Sunday, October 25, 2009
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Money is abstract
Amongst various this, Diwali is day of Goddess of Laxmi. The day really celebrated in India. "It is Indian Christmas" - I would tell in US to my friends. And on explaining the significance of the day one of the friends had pointed out that very few of the religions give money that much importance do celebrate it's presence. Most other religions try to stay spiritual and never try to be material.
And I remembered Borges. Borges in one of his stories mentions that there can be nothing less material than money. Money is one of the most abstract entities. Since any money represents multiple future possibilities. Money is future time. Money can be multiple things - it can be a quiet long drive, it can be going underwater in hawaii, showing USA to parents, eating in favorite sushi, it can be watching leonard cohen's concert live, it can be a warm bed on a cold rainy night, it can be higher education for somebody's son abroad, it can be somebody's treatment for cancer or a promise of 24 hours water supply. It can be just a warm cup of chai.
There is lot of disdain for money, mostly made publicly to show off ones virtue. "money can't buy everything". Agreed. But it does buy a lot of things. Lot of things we take for granted but would be highly disoriented in their absence.
And I remembered Borges. Borges in one of his stories mentions that there can be nothing less material than money. Money is one of the most abstract entities. Since any money represents multiple future possibilities. Money is future time. Money can be multiple things - it can be a quiet long drive, it can be going underwater in hawaii, showing USA to parents, eating in favorite sushi, it can be watching leonard cohen's concert live, it can be a warm bed on a cold rainy night, it can be higher education for somebody's son abroad, it can be somebody's treatment for cancer or a promise of 24 hours water supply. It can be just a warm cup of chai.
There is lot of disdain for money, mostly made publicly to show off ones virtue. "money can't buy everything". Agreed. But it does buy a lot of things. Lot of things we take for granted but would be highly disoriented in their absence.
Friday, October 09, 2009
God and me - Temporary Fundas
I call it temporary because my attempts of rationalizing this infinite and irrational phenomenon of believing in God never cease and though in the process I never discover anything about God I discover something about me.
So why do we pray? Why do I pray? As a kid I used to pray before my exams before the results ? Sometimes before leaving for a journey my mother would pray to God. Also it has been that in relationship issues we pray to God (it may sound cheesy and TV serial like but it is true). And there are few who pray to God for the sheer pleasure in the process - they feel more aligned to the world around them.
So what does God - an abstract entity - represent ? And my theory for today is that it represents the Universe. My initial thoughts were that it represented the set (Universe - I) but now I think it is the entire universe. And most often than not we pray to make sure that the universe is aligned to work in favour of I.
Why do I say so?
If infinite powers were vested on me by some random accident, I would want to have certain things in my favour. I could orchestrate the world in such a way that the flood in Assam didn't happen or that I came first in my tenth exams or that Matt Daemon(he he you didn't know) came searching for me with some cindrella shoes. Or also that my parents lived for ever without any illness and also my tooth stopped aching (which as a matter of fact currently is). Same are the things that I pray for. And there is a faith that my prayers will be answered and that the Universe would listen to me.
As I was thinking about it, I thought what should I as a finite mortal with finite capabilities do so as to do away with the concept of God. And then I realized that necessarily there might be things that are not in my control but there are things that are in my control by virtue of my ability to work and then I realized that the only way I can assist/replace my need for God is by doing my work hard. I can work hard to come first in my 10th exams and may be talk about global warming to reduce the chances of floods (I guess I myself cannot help myself in Matt Daemon case but maybe in one of the traffic jams I can sit and dream about it and fulfill that dream mentally). And then suddenly I feel that work is far superior way to orchestrate the world in my favor then just praying to the abstract God. So well one way or the other you cannot control the entire universe but when you work you feel more deserving to be controlling it rather than otherwise. And I wonder if the priests and religious heads or people who renounce everything to attain God ever romanticized with the idea of achieving God by virtue of their work?
So why do we pray? Why do I pray? As a kid I used to pray before my exams before the results ? Sometimes before leaving for a journey my mother would pray to God. Also it has been that in relationship issues we pray to God (it may sound cheesy and TV serial like but it is true). And there are few who pray to God for the sheer pleasure in the process - they feel more aligned to the world around them.
So what does God - an abstract entity - represent ? And my theory for today is that it represents the Universe. My initial thoughts were that it represented the set (Universe - I) but now I think it is the entire universe. And most often than not we pray to make sure that the universe is aligned to work in favour of I.
Why do I say so?
If infinite powers were vested on me by some random accident, I would want to have certain things in my favour. I could orchestrate the world in such a way that the flood in Assam didn't happen or that I came first in my tenth exams or that Matt Daemon(he he you didn't know) came searching for me with some cindrella shoes. Or also that my parents lived for ever without any illness and also my tooth stopped aching (which as a matter of fact currently is). Same are the things that I pray for. And there is a faith that my prayers will be answered and that the Universe would listen to me.
As I was thinking about it, I thought what should I as a finite mortal with finite capabilities do so as to do away with the concept of God. And then I realized that necessarily there might be things that are not in my control but there are things that are in my control by virtue of my ability to work and then I realized that the only way I can assist/replace my need for God is by doing my work hard. I can work hard to come first in my 10th exams and may be talk about global warming to reduce the chances of floods (I guess I myself cannot help myself in Matt Daemon case but maybe in one of the traffic jams I can sit and dream about it and fulfill that dream mentally). And then suddenly I feel that work is far superior way to orchestrate the world in my favor then just praying to the abstract God. So well one way or the other you cannot control the entire universe but when you work you feel more deserving to be controlling it rather than otherwise. And I wonder if the priests and religious heads or people who renounce everything to attain God ever romanticized with the idea of achieving God by virtue of their work?
Friday, October 02, 2009
2 in one laptop
Earlier I and Saubhy had two laptops in our home. And most of the times I would find each of us absorbed in our own laptops. And in protest I made saubhy give away his Mac to his sister (I had a thinkpad which I - from my CS bg - feel is way more robust than a whiny Macbook). So now between two of us there is one laptop - and our interest neatly co-exists in one - my final draft is always open and his MS excel and ft-alphaville is always open. We are careful never to close the other person's application.
Yest after lots of deliberation, I started writing my diploma script. However today when I got back to it, the final draft was open but the script was erased (I had only written two lines but then I have a point to fight so its okay) and instead of the script lines I found this written:
"BPTP project parklands
This is good man"
My territory is tresspassed - grrrrrr!
Yest after lots of deliberation, I started writing my diploma script. However today when I got back to it, the final draft was open but the script was erased (I had only written two lines but then I have a point to fight so its okay) and instead of the script lines I found this written:
"BPTP project parklands
This is good man"
My territory is tresspassed - grrrrrr!
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