Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Shiva Tandavam

This famous Shiva Tandava Stotram compiled by Ravana, the staunch Shiva devotee, might aid one who wants to let go of the disaster energy/consciousness whirlpooling within self.






Tuesday, February 24, 2015

The Machine Stops!

Yayyyyyy!! The Machine stops!

I mean, wait, I just read this short story by E.M. Forster today. What satire, what comedy and what truth!

Of course, it doesn't need me to tell that Forster was so so ahead of his time.

"We have lost a part of ourselves"... now, if this statement is written by somebody like me today, it is not profound. It's common sense, yes most of the people have sensed it and know it already. If I wrote it, I could write it through direct observation and experience. But Forster has written it out of his creativity back during 1900s. Now, that's profound!

One might argue that people felt this way for long, ever since Industrial Revolution started or perhaps since much before - since Renaissance. Ok, for one, I'm not one of those who is against machines as such. It doesn't need much analysis to right away say that the Age of Machine has dawned on humankind for good.

I don't want to walk my way the whole day just to visit my friend a town away. What is life, if it ends before not even seeing and experiencing that ecstatic waterfall or that magnificent mountain range just away in the neighbouring state? What if I can't read the brilliant thoughts and knowledge shared by my fellow human beings? I don't want my appetite to be restricted by just those cuisines my ancestors have passed on. What if I never knew what kind of food, the people on the other side of the planet treat themselves to? What if I never knew how people lead their lives in places I never could visit? Aren't all these things which were once impossible, once incomprehensible, now a reality just because of those machines?

But then, I don't want to miss watching the first faltering steps my baby takes just because I want to be part of the career-oriented lot. I don't want to keep talking to my parents or in-laws over skype and offer them a loving talk/advice - "It's Ok. You have been doing really great. Please do visit the doc and let me know how the visit went" without not being there with them to drive to the doc and lend them a shoulder when in pain. I don't want a random comment that I pass on some "growing gender discrimination" being considered as a serious opinion, assessed and analyzed, be data mined along with others' random observations and used for predicting the "changing human psyche"...and that "changing human psyche" being pumped as an input to change the human psyche - and all of it being called a genuine research study/survey/work. I don't want to be worried about keeping abreast with latest technologies in my project all the time, keeping myselves uptodate with what majority of the human beings around me are upto - what kind of schools they send their kids to, what kind of gadgets they use, what kind of knowledge upgradation they are aspiring for, how they are setting a benchmark for themselves in the society, what kind of wonders are happening around the world - in the form of 24*7 online feeds - and miss the wonders of my own life or not be able to take the plunge to learn the carnatic music I was always passionate of learning.

Comfortable life? Yes, we all need it. A hypocritical life shaped by the society? Should we allow it?

Superstition? Ofcourse, shun it off, we must. But reasoning which says that my belief is a hallucination or is dumb because it is not scientifically backed? No, I don't need it.

Of course, I will believe in my strengths. I will believe in my capacities. I will believe in the weakness of my vulnerabilities. I will believe that love is sacred. I will continue to believe that mutual commitment in marriage is essential. I will continue to believe in God. I will believe that honey is sweet. I will believe that fresh air is pleasant to breathe. I will believe in the truth that I experienced. I don't need any damn Science to back that up for me. No Science has taught me these in the first place. No Science will ever be able to enable a person to feel them. First, a person needs to retain the integrity of one's own personality to be able to experience these simple pleasures of life.

Only people who need these "observations" to do a scientific study to keep their scientific career flourishing need Science to analyze such beliefs. Only people who want to make money out of using Science do anything and everything, will need to do this. I'm not opening up my beliefs as observations to the scientifically enthused nerds of this age. Nor does anybody want to. Not even those very scientifically enthused nerds.

***********************************************************************************************************************

Anyway, keeping my thoughts/criticism on this aside, let's get back to Forster's "The Machine Stops"! Of course, A "Machine" stops in that story. But what a beautiful metaphor to say that the mechanization of man himself must stop at some point lest the machine should enslave the man through his gullibility and vulnerability! Just a 30-page story and what wonderful insights! My favourite sentence in the story is this - "Cover the window please. These mountains give me no ideas". I just loved Forster here. So much so that I wish I were his grand daughter and pulled his cheeks - "Grand Pa! Superb! What a brilliant thought. Love you!"

Though it's impertinent to quote some one and a half-page of content from a 30 page short story and give away the story (to those who haven't already read it), I take liberties to do it since it is already available online for free via gutenberg.org and also because I'm not plagiarizing it, but only quoting it rightly with due credit. Here are some wonderful pieces from the story:

"
'Oh, hush!' said his mother, vaguely shocked. 'You mustn't say anything against the Machine.'
'Why not?'
'One mustn't.'
'You talk as if a god had made the Machine,' cried the other.'I believe that you pray to it when you are unhappy. Men made it, do not forget that. Great men, but men. The Machine is much, but it is not everything. I see something like you in this plate, but I do not see you. I hear something like you
through this telephone, but I do not hear you. That is why I want you to come. Pay me a visit, so that we can meet face to face, and talk about the hopes that are in my mind.'

"
Yet the attempt to 'defeat the sun' aroused the last common interest that our race experienced about the heavenly bodies, or indeed about anything. It was the last time that men were compacted by thinking of a power outside the world. The sun had conquered, yet it was the end of his spiritual dominion. Dawn, midday, twilight, the zodiacal path, touched neither men's lives nor their hearts, and science retreated into the ground, to concentrate herself upon problems that she was certain of solving.
"

"
'Beware of first- hand ideas!' exclaimed one of the most advanced of them. 'First-hand ideas do not really exist. They are but the physical impressions produced by live and fear, and on this gross foundation who could erect a philosophy? Let your ideas be second-hand, and if possible tenth-hand, for then they will be far removed from that disturbing element - direct observation. Do not learn anything about this subject of mine - the French Revolution. Learn instead what I think that Enicharmon thought Urizen thought Gutch thought Ho-Yung thought Chi-Bo-Sing thought Lafcadio Hearn thought Carlyle thought Mirabeau said about the French Revolution. Through the medium of these ten great minds, the blood that was shed at Paris and the windows that were broken at Versailles will be clarified to an idea which you may employ most profitably in your daily lives. But be sure that the intermediates are many and varied, for in history one authority exists to counteract another. Urizen must counteract the scepticism of Ho-Yung and Enicharmon, I must myself counteract the impetuosity of Gutch. You who listen to me are in a better position to judge about the French Revolution than I am. Your descendants will be even in a better position than you, for they will learn what you think I think, and yet another intermediate will be added to the chain. And in time' - his voice rose - 'there will come a generation that had got beyond facts, beyond impressions, a generation absolutely colourless, a generation seraphically free
From taint of personality,
which will see the French Revolution not as it happened, nor as they would like it to have happened, but as it would have happened, had it taken place in the days of the Machine.'
"

"
She burst into tears.
Tears answered her.
They wept for humanity, those two, not for themselves. They could not bear that this should be the end. Ere silence was completed their hearts were opened, and they knew what had been important on the earth. Man, the flower of all flesh, the noblest of all creatures visible, man who had once made god in his image, and had mirrored his strength on the constellations, beautiful naked man was dying, strangled in the garments that he had woven. Century after century had he toiled, and here was his reward. Truly the garment had seemed heavenly at first, shot with colours of culture, sewn with the threads of self-denial. And heavenly it had been so long as man could shed it at will and live by the essence that is his soul, and the essence, equally divine, that is his body. The sin against the body - it was for that they wept in chief; the centuries of wrong against the muscles and the nerves, and those five portals by which we can alone apprehend - glozing it over with talk of evolution, until the body was white pap, the home of ideas as colourless, last sloshy stirrings of a spirit that had grasped the stars.
"

"
'Oh, tomorrow - some fool will start the Machine again, tomorrow.'
'Never,' said Kuno, 'never. Humanity has learnt its lesson.'
"
***********************************************************************************************************************
A good analogy for "The Machine Stops" is the climax of the Robot movie. Don't think any movie can get closer than that. Dialogues during 12:00 - 13:00 are particularly interesting. According to Chitti, the robot, the red chips in humans are abadham, asooya, vanchana, droham (Lie, Jealousy, Deceit, Injustice) and a lot more.

We all need to watch out for our own red chips* and eliminate them (or get them eliminated).

(Edited - 31/12/2022, 10:40 AM)

- THE END.

Monday, February 23, 2015

When YOU are the divide!

Think of something like this...you are the divide...between two distinct spaces. You belong to both the ends, but neither of them belongs to you. And it is your onus to evolve...transcend from being a 'divide' to a 'connecting link'.

No side bothers to listen to you, no side cares if you are heard or not. But you must cater to both. You must take the initiative to understand them, their goals, objectives...which direction they are heading towards. You must gather the resources yourself to create a scope wherein you are heard. Rather, you must create the opportunities. For you to sustain yourself, you must see to it that both sides need you.

Now look at it this way. Let's just say both these sides are not two groups of people, but two times/goals/professions with a disconnect. Think about a person in coma for years, waking up to live in a seemingly disconnected time. Your memories may haunt you or cajole you, but your future demands you...to be there, in that moment of present! Nothing else divides both these times, apart from you yourself. It is your inside that is dividing you between these two distinct spaces. Or say you come from a humble background, doing a petty job but you see yourself running an industry that can employ some hundred people, ten years from now. Or take this very simple instance, say you are working as the quintessential software engineer but you want to be a full-time photographer because that is where your heart lies. That kind of journey is not easy. It cannot be sudden. You can't just leave what you are doing all of a sudden and jump to the next level. Adventurous it might be... to do so, but it is not that practical an option.

But...some times life can throw such adventures at you...say like these, here. Sometimes, you might just have to transcend that disconnect and jump to that next level, like the quantum jump of that electron from one stable state to the other when it is excited*.

I like the words Santanu says there in that video - "There comes a time when a voice inside starts shouting. Listen to it. Howsoever illogical it may seem at that moment, more often than not, you will transcend to the next layer!" Because within a given life time, there is only 'one life' to live...though means might be many, to make it fulfilling and happy.

========================================================================

*It is when I was searching for the mechanism behind Quantum Jumping of an electron that I encountered the Quantum Jumping (across Parallell Universes) process being advertised by Vishen and Burt. Anyway, I don't know the credibility of this process...whether it has been tried and tested...I've never tried to practise that myself, so please know that any mentions of it in my blog are purely for reference purposes, I'm not vouching for any of them. I personally don't understand why a person in one Universe should tap into other Universe at all, in a given life time. It seems essential and pertinent to be in sync and harmony with a given Universe, one's own Universe, whose Time one belongs to. Why confuse or burden oneself with an alien self? To tap into that so-called infinite potential by NOT living in the moment, to me doesn't seem like living, but hopping and consuming life with Multiple Personality Disorder. At the end of the day one wouldn't understand which "I" is "I", which self is one's own self, which life is one's own life. Maybe the word "own" ceases to make sense then! Okka life nee eedavaleeka edusthunteee, avasaramaa evarikinaa alaanti talakaaya noppi?

The Cosmic Saga...

Since December last, after the Soap on Life OK - "Devon Ke Dev - Mahadev" came to an end, I've had this urge to put my obsession for it, on paper. I somehow postponed it, for it felt very difficult to do this. I'm not a very good writer, I know it. I know it because, unless I'm obsessed about a given content, my own pieces of writing never made great reads for me. I don't find much creativity in my writing, I don't bring out the different facets of a feeling well on paper. Especially when I describe a situation, I feel I present it too simply ignoring the many dimensions a writer can touch upon. Also, as you would have already observed, three-fourths of my writing in this blog is just about myself - what do I think, how do I think, what do I like and so on...I know how difficult it is to read such stuff. But what you must know is, it is more difficult to write such self-indulging stuff. But why do I write then? One might ask! I'm bad at writing, fine, but what I'm good at is, I very comfortably allow my mediocrity to take shape. I excuse myself of the mistakes I do, of the flaws I have.

Alright, back to self-criticism from self-appreciation...I find my writing very dry myself, quite monotonous in style. And with this kind of writing, imagine attempting to give a written form to my obsession...now how bad can that get? But that's obsession after all. So here I'm finally doing it and trust me, this is a very complicated test for me, in this very moment, right now, as it unfolds...

Devon Ke Dev was the much-needed Guru for me in times of need. You know it all, we are now in the Age of Science and Reasoning (read it Information and Technology) when the very existence of spirit/soul is doubted (and "kept open" in the name of Skepticism and lack of evidence) and it is very difficult to get a genuine Guru who could guide one on the course of Spiritual Awakening. We read it in books or watched in movies that once upon a time, there lived sages who did penance for some outer-world merit...guided their students to realize their goals in life. But now can we find such people? Even if we did, do we trust them enough? Devo Ke Dev filled that space for me.

First and foremost, it held many answers for my questions which nobody else could answer. It also gave rise to many questions, for whose answers I kept looking for. It opened up a whole world of exploration for me. It was the only entity that offered me some solace and consolation in the otherwise dim and dull life, last three years. But the most beautiful part of Mahadev is its intriguing stories. And the most powerful connect - its Music!

An average child in Andhra Pradesh or perhaps even in India at large, grows up listening to stories of Ramayana and Mahabharata. That is all the mythology they would know. Bhagavatham at best, perhaps. I was no different. I made no efforts to know other stories, well perhaps except those stories which I encountered randomly through movies. To top it, I was an ardent devotee of Lord Narayana and never cared enough to even pray to Lord Shiva. Hence many stories told in Devon Ke Dev were really new to me. That must have made the serial all the more interesting to me. Looking back, it's so funny the way I used to pray to Lord Narayana and Narayana alone...it was as though I was exercising some kind of sectarianism! The other side of it was, I was really content praying to one God... no confusion that way!... Anything and everything I can dump on my God...anything and everything I can demand from my God...that kind of relationship with God is in effect a relationship with your own self, because in these prayers and this exchange of ideas there is only truth flowing and you get to know yourself and your wants better. Anyway now I pray both Hari and Hara. I even opened up to praying to other Gods.

Anyway, back to Mahadev! It is said that people enjoy a story better through a book than through a movie. I doubt it. I had always felt that the bias is a result of 'First Come Best Connect' possibility. Yeah, whichever one you are introduced to, first, you connect with that the most...that's what I feel. Because, the first impressions are created by that first connected entity and one's self perceives those first impressions more intimate and endearing. When a similar version is shown the second time, it fails to evoke the same emotions. It happens even with remade movies. Let's say Ghajini  movie...it was first made in Tamil (Of course I watched the Telugu-dubbed version of it). When I watched the Hindi version, I felt that the Tamil/Telugu version was much much better...and that Suriya acted better than Aamir. Now, I don't know if that's really the case (well nobody can judge for sure which/who was better) but I'd guess that, had I watched the Hindi version first, my liking would have been the other way round.

Anyway, back to Mahadev! I don't know if I would have connected well with Shiva's stories had I read them, but watching it on screen, I can only say that the team behind Devon Ke Dev - Mahadev has just created a magnum opus. Every piece of this work has been put to together and etched so meticulously and so lovingly that you feel that this is the work of a group of die-hard devotees of Shiva as an ode to their God, who after some penance might have asked for a boon from Shiva to enable them express their devotion in some form...How much ever you watch it, you can never get enough of it! You feel like taking the nectar more and more...more and more... Ok don't take that literally. "You" might not feel the same way...but I felt that way. To say that it was enchanting and mesmerizing, is an understatement. It was more than hypnotic!

As told here, one would start questioning, "Is it really possible, all for just a bunch of people, to create such a work?" Of course, it is their passion at play there...it shows. But still, the question more is - "Is it only these people who did this? Or is there some force that binds all these people?" The actors who played the roles seem to be tailor-made for what they play. Be it Shiva, Parvati, Sati, Lakshmi, Narayana, Karthikeya, Ganesha, Manasa, Ashok Sundari, Lohitank, Kumari ... each of them was just perfect. Once you watch them on-screen, you never feel that it would have been better had somebody else acted. By the way, though this serial started way back in Dec 2011, I started watching it only since some Aug 2012. Though the original version is the Hindi Telecast on Life OK, I started off with this serial with its Telugu version on Maa TV. And this apparently lagged the Hindi version by 8 months. And after few months of the weekly Sunday telugu episodes on TV, I started watching the serial in Hindi on Internet. Though I started exploring it back and forth ever since then, I've not watched the series in its totality yet!

By the way, I could never be sure who looked more beautiful - Sati or Parvati - though off-screen I find Sonarika (who played Parvati) more gorgeous than Mouni Roy (who played Sati).


Music


When I first watched this song, I had goosebumps. Not once, it continued for a few months every time I listened to it, after which it kind of synced into me. This serial had a powerful background score. A very powerful one at that. It has that mystic divine undercurrent all the time rendering the hypnotic element. Well, it depends on how aligned you are, to it.

I've heard of Samadhi before. I've only heard of it, I obviously didn't know how it felt. But during these three years I was experiencing this on and off. To be in Samadhi for months (predominantly between June 2013 - Jan 2014) together yet carry on with this mundane life was no easy task. The most problematic thing was, back then I didn't even know I was in Samadhi. When I was falling and falling down freely in the vast abundance of no-thing-ness, with no impulse to wake me up...when my mind was frozen as if under thick sheets of ice, miles deep...when I was drifting aimlessly like a kite which lost its connection with its anchor...when I was both dying and living at the same time, it was this music that pulled the last sheath inside me to spring up to life. What ever little was alive inside me, had to bounce back to life, listening to this music which I regularly kept trumpeting in my ears...sometimes even without my knowledge. (Previously, the video content of this video was full of snippets of Mohit Raina from the serial). When I listen to this music, I know how powerful and affective, the sound of Damarukam can be! And the longer version of "ShiiiivaShiiivaShiiiivaShiiiiva" chant is here, which I used to allow myselves to drift in amidst my work at office, when in reality nothing was actually moving. I needed this animated environment to feel like I was doing something, that I was making progress at least at some snail's pace! Nothing-ness alone "might" have been fine, but nothing-ness along with "everything" was a pain beyond expression.

And then, the most awesome video is here! No this one was good not during nothing-ness, it was during extreme aggression. Though same as the first audio song, I used to watch this over and over when my frustration and anger needed some vent out. When it seemed that the world was turning out Godless, that there was nobody to take care of those languishing with pain for centuries on Earth, I used to watch this. It somehow used to give me some solace. It used to give me this hope that some light years away there was some force at work to address my prayers, that there was somebody hearing me complain. I so much used to wish that those light years melt away as soon as possible. It used to instill in me some confidence that, if not today, if not some years down the line, at least some centuries down the line, these prayers and pain would have been acknowledged. The rock solid pain in my head also could melt once in a while through tears when no other impetus could shake me off from that molten heat as it if was balling up in my head.

And after talking so much about the music composition for this serial, wouldn't it be bad not to check who rendered it? It is these both - Sunny Bawra and Inder Bawra.



That pic was captured when they were bidding adieu to the Mahadev serial. You must see how sad they were then!

The Difference! The Relevance!


This serial was quite different from the devotional Telugu movies of this kind. Say for instance, Bhukailas. In all these movies, the love relationship between a God and a Goddess is rarely explored. It is often this God-Devotee  relationship that is emphasized. Penance, boons, Gods watching over the worlds, as if they are watching some fun, as if it is all their leela (magic), as if they are testing people, as if each of the divine couples have no work but to watch things going on around and as if they are always at our service some stone's throw away...all this does not seem to bring out the essence of God in our lives. A very orthodox way of bringing out the essence of God, I would say...it increases that power distance between God and human.

Well, still movies like Bhukailas do not carry the hypnotic effect of the Mahadev serial. They don't have that pomp and glare, they are more plain and pleasant to watch, I must agree. It is just that such movies do not explore some elements of Gods' lives...is all I'm saying. Maybe they can't...in just 2 hours of time, maybe a serial has the scope to do it better. But, Mahadev, for sure has succeeded to bring out those previously unexplored elements well on screen.

You get to see how Parvati not only yearns to marry her soulmate every time she takes birth but works towards it. The yearning, the craving is just like that of any other woman. On the outset, it looks as though the serial has over-emphasized the personal love and family relationships of the divine couple. But that is what makes it unique from any other movie/serial ever made so far. How the love between the divine couple is intertwined with their divine responsibilities towards the Universe...is brought out well here. How the divine couple, time and again take to rigorous Sadhana, to bring about the balance in the Universe, is so well explained and presented. There is this episode wherein Parvati, after Sadhana says that she pines to experience the togetherness with her husband not as Adishakti but as a normal woman. That pretty much sums up how the divine couple time and again get separated and come together to hold the universe in the already-much-referred-to balance and how arduous that task has been for both of them.

Now it's not just love! Love without progressing to marriage and family, is so unfulfilled, isn't it? This serial also shows Parvati fulfilling her role as a wife, and as a mother and Shiva fulfilling his role as a husband, and as a father. The timely guidance they offer their children, the freedom they give their children to make their choices in pursuit of their goals is also brilliantly put together. The regular viewer gets to receive lot of wisdom on parenting from these episodes. Well, Parenting is not learnt just by listening to some lessons. Nevertheless, for those those willing to take, this serial has a lot to offer on this front. All in all, carefully following the content will change one's family dynamics for good! Many complicated situations come up and it is shown how the family crosses those hurdles. See, it is not easy for Gods either. Be it when Karthikeya had to be sent to Krittikas and cannot be raised directly by the parents, be it when Parvati wants to fulfill her motherhood when her son comes back unwilling to join the parents initially, be it when Ganesha's head is knocked down by Shiva, be it when Ganesha gets a marriage proposal prior to Karthikeya getting married, be it when Parvati takes rebirths leaving back her children without mother's care, be it when Manasa questions Mahadev about the disparity being shown amongst his children....oh so many things...so many situations come up.

The undying, unwavering eternal love between the couple constantly nurtured through commitment, responsibility, mutual trust and respect..the bonding the family exhibits by abiding to dharmic principles, through mutual respect, adjustments and not encroaching into others' territory...all these elements stand very relevant for today's society especially as a very rapid course-correction.

Characters and Actors


Now, there is no need to mention the tremendous attention Mohit Raina, the actor who played Shiva, received. It's like the actor alone grabbed 95% attention from the audience and the rest 5% was left to other actors. Undeniably, there's some sort of magnetic aura associated with the actor when he gets into the shoes of that role. Of the three actresses who played Parvati, as far as I'm concerned, Sonarika was just perfect. Moni Roy played Sati. Both Moni and Sonarika were a class apart and it looks like the Goddess Herself has chosen them for the role. And as for Mohit, to say that Shiva has chosen him for the role, might not be sufficient...Mohit was just made for the role. But...but, you must see Sonarika as Kali and AdiShakti and you would start wondering...will there ever be one like this? There is a distinct difference between Sati and Parvati. Sati is more unevolved who faces a tragic end of not fulfilling her destiny with Shiva. On the other hand, Parvati goes a step ahead to evolve more to attain Shiva. (I often had a question why is it that only Goddess should work to reach her God, to become eligible to deserve her God...anyway I don't intend to debate it here!).

Naturally, since the serial revolves around Shiva and his family, other actors do not get much attention, just as it is the other way round in Ramayana and Mahabharata serials. Infact, the actors who played Narayana and Lakshmi - Saurabh Raj Jain and Ragini Dubey have put up some fine acting. They had very less scope but their conversations made it up all. When there is love, when there is understanding, one needn't do much explaining, in any relationship - their conversations mirror that perfect understanding. For instance, these are two of many such conversations, I just love! Especially Lakshmi Devi's portrayal is exactly as we all perceive the Goddess, very tolerant and understanding. I like how the lady emotes with her eyes and smile.

And now coming to Skanda and Ganesha. Both have been given apt scope for acting. But one gets to see that Skanda repeats one mannerism over and over again. There's one familiar look to the regular viewer, wherein he lowers his head and frowning his eye brows gazes constantly, which he repeats again and again to respond to various situations - both positive and negative alike. Nevertheless, he has acted extremely well, as an ambitious son who is often caught in a dilemma of where to draw the line between his pursuit of goals and how best to accommodate his parents' guidance. Ganesha here is shown to be a very intelligent kid who is very understanding of his parents and one would rarely see the divine couple offering any explicit guidance to him. In fact, you see that he himself approaches his parents with the right questions most of the times. The portrayal of Ashoka Sundari was very short, but the actress who played the younger variant seems pretty cute.

I think I like the role portrayal of Manasa, as the estranged daughter. A very powerful role portrayal, this one. All in all, I like the conversations between Shiva and Manasa. Portrayal of Brahma and Saraswati was very short and customary (but I liked the short and radiant smiles Brahma throws often). I wished I could see more of them in the serial, perhaps more stories which included them. In fact, you get to see more of Nandi here. There is even an episode on Nandi's marriage. The actor who played Nandi has done a commendable job. Another actor I must mention about is Sati's Mom. She is a beautiful actress and has done a good job enacting the dilemma of how to safeguard the interests of her daughter and how to be a dutiful wife. Oh, the actor who played both Maharshi Dadhichi and his son, Rishi Biplat played a perfect devotee. A perfect sage, a perfect mentor and an ardent devotee. The actor has got a very blessed role and he has had made the most of it.

There were few things which were not done much justice - portrayal of Manikanta, disconnectivity in Ashoka Sundari's role portrayal and marriage of Karthikeya. The story of Manikanta seems aloof and is not well connected with the rest of the series. One would wonder if Manikanta continued to remain in human realm and took further births here or if he ever got to attain his celestial self. You never get to see him along with the divine family, perhaps the scriptures they referred to did not have enough details? You only get to see Shiva and Nandi being worried about his safety once. I felt this part could have been explored a bit more in detail. And yes, the other one, I never knew when Skanda got married, but once I came across a mention of that. Also, after Ashoka Sundari gets married, you only get to see her once when Nahush who temporarily adorns the throne of heaven (usually Indra's throne) tries to abuse his power and when at about the same time Devi Parvati is in deep penance. You don't get to see her much even during the family events afterwards (or I don't know if the actress has been changed and if I couldn't recognize her).

Another thing that needs to be mentioned is that, Mohit Raina has not only succeeded as the hero but also as the villain. You sense the warmth of a father towards his children when he is Shiva just as you sense rivalry when he is fighting as Lohitank with Skanda and Ganesha. You see that this actor has displayed the brilliant knack of switching personalities and completely getting into the skin of the role assigned to him. The serial for sure, is a life-changer for Mohit. Not only Mohit, but for most others too, acting in this serial would have been a journey towards personal transformation.

Anyway, I can go on and on about it, but I must stop here, because if you are already part of the audience of this serial you know how vast it can get (I'm sure I've left touching upon many other important roles) and if you are not, there is no point going further...what I wrote is more than enough and by this time it would have already turned out to be pretty dragging.

All said, I'm not sure if the serial is completely based on authentic stories in scriptures. It is said, that the serial is also derived from some stories in folk lore that have been passed on over generations. But for me, it doesn't much matter. Who knows what is authentic and what is not, except the Gods themselves? What is more important is that, the serial has been very engaging, entertaining and mesmerizing. Of course, it is not without its share of boring pieces. Apart from the stories which were dragging and not too interesting, my own state led me to few instances wherein I felt I've taken enough of it and kept myselves away from it, sometimes for months.

Favourites


All the three seasons of this serial are now on youtube. Now, it is hard to pick up one or even a couple of favourites. I have already touched upon a few, but I have many to list down. Here I go...

  • The episode wherein Shiva mourns for the departed Sati.
  • The episode wherein Parvati attains complete Self-Realization and approaches Shiva expecting him to come out of his Saadhana.
  • The episode wherein Shiva explains his son Karthikeya the story behind his birth, what responsibilities lie in front of him and prepares him for the task.
  • The episode wherein Shiva tells the tale of Matsyavatar of Narayana to Ashoka Sundari.
  • The episode of Ksheera Sagara Mathanam.
  • The episode wherein Ganesha approaches Nahush's parents to seek their son for marriage with his sister.
  • The episode wherein Ganesha cooks for Skanda, when they are both away from parents.
  • The episode wherein Shiva, Skanda and Ganesha do the needful to restore Parvati of her lost memories.
  • The episode wherein Parvati becomes Adishakti to fight Mahishasur.
  • The episode wherein Parvati takes on the Kali avatar to fight Andhak.
  • The episode wherein Jalandhar talks to his love interest/wife about why he is waging war on Shiva.
  • The episode wherein Manasa questions Shiva why she is not given the status of Goddess while Ganesha and Karthikeya are prayed as Gods.
  • The episode wherein Shiva and Narayana are reinstated through the trinity form Dattatreya upon invoking by Anasuya.
  • The episode wherein Shiva tries to explain the reality to Lohitank and shun his illusions; The episode wherein Devi Prithvi, mother of Lohitank doesn't turn up to bless him before the war; The episode of the 'musical war' between Shiva and Lohitank and subsequent realization of truth by Lohitank. I think I like the Lohitank series as a whole (The youtube ones are brief, the more serious viewer can visit tellysansar that has the last season in more detail)
  • The episode wherein Skanda trains Kumari, the incarnation of his mother, in sword fighting.
Hmm, I might have missed many, but again it's not too important anyway, this is only for the records, perhaps rather for my own reference later.

Parting Notes


No, no, it is not me who is departing. There has been a part inside me so far which frequently alluded you to some part of the serial to discuss a real life scenario - like...suicide? Oh I don't understand why Dadhichi had to give up his life; ah hormones and self-control? You know what, Skanda was put to such a test; corruption and regulation? Nothing doing, the Father himself must take the reins; Self-Realization? Of course, it's such a heck of a process, the Mother herself had a tough time - so on and so forth (so much so that these mentions went into my book too). Now, that part of me is taking leave from you all, now that the serial is over. But...but, I believe that part has filled the rest of me with enough wisdom that now I can look to the Universe around me, when I'm in search of guidance and take the cues and clues.

This post was something I started writing since some Feb 7th or 8th. Every day, I wanted to finish it off and publish, but couldn't, very much unlike how I've been doing so far in this blog - I think of something, grab the laptop and without much thinking type it down and publish whatever random stuff goes on in my mind. This was very different and as far as I can recollect the toughest writing assignment I have taken up in my life so far. When I read it now, I don't think I'm much satisfied with it because I know it doesn't evoke the same emotion towards the serial as I have for it. It doesn't translate my obsession effectively with its beauty and reverence retained. But, I know it's not possible. It is impossible for me to evoke the same awe in others. I wrote this because I was in awe of it myself as I parallelly made my journey of transformation. I know, same need not be the case with everybody. But again, one need not necessarily be undergoing a transformation process to be in awe of it. But I know for sure, a serious viewer would have been transformed in one way or the other by the end of it.

Am I mourning this leaving part? Maybe a bit, but I'm happy that it is finally leaving so that now I can implement what I have been learning. How long can one just only learn and not get to execute it? We are taking from the Universe all the time. But, sometimes we are expected to give it back. Rather, we must co-exist. When that co-existence is hit, the forces which are hurt or the forces which own up the responsibility to repair the conflict, are bound to awaken in some person or the other...yes in normal human beings that is! And human beings are spiritual beings with a human experience here, not human beings with a spiritual experience. Since time immemorial, such forces have been awakening and manifesting in human beings and transforming the world, for the Universe is an organic Whole. This saga, thus continues...

Sunday, February 15, 2015

Alert!!!!!

Hi People,

I thought the following mail communication would be of some interest to you, hence posting it here.

***************************************************************************************************************************

from:Mamata Salakapurapuwww@gmail.com
to:xxx@nasa.gov,
yyy@astro.cornell.edu,
zzz@nasa.gov,
aaa@noaa.gov,
bbb@noaa.gov,
ccc@bom.gov.au
date:Wed, Feb 11, 2015 at 11:30 PM
subject:IMPORTANT - Precession of Equinoxes happening soon on Planet Earth - Evacuation operations "might" be needed!



Hi All,

NOTE: Since I'm not sure which party to address exactly, I'm mailing all the tentative stakeholders as per my awareness.

This is Mamata Anurag S from India. I have been experiencing Consciousness Awakening for the past 3 years since 2012. I have received Cosmic Guidance while on this path and have some findings to share with you, which I believe are relevant for people of two continents at large - North America & Australia.

I feel it is important for the scientific community to be aware of this now.



Purpose of this mail:



It is to invite scientific examination and verification of my findings and initiation of action (evacuation operations), if needed.



Findings:



The event of Precession of Equinoxes (let's call it PoE in this mail) is set to happen on Earth, for Earth and Humanity to ascend to higher frequencies and thrust forward this cycle of evolution of human race into a Higher Consciousness state.


PoE involves the following:
  • Inversion of orientation of Earth's wobbling.
  • Reversal of inclination of Earth's magnetic axis - currently approx 23 1/2 degrees NW - from North-West to North-East.
  • Shifting of the planet into the next cosmic cycle in the "spiral" of cosmic expansion.
There are of course a multitude of consequences as result of this event, if it (Ascension/Shift) were to happen. But I don't intend to cover them here and leave it to the scientific fraternity to address them, for they are more eligible and skilled to do it.


When?:

April 26 - May 01, 2015, Error: +3 months (April - July, 2015)

Where?:

While this is going to involve the planet as a whole, the parts of the planet that would most probably be affected are North America and Australia as a whole.

How?:

PoE is that point of time wherein Earth aligns with the galactic center through the inversion of the orientation of its wobbling.

Applying Newton's Law of Inertia to this scenario - "Every object remains in a state of rest or of uniform motion unless acted upon by an outside force" - Earth CANNOT change its orientation by itself and align with the galactic center. It needs external force. You may see it as a pull from extra-terrestrial forces, I may see it as Divine Intervention. Currently Earth is going on in a TANGENTIAL path at the end of its cycle and needs to be pulled into the right course (most appropriate for it) in the galaxy.

This involves Earth being put to a state of rest first, from its motion and then torque being applied so as to reverse the orientation/direction of - wobbling, magnetic axis and rotation, all the three - so as to align with the galactic center and thrust it (providing the initial impetus) so that it runs on its own course by itself.

This implies powerful forces will be acting on the center of the Earth and also on a particular "belt" on Earth so as to apply this torque. Enclosed is an image which captures this belt as per the findings I derived through the Cosmic Guidance.

This application of the torque leads to a state wherein the temperature of this belt on Earth varies between Absolute Zero (-273 Celsius) to extremely high temperatures (much greater than 100 Celsius) as the Core of the Earth and its Magnetic Field are acted upon.

This means that human habitation is impossible during this period in this region. That requires people being evacuated from these continents before this event happens.

How did I arrive at these findings?

While I've termed them "findings" all through out my mail, they are basically 'revelations' received and reinforced through Synchronicity alone. This too involves doing some science - observation, examination, acceptance or rejection of information received through the events happening around by repeated observation and verification.

My journey on this path is captured in this book - "Inside-Out: A Journal Out of a Spiritual Journey" (by pen name Smanu). But, I personally feel that this journey is irrelevant here in this context and does not require any examination, per se. What might be more relevant is to examine and verify these findings in the best interests of all of us here on Earth, in case you consider them worth an examination.

I have received this guidance primarily from the Cosmic Consciousness and Energy (I call them Shiva and Shakti respectively, the Cosmic Parents as per Hinduism).

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We know how a speck of Interstellar Dust can obscure the observations of the Scientific Fraternity on Big Bang. Naturally, this prediction too has some probability of error associated with it. And the minutest of error might mean that the event shifts forward by centuries on the human time scale. But, even if there is a remote possibility of this event happening, it might not be befitting for the current Age of Reasoning and Science(Technology) to miss it.

In case you want to contact me further on this, I am happy to co-ordinate.

Thanks & Regards,
Mamata Anurag.



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Correction and Convergence!

The last 20 days has been "Winding up" phase on many levels for me...in the process of Awakening. While on one end, the intensity of the process increased and finally started stabilizing, on the other end, different things started happening too. I could see the 'opposite spectrum' playing out.....as expected...

Emptiness - Why? What's the goal?


This convergence, though not easy to stand, was expected on some level already. It was a long wait for me, to see in what form this Convergence turns up. That I was waiting with bated breath, would not describe the situation correctly. I was breathless as I was waiting. Because, I was nowhere in the middle and there is no question of me being pushed to the threshold and breaking up. I was ON THE threshold everyday, I was already broken. Rather, it all started when I was broken up, first. And it continued as I remained 'broken up'. Was I getting 'more broken up'? I don't know! And everyday, the threshold was increasing exponentially. I had no goals in life - no personal goals, no societal goals, no goals set due to family pressure, no goals set for family, no dreams...nothing. All I wanted was Salvation. Nothing more, nothing less. Love, family, marriage, career, money...nothing enticed me. I just wanted to be OUT of it, out of what I'm going through. It was not only unbearable, but it is also something that NEED NOT be borne.

Why on Earth should I bear the burden of death everyday and still live? Why, when I'm all empty inside, force myself to smile and frame some goals and dreams to just move on and get going? I'm not moving, I'm not going anywhere, for the threshold was not a thin line, I'm spawning and living in the "band of" threshold. Why should I let it grow more...and more? It is as good as or perhaps much worser than the smokers who smoke everyday despite this warning - "Attention! Dear Customers! Do you know that you are using your hard-earned money to buy your own DEATH?" Atleast here, the smokers derive some pleasure out of it. What is in it for me (or for anybody else), to live in vaccuum? On the other hand, the onus and scope of quitting smoking majorly vests with the smokers alone. In my case, it is not in my "individual" capacity to get out of (escape) this process. It is like slogging the whole day, not have a life and save for the next generation which I have no clue if I will be able to give rise to or not. It is like depositing the whole chunk of my money for Life Insurance so that 'somebody' out there will get some crores of money when I finally die. I'm still wondering who is the best fit for that 'somebody'! All this, because somebody out there misinterprets the "means goals" as "end goals". And since this act needs somebody to tolerate the repercussions on the other end, some people are experiencing emptiness.

You need money, but is that your "end goal"? Rather you are looking for the experiences that money brings. (Borrowed from Vishen Lakhiani's Quantum Jumping, I happened to watch recently) When you have more than enough money and yet the experiences that come along do not satisfy you in any way, then that naturally is a wake up call reminding you that 'something else' is being traded off and that you need to act on it immediately. It was as if Vishen was speaking my mind (and of course many similar minds - goes without saying) exactly out there. I failed to drive this point to my Economics Sir, a year ago, who was persistent in his argument, that we are doing it "for" money and that "it" is the driving factor. I was saying "Self-Contentment" is the driving factor, money might bring it and might not bring it sometimes, but what I am sure was that we are being tricked into believing that "money" is the end because that is the "predominant" societal conditioning. I appreciate Lakhiani for being able to describe it succinctly and drive it to the crowd successfully.

Current Steps


Note: Please read the following content 'as it is' and not metaphorically (as it often happens with the readers of this blog, which sometimes includes myself too).

Since I believe I'm reaching stabilization, I'm sharing here the steps I'm following currently. I would also be happy to know the steps, others around are following to stabilize themselves, if they are interested to share.

The last 20 days required me to tweak my ways of meditation as per the dynamically changing process. The last three years, among many other things, I could live with the following to get on with the process:
  • Sambhavi Mudra - A meditation form.
  • Belly Breathing.
  • Sexual transmutation of Consciousness to Energy (This is not physical sex, but dealing with the sexual energies inside, gushing in as part of Awakening process, as guided by one's consciousness)
  • A meditation form suggested by one Mr. Subbarayan (which I will brief about shortly) - once in a while - mostly when I had to meditate on the "Outside".
But the last 20 days required me to do the following:
  • Subbarayan's meditation more frequently.
  • Distinguishing between evolutionary energy and disaster energy. Focusing on sending back the disaster energy (giving it back to earth). When disaster energy stream enters, it just doesn't feel right. Observing it allows you to understand that it is not meant for you. Just meditating on it so that it leaves.
  • Meditating on the Consciousness in the reverse direction. Previously it was entering in, from the head. Now I had to meditate on it so that it exits from the head.
Of course, it was not a straight forward process arriving at these steps. It was arrived through some trial and error of  course, of different permutations and combinations. Things were happening strangely and I had to respond to the events as they unfolded. Now, I'll touch upon the above steps in more detail...

Subbarayan's Meditation


One cannot indulge or be stuck up with one's inside forever. That gets us nowhere. After all, one's internal makeup, which is predominantly one's own personality, is also affected and shaped by external stimulus. It is during those times, when working on one's inside alone doesn't bring any change, that this meditation brings relief. In brief, here are the steps:

  • Sit straight in a chair or squat on the ground. Close your eyes and relax yourselves consciously from head to toe. It is said, when rightly done, this is half of yoga.
  • Become conscious of the sounds around. Listen, do not meditate. Try to listen to as many sounds as possible. Try to trace the source.
  • After a while, try to listen to a single sound alone.
  • After a while, get back to multiple sounds.
  • Alternate this in rounds as per your convenience.
  • Now observe your breath. Here you are neither controlling, nor manipulating nor even meditating on your breath. You are consciously feeling your breath. As you do it, you become one with your breath.
  • You are only allowing your breath to happen the way it is happening. You are only observing. As you do this, your breath gets finer and finer. After a while, you feel that your breath is all that you are. This is a very blissful state wherein each of the body parts is relaxed without your knowledge, without you explicitly doing it.
  • If you can hold this stage for a long time, then that's good. Otherwise, you can alternate with sound.
  • The third stage of it, is to observe your thoughts. You allow your thoughts to come up. You are an observer here, so you can stay separate and realize that you are separate  from your thoughts. This releases the pent up thoughts.
You may repeat this meditation in cycles and tune it as per your need. As for me, I usually do it with sound and breath. Very rarely do I observe my thoughts. Because my state was that of numbness for a long time, an impulse-less state. But in the last 20 days, I practiced this observation of thoughts straight for two days to release up a phase in my life. Whatever be the sub-phase you practice, it really works because whatever flow is happening inside you does not bother you anymore. You are no more controlling it as per your knowledge, but rather the flow takes its best course.

Also, of late, since the swirling of energy was too intense, I picked up the habit of standing and doing my office work. Sometimes, lying down was also needed. So, it might so happen that this particular meditation which is usually done in sitting posture might not help some people. They might like this "Yoga Nidra" practice which is done in a lying down posture. I tried this once, but felt Subbarayan's meditation works better for me. So you may try, whichever one works better for you. I asked my Dad to try it just today, just like that! No no, he is not undergoing what I'm undergoing. But he is stressed out for sure, for different reasons.

This can't go on forever!


Touching upon some old things...and at the risk of reiterating them, I write them again. Not only during the last three years (during which time I was undergoing it), but for many centuries, people who underwent this, had it two ways: Either they had their highest Chakra cracking up open first - which I call Consciousness Awakening or they had their Kundalini uncoil first - which is famously known as Kundalini Awakening. Apparently, it was Kundalini Awakening that got triggered in majority of the people. Of course, there are a lot of common phases between both the paths, once the triggering happens. And mine was the former.

Now, what is the purpose behind all this? Some energy/consciousness is being presented to you so that you get rid of karmic blockages, you purify yourselves, you fulfill your Karma and finally your destiny. The goal is both personal and societal. You are not only evolving yourself but also contributing to the evolution of the planet and the species. Whether one is affecting the process in a positive way or if one is disturbing it so as to prolong it more, one cannot always be sure of this. But then, that is the best one could do. We are here on Earth, with not much explicit guidance when we are OUT OF PHASE with Cosmic Wisdom and we are after all getting on with it with the best of our intentions.

We are presented with a dilemma of which one to prioritize - the current life based on current societal trends or this evolutionary phase which we are not sure when it is going to see the light of the day. This phase has been a transcendental journey and has been spanning many life times. So how and what to prioritize has been the biggest dilemma for all of us. The journey was not just difficult but trying and painstaking for many. I'm sure at least 80% of us did not want to go through it, if we were given a choice. But again, we had no choice, for we know that, if not today in this life time, we will have to take it up again (with increased, perhaps at least tripled, pain) in next life time, because we cannot escape our own Karma. Perhaps, this is what kept many people going. At least for me, this is what kept me going (apart from the only other trigger that I did not want my parents to live with guilt and depression the rest of their lives, if I give up on my life, when it completely went beyond my tolerance).

Well despite all this, we kept up with it. This was covered in few chapters of my book, primarily - "Energy Centres III - Balance - Ascension" and "A remarkable milestone!" chapters.

Anyway, irrespective of what the purpose is, behind this trigger of Awakening and how best to deal with this, the fact remains that we don't have to live with this explicit sensation of Energy/Consciousness forever. We can't! We can't go on with this forever. We ought to stabilize! And that is in the best interests of everybody. After all, the underlying purpose of all this, is to balance Earth and Human species when the planet undergoes Precession of Equinoxes (PoE). All this is happening so that we smoothly undergo and cross this event.

I had believed that time is now ripe for this event (as mentioned in my book) and I still continue to believe so. Well, I could be wrong. But I hope not to be. Because, as per my understanding, sustaining this process more and more is one of those things which is "good for nothing/good for nobody". Having attained a point of stabilization, the sooner it happens, the better it is for everybody. Coz, it is not easy to reach a stabilization point in the first place. Once it is missed, it is highly unlikely that such a point arises again, especially given that Earth is at loggerheads with the evolution of galaxy and it will continue to do so unless steered otherwise.

As I was telling, we are not here to live with this burden of Cosmic Energy/Consciousness forever "inside" us. Human beings ideally are meant to be conductors after being a bit of consumers. That means, we ought to present a free path for Consciousness and Energy to flow through us. But unfortunately, we are becoming more of Consumers and less of Conductors. Depending on one's purpose of life, needs, karmic burden, the way one responded to the cosmic script, we have been presented with either 'more of Consciousness' or 'more of Energy'. For me, heavy bouts of Consciousness was descending through my head two-thirds of the time. It is only during the last phases that I sensed Kundalini energy heavily.

Correction


Now, despite years of having been on this path, each of us harbour within us, some imbalance. There is some error that needs to be corrected so that we finally attain balance. For me, a simple test has been to observe how I tend to sit most of the time - leaning forward or leaning backward - which implies deficient or overpowered side of Heart Chakra respectively. I think it was only once, for a few days, that I was on the overpowered side. Otherwise, I'm on the deficient side most of the time. Which means that excess of Consciousness (naturally for the way it happened so far) went into the process or that there has been a deficit of Energy.

For those, who received heavy bouts of Consciousness in the beginning are tending to receive swirling of Energy towards the end phases. Naturally, it is the other way round for the other lot, they are experiencing heavy swirling of Consciousness in head. This is, as is evident, to bring about balance.

Now, take a look at the back cover image of my book. It is representative of the "Inside-Out" process - As Above, So Below. It also looks like the double conical PoE process. The Hindus would see that it also looks a bit like 'Damarukam'.

This swirling of the opposite end that has started recently is to make the Correction inside you. In order to accommodate this correction, you need to imagine these two opposite swirling vortices inside your body as you sit in a squatted position. Of course, you are now only feeling one vortex. Now, the key is to NOT focus on that vortex whose sensation you explicitly feel.

The key is to meditate on the other vortex which you are not sensing consciously. I'll explain taking my case again. My upper half of the Chakras were more or less stabilized, that is why I don't feel the Consciousness pull anymore. It is my lower Chakras that need to evolve or undergo more transformation process. That is why I'm sensing the swirling of Energy. Now, this Energy "meets" the Consciousness that is already kind of settled, by travelling upto the Heart Chakra. Now, since it is Consciousness that is in excess for me, it (the error part) must be released "outside". So what has been coming "inside" all the while, now goes "outside". Not all of it though, just the error part! This error perhaps varies from person to person. What amount of Energy and Consciousness is needed to bring about balance for a "person", only God knows, I mean the Universe will perfectly and naturally take care of it! This is the reversal of energies that you are consciously incorporating within you!

The essential part here, hence, is that, I consciously visualize Consciousness exiting my head though I naturally don't sense it. During this process, the sensation of swirling of energy, which was explicit before, naturally slips off one's mind, coz it is Consciousness that is being meditated upon. Now, it is the other way round for the other lot. At the end of the day, Consciousness = Energy, but what is important is that we focus on the direction of the flow.

This combination of steps, is what has been putting me into Stabilization course so far. Of course, different things work for different people. But, this has been the case with me and this long write-up is just an attempt to share it with others, just in case, it is useful.

Right to offend...

Perhaps, it is pretty late to talk about this, but still let me do.

A lot has been talked about 'Charlie Hebdo' attack. Naturally arguments were offered on both sides. But no matter what the debate is about, be it right to offend, the rights of press, the power of sarcasm, the thin line between 'free speech' and 'offence'/'abuse', nobody would defend an attack wherein one group kills the other just because their sentiments were offended. These kind of acts only distract the argument from 'logic' to 'being forced to take sides'. The actual idea that - free speech is not absolute and that it is in the best interests of everybody, not to misuse it to offend the sentiments of others - is lost in middle. And when free speech itself is not absolute, the question of whether one has free will to punish others would not even arise for current times.

Anyway, I was reading this article the other day - A culture that includes the right to offend the 'other', also needs to understand the 'other' - and having seen so many discussions going around, if I'm asked to conclude my ideas about it, I think I would more or less agree with what's told there. I wouldn't have any second thoughts to be party to the argument there. Satire that is more offensive than being able to send the message home rightly, defeats the purpose of satire, just like taking regulation (law) into one's hands (as per one's own judgement) defeats the purpose of regulation because the one handing over the punishment is not exercising self-regulation. Both means might not be equally dangerous, but neither of them is right. Evidently the latter means is more dangerous, but it is important to note that the former has in some way triggered the latter. One might argue that the latter, given their (in)tolerance levels, would act due to some or the other trigger, some day or the other, but I personally consider that irrelevant in the current context and see it more as a distraction for the current discussion.

Friday, February 6, 2015

Error!

There was one quote which kept me going during the years of my 'Shunyam' (in telugu means Void or Emptiness). I happened to check it on one of the pillars of a school enroute my morning walk then.

It's been quite some time, perhaps almost a year since I stretched my legs for a morning walk and today out of blue I did that and happened to come across this quote, the sight of which, filled my mind with tons of satisfaction. It doesn't parallel any other feeling for me. It is not even satisfaction, so to say...not pure satisfaction. It is some smug satisfaction with which I can answer myself - "It's OK!". Well here's the quote that's making you wonder what on Earth can make one contented with void, the nothingness:

"To kill an error is as good a service as, and sometimes even better than, the establishing of a new truth or fact"
          -- Darwin.

When I think of this quote, the first thing that comes to my mind are the most-warned-about syntax errors in coding. Say, in a language like C, if you don't put a matching closing brace in if-else{}, while{}, for{} etc, which error usually happens in a multiple-loop scenario, think of the havoc it creates. The first opening brace matches itself (unfortunately) with the first closing brace it encounters irrespective of whether or not it is the intended closing brace. They typically are the Scope Resolution errors, the scope here being mis-interpreted purely because of the syntax error. One error and such a havoc!

A similar instance I came across recently is this - "One Man's Quest to Rid Wikipedia of Exactly One Grammatical Mistake"! Stickling for trivial details or call it whatever you will, but this kind of perfectionism is often underrated!

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Now, on an entirely different note, let's take a look at this. I will give you one example on how emphasis can change the meaning of a sentence - this is my favourite, by the way!

Let's say a guys says this - "I haven't chosen any girl for marriage so far!"

Now read this - "I haven't chosen any girl for marriage so far" => There is a possibility that he might have chosen a girl for purposes other than marriage. Agree? Sounds just fine in a lighter vein, but otherwise as disgusting as it can get.

Now this one - "I haven't chosen any girl for marriage so far" => Looks like, he has chosen a guy for marriage.

Another one - "I haven't chosen any girl for marriage so far" => His parents might have! Or still better, the girl herself might have chosen him.

Inkokati - "I haven't chosen any girl for marriage so far" => He might not have had to make a choice in the first place. He might have plain flatly fallen for her that she must have unanimously been the bride-to-be or still better he must have been forced to choose...

One more - and I guess this one is usually the intended emphasis, if no explicit emphasis is made - "I haven't chosen any girl for marriage so far!" => In the future, he might. But as of now, he hasn't made any such choice.

Well, I know that you can yourself understand the meaning of those sentences, without me explaining it there. But sorry, I don't want to miss the fun that goes into it..Well, I must give credit to Subhalekha Sudhakar's role in the Telugu movie, Sraavana Meghaalu for this. I watched this movie when I was in my 10th or so and ever since then this has become a good conversation-filler for me with friends! Ah, that movie, is quite a movie...has the typical telugu movie undercurrent nevertheless.