A weather musing

I was reflecting about.. rain being seen as a sign to ‘do nothing’ in Chennai. Life, in general, used to stand still when we were faced with a few days of rain. Roads would flood, schools would give us a few days off.. and of course, it was perfectly okay to feel lazy when it rained. Rainy weather was perfectly gloomy and seemed to call for nothingness.
In Singapore, it was slightly different. Being tropical, rain was more common. Back in university though, rainy weather was still seen as a nice excuse to sleep in late. As it rained pretty often, I guess that tells you enough about regular attendance in classes.
I wonder what the excuse is here in London. Since it is practically grey and rainy all the time, there’s no way rain can be associated with lethargy. Maybe it’s the sun?

On Barbarians, Civitas and Alexander:

‘The Worlds at War’ has been a fascinating book so far. And this week’s book learning has 3 fun facts/thoughts from the book.

1. Barbarians: Do you know how the word ‘barbarian’ came about? The word now is associated with uncivilized people with no manners. In the old days however, the Greeks simply referred to the Persians as people whose speech sounded like ‘ba ba’ and hence, barbarian. And that meaning, of course, changed with time..

2. Civitas or civilization: The Roman civilization were the first to be described as ‘civitas’ or civilization. This concept was unique at that time. Everybody wanted to be a Roman ‘citizen’ (a novel concept then) as the Roman civilization stood for being just and good. Rome was a metropolitan city, much like the New Yorks, London’s and Singapore’s of today and the Roman civilization was looked up to as it did not choose to conquer and enslave people, but bring them under their law by making them all citizens of Rome.

3. Alexander the visionary: Alexander the great was quite a visionary. In a time when the tendency was to wage war and create boundaries, he sought to unite. After conquering the Persian people, Alexander not only sought alliances by marrying the Persian queen (versus taking them all slaves), he also sought to embrace Persian culture and combine Persian customs with the Greek as he attempted to unify the world under one umbrella by demonstrating openness.

I found that concept and thought pretty amazing. Our world today seems so divided in comparison..

I’ve found reading history to be great for imagination and creativity. Moreover, I find it interesting to understand how and why the world exists in it’s current form. I’ve still got 2/3rds of this book to go. More fun facts to come then!

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When it’s done, it’s done.

Done is not inking in the last letter in the 11th hour.

Done typically translates to a 3rd draft (ideally) submitted with time to spare.

Yes, this is NOT how we are accustomed to doing things in school/university.
That’s why the ‘real’ world is called what it is called I guess.

Because here, when you say it’s ‘done’, it better be just that – DONE.
PS: Build in ‘slack time’ into your plans

Digging Deep

I mulled.

Dug deep.
Half eager and half anxious about what I would find.
For digging deep ensures not a result that might enthrall.
Often what I see is not what I want to see.
But what I see is not too far from the truth.
That, I cannot deny.
This time, I saw a tinge of sadness, a tinge of reluctance and a tinge of pain.
It was a reminder to myself.
That change is not always pleasant.
‘You gotta do whatcha gotta do’ – I told myself.
As I let myself get sucked in to the whirlwind with a smile.
That whirlwind.
Called life.

Heidi

There are many benefits of falling sick (as crazy as it sounds). Three of the top benefits are as follows –

1. You get time to think. And this need not be about anything in particular. It could just mean an eclectic mix of stuff.

2. You are FORCED to take a break. I don’t know of anything else that can force me as effectively..

3. You get time to pander to those crazy ideas you ignored from time to time. And this story is about a not-so-crazy-idea.. but an idea that I didn’t probably explore..
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I woke up all of a sudden remember Heidi. Heidi was a cartoon I watched on Cartoon Network (India) as a kid and I simply LOVED it. I had tried finding Heidi for a long while but hadn’t been successful and after some youtube searching, I finally found an edited version of the whole series. As I saw bits of the edited versions –

1. I first found myself wondering how the little kid found so much happiness. Given I think of myself as a reasonably positive person, I found myself wondering if such happiness, thrill and joy could even be real. She seemed thrilled at a bed of hay, at fresh water from the mountains and a lot of very little things. And just as I was beginning to wonder if the creators had pushed her happiness to overkill…

..I stopped myself. I realized I was probably making the same mistake Albus Dumbledor e(of the Harry Potter fame) accused adults of making i.e. ‘Forgetting what it is to be young.’

And one part of me also felt ashamed that I was questioning happiness and unabashed joy at the little things. Big lesson to learn from Heidi..


2. My mom spoke of a movie she had seen recently where, instead of the traditional theme of the kid being stubborn, uncontrollable and hard on the elders, for a change, it showed adults to be hardened and cynical and the kid to be forgiving. She said that depiction was closest to the truth.

As I saw Heidi, I couldn’t help but agree.

3. I now know where my fascination for the Swiss Mountains comes from.. I can’t wait for my next trip.

4. It was nice revisiting my childhood. Very nice..

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Check the 1st little episode here