Useless But Important

Rummy is not a state that you reach after gulping loads of RUM. It is a popular cards game in India where you build sequences of 4 and 3 cards. The sequence of 4 cards has to be pure and no jokers can be used. The sequence of 3s are allowed to have 2 jokers at the maximum. Yesterday while chatting with MS, I realized how addictive and compelling this game is. There was once a time...long back...when I used to enjoy games like rummy. Sitting for hours non-stop without realizing that time is passing by, I used to get immersed in this game. Enchanting as it was, the game was fun also. It was an urge to win one game after another. There were other games like Paach-Teen-Don (this is marathi terminology for 5-3-2). One more game that I no longer play. I used to play it with my mom and brother. Lights went out in summer evenings and we (family/friends) used to hang out to do 'Nothing'. Just sit there, chat, and enjoy.

Those were the days. Quality time was spent with each other doing 'useless' things. Even if they seemed 'useless', they are of much value to me than things that I have to do now for the sake of being 'important' or 'meaningful'. Life was okay back then. I used to manage studies, some household chores, and most importantly the 'useless' time. It enhances bonding according to me. The world now I live in has no time at all. 24 hours are less. In today's times, I do everything because I have to do it. There is no time for hanging out for useless purposes. I love setting my priorities for my loved ones, because I know not everything can be achieved in a mere span of 24 hours. Sigh. I wish the days were longer now.

I don't enjoy summer as much as I used to in the past.

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Apprehension

It becomes indeed difficult...when our fears start to become real.

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A Land Far Away..

Chhod aaye hum, woh galiyan...

I miss MY home very much.

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Update

A dear friend asked me to update my blog with the current happenings in my life. All the while I was thinking 'What could I write? What should I write? Is something really happening that I can blog about?'. Well, since a past few days, every step I took forward I moved four steps backward. All these days I personally experienced a quotation that another dear friend of mine always says, "You can beat anything but Stupidity!". How do I explain that? I can't. It is really complicated.

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Hurray

Yipeeeeee! I cleared my PhD qualifiers! Time to chillax and celebrate. I still can't believe it. Time to bask in the summery sun! Hurray!

And happy birthday dear NS or now NA!

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Nebula...

I want to fill this void, but I am not sure 'which one?'!

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Some more...

Quite an expression, a breather for an 'unusual' Friday night:

Aaj kuch yaad kar raha hai dil
Kisi ki fariyaad kar raha hai dil
Chup ke se keh diya dhadkano ne
Apno ko begana kar raha hai dil.....

Waqt ke saath halat badal jaate
Apno ke khayalat badal jaate hain
Jab azamane ka waqt ata hai
Khud apne jazbaat badal jaate hain....

Waqt guzarta raha par sanse thami si thi,
Muskura rahe the hum, par ankho mein namisi thi,
Saath hamare ye jahan tha sara,
Par na jane kyun kuch kami si thi....

Manzilein bhi uski thi, rasta bhi uska tha
Ek hum akele hi the, kafila bhi uska tha....

Kisi ko muqammal jahan nahi milta
Kabhi zameen to kabhi aasmaan nahi milta....

Phewww!

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Spring Ala Re

Spring ala re....and with a bang! I am really jubilated. It seemed to me that the winter lasted for ever. I can't wait to see greenery now. Yippee! There is more to spring than just winter retreat. After all these years, I have completed my coursework. Yippee again! Time to bask in the crisp sun before I gear up for my grueling qualifiers.

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Emancipation

All I want is "Solitude"...........................

Really really bad.....................................

Up above the world so high..................

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It Is About Money

Read some Ralph Waldo Emerson quotations on money. I am still pondering over these. Grave truth, isn't it?

1) Money often costs too much.

2) Can anybody remember when the times were not hard and money not scarce?

These quotations have a shade of black reality that cannot be ignored. Those who have the bucks are lucky. Those who do not possess the moolah are happy as they are. And those somewhere in between, who don't have enough of it, are the ones the most unhappy creatures. Their entire life revolves around going from somewhere middle to somewhat high and in this process, happiness is lost.

In the morning I was discussing with a friend how human beings are the most evovled species on this earth. Right. But they are the most unhappy ones too. With our intelligence we have created a world that serves us with nothing but worries, troubles, tensions, and unhappiness. Animals with their less developed brains do not have a pseudo world and are free from such botherations. Gibberish, is it? If Darwin was alive, he would have seen how evolution is slowly leading to destruction of our inner world.

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The Art of Persuasion

Oh, how I wonder and wish that I could persuade the people in my life - my family, friends, colleagues, and even those who don't know me! I knew it was a skill and it required at least some acumen. I just give up after a while even when I (in my hearts of hearts) know for sure that I am correct. I ain't proud of that. In fact, I need to work on my persuasion skills. And yes, verbal combat is not an answer to that! Even if it was, I would terribly fail. I just cannot be belligerently verbose.

'Persuasion' for me isn't the art of making people blindly believe and follow what I think. It is an art of conveying our thoughts agreeably. How do companies sell their products? Yes, by persuading people to believe them, right? How can one company keeps burgeoning more in the market than others? Thanks to their persuasive skills reaching out to people via the 'idot' box TV (Oh I still say TV and not Television). If not for persuasion, how would then a researcher demonstrate to people that his/her research has all the answers to fill the voids in scientific literature, despite the study being cap a pie flawed? This is life, a real world! We ought to know how to stick here!

I came across 'Introduction to Influence' while researching on Persuasion through Dr. KK. There are people who dedicate their lives to learning and delving more into persuasive skills. Strange, but again isn't that the whole point of this post - Persuasion? It is more than merely art, it is a science in itself.

No, I am not out of my mind. It does help.

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Morning Snow...

Snow at my door step early morning...


I shall have to pave my own path...

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The Paradox of Choice

Read it on Aru's profile and loved it:

"Don't let someone be a priority in your life when you are only an option in their's."

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Back to the Pavilion

Yep, I am back to the Pavilion. After a short and crisp India trip, I am back again in the U.S. of A. Oh, how I wish the days were longer than they are! My vacation came and disappeared in a jiffy. That was definitely the break I had longed for and nurtured for two years. It was really nice to meet my loved ones. Alas! Family reunion times don't last long. I am back to being a regular PhD student. Help me survive here again god. Give me the strength to stay away from my family. Give me the patience to wait for another such break.

Am I happy? Yes, definitely. It feels damn good to be back on schedule and on blogosphere!

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What a Blow!

Ouch!

Did I expect it? No!

Did I want/need it? No!

Can I live with it? No!

Is it a concern? Yes!

And it hurts! Ouch!

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Bleak

Phew! After the snow storm hit Missouri, it came haunting for Ohio. It is 14 Farenheit tonight but without any snow showers. Bleak as it is going to be, this dark starry night, I wish was shorter.

Got some warmth from this quote:
" To be enlightened is simply to be absolutely, unconditionally intimate with this moment. No more. No less." - Scott Morrison

Unconditionally.....hmm........

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Forbidden

I have been strictly forbidden (by a close few) to utter the word "BORE". According to them, I have misused the word at my own leisure; apparently, I don't agree with them. Thats what I feel. But that word has been banned for me. People want to delete it from my list of handful-chosen words.

Err...how can I now express myself? :D:P

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And I Thought......

What if you thought 'you were different......different than others......different than even the closest...' but you were made to realize that 'May be you are not'? May be I am or may be I am not. I don't know. But it did shrink my world to the fathoms of that dark abyss. I wish I can realize that nothing is ideal. It is a real world. But I thought.....I was distinct . May be I am not even close. Your set of the 'world' thinks you are a clone! I am lost in that abyss again.

Time to go to sleep and begin a new day afresh anew!

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One More Year Older

Happy Birthday to my dearestestest brother TJ!

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