Desire…..

Blogathon- count down # 25

   Just sharing something from my reading list..

     Profound desire, true desire is the desire to be close to someone. From that point onwards, things change, the man and woman come in to play, but what happens before- the attraction that brought them together- is impossible to explain. It is ubounded desire in its purest state.

     When desire is still in this pure state, the man and the woman fall in love with life, they live each moment reverently, consciously, always ready to celebrate the next blessing.

      When people feel like this, they are not in a hurry, they donot precipitate events with unthinking actions. They know that, the inevitable will happen, tht what is real always find a  way of revealing itself. When the moment comes, they donot hesitate, they donot miss an opportunity, they donot let slip a single magic moment, because they respect the importance of each second…

[ from ; Maria’s diary in “Eleven Minutes” by Paulo Cohelo]

Happy Teachers Day..

Blogathon- count down # 26

September 5- is celebrated as teachers day in India, respecting the 2nd  president of India, Dr.S.Radhakrishnan. He was born on 5th september 1888. He was a very good teacher, educational philosopher and a great leader.

       There is a sloka, "Matha, pitha, guru, daivam" (Meaning- Mother, father, and teacher are the same as God).  But now, in the digital era, this has got some change. The new version- "Matha ,pitha, google'o daivam" ( teacher replaced by google). The attitude of students towards their teachers got changed. It is true that, in the current situation, most of the young generation students don't value their teachers or even their parents much. Then how comes the question of equating them to God?. I am not saying, every body is like that, but the things are not like when we were students.

   Any way, I hope, they will understand the meaning of a 'Guru', and there will be a change in the attitude...

   

In this teachers day, I want to wish all my teachers, who taught me in each and every classes, a very very "Happy teachers Day".

Now me also a teacher. Today, my students wished me "happy teachers day" as a chorus. It was nice to hear them together in a 'sing-a-song' tone. They have arranged a 'cake cutting', at the restaurant. Unfortunately, I couldn't attend that. Some of my previous students messaged and called to wish me.  I am really happy for all these...

  I  want to wish my colleagues also, on "our Day"..

  I am remembering my Aasan (teacher-who taught me first  letters). his name was 'Krishnan'. He has taught my father too.. when I was very little, and starting my letters, he used to come daily to my home. He taught me to write in sand spread on a plate. He gave me letters written on 'Thaliyolas' (instead of paper, he used the leaf of some kind of tree on which, the letters are scribbled). He used to bring chalks(that was very rare and precious thing for me), as a gift, when I finish the day's lesson very well. But, as we had to move on to some other place and live there, I couldn't finish studying all the lessons. It was my mother who taught me the rest. I want to thank my Aasan , my Dad and my Mom for everything what I am now...

   I need to wind up now, actually there are some more things to say, but it is very late, and I need to post before the day ends.. so, See you then....

Sikha

Calculating Life!

 Blogathon- Count down # 27

  This is a guest post by  one of my best friends  privy trifles .  Her blog is my favourite one. Whenever I come online, I do check her space , to know what she had wrote recently. sometimes, if I don't find a new post by her, I feel disappointed. Sometimes I wish, if she could write more than two posts each day (actually I wish there will be new posts, whenever I check her page). I am really proud of her for being such a nice person, a great motivator(In such a younger age!). She writes so many things to live a happier and fruitful life. Me also started following her rules about life. Now, I can say that, my own view towards life got changed.  When I started my Blogathon, with out, any hesitation, she had made a nice guest post for me. "Thanks a Ton", Privy; for all the mental support, for such a wonderful post, and our friendship. cheers!!!

Off late I am on a weight loosing spree. Trying everything under the sun to shed a few kilos. Though I am not fat or something like that but suddenly I have been wanting to entire the size zero bandwagon. You could blame it on the oh-so-perfect-hourglass-figured people around Me for that. So before I could crumble under the pressure to look good, I thought of doing some random googling on this and look what I found -

~On your weight~

It’s nothing but a number that matters entirely too much too many.

A number that doesn’t tell the world how many lives you have touched.

A number that doesn’t tell the world what your passions are.

A number that doesn’t tell the world how your eyes sparkle when you smile,

A number that doesn’t define you in any way whatsoever

I came across this though HERE.How true are these lines!! On second thoughts we are actually habituated in giving undue importance to so many numbers other than our weight. To believe me you need to check out the list below:

Age – Let’s be honest here it really does not matter how old you are unless you are applying for some government job which has age limitations. I can be a sixty year old with a heart of 16 year old or vice versa… It simply does not matter. Our age is only what we feel.

There is no rule book in this world which says that you are expected to behave like this when you are X years old. Though I agree in our society we do have a lot of people who are quite known for doling out free advice on stuff like’ You are A years old, does this kind of behavior suit you?’ But I choose to ignore all that as according to Me age and behavior don’t go hand in hand anywhere.

Height –Now now before you people call me selfish for including this.. please read why I did that. I know people who are short always envy tall people. But believe Me guys its pretty lonely out here at the top. You feel left out in many gatherings where people stand in a close knit circle to talk. You are made to stand last in the row. You can not take up the role of a girl in a play / dance program because you are given the boy's role. And the worst part is I might never be able to hide myself when I hug someone unless I find someone who is atleast 6'4"! 

Believe me , there is nothing in the height. I know I would do anything to be short and I am sure same would be the case with short people too. Its just that the so-called -well wishing aunties and uncles think of it to be of utmost importance while actually it is not justified. It is just a number - too over rated for its importance. 

Number of degrees – This is one thing which I feel is highly overrated in our Indian Society. How qualified you are seems to define your identity which is utterly wrong according to Me.

Remember Chetan Bhagat’s 2 states? In many of the South Indian communities your GPA scores are displayed as medals and trophies while searching for your life partner. I have also been rejected so many times because I am not an engineer. My question is – does that anyway make me a bad person? Are you marrying a person or hiring someone for your company? What should matter is the person’s nature, understanding and maturity rather than the number of degrees a person has.

I am sure each one of you remembers that episode of Satyamev Jayate which was on female foeticide. A doctor from Delhi was thrown out of her house for having conceived a girl, while actually she was married into an entire family of doctors. So now tell me, does qualification guarantee the character of a person?

By saying all this I don’t mean that education is not important. It is very important but let’s not chase it and make this entire process a rat race. Let’s enjoy what we study, remember it because we want to and implement it because we feel we can make a difference. Just like the movie 3 Idiots!

Scores - I remember when I had scored a distinction in my 10^th Standard board exams my dad was very disappointed. He did not even distribute sweets or tell anyone that I had cleared the exams with 78% score. In his office his colleagues had children who had scored 95% and topped the board, because of which he felt embarrassed to share my scores. I felt very humiliated as I was constantly reminded of my failure and how I had ruined my future with my own hands. 

It’s a different story that those children today are very much around me doing almost as  good as / better than me but not miles better for sure. Nobody asked Me what was my score when I gave interviews, the only thing they were interested in was my capability.

Money – However much riches you gather in your life, if you left all alone to enjoy them. Money cannot buy you happiness and neither can it take away your loneliness. What can, are you loved ones ~ friends and family.

We are so used to leading a calculative life that in doing that we sometimes miss the magic that life is all about.In dieting we miss enjoy the small pleasures of our favourite food, in scoring well we miss out enjoying our play time, in adding to our qualifications we miss out having fun with friends, in growing up we miss out our childhood and in gathering all that money we miss out living.

We do all this to live a happy life but in the end that is the only thing we don't seem to do. So at the end of it all, was it really worth it? No... is the only answer I get!

Ah! It feels so much better now...As now, I have finally put all those numbers behind Me, including my weight. Currently I am only interested in the number of Rasogullas in my plate and number of Pani puris I intend to have this evening.....!

One me with different names

 Blogathon-Count down # 28

            Name is the first identity of a person. And, nick names reveals his/her character sometimes. Nick names can be got from any one who likes you, love you, or even jealous with you. ‘Double name’ is something given by small small rivals/enemies or some one who don’t like you or don’t want to appreciate you for anything.

            I don’t have much to list, any way I am going to tell you some of my names..

  The first one was given by my loving father. He used to call me “Chinku pappudu”, when i was too..small. In my little ages, I used to dress like a boy, and pleased to be called as a boy. I become angry at anybody calling me as a “girl”. I had made many fights regarding that.

            Then, I don’t remember from when I was okay to be a ‘girl’, and my father started calling me as “kuttayee”. Actually, this type of name is used to call boys. But, even now, he calls me like that. And, I just love it...

            I don’t know why, but my mother never called me with any pet names(I don’t remember even one!!).

            My chachan (Father’s yonger brother), used to call me as “kunjan”,which means “little one”. But, nowadays he doesn’t call me in that name. May be because, I am not his “little one” now. There are so many little ones now.

            My love(would be hubby), used to call me some sweet names, in our child hood days (ya, we started loving much earlier!!). But, after getting some maturity, (only he got matured, me still in the “kid” state), he don’t think I need to be pampered calling sweet names. He will call me whatever comes to his mind. Actually, nowadays he don’t call me anything directly, but in his cell phone, my phone number is saved as “Devi...” (me really like it). Some months before, it was “Vava”[ meaning, ‘little kid’]. But he changed it as his nick name (universally accepted I should say) is also “Vava” [changed to avoid the confusion, ‘vava’ calling “vava”].

            Then my friends ,seniors in my college days given my the name “Kanathri”- means naughty girl. One of my x-Mas friend called me as “barking baby”, as I was a ‘angry little girl’. Then there was some other names..I am not listing all that.

            When I joined as a lecturer after my B.tech, my sweet colleagues used to call me “kochu” – means little.( Oh!! When will I be a grown up?)

            Lastly, I want to tell you my new name, which is given by my current colleagues. The mechanical department in my college awarded me with the name “ Miss. Systematic”- You can assume why such a name. Anyway, I like it J. I take it as a complement. They teases me by saying, my would be husband..(actually, they don’t know I am engaged) is going to suffer a lot J J...

Euthanasia….right or wrong???......

Blogathon-Count down # 29

Euthanasia (Mercy killing), or assisted suicide, has become an issue that has received widespread attention in recent years, and has been examined from a legal, health as well as religious point of view.

   Recently, I saw the movie Guzarish, main roles were played Hrithik Roshan and Aiswarya Bachan.In that film, Hrithik chatactered a very talented magician, who had got paralised after an accident on one of his magic shows. He had been in the paralised stage for long 12 years, with all his organs started malfunctioning, and even no sensitivity below his neck. He can hear,see,and can even talk and laugh. But, he cant even make his head up straight by his own, and everything was done for him by his nurse, role played by Aiswarya, who had been serving him for this long period.

      In this 12 year period, he was a motivator, inspiring others, in their lives. He says…’life is very beautiful’….He made his own radio station in which he talked to people and helped to solve their life problems. Even, some of his books were the text books in school. But, atlast what happened is that, after 12 years of suffering, he needed Eutanasia, ie mercy killing….and applied for the grant from the court, as he himself is not able to do that. ….Then the story continues…

             At this point what I am going to tell is that about Euthanasia. The word ‘euthanasia’ means ‘good death’ from the Greek word ‘eu’ for good, and ‘Thanatos’ for death. However, it is rarely used in this literal sense which emphasizes the type of death experienced, and is usually employed to refer to the act of deliberately inducing the death of a patient who is in severe pain and distress as a result of a terminal or incurable illness. There are two distinctions in euthanasia: active euthanasia and passive euthanasia.

      Active Euthanasia is the deliberate act of ending the life of a patient with a terminal or incurable disease. Passive euthanasia is the deliberate withholding or withdrawing of life-prolonging medical treatment with the object of hastening the Patient’s death, as a result of which, the patient dies earlier than he/she would have died had treatment been continued.

      Many arguments have been advanced by scholars, human right philosophers and law thinkers advocating legalization of euthanasia all over the world. These were made on the basis of moral, human rights, and utilitarian grounds. The moral ground is that, it is against morality to leave someone in severe pain and do nothing for his/her relief. The human right angle is that, leaving a patient in severe pain would amount to directly challenging the fundamental right of the individual ie, the right to a dignified life. The utilitarian principle believes in the greatest degree of happiness to the maximum number of people. According to this, if anyone is terminally ill, lying in hospital and is in severe pain, then it would not bring his/her family happiness and it will suffer because of his/her pain. So, utilitarian thinkers argue that an act which does not give happiness to anyone is wrong.

      So, in any respect, exercising euthanasia is wrong. First of all, it is in contradiction with the moral basis and beliefs of all religions. Every religion states that, no one except God reserves the right to take a person’s life. Secondly, it prompts doctors to go against their moral duty of always serving and safeguarding the patients irrespective of the severity of their health.

      There are limits to human suffering, especially when there is no light at the end of the tunnel. A terminally ill patient cannot be kept on life support with the hope that, in the foreseeable future, there may be developments in medicine which may save him or her. Quality of life is as important as life itself. People argue that if euthanasia is legalized, it could be misused; but isn’t it that the case with most of the existing laws? Strong safeguards should be put in place to avoid any kind of misuse, and euthanasia should be allowed when no amount of palliative care can help the patient recover. Death is never the first choice, and people opt for this path only because there is none other left to take. To die on one’s own terms can be a boon for both the patients and their families who have to go through this ordeal.

    Many countries/territories legally sanction one or the other forms of  euthanasia. They include:

The Netherlands

Belgium

Switzerland

Luxembourg

Albania

USA(only in 3 states-washington,Orgeon and Montana)

      Man is not a machine run by electro- biochemistry like any other machine which could be set right by repairing or replacing damaged organs. Even a comatose patient has his/her own consciousness. A child could remember the lullabies of the mother she said when it was in the womb. Perinatal consciousness imprints itself on the child for the rest of his life. Head injury patients have their own awareness. Patients under anesthesia on the operating table could recount the conversation of the nurses and doctors.

      ‘Where is the human mind? What is the human mind? How does an individual come to the conclusion that an unconscious patient would prefer death to “suffering”?. How could one kill him/her mercifully (mercilessly)?. Until these vexing questions are answered, man should not be authorised to kill another of his species- the “so called” mercy killing.

…………………………………………………………………………………………….

“There is no right way to do the wrong” –Anon.

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S & A conversations

Blogathon - count down # 30


  'S' and 'A' are engaged. They are in love for 7 years.. Some more months left before marriage. Most of the time they teases each other.

S:    After marriage, I will go home once in every week.

A:   You can go home twice in a month.

S:   ??

A:  You can go on 1st of the month, and...

S:   and??

A:   then come on 15th of that month  and..

S:   whaaat??

A:   and then go on 16th and come on the last day of that month ;)..Happy?  [ winks]

S:  Ghrrr.....

Blog Marathon..

            I am grateful to Preeti Shenoy for this idea. I have seen her doing the blog marathon very successfully. Today, me in a mood “Just try it”. So, here starts the ‘Blogathon”. This is going to be done for 30 days in September. So, Let me start it  today.

            Friends,

  You all are invited to write something on my my space . Bless me with your guest posts. Thank you.

            Sikha