Books.

I was listening to the Bhagavad Gita (Sacred text of Hinduism), just now at http://www.gitamrta.org/listen_bhagavad_gita_english.html
Completed the first chapter and I got to know how Arjuna felt at the battlefield of Kurukshetra, being nervous at the sight of his cousins, the Gauravas, Dhirtrashtra, and his teacher Dhrona. It was a large battlefield and I guess, the next chapters would be on Krishna enlightening Arjuna.

Well, the holidays were a bit tasteless without some salt and pepper, which was why I went to the library to borrow some books. Never was I a bookworm, but it was a sudden thought which hit me to read on some books. I picked "Tracking Bodhidharma, Becoming Enlightened, Law of Attraction" and an everlasting list! I just do not know why, but I just do not admire the practice of reading fiction books. I'd rather pick non-fiction, historical, enlightening and spiritual books. I read up on almost every religion, except atheism and agnosticsm. There's still a long path left to go.





The holidays seems boring. I don't find any thrill in it. Would find more stuff to blog about in the near future. Now off to eat my lunch... Meanwhile #MayYouBeBlessed

Yours Sincerely,
Engineer

President Obama. Re-elected as President.

That man. That very man everyone expected to win. Which has now happened. May we congratulate that man over his victory. President Barack Obama, may the American nation further prosper with your presence and every piece you move on the chessboard may bring good to the United States. You will bring glory, we believe.

Governor Mitt Romney, it was a tight competition between you and Mr.President, and this election was more lit up and I was impressed over the points you mentioned in the debates and your speeches. Although you were not elected as President this time round, those who are in support of you would call out your name with pride and honour.

Mr. President, given another 4 years, we will foresee you transforming the whole of America. Remember, it's American's effect on the whole world. May glory shine upon you over your victory. Congratulations, Mr. President.

















I hope to blog again soon! Meanwhile, #MayYouBeBlessed

A picture speaks a thousand words!

There are many pictures and photographs on the internet, regardless of whether they are photoshopped or not. There are just some of them which make you get that feeling.


Imagine going for a camp somewhere. What if you got to live in a tent like this?



Imagine playing a piano. What if you got to play a piano like this?



Imagine driving a car. What if you had a speedometer like this?



What if you were looking forward to a great and hearty breakfast and you got to see this up on your table?



Imagine being an amateur at drawing. You have poor drawing skills. (I'm quite good at art, I topped the class for art in my final year examinations in Sec 2) What if you can draw this?



Imagine you were lost in a desert. What if you got to see such sand art and you were allowed to live in it?



Imagine you are in Petra, Jordan. You were forced into living into these openings, provided with good surroundings. What would you do?



Imagine you have the power to see the future. What if you could see 2050?




Pictures are amazing. These are just the tip of an iceberg. When the chance heeds me, I'll tell and show you more. For now, #MayYouBeBlessed.

4S and Fast

Well, yes. I got my new iPhone 4S. As it's known, a very good experience it is for me to use an apple product. To be truthful, this is my first Personal Apple product. If you didn't know, am on a 48-day religious fast. I would go to the temple everyday, the one in Bukit Panjang. I got the golden opportunity to mix with the priests in the temple. I mingled with them and yes, they communicated with me kindly. They would give me the temple prasad, and I also mingled with the man who would play the drums at the temple. Other than home and school, that's where I get to use and hear Tamil, excluding the mantras being chanted in Sanskrit. I also keep myself away from eating non vegetarian food. Chicken, mutton, fish.. No way to them. Never was I this religious before in my life. I have lost weight. I have become more and more skinnier. I only gained 2 kg in total compared to last year.

I went to the library with that fella. Borrowed some books and left the place. Ate Biriyani with mom for lunch at 3.30 pm. Now off to bed as I've got to go for NCC and Math SCT tomorrow. Shiva, I'll see you tomorrow. I hope the other two supreme beings will attend too. I might want to talk more. More. To myself and to you.

Existence of God: A Conversation

I got this off the net, I'd like to thank Raju, who posted this on his blog.
Here it goes....

Subject: Conversation about the existence of God

An atheist professor of philosophy speaks to his class on the problem science has with God, The Almighty.
He asks one of his new students to stand and.....

Prof: So you believe in God?
Student: Absolutely, sir.

Prof: Is God good?
Student: Sure.

Prof: Is God all-powerful?
Student: Yes.

Prof: My brother died of cancer even though he prayed to God to heal him. Most of us would attempt to help others who are ill. But God didn't. How is this God good then? Hmm?
(Student is silent.)

Prof: You can't answer, can you? Let's start again, young fella. Is God good?
Student: Yes.

Prof: Is Satan good?
Student: No.

Prof: Where does Satan come from?
Student: From...God...

Prof: That's right. Tell me son, is there evil in this world?
Student: Yes.

Prof: Evil is everywhere, isn't it? And God did make everything. Correct?
Student: Yes.

Prof: So who created evil?
(Student does not answer.)

Prof: Is there sickness? Immorality? Hatred? Ugliness? All these terrible things exist in the world, don't they?
Student: Yes, sir.

Prof: So, who created them?
(Student has no answer.)

Prof: Science says you have 5 senses you use to identify and observe the world around you.
Tell me, son...Have you ever seen God?
Student: No, sir.

Prof: Tell us if you have ever heard your God?
Student: No, sir.

Prof: Have you ever felt your God, tasted your God, smelt your God? Have you ever had any sensory perception of God for that matter?
Student: No, sir. I'm afraid I haven't.

Prof: Yet you still believe in Him?
Student: Yes.

Prof: According to empirical, testable, demonstrable protocol, science says your GOD doesn't exist.
What do you say to that, son?
Student: Nothing. I only have my faith.

Prof: Yes. Faith. And that is the problem science has.
Student: Professor, is there such a thing as heat?

Prof: Yes.

Student: And is there such a thing as cold
Prof: Yes.

Student: No sir.
(The lecture theatre becomes very quiet with this turn of events.)
Student : Sir, you can have lots of heat, even more heat, superheat, mega heat, white heat, a little heat or no heat. But we don't have anything called cold. We can hit 458 degrees below zero which is no heat, but we can't go any further after that. There is no such thing as cold . Cold is only a word we use to describe the absence of heat . We cannot measure cold. Heat is energy . Cold is not the opposite of heat, sir, just the absence of it .
(There is pin-drop silence in the lecture theatre.)

Student: What about darkness, Professor? Is there such a thing as darkness?
Prof: Yes. What is night if there isn't darkness?

Student: You're wrong again, sir. Darkness is the absence of something. You can have low light, normal light, bright light, flashing light....But if you have no light constantly, you have nothing and it's called darkness, isn't it? In reality, darkness isn't. If it were, you would be able to make darkness darker, wouldn't you?
Prof: So what is the point you are making, young man?

Student: Sir, my point is your philosophical premise is flawed.
Prof: Flawed? Can you explain how?

Student: Sir, you are working on the premise of duality. You argue there is life and then there is death, a good God and a bad God. You are viewing the concept of God as something finite, something we can measure. Sir, science can't even explain a thought. It uses electricity and magnetism, but has never seen, much less fully understood either one. To view death as the opposite of life is to be ignorant of the fact that death cannot exist as a substantive thing. Death is not the opposite of life: just the absence of it. Now tell me, Professor. Do you teach your students that they evolved from a monkey?
Prof: If you are referring to the natural evolutionary process, yes, of course, I do.

Student: Have you ever observed evolution with your own eyes, sir
(The Professor shakes his head with a smile, beginning to realize where the argument is going.)
Student: Since no one has ever observed the process of evolution at work and cannot even prove that this process is an on-going endeavor, are you not teaching your opinion, sir? Are you not a scientist but a preacher? (The class is in uproar.)

Student: Is there anyone in the class who has ever seen the Professor's brain?
(The class breaks out into laughter.)
Student : Is there anyone here who has ever heard the Professor's brain, felt it, touched or smelt it? No one appears to have done so. So, according to the established
rules of empirical, stable, demonstrable protocol, science says that you have no brain, sir.
With all due respect, sir, how do we then trust your lectures, sir?
(The room is silent. The professor stares at the student, his face unfathomable.)
Prof: I guess you'll have to take them on faith, son.

Student: That is it sir... The link between man & god is FAITH . That is all that keeps things moving & alive.

     

Thank God! The exams are over.

Well, It has been a long time since I've blogged. A really long time. What could I do? The exams were holding on to me for such a long time. Revising day and night, I am unsure of my examinations' outcomes. Anyways, I'm on a 48-day religious fast. Again. I have planned to go to the temple every morning before school. I know. I've got to wake up at 5.30 every morning and leave the house at 5.55. 5 minutes of bathing, 5 minutes of teeth-brushing, 5 minutes of getting ready, 5 minutes of gulping a glass of milk, and 5 minutes of putting on my shoes. You may think it's tiring, but it isn't. It's extremely peaceful.

I can't think of anything to blog now. I'm too bored to think of anything. I'm going out to watch Maattraan later. Bye Bye! :D

iPhone 5?

Day by day, my impression on the Upanyana rituals is worsening. The Brahmins wear the cross thread. Okay, I got that cleared. But why not the other Hindus should wear the cross thread too? So what is the purpose of this ceremony? I don't think that it symbolizes and concerns purity, the three debts and the other religious reasons. It seems to me rather like discrimination. Why does Hinduism only let the Brahmins wear the cross thread and not the others? The Kshatriyas? Vaishyas? Shudras? I am just against the ideology of caste system. Enough talking about it now, the Indian government is now giving A LOT of scholarships and benefits to those of lower castes. They deserve it, for having their ancestors facing generations and centuries of torture. If I was a Brahmin, I would not wear the cross thread. If I had to, I wouldn't rather do it. I would just throw it away, just like how Guru Nanak, Bharathiyar and Kamal Hassan did. It's just a barrier among people and avoiding communications. How deadly!

My body condition is now a bit better. Only by a bit. I am feeling dizzy, extremely dizzy. I wanna get to my bed and doze off. I am craving for sleep.

I just think sometimes that reincarnation is unfair. You might think, "This guy himself is a Hindu. But he doesn't follow his religion. Strange." Let me enlighten you that there are very few things I oppose in my religion - (1) Caste system, (2) Reincarnation. That's the two things I oppose. I don't wish to explain or talk about reincarnation for now. I may or not post about it in the near future, you should just go and read it up on the Internet.

Anyways, there is a happy news for all those who are rich in money or are Apple Freaks, the iPhone 5 has been released. Yesterday around 10pm Singapore time. That's what my friends said, but I'm not so sure. I don't seem to care much about it. I know my parents can't afford it, for I am born in a middle class family. My weekly pocket money is way lesser than yours, trust me. I'd rather be poor in wealth than being rich, as I'm already rich in wisdom. You need money for survival. True. But with money, you can't buy everything. You can't buy a new relationship like a sibling (I'm happy I don't have one: for I get all the things my parents purchase solemnly for myself) nor can you buy a world with ultimate peace. I hope you understand.

Poor people. What did they do, to be looked down on? They were born poor, not their fault at all. If they die poor, I still stand firm in saying it's still not their fault. Why? It is the opportunities which change a man and his actions. He couldn't get the opportunities to enter the middle class or rich world. So, what's your part?

If you are 18 and above, make it a point to donate a sum of money at least every 6 months, to the poor. If you are too obsessed with having a profit in your stocks and markets, your wallet must have helped you in thinking, "I'll donate a 10 cents. Lol!" Let me tell you, if you wish to donate even 10 cents, then better do it. You are at least doing something. But the 10 cents must be donated from the heart. Not for the sake of taunting the situation. Such a horror!

Bai the bay (By the way), I'm logging off now. Good bye and have a night's rest. I'd like to hint you that if that success is your  door, then resilience is your key. Remember, never give up! Edison tried 200 times to get the light bulb. But he only invented the light bulb after some time. He tasted success at last. He believed in this, "I tried and failed over 2000 times in the process of inventing a light bulb. However, I also came to know that over 2000 elements and methods do not make a light bulb." That's not enough. Let me sign off with his favourite quote, "Genius is one percent inspiration; ninety-nine percent perspiration."

Yours Entertainingly,
Engineer.

Pain is in the body this time round, not the heart.

I am down with fever, sore throat, cough, running nose and sneezing. I guess you can't imagine how I'm still coping with life. I have no other choice. Insomnia has flooded me and my whole mind. I am short of sleep and rest. I slept yesterday at midnight, the time where my mom would say ghosts would roam around. Please don't misunderstand or misinterpret what I am trying to say. My mother is never a superstitious person and nor does she believe in the existence of spirits. It was just too late that I nearly dozed off. I had to finish off my Literature project and the Maths day presentation, which took place today. It was a nightmare; just one in reality. I had to seek some peace instantaneously.

The latest time I woke up today, 6.40 am. The time I would leave house. It's such a rarity and this never ever happened in my life before (when there is school) and little did I expect its happening. 5 minutes to bathe, 5 minutes to brush my teeth and pray, 5 minutes to put on my uniform and pack my bag. I left house approximately at 6.55 am. Not bad, when I stepped foot at school, the chime just rang. I was just on time, thanks to the Lord's mercy! Not the Lord's, but the Lords' (I am referring to Gods/Goddesses, not the Lord's in England). I nearly felt asleep during Math class, skimming through all the Trigonometry notes written on the whiteboard. Sine, cosine, tangent, ratio, reference angle, I had enough! You see, I am not feeling well. Giddiness is a problem, followed by its successor, the The Headache. It was a boring morning and I am not lying!

Next came the Maths day, an event whereby a Sec 2 group is to present a game using a particular mathematical topic to those in the Sec 1 level. It involves both enjoyment and acquiring knowledge. The topic assigned to us was Polygons. We met different kinds of intelligent juniors and even some who were inattentive, after explanations ended up asking, "What is a polygon?" It was a good try and a fair success. Good enough for last minute work, which I believe in! The day ended, but another day is about to begin tomorrow. It's just around 16 days remaining for my final year semestral examinations.

My hands are exhausted after jabbing all the buttons of my fellow companion, one who shows me the path with all the equipments he needs: microchips, keys, motherboard, battery, USB ports and yes, a Broadband computer. I can live without anything, but not my computer. I need him badly. Badly.

I am getting a bit dizzy right now. My matress is going to bear me now. I guess I've got to leave. Befor that, I'd like to share with you something awesome. In the Philippines, engineers found easily-made light bulbs. It does not need money, electricity or anything. You'll see.

Light bulb made out of bottle filled with bleach and water

Yes, you must've got the whole picture from the caption itself. An empty Coke bottle filled with water and bleach, gives off so much of light. Now that's a real energy saving bulb.

Hey, I almost forgot, I made a carrot cake for Home Econs practical lessons yesterday. I don't think it turned out very well, but the icing made it look just a little alluring. I don't know, I need suggestions and comments. Leave your comments, but remember to Silence the Hate.

Carrot cake made by me

I also couldn't have done the cake without PTK, Aara and the others. Thank you all who helped me a lot. I guess I've got to leave now. Bye!

Yours entertainingly,

Engineer.

Last day of Holidays! :(

It's time to start whining again. I didn't do my English and History homework. I've got to finish everything by today. The cycle of stress is everlasting. Never comes to a stop. It's like the highest stress is the butterfly and the lowest stress is its egg. "This is a school, not a pressure cooker." You would have heard that off 3 idiots, a Bollywood film. What's more worse, it's the end of the September holidays!

I proclaim myself as a newbie at mind-mapping(I might not be super-excellent at it, but I'm superior than the others.) which may be a hindrance to my History homework. It requires me to do a mind-map on how did Singapore achieve Independence. It includes the merger with Malaya and its separation. You've got to at least read it off Wikipedia, or else you wouldn't be understanding a teeny little bit of what I'm saying.

I recently watched these 2 Tamil movies: Naan Ee and Naan. The names sound quite familiar, but are of different story lines. Naan Ee is based on a love story, but not really between humans. You might be surprised. It's a love story between a girl and a tiny housefly. I call it a must watch! Naan is another case, which runs slowly with a murder story. Starring musician Vijay Antony's debut, I'd call it an average experience watching it, but was made to look better with its theme regarding suspense.

I've got a lot of work left at my desk to heed to. I call this day with no surprises and thrills. What a boring day! You just wake up, bathe, eat, work, study and sleep! Lifeless - that's the thing I call it. Life is not how it is and how it should be. It's boring. Boring enough to drive my crazy. I've decided to log out, once and for all.

Yours Entertainingly.
Engineer.

Naan Ee

Naan

   

Boredom. The one which kills you!

Many tend to blog to post their pictures of their daily routine and lives, share their stories, write journals and to have their life experiences and feelings known to the world. I'd rather blog to create awareness among the society. Sharing facts not many know is indeed more mind-blowing.

I feel hungry. In search for food. Not for my stomach. But for my brain. I need knowledge. Knowledge is the one which brings you to the top. You really have to know about something, that's why it's called knowledge. There's this saying in Tamil, "What you have learned is just as small as your hand. What you have to learn is as large as the world." (கற்றது கைமண்ணளவு, கல்லாளது உலகளவு)

I feel like indulging myself into flipping the pages of books I wish to read. I just don't make the time for myself. The Secret, The Power of Your Subconscious Mind, To Kill a Mockingbird. All the novels and success-leading books lay asleep in the wooden shelves, like how a bear would hibernate during winter seasons. I would wake them up to see if they are alive and let them sleep again.

The holidays officially ends tomorrow. 9 days have passed within the blink of an eye. I wish, what everyone would wish, to have a winding clock. You just get to wind the time and days in reality, and go back to an earlier point of your life. It's just like backing up a computer-based system. You guessed it! I want the moments to enjoy my holidays again, right from the beginning. Procrastinated many things I had in mind. Just wasted all of my time. As Edward Young said, Procrastination is the thief of time.

But there's something that lights me up. Not ice-cream. Not at all. I just read off the news in the Internet that Rimsha Masih, a 11-14 year old Pakistani Christian girl with Down Syndrome, who was arrested for burning the pages of the Islamic holy book, the Quran, was granted bail and she's now free! She was behind bars for three weeks and she was accused for blasphemy, which carries the death sentence in Pakistan. Thank god that she's safe with her parents again.

My mind is now filled with the uttermost boredom. I shall kill it, once and for all ,before it begins to multiply like a cancer cell. I just have to help those with cancer when I grow up. I might not be a doctor to help out. I would be an engineer, for that's what I want to achieve. I will see how I can help others trough the furthest contribution my hand could do. So, if you just wasted your time reading my post, I'm sorry. 


Yours entertainingly,
Engineer.

God, you shouldn't have done this to them!

O Krishna, why did you use the varnas as an example to guide Arjuna? O Krishna, O Krishna!
O Vinayaga, why did you let Krishna guide Arjuna in such a way? O Vinayaga, O Vinayaga!
O Shiva, why did you let Vinayaga write the Mahabharata involving varnas? O Shiva, O Shiva!
O Parvathi, why did you not together with Shiva prevent him from bringing in castes? O Parvathi, O Parvathi!
O Vishnu, why did you even bring in the caste system? O Vishnu, O Vishnu! You took 9 incarnations, but there is no say to this. O Vishnu, O Vishnu! Why did you give the preferences to the Brahmins and Kshatriyas and let the Shudras live in a torturous world? O Vishnu, O Vishnu!
O Brahma, you are the preserver of this world. Why did you not ensure that all Hindus were either Brahmins or Dalits? O Brahma, O Brahma!

My obsession with the caste system has indeed led me to read, watch and learn about the caste system itself.  Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar. There's valour in the name itself. I watched the movie, Dr. Babasaheb Ambekar. What a struggling life a man had to live in India, despite talents and knowledge, just because he was an untouchable. Born into a Mahar family, he brought the Dalits or rather Harijans (whom Gandhi called the Dalits. It meant "Children of God" in Hindi) to light. The untouchables of India were referred to as Dalits. Untouchables mean that no one could touch you and no one would even dare to near you. If you were a Hindu and were born as a Brahmin, Kshatriya or Vaishya, you shouldn't near a Dalit. You would become a Dalit yourself if you touched a Dalit. I am a Kshatriya, which is what my father tells me. But I doubt that I may be a Shudra as Shudras are Non-Aryans, which means they are Dravidians. I am a Dravidian, but I am unsure if I am a Kshatriya or a Shudra. Whatever I am, I am not a Brahmin and I am not an untouchable. My main point here is: "Why did people have to treat the untouchables so badly?"

If you are not a Hindu, you would probably be confused over this caste system. What is exactly a caste system? Here's a picture:

The Hindu Caste System

The Brahmins were ranked the top, followed by Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, Shudras and the untouchables. The question here is, who were the Brahmins? Who were the Kshatriyas?

Brahmins are basically considered as the priestly caste of the Hindu religion. They involve themselves in religious ceremonies, studying religious texts (the Vedas and Upanishads). They were like the Orthodox of Hinduism. They even refrained from eating meat, as they believed in ahimsa (not to kill any living beings as it causes harm to them. Gandhi, India's father of nation emphasized this a lot.) and showed their ultimate devotion to god. The Kshatriyas in the past were the rulers, kings and warriors. The Shudras were deemed as workers. Then the untouchables? Perhaps scavengers or drain cleaners.

The untouchables were thought to be unclean. This was why those from the high castes separated them from the others. The untouchables were not allowed to enter the temple, read or recite the Vedas (a religious text which was forbidden to be read by the Shudras and the untouchables) or even touch the national flag. They were not even allowed to drink water from a lake in which those from higher castes drink. It is an unpleasant view from an untouchable's view. I can guarantee that. You would never know how the life of an untouchable is, until you are one yourself.

So why am I bringing this topic in? It is to tell people that the caste system still exists today. But now, the untouchables are given more preferences and the Brahmins are given the least. The untouchables are now known as "Scheduled Caste people". Those born in scheduled castes would be given scholarships and numerous benefits, seeing their ancestral background. They are given a widespread preference for their entrance to colleges and universities. This does upset the Brahmin community. But let us look at the wider picture of how the untouchables suffered in the past.

It is not only the Saheb (I am referring to Dr. Ambedkar) who has involved in rights for the Dalits. Down in the south, there are various leaders who were in favour to abolish the caste system, notably Periyar and Arignar Anna. Both of them had an everlasting rivalry in politics, but both of them were born as Kshatriyas and wanted to fight for the Dalits.

That's all I had to blog and share with you for today! I will come tomorrow! (Trusting that I will be alive the next morning!)


Yours entertainingly,
Engineer.

First time here? Just read the following paragraph!

I invite you, regardless of friend or foe, angel or devil, rich or poor, strong or weak or whatsover your characteristics may represent both your inner and outer self, to this blog of glory. Down here, it would be possible for you to understand feelings, surroundings, happenings in daily life, inspirations, quotations and many more than this which will ensure that you end up awestruck and not be filled with remorse for visiting here. My name is ....... (If you do know me personally, you should know it more than I do, for it is the sweetest word to me in any language or dialect. If you don't, I'll keep you in surprise and let you investigate my whole data.) Till then, in lieu of nodding a farewell, I encourage you to explore this world of fantasy.