Gearing up for Diwali

It's all busy busy at home, mum with preparing laddus and dad with decorative lights. We three sisters are busy decking up.  I'm home this Diwali after a real long time. Lights, colors, food and of course crackers! With bhuchakras and laxmi bombs, it was a rocking Hyderabadi Diwali :)  

Sipping Reality

Dad tells me that Life is less of science and more of an art and he wishes that I realize this very well so that I can cope up with different persona and I improve to be more proactive and less reactive. With diversity at home: my sister being a medical graduate, youngest sister being an economics major, mum being a housewife with a masters background and my dad who is an all rounder :) I see our differences in our take on life. The youngest one is more practical and influential, my doctor sis has a focused mind and can also manipulate things very well when required (I appreciate the artistic nature), mum is super multitasking and has an amazing stamina (I have always taken mum for granted, I still do) and Dad is wow, he faced extraordinary problems in his life, which he very beautifully carved into milestones to remember (cutting out the details). Hmmm, now time to brag about me: I've been straightforward and utopian, having very idealistic idea on how world runs (not really helpful).

My dad can relate me to be his teen aged clone and tells me how he took so many years in learning that life is an art, explains me how essential it is to be aware and sip the reality without which your'e bound to be piled up with cycles of false hope and disappointment. And true it is, understanding and dealing with different personas effectively is an essential art, in day to day life, in career and in your own personal growth. 

So I'm taking this lesson, walking hand in hand with Dad on this.. I don't intend to lose this idealistic thinking for it brings me amazing ideas and there's no barrier that stops me from making an aim, but I'm just learning another approach that might serve fruitful while dealing with different people. 

Revisiting Practical Idealism by Mahatma Gandhi :)

A week without internet!

(18th - 22nd Oct' 2013)
I survived! 
but the others at home had a hard time with my impulses ;)

Learning from my sis

I just came across an article on how US monetary policy has impact on Indian market especially in context with agriculture infrastructure and food inflation. Was jotting down things, trying to connect figures and just when I thought I was getting into details, I came to realize that I hardly knew the surface, lolz. My youngest sis, who is now in her 12th, an economics major stared at my board, asked me to come down to her after meals (basically, I got an appointment :) ).

After meals: We sat down in her room; she had those standard school economics and business studies books at her table, 'Business Today' and 'Economist' magazines lined up in a rack and biographies of few Indian businessmen and politicians. So what she first did was, open up those standard books, briefs me on structure, rules and laws, etc on the bridge between Indian policies and business capitalization. And man! she actually explained it so well. This took an hour. I was hoping to know more about monetary policies in context with different verticals, trade offs and other practical implications but the reaction that came from her left me shocked. She laughed outrageously, the explanation for which I received was: 'This book knowledge is not right, its not maths or science, don't expect accuracy'. I stared back with anger, for we both knew how I hated wasting time. She then opened some articles from her collection of magazines, made me read them. She had some articles cut and kept aside, 'The savior trap', 'The reckoning', 'When giants slow down', etc.. This got me some insight into what I was looking for, not exactly the same context but some clarity on the aftermath and on how things were actually working, or rather I say how things were not working!
And then she kept them aside, told me about how one act of us buying a car has strings attached to it. (Excuse me for cutting out the details!)

I don't mean to brag her detailed knowledge and clarity on things, but I was so wowed on her ability to connect the dots so well, and of course on her amazing patience on tutoring me ;)
Got to get me another appointment!

It was all about food today :)

After a very long time I got creative in the kitchen today, a little emotional to be cooking for Dad and a bit naughty to be experimenting something new on him. So what I started with was okra in olive flavor. I almost gave up in between when the texture seemed inconsistent. I put the whole damn thing aside, sauteed tomatoes separately and put things together, and wow.. the transformation was from 0 to 1 (that's if your'e thinking in binary, else take it from 0 to 100% ). Dad loved it; I was gonna get xbox anyways (so nothing much to be credited ;) ). But to top it all, my little naughty sisters who never leave a chance to criticize me, loved it and they actually expressed this repeatedly; I'm skeptic to make it again, the logic being 'what if it doesn't taste the same way next time'!
It was an amazing experience: that moment of making it from - to +.
Light off, 'Night :)

Why are we here

No, I'm not gonna talk about Darwin's theory of evolution. Nor will I drag you through a religious relay.

Hmmm, my opinion, which is of course based on the tiny little knowledge that I have on spirituality / religion / science of evolution, is that : we are here as a part of experience; whose experience? Call it 'divine' or 'thee', which we are a part of.. Confusing! is it? Great, even I'm confused now, and this question will always be a wonder. But while taking a deep dive on this question, I felt wow on the fact that we can write an answer to this ourselves, in other words: you are the master of your own destiny. 
Yes, on my blog it has to end with a smile :)


Most common answers I found online:

• We are here because of Love. This is considering what Jesus Said "Your Heavenly Father created you for his pleasure, he knows every detail of your being".
• We are here to help each other. ( makes no sense; would be invalid if we were not there at the first place)
• We are here because we are not somewhere else. (dha!)
• A star exploded millions of yrs ago, big rock hit earth - energy - unstable - and something about dinosaurs too. ( oh, then why did that star explode... )
• Due to an accidental evolution. ( ...so that you don't ask me more details ;) )
• My creator has a plan for me. (who? what? why?)
• To play our role in this world. (- do -)
• Because our parents decided to have us. ( now you can ask your parents! )
• To attain moksha / nirvana.
• To reach enlightenment.
• To realize the self.

While At Home

Writing a post after so long!

So what am I doing these days: 

• Working on Rails and backbone
• Switching to Emacs 
• Staring badly at the Rubik's cube ( as if a third eye would open any minute and there'd be tsunamis and volcanoes followed with the cube being solved; heehahhahha.. mmmm sorry!)
• Making stupid mistakes ( this is a well planned goal ok, someday I got to write a book on 'Stupidity In Programming ;) '  )

Then there is playing guitar, breaking things at home, fighting for the tv remote and of course, accompanying dad in laughing at the daily soaps while mum watches them ;)

By the way, I have finally decided to blog every day!
Cheers to a beautiful life :)