Watched ‘Australia’ over the weekend. Stunning movie & stunning characterisation as well. It’s one of those rare movies that has all the elements to hold an audience – suspense, romance, laughter, mystery…

Red Indian (USA) & Apache Indian (western Asia)

Are virtual worlds replacing the real world? Will we all now exist as ‘avatars’ online? Are we all going to have ‘virtual’ farms/pets/houses/clothes/friends/families/relationships???? If I refuse to join farmville, am I a techno-have not vis a vis the techno-haves? Are we going to have just one virtual doctor who can cure all ill & listen to all our psycho-babble without passing judgement? is that necessarily a good thing? How can touch ever be replaced? Is technology making people fat coz they spend too much time in front of their laptops & desktops? Maybe that’s why people want to live in ‘virtual’ worlds so that others don’t see what they’ve become and run away! But no machine can replicate a warm hug…or will that day be nearing as well. After all touch is only another electrical sensory function that is commanded by a supercomputer – our brain!! In any case the Japanese have already started creating these cool robots that do cool things… how long before these bots become commonplace? Is I-Robot a not too distant reality? and AI? I’m intrigued by these questions that dance about in my head. Are you thinking the same… sitting there at the other end in front of your computer staring at this blog!

Dark clouds floated across the sky
and as the chilling rains lashed by
something told me you’re not there
something made me cry…
Sheets of rain pour down my window
and loudly rolls the thunder
All reminding me of your sweet ways
and the days we spent together.

KNOWLEDGE – The fire that douses the minds flames and lights the dark corridors of ignorance.

WISDOM – The lingering light that soothes the soul and heals the scars of ignorance.

Temples in Imphal that have a pervading smell of fresh flowers. A bouquet of scents that overwhelm & purify your soul. Just the whiff of that scent makes you feel like you’ve entered a sacred zone of peace & reverence. I yearn sometimes for that smell of temple flowers! Sometimes it comes up as a memory & as swiftly as it arises it vaporizes leaving me lost and full of yearning for a moment.

When it begins to rain and your mind begins to wander
Outside the window, does your heart stir at the sight of rain dripping off
the tips of the gulmohar trees?
Does a tear stop from pouring over every time the rain washes on your window?
Does the smell of the earth make you yearn for things you can’t see but only feel?
Does the mention of a name long forgotten stir up memories of some old favourite place where as children, friends would huddle together before rushing out in the relentless rain…

Another heart breaks at this moment, another heart is sealed
Another soul breaks a promise, another secret revealed
Someone seeking to find the answers of their life
Someone comes back to find the answers all within their heart
There is a strange boomerang of thoughts across the world
It defines the reason why we always come back where we start.
We all want acceptance yet we hold biases abound
We aren’t like that is the word we spread around
My life is so different from yours in every way says one
But at the end of the day how much different are we from each other
We want the same level of love, tenderness & acceptance
That we seek from others first rather than first from ourselves.