Book Review - The man who knew infinity

This is for the first time I read a biography of an Indian and I regret reading it so late. Even though I knew about this book much earlier, also had seen it the book stores both online and offline umpteen times but never bothered to read, the reasons completely unknown to me either. But the positive side is that I got to read this book at the right time in my life when I needed some inspiration and motivation the most.

If I have to write about this book, there are two spectacular things which have to talk about, Ramanujan and Robert Kanigel. Well, this is a review and I solely have to talk about the book. The author has already talked about the hero impeccably. The book has been written with great ardor. I liked the way; the author has explained the back drop before talking about the genius. For example, in the initial pages, he explains the village Kumbakonam, religion in that place, economic and social conditions, relations and then talks about Ramanujan. The backstage is perfectly set for reader of any ethnicity, culture or nationality to feel what he feels, to see what he sees and to try to be a Ramanujan. The reader can understand the social dilemma of India of that age with ease. For the aspiring writers, Robert Kanigel showed how simple language and content can produce worthy material for a wider audience.

The author has well researched in the works of Ramanujan. As a reader we get an insight of his mathematical achievements with his age and it is easier for a math student to appreciate the discoveries in that era. A non mathematical student too can catch up with the timeline to see the genius exploding with more complex things. The author also has laid emphasis on the relationship between Hardy and Ramanujan, and I am still not sure, who discovered who? May be the universe wanted them together. The author also raised few questions for the reader to draw their own conclusions like Ramanujan really getting this prowess from goddess Namagiri, Ramanujan really willing to go to London after initial year of opposition, before leaving for London, Ramanujan sleeps in the temple for three days and then says that the goddess appeared in his dreams and has permitted him to go, in London when the intended stay was for two years, was Ramanujan willing to stay longer? Apart from this as and when they appear, the author asks these questions, which surely carry lot of philosophical weight.

The author also gives a glimpse of psychology of Ramanujan, which most of us never thought of.  His behavior when his friend scores more marks during his childhood, in London when the guests avoid his third offering and hence runs away to oxford, in his early teens  he runs away from home twice, in London, he sleeping on the tracks unable to handle the pressures of family back in India, his dependency on south Indian food. While reading the section after he was swimming in turmoil, I could just remember the quote from ‘’ Thus spoke Zarasthura’’ ‘’One must have chaos to give rise to a dancing star by Friedrich Nietzsche’’. Also the relationship of Ramanujan with his family is also expressed in detail. Especially his mother and wife Janaki. His mother is the source of inspiration but later, near his death he sees a clash between his mother and himself due to Janaki. He misses Janaki in London and wants to spend his time with her nearing his death.

Best part of the book is after Ramanujan dies. I was curious to read that part. The author talks about the aftermath, the discoveries of Ramanujan and its effect on people and the world. The usage of Ramanujan’s math in day to day life which is the application part. His discovers are used in detecting cancer, string theory, computing pi in computers etc.  Mathematicians from around the world getting inspired by his work and unable to prove the theorems what a government clerk from India could do. He inspired the youth with maths. There was no doubt that he is less than any Euler, Gauss or Jacobi. 

When is the right time to quit?

We all live a life which is very mysterious. Few get things easily but few have to efface to get the basic amenities. Some despite having a poor academic record settle for excellent good jobs whereas the studious kids continue to slog. No one knows why this happens. It is an axiom. Lets not say it is due to Karma. I would prefer another post for that. So in this mysterious life, the one who gets easily or minimal effort is not of my concern but I am interested about the ones who work hard. Struggling in life is an important thing. Most of them cant face the failures. But the ones facing it,surely come out strong and complete. The best part is that they dont quit. Rather they keep fighting and their history or the path is a teacher for people like me.

Recently I had shared about Rahul Dravid's speech on relating chinese bamboo to our life.Which can be read here. Coming across another source of inspiration, this man just tells us to fight and keep fighting I am sure most of us would have seen MR. SV SAAR in facebook or at CP, Delhi or in other social media platform. His life is an example of fighting. I can learn so many things from this man. So if you ask, what is the right time to quit? This man says it all. It is ''NEVER''.

Right inspiration

It is true that sportsmen are the ones who inspire us very easily than any one else. May be it is because we keep track of their performance or may be their success is validated with numbers, figures and statistics. I personally have learnt a lot from Rahul Dravid since 1996 and I never turned to any other player for any source of inspiration. Earlier I had written a post on Rahul Dravid being my role model. It can be read here. Even after his retirement whenever I see his sayings or words of encouragement in any interview, I again feel energetic and a gush of confidence passes through me. Recently I came across this. 

Like many, I can relate to this very easily. The feeling to give up comes quiet easily when we fail in every endeavour. But this text sums it all. So lets work towards our goals unflinchingly.

Practical relation

I thought of this when my friend asked me that why some relations have a honeymoon stage and they forget the reality, how can we more practical? 

We humans never live our life as we want, we always live in the perceptions or stories which others narrate us about life. Our first school which is home teaches us many things when we have not yet experienced them. And we form a story in our mind. Few stick to it, and few explore their own story. The ones who explore their own story are cautious about their life but others sooner or later realize the reality. They realize it because it is not what they wanted. Their out social behaviour is not directly proportional to their inner psychological behaviour. For such people who strike a unison between the two are the ones who explore life themselves are the only successful ones. 

In most of the cases of relationships, the relationship only starts with external beauty or money or anything else. And this is imbibed in our minds from the society. When I say society, it includes home too. During an arranged marriage, a average or below average looking girl has to work her ass off to look pleasing and beautiful to the groom.We learn this from home. The movies which have largest amount of influence on us, show the guy falling in love with a girl at first sight without even knowing anything about each other. And the guy is so lucky that, he always gets a beauty with the brain. Irony is in reality that is not what happens. 

If society teaches us that, then that is what we do. Earlier people used to take time and talk and then they used to fall in love, hence forth their relations used to be stronger. Now a days, charade the partner with flowery talks, rosy gifts and good looks and you are the winner. With time, this has to fade, and when it does, things go venomous. Few are wise enough to thing through this problem and go for a logical conclusion either to seperate or stay together. Such people who stay together make the strongest bond. When they think, they actually see their innerself from the exterior and know what to do. They then try to strike a balance between their external social behaviour to their inner psychological behaviour. It is when they explore themselves.

I think, the only way anyone can avoid such agitations to the mind is by thinking and knowing oneself. By being truthful to the partner and developing trust.We should be able to express in a subtle way whatever wrongdoing we do to the partner. This doesn't come easily. But by doing so we would surely develop a trust. The most important thing is we are in now way over shadowed by infatuation or in flimsy grounds. Such open behaviour would surely start from our first school, when we are allowed to express our mind and are well supported or guided in our thought processes. The mentoring part need not be in relations but can be in anything. It is  the practice in petty things which would help us take good decisions for big things. 

Bird of hope

Immediate thought and the immediately scribbled words.

The sun never forgets to rise,
So you never neglect to smile,
No trait can compete this prize,
Making easy your rough mile.
You should be like a bird of hope,
with wonderful feathers,
sitting on a branch of a tree,
singing the songs of life.
When a dream breaks,
when the life is upside down,
It learns the lessons with a song.
The song is eternally sung,
And one day comes the wind,
with its loud song, keeping you quiet,
making you listen to its song,
You then listen with your smile.
Will go the wind one day and you,
will be back to your songs of life!!

Wasting food

We all are highly educated and as a consequence have lucrative pay cheques too. Some are still getting educated. But does that education or money make us any better? I think no. It drags us more towards the abyss. And the more we stare at the abyss, the abyss stares us back, the golden words utters by the great philosopher, Nietchze. We always deny the easy jobs taking them for granted and concentrate more on other crucial things like getting good job, travelling, maintaining a good relationship etc, but alas! we forget common sense on petty things, like saving water,electricity, food, keeping our surroundings and ours neighbours surroundings clean.Which I call as the easy jobs.That doesnt mean to sweep their outdoors daily but not throwing any of our garbage in their arena. These petty things have become more of an concern in the present world. All the environmentalists are talking about it and they say it right. 

My concern here is for wastage of food. Roti, Kapda aur Makan is the basic necessity of any human being and these days, these basic necessities are being exploited as the problem is of surplus for some and still a basic necessity for numerous. The whole onus of working was to earn bread and butter. Now if we have the money to add other dishes to the basic bread and butter, would that mean we would buy in surplus and waste them? Do you find it easy to throw away food? I guess its very easy for many people. They over cook and over eat and the left overs are thrown. Few friends of mine don't like to eat the left overs of previous day,even when preserved in refrigerators. I know they are being health concious at the cost of throwing money.The whole act of throwing food seems so much emotionless to them. I just cant see that happen infront of my eyes. I just warn my friends  not bothering  about the consequences, but the dog's tail cannot be straightened. Few statistics from the website of UN about food wastage can be read here

As an individual, an ''educated individual'' it is my responsibility to tell people around me not to throw the food in a polite way as many times as possible. I take this issue very personally. A person who doesn't have respect for food doesn't have respect for anything, that is my understanding. Well there is a problem of throwing away food, you tend to eat less and keep your weight under control.But eating less is of no harm either. If we are hungry we need not fill upto the brim, we can keep some gap by eating less preceded by cooking less. Seriously we humans should not be so lame enough to waste food around us.I can only tell someone what to do, but ultimately the realization should come from within.This is a problem of responsibility and our education has given the direction to choose our responsibilities, if not then our education should be in the thrash. 

Desiderata

Desiderata, in Latin means '' desired things''. It is a 1927 prose poem written by Max Ehrmann. Few days back I stumbled across this and could not resist from sharing it. The approach in life, so neatly penned.

''Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible without surrender be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story. Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are vexations to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain and bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself. Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time. Exercise caution in your business affairs; for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals; and everywhere life is full of heroism. Be yourself. Especially, do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is as perennial as the grass. Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness. Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should. Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be, and whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul. With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.''

Nikola Tesla: Imagination and the Man That Invented the 20th Century

Do you really know who Tesla was? When I asked this question to most of my friends who are in the field of science, their answers were rather disappointing. People either knew a lot about him or knew nothing. Obviously the type of person he is, you can’t resist to just take him away from your mind. The non science graduates didn’t have to ever read about him in their course. But I am sure you would have got an opportunity to read about this great man either online, from friends, novels, movies, documentaries etc. Or at least you would have heard distant whispers about him. I don’t know how much does this person make anyone curious but he surely made a huge impact on me. He was a man who was ridiculed initially and later praised for his ideas. Failing most of the times but he never lost his focus. His life epitomizes selflessness, humbleness, hard work and lastly genius.

I accidently happen to read the book, Nikola Tesla: Imagination and the Man That Invented the 20th Century by Sean Patrick.  This book has three chapters. The first chapter arrives meticulously at the definition of a ‘’genius’’ by comparing IQs and the ability to excel. It states that, there is nothing called as ‘’God’s gift’’, it is just the amount of constructive hours you put in your work. More than anything, what differentiates the genius and people with all traits to be a genius is their ‘’imagination’’. Their ability to imagine and actually see their ideas in their imagination. Ideas and knowledge is waste if there is no imagination. The author lays focus on imagination and in the second chapter talks about the genius, Nikola Tesla. He briskly runs through his major inventions and focuses on the ‘’ war of currents’’ between Tesla and Edison. The author also slightly gives an idea of the feud between the giants, Edison and Tesla. Personally I felt that to make money and to achieve fame we should have good marketing strategies, which Edison had. Actually in one of the passages, Tesla talks about his idea of an AC motor, whose design has been laid in his mind. When everyone rejects his idea, he waits patiently and gets a potential investor. After building the model, he just says that, ‘’ this is as I had imagined’’.  The author gives a brief introduction of his life and failures. He also talks about his patent fight for discovering radio waves against Guglielmo Marconi. After Tesla’s death, he was declared as the ‘’ real father of radio’’.  Tesla even rejects his noble prize which was supposed to be shared with Edison. Just by reading this brief introduction, you would know that, he is so humble, selfless and down to earth. In one instance when the Westinghouse company was bankrupt, and was supposed to pay 1million dollars as royalty to Tesla, he simply says that, ‘’ when no one had faith in my ideas, you were the one who showed confidence in me. You are my friend and you helped me a lot. Now I shall tear apart the papers and you no need to give me any royalty,’’ His idea was just to help the mankind and not money minting. He died penniless and alone. Such a tragic death to the genius. The third chapter talks about creativity. Creativity is not an innate quality but it is something which you gain by imagination and the most creative persons have good imaginations and the best imagination leads the path to be a genius. Say Picasso, Michelangelo and the list is endless.

This book is excellent read for people who want to know about Tesla in brief. Actually I would recommend this book for school kids, for its simple and easy language. Generally a large volume doesn’t motivate the kids, but this short one would surely do.  But if you are looking to read about Tesla’s biography, then this is the wrong book. Wikipedia offers much more information.

If you dont know this man, know him soon. He will inspire you in every possible way. Lastly, thank you Tesla for lightning our world with your ideas and selflessness. 

Failure management

I want a know of a person, who has not faced any major failure in their life. I am sure, I will find none. But out of all the people, few take good failure management policies to overcome their problems and few just cant handle the failures and spoil their mind and health. But these failure management tips are not available in any text book and is the most talked topic since ages.It is really hard to have a strategy for failure management. Every person in the world has a different failure, and even if generalized or categorized, the broader categories have  many sub categories with so many variations, that it is really impossible to have a formula for it. When every person upto some extent decides and proceeds with his own way of living, and accordingly failures confront him, and hence he has to devise tailor made strategies to face the failure too. But during their grapple with failures few weapons are common to face a confident fight.I feel there are two most important weapons to

Good friends. They are the most important part of our life and sometimes with good effort they become our life.They are the ones, who guide us to good and bad paths. During times of failures having friends really helps us a lot. They are the people who listen to our problems. Even if they don't say anything, mere listening with full patience makes us feel better and their one line, '' everything will be fine'' makes us happy and confident. Friends can be of any form, friends, parents, relatives, cousins etc. But it is really important to distinguish friends from close friends. Of course we only share our feelings with people who come in our inner circle. In everyone's life, we get an opportunity to choose good friends, but we identify them at the wrong time. That is our weakness. I would say, with friendship all other factors of failure management are related. For example, how far can you be motivated without friends by reading motivating books, quotes, etc. If you have friends, most of the time they motivate and it helps a lot. They are just like our counsellors.

Prioritizing problems. We face so many problems simultaneously. I have been facing multiple failures in my personal and professional front. It is like pulling both sunken ships to the shore all by myself. Its hard and the hardest part is to prioritize.Everything seems so important and seeking urgent attention. How could you do that? This cannot be taught in a book, it can be learnt from experiences of others and knowledge of one self and the urgent thing seeking attention. For example a situation might arise in life, where in we have to choose between money for emergency expenditures at family and in another hand reaching the goal, which would need time and money too. In such cases its wise to give importance to the immediate problem and if we are determined and have the energy we would go ahead later. My biggest learning was to  prioritize, facing one problem at a time and keeping in mind about the other. It makes me stay in focus and sometimes, I solve the problem not in focus rather the one is. All that matters to me is solving my problems.

Motivation and never give up attitude is something which we have to carry with us where ever we go and whatever we do in our life. This is the only medicine which keeps us pumping and making us run towards our goal. But it is not always easy to remain motivated. After watching Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, the morning joggers crowd accrued drastically. People in large numbers came to the stadium and it was very difficult to even walk. But after 3 days of rain and 2 days of sunny weather, the ground was empty. Its hard to have motivation for long time. Sportsmen generally get this motivation from their coaches, other people get it from their teachers, mentors and friends in my earlier category. And most of the time, reading the biography of greats and their quotes surely helps, at least makes us think about them.

Quitting

Every human being, in their lifetime atleast once comes across a situation in  which they had bet all their stakes of  will and dreams but simultaneously to achieve that  they have also been falling harder every time and positively never giving up. This situation creates a dilemma in their minds  and seeking motivation and support, they pull themselves apart, unaware of the damage being imposed on the mind and body.They stretch more and more and some day come to this juncture of indecisiveness. It is just like pulling a rubber band, until the force is in its elastic region, there is no harm to the rubber, but when it reaches its plastic region it deforms and more force takes the rubber to its fracture limit and it  finally breaks. It is a very difficult juncture in life knowing when to quit. There are so many quotes, asking us to never give up, not to quit as we might be close to the goal, which are true but personally I feel, giving importance to self and knowledge of capability of individual's mind is the most important thing which has to be considered to know when to quit.

Recently, while seeing the pages in stumble upon, I came across a story of the frog. It is said that frog is the only animal, which is like the human being, able to adjust to its changing  surroundings. If you put frog in a vessel of water it will stay in it. The moment you start heating it, it will adjust its body temperature to the surroundings. When the temperatures tends to touch the boiling point of water, the frog gets unstable and finally dies. It could not then jump from the utensil, as it had no energy left. The lesson from this,written there was, you should know when to quit. If the frog had quit from the vessel before hand, it would have been safe. So you should quit when the time is correct. But my question is, how would have the frog known when to quit? May be the frog was expecting that, the increase in water is momentary and would reduce soon. If the frog had well judged its mental capabilities and strengths, there would have come a stage, at which, the frog was unable to handle the rise and then would have jumped out. The frog was just battling a lost hope. 

This type of situation can arise in a relation between partner or friends, in studies, getting a job, clearing coveted exams, and achieving what you aspire for. On the way, if you have people in your life, who soothe you, talk to you, listen to you, then the tumultuous journey becomes slightly easy. Sometimes we are so much shut to the reality, that we need a slap or a thudding awakening from our loved ones to see the reality and decide wisely. These people are just like medicine for our wounds, curing us faster and making us prepared to walk ahead boldly. But if there are people in your life, they can be friends, parents or lovers, I would say, people whom you love, not understanding you, imposing other restrictions, your journey is bound to be violent. But for them can we quit early? I think we should think to quit, because they are showing the reality in a way which we dont like. It is not something which we had planned.So what about our dreams and aspirations? It all depends on knowing self to strike a balance between our goals and quitting. 

Made in Japan

In today's global economy, this book is a must-read for anyone looking for an insight into Eastern management philosophy. Akio Morita needs no introduction. A legend in his lifetime, he founded Sony, one of the most powerful and respected multinational corporations in the world.

This book is an autobiography of Akio Morita and it goes hand in hand with the story of growth and expansion of Sony as well as post World War II Japan. This is a story of young Japanese who dreamt of a great company and went on to establish one with his exceptional vision and intuitive ability. Many of us know the anecdote of how Sony's marketing team was not convinced of the viability of the idea of a device, which can play music when you play Golf and ignoring them Akio asked his Engineers to go ahead. Yes, we know that device by the name of Walkman.

The book starts with the Post World War II Japan, wounded psychologically and physically by the one of the biggest tragedies mankind has ever faced. The problems of rehabilitation, unemployment and recession, then reconstruction, the weakening of 'Zaibatsu' (the family owned Conglomerates) and strengthening of democratic style of management in companies, which helped many more Japanese corporations to come up, is explained beautifully.

Akio talks of the Japanese society and culture. The conservative and strong family-oriented culture reminds of the common Asian heritage we share with Japanese Society. This is really appreciable that such society can grow so advanced scientifically and technologically that it has not only challenged the countries traditionally considered powerhouse of industrial revolution but also taken a lead in many industries.

This book talks of the initial days of Sony in US market, initial problems and numerous complicated lawsuits it had to face. Then, finally being successful in creating a strong brand "Sony" in the US market.

This book tells of Akio as a person and family man. He proves that to have a successful career, you do not need to sacrifice family life. He says at one place that he thought of Sony as one of the children he has to raise. He comes across as a diehard believer in simple living and high thinking. He wittingly tells the difference between a rich man and a wealthy man to a European lady who refers him a better jeweler's shop for his wife. Akio believed in deep-rooted Japanese philosophy of "mottainai", which emphasizes on being skilled and efficient in using resources economically. It is wonderful to know how Japan is so successful despite being a nation with little natural resources. May be that is the reason for inventing smallest and at the same time powerful devices.

This book is a door to understanding Japanese management philosophy and work ethics. Akio in his lifetime made sure that he gets chance to address each new batch of fresh recruits into Sony on the company philosophy and tell what is expected out of them. He created a company culture of `employment for life-time' which he believed helps getting total loyalty of employees.

Akio was from the generation of Japanese entrepreneurs who not only created value and wealth for his company but was able to make `MADE IN JAPAN' brand famous across the world. and this book tells how he did.

Flawless

Sometimes I think about the geniuses the world has left behind for the future generations. The people with vast knowledge in their subject had unselfishly passed on their knowledge to the world for greater good. I am not into technology.I feel it has made mankind very lazy and the illusion of escalating us to two steps ahead in reality has dragged us one step down. I should not talk about technology being an engineering graduate from one of the elite colleges of the country and choosing to do so. But my concern is  about the style and path which we choose for living, a happy living.Way back, in around 400 BC, we were introduced to the great man Socrates. A man who gave us the idea to design our path of life. He was the first man to enlighten mankind and showed us an altogether different paths to salvation. His disciple Plato, had written all the teachings and preaching of Socrates in the form of a dialogue. One of his theories, the famous one,'' Allegory of the cave'' when I read about it, I was moved and confused. When I started to wallow in the depth of the thoughts, I was frightened. What if whatever happening is a lie or a dream? This thought occurred to me once when I was a child because there were some instances when I could not differentiate between a the real and dream world. Even now rarely I feel that. I was around ten years old I guess and I told my friend about my thought and he didn't understand what I was talking about. I asked another of my friend, he told me that I have become mad, and just told me that if we are awake we cannot dream. But when I read about this deeper, I could see its uses all around me.The super blockbuster hit movie '' the matrix'' is based on this philosophy mainly and also uses other philosophical ideas too. I was just wondering how could it attain so high rating and got listed to top 250 IMDb movies for some gimmicks. But I realized there was more to it.The high rating is for the soul of the movie. If ''philosophy of matrix'' is entered in Google so many texts appear explaining in detail about many philosophical ideas which are related to  in the movie.

An example, I can think about is in the caste system in India. Earlier people always remained cordoned  in the ambit of caste. They were not allowed to change any rules like, changing religion or marrying other caste people. They were in a shell and that shell meant the world to them. Just like the frog in the well saying. In a detail analysis and thought of the theory, it is said that, the longer you are in the cave, it becomes difficult to accept the reality. Our ancestors have been so long in the caste feelings and rituals that they don't wish  to come out of it. In few orthodox families, the daily practices are never to be changed. they think and believe it is the best thing and till their last breath they follow those routines. Old people don't want to leave their villages and they want to live and die in their ancestral homes. When a child has to leave home for the sake of study or work, they find it really difficult to cope up with situation outside but they cope up with time. Because they have been taken out of their shell earlier. There are so many many examples which fit this theory.

The point of my rambling is simple.I am just wondering how could few people, in fact great people back in 400 BC postulate things which are still valid now? The philosophies of Socrates, Plato, Epicurus and many others, their postulates and theories are flawless and impeccable. Their analysis would have been surely on people of Greece which also comprised Italy. But researching on a small sample people and generalizing it to the world unknown about other population and their behavior.Socrates tells that, the best philosophical advice is given by people who are working and are not much educated.So if that logic is true,  may be in some other parts of the world, people were already following those principles. So many years have passed and changes in Evolution too but  the basic nature of human being has been the same and which is the only reason these ideas are flawless. Same goes with few of the religions like Buddhism which are a path to life than a religion. With time many emotional factors were added to the human beings, and slowly other philosophers like Schopenhauer, Nietzsche came into light but the basics of philosophy by the first teachers is so subtle and important that we cant neglect the ideas.

Death of Joy

Life teaches us many things. In the process we learn about the things which makes us happy and sad. Our experiences in life makes us think about actual ‘joy’. Many people understand the real happiness when they get old and few understand it very quickly in their life. When they try understanding the dynamics of joy, they see that the things which made them happy were always the simplest of the simple things. But due to their decisions, or influence of others or due to poor judgement they ended up in adversity. Reasons are galore, when we think of things which disrupt our happiness like desire as Buddhism says money etc. But I found something very trivial, which also kills our happiness very easily. It’s nothing other than comparison. It is just like the small atoms creating a huge explosion.

Yes comparison. We all know that, our all five fingers are different and every person is different, but still we end up in comparing. We compare our pay cheque, things, partners, fame, wealth, success and many more things. But what exactly we do, we kill our present, happiness, become jealous and angry towards the competitor. It breaks all good relations. And this anger and jealously leads us to nowhere else other than misery. I remember during my campus placements, many of the students who were not so good at academics were getting better packages than me, I was sad and angry. My mental peace was gone and I ended up doing nothing. I was turbulent and it never helped me in upliftment. It was when I had a reasonable argument with myself; I could understand my wrong doings and could correct myself. I sometimes feel foolish for being so agitated for a such a trivial thing money.

The thing which takes me to surprise is not the young people comparing, but the older people, our parents, relatives when they compare. Most of them have considerable experience in their lives to understand and differentiate between the best and the worst thing to do. But still they end up comparing. For example my roommate who has a terrible experience with his family, tells me that, his parents always compare him with every Tom, Dick and Harry. They compare his salary with that of others, academic and professional choices, etc. No one has the patience to see the path which the person takes; it is just the end result which matters. May be the Toms, Dicks and Harrys wants from life were different, and they worked hard or got lucky. But my friends dream and wants from life are different. This is so foolish, comparing on mindless basis. With this comparison since his childhood, he started to feel that he is not good for anything, he is incapable of doing things, and the whole world is better than him. He is just going into a shell, a shell of negativity. I have other sets of friends, whose parents don’t force them, those guys have focused goals, their hardships are well understood by their parents and they are most successful and they are happy persons. Everyone has a story and it is different from others. All are different.

Home is definitely the first school, if our parents have this attitude, the child too starts comparing himself with everyone he sees around and ends up in the same school of thought. The kids start thinking that by comparing they can be better which is actually not. Robin Sharma rightly said in this aspect, ''If your parents ever measured you as a child, they had you stand against a wall, and made a little pencil mark on the wall to show your growth. They did not measure you against your brother, or the neighbour’s kids, or kids on TV. When you measure your growth, make sure to only measure you’re today self by your past self. If you compare your relationships, your success, or your anything against anyone else, you are not being fair to you. Everyone has a different path, a different pace, and different challenges to face along the way.''

There are other sects of people, who say, by comparison, you get a fire in you to be successful. Well as they like to compare, let me say, none of the great people every compared themselves to their peers. Name any great scientists, players, leaders etc no one compared themselves with their peers. They would have taken inspiration or adapted to their ideologies but would not have surely compared. If they did so, they would not have been great people. As an example, Arunima Sinha,the national volleyball player, who was thrown out of the train, lost her leg and became the first amputee to climb Mt Everest. If she would have compared herself to others who are in sound health condition and still unable to climb Everest, would she have ever hiked? The power of imagination and will to do, harnesses excellent results when there is no comparison and let free. In a single family, when the ideas, dreams, wishes of the members are different how can someone be compared with someone else out of the family. If we foolish persons start comparing, who should tell us it is wrong and imbibe the thought in our mind not to do so? It is the responsibility of parents mostly, teachers and largely friends to change our mindset. If a child is always compared, it has adverse behavior on his health and behavioral problems in adolescence like peer rejection, drug abuse, depression, juvenile delinquency and school drop outs. Do we want that? We people read the biographies, quotes, sayings of all great people, and there are so many great people saying, comparison is killing, but we still do not follow them. I wish everyone could give a thought before comparing themselves and remember Mark Twain's simple words, '' Comparison is death of joy''.

Black hole of eternity

“We can't define anything precisely. If we attempt to, we get into the paralysis of thought that comes to philosophers... one saying to the other: you don't know what you are talking about! The second one says: what do you mean by talking? What do you mean by you? What do you mean by know?”----Richard P. Feynman.

One evening I and my friends went to Marina di Pisa, the rock beach. It is a very good place for a drink and to spend some time with friends. After an hour of animated talking, all my friends became silent and their eyes were fixed to the horizon.My mind was devoid of thought and the serenity was like a black hole sucking me into it. 

Dangerous ''belief''

Dad: Son, I met the astrologer today. He has foreseen bad times ahead in your life and has given you this    ring and the locket. You have to wear this from Monday after cleansing with milk and reciting some mantras. And remember never and ever remove them.

Son: I don't know why people still people believe that stones can control our fate. If that would have been the case, every one would have been wearing rings and controlling their bad times with stones and  chains.

Dad: Stop preaching me and just wear it. 

(sad and angry, the son wears it.)

(after 1 year)

Son: I don't see any considerable change in my life. I have never removed it but still, things have not got better yet.

Dad: it will improve.

Son: wasn't the whole point of wearing the stones was to make my life better.

Dad: Have faith!

Son: Do I need to have faith on the stones or on myself?

Dad: Don't act smart, work hard and leave the rest to god.

Son: you forgot to mention the stones and chains.

(angry dad, leaves the room)

Belief is so dangerous. Sometimes, I feel it can make a person to go up-to any extent to fulfill his/her belief. I see people donating blindly. I have seen people removing their thick chains and dropping in the hundi. The person looses his rational thinking before his beliefs. Other kind of people are,who believe in sacrifices. There are many conspiracies on sacrifices of people or animals to fulfill their beliefs.Due to this belief, the fraud babas have turned spirituality into a multi crore business. I don't know, whether the people who believe them are fools or am I the biggest fool in not believing them. I avoid  blind belief on things, but it is difficult to not to believe in astrology due to my family. They are blind believers of astrology and their every action is judged by astrological predictions. Can the stones seriously change our lives? Or is it the handwork, dedication, focus, fate, destiny etc one needs in defying their lives? I always wonder why the astrologer who suggests these stones and churns  money from people couldn't find an appropriate stone to change his life? Why is he still poor? I am not against astrology but I am against too much blind belief on astrology. I many times wonder why do people believe all these things? The only reason, I could think of is, it makes them feel better but I don't understand how much better it gets in having blind belief. It is better to have faith in oneself and remember the words of Confucius ''Study the past if you would divine the future''.

Expressive silence

This post is published at Indiaopines.com and can also be read here.


Summer was approaching and it was time for holidays. It is the best break of the year for any student. Like every one, I was too excited to go home, meet my friends, family, have mangoes and bathe in pools for long times. I used to share what I would do in holidays, with my roommate.He just  nods his head in agreement to whatever I say. He was unlike my other friends, who used to give a long list of things to do done in holidays. One day, my roomie and me were going for dinner, it is were I asked him, '' dont you like going home? what's the problem?'' he just said, '' there is nothing like that.'' I cajoled him for long time, assured him my full support to his problems and promised not to share it with anyone. I got tired pursuing him for long time.

Finally after a silence of 10 times, he broke the ice, '' I don't feel like going to my home, I am not close to them. They don't understand me.I try to understand them but I loose my individuality if I have to listen to them. They always think I am good for nothing,everyone in this world is much better than me. I don't take life seriously and I am chilling all the time.'' he was continuing his problems. I understood his problem.It was really difficult for me to suggest any solutions to this but for the sake of formality I told him that, he should talk to their parents more. He just phewed the thought. That night, I talked to him for about 4 hours and learnt his family atmosphere at home, his family culture and in and out of him. it was hard for me to still suggest him a pragmatic solution to his problem.

He was from a middle class family. His father worked for the Indian Navy and his mother was a  housewife. His father had worked very hard to earn bread and butter for his family and the family of his uncles. His uncles were more or less not earning much to have a self sufficient life. His father was strict and followed defense rules and regulations at home. He was a very mischievous child, since his childhood. He enjoyed playing outdoors, doing mischief. Uncle just followed the principle, ''spare the rod and spoil the child.'' My friend never stopped doing mischief and his dad never stopped using the stick. He was very afraid of his father since his childhood. That was the terror his father created in him. He was so afraid to talk to his father directly looking into his eyes. They never stayed in the same room. When uncle calls him, he used to run leaving all his works to attend to his call. If he wants something, he had to talk to his mother, and aunt passes the bill to his dad and after plenty of scoldings most of the times  the bill  gets rejected. My dejected friend had no other choice.In academics, he was not too bad either, he was good at studies, and was always in top 5 of his class. He liked reading comic books, playing cricket,talking and laughing a lot. But he was not denied all this but  had restrictions. So, when his parents especially uncle was not at home, he used to read the borrowed comics and carry forward his hobbies. His father forced him to study always and if he doesn't get rank one in class, he was beaten badly. His father used, almost all types of instruments like wooden sticks, bamboo sticks, chains etc. The chains lasted longer. And when uncle used to go to work, my friend used to throw those chains or hide them. Once he brought a half meter iron rod . Looking at the rod, he wet his pants. He tasted few shots and the very next day, he threw it. In all these years his mother had not much of a say infront of his dad. So he had his mother just as a consoling partner but could not restrict his beatings. Most of the times, he used to be with books, and hence talked less with aunt. 

In his 6th grade, uncle joined merchant navy and was out of the country for almost 6 months in a year. This was the time, he thought of it as ''freedom''. Freedom to flutter his wings in any direction. He became more mischievous. He never studied sincerely after that. His friends circle was a group of bad friends. He bunked classes and did all crazy things. But when uncle returned, he used to act all good. He cleared his 10th grade, and went out for 11th and 12th + IIT coaching in a different place. There was no family and all freedom. He just exploited the freedom. But some how he managed to enter IIT with his self realization. And while studying in IIT, his father always forced him for good job and studying and scoring very high percentage. He was completely frustrated in life. His father always told him to study well and lectured him for hours. He qualified with a decent percentage but could not get a good and '' high'' paying job like others, as his parents quote due to recession. And after that, he struggled a lot to get into a good job but his orientation of stars was a wrong position I suppose. He expected them to be like friends. Whenever he spoke of a movie with his mother, she used to tell, you should concentrate on exams rather on movies. He never dared to talk to his father about movies. He started to  feel jealously of other students who talk so well and openly with their parents. They used to share everything with them, their daily routines. My friend used to leave when his friends get a call from their family. He tried talking the same way to them, but he expressed everything with his silence.His father used to call, and sometimes the call used to last for an hour, where he only spoke ''hmmm'' and gave one word answers. He hardly talked to his parents about his personal things. He was more close to friends and was more attached to them. Spending time with them going for movies, outings etc. In all this time, he had become a good liar, he lied very easily to his parents, and it became a habit. 

He once told me,'' when I go home, they ask and I answer, then there is silence, each one waiting for the other to speak, or sometimes, some one comes, or we get a call and then all disperses. My home always has a very serious atmosphere. That's the reason I dont want to go there.''

After listening to all this, I have nothing to say. No one to blame. Father had a philosophy and he followed that. The child wanted attention and some one to talk to but had bad luck.For him, his parents are just some people whom he has to call them, mother and father. He doesn't want to go home or talk much to them. The worst part is, his parents are unknown of his true talents and nature.He is more interested in travelling, music, poetry, movies, reading, cooking.He is completely different from what he is with us and them. The biggest reason I think is  because they talk less about all this and may be he was away from home since 12 years. Its not that his parents are dead against him or don't like him, but there is friction between the relation. And the friction is enough to disrupt it.These days we see a lot of lectures and videos on parenting. There are people lecturing on parents to take care of the child, and not bother about money and fame. But people hardly do. People mix their professional problems with personal problems. What remains incomplete and  unresolved in a parent's past becomes a part of his irrational parenting. It is the worst part a child can expect. Everyone needs attention and the exceptions raise high from near and dear ones.  Whenever a parent is too friendly with the child or whenever they are too strict, the kid spoils. It is too difficult to strike the balance. It has become one of the biggest social problems. I always feel, its the onus of the parent to talk to the children when they are young and give them lot of their time. Parents should take children into their confidence and make the child feel, that parents are the best friends. Those type of children will never neglect their parents anytime in their life. well to my friend, i just told him, try talking, that's the only thing you can do, sometimes, people need to struggle to make themselves understandable. 

Pleasure of inexpensive things

Lucretius uplifted Epicurus's intelligent defence of simplicity by helping us in a superlative Latin verse, to feel the pleasure of inexpensive things.

( the English translation of the verse)

We find that the requirements of 

our bodily nature are few indeed,

no more than is necessary to

banish pain,and also to spread out

many pleasures for ourselves.

Nature does not periodically seek

anything more gratifying than this,

not complaining if there are no

golden images of youths about the 

house who are holding flaming

torches in their right hands to

illuminate banquets that go on

long into the night. What does it 

matter if the hall doesn't sparkle 

with silver and gleam with gold,

and no carved and gilded rafters

ring to the music of the lute?

Nature doesn't miss these luxuries 

when people can recline in 

company on the soft grass by a

running stream under the branches

of a tall tree and refresh their 

bodies pleasurably at small 

expense. Better still if the weather

smiles on them, and the season of 

the year stipples the green grass 

with flowers 

Never and ever give up

Movies are the best source of entertainment according to me. The whole movie experience turns out exciting with good sound, video and commenting friends. I have watched all the top 250 movies of imdb and many other movies. Some of them are French, German and Japanese. Thanks to my college days and high speed internet. Watching movies surely entertains me and sometimes inspires me too. Recently I watched the movie ''Rudy'' in the inspirational genre. My morale was down, and was searching for some inspiration and then I goggled for the most inspirational movie. I then came across this movie ''Rudy'' which had many good reviews and was praised by many. So thought to give it a try.

I was appalled after watching the movie. It’s the true story of, Rudy, and his endeavors to play football for university of Notre dame. The struggles shown in this movie are similar to that many, though the goal would be different. Few face it and win and few give up. I could connect myself with Rudy in an emotional way because I am still on the path of struggles and haven’t given up yet. Rudy, who is about 5ft and 6 inches and from Illinois. His whole family is a fan of football team of University of Notre Dame and so as he. He aspires to play for the team though he has a smaller body built. His parents and siblings never support him and rather make fun of him. The only person who understood him was his close pal, Pete. Pete dies in an explosion at a steel plant where Rudy's father, Rudy and Pete used to work. Pete always motivated him and was with him during all his failures and struggling days. Unfortunately his last hope was gone. Obviously death is the most disturbing factor to any human being. His death had shattered him. Rudy's high school grades were not so bright to get an admit in the university of Notre Dame. But Rudy's determination, dedication and mere focus on his dream drives him to oblivion. He leaves his family goes to Notre Dame to know the obvious of not getting an admit. He then talks to the local priest and shows his dedication to study hard and work harder to achieve his goal. The priest gives him asylum and sponsors his education at Holy Cross junior college and advices him to opt for transfer to University of Notre Dame. Rudy feels somewhat happy to have taken the first step towards his goal.

Studying in Holy Christ, he frequently visits the football ground of Notre Dame to see the latest happenings and the players. It was similar to the enthusiasm of a sports enthusiast to watch and learn from his favourite team and players. He meets the ground helper, Fortune, and requests him to accept him as his assistant. Upon goading Fortune a lot, he agrees to accept him and pay him no money. Rudy agrees for that. Without any doubt Rudy again explicates his enthusiasm and love for the game to him. This was the story at his at the game front, at the education front in Holy Christ; he meets with a socially perplexing teaching assistant, Bob, a graduate from Notre Dame. With frequent interactions with him, Bob comes to know that Rudy is suffering from dyslexia and assures to help him. In return asks Rudy has to meet him up with a girl. Poor Rudy tries a lot fixing up, but fails terribly. In the mean time, with Bob's help he slowly gets better in studies and gains confidence. But finally Bob gets fixed to Elisa, a homely girl and he is happy with her. Rudy's mark improves a lot and gets better grades. Each semester he applies for a transfer but he fails. After numerous failures, he finally gets a transfer to the University of Notre Dame.

Before getting the admission, during Christmas, he visits his family and is again mocked by family members and his girl friend is lost to one of his brothers. This hurts him a lot. So after he gets the admission to Notre Dame, he goes to his father and hands him the letter. Father reads it, shocked, unknown of words to utter, tears rolling, feels proud of his son, and announces in the plant about his admission to Notre Dame. Everyone acknowledges his victory with claps. His brother too feels shocked and leaves the place without uttering a word No one could expect him to get admission into the most coveted University. 

Rudy develops a great attachment with Fortune. He talks with about the players, game, and comment and totally shows his complete passion towards the game. Fortune doesn't speak much but only listens and contemplates.  He finds that the cleaning room in the stadium where Fortune spends his day is vacant at night. Rudy daily sneaks in at night to sleep and leaves early in the morning to his junior college. Fortune comes to know about this sneaking and one day when Rudy comes to the room, finds the key on the bed. After he gets admission to the University, he returns the key to Fortune and thanks him a lot. And asks him to witness him playing. Fortune promises to come.

Life at the university was not a cake walk at all. It was more daunting and tough. It was tough because he was facing people who were much superior in strength, height and weight. Its difficult to play for a team with mere determination. He joins the selection group as a non scholarship candidate. Since it was his last semester and his hard working had been pretty famous, so coach Ara, allows him to join the practice squad. Upon a very tough selection procedure for the scholarship players to the team, the assistant coach sees the determination and dedication of Rudy which is way better than the scholarship holders. During the practice sessions, Rudy is hit by the beefy players; he falls down hard and wakes up harder with only one intention of playing for the team and never giving up. This prompts his coach Parseghian to give him a chance to play for the home team so that his family, friends and every one can watch him play as it was his last semester. But again bad luck haunts him; coach Parseghian steps down as the coach and is succeeded by Coach Dan. Rudy is excited to play for the team, but could not see his name in the list. It depresses him and makes him angry and he quits the team.

The next day he meets up with Fortune, and upon asking, tells that he has quit the game. Fortune motivates him telling that he was a player for the Notre Dame but could not continue playing because of his inferiority complex being black. Fortune tells him ''You're 5 foot nothing', 100 and nothin', and you have barely a speck of athletic ability. And you hung in there with the best college football players in the land for 2 years. And you're gonna walk outta here with a degree from the University of Notre Dame. In this life, you don't have to prove nothin' to nobody but yourself. And after what you've gone through, if you haven't done that by now, it ain't gonna never happen. Now go on back.''. Being motivated he goes to the practice session the next day and is welcomed with people with applauses. Finally he gets a place in the playing team of Notre Dame, his parents, Bob and Fortune come to see his game with immense happiness for the poor lad. Unfortunately he gets chance in the last 5 minutes when Notre Dame had already won. He is carried up all his teammates out of the ground. It has happened only twice.

The only mantra this movie recites is ''Never and ever give up''. In one of the scenes at Holy Christ College, Rudy failing numerous times, sits in the church and meets the priest there. Rudy tells him that god had been very unfair to him and he thinks that his prayers are not enough for him to get him admission. The priest tells ''Son, in 35 years of religious study, I have only come up with two hard incontrovertible facts: there is a God, and I'm not Him''. So it is in our hands that we try hard and not worry about the rest.

I take lots and lots of positives from this movie. It surely encourages and uplifts my ''never give up'' attitude. I wish to come up successful and would like to be Rudy and not like Fortune.Well, I may not be a sportsman but I have my ocean of endevours. Things may not be looking good today, but some day I will win. 

Zindagi ke safar mein

My favorite song from the movie '' Aap Ki Kasam'', 1974  sung by the legendary Kishore kumar and the most important part of this song is the lyrics. The reality of life immaculately penned down by Anand Bakshi.   The acting of Rajesh Khanna was simply pragmatic and excellent. Adoration to the singer , the lyricist and the actor.  

I dont belong to that generation, but the music and movies of that age appease me. They are the best. 

zindagi ke safar mein guzar jate hain jo makam,
woh phir nahin aate,
woh phir nahin aate!
zindagi ke safar mein,guzar jate hain jo makam
woh phir nahin aate,
woh phir nahin aate

phool khilte hain,
log milte hain
phool khilte hain,
log milte hain magar
patjhad main jo phool
murjha jate hain
woh baharon ke aane se khilte nahin
kuchh log ek roz jo bichad jate hain
woh hazaron ke aane se milte nahin
umr bhar chahe koi pukara kare unka naam
woh phir nahin aate,
woh phir nahin aate

aak dhoka hai
kya bharosa hai
aak dhooka hai kya bharosa hai suno
doston shak dosti ka dushman hai
apne dil me ise ghar banane na do
kal tadapna pade yaad me Jeen ki
rok lo roothkar unko jaane na do
baad me pyaar ke chahe bhejo hazaroon salaam
woh phir nahi aate
woh phir nahi aate

subaah aati hai
raat jaati hai
subaah aati hai
raat jaati hai yuhi
waqt chalta hi rehta hai rukta nahi
ek pal me ye aage nikal jaata hai
aadmi theek se dekh paata nahin
aur parde pe manzar badal jaata hai,
ek baar chale jaate hai jo din raat subaah shaam
woh phir nahi aate
woh phir nahi aate!
zindagi ke safar mein,guzar jate hain jo makam
woh phir nahin aate,
woh phir nahin aate!

Miracles Play

I have always wondered why we believe in supernatural powers. These powers are felt by very few people and hence cannot be generalized. I have read few stories of people suffering from diseases and escaping death by sheer miracle. Few escaping accidents. The reasons of which are unknown by them. Being a science student, it makes my logic and reason, really difficult to understand something which I cannot perceive. Like me there are many people, who question the existence of supernatural powers and few believe it blindly. But why we believe in supernatural powers? Because believing in supernatural power makes us feel good, comforting and consoling. People just want to believe because they want to. People believe in all weird stuff. I like the ideas of the great philosopher ‘Epicurus’, just because his teachings are simple and it has worked for me very well. So I consider him as the epitome of wisdom and with best understanding. According to him there were gods and they left. They have nothing to do with humans. But I am not convinced with that answer either. So I tend in believing myself. It makes me feel good and I don’t need to believe on any supernatural power. There is no necessity and requirement to believe in any supernatural power. But one day, something happened which made my beliefs to come under supervision and subject to change.

On 16th Feb 2013, one of my close friend, Amar, attended a marriage in Hyderabad. The function hall was close to my best friend, Vamsi’s house. Vamsi was in disconsolation about his career. His life had been sinking down since 2005. So I asked Amar to meet Vamsi. I had also talked to Vamsi that day and decided to talk with him the next day morning to discuss about his statement of purpose for his admissions. It was around 9 pm and was less than 15 minutes drive for Vamsi to reach the function hall. They had dinner together and were talking till 12 30 am. That is when Vamsi decided to return to his home. The next day, since I am 4: 30 hrs behind IST, I woke up suddenly thinking Vamsi would have come online as we had planned to discuss about his SOP. I didn’t find him online and was getting ready for my classes. I switched on the internet in my mobile and saw something around 80 messages in our friends group. My eyes were blurred and when I was reading the messages, my eyes filled with tears. Vamsi had met an accident and was admitted in ICU. He was in coma. I felt so helpless. I didn’t know what to do. I called one of my friends and cried. Called few others too and all were equally sad. Damn I felt so miserable. I blamed myself the cause of this agony to him. If I would not have given the phone number of Vamsi to Amar, he would  have never called him and there would have been no meet and no accident. He was my best friend. We had been together since 2005 and from the first day of our college, we shared an emotional rapport and were very close.  After some 10 hours he stopped breathing and was admitted in the ICU. The doctors said that it will take min 48 hours to analyze his condition and depending on that further action would be decided. In ICU he was under artificial breathing.  The doctors said that there were blood clots in the brain and it will take a long time to cure, there was infection in the lungs too and bleeding from ears. After 48 hours of artificial breathing, when he didn’t come to normal breathing the doctors decided to make a hole on the wind pipe and provide oxygen.. On the 6th day he moved his hand and he abused the nurses, who were trying to give him an injection. He came out of his coma and responded to voices from his dad. We had relief on the 9th day.  On 10th day, he opened his eyes, and could recognize his parents, remembered few things but not names of people. The doctors had lost hope on the recovery and were expecting minimum six months or may be more. Everyone including doctors were appalled by his miraculous recovery. He is now discharged from hospital and is fine at home.  Upon hearing the news, many of my friends visited him, took care of him emotionally and financially. I talked to him few days back. He seems to have problems with remembering names. He even had remembering his favourite actor ‘Robert Di Niro’. But he could remember our memories. I was happy he could remember me.  On that gory night, some rash driver had hit him and escaped .He was lying on the road and it was raining too. Some college students who were passing by saw him lying and called the ambulance. Lucky guy!!

What just happened in the last fifteen days? Something beyond human capabilities, I think. May be he would have recovered in six months or may be the side effects would have been more. But I guess there was some help from the supernatural which helped in his quick recovery. When I heard the news, I turned to supernatural because I had no one else to believe and I think, Gods have something to do with mankind. I don’t know the reasons of his/her to help the mankind. Without their help, it would have been impossible to get my friend back. My beliefs and understandings are in retrospect now. It’s still a miraculous play for me which is inexplicable. Believing in supernatural surely felt better and the outcome was pleasant.