I've coined a new Term! Writer's Vomit...

We all know Writer's block and use it profusely without any regard to whether we possess any writing prowess and/or creativity.

Dumbfounded is not equal to calm and quiet.  So, is Writer's block.  If you just can't write does not mean you are experiencing a block.

The few times that I had used or atleast wished to my alter ago snorted and smirked killing all the flourish that came with the words and I just... mellowed down, let's say.

Now for some reason this morning, I realised how I always write in short and hurried bursts once in a few months and then just nothing for months and years.  Not that what I write are great pieces of work either! :(

That's when the words (or henceforth the 'term') just walked into my mind and sat there looking at me impatiently, as though it was getting bored until my stupid brain caught up and realised it had to share it with you all.

Well, enough of nonsense and nothing...I present to you a new term of my coinage...."Writer's Vomit".  Yes, that is what I am going to call and insist you do...
Nah just kidding...
You would think I was!
Please...! :(
No, I am not begging!!
NOT.

Well, once again nonsense and nothing aside...
I think it is justified to use the term though for such periods of harried writing that most of the amatuers go through.  I lead by example, see!  I just had to write this down.  Holding back only made it worse.  The urge was so strong you felt quirmy and uncomfortable, unable to sit out whatever you were about to do.  Nothing is comfortable except for getting it out.  The more it is 'ALL of it', the better.

And for most of us, (ok, some of us, whatever...) what comes out is quite putrid and reeking; all that we have ingested from the world, either fully, or in most cases partially, digested! 

And do I really have to say it? Ok fine, yes people do not enjoy going through the contents, No! 
And someone usually has to clean up after you. 
And if you are sick/sad (figuratively), it just falls back on you to clean it up!
Told you it all fits well!! :D

Now, the most interesting thing is that the ones going through the contents, or even watching you do it, get the urge too!  Tell me it's not true!?  How many of us have penned down, vomitting half baked stuff just because we were "ïnspired"?! I've done it loads of time.

I've even searched for it on Google to make sure I was not untittingly "plaigarised" someone else's words.  Here is the proof.  ;)

So yes, I hereby Coin the term Writer's Vomit!  Feel free t use it ;) On me too yes.... :P

On a side note, I did contemplate Writer's Orgasm but I could not identify this writing urge with it entirely, to be honest.  I mean look at how multifaceted and (satisfyingly) justifiable Writer's Vomit is to describe - not to mention the crooked fun - what we go through and end up producing?  May be we can reserve that for a work resulting in a good piece but not my personal choice.  I leave it to you...:P

Thank you for reading.  I would much appreciate, comments and conversations here, than on my FB post if you found this through there.  Cheers!

குடல் கொடுமை, உருளை வதை!!

மெலிதான உன் தேகத்தை கையிலெடுக்க
உன் உவர்ப்பை என் உதட்டில் ருசிக்க
சிறிதாய் கடித்திட பொறுமையின்றி
                             முழுதாய் விழுங்கிட
தனியாய் அமர்ந்து பார்க்கும் என் பகல் வேலை
                             கார் கால ஏக்கமாய் மாற
குடல் காணும் கனவில் ஆழ்கிறேன்
என் அன்பு உருளை கிழங்கு வத்தலே!!




கறுமுறுவென கடித்த்துண்ண
மேலிதுரு கொண்ட உனைத்தேடி
சுடும் சுகம் கொண்ட பகல் கனவில்
ஆழ்திடச் செய்யும் ஒரு நிலையாய்
கடும் அடம் கொண்டிருக்கும்
என் குடல் செய்யும் இந்தக் கொடுமையில்
                                நான் எல்லை மீற
தொட்டில் இன்றி கட்டில் இன்றி
குழந்தையாய் பிறந்ததாம் - இந்த ஊளச்ச்சதை!

Binge breaks

I've been meaning to do this for a while actually! (Like most things).  May be a stray thought branching off from the the world hunger series (or not! Been too long, can't remember).

I wanted to write quick short poems or funny lines or whatever expressions I can pen about my binge cravings every time I feel them (no I am not pregnant, just unhealthy!), and thus hopefully distracting my brain for long enough to actually overcome it!  Ingenious - ahem* desperate ahem* - it sounds, doesn't it? Let's see how long it works, for it did today...:)

So, I'll post my first attempt shortly!  Well, ended up writing two versions of the same thing because I was struggling for words to finish even one.  If you understood that you know what it means to fall out of touch with your writing spurts.


 

ஆசையா காமமா?

நீ உன் முகமயிற் நீக்கினால்

என் முகம் ஏக்கமாய் வாடியது...

இது பிள்ளை ஆசையா, செல்லக் காமமா?

Oh get lost! But take my love with you!

Oh get lost!
But take my love with you!
when you walk all over me and leave me on the floor
I hate you from my heart, from inside my soul.
All that anger flowing and drowning me foul.
And that's when I lose it and let you go through the door
Oh go to hell!
And there trotts my heart, with a wagging tail...
That's when I decide to drown deeper but with my heart gone...
And the burden of my love for you following you out...
Leaves me so light that I float back right up...
The bouyancy of this ironic life...
And again my zombie mind shouts...

Oh get lost!
And still there goes...my life and love with you...!

Morning Potty Philosophies

Morning Potty has always been a time for thought... I have always found them to be my most creative and imaginative thought process time... It's almost as if you are asleep and dreaming solutions to your everyday problems or searching for an inner meaning to even the smallest of things in life that you wud usually ignore...

Right from my childhood days of indian commode habits I remember using this time to experiment with my various muscles and joints, in my legs, trying to see how long they hold still, when exactly do they start hurting, how much water I am using and how efficiently can I use the water while I also keep a constant flow to keep the commode from drying up...

Recently facebook, whatsapp and ebook readers (and some games too yes) have stolen this precious time from my brain exercise schedule I realise...sadly... 

Potty in this era of smartphones, has changed from being 'an extremely private and intimate time spent by a person completely inside their head and body, pushing out creative thoughts and 'not so creative' (some may disagree) body excrements' to a time when we connect with family and friends... 

It is not even funny anymore and in many cases true even, if you were to imagine your friend on their respective bathrooms and replying to your messages and watching the videos you shared...which is sad... Not just because it's not funny...

That said, try as I may, my hand automatically picks up my smartphone the minute I feel my bladder full or my rectum signal...

Times when I realize my battery is dead but I need to potty are almost emergencies where I borrow Suresh's phone shamefacedly (for the fact that I forgot to charge it).

From a girl who never opened her mouth to respond to any questions/conversations or provocations from outside the door while at potty to one who utilises her time on the potty connecting with people vie e-media is quite a (still quiet) transformation that I believe many women of my age and era wud agree...

And in fact this blog and the thoughts for it started this morning while at potty... 

Now what prompted me to write was a little insect I killed because I couldn't watch it buzzing around me... All I had to do was pour a few drops of water over it and it fell down twitching.  Then I couldn't watch it die nor accept that I did something that bad that I was torn between letting it go and ending its suffering (yes mahatma's words - or so I have been told - echoed in my mind) and I poured more water on it swearing (for the thousandth time in my life) that I wud never do that again...

So I was going to post on FB at once of my 

Morning Potty realisation #10000 or something...

One who controls the urge to kill an insect just because it's buzzing around or in sight is a person of supreme self control! 

One who does not feel the need in the first place to kill an insect just because it's buzzing around or in sight is a saint!

One who tries to get the insect out or find a way to let it out without harming it is a supreme being!

This does not include non veg food. I am talking about killing insects just because you see them or because they are flying around (and again you see them)...

(Based on the famous padayappa lyrics of the song 'vetrikkodikattu')

(Lines of the song)

இன்னொர் உயிரைக் கொன்று புசிப்பது மிருகமடா!

இன்னொர் உயிரைக் கொன்று ரசிப்பது அரக்கனடா!

யாருக்கும் தீங்கின்றி வாழ்பவன் மனிதன்...

ஊருக்கே வாழ்ந்து உயர்பவன் புனிதன்!!

(Lines of the song transliterated)

Innor uyiraikkondru pusippadu mirugamada!

Innor uyiraikkondru rasippadu arakkanada!!

Yaarukkum theengindri vaazhbavan manidan!

Oorukkae vaazhnthuyarbavan punidan!!

(Lines of the song translated)

Who kills another life (form) to eat is an animal!

Who kills another life (form) and enjoys is a demon!

Who lives without harming another life (form) is a human...

Who lives for (the good of) other life (forms) is divine!

But then it also occurred to me that even this has an exception.  Two... No some exceptions... Or may be I am just not a person of supreme self control.

And in my mind the exceptions are:

Mosquitos 

Cockroaches

Rats/Some viscious spiders and poisonous insects where it's either that dead, or you!!

Definitely in that order...

Definitely won't add lizards to the list...they are NOT harmful usually...

Thankfully though, for now I don't suffer the exceptions... But I know this is a global problem... Like poverty and illiteracy... 

So there goes my Morning Potty Realisation for the day number #ohsomanythatidontkeeptrack

Posting an old draft #unknown

The simple things that I've lost to:

Digital age? 

Cognizance of depleting natural resources?

Internetization of the world? 

Smart phonization of my life?

I don't know exactly which but they have compounded to the effect of, my losing touch with the tiny, simple pleasures...or even the desire for them.

For instance...

doodling on a piece of paper (/eraser/wall/water/back of a friend - any flat surface really)

This is such a lost art to me.  This simple silly thing that usually gets us a dose of 'scolding' from a teacher/parent/even an annoyed friend in the last case... Do kids do this at school after they have been introduced to the horrors of wasting paper and/or (the horror of) addictive, immersive smartphones?

I don't know... Well you do have apps to doodle with... But eh, isn't that the point?

Reading books let alone reading books while waiting for things...

Even though I try to go back to reading books (have successfully managed to read a few) I know I don't read as many or as immersed as I used to...

My attention span has reduced clearly and my smartphone does a good job of keeping me even from starting to read. If I've got just a few mins somewhere I know carrying a smartphone is much lighter and doing something with (even reading on it) is quicker and easier to leave when I have to than if I started with a book. I know I can't just read a page and stop if I have to (and it's relatively bulky)!!  Or atleast this is how the smartphone pro part of my brain argues (and mostly wins) over the meek and shy book loving part of my brain. :(

I salute the people who still manage to read a whole lot inspite of being gadget rock stars too of which I am certainly neither... 

தவறு செய்யத்தூண்டும்

மறுமுறை தவறு செய்யத்தூண்டும் உன் மன்னிப்பு முத்தங்கள்...

The fun of shopping...books!

There are different manners of shopping for books in my country and I am of the habit of buying in the most common of those manners which I am sure most of you are acquainted with or even are practitioners of...

So at one of those stalls I was haggling for a couple of interesting books and in the end got them for a price that I had set in mind right after I had picked them, irrespective of what the supposed "MRP" said.  As I walked away from them, the two books secure in my bag, I couldn't help but smile at these thoughts (forming the basis of this post).  How innocent and childlike this joy is of shopping books is, incomparable even with the joy of buying a precious and beautiful piece of jewel, I would say, for the latter is always be shaded with a tinge of guilt at having spent so much (talking from experience, mind you), how much ever you may love that piece.  I never feel that with buying books...

As I walk away with a smile on my face, and with excitement, to start one of the particularly interesting books that I had just bought and decided would read first - though there are about ten such books with me already in my list of to read next - I spotted another of these stalls and with great difficulty tore myself away from it and still did not think - why am I spending so much...  That is the beauty of it...

And that is why I ended up in a, let us say, more legitimate -  and a quiet little shop (a really nice one that a friend had brought to the attention of a surprised me, as, though having walked down that road several times I had never noticed it there before), read a whole illustrated copy of a children's book called Sita's Ramayana - I realized how stupid I had been to think there was never such work talking about the woman's perspective and the injustice of the so called "hero and the noble" in the whole epic.  After having read this I started having the craving again - as all addicts do, after having a small dosage of their addiction - for more, and walked out of the store, with the friendly lady there handing me two more books to carry with me.

I plan to have a library of my own in my house once I settle down - be however small my place.  I plan to devote a small cozy section to all the books that I have bought, been gifted... and may be even written... never know... ;)  Well, dream big isn't it...?!

"Have I stopped living?!" List...

Here is a compilation I made in my bus journey in the morning, thinking about what to blog
- I am sorta pushing myself to blog once a day; trying to get back in touch with my writing side. . .

We will call it the list of "Have I stopped living?" or a "Have I let my heart grow too old?"

Agree or diagree to the below, honestly to yourselves and see if You have stopped living life yet!

-> You start feeling cynical or have a "mature distant eye" analyzing everything, when people speak around; thoughts of you own that you are not jumping to express at the first pause the other person gives in their sentence.

-> You start getting distracted with "how I am in a much more pathetic life than this person" thoughts when someone is sharing their problems OR in a "how I am better off" thoughts when somebody starts talking about how happy they are. Even if you do listen genuinely, still this thought lingers somewhere in a corner of your mind. 
(And this may or may not be the private thoughts mentioned in the previous point).
-> You do not exaggerate anything anymore, especially not for fun.

-> You stop getting visually excited about things/events; you try to keep a cool appearance throughout even when excited. 

-> Everyone you meet is not called a friend anymore, but falls under the category of an aquaintance or some such fancy levels of social circles.

-> You shrink your world to your priorities in work and loved ones.

-> You stop making new friends and struggle to keep in touch with the good old ones, as much as you used to before.

-> Your hobbies are no more that; you do not have time for those anymore.

-> You do not trust yourself too much anymore or have a lot of self doubts about your capabilities even for the smallest of things.

-> You stop appreciating yourself.  Or atleast think it unwise to admit it even if you did appreciate yourself for something.

-> You slowly stop appreciating nature or atleast you think you are too busy to do it. 

-> You still enjoy nature but you think you have other priorities and cannot "waste time" "right now" to appreciate it and keep it aside for later that never comes. 
-> But then if you stop a moment and think about it you know that you are wrong.

-> You stop appreciating your life. 

-> You feel jealous about or atleast Envy others often!

-> You feel lonely often.

-> Some you may agree to and some you may not; some you may even add to this list through your comments.

Beware! Boss is online too! :P

I put this up on my gmail status yesterday while online from office:

Ma first post at TrendStash: http://trendstash.com/2010/02/18/is-managing-your-odor-a-tall-order/

and then updated it to also have:

 and Damn these Tubelights...!: http://ujjuhere.blogspot.com/

for I had just completed my almost-complete post at the blogspot while my server (the one on which I was supposed to work and copy files from - slow as a turtle job I tell you) was taking its own sweet aeons to load.

I had slackened on the usual cautiousness I exercise while using office network.  And tang bang!!! there is a ping from ma boss:

boss: do you have any tasks for the day ...or are you busy in writing blogs?

shoot shoot shoot! damn it!  irundalum, no salt whatsoever - so vizhundalum meesaila mannu ottalanu (ppl pls don dare to crack tat u don hav a mustache PJ again in my comments section pls... !!! *roll my eyes*) I said:

me: the server is slow to open, so using the time in betn to complete the blog I had almost completed yesterday.  The other one is an article i updated in the non office hours

(Russel Peter style) Hey man, I am so cool eh, so gutsy eh? lol... lol... Jack a** -  in my head

boss: hmm ...so you write blogs ...can you help me completing two of my pending document then ?

ROTFL..... did one yesterday... more to come in the coming weeks, the "documents"... lol...

So, Note to self:  Beware! Boss is online too!

:P

Damn these Tubelights...!

I have found the answer to a question I have had for along time now.  Why do I, feel sleepy/glazed/dazed/go into a stupor/(as more spiritual folk would call it) go into a transcendental meditative state/(with more pride) go into a reverie every time I am a part of an audience listening to someone teach/take a seminar/lecture???

I found the answer to this today in one of those "I will speak inside my mouth-you try to deduce", "reading-it-from-a-power point presentation", drone sessions (effort appreciated - no offense), while I was slowly and dutifully losing consciousness, time traveling into a stupor-reverie-daydream - that my mind promptly deletes from it's neuron data stack the minute it hits a reality flag on (checked when the drone makes eye contact) - only to briefly nod in feigned understanding, while I had absolutely no idea as to what the drone had been saying till then.

As soon as the Drone turns to another con - most likely - or the "attention-seeker" (one to be found for sure in any and every herd of cattle waiting for their turn at the drone guillotine that refuses to kill but just slowly increases pressure and attacks at your brain) or to that one sincere-savior, my mind jumps into another of those blissful-subconscious state.

Those who have not come across the attention-seeker - either you are really naive or really stupid or you are one of 'that' kind and don't want to accept it - here is what it means:

   "attention-seekers" are the ones that do not really understand what the session is all about but tries to make a point or ask a doubt, that even he/she doesn't understand, and in the end confuses/amuses everyone in the room, managing to a positive feedback from the drone, in most cases.

Now the enlightment achieved through this meditation - the answer to my question - was "TUBELIGHTS".

Every class/session I was in had tube-lights on.  If you remember, they insisted on switching these tube-lights on even in the mornings, back in school and college.  Now!? Now there is no question , in these air conditioned environment that most of us are in for most part of the day... there is no question of not having them on.

Note:  They may be variations too, not just tube-lights but even the CFL versions have that effect on you, really...

PS: Wrote it on one frustrated day in the first or second week of February.  No offense to those who make an effort to take sessions, it's the God damned Tube-lights, see what I mean!?  Even I love taking seminars and sessions so really, no offense... :P

Primate army of the great mythological figure and the Pencil Vs Fountain Pen in the relative lesser gravity of the moon... Now what's the Point?

I was just reading the news about our "Primate army of the great mythological figure that has resurfaced" and that again their leader seems to have a gaping hole in his logic and action.

Earlier a couple of eons back, (According to the Hindu mythological calender) he wanted to check if his wife had slept with this guy - forcefully or not - who had kidnapped her.

This time the Army are behind every girl and guy moral policing.

So back to the point as I was thinking about this I started to analyze the technology options, from what's available and what I am aware of, as to how they would have tested her in the Treta Yug.

1) It is not a simple virginity test.
2) They gotta check the semen sample and see if they match?
3) But not necessarily, semen sample would be available, nor would the Enemy concede for such a test.
4) So they have got a way of testing where they don't need semen samples or genetic proofs.  Hmm...!?

Sounded complicated.

Note:  I almost believe in a different versions (or a similar one here) of God and Mythology (More on it later).


But then it stuck me, hey they just have to check if there had been any recent sexual activity - she's supposed to have been away from her husband for a real long time - just that.  Sounded simple.

Sounded like the Fountain Pen Vs Pencil in the relative lesser gravity of the moon.

I really have no idea what the point of this discussion is! I am sorry.  :(  :P

22 Jan, 2009... onwards...

I am not a person who remembers birth dates of friends and family, not at all a thing to boast I agree, but one dear friend of mine is Durgha Murugesan and her birthday falls on the 22nd January.  I am talking about this day because this date, of the year 2009, happened to be one memorable day of my life, not in a good way I tell you.

The morning felt nice and good.  I, as I used to at that time, reached office early in the morning, around  7.45 AM.  As I walked out of the rest room to my ODC, I realized my dear little mobile, that was just a 2 yr old toddler, was not in its usual cozy cradle, a little side zip in my hand bag. Though I am known for my clumsiness and carelessness, I have lost really valuable possessions only once before, in that case, a pair of floaters from lotto, and that was a theft, nothing much I could do about it you see.

So this came as an unbelievable shock.  I knew these things happen but never really thought it would happen to me.  EVER.  I mean, losing a mobile, is NOT a joke, even though it was always a subject of my friends' joke that I never bought any of those fancy and/or costly mobiles, you see, it was a 2600 Nokia basic phone, an improvement relatively (I used a Nokia 6530 earlier, the blue screen one, an object of sentiment for it was the first mobile phone in my family, my bro used it before me, a service of 5 years, before I Reluctantly replaced it, only when it's battery died, even then after having a huge debate in my head as to whether I should try and fix it but gave up at the end - blame the peer pressure...)

So I thought the day was bad, adding to the uncertainty and mental chaos, for I had been tagged to a new account and was to be interviewed and monitored for a while to be given a roles in a project (basically about to be given work) . As I went here and there around the campus and on the immediate roads off the campus of my company, to try and find my mobile, in vain, trying out various theories and canceling them constantly, I was quite exhausted mentally and of course, you guessed it, UPSET.  Still I tried hard, called up the bus depot, tried to trace the bus and in fact dropped in to the office and inquired, if there was some miraculous way I could retrieve my little one (what was I even thinking, I used to commute by Govt. Transport).

This was followed by my blocking my SIM card and obtaining a Duplicate SIM, no problems here.

But my troubles had just started, I realized soon.  I had to withdraw some 6K for I was going out of town and had some things to settle and some big expenses.  I went to the ICICI ATM, at my office cafeteria (while I had an account with HDFC, not an unusal thing).  As my luck would have it, I only got a receipt for the transaction and a poorer bank account, but NO Cash!  When I saw the money refill guys, whatever they are called, my exhausted mind illusioned me into a moment of joy and relief (refused to let my reason be heard) and led me to them, asking if they could somehow just verify that the money was still there and hence just give it to me, nice and smooth.  SOMEHOW! For I really needed that cash, else why would I choose to take it right there, from a different ATM? (Just across the road, a few meters, I had the HDFC ATM, for you see, the amount of running around and procedures involved in reverting the cash becomes exponentially reduced when it is an intra bank problem than in an inter bank issue). 

And so it began, a series of running around (for about a month or more), not to mention the nice soothing advices I had to hear from the ever caring and ever doting Family, for my carelessness.  Grrr!

This was followed by getting caught dozing in the room where we were supposed to be learning and interacting - after a tummy full of lunch and a sore mind!!!  Oh, ya and the new duplicate that SIM I had got - it wouldn't get activated due to server issues, for the next two weeks when I was away, usually done in less than 24 hours.  HA!

Well well well... So on the 22nd Jan 2010, I thought that once I get to office, I would observe two minutes of silence for my beloved mobile (I took a real long time to get over my sweetheart) and to thank my life for not giving more days from hell, like that one.  A little nag that started two days before "the day"as to what if I lost something this time too, peeked its meek head with a glint of mischief in its eyes, and I shhssd it clutching my mobile tight in my palm. 

But well, I lost my new ear phones, much to the delight of the little phantom and my dismay, in the very same fashion! - Left behind in the bus.  I couldn't believe it.  This time I knew the sequence of events that led to it and cursed myself even worse, for I had been on the improving scale for the past few months when it came to my carelessness.  And that the pair was new! (Oh, did I not mention that I had lost the ones of my new mobile (in the bus!) just about a couple of months back? Looks like this new phone has not found its soul mate earphones - blame the Paulo Coelho books-thoughts in my head, they seem to have influenced my little mobile that interacts a lot with, well, my head)
So after a lot of cursing, muttering, running out of and into, the office, in just a space of 5 minutes, being called back by the boss, I was only grateful that it was not something worse (I was determined that I would not take my laptop to office, for earlier, the little evil phantom in my head kept stealing looks at it when it thought I did not notice, but you see I had noticed, and till that morning acted like I had not and at the last minute - much to its disappointment, left it back at home.  HA! Will fight till death, you little rut...)



So that is the legend of the 22nd January.  Hope it doesn't continue, at least, doesn't worsen... I believe it will not, for you see, I seem to have lost my ear phones and done such careless things even on the other days... :P I shouldn't have added these lines, it actually nullifies the whole object the earlier paragraphs, but couldn't resist... :P

Declaration: I am not suffering from Schizophrenia... :P

the traffic... the panic...

I was standing at the crossroads looking to my right at the approaching vehicles and to my left, the traffic signal, awaiting it to turn red, so that I could cross to the other side of the road along with the few others beside me. But when I looked to my left I had to take a second look at the signal, for it was blank. I was not sure of the technicalities of the working of a traffic signal nor do I ride a two wheeler (my wicked alter ego: “snort nor drive a car of course, you don’t even know to ride a two wheeler apart from a bicycle”) so was not sure if it was normal for it to go blank for a sec or two, for the other pedestrians seemed to be unruffled by this.


I kept looking around. I had a sudden fear that one of two things would eventually happen, either the vehicles open to go, will keep going without realizing and/or the other vehicles would also move, and there would be an accident, a huge traffic jam and at the end of it all, I will either be an accident victim or be stuck up at the spot till all the chaos clears. When all this was running on my mind, I was parallely looking around to check the other signals and found to my further dismay that even they, weren’t working. Now all the funny stupid mocking self that always seems to show up when the mind is presented with a disturbing situation, just to ease out of it probably, suddenly stopped in its track. I was missing something. The traffic was moving all right, there was no chaos and to add to my confusion the vehicle flow in the direction that were on, stopped to let us, the pedestrians, cross as well as the other vehicles move. Now I looked around to check all the traffic signals, they were still blank. After having crossed I paused and looked around. Then I saw, much to the consolation of my reasoning ability, reassuring that I had not slipped into a bizzare dream in a stupor at the signal or even worse slept off standing at the zebra crossing and had had a night mare, there was the traffic cop... ;P


PS:  I know, I know, when you read it, it feels like a long time before I realized what was going on but try putting on the thought stream that flows in your mind in a space of 2 short minutes and see for yourself.  ;P

It was watching from above...

It was watching from above, zooming, into that form of transportation that was one of the most common, on the most common medium used there.  It knew all the terms, details and science behind them all.  But fascination never stopped with knowledge, only increased...!

It was sitting idly watching all of those creatures in that "Bus", as it knew, that form of transportation was known, in that planet called "Earth".  It watched their "busy lives", as it knew it was, though much much slower than the pace of its own planet.  Watched those creatures that called themselves "Humans/Homosapiens", a term, it knew, according to the practices of the planet, were chosen by the "Scientists" of "Earth", as their group of "intellectuals" were known there.  It was watching them all, going about their business, in their own "thoughts", as it knew their cognitive states were mostly called, so lost in them, that they did not really notice the rise and fall of their chests in a slow rhythm with each other, that it could now see from above... It was simply watching...

From high above it was all tranquil, for it had induced its voluntary filter of its accoustics and any enhancements equipments needed, leaving only the video enhancement goggles on, and was simply watching... It knew, they "Humans" were heading in the direction, its ancestors once did... It knew one day, they will realize the "Ultimate Truth" in their own way, but very similar to how it dawned on its ancestors, a few (thousand earth) years ago...

A rhyme or jingle?!!

still blue...

a sad hue

donno wat to do

no no ... no clue

a dull view

all rue

don know who to sue

life's a long queue

sometime's u have to subdue

for u have to pay ur due

wait now

i gotta go to the loo ;P

bk to take it from the cue

ma handwriting, pls don mind, is a wretched skew

oh don put on a face like u've got the flu

now lets be happy for a while and mew

la la lallalla

la la lallalla

la la lallalla

la la laa lal laa lal laa

phew!!!

PS: lol.... just wrote it wen I asked a frnd "still blue?"... ;P ;P  I know its silly but tht is the point, isn't it? ;P

And if anyone's interested you could clarify ma doubt xpressed in the title... :) I donno how one can mew a la la la... well it rhymes... :) ;)

Crazy...?!

Situations:

1) A girl was traveling alone in a bus, looking at her palm and smiling to herself or laughing out...

2) A man was whispering about to himself among the crowd in a busy street...

3) A sudden loud beeping in a crowded bus stop... Everyone starts looking among their own things...

4) A lady drops something valuable from her bag by mistake and still without a care in the world goes and picks it up and walks off....


Reactions and Conclusions :

About twenty yrs ago:

1) The girl is crazy and people stare at her or think she is in love and still stare at her...

2) The man is bound to be crazy, no other option and people keep their distance...

3) There is a bomb scare...

4) She must be careless, irresponsible, probably filthy rich etc etc...

Now:

1) Nobody bothers to stare... They simply check out her fone if at all too curious...

2) They don even bother to look, everybody's talking with their earphones on, which are becoming more and more invisible.

3) All of them are checking their phones...

4) She must be having a sturdy Nokia phone...

Just a few sample imaginary situations pertaining to mobile phone usage... I'm sure there are a lot of such things if we think about it...

Like I care...!

I don really care what you think of me...
I know I am a bit queer...
but it feels so good (OR for the excitement's so sheer)
that I have no fear...

I know I am a bit weird,
For the background in which I was reared...
I give it to you yes, its true,
But sorry, I really don't care what you think of me...

I love it so much in here
I feel like I belong...
Never have I felt so before,
Relieved, finally swept ashore...

I know am a bit weird...

I feel it in the air,
and the urge is hard to resist,
the minute I see you frown,
I wanna do it even more...

I close my eyes a second,
take it all in my head...
My heart feels lighter then
And I do it more and worse (read: better)...

I know am a bit weird...

I lose myself in your hatred...
For I ploughed on in life earlier,
struggling to keep up with you and be true to myself too
No, it did not work that way... I couldn't handle both...

No its not done, I said to myself...
And then I came to the crossroads, took this path I'm on...
Took your silent curses and whispers of blame...
I can take it all no problem,
For the look of envy in your eyes gives the strength...

And that is why I laugh, shrug and walk on...
Give you a wink and a smirk, I can yes go on...

I know I am a bit too weird...
I know I am a bit too queer...
Ha ha ha ha ha...
La la lallalla.....


PS: For the background in which I was reared... ::: Like a sheep or something, lol

and I have a doubt, if someone can help, wud b gr8... Is what you think OF me used in the same sense as What u think ABOUT me, as in, an opinion? Is it correct?

A bit of Science (Fiction?!)... :) :)

Well, I was looking out the window of the BMTC bus I had boarded in the morning... just for say 5 mins or so... taking a break from reading this really interesting book, "Next" by Michael Crichton (interesting till now, only 150 pages into it, can’t really conclude, so hope it turns out to be a good one till the end)... The book had refreshed my genetics interest & knowledge and I was feeling very happy with myself that I was able to recall the terms and concepts used/discussed in there.

So, as I was looking out the window, the bus passing various bus stops on the way, I saw so many youngsters, all between 20 to 35 yrs of age... Every one of them somehow had the signature stamped on them, “IT industry” (no they were not all wearing their ID's out, so please don’t try to act smart now... :)).

Why? I was wondering if it was because I belonged to the same community, that I probability had that antenna that can detect my kin, or has it actually become like a phenotypic, a morphologically identifiable trait... (ya ya showing off, lol, after all, reading a Michael Crichton book after a long time :P)... But according to strict definitions of morphological trait, it should only be a "physical appearance", which is not always the case; it is not just the appearance. So let me resort to using “Phenotype” here, ‘coz there are also "Behavioral phenotypes" not exactly a term, only meaning phenotype may also include behavior....

So is it like a Cultural Evolution, has it happened? Wait let me pause here to explain what I mean by that term…

I was once very interested in Cultural Evolution studies... There have been questions and I have not really been able to keep track of all the new developments in this field, considering it was a relatively recent interest and that is when I took the other road, choosing to leave all these interests behind. Well let’s not get into that one right now... So ya, by cultural evolution here, I refer to the ideas and theories, that suggest/discuss/research that, Culture may also be a part of the Evolution, in the sense, genetic speciation may not be the only way.

–---------- For the benefit of those who do not really know Evolution or Genetic Speciation much –-----------

Evolution is the process by which organisms try to adapt, change subtly, increasingly over time, to suit their environment, to be able to use it to their advantage, so that they can become one of the fittest and hence survive. Now this change that is initially behavioral / functional when found advantageous is passed on down generations by means of genetic inheritance. How this behavioral change becomes genetically incorporated is another interesting question and I would love to talk about it in another entry. So basically through genetics, changes are effected and not all individuals of the same species react to a situation or atmospheric demand the same way. So these different responses, becoming genetic, over a period of accumulated and repeated incorporation, lead to phenotypically and genotypically different group of individuals forming an altogether different species from the one it actually started changing.

This process is called speciation and in essence a genetic process, or to put it more bluntly, the scientific community has believed and come to accept that speciation in general is or should be genetic, meaning, if there was not enough or substantial genetic difference in enough number of individuals (a derivative really for if there are not enough numbers then it would mean it was not advantageous and would not have propagated to sustain/retain the difference; the no is also variable depending on the atmospheric demands. Organisms in an island etc), no group of individual animals of one parent species be accepted as a different species.

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So now, all the different ethnics groups, might actually be different species, Culture being a different manifestation of Evolution, taking a different form, may be even a higher form, to maintain balance. Come to think of it, in fact, people with different type of character sets may even be, say subspecies… This is keeping to the context of Humans for if we try to apply it to other organisms, then it would go to very exciting and fun possibilities but for want of a shorter blog and not too much boredom for those who are reading I’ll keep it to the Homo Sapiens context. May be another blog on that other possibilities some other time. So, yes, culture and behavior, could they be different form of evolution? I have pondered over this a lot… Is this the next step…? The next form, or the next dimension Evolution is taking? Speciation, not just through genetic differences, but behavioral, psychological, even intellectual ones may be… We could go on imagining and speculating. To verify these, there has sprung a field of science that researches on very similar ideas. That researches on Cultural Evolution.

Now just to lend more substance and fun to my theory I am going to include one of my other interests, the Mythology – Science link. That way, I feel, there is a connection or basis or let us just say a similarity between one of the concepts (?!) in the Hindu mythology and the Ethnicity species/subspecies theory.

Let me refer to Hindu mythology, or should I rather say, the mythologies of the Sanathana Dharma for am sure these stories are prevelant in the other branches of Sanathana Dharma just as well as Hinduism. So, there were supposed to have been seven different Rishi and Rishi Patni couple, from who the whole of the population of humans on the earth came to be… Now, the interesting bit is, research on lineage conducted through Mitochondrial DNA analysis says that at the very root of the population, there were seven different Mitochondrial DNA set.

_____________ Mitochondrial DNA????!!!@@##$%%^&* ______________

In every cell in our body there are functional regions called organelles that have their own specific functions. Mitochondrion and Nucleus (Plurals: Mitochondria and Nuclei respectively) are two such organelles. Mitochondrion takes care of producing and supplying energy while Nucleus houses the DNA and all the activities related to that. But strangely, may be wisely though we do not know who or what should be credited for this wisdom, there is not just one DNA set available in our cells. Apart from the Nucleus, even the Mitochondrion has its own bundle of DNA that is just a bit different between from the Nuclear DNA.

Now when an offspring is formed, the mother provides with the egg cell and the father provides with the sperm each having one set of genome (23 chromosomes. An adult thus has 46 chromosomes of a 23 pair set). Of these one pair determines the sex of the child, XX being female and XY being male. All this happens only with the nuclear DNA (nDNA). The mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is simply passed on from the Mother to the offspring. Hence, the mtDNA mutates very fast but is always traceable throught the mothers and hence there is something called Matrilineage in population genetics and geneaology.

_________________________________________________________________________________

So this research concluded there were seven distinct women, mtDNAs, that came out of the “One mother of all, believed to be some good old lady from Africa who lived about thousands and thousands of years ago”. This research I guess was majorly conducted on European people, not really sure. If interested check out “Seven Daughters of Eve”, a book written by the guy who did this research years ago.

But the irony of it I realized when I was researching for this blog, that bringing mtDNA in, I have only talked about genetic evolution and not cultural…. ;P But the fact is that it is all intertwined and this forms the basis for our cultural evolution too. So what if really we were all different species and subspecies milling about on the face of earth without even realizing that evolution has taken a different form and we are not the same. Think about what will happen if IT, Biotechnology, Engineering, Business and Management to name a few are continued for ages to come and it actually becomes a trait, a gentic difference. Or what if the not only the form/means of evolution but even the pace of evolution has changed and it is not ages far away but actually quite near, the day when you and your neighbor might be of different species. I read a line somewhere, ah, yes in NEXT, “the world is heading to a stage where you do not know if the people at a dinner table are of the same species”. This was written in a different context, Transgenic species, but still holds just fine for the context we are discussing too.

Just the imagination of this keeps you amazed and wondering…. WOW…


So as I was saying, looking out of the window, all these things running in my mind, I saw them all there, the IT crowd, among various people of other industry too, like students, school, college and Govt. employees. One realizes that may be it is true for nowadays you can simply say who is a who, at least at these general categories. I know that one’s ability to gauge a person based on “personal experience, maturity, fashion etc” should not be confused with a “Phenotype”. But just an interesting thought. I was jolted back to reality when a cute girl came and sat beside me. I was sure she was an IT employee, no, no card. No standard laptop bags or any such give always, and sure enough she got down and went into one of the reputed IT company premises, juggling the contents of her bag and finally digging out her ID tag.  

refer: http://pinker.wjh.harvard.edu/ Steven Pinker is one of the prominent people working on cultural evolution and his books, even I have them on my "to be read" list, are supposed to be good. Check them out if interested and of course many such others are there... Well, google is god, pray and u'll be answeres... ;)