Interesting Song – Interesting Lyrics November 30, 2009
Posted by Madhavi Ghare in Arty Stuff, Blog, Existence, Existential Angst, Internet, Life, Religion.2 comments
I have been listening to a bit of John Mayer lately – having discovered him (yeah, I know, right!) on one of my channel-surfing jaunts….
Below are the lyrics of one of his songs called ‘Belief’ from the album ‘Continuum’… really interesting….
Is there anyone who ever remembers
Changing their mind from the paint on a sign?
Is there anyone who really recalls ever breaking rank at all
For something someone yelled real loud one time?
Oh everyone believes
In how they think it oughta be
Oh everyone believes
And they’re not going easily
Belief is a beautiful armor
But makes for the heaviest sword
Like punching underwater
You never can hit who you’re trying for
Some need the exhibition
And some have to know they tried
It’s the chemical weapon
For the war that’s raging on inside
Oh everyone believes
From emptiness to everything
Oh everyone believes
And no one’s going quietly
We’re never gonna win the world
We’re never gonna stop the war
We’re never gonna beat this
If belief is what we’re fighting for
We’re never gonna win the world
We’re never gonna stop the war
We’re never gonna beat this
If belief is what we’re fighting for
Is there anyone who you can remember
Who ever surrendered with their life on the line?
We’re never gonna win the world
We’re never gonna stop the war
We’re never gonna beat this
If belief is what we’re fighting for
We’re never gonna win the world
We’re never gonna stop the war
We’re never gonna beat this
If belief is what we’re fighting for
Na na na na…
What puts a hundred thousand children in the sand?
Belief can, belief can
What puts the folded flag inside his mother’s hand?
Belief can, belief can.
So, if you want to listen to this song….
Message or Messenger: What is Important? November 22, 2009
Posted by Madhavi Ghare in All about Being a Writer in this Day and Age, Blog, Democracy, Equality of the Sexes, Existence, Existential Angst, Existing, I am an Idealist, Life, Religion, Spirituality.add a comment
These days, watching the news seems to be more of a crime.. everywhere one watches, there are crimes committed in the name of religion. Thousands of innocent people being bombed, massacred and killed – and the reason – Religion.
I have always shied away from making any kind of ‘bold’ statements on this blog for fear of being profiled as a fundamentalist or a fanatic. Let me assure you that I am neither. I am just a plain ‘old’ writer and a citizen of this world, watching TV and trying to gobble down my dinner. And what I see on the news usually makes my stomach churn. So, for the past so many days, I simply changed the channel.
See, that is what most of us actually end up doing when we OD on these killings and wars. We simply change the channel. Watch Comedy Central instead. Hmmm…. Easy way out, right?
But here’s a thought that has never left my mind. Does changing the channel mean that the reality has changed for those people whose houses and lives are being destroyed? And the answer is: not really.
While I do not claim to be an authority on world religions, I do know for a fact that no religion tells us to kill people. Not a single one. But then religious fanatics do kill people in the name of their religion. And in this entire heedless killing, who really wins? Honestly, from where I stand, the only winners are the politicians. And the losers are all of us. Yup. We are all the biggest losers in this silliness.
And why are these wars being fought?
Bottom line: Each religious fanatic thinks: (1)his / her religion is the best / oldest / wisest / truest religion; and (2)his / her people have been hurt / hated / discriminated against / treated unfairly by the people of the other religion.
So, again, let me say what I feel here: As far as I know, no religion tells us to kill people, or to hate people belonging to other religions. In fact, as per my understanding, each religion tells us to love other people, to be compassionate and caring towards our fellow human beings.
And yet, so many of us, religious fanatics or not, end up not even following these most basic principles of our religion: compassion and love for our brothers and sisters across the globe. And we call ourselves believers? Really? Are we?
Why can’t we all live in peace? Why does the phrase ‘World Peace’ become a joke from a movie? While a part of the world enjoys a nice life, why do so many of our brothers and sisters perish in unnecessary wars?
What kind of a world are we living in?
All this disgusts me to no end.
Does it matter whose God / Prophet is the best / truest / wisest / oldest? Does it really matter that much? In this silly debate are we not turning a blind eye and a deaf ear to the actual message of this God / Prophet?
What is important to you? The Message or the Messenger?
If the Message is what matters, then you won’t be out there killing people…. and if the Messenger is the important part, then buddy, you need to really take a good look at yourself in the mirror and see where your head’s at.
Killing in the name of Faith is defeating the purpose of Existence itself. Because Existence is about Life and Love and Happiness and Compassion. Existence is about being good to people no matter what Belief-System they follow. Existence is about ‘Live and Let Live’. Not about ‘Kill and Kill Some More’.
Geddit?
Traffic Jams in the US of A September 10, 2009
Posted by Madhavi Ghare in Dealing With It, Existence, Existential Angst, I am an Idealist, INDIA, Life, My Life, As I See It, USA.add a comment
Well, this blog post is a bit long in coming to the blog – but it has been ruminating in my mind for quite some time now…. On last Saturday me and Mom were invited for lunch at one of her colleague’s place in Delaware. We went, had lunch, chatted with them and left.
From our place in Dumont to their place in Delaware, we followed the GPS and went via the I-95 to get there in about a couple of hours drive (which is over a 100 miles)! But on our way back, Mom had an idea – she figured that at a certain Exit on the I-95 we could get on to the Garden State Parkway – which is a more straightforward route to our home.
And so, when that Exit came up, off we went on the ramp. Although it was the weekend, the I-95 had pretty less traffic. But not so on the Garden State Pkwy. We were right in the middle of a 5 lane highway which had a lot of cars.
Now, the whole concept of a traffic jam in the US of A and the concept of a traffic jam in India are poles apart. So, guess what… we are in a traffic jam on the G.S. Pkwy. Cars are moving quite slowly. And we are nicely in the middle lane and all the lanes are moving along once in a while. So Mom finally turns on the local radio station on the car radio, where we discover that an accident has taken place.
So all of us are stuck in the jam – for a stretch of over 10 miles, there are over thousands of cars stuck at what is typically the ‘Dinner Hour’ here in the US. Cars are moving along – one lane at a time is slowly moving forward. None of the cars are breaking out of their lanes. 
We were stuck in that scene for over 2 hours.
And in that entire time, I did not hear one single toot from a car horn. CAN U BELIEVE IT??? No one honked.
In fact, when we came close to the exit where the accident happened, everyone co-operated with each other. Two lanes of traffic had been closed so that the Police and the Ambulance and the Car Towing people could do their jobs. So, cars from the middle and second lanes moved to accommodate the cars which were coming in from the other two lanes.
And not a single person honked or screamed or yelled.
Everyone was frustrated at the delay.
But everyone co-operated with each other. Everyone made way for the other person to go.
And everyone stayed in their lanes and followed traffic rules.
While all of this was going on, I flashbacked to my days in Pune. The last apartment I lived in was bang in the middle of a crossroad… where from 6 in the evening till about 9.30 in the evening, every single day, there was a bumper to bumper traffic jam. A jam so bad, that if anyone wanted to go out with me or anything, we had to work out a time thing, or a place thing just to avoid that traffic jam.
And no one ever co-operated with each other, or followed traffic rules or anything of the sort. In fact the car horn cacophony would often get so loud that even I could hear it from my house!
And trust me when I was sitting there in the traffic jam on the G.S. Pkwy recalling the everyday traffic jams, I was so moved, I almost wept.
I mean, I may not be a great fan of all things ‘Amreekan’, but trust me, this kind of co-operation and conscientiousness was really appreciable!
This is one thing about the US of A which I have rather come to like – people here follow rules – not because they are scared of the cops or because they are stupid, but because they realize that the rules are there for a good reason, and they know the reason, and because it is the right thing to do. They have what I call a ’social conscience’ which I rarely see in India.
I mean, what do you do in India when you want to finish that can of Pepsi or want to throw away a piece of chewing gum or a paper wrapper while you are traveling in a car? Naturally, most people just wind down the window, and throw it out on the street.
You won’t see people here do that.
And if something must be thrown, they look for a dustbin and dump it there.
If you really want to know what being nice is all about, get yourself into a traffic jam and find out!
Am I A Geek Now? August 22, 2009
Posted by Madhavi Ghare in All about Being a Writer in this Day and Age, Blog, Computers, I love the Internet, Internet, Life, Open Source, Pics, Technology is Great, The Mac Effect.Tags: Desktop Customization, GeekTool, GTD, iCalBuddy, QuickSilver
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And no, this hasn’t gotten anything to do with the fact that the app is named ‘GeekTool’! LOL
Brace yourself, this is a long story! But it’s got some nice pics and links, promise! 
The story begins with me discovering, or should I say, re-discovering GTD by David Allen. I was first introduced to this system by my friend Rohi. Back then, I simply dismissed this out of hand as being a very silly thing… after all, who needed a system to actually get things done, right?
Wrong.
I soon realized that I needed a system to stay on top of things – especially as my work life and my mac life began to soar new heights of mis-management! So I started to follow the GTD Process in real earnest.
Typical to my nature, this meant I started to look for apps to help me Get Things Done! LOL. So there are quite a few apps out there – and be assured that I have tried them all. And then I stumbled on to a singularly simple method of managing my action items right here. (I had linked to the post in a post on my other blog). In any case, using the Mail app in tandem with the built in functionality of the iCal app combining it with the productivity that one can gain by using smart folders is truly amazing! I mean, it makes sense to use the apps that the Mac already comes equipped with – I paid for those apps when I bought the Mac, right? So, why should I spend some more money to buy yet another app which does the same thing, but in another interface.
But. And of course, there is a But.
I was still not able to add the new To Dos and Events into my calender just right off the bat – and so I downloaded and installed QuickSilver. And of course, it has a lot more bells and whistles, which means I don’t move my hands from the keyboard to open an app or to add a To Do or an Event or even to do some other fun things like do a Google Search! I can just key right through the stuff to get things started!
I even created my own apps for creating To Dos and Events using Apple’s Automator! And I added in some nice things into the workflow with Apple Scripts and Growl Notifications.
And of course, I can customize the entire experience – which is a Big Plus.
But. Still. I wasn’t satisfied.
I didn’t want to open an app to see my daily To Dos and Events. I just wanted to see them on the desktop.
Extreme customization is what the Mac experience is all about.
And there are people out there who really thrive on this.
And while wondering about this and that, I stumbled on to this post on LifeHacker about GeekTool.
And of course, I was inspired.
So I downloaded GeekTool. Then I found out this post here about iCalBuddy, which basically is a shell script for displaying your iCal To Dos and Events on the desktop via GeekTool. And then I searched some more and found some scripts here, and here and got inspired here, here and here to create a desktop that will show some interesting stuff on the desktop along with my To Dos and Events. And then I searched for some art – Google Image Search and Deviant Art being my primary sources.
And since I don’t have Photoshop or anything remotely interesting to work with for my images, I decided to give Keynote (the equivalent of PowerPoint) a whirl. And guess what, I did it!
Credits:
Moleskin Image | Coffee Cup | Desktop Background | And other random images (the fountain pen and the ink spatters) which I cannot track down.
The result:
A Desktop which looks like this:
So, at the end of all this geek-ery, how do I manage my workflow with GTD? Here is the low down…
Since I work via the Internet, and my Mac is my office, all of my work gets tracked via e-mail.
So every time I get an e-mail that needs attention right away (within 2 minutes), I reply to it right away.
Then, if there are messages that need some doing to get tackled, get flagged, and then either a related To Do or Event gets added to my list. In Mail, it is relatively simple, just do the two-finger tap to get the right-click menu which includes a link to create a New To Do or Event. I always set alarms that will go off at least 2 days before the due date so that if I have lost track of things, I can handle them. Mail and iCal are beautifully integrated. So when I add a To Do or an Event, they get synced right away. Automatically.
Oh, and I can also create a To Do from the Mail menu as well.
So, how do I keep track of the things that I need to do?
Every Project gets its own notes and they can have To Dos which sync across my Mac.
Then, I have configured some smart folders which automatically track some of my To Dos based on their Due Dates or Notes.
So with a glance at the sidebar, I can see what’s up.
But what of when I don’t have the Mail app open in front of me?
Simple – GeekTool has now enabled me to see my To Dos and Events and some other jazzy things right on my desktop!
(Notice the little Apple Logo in the coffee cup where I display my CPU and RAM stats – I am pretty proud of it!)
And of course, QuickSilver is also integrated into this workflow. Any important document finds its way onto my Shelf from where I can easily access it. And the shelf conveniently slides in and out of view from the desktop.
So after all this, all I do is get right down to it!
Simple…
Just Get Things Done with Mail, iCal, QuickSilver and GeekTool.
Reality TV – The Modern Roman Circus August 14, 2009
Posted by Madhavi Ghare in Escapism, I am an Idealist, Life.add a comment
As I turned on the telly and flipped through the never-ending series of channels, I made a startling discovery.
Almost every other channel featured some kind of a Reality show.
And then it struck me – are we becoming like the Romans who came to watch the Circus so many years ago?
Typically, most reality television shows depict ‘real people’ going through different ‘real events’ in their lives. And while they are doing so, a camera crew follows them all over the place. And so do we – with our eyes glued to the television set – watching on like voyeurs.
The Romans did something similar to that in their time – they captured people, and made them fight with each other, or threw them to the lions to fight with them (armed or unarmed) and then gathered together to watch, often cheering their favorite competitor on!
Are we turning into Romans now? With certain creature comforts being taken for granted in the most middle-class lives of so many of us, we indulge in our latent voyeuristic tendencies to watch how people live their lives, while we sit and eat our popcorn. We see them fight with each other, engage in all kinds of daily activities and interact with their friends and family members – commenting on their lives, and often sending an SMS vote so that they do this or that.
Have we, in the midst of all our creature comforts, forgotten to live our own lives so that we can now watch on as others live theirs?
All of this makes me wonder just one thing: given the so-called advancement of the Roman civilization and of course, their obvious end (mainly due to excessive indulgences in all kinds of things), are we too, as a civilization, doomed for the same end?
Perhaps…
Meanwhile, here is a neat video that talks about another perspective about Reality Shows.
Husband Material…. August 10, 2009
Posted by Madhavi Ghare in Blog, Comics, Escapism, Existence, Existential Angst, Hero, I am an Idealist, Life, Men, On My Terms.add a comment
Read this comic on my RSS feed today and boy is it a hoot!
Where can I find a husband material guy like the one who asks this woman to marry him right now?
Yes, Yes, I know this comic is actually about the woman – but then in the end this fella still wants to marry her – in my world, that means he Rocks!
If anyone amongst you know of such a guy, please refer him to me for careful consideration!!
My Geeky Nerdy Life August 6, 2009
Posted by Madhavi Ghare in Blog, I am an Escapist, Life, Life goes on.add a comment
These are a few things I think my parents should’ve read while I was growing up!
Jeez!
SUBSCRIBERENEWGIVE A GIFTINTERNATIONAL
Sign In | RSS Feeds5 Tips for Raising Your Girl Geek
By Natania Barron August 6, 2009 | 8:00 am | Categories: Everything Else, Science and EducationPhoto: Girl Genius, Studio Foglio LLC
As geek parents, we often have rosy colored notions about our children growing up. We actually want them to be geeks. From the earliest of ages we dress them in WoW gear, teach them to quote Star Wars and wonder when is too early to start reading The Hobbit. We nurture them in the way of the Geek, hoping that, when the time comes for them to choose their path, they won’t stray far.But being a geek kid isn’t easy; and being a geek girl might even be harder. Here are some things to keep in mind if you are raising a geek girl that might help her–and you–get through the school years.
The Book Factor Problem: My geekiness manifested, first and foremost, in books. At a very young age I had a proclivity for reading science-fiction and fantasy books. [From 5 Tips for Raising Your Girl Geek | GeekDad | Wired.com]
Somehow, they never got to read this article, and see how I turned up!
Which overall is not such a bad deal… But hey! it could’ve been better!
LOLzzzz
When Buffy Meets Twilight July 24, 2009
Posted by Madhavi Ghare in Blog, Technology is Great, Video.add a comment
Just got this link from Digg.. I think fans of Buffy and Twilight should check out this amazing video!
P.S. I am a fan too, you know… but I found this to be quite funny! And nice!
New Newsletter and Some News June 29, 2009
Posted by Madhavi Ghare in All about Being a Writer in this Day and Age, Blog, Dealing With It, Escapism, Existence, Existential Angst, Existing, I love the Internet, Life, Life goes on, Relationships.add a comment
Hello and welcome to this edition of my newsletter.
I expect, most of you must be wondering why it has been quite a while that my newsletter went out. Let me explain…
Prior to this edition, my newsletter went out via the Nourish site. But, of late, this site was down – as there were some major upgradation works going on on the site. So, eventually, I have moved my Newsletter to MailChimp. And got all my blog feeds literally ’stitched’ together via FeedStitch. Now, isn’t the internet just a wonderful place! I am back in business again!
For some time now, the Nourish site has been down – but I found out yesterday, when I checked it again, the site is up! So I am back to Nourish for my newsletter service! I hope that the site doesn’t go down again.
In doing so, however, I could not access my account with Nourish, and so was unable to extract the list of my newsletter subscribers. So,
Meanwhile, I did the most logical thing and imported my address book into the system. So, if any of you have received this newsletter in error and wish to discontinue getting it, please, accept my apologies, and opt out of the mailing system by clicking on the relevant link at the bottom of this e-mail.
Many of you must be wondering about the different posts on my blog… all always too general… none of them depicting the true state of my mind. And it is true. I have been going through a lot many changes in the past few months. None of them unpleasant, I assure you. But all of them leaving me much more confused than I ever thought that I would be, given the circumstances.
Coming to the USA was quite something for me. After 12 odd years of living away from my family, I am back within the warmth and glow of the cheer that only family can provide. My Mum, Dad and Sis – all of them are wonderful people and I never knew how much I really missed them till after 12 odd years and especially after I have lived amongst them for the past few months. It has been quite a different way of life for me, these past few months. Not at all like how it was back in Pune, that is for sure! But, it is not entirely unpleasant. I am actually liking it. Yoicks! I had never quite expected that. You know, many things have changed – people change, circumstances change – in fact, change is the most inevitable thing on this planet. And somehow, quite unexpectedly, it has crept upon me – this realization, that I am not quite averse to having my family around me all the time. It is very, very different – but definitely a nice idea.
This brings me to my next confusion. Now that I am here, I would like to pursue my goal of higher studies along with everything else. And because Mum is an Adjunct Professor with a University here, I can get a discount in the fees I am told. And if I get an Assistant-ship at the University, I may get a stipend too! So, I will have to ideally give my GRE and TOEFL exams – which are not an un-surmountable ordeal. But that is not what I am confused about!
Many of you may have known about my intense desire to study Mythology, Symbolism, Psychology and of course, the craft of Film-making. Now, unfortunately, none of these are offered in one course. I will have to choose! And that confuses me. On the one hand, I would like to get a certification in Counseling and be able to really reach out and help people. And then on the other hand, I want to study Myths and Symbols till I drown in them! And then, there is that part of me which wants to study the craft of Film-Making and give in to my creative impulse and indulge in the process of actually being able to transform my vision of a story into reality. If any of you so wishes, please do write to me with what you think would be the perfect thing for me to do… a rare occasion it is when I actually ask for a suggestion. And if you have one, do let me know – What, according to you, would be the best choice for me?
Work is coming along pretty steady too! Had I been making this amount of money when I was back in India, I would be partying hard and working hard! But the funny part is, that here, that amount is pretty much Peanuts. So I have to figure out a way to roll in the big bucks. I am going to scratch my head on that one for some time and figure out a strategy – a plan. I wish that my good pal Leena was here with me now – we really used to discuss business strategy together quite well… I do miss having her here – now, there’s one girl who’s got her head on her shoulders! It is quite rare for me to be able to talk business with someone, and especially if that someone happens to be a girl. As most of you may know, I don’t often engage in such kind of discussions with all and sundry. So Leena, if you are reading this – lets schedule a voice chat session soon girl! We need to brainstorm, big time!
Also on the agenda for me is getting a Drivers License. Apparently there is no way around it. Gotta face my fear eventually. Have decided to give it a go. Do my best and leave it all up to the Universe. I am sure that Existence will do right by me….Gulp! Facing your fear is always a challenge, isn’t it. Although the visa interview was my biggest fear – and I overcame it…this one should not pose too much of a problem now, should it?
Life here is pretty interesting – people give each other a lot of space – perhaps a bit too much space. Coming from a culture where everyone is into everyone’s life, I feel pretty isolated here. Funny observation: Ever since I have come here, I sit out in the porch and smoke my cigarette ever so often. Now, when you do that for some time, you get to see some people pass by your house on a regular basis. It has been five months now, and I actually managed to get 2 waving friends. Now, had it been India, it would have been 20 by now (given my track record) and I definitely would have spoken much more than “Hey”, “Good Morning” and “Have A Nice Day” with them! Ah! America is a good place. But if you live in the ‘burbs as I do, then spaces become too confining. I really don’t find myself getting accustomed to the silence. It is surely not like Mumbai or Pune. I do hope that I move out soon enough – and to a bustling, noisy, polluted, crowded city, like maybe NYC! A total city girl at heart – yup – that’s me! But that will happen soon enough, I suppose.
It is strange. I don’t want to go too far away from my family this time round! Yeah – I know – most of you must be shaking your heads and saying “She’s lost it now” – but it is true. Coming from the mouth of the person who is a committed lone ranger – it must have shocked many of you! But like I said – times change, people change. I guess, I have too!
Well… enough said for one blog post! ‘Til Later Folks!
एक कविता June 26, 2009
Posted by Madhavi Ghare in All about Being a Writer in this Day and Age, Arty Stuff, Blog, I am an Idealist, Poem.1 comment so far
An old poem re-surfaced in my mind… Something I wrote way back in college… for the first time ever, I am putting it up – revealing it for the world to see… Please be gentle with your critique and comments!
If any of you are reading this on Facebook or via a News Reader or via my Newsletter and cannot see the Hindi alphabets, then please click here to view this Hindi poem right on the blog!
इक सूनी सडक पर अकेले चले हैं
हो अगर दम, तो आजाअो ।
यहॉ काटों पे चलके पॉव में छाले पडें हैं
मिला सको कदम तो आजाअो ।
ना प्यार मिलेगा, ना दया, ना ममता
बस नफरत का अंधेरा, काला धुँअा
यहाँ कोई नहीं तुम्हें जो हैं समझता
हर इन्सान हैं बस सिसकता हुअा ।
यहाँ हर रिश्ते पर हैं चाँदी की दीवार
हर गली-कूचे में बिकता हैं प्यार
यहाँ सच्चिई का टूट गया हैं सितारा
हर शक्स फिर रहा हैं बेसहारा ।
हर आँख हैं मौत की जिंदा तस्वीर
हर इन्सिान हैं इक मुर्दा लकीर
हर रिश्ते पर पड गया हैं दायरा
सच्चिई पर लग गया हैं पहरा ।
इस दुनिया से उठकर दूर चले
इस दुनिया से अलग ही हम भले
हम सच्चाई में जीने वाले
हम ढोंगीपन से चिढ़ने वाले ।
इक ऐसी दुनिया बनाएँ हम
इक ऐसा जहाँ रचाऐं हम
झूठ की ना कभी जरूरत पडें
नफरत ना हो दरवाजे पे खडे ।
यहाँ काटों पे चलके पाँव में छाले पडेंगे
मिला सको गर कदम, तो अाजाअो ।
Let me know what you people think of this one!
