Life is an illusion

 As I was almost finishing my year-end marathon, a thought occurred to me. No it was not a Netflix marathon - as that happened every day in 2021. This was book challenge - I wanted to complete 12 books for the year - a goodreads challenge - which is just 1 book per month. Which is not a big task at all considering I have almost 16 hours free time per day. Even I want to work those many hours, but no one gives me any work. So I was reading Three men and a main - which is easy read. I thought the characters in that book - like most other books by the author don't have any great problems in life. Unless you count the problems like romantic dalliances or attempts at them. And they will have hundred of servants at home including a gentleman's gentleman - a butler with wonderful English and smartness of an grandma or may be a rich industrialist.  Of course you know about Jeeves, who saves the poor little bumbling Wooster in difficult situations. Which the latter is very fond of.  So

 So good news, I have completed 10 books this year. Better news I have been reading Wodehouse and chuckling out loud. The book is called Three men and a maid. And there are no Wooster and Jeeves. No butlers so far.  But that does not mean there is no satire and tongue in the cheek humor.  OK, this was from another book - "The clicking of Cuthbert". A Russian is telling a story ".... Then a person tried to assassinate Lenin. (the book belongs to Lenin Era). You see attempting to kill Lenin is our national sport".  And as I can't live on books alone, I tried watching "Rebellion" on Netflix. That is the series about Easter Rebellion of Ireland in 1916. Apparently there were around 250 civilian deaths and 16 executions of rebels of British government.  Let me digress a bit here. There are two things we have learnt from the great British a) divide and rule b) imprison the truth tellers. Why this post? I told myself  not to blog when I am angry and agitated

Larry in Razor's edge is on a quest - he is trying to find meaning to life. Don't we all want to know it? Though we don't leave everything behind and start a journey. He sees his friend being killed in the war. He is horrified by the evil behind this. Now he wants  to solve the puzzle of life and its purpose.  He starts by reading voraciously. Then he seeks meaning in a Christian missionary. Not satisfied, he continues his search. Meanwhile he works in a farm. and as a deck hand in a ship. As manual labor clears his mind.  Then, surprise, surprise-  he visits India. When he visits Benares, he is enthralled by the devotion of hundred of people praying in the middle of the river. But I wonder whether the motive behind these ganga snani - s is bhakti or bhaya (devotion or fear). One of his Indian friends directs him to an Ashram in Travancore by a yogi Ganesh. Larry meets Ganesh and he immensely likes the yogi and his ashram. He stays in the Ashram, listening to the talks of t

 I was listening to some podcast one morning Boost, I think the name was. It is some kind of motivational podcast where the podcaster speaks really fast but the content is not bad. So I think he was saying we need to have some schedule without which we can't achieve anything. Today I decided I will try it out. I did not write my schedule for one day in calendar app in any of my gadgets. Remember paranoia. I wrote it in a text file using vi editor - I certainly favor that editor to gedit.  And now at 9:30 in the evening, I can say that I have completed just one of the deeds written in that schedule. But I feel more at peace - much more at peace.  Is it because I have something to avoid or I have a tiny little hope that this may actually lead to some kind of progress in whatever the hell I am doing? I am not certain.  But I am happy that I can look forward to avoiding something or reluctantly doing something most of the time. Because you see, Netflix and Amazon prime are almost over.

Not bad for a day's work. Yes, I should start the post with a positive note. I completed polishing the UI of my Java github pages . These contain programs/questions on various topics of Java. And of course they are extracted from my own Java Quizard app in google play.   When I first developed them I knew very little Javascript, css or HTML. So I just got some code and copied them. The script needed was only for expanding the answers and collapsing them. I copied that code into each and every HTML file. If I remember correctly, I wrote a Java program for that. Funny. Now that I am learning a little bit of CSS, I could separate the script into a common file, the stylesheet into a file and reuse them in all my webpages. I still need to change to courier font in some of codes.  This should be expanded to all my other pages like C, DS and Cpp.  Inyare madtare, naane saybeku, swarga padibeku. So may be by next weekend I would polish the rest of the web pages.  But the first index page

 Raveena Tandon - Kasturi is an inspector in interior hill station town. She has decided to take a long leave from office to care for her family. Needs unnecessary, as her daughter Nutan in 12th is studying well and cooks better than her mother. And son is a well behaved child. Her father-in-law is slightly eccentric, slightly demented ex-police who keeps thinking he is still hawaldar.  The inspector who comes to replace her, Angad is "angrezi medium" cop, a young inspector - well educated. On his first day, he gets his first case. A french woman comes with a complain that her teen-age daughter is missing.  Kasturi tries to belittle this woman as charasi - a drug addict and doesn't want to take this case seriously. But Angad is not dismissing the case. Local minister Jagadamba is having breakfast with her son Keerthi and telling him that she wants to cancel his probation. He must go back to prison. What has transpired the previous night, she is not sure. But she is worrie

 This is the phrase used in the beginning of each episode of sci-fi post-apocalyptic Netflix series Snowpiercer. Because of climate change, the earth has become very hot. The experiment of scientists to cool down the earth, freezes it instead. To save the humanity, a team of scientists and an industrialist Wilford design a train with a perpetual engine. I think it draws its power from its motion. So it will be moving as long as it is moving. And as long as it is moving, the select people inside its cars will be saved from death by freezing. Melanie is the voice of Wilford and de-facto head of the train. She is careful enough to have a well designed class system in the train. The first class travellers have paid for their tickets and live in all luxury. The second and third class travellers are the crew and do not have many facilities. The tail of the train - is where people live in dark slum like conditions and so revolt multiple times and fail as many times.  Layton is the leaders of

I am not going to talk about Akshay khanna starrer film about the toilet in Indian orthodox households. My story is about this topic in the Nextflix show called "Grace and Frankie" Grace and Frankie are older women. They know each other and dislike each other for centuries as their husbands are buddies. But now they are forced to cohabit and befriend,  because Robert and Sol- their husbands have decided to leave them and marry each other.  Yes, they are and were gay for all these years.  And diametrically opposite Grace and Frankie fight a lot in the beginning, then become friends, then best friends blah.. blah.. blah.  But now comes the interesting part.  One day Grace realizes she can not get up from her commode. She can't possibly shout out "ma... I am done, wash me". Because her mom - bless her soul, is in a better place. She can’t call her newly married spouse. It will be too embarrassing.  She can't use her hands and manoeuver, get up too.  She notice

Proud of the success of completing a book in less than a month, I started my next book - The razor's edge.  As I have been lamenting innumerable times, my reading has taken a backseat and has almost fallen off. That's the reason I was pleasantly surprised to complete the book "The moon and sixpence". Apparently, this title was taken from his famous book "Of human bondage" - he was so much absorbed in his attempt to reach moon that he could not see the six pence at his feet.  With the second book, I realized why I am able to read this books effortlessly, not feeling as if it is a chore. These books have lot of no, not pictures - sadly. They have lot of conversations. Ha, I am really childish. Want to read good books, but not boring (read serious) ones.  This book also has the same pattern - the narrator discussing the life and nature of a person. But is the person in question Elliot Templeton - the smart businessman who knew how to climb the social ladder or

I started with some quotes about separation of church and state  “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s”  If we look deep, we may find a similar quote in our Hindu dharma too. They better be far away, for the sake of everyone concerned. But looking at the current events, we can't but wonder,  are we going back to history where we have one papal state, one holy muslim state and a holy hindu state, a holy jewish state etc etc.?   And I am not talking about Taliban - which is a religious/terrorist outfit ruling a country with very little consideration for human rights. I am talking about barbaric anti-abortion law one of states in usa. I am talking about right wing people gaining popularity and/or part of the government many places all over the world.  The utter chaos caused by the pandemic may not be the only reason why people are searching for solace in God and religion. Does God make people feel safer. Than their families, than the gove

I am not talking about the book by Margaret Atwood but its adaptation by Netflix.   The story happens in a futuristic world where the country - USA is ruled by Theonomy - Government by God/religion particularly according to  old Testament.   Religions other than christianity are not recognized nor is divorce. Adultery is a punishable offense. Women are not supposed to be anything other than housewives.   Due to climate change the fertility rate has reduced very badly. Powerful people hire or rather employee natal slaves who were adulterers.  Adulterers  can be anyone who do not follow religious. These women are used as handmaids. Who are raped by their masters and are supposed to bear a child and give it to their master’s family.   Yeah it is a Is the dystopian world ruled by, surprise surprise- religion! It is a good and very sad show.    On a side note, do you wonder with our obsession about God and religion and past glory , are we heading towards barbarism?

 My obsession with Netflix shows must have made you to conclude that I have given up reading altogether. I haven't, but barely so. You may find it hard to believe, but a social media platform helped me get back into the good habit. Yes, reddit, when I saw the posts in a book-lovers' group, I was inspired to read a few books at least. Yes, currently I am listening / reading the famous book by famous author "The moon and the six pence" by Somerset Maugham. And it is interesting and not too sad - unlike most of these books by award winning authors.  Strickland is a middle aged stock broker who leaves his wife and teenage children and runs away to Paris. The protagonist locates him and goes to his dingy motel room. He was told by Strickland's wife and brother in law that he has run away with some waitress.  But no, surprisingly, Strickland has run away alone. To pursue his passion in painting. Our protagonist tries to convince him to come back at least for the sake of