Ego gnaws at your soul . . . .

Ego gnaws at your soul. India is a land of pious, holy, spiritual and God-fearing people. Even if you're a Pseudo-Saint -- People treat you with such utter reverence as if you're a Real Messiah.

Festival of Lights :-)

. . . victory of brightness over darkness. As the knowledge of Sanskrit diminished, the name was popularly modified to Diwali, especially in northern India. The word "Divali/Diwali" is a corruption of the Sanskrit word "Deepavali" (also transliterated as "Dipavali"). Deepa/dipa means "light of the dharma", and avali means "a continuous line". The more literal translation is "rows of clay lamps". Diwali is the Hindu way of celebrating new years.

While Deepavali is popularly known as the "festival of lights", the most significant spiritual meaning is "the awareness of the inner light".

Central to Hindu philosophy is the assertion that there is something beyond the physical body and mind which is pure, infinite, and eternal, called the Atman. Just as we celebrate the birth of our physical being, Deepavali is the celebration of this Inner Light, in particular the knowing of which outshines all darkness (removes all obstacles and dispels all ignorance), awakening the individual to one's true nature, not as the body, but as the unchanging, infinite, immanent and transcendent reality. With the realization of the Atman comes universal compassion, love, and the awareness of the oneness of all things (higher knowledge). This brings Ananda (Inner Joy or Peace).

Diwali celebrates this through festive fireworks, lights, flowers, sharing of sweets, and worship. While the story behind Deepavali varies from region to region, the essence is the same - to rejoice in the Inner Light (Atman) or the underlying reality of all things (Brahman).

Conversations with an imaginary girlfriend: Sugar is Snow White! :-)

Magic mirror on the wall, who is the fairest one of all?

That's you, my babes!

LOL

LOL

ROFL 

ROFL

Grow up old-timer!

You still reading Snow White?

Yep

LOL

LOL

I'm going through a hard time babes

Mac-y

Yeah babes

What's machismo?

Oh, babes that's when you don't have to try to prove it

That's no male chauvinism

Mac-y

Yeah babes

You really think I'm your soul mate?

Oh yeah

Beyond the shadow of a doubt babes

I haven't given my consent yet -- remember that?

Yeah, I know that -- and that's very cunning of you.

You're so foxy Sugar

Whatever 

Go marry some American from Lucknow!

Come on Sugar

Ain't going there anymore!

You're my Real Princess!

How about Abu Dhabi? Your favorite place?

No not even Abu Dhabi.

Hmm.

Tell me one thing honestly

Yeah

You really think that I'm pretty?

Oh yeah never met a girl like you

The most prettiest and brainiest girl -- I've ever met. 

So, bubbly

So chirpy

I love you like a maniac

Love at first sight?

No No I'm short-sighted

!@#!@#@#!#$#$@#!@$@

<Expletive deleted>

LOL

LOL

ROFL

ROFL

But yeah, seriously speaking

A Suitable Girl for A Suitable Boy -- Finally!

Writing . . . . 

Conversations with an imaginary girlfriend: Sugar and Whirling Dervish -- the Maharajah :-)

A penny for your thoughts Mac-y

Oh nothing -- just thinking about you and I 

That's us -- Mac-y

Oh, yeah

Do you love me Mac-y

Yep, of course I do.

What's love Mac-y

Love is fire walking

Isn't love a Sisyphean ordeal?

No. No.

Come on, I'm just trying to cheer you up.

Brobdingnagian

Lilliputian

Catch-22

Elbow room

Pandora's box

Buck up . . . . 

You and I are stranded on an island?

Shipwrecked, eh?

Yeah

Alexander Selkirk?

Yeah

Dunno.

Come on 

It's your favorite fantasy

Babes you know something

What?

I wanna write a graphic novel about an island where only men can fly

You drew that for me?

Yeah

Babes

Yeah

You know Air India's mascot Maharajah?

Yeah

Is it still there?

I dunno -- I'm just a plane spotter now

Whirling Dervish?

That's you

Yeah

I know I read this on your Blog

God is his friend, and he doesn't know that, and he keeps bumping into his ex-girlfriends

No. No.

Okay babes

See you love me

Whatever

Writing....

Conversations with an imaginary girlfriend: Sugar and Mac-y the faith healer! :-)

Babes I wanna be a raaqi

What's that?

Faith healer

So, you believe you've got supernatural powers?

Yeah, of course

Like what

Hmm like I'd tell what's in your heart

Oh yeah

Yeah

So, what's in my heart?

It's full of love for me!

LOL

LOL

ROFL

ROFL

Macy you're such a daydreamer!

Wake up and smell the coffee!

Oh, this reminds me . . . .  

No way -- I'm not making coffee for you -- again!

LOL

LOL

Macy

Yeah Sugar

Tell me about the rights of women?

In India?

Anywhere.

In a nutshell: Her place is NOT in the kitchen but in the space station

You honestly believe that Mac-y?

Yeah, babes I swear

I love you Mac-y

I love you too Sugar

My babes -- Spock-y Ears!

Hate you!

I love you to bits babes

Moron

<Expletive deleted>

You swear like a trooper babes!

What does that mean?

Look it up!

No way! In SEVEN dictionaries?

LOL

LOL

You know Babes there's this Profanity Filter in the E-mail client I used -- in the early 90s

Whatever

Mac STOP intellectualizing everything

Babes I'm intellectually gifted, righto?

Nope you're in fact intellectually handicapped!

Isn't that word offensive?

Who cares -- I don't give a damn

If I quote you -- you're pedantic! 

Writing . . . . 

I stumbled upon this:

 

Indigo children

Indigo children, according to a pseudoscientific New Age concept, are children who are believed to possess special, unusual, and sometimes supernatural traits or abilities. The idea is based on concepts developed in the 1970s by Nancy Ann Tappe, who claimed to have been noticing indigo children beginning in the late 1960s. Her ideas were further developed by Lee Carroll and Jan Tober. The concept of indigo children gained popular interest with the publication of a series of books in the late 1990s and the release of several films in the following decade. A variety of books, conferences, and related materials have been created surrounding belief in the idea of indigo children and their nature and abilities. The interpretations of these beliefs range from their being the next stage in human evolution, in some cases possessing paranormal abilities such as telepathy, to the belief that they are more empathetic and creative than their peers.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indigo_children

Retrocognition

Retrocognition (also known as postcognition or hindsight, from the Latin retro meaning "backward, behind" and cognition meaning "knowing", describes "knowledge of a past event which could not have been learned or inferred by normal means". The term was coined by Frederic W. H. Myers.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retrocognition

Electronic voice phenomenon (EVP) Picture: A waveform of white noise plotted on a graph

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_voice_phenomenon
 

Ek mulaqaat

ek mulaqaat thi jo dil ko sada yaad rahi

mai  jisay umr samajhta tha woh ek pal nikla

Conversations with an imaginary girlfriend: Octopus :-)

Mac tell me one thing honestly, okay?

Okay.

Do you really eat octopuses?

Yeah babes!

No way!

Live?

Yeah

You're such a monster Mac

Savage!

hehehehehe LOL

Yuck! Yuck!

Sissy! Liar!

Mac You weren't lying about being in the Army?

No, I wasn't

So, what's your rank?

Oh, my rank? God willing, in the next few years I'm going to be the Field Marshal like Sir Sam Manekshaw!

Oh yeah!

Yeah

LOL

LOL

Come on I'm serious

I'm MI

What's that?

It's short for Military Intelligence

I can't tell you my rank. It's classified.

Yeah sure liar

Just to impress me huh?

hehehhehe LOL

FYEO

What's that?

It's an acronym for: For Your Eyes Only

oh okay

So what do you do? Hacking and all that?

Yeah! Simply put. In a nutshell.

Okay fine

I believe you a bit now.

Thanks Sugar

I love you babes

I love you too Mac

Mac please never lie to me about anything

I won't. I promise. Unless I'm pranking.

Okey dokey

Conversations with an imaginary girlfriend: Prince Charming! :-)

Babes Am I your Prince Charming?

....Such a monotonous chant!

Mac STOP chanting, please!

Come on, tell me

Maybe. Maybe not.

I'm jack-of-all-trades

What?

Nothing.

I'm just thinking out loud.

Whatever.

I liked saving the Princess from the evil vizier.

Excuse me?

Oh I mean there's this game Prince of Persia

Oh big deal

Early 90s

Whatever

Babes buy me an eye mask when you go shopping next

I will. Earplugs for me. Thanks.

Am I really that boring?

Duh

I'm looking up: sarcasm

Mocking, contemptuous, or ironic language intended to convey scorn or insult

LOL Good for you.

How many dictionaries do you refer to?

Seven.

Oh my God! LOL

LOL

Did your Prof. Kev Nair recommend those to you?

Yeah. How did you guess?

Duh!

Spock-y Ears!

Hate you when you call me that?

Are my ears really like that?

Yeah.

Hate you.

LOL

LOL

ROFL

ROFL

You know Sugar I love you like crazy when you laugh like that!

And, when I make you laugh.

Weirdo

Skinhead

Fix your hair okay. 

This is crew cut, babes

Nope. Nope.

As if you're some military brass

Maybe. Maybe not.

Yeah sure!

You'd idolize a thespian like: Anthony Hopkins

 

Robert Redford: My Hero! :-)

 

Conversations with an imaginary girlfriend

Sugar so I'm your knight in shining armor?

Yeah, as if I'm a damsel in distress!

Lame joke, Mac-y!

I'm a joker in the pack!

Nope! You're such a clown!

What's the difference, Sugar?

Google!

Ogle!

Sugar glaring at Mac-y.

....Such a disapproving look!

Did I give you a fright? LOL

Yeah! See goose bumps! LOL

Mac-y you're so melodramatic!

You'd write plays!

Plays?

Yeah!

You think so?

Yep.

You know Nick Vujicic right?

Yeah

So I goad myself to count my blessings

Hmm.

You know something Mac-y

Yeah what?

I love you more when you're serious-minded!

Are you serious? LOL

Yeah. LOL

You play cards?

No. No.

So you really are A Hunchbacked Whirling Dervish?

Yeah, that's true.

Mac-y I heard through the grapevine that you wanted to be David Ogilvy Version 2.0?

Is that true?

Yeah

I wanted to be a copywriter!

You're sulking because I don't write to you

That's emotional blackmail, Mac-y

You know Babes (we) Indians make very good ads.

Hmm.

You never finish what you start?

Yeah...depends...to a certain extent -- in most cases...I leave things unfinished.

You taking your meds, Mac-y?

Yeah Babes I'm -- without fail

Writing....

Reprint: Indian Snake Charmers / Con Artists versus Kevin Mitnick and Chanakya versus Machiavelli

My point is: I often say this -- You'd learn more Social Engineering from our Snake Charmers and Con Artists than Kevin Mitnick's like books (The Art of Deception: Controlling the Human Element of Security) We gotta go back to our roots. Everything is there. We shrug off our scriptures and cultures -- Everything is in there. We need to understand Chanakya first -- before learning more about Machiavelli.

 

Folks: This book changed my life. :-)

Perhaps the best way to achieve freedom in your life is to remember this guideline: Never place TOTAL reliance in anyone other than yourself when it comes to guiding your own life.

-- Pulling Your Own Strings by Dr. Wayne W. Dyer

The forgotten snake charmers

 

Conversations with an imaginary girlfriend: Spock-y Ears is Miss Tell Me Why -- Rapid-fire! :-)

Tell Me Why

Junie B. Jones

Compulsive Hoarding: When Collecting Things Becomes a Disorder

Mac-y Doping?

Nope!

My daughter should be like (Eliza) Flora Cross in Bee Season!

I watched it zillions of years ago! I forgot!

I was simply suggesting things you'd read / watch.

Oh, okay Thanks Mac-y

Superhero / superhuman powers like levitation etceteras?

No. No. I'm a very ordinary person.

Have both feet on the ground!

Hmm.

No megalomania then?

Yeah. Praise be to God.

Delusions of grandeur?

No. No.

You're not megalomaniac then?

Yeah, that's correct!

Trance?

I try not to get into it

Oh

yeah

Mac-y What's redemption? What's salvation?

I don't know. These concepts are very elusive

You're Miss Tell Me Why 

Evil twin?

True.

We call it Qareen.

Hmm.

A day in the life of Spock-y Ears?

You tell me first

It's very mundane 

Hmm.

Monotonous.

Hmm.

Do you love me?

Yep. I do.

What's love, Mac-y?

Love is Nirvana!

Sounds far-fetched!

No. No.

So aloof today Mac-y?

You mad at me Mac-y?

Not mad but kinda gloomy. :(

A bit bewildered! :(

I'm not writing to you. That's why?

Yeah! :(

Hmm.

Writing....

Myopia

 

Trial frame: Myopia

 

Reprint: Myopia

A good metaphor for the effect of limiting beliefs is the way a frog's eye works. A frog will see most things in its immediate environment, but it only interprets things that move and have a particular shape and configuration as food. This is a very efficient way of providing the frog with food such as flies. However, because only moving black objects are recognized as food, a frog will starve to death in a box of dead flies. So perceptual filters that are too narrow and too efficient can starve us of good experiences, even when we are surrounded by exciting possibilities, because they are not recognized as such.

-- Introducing NLP Neuro-Linguistic Programming / Joseph O'Connor & John Seymour

Reprint: Maps and Filters :-)

Maps and Filters

Whatever the outside world is really like, we use our senses to explore and map it. The world is an infinity of possible sense impressions and we are able to perceive only a very small part of it. That part we can perceive is further filtered by our unique experiences, culture, language, beliefs, values, interests and assumptions. Everyone lives in their unique reality built from their sense impressions and individual experiences of life, and we act on the basis of what we perceive our model of the world.

The world is so vast and rich that we have to simplify to give it meaning. Map making is a good analogy for what we do; it is how we make meaning of the world. Maps are selective, they leave out as well as give information, and they are invaluable for exploring the territory. The sort of map you make depends on what you notice, and where you want to go.

The map is not the territory it describes. We attend to those aspects of the world that interest us and ignore others. The world is always richer than the ideas we have about it. The filters we put on our perceptions determine what sort of world we live in.Very narrow beliefs, interests and perceptions will make the world impoverished, predictable and dull. The very same world can be rich and exciting. The difference lies not in the world, but in the filters through which we perceive it. We have many natural, useful and necessary filters. Language is a filter. It is a map of our thoughts and experiences, removed a further level from the real world. Think for a moment what the word 'beauty' means to you. No doubt you have memories and experiences, internal pictures, sounds and feelings that let you make sense of that word. Equally, someone else will have different memories and experiences and will think about that word in a different way. Who is right? Both of you, each within your own reality. The word is not the experience it describes, yet people will fight and sometimes even die believing the map is the territory.

Introducing NLP Neuro-Linguistic Programming / Joseph O'Connor & John Seymour

Conversations with an imaginary girlfriend . . . .

Babes: You're the most prettiest, sveltest, brightest and swankiest girl -- I've ever met.

Yeah sure -- you say this to all the girls -- you meet

Liar, liar, pants on fire!

You know a girl told me once that I've a pattern -- I need help :(

What do you think?

I don't know. Maybe or maybe not.

Hmm.

You know babes My Guru told me once that I shouldn't take myself seriously

Am I self-effacing?

Hey Mac-y your vocab is really formidable!

Mocking me babes?

No seriously. I'm impressed!

You're changing the topic!

This reminds me about Yeti

Who's that?

Abominable snowman!

I read a book once -- it's about Yeti expedition

By the way, did you read Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster?

Nope. I haven't.

Who wrote it?

Bing it!

Come on tell me . . . .

Jon Krakauer

Hmm.

Mac-y I'm so happy that you're talking about books!

Gee!

Really?

Yeah

I believe in eclecticism -- babes

My approach towards life is eclectic

Oh goody!

You really love me Mac?

Yep I do.

I wait for you to write to me

Why is writing so important to you?

Because writing changed everything in the world.

Mac who discovered writing?

Caveman, maybe.

oh

Babes you gotta read Desmond Morris

Okay. I will.

Arrivals. Departures.

Mac you're talking gibberish!

Public places!

Like Airports, Railway stations, Bus bays etc.

....Whassa matta!?

<Yawning> 

....Get some sleep!

Wassup?

I love to watch people.

Oh you scared me -- doper!

LOL

LOL

ROFL

ROFL

Mac you really schizoid? 

Yeah

Hearing voices again?

Nope. Praise be to God.

Hmm. 

I love you to bits!

Me too, Mac-y!

To be continued . . . . 

My comfort zone . . . .

Although I've lived and worked in Abu Dhabi for about / almost 2 decades -- twenty years or so -- hobnobbed with the rich and famous -- so-called people from the elite class -- the upper classes -- Who's Who -- but I'm in my comfort zone with people from lower class / working class -- I don't have to speak in English -- I'm comfy with Urdu / Hindi -- It's such an enigma -- Ritzy people and places make me very class-conscious -- though I don't believe in classes -- but you can't deny that -- it's right there in plain sight / view -- When I meet people who live below the poverty line -- There's a profuse and profound sense of camaraderie -- Like I often say: It's not about money always -- most important thing you'd give to an underprivileged person (irrespective of race, religion, creed or political convictions) is dignity and respect. A little chitchat. A pat on the back. Sharing a smoke. Having Chai together. Empathy. Mercy. Compassion.

Chai, Comrades and Chitchats. :-) Ciggy?

 

Reprint: Freedom

WEDNESDAY, JULY 13, 2016

Freedom . . . .

The most fundamentalistic definition of freedom is going for a cup of tea on a drizzly morning!

Real shackles of evil are those that deny you the most basic liberty to think . . . . to think freely! 

Conversations with an imaginary girlfriend: A fictionalized account of Mac-y role-playing Aristotle! :-) This is a D-R-A-F-T!

Mac <Loud thinking> Aristotelianism!

Spock-y ears: What's that eh?

Mac-y Please stop mugging up high-sounding words to impress me, alright?

You're not a philosopher or something -- Thank your lucky stars -- I agreed to live-in with you -- don't make me regret my decision -- PLEASE!

I live in a fool's paradise!

EXCUSE ME!

No nothing!

Babes Wayback Machine!

You doping again?

You know I never do that?

Yeah I know -- just checking!

And, please STOP fictionalizing about us on your lame Blog!

Oh fictionalization you mean?

Huh! Whatever!

I'm a social pariah

Mac-y Please don't expect pity, mercy or compassion from me!

Mac-y can I ask you something?

Yeah babes shoot

Please start reading again -- You used to be such a bookworm!

Mercy killing! 

What's that?

Euthanasia

Oh God!

Sleep now!

Do I sleepwalk?

No you don't.

Writing . . . . 

Freedom is . . . .

Freedom is when you'd think freely. Unrestrictedly. When people can't police your thoughts. When there's no fear. When you're not in invisible shackles.