Archive of An Unknown

Corruption is the hottest topic for discussion today - everywhere. Personally, I also feel that that is the biggest problem we have. Worse than all other social problems. More dangerous than terrorism, national security, communal-ism, economy, healthcare and other basic infrastructure related problems. Because, corruption is the root cause of most of these problems. If this one problem is solved, most of our other problems might get solved automatically. If I have to choose between a corrupt politician who is good in many other aspects and a non-corrupt one with some other major problem, I will vote for the latter. In one of the discussions about corruption, one of our countrymen said, "Our social setup and culture is the major cause for corruption!". We always look for shortcuts - everywhere. We have been accustomed to approaching a known person or relative to get our work done instead of following the process - for ages; We use our family background to get things done fas...

Wife (after a quarrel): "I was a fool when I married you!" Husband: "Yes, dear, but I was in love and didn't notice!" Man-1: "My credit card is stolen but I am not going to report it!" Man-2: "Why?" Man-1: "The thief is spending much less than my wife did!" Man is incomplete until he is married. Then he is finished. A little boy asked his father, "Daddy, how much does it cost to get married?". The father replied, "I don't know son, I am still paying!". Then there was a man who said, "I never knew what real happiness was until I got married; then it was too late!". A man places an ad in the classifieds: "Wife Wanted!". The next day he received a hundred letters. They all said the same: "You can have mine!". It's not true that married men live longer than single men. It only seems longer. Losing a wife can be very hard. In my case, it was almost impossible. ...

Cigarette: A pinch of tobacco rolled up in a paper with fire at one end and a fool at the other. Love affairs: Something like Cricket where one-day internationals are more popular than five-day tests. Dovorce: Future tense of Marriage. Lecture: An art of transferring information from the notes of the lecturer to the notes of the students without passing through the minds of either. Conference: The confusion of one man multiplied by the number present. Compromise: The art of dividing a cake is such a way that everybody believes he got the biggest piece. Tears: The hydraulic force by which masculine will power is defeated by feminine water-power. Conference Room: A place where everybody talks, nobody listens and everybody disagrees later on. Ecstasy: A feeling when you feel you are going to feel a feeling you have never felt before. Classic: A book which people praise, but do not read. Smile: A curve that can set a lot of things straight. Office: A place...

I prefer an accommodating vice to an obstinate virtue. - Moliere Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds. - Albert Einstein When a brave man takes a stand, the spines of others are stiffened. - Billy Graham A shy failure is nobler than an immodest success. - Khalil Gibran And think not you can guide the course of love. For love, if it finds you worthy, shall guide your course. - Khalil Gibran The road to success... is always under construction. Humans seek happiness as an end in itself, not as a means to something else. - Aristotle Progress lies not in enhancing what is but in advancing what will be. - Khalil Gibran When life does not find a singer to sing her heart, she produces a philosopher to speak her mind. - Khalil Gibran The optimist proclaims that we live in the best of all possible worlds, the pessimist fears this is true. - James Branch Cabell Don't touch me! Don't question me! Don'...

A man who fears suffering is already suffering from what he fears. -Michel de Montaigne What we love to do we find time to do. -John L Spalding If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear. -George Orwell Never explain - your friends do not need it and your enemies will not believe you anyway. -Elbert Hubbard The young man who has not wept is a savage, and the old man who will not laugh is a fool. -Confucius It's easy to be brilliant if you are not bothered about being right. -Denis Healey It is not only what we do, but also what we do not do, for which we are accountable. -Moliere Judge a man by his questions rather than by his answers. -Voltaire Tell me who admires you and I'll tell you who you are. -Charles A Sainte-Beuve Anger is a brief madness. -Horace Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake. -Napoleon Bonaparte Don't take the casual approach to life. Casualness le...

I had written about my affair with Diaries in one of the previous posts. As I had mentioned in that, I am giving below the notes that I had taken down in all my diaries from 1997. It's mostly quotes. The woods are lovely dark and deep But I have promises to keep And miles to go before I sleep And miles to go before I sleep -Robert Frost Politics is war without bloodshed, while war is politics with bloodshed. -Mao Zedong The ultimate tragedy is not the brutalities of the bad people but the silence of the good people. -Martin Luther King Indecision is often worse than wrong action. -Henry Ford Marriages are made in heaven. So are thunder and lightning. -Clint Eastwood A child becomes an adult when he realizes that he has a right not only to be right but also to be wrong. -Thomas Szasz No intelligent idea can gain general acceptance unless some stupidity is mixed in it. -Fernando Pessoa I would rather entertain and hope that people learned something than e...

Another mail from Saravana Kumar to go global - asking, "Why don't we discuss about USA's downgrading from AAA to AA+ this time?". Yes. Why not? Here you go... As usual, let's start from the basics and stop where we feel tired and exhausted. Before that let's see my connection with economics. In school days, I always used to enjoy the company of my seniors. I had a senior friend by name Sadak Abdullah in our street, who was many years elder to me. Many years? Ambiguous! How many years? Be specific. OK. 5 Years. When I was in my seventh standard, he was in his 12th standard. I was mostly 2nd in the class from third standard to eighth standard. It was not one person who came first in all six classes. I always ensured the competition was only for first rank, not the second. So, I would be the second one to get seat in first group (MPCB - Maths, Physics, Chemistry and Biology) when I go to higher secondary. But, Sadak was studying in third group (HEPG - History,...

A fellow blogger asked my opinion on the Aryan invasion theory. For the last few days, for everything she asked me, I was asking her to refer to one or the other post of mine for the answer. Looks like she was fed-up with the mechanical answer she was getting for all her questions. This time, she asked me about something that I have not talked about before, not knowing that I have another type of mechanical answer for such questions. The answer is either – “Yes, I have been thinking of writing a post on this!” or “Yeah, I already have it in my pending list for a long time!”. So, I gave one of these answers to her as well. With this, she may stop asking me any more questions. J Yeah. Now let’s jump into the subject. What do I think about Aryan invasion theory? Those of you who know me very well may know this already. I am not a guy who has an opinion on everything. Opinion formation is still “work-in-progress” on many areas. I think it’s absolutely okay to be like that. I know that I m...

I have never been able to understand what is being called Modern Arts. I only used to wonder why these people harass us by drawing such vague stuff and expecting us to understand and enjoy them. When I see people that get excited looking at such pictures, I used to doubt them. I even used to wonder if they really understood them or were just pretending so to show off. But, this is how all forms of inability are exhibited, right? It's just a normal way of expressing the jealousy. Once I realized that, I wanted to understand them at any cost. But, I couldn't. OK. I wanted to at least understand why they draw like that. When I squeezed my brain to understand, this is what is the outcome... In olden days, the artists' job was to draw pictures with exact resemblance. They should even look more real than the reality itself. So, what they were doing was the same job that cameras are doing today. The kings and rich who wanted their pictures to be alive even after their lif...