Nischayacha mahameru

निश्चयाचा महामेरु, बहुत जनांसी आधारु
अखंडस्थितीचा निर्धारु, श्रीमंत योगी

नरपती, हयपती, गजपती, गडपती, भूपती, जळपती
पुरंदर आणि शक्ती, पृष्ठभागी

यशवंत, किर्तीवंत, सामर्थ्यवंत, वरदवंत
पुण्यवंत, नीतीवंत, जाणता राजा

आचार शील, विचारशील, दानशील, धर्मशील
सर्वज्ञपणे सुशील, सकळांठायी

धीर उदार गंभीर, शूर क्रियेसी तत्पर
सावधपणे नृपवर, तुच्छ केले

देव धर्म गोब्राम्हण, करावया संरक्षण
हृदयस्थ झाला नारायण, प्रेरणा केली

या भूमंडळाचे ठायी, धर्मरक्षी ऐसा नाही
महाराष्ट्र धर्म राहिला काही, तुम्हा कारणे

कित्येक दुष्ट संहारिला, कित्येकांसी धाक सुटला
कित्येकांस आश्रय जाहला, शिवकल्याण राजा

The last post, contd ..

Just have one quote to add...

"To create a world in which reason is suspect, religious faith is
a virtue, and doubt is regarded as sin, is to sanctify ignorance."
[Chester Dolan, "Blind Faith"]

Religious sentiments?

Once again the ugly head of "religious sentiments" rears its ugly head. This time, it is over an affidavit filed by the Archaeological Society of India question whether Ram existed.

Why this weakness of faith? How does one affidavit manage to offend so many people's sentiments? If their faith in Ram is as firm as they want to make it out to be, why the ruckus?

The thing that sticks in my craw is the assumption that faith somehow trumps science and history. If the ASI (the ASI!) does not find any evidence of the existence of a particular mythical character, why must it have to withdraw a statement that says so? And that is blasphemy, just because it hurts the sentiments of those who believe that the aforementioned character exists? Sentiments, my ass!

Religious beliefs cannot be allowed to trump science. We risk falling into an age of mysticism if we do. There was a time where religion reigned over science and scientific principles. That time was called the dark age!

The controversy erupted over a structure called Adam's Bridge. The ASI says that it's a natural land formation, formed over hundreds of thousands of years. Consider the religious alternative: It was built on the orders of a mythical character (whose existence cannot be proved) by an army of monkeys! And somehow, it is the ASI that is committing blasphemy, it is the ASI who must apologize. I say, it the people who want the ASI to apologize who should apologize, for insulting my intelligence, for insisting that their faith deserves respect irrespective of what they say. I say, fuck off!

It is of utmost importance that we stop being scared of hurting religious sentiments, and that the religious understand that they have no right of not being offended.

One last thing; people have to stop claiming that the Ramayana is proof of Ram's existence. By that logic, Harry Potter is all true, isn't it?

The More Affectionate One

Looking up at the stars, I know quite well
That, for all they care, I can go to hell,
But on earth indifference is the least
We have to dread from man or beast.
How should we like it were stars to burn
With a passion for us we could not return?
If equal affection cannot be,
Let the more loving one be me.

Admirer as I think I am
Of stars that do not give a damn,
I cannot, now I see them, say
I missed one terribly all day.

Were all stars to disappear or die,
I should learn to look at an empty sky
And feel its total dark sublime,
Though this might take me a little time.
         -- W.H. Auden

Death is nothing at all..

Death is nothing at all,
I have only slipped away
into the next room.

I am I,
and you are you;
whatever we were to each other,
that, we still are.

Call me by my old familiar name,
speak to me in the easy way
which you always used,
put no difference in your tone,
wear no forced air
of solemnity or sorrow.

Laugh as we always laughed
at the little jokes we shared together.
Let my name ever be
the household word that it always was.
Let it be spoken without effect,
without the trace of a shadow on it.

Life means all
that it ever meant.
It is the same as it ever was.
There is unbroken continuity.

Why should I be out of mind
because I am out of sight?

I am waiting for you,
for an interval,
somewhere very near,
just around the corner.

All is well.

-- Henry Scott Holland

Anandvanbhuvani

स्वर्गीची लोटली जेथे
रामगंगा महानदी
तीर्थासी तुळणा नाही, आनंदवनभुवनी

त्रैलोक्य चालिल्या फौजा
सौख्य बंधविमोचने
मोहिम मांडीली मोठी, आनंदवनभुवनी

येथून वाढला धर्मु
रमाधर्म समागमें
संतोष मांडला मोठा, आनंदवनभुवनी

भक्तासी रक्षिले मागे
आताही रक्षिते पहा
भक्तासी दिधले सर्वे, आनंदवनभुवनी

येथूनी वाचती सर्वे
ते ते सवर्त्र देखती
सामर्थ्य काय बोलावे, आनंदवनभुवनी

उदंड जाहले पाणी
स्नानसंध्या करावया
जप तप अनुष्ठाने, आनंदवनभुवनी

बुडाली सर्व ही पापे
हिंदुस्थान बळावले
अभक्तांचा क्षयो झाला, आनंदवनभुवनी

Pablo Neruda's Sonet XVII

I don't love you as if you were the salt-rose, topaz
or arrow of carnations that propagate fire:
I love you as certain dark things are loved,
secretly, between the shadow and the soul.

I love you as the plant that doesn't bloom and carries
hidden within itself the light of those flowers,
and thanks to your love, darkly in my body
lives the dense fragrance that rises from the earth.

I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where,
I love you simply, without problems or pride:
I love you in this way because I don't know any other way of loving

but this, in which there is no I or you,
so intimate that your hand upon my chest is my hand,
so intimate that when I fall asleep it is your eyes that close.

---

Source : http://www.english.emory.edu/Bahri/Neruda.html

Sutti!

Finals .. done! All done! Hahahaha!

Bring on the fun! (and the beer! :-)

Ecstatic,
Kaustubh

Dreams unfulfilled..

This is my first post in about 2 months, and it comes on the back of the terrible massacre at Virginia Tech. a couple of days ago.

32 people died a senseless death..they died because one man could not control his demons. They died because that man saw fit to kill them before he took his own life. All that is left now are the shattered dreams of those unfortunate people..dreams and a sense of what they could have been, but will be no more.

We are, all of us, Hokies..

The Day the Earth Stood Still

I have been wanting to watch this movie for quite some time now, and finally found some to see it.

It's not the best made movie in the world, and I'm sure none of the actors got any Oscars for their performances, but I loved it! I'm not going to tell you, though...watch the movie.

Of course, this movie does deliver one of my all time favorite movie lines when Klaatu says, "I'm impatient with stupidity. My people have learned to live without it." And who can forget "Gort! Klaatu barada nikto!"?

My advice, watch the movie.

Relaxed,
Kaustubh

Walking on a lake, amongst other things

Today Subhash, Siva and me went to Loveland to an Indian restaurant. Had tandoori chicken, butter chicken and naan. Now, this might not have been the best Indian food that I've had ever, but certainly beats eating burgers/chinese/whatever! On the way back, we stopped by a lake where people were ice-fishing. So, we actually walked on the lake. Trust me, its a bit scary. You just don't know how thick the ice is. =))

We then went for a bit of a drive, and came back home just in time for Superbowl. The cubs scored a touchdown at kickoff! :-)

All in all, a fun Sunday. And its not over yet!

Kaustubh

The good life..

I just spent the two most amazing weeks of my life! Went to Los Angeles to meet up with Asmi, Nadya, Bhalu and Mandar. And boy did we have a blast! From Sea World to Santa Monica, from Universal Studios to Venice Beach..it was the best time I'd had in a long time!

Saw a couple of movies. One of them was "The Pursuit of Happyness". For everyone who hasn't seen it, GO SEE IT! And this on my birthday..what a birthday to have! :-)

Asmi couldn't make it to some places that we went to, so Mandar, Nadya and me got her souveniers. And she always went, "Tumhi mad ahat! This is insane!". :-D I guess the three of us really got used to listening to that!

Happy!
Kaustubh