Math and Sleep

Some days back, I had to answer a simple mental math question. But it wasn’t easy for me, though I knew how to solve it. It took more than the standard time required. I became sad about it and thought – what is wrong with me? Why is my brain dull today?   

After analyzing how my days were in the past couple of days, I zeroed in to one thing – lack of sleep. I observed how well I am with math whenever I had sleepless nights.  I found out that many a times it even takes more time to understand a question, hard to recollect the formulas and methods...

Then I decided to write down the names of all the people I know who are good at math and check how well they sleep daily. I had to wait for couple of days to get replies form some people.  I knew 15 people who are really good at math and surprisingly, ALL of them sleep very well.  Among those 15, there is one particular guy who is kind of math lover. He still keeps his math text books with him and solves problems when he is bored or after a ‘fight’ with his wife. When I asked his wife how her husband sleeps, her answer was:

“He sleeps like a baby”

Should I tell more?

God and Ocean

The other day I asked one of my contacts how things are at their end. That person knows that we both do not belong to the same religion and responded starting with “my God's blessings…” . That (business) person was very happy because it was festival time and the business was doing well. But again, the festival belonged to people who believed in a different faith than this person. So, most of the money this person received was from people who believed in some other God. And there was no problem in accepting that money. (But I know one lady who asked her son to tear a currency note he received for playing guitar on an occasion held by a different faith group - super faith !!) Isn't it interesting? May be those two Gods made a deal to help their followers, a mutual understanding?

The ‘my God’ in the expression ‘Oh My God’ is different from the ‘my God is taking care of me’ expressed by somebody to a person who believes in another faith.

When the burn a scripture thing was going on, I read a ‘my God can't stand your god anymore' kind of statement. This is sheer ignorance. How stupid it is to believe that God created everything and at the same time He created a set of believers and non-believers and then asked the believers to kill the non-believers to reserve a seat in heaven? But still people believe in that theory in this modern world. And we see the results.

Scriptures are the result of observation of nature and not the other way around (I am talking about the concept and not interpretations). That is, nature is not the result of any scripture but it is THE scripture by itself.

God is like the ocean. It is one water body. It has different names in different geographical locations for a better understanding – The Indian Ocean, the Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean…they are all one and the same.

 

Burn A Koran for Instant Popularity ?

 Pastor Terry Jones

The day is nearing , September the 11 and his popularity got shot up. Pastor Terry Jones fond an easy way to super popularity by declaring an international day for burning Koran – 9/11

Look at the people who commented against this – The Vatican, Hillary Clinton, Angelina Jolie…..unfortunately the list includes the church founded by him in Germany too. 

He wanted to organize this as a major event and hence even applied for a permit with the Florida fire department (but got denied). But he says he will go ahead with his plan. If this event becomes a success, it will result in political issues between US and some Islamic countries. 

This is another example of religion falling in the hands of wrong people. When it happens, a minority or even a single person can cause damage to the majority who might have a different perception.

Isn’t it just a cheap way to instant popularity?

 

Ladder

She asked him to

Hold the ladder

So she will not fall.

He held the ladder

Coz he heard her say

She climbed, up

Up, up and away.

Away she went

Alas! She went.

Still he holds the ladder

Coz he can’t hear her say

 

Science, God and Creation

The other day a book written by a famous theoretical physicist/scientist came in news. Mainly because of his views on God and creation.  He says, the universe is capable of creating itself without God because of the laws of the nature. I am not being sarcastic but it was amusing for me. I don’t have a PhD, I did not win a Nobel either. But I wonder from where did these laws of nature come from? 

Dear scientist, its your ignorance about other cultures and their scriptures that lead you to anti God theory. What you are thinking now was already been thought by some wise men, that too 7000-10000 years back.

Science and religions should go hand in hand and not the other way. If somebody want to keep science and religion separate, all the religions in this world goes to one place labeled as ‘Religion’.  Isn’t it so? If that is the case, understand that, when we consider the essence of all religions together, it do not think that God is an old man sitting up in the sky with stick to punish us for our sins. The forms of God and different ways of worship came in to existence with some reasons. 

My dear scientist, I am not disagreeing with you, but I agree. Your theory about this creation is right. The creator is ‘swyambhu’ which means the one who created himself.  This is not any invention but known to some part of the world, thousands of years ago. 

Thanks for the book, it looks like things are going in the right direction.

May be one day another scientist would say the cause of creation became the creation itself...

 

Ramadan Thought for Whomsoever,,,

This is kind of a long due blog considering my precious response ‘records’. I had a question from one of my acquaintances asking me (mainly) why I didn’t write anything good about her religion (Islam). Plus why I have a pro-Jesus attitude….I am not sure whether that person would come again and check my blogs or not. Still..

I thought about this many times and I don’t know how to express my thoughts in this connection coz this cannot be answered with an one-liner and a lengthy one is not worth the time I need to spend. I lost at least 2 friendships because of my blogs.  As Gibran said, friendship is always a sweet responsibility, never an opportunity. True friends do not ditch us just because we have a different opinion on something, I know that…Still

There are two things we should avoid discussing with our acquaintances if we want to maintain a healthy relationship – Religion and politics; provided both share the same views.  I lost one friend purely because of one of these reasons. I am an Indian and if I try to explain the whys’, I need to talk both politics and religion and that is the difficult part.

If somebody thinks that I am a pro-Jesus guy, I can’t help it. Sorry, I still love Jesus… This does not mean anything else, especially this does NOT mean that I am against any other religion; after all, I am not a Christian myself (provided the meaning of ‘Christian’ is not somebody who love Jesus).

I am not that religious and I am not against any religion. It’s about how things are getting interpreted and what happens when good things fall into the wrong hands…well, as I said, it’s a loooooooooong topic and its kinda mess.

This is the month of Ramadan. Month of asking forgiveness…. So, please forgive me, if I hurt anybody in anyway…It wasn’t personal or intentional…

Yes , I am asking forgiveness from all of you…

 

 

Back in the bench

I sat on the bench

With tears in my eyes.

You opened the window

And sung a song for me.

I strolled your trails and

You left a fortuitous rose

In my dreams you came alone

And stole my heart from me

Back on the bench with

Tears in my heart…

You opened the window

And sung a song for him…

 

My world, Your world...

If this world is for real, there also exists a different world within every one of us which may not be real for others, though we think/feel it is so real. 

We create that world with our personal experiences which might differ from person to person for the same thing, prejudices, judgments, feelings, emotions, fears, desires, jealousy, memories, inhibitions, expectations, imaginations, selfishness, love, lust…

If that world can be imagined as a helmet, we all are wearing helmets of different color, design and smell.

My world might not look like your world. But still, we always have a common world to share…

 

Did I or Did I Not?

Are the days flying these days? Some days did, if not all days. Two days back, one of my first cousins' husband passed away. Among the elder relatives I have, he was the only one close to me. I last saw him 9 months back.  

The world around me is changing. Many familiar faces which still flash through my mind do not have any physical from any more. My mother, couple of my cousins, couple of my uncles.. they all became just memories. Since I was with my mother when she passed away, it is comparatively easy to believe that she is no more. But the death of others came to me as phone calls or mails. So, if I visit those houses, I will not be able to see those familiar faces again.  This kind of thoughts are capable of inducing a flavor of fear in us. But they are also capable of giving us some lessons about life. The choice is ours

Sometimes, there is no need for anybody to die to give us a lesson relating to life. Even a broken friendship is capable of doing that. May be the flavor is different, but it still can teach something about  how our thoughts and memories becomes pains and how it hurts.

Today, I could not write what I wished to write.. Today, will I be able to console myself telling 'Hey, they are just thoughts, its just a memory, just relax'? I don't know...

I wanted to write something and I ended up writing something else?… I don't know

But I know one thing for sure – there is pain in my heart and it hurts 

Just a thought

I love you when you bow in your mosque, kneel in your temple, pray in your church. For you and I are sons of one religion, and it is the spirit. - Gibran

Stanfording a Dream

Last weekend, I visited the Stanford University campus (just a drive through). Studying in Stanford was one of my dreams, long ago. But I never thought that this visit would end-up in such a dream which would have given me a heart attack while asleep.

My-sister-in-law tells my father-in-law that I wish to study at Stanford and my father-in-law tells me that he will take care of the expenses!

When I woke up, I pinched myself to make sure that I am not dead but alive and still can feel…

PS: No offence meant to anybody

Hold me !

A little girl and her father were crossing a narrow bridge over a river.

The father asked his daughter: 

"Honey, please hold my hand so that you don't fall into the river."

The little girl said:

"No, Dad. You hold my hand."

"What's the difference?" Asked the puzzled father.

"There's a big difference," replied the little girl.

"If I hold your hand and something happens to me, chances are that I may let your hand go. But if you hold my hand, I know for sure that no matter what happens, you will never let my hand go."

Don’t try to hold HIS hand, let HIM hold your hand.

Friends and Sheep

You have 100 sheep. One of them is missing. What will you do?

Well, you will hardly notice it….

(Not referring to Bible story)

If you have hundreds of friends, you can afford to ignore/avoid a couple of them, you won’t feel much difference

 

Friends and Fruits

Many a times, friends are like fruits. Juicy ones are perishable. Dry fruits might not look appealing but they stay longer..

A Better Tomorrow !(?)

I happened to put my head into one online discussion. The topic was ‘ A better tomorrow’.

People expressed their views/concerns about war, poverty, women being ill-treated and traded like a commodity, society lacking moral values etc.  Some even tried to sell their religion taking advantage of the opportunity…

How can we change this world into a better tomorrow? Is that possible?

How can we prevent war? Here in the US too the gas (gasoline/petrol) price goes up year after year, just like any other country. If I convert the price of stuffs from dollar to Indian currency, for almost everything we need to pay more than double, compared to the price for that item in India in Indian money (I know this conversion is not logical but still this has a point here). One Kg of Lay’s potato chips would cost around INR 200 in India. And it would cost around INR 600 in the US.  But look at the cost of petrol, even if we convert it into Indian money, it’s cheaper here. So, the gulf war paid off, right?

Most of the wars we see/seen have/had some political agenda behind it starting from World War I. To what extend can we prevent it (or influence the political system), that too when there always is a section to support the wars/political decisions? 

Can we ban the following three things which strongly influence crime and morality?

1.Alcohol

2.Drugs

3.Porn (including so-called adult media in any form)

If we cannot, our tomorrow won’t be much different from today.

We cannot ban religions, can we? The other day I read a Christian saying this:

“We will not forgive the Jews because they killed Jesus”

I see, so, that is how it is…This is a very ‘strong’ view. 

I am not talking about a particular religion, but in general. Islamic rulers did damage to Hinduism and India in the past by destroying temples, looting wealth, killing innocent people, forcefully converting people into Islam etc. But this is not the time for Hindus to take revenge in the same coin.

 Those who sell religion should understand one fact – Lord Ram, Lord Krishna, Lord Buddha, Lord Jesus, Prophet Mohammed, all these guys became ‘popular’ ONLY after their death. This means even if God is living among us today, in human form, we will come to know about Him only after his death (or probably after somebody kill him).

With the money spent on Gulf war, they could have fed every single hungry human in the world for months (one Tomahawk missile-used in the Gulf war- costs about $600,000. US spent 61 billion USD for this war alone) or even years. And the worst, war creates poverty ! But that is how system works, around the world. 

Changing the world should start from us, by we changing ourselves. Better ourselves for a better tomorrow..

Life In A Day - July 24 2010

YouTube says:

“Life In A Day is a historic global experiment to create the world's largest user-generated feature film: a documentary, shot in a single day, by you. On July 24, you have 24 hours to capture a glimpse of your life on camera. The most compelling and distinctive footage will be edited into an experimental documentary film, executive produced by Ridley Scott and directed by Kevin Macdonald.”

“The film will premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2011 and will be available right here on YouTube. If your footage makes it into the finished film, you ‘ll be credited as a co-director and you could be one of the 20 contributors brought to Sundance to celebrate with Kevin Macdonald.”

 

For more details:

http://sites.google.com/site/lifeinadayfaqs/

Lake Tahoe and a Jet Ski

I do not remember when this desire to do a Jet Ski sprouted in my mind. May be it started when I saw a picture or more possibly when I saw it in a movie…still can’t recollect it. But I am sure about one thing – this desire was there in me since many years. What should we do when we get a chance to fulfill one of our long cherished dreams? May be we will try to make it as memorable as possible..

Lake Tahoe is one of the most popular tourist attractions in this part of the world. A lake shared by California and Nevada. This is the largest high altitude lake in the U.S. which is located at 6225 feet. This is the second (16^th in the world) deepest lake in America with a depth of 1645 ft.  This fresh water lake is particularly known for being clear and has got 2 million years of story to tell. She is a blue beauty. The surrounding area is known for skiing and snow related activities and tourism is the main income in this area, but this lake never freeze.

When a suggestion came to visit Lake Tahoe, I had nothing to rethink about it because Jet Ski is one of the main water sport activity here during summer. And it is near Reno, the mini- Las Vegas and the ‘biggest little city in the world’ a place with Casinos Casinos and Casinos.

When I sat on the Jet Ski for the first time, I was thrilled. I took my son with me and we both were very much excited to do our first water sport.  

Since I had 30 minutes left,  I decided to go far from the shore. I was very excited and drove madly. Out of excitement I had no idea where I am going, I even forgot in which direction I am going. Yes, this might sound stupid but I should admit that this is what really happened. When decided to go back and turned and travelled towards the shore, I realized that I am approaching a different shore. I got lost….what a place to get lost….I did not carry my mobile, I cannot see any other Ski people near me . there were some speed boats moving here and there and they did not notice me and it wasn’t easy to attract their attention. Then I saw a ship near the shore and decided to move towards it and I felt it bit difficult to control the Ski. What the hell is this? I looked around and I saw the board ‘Danger Zone’. WOW, I have crossed the boundary and standing in a wonderful wavy place…

For a moment the fun started moving away and made way to fear. From the danger zone I read this on a boat ‘POLICE’. Are they coming towards me? Am I in trouble? I shot towards them and waved my hand for help. They came to me and one of the officers asked me to turn off the Ski. He looked 'cool' and I told him :

“Sir, I lost my way”  

“From which shore are you coming from?”

I forgot the name of the shore and I told them the name of the organizer and they could not make out where it is. Even at that stage, the officer was very cool and this made me bit relaxed. Then there came a good Samaritan in a small boat and he looked at my Ski and told them the name of the shore. The officer pointed his finger to some direction and said:

“OK, you go that way”

“Should I cross that?” I pointed to some rocks I saw and then the officer who was driving the boat smiled at me and said:

“Follow us”

They started moving and I followed them. Now that the U.S. marine police is piloting me and what is there to fear about? This made me happy and the fear slowly faded away and I started enjoying the ride. One minute, two minute…we are not reaching anywhere and then I thought we are going in the wrong direction.  We were moving slowly and then all of a sudden the boat picked up speed and went very fast. And I too shot after them  though it wasn’t easy to control it and at some point of time I thought  the Ski will topple…Then I saw the officer to whom I was talking to showing me a ‘Thumbs up’ and  now the distance between me and the boat was more. I thought they were asking me to go further all by myself and then my son said

“They are not asking us to follow them any further” 

So I stopped and looked around..

But where is my shore? I could not see it from where I was. So I stopped there and looked at the police boat and using some hand signals tried to tell them that this is not my shore. Then I saw the officer asking me to follow them again and this time they reduced the speed.  And finally, using hand signal he asked me to go right and there I saw my shore!   We both still had some distance and I thought if they get a chance to come near me, they might scold me. But I really wanted to thank them and test the luck. So I ‘ran’ after them and said thanks. To my surprise, he just smiled at me and nodded his head.

It was a ride filled with fun, thrill, action, suspense, horror and what not?  I wanted it to be a memorable one and God said

“So be it”

How can I forget my first Jet Ski?

Thank you God !

The feast

Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.

-Revelation 3:20 

Beautiful Hair...

He first saw her in that corner café. The first thing that attracted him was her long hair.

‘WOW, it’s beautiful’ he told himself.

He could not take his eyes from her, because of that hair.

She saw him sitting jaw dropped and gave him a glance…

Days passed and they started sharing the same table, enjoying coffee and chit chatting. Every time they met, he did not forget to praise her hair and she giggled.

Months passed and they started sharing the same house, as wedded husband and wife. He was so happy that day, so was she.

One day, when opened his lunch box in front of his colleagues, he found a hair in it and he got embarrassed.  He scolded his wife that day.

Days passed and the beautiful hair appeared here and there..in the kitchen, in the wardrobe, in the living room, in the bath room…

“Did you see that hair?” he asked

“Yes, I will pick it up later”

He did not feel comfortable with that and hence he picked it up. Not once but..

He felt some distance…he felt like something is wrong. May be she too felt the same. It looked like all the problems started with a strand of hair but it got branched into many areas and they found this or that reason to blame each other. He realized that life is not just about beautiful hair, or may be eyes, or smile…

Days passed and so did months..

One day, they met in the same café and said:

‘Hi…how are you?’

Driving in California and International Driving License/Permit

I think I better make this correction regarding driving in California. In one of my earlier blogs which I wrote during the initial days of my CA life, I had mentioned something which could mean that if we have international drivers permit (IDP) we can drive in California. That is wrong and I am sorry if it sounded that way.

The reality is the State of California does not accept IDP as a valid driver license irrespective of our nationality. This does not mean that driving in CA is complicated; the driving rule/law is simple and people friendly. 

If you are a visitor on Business Visa (less than or equal to 90 days), just carry the valid driver’s license you have from your country. CA accepts it and no further license is required. If it is in any language other than English, you need to have IDP with you. You can drive a car straight away ( at your own risk ..if you forgot to stop at a red signal, you could  get a $500 ticket. If you do not stop (some conditions apply) when a School Bus's red lights are flashing, its a $1000 ticket).

Those who are on long term visa are considered as resident aliens and in that case, things are different. In this case, we have only 10 days to apply for a California driver license (this means our license from home country is valid only for 10 days). But if we have a valid license from home country, upon passing a written test, the motor vehicles department will issue a temporary permit which is valid for 2 months (apart from the student permit which is valid for a year). With this permit, we can drive alone ; means there is no need for a licensed adult sitting next to us. But if we do not take a license within 2 months,  we can not renew this temporary permit and hence an adult with valid CA license should sit next to us, when we drive.