Ohhhh Samiyov!!! En ippudi?

Bhagavad Gita 2.62

dhyāyato viṣayān puḿsaḥ sańgas teṣūpajāyate

sańgāt sañjāyate kāmaḥ kāmāt krodho ‘bhijāyate

TRANSLATION

While contemplating the objects of the senses, a person develops attachment for them, and from such attachment lust develops, and from lust anger arises.

Bhagavad Gita 2.63

krodhād bhavati sammohaḥ sammohāt smṛti-vibhramaḥ

smṛti-bhraḿśād buddhi-nāśo buddhi-nāśāt praṇaśyati

TRANSLATION

From anger, complete delusion arises, and from delusion bewilderment of memory. When memory is bewildered, intelligence is lost, and when intelligence is lost one falls down again into the material pool.

(Text and translations are from Vedabase)

A 15min walk took me to the popular bookstore nearby, where I spent about 45mins roaming here and there until I got my hands on an interesting book. The place was crowded… kids everywhere, mothers talking to their kids in some sort of english (seriously, some moms take this thing too far… talking in english is a status symbol still, I guess).

On the way back, I chose to walk home in a different route, along an arterial road which was not actually not that crowded in the early noon hours.

I usually observe anything and everything… observe in the sense “notice something, register it and move on”. So here I was on the road, observing the guards of a High Security building, the blue riot control vehicle stationed nearby, 2 ladies in blue overcoats sitting inside a protected glass enclosure, an armored security cam and… BANG!

I was rudely shocked by the sounds of a 2 wheeler crashing in to a wayside tree and pavement. The driver and the pillion rider were both thrown to the ground… looks like an autowallah rammed in to the back of the bike. The driver of the bike suffered a sprain to his ankle, but the pillion guy had a small cut below the left eye, and was rolling on the pavement with his palm on his chest.

The driver got up and started slapping and beating the autowallah… and 3 more people joined in. I was some distance away and started walking fast towards them. Another bike rider raced by me, stopped near the crowd and rescued the autowallah. Looks like the auto driver was not well, and he lost control of the vehicle. Expletives filled the air… I wanted to check if the guy on the pavement was fine or if he needed an ambulance, but he got and up started walking alright. I asked the 2 guys in the midst of the confusion if they wanted to see a doctor right away… there was a hospital nearby that they can go to in the same auto, but the 2 guys ignored me straight… and were bent on threatening the auto driver. I saw that there was no further point in me standing there.

So I continued walking… crossed a bus stop with just 3 people waiting, a tea stall where a fresh load of samosas was just being unloaded, a small slum alley to the side at the entrance of which there were a couple of women keenly looking for lice in their hair (as well as one of their daughters’).

As I neared the turn I needed to take to get away from the main road, I noticed a modern-looking, plump girl, dressed in tight blue jeans and a black kurta type tops… only I was left wondering what the purpose of  the dress was. There was this famous chat place in the corner in to which I just popped in to check if I can buy something interesting, but changed my mind almost right after I looked at the menu (nothing wrong with the menu, I just decided that I would go back home and have a proper lunch instead).

I reached home, had a good lunch and started reading my new book… only to drift in to sleep in an hour or so.

It was a good walk today.

A girl immolated herself and died protesting the rejection of mercy petition by the President. There have been several hunger strikes (biriyani and sarakku (liquor) will be served at the end?) and protests being held here and there. The Tamilnadu assembly passed a resolution asking the President to reconsider the mercy petition, the High Court stayed the hanging for about 8 weeks, on legal grounds, mainly being focused on the 10+ year delay in the decision on the mercy petition.

The senile old man of TN as well as other Tamil groups have also taken up this cry for mercy… obviously, a political stunt. “Rajiv Gandhi would have spared death row convicts”… this is one of the statements given by a person who is the personification of Rationalism. How did he know this? Did he approach a psychic or a medium and talk to Rajiv Gandhi from the netherworld? Others call for mercy on humanitarian grounds, some arguing that death sentence itself should be abolished.

The case of Afzal Guru was also pulled in to this mess by Kashmir’s CM, Mr. Omar Abdullah. Of course this is a “democrazy”… so people can always claim what they want… that the trial was a farce, evidence was fabricated and so on. It is only expected that when someone gets a ruling that they don’t like, they always cry out calling the trial being biased and unfair.

To hang or not to hang terrorists… that is the question. Actually, there is no question… some of these idiots who are creating this scene just make it look like they are all purest in their intentions and are actually so softhearted.

A proven crime must be punished. This sort of dilly dallying will only reduce the trust people have in the system.

To people who claim capital punishment is barbaric and must be abolished… so is murdering or blowing people to pieces or bombing places!

Hang the terrorists, child molesters, rapists, arsonists, land aggressors, kidnappers, assassins… show no mercy. Oh, and please hang the Kasab guy too. I don’t want my tax money to be spent on fattening that butcher.

Godman? I think not… this new revelation is astounding! I wonder if Nithyananda really wanted to give this impression to his foollowers.

A medical doctor has certified that his ‘bodily features’ resemble those of a child between one and six years old.

The documents attested that the godman’s body was like that of a child between one and six years old, and that he could not have forced anyone to have sex with him.

Is this supposed to assure his ‘female’ disciples that they can be gujals with him without fear of rape? What kind of nonsense is this?

The newspapers are full of crappy (even creepy in some cases) advertisements for hotels and resorts which are planning for such parties. The rates that are mentioned are ridiculous in some cases.

I would probably never understand the ‘fun’ involved in this sh**.

In any case, for everyone… Happy New Year in advance!

Karunanidhi cutting cake for Christmas

“Aryan culture has succeeded in planting superstitions in people’s minds, while even truthful aspects of Dravidian history remain unknown” – (From TOI)

Time to retire, thaatha (Grandpa).

Me thinks that if not for his chief minister post, circle of slaves and the added benefits of getting placed in the government like it is a private company, his wives, sons and daughters would have disposed him a long time ago.

Lol! So basically, Nithyananda’s foollowers (no typo here!) are thinking that there is nothing wrong with being bogus, but  want Lenin to be punished because he managed to get the proof for Nithy’s ‘gujals’.

This is going to be an interesting debate.

Was Nithyananda, a human, wrong to satisfy the urges of his senses? Probably not.

Was Nithyananda, a sannyasi, wrong to lie with a woman, while projecting himself to be a brahmachari to the world? Absolutely.

Was Mr. Lenin wrong to invade on the privacy of another person? Yes.

Was he wrong in trying to expose the falsity of a bogus sannyasi? I would say No.

Choices and perspective.

My new job has me traveling quite a bit overseas. Being a vegetarian, I did expect that ‘eatable’ food would be a bit hard to get. But I didn’t expect it to be this hard.

I am in a place (won’t mention where) which brims with ‘food’ all around but if I ever need to get something to eat, I have to spend 2 minutes explaining what I want and what ingredients should not be used. The only places where I can confidently step in are some of the few Indian run restaurants, but even there I keep a wary eye to ensure the waiters don’t accidentally mix something in my food which I cannot have.

These folks don’t have an idea of food without meat, fish or eggs. Every single damn food item, even rice, has some thing mixed in it. The range of stuff that ends up on these folk’s plate would put a normal Indian non-vegetarian to shame. I have actually seen my colleagues, who claim to eat anything that walks, flies, crawl or swim, have second thoughts at trying some of the food choices. And not knowing the local language makes things worse.

The hotel I stay in claims to be the newest, finest hotel in town but there is not one item in the hotel’s menu (except juices, fruits and grain bread) that does not contain meat. I never had this problem even when I lived in USA for a couple of years.

Can’t wait to get back home. Sad part is my trips are not over yet.