TED: The Ideas Worth Spreading

Technology Entertainment Design (TED) was an idea put forward by Richard Saul Wurman and Harry Marks in the year 1984, they believed that the idea had the power and potential to change the world. The provided the entrepreneurs of tomorrow a platform to present, scrutinize and evolve their idea into actions.  Held annually since the year 1990 it has housed some very serious talents and some very wonderful ideas. From Al Gore to Jimmy Wales, Legend after legend has donned this stage, where innovation was a mere habit.

The TED mission statement reads on.

“We believe passionately in the power of ideas to change attitudes, lives and ultimately,

The world. So we're building here a clearinghouse that offers free knowledge and

inspiration from the world's most inspired thinkers, and also a community of curious

souls to engage with ideas and each other.”

Every time you hear a TED talk it leaves you in awe, awe at the progress of technology, awe at the profoundness of human thought and awe at the magnificence of humanity’s creative abundance. Each video, portraying an interesting idea that could possibly change the world tomorrow. A cool conference of highly successful people, putting their head together to solve tomorrow’s big problems. What strikes me most about the TED conferences are the sheer scope and scale of the ideas. People inventing state of the art technologies and people finding innovative ways to work with humanities age old problems.

Pranav Mistri with his 6th Sense Device

That’s all about TED in a nutshell. I suggest you see a TED video often, If you have never you should see one right now. Just to stay in touch with the humanitarian and innovative side of the humanity.

Find more about TED at www.ted.com

An Obituary

The past week was not so particularly good; with two funerals in a row you can expect anything from it either. I hate funerals for a start, they make me rather uncomfortable. But where I stand different from the vast majority of people is on point of perspective, I hate funerals not because I have a hard time understanding life and contemplating death and neither because those are the moments that reveal the evanescence of existence. I hate funerals because of the way it is celebrated rather mourned. I believe death has to be celebration not a moment of sadness, it is a moment if liberation the point of the ultimate nirvana.

May I think so because  nobody close enough to me have so far died to cause me a traumatic state of mind or neither have I connected so well with the great people who have passed away so far in my close kith and kin. I do understand and uphold the possibility of a complete crackdown in ideology whilst someone so dear does pass away. If any do hold a stance not in unison to me do take me for a nubile and let it go.

I am writing this as a memorial for the souls whom I knew and did not have the good will to know before they disposed their mortal selves.  The first of it was the father of a friend, rather an acquaintance. I must say it was a very bad day to get to know him His father’s funeral is by no way the best of days to know a person and understand him. It’s so strange yet so true that in such dire moments we see people with no makeup, they are clear like crystal. Amidst the broken mind and the fl9owing tears they don’t have the time to put up a facet.  They are bared inside out and all they crave is a pat on their shoulder and a shoulder to rest on.

He was a wonderful person, teacher and personality, Not that I know him personally in the eyes of my friend and his mother I saw what a human he was, a true noble soul. In the words of anger that they uttered with divine disgust I was the loving father he was and in their omniscient silence I saw what and how much he meant to them. After all what could a man what from his short mortal stay than to leave a legacy behind, not in big books of history or in bronze statues but in the hearts of men and women whom he lived with and shared his life and its worth with. A man of incalculable value and an owner of a wide heart. May he rest in peace and may his family rejoice in the memories he left behind for them.

Next to depart was a person of such adorable nature, grandmother of my roommates, a very special person to him hence a very special person to me. I have seen her, been in her presence hardly minutes yet those moments shine through the kaleidoscope of my mind. She was a real women with an almost divine aura about her. I don’t want to talk more about her as I know that my friend will obviously read it and it’s hard enough for him I don’t want to make it any harder.  I really wish he didn’t read it at all.

It’s unbelievable isn’t it that in every second almost somebody very dear and real to somebody just cease to exist, some we know many we don’t know. Death is a ubiquitous truth that happens with no warning, no pattern nor any premonitions and yet its remains the most beautiful of all things that could happen to a person. Death is just the end of a dream we call life and death is an awakening into a world beyond the boundaries of this dream we call reality. Death is never an end it’s just the beginning of another existence.

Mile Sur Mera Thumara

One for the sake of the old times, when all we had was Doordarshan and its occasionally broadcasted patriotic songs. This one was a jewel among the many that would pop up occasionally and that never fails to ignite in us the feeling of brotherhood.

How simpler can it ever be to say that we are one and our voice is one. Mile Sur Mera Thumara was a concept developed by the Lok Seva Sanchar Parishad in 1988, But this particular song was composed by Ashok Patki and written by Piyush Pandey. The video managed to highlight the rich diversity and linguistic differences and the integrity that prevailed in spite of that in our nation of unity and diversity. 

The newer version is nothing but a shadow the original, its such a shame that in spite of all the rich talent we have we are unable to reiterate the spirit of this song again. Somewhere along the line they lost track of  what the purpose of the song was and what it stood for and what it means to the billion people of this nation.

The Lyrics for all who wants to just sing along

[hi] milē sur merā tumhārā, tō sur banē hamārā

sur kī nadiyān̐ har diśā sē, bahte sāgar men̐ milē

bādalōn̐ kā rūp lēkar, barse halkē halkē

milē sur merā tumhārā, tō sur banē hamārā

milē sur merā tumhārā

[ks] Chaain taraz tai myain taraz, ik watt baniye saayen taraz

[pa] tērā sur milē mērē sur dē nāl, milkē baṇē ikk navān̐ sur tāl

[hi] milē sur merā tumhārā, tō sur banē hamārā

[sn] mun̐hin̐jō sur tun̐hin̐jē sān̐ piyārā milē jad̤ahin̐, gīt asān̐jō madhur tarānō baṇē tad̤ahin̐

[ur] sur ka darya bahte sagar men mile

[pa] bādalān̐ dā rūp laikē, barsan haulē haulē

[ta] Isaindhal namm iruvarin suramum namadhagum

Dhisai veru aanalum aazhi ser aarugal Mugilai

mazhaiyai pozhivadu pol isai

Nam isai

[kn] nanna dhvanige ninna dhvaniya, sēridante namma dhvaniya

[te] nā svaramu nī svaramu sangamamai, mana svaranḡa avatarinchē

[ml] eṉṯe svaravum niṅṅkaḷoṭe svaravum, ottucērnnu namoṭe svaramāy

[bn] tōmār śūr mōdēr śūr, sriṣṭi kōruk ōikōśūr

[as] sriṣṭi hauk aikyatān

[or] tuma āmara svarara miḷana, sriṣṭi kari chālu ekā tāna

[gu] maḷē sur jō tārō mārō, banē āpṇō sur nirāḷō

[mr] mājhyā tumchyā juḷtā tārā, madhur surānchyā barastī dhārā

[hi] sur kī nadiyān̐ har diśā sē, bahte sāgar men̐ milē

bādalōn̐ kā rūp lēkar, barse halkē halkē

milē sur merā tumhārā, tō sur banē hamārā

‘Fuck’ing in Modern Times

No! No! No! It is not porn. Don’t get the wrong idea just because I used the word ‘fuck’ and because I didn’t take the trouble to substitute the middle letters with fancy characters. I was not expecting children for readers and I firmly believe all who came up here are mature enough to distinguish fuck from ‘fuck’. So anyhow if it’s getting too uncomfortable for anybody then I promise to consider their sentiment and keep it to the minimal. If anybody did drop by expecting sleazy stuff then I do request them kindly to go somewhere else, not because I don’t want them to read my article in fact I would like from you to read it all and leave a comment and have a nice time. But I do not want to disappoint anyone so I may as well give a heads-up.

It was just recently when I was travelling in train that it happened; I was just fooling around the corridor walking to and fro without thinking much about anything and I accidently bummed into somebody who was obviously doing the same. And guess he just walks up to me and calls me a ‘Fuck Face’. How come he can identify the face I put up when I actually do it? I left that at it with a rather odd expression on my face but it got me thinking. People have become so accustomed to using this word in their public and private life that they can’t just keep it out of their mouth anymore. I does bothers me that people are now swearing on the fly, I know to expect chivalry and Victorian mannerisms is not realistic but a bit of civility can’t hurt, would it?

The one thing about our fast paced life is that we don’t have time to bother, we don’t have time to bother about ourselves much less the time to actually bother about what kind of words come in our mouth from time to time. Is this abysmal sense of civility what we would like to pass on to our children? I think it’s obvious whom to blame when  a child shows up with words such as ‘fuck’, ‘bitch’ , ‘whore’ and I you know I am sticking to the civiler ones. Please don’t misunderstand me for an ambassador of the ‘acclaimed’ moral police force but the truth is that I do not find it appealing that people educated and otherwise using words that are derogatory and offensive as a viable and acceptable form of small talk.

Every person has the liberty to use the words he like and the liberty to choose how and when he uses it too. I do use all the words I mentioned and many dirtier ones in my life but I don’t start every one of my sentences with ‘fuck’ or ‘bitch’. It’s unacceptable enough that you start swearing people for every little thing out there, but squeezing things like these (no I am not going to teach you anything your mother is going to be angry at me for ) them into every one of your sentences that’s way over the top of my head.

Often it amazes me how people manage to come up with random propositions that go with these words and give it horrendous meanings. It would not be a random surprise if it happens that ‘fuck’ is a word that goes with the most propositions out there. Then again I can neither advocate the use nor the disownment of such words but all I would like to propose a sensible use of them in life. You do have to say ‘fuck off’ when what you mean is really ‘fuck off’ but should you really have it in every sentence you utter? I can tell you one thing with at-most surety it’s not cool and definitely not Gen-Y, you are only fooling yourself if you think so!

Heaven is a place on Earth with You

Every morning I wish to wake up by your side, let your smile bright up my day. Every Saturday all I wish is to cuddle up to you under the bed sheet you picked. To feel your fragile skin against by bare chest and sniff the lovely scent of your hair. Every lousy evening all I want is to lie on your lap and laugh out loud at your silly jokes. All you have ever done is make my life a bit brighter every day and I have absolutely no idea what I have ever done to deserve you. The funny thing about life is it’s been too generous to me; after all it just gave me you.

Every time I see your eyes my mind takes a journey through all the stupid mistakes that took me to you. And when I look upon it now I know one thing for sure, every step was a step in the right direction, and every step just took me one step closer to you. Life was one hell of a roller coaster and I owe to god for being able to share it with you. Every now and then when I am scared I have a hand to catch on to and every moment of absolute pleasure I have someone to hug. Heaven is just a place on earth and it’s simply because I get to spend time. Heaven is just a place on earth because I have you.