Happy Post

The best way to read this post is to have family/friends/colleagues sitting with you as you read it out. Ask your friends to listen to you carefully as you read out each line aloud. And hey, you should be listening to yourself too! Okie, let's do this.

Ha ha ha ha ha!
Haha haaa ha ha ha!
Hahahaha haaahahahaaaa!
Haha heeeyyy haha ha! Haha hoooh! Hehehe!
Haha hohoooo! Haha haha!
Haha hehe hoooo! Hahaha!
(Hehehehe... Are you listening to yourself?)
Ooooohh hahaha, haha haaaaa, heheheee!
Hahahahahahahaaaa! Haha hahahaha!
Hooohaha, ho hooooohaha!
Ho ho ho hahahahooooohaha! Hahahaaa!
He hehehe hooooooh! Hahahahaha!
(You know what you are doing, right?)
Hooooooohahahaaha! Hahahoooohahahahaaaa!
Heheheheheeeeyyyyy hahahaahahahaaaaaahahhaaaa!
Hehehehehehehehe! Hehehehehehehehe!
Ooooohh hahaha, haha haaaaa, heheheee!
Hahahahahahahaaaa! Haha hahahaha!
Hooohaha, ho hooooohaha!
Ho ho ho hahahahooooohaha! Hahahaaa!
He hehehe hooooooh! Hahahahaha!
(Your friends are listening to you, right?)
Hooooooohahahaaha! Hahahoooohahahahaaaa!
Heheheheheeeeyyyyy hahahaahahahaaaaaahahhaaaa!
Hehehehehehehehe! Hehehehehehehehe!
Oooooooooooohhhhh my goodness! Hahahahahaahaha!
(Don't stop. Repeat the above lines one more time.)


If you enjoyed this exercise, do it three times a day, every day.

JUST LAUGH!
Be happy. :)

Cheers!

Gems

The man who goes with the crowd will
Get no further than the crowd.
The man who walks alone will find
Himself in places no one knows about.

Dogmas

"I never break any rules. Sometimes I simply make new ones for myself."
- PRADEEP K.

Among rules, regulations and norms, I certainly respect those formulated by a constitution and enforced by a court of law. They are essential, although some of them do need refinement. I also respect rational organizational rules and priciples, which are also essential because they encourage a healthy and congenial work atmosphere.

However, socio-religious dogmas, doctrines, traditions and customs fall on a totally different plane. I do respect those of such, which make rational sense. Many others, which are enforced without good reason, or for the sole reason that they have been prevelent since ages, do not appeal to me. In general I prefer not to follow anything that I cannot question, or that for which the understanding is not clear.

If society were to dictate what I should or should not eat, or what caste I should marry in, or what type of music I should enjoy, or whether I should have friends from a specified religion, sect, or cult... In all such cases, I would simply have to tell them where to stuff their principles.

Simply because I am part of society does not mean that I am any less of an individual. I cannot respect people who force their idiosyncrasies on others. Furthermore, I cannot respect people who give up their individuality and dreams, and succumb to the socio-religious dogmas and traditions.

In a truly social environment, individuals must not dictate terms, but must respect another's rights.

Cheers!

I Am Game!

For those who love me, and have probably been long wondering what happened to me:

Nearly a month ago Nature, with all Her glorious kindness, invited me to play a game with Her. A small lump developed on the right side, somewhere around the 11th rib, on my back. Initially it caused me some discomfort like fever in the evenings and mild pain.

Underwent Sonogram and Pathology tests. The Pathology test was extremely painful, and why I did not howl in the lab will forever remain a mystery to the doctors! Anyway, they said there was nothing to be worried about immediately, but they need to perform a biopsy - to surgically drain the lump out from my body and to break it into bits and study it minutely - to be sure of the cause and the further course of action.

I had not been able to think of undergoing that till now, since December 11th was my sister's wedding.

Now, about a month since it showed up, the lump is still as it is. Fortunately the fever symptoms have vanished. There is no pain unless pressure is applied.

Mostly at the beginning of January 2007, I should get back to the surgeons for further discussions about what course of action can best be taken then. I am hoping it will not be anything serious.

But in any case, I am letting Nature know that I am game!

Cheers! :)

Happy Returns

Friends, readers, blogmates...

Many Happy Returns Of The Day!


It was this day, last year, that Shatanand's relentless prodding had been successful in making me open my mind out on blogspot. However, today I am not celebrating the fact that this blog is one year old. I am celebrating all of you, my wonderful friends, readers and blogmates who considered it worth your while to visit my space. I have been fortunate enough to have a handful of great friends, online as well as offline. This one goes out to all of you.

All of us have been walking on our own paths. The paths sometimes intersected with or ran parallel to each other, and sometimes diverged from or opposed each other. Some of us have been voracious lone wolfs, while some have been humble sheep. All this is simply natural, based on each individual's convictions. I respect all of you. Therefore, I am celebrating all of you.

On my journey, I have had some very favourable times and some not-so-favourable times; had people joining me and people leaving me; been blessed with encouragement and cursed with discouragement; been nourished by love and impoverished by apathy...


Despite that I am glad that I have not worn masks, and that my convictions have not staggered. I continue today on the same exotic journey, which I started on years ago. And I shall continue on the same path to the finishing line.

Dear friends, it does not matter whether you walk a parallel path or a divergent one; it does not matter whether you stick to a single path or try several. On this occasion I wish all the very best for all of you, and hope that you will all make it to the finishing line as soon as you can.

Please do stop to smell those beautiful flowers on your way... :)

Do we care?

Nature: the natural physical world including plants and animals and landscapes etc., or the complex of emotional and intellectual attributes which determine a person's characteristic actions and reactions, or a causal agent creating and controlling things in the universe...

No matter what connotation one decides to take of the word, one cannot escape the fact that we are gradually alienating ourselves from nature.

There were days when we, children as well as adults, used to love and appreciate nature. Today, nature seems to be evaporating fast, making way for mechanical or technological marvels and synthetic substitutes.

As a kid I loved swinging from the supporting roots of the Banyan tree - broad, cool, dark, and shady. The banyan is like a boarding house: it attracts a large number of visitors - birds, squirrels, insects, and flying foxes; many of these interesting creatures actually live in the tree, which is full of dark, private corners suitable for a variety of tenants. One can climb on to its branches without difficulty and without danger of falling off. Reading a book without any disturbances leaning against its broad trunk used to be true joy.

It is a known fact that most plants largely take in Carbon Dioxide and release Oxygen during the day (photosynthesis), and take in Oxygen and release Carbon Dioxide during the night (respiration). But some plants such as the Peepal tree (Ficus Religiosa, called Ashvattha in Sanskrit) can uptake Carbon Dioxide and release Oxygen during the night as well, because of their ability to perform a type of photosynthesis called Crassulacean Acid Metabolism (CAM). The Peepal is used extensively in Ayurveda. Its bark yields the tannin used in treating leather. Its leaves, when heated in ghee, are applied to cure wounds.

A friend of mine dearly misses those Painted Storks, Grey Herons and the occasional Spot-billed Pelicans that used to nest in his village on the Peepal, Babul (Acacia Nilotica), and Imli (Tamarindus Indica) trees from January till the end of the monsoons to feed, breed and prepare the young ones for the long journey across continents.

Today we have taken complete liberties and replaced the wonderful nature of our physical world with our filth. Dense forests and wooded areas have been cropped to make way for our concrete jungles, thus driving away, and conceivably exterminating the natural denizens who had survived the path of evolution. Fresh air has been replaced with our exhaust fumes, and plastic flowers have won over our beautiful natural gardens.

We have begun to experience the worst of our man-made world, be it the synthetic fruits and vegetables; the chemically beefed up meat; the contamination; the incessant din... Exactly what is it that gives us the nerve to imagine ourselves powerful enough to overthrow nature? Will we ever realize that damage to nature actually signifies the beginning of the end for our race? Will we ever be able to return to our roots? Or will we eliminate our own chances of survival?

Do we even care?

Laff It Off

Four married guys go golfing. During the 4th hole the following conversation took place:

First Guy: "You have no idea what I had to do to be able to come out golfing this weekend. I had to promise my wife that I will paint every room in the house next weekend."

Second Guy: "That's nothing, I had to promise my wife that I will build her a new deck for the pool."

Third Guy: "Man, you both have it easy! I had to promise my wife that I will remodel the kitchen for her."

They continue to play the hole when they realized that the fourth guy has not said a word. So they ask him. "You haven't said anything about what you had to do to be able to come golfing this weekend. What's the deal?"

Fourth Guy: "I just set my alarm for 5:30am. When it goes off, I shut off my alarm, give the wife a budge and say, 'Golf Course or Intercourse?' So she says, 'Wear your sweater.'"
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Mother Superior was walking in the garden one day when she saw a novice nun working in the vegetable patch. Unfortunately every seed she planted was stolen by the birds, which were sitting, watching her from nearby.

"Fuck off!" she shouted, "Just fuck off!"

Mother Superior was quite disgusted by this and called her over.

"Young lady.......That is NOT how a young nun behaves. Next time the birds steal your seeds, just say shoo.......shoo.... and they'll FUCK OFF by themselves."
________________________________________

A few months after his parents were divorced, Little Johnny passed by his mom's bedroom and saw her rubbing her body and moaning, "I need a man, I need a man!".

Over the next couple of months, he saw her doing this several times.

One day, he came home from school and heard her moaning. When he peeked into her bedroom, he saw a man on top of her.

Little Johnny ran into his room, took off his clothes, threw himself on his bed, started stroking himself, and moaning, "Ohh, I need a bike! I need a bike!"
________________________________________

Cheers!
;)