more

permanence we crave, until we get it

confused quark

Orwellian word of the day

according to the novel, doublethink is:

the power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one's mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them. ... To tell deliberate lies while genuinely believing in them, to forget any fact that has become inconvenient, and then, when it becomes necessary again, to draw it back from oblivion for just so long as it is needed, to deny the existence of objective reality and all the while to take account of the reality which one denies—all this is indispensably necessary. Even in using the word doublethink it is necessary to exercise doublethink. For by using the word one admits that one is tampering with reality; by a fresh act of doublethink one erases this knowledge; and so on indefinitely, with the lie always one leap ahead of the truth. (pages 35, 176-177)

it was a cold day

wintry day, chilled sunlight

my snow bouquet

my foggy orange

The Babbling Brook : 11

You cannot see that which is not within your own mind already

The Babbling Brook : 10

First they came for the communists, but I was not a communist, so I did not speak out. Then they came for the socialists and the trade unionists, but I was neither, so I did not speak out. Then they came for the Jews, but I was not a Jew, so I did not speak out. And when they came for me, there was no one left to speak out for me.
- Pastor Martin Niemoeller


The map is not the territory
- Alfred Korzybski

The Babbling Brook 9

"If a nation or an individual values anything more than freedom, it will lose its freedom; and the irony is that if it is comfort or money it values more, it will lose that too"
-W. Somerset Maugham

"Strength is life "
excerpted from the works of Swami Vivekananda

This has been an a.t.u.l presentation

I am an echo. An image in a mirror. I touch the world, wrap it up in my eyes, and redraw myself in it. I spent the last 12 yrs of my life being sad.

False trails and false positives. Barking up the wrong tree, sunk investments, ineffective processes, invalid procedures. Ill-timed slackening. empty, hollow, shallow visions, missions and goals. Hasty, impatient, soulless recipe

Looking at his eyes, you would'nt see anything wrong with them. Growing up, he'd read too many books, heard too many stories, always had more imaginary friends than real, been part of many more imaginary hordes of marauding goths and huns than he had played real cricket, football or other games .

There's this girl who walks her dogs . He can see her through the glass window overlooking the balcony. On the stretch of ground that lay between the white and brown painted houses.

Funny thing about life is that one easily misses appreciating things until they're gone.

Q: Why did the chicken cross the road ?

A: because the other side was quieter

A bunch of researchers got some people to meditate, and when the subjects were in a trance, played a clicking noise. Subjects deep in the trance did not hear the click.
I think, why would anyone need that kind of concentration in daily life ? Sure, in this hurried age of instant whatnot and convenience, bite-sized attention spans seem to serve. One probably does not need that kind of concentration, I think.

Given a big city like Mumbai, some of the things you don't realize you're missing are silence,darkness and empty space. Spend a month at a un-metro town and see. Awash in the never-ending streams of stimuli, one doesn't realize a lot of things. And with the disturbances never letting up, it's almost impossible to see that you are missing missing.

Large empty spaces covered with grass and trees affect your thinking very subtly. So does the silence. The dull roar of traffic is not a good substitute for the sound of the sea waves. Give it a try.

Q. have you at any time felt small, tiny even worthless in front of a the hugeness, the vastness of universe ? it's purpose shrouded in mystery, it's workings inexplicable ?
A. well, there was this time, I was talking to this girl ....

waiting, bags packed
radio ? check
books ? check
scratch pads ? check
day-dreams ? check
illusions ? check
delusions ? check
Reality Express, Gate 1A at ten-ten

he doesn't know what he wants
he doesn't know if he likes what he gets
tired of the confusion, he wants it all to end
and still is not sure if that is what he wants

enough of running around in circles. Let's all actually get somewhere. You, yes you, stop the Earth spinning ....

heed the song traveller, follow the tune. it will take you where you need to go

the world of metal is being walked out the door. so is whatever it stood for. Permanence, strength, inflexibility. It's a world of plastic cutlery , sachets of sauce and sauerkraut, plastic trays,vessels and microwave food. Flexible selves, disposable personalities..

four wheels and gray tarmac
I keep my eyes on
the horizon and two yellow lines

how do you tell someone they're in the wrong movie ... ?

The Babbling Brook : 8

I ask the giant clunking swarm to leave my reality alone..
fat chance, comes the reply

The Babbling Brook : 7

Even the most delightful blooms in the garden
fear the gardener's shears

The Babbling Brook : 6

The point where control ends is the point where faith starts

big round pink oink

junking up loads of small round colorful swathes of sugar with rings of cereal inside. Spicy crisp crumbly chakli/murukkus. Gallons of coffee.