Haven't got a chance to post in a while. To start again, here is one story I heard today...
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A little girl was walking on a beach with her grandfather. Due to some reason, thousands and thousands of starfishes were lying on the shore. As they were walking along the shore, the grandfather was picking up starfishes on their way and throwing them back into the sea. The little girl was getting irritated as she wanted to play with the grandfather. She told her grandfather, "Granpa, lets go and play. How much difference is it going to make anyway if you throw a few fishes back in the sea when there are thousands of them lying on the shore?". Her grandfather picked one more starfish, threw it back into the sea and replied, "It made a difference for that one."
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Another one ...
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At a fundraising dinner for a school that serves children with learning disabilities, the father of one of the students delivered a speech that would never be forgotten by all who attended. After extolling the school and it's dedicated staff, he offered a question:
'When not interfered with by outside influences, everything nature does, is done with perfection.
Yet my son, Shay, cannot learn things as other children do. He cannot understand things as other children do.
Where is the natural order of things in my son?'
The audience was stilled by the query.
The father continued. 'I believe that when a child like Shay, who was mentally and physically disabled comes into the world, an opportunity to realize true human nature presents itself, and it comes in the way other people treat that child....'
Then he told the following story:
Shay and I had walked past a park where some boys Shay knew were playing baseball. Shay asked, 'Do you think they'll let me play?' I knew that most of the boys would not want someone like Shay on their team, but as a father I also understood that if my son were allowed to play, it would give him a much-needed sense of belonging and some confidence to be accepted by others in spite of his handicaps.
I approached one of the boys on the field and asked (not expecting much) if Shay could play. The boy looked around for guidance and said, 'We're losing by six runs and the game is in the eighth inning. I guess he can be on our team and we'll try to put him in to bat in the ninth inning.'
Shay struggled over to the team's bench and, with a broad smile, put on a team shirt. I watched with a small tear in my eye and warmth in my heart. The boys saw my joy at my son being accepted.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, Shay's team scored a few runs but was still behind by three.
In the top of the ninth inning, Shay put on a glove and played in the right field. Even though no hits came his way, he was obviously ecstatic just to be in the game and on the field, grinning from ear to ear as I waved to him from the stands.
In the bottom of the ninth inning, Shay's team scored again.
Now, with two outs and the bases loaded, the potential winning run was on base and Shay was scheduled to be next at bat.
At this juncture, do they let Shay bat and give away their chance to win the game?
Surprisingly, Shay was given the bat. Everyone knew that a hit was all but impossible because Shay didn't even know how to hold the bat properly, much less connect with the ball.
However, as Shay stepped up to the plate, the pitcher, recognizing that the other team was putting winning aside for this moment in Shay's life, moved in a few steps to lob the ball in softly so Shay could at least make contact.
The first pitch came and Shay swung clumsily and missed.
The pitcher again took a few steps forward to toss the ball softly towards Shay.
As the pitch came in, Shay swung at the ball and hit a slow ground ball right back to the pitcher.
The game would now be over.
The pitcher picked up the soft grounder and could have easily thrown the ball to the first baseman.
Shay would have been out and that would have been the end of the game.
Instead, the pitcher threw the ball right over the first baseman's head, out of reach of all team mates.
Everyone from the stands and both teams started yelling, 'Shay, run to first!
Run to first!'
Never in his life had Shay ever run that far, but he made it to first base.
He scampered down the baseline, wide-eyed and startled.
Everyone yelled, 'Run to second, run to second!'
Catching his breath, Shay awkwardly ran towards second, gleaming and struggling to make it to the base.
By the time Shay rounded towards second base, the right fielder had the ball. The smallest guy on their team who now had his first chance to be the hero for his team.
He could have thrown the ball to the second-baseman for the tag, but he understood the pitcher's intentions so he, too, intentionally threw the ball high and far over the third-baseman's head.
Shay ran toward third base deliriously as the runners ahead of him circled the bases toward home.
All were screaming, 'Shay, Shay, Shay, all the Way Shay'
Shay reached third base because the opposing shortstop ran to help him by turning him in the direction of third base, and shouted, 'Run to third!
Shay, run to third!'
As Shay rounded third, the boys from both teams, and the spectators, were on their feet screaming, 'Shay, run home! Run home!'
Shay ran to home, stepped on the plate, and was cheered as the hero who hit the grand slam and won the game for his team.
'That day', said the father softly with tears now rolling down his face, 'the boys from both teams helped bring a piece of true love and humanity into this world'.
Shay didn't make it to another summer. He died that winter, having never forgotten being the hero and making me so happy, and coming home and seeing his Mother tearfully embrace her little hero of the day!
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Friday, January 29, 2010
Thursday, December 31, 2009
2009!
When I look at the great year gone by,
I realize, that good times really do fly,
The year was full of fun, with very little to rue,
amazing vacations and parties and some work too :P
Had to cancel the ski trip coz of work and weather,
will get a better chance this year, the earlier we gather
My friends presented me the best birthday ever,
with personal gifts which will stay with me forever
Puerto Rico was definitely the best part,
it'll always have a special place in my heart
It had everything from the pristine beaches,
to mountains n' rain-forests without any leeches :P
We danced like crazy at the salsa clubs,
San-Juan is indeed one of the tourist hubs,
I'll never forget staying in vieques for a full day,
the snorkeling, the kayaking and the bio-bay
The starfish was beautiful and so were the stars,
why, in such beautiful world, are there so many wars?
With food color filled balloons, we played holi,
the onlookers were jealous, aisi thi humari toli
The arrival of summer meant we could do things outside,
from rafting in white water to walking with the lake beside
Together with fellow indians, we celebrated the independence day,
"The human flag and kite-flying" is Northwestern's unique way
Then came my trip to India, to my beloved home,
good times with my brother, my dad and my mom
Together we traveled after a decade, we went to Kashmir,
a dose of time spent with them, is my secret elixir
Finally came, the biggest event of the year,
another great time, which I hold dear
Junta practiced for weeks for the Diwali show,
everyone was involved, almost everyone I know
Preparing, all of them, like there was no tomorrow,
the organizers were literally running on one toe
The performers combined their individual brilliances,
to bring us some great music and some wonderful dances
This was the best IGSSA Diwali show ever,
hope the event keeps growing like this forever
When life is like that, who needs alcohol,
waise bhi, nasha sharaab me hota to naachti botal! :P
This was my story, of the last year,
tell me yours, I am all ears :P
For a reader who has made this far :P,
A very happy and prosperous new year!
I realize, that good times really do fly,
The year was full of fun, with very little to rue,
amazing vacations and parties and some work too :P
Had to cancel the ski trip coz of work and weather,
will get a better chance this year, the earlier we gather
My friends presented me the best birthday ever,
with personal gifts which will stay with me forever
Puerto Rico was definitely the best part,
it'll always have a special place in my heart
It had everything from the pristine beaches,
to mountains n' rain-forests without any leeches :P
We danced like crazy at the salsa clubs,
San-Juan is indeed one of the tourist hubs,
I'll never forget staying in vieques for a full day,
the snorkeling, the kayaking and the bio-bay
The starfish was beautiful and so were the stars,
why, in such beautiful world, are there so many wars?
With food color filled balloons, we played holi,
the onlookers were jealous, aisi thi humari toli
The arrival of summer meant we could do things outside,
from rafting in white water to walking with the lake beside
Together with fellow indians, we celebrated the independence day,
"The human flag and kite-flying" is Northwestern's unique way
Then came my trip to India, to my beloved home,
good times with my brother, my dad and my mom
Together we traveled after a decade, we went to Kashmir,
a dose of time spent with them, is my secret elixir
Finally came, the biggest event of the year,
another great time, which I hold dear
Junta practiced for weeks for the Diwali show,
everyone was involved, almost everyone I know
Preparing, all of them, like there was no tomorrow,
the organizers were literally running on one toe
The performers combined their individual brilliances,
to bring us some great music and some wonderful dances
This was the best IGSSA Diwali show ever,
hope the event keeps growing like this forever
When life is like that, who needs alcohol,
waise bhi, nasha sharaab me hota to naachti botal! :P
This was my story, of the last year,
tell me yours, I am all ears :P
For a reader who has made this far :P,
A very happy and prosperous new year!
Sunday, December 27, 2009
We are improving technology everyday but is it returning the favor?
Take an intelligent teenager who is good at arithmetic calculations. Give him a calculator. In two years he will be dependent on the calculator for all his calculations. Now give him a computer. In a few years, he may not be able to write by hand that fast. In a few years give him a car, he might lose his fitness. Give him a GPS and he might forget the roads and lose his sense of direction. I guess the point I am trying to make is that when we start using technology to do something for us, there is gradually a significant decline in our ability to do that thing on our own and we get dependent on that technology. I wonder if we get a gadget which can think for us, will we gradually lose the ability to think also?
This reminds me of a Russel Peters joke. It goes like this: He goes to a McDonalds and orders a burger, coke and fries. The cashier does not need to know the prices of individual items. He has a separate button for each item. He just presses those different buttons. He does not need to calculate the sum also. Everything is automated. If someone pays in cash, the cashier just enters the cash amount in the machine and it dispenses the required change. For Russel, the bill was $9.10. He gives the cashier a 10 dollar bill and 10 cents. The cashier looks at him completely confused :P.
Cashier: what is the 10 cents for, man?
Russel: so that it is easier for you to give me change.
Cashier: I don't understand man. Why would you give me 10 cents extra?
Russel tries to explain him
Cashier: Dude, are you trying to trick me??
Fortunately we are not there yet :P. But, sometimes I think, what will happen if there are gadgets/robots to do everything for us. The easier life gets, the less we will need to think, and (may be) the less our thinking capacity will develop. The purpose of all this technology is to make our life smoother and give us more time to do bigger things ... but is it reducing our capability to do those bigger things? Some Sci-fi movies have considered the possibility of artificial intelligence getting better than human intelligence. I wonder if it will be due to the improvement of artificial intelligence or due to a decline in human intelligence. Remember Wall-E? Will we be dependent on robots to do everything for us, while we will just be fat and dumb with no talent other than pressing some buttons? Also, what if all this technology goes away suddenly? Will we be able to survive?
May be, the situation is not as bad as I am imagining. In fact, things might actually be going in the exact opposite direction. Kids of today are much smarter than those of earlier generations. The amount of technology and media around them has played a big role in that. The media makes them more knowledgeable, while the peer pressure of getting and learning newer technology than their friends makes them smarter :P. However, with all these minute-by-minute twitter and facebook updates, they are probably more distracted also.
I am sure, rather I hope, there will always be a creative segment in the society. After all, we need some who will take the responsibility for making these technologies work and others who will learn new ways to use or break them. But, for other lazy bones like me, it might just go the Wall-E way!
This reminds me of a Russel Peters joke. It goes like this: He goes to a McDonalds and orders a burger, coke and fries. The cashier does not need to know the prices of individual items. He has a separate button for each item. He just presses those different buttons. He does not need to calculate the sum also. Everything is automated. If someone pays in cash, the cashier just enters the cash amount in the machine and it dispenses the required change. For Russel, the bill was $9.10. He gives the cashier a 10 dollar bill and 10 cents. The cashier looks at him completely confused :P.
Cashier: what is the 10 cents for, man?
Russel: so that it is easier for you to give me change.
Cashier: I don't understand man. Why would you give me 10 cents extra?
Russel tries to explain him
Cashier: Dude, are you trying to trick me??
Fortunately we are not there yet :P. But, sometimes I think, what will happen if there are gadgets/robots to do everything for us. The easier life gets, the less we will need to think, and (may be) the less our thinking capacity will develop. The purpose of all this technology is to make our life smoother and give us more time to do bigger things ... but is it reducing our capability to do those bigger things? Some Sci-fi movies have considered the possibility of artificial intelligence getting better than human intelligence. I wonder if it will be due to the improvement of artificial intelligence or due to a decline in human intelligence. Remember Wall-E? Will we be dependent on robots to do everything for us, while we will just be fat and dumb with no talent other than pressing some buttons? Also, what if all this technology goes away suddenly? Will we be able to survive?
May be, the situation is not as bad as I am imagining. In fact, things might actually be going in the exact opposite direction. Kids of today are much smarter than those of earlier generations. The amount of technology and media around them has played a big role in that. The media makes them more knowledgeable, while the peer pressure of getting and learning newer technology than their friends makes them smarter :P. However, with all these minute-by-minute twitter and facebook updates, they are probably more distracted also.
I am sure, rather I hope, there will always be a creative segment in the society. After all, we need some who will take the responsibility for making these technologies work and others who will learn new ways to use or break them. But, for other lazy bones like me, it might just go the Wall-E way!
Monday, December 21, 2009
Two jobless grad students :P
Before this, we were talking about the standard of my shers
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Abhishek: "kambakht duniya ne kitne rang dikhlaya....."
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Abhishek: "kambakht duniya ne kitne rang dikhlaya....."
"sanchit ka ek bhi sher samajh mein nahin aya"
me: hehe
"standard to nazron ka pher hai, kisi ko lagta hai high to kisi ko low",
"waise humari shayari ke standard ki chinta nahi hai humein, bas ek hi chahat hai ki humara standard aapki nazron me high ho"
"waise humari shayari ke standard ki chinta nahi hai humein, bas ek hi chahat hai ki humara standard aapki nazron me high ho"
Abhishek: haha
"kalakaar banna hai to bano Anupam Kher..."
"angrezi shabd leke kabhi banta nahin hai Sher"
me: bhasha to bas communication ka medium hai,
aur ek hi bhasha me sher likhna bahut bada tedium hai :P
Abhishek: "Shayari mein dikhayo apni jawani ka josh...."
"Likhte waqt kabhi kabhaar dikha karo shabdkosh"
me: hahahaha
ghabrao nahi, na karo itna rosh
bina shabdakosh ke hi hum uda denge tumhare hosh
Abhishek: "Is kashmakash mein nahin hona humein badnaam....."
"Shaam beet gayi..par hua nahin kuch kaam"
me: humne bhi nahi badhana hai advisor se aur bair
kam karo tum, kaam karte hai hum bhi, alvida, gudbye, shabbakhair
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Sunday, December 20, 2009
Sher-O-Shayari
One of my friend suggested to "document" my "shers" ... so here they are:
likhe jo khat tujhe woh teri yaad me
hazaron rang ke nazare ban gaye,
savera jab hua to yaad aaya
ki post karna to bhool hi gaye :D
Ek baar jo tujhe dekha, ho gaya main bekaar,
koshish ki bahut na milun tujhse baar baar,
aaj kal raat ko theek se neend bhi nahi aati mujhe,
ab to sapne me bhi aata hai tera chehra khunkhaar :P
tum ko dekha to yeh khayal aaya,
zindagi dhoop tum ghana saaya,
is sardi me dhoop thodi padne do,
tumne in zulfon ko kyun nahi mundwaya :P
ok ok ... some serious ones :P
khud se tujhko kar juda baithe,
khud mein khokar tujhe bhula baithe,
aye khuda tune aisi kudrat kyon banayi,
jise paakar hum hue itne maghroor
ke khudka khuda hum khudhi ko banaa baithe
harr ek chehre ko dekhke lagta hai ki tu hai,
shayad yeh tujhse milne ki jus-ta-ju hai,
socha nahi tha koi ho sakta hai tujhse bhi haseen,
lekin tujhse bhi khoobsoorat tera andaz-e guf-ta-gu hai
for those who liked them, more to follow .....
for those who thought they wasted their time, yay! :P
likhe jo khat tujhe woh teri yaad me
hazaron rang ke nazare ban gaye,
savera jab hua to yaad aaya
ki post karna to bhool hi gaye :D
Ek baar jo tujhe dekha, ho gaya main bekaar,
koshish ki bahut na milun tujhse baar baar,
aaj kal raat ko theek se neend bhi nahi aati mujhe,
ab to sapne me bhi aata hai tera chehra khunkhaar :P
tum ko dekha to yeh khayal aaya,
zindagi dhoop tum ghana saaya,
is sardi me dhoop thodi padne do,
tumne in zulfon ko kyun nahi mundwaya :P
ok ok ... some serious ones :P
khud se tujhko kar juda baithe,
khud mein khokar tujhe bhula baithe,
aye khuda tune aisi kudrat kyon banayi,
jise paakar hum hue itne maghroor
ke khudka khuda hum khudhi ko banaa baithe
harr ek chehre ko dekhke lagta hai ki tu hai,
shayad yeh tujhse milne ki jus-ta-ju hai,
socha nahi tha koi ho sakta hai tujhse bhi haseen,
lekin tujhse bhi khoobsoorat tera andaz-e guf-ta-gu hai
for those who liked them, more to follow .....
for those who thought they wasted their time, yay! :P
Demigod Worship
I have been thinking about things to write about lately. No particular reason to start from this topic. But, here it goes...
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My recent trip to India was during Sept-Oct 2009. The whole family, my parents, my brother and I, went for a trip to Kashmir. This was a very special trip as we were all going together after full 10 years. Our last trip together was to Nepal in 1999 summer when I finished my 10th. Before that we used to go for a trip every year. But since then, my brother and I just got busy with our studies. It so happened that we were in Srinagar during Karva Chauth. And similar to when we were kids, my mom sat us both down and told us stories about Karva Chauth. Almost all those stories involved some lady fasting for her husband and breaking the fast for some reason. That made the "goddess" of Karva Chauth angry and then something bad happened to the husband. The lady did the Vrat (fast) again and everything was back to normal. There are similar stories for almost all such poojas I have attended. During this whole exercise, all I was thinking was how can a God get angry at his/her disciples for not worshiping him/her? Obviously, I didnt say this to my mom. But later on, somehow this topic came up ... and I told her that I do not think anyone, who expects you to worship him and gets angry and punishes you for not doing so, should be considered God. In my opinion, such a person is a monster! As expected, my mom did not like that.
Why would God use fear to get our respect and love. God is supposed to be more intelligent than all of us. He should know that fear cannot get him any love or respect. To me God is someone who is always my well-wisher, who always wants the best for me. Just like a parent, someone who punishes me, if I do anything wrong to anyone, to teach me the proper way to behave. Just like a parent, who does not expect anything in return. And just like a parent, whom I love very much. However most of these poojas are performed on devi-devatas and I heard as a kid that if you are pious enough in your life, you go to swarg and can become a devata yourself. So, if you think about it, it's similar to : if people think that you are a good person and a good leader, they will vote for you and you will become a minister. The minister has no attachment to me, why would he worry about my welfare? He may, if he is actually a good person, or if I bribe him or if he thinks that he can get my vote again if he does something for me. Also, as they say, power corrupts. These devatas are no different. They are just people with really good karma. They have absolutely no attachment to us. That's why they need to be bribed to do something for us. They are not Gods ..... In fact, I do not think the word "God" has a plural form .. but that I will leave for some other post ... some other time :)
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To clear any confusions, I am not against God. I really love him. I am against worshiping someone just to avoid him causing damage to me; or just to get benedictions by doing something to please him. I am against worship out of fear.
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My recent trip to India was during Sept-Oct 2009. The whole family, my parents, my brother and I, went for a trip to Kashmir. This was a very special trip as we were all going together after full 10 years. Our last trip together was to Nepal in 1999 summer when I finished my 10th. Before that we used to go for a trip every year. But since then, my brother and I just got busy with our studies. It so happened that we were in Srinagar during Karva Chauth. And similar to when we were kids, my mom sat us both down and told us stories about Karva Chauth. Almost all those stories involved some lady fasting for her husband and breaking the fast for some reason. That made the "goddess" of Karva Chauth angry and then something bad happened to the husband. The lady did the Vrat (fast) again and everything was back to normal. There are similar stories for almost all such poojas I have attended. During this whole exercise, all I was thinking was how can a God get angry at his/her disciples for not worshiping him/her? Obviously, I didnt say this to my mom. But later on, somehow this topic came up ... and I told her that I do not think anyone, who expects you to worship him and gets angry and punishes you for not doing so, should be considered God. In my opinion, such a person is a monster! As expected, my mom did not like that.
Why would God use fear to get our respect and love. God is supposed to be more intelligent than all of us. He should know that fear cannot get him any love or respect. To me God is someone who is always my well-wisher, who always wants the best for me. Just like a parent, someone who punishes me, if I do anything wrong to anyone, to teach me the proper way to behave. Just like a parent, who does not expect anything in return. And just like a parent, whom I love very much. However most of these poojas are performed on devi-devatas and I heard as a kid that if you are pious enough in your life, you go to swarg and can become a devata yourself. So, if you think about it, it's similar to : if people think that you are a good person and a good leader, they will vote for you and you will become a minister. The minister has no attachment to me, why would he worry about my welfare? He may, if he is actually a good person, or if I bribe him or if he thinks that he can get my vote again if he does something for me. Also, as they say, power corrupts. These devatas are no different. They are just people with really good karma. They have absolutely no attachment to us. That's why they need to be bribed to do something for us. They are not Gods ..... In fact, I do not think the word "God" has a plural form .. but that I will leave for some other post ... some other time :)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To clear any confusions, I am not against God. I really love him. I am against worshiping someone just to avoid him causing damage to me; or just to get benedictions by doing something to please him. I am against worship out of fear.
Saturday, November 7, 2009
First post!!
Hi everyone!
After thinking about it for the last 6 months, I am finally starting my blog. Basically, my friends have got bored of me and don't want to listen to me anymore :P .... so here I am in search of a new medium to express myself.
After thinking about it for the last 6 months, I am finally starting my blog. Basically, my friends have got bored of me and don't want to listen to me anymore :P .... so here I am in search of a new medium to express myself.
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