Samples of my collages

Some of my paper collages

Is honesty the best policy?

I was watching this movie on a long flight – The invention of lying.

Here is a world where everyone is telling the truth and even the word ‘lie’ does not exist. And what can you imagine from a world like that? A perfectly chaotic one at that - everyone tells each other how exactly they feel about each other – blunt, frank and rudely honest. A fat guy is called fat and a loser is plainly told so and sacked from his workplace, couples are fighting because they cannot use an ounce of tact to maintain their relationship – it is almost detrimental.

Remember “liar liar” and Jim Carrey. Well this one was not as funny but the imagination of such a world is bewildering to most of us. Goes to show how far we need to go from the childlike honesty that we are born with to be polite and successful in this world.

Whats in a name?

Its amazing how sensitive people are about the way they are called. Your parents gave you a name, some of us take that very seriously insisting that everyone should call us exactly the way our parents did. Some others like to change it completely and call ourselves by a nick name or a short name or an abbreviated name or a characteristic name re-given to us by our mates, friends or colleagues - Chatur, Silencer, VD, DJ, Rush.

But the biggest issue is the pronunciation of your name...it varies from different countries to different accents to different societies. I have usually been nonchalant about the way my name is often said - anything that starts from R or sometimes even K, U, T... Krishina, Kristine, Usina, Trusina, Reesheena...as long as they get about 3 out of 7 alphabets right i forgive and forget. I attribute all flaws to my very unusual and meaningless name which people after mispronouncing it a few times find very lovely. It is like an artwork, very abstract is very interesting. Or maybe they are making up for saying it wrong innumerable times.

What makes me really laugh is when my daughter Aaliyah who is now 5 and bilingual tells me that she is Aaliyah in English and a very melodious Aleeeya in Swedish. Well, Jacob is Yakub and Jennifer is Yennifer and Nemo is Neamo and Peter is Patter so why not. It is hard to find a name that cannot be changed with such globalisation.

Winnie the Pooh

Pooh is a cuddly, easy going, honey loving, stress free bear that every little child would adore. A character i got introduced to by none other than my daughter.

Thanks to my daughter and of course its creator A.Milne & producer Disney Pictures the entire gang of 'Winne the Pooh' and his friends in the '100 acre wood' also happen to be a member of my family. And I mean this literally - each character with its own very distinct personality can be compared to a member of my family. It is absolutely charming to see how such diverse personalities inhabit together.

I was fascinated to understand the philosophy as described by Benjamin Hoff. Especially the parallels drawn between the personality of Pooh and the preachings of Taoism.The carefree, non egoistic, happy where you are kind of ways. One that goes with the harmony & rhythm of the universe, never challenges anything and yet accomplishes everything and still remains nonchalant about it.

I think it is fantastic - this is also the style of Taoist form of fighting called "T' ai Chi" which is gentle and elegant compared to the harsh & screaming Confucianist fighting "Kung fu".

It is quite difficult to attain Pooh's childlike simplicity and calmness in today's fast paced competitive world but it already feels relaxing just to think about it and i hope my little doll continues to be like her favourite Poo-bear.

You could get a personality check for yourself and check which character in the 100 acre wood you resemble at: http://www.hubpages.com/hub/Personality-Test

Pay it forward

It is a season of giving and sharing and suitably i happened to see this movie on television called 'Pay it forward'. The movie is relatively old with Kevin Spacey brilliant as always, Helen Hunt in a very unusual role and the phenomenal Haley Joel Osment. It is based on a book and the theme was later followed by formation of a philanthropist movement called 'Pay it forward foundation'.

The theme of the movie is a school assignment given by his teacher (Kevin Spacey) to devise and put into action a plan that will change the world for the better. Osment (son of Helen Hunt) takes it up very seriously and brings a homeless man home. He calls his plan "pay it forward", which can be described as a charitable pyramid scheme, based on good deeds. "Paying it forward" means the recipient of a favor does a favor for a third party rather than paying the favor back. So he does three good deeds and each good deed translates into 3 more favours by the recipients and so on to make it a continuous chain reaction.

A movie that is a little to melodramatic and loud to my liking but nevertheless keeps you thinking and that is what i guess it intended to achieve. Although not completely original, I think the movie is a perfect food for thought especially during this season when everybody is in a slightly somber state of mind...worth a watch i would say. Merry Christmas and a happy new year.

The Lost Dan Brown

I have read all of Dan Brown books - and this one is the worse. To begin with the title sucks...what is he really looking for - a symbol, a pyramid, a legend, a masonic secret ? Professor Langdon is sceptical and so are Mr Dan Brown's readers. Goes to show that Mr. Brown is lost and he just drags us with him.

I am beginning to feel that after the success of The Da Vinci Code - this book is his deliberate and forced attempt to put America on the mystery hunt list. In fact India would have been a more suited location to find ancient mysteries. He induces fascination where it does not exist. His fast pace/page turning formula leaves you disappointed chapter after chapter and towards the end you feel both frustrated and cheated.

The only interesting aspect in the whole book is "Noetic Science" - i could not help launching a research to understand more of it. Noetics as i understand is essentially trying to find some scientific explanations (through meta physics and such) in the intangible beliefs of soul, intuition or the inner consciousness.

IONS (Institute of Noetic Sciences) was co-founded by Edgar Mitchell, an astronaut who was part of the Apollo 14 mission. During his journey Mitchell had an epiphany while looking down on the earth that existence of life on earth was not just an accident based on random processes...

Well...the scriptures in India, China or Egypt have a lot to say on this subject - some of the ancient revelations are perhaps forgotten or have been branded as superstitions due to the lack of understanding of modern sciences.

IONS might be able to fill that gap and provide us with some substantial research that confirms that what we read in scriptures is not "bull" and maybe we all have within us super human capabilities which only needs to be unleashed. And then the ancient gods will hold no fascination if we would be able to part seas, travel in time or heal the sufferings in this world.

Marrying the intangible mysteries to logical sciences maybe worthwhile - but this is a deep subject and Browns attempt to capture it in a few hundred pages is a bit ambitious i think.

People Watch

This is a hobby perhaps of the idle and the inert. But it is a social science and extremely stimulating if you know what i am talking about.

Whenever i travel i simply love to sit at an outdoor cafe in a crowded street or at the airport as i am waiting for the flight and watch people go by (that is when my daughter is not trying to probe my attention).

You can gather many insights by simply observing people - their language, their accent, their anatomy, their fashion, their profession, their attitudes and even their thoughts. You sink into their lives even if for just those few moments. And it is amazing how much you can muster from just a fleeting glance. There are so many nuances that you can notice in people which give away so much information.

I was sitting with a friend at Espresso house and we were discussing the different anatomies of men (it is improper to comment on women's anatomy so i will leave that out:-) - Danish men have longer foreheads, Swedish men have a huge gap between their upper lip and their nose, Finnish have longer heads and Germans are big built whereas Polish are leaner and of course the English have that unmistakable air about them. Americans you can hear from over a mile and French you may be able to smell from long distance if your nose is not blocked.

And of course their dressing style is a major clue to their nationality. Americans are mostly casually and clumsily dressed whereas Europeans pick their wardrobe very carefully.

Once they open their mouth their dialect/accent might be able to confirm further details of which part of that country they might belong to.

Moreover, their unguarded body language can tell you more about their personality than what you will understand if you chat with them for hours on end.

Ah! and maybe you are wondering if such an hobby is ethical - afterall you are invading the privacy of unknown people without their consent. If bird watching is a science, people watch enriches you with the understanding of your own species. As long as you are not crossing the line into voyeurism. Infact there is a lovely BBC serial called "Watching" which is a romance between a shy bird watcher and a lively people watching girl. And, there is a lot more information available in the book "People Watching" by Desmond Morris.