Brahma-Raakshas

The name itself might raise the eye-brows, in those who are a little familiar 'about me' (though not 'with-me'...!)

Even I did not 'think-of' letting this loose, in the form a blog when I wrote it down, and so I had only shot-it, in the 'email-form', hoping that it would be so convenient to 'invite trouble' from only known adversaries!

But, looking at the poor response from a 'selective-group' of say... some two dozens, I am now tempted to keep the window open, a little wider...

It is the concept, 'built' around the term, that I am interested into more than the 'gimmicks' that ensures its popularity !

I hope readers would enjoy this in equal measure too..

psn(28th April, 2014)

quote:

Somewhere I came across a theory which may have only some conceptual relevance.

The dramatized version seems to contribute more towards reducing the credibility of stories, whereby the concept gets diluted or even goes un-noticed! Logic does demand a price!

A leisurely visit to ancient temples of Kerala, would familiarize a person with a place, built with low elevation, appearing like a single large room unfinished during construction, and stopped at plinth level, with that sand filling.

Devotees take a walk around it, with devotion, and a few pick up a pinch of that mud from the elevated place.

The name given to this sacrosanct place is 'BrahmaRakshas'.

Some Brahmins are of the opinion that Brahmins do not 'bow' to this place!

There is a belief that persons who acquired great knowledge, and yet refused to part with it, become such BrahmaRakshas! An abode or resting place is given to them thus! They appear or become perceivable to those vulnerable people who are prone to run into demons or Rakshasas, only during the early morning hours of Brahma-Muhurtham, and are quite harmless!

There is even a joke: It seems a young housewife was decorating the front yard with that 'Rangoli' (the traditional 'KOLAM'), and suddenly felt some presence behind her. Taking a look, she remarked very casually, "Oh! It is only you, a BrahmaRakshas, and I thought it to be my 'Naathanar' (sister-in-law)!". It is a custom to decorate the front yard with that Rangoli during very early hours, and the BrahmaRakshas would have come to 'verify' whether the design of Rangoli was as per prescriptions, free from 'bugs'! There is (or at least used to be) an entire science regarding this Rangoli, which serves among many other purposes, also that of an almanac or calendar!

They (BrahmaRakshas), it seems happen to realize a bit late (after having lost access to the gross body), that distributing knowledge to worthy disciples constitutes to be an integral part of spiritual evolvement. So, they stagnate at a point, and wander aimlessly! Basically they are supposed to be good souls; just that they discovered a bit late that spiritual knowledge is to be treated as 'open-source', 'free-ware' etc, and not to be jealously guarded, at least from non-hackers!

That reminds me, pilferage of knowledge (hacking) is not something new! It seems the Devas requested Kacha, the son of Brihaspati, the preceptor of Devas, to infiltrate into school of the of preceptor of Asuras(Main Server), through online-net-chatting on the 'web' access, with a damsel called Devayani (the daughter of asura-preceptor, Sukracharya). The soft ware to be hacked was known "Sanjivani'! The fall out was interesting.

The story does not seem important. The concept is. The spiritual experience gained by visiting a holy place is to be shared, and not withheld, and this place for "BrahmaRakshas" could serve as a mild reminder towards that responsibility (response-ability!).

Since all this is hearsay stories, I would gratefully acknowledge any additions, corrections to the theory of BrahmaRakshas.

Psn (17^th May, 2008)

Trust deployment

“Please continue to enjoy trusting my integrity if you wish, but do not extend it to my accuracy!.. I am not infallible, though better than aam-aadmi at counting currency notes, by virtue of my job...”

I used to say often...

(The moment they are able to trust me, their polarisation towards their comfort-zone seeks to invoke their laziness to speed ahead towards it, like we step on the accelerator on a smooth, vast, straight and lonely highway!... This is a 'trait' we find too often when we misconstrue 'reliability' as a 'dependability'.....)

And the other person ... unable to match this 'style of argument' for the time being at least (he is having more important things 'ready-at-hand' than trying to even grasp what I said, only then to conjure a counter-argument!)... he helplessly goes through the motions of 'confirming' my cohesiveness of my mind and fingers, when they matched the target of 99+1 (we cashiers, have a style, of 'claiming' that we count only up to 99... the 100th one is 'there, glaring at me' already! A Sadistic sense of achievement at a 'stupid-dexterity'!)...

The disclaimer on the note-slip, that forms a label of that 100-pieces-packet says, 'Satisfy yourself, that it is okay in every manner... later on don't haggle... no blame game' (effectively, this is what is says, in more-polite words).. The main worry is, about who is the 'holder-in-due-course' of a fake note... more than the loss of money, the 'running around' by that Uniformed personnel, who might have run-out-of pocket money that has to come from 'other sources' , not just-salary... might accelarate that 'needless run for money', sponsored by fake-money, for a change!..

How to deploy trust? (Already it is in short supply within us , right now!)

I guess, that it is this capability to 'deploy' trust is the fulcrum on which the edifice of interpersonal skill rests!

Testily yours,

psn(22 April, 2014)

Impersonal Allegations!

Dosti mei gustaqui karenge hum sirf ek baar....

dost sab paidal chalenge, aur hum janaazey pe sawaar...!

I was reminded of this 'gustaaqui' yet again, when I looked at what I churned out as an 'uninvited' response to a comment made by 'x' at a blog of 'y' (where as, I am not even an 'a/b/c' in the queue!)..

And the response I gave, ....

when I myself tried to look at it ,...

seemed like a 'same side goal'....!

(I am almost a critic of my own very 'religion'!... What a situation!)

this is what I wrote!

Quote:

“"why didn't Krishna told Gita to everyone present on the battlefield?" (the reference portion, used for my response...)

Maybe, they are in the queue!... At the railway enquiry counter, we often find the counter-clerk showing that 'fatigue' (of having answered the same question over and over ,) so visibly.. when the next fellow asks it yet again! Especially the "late running trains, and its 'expected' time of arrival"... People can even read it on a scribbled white/black board nearby, or even that digital scroll (now-a-days), but still 'like to make it doubly-sure' ! 
Why do we "get" a question like, "is it ....'really'... applicable to others too?"... (Now, using the same 'railway counter' as an example... suppose that counter clerk got a 'news' that this 'delayed train' has met with some 'derailment'... details awaited... even that news was a 'spill-over'.. some unconfirmed reports... the scene changes! That 'next to the next' fellow leaning over 2-3 shoulders, would not 're-frame' the question, plus , he would now multiply his 'anxiety' about his family that was 'supposed' to arrive by that-same-train! He does not wait to see, if this information (leak news) really was 'addressed to him'! (Please try to see this 'simplistic' or 'silly-looking' example in the back drop of the entire 'so called religion.... Hinduism' .. it does not even 'compel' a temple visit... it is a 'take-it-or-leave-it' basis! The choices of temples vary (no-two are 'very- alike!.. The deities are same, not the temples! The 'message' almost seems to 'mock-at-my' ... common-sense... almost ridicules with an unsaid punch-dialogue "Hey! You mango-man/aam-aadmi... here are ... so many deities... different 'kinds' of consecration for each of these deities... now, ... you spend a life-time, choosing the 'right one' suited for you! You wouldn't have even visited all the temples available (even, after the quite a few ones that got demolished/etc)... Nor can you 'finish' reading even the bulk of scriptures in one life time... Nor can you grasp the 'full-significance' of even a couple of lines of 'one of those declaratory' verses... Nor can you finish learning all those awkward postures in one life time (number of Yog-aasana are too many).. nor can you 'fully grasp' even one aasana in one life time (Shri BKS Iyengar would vouch this... and he is 'fairly' reliable person... he has nothing to gain 'now' by telling an 'untruth' about something he loves more than his own-life, Yog-aasnas!)... "
Then what is the whole point?
dunno!
psn

भ्रष्ट आचार (corrupt conduct)

“I shall do my very best(at all times)...

I shall not seek any personal gain...

I shall not have any ulterior motive...”

I heard it said today... Somebody 'declared' a committment towards this....

(The best part was, this declaration preceded with a 'exclusivity-clause' that these three are said in the 'individual capacity'!... If somebody is interested to look 'positively', then, the obvious derivative 'may be'...

“Let others follow suit...”

and not.. that...

“it does not apply for others too”...!!!

...

It felt so nice to even 'get to hear such things'.. ..

(I was even tempted to 'cross-check' it within me... has it found applicability when I lived this far?.. Is is going to guide me/lead-me hereafter?_)...

Good enough, to make a humble beginning...

right 'within', first...

and only then to try to 'clean' the outside...

“Fight against corruption” has to be with oneself, first!

My intention of quoting this set of first three sentences of blog was to remind myself of its 'spiritual significance' though the declaration was in a 'political-context'... and so, I may not be able to respond 'satisfactorily' to any criticisms, about the politics involved around the quote!

psn (7th April, 2014)

(I can 'reasonably' trust the person who can declare thus, to absolve me from any 'copy-rights' issue of quoting that person... The implied meaning of what was said is itself a 'guarantee', this time!)

Assessment Tools

“Devi, Tum hans rahee ho?... Maa bankar dekho,...” The heroine in Mother India tells the idol, which seems to smile 'mockingly' at her, when she is torn apart mentally, between a compromise of starving her kids to death, or to lose her chastity to a greedy financier....

The scene impressed me very much... I was a kid, and the hand-painted posters used to weave 'dreams about that movie' everytime I passed by that road-side-advertisement-poster.. When the movie itself turns far better than that dream-about-movie that I weave within, my mind tells me 'good movie' other wise, it is just a so-so.. etc..

We can assess something, only by using some kind of a 'tool', often resembling a yardstick or a measurement scale, however fuzzy it is...

When it comes to emotions, there is a slight problem! We ourselves become the tool..! Or, is it possible staying out of it, and then measuring?... dunno! Why do people say, 'you won't understand...' to certain actions about which we try to ask, why did-you-do?... Is it that they 'know' ....that I am not going to become-a-tool, adequately enough,.... to understand the emotional reason for it?

Babies... emotion is all that they have!... They simply turn receptive to what ever predominates the ambiance just-outside-of-them! Their inside, at least physiologically is 'least-corrupted' from that emotion-receptivity point of view (though biologically that baby might have inherited even an HIV virus from the mom!)... Now, that baby might not respond/manifest, if the health problem is a 'retardation'... but for sure, the emotions are all that the baby is having, and capable of receiving right now! (it laughs and cries too intensely.. even funny sounds makes the child 'burst-itself' through a laughter!)...

Spirituality... Even to get into it... what kinds of tools are they, that are going to 'allow' us to gain some-kind-of-entry into that 'pathless-path'? Unless the 'mind' says 'go-for-it'... no point in trying it even... like we try out to watch-and-enjoy... an emotion-filled movie or so! Reading a stuff with 'spiritual' related content... or 'reproducing' it from some 'popular source'.. .. is almost like trying out a costly dress at a shop's dressing room!

(I wonder... if that pseudo-theism... plays a trick on our own selves... when it fakes an assessment-tool, that seems to be an emotional appreciation/evaluation, when it uses the feigned-emotions, the way those movie-stars do, when they work in shifts between shifted-roles for different movies!)...

Are logical tools going to work, to 'assess' spirituality?

Are emotional tools going to be 'used' like we use a fishing rod, sitting on a river bank, avoiding to get ourselves wet?

If.... it is so.....at all... that emotions “do matter”, for spirituality/theism... what level of emotions? (for sure, we need not 'count' the negative emotions, and add to the confusion...).

Is it the 'assessment-tools' itself... of a person.. that gets assessed by that 'job-giver' in an employment interview?

(Even for some new technology.. like... when 'brains are churning out new concepts of 'cloud-computing'... some other lab-workers are creating 'testing-tools' and asking these very cloudy-people to 'assess' those tools! Now, that does speak about a certain kind of 'trust'... when big money is spent into conferences, where the cloud-makers, and its tool-makers meet regularly!.. I have only spiritual-practices, to think about, when I try to assess as an idler-now... and that tempts me to wonder... how these Masters happen to exchange “even assessment tools” through their own unique 'blue-tooth' technology! When it is Spiritual Masters, the same 'dialogue'... 'Do whatever it takes' ... takes cosmic proportions! Size matters!)..

Are we serious about even taking a look at the kind of 'assessment-tools' that we use, when our mind 'incessantly' churns out conclusions, confusions, in the name of statements/observations, which are actually/effectively, judgements? Dunno!

When it is about blogs... it is so safe to copy-paste! Own stuff, renders our own assessment-tools, vulnerable to its inadequacies getting 'exposed'... But then, how to manage comments/responses? Dunno!

psn (5th April, 2014)

Praayaschittaartham, parihaaraha

“Abey... Mundee neechey kar”...

I was not quite familiar with this 'mundee' ... when that 'elder' next to me thundered thus, clenching his teeth, to keep the decibels low, but the 'thrust' of voice quite hitting me through his 'severe' glare!

Then he placed his palm on the back of my head, and forced me to crouch at the bench... and added, “aisey!”.... Now, I got it! Mundee is nothing but my 'quixotic' brain, and its casing, the skull!

I looked sideways, (which constitutes to be a 'sly-look' for others... usually I turn my whole head, to keep the dual-eyed-focus straight... Single-eye vision did not seem to afford the 'depth' of the object viewed!)...

Now I got the 'why' of my mundee, being grounded to the bench!... He had to look over at the answer sheet of the 'elder' next to me, on the 'other side' (I was 'flanked by elders' on both sides, left and right ...).

That was the “seating pattern” devised by our school, to prevent 'copying' in our 'weekly tests' which was then-the-name, for today's mid-term examinations at school... I was just in 6th... the junior most in the high-school section, and therefore was quite 'new' to the 'traditions' established by elders! I never created further problems to any of my elders! (Anyway, I wasn't in that rat-race for marks/ranks... at home, I had got my instructions clear “fail in a class means, education-stop” .. My dad and his uncles had failed quite a number of times, in each class, and I was 'expected' to be a slight improvement over it,... nothing more! That gave me the freedom to 'crouch' as and when required by the elders... all I was racing-against was just 'pass-marks' plus, an insurance of little more... nothing more-than-that.. 'non-crouched' time-space was more than enough to get-thro'..)...

It was only the 'maths' egjaam which tempted me beyond my self-restraint.. and I conveniently mis-interpreted the word 'choice' to suit my craze... 5 out of ten 'sums' was the warning... I found even the time ample for 10 out of ten, because, somehow, that maths-sums sounded quite 'eejee' to me!...(anything, to sound 'easy' had to translate into a job done 'quickly'—those were the parameters taught to us at school, then! And at home, I was 'wondering' why that 'stone-picking' from ration-rice--- chaawal se kankar chunn-na--- did not sound the opposite of 'easy' when it require a labor-intensive and time intensive task! Too many family members, and finances were less, so cleaning that 'ration-rice' needed help from kids in the family... for elder males, it was a 'below-dignity' job, belonging only to women folk!... No 'sin' involved in punishing kids, who were not yet adults! 'Ration rice', to me was easily identifiable, when 'lot' of pebbles/stones, white ones, were 'found' in a rice!).... And when the maths teacher (a wizard from M.A.--maths-teachership), chided me... I stuck to the prescribed choices ('correction' was needlessly stretched, with my answer-paper... and therefore the warning!).

A little later, it dawned that I too, was a 'party' to the unethical conspiracy of these elders... but I could do nothing 'about it'... Figuratively and literally, my head was at stake!

That led me to take a look at 'sin' aspect a little closely... Three 'big' doubts 'came', into my tiny mind... 1) Atonement... 2) rectification, and then 3)forgiving ...

I kept the search on... for the equivalent of that 'forgive' in desi languages... While many 'adaptations' were force-matched to suit the convenience of unhindered 'flow' of conversations, it(the available substitutes... like kshama, etc.. 'maaf' seemed better!) really failed to convince me!

The prime-doubt was... did the ancients 'realise' that any 'error' was 'entirely' related to the doer, and the recipient of any hurt/injury/etc of any wrong-doing had no subjective-oriented act towards oneself, to be even looked into, save... any remedial measure?... The ancient theory of punishments too seemed to subscribe to this 'theory'! Maybe, it was due to a deep grasp about 'mind-related-residues', that the residue acruing to any erroneous act of the other, would be a sheer stupidity, if it creates a 'residue' in the recipient! The whole of scriptures was addressed to 'individuals' and did not warrant any 'receptivity' of residues from any act of the other... Residues are a result of one's own reactions, not pertaining to any source-of-outside-situation! That makes any forgivance by the other, for our actions, to be 'redundant'!!! The symbolisms, indicated through varied texts, seemed to make a very strong suggestion to this concept (or-else, ...or otherwise, .... I got it all 'wrong'! So, readers are to 'exercise their own prudence' while even 'trying' to subscribe to this theory!)

And then, the first two, atonement, and rectification did have its equivalent... 'Praayaschit' and 'parihaar'.. but even the colloquial equivalents in native languages somehow managed to allow a free use of these two, quite inter-changeably!

Parihaar was often used in astrology, when the dosh (error) was attributed to some far off planet, afflicting the native's birth chart... So, parihaar was not always a response to any sin, by me or even others... it is merely 're-aligning' of something that is not 'quite-in-conformity' with natural order of things... in tune with nature's design... or even the cosmic laws (as per perception of an individual!).. Setting things in order!

Praayaschit.. was 'noticeable' only when it accompanied a 'rectification-process' to what ever possible extent!

My quixotic mind, now tries to look at it as....

All parihaars need not be 'praayaschit-oriented' or praaschit-triggered...

Where as a Praayaschit need not always impose any parihaar (in some cases, the scope is extinguished even!)

I have a dictionary with malayalam script, which translates sanskrit words into malayalam language for giving 'some idea of its meaning' (The compiler obviously knew the 'worth' of sanskrit language, and was conscious of limitations while giving a translation of it, and calling it a dictionary!)...

This is what I found... so a quote, interpreted with my limitations:

Parihaar: 1)Tyaag (sacrifice)... 2)render something free of its defect... 3)revere/respect (aadar karna)

Praayaschit: “The prescribed actions, in accordance with the principles enshrined in the science of 'Dharma' to exterminate a 'sin'...

unquote;

Now, parihaar looks far more 'innocent' than the praayaschit, in spiritual terms!

Dharma is usually interpreted as 'religion' while .. the ancients who coined this term might have looked at it as 'righteousness' (the meaning implied in that urdu sher--- “khudi ko kar buland itna”

the rest of it ... 'ke har tehreer ke pehle khudaa khud pooche .. bataa teri razaa kya hai”... what ever we do do become 'buland' is righteousness... no actions prescribed... actions being situation-dependent!)

Sin, is perhaps, what ever does not fit to be a righteous act... act of thought, word or physical-action...

Since it is the residue of the actions, that we accumulate often... the freedom lies in exterminating the residue... and till then, this residue is in 'conformity' to the concepts of what can-constitute-to-be ... also... the equivalent of a 'sin' (here, in spiritual terms, the 'social norms' of what a sin is , is not a quite 'exhaustive' list.. the society-prescribed list is 'worldly'... loukik.. and is basically 'intended' for a smooth social order... it does not 'encroach' into spiritual-sense-of-sin... simply because, this whole 'business' of spirituality was considered to be 'purely a matter of personal choice'... And “perhaps” it is... 'therefore'... that a seeker is puzzled, when the 'progress' on a spiritual path is attributed to 'strange-looking' and 'new-new' lists.. of 'defects'/hurdles... and confusing us calling 'even-that' and 'this' as “a-sin”... Arey? Yeh sab bhi galat maana jaata hai kya?... Baap-re-baap... kathin-pari-sthitee hai yahaan tou!... Na jaane hum aam aadmi ka kab bedaa paar hoga!

'Debugging' seems to suit that 'parihaar' in the e-world.. and if debugging is too difficult to be an 'original', copy-paste of somebody's codes!.. if copy paste is not readily available, re-route the very loop, clandestinely ... to appear as if that function was dealt with (data availability takes time, to find the ineffectiveness of debugging.. by then, we are on a different project.. or.. hopefully, a group-leader/project-leader/'Manager'/etc!)... As yet, computer world deals with 'sins', in only one way.. 'benching'!... But we have that android-mobile etc (what ever it is!)...

psn (29th March, 2014)

Being Unavailable!

It works often!

Place the mobile on a 'silent' mode, switch it off.. etc..

'Chor-Police' ! A game that I had learnt from seniors at school... The phase was about 5 years, and lasted only till we reached 9th class, where the turn of teens drew its attention, for many of my friends, into more of 'dress' consciousness (suddenly they became too particular about narrow bottom, then 'bell-bottom' pants, the collar style was usually decided either by the ruling movie-star or that high-scoring test-cricketer... till then the ferociousness of our games took a toll on the shirt and knicker and its life too!)... For a while I felt 'left out' when this dress consciousness failed to impress me, but it did afford the attention being drawn a little deeper within (an incidental gift due to the situation... when all others looked into palm-held tiny mirrors, I learned to sit and stare into a blank empty space ahead of me, simply because, it provided the scope to 'look on and on'!)..

The concept of 'being unavailable' was getting crystallized during this immediate after-phase!... But the 'how'.... of the concept of 'being-unavailable' crept in, was perhaps.... due to the help of the game at school.

That game of 'chor-police' was a bit sacred one! There was no 'chori' (theft involved)!.. And we never gave a thought to it... when we did not 'steal' anything, why is the other kid who is chased, called a thief?... But then, why at all should he try and become 'unavailable' during the count of 1 to 50?... The thrill of the game never gave enough time to think of such logical questions! One fellow places his palms on both eyes, keeps his forehead touching a corner of a wall, and chants aloud his UKG arithmetic 'portion' of quarterly-exam... (the 'chanting' of the numerals, from 1 to 50).. Those kids...whose tongues can churn out the numbers faster will be required to chant up to 75 .. the other kids hide.. The first one to be discovered becomes the 'chanting priest' of the next round! (The worst part of it was, the kid who manages to hide at a good place, has to bear the brunt of loneliness, isolation, etc for a longer time, with the anxiety too, that the Second-bell after interval may not be audible.. The place of hiding is kept a secret, and periodical peeping out might add the vulnerability of being spotted by the next 'police-kid'... But that was the thrill...!!!)...

The need to find 'newer places to hide'... to become 'unavailable'... led me to take a look at our school's earliest water tank which provided drinking water!..

The water tank stood on a platform of about 2.5 to 3 feet, so as to enable tiny size taps all around its base, for kids to use it for drinking the water... the spill-water flows along a narrow canal 6 inches wide below this tap, all around the tank... The tank was located at the end of an open-corridor. Along the open corridor, soon after this tank (lengthwise), was the Chapel, then the 'office-room' which had a window that remains 'open' only for certain hours, more for 'fee'-flow than for the air-flow, inwards for ventilation!.. The next was the Principal's office (out of bounds for kids, except when summoned!)..

The corridor had a roof with a drop on the open side to shield from slant rain-shower... This 'drop' wall narrowed the space between the water tank's upper portion to just about 9 inches for a height of 3 feet! Where as, the other side of the lengthwise portion of the tank grew along the wall with a gap of 1 feet, so that kids can squeeze in that space, stand in front of the tap, and sip from the drool of that tiny tap (kids desisted from that 'side-length' of taps, just because their 'bottom' gets a pat from the wall, when they suddenly couch to reach the tap!).. The height of the water tank was kept almost touching the roof, short of height by just 6 or 8 inches!...

The 'search' for a new hiding place tempted me to climb on to that canal-railing, and reach for the roof of that tank, and pry into it, to 'see' if I can somehow squeeze in, to hide somewhere along the elbow of that tank's top portion where the drop began.... I was surprised when I managed to take a look at the water in the tank from its top... the head had to be twisted sideways, to reach inside the tank, to take a look, but the wall of the tank was a bit thicker than the length of my neck, and hence could not 'straighten' my head after that side-twist to push the head in! A compromise was the 'sly' look side-ways (the way we try when copying from the answer-sheet of the next kid during an examination/test-process!)... The dim lighting took a while to clear the visibility ... And the 'visuals' left me stupefied! I was looking at an 'ocean bed' like scene with lot of greenery at the base, (and was at once reminded of the 'explanation' of the puzzle, when I found tiny bits of green substances which occasionally landed on to our tiny palm while cupping the palm upturned, beneath the tiny tap to sip the water!)... There was nothing more to 'gain' from the visuals, and I struggled my way back, to the firm ground! (It was much later that I could 'guess' the reasons for this poor-design of this tank, which made any-cleaning almost impossible after it was erected... it also explained why this water caused a sore-throat occasionally when my throat was ..... 1) pre-ruptured due to shouting hard during our lunch-interval-game, and 2)also dust-coated by the playground mud, hanging in air... all over the place, suspended to a height of 5 feet for that 45 minute duration of interval..

Otherwise, this water never mattered (in terms of lack of cleaning the tank periodically... this was true for almost all of us kids.. that carrying of a 'water bottle' was unheard of during 1956 to 1970 at least!)... From my memory as an adult, the only explanation I found was that the body as a kid was good enough to expel almost all of the substances that got-in... like that water of school-tank's .. or.. 'that' which was not needed as a 'food' by the body!

At work place, the skill of becoming 'unavailable' had to turn a little more subtle... And here, I was only interested to learn it by observation, and never felt persuaded to 'practice it' (the whole idea of the terms of contract of employment was to be 'available' during the whole of working-hours, and any 'idea' of being unavailable meant a proportionately 'unearned wages'!... That was something not so compatible with my-frame-of-mind, ever!)...

At home, this un-availability takes dubious variations, mostly because we are 'relatively-related to the close-relatives of ours)...

With spiritual pursuit, the physical 'availability' turned to be inversely proportional to spirit's availability, for evolvement into spirituality! (Even to discover this, it took a pretty long time, for many of us, and therefore the 'sinking' in of the tools and techniques was groping for a slot through which to sink in, it also kept its search on at just the surface levels, leaving even the surface-benefits, popularly known as the 'incidental-health-benefits' to a chance-happening,... when the subtlety of 'resistance-within' itself was an inconspicuous hurdle!)....

Mind. It alone seems to decide the level and extent of our 'availability' within and out of physical realms! (When the being within.... gains a 'decisive ability', and decides to 'avail' the mind, its availability becomes a little flexible, with 'flexi-timings' ... the latest catch-word of techies of today!)

Availingly yours,

psn ( 26th March, 2014)

Wishing Wants!

“If you don't study well, you will not get a 'good' job when you grow up!.. You will struggle like that rickshaw-puller on the road, and yet the income will leave you and your family hungry”...!!!

That is what the school-teacher used to tell us ... trying to inspire us, to work 'hard'...!

(Even right then, I had 'quixotic' doubts cropping up .. like, 'who then would pull the rickshaws, do the menial jobs, for others at 'good-jobs' to enjoy life 'smoothly'?.. but a very wrong place and time to ask... the cane was 'well within easy reach' of that teacher .. plus... irreversible consequences of 'reporting' to higher-authorities.. of such un-healthy traits... parents would never forgive!.. Principal find it good 'bijness', when replacement-kids would fetch fresh 'donations'!!!!)

Hardly the age to become 'hard' at 'hard-work'! The whole life was about going easy at it! But, that frequent warning coming from 'well-meaning-elders' kept nagging us the whole time! And then a few confusing dictums (not just proverbs!)... “play while you play, work while you work.... the only way to be healthy, wealthy and gay!” (at that age, 'gay' had only one meaning, for us... only now it seems to confuse us! But the consolation is, it was used just to rhyme with 'play'.. no-hard-'feelings'...!!!).

“What will you be, when you grow up?”... kids used to ask each other (though at that age, it simply meant a choice between maths and biology, at the time of 'entering' the 9th class..! And I used to say, “I want to be 'normal'... just normal”.. Most of my classmates used to gape at this reply, but some of them not knowing the value even of their own words, used to say “But for that you need not do anything at all? You are already that! You do seem 'normal'”.. I used to leave it there! If only those kids (now as old as me), would remember.... quite a few of them might be struggling to be 'kid like normal' that they already were,.... then!

So, it was all about what we 'want'.. and then 'wish' for it!

I looked at the wish-list of a few giants in history....

A small spelling mistake, and 'nir-devatwam' became 'nidre-wa-twam' (Kumbhakarna, who had wished for years to eliminate their natural enemy, the Devas, erred while presenting the wish, and the 'grants-commission' hurried to say, 'So be it'... and he became a good 'sleeper-cell' for terrorism-activities!).

Somebody could not even chant properly 'Rama-Rama'... he was advised, to try “Mara-mara” and the phonetic-sequence got transformed into the right version 'Rama-Rama' over a period of time... !!! So, it was not 'exactly' about actions, but the intent behind it... And, there was indeed some design, a clandestine one, that took care of the co-hesiveness of the individual wishes, to remain aligned with the 'cosmic-wish' and effected necessary corrections, when the imbalance was likely to undergo an intolerable-tilt!

It was time to take a look at what yet-another-science tells about the effectiveness of our own 'choices-of-wishes'!.. And some of the wishes 'take-shape' only during the next time, meaning, the whole structure undergoes a change at its very 'base-form' to actualise the wish!

Yes, astrology, with all its unreliability, inevitability, doubts, confusions, and above all, the proverbial-unpredictability!

Wish for lot of power around you--- and we get re-located near a thermal-power station, or still worse, near those huge massive transformers, as a humble watchman with a 12-hour-duty (for 'want' of a reliever often, but ... nature ordained that 'may your wish be granted')... Now, any neurological problem is 'Brother, you asked for it!!'

Wish for lots of cash in our hands, and we end up as a Bank-cashier! Keep counting till you retire, and before leaving, liquidate the debts with terminal benefits!

But, now...

did we 'exactly' wish for 'Mobile-phones'?...

Somebody ... say an alien watching us from the sky above, may feel tempted to conclude... that

no matter what level of poverty/wants/hurdles of life... mobile connectivity, tele-density was high on the wish list of these humans!... Shops at vintage points quietly 'make-way' for mobile-shops.. and people wouldn't even remember 'what was there earlier?'.. At trains and buses, the brief intervals when they are not 'talking' with the mobile, they are plugging wires into their ears, listening to it, all the time! Obviously, talk time and stand-by time of these gadgets enter our wish lists!... (Some where deep within, the 'being' is silently and patiently waiting for the 'listen-time' and stand-up time of our alertness and awareness!... But, this 'being' simply does not know how to market its 'wish-want' list to us... All it can do is simply wait!... Till our own wishes are granted, grants feel fulfilled, fulfillment yields contentment, and contentment seals further-wishes!...)

By the way, the bulk of us now seem to be 'wishing' for that cherished 'good-governance'.... A wish almost thrust upon us...... as a 'shifting-pain' from ....corruption-governance to good governance.....! Are we really ready for good governance, the torture due to it--- entailing adherence to all kinds of strict rules like honest tax-payment, no favoritism, no jumping-of-queues,... etc.?....or, ... is it that a good governance is a consequence, an obvious one out of what we are and not a thing to be wished, or a want to be granted!

Wishfully yours,

psn (17th March, 2014)

Mind and Schizophrenia

We are familiar with mind related ailments..

An expert of that field wrote a three-part-blog, and I tried to comment in one of them, with a spiritual-oriented-thrust...

May be it is of interest to you!

http://www.speakingtree.in/public/spiritual-blogs/seekers/wellness/schizophrenia-causes-and-symptoms-part-1

http://www.speakingtree.in/public/spiritual-blogs/seekers/wellness/schizophrenia-part-two

http://www.speakingtree.in/public/spiritual-blogs/seekers/wellness/schizophrenia-concluding-part

My comment:

All the three articles make an interesting and informative reading...

While providing amazing clues to even a non-affected person, it does not try to 'impose' any information on the reader, and that is a wonderful aspect of the articles!

...

I find a certain depth of 'patience' in the author! (Usually, patience is misconstrued in a great hurry, and often misconstrued to be merely the waiting period of the mind to boil out--into thoughts, words or actions--and dismissed as 'nothing more than that'.. which is perhaps not so true! It is the inner-stability too, and perhaps a little more than that... and that is what I find in the choice of words of the author while responding so gracefully to the comments!)...

...

Now, I am a non-expert, unqualified, and therefore incompetent person to comment on a professional-article by a qualified person. And.... above that, my unconventional and unorthodox style of approach, perhaps, might make it all the more illegitimate (in the ethical sense), to try to make any 'comment'...! So I shall try my best to make it sound like a mere humble response only!

...

I had my share of experience with volunteering for those aspirants who sought to deepen their own spiritual pursuits...

Some of them, came for merely a little more of 'peace of mind'.. such people found instant and amazing results from the spiritual-oriented programs, where I too offered the 'volunteering'...

Some of them found a yet better reason to stay on to the practices, if it would offer something more... such people found their 'patience' wearing off, and most of them dropped off over a period of time, but very slowly and very gently, ... and gracefully attributing the dropping off, to their own lack of tenacity-of-purpose!

Very few decided to stay on! They had that inner urge, to goad them a little further! And not without 'any' rewards... Also, not without 'side-effects' too (mind game!)...

...

The spiritual practices makes an impression about some kind of 'deeper' understanding of our inner design, which is purely experiential... The 'explanation' of what is 'actually happening' within is quite elusive, for want of that audio-visual help we get usually, when we attempt to understand the external objects and the experiments we try with them...

And now my guess work. It is, for me,... only a guess work, because, the understanding of it is without the technical details of the inner design.. but otherwise, the experience seems to be quite firm (so far, this far.. at least :) ....).

The brain, along with its nerves, neurological design, etc is powered by a certain kind of energy, the life energy, in its various forms, various patterns of storage-systems etc.. And the very same energy, when it manifests in a subtle form, gathering the past impressions, and also retains its own unique 'creativity' (unique to humans, human-form, human-design) becomes what we try to call it as a 'mind'... Without that self-awareness, 'the' mind, which we attribute to a human being, a normal human-form, is not present in other life form to that extent, and therefore we do not expect a similar 'processing' functionality out of their 'awareness/alertness'... Interestingly, the level of this awareness (not self-awareness), in other life forms is also in distinct varieties.. Apes and monkeys come amazingly close to our kind of mind! (that is where the researches attempt to juxtapose the findings, and then to arrive at an argument concerning similarity!)..

Now, since I am a non-expert, let me use a very crude and simplistic but 'only-an-indicative' example to tell what I look at it as.....

We have seen varieties of blinking lights connected as series, to give us that decorative lighting effect flashing different designs, patterns, when they flash on-and-off, alternatively... If the power is correctly connected, and the flow of energy is to the very right-kind-of volume and velocity, the design produces the visuals of the exact kind sought of from it... What if one of the bulbs mal-functions? What if the power-flow gets reduced between two 'resistance' modes?... Possibilities are numerous, in the distorted visuals that we get to see! The energy that powers the mind to do its own functions depends on physically-manifested intermediaries of the human body, the entire network of nerves, neurological responses, the perception and processing at the brain-level, and then the 'data-delivery' to the mind! When it comes to the mind-level, the entire power-management itself becomes heavily complex-ed! Its own creative power (this is the mystic part which eludes even the medical sciences), functions and mal-functions according to the power-management ability... And this is where the 'study' branches out from physiology and gains a certain unique kind of 'independence' while studying the mind itself (the name is psychology, .... psychiatry, perhaps the application or applied-functionality of this study...) The bulk of relief sought to be given to person whose design-of-mind malfunctions (here 'malfunctions' is a term to be looked at as more-of-convenience, rather than its 'appropriateness' .. if we seek to be judicious in our study and claims... we often encounter cases where deeper perceptions are also-misconstrued as 'malfunction' due to undue-haste! )...

Now, let me try and make it a little more complicated, not too much :)

Going back to that example of series of lights and bulbs,.....what if the wire itself, the bulbs itself, improve their capability to sustain and also enhance their ability to 'display'/manifest the transformed light-form of that power?... The gauge(thickness)and quality of wire decides the volume of power it can transfer... we have superiority of copper over steel/aluminium wires, and also other mediums for super-conductors... We have certain freak-bulbs which illuminate a little above average due to some filament becoming better-functional than the contemplated-design... It is here that our ancient science of 'mind' seeks to explore deeper.. it seeks to improve the network of physical nervous system, the 'clean' physiology, the enhanced functionality of human frame, the peak-performance levels of brain endeavoring to further deepen its receptivity plus processing capability.. in two ways... improving the power-receptivity-capability, and sharpening the processing-capability... and second, to create that 'space' the potential, to become receptive, to enhance that receptivity of subtle forms of energy (not within its range of perception in its natural/inherited form of design 'by-birth'... in some cases, the 'mind' manages to manipulate even the potential 'during-birth' itself, that is where we find the child-prodigies!)... The purpose all this, to ultimately merge with the universal source of power, the creator itself!...

As a by-product, we have the 'findings' from deeper experiences to be useful to afford a little relief, a little cure even (that is where the study through sensory level perceptions finds its limitations to afford calling it 'a cure'...!), to a few of our own fellow-beings... where it is found that the 'situation allows it so'!

...

I guess, it is already rendered quite long, for an eager and curious person to take a look at it, and then to 'assess' if it makes any sense!.. But, I thoroughly enjoyed this response, even when I attempted to verbalise it! For me, it feels to be already a thoroughly rewarding experience... And now, I patiently shall wait for any 'bonuses' in the form of brickbats even!

..

Thanks and regards,

psn

Via Media

A wonderful word!

Almost like our ancient 'sutra's... a thread... any flower can be used with it, to weave it into a garment!

“philosophical maxim for life which advocates moderation in all thoughts and actions.” is what the “ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Via_media “ says...

There was a kid, whom I used to tease, asking him, 'whom do you like more?' and the choice was between his dad and me.. That kid would point his forefinger at me, keeping his arm just beside his body-side, away from his dad's view, .... while using his eyes and eyebrows to keep pointing at his dad, knowing well ... that his own dad's 'inadequate focus' .. is going to look at only-his-face! (For his age, and at his level of self-awareness, that kid was well acquainted with 'via-media'...! And I would 'honor' that kid's 'via media diplomacy, and allow his dad the luxury of assuming that the dad was kid's only choice!.. the kid knew that I could 'see' both, his forefinger and his eyes! And he also knew, I would never forsake him! It was 1972, now he must be at his tricks with his own kids even! He was my English professor's son.)

We use it only when in doubt, suspicion, etc.. or ..... when any other diplomacy seems inadequate!

When we 'agree' with something ... (especially when an 'Yes' is out of convenience of avoiding the trouble to understand, and then agree... however trustworthy the source is, we foreclose the need to examine, and deepen our perception about it!)..

We 'refuse to agree' is perhaps a slightly lesser disadvantage, when the other person retains some interest in us, to make us understand and review our stand..

Via Media, is perhaps, an ideal situation, where, we find our own energies being optimized, strengthened, focused, and enhanced while experiencing life .. but then, we need to look at it as a 'philosophical maxim'... and not 'just-a' strategic tool, or a diplomatic escapism!

This via-media, if it creeps into our emotional stability... spiritual progress chooses a different track... mathematicians might view it as a shift from 'arithmetic progression to geometric progression!'

Now, the very same 'via media' nudges me to keep this brief...... ' brief'

Via yours,

psn (27th February, 2014)

The Mirror Boy.

“Seedha pakad!” Grunts the voice, biting the teeth and the brief gesticulations of taut lips managing the right kind of noises to convey this command!

Opening the mouth too wide, is inviting trouble... strands of hair are going to stick like glue to the tongue! So, the grunt, and clenching of teeth...

The boy who holds that mirror gives a slight twist, to feign having 'properly-understood' what that 'seedha' ever meant! “Hold it straight” was the command... Straight with relation to what? That kid knows, 'what not to ask'... His career is 'fixed'... instead of the mirror, someday, hopefully, he would make that mice like noise with squeaking pairs of steel blades which fight each other constantly, to be known as scissors!

There was a time (I hope a few elders might remember, and then agree!), when there was a boy to hold a mirror to the person who likes to assess-on-line, the progress of the 'diminishing number of dead cells',... the hair, being cut-to-size! The boss, the hair dresser is fully aware of his own social status, and does not interfere if that boy is going to be the 'punching bag' of that restless occupant of the chair, where the uncrowning takes place!

And somewhere in between, a few youngsters barge in, snatch the comb, and get a feel of that 'clean' and fine tooth of the comb, and then as an after-thought, let loose a casual half-smile at the poorly weaponised scissor-wielding hapless fellow! They too, feel it a ritual to scold this mirror boy, “abay, idhar ki taraf pakad”.. (hold it this toward this side)and that sandwiched lad gets nervous, and swings that mirror both the ways, not to infuriate the either! Both, the youngsters and the hair-dresser, know that these youngsters are not going to further the income of that humble shop, and are only going to leave soon after a while, when other genuine customers peep in, see a crowd, and turn away, thinking that there is a long-waiting-period in the offing!

It is perhaps the most rewardless of jobs! That, the pay is not good hardly matters, when the needless humiliation that this lad suffers apart from the aching arms, of holding that glass mirror for long hours, incessantly just to provide a 'feel-good-factor' to the viewers!

That 'regular' shop owner was curious, and did ask me once, why don't you 'use' the comb, when I offer you? (It is the custom, to offer the comb to the owner of that depleted head, to re-shape the remnants according to their taste... and most of the people bring in all the mannerisms that they could gather out of their memory, to reassure themselves that they are really 'very particular about it')..

Somehow, I was never tempted to even touch that comb... and now there is a question: 'why?'... (I was almost well-prepared for such a question, since elders around seldom fail to notice any oddity, in those days!)... I most humbly said, “You handle it most of the working hours, and so I do not hope to better your skill, be it on my own head even”! And he did find that, to be a little uncommon kind of acknowledgement, and in his own style, rewarded me with a few 'heavy-thrust-massages' as a gift during the next few visits... My early lessons with “neurology-for-dummies” was at the hands of this Guru (literally and figuratively)...

When I got a reward of 'Oh! Don't take it too seriously' as a reply-response to some stray remark, that I tried to show the 'mirror' to the owner of that remark, I was reminded of that 'mirror boy' in myself... and it befriended me as a source of inspiration to humble myself yet again, at that youthful surge, unbridled, in a great haste to assert itself, brushing aside anything that comes its way, whether a friend or a foe! But, I do find it a self-rewarding-task, when I try to hold the mirror, and the other person can see the reflections of their own mind-patterns... and leaving it to them to postpone the trimming of few strands that seem out-of-shape... Obviously, I do get chided with that vague 'hold it straight' command, and all I can do is to shrug a bit vigorously each time, as a timely response! On spiritual path, there are a few long-distance-admirers of this mirror-boy.. they do not even trim their hair (Even I keep wondering, Buddha sports long hairs, but insists his disciples to remain-clean-shaven!... So also, the other evolved beings, maintain their hair and therefore a safe-distance from the hair-dressers too!..). It is perhaps the admiration and shine from the long-distance admirers that keeps my mirror shining!

Psn( 26th February, 2014)

Designation according to Design

“Mai aur acting nahi kar sakthee!” Said Madam Waheeda ji, in Khamoshi...

And that was where she excelled at her acting's best!

But the story had to depict a different theme... When the designation thrust upon her, exceeded her own design... she ended up as a 'number' in the same place—mental health home!

“Basanthi, do not dance in front of these villains” said the hero... but there was a voice from the balcony, in the auditorium... “How can that happen, when we bought a balcony-ticket for that!”

So, the story itself is a design, and not a 'designating authority' to fix an actor!

What is our intrinsic design? (Well, the body's design, when we look at its gross-level/form, it initially coughs at a nicotine, makes a face at that nervous stimulants, but later on learns to get addicted, till, it says, 'mai aur acting nahi karoonga!').

At our work place, 'acting Managers usually come from elsewhere on 'deputation' and are too careful to preserve their basic design intact... to hell with 'perfect acting' is what they say, it is only TA/DA (the allowances on deputation) that is at stake, not their 'designation' or the salary that matches it!)... And our emotional design?

Ancient nomenclatures were so amazingly cohesive to the basic design!... Their grasp about design almost decided the possibilities/potentials, right from birth, right into forging compatible-alliances/relationships, even maintaining 'connectivity'! (the traces of what we get to see, often defies logic!).... The knowledge of astrology too, in its own humility, sought to supplement the designers, ..... and perhaps, had sought to complement the seekers into delving a bit deeper into their own subtle designs, and then to come closest to fulfilling their purpose-of-being-so-designed! (We look at only a robot, its design etc, thus... when it comes to ourselves, either we are a 'rights-oriented-freedom-rooted ones' or 'revolutionary ones, revolting against anything that is sought to be reminded of us as 'ancient', even the reverence-included!.. and so, we don't 'mind' designations as long as 'pay is good'!)

psn(24th February, 2014)

Elaboration

Elaboration

“No 'Bhaashan' please...!” (Now, don't start a lecture please!)

This dialogue takes the shape of even... “just-a-look” between spouses and the other says, “Okay... Okay...”.

This kind of compromise doesn't stay inert... Somewhere it does expand the gap! 'We understand each other' tends to become 'not so well now'!

'Attention span' is what is 'guessed' as the most common reason..

The 'nature of inquisitiveness' of the mind, when the wonder-element of childhood dwindles, .. takes a turn ...

Some people turn into just 'Headlines-news-viewers'... They just like to know what is happening around them, nothing beyond it (not the why and how etc...). A few more look at why, some at how, and if they can relate it something within, they like to know a little more! Still it is knowing only... know-ledge... (the 'know'-ing hangs by a ledge... ).

Lengthy blogs deter readers for sure, those who just like to 'read' nothing more.. A few try to find some 'key words, phrases etc' that might ring a bell within, and now they like to read it again/more...

At work places, 'doubts' and clarifications get routed through 'dumb-terminals' (please just ask him this, and tell me 'whatever he says')... otherwise, the original asker is in for a 'lecture-session'...

Zen Masters were experts at perception!

They do not spare even those who have a short-attention-span, but the 'quality of that brief span' is good enough to drive a wedge in and it stays! (The zen master chopped the finger, and the boy just gaped, and walked off... the master beckoned him, the lad turned to look, and the master now pointed his own finger up... the lad got enlightened!... Zen stories abound, to show that this is possible!)

Some kids do not slog much, but score well! Indicative of that quality attention!

What enhances the quality of attention, the span of attention, the depth of perception, is all a thing to be taken up by a master, for those who already have some investible funds at hand (intensity to know.... 'how to know'!)...

I for one, had to struggle to learn to shift from one-mode-of attentiveness to another (along with its accessories), all along and that was quite a task!

Very Briefly yours,

psn 23rd February, 2014

Our Selective-ness!

“Sab kuch gadbad ho gaya .... mera peace of mind bhi gaya!”.... said my victim! He was my colleague.. And I knew, I had inadvertently victimized him with himself!

It all started with a very casual talk... We talked about our likes, dislikes, and then about kids, their demands, based on their likes... (somewhere, this 'selectivity criteria' based on likes/dislikes, more than what a situation needs, got into a snowballing effect, and I became a victim of my own thought process... it usually gets into this kind of concepts, and then the fellow next to me is the obvious scapegoat... That day, it was this colleague)..

He had quite a lot of people in his joint family... So the kids looked at him as an 'elder', to seek something from... this person was 'single' and hence he was under the impression that he was looking alike at all the kids of the household...

I asked him specific questions, when it came to taking 'responsibility' about those kids, and he gave details...

Then I asked him: “Hey, are you looking at these kids as if they were some 'difficulty-levels' of a game, designed for you to pick and choose?... Or do you also 'think' that,.... the way they are as kids, they are quite innocent as yet, and therefore, you have to look at their needs, and reach out to them that way... irrespective of what level of difficulty you need to undertake to make available their needs?”

He just felt himself hanging-in-mid-air, at that .. what I said...

I further added (I wished later, I hadn't ...).. and said “What if a doctor at a mental health home decides to take care of the patients according to 'difficulty-level' that suits his-own-comfort zone, and administers sedatives to the rest of them?... Or even that 'electric-shock' we see in movies?”

This one had hit him hard, perhaps! But having blurted, there was no going back... I did try the 'seemingly—antithesis'... “See, a mom loves all her kids, but gives that extra care to weaker ones” (He was by now so lost into his own introspection that he did not listen to the mom-story)..

Explaining that 'gadbad' he narrated his own 'reflections' about our office, when he used to haggle about a particular 'seat' during the 'rotation-of-duties' mandated periodically... I used to say, “so that, we do not grow roots on a particular chair” (but then there were 'specimens', who carried their chair to the new-table!)...

With automation, the criteria of selection is outsourced to a large extent! The 'tick-marks' on series of question-answer choice-boxes decides our IQ even!...

Does a Guru select or pick a disciple according to his 'difficulty-level'? (dunno...!..). Somebody/something... seems to have pushed me into that turbulent river of spirituality, and I had to learn to remain afloat first, to be alive, and only then to think about learning to swim! So, I am no good judge!

Selectively yours,

psn (21st February, 2014)

Familiar thoughts!

Shhhhhh!

And the dog became silent, curled up its tail, and moved away!

The Master could now move freely... He was in a disguise... the crowd , too preoccupied, to even notice this 'beggar-like-aam-aadmi'...!!!

That is how 'familiar thoughts' just flash, unnoticed, ... all the more... when our attention span gets reduced, and we even gloat about it “apun ke paas itna tame kahan hai?” (true, even that 'time' becomes 'tame' when we seem to time-things, with phrases like 'dead' lines, for our 'live-tasks'!...

Over a period of time, these 'familiar thoughts' use the garb of a 'non-verbal' thought form... and it is only very occasionally, that our mind sings... “woh kya hai....” at the sight of an unfamiliar object around us!

To 'formally' complete the story now...

It was Ulysses.. who was in exile, and his wife, hopeful that he would return to her.. In the meanwhile his villain trying to exploit that loyal lady... She 'feigned' agreement to concede to the villains wishes, but with a proviso, to handle that bow-arrow, like a hero...

That was when the disguised “Ulysses” made an entry, and only his dog, not caught up into 'familiar thoughts' happened to spot his Master despite the disguise!

(It was an English Movie I saw, when a kid... don't even know the name... dialogues were in 'phoren-English'... way beyond me!)

Familiarly yours,

psn (21st February, 2014)

post-script:

Yes, it is the very same 'diminishing attention span' that compels me into brief blogs....

But, it doesn't worry me... I am that street boy, who politely and humbly beckons the pedestrians along that shop, with 'Madam/Sir, please step in.. good designs, good fashion, in this shop... please take a look... no purchase to chase even!'..

And the rest is a Master's job... I am already over-paid for this humble task, which is all I can do!