Odyssey

This time around, this blog is for an audio book. Yes, that's it! I have taken to audio books to make the best use of my long drive to the office. I finished listening to this 24-chapters book in about a week’s time! If you have not tried reading/listening to audio books, I suggest you try that. There are a number of sites available that provide free audio books. The following are a couple of them:

1. http://www.booksshouldbefree.com/
2. http://marancollects.blogspot.com/search/label/Audiobooks

Now to Odyssey: In summary, it is a grandma story! And true to grandma stories, it is quite interesting. Even if you are not a fan of Anjali Devi or Vittalacharya, you would still be interested in knowing the ways of life in 8th century BC, when the book was supposed to have been written by Homer! It is quite interesting to read/listen to how the Greeks invite strangers or friends to their houses; the interesting practice of courting; the laws of inheritance – quite interesting. You cannot but think of the similarities (in certain aspects) between the customs of the Tamils of the old and the Greeks.
It is worth reading or listening!

Note: Off-track, don’t you think it is unfair to call Anjali Devi as Telugu actress?

Achilles and Hector of Troy - legends killed by their own blood!

Yesterday I was watching Troy. That was not the first time and I believe that will not be the last time either. I'm one of those people that believe there is a lot to learn from our past, be it the mistakes or the best decisions that had changed the course of human history.

I have not read the book but the director, Wolfgang Petersen, had done an awesome job with Troy. The opulence and magnificence of yesteryears was vividly captured in the movie.

Everytime I watched the movie, there was always something new that hit my eyes. This time was no different. The legendary Achilles and the prince of Troy, Hector, I realised, were killed by their own blood! Achilles was single handedly killed by his own mother while Hector's killing was a collective achievement of his father, wife, brother, commander and the least you expect, Hector himself!

I know! If you had read the book or watched the movie, you would say, 'No! Achilles killed Hector and Paris killed Achilles. Wait! Hear me out!

When Achilles was invited for the war, he goes to his mom for advice and this is what she had to tell him; if you stay back, you will have a happy family and a loving wife; you will have children and they will love you; they will have children and they will praise you; they will have children and in turn they will have children of their own; you will be forgotten slowly. On the other hand, if you leave, you will never come back, but the world will sing your praise; you will be remembered forever! Going by the almost-gayish intimacy shown between Achilles and his cousin, the 'marrying-a-girl' part must have had beaten the s--t out of Achilles! So he decides to leave for the war and his mom kisses him goodbye. What a mom! And what a lousy way to start a lifetime mission! In the end, he does not seem to participate in the war happily. He dies a sad man. Of all the people, the mighty Achilles had to be killed by the weakling, Paris.

The other sad story was that of Hector. When Achilles calls Hector for the ill-fated fight, none of Hector's relatives believe or at least pretend that he will come back alive, including his wife! As if that is not enough, Hector himself strongly believes that he will not survive. I would have been surprised, if he came back alive after all these ill preparations. What a far cry from today's Stephen Covey, Robin Sharma, Robert Kiyosaki and a host of other authors and their money-minting books on positive thinking and self-hypnotism for success!

Having said that, it was no surprise that the weakling, Paris, kills the mighty Achilles, because Hector tells him, you are the prince of Troy now, my brother, I know you will make me proud! Helen, with a face that launched a thousand ships, tells him, I love you for what you are! You are more man than my ex-husband.

It is a wonder what positive words can do and negative words can undo!

Ancient India

Cyclone Nisha kept me indoor and I have started reading Ancient India by RS Sharma, translated into Tamil by Magini. It is an interesting reading and it re-emphasizes India's rich cultural heritage. It is a crisp recap of what we already know as a general knowledge through our school text books and a lot of little-known but important events andthe lives of the ancient Indian subcontinent. I have not finished reading, though. However, when I browsed through the chapters, I was disappointed to note that only one chapter was marked for the South Indian history. Just as with many North Indian historians, the Indian history is hardly anything more than that of Hindustan. The importanceof Decan plateau is usually overlooked. It does not do justice to the history of 'Ancient India'. Is there any good book on the ancient history of the south?

Indus Valley Civilization

Is there any other subject as controversial as "The Indus Valley Civilization"? One's opinion seems to reflect on the origin, whether you are an Indian, Pakistani, North Indian, South Indian, Aryan, Dravidian, religious, Scientist, Parthasarathy, Seshadri, Kandasamy or Murugan. And so is one's acceptance of the umpteen theories doing rounds. Foreign researchers’ theories appear to attract less criticism than an Indian researcher’s. Varnam’s (http://varnam.org/blog/archives/history_before_1_ce/) postings are “colored”!

Losing faith in Science

The concept of God and the scientific explanation of evolution of life on earth has never failed to fascinate me. I’m trying to see the link between them. I could not decide to shed one belief for the other. There is a strong connection between them. Don't you feel the same? Some of the gaping holes in the spiritual teachings and the not-so-easy-to-skip scientific proofs!

Sometime back I was on a company assignment to Bristol, UK. I happened to read the free Metro (http://www.metro.co.uk/) newspaper of 26th Sep 06. There is this article on people losing faith in science, particularly in the theory of evolution. Needless to say it attracted my attention. The article said, 51% of Americans reject the theory of evolution and the funds and support for Creationism is on the raise.I have been thinking about it. Those who believe only in creationism are those with strong faith in the Supreme Being (the GOD). It would be inappropriate to assume that their belief in creationism stems from their disbelief in the scientific theory of evolution. Their strong conviction in GOD might have prevented them from accepting the theory of evolution. I believe that both the theories have truth in them.

It was an interesting coincidence. That evening in one of the repeat telecasts of "Friends":

Ross: You DO NOT believe in the theory of evolution and all the fossils that were found all over the world??

Phoebe: .... the interesting question is; WHO put those things there in the first place!!

She is a wonder.