Tuesday, December 11, 2007

HAPPY LOSAR FOLKS!!

The day has finally set in.... Ladakhi LOSAR!!

HAPPY LOSAR (New Year) to all my readers.

Whoever you are. Now that’s out of the way. What will the new year bring I wonder, apart from the four seasons, birthdays, work, the sun rising and falling, and the polar ice caps melting faster than an one can imagine, watching Meg Ryan again in her new Avtar, eh!
Losar festival is celebrated to commemorate the advent of yet another new Lunar year. It is the Ladakhi or Tibetan New Year. Losar is the most important of all the socio-religious events of Ladakh. The actual Losar celebrations creeps in with Namchot, a socio-religious event celebrated to observe the birthday and the Buddha-hood of Tsongkha-pa, the Tibetan saint-scholar and founder of the Geluk-pa school of Tibetan Buddhism in the 14th century. The New Year festivities at all homes begins with the 'Metho' ceremony during Losar eve, when a processions of people carrying flaming torches pass through the Monasteries, villages, bazaars and lanes, chanting prayers to chase away evil spirits and hungry ghosts believed to have accumulate during the year as a result of bad Karma (deeds). An interesting display of fire and light is created by the whirling of the flaming torches which are then thrown away in a gesture to bid farewell to the old year and to welcome the new year ahead. The New Year day itself starts with making offerings at the shrines of personal gods and clan ancestors and with greetings to family elders, relatives and friends. This festival is full of music, dancing and merry-making.
This LOSAR festival has an interesting history. In the 17th century, King Jamyang Namgyal decided to lead an expedition against the Balti forces during winter. He was advised that any expedition before the New Year celebrations by two months would be inauspicious, establishing a tradition that people still follow - celebrating Losar on the first day of the eleventh month of every Lunar year. To quote Ladags Melong a local magazine: "according to historians and the Pod-Gya Tsigdzod Chhenpo, it was the Tibetans who changed their Losar date and not the Ladakhi's and other Himalayan cultures used to have the same Losar date. When Genghis Khan conquered Tibet in 1227, he made the Tibetans celebrate it as the New Year. This is why Tibetan months are also called Hor-lza (Mongol-month). The Mongols also started the system of numbering the Tibetan months. Until then there was no tradition of numbering the Tibetan months tangpo, ngyispa, sumpa (first, second, third). Instead months were called by their names.
Therefore it is interesting to note that the Ladakhi Losar is the original Losar date and if we dropped the system of numbering the months (due to which our Losar seems to fall in the eleventh month) then there would be no confusion. In fact certain other Himalayan regions such as Sikkim, the Sherpas in Nepal and the Khombo region of Tibet also celebrate Losar at the same time as Ladakh."

For all Buddhists, Losar is a sacred time and a time for feasting and celebration. It is a time to be with the family, and a time to ensure that bad omens are not carried into the new year.

New year... A new month... A new week... and yes... a new day ! mmm guys I must say that the days are simply going great with me out here. I am enjoying no matter I am being away from my home this time.. missed my family sooooo much but what to do coz Life is changing.....

I have wished my self already.. :) so.. Wish you all a blessed LOSAR!!

Saturday, November 17, 2007

...haven't had too much to update lately...

I have written much in my blog lately - mostly because I've been busy with some stuffs, sometimes because I just don't know what to say anymore. Blogging- my newfound passion. Not too obvious, hehe. I wasn’t able to write down some of my thoughts the past few weeks. Anyways, here I am again. If I could just put into writing everything that works up in my head right now… But let me just begin by saying I miss writing down my feelings. I miss writing down how happy I got during the time I was at home with friends. I missed writing down what’s working up inside me when I received a pat on my shoulder for some of the good things I have done. I missed writing down some other important things that has happened to me. But everything that has happened to me this time is embedded in my heart…

Be with me as I begin my trek to forever…

Saturday, October 27, 2007

No certainty until the genocide in Darfur ends

More than four years on, the conflict in Darfur has led to some of the worst human rights abuses imaginable. The United Nations estimates that the conflict has left as many as 450,000 dead from violence and disease. In addition, by obstructing and arresting journalists, the Sudanese government has been able to obscure much of what has gone on and has suppressed information by jailing and killing witnesses and tampered with evidence such as mass graves to eliminate their forensic values. Even the Amnesty International issued a report accusing China of supplying arms, ammunition and related equipment to Sudan (China invests heavily in Sudan's oil industry) and this hardware has been transferred to Darfur for use by the government and the militias.

In early October, BBC aired a documentary “An Atrocity That Needs No Exaggeration“ regarding the magnitude of atrocities in Darfur. This documentary misses a critical point in the debate over how many people have actually died. The real point is that, unfortunately, mortality estimates cannot be verified or updated because the Government of Sudan actively denies the international community – including diplomats, humanitarian workers, and epidemiology experts – real access to the Darfur region.

History reminds us that the full scope and scale of genocide is unknown until it has ended. Past perpetrators, most notably the Nazis and the present Chinese autocrities in Tibet, actively concealed their campaigns of mass murder from public scrutiny and accountability. When the scale of this genocide did become known, a shocked world cried out, “Never again.” The same was true in Cambodia and Rwanda. And that is what is happening now in Darfur.

The Save Darfur Coalition too believes that in this conflict as many as 450,000 Darfuris have been either killed by deliberate and indiscriminate attacks, because there is sound analysis to support that – analysis that is impossible to confirm only because of Sudan’s willful obstruction. Ultimately, no level of genocide is acceptable. The international community must continue to press the Sudanese government and President Omar al-Bashir to provide access to both international peacekeepers, humanitarian workers and experts who can more accurately document the scale of this tragedy, as well as provide protection and assistance to Darfur’s poor civilian population.

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Every true voices are heard

Risking heightened tensions with China, US President George W. Bush will attend a ceremony tomorrow (october 17) to award a Congress medal to the Dalai Lama, at the bastion of American democracy. Following the ceremony, the Dalai Lama will speak.
In protest against this (U.S. Congress) plan to honor the Dalai Lama, China also has pulled out of a meeting last week at which world powers were to discuss further action against Iran.
It goes against every fiber of my being to say anything positive about this President, but this is a very good thing; for the non-violent campaign/struggle associated with his holiness.
Just for the record it does not change my opinion about the other things he has done however.
My peace prevail on this Earth!!

Thursday, October 11, 2007

war on drugs

When Marion Jones said that she had asked God for forgiveness after she admitted to lying about taking performance enhancing drugs before the 2000 Olympics, I wonder if this was the same "God" who had apparently provided her with the steroids -- I mean the "God-given abilities" which she claimed to have.
I mean really, how much sympathy can she expect to get from a God whom she thought didn't exist enough to care about being used as a false front for her "sinful" behavior?
She admitted to the court that she did take THG to prepare for the games in Sydney. I just don't know why these damn athletes take that risk. I mean seriously no one expects you to be he-man, just train hard and let your talents take over. She's already in the hole financially, so this only makes it worse. I wouldn't be surprised if Wheaties wanted their money back!

“The truth or falsity of a given perception is often quite relative when one is concerned with a complex social question such as the nature of a conspiracy. There are as many variables and problems of definition that much depends on the observers position, interest and amount of information. The belief in a conspiracy can be treated as a theoretical construct, not necessarily less reasonable than other constructs which help explain disturbing and unexpected happenings” - David B. Davis -

Thursday, October 04, 2007

crackdown on peaceful protesters


One could scarcely call the government of Myanmar something other than repressive, but they have taken that label to new heights over the past week days. Soldiers are firing automatic weapons into crowds, invading Buddhist monasteries, and have cut off electronic communications available to civilians. Demonstrations, sparked by a large increase in fuel prices, have been estimated to have numbers up to 100,000. The nation of Myanmar rivals N Korea as a closed and repressed society.
Myanmar's chief patron, China, has blocked UN condemnation, but has offered platitudes about how "all parties in Myanmar exercise restraint and properly handle the current issue so as to ensure the situation there does not escalate and get complicated.” Evidently unarmed civilians and monks need to restrain themselves from getting killed by automatic gunfire. We really ought to spend lots of money on Chinese made goods, just to make sure they can have the influence to make such a statement stick.
Buddhism is a non-violent philosophy/religion and it is once again being faced with forceful violence. Evidently a saffron robe is poor protection from bullets. The military junta running the place does not seem to be overly concerned that bullets won't win the day. They may be running a large risk of backlash within the military ranks, people who have and know how to use, firearms.

I am not an advocate of taking leaflets to a gunfight, nor am I overly impressed with the technique of resistance involved in taking a bullet, admirable as Buddhism may be, self-destruction to no end gain seems wasteful. While I might be willing to die for an idea, that concept also includes helping someone on the other side get there first. I have noticed that there's not much reportage regarding the fact that "non-violent revolutions" have managed to get significant support from heavily armed contingents before they became successful.....

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Fatal Attraction

"She's SO sooo hot!"

I don't think I have ever said that...phew!! My friends all think I'm nuts cause I don't really go kooky over a girl at first sight. I guess I'm just one for whom attraction is based on knowing a person first. A girl can be thought of as a 'hottie' (wow, I hate that term!) by scads of people, but unless I know her and know her character, MEH. Honestly, I wouldn't give much of a second look.

Now someone I get along with, can be both silly and serious with, and know her character to be one of integrity, maturity, faith, goofiness, and fun... that's a different story. It's those things that will attract me to someone. Beauty of character, if you will.

Of course, it doesn't hurt that she's beautiful on the outside, too!

My new look!

In my last post, I looked at needing to work on the template of my blog. Well hey, instead of just tidying things up a little bit, why don't I go for some XML, make my own images and headings, learn all about hexadecimal colour codes and drop-down menus, and completely redesign my blog? Suuure... that would be easier! A big huge thanks to google guys who waded through their codes many, many times when I tried and said, "It's broken! Help!"

In any case, welcome to my new and hopefully improved site! It's a little more "me" than my previous old site. I hope you enjoy! Leave a comment to say hello (or to tell me if there's any formatting problems!)!

Thursday, September 06, 2007

one goes maze and blue!

After a hiatus of almost 2 weeks, I am back to my blog. What did I do in these two weeks? Celebrate, touring and more celebrations :) I did some of the nicest things and spent the most beautiful moments, visited lovely places couple of times and surely had a gala time. Managed to get lots of exercise too! I also like to have few fun things going on all the time… that does really help me be more creative and enjoy the process. My main guilty pleasure is music. If I am really stressed with a deadline I pretty much always buy some songs, so that is fun. Music is a great way to influence moods and creative direction…
For the onlookers, the summer here at this place is something that has to be endured. It's not just the heat of the plains though that can prove tricky. Everyone goes home for the summer. Apparently. It seems to me that there are people out there with way too much holiday.
Well, I have this theory that we all have ever-diminshing topics of conversation. Back home you talk about new CDs, TV programmes, politics, sports whatever. A friend confided in me that he was worried about becoming boring this time of the year. When he went back to his place of study he had nothing to talk to his friends about. Another friend complained that he has very few mates left in the city here. You couldn't meet a nicer person and he was worried that he was becoming nasty. I doubt it. It's just us good ones, we're a strange bunch. Another soon-to-leave ex-pat told me that she decided to get out because she was worried about what she would become if she didn't..
For myself I have also met up with people and been bemused about my lack of starting a conversation. I was never stuck for words before. I remember one conversation with a friend when we agreed no more talk about work - then we sat in silence for two minutes thinking of something else to say.
So summer is a funny yet joyous time. By Autumn the next aircraft/bus load of tourists, volunters, development workers etc etc will no doubt land back on their own shores. We will bask in fresh conversations and fresh enthusiasm to keep a cool head for the whole of chill winter months.
In the meantime people will wilt in the heat while everyone keeps thinking of something interesting to addon.

Blessings from day 11

This post has been long due but I have been overwhelmed by all the things that I have to juggle to just keep my head above the water. I really wanted to write a lot about the program I had been into these short yet beautiful 15 days period coz I think I had some excellent time with it. But coz of time constrains I think I will just skim through jist of the topic and give my readers an idea of what my life has been into these days. Lets start at with this:

I was reading the book "Blessing Your Spirit", and here at day 11's blessing, these few passages kept lingering over my thoughts:
"I bless you with enough problems in life and God's rescuing you from those problems that you no longer fear problems because they become an opportunity for God to show Himself strong. I bless you with the blessing that Daniel had of living so long with God and experiencing His faithfulness so many times that when he was in the lion's den, he was not overwhelmed with fear. The animals' mouths were bound, and they could not bite him.
I bless you, with the same security that David had, to walk into the enemy's camp and leave with Saul's spear and water bottle. I bless you with experiencing your Father's intervention so often and on such a profound level that you are emotionally secure. I bless you with seeing Him do remarkable things to rescue you, so that you can go before God's people and share glory stories of what God did on your behalf, and how He activated events to rescue you from the trap of the enemy designed to destroy you.
........
I bless you with not just enjoying the emotion of release and rescue, but also translating those experiences into acts of worhip. I bless you with worshiping and glorifying God, encouraging His people, and memorializing His power after a magnificent rescue....."

Monday, August 06, 2007

crime @ abode of peace

Two days ago, Ladakh woke up to the gruesome murder news of two monks of Likir Monastery. The monks were brutally killed on the intervening night of 3rd and 4th August. Such ghastly incident of murder unheard of in Leh before took place in a restaurant in Alchi village run by Likir monastery. One of the monks was the manager and the other was the entrance-fee collector at the historic Alchi Gompa of Liker monastery. The police somehow managed to nab the accused after 31 hours of the crime.
I've been reading and following to all the coverage about this crime, and as I see it, the whole think reeks of a setup in contradiction to the statement made by the accused to the police.
My thoughts and prayers tonight are with the two monks, with their friends, with their family of Likir monastery and with the Ladakhi's in general.

Where is the Love
I feel the weight of the world on my shoulder,
As Im gettin' older yall people gets colder.
Most of us only care about money makin
Selfishness got us followin the wrong direction
Wrong information alwayz shown by the media
Negative images is the main criteria.
Infectin the young minds faster than bacteria
Kids wanna act like what they see in the cinema.
Yo, whatever happened to the values of humanity?
Whatever happened to the fairness in equality?
Instead in spreadin love we spreadin' animosity,
Lack of understandin leading lives away from unity,
Thats the reason why sometimes im feelin' under,
Thats the reason why somtines im feelin' down,
Theres no wonder why somtimes im feelin' under
Gotta keep my faith alive till love is found!

People killin people diein,
Children hurt and ya hear them cryin.
Can you practice what you preach?
And dont you turn the other cheek.

Father Father Father help us
Send some guidance from above
Cuz people got me got me questionin'
Where is the Love???

Tuesday, July 31, 2007

The Sun Sets on Booze...

Previous night, I along with my friends gathered for yet another get-together for a few drinks. We had a grand time just talking and drinking. We also had a few major news and gossips from all over. You drink the glass and find yourself down into the whole thing.
I am an occassional drinker and never remember drinking alone. Always wokedup refreshed and not even with slightest touch of hangover ever. Unlike certain friends who calls on their way to work the next morning feeling pretty rough. I try not to laugh, but it was always funny!
I came up from home hoping that this week get to be shaping up to be a busy one. My job expects me to work even for the weekends till the time I'm here, so I'll be doing that on Saturday and maybe Sunday as usual. We are to have a dance rehearsal going away from 8th Aug evening, he he!. Most importantly though, practice for the forthcoming annual day will be just for 3 days then I shall move to Leh the very next day i.e., on 15th Aug.

Update, Update, Update!

Last weekend, in the space of less than 2 days, it took to my notice that most of major TV channels like CNN et al aired the worthless story of big clelebrities and their deeds. My head was sore, but more from the emotional twists and turns in the final days.
I learned Lindsay Lohan, Poor Little Rich Drug User was busted on suspicion of drunk driving and drug possession. Shortly, her father and a parade of Hollywood celebrities made sobbing, heart wrenching pleas on the Larry King show for public understanding of Lohan's ordeal. They blame all her situation on reckless paparazzi and LA's big city life.
There are thousands of drug offenders all around the globe that need the same compassion and help as Lohan. The big difference is that these drug abusers aren't high-profile, bankable screen commodities alike. They are mostly poor blacks, Asians and Latinos. The estimate is that nearly one-fourth of the more than one million blacks that pack America's prisons are there for non-violent, drug-related crimes. It costs millions to keep them there.
Putting them behind bars has had staggering consequences as these sorta punishments has torn apart families and communities. It has been the single biggest reason for the bloat in States spending on prison construction, maintenance, and the escalation in the number of prosecutors needed to handle the flood of drug cases.
Also, few poor black and Asian drug offenders were immediately released by police, as Lohan continues to be, and then they were allowed to luxuriate in a posh drug treatment center.
We Play to win but we loose just the same!!

Friday, July 20, 2007

His Holiness to visit Leh on 31st July '07

With the day approaching, traditional ceremonies that involves blessing small and large Buddha statues and Thangka's that will sit nearby the throne of His Holiness the Dalai Lama (decorations on the structure "White snow lions" are a symbol of strength) when the spiritual leader of Tibetans and Buddhist in general visits Leh on 31st July 2007 must be going on with constant watch by the Abbots in different monasteries around Leh.
The visit of His Holiness is for many a very important event, apart from some religious sermons, this time it is learnt that he will show them how to develop compassion, love and a good heart.
Around 5,000 to 10,000 Buddhists from around the country will descend on Leh when the Dalai Lama delivers a series of sermons, lectures and philosophical talks at Leh's sJiway Tsal("the place where compassion develops"), Choglamsar Leh. Buddhist nuns and monks from Taiwan, Bhutan and Vietnam and some Hollywood celebrities would be among the visitors. The Dalai Lama, who fled his homeland in 1959 following a failed uprising against China, has his government-in-exile in Dharamsala (H.P)in India. India is also home to some 100,000 Tibetan exiles.
I was there when the Tibetan leader addressed 10,000 people in the area in September 2005. The experience was so so good and I myself felt much privileged on being a Buddhist as it appeals to a person's individual responsibilities and have someone to belive in strongly. I feel, What is important for the Buddhist around are the values of compassion, generosity and wisdom, that the Dalai Lama also stands for.
The Tibetan spiritual leader, who was awarded the Nobel Peace prize in 1989 for his efforts to achieve a Non-Violent solution to the Tibetan problem, will visit Nubra valley and give religious discourse there at Diskit, Nubra and would likely to unveil a huge Buddha Maitreya Statue at Diskit Monastery.
MAY PEACE PREVAIL ON EARTH.

Monday, July 16, 2007

Copa America 2007 Etcetera

The Soccer season is now morethan-halfway over and the week that brought us to this point also brought us some history in Copa America Title 2007 as Brazil defeated the hot favourites Argentina and clinched their 8th title.
Yesterday, I thought every soccer enthusiast surely would take his/her time to catch up with the the main international football tournament for South America. Remember what this is about, and express your crazyness!!!!!!!!!
I carefully followed the matches right from day one, and on D-Day I confidently took it'll be AR-GEN-TINA, the undisputed Champions from South America (Much as it pains me to say that.) I've rated them highly from 2006 edition of the Football World Cup. They are so loaded with quality, well-balanced in midfield and defence....and are peaking at the right time. Big playmakers Jaun Riquelme and Carlos Tevez could unlock the door to any rearguard in Venezuela. Lionel Messi's also primed, and so is the pedigree to win it all. I would loved Brazil to loose, because they are woefully let down by their decrepit biggies (Kaka, Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, R Carlos, Dida et al).
I never would have guess Brazil had such a come back in them. Struggling in their group match, the defending champion Brazil were beaten by Mexico with a 2-0 score. And without the Brazilian regular playmakers, Argentina surely was the stronger team in the whole tournament, displayed excellent matches but in the end, Brazil came out on top... kudos and some Brazilian luck in the form of an own goal by experienced Argentine Captain Roberto Ayala.
This defeat must sting the Argentineans and their fans alike hard as they brought everything they had to this Copa. It's still indigestible while I (rather we all) recall yesterday's game. Phew!
As champions of South America, now Brazil will join South Africa, Italy and the USA along with the winners of the 2007 Asian Cup, 2008 African Nations Cup, 2008 Euro and 2008 OFC Nations Cup at the Confederations Cup in 2009 in South Africa.

Sunday, July 08, 2007

Celebrating 6th of July.

Finally I found time to write the 6th July celebration. What a day, I went with my friends to Pungug village (12 kms from the place I stay) to celebrate the birthday of His Holiness the Dalai Lama amongst the locals and the Tibetans alike of the nearby villages.
It was the first time after 7 years I actually had been here in Leh on that day. For the past years its always been in somewhere in the plains. But I never really party or enjoy. This time perhaps was an exception, apart from me some of my friends have not seen this day at Hanle for a long time so we expect a small gathering will be just perfect.
The day has gotten off to a much better start than the rest of the time I spent here, so far. Instead of being sick at work, I was getting hugs from dozens of my staffs and friends with everyone anxiously watching the beautifully decorated cultural program.
On the sporting event side of exciting things, we played a friendly cricket match.. a limited over match against a visiting team from a nearby village. The game was particularly challenging because most of us never played such an innings at such a place and my teammates explaining to eachother... how the local youths arrange their sets and make strategies: what's coming up next, and you really have to get all the opponent team all out ahead of time...phew! I kept the stumps and had to lead those, since our bowlers had practiced the sets ahead of time. The other folks mostly got a warning when they were being hitted for fours and sixes and they just jumped in when they get them out. Luckily the sky was good. In th end, we won the match.
Far at a corner, people gathered to get a glimpse of the horse racing for which the horses have been trained from months for this event. There were around 35 beautifully decorated horses for the competition. Our cook stood second and his brother got the eighth spot in all. We took our vehicle at a far place near the stream and there we enjoyed to our tune. Meanwhile I noticed one horse being brought for our ride. So hurrah!! That was it... I simply didn't stood at all from then on.
We all danced, and danced ..peeping in every tents pitched there and joining the beautiful folks outthere with their dancing steps to the local, tibetan, hindi and english tunes alike.
It was a bit of a culture shock going straight back to work early nextday, after one full day playing, riding and dancing out in the lush green plains, but I'm adjusting. I got myself captured riding on a decorated horse and will post that and a few pictures here, from the day 6th July soon....

Sunday, June 17, 2007

Quieting the self


In the dim light of a household chapel, a monk from the local Buddhist monastery chants prayers to bless a family's crop during the brief Himalayan growing season. In this remote valley isolated by past war, I get to discover a redoubt of peace..
"You have to go through the boredom of repetition until an energy arises of itself," says a nun while performing a meditation. "[Then] you will find yourself entirely free of wanting anything."

Sogyal Rinpoche: " The realization of impremanence is paradoxically the only thing we can hold on to, perhaps our only possession."

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

A most pleasant month

Hello! Here we go again. This time with the amazing valley of Hanle, What is this....?? Well, then the best you could do is to take the rest of the day off and question your existence in this planet and try to realize what the hell you've been doing here in this world! Besides that, take the time to surf the web and get some pictures from it and take a good look to what you've been missing.
Guys, you know I’ve been CRAZY busy with my job at this manificient place, plus a trip to Leh inbetween helps somehow with my state of mind to be with my friends out there, and my evenings here managing to get taken up with other things around on the net. Anyhow, the things were going on real good this time atleast.
Like, you miss one week without a post and you’re thinking: Wow, it’s been a week. I should really get on that. Then, by weeks 1 to 2, you start thinking…..where on earth would I even begin to start? There’s much too much to say. That’s how I’ve felt the last few days.
But really, honestly, this is how my this month has been goin with:
Work. Work. Some play and work.....work. Oh my work, at its best, is a pleasant diversion, but it doesn't really challenge the mind in the same way. It's a goal-driven pursuit, rather than an exploratory/revelatory pursuit.
The work itself gets somewhat pretty exausting everytime I reach here. Let me tell you, it’s a good thing, that moment of realizing: It takes a while to get used to. But it’s lovely. And then you spend half your time thinking: more of programmking at it's best.
It’s similar to when you meet someone and you think: Where have you BEEN on my life?
So, how’s that? Honestly, there hasn’t been much more happening on this part of thing. Most of the happenings have somehow fit into one of those categories: like the night of total exhausted at work, etc...... Well, you know next day hopefully comes, Good times.
Because I can, can always hope and dare to dream, just because it’s my blog!
That's it, guys!! Blogging from the valley of Hanle..

Monday, June 04, 2007

The Soul of Modesty

Until recently some friends of mine reminded me that I never blog anymore. Well, here I am. I have been so busy lately doing all kinds of stuff along ...
Lately, what brought the attention my way, what would most flatter me (in the world’s terms), and what would best compare to what magazines, models and the girls around I saw were wearing. The motives for the way one dressed were to promote self, being sensible and not promote the Creator!
"For I know the plans I have for you" declares the Lord "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." JEREMIAH 29:11

Friday, March 30, 2007

One for all…. on a roll

These recent socalled Blog conferences have always seemed like a funny idea to me. I mean, I don't know about you all there, but I started my site precisely so that I wouldn't have to go out and talk to strangers in person. But everybody's going because, as I find some does this blog thing for a living, so I figured I'd check it out, too. May be that the changing scenario of the society has also brought about changes in the thinking and needs of the people. Well, If you are getting into/thru this post here, please do take a time to drop some comments and if not, then just say hi! What I believe is that Those who can, do. Those who can't do, follow. And for those who can't even do this, it’s simple…. Just blog.* And I'm comfortable with this. I don't feel I've used the word "blog" enough in this post. One more should do it:
BLOG!

Saturday, March 24, 2007

Truthiness in Reading

Once my teacher told me that you can't consider yourself a real student of English literature until you've read pretty much everything Shakespeare ever wrote. I guess that officially makes me a “poseur”. I like bits of Shakespeare. I really like certain plays, such as Macbeth and Richard III and The Taming of the Shrew and The Merchant of Venice. But Hamlet? Romeo and Juliet? Come on. They remind me of bad teen angst movies, possibly starring Judd Nelson.
The first time I ever heard or read Shakespeare was during my school days, ofcourse part of it’s curriculum. Later I've tried to read it a few times, but I feel this black cloud descend on me every time, and initially I never get past the first seventy or so pages. I had to fake my way through the book, which meant grilling my friends and, of course, reading the ending he he! Gradually things developed,got taste on it and from then the road never seem ending.
Soon I came across some of Jamyang Norbu’s. Guys! I simply loved his books! It was when The Mandala of Sherlock Holmes crossed my path a year ago, I was going to be taken in again. Now, I can sense public opinion about my taste shifting even as I write this. And I know that a lot of otherwise right-minded souls didn't care for it, either. Which, you know, fine. Well, I have no idea how I managed to bluff my way through this point.....

Friday, February 16, 2007

Candy spoilt my dream.

Last night, a mysterious, beautiful stranger showered me with boxes of cards and BURFIS (burfi kyon? should that be a choclate etc ..am amazed on seeing this and kept wondering what might be the sign).... ahem! Reality bites!!

Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Happy New Year!

Altough January 1st is a great time to start something new and we are just barely one month into it, it still feels. So many to do and so many days to go.
The "Year of the Fire Pig" finally sets in ushering in.. us all, rays of hopes and unfulfilled dreams too.
LO-SOMA (New Year) is a time people make commitments and resolutions... starting with prayers to wipe away the bad omens, bad old spirits and hurdles etc.
Let's all again welcome this LUNAR YEAR with a "LOSAR LA JALSKIT .. TASHIS"
well, this is not old but more like "broken in"....into a yet another new era

The doors kept ajar.....

Before you read further, don't think that I am to take you into my world of new adventures....
I would like to apologize for not posting at all the last one month. I have been quite busy with my works, most notably I must say that "ONE FOR ALL...." will not turn into a dead blog because I'm thoroughly enjoying posting new things. Thank you all for your patience and appreciation.
Things are lightening up a little bit at the moment, and I expect by April, I will be actively blogging again.
I have been keeping a running list of topics and I hope you'll enjoy reading my opinions and views on it.