Mt. Good Aiyer Boy

Most Indians are pretty serious about their religion. Go to any religious place in India, you will always find more people there than a supermarket. Religion for all seasons, religion for all reasons - that's the mantra here! Though we all are born into a religion, but the thing is religion is not genetically acquired. Rather, its culturally transmitted. For the sake of this blog, let's say if I was born in Iran, I would have been a Muslim. Or if I was born in Norway, then chances are high that I would be Christian.

My way of pleasing the God is not very expressive but I am a deeply religious person myself. Religion is great because it forms a belief system - which is extremely important to go through life. In my upbringing, I have had my share of epics, Vedas, Bhagvad Gita etc. It is tempting to think that I have turned out to be a good "Aiyer" boy. Watch your mouth Vinayakan! Being born in an Aiyer family is one thing but turning out into a good "Aiyer" boy is an arduous journey. One has to conform to so many rules that lot of Aiyer boys attain martyrdom in their valiant attempt to scale Mt. Good Aiyer Boy. It is not for the weak 'religioned' :-).

I don't understand, was religion supposed to be so complicated as its made out to be by our customs and rituals? Why can't religion be simple? At times my family wears religion on its sleeves which makes me a bit uncomfortable. My thinking is, we all should do our bit but the real trouble starts when we start acting as custodians of what was transmitted to us culturally.

OK, I am ranting. Need to get some sleep.

Marriage - Great!

Since 2005, I have been going to plenty of marriages. First it was my school friends, then the ones who were in the same housing complex, then friends from my IHM days, then the ones from my hotel career, then the ones from my present workplace and then some more. January 2011 - there is a marriage to attend in Coimbatore. Three months later there is one more to attend in Patna. In 2008 my parents were talking and they were like..."maybe, by going to these marriages he will get interested in married life of his own". It doesn't seem likely in foreseeable future.

I thought of combining these marriages with something I love doing .i.e travelling! Other than being with a friend on an important milestone in their lives, I get to see a new place, I get to meet new set of people and eat a different cuisine. So, whenever there is a marriage to attend outside of Delhi, I readily agree. Increasingly, my leaves have just one reasoning - Friends marriage. My boss noticed a trend and remarked, "you've been attending lot of marriages". Yes, yes!

In between, I heard OSHO's discourse on YouTube where he talks about Marriage, children etc. among other things. Before anyone of you dismiss him as a mad man, I highly recommend giving him a patient hearing. Can't tell what he says is right or wrong and I am nobody to pass a judgement anyway....I certainly believe the the thought process he had developed in his lifetime was simply astonishing. And I simply love his style of speech.

What A Fix

On an average, I read for two to three hours in a day and I have been doing this for more than a decade. Of all the things I have read/studied, cricket is closest to my heart. I am studying cricket even when I am watching it on TV. This spot-fixing chapter is one chapter that I wish did not exist.

To me, Mohammad Aamir is a child prodigy. He bends the ball in, moves it away has a smooth run-up..a run up to the crease that ensures longevity. He is to pace bowling what Sachin Tendulkar was to batting on the Perth track back in 1991. One should have seen the way Tendulkar was driving pace bowling down the track. On the up, of the front foot and back foot...every movement of his was economical, measured with head in perfect balance. This at a time when the more illustrious top order in the Indian batting line-up faced chin music and was sitting in the pavilion. Till he overstepped, the way Mohammad Aamir bowls on a lively pitch is a cricket fans dream come true. And to know that he is just eighteen years of age, I can't help but be shocked and awed in equal measure.

Moot question - What did Tendulkar have in 1991 that Mohammad Aamir does not have in 2010?

Answer: Two things

1) Mentor/Role model. Someone to tell him, his goal is 500+ test wickets by the time he finishes his career

2) In 1991, India was opening up as a country. In 2010, pretty much everything is imploding in Pakistan

Tendulkar idolised Vivian Richards and Sunil Gavaskar. He was spotted early by Sunil Gavaskar and to this day they enjoy very close relationship.

Why didn't a Wasim Akram or Imran Khan mentor this prodigy and tell him he needs to translate his promise into performance?

Ha...Aliens

I am currently reading Stephen Hawking's book Brief History of Time recommended to me by my school time friend who is a scientist herself - thank you.

While surfing around, I got to know there is a reader poll that is being conducted by SmartBrief. I participated and I have voted for the top two colors. See below the screenshot...makes for interesting reading.

I wrote in relation to this subject in the year 2007 - click Psychobabble. I strongly believe, science exists purely to push the boundaries of imagination and capabilities of human beings and the pursuit of searching other life forms should go on....no matter what the risk.

Nomenclature

Whats is in a name? Heck of a lot. I say that because our name is the important thing we are attached with in our life ....Why just life, even in death our obituary column has it. But when we are named, we have absolutely no control over it. Oh My GAWD!

Sample some real names below:

Wuttipong Tanteraponchai - Thai name....and there are some more bizarre ones out there like "Sraithong Boomburaphong"

Hubertus Jacobus Cornelis Ransijn - Dutch name, its like four individuals can be named with this single name :-D

Abu Abdullah Muhammad Ibn Abdullah Al Lawati Al Tanji Ibn Battuta - This dude was a prolific traveller around 1300 AD

Manuel Casanova - Joke went around for this guy...do you have a brother? Is he named "Automatic" Casanova?

Silky - I am curious to know what went through her parents head when they were naming their daughter?

Honey Hotchandani - Given the ridiculousness of the previous name, I made this one up! First, the chick is "Honey" and then she is "Hot"....who cares about "chandani" here?

And then comes the usual names in Delhi/India.

Neha, Pooja, Preeti, Deepti, Priyanka, Divya, Megha

Rahul, Saurabh, Ajay, Sanjay, Amit

Education!

Haven't blogged in a while. Reason, I do not know.

Maybe I am lazy, maybe I was busy writing essays and statements of purpose for my masters. Alternatively, I was studying the impact of compound interest on an excel sheet – yes compound interest over a period of 30-40 years can make for very interesting study! Happy to share.

I started working full time when I was a month short of 20 years of age. It was neither circumstances nor family pressure...maybe it was a fallout of going to the hotel school and the resultant peer pressure. For the last four years, I have a constant feeling of not having my fill of formal education. This period coincides with media’s love for salary-package-laced-headlines on the front-page. What if education is there just to satiate ones curiosity? Why should education be treated as a precursor to a fat salary? We are in the knowledge age and knowledge is coming to us...why do we want to duck under it by linking it with money?

How about studying perfumery or wine making or shoe designing or public policy or cultural affairs or economics or language or population studies or mythology or attempting to be a vedic scholar......Is one life time enough to know even 1% of all there is know? Wikipedia - here I come.