Ooooh....here's my little brother's post. Well, as a cute, responsible, affectionate elder sister, I am always an amazing inspiration and endless guidance to you, ain't I Rammy ?? No, don't give me an answer. I know what you'd say. But still you'll have to confess that you dedicate every web project of yours to me, the one and only me, who taught you the basics of HTML. He he he he. (*Major Show-Off*)

Okie guys, here's Rammy and his wonderful post -

MAYA MATRIX

It was just the other day when I was watching The Matrix for what could be the 25th time. As I reflected on the movie, I noticed certain interesting revelations I had. The Matrix has some subtle religious inclinations which are worth a mention.

The movie portrays humans as slaves connected by wires to The Matrix. All that a person feels, smells, hears and sees is just make-believe. Electrical signals that go into your brain to give you an illusion of what is happening around. As one of the characters puts it – “It is the world that has been pulled over your eyes”. Interesting insight about the illusionary world a parallel which we refer to as Maya. Hinduism considers the world in which we live as a projection of God and unreal. It is unreal because it hides the Truth and shows us things that lead to our ignorance.

In the third installment of the movie we see an Indian gentleman who goes to great lengths to save his daughter and take her out of The Matrix. It is a risky business, but he goes on with it. Justifying that he says 'what he had to do was what he was doing' as it was karma. Neo asks him, “You believe in karma?” “Karma is a word, a way of saying, ‘What I must do.’” is his reply.

Another “coincidence” is the fact that in the first movie Neo is resurrected after 72 seconds, similar to 72 hrs after which Jesus was resurrected. And religions are not just restricted to Hinduism and Christianity. Zion is a direct reference to the Judean ideal of a spiritual and social utopia. Morpheus also seems to play the role of a Buddhist spiritual guide and Neo could himself be seen as the Buddha, staying within the Matrix to enlighten the unenlightened.The Oracle, who is all perceiving and all knowing, gives an apt advice to Neo when he is asked whether he believes he is the One. She points to a board in her kitchen on which “Know Thyself” is written in Latin. Worthy advice, I must say. Knowing oneself is the most important thing in achieving one’s goal. Back to the first movie, during the training, where Morpheus “fights” Neo. He tells Neo – “You are faster than this. Don’t think you are. Know you are”. The same applies to all of us. Lacking in confidence on our own skills and capabilities, we shy away from achieving great things that we can achieve. All that stops you from taking on the world is the mental roadblock that you have set up for yourself. Run it down, you are faster, stronger and greater than you think you are.

We've never met till today. We became friends over the telephone. We were working with the same organisation and I was at the Madras office while he was at the Bombay office. Now GBG is at Bangalore with his family. He has a very sweet son called Palash. And he's damn good at penning Hindi Poetries. Now, this goes to prove again what I said before - you never know where and how you make lasting friends. Okie, here's a post from him -

LIMITS IN LIFE

A Sanskrit saying goes - "Athi Sarvasva Varjate". In other words "Anything in excess is always Dangerous". For example, confidence in excess is over-confidence which is dangerous. Expense in excess will lead to no-money situation. Eating in excess is dangerous to health. Thinking deeper, we can apply this thought to every aspect of our life. There is always a Limit for everything. Even Success has also got a Limit. Success in excess can not be handled properly and may lead to immediate down slide. Applying limits doesn't mean giving up progress. If applied with little innovation, limits can be used as check points after completion of each milestone of our goals. This will give us some breathing space and also provide with time for introspection. There is no point achieving everything and not able to enjoy that. Achievement in excess may lead to this kind of situation. A Limit is required here as well. There is no-limit to desire. But there is always a limit to the self. Some lines from Shri Atal Bihari Bajpai's famous poem -

"PRITHVI LAKHON VARSH PURAANI, JEEVAN EK ANANTH KAHAANI,
PER TAN KI APNI SEEMAYEIN, YADYAPI SAU SHARANO KI VAANI.
ITNAA KAAFI HAI ANTIM DASTAK PER KHUD DARVAZAA KHOLE,
APNE HI MAN SE KUCH BOLE.......APNE HI MAN SE KUCH BOLE......."

It was about FRIENDS yesterday, the most apt topic to start with when my friends are guest-blogging here. Today's post is from a friend since college. He hasn't mentioned if he wishes to be anonymous or not - and so I use this chance (*wicked grin*) to expose his anonymity. Dear fellow bloggers, put your hands together for today's scape-goat, oops, guest-blogger - HARISH...Harish...harish (*echo effect*)

On a rather serious note - thanks a ton Harish. (*seriously grateful*)

WRITING...

When I was asked to write a blog entry(which apparently is a short for weB LOG entry & I didn’t know about it until recently…), I had to rake my brains trying to come up with a topic. That was the instant when it struck(don’t know from where) me, why not write about “Writing”.

To transform those train of thoughts, travelling at a speed faster than that of light, to words in a manner that it is discernible, involves some processing power, which I feel can be achieved only by the brain (at this point, I am tempted to digress and write about brain..which I think I shall save for later).

How many times has this happened to u? U read a novel/fiction that is gripping…u find out that a movie is made based on the novel …..u watch that movie and come out with a sense of disappointment… This happens to me a lot… When I read something that is presented in words…I create my own sketch of the characters and interpretations of the situations which being different from the one presented by director turns out to be the cause for that disappointment.

The great epics…Ramayana…Rig/Atharvana/Yejur/Sam veda..Leo Tolstoy…. languages used for writing…media….ink…stylus…styles…ideas…morals…..authors….illustrations….presentation…Jeffery Archer...getting lost…Wondering what the hell is going on ? These are some of the thoughts that are currently running through my mind. Believe me, there was a lot more, but this is what I could process quick enough to record.

Thinking about those people who have that gift to wield their pen, I really feel envious. Those are the people who have the capability to think as well as the abilty to present them so beautifully that it instigates/stimulates the Left side Brain of an unimaginative non-thinker like myself. ….How I wish I could be one of those.

Talking about the different styles of writing, I would like to list some of them,
1. Authors of fictions, present a plot in a way it creates visual images in the mind of the reader.
2. (Auto-)Biographers, ability to present the life of a human is descriptive manner
3. Authors of Non-Fictions, this I think is one of the difficult writing, to write about an idea, particularly if it is an obtuse one.

I am sure there are atleast a gazillion more than what I have mentioned…I would really appreciate if the readers can think of more and post it…..i surmise it will be quite educative and interesting……Think about it…

By jove, writing is hard….i thought I could just scribble a few words….but here I seem to be stumbling for words to present an idea…..i would really love to spend more time to present more of my thoughts…but u see, the insurmountable pressure from a friend of mine to e-mail my blog entry to her is the cause for such a short, insipid display……..no just kidding…it was me…however…would love if atleast a few of them would continue to think about it and post more on this….

Friends are one of life's prized treasures. At school, at work, in the neighborhood, in the train and sometimes right out of the blue we make a good, lasting friend. I stumbled over this brilliant idea of honoring friendship in a super-special, Bharani-ish way. Wondering why am churning out so much on friendship ? Here's the catch - I have invited some of my dearest friends (who obviously are good at writing) to guest-blog for me this week (*stifling a yawn*, yep, you guessed right, I was a bit bored to blog this week and was hunting for some scape goats).

Yippeee....Welcome one and all. Its my pristine pleasure presenting to you, ladies and gentlemen, todays guest-blogger - Srini. *Applause*. And let me not hold back his post any longer. Here it is -

F*R*I*E*N*D*S

Like many others, I am one of the members of F*R*I*E*N*D*S fan club. While I have tried other sitcoms like Seinfield, Will&Grace, Everybody Loves Raymond, etc., nothing had amused/amazed/impressed me as much as F*R*I*E*N*D*S. When I say that I am talking about someone (me :-)) who does not mind watching any episode of this sitcom any number of times! On many occasions I had wondered as to why am I so hooked onto this particular sitcom than any other one? I was watching this episode 2 days back on ZEE, in which Chandler tries hitting on a girl in Central Perk only to realize that she is Joey's girlfriend. When the rest of the gang (except Joey) make fun of him, he denies first. The next time he sees them he immediately confesses that he has fallen for her.

It struck me then! While they sometimes defer it, all the 6 friends are shamelessly honest with each other, even when they know they have to hurt each other on occasions. They chew their words, they bite their tongue and yet they manage to spell out the thoughts from their conscience. That reminded me of something I read in a college autograph book. This friend of mine (not my classmate) was showing me his autograph book. For the question, "A friend is one…." most of the people had written the usual mushy answers like …..

"Who stays with you during difficult times",
"Someone who loves you for what you are",
"Who comes in when everyone goes out"
etc, etc, etc.,

I was dumbstruck when I saw one of the guys' point of view. He had written "A friend is one with whom you dare to be yourself!". Till this day, I have not read a better note on this subject.

The headcount of bloggers across the globe is on a relentless rise. Last year, when I hardly knew the reach of the blogosphere, I hit upon s-anand.net and wondered how people divulge so much about themselves on their weblogs, complete with photographs et al. Gradually, I have come to grasp what blogging and the space on cyber-world means to individuals.

To some its true identity, to some its anonymity, to some its deception, to some its recognition, to some its virtual relationships, to some its an outlet of raw thoughts, opinions and criticisms, carefully concealed by the mask of anonymity, to some its an online diary, to some its an opportunity to flaunt their technical skills, to some its an expression of their creative zeal for words, and to the rest, its general time pass.

Whatever be the impelling factor, blogging has its side-effects and most bloggers are way too passionate about blogging. There have been days when I've felt guilty that I haven't blogged the whole of the week. I would tell myself - 'You've been busy. But thats no excuse for not posting an entry or two'.

From what started off as a soft board to pin-up my more significant thoughts, this blog space has become a weakness - an addiction. Blogging has kind of started taking over my system. When I am watching a movie or visiting new places, the mind involuntarily starts framing sentences that would aptly describe the movie or the place in my blog. My mind's already started blogging! Its like another parallel thread thats doing some logging of sorts, of events/opinions as they happen/form, so that wording them would be effortless when I sit to blog.

Holy Heavens, what on earth is this? An obsession ? A craving ? Do I need a break ? So soon ? Are these symptoms of blogsomania or some complaint like that ? Eeeeks!...Do I need help ? And most importantly, do I have company ?

I took an auto from office on Wednesday. I had lost my pen in the auto, but since I never needed the pen the next day, I never realised that I had lost it. Yesterday, I walked to the auto-stand to hire an auto again. And the auto-driver who drove me on Wednesday came up to me and said - 'Madam, you left your pen in my auto yesterday. Here it is.'. I felt so grateful to him. I mean, it was just a pen. He had safe-kept it for me and honestly returned it back to me.

I lost the pen again yesterday. Dunno where this time. What has to go, goes anyway, right....?