Meaning

Those who want Heaven most have served Earth best. Those who love [mankind] less than God do most for [mankind].
--CS Lewis, "On Living in an Atomic Age" in Present Concerns, Page 80

On Talktativeness

Our miseries do not spring
    From houses wanting locks or bolts;
But from unbridled tongues,
    Ill used by prating fools and dolts.

~ Euripides 
~Plutarch's Lives, On Garrulity, or Talkativeness, Pg 223.

Bad and Good

"When a man is getting better he understands more and more clearly the evil that is still left in him. When a man is getting worse, he understands his own badness less and less. A moderately bad man knows he is not very good: a thoroughly bad man thinks he is all right. This is common sense, really. You understand sleep when you are awake, not while you are sleeping. You can see mistakes in arithmetic when your mind is working properly: while you are making them you cannot see them. You can understand the nature of drunkenness when you are sober, not when you are drunk. Good people know about both bad and evil: bad people do not know about either."

--C.S. Lewis: Mere Christianity Book 3 Chapter 4

The Gazelle and the Lion

“Every morning in Africa, a Gazelle wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning a Lion wakes up. It knows it must outrun the slowest Gazelle or it will starve to death. It doesn't matter whether you are a Lion or a Gazelle... when the sun comes up, you'd better be running.”

~ African proverb

Quote of the day

“There is nothing capricious in nature and the implanting of a desire indicates that its gratification is in the constitution of the creature that feel it.”
--Ralph Waldo Emerson quotes

Worthy Publishing

The Relentless Pursuit of Human Endeavor

The last time I was awestruck by a song was from Gulzar's song in Guru - "Jaage Hain." Gulzar's and Rahman's soulful rendition led me down a path of contemplation which I hadn't been for a long time. Many years later I serendipitously came across this song which has forced me to play it over and over again.. 

Hats of the lyricist(s) for brilliantly capturing and articulating in a few words the relentless and yet futile pursuit of human endeavor (reminiscent of King Solomon's musings in his masterpiece, Ecclesiastes)

"Paaya woh na chaaha, chaaha woh na paaya
Jiske peeche bhaage, woh saaya hai re saaya
Kya kya raste dhoondhe, kya kya dukh na paaya
Par saaya thehra saaya, ke haathon mein na aaya"

 

Mann jaage saari raat, mera dewaana
Mann maane na yeh baat, ke woh tha begaana
Hai khud se hi, khafa khafa
Kya chahiye, nahi pata, bawara

My mad mind wakes up whole night
My mind does not accept that my lover was a stranger
It is angry on itself
It does not know what it wants, oh my mad mind

Paaya woh na chaaha, chaaha woh na paaya
Jiske peeche bhaage, woh saaya hai re saaya
Kya kya raste dhoondhe, kya kya dukh na paaya
Par saaya thehra saaya, ke haathon mein na aaya

It got what it did not want and did not get what it wanted
What it followed was shadow
How many ways did it try to find, how much grief did it get
But shadow was shadow, and could not be caught

Koi subaah, jo main uthoon
Bujhe agan, mile sukoon, bawara

Any morning when I wake up,
May this fire extinguish and my mind get peace, oh my mad mind

Ginta rehta taare, lotoon main angaare
Khud se ladta phirta, yeh jag ko thokar maare
Kheenche kheenche baithe, baithe baithe bhaage
Na sunta khudke aage, yeh pagal ho gaya re

It keeps on counting stars, I rob blazes
It keeps on fighting itself only, and kicks the world,
It sits in tension, keeps running while sitting
It does not hear anyone before itself, it has become mad.

Paaya woh na chaaha..

Hai zindagi muhaal kyun
Bana liya yeh haal kyun bata
Uljha uljha rehta na sunta na kuch kehta
Sooni sooni aankhon se, reh-reh paani behta
Toote saare naate, haara main samjhate
Bichde din aur saathi, phir wapas nahi aate

Why is the life so difficult
Why did it make its condition like this, tell me
It is confused, neither it listen something nor say
Tears flow slowly from the lonely eyes
All the relationships are over, I lost in trying to explain this
Old days and seperated friends never come back

Wapas nahi aate, wapas nahi aate

They did not come back, they did not come back

Yeh dard kyun, yeh pyaas kyun
Phira kare, udaas kyun
Yeh dard kyun, talaash kyun bata, bawara

Why is this pain, why is this thirst
Why did it wander sadly
Why is this pain, why is this search, tell me, oh my mad mind


Thandi aahein bharke, jeeta hai mar-mar ke
Pyaasa reh gaya hai ye dariya se guzar ke
Dhoke se nazar ke, jhonke se umar ke
Raet ke mahal sa, dheh gaya hai bikhar ke

Taking cool sighs, it dies every moment
It has remained thirsty even after crossing the river
under the illusion of sight, from the fervor of age
It has shredded like a sand-palace


Mann jaage, jaage re
Mann jaage
Jaage jaage jaage, bawara

Wake up my mind, wake up
wake up
wake up oh my mad mind.  

--Source: http://www.bollymeaning.com/2012/06/mann-jaage-saari-raat-mera-dewaana.html

Resonate

An excellent resource by Nancy Duarte:

She provides great ideas on how to present visual stories that transform audiences.

http://resonate.duarte.com