading) another English novel - "Omerta" by Mario Puzo. Mafia dons and stuf - is it his routine stuff? (I knew he wrote "The Godfather", but I neither read it nor saw the movies based on the novel.) Don't break any suspense if you read that, please! :-)

That's for now, folks! (Reminds me of Buggs Bunny!)

What shalt I write?

2004-11-21T05:32:00.000-06:00

I didn't catch up while the whole world started bloggin'! But, now, when a close friend said that he recently started blogging, I thought I'd join the band too!

Now that I started, I'd better write something... but I'm yet undecided about what goes into a blog and what does/need/should not. Let's see... rather, I'd see and then let you see!

...Today marks the birthday of a younger brother who's so far that I cannot wish him... it'd be a nice way to start my blogging with a wish for a sweet little brother! Many happy returns of the day, bro! You may not ever see this, but well, this stays archived for ever (am I too optimistic about Internet and blogs?) and you can see it anytime in future! Take care, and I love you all the same!

When I don't have much to write, I better stop! (Still trying to learn this habit...!)