Thoughts of a Geeky Philosopher

2010-04-17T16:08:00.000-07:00

56 Days to Go!!!!

Thats right, less than two months before the start of the Football World Cup 2010 (or as i would like to call it - the 'festival of football),the game that is played by kicking around a roundish ball on a green pitch by roughly 22 men on average!!(as opposed to calling it soccer!!).

There is a lot of time for that and yet i can hardly wait. Some of the reasons why-

1] Liverpool FC have had such a pathetic season i am longing to cheer on another football team and watch some good football for a change(where players play like they want to win !)

2] I was listening to this song Wavin the flag (by K'naan) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxWX1yGcsHQ&feature=related...its a really nice song with a reggae touch to it....listening to it got me in the mood.

3] Every WC has a special buzz , suddenly football(or soccer) is talked about constantly, needless to say i love such conversations!

4]Working from home would be a lot more fun!!!!

5]In the past WC's i was always a Brazil fan through and through, now i do not have a particular team- i would be rooting for the following teams Spain, Argentina, holland , brazil and England (in that order!)..it just adds more variety and spice to the tournament.

6] Did i mention that it happens only once in four years!!

2009-05-17T16:07:00.000-07:00

Football(the Soccer kind!!) vs Politics

As yet another weekend unfolded , i woke up (later than normal because it was a Saturday and was catching up on Lost the previous night) to two different pieces of news, one the news of the Indian Elections and second news of the English Premier League title decider.

The two couldn't be further apart, and yet be somehow related, the premier league is based in England. The Indian Elections, are the greatest showpiece of Indian Democracy since..independence from England!!. The premier league runs every year whereas the elections are normally held every 5 years or so.

However , the Elections and Football matches can incite passion to otherwise mundane living.

The similarities and comparisons can probably end there , except for the fact that it is more enjoyable to watch football games every Saturday morning rather than follow the politics that goes on back home.

Watch Football games of Liverpool Football club to be more precise, which until this weekend were the most successful club in English football. Try as much as they wanted , playing brilliant football for most of the season , Rafael Benitez (the manager) along with Gerrard , Torres , Alonso, Kuyt and others couldn't prevent Manchester United from claiming their 18th League title equalling Liverpool's record. They even thrashed United 4-1 at Old Trafford. But sadly it wasnt enought and on Saturday managed to get enough points to win the title by prevailing over a hapless Aresenal .

While Liverpool will no doubt regroup this summer to try and snatch back the throne of English football that they have knocked off, it was pretty sad how the season ended.

It may not be really relevant in the larger scheme of things , but it is the feeling any true sports fan would feel after passionately following their team. There is a lot of highs and lows , joy and excitment in following a team and watch them mature and progress.

On the other hand i was pretty happy to read that Dr. Manmohan Singh and his party got the majority of votes through the monthlong elections held in India. It was definetly a triumph for Economic reform and secularism and i feel India is definetly moving in the right direction, with the Indian Electorate getting more maturer and wiser in its selection of leaders.

It was one of the rare occasions that i was haapy on reading about Politcs and ironically it came on the day that football brough little cheer.

Of course the Indian elections are more important , and with this outcome a lot of older miniters will be moving out and younger blood moving into the PM's cabinet. I really feel that the right man and government(forward minded) are at the helm to take India through this economic recession and build on its excellent growth for the past decade or so.

The INC had been fading out of Indian politics slowly in the last decade , but have come back .
It might sounds strange but Liverpool had also been fading away from the thrones of English football , maybe their time has come , maybe next year will be the year after many many tries for the past 20 years. There is hope and i guess at the end of the day thats what brings a better and more longlasting cheer than just results.

P.S.- I am dreaming of being there at Anfield when Liverpool claim their title!!!

2009-04-20T18:28:00.000-07:00

The Death of Free Speech in America and the World for Conservatives??

A very interesting and shocking incident occurred last week, the reason it was so interesting to me was the setting at which it took place.

I do not watch beauty pageants and have only paid attention to the Miss World / Miss Universe Pageants when India started winning a few a couple of years ago. When that went away so did whatever little interest i had in it . I found it extremely superficial . The contestants give out well scripted and rehearsed answers that are always 'politically correct' or worse -biased toward the popular opinion .That is all good, it it just a show after all.

However, in this years Miss USA 2009 , a contestant, from California was asked her opinion, by a judge on the issue of same sex marriage rights. A few states in the US have made it legal and the contestant(Miss California) was asked whether she thought it was right or not.

She did not and said that she was not brought up that way, although she did not mean disrespect to anyone. She clearly stated her views on the issue. What followed however was very unfortunate. The judge who asked her that is a prominent same sex activist. He lambasted her on his own personal blog and called her stupid.

While it is relatively insignificant, it being a beauty pageant and all , it still angered me that if someone has an opinion about a moral/social issue that is conservative and not in tune with the more liberal bias, that person is singled out and criticized. I see that happening over and over again in the news.

Many people, in the US , India and all over the world do have very conservative opinions on social issues such as marriage. Most don't really speak out, because quite frankly how do you go about defending something that you have been raised to believe is right , from a child to adult.
It is true what you believe, and you know it and quite frankly it is not a big deal. Even proposition 8, was opposed , in California, one of the most liberal states in America, effectively outlawing same sex marriage.

But however, there is a sizable minority who believe otherwise. And those that stand in their way of 'freedom' are constantly criticized, as was evident in the Miss USA contest.

I believe that society must have norms and limits, these must not be crossed else it will spell the doom for that civilization. The US is at at the crossroads and so will India in a few years. We must define the limits in marriage, homosexuality etc before it is too late.
I truly have a lot to say on these social /social conservative issues and look forward to expressing them.

Take care..till next time Peace out !!!!

2008-09-03T22:50:00.000-07:00

Where was God?

I had to ask this question, as i read of reports of Churches, prayer halls, orphanages and shelters being burnt across Orissa, when so many priests and religious involved in good works were attacked by fundamentalists , when no mercy was shown .

Why so much suffering for good people, while the real perpetrators haven't been brought to justice. What makes the situation in Orissa so ridiculous is that the real culprits haven't been found, but the good continue to suffer.

The Prime Minister and Home minister have "condemmed" the attacks, but in reality i think they along with the CM should resign for failing to protect the people when it mattered the most.

But i guess the silver lining here is the attitude of victims. There havent been repraisals . The community has taken the teachings of Jesus and Gandhi to heart and " Prayed for their persecutors". Else the situation could easily have spread and the whole of India could have been affected.

They are truly Indians and followers of God.

I hope that the guilty be brought to Justice, from those who started it to mobs who inflicted pain on defensless victims.

2008-08-16T18:00:00.000-07:00

One OneHundreth of a second!!

Something remarkable happened at the Beijing Olympics today. Michael Phelps from the USA won his seventh straight gold medal, thus tying the record for most number of medals in swimming

However, what made it so remarkable is that he beat second placed Milorad Cavic by one one hundreth of a second...yes not 10 seconds , not one second or one tenths of a second but one one hundreth(1/100). I saw the race and phelps was behind most of the race. However , at the last couple of yards he peformed a halfstroke while the leader at that time allowed his hands to relax and used the thrust to finish.

The result, phelps touched the board at 50.57 seconds and cavic at 50.58.(Even though phelps thought by doing such a move he would have lost)

I found that to be harsh, maybe in another time phelps wouldnt have won. I mean you have given it all and at the last step when you think you have beaten a top athele..you loose! But as it does, he will be in the record books forever. But he is a great athelete and i guess thats how i took a second look at the whole episode.

You can never win just by hard work, discipline and good attitude. Well not always. There are forces beyond your control and i guess that was evident today. It was not as if phelps did not deserve to win. He did and he would probably win many more but i guess as the old saying goes
" The harder you work the better your luck". or " Do your best and leave the rest to God" That was what happened.

Eventually that always happens and i guess thats why sports&the olympics are so widely acclaimed...even after all the doping and bribing scandals. These stories of triumph will always live on.

Keep the Faith...

2008-05-10T17:00:00.000-07:00

After yet another break, i have decided to get back to Blogging. It's not just the lack of time(as there is always something to do every weekend), but i often like that thought or idea to develop for a while before i start writing.

But as with many things, its just better to start and let the ideas flow from there. After all the purpose of a blog is to let one's own thoughts develop. Not everyone can write great piece of fiction or another self help book that promises to change your life and bring great "financial , spiritual and personal success " (if there is such a book!).

So yeah i am back... just a short post to say that and this time more consistently.

Take care..till next time ..bye!!

2007-10-08T12:55:00.000-07:00

Last weekend i had the oppurtunity to watch a couple of movies. It's been a while since i have just lazed around and watched movies. I normally associate weekends with going outdoors and doing something.

Having no predefined list of movies or preference, i just used imdb and oviguide to try and select what movie to watch. Of course it had to be pertinent to my mood. Early morning meant a subtle movie..then an action and so on.....

One movie that stood out from all that i watched was "Becoming Jane " a movie on Jane Austen. Now i've never read her books and the closest i've come to her work would be Movies made based on her books!(Hey! that was what TV was made for!!!), meaning i came into this movie without any sort of bias.

I guess one of the major reasons why i enjoyed this movie so much was because it did two important things that i believe is what movies are meant for. Firstly, it did a very good job of transporting the viewer to a different era altogether. Thats what a good movie should do, take you out a bit from the world or reality you are in. Secondly, having done that it was still very realistic.

The movie is based on Jane Austen's life and how she subsequently became a great novelist. It gives a very good insight into the challenges she faced and how that shaped her. A glimpse basically of society and the world that was then.

Thats basically the reason why some of my favorite movies are the "Epic" ones. Movies like 300, Rudy, Remember the Titans, Braveheart, Apollo 13 etc to name a few.

I do enjoy movies such as the Departed or Superbad, but i view them more as a reflection of times.

On a side note, i'm glad to be back at blogging, maybe watching the movie has inspired me to write again!!

2007-07-16T23:45:00.001-07:00

Phoenix-Hope to rise again!!

Definitionof phoenix(Mythology). A bird in Egyptian mythology that lived in the desert for 500 years and then consumed itself by fire, later to rise renewed from its ashes.

Although it has been a couple of weeks since I've been here, the thought only struck me recently.
That being i would have to come to this city to start building my fortunes in this world.

Its the end of the old...yes it has come to an end..all old thoughts, friends and ambitions have almost all faded away. Most of what i hoped and wanted just a couple of months ago still remain. Mainly because it is unfulfilled, but i know i will get there. But the hard thing to accept sometimes is how quickly some things changed.

It's not that i had expected it not to change or want it fore ever, but then it makes you wonder that whatever you tried to build up in the past couple of years could probably all come to an end..so quickly. The people you met, the places you've been too, the conversations that seemed so important.

But then what remains behind is i guess what is most important in my life...presence of God, my family and my dreams and yes maybe a couple of friends. And thats what coming to phoenix has been all about...thrashing out the unecessary and focussing much much more on what is important.

It has been a challenging time, but as i do believe in providence, its here i believe that i will learn things that will definetly help me in the next phase of my life. I have already learnt a lot.

I'm thankful for this transition, while i'm in phoenix and also for the people that have helped me in this transition and do believe like the eagle...it would definetely be time for me to soar again!!

Take care...!

2007-06-29T15:10:00.000-07:00

Its another Friday afternoon, the fourth since i reached Phoenix. Lunch will be ready soon. I've decided to get back to blogging(i guess i am really hungry)....not that i was an avid one..but more of being a .. regular one..people say i have interesting stuff to talk about so ..ha ha..here i go again.

Since, my birthday is coming soon, i wanted to talk about Birthday parties. Ha ha..! seems kiddish, but there was a time, my idea of a birthday was cutting a cake, with my friends and family singing" Happy birthday Jude". Almost like my birthday wasn't official till the cake was cut.

Of course i loved the presents i got, when i was much younger, i would get Lego toys, remote controlled cars, make it yourself kits..and yes a boring shirt (there's only so much fun you get out a wearing a shirt).

Times changed and most of the presents i got were in the form of cash put in an envelope and tucked into my hand!! The uncle or aunt(or Godparent) giving it would repeat the now classic lines of "oh you're growing..we didn't know what would fit you or what interests you so we just thought of cash" and yes...a boring shirt or trouser(however the shirt didn't seem so mundane in light of other gifts i got...

The parties grew lesser...it was then only between close family and friends..and then going out to some restaurant for dinner...times changed..i was growing and didn't want the parties where everybody from the neighbors sister-in-law to the guy who sits 3 desks behind my dad showed up for my party...nope i wanted something more private and cordial....

In all this of course, my parents would always get me something ..a shirt(), jewelery..so the tradition of gifts remained..however my idea of a birthday matured.

It was moving to Bombay , where the biggest change happened, i was no longer with my parents...just close family and some friends..and my birthday would always be in between some exam(or two if i was lucky)..which didn't leave much time for celebrating..

But now..here i am in the US...and although i had a lot of friends...the birthdays have always been outside LA..so yeah while the rest of America celebrates with me(which is a privilege) i haven't been able to celebrate with the closest of my friends.....

However, i did have a blast last year with people at work(BBQ and fireworks while watching the world cup)...and I've come to realize( at the risk of sounding preachy)....that i have always have had happy and blessed days on my birthdays..and it's all about being thankful for what i do have. Things pop up which unsettle me..but I'm thankful what i have..and i really have a lot around me..and pray God blesses me and gives me strength for the next year.....i guess my birthday has begun..and not just when i cut the cake.

P.S.-Say a prayer for me.

2006-07-06T11:46:00.000-07:00

Welcome! Warm greetings to you that has stumbled onto my weblog, seriously what were the chances that you would even come here, not very high right?

Ok! given that you are here what are the chances that you are actually going to read my blog and what i have to say. for you to stick around, i have to create at least one of the two disntinct possibilities.

The first being that what i write about is so interesting that you will continue staying here and read it all.

The second, how i describe things make it so fascinating that you would read it even though it may look mundane.

If i manage to do both, then i'll start working on my first book!!

There is the possibility that i may do neither, but we weren't assuming that were we?