Life-changing Experience

What is a life-changing or thrilling experience? For some, it could be an event, such as climbing a mountain, or getting a job, or getting a certain life partner, or giving birth (for a mother). In early days of (my) life in India, there were many mundane things that thrilled us no end.

A car other than a Fiat or Ambassador
Getting a phone (a black only instrument with a rotary dial) at home
Eating at a restaurant
Listening to music in stereo- meaning two speakers
Seeing prints of pictures you had taken- this is still thrilling, because it is rare to actually print one now
Getting a letter from abroad-the envelopes looked sexy!
Looking at an aeroplane- we knew we weren't easily going to get on to one
Getting your own scooter- thanks to Bajaj and licensing
Getting perfume on your hands-the attar or concentrated variety
Solving a difficult problem
Watching a Bond film

Now, what I find thrilling is (not F1 or fixed or poor-quality sports) interactions with some humans. Could be a long-lost friend (I met one yesterday after 27 years), family member you don't get to see often, or student, or colleague.  A child's energy also looks amazing, particularly in contrast to the dodo-dom that awaits the rest.

Some works of art too, such as a film, a book, a poem, a blog (dare I say it, a facebook post), or nature -as in a particular spot, or flowers, and so on. Not sure if this is late wisdom- or even wisdom.

Gender Inequality in the Spiritual Realm

We are generally drawn to spirituality at some point in life- generally in the later part. But this is not about man's spiritual quest. This is about why so few women are in spiritual leadership positions. A glass ceiling that  operates in their hierarchy, maybe?

Or, it could be that women are already evolved and couldn't be bothered to reform the others. After all, even in non-spiritual realms, their effort is wasted on incorrigible men. So why bother?

On the other hand, we have several Goddesses (most after the Greeks and Romans) whom we pray to. Some of them are pretty violent too, like Durga/Kali, for good reason. Anybody would turn violent if subjected to the daily goings-on on our great planet.

There is a more mundane explanation. That the daily grind gets to them, what with balancing (household) budgets, cooking and raising children, that they just don't have time for anything else (Ekta Kapoor's serials are the only exception, kyun ki...).

But I think they would do a good job of it, if more of them ventured to try. I had one of my smoothest landings while flying recently when the crew was 2 female pilots!

Red Indian Wisdom

The Indian Way of Life

An old Indian Chief sat in his hut on the reservation, smoking a ceremonial pipe and eyeing two U.S. government officials sent to interview him.

"Chief Two Eagles," asked one official, "you have observed the white man for 90 years. You've seen his wars and his material wealth. You've seen his progress, and the damage he's done."

The chief nodded in agreement.

The official continued, "Considering all these events, in your opinion, where did the white man go wrong?"

The chief stared at the government officials for over a minute and then calmly replied, "When white man found the land, Indians were running it. No taxes, no debt, plenty buffalo, plenty beaver, women did all the work, medicine man free, Indian man spent all day hunting and fishing, all night having sex..."

Then the chief leaned back and smiled....
"Only white man dumb enough to think he could improve system like that."

Paulo Coelho and Michael Moore

A brief review of two books I read last weekend.

Veronika Decides to Die by Paulo Coelho is an interesting book. It looks at inmates of a mental asylum in Slovenia (where is that?) and delves into our inhibitions, need to conform to societal norms, and inability to let go. Also, it leaves you wondering if everyone is 'mad' in their own way.

Michael Moore's Stupid White Men is a typical takeoff on George W. Bush, Gore, and all the white men in the U.S. and the world, in general. Very persuasively, Moore argues that the bomb was made by a white man, the internal combustion engine which pollutes our air was made by a white man, people who chucked him out of his jobs were all white men, and ...so on. But the media always portrays the villain as being black men or other non-white men. It's hilariously funny, and also scathing in attacking many holy cows...if Tharoor had done it, he would have been exiled. Rupert Murdoch's company (his US publisher) did try to stop it, but the association of Librarians' raised a stink, until the publisher was forced to publish the book as per their contract.