The varied personalities of a regular Homosapien

Continued from Part I...  (Since the gap between Part I and Part II is 3.5 years, I suggest you please read Part I before continuing below)  April 1 2005 The Bhajans reached its crescendo with the pace getting faster and faster, moving my thoughts along in similar speed. Suddenly, without warning, the sound of "Aum Jai Jagadesha Hare..." started, much to the disappointment of the assembly. We had all been made April Fools. Immediately, I rushed to my father and said, the tie is not all that important. I will share it with some classmate of mine. A scene of some Kamal Hassan film, in which he does that was playing in my mind. So, it seemed a cool thing to do. We would stay back for the evening session and leave for Bangalore in the night. During the afternoon session, I was seated on the third row but directly in front of Swami's Chair. IF , Bhagawan decides to sit on stage, I would have a wonderful view but THAT was not very regular. Swami used to usually take...

" I know that it is easy for us to think that He does not care about any of us leaving. After all, there are new students coming in every year. That however is far from the truth. He feels the pain of separation many times more than we do. So kindly at least give a letter and take leave off Him before you go for your job. " These words of a classmate of mine had touched me deeply. I have no idea to this day why he said this to me but that is what stopped me from leaving Parthi on the night of March 31st. It was the All Fools Day of 2005. It was the first day after I completed my Masters of Business Administration in Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning, 2 years after I had set foot in Prasanthi Nilayam for the very first time. Two very memorable years as a Sai Student.  Bhagawan arrived in my life as a photograph when I was about 7 years old through the medium of my newly-wed aunt and uncle. My mother, more out of a need to not offend the new me...

"There are some things you can't share without ending up liking each other, and knocking out a twelve-foot mountain troll is one of them." - Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (J.K. Rowling) Our previous night's trekking had a similar effect on us and we were now a closely bound group. We woke up the next morning, fully refreshed and ready for our tryst with sea. The bad news was that the sea was still rough and we could not do most of the sea activities and the Jet ski scheduled for the morning would be manned by a professional with us as the pillion. The resort usually allows us to ride the jet ski ourselves. Kayaking and Banana Boat Ride also had to be cancelled. I wanna play rough! The Good News was that the SEA WAS STILL ROUGH. The Wet and Foamy Blue mistress is a lot more fun when she is angry. We spent the morning flirting with the waves, jumping and dipping to take the crests up or down based on her whim and our fancy . One of us c...

It was a calling twice delayed but not any more denied. I finally got to visit the much talked about Vegetarian, Non-Alchoholic Beach Resort, Sai Vishram with five amazing people. We were welcomed into the resort by two adorable Labradors, Fudge and Bozo. Fudge the younger and more enthusiastic host followed our jeep to our tents allowing us to pet him before making way for us to unpack.  Bozo the wiser and mature host was in attendance as the grand father of the house: Happy at the arrival of the guests, approving of them but with the knowledge of the easy perishability of the relationship. "This too shall pass" seemed to be etched on the scars on his face, an indication of adventures of a bygone era. Canine hosts apart, a cherubic young man with elliptic spectacles and a ready smile, already amused by our enthusiasm, gave us our keys and informed us that the sea was uncharacteristically rough and that we can forget going there on the first day. Not sure if we were to...

What makes a terrorist? Are they a different species of human beings created by some mutation in the gene pool. [Click on image to Enlarge it] Courtesy: http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/ Many explanations have been given to try and understand it. Quite a few voices (most prominent being that of William Tucker ) have raised stating that Polygamy in Islam is one of the leading causes for suicide attacks. The argument goes something like this. In a monogamous society, every man is more or less guaranteed a woman and he goes on to build a family and have dependents. This makes him value his life. However in a polygamous society, most of the women are concentrated with the rich and successful and hence there is a whole lot of men who not having any possibility of finding a mate, don't value their life anymore (Darwinian thinking at best, stating that reproduction is one of the primary purposes of any creature). Also there is the promise of 72 virgins in heaven if one where do die...