Blog me...curiosity redefined

    Today is the last day of 2021. My way of entertaining myself is: going to a movie. What else is better than the recently hyped "83", a story of the 1983 Cricket World Cup won by the Indian team.      It is a sports inspirational movie. Cricket in India is not a sport, it is a religion, as the saying goes. We worship Cricketers. But it all began in 1983, before that it was just a game. It is a movie worth watching, with a great performance by Ranveer Kapoor as Kapil Dev, the captain.         Few scenes are so heart-touching that they can bring down tears on your cheek. Like the rejection of the Indian team in Lord's ground as we were not yet recognized and respected in the cricketing arena yet. The financial situation of the Indian team was so bad that they were struggling to extend their return flight ticket for the semi-final and final game. When the cricketers got 15 pounds per day and Kapil had to wash his own clothes as it costs ...

           Art or Heart! "It takes a heart to understand an art" - my own quote.      Do you believe that art can destress a human? If not, start believing in it. It does wonders. It heals, conquers, encapsulates, frees the soul. Ever felt like you spent 5 minutes but actually, you had spent 2 hours, art can do that for me. I would like to call that an 'Art Therapy'.     Just the sheer messy hands, few scribbles, don't actually make us an artist. It is what lies beneath the skin, the creative thinking ability, imaginary concepts, theme behind the sketches, cause attached to the artifact, etc.    The pleasure of viewing and creating something out of just ordinary stuff is so satisfying and fulfilling. The love, beauty, sensuality, creativity just keeps on going. I found a passion for creating some sketches for sure. Do write to me if you see beauty in everything around you?       Let the art flourish! 

        Oh great! Finally, we understood what God has created for us. After all, we have been boasting about inventions, when actually we have only been rediscovering them. For instance, we thought we invented AI (Artificial Intelligence) but we just found out the way our neurons work in the brain and discovered how to implement it in machines.       Photo courtesy - Internet         Now the latest addition to our so-called invention is 'Metaverse' (of course, it is still in the making) but imagine the hype behind it. We are just mere discoverers who seek the thrill of observations, categorizations, and implementations.           Who said we are not already in a Metaverse? If only we knew how the God simulation is and our characters are created at the hands of His, then we can only try and mimic the model again in VR (virtual reality). Yes, we will all have different avatars in the Metaverse, ...

    Why do we work? Isn't it to satisfy either our basic needs or wants or to fulfill our desires? If it is true, then what happens when you fulfill these? Do you want to quit your job? Of course, yes. That would be the obvious choice as one achieves financial freedom, we no longer need the job. But the question here is can employees quit the job at will (without notice) or should they quit formally (with resignation and serving the notice period)?  Most of the employees would prefer at-will for informal and ad-hoc jobs like part-time ones, interns. No for critical jobs as employee needs the service experience letter which obviously would be provided once you serve the notice period.                                                photo courtesy - Pinterest   "Everyone has the right to work, to free choice, to employment, to just...

        Accept, accept and accept. The only word that can change a life. But why am I repeating it? Maybe I want it to sink into my subconscious mind. Btw it has already sunk.         In order to change something, first, we need to learn to accept it. Look at us, we are so vulnerable creatures in this world. We lock up in the house for a tiny organism (coronavirus) for years. We tend to fall for the work pressure and get depressed. We forget the true purpose of our birth and just live haphazardly.  Yet, we consider ourselves the most intelligent species out there. What an irony.        If at all, we knew how to live. Lao Tzu, the Chinese philosopher once said "He who knows enough is enough, will always have enough". Photo credit - Internet               Wish we all knew this, at the time of birth. Instead, we take years to learn and relearn the already said things. What a waste of ti...

        Being experimentative is what has kept me alive as of today. If I can't try new things, then what is the point of living, isn't it? Yes, it is risky, and that's what makes it even more interesting. I would rather deep dive into the sea and look at its sand bed than to merely watch the fishes from the boat. There is a certain thrill to it for sure.  After all, these thrills are what make life so interesting.        I have tried my hand at cooking, data entry jobs, meditation techniques, blogging, investing in shares, cryptos, NFTs, etc. In fact, I have researched many other topics like organic farming, spiritual exploration, design thinking, elevating ourselves to higher thinking, etc. What really bores me is when I don't do this stuff.       Yes, it is not easy, when all odds are against you. The world surrounding me pushed me to be stable, in all areas, job, work-life, thinking process. But it is the inner drive t...

        I heard that when you are lost, God will find you. In fact the search for ultimate truth, leads us to loose ourselves. The biggest challenge is having the courage to lose ourselves when the whole world around you are after some goals or purpose. Have you tried leading a purposeless life?         Easier said than done, leading a purposeless life is a daunting task by itself. But when the God's design is such that you are led to storm and the only way out is to seek for him or let everything go. I just remembered that not all storms come to disrupt our life, some clear our path as well.       Even in meditation, we all need an object to concentrate initially. Be it your breath, nose-tip or candle light end that becomes an object. As we progress, the meditator, object and the universe becomes one. We lose ourselves and become one with the ultimate consciousness. In the same way, what if we lose ourselves and let be part of...

As a foodie, my experimentation with different dishes never stops! New addition is 'Chole curry'.  My lunch today    + Chole curry with red rice - my preparation   + Salads (Tomato, carrots and onion with a pinch of lemon juice on top of it)   + Jamoon - Prepared by my mom   + Chilli chutney - Prepared by unknown :-) The best part of any dish is when it is served right. I tried my best presentation. Red rice has always been my favorite as its more nutritious than white one.   I just enjoyed the sumptuous meal!!!  Happy eating....and always 'LOVE THY FOOD'.

       I always wondered how to be creative? Is it just applying the knowledge to solve something, called creative? Is it the insights that gets generated in your mind called so? Or is it the wisdom to put things in place called creative?       As a kid we are so curious, imaginative, fear-less, experimental. Does these fall into being creative? Yes, in many ways.  Why do we lose these traits as we grow up? Is it our education that is making us follow instead of staying open minded? Absolutely true.        The new system of education, with NEP 2020, wanted to bridge the gap between education and practical world. It only succeed in making the system same as what internationally developed countries are trying to achieve. Incremental changes basically. Where is the disruption?  NEP 2020 looks good on paper. As usual in India, there is no dearth of policy changes on paper. Really issue is in the implementation.   ...

      I was watching a new web series from Tharle Box called ' Kyaabre ' on my mobile, when my mom asked me if it was a movie. I had to explain what a miniature serial is or rather as we call it 'web series'. That is when it stuck me, how the new generation trends are changing our lifestyle. Be it a snackable videos, news snippets, shrunk games (T20 for ex.), short memories and finally our attention span.      I agree, we only live once...YOLO as this generation calls it. And its 'Cool' to not remember things as we can anyhow 'Google' it. Tomorrow's resumes might include hobbies like how much time we spent on social media or time invested in creating a snackable video. At the end of the day, we seem productive but in which direction? Well, hardly matters as we seem to be pretending to have achieved a lot.  There is an old Kannada saying  - ' During the daytime we see a well and at night we fall in to the one that is already seen'.    ...

     If only we knew that everything in Universe is an energy. Even the supreme power (Mahakal Shiva or the Adi Shakti) are formless and the only way Universe can perceive them is through the energy that exists. It exists not just in us as life, but throughout the cosmos as the sound (and the silence), vibrations (and the stillness) and light (even the darkness). This duality is necessary initially for our understanding and as we progress, we will eventually understand that in spite of the duality, there exists oneness. The ultimate truth.     As a simple living being on this planet Earth, I was in search of how to increase my energy or vibrations. Is it just sounds or mantras recited at a particular frequency? Will mediation elevate me? Is it just taking care of my thoughts? Has it got to do with some new dimensions or spiritual experiences? What is that one thing that can help me elevate my soul? Probably my search for that one thing, was my mistake. It is mor...

    Today morning I stumbled upon a video from Swami Mukundananda that was quite interesting. It was titled " Shri Krishna's Ultimate Advice to Achieve Success And Happiness in Life ". A simple story of how Buddha got his insight from a song sang by a group of village women on their way to fetching the water. If you are truly listening, we are bound to get the message from the universe. As Buddha found the middle path of living, the same as advised by Krishna in Bhagavad Gita, leave the extremes and follow the moderation in everything. You see tighten the strings in Tanpura, but too much tightening will break it.  I am sure my day started good with this note.     Photo courtesy - Internet      Its the same thing even Rumi has quoted. As usual the enlightened ones have got their senses right, don't you think so? Not that I am judging them. It is the result of the wisdom they receive when you seek the absolute truth.       E...

     Photo Courtesy - Pinterest.com              I suppose you have heard of 'Ikigai', which is where your life's purpose meets what you love and do. It is a Japanese technique that helps build a happier lifestyle. But when you ask Isha foundation Sadguru about how to figure your life's purpose. He just laughs and says "we are just a tiny spec in the entire universe and why do you think God has created a purpose for you?" If not, then why are we here for? Just to smile and be happy. We don't have control over our birth and neither do we control our death. Then why the hiccups, struggles, sorrows in between? Its just our creation, as we don't know how to live.    Sounds fascinating when our land had such great spiritual leaders like Buddha and yet we are striving to just survive instead of live. As Buddha says, it is our thoughts that are putting us into the troubles. The irony is we all know the truth, yet struggling to walk th...

      Are you on a detox? What is the purpose? Is it to become healthy? If yes, we are only half way through. The future demands for a wide variety of detoxes.  Photo courtesy - Internet     Fast forward yourself to 2050. As I visualize it, we might be living either of these 2 lives - one with full of robots that are dominating the humans and other we realized that machines are the real danger opting for a greener life. If you are in my shoes, visualizing along with me and choose the former, then believe me we need detox of more than just health in mind.     We need a detox of these e-gagdets, plastic in our environment, debris that we are generating in space and thoughts in the mind. Education system today is still leading to stuffing of mind. We need a change here too. Isn't the irony of the system such that we need freedom to create and unfortunately we are trying to create freedom of conformity.      The time has come when we ne...

    I recently started teaching a student on what Artificial Intelligence(in short AI) is. Believe me, this topic fascinated me since I graduated. In simple terms, AI is human made(artificial) thinking power(intelligence). That's when it stuck me that we humans are trying to make machines think, learn and act like we do. The worst case scenario is when the machines starts thinking for itself. Isn't that the theme of the movie "I, Robot" starred by Will Smith?     Well, I am not here to discuss the movie. What I intend to do is put a food for your thought? Are we on the right direction by giving more power to machines? We have been trying to synthesize and mimic a lot of stuff that God has made. We might have succeeded to a great extent. But at what cost? Have we really invented something? I see majorly discoveries around me.  Partly to be blamed on our education system for killing the creativity in us.     Here is the irony - we are empowering another ...

      Photo courtesy - Internet    I was in the middle of a career crisis. I thought something was missing in my life. In the quest of my search, I started looking for things outside for answers. One thing led to another and the how life came to a standstill. If you are thinking what a disaster, am sorry to disappoint you. When everything goes wrong in life, that is when you should look for the answers within. I found it.    Buddhism has giving the perfect solution to all my problems. I have heard how our own Bhagavad Gita has all the answers to any questions. Yes, it does. It is for ourselves to pick one of the paths (either karma yoga, bhakti yoga, jnana yoga, dhyana yoga) given in it and abide by it. It eventually leads to salvation. But I was looking for how? The actual way of doing it. I found the answer in Buddhist principles.   First principle to implement is - TOTAL ACCEPTANCE. If I can accept the situations, events, thoughts as they are, ...

    Let us take a walk thru our school days. Do you remember a teacher who inspired you? What incident or the quality of her/him did you like? It's obvious you remember her/him for making a difference in your life. However small the difference could be.        I am experimenting with myself to become a teacher. I loved teaching (or training) my friends in school and colleagues in the office. But taking it formally requires some effort. I feel more than the effort, it is the sheer love and passion that can carry you on.     In my quest of learning and experimentation to become a good teacher, I watched a lot of TEDx talks on how to become a good teacher. Few of these TED talks inspired me to write this blog. The credits go to them.  First one being    " Teaching Methods for Inspiring the Students of the Future"   by  Joe Ruhl @ TEDxLafayette . Photo courtesy - Pinterest (Kimberly Allen | Art.com) Joe Ruhl talks ab...