chaotic order

Diaries of a vacation - Part 5 Excellence in life often boils down to very simple principles: Following one’s heart, dedication, willingness to commit oneself to a chosen task with passion, energy and zeal, grabbing opportunities as they come by, constantly innovating and finding ways of adapting to changing needs and times - all these are to found in the myriad books, inspirational speeches that abound for the benefit of common man. But what they don’t, won’t or cannot tell you is why then Excellence and success is so uncommon then, and discouragingly hard to come by. After all, if there is a fixed regimen to be followed; and if one is willing to follow it to the tee- then success must be inevitable. But that is not the case. It seems that Men and Women who are successful, and have reached the pinnacle of their chosen field of work seem to be “divinely chosen” for whatever they are destined to do, and the rest can, at best emulate their ways and means with a fervent hope that they

Diaries of a Vacation: part 4 Decades ago the study of “Humanities” was considered a respectable vocation (especially for Women... Don’t ask me why?). The choice of many parents would invariably narrow down to this after much deliberation, because it was considered respectable and a homely course to study. After finishing, the door to Teaching were open, and many preferred the comfort of a good stable teaching job in a decent school as indicative of having reached somewhere. And of course, prospects of marriage would increase, and along with all other goodies life has to offer. Almost every university in India, even today, offers a course in Humanities. It is sadly the lowest rung of the ladder in terms of scholastic achievement, but nevertheless a last refuge if one doesn’t get into anything else, after school. The thinking is that there is still a vestige of respectability left in it, though future may not be as bright as one would want it to be. That’s alright, I guess - conside

Diaries of a vacation : Part 3 While describing the crucial period in Western mind when philosophical thought was just about incubating at the dawn of recorded history, Gustav Flaubert , the great french author beautifully wrote “Just when the gods had ceased to be, and the Christ had not yet come, there was a unique moment in history, between Cicero and Marcus Aurelius, when man stood alone…”. We could slightly modify this brilliant insight and write “Just when the gods ceased to be and Adi Shankara had not yet come, there was a unique moment in Indian history , between Buddha and Vikramaditya, when Man stood alone, lost in the alleys of discursive abstractions…”. And then Shankara arrived! And what a life it proved to be... The life and work of Shankara is a turning point in revitalizing and resurrecting the purest strains of mysticism that lay buried under the hubris of intellectual debates and arguments of a thousand differing schools of thought. And in a brief life time of 32

Diaries of a vacation - part 2 Rain gods have a special relationship with Kerala. They start their journey from this southern tip, and slowly move across the country bestowing their blessings. And the months of June, July and August find them at their capricious best. Low lying dark clouds hover perilously close to the damp earth, almost touching or kissing them; threatening to burst into tears (which they sometimes do with ferocious intent) or sometimes move away allowing streaks of Sunlight bathe its verdant skin with a warm, humid glow. They are as unpredictable as young lovers, reveling in inconsistency. It is not for nothing that this piece of land is called “Gods own country”. Surrounded by waters, enriched by luxuriant vegetation, relatively secure habitat, isolated communities formed, sustained and nourished on values and way of life that is radically different from mainstream – Kerala has always resisted distinct categorization. There is a fierce pride in its people one wo

Diaries of a vacation: Part 1. It is amazing how the mind collapses into a declutched state when vacation begins. After nearly two years, I am on a break with my family in Kochi. My journey began from Atlanta on Tuesday afternoon; and by the time I set foot in my home at Kochi, it was Thursday afternoon. I chose to fly Emirates this time. Though Delta would have yielded free tickets, it was convenient for me to fly through Dubai to reach Kochi, than take a circuitous route through Delhi or Bangalore. And I am glad that I did so for a variety of reasons. What an aircraft the A-380 is? Introduced to the world of aviation about five years ago, this monster of a machine is perhaps the most convenient piece of passenger aircraft I can think of. Emirates has close to 50 of them (Airbus sells most of their A 380’s to Emirates). The sheer size is daunting. A two storied, 800 capacity flight with 35 Air attendants and four captains - it is almost a mini universe within that big elongated

The basic instincts.. The price we pay for being civilized, orderly, and decent and law abiding members of society is that we have stopped doing several things. We don’t go around carrying axes, spears and clubs beating each other to pulp for flimsiest of reasons; we don’t steal each other wives or husbands because we desire them physically, we don’t migrate from territory to territory scourging for food and water; we don’t give into our instincts that are essentially mammalian and sometimes carnivorous, and dutifully yield to rules that we don’t necessarily agree with but nevertheless abide by; we exercise our appetites to the extent that it doesn’t infringe on our neighbors freedom, taste and preferences - I can keep racking up a thousand things that we all love to do, but do not , for the simple reason that for us to live together we have imposed upon ourselves certain restraints for common good. I am in perfect agreement with this arrangement, until we realize that as Human org

"A Single Man" - the loneliness of separation In the annals of Gay relationships in twentieth century, none had more transcendental quality, artistic flamboyance, endurance and perfect affinity than the celebrated romance between Novelist Christopher Isherwood (1904 -1986) and painter Don Bachardy. They met memorably for the first time on a moonlit evening in 1953, on the pristine beaches of Santa Monica, California. It was coincidentally Valentine’s Day as well; Isherwood was then 48 years old- a celebrated author, poet and a renowned translator of Indian spiritual texts; and Don was an 18 year old boy, fragile, lonely with mellow green eyes studying to be a painter. The fire that crackled between them on that cool windy night was never doused for the next 32 years. It physical, emotional and intellectual heat abated only when Isherwood (86 years) died in Don’s arms in 1986, after a prolonged battle with prostate cancer, and the embers of those last few months were i