So simple..!!.....???!

I was thinking how simple things which occur in our nature can be so complicated if we look at it closely . I was listening to choti si asha song from movie roja. I remembered the fisherman throwing fish net and a boat in calm water and a big water falls from that movie. Then the question came…. “how? "

Hmm. . As the sound waves struck my ear drum the disturbance was transferred to inner ear . There hair cells(neurons) in organ of corti got excited and started firing . It was carried upwards by vestibulocochlear nerve . By this time sound was converted into information of certain code by differentiating pitch of the sound and the amplitude of vibrating surface area of cochlea, the hearing organ.. And then information was 'filtered' at nerve nucleus in the brainstem . From here upwards only the info which was of any significance to me were allowed higher. I have no idea how it will be done but as the information reaches the brain, temporal lobe to be specific, it will be again refined . The information regarding music will be sent forward for further processing. The same signals will be sent to different lobes of brain simultaneously.

At the beginning when I decide to listen certain gate keeper neurons keeping memories of musical sounds will be having a low threshold of excitation . This might occur by co excitation or cross firing from frontal cortex to memory area. So the new signal is compared to the memorised signal or summated 'on the fly' . If there was any associated visual memory stored which in anyway relates to the incoming signal it will be immediately sent as ‘attachments’ to my frontal cortex wherein my consciousness resides. Hmm may be my occipital lobe may also play a part in this as I could see it in my minds eye!!

How can all these occur within milliseconds?? Science gives me the answer as electrochemical interactions…. Nature never ceases to amaze me..

So simple…………….yet so complicated isn’t it??

Musings about music..

It's been a long time since I wanted to write about music..finally I have sat down to write few words about it. I’ve always  wondered how man invented music..Here are the few thoughts which came across my mind. May be it was a man who saw a bird singing beautifully and tried to imitate it. Or may be it was  a mother who was crooning her child and in that intense moment of affection she started singing. May be it was a heartbroken lover..All  the intensely  felt emotions lead to creation of music. We can say that one piece of music is worth 1000 emotions !

I had the chance to get exposed to different genres of music ..My father is a big fan of old hindi songs and my mother is a staunch follower of carnatic classical music. I grew up listening to both of their favourite songs along with that the concurrent bollywood and indipop songs in the  tv and radio. Once after coming to mangalore my roommate first exposed me to rock music..soon I heard different genres of western music such as rock,jazz,pop,hiphop,blue,altern etc…

And one more thing about music it’s a completely different experience when you listen to it and when you create it yourself..you can try and see, you feel strangely deprived of all the emotions at the end of creating music. so it shows clearly that all your emotions came out in the form of music .Thats what I felt when I tried creating my own variations in alaap of a raga in classical style. I‘ve reserved more such experiences for a separate blog on my violin. Yes I have learnt to play violin in carnatic classical style. I was also vocally trained for few years which I have not used since so many years.

Whatever may be the genre of the music , the final idea is, music is a form of expression of  unspeakable or inexpressible thoughts and emotions. you see the beautiful world and you want to show the beauty to others.. so you sing ..to share the joy that u felt or to share any other emotions you want to share.

I have an observation to make about an interesting difference between the Indian and western music. I feel western music exaggerates your feelings i.e, if you are happy it makes you more happy and if you are sad it makes you more sad. Whereas Indian classical music calms you down no matter whatever state you are in..if you are happy or sad you end up being calmer than before. I m not saying that western music is inferior to Indian one. No way, because for a musician every single piece of music created in this earth  should be  beautiful. That’s my view on this issue. I support both western and eastern music equally, since they are two sides of the same coin.

Thats it for today..will write much more on further posts..

THE WINDOWS AND THE GATES

Hehe actually nothing related to Microsoft here ;) . I was musing about my own memories of my home, the one I will be leaving soon . I don’t know about others but in my home ,the gate and the windows are literally gates and windows to many many memories.. every time I look at them I  get reminded of one or the other events , sometimes many events revolving around the same place..

This is the gate to my home, it also is a gateway to lots of memories. I remember playing shuttle badminton with my sister using this gate as net!! That was when I was in 5^th std I guess.. I used to climb the gate (left part) and move along with it..I remember many important people opening the gate and coming in..I also remember the first time when I took  our car outside this gate. Just as I write all these still more memories flood in to my consciousness..its as if a big part of my life is intimately linked to it.

 

 

 

 

 

                                               

This window also has something to tell..you can see a newspaper lying there right? This window is right in front part of the house. This is where I used to enjoy reading newspaper everyday morning along with chai..Its a ritual to me , to enjoy the daily tea with news, if I miss either of the two, I will be upset whole day! Once I was so engrossed in reading news that I got up without realizing the sharp edge of window was behind me..I had a nasty injury to my back to remember that event!

                                  

This window is in terrace,  where I used to practice cricket alone..:) the marks of dirty ball impact are still there on the walls ;) . Also when I did not get the expected ranking in AIEEE, I remember myself braving it in front of others and afterwards quietly coming here and crying my heart out..I thought I had lost completely  in life and there was no hope. How wrong I was.. I realize now that my failures  were tests of my strength to cope up. I’ve learnt more from my failures than from my successes.

                                           

Hmm .. this one looks kinda scary isn’t it? In fact it is… this window has given me more nightmares than you can ever imagine..whenever I see this window only one picture flashes in front of my eyes. The picture of my father , holding his chest in one hand and supporting himself on the railings as he suffered from angina for the first time.. he was sweating profusely , was breathing labouriously  and was asking for help.. I never felt such fear and helplessness ever before ..fear of losing  my  family.  It looks as if the cursed moment still lingers around this window..

Closing the windows , I would like to add that this is an effort to console myself for the reason that I have to move to a new house. Its such a difficult experience for me to leave a place which I called home for last  15 years. But change is the constant thing in our life isn’t it. I would give still more glimpses of this place  ..next time..

 

 

Power - Politics

Tomorrow I am going to exercise my right to vote, and give the power  to represent my constituency and to rule my country to some politician. So tomorrow is the day when a common man like me becomes all powerful..say as if in a fantasy story..

I wanted to share my ideas about  power  and publicity..

Just today evening , me and my family friends had an interesting discussion about the ongoing elections and to which party should our votes go. It was highly interesting to see people’s power so alive and in action!!!  How much ever you dislike our ruling system, you have to admire it, atleast the day before elections!

We think that the candidates who get elected will get all the ruling power ..but the reality is indeed very different. Publicity  and power usually do not go together..You get a choice, either you can be popular or you can be powerful..you don’t get to be an allrounder. I had the chance to meet one such person who chose to be powerful. When  you talk with such people, you get amazed by the amount of control they have over these so called rulers of the country. Whichever party comes to power, its always a puppet government and a puppet PM…There are vested interests which control  all kinds of politicians even without entering political battlefield. I m not saying that our MPs don’t have any saying about the ruling,  they do have freedom, but there is a limit..

In a way, it is right for the powerful people to not to lead a public life, since too much power attracts too many enemies..isn’t it?  I m always fascinated by powerful people..how they gain  power, how they  manipulate it and how they lose it…I d like to give examples of godfather novel or the Tristan betrayal by Robert Ludlum and many many other examples all stating the same..Power is not present in the hands of popular leaders..

So as I vote tomorrow, I know that  I will be the all powerful man..i hope you also will vote and experience the feeling of being supremely powerful! ;)

Obese-session

This blog is about the side effects of over eating.

I have to mention  the words which made me think deeply about this problem. One of my close friends explained it in a very thought provoking way. He said that how ironic it is that people blame you if you smoke or drink that you are destroying your health but they fail to recognize that over eating is  also equally dangerous…..infact if you tell somebody that he is eating too much it is taken as an offense! Actually I have seen people encouraging others and themselves to eat more ,eventhough they know that it is going to affect their health. I m sure each of you have experienced this during various functions and festivals.

It all has a reason I think ,buried deep in the sands of time, most probably during evolution of humankind for the survival of the species we developed this storage capacities inside us ,so that we could survive during winter or any unfavourable climate not allowing us to hunt for food. Over eating was a means of survival then. But as the time progressed, humans evolved to be the most intelligent creatures on the earth. Humans stopped hunting ,started agriculture and animal husbandry. So food was available during difficult times also as we had invented storage methods to preserve food. But as they say, Old habits die hard..although our workload came down, we continued to follow the old habit of overeating. The practice which was a boon to us now turned as a bane. It lead to the problem of obesity, the king of all diseases I would say, as it is the most common problem affecting people now and figures as a risk factor in hundreds of life threatening diseases. So I think it is that old subconscious survival instinct which makes people angry when they are told that they eat too much. Most of them don’t like to listen to anybody else ,say that they have right to eat as much as they want to. Yes is my answer to them, but I’d like to add that you should exactly know how much do you want. Over eating is comparable to greed in a strange way…

Tongue, a important organ for this topic. Sooo many delicacies are invented every year, so many lost recipes re-discovered, just for the sake of this 4 inch long piece of complex tissue! We almost forget that eating is a minor part in the process of acquiring nutrition. But all the importance is given to TASTE. Interestingly we find fatty foods more tasty, again the work of subconscious instinct..

It sounds so strange , that we spend hours cooking for a particular dish which we finish within minutes. Also that whatever we eat, is the same stuff after it passes to our stomach..strange way of nature to ensure equality! I despise people who gobble up whatever is put in front of them. Eating is also an art…If you learn to enjoy the food properly, you notice that your intake becomes less!

So the conclusion is that , enjoy each bit of food that you take in thoroughly..please don’t eat more than what you think you need. Understand that over eating also is equally bad as smoking or drinking. Lets make ourselves free from this obsession.

Silent Survival

FICTION

Today is the day..I was thinking. This was the day for which  had been waiting for..The selection for army .It was my  childhood  dream to join the army  and serve the nation. So I had finished my studies and had applied for this opportunity. We were made to sit on the sports stadium .We were eagerly waiting for the exercises to begin. I have to say  that I am physically very strong. I had been preparing for this moment from years .I had everything an army man should have. I was very sure that I will get selected.

I looked around looking for the aspirants .All were young men like me physically strong. Then I saw this guy. He was a bit short but very well built. He was standing apart from others, alone… He had a cold determination in his eyes. I was sure he would give a tough competition for me. I went and stood beside him and said hi…

He turned and smiled …but didn’t say anything. It was OK with me. We had just met anyway. But I was sure I wanted him as my friend. Then An officer came and said the selection would start now..

I tried to be confident ,trying to stretch my muscles so that I could perform well. While I was getting ready I saw him coming towards me. Again he smiled and raised a thumb..I also told him all the best.

Then the drill began..We had to do lot of physically straining exercises. Lot of people fell to the ground because of the scorching heat but  I didn’t flinch..I knew this would be there and had prepared well. I noticed my new friend also had prepared well. He also passed all of the physical hurdles.

Then came the tough part..We were made to stand in a straight line. We were standing in attention heads held high. The commander  came, looking closely at us, asking questions. He had a stammering voice , I observed. He was the one who would select the best of us. I looked at my new friend ,who was standing in front of me, saw him sweating, with a concerned look in his eyes. I wondered what he was thinking.

The commander came towards him. He asked him .’wwwww..what’s ur nnnnnnname? ,wwwwwwhy ddddo yyyyyyou want to join ttttttthe arr arr arrrrmy?’

For my utter disbelief ,he didn’t answer the question…! I was so surprised. I knew he very much wanted to answer the question but he was not doing it. I wondered what was wrong with him. I thought he was dumb or so..

The commander got irritated asked the same question again..still no answer…Commander was furious..He said “ddddo yyyou think mmme as annn idiot?  Annnswer mmme or st st st strip and run arrr around  th tht th the stadium ten timesssss and  th th ththen do 1000 push ups.”

Again he didn’t answer but started to strip!..He ran 10 rounds around the stadium in chaddi…! Then he started to do push ups..He was tired, I could clearly see but he didn’t bother..He did 400 push ups, then collapsed..exhausted.

The commander was amused and impressed at the same time, he told his officer to give first aid and make sure that this person was selected.

Next my turn came, I answered his questions properly without even flinching a bit…I was afraid if I’d flinch, he’d take it as personal insult for his stammering. He was impressed with my answers. He told his officer to include me in the selection…

I was so happy that I had achieved my goal…I was selected to the army!!

I met him once again in the train, he was sitting in the birth next to me, we were posted to the border area..I asked him immediately. “Man are you mad ? why didn’t you answer him that day? You dumb or something?

He smiled and said.. ”nnnno mmmmy nnnname is rrrrrrrraju..dddddo you think ththththat he wwwwould hhhhav ssssselected mmmme ifff I ha hahad answered?”

Once again I was shocked! i couldn’t suppress a smile at the whole event. Its surprising how things turn out at the end..isnt it??

 

The end which wasn't

I m sweating a lot.. I realise..I look up and see the bright burning sun..I m heading towards a very high peak..which one??? its all a little hazy...too much of sun can do that to you.I look around. There are many big rocks seen at a distance,tall grass surrounds me .Its brown in colour ..so it must be summer time then, I tell to myself.

HEY HEY HEY !!!! am I alone????

How did I end up in this place?? Where on the earth am I? I remember myself and my friends starting to climb yesterday morning.Since the climb was very tough  we decided to climb the mountain slowly, We took rest near the starting of the steep climb yesterday night.I dont know what happened next.....

Come on think you Idiot !!!,I try to remember furiously ...but I m still blank..

May be they left me here and moved forward...but WHY?? what had happened..?

My survival instinct gets activated.I see my bag lying besides me.I take the bag and rummage through it. I find a water bottle and drink from it.Uff...! so tiring it is... I think

Oh SHIT!!! that was the only bottle of water I had! What should I do next?? I suddenly get worried.I should move on and try to find my partners I decide..Thats the only way I can survive.

I gather all my items and start climbing up.Disturbing thoughts occupy my head but I forcefully move the m away and try to think about the task in hand.The cliff looks so high and I m right at the middle of the journey,I cant go back also..So Slowly I continue my climb

I feel sweat trickling through my face.I try to put my tongue out and try to catch that drop because I m so thirsty now.I need some water but around me is a very dry land with grass.Hmm I can try eating grass I think.I try to remove the grass nearby.It seems so difficult because I m so tired.Ouch! the grass has cut through my fingers...! I now learn that mountain grasses can be so sharp.Bright red blood oozes out of the wound.I try to lick the wound hoping to get some moisture to tongue..but its not of any use..My mouth is so dry,tongue feels sticky and then there is the metallic taste of blood.I try second time to remove the grass by bending it and the top most part comes in my hands.I look for any signs of moisture in that but it also looks depressingly dry.Anyway lets try ..I put in into my mouth and try to eat.

Aaaaaah! I cry...the grass has cut through my tongue! It pains like hell..And I can feel thick sticky blood pouring into my mouth.I feel dizzy,I start to cry like a baby..I m alone here help me!! I try to scream but I cant..You cant scream when your mouth is full of blood beleive me!

I try to swallow the blood but It kinda sticks to my throat..I curse myself for coming to this hell.

Then I start to move forward but everything around me starts to roll..I unsteadily move some steps and collapse to ground.Even my breath feels so dry.

Then I realise that i m not going to make it..Yes this is how its gonna end.Oh my God! I m going to die inch by inch ..

Then there is a rush of energy inside me..I get up and move upwards and I move for 10 more minutes,then I collapse again.I realise I m at the edge of a steep cliff.My knees are bleeding I realise and I feel like crying again.Does my life had to end like this? I think.

Again the world starts rolling ..I try to walk but suddenly I cant find anything to step on..

I realise I m falling down...down... down...

THUD!!!!

I suddenly get up from my bed! I m sweating throughout....I get up and move towards fridge.

I get the water bottle  and drink..water is so cool..so soothing ..so refreshing...

.........................................Water is the elixir of life...................................................

My God ,it was one helluva nightmare!!!!