A 360 degree life

My TANGO journey

2008-09-28T11:04:00.000-07:00

I am guilty of ignoring my first proper blog for almost a year now ! I used to write whenever I felt the urge - well this time there was a burning desire to share my most beautiful TANGO musical journey !

For those in the know, TANGO is the classic music from Argentina with that heavenly sound from the BANDONEON ( sounds a bit like the accordion).

I was introduced to it by a FACEBOOK friend ( yes that can also happen !). She is from Argentina and we got chatting. My natural curiosity and love for music prompted me to ask her about local music prevailed in her country and I was surprised to hear - TANGO. I was not aware of its origin.

She introduced me to some classics like La Cumparasita and Adios Nonino. Especially composed by a legend called Astor Piazolla.

But knowing the restless explorer that I am, I veered off from the classic path, and discovered The GOTAN PROJECT. I had heard them on my Buddha Bar CDs, but had never paid attention to them before.

The sound was heaven to my ears - Classic Tango merged superfluously with today's electronica sound. Wow !

Downloaded a few tracks from the web( shhh !) and then eventually ordered 2 albums from Amazon ( redemption !) - two awesome albums called La Revancha Del Tango and Lunatico.

Just amazing music !

I ended up misplacing my Lunatico album and ended up buying it again on a subsequent trip to London. Here, I picked up another album by Federico Aubele called Gran Hotel Buenos Aires. Awesome stuff !

Always on the prowl, I found an older album of theirs in Singapore - Inspiracion Espracion which is also fantastic !

An unwitting discovery led me to buy another album called Buenos Aires Late. I was tol that is was a new Gotan Project album - I was overwhelmed !

Alas, it was not - but it was a great discovery nevertheless ! It had one track of Gotan and loads of other Electrotango artists - like Tanghetto ( which is also awesome !)

They had a track called Immigrante which is just kick ass ! This led me to download some stuff of theirs - and I discovered an instrumental track called Everybody goes away in the end -this has to be one of my all time fav tracks !

Googling around, I discovered another similar band called Bajofondo Tango Club - have downloaded some awesome tracks of theirs - Vacio, etc. lot from their album called Bajofondo Tango Club.

I realise that I have just found the tip of the iceberg of Tango and Electrotango ! I am loving it !!

HEROES

2007-09-29T20:54:00.001-07:00

Who does not want to be a HERO ? I remember the song by the Wallflowers - "We can be HEROES - just for one day !"

I recently completed viewing the entire Season 1 of the highly acclaimed hit tv series - HEROES.

I must say that it really touched and moved me.

It is a story where many individuals genetically have super powers.

These individuals are all connected to one destiny - they need to save the world !

The Brilliant story telling and superb visual extravaganza does not hide the underlying message - Be true to your self - and all will work out !

I also took away one huge message for myself - We don't need super powers to achieve anything in life - just a super will - and that itself can move mountains !

Thank you HEROES !

This ain't no Tom & Jerry !

2007-08-18T19:42:00.000-07:00

Art Spiegelman has created MAGIC !! He has taken a Horrific story - a story of a Holocaust survivor - a survivor of the Auschwitz concetration camp - his own father, and given it a whole new DIMENSION.

Firstly, he made the story into a comic book. Then he has portrayed the Jews as MICE and the Germans as mean CATS. You relate to this story at a totally different level because of all this !

It is , not a Sob story though it is full of the horrors suffered by the Jews at the hands of the Nazi Germans during World War II. It is a story of Heroism - in its most relatable way - not heroism of all the spectacular War Movie type ! It is a story of Determination - the Determination to Survive which drives Art's father Vladek Spiegelman throughout the toughest of situations. It is a story of Love. This was one of the biggest motivations that pushed Vladek to survive - his love for his wife, Anja.

Another dimension which makes the story so special is the depiction of the strained relationship between Art and his father. Art just cannot relate to all that his father suffered and gone through. And he could not accept what his father had become as a result. Art even shows us how he goes to a shrink to deal with his GUILT of not habing gone through what his father when through !

In all, a masterpiece - a winner of the Pulitzer Prize in 1992, this is a classic you MUST MUST experience !!!

Way to go - Chak de India !

2007-08-11T09:26:00.000-07:00

After a long I watched a Hindi movie that really touched me !! And not in the conventional way ! It was a FEEL GOOD movie - from an INNER MOTIVATION point of view.

It is set in the context of Indian Hockey cleverly juxtaposed over the over hyped and extremely commercial game of Cricket. Hockey is definitely the underdog game in India - though it is supposed to be the national game !

It also pushes the underdog needle on the meter by showing WOMEN's hockey !

Other than that it is a story of Human Drive, Determination, Defeat, Bitterness, Ego, Redemption and the ultimate cure for a pot boiler of Egos - true team spirit !

Victory can be sweet but Defeat can be oh so bitter - and it shows a perspective of the emotions behind the scenes. Of the players of what they go through when subjected to extreme crowd expectations - from cheering for victory to jeering for defeat and going even further to maligning and ostracizing !

But ultimately clear intent and determination pays off - and redemption is found in the journey towards victory !

This reminded me of another movie ( 1999) - ANY GIVEN SUNDAY with a similar story construct. Al Pacino is a loser football player who becomes a coach of a loser team and pushes them to ignore their "inadequacies" and start focusing on their possibilities !

I have posted a clip of the very stirring locker room speech already on this blog ( please do have a look at it - its a classic !)

Shah Rukh Khan performs a similar one - just before the main game - and I felt it was equally stirring and quite original !

This brings me back to the most MAGICAL quality of Human spirit - Believe in it and belief becomes Reality ! Whether it is Nike's classic - JUST DO IT or the recent Addidas' Impossible is Nothing , Chak De India stirs the most basic of human emotions - and I just loved it !!!

Hope it does the same for you ! Chak de !!

Back to Basics - COMICS - and their new Avataar !

2007-08-05T06:38:00.000-07:00

Comics are BACK !

Richie Rich, Archies, Tin Tin, Asterix suddenly don't seem a part of a memory left behind long back anymore !!

The last couple of years have seen a resurgence of the COMIC BOOK - especially now for ADULTS !!!

I picked this up a few years ago when I was watching SETH COHEN ( from the uber-hip TV series THE O C) wax eloquent about Comic Books ! It appealed to me inside - but something made it stay inside !

Dilbert did it many years ago. So did the Simpsons - change the way adults were consuming entertainment. It touched movies - I lOOVED the movie SIN CITY and suddenly discovered a huge new dark world of Frank Miller ! And who can forget the inflluence of Calvin & Hobbes ?!

Probably that kept me away - I found the comic books or GRAPHIC NOVELS to be DARK !

That changed when a couple of weeks I took the step and bought my first Graphic Novel !

People recommended I try out Joe Sacco's PALESTINE and I am so glad I did !

What a refreshing story teller ! And the best part was the story he told was al TRUE - a story told through the eyes of a COMIC BOOK story teller !

And the story was no less dark / serious - it was the story of the Palestine struggle - which Sacco picks up after visiting the land first hand.

And, the best thing I loved about his style was the way he got into the gory details but still managed not to get emotionally get sucked into it !

This prompted me to buy his second famous novel - GORAZDE - the story of the BOSNIAN war !

Wow ! Thank you Joe for your gift ! I love the way you portray yourself in the comics ! ( that's him on the left !)

So, Comic books are back - and with a BANG and a whole new DIMENSION ! I am so glad - I believe that we are VISUAL beings ( rather than Text driven !). The Playstation generation kids of today can suddenly connect with characters of yesteryear in a format that they relate to ! I saw Agatha Christie novels in graphic novels form the other day ! Made me suddenly want to read them - something which I have honestly ever done !

Lets dig out those Amar Chitra Kathas - and while we are at it - can we see some Graphic novels of Shakespeare as well ?!

Good Old days !!

2007-05-22T15:43:00.001-07:00

I remember when I got PULLED into Advertising, ads were simple, emotional and memorable. They just tugged at your heart !!

An example was the famous ASIAN PAINTS Pongal ad. God knows what it meant - but it just flet GOOD watching and HEARING it ! :-)

Boy band FUN !!!

2007-05-22T15:38:00.001-07:00

A couple of years ago I would have written a LOT about Boy bands !

But when I saw this parody video by Wierd Al Yankovic, sweet memories of those talentless years cam rushing back !!!

Thanks Al !!!

Enjoy the VIDEO !!

The Next Frontier for me

2007-05-19T05:08:00.001-07:00

Rock Climbing party, originally uploaded by Steven Pam.

What is my next BLOCK ? My next FEAR ? I suddenly realised today in the morning at the Gym that it is ROCK CLIMBING !!! I have started a bit of Trekking early this year for the first time in my life - but the truth is there is HUGE difference between walking up and down steep paths and actual CLIMBING !!!

So, I suddenly realised that the Gym has an INDOORS ROCK CLIMBING WALL - and I saw the instructor for the first time !

I nervously approached him and importantly for me, TRIED it out !
It wasn't a HOME RUN but I got the FEEL of it.

The Feel of getting harnessed and IMPORTANTLY LETTING Go of the Wall and using the ROPE in Panic !!!

I realised that I need to strengthen ( and sum up all the COURAGE) myself to truly do MY FIRST ROCK CLIMB !!!

Next Saturday, I will scale NEW HEIGHTS !!!!

Stirring up a Group !!

2007-05-13T09:45:00.001-07:00

I find the ability to STIR up a group, MOTIVATE them, help them connect with themselves the most AMAZING skill !!

Parodies are another way to connect with LIFE !!

2007-05-13T09:30:00.001-07:00

Yet another of my Influences in life - the KING of PARODIES himself - Wierd Al Yankovic !!!! Check out his take of Michael Jackson's FAT !!!

Think Different - get an APPLE !!!

2007-05-13T08:15:00.001-07:00

This one always gets me !!! Just check out the words !!

Apple's "Here's to the Crazy Ones" Commercial Script

Here's to the crazy ones.

The misfits.

The rebels.

The troublemakers.

The round pegs in the square holes.

The ones who see things differently.

They're not fond of rules and they have no respect for the status quo.

You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them.

About the only thing you can't do is ignore them.

Because they change things.

They push the human race forward.

And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius.

It is the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.

Goodbye 1984 !!!! Hello APPLE !!!

2007-05-13T07:38:00.001-07:00

This is the famous SUPERBOWL tv commercial which ran announcing the launch of the APPLE Macintosh signalling the end of CONFORMITY and the BIRTH of CREATIVITY !!! Hooooorahhh !!!!

Adventure on a plate !!! The WASABI way !!

2007-05-13T04:48:00.001-07:00

wasabi no likey, originally uploaded by cior.

Do you like SUSHI ? I looooooooooooooove it !!! After having given up meat, I now enjoy VEGETARIAN SUSHI !!!

But, the SUSHI experience is really heightened by the innocuous looking green paste of WASABI or Japanese Horseradish sauce.

Dab your SUSHI with a little bit of Wasabi, and its fine. But, Dab a little more than intended and you are on a TRIP !!!!!

The senses ring ALARM BELLS !!!! The nasal passages become hyperactive. Then.... suddenly its all over and ... you are ready for the next dose !!!!!

What happens when you add HEART to Science ?

2007-05-12T20:22:00.001-07:00

Miracles !!! If you haven't seen Patch Adams played by Robin Williams, you must !!!

Lessons from PATCH ADAMS !

2007-05-12T20:18:00.000-07:00

Another POWERFUL movie played by Robin Williams ! This is a true story about Patch Adams, who was an UNCONVENTIONAL Doctor who believed that the biggest healing for patients was through the HEART and not just through medicine http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunter_%22Patch%22_Adams

Robin Williams plays the role of Patch beautifully and most amazingly from the heart ! Patch is a medical student who doesn't believe that Patients should be treated as Patients ( but as people) and that Doctors should not get attached to the individuals.

At the end of the movie, the villain of the movie moves the medical commission to debar Patch from practicing medicine because of his unorthodox methods. Needless to say, Patch wins.

Here is an excerpt from that scene !! Enjoy !!

Medical Commission : Did you consider the ramifications of your actions?

What if one of your patients had died?

Patch : What's wrong with death, sir?

What are we so mortally afraid of?

Why can't we treat death with a certain amount of humanity and dignity and decency...and, God forbid, maybe even humor?

Death is not the enemy, gentlemen.

If we're gonna fight a disease, let's fight one of the most terrible diseases of all-- indifference.

Now, I've sat in your schools and heard people lecture on transference... and professional distance. Transference is inevitable, sir.

Every human being has an impact on another.Why don't we want that in a patient/doctor relationship?

That's why I've listened to your teachings, and I believe they're wrong.

A doctor's mission should be not just to prevent death...but also to improve the quality of life.

That's why you treat a disease, you win, you lose.

You treat a person, I guarantee you, you win, no matter what the outcome !!!

Lessons from DEAD POETS SOCIETY

2007-05-12T19:55:00.000-07:00

One of my GREAT Influences in life ( wow ! how many influences do I seem to have ?!!) is the movie Dead Poets Society in which a Poetry Professor Mr. Keating, played by the affable Robin Williams connects with the hearts of the students.

English Poetry was at the bottom of the list for these students for both interest and career prospect reasons.

Keating however, captures their imaginations using Poetry to Excite and Energise the students into making them believe in themselves as INDIVIDUALS.

This of course goes agains the GRAIN of "formal education practices" but it ignites PASSION and ENERGY amongst the students.

After watching this move, the questions that came to my mind were :

"Why couldn't any of my teachers adopt this INSPIRING way to make the boring subjects at school come alive ?" I may not have given up on Science subjects and moved on to Commerce had that been the case !

"Why not follow the Dead Poets Society approach in everything I do in life from now on and EXCITE people about anything and not take their INTEREST for granted ?!

I have started following the above and can confidently say that it has made a HUGE difference in my life and I would like to believe that I am making one in others lives as well !

Three cheers to the movie and Professor Keating ! ( Robin Williams !)

Why do we need to get TECHNICAL about Life ??

2007-05-12T19:36:00.001-07:00

Here we go round the mulberry bush
The mulberry bush, the mulberry bush
Here we go round the mulberry bush
So early in the morning

This is the way we wash our clothes
Wash our clothes, wash our clothes
This is the way we wash our clothes
So early Monday morning

This is the way we iron our clothes
Iron our clothes, iron our clothes
This is the way we iron our clothes
So early Tuesday morning

This is the way we mend our clothes
Mend our clothes, mend our clothes
This is the way we mend our clothes
So early Wednesday morning

This is the way we sweep the floor
Sweep the floor, sweep the floor
This is the way we sweep the floor
So early Thursday morning

This is the way we scrub the floor
Scrub the floor, scrub the floor
This is the way we scrub the floor
So early Friday morning

This is the way we bake our bread
Bake our bread, bake our bread
This is the way we bake our bread
So early Saturday morning

This is the way we go to church
Go to church, go to church
This is the way we go to church
So early Sunday morning

So this is THE WAY WE LIVE OUR LIFE ????

Can we FOCUS on THIS IS THE WAY ( various WAYS !!!) we ENJOY OUR LIFE ??

Just like Professor Keating in the movie DEAD POET'S SOCIETY professed about Learning Poetry ?

History made FUN ! The Mel Brooks way !!

2007-05-12T19:09:00.001-07:00

Back to one of MY ULTIMATE Inspirations in life - Mel Brooks with his MAGNUM OPUS creation - History of the World. Check out this awesome clip of the introduction of the TEN COMMANDMENTS ! ( or was it FIFTEEN ? !)

Why do we need to be SERIOUS ???

2007-05-12T19:02:00.001-07:00

I have always loved people who are SERIOUS about FUN and spreading it. I have written about Mel Brooks earlier on my BLOG.

This is another series of movies - AIRPLANE ( and AIRPLANE 2) which I feel just CHALLENGES the Imagination of the mind and more importantly, makes one relaxed and ENJOY !!!!!!!!!

How can we SPREAD this message in this world ? How can INJECT this world with a SENSE of HUMOUR so that it forgets its Powerplay, EGO rifts, War, Sadness, Misery, etc. ???

Enjoy the clip !!!!

Who is in CONTROL ?

2007-05-03T19:23:00.001-07:00

I smoked for 15 years of my life. I never admitted to myself that it wasn't me in CONTROL. It was my dependance; my addiction that was in control. One fine day I just asked myself this question - "Do I want to be in control at all ?" I never smoked after that.

Many people might exclaim - "Oh its not as easy as that" ! Whatever be your reason to quit and get back your FREEDOM, it is definitely WORTH it !!! Its been a 5 year long SMOKE FREE life for me ! And I don't miss it one bit !!!! Here's to exercising CHOICE in life !!!!!!

Would you want this kind of a TRANSFORMATION ?

2007-05-01T17:54:00.001-07:00

Its sad to see one of this century's greatest talents become this way. And not just his looks - but the way the world has transformed from ADORING him to SPITING him ! I remember idolising him in the THRILLER days. That was 24 years ago !! MJ has contributed a lot to this world. Perhaps, the world has just not umderstood him. Here's wishing this legend realises and remembers his invaluable contribution and gets his PEACE soon !

Jazz - Take Five ! A True Classic !!!

2007-05-01T09:22:00.001-07:00

GROAN !!!! Not Take Five !!! These are the normal protests uttered by the "Jazz afficianados" ! But, the ubiquity of this track actually reveals the GIANT nature of its influence ! It is a CLASSIC and well deserved. It crossed over to mainstream music from Jazz and is one of those compositions which made Jazz famous !!! Catch this amazing 1961 video with Dave Brubeck's leadership, the genius of Paul Desmond on the sax and the awesome drum solo by Joe Morello ! ENJOY !!!

A thrill like no other !!!

2007-05-01T07:41:00.001-07:00

Shotover Jet, originally uploaded by dominic_tristram.

Yes, to add to the LIST OF THRILLS, that I have been amassing in life, here is another MEMORABLE one !!! This is a JETBOAT RIDE in new Zealand on the Shotover River.

A fact many may not know is that Jetboats were first designed in New Zealand by Sir William Hamilton to navigate the shallow rivers there. These jet boats do not have propellers under the boat. They eject the water through a jet proulsion system. Check the wikipedia link for info ! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jetboat

See the video to experience the thrill. Note the HAMILTON turn viz. the 360 degree turn by the boat !!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YASqQq9gJco

This is a THRILL not to be missed in life !!!

OSHO: LOVE and HATE are ONE

2007-05-01T06:19:00.001-07:00

Sex God. Outrageous.Anti-Society. Anti-Religion. Some of these are true. Some not. What is TRUE is that OHSO was one of the VERY FEW people in the world who had the GUTS to say it STRAIGHT and hit it where it HURTS ! His Controversial aura has not allowed thousands to extract the ESSENCE of OSHO which when understood can cut the CRAP in your life and focus on the BEAUTY !!! Here's to TRUE LIVING !!!!

Darth Vader hates cell phones !

2007-05-01T01:41:00.001-07:00

Please Mr.Vader, can you use the FORCE to do the same here in Mumbai to our tech savvy mobile users in the cinema multiplexes ????

My MEIN KAMPF, BIBLE, RIG VEDA

2007-04-28T22:23:00.000-07:00

Ok !!!! Here's my second BIG BIG BIG SECRET !!!! My guide to How to NAVIGATE LIFE in the twentieth century !!! This one came out in 1983 !!! Yes, almost 25 years ago !!! Its called DELIRIOUS !

And those of you have enjoyed Eddie Murphy in Beverly Hills Cop ( which I did !) FORGET about it !!! All those roles are not a PATCH on what he does here !!! Of course, this is a stand up Comedy act on stage and therefore totally different ! But wow !! what a difference !

And mind you, this is not for the FAINT HEARTED !!! He swears and is VULGAR !!!! But in all this I believe he captures the ESSENCE of LIFE oh so beautifully !!!

The way he parodies and mimics various icons of the time - Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, Bill Cosby, etc. is just incomparable !!!

And in all that he steals a march away from the Cosmopolitans of the world with valuable RELATIONSHIP & SEX advice !!!

He had a follow up to this effort with the show RAW in 1987 - but I feel this one is the BEST !!! I have seen RICHARD PRYOR do similar shows, but for me it will always be Murphy who is the guru !!!

A tried and tested medical recommendation for STRESS !!!

2007-04-28T22:10:00.000-07:00

Ok here it is !!! My secret in my life to all the HUMOUR !!! All the twisting words ! All the puns !!! This is one of my GREATEST INSPIRATION which graced my life more than 20 years ago !!!

Mel Brooks !!! Yes, the king of satire and comedy ! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mel_Brooks

And this one was to my mind his MAGNUM OPUS !!! He takes on the entire History of the World right from Cavemen times to the French revolution ! And he MASSACRES it with FUN, WIT and WIT !!!

I must have watched this movie 234 times !!! And, a word of advice, DON"T ever watch it with me !!! I know every word, every ooh ,every grunt and I will preempt them while watching the movie and will therefore make your experience MISERABLE !!!

But , watch it you MUST !!!!! Live life with this outlook and I can guarantee its GOOD BYE STRESS & WORRY for the rest of your life !!!

The best part of the movie is no matter how many times you watch it, you will always grasp new nuances of humour in the movie that you didn't get earlier !!!! That's the mastery of Mr. Brooks !

A year full of adventure !!!

2007-04-28T22:00:00.000-07:00

One more guide to ADVENTURE in Your life !! This fabulous book from none other than Lonely Planet lists out various adventurous activities and destinations in the world and tells you when is the best time in the year to do it !!! Makes planning a lot more simpler !!!

Its also nice to see a book like this and make a mental check list that you HAVE DONE some already !!!

So here's to PUSHING THE LIMIT and maximising the sweet nectar of LIFE !!!!

My FIRST TREK !

2007-04-22T05:41:00.001-07:00

Taranaki Falls Walk, The National Park, New Zealand, originally uploaded by abhijit_dan.

Yes ! I am back !!! After neglecting my beloved blog for months , I am back ( and with a bang !!!). I guess I needed some fuel ! And now I have plenty !!!

I was never an Outdoors person in my life - in fact City life was life for me ! The song "You belong to the City" by Glenn Frey reflected my ideology in life !!!

All that changed when I first went to New Zealand in 2005. I fell in love with nature ! I connected with it and for the first time felt the connection with my self so strongly !!!

On my second trip to NZ ( this time with my wife), I ensured that the Opportunity to Connect was phenomenally high !

I discovered that NZ was one of the best havens for Trekkers in this world ! In fact they call it TRAMPING ! http://www.tramper.co.nz/

It has superb facilities ! Well marked and made out tracks all over the country - well managed by the Department of Conservation ( DOC).

NZ has many GREAT WALKS. http://www.newzealandnz.co.nz/great-walks/

These take many days and there are huts which allow one to spend the nights. This allows people to travel light as they do not have to carry tents.

Our FIRST walk was a baby step. It was just a 2 hour looping track. But the terrain was slipperry and it started raining - so all in all it was great training !

This walk was in what is called the National Park area in the Northern Island, NZ. Also called the Tomgariro park. The Tongariro crossing is one of the GREAT walks of NZ. We didn't do that. We were not ready and neither was the weather !

However small our baby step, it was awesome ! And today we are a few treks old !!! One great step to connecting with NATURE !

My FIRST ZORB !!!

2007-04-22T05:12:00.001-07:00

ZORBing in New Zealand, originally uploaded by abhijit_dan.

Hey !!! I found another MY FIRST !!!! And this time - a very unconventional one !!! A Zorb is a GIANT Hi tech Transparent Rubber / Plastic ball. You get INTO this ball and ROLL down a hill ! Like in the photo. By the way I am INSIDE that ZORB in this pic !!

It is great fun !!! Lots of thrills happen on the way down. They also put some water inside to make it even thrilling !!! Thats what I did ! Plus I chose the ZIG ZAG route rather than the conventional Straight way down !

Net net - might seem scary to try first - but BOY is it FUN !!!!

My first SCUBA DIVE !!! Feb 2002

2007-04-22T04:59:00.001-07:00

Great Barrier Reef, Cairns, Australia, originally uploaded by abhijit_dan.

This is sounding like a series of MY FIRST .... But since I have blogged about My first Sky dive, My first Bungy Jump, I felt it was appropriate to talk about MY FIRST SCUBA DIVE in life !!!

It was in the FAMED Great Barrier Reef, Australia off the coast of Cairns, that I tool this step !

We were on a small cruise ship ( called Ocean Spirit) which took us on a journey across the Reef.

It was BEAUTIFUL ! I remember Sarita not taking it too well though ( she got sea sick !). Thats when they offered people to go for an INTRODUCTORY DIVE - and I got excited and went for it !!

It opened a whole new world for me ! To get underwater with Scuba diving gear, navigating the PEACEFUL world of the deep blue ocean, silently communicating with the millions of living species that inhabit that world - AWESOME !!!

I decided then that one day I would become a PADI certified diver !!! And I did ! But that's another BLOG story !!! What's next in MY FIRST .. series ? Looks like MY FIRST TREK/ Hike seems appropriate !

Taking that FIRST STEP !!! / My First BUNGY Jump !

2007-04-22T04:12:00.001-07:00

I had been waiting for this moment in life !! I had taken difficult short cuts - like Scuba Diving and Sky diving ! But I had not come to terms with doing a BUNGY Jump ! Lot of people pacified me by saying that if I have done SKY DIVING then Bungy is nothing ! Some how I didn't agree !!!

I knew there was FEAR between me and that first jump !

That moment came ! Fast ! Queenstown, Kuwarau bridge. The first commercial bungy jump site in the world - set up by A J Hackett in 1988. It was a 43 metres jump !

The best part when I decided and went up to the bridge, I realised one critical thing !

There was NO FEAR !!! Just anticipation and excitement !!!

Wow !!! And I just jumped !!!

Hope you enjoy it !

Lets all Have PUN !!!

2006-11-12T22:37:00.000-08:00

I am a self declared ( sometimes condemned - but mostly admired !!!) fan / addict of PUNNING !!!

And, I have been for a long long time !!!!

In fact I remember responding to a "structured" discussion on puns in school almost 20 years ago !!!

The teacher read out a statement - "Life depends on the LIVER" and asked if we could figure out the double meanings in it.

I promptly answered, saying that meaning no.1 was that Life depended on the person living it. Meaning no. 2 was that Life also depended on the state of your health - in this case signified by the organ, the LIVER !!

I got pat on the back from the teacher - who then declared that LIVER was a PUN !!!! I also got lots of amazed looks from the other students !!!

My formal career in Punning had been launched !!!

The fun of punning for me has always been the amazing possibllity of interpreting MORE than ONE meaning to the same word / concept !

And for that, I salute the ENGLISH language for allowing so many many LOOPHOLES which allow the wild and wonderful of Punning to flourish !!!

A serious attempt at defining punning ( wikipedia) reveals the following :

A pun (also known as paronomasia) is a figure of speech which consists of a deliberate confusion of similar words or phrases for rhetorical effect, whether humorous or serious.

A pun can rely on the assumed equivalency of multiple similar words (homonymy), of different shades of meaning of one word (polysemy), or of a literal meaning with a metaphor.

Bad puns are sometimes called "cheesy".

Walter Redfern (in Puns, Blackwell, London, 1984) succinctly said: "To pun is to treat homonyms as synonyms".

In order to be able to pun effectively it is necessary that a language must include homonyms which may readily be misrepresented as synonyms. Languages with complex gender or case structures tend not to facilitate this, although puns can be constructed in all languages with varying degrees of difficulty; i.e. puns are said to be easy to construct in languages such as Chinese or English, but rarer in Russian.

A realisation came to me about a Universal Truth : Everyone loves Puns - they just REACT to them in different ways !

Reaction 1 ( The Honest one) : Wow !! How do you do that ?! Its so amazing ! And you just thought of that right now ?!

Reaction 2 ( The Sour Grapes one) : Groan ! Groan ! Not again !!! When will you stop ?

Reaction 3 ( The Fence sitter one) : That was nice ! ( wince wince !) / That sucked ! ( with a smile of admiration !)

Unfortunately I know a lot who fall into Reaction no.2 or 3 - as if it is beyond their dignity to laugh at a well cracked pun ! As far as Reaction 1 goes, well quite rare indeed !!

I mean - hey lighten up ! I am just having PUN !!

Also, for those who do not know, there are many BENEFITS to PUNNING :

For the PHYSICALLY INSPIRED, PUNNING is like RUNNING - It is an exercise - for my brain - which is always in tip top shape.

For the SPIRITUALLY INCLINED, It is helpful in BUILDING AWARENESS

For the SEXUALLY INCLINED, it helps in chatting up the Opposite Sex, especially when you run out of words !

For the ENTERTAINMENT CHALLENGED ( Bored), it is a great way to pass time

For the ROMANTICALLY FRUSTRATED it is a great way to create POETRY

So, as you can see there is a very POSITIVE side to PUNNING. It is definitely not the PUNishment that it is made out to be !!! :-)

Kicking your own BUT !!!

2006-11-12T22:15:00.000-08:00

Yes - yes ALL Puns intended !!!

This line emerged in my mind after a conversation with a friend. She said that everything was going beautifully in her life - but, she still felt incomplete.

I told her that it was the GOOD, BUT syndrome.

Example - "This dress looks good on me ... BUT ...!"

How many times do we subject ourselves to the BUT ???

So, I told her to start Kicking your BUT from now on !!! The moment you see yourself adding a BUT to an otherwise obviously GOOD thing in your life, STOP right there - and KICK that BUT goodbye.

We deserve a good life, we deserve enjoying the good life and no BUT is going to spoil it !!! Not for me at least !!!

So, lets help each other in Kicking BUT !!!!

At a slightly deeper level, most of us might / might not know that we can CREATE our OWN CIRCUMSTANCES.

If we truly believe that a) We deserve a GREAT LIFE / Circumstances and b )we can make that Great life / circumstance happen for us then we need to ELIMINATE that BUT !!! ( also the IFs !)

Next post : Managing the IFs !!!! ( Just kidding ! Why WORRY about IFs !!?)

Cee ya !!!

A journey of PASSION - My JAZZ Journey - Part II

2006-09-26T09:06:00.000-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lhNvOkAJEc

Hey ! This is the second post of my very own TRILOGY !! There ! Now you know how many parts of this journey I intend to write !

Anways, back to JAZZ and specifically back to MILES DAVIS.

I attended the next Jazz Workshop at Planet M. I had become a REGULAR !! Jayanto Sengupta unfolded the most awesome intro to JAZZ I had ever gotten.

There were 3 workshops on Miles to be conducted by Jayanto. That's one workshop every month ( first sunday). So, I would be exposed to 3 months of Miles.

I think by the third workshop, I pretty much knew loads and loads about Miles and had by then most of his key albums !!!

What Inspired me about MILES

Miles Davis was a very talented man. More than his individual talent, he had the knack of attracting the BEST TALENT. He has probably created more super stars than any jazz musician.

He was the GATEWAY. He was also the CREATIVE MAESTRO composing tunes that would be super hits. He knew how to get the best out of these other creative geniuses.

He also never settled for his own laurels and achievements. He always wanted to outdo himself. He would never go back to a formula - even if it was his most successful one !

The Giants who have graced the MILES Factory have been John Coltrane , Bill Evans , Wynton Kelly, Herbie Hancock, Red Garland, Wayne Shorter, Tony Williams, Paul Chambers, etc. etc.

Miles was supposedly not very EASY to get along with as a person - he was moody, self centred, unpredictable - but aren't al creative geniuses ?!

Miles' approach to Jazz inspired me greatly - not just his music, but his amazing ability to keep spotting and attracting talent and forever re-inventing !

Miles recorded many landmark albums from the 1950's all the way to the 1990's just before he died. But I'd like to talk about one of his seminal albums which influenced not just jazz - but even Rock - the album was called KIND OF BLUE.

This is a review on the net :

Kind of Blue is a jazz album that has transcended the genre of jazz and become one of a handful of recordings whose very existence changes everything. That Miles Davis acheived this more than once in his career serves as evidence to even the most casual observer of jazz that he was one of its mystics, its visionaries. As pointed out by Ashley Kahn in the excellent book Kind of Blue: The Making of the Miles Davis Masterpiece, "Copies of the album are passed to friends and given to lovers. The album has sold millions of copies around the world, making it the best-selling recording in Miles Davis's catalog and the best-selling classic jazz album ever. Significantly, a large number of those copies were purchased in the past five years, and undoubtedly not just by old-timers replacing worn vinyl: Kind of Blue is even casting its spell on a younger audience more accustomed to the loud-and-fast esthetic of rock and rap." The album is perenially hip, listened to by cool, brooding Clint Eastwood characters in both Play Misty for Me and Line of Fire. It also casts a kind of Zen calmness, perhaps due in part to its one-take mythology and the enigmatic liner notes written by pianist Bill Evans

Kind of Blue influenced and still influences many including Duane Allman of the Allman Brothers' band !

This was a Giant album with giant performances from Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Bill Evans and a very fresh Pianist ( whom I just fell in love with !) - Wynton Kelly ! More on him later !

Even if you are not into jazz, this album is worth a listen !!

A journey of PASSION - My JAZZ Journey - Part I

2006-09-24T05:21:00.000-07:00

I was of course tempted to call the title of this post, the cliched - "All that Jazz" but luckily I refrained from doing so ! (Not just to escape cliche - but because my Jazz Journey is a musical journey - not just covering Jazz !)

The fact is that JAZZ has been a wonderful journey in my life - a journey of PASSION, CREATIVITY, SELF DISCOVERY, SELF-CONNECT and SPIRITUALITY !!!

Wow that's a lot of Destinations in this journey ! :-)

Let me start this account by declaring that one of my biggest passions ( probably the biggest - but then my wife might object !) is MUSIC.

It has always INSPIRED me, made me feel ONE with Existence, connected with my INNERMOST or PUREMOST.

I started my musical journey way back in 1983 listening to some Popular Pop - I was in the Eight Grade / Standard.

A lot of the intitial music that i was exposed to was British Pop. This went on to American Pop and then the SECOND Inflection Point in my musical life when I fell in love with HEAVY METAL !!! The year was 1987.

I got into it big time - like I always get into all my passions in life - 101 %. I started a journey of DISCOVERY. I started listening / buying / trying bands or artists whose names I had never heard of before !

The excitement and the fun was in the Discovery !

Many bands started pouring into my life - Whitesnake, Deep Purple, Judas Priest, etc.

Then in 1988, I moved to Mumbai ( from Bahrain, where I was doing my schooling ). This is when I met a friend called Parag - who pushed into my THIRD Inflection Point in my musical journey - getting Deep into Rock - the music , the artists and the lyrics.

I got into it so much that I even set up a musical store in those days. This was in 1989. The store was in Andheri Lokhandwala and it was called GENESIS ! It lasted for a year and I discovered the passion within me to SPREAD the Passion to others. I was busy converting people from AIR SUPPLY to JOURNEY / STYX !

Then my life got into College, MBA, CAREER ( which was Advertising) and Music was playing a less active role in my life.

This changed a bit when one of the Advertising accounts / clients I was handling was a music company - Polygram !

I fell in love with the music business and wanted to be a part of it someday. And that happened ! After a couple of years I saw myself in Sony Music.

Before that, I changed my job and I went off to the US for an official assignment. The year was 1996 and my FOURTH Inflection Point in my musical journey !

This is when I was exposed to two new genres of music - Jazz and Blues ! On the first weekend of my stay in the US, we went off partying with my colleague and his friend ( who was a computer programmer by day and Bass guitarist by night !). He took us to the famous Jazz club - the BLUE NOTE for a Sunday Jazz Brunch show ! http://www.frommers.com/destinations/newyorkcity/N24399.htmlIt was awesome - we were sitting right in fronto fo the stage - and the experience was really good. It was a jazz vocal band playing - though I don't remember who now.

Bu the experience that really touched me was after, when he ( the bass guitarist) took us to this non descript hole in the wall BLUES BAR called Dan Lynch's Blues Bar ( which I believe has closed down now). It was located somewhere in Manhattan NYC in the Village.

It was just fantastic ! Basically, it was a small bar and amateur bands just jammed there playing from the afternoon till the wee hours. Musicians just signed up in a register - stating what they wanted to play - and that's what they did !

I had never really heard the Blues before this - and I fell in love ! Because it had a lot of electric guitar, I just loved it !

So, though both started off together ( Jazz and Blues), my heart went out for the Blues, primarily because of the ROCK connection ( It helped that all modent Rock owes its Origin to the Blues !)

A couple of years of Blues happened - and I started veering away from "conventional music". It was difficult to live in this "idealist" world as I had by now joined Sony Music in 1999

Sadly, I was a bit disillusioned with the job - I realised the business of music was .. just that - BUSINESS ! It was difficult to grapple with the "awesome talent" that existed everywhere in the world of music and there was the "other music" which was commercial and therefore was made money !

Reading this book, THE HIT MEN, (http://www.amazon.com/Hit-Men-Brokers-Business-Vintage/dp/0679730613) also did not help me in joining the industry that I had joined. It is a fascinating account of how the US Music industry has always worked - Personal connections, Mob influence, Drugs, Personal agendas and a little bit of talent !

I realised that I was buying far less music than I would have not working for a music company. Of course, the free / heavily discounted CDs were partially reponsible !

I soon left Sony, went back to advertising, where I started picking up the broken pieces of my music passion. That helped.

What helped even more was I finally purchased a DECENT Music system ( Canton Speakers + Rotel Amps) . At the time of purchase I was freaking out on Modern Rock - Linkin Park, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Staind, etc.

By the time the system came in, I had fallen in love with Jazz all over again !!

I was visiting Bangkok as part of an office conference and I chanced upon an attractive box set of modern jazz - a compilation by this european jazz label - ECM called RARUM - a set of 12 CDs. This featured compilations made by the artists themselves - Paul Motian, Pat Metheny, Dave Holland, John Surman, etc. All were strange names to me - which made the investment even more exciting, fun and RISKY !!!

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/feature/-/299610/

I got this collection home and even my wife seemed excited with it. Then, the first real connection started when I attended a JAZZ Workshop conducted at Planet M ( a music shop in Mumbai). The person conducting it was an old timer from the Jazz Society in Pune called Max Babi.( He writes for this jazz website - check it out ! )http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/contrib.php?id=149

His passion for Jazz just hit me there and then ! I asked him to recommend some music from the store and I ended up buying some Oscar Peterson ( which I love till date !) http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll Check him out too !!

He played some artists ( which I had obviously never heard of - like Saskia Laroo, a Scandinavian Trumpeter) and I realised that JAZZ was a huge Ocean of unexplored gems of talent that I was going to have a blast discovering ! This was two and a half years ago and I am so happy to say that that journey continues with great fervour till today ( even greater actually !)

The next connection was my next jazz workshop. I found out that they were doing a 3 session workshop on MILES DAVIS conducted by Jayanto Sengupta.

This was how I put my foot on the JAZZ Gas Pedal and started cruising on the awesome JAZZ highway !! I will share this in my next post ! Toodles !!!

Creative Leap !

2006-09-21T23:38:00.000-07:00

Yes - I have already done one of the 101 things to do before you die !!! ( see previous post)
Sky Diving !!! Tandem Sky Diving to be precise - you jump out of a plane along with an instructor who is attached to you ( or you are attached to him rather !)

It is all very professionally handled. My jump happened on December 13th, 2005 in Queenstown, New Zealand.

It had been a dream to do this for many years and I was just waiting for two things - the opportunity and the COURAGE required to do such a thing !!!

Fate and the Universe allowed the opportunity to arise when I found out that my company was going off for an International conference ( from India) to New Zealand.

I found out that NZ was one of the best places to do Sky Diving in the world !

So, I realised that the Opportunity had presented itself - now it was coming down to the Courage !

After a day in Auckland ( where the formal conference happened), we ( 140 of us !) set off for the Adventure Capital of the world - Queenstown !

The moment we hit town, I enquired about the jump. I realised that besides the Opportunity and the Courage there could have been one more barrier - Cost !! The jump was not exactly cheap !! ( infact - it cost NZ$ 295).

So, my mind went into a turmoil ! ( Should I do it ? Is it really worth it ? When do I actually do it ? The schedule for the group seemed to be quite packed. So, if I had to take out time to do this, I would have to excuse myself from one of the scheduled group activities. That may not look nice !)

Then I just decided to SURRENDER ( not like what Saddam's forces did in Operation Desert Storm), but more of a LET GO.

I trusted that since the UNIVERSE had brought me to the edge of Opportunity, it would guide in jumping off it as well ! So, I decided to attend all the group activities - which I must admit I did not regret - as we visited one entirely divine place on earth - called MILFORD SOUND.

The Universe responded to my SURRENDER. The return flight schedules were put up ( Queenstown to Wellington) and I realised that I was on the LAST FLIGHT out ( in the afternoon). This SUDDENLY gave me time to do my jump !!!

But, as this nail biting build up to the jump continued, I realised that GOOD Weather was also a cruicial prerequisite for the jump to happen !

And the weather on the day before the jump was exactly the OPPOSITE - Grey skies, Cloudy and lots and lots of rain !

My mind, always trying to play the devil kept goading me, pointing out that maybe sky diving was not meant for me !

This went on till 8:30 in the morning on the day of the jump. The bell captain of the hotel promised me that he would call me after checking with the Skydiving operator whether the weather would permit a jump to happen for me or not that day !!!

I could not wait. I took my bag and headed off to the lobby assuming that IT WOULD HAPPEN !!!

I approached Bob ( I think that was his name !) who was on the phone. He suddenly got off the phone, looked at me, smiled and said, " You sir, are going to JUMP off a Plane today !!!"

Those words stung me !!! I had 2 instantaneous reactions. EXCITEMENT that it was going to happen. And, FEAR that it was going to happen !!!

I went off to the skydiving shop, went through some videos and photos of the diving. I chanced upon the literature of NZONE ( the sky dive operator) - and saw a quote on their materials which made a lot of sense at that moment !

I must not fear
Fear is the mindkiller

Fear is the little death that brings total obliteration

I will face my fear

I will permit it to pass over
and through me

And when it has gone past
I will turn the inner eye to see its path

Where the fear has gone
there will be nothing

Only I will remain

FRANK HERBERT

WOW !!! I thought to myself - "Did Frank Herbert ever do Sky Diving ?!"

After a short wait, we were whisked off to the Drop Site.

This was close to the airport and in the background were the beautiful, snow capped and panaromic REMARKABLES mountain range ! ( Yes - the very same from LORD OF THE RINGS !)

The Instructors briefed us on the basic mechanics of the jump. There were two others who would be jumping with me - a young Brazilian guy and the other one was English. There was an instant and silent connect between the three of us as we realised that we were sharing the same fate !

This when I realised that though we were harnessed to the instructors, we would be the first to jump out of the plane !!! My mind would see the plane, the sky and the earth below first !!!

The only comforting fact was that my Instructor - Sasha(who hailed from Serbia) had been jumping for 20 years and had performed almost 10000 jumps !!

We huddled into the plane. There were 9 of us. 3 instructors. 3 sky diver camera men ( These would shoot our memorable experience on video !!) and 3 silent sky divers ( Us !)

There was no looking back now. Our jump was scheduled at 12,000 feet !

The "dreaded" moment arrived and I was the last one to jump out ( Thank God !)

General George Patton once said that Courage is fear holding a minute longer ! And thats what I went through !!

The moment came... and went ! One moment I was getting into position to jump. The next, I was falling down. I got into a somersault action. I first saw the Earth. Then I saw the underbelly of the Plane ( I was upside down) and then I stabilised and I was in HEAVEN !!!!

I cannot describe the feeling that I went through for the next 60 seconds ! We were in Free Fall. This meant that the Parachute had not opened yet and were descending at a speed of 200 kmph !!

But the sensation that I got was of FLYING !!!!

It was me ( with the instructor on top of course !) and Mother Earth - and a very very pretty, divine and beautiful looking Mother Earth - a beautiful blue lake surrounded by lush green fields and the majestic Remarkables mountain range !

There was nothing in between the earth and me. I could see 360 degrees of the Earth ! This was nothing like watching the scene from an airplane window. Here, I was part of the scene !!! The other difference was there was wind ( a lot of it !!!)

I felt a loving vibe beckoning me from Mother Earth ! I was definitely in heaven and in love !!! I posed for the Skydiver Camera man who was covering my entire journey !

And then, there was a tug of reality - the parachute had opened and we were ready to drift onto land ! ( How sad !!)

We had a perfect landing and it was OVER !!!

I knew it would take a lot for me to forget this experience ! I still haven't and its been 9 months since !

The only thing that came close to the experience after this was ... watching it on DVD !!!

That was the closest to sharing it with the others ! I was only the one amongst the 140 who had ventured into this and I knew that I was now a Hero !!! :-) Indeed, I was soon nick named SKYDIVER during the rest of the trip !

I don't know what Gautam Buddha went through when he was enlightened, but I sure as heaven went through 60 seconds of that when I was in FREEFALL !!!

Thank you UNIVERSE for making all the right connections for me !
Opportunity , Courage and finally Bliss !

After this post, I am tempted to share my SCUBA DIVING experience. And this time I was not strapped to anyone else !!!

Until then, CIAO !!!

101 Things to do before You Die

2006-09-19T15:21:00.000-07:00

Another very different kind of book inspired me recently (thousands of books do that to me by the way ! )

A very tempting title screamed out to me ! 101 Things To Die Before You Die

Above that in small print was 1) Attempt 2) Complete and 3) Expire !!!

Richard Horne, the author has put together an amazing book - or should I say LIFE Kit ?!

The whole approach is - "Handy Guide to doing all the coolest things in life" !

The book has a sheet full of "Star" stickers which you peel out and stick on the things you have completed from the list ! It also has a compact list of all the 101 things to be neatly folded and put in your wallet so u can integrate these things into your life 24x7 ! Very Professional !!

Just check out some of the THINGS !

1. Write a Best Seller
2. Bungee Jump
3. Drive a Car at Top speed
4. Join the Mile High Club ( i.e. make out in a commercial airline flight !)
5. Leave a job you hate
6. Get barred from a pub or bar
7. Get something named after you
8. Invent something
9. Study the Kama Sutra and put theory into Practice
10. Sky Dive
11. Throw a Dart into a Map and travel where it lands !
12. Shout "Drinks are on me" ! in a Pub or Bar !
13. Sell all your junk on ebay and make a profit
14. Be an extra in a FILM
15.See an erupting volcano...

and there are 86 more !!!

Each page describes the activity in some detail highlighting the pleasures / risks and has a activity noting page for you to note down details of your personal achievement !

So, I bought a copy - and the next day bought a few more to "gift to friends" !!

I felt that the book touched a chord - with a simple message - LIVE LIFE !!!!

and more importantly, LIVE LIFE NOW !!!

The question that comes to mind is "Hey, am I living my life now ? " and if I am not living my life, what EXACTLY am I doing ?!!!

I honestly don't know the answer to your personal question - but I sure as heaven know mine !!!!

I have been living my life 2.3 % of the time - and I just need to LIVE and PLAY big !!! What are we here on this planet for ?

To commute for 3 hours a day to office and back ?
To earn a salary and crib about it
To have a relationship and be insecure about it ?
To never be satisfied ?
To never be happy ?

Also, who decides whether I am happy ? My boss ? My wife ? My pet dog ? ( I actually have one !)

No No No !!!! Its me !!! (believe it or not !)

I decide whether I am happy. I decide how I want to live my life - regardless of the size of my Swiss Bank account !!!

And as far as I am concerned, I want to ENJOY life !!! Every single moment !!

And, does that mean that I have to follow Richard Horne's list ? Well, I might take a few ideas from there - but I would rather have MY OWN list, draw it up and start ticking it, while my Life clock is ticking !!!

So, I leave you with this question -

"What's your list ? and when are you going start ticking ?!"

What's the (GOOD) News today ?!

2006-09-15T06:51:00.000-07:00

Am currently reading a very interesting book. One of my favourite booksellers - Rafique of Ensign Book stores, Bandra vociferously recommended this title - GOD WANTS YOU TO BE RICH by Paul Zane Pilzer.

The title was certainly attractive ! Rafique pointed out that the author uses a lot of logic and case studies to apparently make the point. I was sold !

I started reading the book and I was hit by the central theme - no not about God helping you with your finance - but the basic premise he talks about is that most of man's CONFLICT in this world has been about people fighting over SCARCITY. Scarcity of Resources - especially of the Natural kind ( read Oil in today's times !). Because he has always ASSUMED that these resources were scarce, he has always been INSECURE and that has led to GRABBING them from others ( or attempting to grab / always having the intention to grab !).

This had led to the countless wars and violence that we have all grown up reading about. Pilzer, the author argues that the world resources are actually ABUNDANT. Even if one resource runs out there has always been another to replace it ( Coal - Oil for example) . Or. Technology has stepped in to make better utilisation of our resources -so the same "depleting" resource if used better can last us for lifetimes ! ( more fuel efficient engines helping conserve the once rapidly depleting oil resources)

Alas, not everyone sees it this way. Many are eyeing the neighbour's wealth of resources and scheming to get it for themselves ! To help them in their scheming ways, a very powerful tool is used very successfully - FEAR !

Man has been living with FEAR ever since he can remember he was man ! Man also discovered that he could create fear in other men to get what he wanted.

Creating fear in others is a strategy that is being in the employ of man for thousands of years. And it continues. Today there is the fear of terror. Yesterday it was the fear of "Oil running out". Both these fears are of course linked !

"FEAR KEEPS US ALL IN PLACE" is the insight that a lot of people have been using to dominate the world. And who is the best ally to these scheming intentions ? The Media !

They have practically amplified Fear to a level never thought possible. Do read the wikipedia section on "Culture of fear" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_of_fear

Many have pondered, observed, written, made movies about this. Noam Chomsky, Michael Moore, etc.

The POINT is that one of the fears that have always bothered man has been the FEAR OF SCARCITY. "What if I cannot continue the life I am leading because of this running out ?!"

"I must do something about it" ! ( Oops - violence ?)

And the media have helped this fear to be rampantly widespread. Bad News travels faster. And if it is helped to do so by the media why not ?!

Can you remember reading a newspaper any day where there was NO Bad News ! ?

Would the newspaper sell ?

Would anyone watch CNN if there was only news on happiness and peace ? Tough - right ? !

So, that's the truth - Bad News Sells !

And it is a vicious cycle ! Bad News creates Fear. Fear creates more Bad News ! Bad News focuses on Selective information for example SCARCITY, amplifies it and makes it the BIG News !

So, utlimately coming back to Pilzer's book, this fear of scarcity makes everyone believe that ABUNDANCE is not meant for everyone. Only some will have it - sp most of us will just live in miserable scarcity. Some might do something about it ( which might not be good !)

If we actually realised that we have been living in a world and society of ABUNDANCE and see how blessed we are all and see that if we just share, there is actually enough for everyone. Everyone would benefit and the pie of resources would just get bigger - thanks to OPTIMISM rather than the PESSIMISM which we have seem to have adopted !

He gives a couple of commercial examples where having a mindset of Openness has led to everyone get richer. Eg : VHS vs Betamax. VHS was for all - maybe technologically inferior - but it had an "inclusive" approach. Today, the more "superior" Betamax is not even known which had tried an "exclusive" approach.

The Internet with its "open" architecture has changed the way World Society functions. I am sure you have chanced upon the Cluetrain Manifesto. If not, do give it a peek ! It talks about how the world actually started going FLAT in 1999 http://www.cluetrain.com/

Open architecture operating systems like LINUX has given the behemoth Microsoft a run for their money ! Have a dekko at this story from Business week ! http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/05_05/b3918001_mz001.htm

So, to sum it all, remember, the WORLD RESOURCES are ABUNDANT. We will all Prosper ( and we are meant to Prosper !) if we accept this and operate with openness and willingness to Share !

I hope the reactions to this are ABUNDANT !

New age spiritual heroes

2006-09-13T23:29:00.000-07:00

Who do we turn to for INSPIRATION in today's tumultous times ? Do we have a bank of HEROES the way we see them liberally sprinkled across our various History text books ?

Or... are we living in an era which does not have any Heroes anymore ?

Are the Heroes also too busy to be heroes anymore ??

Whom would we consider today's heroes ?

The Dalai Lama ? The late Mother Teresa ? George W Bush ? Tony Blair ? Zinedine Zidane ? Rahul Dravid ? Oprah Winfrey ? Deepak Chopra ? Robin Sharma ?

I don't know - I am sure each one will find their Hero in the list above !

Are there more heroes in Fiction today ?

Spiderman, Superman, The X-men, Agent Ethan Hunt from MI i/ii/iii, Shrek, etc.etc.

Maybe the world doesn't need real heroes and turns to these REEL Heroes instead ! :-)

I have been fascinated by a certain Reel Hero - someone I have been "watching" for some time now.

He's a modern hero facing the most "modern" times ( read - terror !)

He's Jack Bauer from the hit TV series 24.

I am sure most of you would have seen him in action !

I wanted to analyse his character to see if he is today's IDEAL HERO ! Have a dekko at what I picked up from a wikipedia entry.

Characteristics

Jack Bauer has characteristics marking him as a "flawed hero". He holds similarities to many Greek heroes, having a "tragic flaw" that dictates his rise to power and, inevitably, will dictate his downfall. Jack's employment at CTU has given him many survival skills that have kept him alive, yet his tenure at CTU can be held liable for many, if not all, of Jack's misfortunes (losing his wife at the end of Season One, his addiction to heroin during Season Three, the emotional "loss" of Audrey Raines, his love interest in Season Four, the lives of some of his closest friends, his job at CTU, and his own "death".)

Bauer's behavior and actions are consistent with the philosophy "the ends justify the means". When innocent lives are in danger he behaves as though obtaining a desired result is more important than how he obtains it, and he frequently performs controversial actions if he thinks they will achieve an important goal. His philosophy was perhaps best expressed after he shot and killed a witness in front of George Mason, then-CTU Special Agent in Charge. George expressed dismay at Jack's extreme action, and Jack replied: "That's the problem with people like you, George. You want results, but you never want to get your hands dirty."

Lying, torture, stealing, and even cold-blooded murder are all viable options to Jack, a stark contrast to the vast majority of fictional heroes. Comparisons with the very people he battles are inevitable. As stated by George Mason in Day 1, "Rules don't apply to Jack Bauer. He does what he wants, when he wants, and he doesn't care whose life it affects."

Jack Bauer is also a master of interrogation. He often uses extreme physical force or psychological stress to retrieve the information he needs. At other times, Jack has threatened the lives and/or well being of terrorists’ families. Jack himself is also adept at handling interrogation, as shown in Season 2, proving terrorist Ronnie Stark's point, "Everyone breaks, Jack, even you," to be incorrect. Jack has withstood knife carvings, electrocutions, and injections without confessing. During one torture session, he was accidentally put into cardiac arrest, but was revived with emergency measures. Jack was soon portrayed as a character who could remain perceptive under pressure when, several minutes after his revival, he was able to escape with the help of a nearby doctor.

Jack has routinely put his and his family's life on the line, as well as the lives of those close to him, in order to serve the greater good. Notably, he was faced with a situation where a terrorist threatened to release a devastating biological weapon if Jack did not execute one of his superiors, Regional Director Ryan Chappelle. Despite efforts to locate the terrorist before the deadline, Bauer was forced to execute Chappelle. In the fourth season, Bauer was told to extract a Chinese scientist named Lee Jong from the Chinese Consulate in Los Angeles, who had vital information needed to stop an imminent terrorist strike. During the illegal raid, Lee was shot and needed immediate medical attention to stop him from dying. When he arrived at CTU, Bauer learned that the doctor there was already working on Paul Raines, the estranged husband of Audrey Raines (Jack's then girlfriend). Raines had been shot earlier trying to push Jack out of the way of a gunman. Much to Audrey's horror, Bauer drew his weapon and ordered the doctor to begin surgery on Lee. Raines went into cardiac arrest and died shortly afterward.

Jack Bauer is rarely seen showing remorse for such actions until after the crisis has passed. This is largely due to his emotional suppression necessary to complete the task at hand. He has on occasion revealed his more vulnerable side, including a notable scene at the end of Season 3 when he breaks down crying after the traumatic events of the day.
Following the death of his wife at the end of Season 1, he seemed to live a life that had little personal purpose. To Jack Bauer, there is no separation of his personal life and his duty. As he said to Chase Edmunds, his partner during Season 3: "You cannot do this job and have a normal life at the same time."[5].

Having gone through his CHARACTERISTICS, my question is - Is Jack Bauer the new age HERO ? Real, Flawed, Emotional - but very very FOCUSED ( to the extent of being RUTHLESS !) on the GREATER GOAL and GOOD.

I have watched all 5 seasons of 24 - and enjoyed every riveting suspenseful minute of it - but I have been contemplating on this extremely complex anti-hero - Jack Bauer.

Do we need people like Bauer in today's world ? Or would he just be an overkill ? Is he the DOUBLE EDGED Sword that this world needs to face all the evil ? Or Is the evil just over hyped to suit certain agendas ? Is there a Bauer in all of us ? - just waiting to get out ? Or is his Realness too Real ?

This is the first post on NEW AGE SPIRITUAL HEROES ! Cheers !