Kaleidoscope

Prose is poetic too
2007/07/29,19:10

Hello my readers, who don't leave any comment on my blogs!

        ( This above statement could be very well applicable to only future readers :-)

     How are you all? I am back again here after a trip to a serene place. This poetry dish is not yet distasteful , may be it never can be so for me. I browsed Kahlil Gibran's works again, for his innovative writing on 'Eating and Drinking' had my attention fixate on him.

    This time, I casually browsed one of his prose - work 'Broken Wings'. The first paragraph itself is so captivating and poetic ( Please see below ) that I went on reading....

My neighbors, you remember the dawn of youth with pleasure and regret its passing; but I remember it like a prisoner who recalls the bars and shackles of his jail. You speak of those years between infancy and youth as a golden era free from confinement and cares, but I call those years an era of silent sorrow which dropped as a seed into my heart and grew with it and could find no outlet to the world of Knowledge and wisdom until love came and opened the heart's doors and lighted its corners. Love provided me with a tongue and tears.

what a fantastic implied metaphor  ( Love -> Sun's light that is needed for the seed ). More fantastic is the thought that the seed of sorrow needed to find an outlet  to the world of knowledge and wisdom as opposed to the conventional school of thought of consolation through whatever means!

I think the best writing is one that not only captivates  the reader but also stimulates her/him to make efforts to interpret it. Through this process the reader's interest is kept alive.

Thanks to Kahlil Gibran and to http://leb.net/gibran/ for making this work available. You can read the whole of this work in the website mentioned. Enjoy! 

 

To the fourth of July
2007/07/17,09:29

I fix my appetite on a food that I like for atleast two weeks. Similarly, I searched for a good poem after my last blog on Tagore's.

I came across an interesting poem by Swami Vivekananda, who delivered a moving speech in the Chicago congress of religions on Sep11th 1893.

This is a poem titled "To the fourth of July" , I love the below metaphor in the poem.

The lakes are opening wide in love
Their hundred thousand lotus-eyes
To welcome thee, with all their depth.

Interestingly, I learnt from the website poetseers.org that Vivekanada left his body on the 4th of July 1902. On the 4th of July 1898, when he was travelling with some American disciples in Kashmir he prepared this poem.

The whole poem can be read at http://www.poetseers.org

Thanks to them for this online version of the poetry.Thanks to Vivekananda for the lovely poem.

Flower and a Blind girl
2007/07/15,06:36

One morning in the flower garden a blind girl came to offer me a
flower chain in the cover of a lotus leaf.
I put it round my neck, and tears came to my eyes.
I kissed her and said, “You are blind even as the flowers are.
You yourself know not how beautiful is your gift."

This is one of the poems that touched my heart. The verse speaks of the creator, Rabindranath Tagore, who has written many such poems in his life time. I don't find any more words to add to this post.

A city where 170 languages are spoken!
2007/07/13,22:13

It is incredible that there is a city where 170 languages are spoken. Definitely that city is the representation of the whole world, I believe.

 New York New York

 It is New York. My heart is jumping when I write this - I hear every "lub dub" as "NewYork NewYork". Yes! of all the cities I visited so far in my life, the most exciting one for me is New York. Other than the dense tall buildings, beautiful neon lights and the proud yet benevolent statue of liberty, which do attract a visitor, I think the life of the city is the people. The diverse pool of people, who speak different languages as their mother tongue, yet interact in interesting English accents, all in motion all the time, with their chin up, with a brisk walk and with lots of aspiration to move in life, form the heart beat of the city.

I think the sky scrappers of New York symbolize this spirit and they stand just not as buildings, but as messengers, ambassadors of this spirit and energy of people to the rest of the world. 

There are diverting factors as well;drugs, crime - like any other city in the world. Sooner, these things will get dusted by the fire of enthusiasm and aspiration of people in New York and everywhere.

I love New York!

Thanks to Wikipedia for the picture. 

Thoughtful Quotes
2007/07/12,19:46

I wanted to read something useful in the morning before leaving the home to office. To me, the easiest but a meaningful exercise is to think over quotes of people. The below five quotes, while each is unique and simple, are sure to linger in the hearts of a reader. Thanks to the creators!

A creative man is motivated by the desire to achieve, not by the desire to beat others.

The truth is not for all men, but only for those who seek it.

- Ayn Rand Rand

The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.

The difference between what we do and what we are capable of doing would suffice to solve most of the world's problems.

There are times when you have to obey a call which is the highest of all, i.e., the voice of conscience even though such obedience may cost many a bitter tear, and even more, separation from friends, from family, from the state to which you may belong, from all that you have held as dear as life itself. For this obedience is the law of our being.

- Gandhi Gandhi

Back Rub
2007/07/12,08:59

The only website that I refer everyday is www.google.com, whether I want to find a subject matter that is interesting to blog about, or a news or exchange rate - whatever it is I google.

Google

So, I thought it would be opt to write about google.

Being a person enchanted by trivia I thought that it would be interesting if I post some interesting stuff about google rather than a write up; Here you go;

1. The first search engine by the founders of google ( Larry Page and Sergey Brin )  was named Back Rub

2. Their office in Menlo Park ( 1998 ) had a door with a remote control and included a washer, dryer and a hot tub with a parking space as well. Yes, it was a garage.

3.Larry and Sergey attempted to attract major portal players of those days, but could not do so and finally they started their own company.

4.What does google mean anyways?  Google is a play on the word googol which refers to the number represented by the numeral 1 followed by 100 zeroes. The founders have creatively reflected their mission to organize the massive data in internet through this term.

Rest , I encourage you all to read at http://www.google.com/corporate/history.html

Thanks to google for what it brings to me everyday, including this article and the picture.

Raffles
2007/07/01,01:00

Raffles 

Atleast to my knowledge, the 'then' British East India company officials are not very renowned. Raffles strikes me as an exception in the lot, who is regarded as the founder of Singapore.

On finding several symbols of tribute to Raffles in the Singapore city, I developed my interest to learn more about Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles. I found useful information about him from http://www.answers.com/topic/sir-thomas-stamford-raffles . Thanks to them.

Raffles, while working as a colonial administrator of East India Company worked to abolish slavery in his tenure and came up with several reforms. He underwent several hardships including the death of his four children and a charge by East India company towards the end of his life. From reading about him in various sources in internet I could come to the conclusion that he was the visionary in seeing Singapore's potential as a port and one who worked with able men to make that vision a reality.

Some historians say that the credit of founding Singapore goes to Raffles, Farquhar and Crawfurd jointly as the later two worked to implement Raffles' dreams.

Anyhow, I find it to be interesting to learn that such a person existed in the olden days in the East India company.

Thanks to http://www.pbase.com for the picture.

Raffles

 
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