"I dream. Therefore, I live."

In these days of high disposable incomes and limited responsibilities, the so called midlife crisis starts much earlier.

"What next?"

People start looking for goals in life. Most get lost in the routine of life like getting married, kids etc. all of which tends to give some sense of purpose in life.

"I need to work because I need to give them a better life."

Until when the kids grow up and the need for a real goal becomes even more important.

I remembered reading an interview with L&T co-founder Henning Holck-Larsen . He was more than 90 years old and even at that age, he was talking about dreams for his company. The interviewer was surprised and pointed out to him that he was dreaming at even at that age. Larsen then said something to the effect of "without dreams, you are already dead".

The other side is greener

I recently visited an ISKON temple here in Salt Lake City. As I was told, there were more firangs than Indians at the temple and it was an amusing experience.

The temple was founded by a White American (who is also the priest) and his wife following their experience in a Krishna temple in California. The Americans were intrigued by the paintings of the Krishna on the flute with dozens of gopikas and many cows around him. The priest was knowledgeable about each detail and answered to their questions gracefully. Then there were people sitting in an adjacent room singing "Hare Krishna" bhajan continously. There were also dance programs of Mohniyattam, Bharathanatiam etc by ABCD Indians which were patiently watched by the crowd of over 500.

There was a book store around and as I was browsing through some books, an American lady wearing a sari, who was manning (wommaning???) the store asked

"Where are you from?"

"Kerala in India."

"Oh. You may have been born in Kerala, but your ancestral birthplace is in Vrindavan, Uttar Pradesh"

"Huh?"

"Yes. Vrindavan is the cradle of human life".

"No. Thats in Africa, where the oldest fossils were found."

"The archeologists are wrong."

"Really?"

Of course, most of the people there might have been the jobless and trying to make a purposeful living. But they really think that its true.

Hindu mythology is probably the most complex and convoluted from all of them. So, its hard to understand why people not born into it become passionate about it.

Can't blame them. Steve Jobs visited India on a spiritual journey when he was young. So did the Beatles who stayed at an Ashram and spent their most productive days.

Maybe it is the rich culture that they find attractive. Maybe its the positive effect of chanting bhajans which indeed seems to relax the brain. Maybe people want to believe in rebirth :)

In anycase, their interest and respect for other traditions is to be appreciated!

Irony

I really liked this cartoon about a comparison of public image of Bush vs. Obama.

Bigotry and politics aside, it appears that people are more forgiving on mediocre people ("the bloke is trying his best") than on people who are good leaders and who deserve some support to implement their best ideas.

Maybe because we pity the bad ones and envy the good ones?

In search of meaning

It turns out, there isn't any.

Solving the wrong problem

In "Cash Transfers better than drought relief works", the author claims that giving free money is better than wasting money on relief works which do not build useful things.

A radical solution would be for states to stop rural works and simply pay the legal compensation to job-card holders. This will cost less than rural works, since money will not be spent on materials or supervision: it will go entirely to the needy. In effect, cash transfers will replace rural works. Activists like Dreze will demur: they think rural works create durable assets, despite evidence to the contrary. I believe that in a major drought, we should focus on getting cash to the needy, not on building mud roads that vanish in the next monsoon.

The real problem is that the relief works do not build useful products of labor.

Isn't it better to invest more to solve that rather than changing the problem to make the solution easier?

Jaswant Singh has only himself to blame

Jaswant Singh may have said the truth in his book on Jinnah.

But I can't imagine someone wasting 5 years trying to write a book on something which doesn't matter anymore in the present context. Had it been published circa 1947, it may have mellowed the animosity between the then Congress and Muslim League. But 62 years later, this doesn't have any relevance.

Why then did Jaswant Singh write the goddamn book? After the backlash Advani got when he praised Jinnah when in Pakistan, did he think that this book would disrupt BJP and get him a better footing in the party?

Either ways, serves him right for wasting everybody's time.

The joy of cooking

I had never really considered that cooking could be fun. I mean, standing at a place and baking 20 chapathis for a family seemed pretty mundane.

But having gotten sick of bread and a patty in between (they call them burgers), I was forced to start cooking.

I was pleased when a colleague I was moving in with, told me "I am an excellent cook."

The arrogant self appraisal pricked me but I was optimistic for my own good.

But then when we finally moved into the apartment:

"But I know only vegetarian" he said.

"$^%#$!@#!"

So, one noon, after a week of vegan, the craving for some chicken legs started and I called on a friend who gave instructions. That attempt turned out to be surprisingly good and then I was hooked.

Since then I have made chicken curries, barbecue chicken and then upuma and potato curry after calling mom for the recipe which turned out really good.

There is nothing more satisfying than making something really tasty. What makes it interesting is that, much like building anything else, unless the whole is built, you usually don't know how its going to turn out. And the careful calibration required while adding spices and such is nothing less than an art.

But still, there are things I do not like. Like, washing dishes and making rotis.