Thinking Out Loud...

Trying times, times of utter despondency, are as essential, if not more, than the moments of profound happiness in life. It may seem counterintuitive, but more often than not, a difficult time brings our inner voice to the surface, where we can hear it. If we follow this voice, we may begin to walk towards finding out the truth about life. Imagine standing still in the middle of a busy street during the busiest shopping time of the year. You can hear people talking, babies crying, cars swooshing past you, music playing on loudspeakers, and then imagine all that noise slowly fading into the background... till you hear nothing but your heart beating. That's the kind of clarity that can be brought about by profound grief. I wonder about these trying times and what they signify in our life...be it something bad that has happened to us, or something bad that we did. These dark places must exist for a reason. Sometimes these difficult patches are mere bumps in the way, and sometim...

I think most of the Indian females will share my frustration over shopping for clothes in the US. It's the most agonizing process trying to find the best size, fit and style that also fits your budget. Being an odd size (given that Indian women are smaller in height and width than the average American) doesn't help at all. Some things that are inherent in the design of clothes in the American market make me really mad...for example...extremely plungy neck lines, extremely short waist lines (leads to involuntary flashing when you try to bend or sit), extremely thin fabric and extremely short dress lines. What's up with that? Guys on the other hand, who don't require covering up of body parts as much as women, have full coverage everywhere. Why men's swimwear is long (till the knees) while women's swim suits barely cover the bare essentials is a big question mark for me. I don't want my business to become everybody else's business every time I go out. I am...

Who do you think is the real Santa Clause? -It's the Fedex guy! ...since he is the one who brings all the goodies to your doorstep. Where do you think is Santa's workshop? -Oh no, it's not at the North pole...It's in China!

The more I know about things, the more illiterate I feel. You know the feeling…that there’s so much to know about in this world, that you feel one lifetime is inadequate. I guess everyone has felt this at some point in their life. Physics, chemistry, biology, politics, geography, you name it, the subjects are endless. There’s so much of knowledge in this world that it makes me wonder if it’s ever possible to know everything about everything? And the funny part is, as a child, I felt school teaches us everything…naivety, thy name is childhood! Age teaches us how clueless we really are… Whenever I read something about physics, I wish I had taken it up as a vocation…then I go and read something else and it makes me want to be in that profession…Till now I have wanted to be a doctor, physicist, philosopher, writer, song writer, DJ, musician, chef, veterinarian, biologist, environmental engineer, journalist, dog psychologist, zoo keeper, teacher (of what I don’t know), an honest politic...

I remember as a child, getting this pamphlet at our home once, urging people to buy swadeshi stuff. I laughed at the prospect, dismissing swadeshi stuff as substandard…Imported was always better. I also remember the time when Chinese goods started to trickle into the Indian market…it started with Chinese made Diwali decorations…strands of musical lights that we proudly displayed at our home…then came the flood of Chinese toys, furniture… and now almost every thing you wear, use or eat is made in China. It’s true that the world has shifted its polluting manufacturing industry to China , which is good for the rest of us. But is it really? Not only the job losses, but also the toxic imports from China are becoming lethal in some cases. The toy recall, then the pet food recall, the baby food recall…you name it, and you will see a China link…At least the United States has a way to monitor and recall the products deemed harmful for their people, but I wonder if any body really cares in Indi...

I have been reading Jared Diamond’s book ‘Collapse’ for quite some time now. There are a few books that you breeze through and there are some that take for ever. Collapse took a while to get through, but I must say it has left an imprint on my mind. The author of the Pulitzer Prize winner ‘Guns, Germs and Steel’ presents a theory backed by years of research on ‘how societies choose to fail or succeed’. Starting with the inconspicuous Easter Islands to bigger countries like Greenland and China , he takes the readers through a tour of civilizations and how its people made choices and how those choices shaped their fate. It’s amazing to read that the ancient world had huge cities with millions of people living together for hundreds and thousands of years. And it’s scary to read how communal mentality or irrational practices cost them their downfall. The book touches on various sensitive issues like population control, environmental damage, free trade, religious practices, climate ...

There are a few songs that seep deeper into your soul and make your heart sing…Adele does that for me. The British singer with two Grammy’s to her credit has such an amazing voice that it tugs at my heart strings. There’s a magic in her voice that makes every song of her's special to listen to. Chasing Pavements is one of her better known songs but I adore all of her songs. Here’s a link to one of Adele’s number 'Right as rain'…check out her live performances/unplugged versions on Youtube as well…they are awesome! Adele rocks…or rather Adele makes my heart sing!