a common man ಸಂಜಯ

Category: info

  • questioning conventional medicine

    This isn’t really a post, but just an open question that was suggested by a reader as it came up as this issue was brought up in Muktha (a Kannada TV serial) recently.

    Does the medical industry including drug manufacturers and doctors generate business by creating fear among people ?

    This industry like any other has both good and bad aspects. There are all kinds of people from those who are committed to improve the standards of human life to those who would leave no stone unturned in order to generate business.

    This is only a generic question to try and look at different perspectives. [Due to lack of time my own comments may be limited.]

  • a creature's ability to aim

    [Republishing another old draft…]

    One thing about the Egyptial Vulture is that it is one of the very few birds that can use a tool – it uses stones to break open eggs. Sometimes flying high with a pebble and dropping it to break the egg open!

    The Egyptian Vulture has developed the ability to use an instrument and has become famed for its ability to open ostrich eggs using stones as missiles. Birds pick up stones in their bills and throw them forcefully towards the ground. Normally they miss, but this bird is nothing if not persistent.

    ~ vultures and condors

    (more…)

  • a bookshop with a heart

    On a visit to this beautiful book shop – a venerable landmark of Bangalore – found that it might soon be closed. The lease for it is over and the the money-minded owner dosen’t want to renew it. Mr. Shanbag was pretty tranquil about it, he calmly explained that he’s trying to either extend it, look for another place or various other options. He’ll definitely be there till the
    end of April atleast.

    Here are some excerpts from the net… if its too long, just skip to the last highlighted part…

    (more…)

  • the one single question

    While flipping through TV channels during lunch time showed the movie Contact playing on one of them. I hadn’t seen the movie before but had a vague idea of the story outline from the trailers, that it was a science fiction about a lady contacting extraterrestrial intelligience.

    It was an interesting scene… just before leaving for her outer-space trip to try and establish contact, she was being interviewed by an international panel, and someone asks her: if you had only one single question that you could ask them, what would it be?

    Her question…

    How did you do it? How did you evolve, how did you survive this technological adolescence without destroying yourself?

    ———–

    Another nice quote (after she returns from a space journey) was…
    (more…)

  • from 0.00001 to 0.000011

    On a scale of all knowledge from 0 (Nothing), to Infinity (Everything), its really nice to know a little more about myself – though who knows after a few years if I look at the number 0.000011 I might laugh at having overestimated it 😀 But anyway I’m really happy to have learnt a little more as I return from my fourth Vipassana course in the very excellent international center in Chennai.

    (more…)

  • interesting television scene

    Like the hibiscus plant, one can never imagine what can teach us what… sometimes even some random television scene can become a teacher!

    Recently was watching TV with my mother and doDDamma (mother’s elder sister) and while flipping through the channels stopped at a Hollywood movie. It seemed to be an interesting scene where people were doing some Frankenstein type of experiment with a guy lying strapped to a laboratory table with scientists around him. (more…)

  • rakthadaana

    I’ve never donated blood except to mosquitoes, but though I’ve come pretty close to doing it, it somehow got avoided due to some or the other really silly reason. Anyway got a forwarded mail recently that looks useful…

    —–

    Hi Everybody,
    Many of you know that finding -ve (negative) blood group is very
    difficult. There is a site (mentioned below) where you can register and
    avail the facility whenever required. Those who are having -ve blood group
    can register here. You can register for others also. Please pass on this
    URL to as many people as possible since many of them do not have an idea
    about this site. Register here for tomorrow’s need. Be a DONOR, save a
    life.

    URL : http://www.negativegroups.org

    Useful for first time donors…

  • astavakra gita

    [some corrections made on 21-Nov-2005]

    The story of Astavakra is pretty fascinating, and sets the background and the context.

    As per what I remember from a seminar I attended recently, I present the speaker’s opinions as I remember them, I hope I do not misquote anything! (more…)

  • new tag

    A lot of this blog gets updated once in a way with archived digital content from various sources like emails or essays I’d written ages ago, and I figured that the only [well, atleast easiest] way for a reader to access them directly other than browsing through the archive, is by adding them to an extra category called RECENT.

  • recent posts

    since I upload even old entries that I dig up from some digital store into this blog, I’ll keep a post here to link to them. Until I implement a more elegant solution like adding links on the side bar or using a Pin Up plugin that I remember seeing in wordpress.

    the indian woman

    caving-meet-the-earth

    aikido-notes