Just & Must

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Time Travel

It was the New Year 2022 and my first blog of that year, Having escaped covid infection some carelessness crept into everyone. After-all inoculation offered immunity and freedom. Mid January covid rang my doorbell with mild but painful coughing and a home quarantine of 20 days. Days passed but during last week of January something interesting happened totally unexpected but pleasant, It was a phone call from my college friend. An invitation to join for reunion with college friends at Goa. So, the dates agreed were for second week of February. Like the H G Wells classic novel "Time Machine" some of the friends from class of 1994 were teleported back in time. No amount of success or failure in life mattered and no one carried the weight of life or the lines of time on their forehead. After spending those 2 days in Goa when we were jolted back to the present, every individual looked like he shaved off nearly a decade in their age. Younger selves in spirit and a p...

Homeostasis

I am a fan of homeostasis, and in every phase of life this proves to be a myth yet my heart always wants to see things as they were and should remain. Beauty, youth, position, fame almost everything we treasure is transient in nature. Oscar Wilde , Irish wit, poet, and dramatist wrote a story in 1890 ,"Picture of Dorian Grey" reflects similar thoughts mankind nurture and its obsession to live a lie. Picture Source: Wikipedia (Tutankhamun and Ankhesenamun) It was believed in ancient Egypt that rulers carry their wealth and servants to heaven, therefore post their death they were buried along with their wealth and servants. Coming back to the story of Dorian Grey, I recall a film called " The league of extraordinary gentlemen"(2003) directed by Stephen Norrington. Adaptation of book from Alan Moore and Kevin'o'Neil. Famed adventurer Allain Quartermain (Sean Connery) is recruited by the British Empire for their L...

What's in a Name?

Tis but thy name that is my enemy; Thou art thyself, though not a Montague. What's Montague? it is nor hand, nor foot, Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part Belonging to a man. O, be some other name! What's in a name? that which we call a rose By any other name would smell as sweet; So Romeo would, were he not Romeo call'd, Retain that dear perfection which he owes Without that title. Romeo, doff thy name, And for that name which is no part of thee Take all myself. Romeo and Juliet (2.2.38-49) William Shakespeare It is only your name that is my enemy. You are yourself, not just a Montague. What does ‘Montague’ even mean? It’s not about a hand, a foot, an arm, a face, or any other part of your body. You could just take another name! What’s so special about a name? The thing we call a rose would be just as sweet-smelling if it were called something else. Likewise Romeo, if he weren’t called Romeo, would still be perfect even if he were called something ...

Kutty Story

O nce a man consulted the astrologer and found out the exact time and day of his death, he was a sculptor and a very skilful at his talent. he made nine clay models of himself and painted them and dressed them exactly as he was, No one could tell the difference as they all looked like the sculptor. That fateful day Yamaraj arrived and he couldn't believe his eyes when he saw ten similar-looking clay models in a row and sculptor standing among them. Puzzled he thought " this man is going to be the first person trying to cheat death". But Yama is one of the *twelve Mahajana's extremely intelligent, he said:" Whoever has done this reflects lousy workmanship, I have seen better work than this." This was enough to upset the sculptor since he was the best in his craft, he could not remain silent and he said:" What do you mean?" and gets caught. Moral of the story: One cannot escape from the laws of nature in spite of the best material and intelligent a...

Yaksha Prashna

T he Akshardhama or the conversation between Yudhishthira and Yaksha (in the form of a crane), Crane poses 33 questions in order to bring back four dead Pandavas. (One of the questions and answer from the conversation) The Yaksha asked,—“What is the best of all laudable things? What is the most valuable of all his possessions? What is the best of all gains? And what is the best of all kinds of happiness?” Yudhishthira answered,—” The best of all laudable things is a skill ; the best of all possessions is knowledge: the best of all gains is health : and contentment is the best of all kinds of happiness .” Yaksha Prashna is synonymous to most difficult questions of life which can only be tackled by wisdom and a pure heart (dharma). Many of us must have read or seen this story several times and Yudhishthira practised what he preached all through his life. Which brings me to the most difficult questions when normal people or Organizations are faced with the situations of cyber...

Its a Bot Bot World

O ne day you wake up in a different body which is much stronger and programmed to have military skills and a virtual assistant feeding you with the necessary information before you venture into this new planet. A scene from a sci-fi series looks impossible. There is this web series on Netflix "Altered Carbon" depicting infinite life span and AI-based hotel and AI unicorns and the concept of body-switching called changing the sleeve as you change clothes. How far it seems from reality or just a matter of time, well you may find some of the things changing our lifestyle and we are being programmed to use them. Believe it, they are part of our lives and we can't imagine living without them, Hey Siri! Please play my favorite classical music...Hi, Shakti playing your favorite music. The Future Intelligent assistants 24/7 at your disposal and it's not a sci-fi movie but in reality. Hey! Alexa or Hi Cortana and other less popular programs are a necessary part of our dail...