A Eulogy to all my half done posts

Yes, a week into my blogging career I have racked up a whole stack of half done passages. Some with creative titles like "The Incredible Ambivalence of Being", some not so creative ones like, "LA vs. Manhattan". I pondered over these little handicapped compositions today and decided that I will lay them rest once and for all.

So here is the Eulogy, dedicated to five little word medlies.

My little word medlies,
Thank you for what you gave me in your short lives,
A little hope of filling up that dark page yonder,
A lot of vacant moments, away from ennui.

My little word medlies,
I feel sorry that you were all flawed, from birth
I lay you all to rest today, with a hope
That tomorrow is more wordy than today.

If this end sounds a little abrupt, you will realize that there was actually a sixth.....

Freakish Bees

As I read Sepoy’s post about the freakishly good kids in the Bee, I was reminded of the documentary film on the 1999 Bee, Spellbound (2002). The documentary profiled ten of the kids that were in the National Bee that year, all from varying backgrounds. The film was well made, with many inspiring stories about kids making it against some pretty stiff odds. A desi kid, Nupur Lala, eventually won the Bee, however the other desi kid’s family was singularly freakish. The kid had instructors for everything from Latin, German and French to a grandfather that was holding an entire village’s meal hostage to his grandson’s victory! Worth watching, one way or another.

Intel Inside is out

The all too familiar Intel Inside logo & tag line are being phased out. With Intel’s business strategy shifting from its traditional core business of computers to consumer products, they favor a new tag line called Leap Ahead. Since I come from the world that is constantly pushing the envelop in computing power, it is interesting to see how the PC gaming industry is now the driving force in the chase for the next leap in performance.

Parva, by Dr. S. L. Bhyrappa

Last year my mother was able to find an English translation of the legendary epic Parva by Dr. S. L. Bhyrappa. She was very relieved since we were asking her to translate Parva for us after she finished translating Dr. B. G. L. Swamy's Hasira Honnu (Green Wealth). Dr. Bhyrappa retired as a professor of philosophy in Manasagangotri (Mysore University). "Parva"” means epoch. True to its title the book is a mega epic. The book follows the characters of the Mahabharata through the days prior to the great war through the days right after. The book reveals the complicated relationships, politics, loves and hates of the main protagonists. Parva's triumph is the humanity it brings to its characters, the vividness it brings to the landscape and the color it brings to the relationships. One of the main protagonists is Bheema and not Arjuna. Dr. Bhyrappa spent many years researching this book in the Himalayas and provides interesting explanations on many old world practices like Niyoga (The rule that allowed the Queen Kunti to take different lovers in order to procreate and further her husband Pandu'’s lineage). The book is a cult favorite and has been translated into dozens of languages (including English - By Dr. Raghavendra). It won Dr. Bhyrappa the Sahitya Akademi Award and is available for purchase online as well as in the Akademi offices in the Gyanabharathi (Bangalore University, Central College Campus).

New Year 2006

A new year dawns (yawns). The day has begun late, the excuse being insomnia due to a recently concluded trip to the west coast (yes, I will say it, "I got jetlag from a trip to the west coast") and a late night "Spanglish" indulgence. It is the first time in several years now that I have stayed up beyond the mid-night hour on new year's eve: funny do you say? Especially since millions do exactly the opposite, on exactly the same day and further, drink themselves silly and probably wake up at noon on the first day of the year feeling like yesterday's chinese take out.

What does 2006 mean to me? For one thing, I have begun (seriously this time) to write. What will I write about? Probably a little bit about everything. About me, politically, about me, personally and everything in between...

Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum viditur.

"Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum viditur" means "Anything said in Latin, is profound". The name of my latest attempt at writing is "inquietesque", which being the Latin word for "restless". Although the writing may only aspire to be profound, the restlessness is certainly not an aspiration. It is perhaps something more ingrained in my personality. The restlessness perhaps stems from my love for the written word. I have dabbled at writing in the past, for most part unsuccessfully. Being as I am my own worst critic, I tend to dislike whatever I write almost immediately after it is penned down. One happy outcome of this medium is that it is so easy to put things out there before I shred it in disgust.

So ends my first "blog" ever. I hope I will push "Publish" instead of "Cancel".