tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-139676382023-10-26T18:07:48.853-05:00Perspectives...Archana Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09161151015746818028noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13967638.post-71349086512193368982011-01-21T12:09:00.005-06:002011-01-21T23:21:37.595-06:00The Return of the King<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="background-color: transparent; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span id="internal-source-marker_0.6321803105529398" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> It's been a thousand years since he walked on this earth - a young prince who loved and lost ;a brave warrior who tasted victories and defeats alike;a just ruler whose <span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px; white-space: normal;">epaulets </span>were aplenty as much as in people's hearts as on his shoulders. It took the genius of a pen to resurrect this epic hero, in all his glory and splendor. He has inspired generations of readers,young and old alike, to travel back to that ageless time of our past, full of valor, intrigue and justice. But unfortunately, he spoke the tongue of the few and was not heard much beyond his boundaries ....</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> Well, this is the closest to the "poetical" that you can catch me out on. For those of you who are wondering what it's all about, here's a wonderful piece of news. “Ponniyin Selvan” finally comes alive in silver screen with Mani Ratnam at its helm.This news has renewed a good deal of interest in the novel, which augurs well for the book as well as the world of Tamil literature.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> For a little background , "Ponniyin Selvan" is a Tamil historical novel by Kalki written in 5 parts. It's set in the late "Chozha" Period and gives an insight into Raja Raja Chozha's early history.A fine thread of historical events interwoven by an intricate plot, a strong characterization,a dash of adventure held together by a beautiful language,makes this a most delightful read.I've always felt deeply for my friends who lost out on this book because of the language barrier and a barrier for reading in general.(an English translation does exist, but I heard that it’s not close to the original though it stays true to the plot). Hopefully, with the making of this movie,the barriers shall break down.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> The filming of this novel poses quite a number of challenges in terms of screen play, casting ,historical sets, dialogues etc.(It’s as tough as directing LOTR , but only twice as harder). Let’s leave it to an expert like Mani to deal with the interesting hurdles and sit back to see how much of the original magic he can re-create.</span></span></div><div style="background-color: transparent; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> Far is not the day when the King shall return and rule :) </span></span></div></div>Archana Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09161151015746818028noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13967638.post-72531432800194545692011-01-14T05:54:00.017-06:002011-01-14T06:12:09.924-06:00A different dimension...<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i> </i></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-weight: bold;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">A silent river flowing in the backyard. Stepping lightly on a half-submerged rock, I reach the middle of the river with the water rushing all around me. Flash. An emergency storm warning. The quiet river turns into a raging monster with huge waves, as I stand watching from my window. Bang, a huge sail boat tossed mercilessly by the waves. (Wait a sec, how does a huge sail boat fit in the river?!) A jet ski suddenly pops out of the sea (!!!) and lands, colliding with the parked vehicles on the beach and I stand wondering who is mad enough to ride a jet-ski in the storm...</span></i></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> Before you start questioning my probable sanity, let me assure you that I have not lost it all. This is one of my recent dreams that I have finally managed to put down in words.</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> Experts say that a dream indicates a restless sleep. While that may be medically true, for me, dreams are indicators of my state of mind. When I am too stressed out, my dreams are mostly colorless and convoluted. But when my mind is in a blissful state or in a creative-high, it spews forth an array of vivid and colorful dreams. For instance, when I was slogging day and night in the early days of my job, I mostly re-created the stressful day in my dreams and ended up being twice as tired. I even got one where I was stuck in an infinite loop (Imagine that!).</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> Since I love to observe the paths that my wild imagination takes, it's often a delight to look back in the mornings and try to re-construct a dream with all its details. But, dreams start fading out as soon as you start explaining them to others; the colors are not so vibrant, the scenes not clearly defined and the effect is not quite the same. The more you try to grasp it, the more it slips away.</span></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;"></span></span> </span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Surprisingly though, some dreams have come with me a long way…</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i>Imagine a city with pulsating (yes, pulsating!), tantalizingly painted buildings and suddenly they start transforming in and out of odd shapes at random intervals.(Yeah, that was the day I read about Transfiguration :))<o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i>There was this other one where three rainbows were intersecting with each other. (Intersection of arcs!)<o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i>I even managed to conjure up a whole chapter in Mechanical systems but promptly forgot all those wonderful theories that I had formulated, in broad daylight. (The world will never know what it has lost, sigh)<o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;"><i>Location: SFO, Time: Early Evening. Point out to my sis, the distant view of <st1:place w:st="on">Niagara. </st1:place>(Quite a stretch of imagination, I should say)</i></span></span> <b> </b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> Well, there are some more dreams clambering for this space. But I would say my readers have had quite enough of my dream space by now.(Shared dream space? Well that's another post :))</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> With all due respect to Freud and others who have studied the psychology of dreams, I would say that dreams provide a parallel universe of infinite possibilities, unhindered by rational, well-worn thought processes and hence may provide a much needed vent to our creative thoughts and even hold the key to some unanswered questions. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> Thus said, dreams are also quite fun to reflect upon and might even contribute to a blog post when you are desperate for one. So, dream on ... :)</span></div>Archana Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09161151015746818028noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13967638.post-67936888524090364092011-01-11T10:55:00.002-06:002011-01-11T10:56:02.978-06:00How true...<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">... Loneliness is a state of mind. (quote source unknown to me :))</span>Archana Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09161151015746818028noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13967638.post-57227762224935243972010-12-30T11:39:00.000-06:002010-12-30T11:39:53.756-06:00A natural flow ...<span style="font-size: small;"> </span><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">One of my friends pointed out that something about my previous post was not natural and it looked like as if I had just written for the sake of writing.Well, though these were things that I wanted to write about , I could see that there was the essentially something missing.</span></span><br />
<div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> Looking back at the post, it does look somewhat soulless, probably because I was groping for even simple adjectives and words even though the topic was dear to my heart. Also, the cobwebs of writing infrequently added to the stunted flow of sentences. And after reading the comments, I knew I missed out some of the more interesting patterns. The other thing that was persistently on the back of my mind was "Don't write such long sentences and useless information!". </span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> My natural flow of writing is usually haphazard and random . I need to write , prune , cut and re-arrange my ideas and sentences in such a way it looks readable to me to begin with. Also , I had to constantly fight the lethargy of not writing :) So many interesting things float around in your thoughts, but when you try to put it in a blog , disperses away into vague , meaningless, half dead sentences. It's not about the infamous writer's block I am talking about, but rather about my own style of writing blogs. Also, reading a lot doesn't help me when I sit down to write blogs. I am so saturated with the words and ideas of others, I often think I only repeat what I have already read.</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> Sometimes interestingly , few ideas do escape this mesh of confusion and land up in a logical format. There were some interesting topics I started with , but they never saw the light of blog-sphere. </span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Let's see if I can at least put a one-liner for those (for now)</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">1) The realm of mind - How Inception, Shutter Island and other such movies brought the world of psychology so successfully into movies.</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">2) The world of HP</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">3) The art of criticism or rather world of critics:)</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">4) Toy Story - how a simple story can make your day</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> With this post (and incidentally the previous post), I have tried to take of the cynical edge off my posts. Hope I will start writing in my natural way, as I have tried in this post :)</span></div>Archana Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09161151015746818028noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13967638.post-56755251692079403752010-12-23T12:18:00.043-06:002010-12-23T22:31:29.576-06:00Two years and some...<div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Since it's customary to write the experience after a visit away from home , here's a post on my two years of stay in the US.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">It's usually the small and the seemingly insignificant things that leaves behind lasting impressions on me.Nevertheless</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">,here they are... </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Dallas sky</b> - </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">One might argue that the sky looks the same everywhere. But</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">in my eyes,</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> Dallas sky had the most to offer. It brings forth such an array of hues, tints, shades, colors and shapes ,one can but wonder at such a marvelous display.The soft pinks , the steely grays , the stormy purples , the golden yellows with an occasional rainbow had that unique personal flavor which never failed to touch me even in my darkest moments.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>License plates </b>- </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">License plates?? Come on, really... Well , these were the first things that I noticed in the States. Most car license plates carry the state name and the state's nickname . What better way to show off the specialty of your state ?</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Just to name a few , </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Florida - "The Sunshine state " </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Texas -</span>"The Lone star state"</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">New York - "The Empire state" </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">California - "The Golden state" </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> Doesn't these lines take you,</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">even if just for a few seconds, </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">to an afternoon on a sunny beach ; to a starry night in a wild western desert ; to the soaring skylines of Manhattan; to the golden palms of Cal ? It does for me every time.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I wish that this trend starts in India also. (A Porsche with "Enchanting Tamilnadu" on it.Perfect.)</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Refrigerator magnets</b> - these make t</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">ruly delightful souvenirs !!! The beauty of these magnets is that they depict the attractions of the place in a </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">very </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">concise and creative way. A simple piece of rock which spells Colorado , a map of California with the its attractions marked, a dried up Cacti in a pot for Arizona, a doodle of Disney characters in "Disney World" might be all that you need to remember the memorable trips u took :)</span><br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>A solitary walk, a park and a wooden swing</b> ... </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> One way to realize the true meaning of a solitary walk is just by venturing out on a cold November night... Though these were by no means nature walks , there is something quite comforting in the thought of walking in the midst of brightly lit ,cheerful homes and not having to meet a living soul for miles around. Though one might question the prudence of walking alone in the night , these walks provided me with the perfect refuge to sort out my jumble of thoughts.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> In one of my such rambles , i found this quaint neighborhood park. Anonymity is a gift,rarely appreciated . I could sit for hours together just watching (not staring at) the people as they walked their health walks , exercised their pets , played a game of football without having to join in ,nod a occasional smile with a perfectly blissful feeling towards the entire world.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> My apartment complex boasted a small creek(if you can call it that) running through its entire length. A few wooden swings are placed along its embankments at discrete distances. To my great surprise , I was the only one who took advantage of these lovely spots. One wooden swing came to be my personal favorite, as it offered a shaded spot dappled by the rays of the setting sun with the additional thrill of swinging away to your heart's content.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
<b>A bus </b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> ... all for myself!!! Can you believe it ? As an unlicensed car driver , i chose to travel by bus to office. One evening , as I got on the bus , to my great astonishment, I realized that I was the only passenger in the bus.I sincerely believed that the driver would ask me to step down and not waste his precious time. However no such thing happened and I settled down for an exclusive and enjoyable ride back home. Probably , you can appreciate this more, only if you have traveled in the foot board of a Chennai city bus hanging on for dear life ... (it does have its own beauty though.)</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> Though I seem to have picked up a few precious shells in this land of pearls, they do have some interesting patterns. Don't you think so? :)</span></div>Archana Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09161151015746818028noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13967638.post-9673650042907377562010-07-08T20:45:00.078-05:002010-07-10T18:23:56.676-05:00The spectator<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> I feel a slowdown in my thoughts , a poison of lethargy passing through my veins , an inertia to break out of the infinite loop of my day-to-day existence.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> I am neither a monk nor a cynic.I locked myself inside a glass cube and life just rushes around in a whirlwind of emotions and colors. I see all the wonder and the beauty in every second of it, but feel no urge to join the fray. There are moments when the drama moves me, but the deeper it moves, the more I retreat into my glass cage.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> There are quite a few times when I did venture out to learn if I could add a little to the scene , but I end up being in the wrong role or just fumbling through my lines. As I drop out of the scene, the drama settles down into its natural rhythm. Time and again , Destiny patiently sets me in my place ... out in the spectator box. :)</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> So has been my life. When people ask me , why is that I am content to watch rather than do , I have no rational answer to the question. Why do I feel that the people out there are already a doing better job and I satisfy myself with a glance at it? Why is it that I am content to just wet my feet , but never let myself swim through the currents? Why doesn't my mind think of competing against someone or doing better or even doing something? Is it plain laziness, a lack of confidence/motivation or a fear of failure? Whether it's a simple video game or a complex algorithm , I love watch it being played or solved rather than play or solve it :). </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">It's probably because I grew up with words swirling through me , that I am not able to relate to actions.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> What would you call someone who loves to see and learn , not to participate , who has too much of data but not enough logic to judge (a dumb system ,eh? ), who weeps and laughs along with the things around her but not exert herself too much to change it for fear of tipping the balance, who realises her faults and others' in the bargain ? (I can hear you people crying mad hatter !! ). </span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I would simply call her "a spectator".</span></div>Archana Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09161151015746818028noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13967638.post-12751967774865989902010-06-11T20:10:00.005-05:002010-06-11T20:30:53.306-05:00"I am not gonna fall"<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> These truly inspiring words were spoken by none other than a spunky 4 year old, balancing herself on top of a seat in a precariously driven bus with nothing else to hold on to, other than a thin rod and her mother's loving arms.</span></span><br />
<div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> This set me thinking. As we grow up, there are so many things that we gain , but there are some precious little things that we lose as well. What does a child have that which I have lost?</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> A clear eyed perception of the world where even the smallest thing is fascinating and and so refreshingly new...</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> An implicit faith that people are there not to hurt you but be there ready to hold you...</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> A simplistically selfish world with no consciousness of other's opinions or feelings...</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> A world of whites and blacks and no grays, a story of lessons learnt but of neither victories nor defeats, a dimension of infinite space and no limitations.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> As we grow up,fears manifest, doubts creep through and a consciousness of being accepted, recognized and liked , starts guiding our actions and thoughts. The world starts shrinking to adapt to the limits of the mind.The child in us waits patiently for those lucid moments when a new thought breaks through, when there is an wonderful awareness of the world around us and for the precious few days when we live for ourselves and as ourselves. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> Even today,I can't resist being fascinated by kids for the simple reason that they represent a delightful picture of how we all started out in this quest of life, without guiles , vices with an eagerness to face all that was offered and learn the biggest lesson of all called 'Life'.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">P.S. This post shows only the downside of growing up and has taken the honor of completely digressing from the title :)</span></span></div>Archana Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09161151015746818028noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13967638.post-63014543243974914992010-05-25T01:38:00.001-05:002011-01-21T20:13:43.821-06:00Namesake<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> "A rose by any other name would smell just as sweet" - Thus sayeth the great Shakespeare.If rose had been called whatchamacallit, will we still have the same feel when we see it?</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> Whenever I hear a name, I associate a mental image with it.I find that for some people their names are a perfect fit. The pronunciation ,meaning or even the way they spell it clicks right with the person and you cannot imagine the person with any other name.As someone who shares her name with quite a handful of the South Indian woman population(no offense to my parents, I do love my name), I have often wondered if I would have turned out any different if my name had been Srishti or Neha or something like that. :) </span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> My pseudonym was mainly adapted for a practical reason.When I say Archana, most people are tempted to ask , which Archana? And I am forced to give some qualifiers like "Archana from first bench" , "Roll no.12345", "Archana the forgetful" and so on and so forth. Thus to provide a little sense of uniqueness , Srishti was born. (Srishti - Creation, used in higher sense)</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> It is delightful to see the present generation taking the art of naming quite ardently. Most of my single friends have already decided on exotic names for their yet to be born babies.Even though we are progressing quite fast in other aspects, we seem to be returning back to our roots to come up with classic names which are exotic and modern(Dhruthi, Nephele , Tanisha , Srishti, Rhea to name quite a few).But I somehow feel that it is a great responsibility to label a person with a name ;) As everything else, this art is evolving.</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> With all that said,it's better to live so as to give meaning to our names than to have a meaningful name(As L.M.M says). So what kind of an image is created for your name? Think about it. :) </span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">P.S.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">My image is that of a slightly crazed , mildly idealistic, terribly forgetful book worm, I guess :)</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div></div>Archana Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09161151015746818028noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13967638.post-29476236955334781612010-05-19T21:01:00.005-05:002010-05-20T09:17:54.182-05:00Nothing matters<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> How did you read the title of this post? "Nothing matters" or "Nothing" matters.? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> Sometimes in life , we get so wrapped up in small things which,when looking back at a stretch of a lifetime fades into the inconsequential. The irony is that these small things actually add meaning to those moments in life. So where do you strike a balance between being rooted to the moment and looking at the bigger picture ? (As Calvin would say)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> Recently , I heard/read this thought somewhere ... Imagine your life to be a long straight line. When you take a closer look , you will find that this line is actually a ragged line of ups and downs which get normalized over time.So on a law of average, most of the things in life does even out. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> So when you are really stuck in a quagmire of everyday issues, close your eyes, take a step back, relax and plunge ahead.Just as in a Bungee jump, life is all about crossing that one moment of hesitation to take a plunge.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> Just because I have put these thoughts into words does not make me an expert practitioner of these philosphies in life.Like everyone else out there , I am an eternal student and still learning ...</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">P.S. If you ask me what point I made this post , it amounts to nothing. It is just a collection of totally random thoughts to clear out the clogs and kinks in my thinking process..</span>Archana Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09161151015746818028noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13967638.post-61991475213295795512009-11-08T18:35:00.008-06:002009-11-08T18:59:53.543-06:00Genius..borrowed? Have you ever had this feeling of kneeling down in front of something great,brilliant or simply a job well done? A brilliant note in music,a sentence that opens up a whole new universe,or a breath-taking painting that takes you to a new dimension or simply even an everyday meal that is cooked perfectly... Things that let you see the greatness or intricacy of human mind and still gives you hope that man is still in the quest for the greater truth :)<br />
<br />
And bang!!! And what when you are contemplating such genius, you are brought to the realisation that it's nothing but a reduced shadow or borrowed illusion of something greater?In the past few months , these kind of experiences have become more frequent for me.A chance remark of "what a brilliant song or plot or movie etc.? " elicits a response of "Did you know that this was copied from a Spanish folk song/French book/English movie" usually makes me hate the whole of mankind for a second and then just console myself ,at least the original was a work of a genius... :)<br />
<br />
So nowadays, I have stopped expressing my wonder at such brilliant things and guard myself against deeper knowledge and just live the moment.<br />
<br />
All said and done, I am still a slave to that one moment of sheer joy when you see the beauty of a genius... So all ye brilliant people out there , keep creating and not just borrowing...<br />
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">P.S.<br />
On a tangent ,one of the main reasons that I hesitated to start this blog is that since I read so many books, I'll not even know if a thought,or phrase or an idea expressed was influenced by a book (What a safeguard against attacks of plagiarism :)).<br />
</div><div><br />
</div>Archana Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09161151015746818028noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13967638.post-52672012128393028592009-11-07T19:30:00.013-06:002009-11-08T00:21:20.506-06:00Just another day...<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: small;"> I had wanted to start or rather re-start this blog on a special day.But as it is, it had to be today,just one of those quiet beautiful days in the fall.</span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: small;"> I had always imagined writing an earth shattering ,soul-searching or downright funny topic for my first post.Since no such great inspiration came to me, here I have begun humbly... with a post about 'nothing' .</span></span></span></span><br />
<div><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> Words have always been my friends, playmates, guides and sometimes even my arch-rivals.So what you might find in this blog, is a jumble of words which might or might not make sense... With that statutory warning given, let's see how this turns out to be...</span></span><br />
</div>Archana Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09161151015746818028noreply@blogger.com4