This is an amazing article from some editorial page -
There are so many unfair things about life. One of them is the way it ends. I mean, life is tough; it takes up a lot of your time; a whole lifetime. In the end, it doesn't matter, what do you get in return? A Death...!
What if the life cycle was all backwards. You were to die first, start out dead; get the death out of the way, wake up in an old-age home, feeling better each day, get kicked out out for being too healthy; Go collect your pension, then start working. Get a gold watch on your first day. Work for 40 years until you're young enough to enjoy your retirement.
Become a teenager, drink alcohol, enjoy parties; are generally promiscuous(Hey, you've only got a few years left, what's the big deal), and then, eventually get ready for high school. Then you go to primary school, you become a kid, you play; you have no responsibilities.
Then you become a baby... the last step. You spend your last nine months floating peacefully with all the protection, care and luxuries like central heating, spa, room service on tap, larger quarters every day. and then.....finally finish off as an orgasm !!!
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Happiness
A few days back came across this article in TOI. Its beautiful. Just pasting it over here.
There is a difference between happiness and what we describe as joy and pleasure. On a warm day what a glass of cold lemon juice gives you is pleasure for it is momentary and sensory. Happiness, on the other hand, is experienced in the mind and is therefore infinitely more powerful.
Are we happier today than we were a hundred years ago? If we’re not, isn’t it amazing that technological aids have not been able to add to our happiness?
What could we do to feel happy or happier?
1. Identify what makes you happy: I have met very few people who are clear about what makes them happy. Since they are unclear about their objectives, they live a perennially unhappy life. List down what will make you happy. Generate goals that are specific, achievable but challenging.
2. Compete with yourself: A study conducted at Harvard demonstrated that people are happier when they are relatively more prosperous than their compatriots. Respondents chose between two situations: a) Your annual salary is $1,00,000 while your compatriot gets $75,000; b) Your annual salary is $1,50,000 while your compatriot gets $1,75,000. Though the salary was more in the (b) situation, respondents overwhelmingly preferred (a). Why not compete with oneself instead of grieving over others’ achievements?
3. Don’t expect everyone to agree with you: We usually equate disagreement with enmity in spite of knowing that intelligent people rarely agree on anything; every individual has a perspective that’s unique. So try and persuade the other person but don’t be unhappy if you fail.
4. Live life according to your beliefs: Intellectual independence must follow financial independence. Implement your beliefs without inconveniencing others and be happy.
5. Live in the present: The past is dead and gone. Peep into it only to learn from mistakes. Dream of the future but remember you can’t enjoy it until it becomes your present. So don’t postpone what you can do today.
6. Increase the sources of your happiness: Gardening, singing, playing an instrument, exercising, meditating...The more the merrier.
7. Limit your desires: We get caught in that vicious spiral of infinite wants. The happiness you derive from moving from one product to another — bigger, better, more expensive — is at best short-lived. Try to figure out what you can do without. Incremental benefits as you climb up the value chain of materialism are fewer than the incremental costs that you might incur.
8. Forgive and forget: Forgiving your opponents who played dirty may not make you a winner but it would surely make you happier. Jealousy and prolonged anger are agents of death.
9. Keep your curiosity alive: People who vigorously retain the childlike habit of questioning are happy on two counts. They enjoy getting to know the answers and their curiosity keeps their mind alive and kicking.
10. Shun hypocrisy: We worship women as goddesses but don’t respect them at home, workplace or any other situation. We keep our courtyards clean by dumping garbage in the neighbour’s compound or on the street. Double standards don’t contribute to happiness.
11. Spend time with the young: Their happiness is infectious and costs nothing.
12. Give liberally: Share your smile, advice, cheer, money, help or just company. Giving should reduce your assets but giving happiness actually increases your own inventory — just try it out!
There is a difference between happiness and what we describe as joy and pleasure. On a warm day what a glass of cold lemon juice gives you is pleasure for it is momentary and sensory. Happiness, on the other hand, is experienced in the mind and is therefore infinitely more powerful.
Are we happier today than we were a hundred years ago? If we’re not, isn’t it amazing that technological aids have not been able to add to our happiness?
What could we do to feel happy or happier?
1. Identify what makes you happy: I have met very few people who are clear about what makes them happy. Since they are unclear about their objectives, they live a perennially unhappy life. List down what will make you happy. Generate goals that are specific, achievable but challenging.
2. Compete with yourself: A study conducted at Harvard demonstrated that people are happier when they are relatively more prosperous than their compatriots. Respondents chose between two situations: a) Your annual salary is $1,00,000 while your compatriot gets $75,000; b) Your annual salary is $1,50,000 while your compatriot gets $1,75,000. Though the salary was more in the (b) situation, respondents overwhelmingly preferred (a). Why not compete with oneself instead of grieving over others’ achievements?
3. Don’t expect everyone to agree with you: We usually equate disagreement with enmity in spite of knowing that intelligent people rarely agree on anything; every individual has a perspective that’s unique. So try and persuade the other person but don’t be unhappy if you fail.
4. Live life according to your beliefs: Intellectual independence must follow financial independence. Implement your beliefs without inconveniencing others and be happy.
5. Live in the present: The past is dead and gone. Peep into it only to learn from mistakes. Dream of the future but remember you can’t enjoy it until it becomes your present. So don’t postpone what you can do today.
6. Increase the sources of your happiness: Gardening, singing, playing an instrument, exercising, meditating...The more the merrier.
7. Limit your desires: We get caught in that vicious spiral of infinite wants. The happiness you derive from moving from one product to another — bigger, better, more expensive — is at best short-lived. Try to figure out what you can do without. Incremental benefits as you climb up the value chain of materialism are fewer than the incremental costs that you might incur.
8. Forgive and forget: Forgiving your opponents who played dirty may not make you a winner but it would surely make you happier. Jealousy and prolonged anger are agents of death.
9. Keep your curiosity alive: People who vigorously retain the childlike habit of questioning are happy on two counts. They enjoy getting to know the answers and their curiosity keeps their mind alive and kicking.
10. Shun hypocrisy: We worship women as goddesses but don’t respect them at home, workplace or any other situation. We keep our courtyards clean by dumping garbage in the neighbour’s compound or on the street. Double standards don’t contribute to happiness.
11. Spend time with the young: Their happiness is infectious and costs nothing.
12. Give liberally: Share your smile, advice, cheer, money, help or just company. Giving should reduce your assets but giving happiness actually increases your own inventory — just try it out!
Sunday, February 22, 2009
My favorite Rock songs
Here's a list of my favorite Rock songs. These are in no particular order. They have been chosen from different sub genres of Rock and Metal.If you do not find a song in this list which you feel should have been there, kindly post a comment mentioning the song. I may not have heard it. This list may differ from those published by different magazines and Music channels, coz those lists are based on polls and experts' opinions. This one's based on purely my choice.1. Shine on you crazy diamond 1-5 ==> Pink Floyd
2. Stairway to heaven ==> Led Zeppelin
3. Fade to black ==> Metallica
4. Master of puppets ==> Metallica
5. Hallowed be thy name ==> Iron Maiden
6. Fear of the dark ==> Iron Maiden
7. High hopes ==> Pink Floyd
8. One ==> Metallica
9. Peace sells ==> Megadeth
10. Paranoid ==> Megadeth cover
11. NIB ==> Black Sabbath
12. Light my fire ==> The Doors
13. Beat it ==> Michael Jackson
14. Summer of 69 ==> Bryan Adams
15. Making love out of nothing at all ==> Air Supply
16. Behind blue eyes ==> The Who
17. Christmas in July ==> Zero
18. Lightbulb sun ==> Porcupine Tree
19. Rock you like a hurricane ==> Scorpions
20. Freebird ==> Lynyrd Skynyrd
21. November rain ==> Guns n Roses
22. Ace of spades ==> Motorhead
23. Paint it black ==> Rolling Stones
24. Purple haze ==> Jimi Hendrix
25. Summer song ==> Joe Satriani
26. Beyond the realms of death ==> Judas Priest
27. Hard day's night ==> The Beates
28. Come as you are ==> Nirvana
29. Whole lotta love ==> Led Zeppelin
30. Anesthetize ==> Porcupine Tree
31. One ==> Metallica
32. I cant get no satisfaction ==> Rolling Stones
33. Joker and the thief ==> Wolfmother
34. I dont wanna miss a thing ==> Aerosmith
35. Smells like teen spirit ==> Nirvana
36. Lithium ==> Nirvana
37. Kashmir ==> Led Zeppelin
38. But it rained ==> Parikrama
39. Symphony of destruction ==> Megadeth
40. Sweet child o' mine ==> Guns n Roses
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