Ninaivugal...Thoughts

Off late, I know that my blog entry titles pose seemingly outrageous questions. But, that's the way it is! This was some talk we had at the apartment some time back about the intricacies of religion and beliefs. Faith is one such quality which can never be questioned. There are certain things that have been going on for 2000 years and we certainly do not have the wisdom to find out about its inclusion in our daily lives. Faith and veracity are two contrasting qualities, not that faith lacks veracity, but just that faith just cannot question even when there is something outrageous. Science throws a lot of questions at some of the obscure practices of man, but faith just accepts these things without much ado. Our lives have been structured to follow certain things, and we do not believe in reasoning when it comes to the basic norms of the day to day activities. We were having this discussion about the intricacies of religious faith. There are certain things that just cannot be...

As I was walking through the dense forest clearing off the overhanging branches that hindered my progress forward, I realised the overwhelming amount of work to be done to build a clear pathway ahead. The rains had lashed the area heavily over the past few days with a soggy ground not making things easy for the amateur. I had not thought about the rain in my planning and certainly it was affecting my progress. The shoes had worn out with different layers of the mud coating encapsulating my sole. The difficulty was all the more noticeable due to the uneven mass of coating adorning both the shoes. Motion through the thick forests certainly required wading through some adverse environment conditions. There were no companions in this exercise, and to reach the other side of the forest, I was left to the confines of my learning, planning and execution. At every stage, I realized that I require more learning, and there began the process of learning new things on the way. The uncertai...

The other day, it was just me and Yadu catching a late night movie from the late nineties, Dilwale Dulhaniye Le Jayenge (DDLJ) . The other two roommates of ours had got into bed early, and we had just got up after our evening sleep. Strange things prop up while watching movies and strange ideas give rise to funny situations. It is baseless to equate the cinematic moments with real life scenario. But, it is fun to see to what extent we can go to simulate what we see on screen. I have this "terrible" habit of posing questions out of thin air. No wonder my friends complain when I sit back to watch movies with them. As we started watching the movie, we came across a scene where Kajol is supposed to marry a guy whom she has never met before. Come on, this is actually not an all out surprising scenario for people like us. But, I still had the nerve to ask Yadu, " Maga, tell me what will you do if you were in such a situation? " Yadu gives that glance which could m...

Any time I am asked for a preference while reading a book, my response almost instantaneously narrows down to the literature. As long as the book makes good reading with simple sentences, I do not get weighed down by the plot. I do not mind if a good plot does not find its way in the book, but as long as the simplicity of the words makes sense, it more than makes my day. Obviously, preferences are relative and totally depending on the individual. There would be hundred opinions counteracting my statement here that plot is more important than literature. That does not forbid me from reading novels. I have read almost all the books from the Sheldons, Archers, Haileys, Browns, where the plot is given high dominance. Of course, the writing is good, but there is a difference when you write a book meant exclusively for a high action gripping finish. Paulo Coelho of The Alchemist fame tends to strike a philosophical touch with his anecdotes that sways forth in all directions before ...