Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Spray it like me if you can!

What are the issues that you boast upon? Your family, big house, cute car, clever son, cell phone, or a beautiful wife or a handsome husband? Good. Do you know what people boast upon here in Secunderabad? Wait. Dont be embarassed or shocked when I actually say it. I mean, be prepared.


"Sprewwwwww....." Did you get it? Hmm... This is a sound, with spectacular visual effect, that you can see on the roads here. Red coloured spray of 'pan' and spit emerging from mouths adorned with yellow teeth, making rainbow-like formation in the air! Ah! Those lovely little fountains can never be forgotten especially if the spray lands on your pearl white shirt, on your way to the office or University or a wedding feast. Thanks to a lot of such sprayers, all the walls in the city have a red base, with designs better than Hussain's paintings. Great indeed is this talent.


Not over. Spray is only one mode. Other modes of 'painting the city red' are, straight spray with lower projection angles and longer projectile, plosive actionwhere the material goes straight down at high velocity, angular spit which follows a spiral trajectory, achieved by turning the head around while spittine, etc.


The other day, while I was returning from the railway station, I saw a crystal white UFO-like object with a short aura, flying from above, to the ground just half a metre ahead of me! I was terrified. I stood just like that for a few seconds. Then I realized that it was also the artistic craft of a young man who wanted to ease himself by spitting long and sharp! The problem was that, he tried it from a bus parked on the side. By god's grace, I was saved, otherwise, I would have been bathed in that crystal white liquid. YUCK!!!


Now a piece of warning. Be on the look out while you walk in the city. Someone may spray from anywhere around. Beware. Be ready to be sprayed. Be ready to evade sprays.

Friday, September 18, 2009

Eyes like these...

You didn't see it. I saw it. Probably, you looked at it, yet you didn't 'SEE' it. What?



Today, in community radio class, some of my classmates were presenting small topics. And I saw a very inspiring montage. A series of pairs of eyes- paires of eyes of different sizes, of different colours, belonging to different cultures, different nations. Some eyes said, "We are confident", some said we're not so confident." Some eyes fluctuated like a low voltage neon bulb. Some flickered in anxiety. Some were silent, yet proclaimed silence aloud. Some wandered in search of a soul, while some radiated a settled calm.

Yet all were eyes, eyes, that talked.



Eyes like these make me feel proud of my creator, the master artist who crafted those little dark spots in white lakes.



Eyes like these make me sing of beauty.

Miracle

What is a miracle? Dead man coming back to life, cure of terminal illness, Sun going black, elephants flying, etc... Yes, these are miracles.




But, usually we dont see these things happening in front of our eyes. To be true, mirales are our projections of impossible dreams. In other words, we name impossible things as miracles. By doing this, we also are confirming that miracles are 'never-to-be' incidents.



Yet I disagree with this idea of miracles. I see miracles all around, because I believe miracles are possible. And I see miracles happening aournd. You know what I am driving at: the smile of flowers, a baby's face, sun rising,... Sorry I did'nt mean that too.

I meant the lives of people. Confidence sparkling in their eyes, Beauty gleaming, Compassion that flows, Determination, etc.



Is'nt it a miracle when a human being comes back to life from despair and pessimism of the highest degree?



Dont you think it is a miracle to see a smile on the face of a woman while the whole body writhes in pain?



Dont you think it is a miracle to see someone walking with a crutches, with great difficulty, yet determined to WALK?




Do you not see miracle in the eyes of an old man, still waiting in hope, for his saviour?




I see miracle in their eyes, I see miracle in the air, because, I believe in miracles.

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Left Right Left Right

I have found something very interesting. Here I come... EUREKA...

The other day, Prof. Upendran was teaching us about development of languages. Going back to millions of centuries, he demonstrated how some of our forefathers came down from the tree and lost their tails and hair (which some of us still regret).
In the course of explanation, he was speaking of lateralization of the brain. Suddenly, he turned his attention into some lateral topics! He He.. He wanted to amuse us may be...
In course of time, human brain began to grow. Its size increased. And languages began to develop since wo/man had to spend much of her/his time in caves during the ice age. Wondering why? You!!! In the cave, it was dark and you possibly cannot see what your neighbour is showing you in sign language. Wow! So language grew and grew...
The place language got in the brain was in the left part. So the left half of the brain developed faster. As you may well know, left hemisphere of the brain controls the right side of the body. Therefore, People started developing an affinity to the right side! Right became dominant side. People used right hand more than left. Remember, until then both hands were of same importance...
Now, the Prof. asked us: "who stands behind the groom at any wedding? What is his name?"
We said: "The best man."
Prof: Why is he called the best man? Is it because he looks the best? or the is the BEST man in the world?"
We dint know the answer. Yet we told him all our ideas about what we thought. Obviously all were wrong.
Prof: "Hei, earlier there was no system of marriage like ours now. No dating and arranged marriage. Man went around other villages, found a girl whom he liked, and later, he went with one of his STRONG an TALL friends to that village and just kidnapped the girl. That was the way brides were found."
"How cool!" we thought.
Prof: "So, that STRONG and TALL man is called the best man. He is best in helping the groom kidnap the girl. BEST in that sense."
But where does lateralization figure here?
Prof: "Now, the best man stands behind the groom. Where does the bride stand? On the left or on the right?"
We thought, tried to remember the weddings of our own parents! "On the left." we said.
Prof:"Why on the left? Left is considered to be the worst side. Evil was associated with left always. All left handed were thought to be cursed. Then Why???"
We didnt have an answer.
Now see the answer:"Remember it was a kidnap. So the parents and friends of the girl may come to rescue her. In case of such an attack, there is the best man standing behind the groom. Now groom needs to protect himself. He needs a sword. Where do you keep the sword? On left or right?"
"On the left side", we said.
Prof: "So, imagine there is an attack. Also imagine that the bride is on the best side, the right side. The groom draws his sword out... and there he decapitates the bride who is now on the right side! Do you want it to happen?"
"No," we said.
"Therefore the bride is on the left."

Prof: "Why do you wear your wedding ring on the left hand?"
Again we had no answer.
Prof: "Ancient Egyptians believed that a vein from the left ring finger goes straight to the heart. Therefore the ring is on the left."


Enough of lateralization, right?
Ya, I too think so.
Yet it is amazing how human beings thought and how thought directed action and so on. Its really amazing. Isnt it?

Monday, September 14, 2009

Photographs of my life

Life is a chain of events, as seen on a movie screen. Ans as you may very well know, all the scenes on the screen are results of multiple illusions which try to fool us with much realistic sense. Of course, we need not worry about somebody cheating us when we are in the theatre watching a movie. But we should be certainly be thinking of the mechanism of these movies which we take home as we leave the theatres.
As anyone who thinks little deep can see, the visuals we see influence us a lot- be it a photograph, painting, scenery, or a movie. But what escapes even those who think is the fact that beyond these visible visuals, there is an invisible level of visuals and audio which subtly influence and overpower us without our concent. What is it?

What is it?
It is nothing but the way you look at your neighbour. Have you ever noticed your own feelings as you went out of those air conditioned theatre rooms after spending a couple of hours, travelling over the world with strange characters? How did you look at your neighbour? How did you walk? Didnt you feel that your feet were a little above the ground? Didnt you?
This is what i mean.

But you see, things dont end there. These visuals remain in the unconscious and conscious minds and work their way. Its like incarnations. The film maker and the camera man and editor and the whole crew work on your brain like no one else did before.

If you dont believe, next time you go to cinema, hault, take a deep breath and observe yourself. YOU are the greatest example to study your neighbour!!!

The Quill Pen

Last year, I bought a quill pen and started using it in my office. At first, a few colleagues looked at it with curiosity and made cute comm...