My shadows of hope

They ask me why I fight. What greater need to raise swords and shake spears, than to avenge my fallen brothers? Outnumbered or outgunned, right or wrong, my brothers have fallen. Remember their names and faces, remember the grievous wounds sundered upon their bodies by the enemy. Remember the bonds of brotherhood and blood forged in the heat of battle. This is the reason I fight. While the enemy draws breath, there can be no peace! The cowards may quail from war with silken words of peace and harmony, but all know in their hearts that a meaningful peace is only gotten by stopping the very heart of the enemy. Take a deep breath and look into your heart to realize that the chains of hatred can only be broken when there is no more of the enemy. Hold your lines! Hold fast! Look the enemy in the eye and let him know your resolve. Let him be afraid of what you will do to him, if he dares raise arms against your beliefs. The coward may die a hundred times by living, but a warr...

The wrongs that men do often live far beyond their mortal time. For wrong is an intent, and no power that we know or understand, beyond time, can kill intent. Intent, like many other thoughts, resonates in the minds of like minded people, and seeks those who would think evil, if only their minds and behavioral patterns be changed to suit what needs to be done. Wrong here, for definition, would mean something that goes against the well being of your fellow man, unless the action prevented a further aggression against someone else. While sounding convoluted, its quite simple. Anything that endangers life, in all it's myriad forms, is wrong. And this wrong is ancient as it is evil. The thoughts that formed in Cain's head escaped into the vast ether and to this day, they can be heard in the heads of those who would hurt their brother, whether of flesh or mind. Such is intent. Even that intent which one does not act upon, is dangerous. For it desensitizes us, over a period of time,...

I saw the meat factory that was the IIT exam yesterday. To say that it shook me is an understatement. So many parents ready to throw away any semblance of a happy childhood just to ensure that their status is society remains. I could not help but see those children as individual sacks of meat, just awaiting a brand to be put on them so that parents could then show them proudly around. Is this what children are??

The age old question of right and wrong. The more we advance through civilization, the more convoluted the answers get. Truly, the grey area between our hearts, minds and souls grows more and more as we trudge through the grind of getting to tomorrow. The flux grows and so does human cruelty. We think of ourselves as civilized beings, but the gap between human and humane grows and grows. The less close we are to nature, the more desensitized and distant we get.

Illness can only make work seem worse. I am nauseous, weak and giddy. Sitting in office and barely functioning as an office chair, much less as an experience designer. Bah humbug indeed. Sudden craving for garlic bread and a ticket back home. I never get home sick, but when i am sick, I miss being home the most. Its a cruel cycle that keeps me away from home. That cycle sure is cruel.

I just realised I am addicted. I need to have my daily fix of webcomix or the entire day passes by with me feeling incomplete. Atleast, as far as addictions go, my addiction is free of cost and takes away only a few scant minutes away from me. I love some of the newer artists and their vision. And it really doesn't matter what the overarching storyline is, its the one page per day = one gag syndrome that I love. The storyline is made up of daily interactions and jokes, and if some of them suspend reality or make the storyline incoherent, then so be it. I need my funnies. :)

While Tuesday is not as reviled in the mind as Monday is, Tuesday is actually the more dangerous. Tuesday is when you give up and resign yourself to a week of mundane workloads and inane conversations. Tuesday is the killer of hope man. Tuesday is the tyrant of the working professional's mind.

Monday blues in full swing due, in part, to the long weekend. I wonder how bad I would feel if I took a week off and then came back? Meh, lets worry about worry when worry worries us.

Slept at six in the morning. Not young anymore, but still trying to maintain a young man's life style. Woke up at 1.00 today. Not happening. Work needs to be done. Aur mera ek hi usool hai, kaam hai, toh karo. Right now, its more like karoke.

A weekend! This is what I call a weekend. 3 days to get work done around the house, go shopping, get a nice relaxing massage and imagine Sunday is far, far away. I wish Sunday only existed in pulp novels..... too bad its real. But I guess I should be thankful to Monday, for without it, I wouldn't be as grateful to my weekends.

being an experience designer entails so much more than just design. Every little detail depends on me, everything from what the users sees, wears and does. The most macro view of the game slowly zooms as you go further down the rabbit hole and soon it becomes the most micro details, like the texture of the sand and the graininess of the road. It can be pretty dissociating when done over a short period of time, which is why I like to take a short break, think of something else and then get down to the next task. A little break is always welcome.

Does getting up in the morning get any easier as one grows old? Maybe I should start sleeping earlier. Its 10 in the morning and I am so sleepy, I had to crawl out of bed. Only my roomy putting on the TV at full blast to some music station woke me up.

The world has been received quite well by most people. Some people on twitter haven't liked it, but those issues are minimal and are being addressed.

ever since i've joined as an experience designer for India's first virtual world, Gojiyo, I've been running late nights, missed meals and abandoned sleep. But at the end, it seems to be quite worth it.