A Soldier at Heaven's Gate

Came across this while surfing the web:

A soldier died on the field of battle and came up to the gates of heaven, where he met God. He said to God, "Lord, I know I did many things I am not proud of, and many more that you won't approve of, so if you send me to hell, I won't argue." God stood there for a moment, and then turned to the gatekeeper of heaven,"Let him in", He said. The gatekeeper, confused, asked "Why?"
God looked down at the soldier and said,"This man just came from hell."

Some Thoughts on Evolution

"Evolution is an imperfect and often violent process. Morality loses its meaning. The question of good and evil reduces to one simple choice: Survive or perish."

Primarily, irrationality has been playing an important role in the evolution of the human race as well as impact on individual and group actions till date... This is primarily because we have evolved thought process.

Further on, I was just wondering how the humans are different from other species as in decisions by a few humans can affect entire groups of humans, other flora and fauna, and the entire planet...
Some of our members have tremendous amounts... of power.

In that context, many decisions are based on irrationality and personal biases, or for the purpose of acquisition of more power/ wealth/resources/etc. Not always does morality as in 'the greatest good of the greatest number' figure.

Applying that to evolution, lots of genetic variants, which defines evolution, are lost due to such decisions aforementioned. Accidents aside, the factors which determine evolution of other species, are further added to by such politico-socio-economic considerations.

And when conflicts arise, those who are left are not always right. The fact that they have survived and are able to have progeny determines the evolutionary path

Moment of Truth: A Conversation


Shubhra Talukdar: Wondering why people want to get on Moment of Truth - it destroys your life, career, relationships, soul... Why would one want to do that?
Perhaps is it because the soul is already destroyed? And a session on Moment of Truth the Grand Finale?

Sukhada Kulkarni: I think the moment of truth is to make your soul better..

Shubhra Talukdar: ... but in the most damaging way possible?

Harish Dash: The problem is "Moment of truth" should be in the right moment i.e. when the time is apt, you gotta tell the truth and not on a tv show. If truth is not told in the right time, it is bound to be painful as it has to uncover the false cover created by lie long accepted.

Divya Sharma: i feel its imp to know the truth.. Even if its bitter.. Why to live in a false world built on illusions? You will have everything but ur peace of mind then!

Realization...


There was a day when sunshine came
And suddenly all felt bright and clear
There was spring in my step
And the music of the winds I could hear

There is something in living for others
Which one must experience to know
It cannot be told, written about or expressed
But can be the power to which one must bow

The sun and its shine have gone for now
And it is damp and dark once more
The heart alone knows the pain it endures
And yearns again for the light pure

But, painful it may be, powerless it is not
Hope is the source it shall draw upon
Enough strength it will provide
To go though life, and preserve one

Hence, through the rain
Shall walk I
Other may get wet
But my head remains high

What is gone, may return
Or mayhaps, it may not
But it is only one life we have
So its time for happiness we fought

It is only one life have
Time to live it in style
Make it meaningful
Make it worthwhile...

Erised

I have found the Mirror of Erised.
It is inside me.

I see, not what is, but what the heart desires.

Writing of the Wall

Citizens of India,
It is clear - the writing on the wall...
Time to stop the infighting, it will destroy us...
Time to put "India First!"
No, I don't care about what injustices your 'region', 'religion', 'caste' suffered... Nor should you...
Those affiliations are meaningless... Useless...
Time to be human... Time to Indian!

"We must all hang together, or we shall each hang separately" - Benjamin Franklin

And, trust me - lots of people in the world would happily hang us... for their own benefit...
Remember that every time before you complain about a perceived injustice by another Indian, or before you do an Indian an injustice.
Time to wake up!

India First. Foremost. Always!

A Letter to the Times of India

Subject: Deterioration of the "Masthead of India"


Dear Editor,

It is with great regret that I am penning down this e-mail.

Once the TOI was really a Leader. Features such as articles by Prof. Yash Pal, Dr. Nadkarni, Hi-Tech and Sci-Tech, the Centre articles on the Editorial page (which was on the right), an International page (which even the Economist would have been proud of), a crossword section unrivalled anywhere, food and lifestyle articles by eminent writers by Siddharth Kak, etc, were what made the TOI a prized newspaper.

Times change and so should we... but consistency should be maintained. Now, all your articles are becoming smaller and more opinionated, your editorials sound like advertorials, ad space has increased, etc. Infact if you compute the quantity of column inches dedicated to core news vs. that dedicated to advertisements and advertorials, over the last 15 years, you'll find a substantial decrease.

More important is the quality of news. Once what was a hotbed of incisive journalism is beginning to sound more like a tabloid like the Sun of Great Britain. Pray what is going on? Your Sunday editions are no longer readable, except for a few sections by Jug Suraiya, Bachi Karkaria, et al. Swaminomics and Gurcharan Das also seem to be getting rarer.

Is it a sign of the times (pun unintended) that the TOI must join its crass counterparts in Aaj Tak and India TV, where the news is so unreliable that it must be seen as a comic relief, at best?

It sounds suspiciously like your marketing department is running the show. Being a marketing professional myself, I can tell when you try to maximize short term revenue. But it is at a great cost. The reputation which was painstakingly built over the years will be irrevocably lost. It us, the Readers, because of whom your circulation is large. Because of which you can command a premium in advertisements. But increase advertising and advertorials beyond a point, and your readership will flag, sooner than you think. Because your target audience is still your Readers and not Advertisers. Your differentiating factor is your reputation as a serious, critical newspaper - and converting it into a tabloid will only hurt, not help. Just wait and see. For all the hits you're taking now, recession is not the answer.

My marketing professor used to joke: "Definition of Marketing: A sucker is being born every minute somewhere - your job is to find him." Let's hope you are not unwittingly taking him seriously. Because customers/readers take great objection to being suckered, and they vote with their purchase/reading preferences.

Think about it. It's about TOI's survival.

Regards,

A Reader