Ubuntu and it's Magic!

My first post from Ubuntu 9.1.0 nicknamed Karmic Koala. I installed Ubuntu on my external hard disk after the disastrous attempt in installing ubuntu on another partition with windows on the other partition. The initial attempt, 2 years ago, led to disastrous results and resulted in wiping out all my data, most notably my collection of music which extended to 100GB, which I had not backed up.

Now Ubuntu comes with a great installing client, which manages to detect existing windows on a drive and automatically installs Ubuntu without disturbing Windows.

I suggest all of you try it. You can download it at http://www.ubuntu.com/

However I am not yet accustomed to the OS. Learning and experimenting slowly. I must admit that I miss Windows Live Writer. The superb interfaces are being missed with this simple text blogger. With no features to include pics, video and audio, this is eons behind Windows Live Writer. Will try to install WLW on Linux. Wonder if this is possible.

A childhood dream… fulfilled

I finally did what I had dreamed of doing. Drive my red Ferrari toy car all around the house, proudly showing off my possession to everyone. The fact that no one was around was a let down, but still it did not dampen my child-like spirits. I did do many many maneuvers around the carpeted floors until I was sate and content.

I am waiting to take it outdoors for a spin!

 

 

A great interview

I must say , we lack such strong politicians today. Her abilities to take on people to prove her point is fantastic.

 

Ram...

What is Ram? Of course we know who Lord Raama is, but we also know that in Hinduism every Lord, every story and every symbol has a meaning, a deeper connotation which is the true reality.

The word Rama is in Sanskrit and is essentially a combination of the words Ra plus Ma. Ra in Sanskrit means shining or bright. No wonder that the word sun's energy in English is Rays. Also no coincidence that the Egyptian god for sun is Ra. The word Ma in Sanskrit means Mine or in me. So when they are put together it comes to Rama or The light within me.

So beautiful isn't it?

Socialism and why it fails…

Here is a great forward i received a few days ago. It is on Socialism and why it has not and will not work.

Meanwhile working on lot’s of things, experimenting and been busy with work and photography in general.

“An economics professor at a local college made the statement that he had never failed a single student before but had once failed an entire class.
That class had insisted that socialism worked and that no one would be poor and no one would be rich, a great equalizer.
The professor then said, "OK, we will have an experiment in this class on socialism. All grades would be averaged and everyone would receive the same grade so no one would fail and no one would receive an A.
After the first test, the grades were averaged and everyone got a B.
The students who studied hard were upset and the students who studied little were happy.  
As the second test rolled around, the students who studied little had studied even less and the ones who studied hard decided they wanted a free ride too so they studied little.  
The second test average was a D! No one was happy.
When the 3rd test rolled around, the average was an F.
The scores never increased as bickering, blame and name-calling all resulted in hard feelings and no one would study for the benefit of anyone else.  
All failed, to their great surprise, and the professor told them that socialism would also ultimately fail because when the reward is great, the effort to succeed is great but when government takes all the reward away, no one will try or want to succeed.
It could not be any simpler than that.”

I could not agree more with this post. It is quite tersely put. But this does not justify Capitalism. We have seen over the past year how Capitalism has failed in America. You cannot have a society which lives on exploiting the weak and poor. It is not a world that belongs only to the rich. A balance is needed and forgive me but I will digress into philosophy. The mantra of Nature is balance. We need a balance between the principals of Socialism and Capitalism. What do I mean?

I believe that we must be a capitalistic society to the extent that we have freedom. A person must be capable of earning what he can and spend how much he can without the Government telling him how much to earn and how much to spend. I believe that one’s money is one’s money earned hard and well deserved. The idea of distribution of wealth is ridiculous. But this Capitalism must engender a feeling of helping the poor and the miserable. There must be service that is woven into the fabric of such a society. The capable, rich and wealthy must be actively involved in helping the people who do not have opportunities. They must teach the lesser fortunate people to fish, not provide the fish every time. This approach would avoid what we saw in the example above. It will avoid the feeling of “Why should I do for the benefit of others?”

This feeling of helping others and uplifting the lesser fortunate only comes through spiritual values. When the identification of being a human being first and only then position, wealth, fame, caste etc. This is where I believe that organizations like the Art of Living come into picture. They engender spiritual values. This is the need of the hour and the way I see it, it is inevitable. It is happening and going to happen. Just wake up and see.

Neuschwanstein Castle

A trip to the German Alps and the Neuschwanstein castle located in this backdrop. Just like a fairy tale. Green grasses and icy mountains and alpine forests and medieval castles.

My post on Strasbourg remains. Will do this soon. Meanwhile have a look at the photos and comment.

 

 

The Road not taken by Robert Frost

This is one of my favorite poems. I grapple to understand it’s true meaning. But I like the last paragraph in particular. Can one of you enlighten me on it’s meaning?

 

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth.

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same.

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Choice

In one of my earlier posts I had discussed choice and why I disliked it. I have learnt a lot since that last post and understand it a little better. I discuss some of my experiences and thoughts about the paradox of choice.

Interestingly, choice is always about, "Which option gives me more happiness"? All choices or confusions arise when we base our happiness on the result of choosing. We spend a lot of our lives in dealing with choice and evaluating the so called 'right choice'. Most of the time, by the time we have taken the choice, we are evaluating the benefits of the other choice. The question, "What If i had chosen the other path"? would continue to linger. And we are not really happy with our choice at the end of the day. Soon our mind jumps onto the next level seeking happiness and in this search, it is again confronted with choice. It is a never ending process.

What to do? How to decide what is right? A million dollar question.

There are 3 solutions based on the kind of person one is.

1) Faith in the supreme. Unconditional trust, knowing that "I am being taken care of". I have been caried through everything so far, I will be lead through the rest of the way too. This brings comfort and the anxiety of the future drops away. You start to be more in present moment, and slowly your action becomes perfect, because it is untainted by the past or the future. Right action is that which is apt for the moment, unconditioned by the past or future. So in this approach you are not bothered by choice.

2) Knowing that happiness can never be the result of anything. It is a feeling within you and resides in you. It is a state of mind. It is relative. Taking an approach that I am already content and satisfied knowing that I don't have to acquire more happiness. In this approach when you disassociate your interests from the choice, then the right choice is taken.

3) It is said, choose that which brings long term happiness to you and people around you but short term difficulty. In general what we do is seek out short term benifits thereby sacrificing long term benifits.

Either one of these approaches help you to avoid the confusion choice causes. It has helped me in several occasions, maybe it helps you too.