Paulo Coelho Blog - Warrior of the light

I once sent Paulo Coelho a poem I wrote. The poem may have reflected his beliefs somewhat, especially since I am, to some extent a fatalist.... well, at least most of the time. Naturally, I did not expect to hear from him and I was pretty sure it would end up in his junk folder.

It therefore came as a great surprise when I received a reply a month or so later. The reply came from Paulo himself, and it wasn't a generic response. He had a few nice things to say about it and he thanked me. From his lines it was apparent that he had read what I sent him, and that it wasn't a computer generated response. I was elated. For several years before and since, I have read his journal, which is quite a collection of nuggets.

I may not like all his books, but his journal is quite wonderful. I receive an email digest, but it is also available online. This particular entry was really quite nice to read.

Angels and Demons - Dan Brown


This is a pretty readable book. What Dan Brown lacks in elegance, he more than makes up in creating curiosity with his formulaic placement of chapters that carry independent story threads forward. Also, the fact that he writes about interesting things like symbology and secret societies sure gets you turning those pages.


I sometimes wonder why no Indian has written a book that laced together the cornucopia of symbology and secret subcultures that have existed in conjunction with magic and spirituality through the ages in this country. Even a book like "A Search in Secret India" which was journalistic at best, was brilliant without trying to be a thriller or a page turner. Huge potential.

As time passes ...

In the past few days .....

I met an old friend and well wisher, and probably the most accomplished person I know who now runs a research program in the UK with 19 PhDs and Post-Doc students. She asked me what I was doing these days and among other things, why I wasn't trying to leave India as I once was keen to.

Among other things, encountered the following question among a set of password-security questions on a trading site that really made me smile ... "Where did you go on your first date?"

I found that Bangalore is getting so cold I can actually feel my lungs feel the chilly air as I go running in the evenings.

I discovered that another friend had an revelation of sorts, when he told me that marriage is all about making it work above all else.

I learnt about Illuminati ambigrams from reading a Dan Brown book, 'Angels and Demons'. Figured Vatican City would be nice to visit someday.

Was sick to my stomach from watching Bollywood folks promote their films relentlessly, and especially so since they now use News and Business channels on TV for the same.

Watched as an innocent, oblivious, unsuspecting, unarmed guy walking on a village street in Nandigram get shot in the chest by a police sniper. The victim falls to the floor and dies instantly. The footage was released on a TV channel .... what was the cameraman doing? Trying to hold the camera still? "Making news" at all cost... life will always come second in a country of over 1 billion people.

India found its latest and probably its most deserving Test Captain in Anil Kumble

Watched as George Bush attempted to make up his mind about the lesser evil in Pakistan.

Learnt to play the guitar riff for "Come As you Are" by Nirvana. Kurt was pure genius.

Was told to count my blessings.

Paths unwind, and I recollect these lines from one of my favourite songs ...


"You've gone a million miles
How far'd your get?
That place that you can't remember,
And you can't forget"

~ "Secret Garden", Bruce Springsteen (Jerry Maguire)

Somewhat poignantly, this marks my 100th post on this blog. It has approximately been a year since I created it. What started as a simple means to keep in touch with old friends slowly turned into a space that kept in touch with me.

Thank you all for keeping me going with your encouragement ... I used tracking on this blog for professional reasons (I had to evaluate and learn about tracking software) .... but now, a glance at the report tells me that there were approximately 2,400 visits and 5,300 page views in the last year. Wow!


Thank you again for your delightful comments.... New Anonymous, Old Anonymous, and all those other anonymous and non-anonymous entities who left your footprints in the sand. Ephemeral they might seem, but footprints nevertheless.

Take care & God Bless.

Ngorongoro


I've always been something of a nature buff. As nature 'life cradles' go, few places are a better example than a crater in Tanzania. Ngorongoro. I first came across it in a NatGeo documentary, and I was amazed at what I saw. This crater, carved by a large volcano that exploded upon itself, creates something of a cradle of life. Many species never leave the crater and have evolved over generations. The pictures of Ngorongoro are amongst the most spectacular, as Ngorongoro is witness to dry spells interspersed with rainfall. Eons of life progressing on auto pilot in a contained area.


Have a look ...