Hin Dos and Donts

today's post has been inspired by simple simon's blogpost about hinduism, which in turn has been inspired by someone else, so its almost becoming a chain.But first the routine work. Spare a prayer for Katherine Hepburn , who died at the age of 96.Also,check out this article for a 360 degree view on Beckham's Real experience. Have included a new link, its a music band from my lil town, they are called motherjane, doubt if the website will impress , and no free music, but get hold of a cd if u can, the music is definitely worth it!!

There are lots of statements i would like to debate on, but will start with the 'definability' of hinduism, it is , i agree, a way of life,now, but i dont think it was always like that.there was a time when hinduism could define itself, in terms of philosophy, practices in life, forms of worship etc. But, now, even i, as a practising hindu, (practising because i am not a passive hindu in terms of worshipping my 33 crore odd gods, i have my favourites, of course :-) ) cannot explain to another person what i, as a hindu, stand for. subjective idiosyncrasies not withstanding, i think every other religion has a thread, that creates a bond among its followers, which allows them to firmly define their religion. can we do it, i dont think so.so where did we hindus lose it?

i guess, a long time ago, the time when hinduism became a religion that started assimilating tidbits from every other religion, there could have been political (read survival) reasons, but i cant justify that as an excuse. Now, the way i see it, the very aspect that has earned hinduism bouquets from everyone everywhere, its absorbing and forgiving feature, is going to kill it. Unlike Linux development, not everyone who modifies the source, has an interest in its survival.And that brings us to the next source of debate "is the fanatical tunnel vision" that is brewing in hindus worldwide justified??to be continued..............

manuscrypt for the day

if god brings you to it, he will take u thru it.

Live Dead

I dont know if it is done abroad, but it sure is a first in India. A crematorium in Gujarat is now using web cam and yahoo to transmit cremations live!! Its meant for Gujarati diaspora spread across the globe. Everyone everywhere is trying to get people to stay as glued to the monitor as possible.

Read an interesting article on how the evolution of consumer durables in india directly affected the construction of homes and the arrangement of particular rooms.Once upon a time, long before Tv came in, the fridge occupied a prime place in the sitting room.People used to sit in their verandah, have a chat , show off their fridge and come inside for quick snacks. Then, when tv first arrived, there were only a few families who had them, so those which had got frequent visitors and conversations were held in the sitting room, while watching TV. Then tv became a household phenomenon and social visits got further reduced, and in the ones that did happen,tv came to be an unwanted distraction.so they made a family room upstairs where the tv could be kept, and then home theatres happened, and thats being shown off now. Its a cycle but why is it that most of these innovations have been instrumental in reducing direct human contact.

i can honestly say, without attributing it to hindu fatalism (as westerners love to say) that what i knew to be humanity earlier is counting its last days. No, it is not about old values or practices, the very thing that spawned "for the sake of humanity" now makes it seem a misnomer.And i believe technolgy had a big hand in it. Yes, i have to have my system, mp3 player , my cellphone etc, but cant i live without them? my grandad could, to an extent so can my dad, and they all seem to manage and be happy without them.To borrow from the buffy musical that was shown yesterday, we seem to be going through the motions of life. Isnt that an irony when the only thing that we came down here for is to live?So when we cant enjoy while we live, when r we gonna do it? which brings us to everyone's eternal question - is there life after death? will choose to answer the question in my later blogs ;-), maybe i can pick up a clue if i can get to see one of those live funerals!!

manuscrypts trivia

Got it from an employee evaluation "This employee is depriving a village somewhere of an idiot"

Thats it for the week, enjoy your weekend, folks!

Monster Thursday

I dont believe it, that dumb female Jennifer Aniston has been declared celebrity No: 1 by Forbes, my apologies to all the "Friends" fans, but no, puhleeese, i think the only fem worth mentioning in that star cast is Courtney Cox. Jennifer Aniston, no bleeding way! i have yet to find a way of expressing my dissatisfaction to Forbes, hmmm, good question, does it matter :-), well it does, to ME!! and no, the title of the day is not for ms anniston, though that would be deserved, that will come later in the post.got some cds i purchased on the net, the first time without a cash on delivery option. got 3 cds of dire straits, and an assorted album, for 450.the quality is okay too. check out this guy, he has given an ad in the times classifieds online, at indiatimes.com, he will b towards the last/last but one page if you follow the link of music, mp3. name is neil, based in pune. the ad page will lead you to his homepage, u have to check out whether it still works.have finished 'day of the jackal ' again!! cant find a good library, anyone in bangalore reading, feel free to guide me.from tomorrow on, i am gonna write on sublimal/ethereal subjects/philosophy/points to ponder/critiques on movies and ads, coz i have a strong feeling that the mundane activities in the life and times of yours truly are just not interesting reading material enough for my poor readers!! which brings us to

manuscrypts trivia

Pop quiz class!! who is my fave fem TV show character?? Oh ok i know it doesnt matter, but give it a shot...the clue is somewhere in this post for my loyal readers , that should be a no brainer, but for those, who are not, just goes to show where good reading can get you!! ;-)

B2B on the net

No, i am not about to do any business to business (B2B) on the net, that was only an acronym for back 2 blogging, hey!, by now you must be used to my irritating play of words. And look what happened when i was gone, our very own parent site got itself a new look, i guess the new version does look a tad better than the older one.what i have also realised is that the traffic to your site is in proportion to the updating you do, quite evident from the shoutbox in my site. and vidya chose to do a dance on my shoutbox too, check out the shoutbox down below, wonder how she managed it...couldnt do much over the weekend, except buy a helmet, which i think will be a waste anyway, coz it never rains when i get out, it doesnt have to, i guess, coz i already have a vampire cough, whats a vampire cough, u ask?, my kinda cough which comes only in the cover of the night, and is afraid to venture out in the daytime, the net result being that i cough the night away, am almost reduced to chronic insomnia, and the guys at work never believe me when i say i have a cough, coz they havent seen the bloody animal!!, phew, short of typing breath, ok, bad one, but my tries never cease to amaze you, dont they?! ;-)

saw an intro of 88 antop hill on rediff, very interesting plot, but there has been such a deluge of thrillers and ghosts that i am not sure whether it will click.tried to add something to my blog, its a site where they create an acronym of your name, and you can paste a link on your blog, but i cant seem to get the graphic, have been trying from last week, thats the lil red cross that you see towards the bottom.try your luck anyway , here, actually, what got me to the site was this, u seriously have to check it out, it is so ridiculous and funny, i am too chicken to try it, but give me a feedback if you try it out...hehe

meanwhile its time for

manuscrypts trivia

a msg i got "remember the time when we were on a train, u stuck your face out and i stuck my ass out, and people thought we were twins??" grrrr

That would be ....er.... me??!

The greatest spiritual truths, with the greatest ability to transform our lives, are often the ones that look superficially like the twisted and sick rantings of a permanently-adolescent mental inadequate. Pastor.N.Pizzori

am not exactly sure whether my particular rantings conform to the latter part of the statement, but i sure would like them to qualify for the former.....hehe wishful thinking, huh?? but thats how everything starts, through thinking. Yeah, you are absolutely right, all this was because i didnt know what to write , so i had to do something, thats when i came across this quote from an old diary, and thought that this quote would be ideal for the blog, what say?? at least now i have a purpose to work towards, hehe, as if!!saw hrithik's ad for the new honda bike, Karizma, sporting a cap, think he's got a crew cut for "Lakshya"...everyone seems to be sporting new hairdos aamir, salman, and i am going for a haircut this weekend!! :-), that reminds me of a forward i got, " gandhiji bhi chale gaye, nehruji bhi chale gaye, meri bhi tabiyat kuch theek nahi, pata nahi desh ka kya hoga...."

had a proper kannadiga marriage meal today, burp burp, felt so sleepy , wanted to go home and sleep, but unfortunately.....zee is showing 'pran jaaye par shaan na jaye' tonite, have to c that, just one more day for the weekend!!we are in the process of shifting our office, so i guess i will not be online tomorrow, that means an extended weekend as far as blogging goes....hopefully i will have some good content to post by then...will end the boring crap for now, i know, that was a poor post!!

Coz the tooth is up there

Today's title is inspired the girl who married the dog in West Bengal, it seems many guys and girls do it there that way, c'mon guys , its not hedonism or anything, read the story here and find where the title comes from.And finally we get the Real news. El Beckham has finally reached Spain, congrats to him. And it seems he went for less than the 43 million that was earlier the agreed on figure. i still havent been able to objectively look at my loyalty issues concerning him and United, hehe, so what if it doesnt affect them, i can still have a stand, cant i??! ah, that brings me to the Rhyme of the Day

Though i had my fun at Old Trafford

My lifestyle, now they can ill afford,

Was a lil concerned about the Real/Barcelona row,

But it all boiled down to who could pay more Euro!!

Wonder if Posh can adjust to life in Spain

Even otherwise she is such a big pain

And if you are wondering why i am writing all this,

Bloke, it makes headlines even if i p**s!!

Read some interesting parallels about Hitler and the VHP, RSS etc on Andy's blog, check it out, its a good read.More on the mullahs in Iran here.Poor guys are confused about what to do on the new fundamentals of Arab society, “Democracy, whiskey, and sexy!” :-)

Bangalore had showers on Residency Road, thats where the Radio City office is, they always ask me to take my raincoat when i am about to get out for office, fell for it twice, but am now educated!! Cant blame them though, the clouds here remind me of that 'about to puke' feeling i get, and then i dont puke....Thats it for the day, will end with

manuscrypts trivia

Got this from i dont know where, but it seems there are only three words that end in 'ngry', angry, hungry and_____, i havent got it yet!! it seems that we see/feel it everyday!!!!

Original Sin

Nope, its not about adam and eve, its just another attempt at wordplay, this time regarding an article i came across. Sahara TV's much hyped serial "Karishma" starring karishma was in the limelight for all the wrong reasons, supposedly the story was lifted from a novel by Barbara Taylor Bradford ,"A Woman of Substance". That author promptly filed a case for plagiarism. Oh, ok, you already know that. The latest is that, since we indians dont believe in copyrights, the author of the serial has replied with a lawsuit of his own, against BTB herself, for trying to defame him. Being original is a sin. Apology to all Angelina Jolie fans, but, this is how my title came about.Phew!! Oh fine, you can always vent your frustrations in the comments section!!Guess what, now there's a probe on ManU, for the way the entire Beckham transfer issue has been handled. Wonder what all this is building upto?!

Grrr, now for my frustrations, the latest fad seems to be forwarded Ganesha messages. As if the ones in my mailbox were not enough, now i get the stuff on my mobile too, threatening me with dire consequences if i didnt forward them, BUT i havent and wont, i mean, puhleeese, Ganesha would never want such cheap publicity, but i am wondering the motive of the guy who started it.Went shopping for my blog again, and this time , got a clock and a quotes section. hope u guys like it. I like it anyway, :-)

And hey, meanwhile,the self nominated supercop of planet earth has now set its sights on Iran.Will end with another fwd i got, "Once an elephant asked a camel, y do u have boobs on ur back?, the camel replied 'thats a f***ing good question from someone with a dick on his face"!!c, i get good forwards too, Oh, OK, it must be my tastes!! hehe

manuscrypts trivia

if you feel like answering some interesting questions about yourself, log on to friday five.havent done it yet myself, but only coz i didnt get the time, will do it sometime this week.

Mondayne Thoughts

Oh, ok, that was a bad example of wordtwisting, but full marks for trying, :-).... canada was once again ferrari territory yesterday, and schumi kept his word of topping raikkonen, and i still believe raikkonen is only a flash in the pan....but i liked alonso yesterday, poor sod was driving a renault but again, full marks for trying!!saw two mahesh manjrekar movies over the weekend, astitva and hathyar, the former is to be remade in English and is titled "it rained that night"..and the last i heard of it , he is also playing a part in it, i think the one played by Sachin Khedkar, come to think of it, sush is playing tabu's role...Another blast featured on rediff today by Varsha Bhosle, my, those are what you really call controversial, i think she would be a top contender for hate mails, but, but but, more often than not , i subscribe to her views (she mostly writes columns on secularism and related issues), she asks very pertinent questions on the stand of Muslims, in our dealings with Pakistan. In my opinion , what is wrong in us having a Hindu country , when there are so many Islamic nations around?Why do we insist on secularism, in spite of all the happenings around us? i think the tolerance that India's majority population is showing, is seen as cowardice, and to be very honest, if you take away the political motivations in the backlash of several happenings (most recently , Godhra), i cant blame the guys who go around torching muslims, for the simple reason that except for useless political statements, no Muslim guy says he is sorry for what his comrades have been doing!! Meanwhile, our PM keeps extending hands, and ol Pervez keeps showing him the finger, albeit covertly!!Thats enough pro hinduism for now, check out the couple of new links i have added , parikrama and enya, two different genres of music, but definitely good.....check out the track 'but it rained' on the parikrama site, its got a stunning guitar piece at the end...after the song was released on the channels, i went around for a month asking all the cassette outlets for the album, and they hadnt heard of it...finally i checked the website (which parikrama had mentioned, but i thought was the album title) and found that the songs could be downloaded free!! To end today's ravings and rantings , a forward i received, "a mom asks her newly wed daughter how her married life is, the daughter replies that its like British Airways, the mother is puzzled until she sees an ad of BA that says '7 days a week, twice a day, both ways" !!

Welcome to the Real World

It looks now as though ol' Becks is going to Real, after all...That side is already full of larger than life footballers....Posh is not gonna be having the only star power there :-), saw Buffy yesterday, cant help watching the slayer, though she doesnt do much of slaying these days....i guess that and wrestling are part of my extended childhood..hehe

The reloading starts in India today, will wait till the next weekend to take the red pill, too lazy to be standing in the queue for long, even my extreme 'fanness' is not able to make me lift my butt up on weekends :-) Saw another track from Joggers Park, one of the movies i am waiting for, actually, come to think of it, only the soundtrack,the movie i am waiting for is Darna Mana Hain, Ram Gopal Varma is going all out , he has a dozen movies in various stages of production, and rightly describes himself as a film factory, the good part is that all his experiments are different and cater to different appetites.Do read the story on Mallika Sherawat, the smooching queen in Khwaish, am impressed by her candour, among other things ;-)hopefully it is her normal self and not a part of the promotional hooplah. Speaking of movies, spare a prayer for the great actor Gregory Peck. I loved McKenna's Gold and Guns of Navarone.Schumi has promised to top Raikkonen in canada this weekend, All the luck, man, Ferrari should rule. Have a great weekend people and return on Monday for more of manuscrypts.

manuscrypts trivia

a cool riddle i picked up from a nice blog that belongs to Gorgeous Diva

EINSTEIN’S RIDDLE1.There are 5 houses in 5 different colours. In each house lives a person with a different nationality.2.The 5 owners drink a certain type of beverage, smoke a certain brand of cigar, and keep a certain pet.3.No owners have the same pet, smoke the same brand of cigar or drink the same beverage.The question is “Who owns the fish?"

Facts:The Brit lives in the red houseThe Swede keeps dogs as pets.The Dane drinks tea.The green house is on the left of the white house.The green house’s owner drinks coffee.The person who smokes Pall Mall rears birds.The owner of the yellow house smokes Dunhill.The man living in the center house drinks milk.The Norwegian lives in the first house.The man who smokes Blends lives next to the one who keeps cats.The man who keeps the horse lives next to the man who smokes Dunhill.The owner who smokes Bluemasters drinks beer.The German smokes Prince.The Norwegian lives next to the blue house.The man who smokes Blends has a neighbor who drinks water.

Einstein said that 98% of the world could not solve it. It can be done! Be part of the 2% that CAN. Use a pen and paper to solve it. Draw a table (House Nationality Beverage Cigar Pet) and fill in the answers as you solve them. Remember the question is "Who owns the fish?"

Happy puzzling(P.S. the answer is in the source site)

Gimme RED, the original shade

whats happening to the super combos, first it was bruce and demi, then it was tom and nicole, and now it is david and fergie, and that spells doom for the team who is so semantically linked to me :-), for those uninitiated to the world of professional club soccer, i am talking of the elvis in that zone, Manchester United...boy i am devastated, and i guess i am not alone, coz i read an article, which was ripping apart the posh one, although i still have not got personal views on that angle...hehe....but beckham and united are inseparable, like hot cocoa and rain, like moonlit nights and soft music, get the picture??, they can exist without each other, but it just wouldnt be the same....and to top it all, he's supposed to go to barcelona, those numbskulls havent even qualified for the Champions League... the comparatively better news is that Real also have their own plans, if my sources are to be believed. But what about poor me, i am torn between loyalties to the one that bends and the reds. If the Reds want their exclusive shade, they have to keep Beckham, haircuts, sarongs, posh, brooklyn and all!!

Manuscrypts Reloaded

and finally, i have done it, well, at least started it......no, its not time for the accolades to pour in, hehe......oh Shut Up.....i have been trying to revamp this thing for some time now, the stalling factor was thati am not a computer geek, and after seeing some other blogs, (that guy who is at http://blues.rediffblogs.com ) i somehow developed a complex that i would end up doing something boring.......BUT THEN, i suddenly realised that it all boils down to just being youself.....so that sparked the return of yours truly blogger, and with the help of my good friend Rakesh, who is a geek himself,( though he doesnt seem mightily interested in blogging) finally learnt the lil bit of geekness that is required to edit my links etc....to top it up, went on a lil bit of shopping for blogging tools, well, shopping is a wrong term, coz they were all free....and finally cannot end today's diaorrhea without mentioning the one (and can be) only The Dissident Frogman, guys, like Mr.Saltwater Blues, the one who gave me a complex, would say, what r ya doing here, go visit him!!