Fear

Self being the root
Non acceptance of what is
The darkest abyss

Illusion

Deceiving the self
The perfect philosophy
Everlasting love?

Time

The greatest healer
Greatest destroyer as well
An infinite loop

A vague memory (past)
A grand imagination (future)
A forgotten life (present)

Addict

This is my last pack
White seductive piece of stick
You got a lighter?

Getting high

'Because of reduced pressure at high altitudes and the reduced ability of the haemoglobin to absorb oxygen, the effect of alcohol in the blood, during flight at high altitudes, is much more pronounced than at sea level. The effects of one drink are magnified 2 to 3 times over the effects the same drink would have at sea level.' - FROM THE GROUND UP (Pg : 294)

From the ground up is one of the best books for getting your fundamentals right in aviation. But it might make me rich for all the wrong reasons. To explain the golden words of wisdom in the quote, one has to get a bit into the technical side but it is highly rewarding. Even though most of the commercial airliners fly at altitudes above 30000 feet, the body usually feels an altitude of 5000 to 6000 feet due to cabin pressurization. At this particular level, alcohol creates more of a buzz than at sea level. To put it in simple terms, if it usually takes 6 pegs of white rum to get hammered when sitting in some noisy bar, it takes only 2 to get the job done in an airplane.

Now, this has given me an idea to stage a business coup. This is what I'll do : Invest some money and start a pub. Now this is no ordinary pub! It's a place where everyone gets drunk easily. How? I will increase the pressure altitude of the bar to 5000 feet. Not only this, you also experience mild hypoxia(lack of oxygen) which will give a sense of euphoria. The beauty is, the moment you walk out of the bar, hypoxia vanishes. In airplanes the cabin pressurization is achieved using the bleed air from the turbine, but all I need is a compressor for my magic pub. The idea might seem silly initially coz the lower number of drinks sold means lesser income. But this is like a promotion scheme. Soon the pub will be famous and now I can decrease the pressure altitude to below sea level which means it takes more number of drinks to get hammered.

There are a few issues though. If you walk out of a bar which is pressurised(say to 5000 feet), you will probably end up blowing your eardrums. The proposed solution at the moment is to have a long entrance corridor in which the pressure is gradually changed.But having said all this, I still have my own doubts as to whether this whole thing will work. Maybe the high altitude alcohol effect was taken too seriously by this pilot

Matrix and Maya

The Wachowsky brothers will be long remembered for creating the Matrix. The movie has the best visual effects I've seen to date. Apart from that, it delves around one of the concepts of Hinduism : Maya.

'Vedanta : The voice of freedom' by Swami Vivekananda is one of my favorite book. Swamiji states that there are three things beyond the reach of an ordinary mortal : Time, space and causation. Now, if one looks back into the past or tries to imagine the future, which is like cutting across barriers of time, it is nothing but electrical signals in your brain. And what is it called? Maya, mainly because the advaitists and the buddhists believe that everything is an illusion. That forms the whole foundation of 'The Matrix' : Neo is caught up in a dream world and struggles to see reality. Its the same fundamental problem for everyone seeking enlightenment. Then we have Morpheus, who guides Neo but can only hope that Neo realises the power within. He offers Neo the choice of the red or the blue pill and promises to show how deep the rabbit hole goes. Morpheus can be compared to a guru, who shows his student the path but nonetheless the student has to walk the path himself. There are no rabbit holes though. Finally in the book mentioned above, there is a small paragraph on 'Tearing the veil of Maya'. It states that the ordinary mortal becomes a superhuman if he/she can overcome Maya which will enable him/her to get total control over the three biggies : Time, space and causation.Now you know how Neo manages to dodge all those bullets. Ultimately being 'The One' is nothing but the concept of advaita : Everything is one.

Everything apart, the Wachowsky's made money with the movie. Thats something you cant do by tearing the veil of maya and even if you do, you wont care. I should probably try rehashing some ancient philosophy or epic, include stunning visual effects, replace the chariots and the bows and arrows with Ferraris and Ingrams. Mallika Sherawat can do an item number as well. Is there any better way of passing across the message of Maya to the audience?

Recap

Well...to start off with, I am posting some of the stuff from my old blog. I didnt really like the name of the previous one : 'Aviator Diary'. Sounded more or less like Bridget Jones' diary. So I rechristened the name to one of my favorite paradox : Schrodinger's cat. Let's see how long the cat can survive.

Life and Death
~~~~~~~~~~~

Life:

Expelled from the womb;
crying at the injustice
of having to face the world

Death:

Soul finally free
Tranquil flame with hopes and dreams
extinguished by time


Insomnia
~~~~~~~
Darkness and silence
echoes within empty walls
heavy eyelids open.

Confused and depressed
stranded between life and death
an insomniac.


Anger
~~~~~

Cumulonimbus;
violent storm, broken hearts
Transient madness


Opposites
~~~~~~~

opposites attract;
Mingling of charged particles
Lightning and thunder.


Bored
~~~~~

Sleepy and hammered
need another Heineken
no haikus today


Day and Night : Drunkard's take
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Day :

My head feels heavy
from now, a teetotaller
I am a loser.

Night:

Need another peg
Jack daniels on the rocks
peace, tranquility.


Democracy
~~~~~~~~

Democracy eh?
Off, buy and far the people
sums it up nicely.