artisticencounterz

How to predict PM’s festival speeches – A comprehensive guide

2010-09-09T18:32:00.000-07:00

Let’s see what we have in store for the 2011 speech by analysing the 2009 and 2010 Hari Raya messages…

2010: PM calls for unity among races

2009: PM: Let’s be one family

2010

Tear down the walls of suspicion and discard prejudices – this is the Hari Raya Aidilfitri message to the nation this year from Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

2009

It is time to open the “doors of their hearts” to all fellow citizens. We must break down the walls of prejudice, hatred and apathy for the future of our children and that of the nation.

2010

Encouraging Muslims to carry on the tradition of holding open houses, the Prime Minister said it was a unique Malaysian custom, practised nowhere else in the world, where friends of various races and religions could call on Muslims without any hindrance or apprehension.

2009

Hosting of open houses has become a unique way of celebrating the festivals of the various racial and religious communities in our country.

This is indeed a good practice and must be encouraged, but we must not stop at just visiting our friends at their open houses. Instead, we must strive to develop a deeper and more genuine relationship with those of different races and religions.

2010

Najib’s call for unity and solidarity among the races was echoed by his deputy Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and Barisan Nasional leaders.

2009

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak had rightly made racial unity the focus of his Hari Raya Aidilfitri message to the nation.

2010

Malaysians had much to be thankful for to be able to celebrate Aidilfitri in peace and prosperity.

“We are free from wars, conflicts, oppression and natural disasters which some of our brethren elsewhere in this world suffer from,” Najib said in his Aidilfitri message yesterday.

2009

As we celebrate Hari Raya Aidilfitri, let us not forget how fortunate we are to be blessed with such diverse cultures in our country. These are God-given treasures that we must cherish and preserve at all costs.

2010

He said Malaysia was a democratic, cosmopolitan, multi-religious and multi-racial country with Muslims making up the majority of the population.

The Prime Minister advised Muslims to check themselves from getting dragged into extremist activities and ignorance.

“If we allow these to take root, it will only mean that we are sowing the seeds of destruction to destroy everything we have built thus far,” he said.

2009

We are not always right, neither are others always wrong. As such we must adopt the good of others and discard the bad in ours. That is the basic principle of peaceful co-existence that we must instill in the hearts of our children. That is what we must do for lasting peace, progress and happiness.

We must build on our diversity to make the various cultural differences our way of life. Diversity must be seen as a sign of strength, not weakness.

2010

He said Muslims had the moral responsibility to uphold the trust of the national leadership, a calling which he said they could not run away from.

2009

His advice to the Muslims is timely; being the majority they not only have the right but, more importantly, the responsibility, to carry the torch of unity and progress of all Malaysians.

No-Face Book – The Facebook for Enemies

2010-05-19T02:47:00.000-07:00

What is the point of having 1000 friends in your Facebook when in real life, they are your enemies? If you don’t even “give face” to your friends, then it’s about time you added them to No-Face Book – The Facebook for Enemies.

Initially created by gangsters who wanted an easy way to facilitate table-talks and trade fire arms, No-Face Book is gaining popularity among amateur criminals and even teenage enemies from high schools and colleges.

Developed in line with Facebook’s concepts, this new popular social network maintains some key aspects from Facebook that are aligned with its objectives such as Mafia Wars and Vampire apps.

In a public demo, No-Face Book CEO John Gotti explained the 10 key functions of the social network:

1. Add as enemy: add your enemies into your network for easy negotiations and gang mergers. Create gangs and request enemies to be a fan of your gang.

2. Suggest an enemy. – if you know someone who is avoiding the social network, why leave them alone? Suggest them to your other enemies to be sucked in too.

3. Dislike your enemy’s photos, status, or just dislike them! Its so easy.

4. Send private insults to your enemies and keep track of insults you receive.

5. Find and interact with new enemies by analyzing the ‘mutual enemies’ column.

6. Enemy requests can be ignored as how it works in Facebook but the enemy will be notified that you ignored to add the spice to the network.

7. Enemies have birthdays too – hurl rotten tomatoes, eggs or sign up as premium member to choose weapons to use on your enemies including bomb-in-a-candle.

8. We have not forgotten the fun you have on Facebook games. We have introduced Harmville. Blast your enemy’s barn and kill their cattle. Merge your gangs and destroy the crops!

9. Write on Firewall of your enemies if you miss them and see Firewall-to-firewall to track conversation and negotiations.

10. Tag your enemies as anything you wish to create new fights. With the stealth settings, your enemies cannot untag themselves unless they surrender to you using the Humiliate Me! application.

Get ready for your funeral in style

2010-05-19T02:45:00.000-07:00

Dying soon? Why don’t you get yourself prepared for the ultimate luxury in dying experience? Head over to Hong Kong for the Asia Funeral Expo!

If you have not pampered yourself enough for the past 70 years, don’t fret. Your time is now… You can buy everything you need and pre-book your funeral coordinator at the one-stop death expo.

Tired of looking down from heaven at a lousy photo of you on the casket? Head over to our photography section to take a photo of yourself and keep it in our online database. We will frame it for you when the need arises – now complete with free make-up and embossed frame!

When you are here, do not miss the Tombstone Pavilion - the largest specialized monument pavilion in funeral expo in Asia. We have reputable stone suppliers specialized in tombstones, monuments, headstones, plaques, sculptures, urns, vase & stone funeral products. Get your favourite superhero or idol engraved on your headstone for free and if you book your stone during the expo, you will get 50% off on your next purchase (non-transferrable).

Living all your life in a crammed 600 sq ft can sometimes get on your nerves. Live a full life and beyond. Yes, it’s achievable right here at the AFE Cemetery section. A congregation of cemetery professionals & buyers across nations will facilitate information exchange on real estate properties for the afterlife! Fine finishes, cosy compartments in your own basement abode now at affordable prices. You don’t have to ‘dig’ deep into your pockets anymore!

Some other highlights of products offered include urns and caskets made of titanium and gold. Also new to this year’s expo is a website service section dedicated to an after-death experience on cyberspace.

Besides having a permanent space on the world wide web, the built-in program helps to maintain your social networking sites like Facebook after you have physically left earth. It even changes your status accordingly!

Okay I made the last paragraph up but the rest of it is absolutely true! Happening now in Hong Kong… at www.asiafuneralexpo.com

Iron Man 2 and the Journey Within

2010-05-11T18:48:00.000-07:00

We watched Iron Man 2 yesterday. In the final scene, Iron Man aka Tony Stark streaks across the sky in his ultra fast suit, chased by his old friend James ‘Rhodey’ on another armour suit designed by Tony Stark himself.

The irony here is – although ‘Rhodey’ is Tony’s friend and doesn’t intend to hurt him, he is not in control of the suit. The suit keeps chasing and attacking Iron Man. ‘Rhodey’ says to Iron Man (he was at least in control of the communication system) in this scene that his suit is being controlled by someone else, in this case, Ivan Vanko – the evil scientist.

Enough of science fiction, now for the science. This morning I was reading Swami Chimayananda’s article on Bondage posted by Kugan on Harnessing the Heart. I immediately connected that article to the scene depicted above.

Swami says:

Think of the tragedy. You must attend to this body constantly, all the twenty-four hours of all the three hundred and sixty-five days of a year, nay, and one day more in a leap year. There is no escape. You must be with it all the time, without any holiday. An all-time-servant you become of your own body. You can have a release from your office, home, friends, society, —from everything, but not from this body-catering-mission in life.

Although this spiritual message may not have been intended by the Iron Man 2 scriptwriter, ‘Rhodey’ in that scene was being controlled by Ivan Vanko. He became a slave to every move that Ivan programmed the armour suit to perform. Similarly, we have become slaves to our body and mind. We are merely wearing the suit of our physical body. Our weapons of senses are being controlled by external influences on the mind. If only we could turn our vision inward, we would discover the true ‘Rhodey’ inside of us – the divine soul.

Swami continues:

Because of this identification you must preserve this body, feed it, clothe it, treat it, when ill, and when necessary it must also get a blood transfusion or a heart transplant. It is not sufficient that we look after and preserve the body, but we must also run after all the objects desired by it—house, car, radio, air-conditioner, television and what not! 'Why am I living so contentedly in this slavery?' 'Because this body is me. My body's happiness is my happiness.'

‘Rhodey’ kept chasing Iron Man – being controlled by foreign power. He was aware, but he couldn’t do anything – the external force was too strong. Finally, Rhodey’s suit was reset – over-riding the control and he became his true self once again.

Let us all get in touch with the true Rhodey within us by controlling the armour we have. The only way to do this is by resetting our thoughts and mind in tune with God.

Go Slow...

2010-05-02T19:51:00.000-07:00

This is an old article that I received last year, but worth reading again…

It's been 18 years since I joined Volvo, a Swedish company. Working for them has proven to be an interesting experience. Any project here takes 2 years to be finalized, even if the idea is simple and brilliant. It's a rule.

Globalized processes have caused in us (all over the world) a general sense of searching for immediate results.. Therefore, we have come to posses a need to see immediate results. This contrasts greatly with the slow movements of the Swedish. They, on the other hand, debate, debate, debate, hold x quantity of meetings and work with a slowdown scheme. At the end, this always yields better results.

1. Sweden has 2 million inhabitants. .
2. Stockholm has 500,000 people.
3. Volvo, Escania, Ericsson, Electrolux, are some of its renowned companies. Volvo even supplies NASA.

The first time I was in Sweden , one of my colleagues picked me up at the hotel every morning. It was September, bit cold and snowy. We would arrive early at the company and he would park far away from the entrance (2000 employees drive their car to work).

The first day, I didn't say anything, neither the second or third days. One morning I asked him, "Do you have a fixed parking space?

I've noticed we park far from the entrance even when there are no other cars in the lot."

To which he replied, "Since we're here early we'll have time to walk, don't you think that whoever gets in late will need a place closer to the door?" Imagine my face.

Nowadays, there's a movement in Europe named Slow Food. This movement establishes that people should eat and drink slowly, with enough time to taste their food, spend time with the family, friends, without rushing. Slow Food is against its counterpart, Fast Food and what it stands for as a lifestyle. Slow Food is the basis for a bigger movement called Slow Europe, as mentioned by Business Week.

Basically, the movement questions the sense of "hurry" and "craziness" generated by globalization, fuelled by the desire of "having in quantity" (life status) versus "having with quality", "life quality" or the "quality of being".

French people, even though they work 35 hours per week, are more productive than Americans or British. Germans have established 28.8 hour workweeks and have seen their productivity driven up by 20%..

This slow attitude has come to the notice of USA , the pupils of the fast and "do it now" brigade.

This no-rush attitude doesn't represent doing less or having a lower productivity.
It means working and doing things with greater quality, productivity, perfection, with attention to detail and less stress.
It means re-establishing family values, friends, free and leisure time.. Taking the "now", present and concrete, versus the "global", undefined and anonymous.
It means taking humans' essential values, the simplicity of living.
It stands for a less coercive work environment, more happy, lighter and more productive work place where humans enjoy doing what they know best how to do.

It's time to stop and think on how companies need to develop serious quality with no-rush that will increase productivity and the quality of products and services, without losing the essence.

In the movie, 'Scent of a Woman', there's a scene where Al Pacino asks a girl to dance and she replies, "I can't, my boyfriend will be here any minute now". To which Al Pacino responds, "A life is lived in an instant". Then they dance the tango!

Many of us live our lives running behind time, but we only reach it when we die of a heart attack or in a car accident rushing to be on time. Others are so anxious to live for the future that they forget to live the present, which is the only time that truly exists.

We all have equal time throughout the world. No one has more or less. The difference lies in how each one of us does with our time. We need to live each moment. As John Lennon said, "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans".

Congratulations for reading this article till the end of this message.
There are many who will have stopped in the middle so as not to waste time in this "Globalized" world

Now my question is – what will happen to Volvo now that it is a part of a Chinese auto company? Are they going to speed up?

Hong Kong vs Malaysia – A Pictorial Essay

2009-12-30T23:42:00.000-08:00

Nice morning sunshine

Freezing mornings (at least for now)

Nice mamak menu mmm…

HK staple dish 

We complained when it was RM 1.92

They pay HKD 15! (RM 7 plus)

Living room in Malaysia

Home in HK

Tomyam Way to Clean Your Guts

2009-10-01T07:24:00.000-07:00

In a latest development, Thai and Laos food scientists have come up with a body cleansing formula.

Nakhon Ratakorn of Thai National University said, "We trying to merge the taste of Tomyam with the detox element to produce this product." His partner Pitipon adds, "Now you can have all the Tomyam you want, and have clean poo too!"

The new formula was patented and acknowledged by World Health Organization as the breakthrough discovery of the decade. It is now being tested at Thai restaurants around the world.

Detox formula manufacturers now face a tough battle against this new product. They are looking at possible mergers with the founders of "Tom Yam Bee Hoon Soap"

(photo taken at a Thai Restaurant in Tropicana City Mall, PJ)

Naina Mohammad - The Earth Shattering Personality

2009-09-25T00:07:00.000-07:00

(This story is not related to anyone specific. And I am not a terrorist.)

He was the talk of the town. Naina Mohammad. When you hear the name, it sends shudders. People from all walks of life flocked to him. No, he wasn’t a saint or a seer. They all knew it. He had this magnetic personality, oozing with enthusiasm, positive outlook and he was a motivational genius.

One day, I decided to follow my friends Mary and Visalachi to Naina Mohammad’s talk. They were both very excited, as this wasn’t the normal monthly talk. It was a 3-hour session on the Essence of Bhagavad Gita.

“What? You mean Mary and Visalachi sits there for 3 hours listening to Naina Mohammad speaking on Krishna? Wow…!”

I was impressed, but the skepticism was lingering at the back of my head. Which was why I decided to follow them in the first place.

I have to admit, I was thoroughly enjoying listening to this man. He was funny and he knew things that I didn’t know about my own religion. At the end of the session, he gave all of us a round ball-like thing wrapped in a white cloth. He said it was a magnet ball, charged in Brindavan.

He gave us specific instructions – to place it at any public place with a lot of crowd movement. It was intended as a selfless effort by us to spread the positive vibrations within the ball to as many people as possible. I felt it was a noble cause, so I took one.

A few days passed since the talk. I was telling my family members about Naina Mohammad. They all gave me the same stares I gave Mary when she told me about him.

Here was a man, so unique, so knowledgeable and works selflessly for world peace and happiness. I think we all should emulate his principles, I thought to myself.

There was another talk the next day but it was cancelled because KL had a few bomb blasts earlier that day and there was panic in a lot of places. I called Mary to tell her that I wouldn’t be going.

“Hi Mary, I think we should not go out today. There’s a lot of panic outside.”

“Ya, you know I feel so guilty,” said Mary.

“Why?”

“I am still having the ball that he gave us. We should go and place it somewhere to avoid all these unnecessary bombs and all,” said Mary.

Then there was a loud bang on the other side.
“Hello… Mary! Mary!… Hello…”

"Quit Worrying" - God's Words

2009-09-07T18:13:00.000-07:00

1. QUIT WORRYING
Life has dealt you a blow and all you do is sit and worry. Have you forgotten that I am here to take all your burdens and carry them for you? Or do you just enjoy fretting over little things that come your way?

2. PUT IT ON THE LIST
Something needs to be done or taken care of…Put it on the list. No, not your list.Put it on MY to-do list. Le Me be the one to take care of the problem. I can’t help you until you turn it over to Me. And although My to-do list is long, I am after all… God. I can take care of anything you put into My hands. In fact, if the truth were ever really known, I take care of a lot of things for you that you never even realize.

3. TRUST ME
Once you have given your burdens to Me, quit trying to take them back. Trust in Me. Have the faith that I will take care of all your needs,your problems and your trials. Problem with the kids?Put them on My list. Problem with finance?Put it on My list. Problem with your emotional roller coaster? For My sake, put it on My list. I want to help you. All you have to do is ask.

4. LEAVE IT ALONE
Don’t wake up in the morning and say, “Well, I am feeling stronger now… I think I can handle it from here!” Why do you think you are feeling stronger now? It is simple… You gave Me your burdens and I am taking care of them. I also renew your strength and cover you in My peace. Don’t you know that if I give you these problems back, you will be right back where you started?Leave them with Me and forget about them. Just let Me do My job.

5. TALK TO ME
I want you to forget a lot of things. Forget what was making you crazy. Forget the worry and the fretting, because you know I am in control. But there is one thing I pray you will never forget… Please don’t forget to talk to Me… OFTEN! I LOVE YOU!I want to hear your voice. I want you to include Me in on the things going on in your life. I want to hear you talk about your friends and family. Prayer is simply you having a conversation with Me. I want to be your dearest friend.

6. HAVE FAITH
I see a lot of things from up here that you can’t see from where you are. Have faith in Me that I know what I am doing.Trust Me, you wouldn’t want the view from My eyes. I will continue to care for you and meet your needs. You only have to trust Me.Although I have a much bigger task than you,it seems as if you have so much trouble just doing the simple part. How hard can trust be?

7. SHARE
You were taught to share when you were only two years old. When did you forget? The rule still applies… Share with those who are less fortunate than you. Share your joys with those who need encouragement. Share your laughter with those who have not heard any in such a long time. Share your tears with those who have forgotten how to cry. Share your faith with those who have none.

8. BE PATIENT
I managed to fix it so in just one life-timeyou could have so many diverse experiences. You grow from a child to an adult… have children, change jobs many times, learn many trades, travel to so many places, meet thousands of people, and experience so much…

9. BE KIND
Be kind to others for I love them just as much as I love you. They may not dress like you, or talk like you, or live the same way you do,but I still love you all. Please try to get along, for My sake. I created each of you different in some way. It would be so boring if you were all identical. Please… Know that I love each of your differences.

10. LOVE YOURSELF
As much as I love you, how can you not love yourself?You were created by Me for one reason only –to be loved, and to love in return. I am a God of love… Love Me… Love your neighbors… But also love yourself…It makes My heart ache when I see you angry with yourself when things go wrong… You are very precious to Me!

Dharmic Challenges

2009-09-03T02:51:00.000-07:00

Most of the times we come across Dharmic Challenges (Challenges in making the decision which is morally right). Some are more obvious to us, but some has become a norm.

Ethics and morality is becoming a new buzzword, when in actual fact, it should have been the foundations of the ancient teachings carried with us in our daily lives.

Marina Mahathir takes a look at these challenges in “Merit comes from making right choices”

Quote

Living the faith is not just about avoiding what is prohibited, but more so about doing the right things where morals and ethics are concerned.

Every day our lives seem to be increasingly circumscribed until the question of choice in our lives becomes irrelevant.

There are some people in our midst who seem to think that the only way to fulfill our religious obligations is by removing any sort of temptation or challenge in our paths.

Since we are prohibited from drinking, the answer is therefore to remove any form of alcohol from our sight so that we may never have the opportunity to be tempted by it.
Or, to disallow young Muslims to attend events sponsored by alcoholic beverage companies.
The assumption is that by the mere presence of liquor, we would abandon all inhibitions and imbibe.

This suggests two things. One is that the religious education of the young must be so inadequate that they feel totally uninhibited when faced with what they should know is prohibited.

Secondly, our faith is essentially a weak one since it can never restrain us from breaking rules.
There are other faiths that have food prohibitions as well. Many Hindus and Buddhists don’t eat beef. There are people who take no meat at all.

Yet, living in a world of carnivores, where the beef burger is ubiquitous and most people are oblivious of others’ dietary restrictions, they stick to their diets throughout their lives. Do they have stronger faith than Muslims?

But faith is about more than just prohibited drinks and foods. It is also about morals and ethics. Every day we are faced with choices that challenge our sense of morality.

Do we pay a little extra to the officer in order to expedite our applications? Do we beat the red light, thus endangering other people, just because we are a little late? Do we keep quiet about a mistake we made and let others take the blame?

It would be nice to get rid of corruption completely so that we never have to deal with it. But do we hear of anyone calling for a ban on it? Or mobilising religious officials to catch anyone giving or receiving a bribe?

If our faith directs our way of life, then ethical and moral questions should dog us every day. How is it that those calling for people who drink to be whipped have nothing to say about people who neglect to repay loans? Or who leave their children in destitution?

God said in the Quran, “if it had been His will, He could indeed have guided you all”. (6:149)

We could all be perfectly good if He had so willed it. But we are given choices because that is how we earn our merits. We have the opportunity to think about what we should do and then decide.

Unquote

The 28-Year Mystery

2009-08-09T19:42:00.000-07:00

Over the past 28 years, I was open-fired with questions like, “Are you a Malayali?”, “Your ancestors are from Kerala, you must be a Malayali…”, “Then, are you a Tamil?”, “Why do you celebrate Vishu then?”

OK, so quite frankly, there is too much complication to explain all this, but after the long wait, my man KV Krishnan will tell all you mystified souls who is Jaidev… (if you can survive through the article :P )

QUOTE

"Are you from Palghat ?" by KV Krishnan

"You must surely be from Palghat," the fat one remarked, slurping a generous dose of Veeraswamy's piping mulligatawny. 'Surely not here in Central London,' I mused, slicing a dosai with my keen incisors. The fat one must have discovered my antecedents the way I hissed a 'thoshai' instead of the 'dosai'. Or probably I had failed the Biblical 'sibboleth' test by stuttering a hovercrafting 'zhzh' instead of a tongue-braking 'lll'. Or did I stacatto a 'chchch' instead of a 'ssss'? I wasn't too sure.
Americans, I had always held, were a weird lot. Till the other day dear Mr. Bostonian from East Lovell confided that he found Indians a shade queerer. Myself included. Armed with a dog-eared Fodor's guide, he was pottering around looking a bit confused.
"So you are a Tamil Tiger?" he asked me querulously, peering from behind his gold-rimmed spectacles.
"No," I replied stoutly, quite unable to suppress my amusement.
"You must surely be from Tamil Nadu, since you are not from Mysore, Andhra Pradesh or Kerala..."
"No !" I insisted firmly. "I am a Kerala Brahmin who speaks Tamil, but settled in Bombay, and at the same time, not a Namboodiri who happens to be an original Kerala Brahmin settled in Kerala. But I never have been to Kerala, nor can Tamilians understand what I tell them. It is something which you will never understand!"
"You must surely be from somewhere?" he chipped in, quite flabbergasted.
"I don't know," I kept a square face. "I just happen to be to be an Indian settled in Bombay!"
Palghat Iyers seem to always get caught by the wrong foot. I am sure there is something about them that gives them the intelligent 'I-am-a-Palghat-Iyer' look on their face. Something about their tongue that rattles out complicated grammatical constructs faster than a machine-gun can clear magazine-loads of bullets. Or something in their genes that causes them to call the fruit a 'pazham' with an accented roll of the tongue. Tamilian Iyers, I am told, call it a 'palam', if they can wait long enough before guzzling it down their guts.
Tamilian Iyers, unlike their swifter Palghat brethren, drawl the syllables quite slowly like unsheathing a rusty sword out of its adamant scabbard. There are also the 'ssshs' and the 'ppps' and the 'eees' and the 'oooos' which I am told I mouth differently than would Salem Sivaramakrishnan or Erode Elangovan. Which anyway sounds quite unlike the Tamil they speak.
"Palghat Iyers," I often boast in defence, "don't fritter their better hours arguing phonetics or semantics." They are much too preoccupied putting their grey cells together. They don't burn their books, figuring out which person of which side of the Cauvery from which school of thought of which political party authored the works. They just read them !"
Like the Phantom of the comicbook world, Palghat Iyers were never born. They have been just there over the ages, seeping into every nook and cranny of the cruel world around them. A borderline case, they seem to have been originally Tamil immigrants seeping into Kerala. They now seem to enjoy their insouciant lives culling the best from all the possible worlds around them. Their palates have been pampered by the kitchens of Tanjore and Madurai as much as it has been garnished by the cuisine of Cochin or Chavakkad. Even as I sip up my Mysore rasam spiced by the roof-hitting flavours of Andhra Pradesh, and top it with a steaming hot Punjabi samosa with a plate of the Pune chivda, I seem to wash down all those parochial sediments deep down my guttural ravines.
My grandfather used to rave about the 'paaladapradhaman' delicacy of those good old days, steeped in the richest of cow milk (Of Kerala stock, I was told.) My grandmother savoured the 'Chakkaveratti' (jackfruit crushed and boiled with jaggery) as much as she loved frying 'karudams' and 'nendrakkai upperi' in bubbling coconut oil.
Just like the Palghat Iyer mixes the best of the world around him, he gets the best of the vegetables hotchpotched into his much-renowned 'avial'. A regular regimen of mouthwatering Olan, Kaalan, Karri, and Kichadi topped with a generous dose of mish-mashed molagootal has probably made the Palghat tongue a shade too fast for the Tamilian world. If you would call it Tamil, that is....
The 'palpaayasam', a rice gruel made of sweetened milk, seems to flow continually. For, the Iyers seem to break into festivity at the slightest provocation of a New Year. April gets their threshold splayed with 'kolam' for a colourful Vishu, the beginning of a fresh season. This is soon followed by a miniature version of the Nairs' Onam. Then comes the first of January, followed by the Pongal of their Tamilian bretheren, and lastly the Gudi Padva of the Maharashtrian neighbours. But Noorni Narayanan doesn't care a whit, and he begins his innumerable New Years with generous dosages of coconut oil (refined, please) applied upon his cranium before the cock has commenced to crow. He is all set with bold streaks of holy ash upon his expansive frontals, swathed in ceremonial dhoti, all ready for yet another celebration of the season.
Like Noorni Narayanan and Kozhikode Kondhai, I too belong to the elite gentry of the Palghat Dhoti Club. Groomed ever since my college days on the elegant 'paavu mundu' of Kerala fame, I have tried all the haute couture that fashion circles could ever boast about. The 'soman veshti', to the blue-collar Janata Brand, or the see-through double veshti to the floppy ten-yarder, many a white cloth has draped my celebrated flanks. Even as the dressy cylinder artfully drapes across my lissome lower limbs, I feel very much like the magician who has artfully whipped out a rabbit off his silken hat.
Even as I hush and swish my dhotied legs across the blazing Bombay summerscape, I have discovered the salubrious properties of the air-conditioned, bottoms-up fashion. The lower cylindrical limits are mathematically convoluted across the cycloidal midpoint and tucked in epicentrically across. They call this the 'sly, half-mast look' in West Manjapara. Talking of fashions, Pierre Cardin may have to hang his head in shame at the mere sight of such a colourful dhoti parade.
As the years rolled by, I discovered that with dedicated practice, I could swish on the attire before I could finish muttering Shivaramakrishnan. For, it takes only a wristy flick, followed by a slap of the fold across the left flank rightways, a quick inner jab with a little loose end sticking up at the top, and another left-handed upper drape across the right torso executed much like a cover drive, which holds your self respect based on the Newtonian Laws of friction.
Here again, the Tamilian Iyers beg to differ. Palghat Iyers wear their heraldry with the abovementioned right flap tucked in first, followed by a rightside pleated tuck into the nether world of the hip. Some of the tucks are executed with a seductive go-thither show-a-leg style, and some with the prudish touch-the-heel way. The style, I am told comes from the wardrobe of the Chera kings of yore. Tamilian Iyers in keeping with their tradition of prudish opposition are content to execute the abovementioned motion the other way round. Which means that the right comes left first and the left comes right next, which gets it all wrong !
Palghat Iyers seem to be always fond of long names. They seem to go in raptures when they hear that Kannimangalam Krishnan (that's where my K comes from) met Rishinaradamangalam Ramanathan and treated Vadakancherri Venkateswaran to a cup of steaming 'kaapi'. Erinjalakudai Eashwaran of South Bombay too was present. But he has never been there where his name says he is from.
However, the village legacy comes down, generation to generation, like it has done all these years. The first boy inherits the grandfather's name on the father's side, and the second, the grandfather's name on the mother's side, followed the first and second girls who get their respective grandmothers anagrammed somewhere in their names, leaving your choice to the fifth offspring. But the village is still there, puckered by a string of multisyllablic connotations that looms before all these names as an innocent initial.
But over the years, the village doesn't seem to matter anymore. Much like the Red-Sea octopus, the Palghat Iyer has this problem of having too many feet in too many places that he doesn't know where he stands. Often branded as a seasoned Keralite in Madras and laughed off as a 'pattar' in Kerala, I am sometimes held responsible for the Cauvery problem in Bangalore. So much so that I have to often moodily snuggle into my Bombay bed for that come-hither feeling that it gives me.
Interestingly, I have discovered that the 'you-must-be-from-Palghat' punchline is often used as an inherited Brahmastra. I have been through some of those hot discussions on language issues and intricate arguments on the Punjab imbroglio, when that last supporting statement would have just about won my case. My opponent suddenly seems to put his cards down, cock a snook at me like a bewildered crow, and then throws the inevitable bucket of cold water. "Are you from Palghat?" he squeaks, much like he would ask the seamer: "Didn't you actually chuck the ball?"
"Are you from Palghat ?" the fat one squeaked, breaking into precious musings. "No, I am from Palakkad," I replied dourly. "They didn't spare the name either !.."

UNQUOTE

Extra Proficient Fraternity

2009-08-05T22:55:00.000-07:00

I heard a lot about how efficient Employee Provident Fund (EPF) offices are. Today I experienced their efficiency when I went to apply for a withdrawal. In fact I think they provided so much of assistance and value-added services that even some private entities lack.

This is the technical summary of my trip to EPF:

I went in the gate and a guy waved at me to show me a car park spot. (wow!) – 1 minute

OK if that wasn’t efficient enough, there is a counter to usher people in and tell them exactly what they need to do before they go to the actual counter (to avoid missing documents etc.) – 30 seconds

So I went to the Kaunter Semakan Dokumen to get my documents checked. She told me I didn’t have a proper bank statement with me and offered to post the cheque to my house. (Wow squared) – 2 minutes

Back to the ushering counter to get a number for the counter (which was just 1 number away)

Was called in under a minute to the counter. The officer was friendly (a bit over-friendly though) and she checked and verified document with original, confirmed the address to post my cheque and advised on the due date when I can call and ask for status. – 5 minutes

I was done in about 9 minutes technically and I went to pay for the carpark. I have not seen a carpark Autopay machine showing less than a ringgit. The charge was 50 cents.

Total time taken for my application: 9 min 30 sec.

Bravo to EPF! I don’t know why I am writing this… I must be really impressed :P

A Pleasant Gift

2009-08-03T18:38:00.000-07:00

It is exactly a year now since the 2008 Student Training in Attitude and Responsibility (STAR) motivation session for the Form 5 students of Sri Permata School in SS3. Although the programme ended halfway through due to unforeseen events, the memories and experiences are still unforgettable.

Now, we are back again, gaining momentum once again for the 2009 session. We had a meeting yesterday to finalize the one-day mid term camp for the students. And as usual, Monty, Vijay and I headed to the restaurant near the SS3 centre for dinner.

As we entered, we saw a familiar face smiling at us. It was our 2008 STAR student, having dinner with his parents. So we went over to him, and asked him what he was doing now.

“I am studying at MAHSA college Anne, doing physiotherapy.”

Then he continued, “Thanks for your help, Anne.”

That was quite a pleasant surprise for us. It was a small reminder to us that the Lord is watching over them, and us even beyond what we do on a weekly or monthly basis. We only completed half the STAR session last year, and the Lord made an impact in that boy’s life through us.

Then he came back to us and said, “Ok Anne, bye. My parents’ already paid for your food.”

And he left.

That left us with a renewed spirit, not because of the free food, but the encounter with this small miracle and transformation that we saw.

Promo line: Join us every Friday 7.15am to 8.15am at Sri Permata School SS3 for STAR Sessions.

Birthday Discourse (2007)

2009-07-27T07:32:00.000-07:00

On 28^th July 2007, the Lord spoke:

Every living being in this world, right from an ant to an insect, a bird, to a beast, has emerged from Truth only! Those who realise this truth are real yogis. Devoid of Truth, nothing will move in this universe. And that supreme Truth is embodied only in one person. He is Sathyam.

(Here Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba materialised a lingam and showed it to all).

Who else can manifest such pure consciousness? Truth is omnipresent. When you think of it and contemplate on it, it can manifest in you also. Hence, constantly contemplate on Truth.

Constantly remember the truth that love is God. Live in love. If you can cultivate such positive and noble thoughts, everything will turn out to be good for you.

You think it is sitting in a lonely place and contemplating on the Lord's name. Not at all! Contemplate upon the pure thoughts in your mind. Contemplate on the Truth in you.

Where there is faith, there is love; Where there is love, there is truth; Where there is truth; there God is.

Truth is God. You need not have to make any special efforts to know Truth. In fact, eleven seconds are enough to realise truth. Just contemplate in your mind for a period of eleven seconds on Truth and you will be able to have God's darshan.

Stick to the time schedule of eleven seconds, and you will have no pain.

With regard to food, you have to know certain subtle things and observe some restrictions. Do not consume non-vegetarian food like meat and fish. In fact, foreigners are used to non-vegetarian food only. This type of food causes diseases, like cancer. Hence, give up such food, totally.

You were blissful at the time of your birth. But once you started developing attachment with the world, you began crying.

Hence, you have to reduce your worldly attachments. At present, you have a lot of attachment to the world. Thereby, you are weakening your body. Ultimately you will end up in sorrow.

Worry is a very bad quality. Hurry, worry and curry —these three together make the heart very weak. Hence, keep them at a distance.

Whenever you are in difficulty, just assure yourself that these are passing clouds, which will move away, and therefore you will not be worried. Whatever comes has to go. They are momentary.

Observe Me. I am always cheerful and smiling. I have no pain or suffering. I am revealing the truth.

There is no medicine more efficacious than love. Your love is My medicine. That is the most powerful medicine. Equally, My love is a powerful medicine to all of you.

Always be happy and peaceful. Live like members of the same family with love and affection. Do not be weighed down by petty difficulties and suffering. Do not give scope to any worry. Even if your wife or children suffer from a disease, do not get perturbed.

Go back to your places with firm faith that everything will turn out to be good. Lead a happy and peaceful life.

That last line, I still remember vividly. It was my birthday and the Lord promised me that everything will turn out to be good in my life. And His Divine words can never go wrong. Since 28^th July 2007, He has showered me with a lot in life - material and spiritual. He has kept His promise to all of us. Now it’s our turn – to continue to be His instruments as much as we could.

Prisoner of Unity

2009-06-23T19:12:00.000-07:00

I have attended many camps and conventions with the theme of unity and togetherness. But this one camp I attended last week was a real eye-opener.

The overall design and theme of the MIM-TRYLA camp was Unity. In my mind I thought it was just another muhibbah thingy where they bring in people from all races and background to lecture them on Unity. I mean – all of us know Unity is not a topic to be lectured – it should be experienced.

The camp was designed to create an equal distribution of people. The participants were 25 males, 25 females and equal racial distribution and professional backgrounds.

We didn’t know what to expect in the beginning – some had vague perceptions that the venue was Genting or some five-star accommodation. We had to wait to find out as we gathered at the MIM headquarters in Jalan Ampang.

After lunch we proceeded to the lobby to get into the bus – and there it was gleaming in its black and metallic paint – A Jabatan Penjara bus! We were having some doubts as the idea of Genting did not match with the transport which was standing at the porch.

The first 2 days was the replica of a Malaysian survivor camp. It was 2 days of continuous activities at the Pangsun Eco Resort...

Jungle trekking, obstacle courses, treasure hunts followed by campfire to cook our dinner and building tents to stay. When we finally had some sleep that night, it was not long after that we were awakened by the damn hailer… it was the 4am roll call and we had to continue once again. All the while no rest, no sleep and no bath!

The day started again with jungle paintball... all tired and weary but pushing us to the limits was their objective anyway. Then there was the much-needed lunch, as we could not eat whatever we cooked the night before! Next was – a rest? No. We continued with water rafting at Sungai Langat – one of the most tiring activity – we were on our own self-made raft on a raging river just after rain… We reached the destination through sheer teamwork, and then we reached and finally got time to wash up...

Then came the real deal. We arrived at our permanent destination for the 7-day camp. It was Maktab Penjara Kajang. What a venue! And what a contrast to the hopes that we had – Genting!

We had to be at the roll call at 6.15 am every day and go for marching with the Penjara trainees – trying to match our decade-old marching skills with the trainees there. And the best part was - the Maktab compound is a no-walking zone. We had to march wherever we go – even if we were alone.

We had food cooked by prisoners who were working there. We return to the room at 1am everyday only to start the next day start at 6.15 again.

Through the whole process, the facilitators carefully analysed each person’s leadership skills and were quite strict with us all the way... keeping in mind the unity that is slowly developing as we go through each challenge as a team.

There were talks and sharing from creative thinking, prison life by Inspectors, character building and various other topics. But more than the talks, we got a whole new perspective of prison life, spirit of leadership through unity.

And as we approached the final closing dinner on the 22nd, I realized that I had now with me 49 other individuals who are so much bonded together with me and shared the same ups and downs with me and I have not even thought about their race, creed or religion for the past 7 days.

Now, that is a statement of proof that this particular camp managed to test our physical and mental endurance and push us to the limits so much that the subtle message of unity was inculcated in the process of it all. I could not recall any other camps that did that to me. Neither can I think of a better way to build such a strong bond with my fellow Malaysians.

It was a noble effort by MIM and I laud their program, which is on its 17th year this year. And that means there are around 850 TRYLA participants out there who knows what it feels to work together as one entity – Malaysians in unity.

As I think back of the experiences, I think it’s time for me to live a life as example of understanding the fundamentals of unity – rather than in a divided outlook.

Now I am missing the morning marching at 6.15am... maybe I should start marching around my office now...

Emptiness

2009-06-16T01:24:00.000-07:00

The day the DSLR arrived...

2009-06-08T23:12:00.000-07:00

It was an intense battle within my mind – to buy or not to buy. I was weighing the pros and cons of it… and of course the price tag.

Sometimes I argued to myself whether I really needed the thing right now, when my pretty Ixus fitted nicely in my pocket and away from people’s stares.

But the other day when I was “covering” the National Educare Carnival using my Ixus, suddenly it looked so tiny. Imagine a tall guy squatted on stage with an Ixus. As I sat there, trying to get a shot of the winners on stage, the realization dawned on me.

I really needed a DSLR (convincing myself).

So, I went to this place called Fotosam at Times Square with Zeenee and Naguk yesterday through recommendation from Pies & Pigs, and motivation from Whispers (my fellow warriors in photodom).

We went equipped with the Internet knowledge that Nikon D5000 was going to save the day and liberate me into the world of DSLR.

But… as I entered the shop, everything changed. I was introduced to Sony Alpha 300.

I couldn’t accept the change at first as the guy explained step-by-step on why I should get the Sony instead. My eyebrows raised and my mind was agitated.

My doubt was short lived when I realized that he was genuine in a way. How do I know?
Because the Alpha is much cheaper than Nikon D5000!

And now I thought, why would he want to sell me the Alpha? Is he trying to clear his stock? (Monkey mind…hmm)

So to cut the story short I got a very nice entry level set plus a wide-angle and a macro lens for the price of a basic Nikon set that I initially came for. I wouldn’t say it was the greatest buy as some professional photographers might disagree with me.

So and then the real challenge started yesterday – to match the DSLR shots to my Ixus shots… Ok to be frank, my Ixus processor delivers much vibrant and vivid colours than this heavy duty one. And that’s a fact according to my friend

So, now first things first, I am going to keep the Ixus with me for now. And then there is a lot to learn to just start shooting decent shots with my Sony Alpha… but then, I have a lot of time with me. So, I guess I have to just experiment… and with all my warriors and “models” with me, I’ll do just that

Manush & Manas

2009-06-01T22:52:00.000-07:00

Once upon a time there lived a lonely man called Manush. He loved to go for his tranquil morning strolls by the playground. It brought him away from the busy corporate life into the depths of nature and the environment.

More than the strolls, he enjoyed sitting at the park bench, eyes closed, enjoying the quietness.

And every time he went for his evening walk, he brought his lovable little doggy, Manas. He loved Manush so much that everywhere Manush went, Manas followed too.

And Manush gave Manas a lot of freedom. Even though he had a restraint collar tied to him, it was about 2 metres long so that Manas could move about freely.

When Manush saw Manas running around chasing butterflies or leaping from one place to another, he smiled to himself. He was happy that Manas was enjoying himself. Manas was his only companion – his happiness in a world filled with sorrow, grief and regrets.

There was one concern though.

After his short stroll, when Manush sat at the park bench to enjoy the peace and tranquility, the restraint held in his hands will jerk as Manas runs about chasing things. Manas will tug at the restraint continuously, jolting him from his peaceful rest. That distressed him a lot.

But – Manas was happy. That made Manush happy too.

As time went by, Manush realized that by making the restraint shorter, he could control the movement of Manas. Manas had lesser things to play with and so he moved less. He rolled the restraint in his hands, keeping Manas closer than a metre away from him.

Now Manush could close his eyes and delve into himself - enjoying the peace and calm within him.

But still, out of a sudden Manas would tug at his hand when he sees insects or butterflies near the bench.

However, Manush noticed that even though Manas saw the butterfly, he did not run or chase after it. That was a lot of improvement.

So he decided to experiment further.

The next day, Manush reduced the restraint further. Now Manas was closer to him, and within his control. Manas too now started to realize that his movements were very restricted.

He reduced his movements and started staying still. Manas was mostly quiet – no agitation or sudden movements.

On that day, Manush enjoyed a longer session of quietness as he sat on the bench. It was a new discovery for Manush.

He looked at Manas as he got up. And Manas got up too, ready to leave. Manas was wagging his tail, following his footsteps as he walked.

Manush now decided to put Manas to a final test.

So, on the following day, Manush completely left Manas free. He did not hold the restraint.
He sat on the bench, closed his eyes, confident that Manas will not jolt him out of his peaceful journey.

And Manas kept still throughout, wagging his tail, in submission to his Master.

And that day, as Manush closed his eyes, he saw the light.

2 Decades Later...

2009-06-01T00:42:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, I went for a wonderful nostalgic trip with my family. We went back to Penang, and we thought we should make this trip memorable for more reasons than one. So, I thought of documenting it (thanks to our UTM reunion trip) into a photo comparison of the same photo taken at the same place, 20 or more years ago... Click below and have a look... :)

2 decades later...

Dial-A-God

2009-05-28T00:51:00.000-07:00

(This story is in no way related in blood or by marriage to 1-800-GOD, but inspired by the title though…)

Kumaraguru was a fun little boy. He runs around his village – getting customers for his dad’s little workshop. He loved his responsibility – sort of like a marketing manager for his dad. He admired Appa. He taught him how to live honestly and follow God’s path.

Kumar sits atop the mound near the village road a.k.a. the accident zone. The village road was a place with high odds of punctured bikes, bent suspension bars and cycle chain mishaps. And that meant business!

Some days, there will not be any business. Not a single vehicle all day long.

But some days, there will be bounty prizes – like a car or even a punctured bus!

Kumar’s family lived in a tough condition. But his parents made sure he did not feel the pinch. Amma cooked all his favourite meals and showered him with love and care. Appa taught him the lessons of life and survival.

As Kumar grew up, he began to see many facets of the society. He was particularly disturbed by the sight of Lallu Prasad – the village Zameen’s son. They lived not far away from Appa’s workshop. Rich boy, but arrogant and cruel.

He began to see that Lallu Prasad has so much in his life. He travels in chauffeured cars and lives in a mansion.

“Appa, Lallu doesn’t have to run around looking for punctured tires or work day and night repairing bikes and cars. But, he is so rich and has all the luxuries… I don’t understand, pa,” Kumar asked Appa one day.

Appa’s reaction was very mild.

He sighed and said, “Staying good is our biggest wealth, Kumar,” and got back to fixing the cycle chain.

Kumar did not understand what Appa told him that day - he was still bothered.

Kumar was resting on his bed one day and he thought, ‘Lallu Prasad shouted and yelled at his parents. The other day, he kicked a pregnant cat. The next day, he went bird shooting with his cousins. The next day, he got a new bicycle as present – and it wasn’t even his birthday!’

“Why am I so unlucky God?” whispered Kumar to himself, not realizing his words.

It was the usual day at the mound. Kumar was on the watch-out for his customers. He didn’t have enough sleep. Lallu kept bothering him in the sleep.

He looked up and said, “You’re making a mistake God!”

Suddenly he heard a voice – no, not from God – it was the village postman.

“Dey Kumar, you got a parcel!”

Kumar was overjoyed. He never got even a postcard before, let alone a parcel. He dashed down the small hill to the village road.

“What is it Anne?”

“Careful maybe it’s a bomb,” quipped The Postman.

The parcel was heavy. He quickly went up to his workplace at the mound and started unwrapping the parcel.

Kumar’s eyes beamed. It was a phone. He looked around for the name of the person who sent it. There wasn’t any. But the phone had one big yellow button – “DIAL-A-GOD.”

He was sweating all over. His hand quivered as he pressed the big yellow button.

There was a ring tone.

“Hello, Press 1 for Spouse-Related Complaints, Press 2 for Karma Balance, Press 3 to Speak to God”

Kumar was wordless. He was as confused as much as the author of this story.

His hand was making resonating movements as he reached for the ‘3’.

There was another ring tone.

“Hello, God speaking, how may I help you.”

Kumar looked around him. His shirt was drenched. He was scared and doubtful.

“G..g..God…I am K..Kumar..,” he stammered.

“Yes, I know, your question please.”

Kumar cleared his throat. He collected some of the residue confidence lying within.

“God… life is so unfair. The bad guy gets to live in luxury, but good people like those in my family are suffering.”

“Hahaha,” laughed God, God-like.

“I mean, not that I am not happy, but poor Appa has to work so hard to support us. Can’t you see all this?”

“I know, My son. I see this, and beyond,” said God.

“Do you mean to say, we don’t deserve any Grace from you and that Lallu guy gets it all?” Kumar asked – he was in his full form now, furious – with God!

God gave His discourse:
“My son, there are three types of Karma: Past, Present and Future. Present Karma must continue. It is like the carriage behind which is a trail of dust. If the carriage stops, the dust will settle on it. A doubt might be that the carriage cannot forever continue so as to be ahead of its dust. But the carriage need not always travel on a dusty road. It can get on the surface highway where there is no dust.”

“How do we get to the Highway if we can’t even earn a proper living? I am sure you can do something, God – don’t be so selfish!” asked Kumar again, annoyed.

God continued:

“The highway is equivalent to the Grace of God. There is a difference between the benefit of Grace and the benefit of the Bhakthi, or devotion. A patient with pain is given a sedative, which dulls the pain. But Grace is an operation that does entirely away with pain. Make no mistake; Grace does entirely away with Karma. It is like a medicine which is labelled, 'good until 1968'. If used in 1973, the medicine is entirely ineffective. The body is the bottle, the karma in the body is the medicine, God puts a date on the 'medicine'; so it is not effective.”

Kumar was smiling by now. “You mean to say, you can give us Grace as in… a mansion like Lallu and a car, with a driver?”

God smiled. (not through the phone but to himself)

He said, “Look at yourself. You are an embodiment of Divinity. The Divine Principle in you is eternal. That lives today, tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow. Hence, treat the past, present, and future as one - even though our experiences in the three phases of time are different. Do not give much credence to these experiences. Past is past; it will not come back. We are not sure of future. Present is the only reality with which we should be concerned. This is not ordinary present, but omnipresent, because the past as well as future are present in it.”

“But we are suffering,” demanded Kumar.

“Are you? Think again, My son. All your experiences in this changing world are only momentary and unreal. They are like passing clouds. You need not be too much worried about them. You are marching forward. Continue your life’s journey with steadfast faith in God. Why should you have to look back and brood over the past? Money comes and goes, but the morality that your family has will bring you happiness now and forever.”

“Thank you, God,” said Kumar, finally realizing his good fortune. Tears welled up in his eyes. He couldn’t believe that God just spoke to Him.

“It’s my pleasure – contact me anytime you like. If you will excuse me, I have to go now, there is another call from somewhere in Damansara Utama. I guess it must be something urgent.”

And thus spoke God.

May 13th - A Message on Unity

2009-05-12T19:50:00.000-07:00

I have always watched Anas Zubedy’s ads in the newspaper. It carries important messages of unity and seeing oneness in all. Although they are a business entity, their blend of business with ethics is something worth commenting.
Today, commemorating May 13th here is an extract from letusaddvalue.blogspot.com by Anas Zubedy…

Quote

" I’d like to recolor May 13th. I would like to breathe new spirit into the date, to dilute and eventually erase the negative aspects and memories and replace them with positive meanings and values. I want our future generation to see this date with kind and loving recollections. We can always change things, if we so willed it"

Unity is our only option to live in peace, love and happiness.We want to promote HOPE. We want to convince you that individuals like you and I can make a difference; we may be not be effective individually, but together, we are powerful. The combined actions of individuals, ordinary Malaysians like you and I, can make this country greater – beyond our dreams – so our children will inherit a Malaysia that is more united, stronger and beautiful.

It is a big dream, and yes, I am a dreamer. We will start with small steps each day because “sedikit-sedikit, lama-lama jadi bukit”. Will you dream with me? Will you join me in making this dream come true, no matter what it takes? Imagine…our nation united.

It promotes understanding as we practice muhibbah and open our hearts and homes for Deepavali, Chinese New Year, Wesak, Christmas, Aidil Fitri, Vaisakhi and Hari Malaysia. The significance of all these festivals from a Malaysian point of view is illuminated. While others around the world celebrate most of these occasions, we Malaysians have our particular ways that are uniquely ours that we share with other Malaysians, regardless of race or religion.

My dear brother and sister Malaysians, if we really want to make this country great, peaceful and vibrant, we must play an active role. Regardless of whom we are or what we do, we must take right actions. While whining and complaining will give us temporary relief, it does not get us anywhere.

Let us all take small steps each day – do something pleasant for our neighbour, get to really know someone from a different background, and speak something good about the ‘other side’.We must see Unity in diversity, unite and be one. Unity Rocks! Let’s be Bangsa Malaysia.

Many Colors, One Race.

Unquote

Of Trees, Faith and Greener Pastures

2009-05-11T01:03:00.000-07:00

Swami said once, Why get agitated? Let Me take care of all your business. I shall be the one who will think about them. I am waiting for nothing else than your surrender to Me, and then you do not have to worry any more about anything.

How true.

Let me narrate to you an amazing journey that I personally experienced recently – some call it mere coincidence, but to the believer, it’s a miracle.

It was a busy start in 2009 as we embarked on our next journey after the Human Values Drama Competition held successfully in September. The challenge was to create a sustainable awareness campaign to raise consciousness of the human values into the society suffering from countless maladies. This maiden effort was themed after the most pressing issue currently – the environment. Go Green was the theme.

Back in the office, January 2009 saw a shift in roles and responsibility. I was moved to a direct opposite function within the company in an effort to prepare me for future positions. I was given the first task to complete by April – to lead a team to streamline business processes within the division and prepare for a group-wide audit. There were 3 ratings within the scale of process effectiveness: green, yellow and red; green being the most effective. It was a daunting task, but with Swami by my side, the burden was lesser.

Why get agitated? Let Me take care of all your business.

Publicity was well on the way by January and as February approached, we fine-tuned the efforts. Once again Swami’s lessons during the Human Values Drama Competition proved useful this time. We did not take chances with publicity. We were all out to get 1000 participants to walk with us, walk for nature and walk for the environment. There were children, youths and adults – as well as the public.

Rounds and rounds of checking and corrections were done to some ailing processes. The process was tough, being new to the division itself, I relied fully on the confidence given by Swami. People from all strata of the organization observed lack of control. They predicted low ratings. The HQ conducted a pre-audit in March and they warned of a red rating.

But the wallpaper on my PC had the flier for Walk for Values – it said “Go Green.”

It was time for more promotions for the Walk and the real work began right away. We met so regularly that the team became one big happy family. We endured the pain and pleasure together. We laughed away the trials and we giggled when we found solutions.

I am waiting for nothing else than your surrender to Me, and then you do not have to worry any more about anything.

We had the whole team, adults, children and youth working on one single goal for the whole first quarter of 2009. They were all going green. As we finished our day jobs, we had Swami waiting for us at our night jobs at Bangsar and SS3 centres.

“If we get a yellow, I am happy enough,” said one senior colleague to me. I smiled. I looked at my wallpaper. It smiled back at me. Swami said Green – that is enough for me. I was telling everyone to believe that we could get green. And then the human flaw came in and I said, “At least we aim for green in three out of the five categories!”

Why get agitated? Let Me take care of all your business. I shall be the one who will think about them.

The day arrived. 10th May 2009. We had worked all through the night. Completing the 500 odd paperbags, decorations and stage setting. It was the first of its kind in Malaysia and Southeast Asia – Walk for Values - Go Green. There was a sea of green at the SS3 basketball court. Close to 500 children, teens and and adults. We walked. And what a walk it was… truly amazing. We were mesmerized by the event. Swami was there – every step of the way.

Take one step towards me and I will take a hundred towards you.

11th May 2009 – It was the end of my task at HQ, and once again I was on the move. I was shifted to the branch office in Petaling Jaya for a new change in responsibility. My PC was not set up yet – so I had to bring it over from the main office. After fixing the PC up at my new desk, I opened up my Lotus Notes. There were a significant number of mails on Walk for Values. Each one carried a tale on how Swami carried all of us on another wonderful journey.

Then I paused. There was another email from the Group Auditor of my company.

It read, ‘Dear all: A good news for everyone. We just received the official announcement. We obtained an overall GREEN report as well as GREEN results for all categories. Congratulations and well done to everyone involved!’

I was awestruck. What a miracle. A double green whammy, by Swami… (and that rhymes!) My feeble mind asked for a three out of five but the divine showered a full score of five out of five!

There is no conclusion to this narration. This is just an aspect of the vastness of Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba. He is so personal to each one of us in our own way and yet, subtle in the messages that he sends to all of us.

Thank you Swami, I surrender this to your lotus feet.

When Values Walk Out...

2009-05-07T00:59:00.000-07:00

The crazy things people do in Malaysia doesn’t reverberate that much outside our shores. Or even if it does, it doesn’t really matter for those outside of this beautiful country. But lately things are getting too comical especially in the Silver State of Malaysia. I can’t begin to describe the tussle over there… and today I saw a photo of the year nominee at one of the sites…

Hmm… if a speaker of a state assembly can be dragged out like this, I am quite worried about where the country is heading.

I mean, politics is one thing, but there is not even a trace of basic human values such as respect for an individual.

It’s not that the others who are in this tussle are God incarnates but the overall situation looks very sad and depressing at times. And that picture…Sigh…

And now in time for my second promo: Let’s stand up for human values! Come walk with us this Sunday at the SS3 Basketball Court, 8am to 12pm, WALK FOR VALUES: GO GREEN!

Star Trek Premiere

2009-05-01T08:15:00.000-07:00

Being someone who has never watched Star Trek before at all,
I was quite pessimistic when Hari offered me the Premiere tickets to
watch the latest flick at One Utama.

I was at Studio V to collect my invite and I saw crazy fans everywhere,
some wearing weird glasses, fake Star Trek ears and masks... There
were even a group of people calling themselves Singapore Trekkies.

It was quite a culture shock for me, and more so for my parents who had no idea
of what the movie was about...

As we entered the GSC area, there was a counter to deposit handphones
and electronic equipments. Luckily we were told to leave the phones behind.
The security was as tight as post 9-11 at the entrance as they scanned everyone
before letting us in.

Hmm... for all you know the projector guy might be taping the whole show for release in Chow Kit tonight.... Malaysia Boleh!

Park & Ride & Go Green

2009-04-30T01:50:00.001-07:00

It was a dull Wednesday afternoon. I was on my way to the Putrajaya Government Complex for some official matters. When I go there, I usually get an illegal spot at the roadside to park the car.

But that particular day, as I was driving, there were too many warning signs. And true enough the roadside was empty – with a patrol car parked at the end.

So… I decided to use the “Park & Ride” system instead. I wanted to see whether this system really works. Why would someone want to park a mile away, wait for the bus, finish the business, wait for the bus again and get back to the car park?

I wondered, so I experimented.

As I swerved into the car park, I saw hardly 20 cars parked there. I was about to take a U-turn but far ahead, gleaming under the sun was - Nadi Putra – the Heartbeat of Putrajaya.

There were as many Nadi Putra buses there as there were cars. So I went to the small bus stop. I waited about 30 seconds, when one of the drivers stared at me as if I spoiled his paper-reading session.

“Mau pi mana?” he asked rather “politely”.

“Parcel D,” I answered.

“Tunggu 5 minit. U pi skarang pun tada orang sana – rehat!”

That was the warm welcome I got at the Park & Ride – the revolutionary town-planning concept of the Federal Territory.

Then he called me in and drove me across to Parcel D. The conversation in the bus went like this…

“Tak ramai orang guna bas ini ke?” I asked the obvious.

“Adalah… kalau saman banyak, diaorang mari sini…” he said.

“Bas pun banyak… tapi semua kosong,” I probed further.

“Kalau you tanya saya… lebih baik dia buat banyak carpark kat tempat bangunan kerajaan tu… rakyat nak jumpa kerajaan kena parking lagi, ambil bas lagi… bodoh punya planning,” he poured out his emotions.

I didn’t know what to respond. He just gave me a verdict on the entire planning of the great Putrajaya. I had to agree at that point of time.

He dropped me off at Parcel D and as I was alighting, he said, “50 sen!”

“Ah?”

“50 sen boss! Masuk dalam ini,” he said pointing at the ticket machine.

First, they torture us, then they ask us to pay for the torture… this was definitely not worth it.

As I finished my business at Parcel D, I walked out to the bus stop. I looked at the systematic planning of Park & Ride. The routes were impressive. Good plan indeed.

Then I heard the voice of the Bus Man echoing in my mind, “bodoh punya planning, bodoh punya planning.”

It was raining quite heavily as I waited for the bus. The bus arrived and guess what – it is the same Bus Man! For a moment I thought I was in a Truman Show or something. Was I being pranked by the Park & Ride fraternity?

Anyway, it was a quiet journey back to the bus stop, except for some serious glances by the Bus Man. As he went past the carpark gate, he asked me in the same “polite” tone, “Mana kereta?”

At that moment, suddenly I felt embarassed. This guy who was the personification of rudeness a while ago, actually asked me where I parked. And he brought me close to my car, because it was raining!

As I thanked him, I made a mental note to myself that there was nothing wrong with the system.

The system is all working well as it does in UK and many other nations (Check out http://www.parkandride.net/).

But if we, the users can actually understand that we are not doing this to avoid the summonses - then we can make the change.

We can reduce cars on the road, reduce congestion, reduce carbon emission – and build a better world!

Hey, why don’t they introduce Park & Ride in KL as well?

GO GREEN! WALK FOR VALUES

Come and walk with us this 10th May 2009, 8am at the SS3 MBPJ Basketball Court
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRywCxms9KE&feature=related

Register online at wfv.saicouncil.org.my

Rivers of Life

2009-04-28T20:20:00.000-07:00

(Script originally planned for the opening of the Interfaith Youth Camp)

Voiceover: Once upon a time, there was a river…

Voiceover: I am the most beautiful; he said… I have crystal clear water and beautiful sandy beds…

Along came a fish and told him, “You are wrong, I went to another river east of here… it is wider and has more water than you…

The river was upset but he followed his own path of self-discovery…

Then, came a frog. The river told him; come my friend, enjoy my soft sandy beds…
The frog replied…there is a river west of here with sands as soft as silk…

The river was disheartened but he kept on his path of self-discovery…

One day he came to a place where a raging river was cutting across and merging with him…

Who are you? He inquired…

I am the river of the East; he said, come let me share my raging waters and wide banks with you…

The river was pleased… he joined the East river and became a beautiful wide river…

In a few days, the new river suddenly came to a curve and far in front there was a river coming towards them… it had the most beautiful white sandy banks…

Who are you? He inquired…

I am the West river, come on, join with me and enjoy my soft, sandy sands…

Now the three rivers flowed majestically as a raging, powerful river with beautiful sands and clear water…

One day, their lives came to an abrupt end… they could see a vast expanse of water in front of them…

Who is this, the river asked the other two

This is the ocean, we are all part of this – You and I are one… come let’s merge with the ocean and experience a whole new world of freedom and bliss…

The river was happy… he is now united with all the rivers… he did not have any imperfections anymore… he is one with the ocean… He is the ocean…

Butterscotch – The Verdict

2009-04-20T19:37:00.000-07:00

Okayyy… I tried it… at last! Found two loaves sitting in the corner of the Select shop at the Shell opposite Eastin. I didn’t go there just to get it… I was looking for…errr.. Okay… I was hunting for Butterscotch!

Anyway coming back to the Butterscotch sitting on my passenger seat on the way to my friend’s place… I was tempted to just take a slice – to see why there are over 100 Google search results, mostly personal confessions and blog entries on this loaf of bread!

So at the University Hospital traffic light, I gave in to the temptation and took one slice. As the cover of the bread says… it tasted really…really…really… good. Maybe I had too many expectations, but still it tasted quite good. It had this addictive feel to it.

Suddenly, I heard a lot of honking from behind… I was lost in the taste of Gardenia Butterscotch and did not realize that the traffic light had turned green. :P

(Ok Gardenia owes me a lot of money for this piece…)

The Butterscotch Chronicles

2009-04-15T03:22:00.000-07:00

Based on a true story, again.

Friday, 10 Apr 2009

Met up with friends for lunch at Pelita restaurant near KLCC. Suddenly the topic of bread came about, and Ram said this particular bread is a hot favourite at Cold Storage in KLCC. Every morning people will queue up near the bakery section just to grab their favourite Butterscotch bread. And Yoga had his share of the stories on the legendary Butterscotch at Petronas.

Sunday, 12 Apr 2009

I was at a sports event for children and guess what… They had Butterscotch bread for teatime. “The children love this bread, so we have to limit 2 per person,” said Mrs. Tan, sternly to one of the volunteers. My mind was solving some simple equations about Butterscotch bread by now.

Monday, 13 Apr 2009

Back to office and was upstairs at the photostat area, and I saw Butterscotch breads on every table at the purchasing department.

I asked them, “Is that Butterscotch?”

One of them replied, “You mean you haven’t tasted Butterscotch?
We can’t live without it.”

The urge was intense. I came back down to my department and sat down at my desk.
The door opened and in came the tea lady pushing a trolley. To my utter horror – it was Butterscotch bread lined up neatly on a plate!

Wednesday, 15 Apr 2009

I was chatting with a friend online, about random things. She was telling me about how boring the office was. Then she typed the magical sentence, “If only I don’t have my Butterscotch at my desk, I will die here out of boredom and hunger.”

“You mean, you mean the one… the bread, Butterscotch?” I stammered.
“Yup! My favourite.”

It was a clear sign by now.

Four separate incidents, four separate testimonies.

Either it was an evil plot against me by Gardenia’s marketing department
or they have a great product injected with some magic formula out there.

Butterscotch – here I come!

Hiro Budiwata

2009-03-24T18:36:00.001-07:00

Based on a true story.

Hiro Budiwata was cringing in pain. He could not take it anymore. He needed the painkiller so badly… but what could he do?

It was 3 months ago when he had a hero’s farewell back in Medan.

“Bapak pergi Malaysia ye… mampu beli rumah nanti…” his friends told him with ambitious expectations. His family waved at him, hoping for a safe return and good fortune in Malaysia.

And now, he stares at the stalled Damansara City construction project – the cranes were being dismantled and the trucks made their way out. Hiro’s dreams were crushed. His life was as motionless as the graphs at the stock market.

Hiro and his friends wandered around KL – there were people in suits everywhere, walking proudly or driving around in their Beemers. He was determined to get the income he promised and go back to Medan and live happily ever after.

Hiro was pressing his forehead. He could not bear it anymore. Rusli had only one tablet left – the tablet that could free them from their depression. They looked at each other – faces pale and with fury.

The dimly lit hut near the Kampung Kayu Ara flats became their abode. Hiro, Rusli and Shaari met there everyday to share their earnings from car wash, cleaning and other odd jobs. It wasn’t their dream – it wasn’t as luxurious as the construction work job, but for now, they had to do it. They had people to feed in Medan.

Hiro shouted in agony. Shaari and Rusli were equally tormented but Hiro had become too dependent on the tablet. Day by day their earnings dwindled. Hiro eyed the brightly lit Damansara Utama housing area. His eyes were scarlet red.

“Kalo kalangan atas tak bagi, kita bolos sendiri!” Hiro declared, profoundly.

It was 30 days into joblessness. The three of them had found a way to cure their depression – the magic pill. All of them fell for it, especially Hiro. And their meagre income was now going for the pills.

Hiro dashed out and grabbed the nearby parang and the rest followed him. They took hold of the 3 bikes nearby and darted out into the territory of the “kalangan atas”

They swerved into the isolated Jalan SS21/18 as they saw a lady coming out of her Benz, alone. Hiro dashed near her car. She screamed and tried to close the door. Hiro put his parang into the opening of the door and forced it open. He kicked her in the face and forced her out of the car. Rusli and Shaari confiscated everything from the car, as the lady kneeled, crying helplessly.

Across the road, her Indian neighbour was fumbling with the keys to come out and see what was wrong. It wasn’t so clear, but he could only hear the screams. When he came out, they dashed across the road.

Hiro and gang quickly dashed across – not to escape, but to another house just across – and then another. Before the neighbours could come out – three houses were attacked and robbed by three foreigners who were ‘deprived by society.’

The neighbours were out - all of them in a state of shock, exchanging stories and gossips. There were accusations of bad lighting, useless security operators and past events. The neighbours gathered around the victims as the patrol car arrived, predictably late.

Hiro, Rusli and Shaari opened a fresh, new pack of tablets. There were radiant smiles on their face – a sense of achievement.

The Story That Never Made It

2009-03-16T08:00:00.001-07:00

The day was getting brighter as the sun set. The waterfall gushed furiously upwards and the rivers flowed upstream. As the dark cloud hovered above, the day got even brighter.

Suddenly, it started raining. Streams of water rushed from the ground shooting up towards the sky like geysers. It was an odd experience, but I wanted to explore further into the land of mystery.

I journeyed on into the countryside. There was a cute little hut with a chimney - sucking smoke into the hut. I went nearer and knocked on the door and a little boy opened it.

In my heart I feared that he would speak with his rear end but thank God he did not. The thankfulness did not last long as he started speaking in reverse. Well not the real 'reverse' reverse but you know the Master Yoda kind of reverse.

"Help you how can I?" he said.

It sounded a little sarcastic though, but I knew it was a friendly gesture after all.

"Oh well," I chuckled. The boy stared, confused.

"What is this place? Everything is happening in reverse. Am I dreaming?" I asked.

"Inside please come," he said. Frankly, I felt nervous. I slowly stepped inside.

Suddenly a mob of masked hooligans rushed in. But the boy remained calm. They came in rushing with large knapsacks and started arranging household items on the shelves and tables. The placed television sets, DVD players and expensive decorative ceramics.

"Why are they putting these things in your house?" I asked, puzzled.

"Thieves they are. Good things they bring to us."

It was getting eerie all around me. It was very comical. Nothing made sense. And my brain was operating in speeds it has never before trying to think of other things that might be happening in reverse. The boy switched on the hall lights and it got darker in the cabin.

I sat at the dining table sipping coffee, that, by the grace of the Lord poured OUT of the jug. Suddenly the boy's eyes turned bright red. He kept smiling, but his eyes got wider and blood shot. I asked him what was wrong. He said nothing.

I got scared and a bit tensed because I could not go on. It was a very difficult situation now. The story I was writing has gone out of context. This is what happens when you sit down to write a story without a proper idea. Damn!

Odd Desmond

2009-03-16T07:58:00.001-07:00

I met this guy, Desmond last week when I went for hospital visit. Frankly, my initial perception of him was quite unpleasant. I thought he was a cranky mad man. He wears worn out jeans and t-shirt, had an eerily unkempt hairstyle, and most importantly, he stared real hard at anything in his view.

But when I started to chat with him while waiting for my friend, my view changed completely. He spoke in a very professional manner and about various subjects.

"My young child wants to be a business psychologist," said Desmond David.

"How old is he now?" I asked.

"He just turned four last week. He reads all my psychology books," said the proud dad.

Sometimes you get this kind of feeling when you're not so close to the other person and you fail to give the right reaction. If he were my classmate or something, I would have just asked him to stop kidding me.

But Desmond had that incomparable serious look.

"Oh… Wow!"

"He just finished his ACCA last month. The results should be out anytime next week I guess," continued the lethal Desmond.

"Oh w…that's kind of unbelievable," I responded.

"What do you mean unbelievable?"

"I, I mean. For a four-year-old to finish ACCA… Don't you think?"

"Do I know you…" Desmond raised his voice.

I was taken aback. "Well…"

"We just met last week and you have the courage to tell me I am a liar?"

"No, I didn't mean to."

"Shut up. My son is a genius and that's a fact!"

"True," I stammered.

"Now you are making fun of me. That was clearly a sarcastic comment. Have you heard of the hare and the tortoise?"

I nodded, nervous.

"You are a tortoise man. You think the tortoise wins at the end? Never… never… never… never! My child is smarter than you, pea brains!"

"That's it! You are stopping it right there," I said.

Just then a hysterical lady came running around the corridor corner.

"Desmond! There you are! Come here, dear. I made your favourite cookies today. Look."

"Yahoo! Choco pops! Choco pops!" Desmond shouted in a childlike voice.

I looked at the lady, then at Desmond. Desmond looked at me, with puppy eyes. Then he crouched and slowly moved behind the lady.

The lady waved her hand slightly to me, apologizing for Desmond's behaviour.

The Sanctuary

2009-01-25T01:18:00.000-08:00

The day was getting darker as we approached the midpoint of the mountain. I could see flowing snow-capped peaks and valleys right ahead. There was one peak that was looming higher than the rest, disappearing into the misty clouds. It was Mount Titanhuaca – the highest point in the Mandaka range.
We were cold, hungry and exhausted. The last bottle of water is nearly finished. Our legs were aching badly. We have hiked for nearly 7 hours with only a 30-minute stop a few hours ago.
In the middle of the valley, stood a majestic wooden ranch house. It had a small minaret in the middle with a bell and pinnacles all around. The house looked like a wooden castle – elegant and captivating.
We were delighted to see the wooden sanctuary ahead of us. There was a sparkle in all our eyes. It was just half a kilometer away, and we felt a special kind of courage and determination building up inside of us. Our mind hallucinated of a buffet of mouth-watering dishes, wholesome meals, desserts, fruits and drinks.
There was no one to be seen anywhere near the house. There was a rope hanging above the front door. As I pulled it, the huge bell above the minaret rang – sending echoes of the chime across the open valley. Thunder reverberated as if in reply to the bell. The clouds got thicker and thicker.
Suddenly, the front door clicked open. We pushed the heavy door and it creaked badly as it opened up. As we stepped in, the door slammed shut as heavy winds gushed out of the house. Now, there was silence – and darkness. I fumbled through my backpack looking for the flashlight. I found it but before I could switch it on, the room lit up. The light was blinding. As we got adjusted to the sudden change, we saw a beautiful ranch house interior with carvings and classic decorations. In the middle of the room hung a stunning chandelier and far ahead a fireplace that was smoldering slightly.
We were awed and frightened at the same time. We did not know whether it was a good sign or a bad one. We had a slight doubt about the whole string of events, until we saw what we saw. It was a buffet of glorious food, fruits and drinks arranged in a row of neat cabinets and tables. We could not believe our luck.
Outside, there was torrential downpour. We could see shrubs and trees moving violently outside in the strong wind. There were continuous flashes of lightning but we couldn’t hear any thunder or even the sound of rain. But there was a more important agenda waiting for us at the dinner area.
I don’t know whether anyone anywhere near sanity would enter a lonely wooden ranch with ghostly lighting systems and eat a buffet of food laid out for no physical person at all… But the situation forced us mentally to accept it as a gift from above I guess. We savoured every bit of the delicacies, looking out the window at the terrible weather conditions. It was surprisingly quiet and calm amidst the storm outside. For a wooden house it was quite unusual.
The desserts were superb – honey coated banana splits, fruit salads and ice creams of three flavours. There was satisfaction in all our faces. We glanced at the huge sofa bed near the fireplace surrounded by a home theatre system. What more could we ask after hours of tiresome hike… But there was more. The sofa facing a huge glass window panel was an automatic massage chair!
We couldn’t digest the whole situation, even as much as the food was being digested. We sat and gave an extremely long sigh in unison as we flicked the sound system. There was a soothing melody in 3D surround. We looked outside of the huge glass panel window. It was a breathtaking view of Titanhuaca. It was dark but we could see the outline. We could see soft snow being blown violently across at sharp angles in the storm.
Suddenly we saw the base of the mountain shudder - and right across, in front of us, the snow layers at the sides gave way. The huge mass of snow was hurtling towards the valley we were at. We rushed to the main door, panicking. The door was locked shut. All the windows were sealed. From the ground floor window, we could see the gush of snow coming at speeds I have never seen before.
Then, in a flash, the view outside the window changed back to normal. Not only did the huge avalanche vanish, the rain and storm stopped too. We went back to the lounge and we saw perfect weather outside. We sat back again on the massage sofa. Closing our eyes, enjoying the soothing music and the wonderful massage.
It dawned on me at that moment that it was a well-deserved reward for an excruciating journey we had trying to get there. Nothing seemed logical, but the fact was that the tiring hurdles we passed brought us to a sanctuary where it felt like heaven.
Nothing that happened outside mattered to us. We were undeterred by storms or avalanches. We lived like kings, ate like kings and were in the safest paradise we could ever ask for. We never expected it. But it came to us.
Now we started wondering, with all these comforts to pamper us, there was no reason to continue to the peak of Titanhuaca. But, the journey had to continue and more rewards await us at the end of a successful journey. We had to journey on…
Don’t think too much, there’s nothing hidden

Life

2008-10-03T04:12:00.000-07:00

Sometimes it is not so easy to write on topics like this. People can say many things – many different opinions. But the most important opinion is our own opinion and outlook on life. How we perceive life is very crucial and it determines the consequent choices we make in our day-to-day living. Be it during meal times or when you are just taking a stroll at the supermarket, our perception on life plays a pivotal role.

I will just share my opinion and perception with you now.

Life is not just a daily routine that you are forced to enjoy. It adds more flavors to each and every one of us. Forrest Gump once said, “Life is a box of chocolates.” I disagree with that statement. Life is more than a box of chocolates. It is a tinge of spice, sourness, sweetness, and bitterness – all rolled into one. It all comes in a package, whether we like it or not.

Life will give us what we want only if we use it in the right way. There are many ways we can use it to our advantage. There are people who dip straight into it while others like to just let it flow. Sometimes when we squeeze it, we get the best results. Again, it depends on our perceptions.

When we were kids, we stay detached from life. As we grow older, we begin to realize and enjoy the taste of it. We should realize the truth about life as quick as we can. We should not regret not making full use of it during our final days.

This is my view on Life. After all, how much can one write about a bottle of chilli sauce?

Idle Time Kryptonizing

2008-09-15T02:00:00.000-07:00

One day I was visited by an alien. He could speak English perfectly well.His face was like all humans, his body was the same too... He breathed, he hada heart to pump blood, he smells, he sees, he hears... but there was one thingthat made me write my first sentence... He was an alien because he doesn't eat.He gets his energy from free time of people around him. The more free time you have,the more energy he sucks from you... "Don't understand?" He asked me.
According tohis terminology, it is called Idle Time Energy Kryptonizing (ITEK). He sucks idle timeor the time someone has for leisure and keeps it in his kryptonite capsule located rightbelow his medula oblongata."I cannot live here" he told me one day. I asked him why.He said that all earthlings are so caught up in their jobs and daily lives that he hardlygets any idle time energy from them."You wake up at 5.20, snooze till 5.30, get up, get ready, drive for an hour,work work work till 5.30, and at 5.30 a machine breaks down and you have to stay until11.00 to fix it, then you come back, look at the pc, look at the TV, the you collapse to the bed."He couldn't get a minute idle time to suck for his energy. He told me he's going back. "Backin my planet, we have a lot of free time," he said. "We had time to do our gardening, time tovisit friends, enjoy nature, do charity, exercise, have fun, relax, unwind - so we don't mindexchanging our free time with others. Its symbiosis."Then I thought to myself, we have free trade, free ice cream, free coupons, free this, free thatbut free time is not on any of our lists. Do we even realise that we used to have something calledtime for ourselves, where we can do whatever we wished. Hmmm... working life shouldn't be a prison.Don't get locked up in life, move on to wider horizons. Well, at least I know one person who will agree to this blog posting.