Category Archives: Miscellaneous
Thoughts for the First of Aoril
April Fool Day It is amazing how ancient and universal some customs can be. Archaeologists have unearthed cuneiform tablets which show laughing figures with full moon beside them which have been interpreted as an ancient mode of observing the equivalent of a day when people made fun of one another. In one of his Monologues …
The Tragedy in Allahabad
Oh, the Power of Faith and Frenzy More than thirty pilgrims who had come to wash away their sins at the confluence of two actual and one no-longer existent river, died in a stampede at the Allahabad railway station a couple of days ago on their way back to wherever they came from. This was …
On Two Short Stories
Finished re-reading Herman Melville’s Bartleby the Scrivener in which the taciturn hero is hard-working and focused in his job of copying documents, but is adamant about not doing anything else he is asked to do by his boss at the Wall Street Law Firm where he was working. The story was at times tedious, because …
On Reactions to Ashis Nandy’s Statement
Many have now read news reports to the effect that Ashis Nandy, an eminent academic and scholar, unwittingly blurted out at a “Literary Festival” in Jaipur that “Most corrupt people come from …” and mentioned certain caste-based sub-groups in India. Though I am inclined to think that Nandy did not quite mean what the statement …
Salute to Vienna
We went to the Orchestra Hall Symphony Center in Chicago on December 30, 2012 to enjoy some joyous Viennese music that often lights up the season in many parts of the world. Situated right across the Arts Institute, the Symphony Center is a beautiful hall with lovely chandeliers. It was good to see the hall …
Best Wishes!
The world in which we live is constrained by Reality. But there is far greater freedom and possibility in the world of wish and fantasy. Placing myself in that world I pray for health, happiness, and interesting experiences for all those who read this, and their families. And I pray for Peace around the World …
Chance, Luck, and Causality
Chance is a causally intractable, or as yet a not causally reduced, event in the natural world. If and when a chance event has an impact on human life (whether expected or unexpected) the event is regarded as a stroke of luck or ill-luck, depending on whether the impact is positive or negative. Scientifically inclined …
End of the World Prophesy: December 21, 2012
It is past 11 PM in Wilmette IL, and if the Mayan prophesy is worth carries any weight, we have less than an hour to go before everything is sucked into a black hole. I have heard that in much of the rest of the world, in Nepal and Norway, in Siberia and Singapore, indeed …
THOUGHTS FOR A THANKSGIVING DAY
We’re thankful for work, for paychecks that feed; May all who are seeking, find the jobs that they need! We’re thankful for comforts that have a role; May we strive for something that’s nobler as goal! We’re thankful for knowledge that lights up the mind; May wisdom it bring, that’s harder to find! We’re thankful …
On the Clash of Civilizations
What appears to be a clash of civilizations is really a tension that has always been present within all cultures between two groups which I will designate as A and B. Group A consists of the upholders of anachronistic values, ancient worldviews, and deep-seated cultural insecurity because Group B seems to be on the right …
