Wednesday, December 26, 2012
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Sunday, December 16, 2012
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
The Second Coming/Yeats
Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity
Friday, December 7, 2012
Sunday, November 25, 2012
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Friday, November 16, 2012
Excerpts from the Gita
One who is not disturbed in mind even amidst the threefold miseries or elated when there is happiness, and who is free from attachment, fear and anger, is called a sage of steady mind.
The senses are so strong and impetuous, O Arjuna, that they forcibly carry away the mind even of a man of discrimination who is endeavoring to control them.
One who restrains his senses, keeping them under full control, and fixes his consciousness upon Me, is known as a man of steady intelligence.
While contemplating the objects of the senses, a person develops attachment for them, and from such attachment anger arises.From anger, complete delusion arises, and from delusion, bewilderment of memory. When memory us bewildered, intelligence is lost, and when intelligence is lost, one falls down again into the material pool.
One who is not connected with the Supreme can have neither transcendental intelligence nor a steady mind, without which there is no possibility of peace.And how can there be any happiness without peace? As a boat on the water is swept away by a strong wind, even one of the roaming senses on which the mind focuses can carry away a man's intelligence. A person who is not disturbed by the incessant flow of desires - that enter like rivers into the ocean, which is ever being filled but is always still - can alone achieve peace, and not the man who strives to satisfy such desires.
A person who has given up all desires for sense gratification, who lives free from desires, who has given up all sense of proprietorship and is devoid of false ego - he alone can attain real peace.
One who sees inaction in action, and action in inaction, in intelligent among men, and he is in transcendental position, although engaged in all sorts of activities. In this world, there is nothing so sublime and pure as transcendental knowledge. Such knowledge is the mature fruit of all mysticism. And one who has become accomplished in the practice of devotional service enjoys this knowledge within himself in due course of time.
A faithful man who is dedicated to transcendental knowledge and who subdues his senses is eligible to achieve such knowledge and having achieved it, he quickly attains supreme spiritual peace. But ignorant and faithless persons who doubt the revealed scriptures do not attain God consciousness;they fall down.For the doubting soul there is no happiness neither in this world nor in the next.
One who works in devotion, who is a pure soul, and who controls his mind and senses is dear to everyone, and everyone is dear to him. Though always working, such a man is never entangled.
One who performs his duty without attachment, surrendering the results unto the Supreme Lord, is unaffected by sinful action, as the lotus leaf is untouched by water.
The steadily devoted soul attains unadulterated peace because he offers the results of all activities to Me; whereas a person who is not in union with the Divine, who is greedy for the fruits of labor, becomes entangled.
A person who neither rejoices upon achieving something pleasant not laments upon obtaining something unpleasant, who is self-intelligent, who is unbewildered, and who knows the science of God is already situated in transcendence.
One must deliver himself with the help of his mind. The mind is the friend of the conditioned soul, and his enemy as well. For him who has conquered the mind, the mind is the best of friends; but for one who has failed to do so, his mind will remain the greatest enemy.
As a lamp in a windless place does not waver, so the transcendentalist, whose mind is controlled, remains always steady in meditation on the transcendent self. From whenever the mind wanders due to its flickering and unsteady nature, one must certainly withdraw it and bring it back under the control of the self. For the mind is restless, turbulent, obstinate and very strong, O Arjuna, and to subdue it, I think is more difficult than controlling the wind.
O son of Kunti, at the end of the millennium all material manifestations enter into My nature, and at the beginning of another millennium, by My potency, I create them again. The whole cosmic order us under Me. Under My will it is automatically manifested again and again, and under My will it is annihilated at the end. Intelligence,knowledge,freedom from doubt and delusion, forgiveness,truthfulness,control of the senses,control of the mind,happiness and distress,birth,death,fear,fearlessness,nonviolence,equanimity,satisfaction,austerity, charity,fame and infamy - all these various qualities of living beings are created by Me alone.
I am the Supersoul, O Arjuna, seated in the hearts of all living entities. I am the beginning, the middle and the end of all beings. I am inexhaustible time. I am also the gambling of cheats,and of the splendid I am the splendor. I am victory, I am adventure, and I am the strength of the strong. I am the goal, the sustainer, the master, the witness, the abode, the refuge and the most dear friend. I am the creation and the annihilation, the basis of everything, the resting peace and the eternal seed.
The senses are so strong and impetuous, O Arjuna, that they forcibly carry away the mind even of a man of discrimination who is endeavoring to control them.
One who restrains his senses, keeping them under full control, and fixes his consciousness upon Me, is known as a man of steady intelligence.
While contemplating the objects of the senses, a person develops attachment for them, and from such attachment anger arises.From anger, complete delusion arises, and from delusion, bewilderment of memory. When memory us bewildered, intelligence is lost, and when intelligence is lost, one falls down again into the material pool.
One who is not connected with the Supreme can have neither transcendental intelligence nor a steady mind, without which there is no possibility of peace.And how can there be any happiness without peace? As a boat on the water is swept away by a strong wind, even one of the roaming senses on which the mind focuses can carry away a man's intelligence. A person who is not disturbed by the incessant flow of desires - that enter like rivers into the ocean, which is ever being filled but is always still - can alone achieve peace, and not the man who strives to satisfy such desires.
A person who has given up all desires for sense gratification, who lives free from desires, who has given up all sense of proprietorship and is devoid of false ego - he alone can attain real peace.
One who sees inaction in action, and action in inaction, in intelligent among men, and he is in transcendental position, although engaged in all sorts of activities. In this world, there is nothing so sublime and pure as transcendental knowledge. Such knowledge is the mature fruit of all mysticism. And one who has become accomplished in the practice of devotional service enjoys this knowledge within himself in due course of time.
A faithful man who is dedicated to transcendental knowledge and who subdues his senses is eligible to achieve such knowledge and having achieved it, he quickly attains supreme spiritual peace. But ignorant and faithless persons who doubt the revealed scriptures do not attain God consciousness;they fall down.For the doubting soul there is no happiness neither in this world nor in the next.
One who works in devotion, who is a pure soul, and who controls his mind and senses is dear to everyone, and everyone is dear to him. Though always working, such a man is never entangled.
One who performs his duty without attachment, surrendering the results unto the Supreme Lord, is unaffected by sinful action, as the lotus leaf is untouched by water.
The steadily devoted soul attains unadulterated peace because he offers the results of all activities to Me; whereas a person who is not in union with the Divine, who is greedy for the fruits of labor, becomes entangled.
A person who neither rejoices upon achieving something pleasant not laments upon obtaining something unpleasant, who is self-intelligent, who is unbewildered, and who knows the science of God is already situated in transcendence.
One must deliver himself with the help of his mind. The mind is the friend of the conditioned soul, and his enemy as well. For him who has conquered the mind, the mind is the best of friends; but for one who has failed to do so, his mind will remain the greatest enemy.
As a lamp in a windless place does not waver, so the transcendentalist, whose mind is controlled, remains always steady in meditation on the transcendent self. From whenever the mind wanders due to its flickering and unsteady nature, one must certainly withdraw it and bring it back under the control of the self. For the mind is restless, turbulent, obstinate and very strong, O Arjuna, and to subdue it, I think is more difficult than controlling the wind.
O son of Kunti, at the end of the millennium all material manifestations enter into My nature, and at the beginning of another millennium, by My potency, I create them again. The whole cosmic order us under Me. Under My will it is automatically manifested again and again, and under My will it is annihilated at the end. Intelligence,knowledge,freedom from doubt and delusion, forgiveness,truthfulness,control of the senses,control of the mind,happiness and distress,birth,death,fear,fearlessness,nonviolence,equanimity,satisfaction,austerity, charity,fame and infamy - all these various qualities of living beings are created by Me alone.
I am the Supersoul, O Arjuna, seated in the hearts of all living entities. I am the beginning, the middle and the end of all beings. I am inexhaustible time. I am also the gambling of cheats,and of the splendid I am the splendor. I am victory, I am adventure, and I am the strength of the strong. I am the goal, the sustainer, the master, the witness, the abode, the refuge and the most dear friend. I am the creation and the annihilation, the basis of everything, the resting peace and the eternal seed.
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Saturday, November 10, 2012
Romney is President/NY Times
'...The election had the largest gender gap in the history of the Gallup
poll, with Obama winning the vote of single women by 36 percentage
points...'
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/11/opinion/sunday/dowd-romney-is-president.html?hpw
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/11/opinion/sunday/dowd-romney-is-president.html?hpw
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Monday, November 5, 2012
Thursday, September 27, 2012
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
Ode to Autumn
Thinking of this, from school, for some reason :).
Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;
Conspiring with him how to load and bless
With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eaves run;
To bend with apples the mossed cottage-trees,
And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;
To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells
With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,
And still more, later flowers for the bees,
Until they think warm days will never cease,
For Summer has o'erbrimmed their clammy cells.
Who hath not seen thee oft amid thy store?
Sometimes whoever seeks abroad may find
Thee sitting careless on a granary floor,
Thy hair soft-lifted by the winnowing wind;
Or on a half-reaped furrow sound asleep,
Drowsed with the fume of poppies, while thy hook
Spares the next swath and all its twined flowers;
And sometimes like a gleaner thou dost keep
Steady thy laden head across a brook;
Or by a cider-press, with patient look,
Thou watchest the last oozings, hours by hours.
Where are the songs of Spring? Ay, where are they?
Think not of them, thou hast thy music too, -
While barred clouds bloom the soft-dying day
And touch the stubble-plains with rosy hue;
Then in a wailful choir the small gnats mourn
Among the river sallows, borne aloft
Or sinking as the light wind lives or dies;
And full-grown lambs loud bleat from hilly bourn;
Hedge-crickets sing, and now with treble soft
The redbreast whistles from a garden-croft;
And gathering swallows twitter in the skies.
-Keats
Friday, August 3, 2012
Kabir Dohas
Jab Mein Tha Tab Hari Nahin, ab Hari Hai Mein Nahin
Sab Andhiyara Mit Gaya, Jab Deepak Dekhya Mahin
Kabira Kiya Kutch Na Hote Hai, Ankiya Sab Hoye
Jo Kiya Kutch Hote Hai, Karta Aur Koye
Jyon Naino Mein Putli, Tyon Maalik Ghat Mahin
Moorakh Log Na Janhin, Baahar Dhudhan Jahin
Chalti Chakki Dekh Kar, Diya Kabira Roye
Do Paatan Ke Beech Mein,Sabit Bacha Na Koye
Bura Jo Dekhan Me Chala, Bura Naa Milya Koye
Jo Munn Khoja Apnaa, To Mujhse Bura Naa Koye
Kaal Kare So Aaj Kar, Aaj Kare So Ab
Pal Mein Parlaya Hoyegi, Bahuri Karoge Kab
Aisee Vani Boliye, Man Ka Aapa Khoye
Apna Tan Sheetal Kare, Auran Ko Sukh Hoye
Dheere Dheere Re Mana, Dheere Sub Kutch Hoye
Mali Seenche So Ghara, Ritu Aaye Phal Hoye
Bada Hua To Kya Hua, Jaise Ped Khajoor
Panthi Ko Chaya Nahin, Phal Laage Atidoor
Jaise Til Mein Tel Hai, Jyon Chakmak Mein Aag
Tera Sayeen Tujh Mein Hai, Tu Jaag Sake To Jaag
Kabira Khara Bazaar Mein, Mange Sabki Khair
Na Kahu Se Dosti, Na Kahu Se Bair
Pothi Padh Padh Kar Jag Mua, Pandit Bhayo Na Koye
Dhai Aakhar Prem Ke, Jo Padhe so Pandit Hoye
Gur Dhobi Sikh Kapda, Saboo Sirjan Har
Surti Sila Pur Dhoiye, Nikse Jyoti Apaar
Jeevat Samjhe Jeevat Bujhe, Jeevat He Karo Aas
Jeevat Karam Ki Fansi Na Kaati, Mue Mukti Ki Aas
Akath Kahani Prem Ki, Kutch Kahi Na Jaye
Goonge Keri Sarkara, Baithe Muskae
Chinta Aisee Dakini, Kat Kaleja Khaye
Vaid Bichara Kya Kare, Kahan Tak Dawa Lagaye
Kabira Garv Na Keejiye, Uncha Dekh Aavaas
Kaal Paron Punyah Letna, Uper Jamsi Ghaas
Aag Jo Lagi Samand Mein, Dhuan Na Pargat Hoye
So Jane Jo Jarmua, Jaki Lagi Hoye
Ek Kahun To Hai Nahin, Do Kahun To Gaari
Hai Jaisa Taisa Rahe, Kahe Kabir Bichari
Maala To Kar Mein Phire, Jeebh Phire Mukh Mahin
Manua To Chahun Dish Phire, Yeh To Simran Nahin
Kabir Soyee Soorma, Man Soon Maande Jhoojh
Panch Pyada Paari Le, Door Kare Sab Dooj
Sab Andhiyara Mit Gaya, Jab Deepak Dekhya Mahin
Kabira Kiya Kutch Na Hote Hai, Ankiya Sab Hoye
Jo Kiya Kutch Hote Hai, Karta Aur Koye
Jyon Naino Mein Putli, Tyon Maalik Ghat Mahin
Moorakh Log Na Janhin, Baahar Dhudhan Jahin
Chalti Chakki Dekh Kar, Diya Kabira Roye
Do Paatan Ke Beech Mein,Sabit Bacha Na Koye
Bura Jo Dekhan Me Chala, Bura Naa Milya Koye
Jo Munn Khoja Apnaa, To Mujhse Bura Naa Koye
Kaal Kare So Aaj Kar, Aaj Kare So Ab
Pal Mein Parlaya Hoyegi, Bahuri Karoge Kab
Aisee Vani Boliye, Man Ka Aapa Khoye
Apna Tan Sheetal Kare, Auran Ko Sukh Hoye
Dheere Dheere Re Mana, Dheere Sub Kutch Hoye
Mali Seenche So Ghara, Ritu Aaye Phal Hoye
Bada Hua To Kya Hua, Jaise Ped Khajoor
Panthi Ko Chaya Nahin, Phal Laage Atidoor
Jaise Til Mein Tel Hai, Jyon Chakmak Mein Aag
Tera Sayeen Tujh Mein Hai, Tu Jaag Sake To Jaag
Kabira Khara Bazaar Mein, Mange Sabki Khair
Na Kahu Se Dosti, Na Kahu Se Bair
Pothi Padh Padh Kar Jag Mua, Pandit Bhayo Na Koye
Dhai Aakhar Prem Ke, Jo Padhe so Pandit Hoye
Gur Dhobi Sikh Kapda, Saboo Sirjan Har
Surti Sila Pur Dhoiye, Nikse Jyoti Apaar
Jeevat Samjhe Jeevat Bujhe, Jeevat He Karo Aas
Jeevat Karam Ki Fansi Na Kaati, Mue Mukti Ki Aas
Akath Kahani Prem Ki, Kutch Kahi Na Jaye
Goonge Keri Sarkara, Baithe Muskae
Chinta Aisee Dakini, Kat Kaleja Khaye
Vaid Bichara Kya Kare, Kahan Tak Dawa Lagaye
Kabira Garv Na Keejiye, Uncha Dekh Aavaas
Kaal Paron Punyah Letna, Uper Jamsi Ghaas
Aag Jo Lagi Samand Mein, Dhuan Na Pargat Hoye
So Jane Jo Jarmua, Jaki Lagi Hoye
Ek Kahun To Hai Nahin, Do Kahun To Gaari
Hai Jaisa Taisa Rahe, Kahe Kabir Bichari
Maala To Kar Mein Phire, Jeebh Phire Mukh Mahin
Manua To Chahun Dish Phire, Yeh To Simran Nahin
Kabir Soyee Soorma, Man Soon Maande Jhoojh
Panch Pyada Paari Le, Door Kare Sab Dooj
Monday, July 23, 2012
Zen Haikus
Those who see worldly life as an obstacle to Dharma
see no Dharma in everyday actions.
They have not yet discovered that
there are no everyday actions outside of Dharma.
Dogen
see no Dharma in everyday actions.
They have not yet discovered that
there are no everyday actions outside of Dharma.
Dogen
The past is already past.
Don't try to regain it.
The present does not stay.
Don't try to touch it.
Don't try to regain it.
The present does not stay.
Don't try to touch it.
From moment to moment.
The future has not come;
Don't think about it
Beforehand.
The future has not come;
Don't think about it
Beforehand.
Whatever comes to the eye,
Leave it be.
There are no commandments
To be kept;
There's no filth to be cleansed.
Leave it be.
There are no commandments
To be kept;
There's no filth to be cleansed.
With empty mind really
Penetrated, the dharmas
Have no life.
Penetrated, the dharmas
Have no life.
When you can be like this,
You've completed
The ultimate attainment.
Layman P'ang (740-808)
You've completed
The ultimate attainment.
Layman P'ang (740-808)
Jadoo!
Pighle Neelam sa behta hua ye samaa,
Neelam neelam si khamoshiyan,
Na kahin hai zameen, na kahin asmaan,
Sarsarati hui tehniyan, pattiya, keh rahi hain,
Ki bas ek tum ho yahan,
Sirf main hun, meri sansein aur ye dhadkanein,
Aisi gahraiyan, aisi tanhaiyan aur main,
Sirf main.
Apne hone pe, mujhko yakin aa gaya.
Dilon mein tum apni betabiyan leke chal rahe ho, to zinda ho tum,
Nazar mein khwabon ki bijliyan leke chal rahe ho, to zinda ho tum,
Hawa ke jhonkho ke jaise, azaad rehna seekho,
Tum ek dariya ke jaise, lehron mein behna seekho,
Har ek lamhe se tum milo khole apni bahein,
Har ek pal, ek naya samaa dekhe ye nigahein,
Jo apni aankhon mein hairaniyan leke chal rahe ho, to zinda ho tum
Dilon mein tum apni betabiyan leke chal rahe ho, to zinda ho tum
-Javed Akhtar
Neelam neelam si khamoshiyan,
Na kahin hai zameen, na kahin asmaan,
Sarsarati hui tehniyan, pattiya, keh rahi hain,
Ki bas ek tum ho yahan,
Sirf main hun, meri sansein aur ye dhadkanein,
Aisi gahraiyan, aisi tanhaiyan aur main,
Sirf main.
Apne hone pe, mujhko yakin aa gaya.
Dilon mein tum apni betabiyan leke chal rahe ho, to zinda ho tum,
Nazar mein khwabon ki bijliyan leke chal rahe ho, to zinda ho tum,
Hawa ke jhonkho ke jaise, azaad rehna seekho,
Tum ek dariya ke jaise, lehron mein behna seekho,
Har ek lamhe se tum milo khole apni bahein,
Har ek pal, ek naya samaa dekhe ye nigahein,
Jo apni aankhon mein hairaniyan leke chal rahe ho, to zinda ho tum
Dilon mein tum apni betabiyan leke chal rahe ho, to zinda ho tum
-Javed Akhtar
The Mountain and the Squirrel
The mountain and the squirrel
Had a quarrel,
And the former called the latter, "little prig":
Bun replied,
You are doubtless very big,
But all sorts of things and weather
Must be taken in together
To make up a year, And a sphere.
And I think it no disgrace
To occupy my place.
If I'm not so large as you,
You are not so small as I,
And not half so spry: I'll not deny you make
A very pretty squirrel track;
Talents differ; all is well and wisely put;
If I cannot carry forests on my back,
Neither can you crack a nut.
-R.W. Emerson
Had a quarrel,
And the former called the latter, "little prig":
Bun replied,
You are doubtless very big,
But all sorts of things and weather
Must be taken in together
To make up a year, And a sphere.
And I think it no disgrace
To occupy my place.
If I'm not so large as you,
You are not so small as I,
And not half so spry: I'll not deny you make
A very pretty squirrel track;
Talents differ; all is well and wisely put;
If I cannot carry forests on my back,
Neither can you crack a nut.
-R.W. Emerson
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Mom's Joy(s)
Bloomsday befalls!
Sulekha Kumar appreciates the heroic in everyday life, while celebrating the genius of James Joyce.
Friday, June 8, 2012
Saturday, April 14, 2012
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
(Un)wordy Progress
About five years back, my mom sent me an email which said '...The comp has been going into beatific raptures of blue again...' among other things. I remember having to look up both 'beatific' and 'raptures'..basically I had to look up almost every 'big' word she used back then (the days of the GRE word list could provide but temporary relief from this phenomenon). I look up fewer words she uses now..yet the frequency is not low and certainly not 0..how will I ever catch up with that fiction-hungry monster? :)
Monday, April 2, 2012
Ансамбль "Берёзка" - 'Прялица' (I don't get it either)
Interesting! Mom taught me some Russian when I was eight...the title translates into Ensemble Beryozka(Birch tree, revered in Russia)- 'Prialitsa'
(beloved)..the Pria prefix in Russian shares its roots with the Priya prefix in Sanskrit..amazing and amazing she can still read the language given she learned it at 16 and hasn't touched it since!
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Bond, the Band
Lively strings, make up for the overdone performances, me thinks! It was their song - 'Kismet' - the search of which accidentally led me to discover Kismet on Ice..the combo makes it stunning to watch!
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Friday, March 23, 2012
On the same Page!
I just discovered that Stephen Hawking contributed articles for Cosmos, a an Australia based leading popular science magazine that I almost interned with!! If I had known and if it had worked out, it would have been a most nervous time!
COSMOS
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Monday, March 12, 2012
A Meeting by the River
The 'Mohan Veena' is a guitar modified to sound like a veena and was invented by VM Bhatt, after whom it is named.
Saturday, March 10, 2012
Thursday, March 8, 2012
John McLaughlin & Shakti
Amazing fusion of jazz and Indian classical (both Carnatic and Hindustani) music! Album - 'A Handful of Beauty'.
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Sunday, March 4, 2012
UW-Madison Diwali Night '09
http://homepages.cae.wisc.edu/~saigopan/music.html
(Scroll down to the last video)
Friday, March 2, 2012
Favourite Figures
Xue Shen and Hongbo Zhao again! My roommate and I can barely watch without giving them a standing ovation in our room, with the crowd :). These are not current, but terrific..came up now coz my roommate has been watching a lot of figure skating the last few months..I'm even sure there’s a repeat of Kismet somewhere on the blog..
The Sign!
After thinking about doing this for the last many years, finally signed up for Accordion lessons and Carnatic music today..after getting advice from friends, Kathak dance to follow hopefully, rather than any other ...for its chakkars alone! It's enriching being in Bangalore/the South..of course, I am happily overwhelmed by the sweetness of its people..goodbye for good Delhi and Delhiites, I am NOT going back, come what may! Fortunately for me, my folks are in full agreement about not leaving Bangalore for the moment and the South ever, either! In tune with this brand of bread called 'Southern Days' that my roommate loves!
Fractal Art
While I am still in the process of educating myself about their mathematics, these images just caught my fancy...exquisite!
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Se(t)erenity
Eternally delightful. Sometimes it takes me to be patient to listen to Hindustani classical music..and Western classical music too. But not Carnatic music! How Carnatic music manages to fill the soul with serenity and eternity and energy at the same time should be a subject of more analysis. That is what makes it such a pleasure to listen to, no matter what the mood! In fact, I don't think I've ever heard Carnatic music without getting completely sucked into the music, like it was a living entity and without being overwhelmed by it..
Music and dance are the only things I've experienced that actually make one feel like one has reached the Creator itself..there is hardly anything that's worth its weight in gold more than learning Carnatic music or at least not letting a day pass by without spending time listening to it. Writing is a high, but music/dance is self-submission...
Music and dance are the only things I've experienced that actually make one feel like one has reached the Creator itself..there is hardly anything that's worth its weight in gold more than learning Carnatic music or at least not letting a day pass by without spending time listening to it. Writing is a high, but music/dance is self-submission...
Satchi's Sach
‘Why do you write’ is a question that every writer must have been called upon to answer not one but many times and it is even likely that he/she has given different answers each time since it can be read as a philosophical question, a political question and an autobiographical question.The question itself can be posed with different emphases: like, WHY do you write,why do YOU write and why do you WRITE where the first is a general question about the the reasons for writing (differently intoned it can also imply contempt), the second is an existential question about the choice you have personally made while the third suggests , of the many options you had for self-expression or even for a career, why did you choose this mode or career called writing. I take it that the question posed here is the first one, about the raison d’etre of writing.
So, one can safely say without any fear of contradiction that I write to converse with history; I write to address the society, I write to explore the mystery of existence and the universe, I write to record my responses to my natural and human environment, I write to celebrate the richness and diversity of life; I write to articulate my personal pains and anxieties, I write to innovate and rejuvenate my language, I write to challenge death.
-Excerpts from In Place of an Answer (A Talk made in the Symposium , "Why Do I Write, How Do I Write" held at the Sahitya Akademi, 2010)
I cannot tell from where poetry came to me; I had hardly any poet- predecessors. Whenever I try to think about it, I hear the diverse strains of the incessant rains of my village in Kerala and recall too, the luminous lines of the Malayalam Ramayana I had read as a schoolboy where the poet prays to the Goddess of the Word to keep on bringing the apt words to his mind without a pause like the endless waves of the sea. My mother taught me to talk to cats and crows and trees; from my pious father I learnt to communicate with gods and spirits. My insane grandmother taught me to create a parallel world in order to escape the vile ordinariness of the tiringly humdrum everyday world ; the dead taught me to be one with the soil ; the wind taught me to move and shake without ever being seen and the rain trained my voice in a thousand modulations. With such teachers, perhaps it was impossible for me not to be a poet , of sorts.
Excerpts from About Poetry , About Life (A Speech at the Sahitya Akademi - Meet the Author)
K Satchidanandan served as the Editor of Indian Literature, the journal of the Sahitya Akademi (India’s National Academy of Literature) and the executive head of the Sahitya Akademi for a decade (1996–2006)
So, one can safely say without any fear of contradiction that I write to converse with history; I write to address the society, I write to explore the mystery of existence and the universe, I write to record my responses to my natural and human environment, I write to celebrate the richness and diversity of life; I write to articulate my personal pains and anxieties, I write to innovate and rejuvenate my language, I write to challenge death.
-Excerpts from In Place of an Answer (A Talk made in the Symposium , "Why Do I Write, How Do I Write" held at the Sahitya Akademi, 2010)
I cannot tell from where poetry came to me; I had hardly any poet- predecessors. Whenever I try to think about it, I hear the diverse strains of the incessant rains of my village in Kerala and recall too, the luminous lines of the Malayalam Ramayana I had read as a schoolboy where the poet prays to the Goddess of the Word to keep on bringing the apt words to his mind without a pause like the endless waves of the sea. My mother taught me to talk to cats and crows and trees; from my pious father I learnt to communicate with gods and spirits. My insane grandmother taught me to create a parallel world in order to escape the vile ordinariness of the tiringly humdrum everyday world ; the dead taught me to be one with the soil ; the wind taught me to move and shake without ever being seen and the rain trained my voice in a thousand modulations. With such teachers, perhaps it was impossible for me not to be a poet , of sorts.
Excerpts from About Poetry , About Life (A Speech at the Sahitya Akademi - Meet the Author)
K Satchidanandan served as the Editor of Indian Literature, the journal of the Sahitya Akademi (India’s National Academy of Literature) and the executive head of the Sahitya Akademi for a decade (1996–2006)
The Phantom of the Opera is there...
The haunting strangeness of the piece is what bring me back to it, over and over.
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
To Romantics ;)
...koadi keertanayum,
Would the countless great compositions,
kavi koartha vaarthaigalum,
or even the beautiful words chosen by a poet
thuLi kaNNeer poal arththam tharumo...?'
..be as meaningful as a single drop of tear?
-Vairamuthu for Vellai Pookal (Kannathil Muththamithal)
And T.S. Eliot agrees by asking, 'Am I, then, made of words?'
Would the countless great compositions,
kavi koartha vaarthaigalum,
or even the beautiful words chosen by a poet
thuLi kaNNeer poal arththam tharumo...?'
..be as meaningful as a single drop of tear?
-Vairamuthu for Vellai Pookal (Kannathil Muththamithal)
And T.S. Eliot agrees by asking, 'Am I, then, made of words?'
Ayn Rand to Nayn Rand
Aye Rand is a one-time must-read, pretty much for readers of all tastes. Both 'Atlas Shrugged' and 'Fountainhead'. After a long debate with a few friends, some years back, we managed to agree that it wasn't an obvious re-read though. So, Byn Rand, I guess!
Monday, February 27, 2012
What the Elements Taught Me
Earth taught me
to embrace all, to outlive all,
to know stasis is death and
to evolve from season to season,
to be on the move within and without
Fire taught me
to be aflame with desire,
to dance, dance, dance,
until all desires turn to ash,
to sanctify the world with grief,
to illumine through contemplation
the ocean’s womb and the granite’s heart
Water taught me
to ooze unannounced
from eyes and clouds,
to seep deep into earth, into bodies,
adorning both with tender leaves and flowers,
to strip myself of name and location
and merge with the magnificent blue
of memory’s final horizon
Air taught me
to sing disembodied through bamboo-clumps,
to prophesy through leaves,
to lend wings to seeds,
to be, at once, a gentle caressing breeze
and a speeding , howling, storm
Ether taught me
to be full with the full moon,
to be null with the new moon,
to be the red, red flush of dawn and dusk,
to be everywhere and to be nowhere
The five elements taught me
to be one with all,
to be detached from all,
to be changing forms forever,
until the day of my deliverance
from the world of forms.
-K.Satchidanandan
(Translated from Malayalam by the poet)
to embrace all, to outlive all,
to know stasis is death and
to evolve from season to season,
to be on the move within and without
Fire taught me
to be aflame with desire,
to dance, dance, dance,
until all desires turn to ash,
to sanctify the world with grief,
to illumine through contemplation
the ocean’s womb and the granite’s heart
Water taught me
to ooze unannounced
from eyes and clouds,
to seep deep into earth, into bodies,
adorning both with tender leaves and flowers,
to strip myself of name and location
and merge with the magnificent blue
of memory’s final horizon
Air taught me
to sing disembodied through bamboo-clumps,
to prophesy through leaves,
to lend wings to seeds,
to be, at once, a gentle caressing breeze
and a speeding , howling, storm
Ether taught me
to be full with the full moon,
to be null with the new moon,
to be the red, red flush of dawn and dusk,
to be everywhere and to be nowhere
The five elements taught me
to be one with all,
to be detached from all,
to be changing forms forever,
until the day of my deliverance
from the world of forms.
-K.Satchidanandan
(Translated from Malayalam by the poet)
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Emission Omissions
Jigyasa Jyotika/International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA)
Can biodiesel help cut emissions in the
Indian transport sector?
Diesel is a major fuel source in India, with 71 percent of
the oil consumed in 2005 being diesel and 29 percent
gasoline. Given that India’s fuel consumption of 12
million tonnes per annum in the transport sector alone is
expected to double by 2030, India and other developing
countries are urgently seeking cheap and environmentally friendly
alternatives to meet future energy demand.
A recent study by IIASA’s Forestry Program, published
in the journal Applied Energy, demonstrates that biodiesel,
which produces significantly fewer emissions than regular
diesel, can be produced cost-effectively in India from the plant
Jatropha Curcas, a drought- and pest-resistant perennial that
grows in tropical wastelands and produces seeds for up to
50 years. Jatropha could potentially produce 150,000 tonnes
of cheap and renewable diesel for Indian vehicles per year.
Importantly, Jatropha does not compete with food crops for land;
instead, it potentially offers opportunities to poorer Indian
farmers to use wasteland to increase their income. By-products
of biodiesel production, for example, oil cakes and glycerol,
can also be used in the fertilizer and cosmetic industries, respectively.
Jatropha seeds have a 37 percent oil content that needs
minimal refining before use. As Jatropha biodiesel is very similar
to diesel itself, little modification to current engines is required.
Vehicles can run on pure biodiesel or any bio/mineral diesel mix.
Compared to mineral diesel, pure biodiesel cuts emissions of
black carbon or “soot” by 60 percent, carbon monoxide and
hydrocarbons by 50 percent, and greenhouse gases by 80 percent.
Sulfur dioxide emissions are nil, given the vegetable origin of
Jatropha; however, the combustion characteristics of the engine
used could increase or decrease nitrous oxide emissions by up to
10 percent.
With Luleå University of Technology in Sweden, IIASA
modeled 40 million hectares of Indian wasteland across 24 states
to determine the number and locations of potential biodiesel
production plants that would be optimal for fuel production.
The analysis revealed that biomass cost was the most important
factor affecting overall biodiesel production cost, followed by
investment and transportation. One result of the emissions analysis
was that poor Jatropha plant yield at any location could result in
raw materials needing to be transported to the production plant,
increasing financial costs and emission levels. While overall findings
show that, based on the costs of production and the emissions
released, an appropriate number and specific locations of biodiesel
plants can be determined, further research is required on the
economies of scale involved.
The use of Jatropha for biodiesel production, while significant,
is limited to tropical countries. Previous FOR research has shown
that methanol derived from poplar trees can be a viable biofuel
alternative to gasoline in Austria, while ongoing research is
looking at the potential for using a variety of other plant types
(such as maize or canola) as biofuel production sources in other
non-tropical regions.
Can biodiesel help cut emissions in the
Indian transport sector?
Diesel is a major fuel source in India, with 71 percent of
the oil consumed in 2005 being diesel and 29 percent
gasoline. Given that India’s fuel consumption of 12
million tonnes per annum in the transport sector alone is
expected to double by 2030, India and other developing
countries are urgently seeking cheap and environmentally friendly
alternatives to meet future energy demand.
A recent study by IIASA’s Forestry Program, published
in the journal Applied Energy, demonstrates that biodiesel,
which produces significantly fewer emissions than regular
diesel, can be produced cost-effectively in India from the plant
Jatropha Curcas, a drought- and pest-resistant perennial that
grows in tropical wastelands and produces seeds for up to
50 years. Jatropha could potentially produce 150,000 tonnes
of cheap and renewable diesel for Indian vehicles per year.
Importantly, Jatropha does not compete with food crops for land;
instead, it potentially offers opportunities to poorer Indian
farmers to use wasteland to increase their income. By-products
of biodiesel production, for example, oil cakes and glycerol,
can also be used in the fertilizer and cosmetic industries, respectively.
Jatropha seeds have a 37 percent oil content that needs
minimal refining before use. As Jatropha biodiesel is very similar
to diesel itself, little modification to current engines is required.
Vehicles can run on pure biodiesel or any bio/mineral diesel mix.
Compared to mineral diesel, pure biodiesel cuts emissions of
black carbon or “soot” by 60 percent, carbon monoxide and
hydrocarbons by 50 percent, and greenhouse gases by 80 percent.
Sulfur dioxide emissions are nil, given the vegetable origin of
Jatropha; however, the combustion characteristics of the engine
used could increase or decrease nitrous oxide emissions by up to
10 percent.
With Luleå University of Technology in Sweden, IIASA
modeled 40 million hectares of Indian wasteland across 24 states
to determine the number and locations of potential biodiesel
production plants that would be optimal for fuel production.
The analysis revealed that biomass cost was the most important
factor affecting overall biodiesel production cost, followed by
investment and transportation. One result of the emissions analysis
was that poor Jatropha plant yield at any location could result in
raw materials needing to be transported to the production plant,
increasing financial costs and emission levels. While overall findings
show that, based on the costs of production and the emissions
released, an appropriate number and specific locations of biodiesel
plants can be determined, further research is required on the
economies of scale involved.
The use of Jatropha for biodiesel production, while significant,
is limited to tropical countries. Previous FOR research has shown
that methanol derived from poplar trees can be a viable biofuel
alternative to gasoline in Austria, while ongoing research is
looking at the potential for using a variety of other plant types
(such as maize or canola) as biofuel production sources in other
non-tropical regions.
Friday, January 27, 2012
Friday, January 13, 2012
Monogamy in a bottle...at least for voles
Jigyasa Jyotika/ The Daily Cardinal
Introducing a love potion designed to instantly stop and even prevent your spouse from cheating on you!
If changing a callous Casanova to a faithful lover sounds like something only Shakespeare's Puck can do, it may be time to think again. Or maybe Shakespeare was just 400-odd years ahead of his time when he wrote A Midsummer Night's Dream.""
The ""Puck"" is actually a pack of Pucks led by Larry Young, a neuroscientist at Emory University. The Casanova undergoing ""quick fix moral upgradation"" is a small and furry relative of the mouse - the vole. Or rather, the promiscuous variety of the vole.
Voles belong to one of two closely related species: the promiscuous, philandering type or the monogamous, marrying type. The two species also differ in how social they are and how parental they become after having children.
While members of the monogamous variety are highly social and huddle together, members of the promiscuous variety are isolated and aggressive to the point of earning themselves a reputation. Paternal care also seems to correspond with monogamy - male voles of the monogamous kind devote as much time to the babies as the female. Babies of promiscuous voles, however, are reared only by the female partner.
Recently, the Puck pack at Emory reported they had brought the promiscuous variety around, making them monogamous by manipulating a single gene. Literature in the field of neuroendocrinology (the study of how hormones act on the brain to influence behaviors), indicated that sex hormones influenced these behaviors.
Specifically, two hormones - vasopressin (in males) and oxytocin (in females) - were known to be responsible for forming bonds and attachment within couples and between mothers and infants in some mammalian species.
Research into the molecular basis of pair-bonding in voles started when the same hormones were tested for their involvement in pair-bond formation in voles. When male voles were injected with the vasopressin hormone, they formed stable pair-bonds with females even without mating with them. Blocking the action of vasopressin in male voles that hadn't mated, on the other hand, prevented them from forming a pair-bond after mating, confirming that vasopressin plays a key role in pair-bond formation. Regulating oxytocin in females that hadn't yet mated produced the same results. Previous literature also indicated that vasopressin is responsible for social recognition of individuals in voles.
All this is fine, except that promiscuous male voles also have vasopressin in their systems. Investigating this paradox led researchers to discover differences in brain regions and in vasopressin receptor levels between monogamous and promiscuous voles.
Monogamous voles have their vasopressin receptors located in the ""pleasure centers"" of their brains - the same pleasure center the good feeling after eating chocolate or having sex comes from. So it was postulated, for this species, that mating with an individual recognized vole and feeling good about the sex happens in a coordinated fashion, forming an association between that particular partner and the mating-related good feeling.
In all subsequent matings, perhaps the social memory of the partner and the memory of the good feeling makes, the vole perceives the partner as the cause of the pleasure and this association is what makes these voles stick to the same partner.
What the Emory Puck pack did in a recent study, published in Nature, was take the gene for the vasopressin receptor from the monogamous vole and inject it into the brains of promiscuous voles, such that the gene now produces the same levels of the receptor as found in the monogamous vole.
The result? The erstwhile promiscuous male voles underwent a radical transformation into males that exhibited nothing short of complete monogamy. With this, the former philanderers suddenly started spending significantly higher amounts of time huddling with their partners. Furthermore, when the researchers inactivated the vasopressin receptor gene injected into the promiscuous species, the voles resorted to their old habits and all trace of faithfulness instantly vanished.
But what does any of this have to do with humans? Studies in humans involving fMRI (fluorescent Magnetic Resonance Imaging) have shown that when people see pictures of their lovers, blood flow to the pleasure and addiction centers increase. Many of these regions have lots of vasopressin, oxytocin and their receptors. A similar fMRI pattern emerges when mothers are shown pictures of their own children.
Neuroscientist Thomas Insel, also at Emory University, is investigating pair bonding in voles and the biochemistry behind their love in an effort to search for a link between studies on these behaviors in voles and social disorders in humans like autism and schizophrenia, both of which are characterized by isolation and lack of attachment.
So, lessons learned from a small furry rodent indicate researchers may have found a single key gene responsible for fidelity and community, and in fact created evolution and history in the laboratory.
If chemistry really is behind it all, the science of love may simply be the hottest chemical reaction around.
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