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Showing posts from October, 2006

Brush Strokes - Excuse me, as I take up the brush ...

Well thats more like a cartoon, seriously I should be doing cartooning ;) Tried my hand at water colours after a loooong while - just to see the effect :) Was actually triggered by this cute kid right in front of my house, who was playing around with his toy pistol during Diwali ! Whether a cartoon or the simplest of watercolours whatever you feel, feedback welcommen ...

Questions I ponder over ...

Is religion a kind of psychological therapy and the rituals a method of social bonding/enhancing community feelings/ providing some peace of mind. Why is a belief system necessary, is it again a kind of psychological anchor - the god / divine entity. Were the rituals and the supposed high-handedness of Brahmins in the Hindu society of yore for exploiting or were they a very inquisitive, learned clan/set of people who got arrogant or was it a simple case of methods of maintaining self-confidence. Many of the customs may not make sense now - arguable; since some do have scientific moorings too. The good/evil aspect is reinforced by religion but can also lead to misinterpretations and rigid stereotypes - as I was watching in the deftly directed movie 'Munich' by Spielberg on the Jew/Muslim divide in the middle-east and the rampant intense hatred. Some theories are very abstract but help in explaining the unknown aspects of the universe - such as Advaita. At some point the scientif

Lessons from life & patterns of the mind

There are ways in which certain emotions get unnecessarily amplified. Prejudice, anger, jealousy and fear, to name a few. The more you dwell on associating these with specific people/events/situations, the more they seem to gain an upper hand; and only through a sudden wakeup call, such as an incident or a counter-experience are we jolted into awareness and realize how conceited or mistaken we might have been. A re-patterning of the mind, every once a while is absolutely necessary. Talking of patterns and networks of patterns in the mind and concentration, which, I was reading in Edward de Bono's book 'I Am Right, You Are Wrong' - one topic struck me; in one chapter he talks of attuning the mind to the current task, which tends to make completing or wading through it much more effective. For example, he says when you give the mind the signal 'look for people wearing red caps only, in the stadium' - the action of finding such specimens becomes much more easy, almost

THE PUJA DAYS

They came and went with great speed. At the durga puja this time, met up with old friends including some after a long while; now all spread far and wide across India, some busy with work, others with studies. Missed a few who had gone elsewhere, during the pujas. 4-5 days of the usual pujas, serving food (bhog), revelry & cultural activity, happened. Find more at the Jayamahal Puja blog , some pics here ( Soham's Flickr page ). To come out of the festive mood is a bit difficult. Shubho Bijoya to one and all, and let peace pervade.