Trek preparation

Egad - I am leaving in three days and I don't have my stuff together, my admit card for the trek, my rug sack packed! My tickets are booked though and I have spoken to the course director, I have made a list (very important thing to do), and my work appears to be under control, so I guess it's all going to be okay!!
I hope to God it'll be okay!!
I wish my husband was going with me - but I think he won't be cut out for the hard travel time involved. And I know I'm not in A-okay shape for the trek, but I'm hoping it won't be too arduous!!
One thing I should be doing is my studies - considering that I just sent my form today and that there is so much material left to go through.
Yes, I probably should get around 2 hours of studying done today.
I love this time before the trek - rushing to get work finished, waiting for orders to get done, finishing up frantically....
Biting my nails all the time!!
Getting the track pants, the socks in order, trying out my new shoes --- I just wish it wasn't so hot you know!!

Das Leben der Anderen (2006)

Written and directed by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, this is a German movie set in East Germany before the fall of the Berlin Wall. It won the Oscar for best foreign film for 2006.
It is a very interesting film about a lonely secret agent who gets assigned the duty of spying on a young German couple. The husband is a playwright and his wife is a young pretty actress. It shows how the secret agent becomes engrossed in their lives - hence, The Lives of Others is the movie title.

I didn't know much about this movie when I began to watch it. I actually stumbled upon it. Like most things, if you have no idea what to expect, you are pleasantly surprised when the film turns out to be excellent, like in this case.

What do we live for? I think we live for others more than anything else. And we strive to be good. To be good human beings.

That is the point of life afterall.

I really liked Alice Sebold's last line in the novel - I think that the next time I even start to get angry, I will think about that last line. It gives me a lot of peace.

Even from Star Trek - Live Long and Prosper.

Better days - Goo Goo Dolls (lyrics)

And you ask me what I want this year
And I try to make this kind and clear
Just a chance that maybe we'll find better days
Cuz I don't need boxes wrapped in strings
And desire and love and empty things
Just a chance that maybe we'll find better days

So take these words
And sing out loud
Cuz everyone is forgiven now
Cuz tonight's the night the world begins again

And it's someplace simple where we could live
And something only you can give
And thats faith and trust and peace while we're alive
And the one poor child that saved this world
And there's 10 million more who probably could
If we all just stopped and said a prayer for them

So take these words
And sing out loud
Cuz everyone is forgiven now
Cuz tonight's the night the world begins again

I wish everyone was loved tonight
And somehow stop this endless fight
Just a chance that maybe we'll find better days

So take these words
And sing out loud
Cuz everyone is forgiven now
Cuz tonight's the night the world begins again
Cuz tonight's the night the world begins again

"I wish you all a long and happy life". - Alice Sebold

Just living is not enough. One must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower. ~Hans Christian Anderson

Life is a great big canvas, and you should throw all the paint on it you can. ~Danny Kaye

To succeed in life, you need three things: a wishbone, a backbone and a funnybone. ~Reba McEntire

If A equals success, then the formula is: A = X + Y + Z, where X is work, Y is play, and Z is keep your mouth shut. ~Albert Einstein

For if there is a sin against life, it consists perhaps not so much in despairing of life as in hoping for another life and in eluding the implacable grandeur of this life. ~Albert Camus

Never tell your problems to anyone...20% don't care and the other 80% are glad you have them. - Lou Holtz

Work like you don't need the money, love like you've never been hurt and dance like no one is watching. - Randall G Leighton



As we grow up, we learn that even the one person that wasn't supposed to ever let us down, probably will. You'll have your heart broken and you'll break others' hearts. You'll fight with your best friend or maybe even fall in love with them, and you'll cry because time is flying by. So take too many pictures, laugh too much, forgive freely, and love like you've never been hurt. Life comes with no guarantees, no time outs, no second chances. you just have to live life to the fullest, tell someone what they mean to you and tell someone off, speak out, dance in the pouring rain, hold someone's hand, comfort a friend, fall asleep watching the sun come up, stay up late, be a flirt, and smile until your face hurts. Don't be afraid to take chances or fall in love and most of all, live in the moment because every second you spend angry or upset is a second of happiness you can never get back. - Unknown

Eyjafjallajökull - the island-mountains glacier

Iceland is a small little country in Europe. It is funny because I always associated the landmass characteristics with the name - Iceland - land of ice.
Funnily enough, in April 2010, this premise was reversed after a volcano erupted on the island. The volcano is Eyjafjallajökull - which last erupted in 1823.
When I first heard the story on BBC, I was astounded. Man - a volcano in ICELAND? Not really heard of. I thought to myself, how come it didn't cause the ice above to melt before? But then, that is why it is a DORMANT volcano right?
(Taking a break to do some ironing)
Sometimes dormant volcanoes do erupt!!
So a volcano in Iceland has erupted. It wouldn't have been so bad if it wasn't located near mainland Europe - which saw havoc arise because its airspace was covered in soot. No one knew what the consequences of volcanic ash would be on the airlines - but no one wanted to take a chance.
Now airspace has been opened up again.
How interesting right? The world can still amaze us.

Fracture (2007)

Starring Ryan Gosling and Anthony Hopkins, this is one good movie that I must recommend. It is about a perfect crime - or supposedly a perfect crime. Hopkins is brilliant as the cool collected killer, who taunts the federal prosecutor into losing the case.

But what happens next? It is quite amazing how the film will keep you going and going and going. There is a fine distinction to be made in law - that is the beauty of law in the first place, and one of the chief reasons why I want to pursue law.

This film also stars Rosamund Pike - who I first saw in Pride and Prejudice. She plays Jane Bennet in this brilliant adaptation of Jane Austen's novel. I liked her - I even liked her in James Bond in Die Another Day. She is only 10 months older than I am!! That amazes me totally!! She is very very pretty though.

Assignment for gender course & other thoughts

Right now, I'm in the middle of an assignment for the certificate course in gender I've taken up. It is interesting because it is making me think of things that I normally don't think about. How I have been influenced by my grandmother and my mother for one. Secondly, it is asking what I want for women of the next generation. That too requires thought.
I also have to study for this oncoming series of entrance exams that are coming up. I haven't even seen my 12th class board certificate for over a decade. It is funny fishing it out again!!
Apart from that I have some things for work to finish. That is why I decided that today I would just chill out and spend doing something for moi. That includes the gender course btw. Ofcourse I should also be studying, but sometimes you need a break right?
What is interesting about competitive exams is that they can ask you anything under the sun. And these days the sun is very very bright!!
I went for a walk to the malls nearby today and bought my sister a shirt as a congratulatory present. I also bought some movies - Black Friday and Rann. I sat and watched Rann right now. I liked it. It was interesting.
Black Friday is directed by Anurag Kashyap, who has become a favourite director of mine after I saw Gulaal. Gulaal is a good film - it was the first film that my husband and I went and saw on our first date. Little did I know then that he hates Hindi films and wouldn't watch them in future with me!!

Rann (2009)

Now I couldn't watch this film on the big screen because I was busy with travel last year and so couldn't reach a cinema hall. And when I could, the film was off. Usually my husband doesn't want to come for films with me, so I guess it all worked out okay in the end.
I bought the VCDs today - courtesy Moserbaer it only cost me Rs 99. I don't even have to worry about piracy issues since I've bought the original.
The film was okay - I plan to send it to my sister to watch. It tells about the media wars between two prominent news channels - India 24X7 and Headline (or something to that effect). It shows just how badly the media has become a money grossing business, and how most news channels are not interested in the truth - just in making money, like any corporate house. So take what the media says with a pinch of salt. That is the end message.
It is well made - though in certain scenes the camera direction left much to be desired. I'm not a fan of the wavering camera. I thought the character development was good, but you jump right into everything.
All in all interesting. I'm glad I spent my Saturday watching it.

Stages

There are various stages in life. Right now, as I write this blog entry, I really want to write about the problems at office. But problems at office should stay in the office. Don't you think? I'm really tired though.

So recently I went to one of my friend's parties for her newly born baby boy. Very sweet little kid. He's really an angel. He hardly cries, will go to anyone and is the perfect picture of contentment. I believe that babies are stress busters (especially if they're not yours) - and that gets re enforced everytime I meet a new little angel.

So what are the stages in life? Well, I'm not going to talk about the be born, go to school, get married have babies cycle, primarily cuz that's obvious and not the point of this blog. I'm talking about the woman cycle.

In the beginning, you are the single girl in the room. As the years go by, it gets more awkward. Your friends steadily get married, you remain single. You accompany some couples on trips, are known as the massi/bhua, but remain the odd one out. Your parents are always after you to "find a boy". "Meet a boy". "Do something".

Then it happens. You get married. All that fuss and bother. You wonder why you just didn't do it in the first place!! But still, you remain the odd one out!! Cuz by now, all your friends have had kids!! Then you're still the odd one out. When are you planning to have kids? They're such blessings in disguise. What are you waiting for?

And so on and so forth.

All part of the various stages of life I would say.

"Carpe diem! Rejoice while you are alive; enjoy the day; live life to the fullesh; make the most of what you have. It is later than you think."
Horace quotes

Surprise about Abkhazia

Well, there are small countries called Georgia (Capital Tbilisi) and Moldova that I read about in current affairs a long time back. What I did not know was that there are three breakaway provinces (?) now converted into countries, recognized by very few other countries in the world.
These are:
Abkhazia (Capital: Sukhumi)
South Ossetia (Capital: Tskhinvali)
Transnistria (Capital: Tiraspol)
I'm sure if I delve deeper I shall find that there are more such little breakaway regions.
It's amazing though what you pick up everyday though isn't it?

Gender Course

I've recently joined a course of gender conducted by an organization in Delhi called PRIA. It is interesting and it consolidates a lot of what I already know. But it is good to have it in a structured format.

My sister is teaching gender and transnational feminisms at a college in the United States. I recently attended a lecture workshop on feminism in India and was aghast to find that there is actually a war raging on how it is possible to introduce gender studies in Economics! What a stupid idea is what most feminists are encountering. Sheesh Louise. That is SAD if you ask me.

Anyhow, even though this post will show some other date, because I'd started it earlier, I have actually finished it on 5th April 2010. And right now I'm not a happy camper. I'm feeling a bit low and nothing anyone says or does can change that.

The 10 Avatars of Vishnu

We recently went to Bhubaneshwar and picked up a painting depicting the 10 avatars of Lord Vishnu. I amazingly enough learnt how to draw this art form ten years back when I was at LSR. We had an artist from Orissa who came and showed us how to do it. In fact, if I look hard enough, I may be able to find the sketch I did.

It is a fascinating story which also coincides somewhat with the natural history of time. All items in italics have been taken from Wikipedia. The first avatar is Matsya,
Matsya, the fish-avatar who saved Manu - the progeniter of mankind from the great deluge and rescued the Vedic scriptures by killing a demon
The second is Kurma,
Kurma, the tortoise-avatar, who helped in the Samudra manthan - the churning of the ocean
The third is
Varaha, the boar-avatar, who rescued the earth from the ocean, by killing her kidnapper-demon Hiranyaksha
The fourth is
Narasimha, the half man-half lion avatar, who killed the tyrant demon-king Hiranyakashipu, to rescue the demon's son Prahlada, who was a Vishnu-devotee
The fifth is
Vamana, the dwarf-avatar, who defeated the demon-king
The sixth is
Bali Parashurama, sage with the axe who killed the thousand-armed king Kartavirya Arjuna
The seventh is
Rama, the king of Ayodhya and the hero of the Hindu epic Ramayana
The eighth is
Krishna, the king of Dwarka, a central character in the Bhagavata Purana and the Mahabharata and reciter of Bhagavad Gita
The ninth is
Gautama Buddha
The tenth is
Kalki ("Eternity", or "time", or "The Destroyer of foulness"), who is expected to appear at the end of Kali Yuga.
Courtesy of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avatar

The ten most well known descents of Vishnu are collectively known as the Dasavatara (Sanskrit: ten avatars). This list is included in the Garuda Purana (1.86.10"11).
The first four are said to have appeared in the Satya Yuga (the first of the four Yugas or ages in the time cycle described within Hinduism). The next three avatars appeared in the Treta Yuga, the eighth descent in the Dwapara Yuga and the ninth in the Kali Yuga. The tenth, Kalki, is predicted to appear at the end of the Kali Yuga.

The Invention of Lying

Imagine a world where no one lied. Except one person.

The film was interesting. Though it could have been better executed and overall the screenplay was weak. It got high reviews overall but honestly, it could have had a much better storyline. Plus someone like Jim Carrey would have better suited the role of a unscrupulous nobody who stumbles upon the discovery that will change his life.

What would you do if you could do anything in the world? I don't really know actually. I'd like to quit and travel the world - that is for sure. Visit places like Turkey and Morocco, see the ruins in Greece and the Grand Canyon in the US, visit Machu Picchu in Peru, see the Barrier Reef in Australia... One thing that I can do is trek in the Himalayas - which is something that I endeavour to do every year without fail.

There are many unexplored places in India. For instance, the Buddist monuments in India - like at Sanchi, Bodhgaya... all merit a visit. Then there is Leh up north, one of the most beautiful places on Earth which one needs to go see by road I've been told. You can come back by flight. But the road trip up there is worth it.

Ofcourse for all this you need dosh. And yes, at the moment, we don't have much of it. My husband and I are a young working couple, with no assets to our name at the moment. We're working hard though. I think we both like our jobs, which is a good thing.

At least I'm in India and can go for my treks!!