The puzzle of LIFE

I remember I used to love those "Join the dots" kind of puzzles (partly because my dot-less paintings sucked big time). So, the page had only numbers and dots and I would try to picture it without the lines and wonder..."Hmmm...this looks like a....." And I never remember getting it right. Then while joining the dots, I would again try to think ahead and predict..."Hey this looks like an Ice cream...naah seems like a bottle of poison....no wait this IS a balloon seller, or is he? well...now looks more like an undertaker..." This used to go on until the last line was drawn and the picture never used to be anywhere close to any of the guesses that I made.

These days life seems like the same kind of puzzle. Will the eventual picture be good? or will it be total crap? It should be Ok coz I am putting in so much effort....But wait, "Destiny" can screw everything. I should tell myself to stop this guessing game right away. Man, that is never going to work. I should probably learn that I have never been good at this "predicting" game. I suck at it. Moving from one point to another and thus "drawing the line", is the only wise thing I can do right now. The picture would only be revealed after the final line has been drawn, the final piece piece of the puzzle has been placed.

Come to think of it, that is a good thing. What's the point if the picture is revealed too early? The last line should be drawn with the same zeal, interest, and inquisitiveness as the first line. There's no fun if the picture's discernible too early.

The line from HIMYM that "Sometimes since you are so close to the puzzle, you just cannot see the picture being formed out there" seems apt out here. I shall keep moving on from one point to another, drawing one line after another, not making any guesses, hoping that the picture, whether complete or incomplete is a good one...One that I can be proud of, my folks can be proud of....I sure do hope so.....

Hair today, gone tomorrow

Probably a cliched title, but getting a haircut has always been a task that I simply loved to procrastinate. The reasons were diverse, absurd and stupid. Laziness, fear of watching the progress of a receding hairline are some of them. I can't recall any activity that can get boring than this. Back home, it was the fear of being kicked out from home and being disowned by my family members which compelled me to go to a barber shop. So here in the US, I was under no such pressure to go for a hair cut. Plus, the thought of spending Rs. 500 for a plain haircut acted as a deterrent too. This was equivalent to getting 20 haircuts back home!!

Thanks to video chat, my situation was beamed live back home and eventually things became way too difficult to handle. And so, yesterday was the D-day. So I went into the केश कर्तनालय and there was no Billu barber but Missej Billu barber. She directly pulled a scale and said, "This is around 4 inches long, how much do you want me cut?" Back home, my barber was a smart fella. He didnt need any such scale. There were just 3 cuts - short,medium and long. I fumbled and said 1 inch? (Bad decision...:() Snip,snip,snip and done. 5 mins all it took. I could'nt recognise myself. So the moment of truth arrived. Bill time. She said $14, I was shocked!!!! Thought to myself, that is ummm about 30 haircuts back home.......Man, it sucks. Eventually, the boring task had come to an end. Fortunately or unfortunately, wouldnt have to think about it for a long time now. I wish that science can come up with some pill that can style hair. That would sell like hot cakes....won't it? Well, atleast I would certainly buy it.

Book 1

So, finally realised that I was way off my resolution to read 10 books for the year(or was it 20? hehe...recalculating it to 10 I think would be better to reach the target :D)

Anyways, So,thanks to Mohsin, I picked up this book "The meaning of it all" which is a collection of 3 speeches by Richard Feynman. I had previously read "Surely, you're joking Mr. Feynman" which was I guess a biography of the maverick scientist. I had liked it and hence had high expectations from this one too. The book almost didn't let me down. Its truly amazing how Feynman handles sensitive issues related to Science and Religion by taking a truly objective viewpoint. His way of rationazing and treating everything from a logical point of view is worth learning. In the first lecture, he talks about the need for an "open channel" in Science, the need for expressing and maybe rewarding 'doubts', the need for an area of uncertainity to actually make any progress. The second lecture deals with the dilemma of the choice between Science and Religion. I enjoyed reading it since I could relate to it. My initial expectations were that Feynman would voice his opinion if both could co-exist together and he does start off on that. But in the later part, the topic changes to if Science can define values. So, it was a kind of let down. But, I really appreciated the balanced,objective viewpoint. The last lecture is the most unstructured and a bit impromptu i feel. It is just a collection of Feynman's thoughts on a wide variety of topics ranging from Communism to Astrology to Advertisements. Some of his prejudices, hatred are well evident esp. when he talks about the whole US-Russian, Communism-Capitalism debate. This one was interesting in bits and pieces. Overall, a weekend well spent....9 to go or is it 19? well, who cares...:)