Zeitgeist's Zone

Contemporary Children's Photography comes to Kolkata

2015-09-06T22:20:00.000+05:30

So proud that Suchanda is finally sharing her phenomenal photography skills with the world, and supporting her various charitable causes in the process. :) Drop in for an amazing multisensory experience @ www.NiddledyNoddledy.com or simply watch the delightful 2-min visual treat below!

Niddledy Noddledy—based out of Kolkata, India—specializes in fresh, contemporary lifestyle and portrait photography for children.

Awesomeness Fest fckd it up, yet again!

2015-06-30T09:02:00.001+05:30

Even today, when nothing really is a secret, when governments around the world are liberally snooping into your most intimate conversations, when hackers have perched themselves on the slippery slope of the moral high ground, when so much content is free and crashing on to you relentlessly in an unceasing tsunami through the World Wide Web, there still are some secrets that are reasonably safe… only because they are right in front of your nose, looking you straight in the eyes, and prancing about with plush peacock tails!

Why? Simply because you categorically refuse to believe in their existence, because you think they’re too fantastic to be true, because there are none so blind as those who will not see.

Such is the story of this transcript, originally saved in a quantum neural network within a floating object in a space-time dimension that’s so near yet far, far away. The minutes of this meeting, needless to say, were never intended for public consumption, but the dreaded Murphy’s law—anything that can go wrong WILL go wrong—sometimes strikes back even against the Empire.

So an experimental NSA radar (codenamed Babel) picked up these data points from the bubbling consciousness soup swirling around the planet. The terra-focused algorithm, not exactly optimized for alien keywords, found nothing of immediate interest and archived it for further analysis, as source location was throwing up apparently absurd coordinates. There it would have languished for eternity, given the relentless surge of data being generated daily, had not a certain deep throat collaborator of Mr. Edward Snowden obtained a copy while dumping all the info he could collect. The document was given a cursory glance while sifting through trillion plus bits of data, but quickly ignored on the assumption that the NSA was trying to pull a fast one with garbage inserts. So off to the digital trash-bin it went, only to be surreptitiously recovered by a splinter faction of the hacker collective Anonymous, who were intent on ferreting out more info than Mr. Snowden thought apt to reveal. And thus this transcript made it’s way to the WikiLeaks server, where it lay, classified as an error, given it’s highly dubious content and tag of origin, till an unsuspecting Googlebot dragged it out of the trashcans of history, in response to an accidental yet fortuitous collection of search terms no sane person would ever use.

Well, I never claimed any special affiliation to the grand old institution of sanity, so here’s the transcript in its raw form… one of the most scathing indictments of the phenomenon of AFest, and the Cult of Awesomeness it has spawned.

The story begins with an urgent call from space… and no, it doesn’t start with “Houston, we have a problem.”

*** TRANSCRIPT COMMENCES ***

Meeting @ Command Center, Spaceship 42

Location: Phase-shifted space-time dimension above Sedona, Planet Earth

Status: Urgently Conveyed, Top Secret

Attendees:

Aliena (F) — Mission Commander

Greenman (M) — Field Explorer

Dr. Bug-i (M) — Bio Scientist

Chroniclaire (F) — Earth Ambassador

Chroniclaire: What’s going on, Ms. A.? Your sudden summons to come back from Earth caused me to do a rapid phase shift. It messes with my planetary avatar.

Aliena: We have a situation down there, Chroniclaire, and HQ is worried. Till now Explorer Greenman’s team was just observing to see if the phenomenon subsided by itself, but it appears to be gaining strength exponentially, and is now buffeting the etheric energy flow.

Chroniclaire: The latest major energy field disruption was caused by the human influx in the land of Croatia. I suppose you are referring to that?

Dr. Bug-i: (drawling) Yea, yea. That’s what got Aliena all het up. These humans are quite a species, I tell you. Every time we think they’ve painted themselves into a corner on the evolution scale, they do a surprise turning the table maneuver and land us in a soup.

Chroniclaire: Wait a moment… are you thinking of direct intervention? That’s against the Universal bylaws, and will get our presence revoked if detected.

Greenman: Nope, my field agents will not stir the pot unless there’s proof of sufficient provocation. Commander Aliena, can you give the team a brief overview of how things stand? I can then explain the current exigency.

Aliena: All right, here goes. Around 5 years ago, we noticed a blip on the surface caused by a gathering of humans in the land of Costa Rica. It was not yet too powerful a surge, but significant for something so nascent. We have had similar surges in various other parts of the planet, and if they become repeat phenomena, like the large one in the desert… what’s it called?

Greenman: Burning Man.

Aliena: Yes, then we strengthen the local grid lines to maintain the energy balance of the system. Most human gatherings that cause energy disruptions are accounted for in this manner, so there are no surprises, especially when they make it a repeat occurrence. But then came this new event… they call it Awesomeness Fest.

Dr. Bug-i: (drawl continues) Yea, I remember we laughed quite hard when we first heard the name, just like we did with ‘iPad’… then we stopped laughing.

Aliena: With good reason. The power of these energy spikes depend on the energetic caliber of the components, the event participants. And this AFest started on a high note itself, with a select gathering of entrepreneurs, writers, speakers, artists, mavericks and visionaries. They were enabling conscious evolution, making it fun—with parties, outings, themed networking, consciousness evolving workshops, leading-edge insights—and we took notice.

Chroniclaire: Yes, the phenomenon of ‘fun’ makes insights easy to assimilate, while dissimilating indoctrination. We’ve managed to keep it out of the education system quite successfully, so humans don’t develop a lifelong love of learning and eventually figure out what’s going on. That won’t change soon—Awesomeness Fest or not—as long as we maintain the status quo.

Greenman: Hmmm… thing is, this particular mix is highly anti status quo. They are radical thinkers, creators and do-ers, who are holding the light and emanating it across the planet. It’s a global elite with a mission to push humanity forward. And they like to spend time with peers who are similarly inclined, as together they generate and exchange a lot of high-frequency, creative energy. That releases latent forces within, putting them in touch with their untapped power. Not a very conducive atmosphere towards maintaining any status quo.

Chroniclaire: So these guys figured out a potent mix that interferes with our energy band, just like many others before them. Why don’t we just throw the Playbook at them and diffuse it, like we’ve always done?

Greenman: That’s the crux of the problem.

Aliena: The Playbook is not working any more… they’re changing the rules. The first surprise was when we found Awesomeness Fest is not localized like most others. They started moving it all over the place. Well, we adapted to the situation, and since it was still restricted to one part of the planet, and being held once a year, Greenman’s agents still had time to recalibrate the grid without causing rips in the dimensional matrix, like the Bermuda Triangle.

Greenman: May I take it over from here, Commander? I need to explain to the team what exactly is happening on the field that’s causing the etheric energy disruptions, and why our time-tested strategies are not working with this evolving target.

Aliena: Of course, Greenman. It’s your team that has to take the heat, literally.

Greenman: OK. Let me tell you how this works. Whenever there is a confluence of A-list individuals—change makers, leaders, cultural creatives, passionate entrepreneurs—at a paradise location where they can relax, interact, form bonds and exchange ideas, they set in motion a flow of energy around the gathering. This vortex created by people coming from all over the planet is further amplified by the high-energy locations. The longer it continues, the stronger it gets. Our job is to ensure that the energy does not rise so significantly that it affects the planetary matrix.

Chroniclaire: Well, humans are social and they love to get together. We are not talking something very novel here. Why is this particular event giving you headaches, while there are thousands of gatherings, and some quite large ones, that are happening on Earth all the time?

Greenman: Most large gathering end up dissipating the energy as there is no clear alignment. The mini vortices cancel each other out. There are very few like Burning Man and TED that have been able to scale up and yet hold the vision. The heavy-weightage factors that cause the maximum disruption are ‘quality’ and ‘variety’, especially when they combine… that’s an explosive mix, like a domino effect of energy exchange. In an event like Awesomeness Fest, all participants feed off the energy vortex that is set in motion, whether they realize it at a human level or not. Each component participant picks up what he or she needs most, and as their personal energies come into better alignment, they add to the power of the vortex. Ultimately, those who come into it are not the same ones as those who leave, as they imbibe a variety of vibrations into their energetic structure which they would not have normally been exposed to. At a 3D physical level, that comes across as tremendous enthusiasm, an increase in power to affect others, and an insatiable urge to push humanity forward. This energy infusion acts like a virus, and if allowed to spread, causes a crazy contagion.

Dr. Bug-i: (drawling on) And that’s not something we want. Throws a spanner in our own energy works, and contaminates the frequencies that we harness.

Chroniclaire: I’ll need some further clarity. We are aware of many such high energy gathering down there: festivals, retreats, seminars, workshops, meditation camps, whatnot. Our contingency plans factor these in, so we work around the situations to avoid any conflict with the dominant species on the planet. Our operations are contingent upon the overwhelming majority of the population being unaware of our presence and activities. Yet I get a feeling you’re thinking of upsetting this delicate balance. What’s it about this Awesomeness Fest that’s throwing you all out of joint?

Aliena: Ambassador Chroniclaire, we may be in a tipping point situation. Let the Field Explorer finish his briefings, then we’ll deal with the ramifications.

Dr. Bug-i: We’re talking possible shutdown of operations, ol’ girl. But I’ll come to that later. Greenman, do continue.

Greenman: We believed we had the situation under control as long as they limited their sphere of activities at a respectable radial distance around the California sector, in and around the North American continental shelf. We have the maximum concentration of agents there and the grid has been tightened to handle a lot of energy spikes without damage. The high energy in that sector attracts a lot of intense individuals, but since it’s a localized phenomenon, we have it under control. When they started moving the event around, even to some of the energy hotspots of the planet, like Hawaii, we did our best to adapt to the situation.

Aliena: And then they fckd it up, royally.

Greenman: Yes, breaking all bounds of human logic, they moved the event to Bali, on the other side of the planet. That cast their energetic net very wide, and Bali, being the major confluence of ley lines of the planet, the energies combined and we had a massive meltdown situation. The very next year they did a repeat in the Asia sector, that too almost in the same section area, although they had the entire continental landmass to play around in. We did our best to manage the rips in the dimensional matrix, but people got suspicious when a few airplanes started disappearing in that region.

Chroniclaire: Yes, that was quite a biggie. I had to coordinate with a number of governments and media outlets to sow enough confusion so no one knew where to look. A number of conspiracy theories came up—quite a few engineered by us—but our activities remained under the radar.

Dr. Bug-i: Hmmm… yet the damage was done, and the cookie started to crumble.

Greenman: Well, in a manner of speaking. Increasing the frequency of the event to twice yearly, spacing it out across the year, and having it on opposite sides of the planet meant that there were too many variables to control. People coming out of the event were doing their part spreading the contagion. Most of these individuals were disruptors to begin with, and now they were forming alliances, and coordinating as a tribe. These divergent energy components could be handled on a solitary basis, but the banding and spreading started taxing all our resources. And then, to make it worse…

Aliena: Awesomeness Fest fckd it up, yet again!

Chroniclaire: I guess you mean moving the event to the Mediterranean region.

Dr. Bug-i: (agitated) Yes, my dear. They have disrupted, or are in the process of disrupting, the energies in three primary centers of the planet. Triangulation of location means they are now aligning with the axial energy of Earth. They are coming closer in alignment, and if that happens, the surge will break open all the gridlocks we have installed over time. Without the barriers in place, humanity will jolt out of their trance state. There will be a critical mass of people who will understand their relationship to the Infinite, their mission on the planet, and the tremendous capability they had unknowingly suppressed. The DNA distortions would start healing, energy seals cracking, and karmic imprints evaporating. The mass-trance net would not have sufficient blocks to latch on to, and humans would themselves start breaking down various affiliations and barriers—national, cultural, religious—that they set up in the trance state. It’d be total chaos for us, as the surge of high energy, of light and love, would wash away the fear psychosis we have maintained over the planet. If Earth-forms come in alignment with their true potential, our fear-based energy sources go kaput.

Chroniclaire: With all respect, Doctor, aren’t you going a bit too far with this doomsday scenario? Do we even know whether this is for real? We’ve been playing this game for ages, and these guys have barely had 5 years to make an impact. Are they even doing this intentionally with awareness of the outcome their actions are leading to, or is it all a coincidence, and they are just having a good time with a profit motive?

Greenman: Ahem… actually Awesomeness Fest is a non-profit initiative, and that too is part of the problem. The event, by itself a thorn in our side, is generating resources for allied initiatives—like GiveLove, Pachamama Alliance and The X-Prize Foundation—that are involved in spreading light and love across the planet. So its not just a network of powerful individuals and groups that we are looking at here, but a network of impactful tribes. They are sparking new movements, and linking themselves to existing ones. There is something much larger at play here than what is evident. This is no false alarm, Chroniclaire.

Aliena: And speaking of intent, there are too many coincidences for this not to be the work of a mastermind group. When they moved the event to the Europe sector, out of all possible alternatives including thousands of tourist traps, where did they choose to hold it? In the land of Croatia, birthplace of Nikola Tesla, one of the most powerful disruptors we’ve had to deal with! Due to his activities, the place is already an energetic land-mine, so we cannot even adjust the grids properly.

Dr. Bug-i: (agitation continues) Quite unacceptable! The Balkans is historically one of the most disturbed areas on the planet, and one of our major energy wells. By bringing all that enthused, peaceful, spirited, loving energy they caused a disruption in the space time fabric, a tear through which more light can enter. They’re bringing in illumination, through the channels of love and laughter. I don’t know about their recent Game of Thrones themed revelry, but this definitely is becoming a game of thorns on our collective backside!

Greenman: Speaking of that event-closing theme party, did you catch the subliminal play? To enter the castle where the party was being held, they had to pass under a gate carrying the inscription “Non Bene Pro Toto Libertas Venditur Auro” meaning “Freedom is not to be sold for all the treasures in the world”. Exactly the kind of empowering beliefs that we don’t want them to imbibe. Participants in Awesomeness Fest are continually drenched in high energy ideas and affirmations all through—“yes YES”, “I am enough”, “break the brules”, “no matter what”, “love yourself”—and consequently they start acting more empowered and effective in their daily lives, spreading the contagion. Our agents can’t be present everywhere to control the damage.

Aliena: After a while, the so-called coincidences start forming a pattern. Have you noticed how the event is always positioned to best harness elemental energy? Open spaces, water bodies, fire dances. Especially water… It’s always held next to a large water body, and there are inevitably water-based activities so all participants have to be in and around water, whether it be on a catamaran, speedboat, pirate ship, or just swimming and surfing. You still believe they are not aware that water is the buffer between dimensions, helping to assimilate transformative energy?

Greenman: That’s not all. This time they had the participants play a game that lasted all through the event and encouraged serendipitous interactions, as if we didn’t have enough troubles with the regular interactions. They used a necklace as a totem, and guess what was inscribed on it? A secret symbol of Sacred Geometry, the Flower of Life! Even the theme songs have subliminal effects. I lost count of the number of people who happily got infected with the music of “We can be Heroes”. And don’t even get me started on how they are surreptitiously legitimizing energy healing, tantra, Merkaba meditation, cosmic energy calling… all the stuff we’d worked so hard to keep under wraps, now being leaked into the mainstream.

Dr. Bug-i: (now thoughtful) You know, I have a slightly different take on this. If they actually knew the impact of their actions, they would be on their guard to handle the inevitable backlash. But they’re carrying on with wild abandon! So I believe, while they may be totally aware of their phenomenal impact on the physical dimension, they’re probably just peripherally aware of their impact on the non-physical. Very few of them, if any, understand that beyond all the glamour and glitter, the hugging and dancing, the insights, actions and give-back activities, the confluence of visionaries, entrepreneurs, glitterati, authors, scientists, game-changers, masters of their crafts, and the silent Be-ers… there lie many hidden layers. Of magic and mystery and vortices. Of DNA mutations and energy alignments and force field disruptions. Few, even among the organizers, are aware of the inter-dimensional intricacies beyond what Awesomeness Fest appears to be on the surface: a powerful event that causes life-changing experiences and world changing impact. It is indeed a festival of global shifters, but they know not what changes they’re bringing forth into the Universe.

Greenman: That was quite a speech, Doctor. Had I not known better, I’d have suspected you harbor some deep-seated admiration for these fellows.

Dr. Bug-i: (steely eyes) I haven’t survived so many centuries by underestimating my opposition, Greenman. Or failing to understand what motivates their actions.

Aliena: OK, coming back to the agenda, we now need an action plan to diffuse the impact of Awesomeness Fest, irrespective of their broader intent or awareness. Whatever they are doing is resulting in too many intense energy workers and world changers congregating in one spot, and then causing gigantic ripples all over the system. It changes the energy balance of the planet, and that is not something we can overlook, given the possible consequences.

Chroniclaire: So my job now is to stop this contagion from spreading?

Aliena: Do you have any ideas? Any more manipulation of the planetary grid is not feasible. Conflict is out of the question, as it would directly contravene the bylaws and we might be thrown out of the system by cosmic enforcement. Our actions need to be subtle, so as to not alert the Interstellar Alliance. We can begin by sowing confusion and discord, falling back on social engineering, so that the movement implodes from within. Plus our allies in various positions of power must start implementing countermeasures.

Chroniclaire: Problem is, Awesomeness Fest is a moving target. If we can even convince a few governments to enact legislation, they would move around even more creating additional energy disruptions on the planet surface. Plus these guys have started infiltrating various governments also, and begun meddling with the education system of nations. They are questioning established rules, propagating daily meditation, encouraging entrepreneurship and creative thinking. Essentially they have started chipping away at the framework we have put in place over centuries to keep the majority in check, so that they follow a certain patterned behavior and not ask too many questions.

Greenman: Yes, they’re too conspicuous now for us to go after them directly. We need to stage something from the flanks, to destabilize the movement by damaging some core components.

Chroniclaire: If we cannot sabotage the event per se, we can demotivate those who are putting it together. We can infiltrate or psychologically affect the organizing team so that the event bloats and loses focus.

Greenman: It’s a small and tight team, so any interference would be immediately noticed. They maintain a high vibration with a strong support system, so psychological manipulation won’t work in the long run. All we can hope for is complacency to creep in, and for them to fall into a predictable formula and lose the edge.

Chroniclaire: How about discrediting the idea of AFest from the participant perspective, reducing its attraction? Canards and innuendoes have been quite effective weapons in our arsenal. Just enough to generate some questions and suspicions, and lessen the goodwill.

Aliena: Interesting that you mention that. We actually thought we’ve made some headway in that respect. Given the profile AFest has built up, we need an inside person to make any accusations stick. We thought we had our man when we found a participant creating an online ruckus, practically screaming “Damn You, Awesomeness Fest!” Our algorithms indicated that it was the most abusive article ever written about the phenomenon, but it wasn’t quite what we expected. Again our hopes were raised next year when when the radar bots picked up a possibility for slander in ‘O’someness Fest… the orgy continues! but that too appeared to have the exact opposite effect of what we intended. I have a suspicion we’re simply being baited.

Chroniclaire: Nevertheless, it’s divergent behavior and we can investigate it further. I assume we’re talking about the same person in both cases?

Greenman: Indeed. He was spotted again in Croatia, and his continuing presence is a matter of concern. We suspect that he’s acting in an observer capacity, but we have no reliable intelligence about his affiliations, antecedents or objectives. He appears to be allied with the movement, and on the side of the light brigade… so can’t even say he is a shadowy character.

Chroniclaire: Can we tamper with the motivations of those who are attracted to the event? I understand that would be a massive initiative, but we’re running out of options.

Aliena: We thought about that. Problem is, we can attempt to either empower or disempower. The former is not a valid option, as we cannot draw energy from strong, aligned individuals in touch with their power. On the other hand, removing energy components would drive them more towards the tribe. You have to understand that the only reason someone would come to a gathering like this is because he or she is a seeker. A seeker is essentially one who is looking for energy components that would be required to take their mission forward. At the human level they feel it like a sort of emptiness within, an unfathomable gap that needs to be filled. If enough high-energy people continue to come together, they'll eventually find the pieces to complete their personal jigsaws.

Greenman: Not a desirable outcome, because once they find the answers they’re looking for, or gain a greater understanding of how the cosmos works, they would lose the need for fear, anger, aggression, or acquisition. If that energy dries up, so does our raison d'etre here. We would lose a powerful energy source, leading to a crisis, and the possibility of a cascade of light infusion that would severely compromise our mission.

Chroniclaire: Well, if we’re hitting dead-ends across all these avenues, I suppose there’s only one option left.

Dr. Bug-i: So we’re down to just one option? Well then, I hope, for all our sakes, that you’ve got the answer. Just keep in mind, Awesomeness Fest is not just an event, it's a key. And those who are called to it, knowingly or unknowingly, are keepers of the key. As the key continues to turn, locks keep snapping open all over Planet Earth. Remember their credo, it is an “event that brings together people who are by nature, driven to change the world”. Unless we act, people all across the globe are going to continue stepping out of the matrix, getting out of thrall of disempowerment—of blame, shame, guilt, victimization, complaints and excuses—and start living extraordinary lives of joy, purpose and creativity. And then they’ll go out and infect others with their inspiration… moving the entire system towards a tipping point. So think hard before you speak, young lady. It’s our survival that’s at stake here.

Chroniclaire: So let me get this straight. This is a kind of “Cult of Awesomeness”, right? Any cult coalesces around a powerful leader, be it Steve Jobs of the church of Apple or the Lady Oprah… So if we can’t destabilize the movement, let’s disrupt it at the source.

Dr. Bug-i: You’re suggesting that we somehow deactivate Vishen Lakhiani, the originator of and force behind Awesomeness Fest. How do you propose we go about that?

Chroniclaire: We do not have the option of overt conflict. So the only tools in our possession that we can use are those that manipulate energy, destabilizing the person’s state of being, affecting his consciousness.

Aliena: Unfortunately, we are not able to deploy any energetic armament against this particular disruptor. Else we’d have implemented that solution long ago.

Greenman: Let me explain, Ambassador. As you know, energy weapons function by working on the consciousness of a person, infecting the belief system, making a person lose enthusiasm, and hope, causing him to be depressed, lethargic or feel not good enough, that all is pointless. We infect his thoughts so subtly that the person doesn’t even realize anything is amiss, yet loses the zest for life. To our great disconcertion, the person in question has developed specialization in exactly these areas. He’s applying his engineering expertise to the phenomenon of consciousness. He has developed a concept of hacking these aspects, and has set points that detect any change we might try to cause. He also has allies with whose help he keeps his mental and physical aspects fit, and identifies and removes energy blocks that most people don’t even know exist. We need a chink to induce infection in the consciousness. Right now we have nothing.

Dr. Bug-i: Who’d have thought someone would make such a connection, and attempt to engineer consciousness? It should’ve been an untraversable leap of logic for the human brain focused in 3D perspective.

Aliena: We have reason to believe he’s not exactly acting alone. He is quite possibly being aided by friends from the non-physical, even though his human consciousness may not be aware of it. Just like we harness the fear-based energy from fragmentation, there are others whose agenda is integration. It’s highly probable this person is in energetic contact with these light-bearers through the process of daily meditation, and is being guided in his actions. No one has a massive impact on a global scale in such a short time by acting unaided.

Chroniclaire: Just a moment, if we’ve ticked all the boxes, and these strategies aren’t working by themselves, how about we throw it all at them, hoping something sticks? Create a controversy. Imply a scandal. Raise questions about their motives. Vilify the people, vilify the company, portray them as yet another snake oil selling corporate entity with a good PR team.

Greenman: I think a dog is their Director of PR.

Chroniclaire: What?

Aliena: Don’t ask. These people operate differently, so you can’t use those neat little boxes, individually or together. Didn’t I tell you the Playbook isn’t working? We’ve tried all tricks of the trade. We’ve handled disruptive individuals and groups before, but these guys are harnessing the power of a connected world in a way and scale we haven’t observed before.

Greenman: So it appears we have nothing yet. Can you ask HQ for some more time and resources, Commander Aliena?

Aliena: Even if they agree—which I doubt—more time and resources won’t solve the core problem, will it?

Greenman: At least for a couple of months we can intensify our efforts to strengthen and patch up the grid, but after that, all bets are off.

Chroniclaire: Why’s that?

Dr. Bug-i: I’ll tell you why. They’re going back to the Garden of Eden… pretty much where it all began.

Greenman: The next event will be in Costa Rica. They’re taking AFest back to where it all started. Repetition causes intensification, and since this event is not localized in nature, it draws and builds up on the energy of everywhere it has been. This can barely be handled with grid reinforcement. And with an even more impactful group of people joining in, the effect of this event would be catastrophic for our systems, causing disruption on an unprecedented scale with a dramatic infusion of love and light. I am sorry to say, ladies and gentlemen, that the countdown has begun. It’s time we started considering our exit strategies.

Aliena: Holy fck! Damn you, Awesomeness Fest!

*** TRANSCRIPT CONCLUDES ***

‘O’someness Fest… the orgy continues!

2014-11-04T10:33:00.000+05:30

There I was, curled up like an overgrown pretzel growing up from the ground, with a tall African lady dressed up like an Egyptian goddess hovering over me. All I can recall is that I was up late with some crazy people who looked like they'd dropped out of a period movie in various states of undress and overdress, dancing fairies cavorting to a Bollywood number... and I wondered, in a painful fetal position, how I got myself into such a twist on a remote Thai island, in the middle of a military coup!

Welcome to Awesomeness Fest.

What (on Earth) is Awesomeness Fest?

I wish I could tell you.

The fact is, nobody knows.

I’m not joking… Seriously. Nobody. Knows. Not the organizers, not the attendees, not the social media followers, not the earnest bloggers, not the clueless complainers… no one! That doesn’t stop people from trying, though. Check out this short intro video before we attempt Mission Demystification.

The guy in the chair with the perma-Qigong-hands is Vishen Lakhiani, the founder of Awesomeness Fest. The jargon lady is Tanya Lopez, the Events Director. They’re some of the awesomest people you’ll meet; and of all people on Earth, you might think they’d know what Awesomeness Fest is. Nyaaah!

How do I know? Vishen said it himself, that’s how. When the founding father, head honcho and visionary leader of Awesomeness Fest solemnly declares he has no idea what AFest is, you know something’s amiss.

“It has a life of its own!”

That’s what he said.

While it may not be fashionable (yet) to say “I have no friggin’ idea” in the event promo video, fact is Vishen lost control of AFest long ago, when he realised it’d taken a life of it’s own… and become a movement. That’s when Awesomeness Fest became a non-profit, donating its proceeds to causes making a positive impact on planet E. But that’s another story.

Coming back to Mission Demystification, last time I tried decoding Awesomeness Fest, it morphed into a scathing curse-filled review with 35 ‘damn’s (yes, I counted). Not only did it not get me banned from AFest, my eternal damnation ended up on the event keynote!

Well… it happens only in Awesomeness Fest.

So now that we’ve established no one knows what AFest is, how do we unravel this perplexing conundrum? Well, as a repeat-attendee, I do have some experiences that may provide an inkling...

Ergo, call on the witnesses.

In the true ‘spirit’ of AFest (and in all my sparkling innocence), I’m going to call on the Divine Feminine (translation: ladies of AFest) and quote them verbatim to tell the story of Awesomeness Fest, Thailand. Problem is, it might be difficult to take in (no pun intended, if you believe such disclaimers)... so this time, I really might get banned. Then again, as the AFesters say,

Sooooo fu*kinggg whaat?

That’s what she said (they said, actually).

This story—in the time-tested tradition of whodunits—begins on a dark and stormy night... on a tiny, tropical paradise island. It’s a remote, private island tucked away in the Andaman Sea off the coast of Thailand, and on it have gathered some of the world’s leading thinkers, entrepreneurs, speakers, authors, mavericks, artists, visionaries and change agents.

There’s a high-voltage party going on, delightfully designed as if to dazzle the gods. It’s a storybook setting, with glow worm lights, gossamer nets, sky lanterns floating off into the starry night... creating a fiery constellation, the event name painstakingly dug out in the beach sand, and candles lighting it up from inside... a clear line of sight from the moon (did I mention ‘designed to delight the gods’?).

But the gods may not be smiling down on this glittering gathering after all. It starts to rain on the parade. The drizzle turns into a drenching torrent, and people start to run, coming together under a thatched canopy big enough to shelter a couple of hundred mysterious visitors... cold, wet and still smiling. As if on a cosmic cue, they begin chanting a mantra, taught to them by a healer from Ghana… a melodious, long drawn out sing-song incantation, like a Vedic chant humming through the halls of a Tibetan monastery:

"Sooooo fu*kinggg whaat?" …

In case you haven’t figured it out yet, in the immortal words of Obelix the Gaul... these AFesters are crazy!

AFest is in many ways a cauldron of craziness… a coffeehouse of humanity where the druids of today gather to discuss, dance, go bonkers, finding themselves in a veritable sea of fellow freethinkers. And this is where they brew up the intellectual potions—steeped in magic and mystery—that are key to pushing humanity forward, to the next stage of evolution.

“This is where the last unicorns come!”

That’s what she said.

Okay, let’s not run away with our imaginations, shall we?

That was Lisa Nichols, from The Secret, a powerhouse of enthusiasm and a pulverizing agent of change. She’ll cook up a storm in the ocean of your mind, dashing you against the rocks a couple of times for good measure. You won’t emerge unscathed, mind you… rather you’ll come out of the ordeal extra-scathed, with a thousand cuts on the ties that bind you. Crying is de riguer in Lisa’s workshops, and hugging mandated by law (or so it seems). “This is where the last unicorns come,” she says… magical beasts with a whiff of fairy tales and adventures, the “crazy, weird” transition team raring to usher in a new era of consciousness.

If you think speakers like Lisa Nichols are the exceptions to the rule of AFest, you have another thing coming. And it’s coming right at you, with “knockout punch” written all over it. This time we had a speaker with just one hand—international bestselling author Sam Cawthorn—who was once pronounced dead, and yet brought the audience to life with a powerful talk that cajoled us to a higher state of being... and then topped it off with an incredible one-handed guitar performance that had us on our feet singing “We are Awesome, We are Awesome!” like a couple of hundred delighted buffoons with a touch of Virus Narcissus!

Well, it takes a genius to motivate the masses like that, and AFest speakers do tend to go a bit overboard on the genius quotient… motivational humorist Scott Friedman, the Intuitive Warrior Amir Zoghi, behaviour change expert Peter Smith, human potential visionary Kute Blackson, HoopYogini Jocelyn Gordon, “Bootcamp Bikini Body” Danette May, professional globetrotter Ka Sundance, 22-year old "Young Visionary" and TEDx speaker Marcus Taylor… phew, you take your pick.

You see Kute up there? He’s the originator of the "Sooooo fu*kinggg whaat?" chant. Once you sit with him in the auditorium and have him take you on a journey tracing the ‘mystical’ origins of the mantra, it will be seared in your psyche for ages to come... a Swiss Army knife to take on the vicissitudes of life, with a naughty smile and a twinkle in your eye!

“Then Goody met Baddie!”

That’s what she said.

No, that’s not a modern day take on Beauty and the Beast… just an example of the absurdly funny stories and people you come across at AFest. When I heard the story of how Goody (later I found out her name was actually Guddy) crashed her car on her travels, and out of the other car came out a dashing chap called Baddie (or is it Baddy?), on whom she promptly developed a teeny-weeny crush, I had a feeling of déjà vu. Just in the last AFest East we had witnessed the meeting of Kinky Fairy and Purpose Fairy (they’re just a couple of amazing bloggers with arguably oddball names... what did you think?). If I didn't know better, I'd have suspected Vishen engineered these absurdities on purpose, to short-circuit our logical brains into living in the Now, or something to that effect.

Well… oddballs, mavericks and insane encounters, that’s just par for the course at AFest. Where else on Earth would you have an in-depth discussion about demons with a specialist in Tibetan tantra, meet a man who gets people to sign a contract that they're ready to die—and takes them on an intense, nerve-racking journey across a sub-continent that makes them break down in tears—get blessed by a beautiful Australian saint, enjoy a midnight chat under the stars with a TED speaker, travel on a speedboat roof with a renowned US fitness model, share some belly laughs with a bestselling author, powwow with a Buddhist monk who’s found an amazing formula for overcoming introversion (an array of t-shirts sporting genitalia jokes… “Life’s a D¡ck,” declared one, “When it doesn’t work, ask for a helping hand”), have drinks with FHM Malaysia’s #1 Most Wanted Woman, roll in the sand with the CEO of one of the world’s leading personal transformation companies (yup, that’s another story)... and call it a day?

AFest shows you that you’re not alone, or a part of a fringe band of deluded misfits. And along with that comes the realization that you may not be as special as you thought. You may be part of a transcendent tribe, but one comprising fallible humans, all with their own stories, tests, tribulations, traumas, heartaches, and failures. A tribe that knows how to fathom the language of your soul, and also how to get drunk and have a merry, goofy time. A bunch of crazies who laugh, and fight, and cry, and will eventually, die... but in that little dash between their entry and exit, light the fires that power the engine of humanity.

“...”

That’s what she said.

Or didn’t. An impromptu hug from a gorgeous Malaysian actress—who’s also the host—right in the middle of a session... just because.

So much of the value of Awesomeness Fest lies in all that is unsaid, in the hugs, and smiles, and happy tears. This is not a conference, it's a love-fest. We all carry our Universes with us, so that just may be my very personal take on what makes this event so special. But when someone asks why I come to AFest, that’s all I have to say, “...”

Maybe I come here just for the energy, to bask in the glory of enlightened souls, to grow in the presence of their uplifting essence. To laugh when an old AFester calls you family, to pick up conversations left off a year ago, to bond with people who you’d never otherwise have met...

The winds of AFest clear the cobwebs of negative neural pathways that clutter your mind... it's a gusty breeze that tears them away, sometimes gently, sometimes vigorously, exposing the light within. Something happens when your reality model is yanked out of it's comfort zone, and for a few days on a paradise island you live as if in a parallel reality, an Utopia of sorts.

I guess what AFest teaches you—after all is said and done—is how to become a more evolved person, a better human being… the rest is all window dressing.

“Oh, man! Oh, man! Oh, man!”

That’s what he said.

This time it’s definitely a “he”. (Yes, I said I’ll just quote the ladies... but hey, what kind of red blooded AFester would you be if you didn’t have that tiny little contempt for the claustrophobic confines of arbitrary rules?)

That was a distinguished TED speaker, a leading expert on Vedic Mathematics, doing the oh-mans like a teenage schoolgirl! I had simply asked what he thought of Awesomeness Fest. When you see people like that going giddy and giggly, you know there’s something in the air.

Incidentally, every AFest I've been to, I have bumped into TED/TEDx speakers. Gives you an idea of the caliber of the tribe, and the quality of the conversations. (It’s not just a hug-fest, you know.) From alternative maths to quantum mechanics, from Pleiadian theory to spinal awakening, from detox diets to the future of our species, nothing’s off the table. The discussions you can have here are often too leading edge to be palatable in your daily conversations. Here’s it’s all in a day’s work, with nary an eyebrow raised.

At AFest, you're often sitting next to movers and shakers, existing and future, some famous, some powers behind the scenes, some gregarious, some subtle... all awesome. Awesomeness Fest, in a very unlikely way, teaches you to be humble, and simply human. In a gathering of some of the world’s best minds, who are more often than not accomplished, spiritual, and personal growth aficionados, there is an awareness that in many ways you are a part of the front guard, leading the charge of pushing humanity forward. But with that awareness comes an aloneness, a frustration that hardly anyone around sees the light.

So much of passion is born out of pain. Truth be told, you WILL get sick of Awesomeness Fest. You'll feel the urge to skip some sessions, morning activities or evening get-togethers. This is natural. The muscles of your mind are being stretched. The essence of You is being gently but firmly pushed out of its zone of comfort. You're absorbing more in four days than you have probably done in months, or even years. Ignore that resistance, and push ahead. Beyond the barrier of pain and fear lies so much of what you're looking for. You might begin with hurt, but then fall in love.

AFest changes something inside you. It's a change that takes time to integrate, to feel... which is why I tend to pen my takeaways after the initial vibe fades, well beyond the peaks and valleys that follow in the immediate wake of an AFest experience... and all that remains is what has become a part of myself.

“Close your eyes while I’m doing it.”

That’s what she said.

In my defense, my eyes were already closed before she said that. It was the lunch break between sessions, and while the rest of the AFesters had meandered out, I was sitting alone and drinking in the moment. A shadow moved over my eyes, and I opened them to see a beautiful blonde with hazel eyes peering down… the Australian saint I’d mentioned earlier. “Can I bless you?” she asks. In a daze, I answer in the affirmative. And then I had to close my eyes, again.

“I’ve tried my best to keep AFest from becoming too woo woo,” says Vishen. Mission failed. And I’m glad it has. At Awesomeness Fest, spirituality is almost taken for granted, and talk of auras, chakras, or prana is just regular chit-chat. All pervasive, and played down… till Vishen himself goes off script, and starts talking of the soul’s journey, parallel universes and multiple realities. It was off-the-record, and took us all by surprise… probably one of the greatest takeaways from the event.

If you ask me, in a watering hole for impish angels in the guise of regular folk, it’s a folly to try keeping “woo woo” under wraps. When so many unicorns come together and play, while they spread love, happiness, colors of joy, rainbows and sparkles... their horns will brush over the seams, and poke. You can’t really control the herd, and sooner or later the seams will come apart.

One small step for AFest, one large leap for humankind.

“Can I give you a rub?”

That’s what she said.

In case your eyes have glazed over, time for a break. Introducing dance massages, a ‘patent-pending’ AFest invention. Every once in a while, to make sure we’re all wide-eyed and charged up during the sessions, we are kinda forced to undergo regular blissful dance massages… while we switch partners on the floor and keep giving each other some delightful rubs.

Yep, very touchy-feely. I did say it was a love-fest, didn’t I?

“Fill your cup with Orgasmic Energy!”

That’s what she said.

OK, I’m just paraphrasing here, but hey, there’s good reason I wasn’t taking exact notes. If you recall the episode of the African lady and the overgrown pretzel, this is where it all happened. Morning yoga and meditation has some pretty unique takes at AFest, and if that’s not your cup of tea, other options comprise total body workouts and combat sport training. Suffice to say, no one came to the conference hall drowsy.

“Can I come up?”

That’s what she said.

Pro tip. When Ms. 'Bootcamp Bikini Body' asks you that, you DO NOT say no. Well, it just so happened that we were off to the magical paradise island of "Sooooo fu*kinggg whaat?” fame, flying across the waters in a cavalcade of speedboats, and I’d climbed on to the roof (DO NOT try, with or without adult supervision) to get some bracing air.

Takeaway? Bracing air is so much more invigorating when you’re accompanied by a gorgeous expert on health and fitness. Thoroughly recommended by your physician, I guarantee that.

“I asked them to put it in.”

That’s what she said.

I was concerned about whether there was vegetarian food on the menu, and that was Tanya assuring me that she’d taken care of it. Team AFest is definitely a pack of superheroes when it comes to making sure that everything, and everyone, is properly taken care of. Sometimes the attention to detail is almost frightening, like when a pair of slippers you’ve lost on a remote island turns up at the hotel reception, or a sugarcube envelope you may have misplaced, gets mailed to you back home.

C’mon, it’s hard not to become a fan.

“You were hilarious last night!”

That’s what she said.

Making friends is easy at AFest, people you actually bond with and stay in touch over the years, people who’re comfortable enough telling you how great you are, and exactly where you made a total ass of yourself! How can you not fall in love with a tribe that loves you to bits, and yet kicks your butt when it’s called for?

May sugarcubes rain down on you thick and fast, hunnybunnies.

“Go in. Stay there.”

That’s what she said.

One of the greatest things about AFest is that the learnings continue even after everything is over... the sessions, the workshops, the off-site excursions, the impromptu hangouts, the partying, the late-night soirées. I’ve had some of the best awe-inspiring, thought-inducing experiences post-event. It’s the people, stupid… you can take the people out of the magic (of AFest), but you can’t take the magic out of the people.

So there I am, discussing esoteric concepts at the breakfast table after the event is done, and an energy healer taps into my subconscious insecurities and unanswered questions. “Stop searching in the books,” she says. “Look inside, you’ll find your answers there.”

“You are a most shareworthy friend!”

That’s what she said.

I kid you not, that’s exactly what she said. She was just talking about my Facebook posts, though.

The magic of AFest is just like chewing gum… no matter how far you stretch, the connection grows thinner, but never quite snaps. The work you do, the thoughts you think, the people you meet, and the places you go to… the effect of AFest stays on.

AFest is like a version upgrade of your being, where all that you are gets a boost just because you're immersed for days in a swirling melting pot of energy, with some of the most awakened people on the planet, who are all in their own little or large ways pushing the human race forward.

Even when you think you’re far away from the intense energy of AFest, you’re never quite safe. And you’re never quite the same again.

“That was ‘O’some!”

That’s what she said, he said, everybody said!

An orgy of awesomeness, that’s all I can say… because you can’t really define the phenomenon of AFest.

Awesomeness Fest, it often seems, exists on the boundary of time-space reality… a constellation of star-people dancing to a music that only they can hear. It’s a massive folly to attempt distilling stardust, but that’s just the alchemical blunder that I’m going to attempt right now.

AFest is a sellout event without an identity. Not because it does not have one, but because it's core essence is yet to be discovered. So we who are searching for the meaning of “Life, the Universe, and Everything” come here to find solace and kindred souls.

It is a rebel with a cause it’s yet to fully embrace, dancing on the fences of an all new way of life. It’s a fiery dance no doubt, enchanting and beguiling with sparkling bursts of radiance, yet with the grace of a ballerina flowing with the swirls and eddies of cosmic energy.

AFest is a peek into the infinity of who we are.

If you attend just one personal growth event on this leg of your journey on planet Earth, make sure it's Awesomeness Fest. It's a power pack for your soul; you come out totally recharged, and raring to go make a difference! You get to hang out with the best people at a paradise location, meditate and party in an all-in-one coolsome package, learn the wisdom of ages that you can apply in your daily life... and also get to push humanity forward in the bargain. How does it get any better than that?

I only wish they had cats. Cats make everything better. The Egyptians got it right. I’m sure the AFesters will too.

To paraphrase Apple’s iconic ad:

Awesomeness Fest, it’s already a revolution… and it’s only just begun.

Update: And the story continues, in Croatia: Awesomeness Fest fckd it up, yet again!

Being a Buddha in Blue Jeans

2014-05-11T21:07:00.000+05:30

So how do you like your Avatar
In this video game of Life?
Would you fancy a hairstyle change
Or maybe some edgier clothes?
Your game level could use a raise
Or add an adventure pack
Did you choose to travel time
Or just opt for a better rack?
No judgments, you see, are needed here
We keep playing with different skins
Heeding the call to adventure
Being a Buddha in blue jeans
Your Avatar has a purpose, you know
So follow that passion trail
It's Game On, so have a blast
And play a Life lived well

Thank You for the Music

2014-05-11T01:35:00.000+05:30

The Divine Feminine
Walks these worlds
With twinkling eyes
And naughty smiles
A stream of Source
And magic dust
Hope aplenty
Sweet surprise
The Energy flows
In ribbons of light
Daffodils bloom
Doves take flight
We feel once more
The Spirit's call
The angels smile
I thank you all

Spirited Encounter

2014-05-11T01:31:00.001+05:30

If we are energy, in the flesh
Can you bottle that spark
And store it there for ages
Floating on streams of time
’til a little girl comes along
And pops open the seal
Asking for three wishes
From that energy being
You’re infinity in a bottle
A genie, and a dream
A conundrum with a seal
Being asked to seal a deal
So how do you respond
In a story that makes no sense
You smile and nod, I guess
You have a dream to manifest

Love, Life and Curveballs

2014-05-08T22:39:00.001+05:30

Life has a habit of throwing sneaky curveballs out of the blue.
And that’s magic, really… where’s the fun in crusty ol’ patterns?

A curveball needn’t be menacing, you know. It can be like the curve of a smile, that can set so many things straight. Its power can be the force that pushes you in the direction you always wanted to go, but didn’t quite. Its unexpected turn can play havoc with your plans, and set you on a different path altogether. Its electric speed can impart that long-forgotten energy and spring in your step. And its deadly accuracy can reach through carefully constructed barriers, in a surprise move that says “Checkmate” with a wink.

Curveballs are rare, and disruptive, and uncomfortable…
I love curveballs. And I love hitting them right out of the park.

Sometimes it rains

2014-03-02T15:46:00.000+05:30

Sometimes you win.
Sometimes you lose.
Sometimes it rains.

Sometimes you laugh.
Sometimes you cry.
Sometimes it’s meh.

Sometimes your mission is to make a mark.
Sometimes you sit back, lie in the dark.
Sometimes you sigh, and walk in the park.

Sometimes you make sense, sometimes you don’t.
Sometimes you meander, sometimes you won’t.

Life is a dance, of highs and lows.
Of rainbows and reindeer.
Of poetry, of prose.

Why be so serious? Take a deep breath.
Smile away the drama. Just enjoy your stay.

Sooner or later, we’ll wither into none.
Till then, just love… and remember we’re one.

How do I love today?

2014-02-09T01:12:00.001+05:30

I believe.
That’s the question.
To end all questions.
And begin, the answers.

A question to start the day with.
A question that contains worlds within.
To start changing the world.
Starting now.

How do I love today?

It’s a beautiful question. When you open your eyes in the morning, and ask that—to yourself, to the Universe, to your higher self… to whatever force of good you believe in—you set into motion gigantic wheels of positive change. Your eyes light up. Your lips curve into a smile. Happy chemicals course through your body. And you start thinking of all the good that you can do.

Fun fact: every little matters. When you act with pure intention, every random act of kindness generates a massive wave of love through the mechanics of the Universe, as it leverages even tiny sparks of pure intention into blazes of loving glory.

Every stranger you smile at. Every beggar you help. Every hand you hold. Every thanks you give. Every heart you touch. Every happy tear that falls. Every pat. Every hug. Every kiss. Every laugh… unleashes the energy of love and raises the vibration of the Universe.

And when you start your day with that simple question, you begin with a momentum of bliss and joy, and that powerful energy infects everything you do throughout the day.

It’s a good infection… the kind that makes superheroes out of ordinary mortals.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to become a powerhouse of love and spread the light wherever you go.

And it begins with a simple question…

How do I love today?

Damn You, Awesomeness Fest!

2013-09-23T08:33:00.002+05:30

"Sometimes you win. Sometimes you lose. Sometimes it rains."

It's dark outside. Raining. I'm sitting on the window-sill listening to the pitter-patter lullaby of raindrops, lost in oblivion, and sipping on a cup of lukewarm coffee. As always, when I am in communion with nature, a peaceful loving energy courses through my heart, and all I can think is...

Damn You, Awesomeness Fest!

It’s about a month since the adventure in Bali ended. Sorry, Awesomeness Fest ended. The adventure just began. So did the problems.

The first problem was explaining to family and friends how “awesome” it was. Not funny, and I’m not too happy with the AFest team for putting me in this spot. It’s only so many times that people will listen to you try to ineffectually explain what a jaw-dropping, heart-pounding, mind-bending, consciousness-evolving, chakra-opening, belly-aching, teary-eyed, massively huggable love-fest the-likes-of-which-cannot-be-described-in-words it was before they ask you to shut up or write it down… since you aren’t making any sense anyway.

The second problem is writing it down.

I guess I’ll have an easier time trying to drink from a fire-hose. When you have a torrent of emotions coursing through your synapses, overwhelming you with memories of a lifetime that somehow got scrunched up in a weekend, it’s easier to let yourself get carried away than feebly attempt to capture them with pixels on a page.

Incidentally, that’s not just wide-eyed naivete speaking. To add in a tiny bit of perspective, before experiencing AFest in Bali I’ve spent years collecting “moments” all over the world. I have peered right into an active volcano with bubbling lava on Big Island, walked across the Swiss Alps, turned into a snowman (literally) in a Jungfrau blizzard, experienced the “warmth” of an igloo, meditated with monks in a Tibetan monastery, braved shearing high-altitude winds in a doorless helicopter along the Napali coast, snorkeled in the Pacific Ocean, cruised along The Seine in Paris, sailed on a romantic cruise on Dubai Creek (of all places), and even risked touching a stingray!

I’ve sang together and become pen-pals with a living legend in Kauai, clowned about in the hallowed halls of the Louvre, surfed the waves in Waikiki, celebrated New Year with a throng of thousands at the Eiffel Tower, sat on a Mughal Emperor’s throne, become a living lory-bird perch (and a minor tourist attraction) in Jurong, gone white-water rafting at the foothills of the Himalayas, been swallowed up in snowdrift on the way to Liechtenstein, and even braved the roads of Shanghai without an English-speaking guide!

So when I say Awesomeness Fest in Bali was possibly one of the most important life-changing experiences that I’ve had on my brief sojourn on Planet Earth, it’s not just a melodramatic flourish. And so, with all due respect, I state for the record once again...

Damn You, Awesomeness Fest!

Yes, AFest does that to you. It exposes you as a mass of contradictions, and shines a spotlight on shadows tucked away for years in long-forgotten corners of your psyche. It makes you feel your greatness, and prods you to do something with it. It makes you elated. It makes you miserable. It takes you on a dizzying ride over emotional peaks and troughs in the Disneyland of your mind. Yes, it’s probably a drug, with its own set of withdrawal symptoms and delusions of grandeur. It’s the red pill from The Matrix, with a sugar coating of awesomeness.

And yes, I know I’m still making no sense whatsoever.

Damn You, Awesomeness Fest!

AFest is billed to be an event unlike any other. Apparently, it's a movement that pushes humanity forward. It's supposed to motivate, and spur attendees into positive action... Expand consciousness. Provide unique lifetime experiences. Rain kittens and unicorns. Take ETs home.

Billions of blue blistering balderdash!

Don’t get me wrong… Awesomeness Fest is so much more than all of that.

It is really a festival, where the uniform is a smile, and an invisible halo around your head that fellow AFesters recognize in an instant. You think Steve Jobs fans are fanatics? Wait till you meet a starry-eyed AFester! The delight is palpable at every step. From the pre-event workshop with master motivator Lisa Nichols (from The Secret) where we laughed and cried with equal abandon, through spellbinding sessions with world-class speakers who enchanted and energised us, offsite excursions that set our imaginations afire, to evening get-togethers and parties that got us new best friends all over the globe... Awesomeness Fest dipped us in a sea of stardust on a paradise island, and stretched our minds beyond their elastic limits, making sure we left “bigger” than when we arrived.

Yes, Awesomeness Fest doesn't care much about the laws of Physics. It has a firm backing of the Universe, so it’s pretty cavalier that way. As a student of science, I do feel a need to protest, knowing fully well that I’d be laughed out of the court of AFesters pronto.

Damn You, Awesomeness Fest!

Another hallmark of Awesomeness Fest is the surprise element. I suppose they picked this up from some Zen monastery. So while you can be dipped in delight and wander about with a buffoon-smile pasted on, you need to be mindful all along, because there’s always something unexpected lurking around the corner! These are things you’ll not find on the agenda, like a fire-dance troupe that swarms in while you’re having dinner, midnight strolls on the beach, crazy dances, cozy chats with the speakers, masterminds around a dinner table, a cascade of free gifts, impromptu celebrations, marriage proposals, a royal wedding, sword fights, ululating monkeys, and friendly dunkings in the dark.

Vishen once declared, “Realism is socially accepted form of pessimism.” AFest seems to exist by that credo, paying scant heed to the rules of Normal. The realist in me balks at this abomination. My soul doubles over in peals of laughter!

Damn You, Awesomeness Fest!

Then again, the driving forces of AFest are neither the delights, nor the surprises. Those are just the cream and cherry on the deliciousest cake of ideas and inspiration. (Yes, I invented a word right there; you tend to do mad stuff like that when you’re an AFester.) I personally have a bone to pick with all of the speakers, who each seemed to embody “action at a distance”. If you think you’re doing fine, think again before you sign up for AFest. They don’t advertise the fact, but getting comfortable inside your head is never on the agenda.

So at AFest Bali, while Tiffany Persons and Amir Nasr raised you with inspiration, Dave Logan brought you down with a punch in the gut. Vishen Lakhiani came flying with an uppercut of impossible dreams, while the crafty Khailee tackled from below with his youthful energy. Clarence Tan dazzled with visions of the future, and Roger Hamilton delivered a knockout punch that left you wanting to stay in Bali forever. Fortunately, Lisa Nichols was around to pick up the pieces, and Tom Cronin urged us to go inward, to find the answers in the stillness. Yes, it was indeed harrowing inside my head, but it was exactly what the doctor ordered.

It’s said that a mind stretched by a new idea cannot go back to its old dimensions. My little unsuspecting mind now has frigging stretch marks all over. It has been sucker punched, kneaded, tug of war-ed, pulled taut, put through the wringer, and hung out to dry.

Damn You, Awesomeness Fest!

Maya Angelou once said that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel. Once the festivities are over, the lights turned off, and the people have gone home… you realise that the feeling that you now carry in the pit of your stomach is the ultimate takeaway.

It’s almost a month since Awesomeness Fest Bali ended. The happy memories have started to fade, the secret Facebook group of “the tribe” is not as active as before, the joie de vivre is far less palpable, and the daily routine of everyday life has re-established a firm footing.

But the feeling remains, that urge to push humanity forward… “no matter how hopeless, no matter how far”. Awesomeness Fest Bali opened my heart and rekindled the fire inside. Yes, it’s warm and uncomfortable, and keeps me up at night sometimes. But it’s also the fuel that powers the engine of awesomeness within.

And now I understand why author Arielle Ford declared, “We're already booked to go next year, I don't know where it is or what day it is, but we're coming!” We're coming too.

Damn Your Fatal Attraction, Awesomeness Fest!

And after all is said and done, what remains is a sense of immense love and gratitude.

Thank you for arranging this massive gathering of like-minded truly awesome individuals!
Thank you for introducing me to the wonders of Bali and it’s beautiful people.
Thank you for making the days so magical and eventful that we barely had time to sleep.
Thank you for helping an introvert make deep human connections across the planet.
Thank you for making me a daily meditator once again.
Thank you for the “sugar cubes” that made me laugh and cry.
Thank you for bringing this dead blog back to life.
Thank you for all the lives that you changed.
Thank you Mindvalley, for being an army of awesomeness; a pack of superheroes!
Thank you Tanya Lopez for having the amazing chutzpah to bring AFest to the East.
Thank you Kristina Mänd-Lakhiani, for helping unleash Force Vishen on Planet Earth.

And finally, thank Vishen for the heart-rending speech at the closing ceremony. I admit I sometimes feel he’s a laser-focused android, reserved and distant, intent on an epic mission to push humanity forward. That day, his tears made him human. And I looked at him, all teary-eyed and valiant amongst the ancient ruins, and wondered if he realized he was one of the guardian angels of the planet, unleashing a powerful vortex of uplifting energy on an unsuspecting world, the ripples of which would be felt for ages to come.

I wondered if we all were angels in disguise, loving participants in this massive conspiracy to push humanity forward.

I'm still wondering.

Damn You, Awesomeness Fest!

The final lesson that Awesomeness Fest Bali taught us was one of balance… of the eternal struggle between opposing forces that neither is destined to win. Good and Evil. Right and Wrong. iPhone and Android. There will always be ups and downs, gains and losses… but no matter which way the pendulum swings, balance will always be restored. So even in the game of life, all that matters is that you have fun and play your best till the innings lasts.

"Sometimes you win. Sometimes you lose. Sometimes it rains."

So thank you Awesomeness Fest, and damn you.
Damn you for turning everything topsy-turvy.
Damn you for making me fall in love again.
Damn you for the mental tectonic shifts.
Damn you for upending my life plan.
Damn you…
Damn me!
I love you.
Damn!

Update: And the story continues, in Thailand: ‘O’someness Fest… the orgy continues!

Do Poets grow on Trees?

2007-04-01T12:41:00.000+05:30

They ask if I'm a poet
I say, are you a nut?
The world may be full of poets
I am anything but...

I write when my mood is right
I blog when I want to do
I ramble off and on
And pen my thoughts so true

The world is a spinning ball
The universe, my field
My words do a cosmic dance
To no pressure do they yield

They jump, they skip, they slide
They tumble left and right
They scream, they play, they cry
And once or twice, they fight

So that is how it goes
These scribbles on a page
Does madness make a poet?
Does beardness make a sage?

So thus I carry on
With my merry words so dear
But gosh! I am no poet
I guess I made that clear

Don't Think!

2007-03-29T22:11:00.000+05:30

I thought life was a struggle
I thought it was unfair
I thought they’re out to get me
I thought it was do or die

I thought I had one shot
I thought that money was God
I thought God was watching
I thought I needed a lot

I thought the world was doomed
I thought we had no hope
I thought the fight was over
I thought that greed was good

I thought we all were different
I thought that wars were fine
I thought it was all pointless
I thought not of common good

My thoughts led me to jungles
Where fear and darkness ruled
But my thoughts were just lost kiddies
Now my thoughts have come back Home

The Fun We Have!

2007-03-26T21:58:00.000+05:30

Sometimes it feels nice….
To create without direction.

The literary equivalent of packing your rucksack and setting off for the unknown on a whim. Not knowing where to go, or what to do when you reach there.

We humans have always had a fascination for the unknown; for setting off without a safety net, so to speak. It’s a risky game, fraught with countless dangers…

Heroes and legends have been created this way!

As I said, it is nice… to create a semblance of that singular effect sitting at my desk… walking down undiscovered by-lanes… treading uncharted waters… not knowing what I’ll find when the journey finally ends.

So my fingers keep moving over the keyboard, thinking and typing and smiling and rambling…
It’s fun.
You should try it sometime.

The fun is in the discovery. You yourself don’t know what you’ll do, what you’ll end up creating! But all of it happens in a sanitized environment.

You don’t have to fear death...
You needn’t worry about creating a Frankenstein.

Or did I get that wrong?

Can such literary adventures release some hitherto undiscovered ‘idea virus’?
Some train of thought that never could hope to see the light of day, but sneaked out in the cerebral mayhem?

Can not the fingers create ‘lines of disaster’?
Incite radicals… fuel passions… release hatred?

Maybe they can.
Maybe this is not a sanitized adventure after all…

There is a reason why people love to take charge, to be in control of their environment... It helps maintain sanity in a world too eager to go astray.

But when it does… When someone breaks the barriers of convention and ventures into virgin territory...

Oh! The fun we have!

The Legend of Ennui

2007-03-20T21:46:00.000+05:30

What happens when an Unstoppable Force meets an Immovable Object?

Think.

And if you know the answer to this question, please let me know. I’ll get in touch with the Nobel Committee pronto!

Of course, one of my favourite authors, Isaac Asimov, says it’s not a ‘question’ by any means; so it barely merits an answer…

But that’s not the point at all. The point is that, if you find yourself thinking about such questions, rest assured that you’re either a budding philosopher or a prime candidate for a mental institution.

There is, of course, a third option.

You are bored.
And in case you are wondering what Ennui is, that’s what.
Boredom... Boooooredom!

Okay. Now you’ve got it. I’m bored. Took a lot of time coming to the point, didn’t I?
Were you bored while reading this? No? Not good. ‘Cause boredom’s good.
So when you are bored, you’re doing humanity a favour.

You don’t believe me, do you? You ought to. I’ll tell you why.

Boredom is a cousin of Laziness. They are brothers in arms. With me till now?

Well… Now think of all the major strides that have taken place in the history of Human Civilization. Discovery of fire… the wheel… gravity… the light bulb… Internet... I’m mentioning just a few to get you into the proper frame of mind.

Things like these changed the way we lived. The way we thought.

And why?

Because some lazy bum somewhere wanted to make his life a teeny-weeny bit easier... Someone wanted to work less, play more. Somebody bored with life as it was thought it’d be fun to change things a little bit.

You see where this is leading, don’t you?

Q.E.D.

Progress is a consequence of boredom and laziness. So someone sitting by the lake under a tree watching the birds in flight is not just whiling away his time… he’s changing the world. He’s making a difference, whether you like it or not!

So, are you bored?

Yes!? That’s lovely! Welcome to my club. Way to go, man!

Come, let’s change the world...
And make it a boring place!

Why are you here?

2007-03-20T21:20:00.000+05:30

No, I’m not a New Age guru. And this is not really a question about your existence and purpose. I’m simply curious why you are reading this…

Don’t get me wrong. I love the fact that you are here on this page reading my stuff. I’m delighted that this blog gives me the power to transcend space and time; to reach you in your living rooms and cubicles… into your mind at your own convenience! It’s a privilege and I’m grateful to you.

But again, why?

This blog has been a boon to me. Action at a distance – it’s every writer’s dream. I’ve connected to people across the world. I’ve made friends with people in unlikely places. And going through my list of visitors has improved my knowledge of geography in a manner no school-teacher could ever achieve!

New found friends have written back to tell me about their experiences. Some have been moved by particular writings… some have been inspired… quite a few have joined in the laughter… and one or two even cried!

But why?

Why and how do people find there way to my humble blog from distant corners of Planet Earth? How and why do they penetrate the web of the Web to reach an island called Zeitgeist's Zone?

If I can solve this conundrum, I’ll probably get an answer to the eternal puzzle of our existence too!

I do aspire to greatness, but haven’t yet made the cut.
I’m not really famous... but just a hazy speck in a teeming BlogWorld.
A late entrant who doesn’t even pretend to talk techie…
And yet. And yet.

So what am I missing here?

The answer to the question ‘Why?’, that’s what.

So tell me, dear friend...
Why are you here?

Where on Earth is Riverdale?

2007-03-13T20:03:00.000+05:30

"Officially Riverdale has no location. It is essentially located wherever the reader wants it to be."

– Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

All my life I've looked for Riverdale. Finally, I get it…

I have always had a fascination for Riverdale – the home of Archie Andrews. It's like what Wikipedia says… to me Riverdale is not only a place; it's a dream, my personal Utopia.

Comics were my staple in childhood. I've been through it all – Superman, Spiderman, Batman, Laurel & Hardy, Flash Gordon, Richie Rich, Tintin, Asterix, Blondie… you name it – I've read it. Dennis the Menace tugged at my heartstrings, Calvin & Hobbes gave me hours of laughter-filled afternoons, but Archie and gang overwhelmed my all.

I can't begin to tell you how many hours I've spent walking down the corridors of Riverdale High School, avoiding Mr. Weatherbee, the principal, and steering clear of the school cafeteria and Miss Beazley's culinary concoctions. I can't recount the hours I've spent with Dilton in the chemistry lab. Or with Archie, Reggie, Jughead, Betty and Veronica at the beach (keeping a safe distance from Moose and his girlfriend Midge, of course!). And how can I forget Pop Tate's Chocklit Shoppe – my first introduction to American fast-food?

Well, Riverdale was my introduction to all things American; punched with all things Utopian. And that, dear fellows, makes for a heady cocktail! Riverdale is a dreamer's dream… A place where the height of violence is getting punched and seeing stars… where life is an endless series of fun-filled events… where roads are clean, girls are all beautiful, and life is a riot of colours… where friends dominate your waking hours, and dreams too… Dreams! I keep coming back to it. Somehow they have become synonymous… Me, my dreams and Riverdale.

And all through life I've been looking for Riverdale. Through the ups and downs of life… through the failures and disappointments… through the pain and suffering. Riverdale was my escape when things went downhill… And my home when joy ruled supreme…

But where on earth was Riverdale?

Thanks to Wikipedia, I've finally solved the riddle.

Riverdale has always been there inside me.
In a secret fun-filled compartment in my mind...
Everywhere.
And Nowhere.
My inspiration in happiness.
My refuge in sorrow.
My source of sustenance.
All of my existence.

The answer is clear.

'I' am Riverdale…

Riverdale is wherever I am!

A Catharsis called Creation

2007-03-04T19:31:00.000+05:30

Sorry.

I start with being short and succinct. Because very soon you’ll be wishing I was...

Some of you - my subscribers, my regular visitors – must have noticed that I had suddenly gone ‘off air’. A string of regular posts... and then, Kaput!

Some of you must have reached the conclusion that the ‘Happy Gene’ was finally taking effect and I had drifted off to La-La Land! Well, nothing could be further from the truth.

Frankly, I was as puzzled as you were.

All I could see was that a fountain had dried up somewhere within me and I couldn’t tolerate the thought of writing or even the sight of the keyboard! I’d sit for hours in front of the computer... and do anything but write.

Well, in today’s world there’s no dearth of things to do. So I decided to play the Regular Joe.

Went to office.
Chatted with friends.
Ate and drank.
Watched movies.
Listened to music.
Read books.
Surfed the Net.
Tried every ol’ trick in the book...

I was pretending to be happy.
I was a miserable dork.

The world was blue and black and grey. My ‘Happy Gene’ had deserted me. Things couldn’t get any worse...

And then it happened! A dam broke somewhere deep inside. And the words started gushing out. My hands played gleefully on the keyboard and the words started pouring helter-skelter. I rambled on like an idiot... And the world was all right again!

It was a wise man who said that the pen is mightier that the sword. These words are powerful. They seem to have a mind of their own. So when they rush out, they write themselves. I am just a typist. Fiercely ‘free’ they are too! Keep them bottled up and they’ll make sure you don’t have a moment’s peace. Let them breathe the fresh air and they’ll light up your life!

So finally...
To those who were wondering where I had gone.
And to those who had heaved a sigh of relief.

I’m back.

Sorry.

Meaningless Meanderings of a Mixed-up Mind!

2007-03-04T15:47:00.000+05:30

Ramblings Rock!
Ramblings are Great...
Sometimes Rambling’s ‘just what the doctor ordered’!

I am Rambling, aren’t I?

Well yes, I am...
Thanks a lot and a Happy Rambling Rickety Rooey Roovy Ramble to me!

What was that?
Hey, I don’t know. I don’t have all the answers.
I don’t have any answers, actually...

Remember? I’m Rambling...

And Oh! I so do love Rambling!

Rambling is like intellectual tobogganing!
You start down the steep slope of decline...
You don’t know where you are heading, except ultimately to the bottom.
You don’t know in what shape you’ll end up there...

But the 'high' is too great to be missed.

So to hell with convention and meaning!
To hell with you and me...

So I go Rambling on my rambly way with the cocky confidence of Calvin! And a little invisible green man sitting on my shoulders urges me on to throw caution to the winds and to ‘play’ the keyboard as if no rules had ever been invented...

And you are actually reading this!

Hobbes would have been a better pal.
At least the fellow has an instinct for survival.
But I only have little green men for company who love to add an extra spin to a world already going round... and round... and round...

Dizziness is just a product of dreams.
The bigger the dream, the more volcanic the vertigo.

I just did that to get the two V’s together. But makes a weird sort of sense through some twisted logic, doesn’t it?

You bet it does... even if it doesn’t.

I’m still Rambling, remember?

Quest for the Happy Gene

2007-02-27T00:33:00.000+05:30

Smile. Try it. Just once; relax and smile... :-)

Worked, didn’t it? Nothing like the display of pearly whites to brighten up the day!

The good news is, next time I probably wouldn’t have to prod you into a good mood. The Happy Gene is just around the corner. And the world is about to change!

Just imagine.

No more worry. No more tension.
No more Hate. Envy. Fear. Jealousy. Despair.
No more Tears. No more Heartbreak.

I give you the World; Sunny Side Up!

Never in the history of civilization have we come so close to attaining Utopia. Once the mechanism is figured out, the gene would be administered to every willing recipient cross the globe. And once in, the gene stays put, carved into the chromosomal bedrock for ages to come. Scientists claim that this would be the beginning of a new era, as we would be taking the next step in Human Evolution!

Imagine. Never again can we fight a war! No fights, not even fisticuffs on the street corner. We would be genetically incapable of hurting each other or any other living being.

Can you imagine what it would mean for our planet?

I have hardly begun to think it through... And the possibilities boggle the mind! I’m already laughing out loud. (Did they inject me while I was visiting the labs, I wonder?) Why I am I so deliriously Happy just thinking about Happiness?

On second thoughts, that isn’t so surprising. Is it? We already knew Happiness was communicable. Inside and out. Just laughing and smiling, even without reason, can deliver 10,000 volts of Happiness through your system!

We tried it out, remember? Why do you think you are grinning like a buffoon right now?

Where are you now? Look up. Look around. Doesn’t the world seem a brighter place? Right now, you are a shining beacon of Happiness, my dear friend. Those 10,000 volts can light up more than a room. Strategically placed, a few Happy Minds can light up the entire planet!

And believe me, with the Happy Gene in place, the Earth won’t be a pale blue dot in the darkness of space any longer. There wouldn’t be anything pale about us anymore. It will be brightness all around!

And being the bright kind, you’ve probably figured out by now that I’m making all this up.

Not really.

The Happy Gene is already there inside you. You just need to look... and smile... and be positive...

The Quest continues.

Holy Grail. Happy Gene. Even the initials match!

Dan Brown got it all wrong, didn’t he?

It’s the Environment, stupid!

2007-02-26T00:22:00.000+05:30

Actually, it always was.

For a time, we forgot.

Our collective amnesia persists still... But events around the world are giving us such frequent jolts that maybe it’s acting as electric shock treatment for an entire civilization!

For long, the Economy has loomed large in our collective psyche. The world is but a reflection of us, our individual selves. The lustre of gold weaves its magic over us. The planet called Earth never did have quite that pull. Everybody’s responsibility is nobody’s responsibility... So the more we progressed, we looted and plundered the only home we have. We filled the air with smoke, we cut down acres of forests, we blew open the protective layer of atmosphere over our heads and then laid down to die a dusty death! Millions of lemmings on a sad long march called progress...

But you know what? I love this species. Us. We have a tremendous capacity for rejuvenation, for turning back right in the nick of time before tumbling over a disastrous precipice. And after years of abusing the earth, finally we are waking up to the perils of our folly.

At least, some of us are. But earlier, these were just lone voices in the wilderness, croaking away... rarely being heard. But little by little more and more voices joined in. And with time created a crescendo that became impossible to ignore.

That, in a nutshell, is what has being going on all this time in present human history. I won’t bore you with the statistics. I won’t talk about greenhouse gases, melting glaciers, dangerous diseases, vanishing species or the obstinacy of the present U. S. Administration with the Kyoto protocol... If you are interested, and I hope you are, just take a peek into www.climatecrisis.net. I hope you do.

As I said, the tide is turning, and there is a glimmer of hope in the distant horizon the maybe things are about to change. So long we were blind, but now we are learning to see. A threshold needed to be crossed in our collective mindset; and I believe that the tipping point has now been achieved. Now we only need to keep the ball rolling; so that we can finally redeem our rightful inheritance.

Please don’t misjudge yourself. Don’t think the individual is too small to matter. You and I, and many others like us have collectively contributed to the Global Soup we are in now. And each of us can contribute to moving the wheel in the other direction.

According to Chaos Theory, a butterfly flapping its wings in China can eventually cause a tornado in distant California! Maybe we all can make the reverse come true... so that all the hurricanes and floods and droughts now ravaging our planet can finally lead to the magic of millions of colourful butterflies fluttering across a lush green garden called Home.

I love to dream. Hope you do too...

But let’s set the record straight once and for all.

It was never the Economy, stupid!

Tell Me Why

2007-02-25T00:13:00.000+05:30

Dear Humans

Today I cried
When I looked down
And saw my creation
The monster that I’d unleashed
Had turned upon itself
In an orgy of self-destruction
Dying
Slowly
But surely
What have you done?
You have given up life
In course of making a living
You have given up love
In pursuit of material pleasures
You have destroyed yourself
By your own hand
I can’t stand the pain
I can’t watch the horror
I can’t fathom the cruelty
I can’t believe the madness
I’d postponed Judgement Day
Hoping things would change
They did
But they only got worse
And worse
Armageddon Now
Build your boats
To sail into the sunset
You’ve destroyed my creation
Now tell me why
Why?
Why?
Why?
Expecting your reply

Yours Almighty
God

Of Cabbages and Kings...

2007-02-24T01:28:00.000+05:30

Here I am. It’s way past midnight... And I’m sitting at my desk, feet propped up on it, staring into space and contemplating the mysteries of life! I wish I could see the stars; but there is a haze out there and all I can see is darkness.

Darkness engulfs my mind too, as I struggle to penetrate the haze of habit and look beyond the Mirage. I ought to be asleep by now, but my consciousness has already reached for the stars!

And I revel in my insignificance.

A dot on a dot in the Solar System... itself a dot in the Milky Way... which is another dot in the mind boggling mammothness of a dotted Cosmos... Enough to make you go dotty, I tell you. The edge of the Universe may be way beyond contemplation, but I can already see myself going over the edge and crashing into the darkness of uncharted oblivion!

I wish I could say the silence is deafening. Far from it. The crickets are orchestrating in full swing. My clock ticks on in an eerie rhythm. Someone zooms by on his bike. And a temple bell rings in some faraway corner.

The world is still a busy place. Our insignificance is lost behind the veil cast by Everyday Life. We slog and grind and one day passes another in unrelenting succession. Our depressions and sorrows scar the face of civilization. Science proceeds at a frenetic pace in the ivory towers. Pseudo-science and superstition keep pace on the ground. And nobody can figure out just where to draw the line.

Hmmm... The aliens must be having a hearty laugh!

And through it all, the world saunters on... busy as the crickets, slave to habit like the ticking clock and struggling to stay happy on the wings of a late-night partygoer! All waiting for the death knell to ring...

Cabbages and kings, we’ll all bite the dust.

Keep playing the busy game, dear ol’ world.
I love you; but I’m going to sleep.

Nevertheless, it Grooves!

2007-02-22T23:17:00.000+05:30

The hate mail continues unabated!

If this keeps on, I’ll seriously consider running for U.S. President; and give Mr. Bush a run for his oil! Not that anybody claims I stink of Bushisms. Quite on the contrary, in fact. Last night an ex-colleague called up to inform me in no uncertain terms that he had broken his teeth trying to read my English! Poor fellow wanted to know what books I read. No doubt he intended to collect all the hardcovers and throw them at me one by one! Crafty devil that I am, I simply neglected to mention that my present reading list is always posted on my blog. God help me when he reads this tomorrow!

Allegations that my blog-language is absolutely of the indigestible variety is only the beginning of a long list of complaints. I have been accused of being a bathroom philosopher, a wannabe booker winner, an internet addict, a demented idiot and worst of all, a genius! A friend of mine even threatened to go and solve the Da Vinci Code if I didn’t cease and desist! I again took the diplomatic track and neglected to inform her that the task had already been done. I’m pretty sure that the history of internet usage has never witnessed the throwing of a hardcover through the wires, but why take a chance?

Jokes aside, thanks to all my friends for all the encouragement you have given a Newbie Blogger with a nasty habit of getting on your collective nerves! And special thanks to all those strangers who reached out from the clouds of cyberspace to shake my hand. Your support keeps the flame alive.

Love me, Hate me; but you just can’t Ignore me.

I’ll be back! Keep watching this space...

Tale wagging the Blog

2007-02-21T16:43:00.000+05:30

A stranger from Alabama writing to say thanks.
Another from my own backyard, Bengal, essentially declaring that I’m nuts.
A friend bemoaning my ‘desperate’ attempts at ‘literature’.
And loads of email asking just what the hell I think I’m up to!

It’s been an interesting debut – my tentative entry into blogosphere...

Just the other day I saw a banner quoting a guy called Matt – “55 million blogs... Some of them have to be good.” I am just a simple guy trying to live up to the author’s expectations.

Nobody’s ever accused me of being intentionally intelligible. And I admit I’ve often gone off on a tangent to test the bloggy waters! Sure enough, the brickbats came flying thick and fast! Close friends browbeaten into reading my stuff decided to keep their mouths shut rather than share with me their horrific experiences. And a few kind individuals, commiserating with my ‘intellectually disabled’ status, helpfully hinted that the world wouldn’t miss much if I didn’t disgrace myself publicly in so spectacular a manner!

As I said, it’s been an interesting time!

Matt’s quote, incidentally, is already out of sync with the times. The number of bloggers out there today is more than 60 million! And just like Gmail storage space, it keeps growing every second! As far as “some of them have to be good” is concerned - I am, to put it mildly, concerned. Most of the times I clicked on the ‘Next Blog’ link at the top of this page, I promptly ventured into territories not too many mommas would want their kiddies playing in!

In some ways, it’s still the Wild Wild West out there.

Then again, that’s what the internet’s been all about. It’s only thanks to this ‘new’ medium that my thoughts are going out to you, unfiltered. The mouse is your remote. You decide what you like. I, on the other hand, find like-minded fools in far flung frontiers across the third rock from the sun...

The whole cyber-world is my playground; and I’ve barely learnt to walk!

My final thoughts on this matter. 60 million may seem like a huge number. But compared to a world population of 6.6 billion, it’s still quite small. It’s still a niche world. Personally, I don’t know anyone who blogs. And believe me, I know quite a few. (I’m talking about people in the flesh and those who aren’t closet bloggers.) But my tentative peek into ‘uncharted territory’ is sure to have its consequences...

All I can say, like Jim Reeves, is this –

Welcome to my world
Won't you come on in?

Loose Change called Life

2007-02-20T18:31:00.000+05:30

Ask and it shall be given unto you,

Seek and you shall find...

How many times have I read those lines? How many times have I forgotten? But Magic is the change of Nature. And like a bad penny it sure comes back... Popping up in the most unlikely places, in the unlikeliest of times. My search for Magical Moments opened me up to the source, and the torrent came unbidden. None so blind as those who will not see. I simply opened my eyes.

Bad penny... Bad for the Ego. Good for the Soul. My fingers on the keyboard. Spewing out random riddles. Writing is transcendental. ‘I shut my eyes in order to see.’ I read that somewhere. But suddenly I open them and look out of the window. I hear the birds chirping amidst the cacophony of civilization. The trees are greener, and have a silver sheen. My awareness transcends my physical boundaries. The dazzling brilliance of it all... And the world retreats in shame!

One small example. One of many. Passive wait for years yielded only disappointments. The Magic of Life flows through action. Energises. Enthuses. Enlightens. You and I evolve in tandem. Every little helps.

And those of you who didn’t understand a word, don’t you fret. We are all on the same boat. And the journey has just begun!