Personally, I think writing is a form of communication that is far more exciting than oration. Well, there is no doubt that oration is very tough (having messed up quite a few public performance, I certainly think I can say so:0) but writing has a charm of its own.
The most difficult thing I find with writing is the fact that you have to work very hard not be misunderstood. More than half of the communication between two persons sitting face to face takes place through non verbal gestures like expression on the face and eye movement etc. Hence, the chances of being misunderstood is very remote. If you happen to insult somebody with a smile on your face and laughter in your eyes, it is probable that the individual in front of you will understand that you are pulling his or her leg. On the other hand, if you happen to use the same words as a sentence in letter, you will find the joke going completely awry. When you are writing, you have to remember that the possibility of your words being misinterpreted and misunderstood is always present. This makes writing a lot harder. You have to think a lot more before letting your thoughts flow.
A wise man I happened to meet said- speaking is similar to a burst pipe. The flow of the water is completely uncontrolled. On the other hand, writing is similar to the flow of water after a tap fitted on the burst pipe. The order and organization requires a lot of effort. A person who writes very well will definitely be a good orator. On the other hand, a person who speaks very well need not be a good writer.
I think I have painted a rather sombre and grim picture about writing. Writing, despite being tough, is a lot of fun. A impact of a written word is much more than a spoken one. For those who want to experience it, I would suggest that part of 'Freedom at Midnight' by Dominique Lapierre where he describes the first formal flag hosting of independent India. They bring tears to my eyes every time I read them. Another fantastic piece of work is the description of India's awakening by Swami Vivekananda where describes India as the infinite giant. You cannot help feel overawed. That is what good writing does to people.
And how can I forget humor. The best work of humorous writing will, undoubtedly, have to be PG Wodehouse. Many a good hours of mine has been spent on laughing with PG Wodehouse writing. They say that a picture is worth a thousand words. Sometime I feel like saying thanks but I will prefer the thousand words:)
For all those who write, blog, brief, books... anything, here is a bit of friendly advice. Always think twice before expressing your opinion in print. It may come back to haunt you even after thousands of years!!!
Our earth is degenerate these days; there are signs that the world is speedily coming to an end; bribery and corruption are common; children no longer obey their parents; and the end of the world is evidently approaching.
Assyrian stone tablet dated 2800 BC
I think the person who inscribed this must be kicking himself for being stupid enough to go on record with such a statement. And putting it on stone at that!!!
Monday, November 20, 2006
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
Punishment posting anyone??
I had a very interesting experience today. I was invited to a south indian family's house for dinner. Well to tell you the truth, my parents were invited coz the gentleman had a 'maragatalingam'. For the uninformed, it is a shivalinga that is considered to be very powerful and special. My parents were keen to see it. The gentleman was kind enough to invite me to dinner [something that has not happened in a very long time:-)]
So here I went along, prayed to their gods (their?? wat about ekam satyam??) and had a sumptuous dinner.
Then the gentleman began regaling us with tales from his office. He is a government employee and due to office politics, he was posted as a telephone operator during routine shifting in the office. He was very upset coz he was the most senior person around. He took 5 minutes to compose himself and took on the task with lots of enthusiasm. He did his job so well and so conscientiously that the telephone bill of the office that was ranging from 40k to 50k per month was cut down to 8k to 10k per month.
People who were bypassing the system to make personal calls at government's expense found they could not enjoy free telephone services any more. They began to rue the fact that he was sent on this posting in the first place. After four months of control, the people who played dirty politics were desperate to get this man out of there. The gentleman said that by the end of the four months, he was enjoying his punishment posting coz he had never been able to trouble these dirty politics players as he was able to as a telephone operator.
He is not an extraordinary man or something. Everybody in their house is related to government in one way or d other. They firmly and even stupidly believe in job security. Ordinary humans living honest lives and finding ways to do their job honestly despite all odds.
I read in our Prez Kalam's Wings of Fire-
When you are the hammer- strike
When you are the anvil- bear.
Met such a person today. It was a nice experience.
[tags]government, politics,job security,Kalam, Wings of Fire[/tags]
So here I went along, prayed to their gods (their?? wat about ekam satyam??) and had a sumptuous dinner.
Then the gentleman began regaling us with tales from his office. He is a government employee and due to office politics, he was posted as a telephone operator during routine shifting in the office. He was very upset coz he was the most senior person around. He took 5 minutes to compose himself and took on the task with lots of enthusiasm. He did his job so well and so conscientiously that the telephone bill of the office that was ranging from 40k to 50k per month was cut down to 8k to 10k per month.
People who were bypassing the system to make personal calls at government's expense found they could not enjoy free telephone services any more. They began to rue the fact that he was sent on this posting in the first place. After four months of control, the people who played dirty politics were desperate to get this man out of there. The gentleman said that by the end of the four months, he was enjoying his punishment posting coz he had never been able to trouble these dirty politics players as he was able to as a telephone operator.
He is not an extraordinary man or something. Everybody in their house is related to government in one way or d other. They firmly and even stupidly believe in job security. Ordinary humans living honest lives and finding ways to do their job honestly despite all odds.
I read in our Prez Kalam's Wings of Fire-
When you are the hammer- strike
When you are the anvil- bear.
Met such a person today. It was a nice experience.
[tags]government, politics,job security,Kalam, Wings of Fire[/tags]
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
Saw Schindler's List!!!!
I saw the movie 'Schindler’s List'. You may have heard about the movie. It is a movie made by Steven Spielberg about the Jews holocaust in WW II.
It is a very hard hitting movie. It shows you all about the war stripped off its glory and majesty. It shows killing and people dying just the way it happens in real life. At the end of it all, you find it difficult not to ponder over the waste. The foolish immense waste of time and energy that war is.
It is the story of one man who saved close to 1100 Jews. 1100 out of six million. There is a dialogue in the movie. Schindler says- I did not do enough. A Jew replies- You did so much.
It is a story of a man who did his bit of what he thought was right. At the end of it all, you realize that nobody but the man himself can stand as judge over his actions. I guess any decent person who wants men to live in peace with his fellow human beings faces a task that is as impossible as was the task of Schindler’s. Being friends with the Germans, watching the murder and the killings and yet behaving as if nothing was wrong and yet doing his best to protect the Jews is as impossible a task as is living an honest life in today’s world without losing your self respect. It requires courage. Courage that can only be imagined. It requires the courage to understand your limitations and act within them.
I would not say it is a good movie. A movie that makes you feel sick inside can hardly be described as a movie. It is more of a documentary.
I did not see the movie completely. I skipped dialogues and stuff. I wanted to get a feel of the movie because I had heard a lot about it. There are quite a few lessons I learnt from this movie. I am sorry but you will have to be the person to whom I talk about it.
Nothing is too little. As long as you do your best and you know that you have done your best, nothing is too little. In fact, there is no such thing as little. Everything you do matters. Period…
Just as I felt after watching the movie- Saving Private Ryan- another movie by Spielberg, I felt that if you want to hate something after the movie- don’t hate the Germans. Don’t hate the British for supporting Hitler early on. Don’t hate America for not interfering before. Don’t hate the Soviets for behaving as bad as the Germans. If you are going to hate the persons responsible for this- you will have to hate everybody or you will have to hate nobody. The people were victims of hate. If you hate them just as they hated the Jews, there is absolutely no difference between you and them. If you want to hate something- hate hate. Hate that feeling of hate that causes man to behave worse than any beast on this earth. That is an ironic phrase no?? Hating hate??
I felt pity for the people who died. But then, the pity slowly vanished. How can a race be silent when six million of its members are being killed?? You can see people behaving in a docile manner and doing what the Germans said. Even if it meant walking into a gas chamber or standing in a line to be shot. You see fear… you see cowardice and then it becomes difficult to pity. If each and every single of the six million had died fighting, you could have pitied them. Walking towards death and watching your family walking towards death- silently- how can something like that be pitited?? But then, who am I to judge?? It is easy to goad somebody to fight till death. It is impossible to do it no?? I remember instances when I could not fight for things far more insignificant as compared to my life.… am I worthy to stand as judge of these people’s actions??
I feel a sense of futility washing over me after watching this movie. Despite whatever he did, six million Jews still died. And life continued. Nothing changed. The world has forgotten many holocausts before. How will this one be any different?? In another age and in another world, some one may have said all this to somebody else. What difference has anything made?? Such thoughts create a spiritual confusion in me. If I feel nothing makes a difference, what should I do?? Continue living as I am living?? Or doing something worthwhile?? But then, what is worthwhile?? If something is worthwhile, why should it not be what I am and what I am doing?? Will throwing everything away as ‘Maya’ and reasoning all as the effects of ‘one’s karma’ be any different than living this life knowing that you do not do something not because it is worthwhile but you do something because nothing is worthwhile??
It is not essential to reply. I do not even know if I am asking a question for you to reply. Just wanted you to know. Hope you understood
I am wondering whether I should be studying instead of downloading movies and watching them and wasting time getting all philosophical!!!! I am laughing at the thought.
It is a very hard hitting movie. It shows you all about the war stripped off its glory and majesty. It shows killing and people dying just the way it happens in real life. At the end of it all, you find it difficult not to ponder over the waste. The foolish immense waste of time and energy that war is.
It is the story of one man who saved close to 1100 Jews. 1100 out of six million. There is a dialogue in the movie. Schindler says- I did not do enough. A Jew replies- You did so much.
It is a story of a man who did his bit of what he thought was right. At the end of it all, you realize that nobody but the man himself can stand as judge over his actions. I guess any decent person who wants men to live in peace with his fellow human beings faces a task that is as impossible as was the task of Schindler’s. Being friends with the Germans, watching the murder and the killings and yet behaving as if nothing was wrong and yet doing his best to protect the Jews is as impossible a task as is living an honest life in today’s world without losing your self respect. It requires courage. Courage that can only be imagined. It requires the courage to understand your limitations and act within them.
I would not say it is a good movie. A movie that makes you feel sick inside can hardly be described as a movie. It is more of a documentary.
I did not see the movie completely. I skipped dialogues and stuff. I wanted to get a feel of the movie because I had heard a lot about it. There are quite a few lessons I learnt from this movie. I am sorry but you will have to be the person to whom I talk about it.
Nothing is too little. As long as you do your best and you know that you have done your best, nothing is too little. In fact, there is no such thing as little. Everything you do matters. Period…
Just as I felt after watching the movie- Saving Private Ryan- another movie by Spielberg, I felt that if you want to hate something after the movie- don’t hate the Germans. Don’t hate the British for supporting Hitler early on. Don’t hate America for not interfering before. Don’t hate the Soviets for behaving as bad as the Germans. If you are going to hate the persons responsible for this- you will have to hate everybody or you will have to hate nobody. The people were victims of hate. If you hate them just as they hated the Jews, there is absolutely no difference between you and them. If you want to hate something- hate hate. Hate that feeling of hate that causes man to behave worse than any beast on this earth. That is an ironic phrase no?? Hating hate??
I felt pity for the people who died. But then, the pity slowly vanished. How can a race be silent when six million of its members are being killed?? You can see people behaving in a docile manner and doing what the Germans said. Even if it meant walking into a gas chamber or standing in a line to be shot. You see fear… you see cowardice and then it becomes difficult to pity. If each and every single of the six million had died fighting, you could have pitied them. Walking towards death and watching your family walking towards death- silently- how can something like that be pitited?? But then, who am I to judge?? It is easy to goad somebody to fight till death. It is impossible to do it no?? I remember instances when I could not fight for things far more insignificant as compared to my life.… am I worthy to stand as judge of these people’s actions??
I feel a sense of futility washing over me after watching this movie. Despite whatever he did, six million Jews still died. And life continued. Nothing changed. The world has forgotten many holocausts before. How will this one be any different?? In another age and in another world, some one may have said all this to somebody else. What difference has anything made?? Such thoughts create a spiritual confusion in me. If I feel nothing makes a difference, what should I do?? Continue living as I am living?? Or doing something worthwhile?? But then, what is worthwhile?? If something is worthwhile, why should it not be what I am and what I am doing?? Will throwing everything away as ‘Maya’ and reasoning all as the effects of ‘one’s karma’ be any different than living this life knowing that you do not do something not because it is worthwhile but you do something because nothing is worthwhile??
It is not essential to reply. I do not even know if I am asking a question for you to reply. Just wanted you to know. Hope you understood
I am wondering whether I should be studying instead of downloading movies and watching them and wasting time getting all philosophical!!!! I am laughing at the thought.
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