Gossamer keepsakes of yesterday

Today, I slept... I slept like a baby! And as I did, I left all my worries behind... wrapped in gossamer bundles, embellished with pretty ribbons with the hues of the rainbows. And yet, a few, I carry with myself. A keepsake from yesterday. Have they not warned us enough of forgetting our past? And in those treasured bundles of the figments of bygone times, I hold all those moments that were almost perfect. As I grow old, maybe these bundles shall be the treasures that might hold me together.

Keepsakes from yesterday...

The Exorcist... and my views on Evil.

Disclaimer: This post does not condone to any sort of religion in particular and are based entirely on my views. I express my deepest apologies in advance if this post hurts anyone reading it.

I saw The Exorcist yesterday. It's touted to be one of the scariest movies of all times! And well, since I've always been game for a scary movie, I decided to watch it alone. Unfortunately, I found that the movie did not scare me as much as I'd expected it to. It all comes down to the person watching it, I suppose. As an Advaitin, I follow the principles that there is no absolute Good or Evil and that if something exists, it's because we perceive it. I've has so many friends who've tried to get me to fear the Evil One and have also gone as far as saying I'm an idolater. I have no issues with people having their own version of Good and Evil. But when someone decides to push their views onto me, that's when I really get wild.

Abrahmic religions have such a wealth of wisdom that there are times when I find no wonder in believing that the world's most practiced religion happens to be one derived from the same source. But then, there are times when I wonder why people of a particular religion would have to torment followers of another just for the sake of proving them wrong? I'm talking about centuries of torment, stigma and hatred that people of the Church had for anyone who did not follow them. I really doubt if the Inquisitors of the Dark Ages are really in Heaven at this moment. But then again, according to me, there is no Heaven and Hell... just complete realization of the Truth. Maybe this is why I find it extremely difficult to have Horror movies affect me too much. Sure, I get the inital chills and then I have my spiritual Guru (Swami Vivekanada) kick me in the rear and warn me that there is no absolute evil and all of it is subjective, and then I smile.

The second thing that got to me is the fact that how the Church had taken it upon themselves to demonize almost any deity that stood as an opposition to their progress! Coming to think of it, Ishtal, Baal, Ra, Kali and numerous other gods who were portrayed as deceivers. But to give the early church it's due, the Christians were also pretty much persecuted by the Jews and the Roman Empire, so it could all have been done in the mode of revenge. Though I understand their emotions of wanting others to see how wrong they are, it would've helped them to actually try seeing things from the other's point of view. Oh well, that's water under the bridge now, isn't it?

Anyway, if one were to ask me, I'd say people were a lot close minded in the Dark ages and it's sad that their lack of understanding (or their blatant refusal to try) has painted many philosophies with the dark taint of Evil. If only they could've understood that everything leads to the same destination and that everyone was getting there in their own way...

P.S. I found the demon's name Pazuzu from the Exorcist too funny to be scared... poor dude, if he were in India, he'd be teased like there's no tomorrow. For, you see, pazuzu rhymes with kakkoozu. And Kakkoozu means... well... google it out, why don't you? :) Oh, and Pazuzu was once again an Assyrian deity who was later "demonized".

Power Plants and Protests

There's been a lot of hullabaloo about a proposed Nuclear Power Plant in Koodamkulam. The project has been under construction for quite some time now (more than a decade ago!). But recently, thanks to the Fukushima incident in Japan and the erstwhile Chernobyl. I cannot deny the fact that a Nuclear disaster is a really horrible thing to happen and if one were to happen, it could do a lot of damage!

But this particular protest smells very fishy. For one, the protesters did not protest when the project was initiated a decade ago. And contrary to popular belief, an investment of these proportions (U.S.$ 3.5 billion) is not just carried out on a whim. The people who protest are citing Chernobyl and Fukushima. Sure, they are horrible reminders of what happens when Human negligence happens or when Nature decides to take the upper hand. But that's hardly a reason to stop work there. The fishermen around the area claim that the effluents from the power plant would contaminate fishes and the ilk and reduce their livelihood in the area. Fair enough... only that they knew the power plant was coming up so long ago. And if they had a problem with it, they should've brought it up way earlier. And saying that a Nuclear Power Plant is a disaster waiting to happen is almost similar to saying "Putting on a light switch would kill you!" There are adversities everywhere and when one sees the advantage of greener energy and better power distribution, it almost seems silly to think of stopping Nuclear power plants for some person's unfounded stigma about it. Do they think that a project of these proportions would be implemented without proper research and safety precautions?

I suspect that this entire protest has a political tinge to it. And if that is true, it's sad. Being a science student, I know how much of an advantage having a Nuclear Power Plant would be. Then again, there were folks who thought switching on the LHC would bring about the end of the world! Oy vey, it's a sad time for science, folks!

Someday... you just wait!

Condescension... that's one of the worst things a person could throw at another person. And right now, I'm having this ugly little critter thrown at me left right and center!

Right now, I'm being condescended by people who I'd hoped would never in my wildest dreams would and so, it's a little disconcerting. But I'm holding my ground! Oh yeah! They can be all high and mighty and treat me like I'm nothing! They can just assume that I have it easy. They can do whatever the goddamned hell they want and I just am not bothered about it.

So... if I'm not bothered about it, why the post, you wonder? Good question.

Because, in the heart of hearts, I am a little. I find condescension something that's extremely insulting and demeaning. And so, cannot stand it at all. But rather than feel little or depressed, I tend to scoff at the condesender and give them the symbolic "finger".

P.S. I can't cook well and all that's fine! But if anybody is expecting a "kitchen slave", they're going to be in for a nasty surprise, aren't they? >=)

JLPT N4! Here I coooooooome!!

♬Today is the day! Oh yeah.... Today is the day! Today I'll have my way. Oh yeah! Today is the daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!!!!!♬

Ahem...As most of us on this side of the planet struggle to get our peepers open so early on a Sunday morn, I'm full of beaming energy! Today, I submit my JLPT N4 application form! There's another reason why I'm so super-cali-fragalistic so early in the morning! Yesterday in class, I was actually able to understand the Kanji and the context of the story more easily than most in class. It could be because I knew the story of Urashima Tarou beforehand but still... I feel elated that maybe I am not as hopeless in this new class as I had feared! And, I also  realized that the few who were really good (one guy who seems really nice but is a little "show-off"y at times) actually was taking this class for the second time! And yesterday, Swarna-san and I managed to garner some attention towards ourselves in the positive sense! There were enquiries of where we did our N5 (though we mentioned it at the first class itself!) and how long ago we'd started learning! Swarna-san was able to crack N5 with just two months of preparation! Hah! Take that, you people who think we're not good enough in what we learn!

Hmmm.... Shimizu-sensei was so happy for Swarna-san that I still grin like an idiot when I think back at how her eyes shone with pride when she gave her the mark scores! And I seriously cannot let her down! So, henceforth, I am going to become the bushi of Japanese and shall take down anything that stands in my way of complete Japanese mastery! :D

On a completely disconnected note, the folks who're staying as tenants at our place seem to be intent on breaking the doors before they leave! There's this really old man with them and by the gods above! If he weren't old... I swear I would've given him quite the lashing for all the garbage he spews around the house! *sigh* I shalln't spoil the good mood I'm in right now and shall reserve these issues for another post.

Japanese classes and my random ramblings

Today in Japanese class, for the first time that I can remember, we dealt with an actual story rather than the usual "dialogue" format of sentences. Does this mean we're actually being gauged as capable of handling more than three sentences at one go and not have our head explode? That's a daunting realization to say the least. For I don't believe I'm quite as good as they hope I am.
Anyway, today, we dealt with the story of Urashima Taro and Otohime of Ryuugu castle. For those who're unaware of the story, you can read all about it here! (Though they refer Ryugu as Rin Gin there!)

Now, when Sensei was explaining what Ryugu was, he told us that almost every kid in Japan would catch the drift the moment the name Ryugu was mentioned and that kids in India aren't so when someone tells them of some mythical place from Indian folklore. And it got me thinking... is it because we don't value our traditions and the folklore that comes as a part of it as much as the Japanese do or is it just because there are so many religions around and every religion has a set of folktales and everyone knowing one thing is quite... impossible! Aanyway, it was interesting and I should say that the story caught my fascination so very much! :) And to finally be able to understand the nuances of the language in the form of a story... it's amazing! So very different from the usual fare!

And the strangest thing happened today in class! On my way there, I was wondering what the Japanese word for crow was and I'd made up my mind to look it up once class was over. And then strangely, out of the blue, sensei remarked that the Japanese word for crow was karasu (烏). I might be wrong but it almost seemed like the one thing I was searching for had come up to me. Clearly something beyond human comprehension was at work there... the quantum universe perhaps heard my call for information and supplied it to me? Or maybe there are kami out there who listen to mortals and aid them in ways both little and big. I would never know!

La Tomatina in India? Oy vey to Oh yay!

Remember when I told you guys they were planning on having the La Tomatina festival in Bangalore?

Well, thank God the government had the sense to ban this atrocity in the name of revelry! The Deccan Herald carries a detailed report on how it happened.

Strangely though, no news of this ban seems to figure in the official webpage of the event and somehow, I feel they might be thinking of going along with it in spite of the ban. I know I hate stereotypes but has the Yuppie culture really gotten to us as well? I sure hope not!

Image Courtesy: Wiki Commons