Well-shaped Rubies from my Little Real Journal

It is an interesting fact to note that I am getting a chance to comment on my real world journal through this online journal. Maybe this is one of the pleasures I receive from blogging. I am kind of inspired to do this act of writing. I just returned from a creative writing class and I also read an interview with Jumpa Lahiri in which she discusses her writing style and her new collection of short stories titled –‘Unaccustomed Earth’.
So here I am to give you the best quotes that I have recorded in my real world diary.
The first one is from Deepak Chopra – The spirituo-management guru. The article appeared in TOI. I really enjoy reading the Sunday magazine of TOI for its colorful images and the spiritual corner.
‘You and I are infinite choice makers in every moment of our existence we are in that field of all possibilities where we have access to an infinity of choices. Some of these choices are made consciously, while others are made unconsciously. But the best way to understand and maximize the use of Karmic law is to become consciously aware of the choices we make in every moment’.
The next one is from Anne Frank…I almost forgot Anne (The other - I am trying to forget). She helped to discover the theater element in me. This one is from her book titled – Tales from the Secret Annex. The writing is titled as – ‘Why’
The saying “You must ask in order to know is true in so far as it leads to thinking about things, and by thinking nobody can never get worse but will only get better”
The third one is from Osho. I used to read Osho Times when I lived in Chennai. These days I practice what I have learned from him.
‘Associate your happiness with your own self. You are sitting unoccupied under a tree. Be happy. It will seem difficult how to be happy when there are no reasons for being happy. We usually become happy for some reason a friend is approaching, so you are happy. Happiness without any reason is masti, ecstasy. There is no visible cause for the happiness; one is just rejoicing in something from within’.

The Mountain - Louise Gluck

It was an accidental discovery. Thanks to Swaroop sir for pin pointing this particular poem in the bulky volume titled (1600 pages) – Elements of Literature. The poem is written by Louise Glϋck (I didn’t get much information about the poet except for another poem of hers which was there in www. livejournal .com. Anyway, one day, I will read more about her. The poem is a treat to all those good souls who like literature. It has little bit about Teaching and something about Life.

My students looked at me expectantly
I explain to them that the life of art is a life
of endless labour. Their expressions
hardly change; they need to know
a little more about endless labour
So I tell them the story of Sisyphus,
how he was doomed to push
a rock up a mountain, knowing nothing
would come of this effort
but that he would repeat it
indefinitely. I tell them
there is joy in this, in the artist’s life,
that one eludes
judgment and as I speak
I am secretly pushing a rock myself,
slyly pushing it up the steep
face of a mountain. Why do I lie
to these children? They aren’t listening,
they aren’t deceived, their fingers
tapping at the wooden desks –
So I retract
the myth; I tell them it occurs
in hell and that the artist lies
because he is obsessed with attainment
that he perceives the summit
as that place where he will live forever,
a place about to be
Transformed by his burden: with every breath,
I am standing at the top of the mountain.
Both my hands are free. And the rock has added
height to the mountain…

Gabriel Marquez on Journalists and Journalism - Part Two

Gabriel Marquez, the old timer in the profession feels that there is a gap between the human factor and the technology. The latter one is speeding forward leaving the former in a messy situation. The attempts made by the companies to acquire the latest gadgets and their slackness in training their staff about the know how about these modern tools. In his words ‘journalists are getting mired (trapped) in the labyrinth (confusion) created by technology as it hurtles forward’. Too much use of technology has impaired the human interactions for which newsrooms where once famous for. ‘Dehumansition is spreading at an alarming pace’. In order to illustrate the point he uses the example of the voice recorder – He says that ‘the recorder hears but does not listen’. He calls it – ‘the electronic parrot’.
All through his article Marques stresses the importance of human factor. This is applicable when you write and also when you collect the information for your writing. He says that the ideal journalist will always try to ‘touch the heart of the readers’. An ideal journalist will avoid the voice recorder and use the ‘modest note book’ instead. Marques remarks that the ‘voice recorder does not have a ‘heart’. He will depend on his ‘intelligence to assess the source of the news and judge them based on his ethical standards’. Marquez feels that one way to develop this human factor is to give importance to the humanities programmes in the universities.
According to Gabriel Garcia Marquez, academic schools fail to build three factors which are essential for any journalist to survive in the media profession.
Priority should be given to aptitude and vocation.
The academic environment should be research oriented.
Ethical standards should be set.
Marquez concludes his article by saying that journalism is all about facing the reality of life. A journalist should enjoy his art and ecstasy involved in breaking the news. He should be equipped to face the failures and the happiness that is part of the profession. He also reminds that the journalist should not experience a sense of finality, because he is always on the job without experiencing a ‘moment of peace’

Gabriel Marquez on Journalists and Journalism: Part One

Gabriel Garcia Marquez is a Colombian born Nobel Prize awarded writer and journalist. He shares his thoughts on the world’s best profession i.e. Journalism in this article which appeared in the Outlook Magazine anniversary issue. Garcia Marquez is one of Latin America's most recognized writers. Although he has written many acclaimed non-fiction and short stories, he is most well-known for his novels, such as One Hundred Years of Solitude, 1967and Love in the Time of Cholera, 1985. He has achieved both significant critical acclaim and widespread commercial success, most notably for introducing what has been labeled as magical realism to the literary world. He is thus considered one of the greatest authors of the 20th century. (Courtesy – Microsoft Encarta -2006).
In this article Marquez discusses the profession of journalism as it existed 15 years back. His ideas may look little out dated but they still are the cornerstones of the profession. Anyone who is curious to know the early stages of journalism will find it here in this article. The writer is juxtaposing the past with that of the present. There is a bit of nostalgia for the early practices of the profession. He ends his article by discussing the advent of technology and how it has influenced journalism in a negative way.

Marquez uses different epithets to describe journalism and journalists. Journalism is described as a craft which means that it should be handled carefully. The word also gives journalism the status of a creative enterprise. He fondly recollects the working atmosphere that existed earlier in the news rooms. He calls it as a ‘collaborative atmosphere’. Journalists worked in tight knit groups which enabled them to work in a more participative way. The kind of energy they had is described as ‘fanatical’. Today he compares news rooms to aseptic (protected) labs where people work hard in isolation.
During that time journalism fell into three categories – News, Features stories and Editorials. The editorial was given the highest importance as it needed lots of pruning and deliberations. Reporter’s job was regarded as something inferior. Marques make an auto-biographical comment here referring to the days when he worked as a journalist for a Colombian newspaper. He started his life as the member of the editorial staff. Through his hard work, he was able to work in different sections of the newspaper and finally he became a ‘plain old reporter’.
Marquez stress the importance of having a broad cultural back ground and extensive reading will help you in procuring this cultural background. Marques appreciate journalists who are self-taught since they are avid and quick learners. He is of the opinion that a school certificate is not necessary to become a good journalist.
In spite of the training they receive at media schools, most of the students enter the profession with ‘obvious deficiencies’. They have serious problems with grammar and spelling and they do not have an instinctive grasp of the news material. They also have false notions about the ethics of the profession. They have a pre-conceived notion that journalism is all about secrets and getting the news using any means. When they realize that they are misfits, they start blaming their teachers for failing to instill in them the virtues they do not have. Marquez opines that one important virtue that all journalists should possess is the ‘curiosity for life itself’.
…To be continued…

Words of Ruskin Bond and Abba...

'My solitude is not my own, for,I see now how much it belongs to them and that I have a responsibility for it in their regard, not just in my own. It is because I am one with them that I owe it to them to be alone, and when I am alone they are not 'they' but my own self. There are no strangers'.
from 'Confessions of a Guilty Bystander'

Thomas Merton.

That man is the strongest who stands alone.

The things I do best are the those things I do on my own, alone, of my own accord, without the advice or approval of others. Once I start doing what other people tell me to do both my character and creativity take a dip. It is when I strike out on my own that I succeed best.

Be like water, be soft, and clear, it finds its way through over or under any obstacle. It does not quarrel, it simply moves on (Lao-Tzu quoted in the movie – 'Memoirs of Geisha')

Finding sense once again with ABBA...

"They say a restless body can hide a peaceful soul.A voyager, ad a settler, they both have a distant goal.If I explore the heavens, or if I search inside.Well, it really doesn't matter as long as I can tell myselfI've always tried."

Like a roller in the ocean, life is motion

Move on

Like a wind that's always blowing, life is flowing

Move on

Like the sunrise in the morning, life is dawning

Move on

How I treasure every minute

Being part of it, being in it

With the urge to move on

I've travelled every country, I've travelled in my mind

It seems we're on a journey, a trip through space and time

And somewhere lies the answer

To all the questions why

What really makes the difference

Between all dead and living things, the will to stay alive...

Elegy On Dead Pet Animals...

Unda Kannan or the round eyed one passed away today. With a tinge of ceremony I buried him in the watery grave (toilet). He has left behind a legacy of silence. It seems as if he was trying to say something from his water world. He was elegant when he moved around in the limited square shaped world which I had provided him. I used to sit outside this world and look at his movements. He once had a partner. They both had filled my world with colors and animation. His partner left him some 3-4 months back.
(Entry dated – sometime in 2006 maybe in the month of February)

Quoted from Outlook magazine: Outlook magazine editor - Vinot Mehta on Funny
We’ve had bereavement in the family. Funny passed away a fortnight ago. Funny was one of the three stray dogs we had adopted. We called her funny because she had a crooked front leg, cauliflower ears, and when she ran she was a comic sight. I have never seen a dog so weary, loving, emaciated and slow. She had borne children, she had seen all there is to see; she seldom barked or pestered. She was supremely confident and supremely indifferent. Funny was stoic, patiently waiting to die. My wife and I fed her each morning and evening and the only time she perked up was when we approached her. She loved getting her stomach tickled, that was her sole pleasure in life.

Editor was extremely displeased at the attention we paid Funny. When it turned freezing cold, we would quietly sneak her in late at night was Editor was asleep. We made a bed for her, covered her with a blanket, and gave her some milk. She slept like a baby in the home she had ever known. In the morning Editor, having smelt her, would bark furiously. My wife would take her out and put her back on the road. She died of neglect. When we buried her close to Nizamuddin railway station, she looked completely at peace.
We miss Funny, for both of us life’s not the same without her.

A sensibly worded bookmark...

They say that we find happiness in the most unlikely places. The words below are quoted from a book mark which was there in my diary. These days I do not write in my diary because I have become a kind of a web junkie…anyway I am in the process of transferring the purple patches from my real world diary to the virtual journal. I find this exercise quite stimulating and challenging. So read on…
The three grand essentials of happiness are
Something to do
Someone to love
Something to hope for
One cannot run after happiness to find it, but seek to do good.
The day then will dawn full of expectation, the night will fall full of repose and this world will seem a very good place, and the world to come a better place still.

Seven tips to be happy...

1. Never be Late
2. Don't cheat
3. Live simple
4. Expect little
5. Work more
6. Always smile
7. Help others.

To this list I will add my own list which may give you happiness...

Listen to music everyday in the morning. Listen to songs that you like,preferrably instrumental songs.

Watch movies...not the violent ones but the ones which has a good story, a good line up of actors.

For Matrimonial Purposes - Book review

A novel which was recommended to me by my Prof. It took some time for me to finish reading 'For Matrimonial Purposes'. It started off with a dull phase with the character of Anju in a wedding reception. Then the story becomes fast paced with entry of Puran, the man from Madrid, and other prospective bridegrooms. The story ends with Anju wedded to Rohan. The book calls for an effortless reading. It is well-structured and the theme of matrimony is handled well. I would not be surprised if there is a movie version based on this book.
The book cover is done in a very elegant manner and the catch line – Would you let your mother choose your husband? is an interesting one and will get some readers hooked on to the book.
I enjoyed the special episode which Anju had with Jeff. I strongly feel that the author has spent some extra time creating the encounters between them, because it has got a special touch.

The book is another instance of the so called cross-cultural writing. An Indian looking with a sense of awe at the cauldron of Indianism from America. Maybe it is not as funny as the Inscrutable American but it is a good attempt. It will inspire all those people who want to write a line or two based on their cross-cultural experience.

The Human and the Being

The world is changing fast and I am just a conscious witness to it. It is an easy thing to do when you know that’s the only thing you can do. Reading, listening and watching news with a disinterested interest. Sarbjith is going to get hanged; Shivani’s murderer is roaming on the streets of India, 50 Iraqis got killed, Tibetan’s are protesting all over the world even in New York. They are spilling their own blood in their own land – Lhasa. There are n number of human rights activists all over the world fighting for what they believe is the right way to save human beings from the problems that are essentially human.

I am a nobody
Who are you?
Are you a Nobody too? (Emily Dickinson)

Creations from Language Lab - Page Two

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Creations from Language Lab - Newsletter Page One

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The month that wasn’t ...

Ha…it’s been a long time…the month of Feb just ebbed away with its leniency towards the leap year. Things are the same…fast paced and days of full immersion in the thing they call Life. I am completely drenched and from my mouth drip the essence of life. A drooling mouth with a hidden voracious appetite.
Oscars happened – my fav Ratatouille won the best picture award in the animation category. I fell in love with Marion Cotillard, the beautiful French dame who won the best actress Oscar and I started hating Elton John for making a remark in Larry King Live about the absence of good nominations in that category. I became more introspective after watching the new HBO series titled In Treatment. Dr Paul is just wonderful and Laura is lavishing (played by Melissa George). The show even inspired me to do a language exercise based on Conversation.
Valentine’s Day came to earth once again – Thank God…nothing much happened. But I watched a good movie that night which celebrated the beauty of friendship. I had read the book a few years back. The director of Finding Never land waves his filmy magic wand once again and there you have - The Kite Runner. A movie based on the best seller by the same name. It is haunting and true to the printed text. I think after Steven Spielberg, the only director who has got the knack of handling child artist is Marc Forster. I felt happy that day/night when I realized that I am in love with something deep inside me. It was also the day when The Hindu carried a thought provoking toon in its editorial page titled – Violentine’s Day – referring to the violence that rocked Mumbai based on the Marathi and North India dichotomy.

I lost my grandmother this month. This is all I have to say about her.

The marching month of March is here...
Many Promises to keep and miles to go before I sleep...