All the random thoughts

We had a great time driving to Ahobilam from Hyderabad. We had splendid darshans of all the nine Narasimha temples, the main temple and an exhilarating journey to the top of the Ugrastambha. The Nallamala forests looked absolutely ravishing and had every attribute to lay a trap for the visiting devotees to fall in love and possibly form notions of settling there. While everything about our trip to Ahobilam was satisfying, one question remained. Who or what is Narasimha? Why did the God appear in this strange form of half human and half lion? The story goes that the demon king, Hiranya Kashipa, had the boon of immortality unless killed by someone who doesn't fall into any of regular categories of species and at a time that doesn't qualify as day or night etc. That is if we take the story at its face value. But if one strongly believes that Hindu scriptures are loaded with symbolism, then there is always a window of opportunity to deconstruct and understand the symbol

"Aap ki gaadi tho phas gayi sir"  He joined me as I looked in disbelief at my new car that just got its first dose of reality.  When I chose the parking slot in the morning, it looked like the perfect spot to easily reach the exit on my way out. So I manuvered the car to park there after driving through the spot just behind. If I had chosen the other lane then I'd had to do a reverse parking which is a pain. For various reasons I couldn't see a large box hanging down the roof at the entrance of the parking slot (if I had chosen to reverse maybe I'd have spotted it). The reasons for missing it, like I said, are various and varied. That's not the point though.   Anyways, as I started drivng out in a hurry while monkey balancing a serious conversation on the mobile phone, the top of the car hit that low hanging box and made a dent. Not a substantial dent but being the first one, hurt more. I got off the car, got off the phone and stared at the damaged car in disb

The lab wasn't like the ones we find in the movies. It was just a hall in a three bedroom flat that has been repurposed. The Scientist was a man of unlimited means, great thrift and a curious mind. A mind that was like none other and he knew it too. He was always looking for someone who could recognise that and engage with him at his level. While that never happened, he kept himself busy making robots. Now the robots the Scientist made were of extremely high quality. He focused on three attributes that'd make his robots the best - Ability to learn, discern and act. He built a circuit that allowed them to actively feel, learn and store from any and every event that the robot goes thru. The storage at disposal of the robot was almost infinite too. And then he built a program that enabled the robot to recall from the storage and use the information to discern the next situation and make a decision. When he finished and ran some tests, the Scientist was quite pleased with himself.

The annual Himalayan trek - this has become synonymous with the reason I will be disappearing from the roll call of life during the month of May. I love these treks for various reasons ranging from fun to flora to physics (of the meta variety). But more than anything else for the opportunity it provides to connect back with ourselves - that genuine ourselves hidden behind layers of personas we created to wade through this complex journey called life. There is nothing more important and more invigorating to meet that part of us to get back the confidence that there is still a chance and purpose to this life. For all the things on offer during these treks, one thing that I never really indulge in is networking. Its a pointless pursuit and a wasted exercise if we end up trying to figure what people do in the world of business. It becomes a logical exercise in identifying common areas where one can continue to build a relationship but I don't think we should even bother abo

"Now that all the euphoria is tapering down, let me ask You. Who deserves the credit for this?", I asked Rama. He smiled. "Obvious question. Who deserves the credit for getting You back into Your home?" He smiled. "Well there are many names floating around. Modi, Yogi, Advani, Ashok Singhal, Rambhadracharya, the Jain lawyers, KK Muhammad, KK Nair and some more from the more recent past. Then some are even giving credit to Tulasidas and to Your dear disciple Lord Hanuman. Some people even credit Babur, Nehru, Rajiv Gandhi and Mulayam - but I think that's a little crazy. What's Your take?" He smiled. "Do I see a hint of a wink there? You mean everyone did their job? How is that even possible? There is so much conflict in their actions. Some destroyed and some created. How could they have all contributed equally?" He smiled. "Well if You are asking what I think, I think it's the millions of Your devotees who never gave u

A hospital or school could have been built instead of a temple - that's the objection of rationalists. You need to understand our relationship with our Gods. They are as much Gods as they are our father, mother, brother, sister, son, daughter or a close friend. We will worship them and then we will scold them. We will lose ourselves singing their Bhajans and then we will lose ourselves accusing them for not paying attention. We will be submissive today and cry just looking at their Murthi and we will be authoritative tomorrow asking them to follow our orders. We are ruled and then we rule. We are them and they are us. If you try to fit our definition of Bhakti into the classic definition of religion, you have not even grasped the fundamentals of Sanatana Dharma. We probably don't fit into these stereotypes. Our Gods come in many shapes and forms. We will worship the playful and innocent Ram Lalla. We will see a child that is as much ours as of Kausalyas. Our relatio