If I am not just a name, who am I?

I am Optimus Prime.

Ok now you would say, “First Optimus Prime is a name, and second, Mr. Pritam Barhate you are not Optimus Prime not by a long shot!”

I agree with the second not with the first. Optimus Prime is not just a name! It’s more than that. It’s an idea. The oldest in the world of fiction. It is “the brave and righteous conquers the evil”. This is how names stop being names, they become ideas, consider this Ram, Ravan, Ghandhiji, Hitler.

Of course most of us rarely reach to that level. But that’s not the point. The point is do we try?

Ok let me give a little context to this first. This post started as comment to the blogpost : http://bit.ly/mCOPiy.

नाम न होता तो क्या होता

Written by Ruchi Raval, who is my colleague (and who writes a fabulous blog). While writing the comment I found that I had so much to say on this topic that I started a blog post.

So, If I am not just a name, who am I?

In her blog Ruchi writes,

My answer, though not final, had been Water. It does not react with anything. The litmus test shows it to be neutral. It fills the vast oceans yet fits in a tiny blood cell. This quality – neutrality – is the most sought after and ideal state of the human mind.

So though it may seem silly, ‘If I had no name, I’d say I am water’.

My response would have been something same. "neutrality" Anything but about being unique or different. That beings me to a different question:

What stops me from saying: I am special who has the capability to make difference to my life and to others?

PS:

To Ruchi: Sorry, if it sounds like I am passing a judgement on you. I am not and to be fair you make sound water like being sublime. But I somehow find "neutrality" more appealing.

***
For those who got bored of my rambling, here is something interesting - the original Optimus Prime quote:

If you do not dance, you have no purpose : Sucker Punch

Spoiler : If you haven’t watched ‘Sucker Punch’ and plan to watch it, don’t read this just yet.

OK, negative reviews have started to flood in for Zack Snyder’s new film ‘Sucker Punch’. I disagree.

In short Sucker Punch is a Snyder’s remake of the "One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest". Sucker Punch has been criticized for its monotonous and meaningless action (I agree), portrayal of the girls in skimpy cloths (though the filming rarely focuses on it. The cloths are more about stylizing the scenes rather than titillation), lack of coherence, the list of flaws is endless.

However...

This all can be excused for the message it has:

If situation says: “If you do not dance, you have no purpose”
Then you find a way to make the dance purposeful.

“Bakwas end!” was what I had said about One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. “Brilliant End!” was my reaction about Sucker Punch.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest was more about an individual’s win against the establishment, while Sucker Punch inspires you to “make the dance meaningful”. It tells us to glorify the battle against our life’s ordeals in our imagination. It tells you that you are the Hero who can win the battle.

May be yes you have to live with your lot in life but that should not stop you from making it worthwhile and delightful.

Why People and How People

The boy asked his grandfather, "Why most people are poor and we are rich?"

The grandfather, who built a chain of hardware stores and was affluent, smiled to grandson and said, "Son, don't ask why. Ask how. Mostly people who ask why are writers and scientists. Most of them don't really achieve anything. Some do but most not."

"Learn to ask how and not why. The people who ask how solve problems and create things. Successful businessmen are people who ask how. They find ways to solve problems. That is the way to proposer. Solving problems for which people are ready to pay for. That is why we are rich and most people are poor. Poor people ask why. They ask that to the God and to the politicians. Both of them are well known for not answering. On the other side I have always asked how. Look where I am today."

The boy was intelligent. He asked, "But politicians are people who always ask why and they never seem to have any solutions. Yet they are few of the most powerful people. How so?"

The grandfather smiled, pleased by the cleverness of the question asked by his grandson. This boy had the right attitude to make an empire out of his business. Something sadly his poet son didn't have. He said, "Yes politicians are indeed powerful. That is one shortcoming of democracy. Most of the time people who don't have any solutions govern the society. Thankfully most of the politicians have one common shortcoming, greed. Almost all of them can be bought and manipulated. That is one important lesson every successful businessman must learn, how to manipulate politicians."

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The portion above is based upon what I call Why People and How People Theory. It forms the basis of a novel I am "planning" (always planning, never writing) to write which deals with the clashes in Why people and How People. Basically it is a story of the 3 protagonists from three continents. However this is just planning and I don't really know when I will write it. So this will be filed under many "to write" stories.

Anyways what do you think about this theory of "Why People and How People"?

New Year Ramblings

Today feels like those days when you want to write something and most importantly have some time to write to. (My work schedules are like those of the lawyers in the John Grisham novels; the only difference is that I am a programmer. Yes that is how I always see myself: a programmer, not a businessman, though I have cofounded a company). And yes most importantly I don’t get paid $300 per hour.)

A new year has started. 2011. The year is new; the resolution is the same old one: lose weight. As far as the weight is concerned, in the past glorious year I have managed to reach a new handsome record: 94 Kgs! However the most unsettling thing is not the weight itself. The thing that troubles me the most is I have stopped caring about the weight. I seem to have resigned to the fact that I am supposed to be fat. That is the intelligent design as conceived by the universe. So the challenge is even greater now. I first need to get out of this ‘intelligent design’ mental block and do something about the weight. (The first thing I could do is stop writing this and go on a walk. Of course I am not going to do that! Anyways I will end up eating something if I go out on a walk.)

Ok enough about weight! I don’t care about it, right?

Another biggest disappointment was the failure of Tees Maar Khan at the box office! (Sheela is totally awesome but that’s beside the point.) I was mainly disappointed for Farah Khan. For the first time she had made a movie without Shahrukh Khan and it didn’t work. I have always liked her kind of unpretentious cinema. I really think Tees Maar Khan would have worked at box office only if critics were a bit more generous with the ratings. Anyways I have quite a few other problems than worrying about box office performance of some movie. So I should get back to work.

Oh yes, sorry about this meaningless post, it was new years and I had to write something that’s all!

Such is Life

Amazing things do happen I know but always to someone else.

Eragon - Christopher Paloini

I just walk down the road...

Yesterday was one those days you feel down and defeated. From somewhere the following lines came to me and felt very relevant. So just penned them down. But today is a do or die day. So I will just paste the poem(!!!) here:


I am walking on the road
with no destination in mind

Its might start raining soon
But it was that way since the noon

All I want to do is walk the road
Don't think about what the future may hold

I look at the fancy cars speeding by
and the beautiful girls walking by

I want to turn and look at her again
but what fruits may I gain?

I just walk down the road
with no destination in mind

There are lots of questions
but mostly whys and hows

I don't have any answers now
walking down the road seems the best option somehow

But they are still there, eating my mind
pulling me somewhere deep down

A granny walks down gives me one nice grin
all I can manage is the weak smile of mine

I just walk down the road
with no destination in mind

then he tugs me from behind begging for money
I fiddle around my pockets but haven't got any

I look down at him and say I am sorry
He smiles back, looks at the sky and says don't worry

I just walk down the road
with no destination in mind

I just walk down the road
and it starts raining

for once I don't mind,
getting drenched seems fine.

Twilight Series

Finished reading Twilight series and quite liked it. Though I like Harry Potter series more. I have always liked Vampire Stories and that's the reason UnderWorld I & III are two of my favorite movies. But Stephenie Meyer's take on vampire's is not much different from formula fiction. Basically a teen love story, so what if the characters happen to be Vampires and ShapeShifters (Jacob is not a werewolf!).

The area where Stephenie Meyer succeeds is the chemistry between the lead characters. I think for a romance story to succeed the chemistry between the lead characters is very important.

I won't put Twilight in my all time favorites but indeed I enjoyed it while it lasted.