NO IDEA IS ORIGINAL

To my Unborn

2007-03-31T09:13:00.000-05:00

One of my favorite shows on Television is "Russel Simmons Presents Def Poetry Jam". It’s a show that provides a platform for poets, mostly urban, to share some of their best work. Not only does it feature unknown and upcoming artists but also established musicians such as Talib Kweli, Nelly Furtado, Mos Def, Matisyahu, David Banner, etc. Every episode, I hear at least one poem that inspires me to reflect upon my own experiences. Last nights episode featured a poem titled “An Ode to my Unborn”. More than the poem itself it’s the title that grasped my attention and got me pondering what I would want to say to my future child. Inspired by the title here are my original thoughts to an unoriginal idea – A message to my unborn.

Experience:
As the title of one of my favorite songs suggests, “Life is a beautiful Struggle”. Regardless of how achieved you are or what you have acquired there should be aspects of your life that require you to struggle. The journey to triumph or failure should be made beautiful. Success’s and Disappointments are variants; your determination should stay constant.

“Good Judgment comes from experience, experience comes from bad judgment”. Try to learn from what I’ve experienced. I understand if you ignore the guideline set out for you, for the lessons that stick with you are going to be the ones learned the hard way. Admire knowledge and show respect to age. If you make the effort, every interaction with the aged or knowledgeable will lead to self-betterment.

Put yourself in others shoes before acting upon your impulses. Never do onto others what you don’t want done to you (Karma). The natural balance is more like swift justice. Every act is quantified and the fruits of it are returned in equal proportions. So when you face the onslaught of one’s treachery; equivocate them to your own present or future actions. Keep yourself unattached yet love infinitesimally.

We lead our life as different people in different settings. Realize who you are and let your light shine on the world. Your thoughts and actions define you. Positive thinking leads to positive actions which lead to positive consequences.

“Nice guys finish last!!!”, even though you fill find this hypothesis proved time and again don’t falter from your path. Be nice but don’t be meek because even though “The meek shall inherit the earth”, this will happen after enduring dishonor and plenty of anguish over a sustained period of time. Be a nice guy because the repercussions of karma are far worse than the consequences of benevolence

Learn:
From your grandfather – Sacrifice, Patience, and maintaining high spirits
From your grandmother – Love, support and the art of winning arguments
From your great grandmother – How to persevere
From your Oldest Uncle – Hard work, selfless nature, and respect
From your other uncle – Free spirit, manners, and education
From your mother - My judgment in quality..haha ;)
From me – Diplomacy and the 2 step choke hold

To my daughter:
- Pride yourself and be selective on who you trust. Don’t get fooled by fake promises and sly talkers. Find a man who doesn’t think twice before standing up for you, the one who kisses you on your forehead when he says good bye, the one whose future synchronizes with yours. Be strong beyond peoples expectations yet express the humble and independent nature your mother raised you with.

To my son:
- Be humble but hold your ground and show your dominance when challenged. Make your territory be known and never fear defeat. Crowd yourself with people who respect you for the potential you have within not the capabilities you impart. Treat the women you love like family and see how she reciprocates before you commit.

Assurance:
- You will be provided with the resources to discover yourself. There is no greater satisfaction than knowing your own capabilities and not believing in limitations. Know that when all others have turned their back on you, your family is the one you can count on.

I write this to you when I’m at my prime with no major regrets in life. Trust in me without any doubts but don’t shed tears when I pass, for even at this young age I have led a great life and experienced many facets of life that I hopefully have passed on to you. When you read this many some days from this one day – Find solace in the fact that I’ve loved you since before you were born.

The Calling

2007-02-20T02:42:00.001-05:00

Every one has their calling..what's yours?

I was speaking to a friend last night and the topic of picking the right career came up. It was an interesting conversation because of the disparity in our approach to aspirations/careers/goals. I am Durga - The contemporary corporate slave shackled with gold chains in an unfulfilling job with the ability to afford the luxuries coveted by many. She is R - A world traveler with ambitions to change the world and the ability to make a difference in under privileged lives with her actions. Yet on the flip side, she’s living in debt and always financially planning next moves. So the topic of answering your calling came up. So here’s the train of thought that followed our stirring conversation.

- Are you answering your calling?
- Are you doing something you truly want to do on a daily basis?
- Have you already answered your call but find that its way too over rated?
- Do you really know what you want to do?
- Are you doing what you imagined you would be doing when you were 5?

As a person of Indian decent I, like most of my “common heritage compadres”, have been brainwashed since birth about security. Security is synonymous to acquiring material wealth, marrying the right (A secure bride/groom of Indian decent will satisfy requirements) woman/man at a young age, saving for retirement and saving to brainwash (umm…educate) your children. So we were brought up with the common goal of being an engineer or a doctor and more recently in finance. Well the right order of importance to the Indian parent are – Doctor, Lawyer, Engineer, I-Banker/Trader, and Business Owner (usually hand me downs from the parent). This is what we learn from the day we are born till the day of accomplishment and if you become an engineer your parents tell you how they wished you would’ve been a doctor…so its def. a hard knock life.
Hence second generation or fully assimilated Indians such as me, respect the select few who choose to follow contemporary careers such as journalism, music, the arts, national security, etc. It shows a sense of an emancipated accomplishment, just like taking the red pill instead of the blue to escape the Matrix. But again we shower our kudos and picture us living our life’s through them by recognizing them as a part of our community. This is followed by regretting our inability to break the mold which is then followed by denial.

So what's the solution to this ineptitude? Quite Frankly, I’m still trying to find out. But its def. not the apathetic approach I am currently settling for. To solve any problem you must understand it better, therefore here are my answers to the questions posted above are:

- I’m not answering my call
- I'm not doing anything that makes me excited to wake up and go to work every day
- I don’t know what I really want to do because my minds distorted by the brain washing
- I’m def. not doing what I imagined I would be doing when I was 5 (Pri-minister of India..lol)

So I have understood my problem, yet no solutions. But here’s a positive spin on it - Hindu’s believe in re-incarnation…so may be I'll get a do-over in the next life :).

Changes - Break-Ups to Make-Ups

2007-01-31T15:57:00.000-05:00

“Be not the slave of your own past. Plunge into the sublime seas, dive deep and swim far, so you shall com back with self-respect, with new power, with an advanced experience that shall explain and overlook the old.”
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Disclaimer with Explanation:
The experience below only applies to men, since the psyche of the male and female race is completely different. A simple experiment to prove this is examining how a group of men and a group of women interact. At the end of the day, men are driven by instincts and needs...and women are driven by competition (may be the theory of evolution)…at least that’s my stand for now.

Every interaction a person has on a daily basis changes him/her a little bit. No matter how minute the interaction, change is inevitable. For instance, greeting a stranger with a smile or a head nod changes your train of thought for that moment and depending on if the gesture is acknowledged and returned changes your state of mind instantly. A relationship is the same type of interaction...just stretched across a long period with extremely complicated interactions, and the changes are ofcourse very significant.

Attraction to your partner’s personality is imperative to maintain relationships. Looks do matter, but that alone can’t keep things going in the long term. My friends and I often discuss how sometimes you loose interest in your significant other over time. My explanation is “Adjustments”. Adjustments that lead to major changes in personality over time also cause loss of attraction. When your partner looses her own personality to adjust to all your needs and wants...the relationship becomes boring. The stripping away of inhibitions actually leads to a jading attraction towards the partner’s personality. The shrinking domain of “unknowns” and the corroding ontology of “mysteriousness” lead to expected behaviors and repeating themes. Many things that teased your curiosity are now known fact.

The only way to keep things moving is constant change, understanding, and accommodation. Instead of adjusting your own personality to suit your partners, accommodating and understanding will get you further. Constant change is the harder part, spontaneity is necessary because nothing is more unattractive than routines. Just think of how going to work every day feels to us(only applies to you if you don’t have a spontaneous job :)).

From the freedom and anticipation in single life…to the honey moon period of a relationship…to the tribulations of staying together…to the deeper meanings and future prospects…to the moments that stay with you forever…to the disintegration of the knots that keep us together…to the angst of separation…to the transitions and acceptance of a lost love…to the rebirth of a new you…to the freedom and anticipation in single life. We all come full circle, learn from it, grow from it and obviously change from it.

Of course not all relationships work this way, in some the knots come apart much earlier and the changes are minor. Where you go at the end of a relationship is completely your choice in almost all instances…whether you maintain friendship or sever all ties depends on whether you have changed for the better or for the worse.

Vishal Vaid - Live

2007-01-19T21:21:00.001-05:00

Went to His concert at Makor cafe last night..a tribute to Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. Absolutely Phenomenal - Karsh Kale on Percussions, Vishal Vaid on keys and vocals.

Ramayan 3392 AD

2007-01-11T12:39:00.001-05:00

I read an article in the WSJ last week which peaked my curiosity on this topic. So, I forwarded a wikipedia link to a few of my friends to gauge their responses. The common consensus were split between - Finally a good way to introduce Indian mythology vs. this is destroying Indian culture. My personal view on this matter is definitely positive. I believe these comics might finally do the characters of the great epics some justice as supposed to the old school movies/shows.

I also got responses that pointed out some super heroes that have had a profound impact on us - Indian Superman & Indian Spiderman. The superman outfit from the 80's was blatantly plagiarized from the Christopher Reeves version where as the new Spiderman is the same except its a kurta-pajama instead of a jump suit. Peter Parker is Pavitra Prabhakar, Mary Jane is Meera Jain, Uncle Ben is Uncle Bhim, Aunt May is Aunty Maya...Grimey!!! I think I might just go ahead and make my version of Harry Potter - Hari Puttar.

Well anyway before I digress...Virgin Comics is a new endeavor started by Richard Branson. He has coordinated with big names like Deepak Chopra and Shekhar Kapur to release this new line of characters all based on hindu mythology. After reading the preview for the Ramayan, i was impressed by the authors effort to keep the ground work of the orginal Ramayana intact while still presenting a creative/innovative vision of the future. I like the graphics as well. One of my friends was happy that the characters looked a lot better than Pokemon...I guess Valmiki can rest in peace for now :). Don't know how taboo it is to read comic books at this age but I definitely am looking forward to it...A cartoon show might not hurt either.

New Years Resolution - Sort of

2007-01-04T12:22:00.000-05:00

This morning I was late to work, a great way to kick off the first week of the New Year. On the bright side, it was one of those new NJ Transit double-deckers. I felt a little claustrophobic on the bottom bunk but couldn’t stop thinking how neat the upgrade was.

I always feel like I'm the only person who can't sleep on these trains. I am the weirdo staring at you as you wake up from that comfortable rock-a-by-baby-on-the-train-ride sleep. On my sleepless train ride today I continued to ponder about numerous events around the world and tried to understand human nature to the best of my capabilities. I know I should’ve played solitaire on the laptop instead. Ignorance and apathy are bliss…at least they can facilitate the catnap. So here are some of the million parallel and perpendicular thoughts that ran through my brain this morning.

I have hypothesized that the vision/dream of a peaceful world is ignorant. We as humans are all created equal = Neutral. It's somewhere in our upbringing, our surroundings, our experiences, our influences etc. that the scales start tipping either towards harmony or discord. My premise draws from a few sets of common characteristics in human nature that repeat themselves throughout history.

The first set of antonymous characteristics is apathy for another's grief and compunction for another's good fortune. We are the quickest to switch from the emotion of "Oh that sucks for him!" to "Why me?" Each one of us has established our own rules to satisfy our conscience...some of us are over scrupulous in this area...and some of us…well that explains most of the problems in the world :). “Thou shall not covet”, it’s the most ignored of all the commandments or at least I fell that way. I’ll be the first to admit I’m guilty of both of these. I condemn my misfortunes and also seem to be preoccupied setting goals and material expectations based on the successes and possessions of another.
The lesson – We are always dissatisfied and yearn for more, i.e. contentment seems to always be in reach but we never quite get there.

The second is oppression based on perceived superiority and revolt after unendurable torment/injustice. The laws of karma repeat themselves throughout history like clockwork with a period of violent oppression followed by an equally vicious revolt. For as long as the human story has been recited this pattern is present. In the Upanishads, the demons slay humans…god incarnates as a human and slays demons to “establish equilibrium”. In the Old Testament, The pharaoh and his army persecute the Israelites and they are drowned by Moses with a lot of help from YHWH. Every news paper today shows the same themes across the world. All the civil wars in Africa, Middle East, Asia and South America present the same set of underlying characteristics.
The lesson– At least one side is suffering…It’s just the side that’s telling the story that shows up as the protagonist to our future generations.

Overstanding (as suppose to understanding…I know it’s not a real word) and Ignorance are the last set of characteristics. Knowledge is diluted and perverted by what we consider as sufficient information to satisfy our curiosity. Everyone is measuring what is right and wrong on different metric systems or at least what "is" and "is not". Belief is a funny thing, sometimes we become so strongly attached to our ideas that we fail to budge to flexibility of ideas around us. Religion and Morals are where the two characteristics become extremely evident. While there are those who believe in a religion so strongly that they believe that there aren’t any other possibilities, there are also others who just don’t give a Fuck. A little moderation on both sides could only help :) .
The lesson – We live in a finite world with infinite possibilities…learn as much as you can and be flexible to learn more.

The train ride lesson of the day – I need to revisit my New Year’s resolutions!