All the random thoughts

As I walked past the temple on Market Street, I heard an old beggar yell, “Happy Deepavali! Give more today!” “Why more today? Is it a Diwali offer?” I asked. Sometimes the desire to be witty overtakes the need to remain sensible. “You are going to pray to Goddess Lakshmi today and ask her to spend more time in your home, right?” the old man said. “I promise not to pray and compete for her time. In return, you give me more today,” he explained. “Lakshmi is a goddess. She is all-pervading and can be in all homes at the same time. There is no competition for her time. Go ahead and pray if you want. She will be in your home and mine at the same time.” This time, it was logic over sensibility. “I don’t have a home,” he said. “It doesn’t matter to God,” I argued. “She is everywhere—maybe even standing next to you right now.” He smiled and said, “The only one standing next to me right now is you.” His case was obvious. May you get the chance to be the Goddess Lakshmi for someone today - shar...

On a stroll around, I chanced across a sedentary swine. "What's with the flu", I asked. "Why spread virus and kill people?", I said. "Swine flu is not a virus", the swine replied. "It is an antidote for man-flu, the way we animals see it". "What's man-flu?" I asked. "Oh it affects mostly us animals", the swine said. "It destroys our habitat and kills us in great numbers. It also hunts and kills us one by one. It wipes out species. It is deadly. And us animals keep coming up with ways to kill this virus called man. Swine flu is just another attempt", the swine explained. "Am I a virus?", I wondered aloud. "Depends on the view point" said the Swine.