Experiments with Light

Sunrise from my house. Woke up early for office and the combination of the sun and the building with the cranes pointing up like fingers was irresistible.

Experiments with Light

These flowers were planted in a small pot and were the size of jasmine flowers. Photo taken using the macro mode for a tight close-up and cropped for a tighter frame. Click photo for a bigger version.

My name is... Gladiator

Gladiator is one of the few movies I like, among the very few that I watch. It tells the story of a Roman general who is betrayed, sold as a slave and finally has his revenge as a gladiator. This is an ordinary story, told in an interesting way, with very good acting.

What made me like the movie more is the underlying metaphor. All through the movie, Maximus the hero wants to live a life of peace and quiet with his family. But he is always drawn into war, of one kind or the other. This can be compared to human existence, where the goal is to attain freedom from human bondage (atleast from the vedanta point of view)

The hero keeps getting drawn into war/gladiator arena which is similar to the world we live, work and essentially are bonded to in some way. The goal is to free oneself from these bindings to achieve eternal bliss. Is it possible? Gladiator Maximus achieved this by challenging the emperor, thereby fulfilling the purpose of his life, viz. avenging the murder of his family and meeting them in the afterlife. In this world where we live, it may not be as easy as that, but it certainly is possible to achieve freedom.

Bill S the batsman

To play or not to play: that is the question:
Whether 'tis easier in the mind to drive
Straight or to the cover full-lengthed deliveries,
Or to lift arms against the outswinging short ones,
And by leaving free them? To stay: to score;

A feeble attempt at poetry derived from one of the most famous soliloquies by Shakespeare. The above describes the indecision of the batsman on playing balls bowled at him in the area famously known as the "Corridor of Uncertainty."

Life is a game

Life is a game ...only the rules are different. The rules are set by a few people and the rest follow blindly. Most of the time the people don't know which set of rules they are following resulting in confusion and conflict.

Some think they can lead a better life by following a different set of rules, but alas, it is not to be. The best thing is to follow no rules at all but that leads to chaos because of the inherent nature of the universe also known as entropy. The goal of human existence is to fight this entropy and this is what causes the struggle known as life with all its myriad rules.

It is a very vicious cycle.

Brown Eyes

...brown eyes I hold you near
Cause you’re the only song I want to hear
A melody softly soaring through my atmosphere

Where soul meets body...

A face that makes me wanna sing those lines. (Lyrics from Soul Meets Body by Death Cab for Cutie)

Portrait

A beautiful portrait of a beautiful woman.