SO BE IT !!!

Dho - This is a really busy time !!
O - So when are you not busy ? Stop bullshitting me ....
Dho - Ok..No excuses..Sorry
O - So what will this blog be about ?
Dho - Now don't tell me that I am trying to make blogging easier but this thought came to my mind while I was answering a response to my blog.
O - Unless you start treating it like thesis work, it will be easy and you shall enjoy it..whatever !! Shoot..
Dho - Do you know what utopia is ?
O - I know what it means but have not experienced it.
Dho - What does it mean ?
O - Perfection....hmmmm...yeah perfection..in any form,state et al..
Dho - So though we know it, we have not necessarily experienced it ...So the point I am making is --- would it not be fantastic if we could be less ambitious and less critical and then accord utopianism to certain moments or experiences ???
O - Pitfalls are many....Utopia will lose its place of pride...a dress on the mannequin looks better before purchase than after !!!
Dho - Yes i knew that bit but life is too short, at least when u look back at it !!! So when we die is it not better that we will know dying that we experienced it ??

The conversation can happen between anyone but I was seriously trying to apply this mindset to other things in life and it made me realize that in some cases we can improve the quality of our lives by believing that people and things are good !!! It is not that we do not meet good people but this blog is aimed at making us less critical in some cases.It will give us the satisfaction of knowing that we met good people and we experienced good things !!! It is all in the mind !!! This is my stupid recipe for a "beautiful mind".

Stupid ? A kind friend brought to my attention that many people do not have the guts to write their stupid thoughts on public domains such as blogs.So I am not only in possession of a "beautiful mind" but also a "brave heart". Yahoooo !!

What is 'NOT' in a SURNAME


This piece will be heavily lacking in rearched data and statistics. I had Dr Fahey's class today. It went off well as usual. The pressure is low in that class and i enjoy it more for that resaon. I can lie down and do my readings. I do not have to necessarily sit down in front of the computer. We started talking about his surname, FAHEY. He said, his name DAVID meant beloved but FAHEY meant nothing.

Now being the person I am, I give great priority to names. I am proud of my name and make an honest attempt to live up to it. It is not easy inculcating in one's self virtues such as sacrifice, pure love, unrelenting support et al, qualities that we are told Mother Earth embodies. But it is easier than living up to a name like 'Sundari'. I know one can argue very easily that one is talking about 'beauty skin deep' (I just wrote DIP..shit) but .....well you hopefully get my point !!!!

But the interesting question is , is it only our name that stands for our identity ? What about our surnames ? It is at this point I feel that some statistics would help. When asked your name, what do you say ? The First Name only or the Last Name too ? It will be different in different places I know. I mean in a job interview, one would say the entire name but what is the response in general ?

Considering that SURNAMES are still important to us....WHY DON'T THEY MEAN ANYTHING ?

Bhattacharjee ? Mukherjee ? Gupta ? Sharma ? Desai ? Patil ? Chaowdhury ? Selvi ? Rajagopal ? Some surnames that used to make me laugh a lot like bandukwala etc still make sense but compared to Urdu names like Muskaan, Zainab and Alifia do they stand a chance ? NO !!!

I can understand that a surname is not as unique as a name because the surname is shared by many but it still contributes towards how people are addressed, people are remembered and so it is but imperative that they mean something nice !!!!

Good question, but am I going to do anything about it ? NO.. As if I have all the time in the world !!

Disclaimer - I do not have an international audience for my blog but i still need to say that this blog was based on the Indian context.

America is taking me by surprise.


A nice and warm day after months of snow and chilly winds. A T Shirt- Jeans day after days of winter coats and snow boots. A very musical day after months of strict academic routine. A great day after many uncountable-uneventful-normal days that pass by without leaving a mark. A great day made even greater by around 120 American singers singing Zikr ( song from BOSE ) and Vande Mataram (Rehman) outside Presser Halls sitting on the lawns. They were preparing for the Rehman Concert. The enthusiasm, the dedication, the commitment and the energy with which they sang left an indelible impression on my mind.

Out here in Miami University, the last thing I expected was to hear these songs being sung by Americans (most of them singing from memory). It just touched me so much. This has been the place where people give you rides all the time. They just give away beds, tables, cupboards if they do not need it. They are always happy to hear about your accomplishments. They are always truthful.They are always polite. They give away flowers to anyone who says that their names starts with "X". The florists do not check ID cards. They are the people who trust you, even if you are a stranger.

I probably should not have been surprised. Miami has surprised me enough by always doing what is utopian. Singing Rehman songs with the standard that is bound to take Rehman by awe, should not surprise me at least. Way To Go !!!!!