India Vs. Zimbabwe

Would you buy a loaf of bread for 1000$, 1000 Zimbabwean dollars? Well, that is what a loaf of bread costs in Zimbabwe. The country is supposed to have the worlds highest inflation rate - of 11.2 million%.

http://in.news.yahoo.com/139/20080820/882/twl-zimbabwe-inflation-now-11-2-million.html

Gives a little heart to Indians where the annual rate of inflation has grown to 11%. I wonder how survival is possible where the Government does not take any measure to better the situation than keep printing higher currency notes. In such a case, wont printing those currency notes be costlier than the currency note itself? It might be like making a Gold coin of one Rupee denomination.

The Zimbabweans have now resorted to a better system in trading. Its a method which was adopted when trading was a new theory. The Barter system. Exchange commodities for commodities. This atleast ensures survival of the hardworking and denounces the Government currency, which thrives on usage of currency as means of renumeration for their misgivings.

Personally, i feel much relieved that we, the Citizens of India are relatively in a much better scenario than our counterparts in Zimbabwe, but we should take heed from the signs of what can go wrong, if the citizens of India dont check the Governments economic policies from time to time.

Creating the Big Bang!!!

Physicists at CERN are elated. Now that the proton beam has been successfully tested in clockwise direction, CERN plans to send it counterclockwise. Eventually the two beams will be fired in opposite directions with the aim of smashing together protons to see how they are made.

They say this is how the big bang had occurred and the planets and stars were formed out of nothing. The skeptics say that the result of the tests will create micro black holes in the universe that can suck in planets and stars. James Gilles, the official spokesperson of CERN rubbishes this theory.

Now going by the whole big bang theory that I had read in school, the entire universe was formed out of nothingness. Sanskrit texts claim nothing is everything and everything is nothing. I see a link between these two theories which in one line talks about similar concepts in different contexts. The secrets of the universe are far vast than we know, at least vast than what I know. But if the existence of the universe depended on the two theories that have been hammered into my head as a kid and if I believed it to be true, I would be a skeptic. For recreating a big bang would recreate the universe one more time.

Only this time it would be man made. What if huge planets are created, a new sun, new stars… What if everything the theories spoke about were really true? I guess that is why Stephen Hawkins wants the test to fail. It would humble human scientists by letting them know that they don’t know everything. The hunger for knowing all, will fuel them to continue living. It will stop them from being God. But what happens if the tests succeed and they are really able to create the Big Bang. Will it create planets stars etc, one more time? Will the earth explode? If none of these things happen and the physicists call the test as a success, then how would you define that they actually recreated the Big Bang? Would they be lying? Only time will tell… for I am curious to know how everything was formed at the risk of losing everything.

Because, nothing is everything and everything is nothing.

Of Babas and Babies and a Curse

I was waiting for my colleague near my new office in Bandra next to my car when a Mercedes S – Class car went past me and stopped. A man draped in saffron cloth stepped out and hurried towards me. I was a bit startled and then, a bit cautious. I had heard of these fake baba’s who hypnotise you and take all the money you have. But then, I realize I was not carrying much cash anyways, so I relaxed as he reached towards me. Obviously he was a chela of some bigger baba.

Chela: Baba wants to speak to you.
Me: What?
Chela: Baba Something (I don’t remember his name) saw you and felt you were of noble blood, and wants to speak to you.
Me: Me? Noble? What do you want?
Chela: He just wants to talk to you.

Hesitant, I walked to the car. The car had fine leather upholstery and a Baba with a flowing beard and sparkling eyes looked at me.

Me: Yes?
Baba: You are of noble blood son!
Me: I don’t know if the blood is noble, but I know it is B positive.
Baba: Don’t make fun of a holy man. My curse can ruin your life.
Me: Sorry.
Baba: You should do a yagna with milk blah blah blah blah (I did not understand a single word he spoke)

After a while of talking or rather babbling, he paused, and I looked at him with amazement. He must have thought I was amazed by his forecast which I hardly understood, but his smile made me realize he thought I agreed to what he said. I turned around to his chela.

Me: What was he saying? I did not understand a single thing.
Chela: He said your son will make you a proud father.
Me: I think I shall be proud if I become a father.

Baba (angrily): You are mocking a messenger of God.
Me: I am sorry if you are a messenger of God, but it doesn’t take a messenger to tell me that I shall be a proud father, and now if excuse me, I have other work to do.
Baba: (looking towards the other side) blah blah blah…

Chela: You don’t understand, Baba doesnot talk to everyone. He chose you.
Me: Well thanks for choosing me, but what does he want?

Baba: Its only some thing so that my disciples can eat something in the afternoon

Now this was some news to me. A man travelling in a Mercedes S-class car wanted money for lunch!

Chela: You will earn blessings from the Baba himself. Just give him whatever you can
Me: I have a five rupee coin, here it is (I handed it over to him)
Baba: How dare you insult us? Do you think we are beggars?
Me: Then what were you just asking? I thought that is what is called begging.

Well, to cut the story short, he cursed me and left.

Honesty is the best policy!

I was driving through the city right from dawn break. Personal commitments at home made me drive across the city from one corner to the other, making my way through potholed roads, unruly rickshaw drivers, and crazy truck drivers. The drive through a crowded city is enough for my back to cringe in pain. As I reached close to home, an immense urge to reach there made me skip a signal and from out of nowhere popped a man wearing a white shirt and khaki trousers and asked me to park my vehicle on the side of the road. The traffic police man walked towards me with a smile, knowing he had caught a catch.

Traffic police: Look at the signal behind. It is red. You jumped the signal.. Its your fault!
Me: You are right, I am sorry
TP: Show me your license and PUC
Me: (giving him the license) Its a new car…
TP: I will fine you, you can collect your license from the chowky
(At this point he expected me to plead and offer him a bribe)
Me: O.K. Just give me the address, I will collect it.
TP: (surprised) You mean I should fine you?
Me: Yes, I have done a mistake, I should be punished. Please fine me.
TP: You mean you want to pay the fine?
Me: I have done a mistake, so I should pay the fine, isn’t it?
TP: (with a smile) Go! Please give attention to the signal when you drive
Me: You mean you don’t want to fine?
TP: No, Its OK. I know I am doing the right thing!
Me: Thanks dada…

I went back to my car with a smile. I realized that being honest and righteous has its advantage. Now talking about honesty, here is the honest truth – I didn’t have cash in my pocket to bribe him!!!

Contact Established

If any of you have read The Alchemist, you would understand the nature of signs. They are supposed to mean something. A sign that came in front of me yesterday has put me into thinking about what it was trying to tell me.

I have a fixation for number plates. Yes, its a weird fixation, but its a fact. Unknowingly i always read a number-plate and then another weird action takes place in the head of mine which is making sense of the number. for eg. the number plate says MH-02-AY- 4215... My brain would isolate the number 4215 and then a formula is formed 4+2-1=5. If the formula worked, i would feel happy. If it didnt, my attention would go to the next vehicle and it would continued.

Then, I tried to search for a vehicle that would have my PIN number. The password to the ATM to withdraw cash. I kept looking for it for many days and months but it never surfaced. What were the chances of anyone seing the number plate of someone else's car which had the secret PIN number you were using. Looked improbable.... Slowly the fixation faded away and life became normal. Until Yesterday!

Yesterday as i drove to work, A White scorpio cut me and moved in ahead of my 'panther'. I was angry, for the guy was driving rashly. And I looked at its number plate! It was the PIN number i use!!! On its windshield was written 'Contact Established!'

I dont know what it meant, but what got me thinking was - Why did the owner of the car write that on his windshield? The usual writings on a windshield are names, sunsigns, rock band names and messages like - Done mess with me, you are following the leader, etc.... What does Contact Established mean? ??

Is this guy trying to get in touch with aliens and has established contact?
Beats me... but yes the sign works for me.. Contact has been established... but with whom, i wonder!!!!

Random Dreams!

Dreams come in many weird forms. I always wondered if we could see a movie in our dreams. It would be so cool. Imagine this! You catalog your most favorite movies in your brain and when you are in slumber you can replay it, fast forward it to your favorite section. If you wished you could also replace the actors with yourself or people you know! But the motives of dreams appear to be something else. Some people say it is a warning of some events that are about to come. Some say it represents your present state of mind.

My mother says if she sees a dream of something happening, it never happens. Once, she had seen me passing in Marathi in my fifth grade and I flunked. She saw me getting through an interview for a fantastic job, and I did not get it. So she is now scared of seeing me getting married in her dreams, because if she does, it probably will never happen. I am sure she wouldn’t tell me that even if she saw that dream and I sincerely wish she did. ;-)

Yesterday’s dream was such:

My dad and mom are boarding a plane. They are going to some place in Europe (I think that because of the architecture) My mom doesn’t have a passport. I ask her how she managed to get in the plane. She shows Dad’s passport and points out to a particular leaf in the passport. It has a ‘BPLWAP + 1’ written on it and a round stamp of an issuing authority.

The next was somewhere in Europe. There are a lot of oldies moving along with me, and one frustrated old man tells me – ‘This is the problem with Madhavan. Even if we are abroad, he will only take us to temples!!’

I then go into a house. There is a girl there. She is angry, I don’t know for what. She goes out of the door and then from the lawn throws a stone on the window. The fire alarm starts, and suddenly the house is in flames. I lie down on the bed and then there are people who are shouting. I move to the door, the flames surrounding me. The flames don’t hurt me. I open the door and walk out. The fire brigade douses the fire. I go in back into the house. There is not much damage because of the fire, just some scratches. I remember its time to leave. I take the name of a country (don’t remember which) I take a train to the airport. I disembark. I check in. They take my baggage. But I don’t remember any baggage that I had with me. But then, now there is. I get into the flight…

That’s the last memory of that dream. I wish if someone could interpret it for me!!

Deciphering Life - I

Are we happy when the world around us changes to our liking, or does our world change because we changed the way we think about the world around us, bringing happiness?

I always was seeking happiness. There were reasons why I was seeking it. I wanted to be free, free from worries, from financial instability, from emotional instability… I wanted to be accepted by the world as a person who has achieved something, which others could not. When I look back, at the past few years, it was never the same. Three years ago, I was happy with what I did, never cared for what people thought of me, and did not care where life was taking me. But I was not happy then. My heart was in an emotional turmoil, and the constant longing which made my heart wrench in pain. I did not know why life was so unfair. Probably I was ignorant about the ways of life. Ignorance brings pain, and pain makes us seek for wisdom, and probably the mission of living through life is about gaining wisdom through experiences.

When I am alone and try to decipher this entire concept of life, it becomes very intriguing. With around 6 billion people spread across the planet, each one of them is striving to live and love. To survive and to be accepted. Probably these are the two simple things that everyone in their basic DNA would define as their definition to live. But as they are put in the complex world of societal hierarchy, things get complicated and the meaning of life changes for each one and the concept of life takes up myriad forms.

The soul is the essence of every human being. Body - the matter. Matter can change forms but the soul always remains the same. Thus in a weird way, the body becomes the medium that connects the world within, i.e. the soul, with the world outside. The body is the medium, which educates the soul, though the experiences of life. The body teaches the soul and makes it wise, first by being a son or daughter, then a husband or wife, later a father or mother.

With the realms of this concept, Life can be divided into three parts. Childhood, Youth and Parenthood. Youth probably is the link between childhood and parenthood. Childhood gives you an experience of parenthood, by being loved. It gives you certain definitive points that define your existence in this society. Youth brings in the brief transformation, which makes you experience everything about love before you enter into the next phase of life of parenthood where you give unconditional love. The cycle thus gets completed. What you receive, you have to give it back. The world is in balance. The inner world with the external world.

Concept of life becomes even more interesting when you look at how symbolism and metaphors in ancient literature bridges science with mythology. Shiv and Shakti are two manifestations of one being. One idea. Male and Female. The male defines the soul because it has the capability of giving life outside itself while the feminine defines the ‘matter’ because it has the ability to give life within itself. This concept can completely break the hierarchical society rules, which have been prophesizing superiority of the male over the female. In actuality, no one can be termed superior. For, the existence of one is needed to validate the other.

Life within these confines of simplicity looks so beautiful, but the moment it is thrown into the present, with a lot of prerequisite rules that define the society, life becomes complicated. No other living being other than humans think before they act. They act when they feel like. They hunt and kill when they are hungry. They sleep when they are sleepy, they make love when they feel the urge to, and die when it is time. They do not play with nature and modify things around them to delay death. They accept what life offers them. They live in the present. But we humans plan for the future and dwell in the past.

We do everything possible under the sun to live according to our convenience, force ourselves against nature, to fulfill our desires. The desire to live, to control, to manipulate. In our desire to modify what should have been to what should be.

Probably that is what the difference is between humans and other living beings – Desire.

Desire might be the reason for everything. And nothing.