Super Shant!

My cousin had visited from Paratwada along with his wife and kid(Prajwal). The most quite and cute kid I have seen in a long time. He is just about 1.5 years old .He would mostly play around peacefully without shouting or crying. Little fellow's famous alap as I would like to call it was " aaaaaeeeee" ("aae" meaning mom in Marathi).

Kolkata trip in pics

Old buildings- south KolkataSwami Vivekanand's residence - Belur Math

Dakshineshwar temple - river view

On the job....

Victoria Memorial
Still happens in Kolkata

Tram...only one of its kind in India

College street- book lovers must visit...

Practicing ..

Botanical Gardens

Kolkata domestic Airport..

Bengali wedding...Kaushik begins new phase of life

Flew down to Kolkata to attend Kaushik's wedding. This was my first time both in Kolkata as well as being part of a Bengali wedding. On arrival Kaushik was kind enough to pick me up from airport to the Guest house. After fresh up and all , I went to Kaushik’s home. The atmosphere at home was what one would typically find in a marriage house….lots of relatives with everyone engaged in one activity or other…..the most free person strangely was Kaushik ;)….custom ceremonies…one where Kaushik has to stand and his aunt would apply some turmeric paste in semi solid state……The typical thing to notice was the sound made while customs were being performed…it goes like hu lu lu lu… I found it amusing ( later on discussion with Kaushik and other friends of his….the reasoning came out that it wards of bad omen and hu lu lu lu sound has propensity to travel maximum…so it is used as a signal to convey that something good is happening at a particular place from where it is coming ) . Another interesting thing was the gifts made out of sweets, towels, handkerchiefs, saris , spices used for cooking...neatly packed with some accompanied by a poetry. The main gift being one that of a bride and groom all dressed up nicely made out of sweets. All gifts were designated for a particular individual at girl's end....with most gifts meant for the girl. A carriage made out of thermocol had a small booklet at the back which contained the list of all gifts and the recipient of each. The marriage was simple and good indeed. I enjoyed being part of it very much :).

Subarna and Kaushik

It is all made of sweet.....no joke !

Carriage- The book visible at back carries information of the gift recipient

along with Kaushik's engineering friends....

Spotted !

Peacock in open space in front of the balcony. The forest area is close by so sometimes peacocks come over in open area....but coming this close to the apartment boundary is not that common.

Living in the Moment !

Came across this excellent article on Psychology Today. It talks about how most of us don't live in the present and constantly thinking of either past or future. The article emphasizes the need to be living in the present to have a healthy and enjoyable life.
Living in the moment—also called mindfulness—is a state of active, open, intentional attention on the present. When you become mindful, you realize that you are not your thoughts; you become an observer of your thoughts from moment to moment without judging them. Mindfulness involves being with your thoughts as they are, neither grasping at them nor pushing them away. Instead of letting your life go by without living it, you awaken to experience.

Some notes from the same:

1.To improve your performance, stop thinking about it (unselfconsciousness).
That's the first paradox of living in the moment: Thinking too hard about what you're doing actually makes you do worse. If you're in a situation that makes you anxious—giving a speech, introducing yourself to a stranger, dancing—focusing on your anxiety tends to heighten it.
2. To avoid worrying about the future, focus on the present (savoring).
Relish or luxuriate in whatever you're doing at the present moment—what psychologists call savoring
Why does living in the moment make people happier—not just at the moment they're tasting molten chocolate pooling on their tongue, but lastingly? Because most negative thoughts concern the past or the future.
3. If you want a future with your significant other, inhabit the present (breathe).
How does being in the moment make you less aggressive? "Mindfulness decreases ego involvement," "So people are less likely to link their self-esteem to events and more likely to take things at face value." Mindfulness also makes people feel more connected to other people—that empathic feeling of being "at one with the universe."
Mindfulness boosts your awareness of how you interpret and react to what's happening in your mind. It increases the gap between emotional impulse and action, allowing you to do what Buddhists call recognizing the spark before the flame.
you get the opportunity to say to yourself, "This is the emotion I'm feeling. How should I respond?"
Mindfulness increases self-control; since you're not getting thrown by threats to your self-esteem, you're better able to regulate your behavior. That's the other irony: Inhabiting your own mind more fully has a powerful effect on your interactions with others.
There's no better way to bring yourself into the present moment than to focus on your breathing. Because you're placing your awareness on what's happening right now, you propel yourself powerfully into the present moment.
4. To make the most of time, lose track of it (flow).
Perhaps the most complete way of living in the moment is the state of total absorption psychologists call flow. Flow occurs when you're so engrossed in a task that you lose track of everything else around you. Flow embodies an apparent paradox: How can you be living in the moment if you're not even aware of the moment? The depth of engagement absorbs you powerfully, keeping attention so focused that distractions cannot penetrate. You focus so intensely on what you're doing that you're unaware of the passage of time. Hours can pass without you noticing.
5. If something is bothering you, move toward it rather than away from it (acceptance).
Acceptance of an unpleasant state doesn't mean you don't have goals for the future. It just means you accept that certain things are beyond your control. The sadness, stress, pain, or anger is there whether you like it or not. Better to embrace the feeling as it is.
6. Know that you don't know (engagement).
Develop the habit of always noticing new things in whatever situation you're in. That process creates engagement with the present moment and releases a cascade of other benefits. Noticing new things puts you emphatically in the here and now. By acquiring the habit of noticing new things we recognize that the world is actually changing constantly.

Don't Just Do Something, Sit There
Most fundamental paradox of all: Mindfulness isn't a goal, because goals are about the future, but you do have to set the intention of paying attention to what's happening at the present moment

Like the Flowing River

9th read of Paulo. It is very different from the other books I have read of the author as this one is a collection of short stories based on author's experiences in life. A total of 102 stories with individual story length spanning from 1 to 4 pages. Some stories I felt lost , I could not get even a hint of what Paulo is trying to convey while others I could understand easily. Since the stories are short it was easy for me to read in breaks. Again the reading provokes lot of thinking and looking at things from an entirely different perspective. I would say many stories are inclined towards spirituality but still a lot of things to ponder and reflect upon. I put down some notes from some of the most interesting stories :

- A simple Pencil can teach us a lot of things

* You are capable of great things, but you must never forget that there is a hand guiding your steps.

* Now and then, I have to stop writing and use a sharpener. That makes the pencil suffer a little, but afterwards, he's much sharper. So you , too, must learn to bear certain pains and sorrows, because they will make you a better person.

* The pencil always allows us to use an eraser to rub out any mistakes. This means that correcting something we did is not necessarily a bad thing; it helps us keep us on the road to justice.

* What really matters in a pencil is not its wooden exterior , but the graphite inside. So always pay attention to what is happening inside you.

* It always leaves a mark. In just the same way one should know that everything you do in life will leave a mark, so try to be conscious of that in your every action.

 

- On some days when one decides to do nothing and just sit ...there is lot of anxiety as to one is useless, wasting time, how can one have nothing to do?, there should be something to keep one busy all time. Gradually the anxiety gives way to contemplation, and one starts to listen to one's soul. It always is trying to speak but one is always too busy to notice it. 

- Acting on Impulse was one of the stories which relates to sudden voice heard by ones inner self to do something. Many a times people don't do it as they think it would be very silly to do so and they resist. But if one does listen to and do as per the voice heard from within there is a sense of accomplishment felt. It may be very trivial to the third person but not to self. So one would listen to the inner voice calls from time to time.

- In one of the sorties named Rome: Isabella returns from Nepal a comparison is made between life and bananas

Rotten Banana- relates to life that has been gone, and which was not used to the full and for which it is now too late

Green Banana- relates to life that has yet to happen, and for which we need to wait until the moment is right

Ripe Banana- relates to the present moment. Learn how to gobble it up without fear or guilt

- In one of the stories named Norma and the Good Things an old day celebrates each day of the year. She has put down in her calender (which she refers as "Magic Calender") what good had happened on each particular day and happily celebrates the same with all others.  

- What is the human being's funniest characteristics?

Contradictoriness. We are in such a hurry to grow up , and then we long for our lost childhood. We make ourselves ill earning money, and then spend all the money on getting well again. We think so much about the future that we neglect the present, and thus experience neither the present nor the future. We live as if we were never going to die, and die as if we had never lived.

-Law of Jante - "You are worthless; no one is interested in what you think, therefore you had better opt for mediocrity and anonymity. Do this, and you will never face any major problems in life." It puts into context the feelings of jealousy and envy that can prove so problematic to people. 

Anti Law of Jante- " You are worth much more than you think. Your work and your presence on this earth are important, even though you may not believe it." Continue to live without fear , and you will triumph in the end.

The White Tiger

 Brilliant. great read! It is a collection of sarcastic criticism of current state of India with capital city Delhi covered in depth. The writing style is simple and easy to understand English... no wonder the writer got such big appreciation in international media ...and consequently winning him this year's Bookers Prize.  

The story is of a person named Balram....the name given to him by his school teacher since his parents didn't had enough time to decide on what name to give. 

The story is narrated by Balram as first person addressing to the Chinese Premier through a series of night sessions writings. All running in flashback till the very end.

It talks about his childhood life in Laxmanpur and then to Dhanbad working as a driver for one of rich families in the community followed by Delhi and Bangalore.It were harshly depicts the world viewed from the people living in Darkness( the word author uses for people living in rural areas) and their aspirations. It shows picture on India in 2 views ...the people in Darkness and those living Light.

Being a resident of Delhi it was also interesting to see how writer has portrayed the true image of Delhi through the character Balram views.The most referred quote in the book which Balram had learned was " What a f******* joke". Other review here.

Sketches

Simple explanation of elements of Financial Crisis

These videos I found the most simple in making anyone understand what Financial crisis instruments were and how they worked and how they caused so much failure.

Credit Default Swaps (CDS)


Collateral Debt Obligation (CDO)


Credit Crisis as Antarctic expedition

28 years on the planet!

Inner Self

For sometime I had this desire of getting back to painting. It has been a long time since I painted something, almost a decade. So today got the stuff from CP and created this. Had satisfaction of creating something. 

The painting may seem confusing so here I am putting my thoughts which drove me to this creation.The face above the water represents a person who is thinking something and is on boat. The thought is shown beside the face. In his thoughts he is comparing the sea to the state of his inner self and what gets reflected to the outside world. The Sun, Clouds and flying birds in wind ...represent the person's thought ....He is thinking irrespective of the season the calm sea surface reflects as what he appears to the outside world (outer visible self ) .But just as lot goes beneath the upper calm appearance of sea...he is thinking of how his feelings lie low most of time without surfacing out and creating uncalmness. The turbulence increase beneath the surface is marked by varying shades of blue. The faces are disguised in colour of water where as the feelings( soso, sad, blushing,devil, biting teeth, no talk, shock,weeping & confusing) in form of facial expressions are marked with different color.