Balancing Thinking and Doing

 I have reached a conclusion, as I sometimes do. It is the result of deep thought. You didn't think I was capable of that, did you? But anyway, this is the result of that thinking. That one should think less, and do more. It really does not matter what- gardening will do just as well as garden variety of cooking, or anything else. Just don't think too much. 

You may not appreciate this until you are fifty, or sixty-one, which is my current age. OK, 62, in two months from now. But that's not the point. You think a lot, and it can leave you no better than before- stressed out, angry, etc.. you know what I mean. Instead, activity ( I don't mean the gym, necessarily- have never been in one) of any kind keeps you occupied, and your mind focussed- away from too much thought. Now you see why Hindi films that are potboilers with predictable stuff have their place in the scheme of things.. I was a big fan of Hindi films, and I wasn't bored till I went abroad- no Hindi films, suddenly.

Anyway, you get the point. Now get off the net and DO something, for God's sake- and yours!

Thinking- a Lost Art?

We had a lot of time on our hands in my years of growing up. We probably had a lot of physical activity too, but this post is about the time we spent thinking about things, when we were not playing, studying, or watching movies-in theatres.

One of our think-tanks in engineering college, Osmania University. 1977-82.


I am not sure what we thought about-maybe what we would do as a grownup, whether we even wanted to grow up (I think we did, as the grass appeared greener on that side then). Maybe about doing wonderful things like flying (my first flight was at age 23), travelling to a different country or countries (that happened on my Ph.D. cum sightseeing trip at age 26).

Most likely, thoughts also included finding the love of your life (maybe not, maybe you thought you had already found her/him with every new crush), owning your own car and going on an adventure (it IS an adventure, come to think of it, on our city roads), owning a Badminton court so you could play without interruption ( a friend from college in Hyderabad had this ambition of having a Billiards Table in his basement and playing with Me!).

The world of thoughts is not constrained by reality, and is positive at all times. To this world!

Flying Zebras and More

There was this place called Flying Zebra pizzas that I happened to eat at in Siem Reap, Cambodia. A small, homely but distinctive eatery, it had a wood-fired oven that was right at the entrance, and you could see the pizza being put inside it- it was a big oven. The taste of the thin crust pizza was very different, may be because of the wood. Better than many I have eaten elsewhere. It was served on a wooden plate too.

The TV played Charlie Chaplin films- a couple of classics that I must have watched ages ago in a theatre were on, bringing on nostalgia. There was also an interesting drink available, made of crushed mint and ice, with lemon juice and water/soda that looked unlike anything I remember having before.

In other words, a nice touch here, a nice touch there, and service with a smile. What more can a customer ask for?

Another interesting feature in Phnom Penh is that all streets are numbered, so they are easy to find on a map. They have names too, but names are usually tough to find for outsiders. Tourist-friendly, I'd say. And US dollars are in use for public transport or any other purchases, so you don't have to change currencies, saving a lot of bother. The local currency is Riel, which is about 4100 to a US dollar.

Zen and the Art of Cribbing

This is actually about the art of cribbing, but the word Zen adds a little bit of mystique to the discussion.

We all crib. The list of things to crib about expands with the time available to us for cribbing, like Parkinson's Law which says work expands to fill available time. IT guys who do billing by the hour should know this well. This also reminds me of a joke- two lawyers were discussing how they bill their clients (in the US) and one asked the other, "Do you include the hours you spend dreaming about the case?".

Anyway, back to cribbing. This can easily start with the weather- too hot, too cold, too humid, too...., and go on to the place where you kept your unwashed cup, clothes, dishes, or the amount you spent on x, y, z, (this is my favourite), to imaginary slights (he/she did not even look at me, etc. etc..) and so on. But what is the philosophy of cribbing?

Sociologically, if you expect companions in misery, it makes sense to crib, to find a community of like-minded, well...cribbers. Makes you feel part of a larger group with whom you have common cause. You can always find a boss, a parent, a spouse, assorted relatives, or capitalists, MNCs, Terrorists, Religious minorities or majorities, the traffic, inflation (not our opinion about the self, but the price-rise) and a zillion other crib-worthy objects of attention. If something good comes out of it, like some action towards improving your environment, it may actually do all of us some good. If not, well, at least you got the conversation going!

Maybe, just maybe, positive thinking may also be contagious. But don't take my word for it.