Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Ashwathama hathah kunjarah
A few minutes back a news channel broad casted "breaking news " as Arundhati dead" below it above 10 seconds later a flash came "Arundhati the elephant is dead"
A simple reading of the breaking news flash..reminded me of this saying I read in Sanskrit when in school.."Aswathama hathah kunjarah." This was a landmark line of the Mahabharata finally leading to Drona's fall.
A misunderstanding , that it was his son who was slain,says the epic, lead the great teacher to put down his arms.
A cry that misled in simple terms..
I just remembered a story my grandfather told me as a kid.
It goes like this. A small boy was sent to his aunts village during his holidays. A couple of days later the boys parents received a telegram that said "Mookendi missing" Now the boys name was Mookandi and the parents were distraught on getting the telegram.They rushed to their relatives house only to discover that what was actually missing was a "mook- kendi"( kendi in Tamil is a vessel which has a spout".. A small spelling mistake changed everything ;)
Makes me think.. positioning of words when giving important news or mere spelling errors may change the meaning.
Anyways after a couple of minutes the news channel promptly changed the flash to "elephant dead" . Maybe someone in the news room remembered Aswathama Hathah kunjarah" too :))
A simple reading of the breaking news flash..reminded me of this saying I read in Sanskrit when in school.."Aswathama hathah kunjarah." This was a landmark line of the Mahabharata finally leading to Drona's fall.
A misunderstanding , that it was his son who was slain,says the epic, lead the great teacher to put down his arms.
A cry that misled in simple terms..
I just remembered a story my grandfather told me as a kid.
It goes like this. A small boy was sent to his aunts village during his holidays. A couple of days later the boys parents received a telegram that said "Mookendi missing" Now the boys name was Mookandi and the parents were distraught on getting the telegram.They rushed to their relatives house only to discover that what was actually missing was a "mook- kendi"( kendi in Tamil is a vessel which has a spout".. A small spelling mistake changed everything ;)
Makes me think.. positioning of words when giving important news or mere spelling errors may change the meaning.
Anyways after a couple of minutes the news channel promptly changed the flash to "elephant dead" . Maybe someone in the news room remembered Aswathama Hathah kunjarah" too :))
Monday, October 1, 2007
The importance of Understanding.
Just started reading this book by a Chinese author Lin Yutang.It is actually a translation of many of the author's favorite excerpts from Chinese literature. Its a book that translates Chinese writings on human outlook and understanding of life .
Haven't gone past the preface yet, but for the first time I felt even the preface of the book captured my attention ;)
Paragraphs that are stuck in my mind are.."Chinese authors put down thoughts as a relaxation for themselves or for their most intimate friends. The sentiment , the mood ,the thought of the moment is the important thing."This almost explains why I like blogging.. A blog is a space exactly to do this according to me :)I could probably use this as a tag line for my blog:))
He goes on to say.. "I am not sure how , but I know that the enjoyment of reading of such snapshots of truth and life does nourish ones soul" I think reading , be it light fiction or heavy subjects gives a unique form of relaxation to the mind.. It is in the author to keep the attention of the reader captured from cover to cover. A unique gift to very few.
Am looking forward to reading more of the book.. looks like its going to be an interesting read :)
Haven't gone past the preface yet, but for the first time I felt even the preface of the book captured my attention ;)
Paragraphs that are stuck in my mind are.."Chinese authors put down thoughts as a relaxation for themselves or for their most intimate friends. The sentiment , the mood ,the thought of the moment is the important thing."This almost explains why I like blogging.. A blog is a space exactly to do this according to me :)I could probably use this as a tag line for my blog:))
He goes on to say.. "I am not sure how , but I know that the enjoyment of reading of such snapshots of truth and life does nourish ones soul" I think reading , be it light fiction or heavy subjects gives a unique form of relaxation to the mind.. It is in the author to keep the attention of the reader captured from cover to cover. A unique gift to very few.
Am looking forward to reading more of the book.. looks like its going to be an interesting read :)
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