1st month of PGPX-6.

Pressure cooker with non-stick bottom.
Newest appliance is here.. if you haven't got it yet, you are missing something.
It's the latest gadget from the conveyor belt of invention........
You can boil,simmer,fry,roast,deep fry, saute, grill, cook and mesh but nothing will stick.
It is an excellent gadget to increase pressure in closed environment pressure high enough to crack tough nuts. And tough nuts does it crack.
If you are not-so tough nut and are put in this gadget by mistake, well you are in luck.
unlike its old avatars this one has non-stick bottom. Nothing sticks in non-stick and that's where you stick. Hang on to your dear life till all the nuts are cooked, you will come out eventually unscathed.

So, dear all tough and not so tough nuts, this was my synopsis of first month at PGPX. For more scholarly 1st month review, go to official blog.
Till then, happy cooking...

Two and a Half rupees.

Story is from early 1990s.
I went to a day camp near my house which was supposed to end at 8. My parents would come and pick me up at 8 is what was arranged.
For some reason they dismissed us at 6 and we had 2 hours to kill so i decided to go home by myself and come back at 8 with parents to see the finale. So I took an auto and went home. I ranged the bell and demanded 2.5 rupees for the auto fare. My dad was furious cause i misspent the money on auto while he would have picked me up at 8 anyway.
In those days one did not reason with the parents so i took in the heat and remained quiet for the rest of the evening thinking 2.5 rupees is such a small sum and dad is angry for no reason. His logic was that it might not be that big a sum now but it did have a great value when he was little and hence i should not be wasting that much on an unnecessary auto ride.

Fast-forward to 2011, after staying abroad a decade ans some i was back home and was visiting one of those newly opened "posh" malls. Usually i carry my drinking water with me but today i forgot and ahmedabad in april is not far from a kiln. After spending an hour browsing through books, i decided to buy a water bottle to my bemusement cashier demanded 30 rupees. I asked the guy if he was serious cause the bottle i chose was rather small (500 ml) he replied "uncle ajkal itna to hota hi he". He hurt my feelings at multiple levels there. Uncle? me? and ajkal itna hota hi he? means what " i have not updated my price cycle version? Anyways I thought 30 rupees for a bottle of water is exorbitant. May be I still live in 90s when i left India and price cycle 1.0 is what i have where world has moved on to 7.5.
But i realized one thing, I have become dad now, his 2.5 is my 30.

Pursuit of perfectness

Aren't we all continuously seeking to be perfect?

What is perfectness? Someone who can do everything with equal dexterity? Sort of all-rounder?

Or someone who can do specialized work with super finesse.

Krishna comes in the former category, been there done that, before you better than everyone else guy.

Lesser mortals are left to compete in the later category. Can we do one thing perfectly?

Are we a perfect son/daughter, father/mother, professional, student , pursuer of knowledge, devotee ......

I think the categories are infinite, but can we find one that suits us? Can we be the 'Purna purushottam ' of one thing. Can we be that ultimate matter (or anti matter depending on your choice) of that field. Its lot harder than we think in this category, very few humans have achieved this. Meera's devotion, Ghalib's poetry, Shankaracharya's dedication, Vivekananda's strength, Gandhi's truth. So few , such an elite group.

So shall we give up or pick up from here? I think the answer for the question defines the character. There are no right answers or wrong for that matter, one has to find his/her niche and try to be best at it.

Safety Nets

Sarvadharman parityajya mamekam sharanam vraj.

Ahm tvaam sarva papebhyo mokhayasayami ma shuchah.

For some people it is the most important verse. Even after the persuation of 17 adhyayas, Arjuna still has doubts about engaging in dharma yuddha. Then Krishna pulls out the last rabbit from his hat and gives arjuna the assurance if the assurance. A golden insurance, a supreme armor against all the misdeeds. It is after this Arjuna comes into his element and does what he is suppose to do.

The question is Arjuna had the safety net to fall into and he only initiated the action. How about the lesser mortals? What shall we do? Do we have the safety nets ? And shall we only initiate the action when we clearly see a net to fall or just plunge ? What if you don't have any? What happens to common man who does not have connections with a neta, goonda, thug, police chief ? Shall he parish or thrive ? Is he allowed to take actions out of the ordinary or is he destined to do 9-5 mundane thing , have 2 kids and hope to retire before local train kills him?

Is this shloka completely enslaves us to do things only when if you have backing ? What if Krishna did not give that assurance to Arjuna ? Would we had mahabharata or we had an alternate ending, and what that ending would have been ? Pandavas parishing without arjuna? Duryodhana the mighty king with pandavas in prison ? Or the victorious kauravas would have written different history ?

In financial world dashers (risk takers) come out better, is that true for the moral actions also ?

I do not know, I do not even attempt to answer the question, i only have question. If yo have answers or suggestions.. feel free to comment.

Idea of India :

Was reading a lot of stuff about india lately.

Idea of india and india at crossroads , history of india , reinventing india etc.

All the books, articles are unanimous in one thing and that is that there is no one sentence , idea, religion, leader, sentiment that joins us.

It's probably all of them that bind us together. What exactly then holds us together then?

I believe our miseries individual and communal, makes us feel the equal, kind of a hostage situation, as long as all are hostages they are all the same only that miseries are endless.

So where does hope go? Can hope keep people together?

Well answer is also yes, repeated electoral victories in UP has uplifted dalits from poverty in UP and in many parameters they are doing well now then they ever did (read swaminomics for details). And the hope that if they vote together their leaders will deliver has indeed delivered bumper benefits for them.

But are we united because of our miseries or are we because of hope or are we not united at all?

What do you think ?

If you stumble upon this blog please write sugestions.

Regards

Upside down Tricolor.

Pakis indulged themselves again by hanging indian tricolor greenside up.
I admire the response Mr Chidambaram gave, for the country which officially indulges in such petty act of disrespect, shrugging them off with nonchalance is the best response.
It shows their low moral and nothing more.

Moving on to much anticipated Brazil-Portugal game that ended in tame draw. Provided good football though.

Came across some good blogs by some ex-WIMWIs. Interesting reading them, can't wait to join them. Cant wait for april..

Till then,

Thank you and Good Bye.

Asia cup

Hello everyone. Good morning . 06/25/2010
It's high time for indian cricket fans. Asia cup is ours. Yoo hoo.
More sterner test coming up when India take on Sri Lanka for my favorite version of cricket.
india is favorite...forever as far as i am concern.

Over at world cup Brazil is about to take on Portugal...hmmm...interesting..
So Japan play yesterday ....they are going ahead to round of 16 and so are S.korea.

does the economic progress has something to do with team progressing? infrastructure ? monetary reward? an idol to look up to? Or simply we suck at team sports? in that case we should suck at cricket too. But we don't. I think the answer is all of the above plus lack of passion.

I agree that Football is a physical sport, indians cant be physically weaker to Japan-s korea.
I think its about passion, the day indians feel the same passion for football as cricket, viola we will be there..

That's all for now.. time to watch Brazil vs Portugal

Thank you & Good bye