Food for thought

/*Written on 2nd Dec 2013*/

Today, I decided I would practice meditation, focusing my attention on the various sensory stimuli washing over my senses.

And this activity carried over to my brunch, consisting of a day-old biryani and one hard-boiled egg.

Cutting out all other potential distractions like TV or books, I sat before my microwave heated ensemble and proceeded to dig in, paying careful attention to the stuff churning amid teeth, tongue and saliva.

Making an effort to not let the swallow-reflex interfere with the mastication, I became aware that the food I input imparted a blunt but excitatory effect when chewed less and swallowed en-masse than when chewed slowly and with awareness. This was especially true when eating the egg, which gave a particularly strong odour bordering on the unpleasant, when you eat itsans the rice. I was aware too that the rice became progressively tasteless, the more I chewed on it.

Once I finished all the rice and about 45 percent of the egg, I got up with no particular urge for seconds. From experience, I know that any other day would have seen me gulping down 1-2 eggs with generous second helpings of rice. It seemed that the whole meal was designed to give maximum sensory impact when eaten in large chunks accompanied by cursory attention to the finer details. In other words, a semi-aware state of mind enables you to enjoy the meal in a gross manner with the subtle flavors and  the progressive changes in them remaining undetected. This is especially true with food eaten in large quantities.

It brings to mind the classification of food in the Hindu tradition based on the type of temperament its consumption promoted. The 3 temperaments or gunas- Sattvic, Rajasic and Tamasic denote Pure/aware, Excitable and Lethargic states of mind respectively. A person is usually a mixture of all 3 gunas, with one or two gunas dominating his personality.

My above experience suggests that if my everyday meals consisted of I ate today or food similar to it, it would likely strengthen semi-aware eating behavior bordering on gluttony (and I'm no stranger to eating like a horse). Consider the fact that most people who eat slowly tend to eat smaller portions of food, probably because their senses are satiated

sooner. While the glutton downs his food with the frenzy of an addict getting his fix.

This link between food and states of mind is something which should be explored experientially than intuitively or theoretically. So "Bon Appetit"!!

/*Written on 3rd Dec*/

Continuing the above thread, I had today a meal consisting of mutton curry mixed with rice. So sumptuous was the meal with the meat all tender and succulent, that I could scarcely contain the urge to stuff my face with it. Needless to say, the process of eating far more than required to satiate my hunger was thoroughly enjoyable. The post-meal experience was tinged with the lethargy characteristic of digesting a heavy meal.

A more pronounced side-effect of the meal manifested in the form of a stinkier-than-usual poo due to the protein-laden diet. Plus it took a lot longer to completely clear traffic out of one's intestinal intersections.

As for the extent of the Rajasic-Tamasic properties of the meal was concerned, the experience was inconclusive as I was toobusy enjoying the meal to pay attention. But that tells us something too does it not? Wink wink!

Friends

Insanity makes you stronger. I await Insanity. Because I need the strength. Because my ego is in tatters and even the slightest nudge is enough to start a spiral into paranoia. Will you be my friend?

Faith and Hope. Twin weapons against despair. A bastion against hopelessness. Or are you a momentary delusion that shields from us bitter reality. Are you a strength, or a fatal chink in the armour? A blessing, or a delaying of the inevitable? A miracle worker, or a plea for ignorance? The ego is like a fragile eggshell. So anything, everything that can prevent it from shattering is welcome. And so I welcome you Faith. I welcome you Hope. Will you be my friends? Will you introduce me to Courage?

But Doubt manages to creep in too. The "What ifs". “Am I being a made a fool of?”.” Are people laughing behind my back?”.” Am I too much of a coward to see how insignificant I really am?” Doubt strips away the clothing of Faith and Hope surrounding the ego, leaving it naked and exposed. It rapes the mind, tears at it like a wild beast, devours it and yet is insatiable. Seldom does reality outmatch the horrors which our doubts and our insecurities serve up. Though they serve the purpose of teaching you to survive, to attack or flee before you are attacked or hurt, left unchecked they cripple and maim than serve a useful purpose. You are my enemies. Faith, Hope, Courage, fortify my defenses against these intruders who seek to destroy the peace.

But I grow weary. My defenses wilt under the constant barrage of attacks. Doubt, Anger, Revenge, Jealousy, Hatred, Envy. They are relentless in their onslaught.

Indifference, my armour. Clothe me, protect me and shelter me. Till reality softens the imaginary blows my mind conjures up.

Blessed Sleep. Welcome me into your arms. So I may find respite and comfort, even if its only for a little while, from the harsh battles of my waking hours.

Time heal my wounds and help me forget. Lend me your shoulder and carry me forward along with you, leaving behind my past regrets and disappointments.

You are all my friends.

Mind, you are both my best friend and my worst enemy. You are the originator of all emotions, good and bad. You are the one who defines my reality, who defines my very existence. You are me. But hate takes its toll on me. So does doubt, anger, jealousy and revenge. I do not wish to define my existence in terms of misery and despair. I wish to suffer no more.
Mind, be my friend. Please!!!

EXISTENZE

I cannot exist without others. It is only in the presence of entities other than the “Self” does the concept of “Self” hold meaning. Therefore I derive an Identity, Uniqueness, Individuality, not because I alone exist, but because there exists a crowd of “Others”, each who defines himself by using every other person (including myself) as a reference.


Continuing along the same line of thought, it perhaps may not be too far-fetched to conclude that god himself exists because of his creations. His creations are what define him although his creations might not necessarily BE him. Something on the lines of how I exist because of the multitude of cells, molecules,atoms etc constituting my being AND YET, I am much more than the sum of my constituent parts in terms of my CONSCIOUSNESS.


Does this imply that the “Universe IS God” (or at least, is his physical manifestation).If so, is the phrase “God created the universe” misleading? Is “God creating the Universe” and the “Universe creating God” synonymous??? God, in order to have created the Universe, should have existed before the universe and also, should continue to exist long after the Universe ceases to exist. In other words, he should be capable of existing independent of whether the universe exists or not. But consider the analogy wherein “My Body (read, the universe) is ME ( read, God). I cannot exist without my body. Neither before it nor after it. Therefore, a God whose existence is defined by his Universe would then be born , would exist and eventually, will die along with the birth and the death of the Universe (so much for eternal!!)


Enough for now. Time to headbang to some Japanese heavy metal. I think, therefore I am, therefore I headbang!!! Arigataou gusaimasu!!!

A Review of Terminator Salvation

So…..Was the Terminator series salvaged by this installment? If you go by the standards of the third one, HELL YEAH!!! The Terminator franchise which actually “fell” with “Rise of the machines” received a shot in the arm with T4. But before you get your hopes up too high, let me add here that T4, while being waaay better that T3, still pales in comparision with T2, plotwise and pacewise. (Don’t even compare it with T1. That movie was filmed in the 80s with stop-motion animation which is a far cry from present day CG).

The movie begins with a death row convict Marcus who agrees to let his organs be harvested. The scene then cuts to 2018 where all hell breaks loose with the protagonist John Connor smack in the middle of a melee of helicopters whirling noisily, random explosions, barking soldiers and of course, killer terminators.

The movie wears a serious tone throughout with a perpetually frowning Connor and a wooden faced Marcus, with the sole comic line coming in the form of a joke about “2 day old coyote tasting better than a 3 day old one” (No Shea LaBeouf quips here). The audience get to hear all the trademark lines like “I’ll be back” and “Come with me if you want to live” and experiance a sense of déjà vu during the Truck chase and Metal factory sequences which pay heavy homage to T2. One also gets to hear the legendary GnR track from T2 played on a stereo during a movie sequence.

Somehow Christian Bale again ends up playing a somewhat secondary role of a one-dimensional John Connor, while Sam Worthington steals the limelight as the conflict-ridden Man-Machine, Marcus (a la the Joker stealing Batman’s thunder??). The movie has many negatives in the form of a needlessly dragged ending, utterly unnecessary female leads (one of whom keeps giving big-glassy-eyed dumb ass looks) and an occasional overdose of CG sequences (probably an attempt to cover a weak plot). On the plus side, theres a CG Arnold (who drew the maximum hoots and whistles from the audience, including me), some badass bike sequences, the T2 tributes, and most importantly, IT WASN’T T3.

I would give it a 6/10 for plot, 8/10 for effects and an overall 7/10.Watch it.It aint as bad as some reviews make it out to be.

The Island of Dreams

Whisk me away to my Island of dreams
Not everything here is quite what it seems
The Stars twinkle bright on the ground below
The Rain feels dry on the Warm Black Snow

Whisk me away to my Island of dreams
Not everything here is quite what it seems
Where the Lights shout aloud,and Sounds shine bright
Where Silence is loud,the Tumult is quiet

Where Red is so Blue
And Violet's the new Cream
Where all the lies are true
And Reality's a dream

Whisk me away to my island of dreams
Where I Taste with my Eyes, and with my Ears I Scream
Where the thorn caresses softly like a lover's kiss
Where pain is pleasant, torture but a bliss

I take deep breaths so as to suffocate
And drink cool liquid to parch my throat
I refrain from flailing my limbs about
And sink so as to stay afloat

All that I hold dear,is what I hate the most
The dead walk alive, while the living are the ghosts
Where the Joyous lament,and the sane are dement
Angels are from hell and demons, heaven-sent

And though in my cold cell, in chains I may be bound
In my mind's Island is where I can be found
Though captive I am under lock and key
In my mind I still roam on my Island, free

Some food for thought!!!

“Oh my Gawd!!! How can you eat meat? Don’t you feel repulsed that an innocent animal had to die for the sake of your food? How can you be so cruel?” This barrage of indignant words might sound familiar to some people. They might have been, at one time or another, either at the receiving end, or the ones giving it. I, for one, personally find myself at the receiving end. Such criticisms to my otherwise impeccable character (did I hear a derisive snicker??? ) prompts me to wonder, “Should I give up eating meat and become a veggie or should I continue indulging in “cruelly” consuming animals of a certain class as a source of food?”

Well, time to face up to the basic facts chum. Good ol’ Homo Sapien is an omnivore. There is no denying this fact. All one has to do is to stand in front of the mirror and say “Aaaaaahh”. Unless he has lost his teeth as a result of some unfortunate incident (or if the subject is a geriatric fossil), two pairs of canines with their distinctive pointy ends would look back at him from the mirror. These teeth are unmistakably the hallmark of an animal capable of feasting on flesh (the nutritional kind). Thus any arguments that man was never meant to eat meat can immediately be laid to rest.

A vegetarian might argue, “We don’t have any right to extinguish the life of another living creature”. While such a statement might sound righteous and morally justified (and may I add nauseatingly pretentious), it is by no means universal, nor is it always practical. Nature is a merciless killer and only the fittest survive. Man, however, by virtue of his oversized brain, has a sense of compassion and mercy. Its only as result of his dominant position in the animal kingdom, can he afford to exercise a choice in the kind of food he consumes. But often, even he would not have a choice in his diet, as it would purely depend on the environment he lives in. For example, the Eskimos of North America don’t have much of a choice when it comes to diet, as their habitat is more or less a frozen wasteland. Hence they have to subsist on the marine life forms found beneath the frozen lakes for their daily bread (which in this case happens to be fish). Fish also forms a staple diet for the inhabitants of coastal areas. Thus, one’s habitat determines the orientation of one’s diet to a large extent, be it vegetarian or otherwise. Also, it’s a well-known fact that meat is the best form of protein. Protein is an important part of any balanced diet. The quality of plant protein is inferior in comparison to that obtained by meat. In fact, fish is one of richest as well as healthiest source of protein.

It is highly hypocritical of a person who argues that using animals as a source of food is condemnable but is ok with the killing of animals for material goods such as shoes, belts etc. One should also ponder on questions like “What about all the life-saving medicines that are out on the market? Did you know that they perform clinical tests on monkeys, mice and rabbits to verify their potency? Or would you rather spare the poor creatures of these experiments and instead experiment directly on human subjects? Afterall, aint it for us in the first place?” Animals have always been used in one form or other as a resource. Some use it as subjects for medical tests while others use it to fill their stomachial muscles. No one here is mindlessly slaughtering animals without any purpose. The focus should be on the ethical and humane treatment of animals regardless of whether they are being used for medical tests or they end up on someone’s plate. Infliction of unnecessary suffering on them is reproachable.

Ultimately whether a person chooses to be a vegetarian on not, the choice is entirely upto them. In today’s enlightened days, there are many substitutes to meat as a source of protein. However, if these means are not available the alternative has to be considered. And being a non-vegetarian is not synonymous to being a heartless butcher. Ethical treatment of animals should be the focus, irrespective of whether they are being employed to till the land or they are being used as a source of food . Non-vegetarians and vegetarians alike must in no way condone inhumane treatment of animals. And c’mon. Non-veg tastes great. I am sure my pals who share my passion for a bucket of chicken drumsticks agree. ;)

To cap it off :

"If you don't eat yer meat, you can't have any pudding. How can you have any pudding if you don't eat yer meat?" - A phrase heard in the Pink Floyd song Another Brick in The Wall

COMFORTABLY NUMB

Evenin people. How was your day? Had your meals? Relieved your bowels? So I take it that there are no immediate concerns? Good. Very good. Now ease your arse into a comfortable position and we shall be on our way.

What? What is that you are asking? Am I high? Yes I am. Am I drunk? No I am not. Have I been subjected to local anesthesia? You bet your bloody ass I have been.

What? What did I get drugged for? Well, why don’t you get your gums prodded, poked, sliced open and then sewn back up without local anesthesia and maybe you might realize why. Ok. I see the next question. Why did I need to subject my gums to the Nazi third degree? Well douche bags; this was the scenario (I shall try to make it as gory a description as possible by including every minute disgusting detail. Hell, why don’t you just switch off the lights of the room and huddle up with a torch shining up your chin just to add to the effect?). The wisdom tooth on the left side of my jaw decided to be a wise guy (pun intended bitterly) and grow horizontally outwards instead of doing the all-round nice thing of growing out vertically. Naturally the teeth around protested and Mr.Gums puffed up (literally) in self-righteous indignation. Hence, here we had an ideal scenario for itty-bitty food particles to sneak stealthily into the itty-bitty spaces. This obviously was not a good sign, for where there are itty-bitty food particles, there are bound to be ittier-bittier bacteria waiting to move in and make themselves at home. And that’s exactly what happened and pretty soon we had a thriving civilization in the recesses of my gums. Eventually Mr.Pus-in-boots showed up and that’s when things started getting rather painful for yours truly.

Boo hoo, what was I to do? Troop to the nearest dentist of course. And what was his reaction? Well, he tried his best to act according to the gravity of the situation with well-timed hmmms and hawwws accompanied by sympathetic clicking of the tongue (his, that is), but the gleam in his eye on witnessing a potential goldmine was all-too-apparent. Jerry Maguire’s “Show me the money!” came to my mind. Well, he prescribed some dope, asked me to get the x-rays done and eventually let me in on a little secret that I would need to undergo “SURGERY”. Well, with a little whimper of protest, I accepted the inevitable and decided to commend my soul to the Almighty.

Today was the fateful day and I marched in with my shoulders up, chest out and my head held high. There was no way I was going to go down like a simpering idiot. I felt like a gladiator preparing for battle and had half a mind to walk up to the dentist and blurt out “ Hail DoucheBag!! We who are about to cry salute you!!”. Well, I deposited my posterior on the chair and the Great Indian Dental Challenge was underway with the doc vs my wisdom tooth.

Round 1: The doc peers into my maw and exclaims in awe on witnessing the presence of Pus-in-Boots. After the initial jab, he recovers and starts squirting Local.A into my gums rendering it senseless. He then whips out a mean blade and slashes at the extra tissue growth atop my teeth and draws first blood (eewwww!!). The doc takes Round 1.

Round 2: Just when the doc seems to taking the upper hand, the wisdom tooth in an act of desperation unleashes the full power of its pus-attack and the doc is floored by the copious amounts produced (ewwww once again). The wisdom tooth takes Round 2.

Round 3: The two battle it out with yours truly squirming around like an intoxicated worm. Finally the fight is called a draw with the doc saying that there was way too much pus around to risk cutting the bone (yeah you read that right) and the tooth. So they will be having a rematch in the future.

Meanwhile, yours truly is making mumbly-wumbly noises due the fact that there is gauze pad stuffed in my mouth (kinda like those kidnapping scenes where a gag is stuffed down the victims mouth) and my left jaw was numb and swollen making me a “Puff-Daddy” of sorts. And I wearily collect my sorry ass and haul off home with dreaded thoughts of the music to be faced once the dope wears out.

A note on the Local.A. It produces the distinct feeling of having a large piece of chicken in your mouth minus the taste and when you take a tentative bite, you realize to your horror that it is your tongue. You can rub and pinch your cheeks (the ones on your face, I mean) for all they are worth and your fingers will feel like they are touching leather.

However, I felt no pain at all during the entire procedure. Well folks, that is my story. Tomorrow is another day which will probably see yours truly getting his just desserts (Incidentally, I have been asked to hog Ice Creams. Bye Bye waistline!!) . Until then I remain………..COMFORTABLY NUMB.