Writing happens in seasons....writing happens to solve a rhetorical problem...or writing can take place just to express ones thoughts..I follow the expressivist school of thought in writing..at least as far as my leisure writing stints go..

Illusion or just Disillusioned?

I was drinking with a friend recently who was telling me how everything happens to be an illusion.I am still unsure if his understanding of this 'illusion' was alcohol induced. He went on about how we are all part of a big fire that is God and how we happen to be sparks that have fallen out from the big fire. He then went on to say that this mortal life is but a test to see if we qualify to return to the big fire and as such, anything that pertains to the 5 senses is all but an illusion. He actually said all this to say why he is not interested in girls anymore, or in relationships for that matter.

Since we were in the topic of all things spiritual, I casually mentioned a friend who was a Sai Baba devotee, thinking perhaps I could introduce a like minded individual to him. To that he went on an offensive about what he felt the whole Sai Baba concept was.

In a moment that defined coincidence, he informed me that he had just returned from the Sai Baba town. He was very very upset. Apparently in Sai Baba town, they have guards all over, who may very well be mistaken for soldiers if they carried arms. These men were very hostile and visitors to the Sai Baba Ashram were scoffed at and told to keep moving and not stand in any one place. He likened them to the Swiss Guard of the Vatican. He then had waited for over and hour for Sai Baba who arrived in a large car, and drove past through the crowd which consisted of a segregation between the women and men.Sai Baba, looked ' pale and lifeless' according to my friend who has seen Sai Baba face to face. The car then returns the way it came, and Sai Baba just looks on at the crowd, consisting of people from all over the world.At this point, the speakers blast with some incantations.Word has it that Sai Baba is paralysed waist down, because, he has taken all the disease and disabilities from the millions of afflicted he has touched.My friend was wondering which God is paralysed or which God had hostile guards who refuse to let you stand in any one place.Even in the prayer hall, they were not allowed to stand.

I checked up Sai Baba on the net: His creed
The primary cause of man's unhappiness is the mind and its multiple desires. The clutching of the human mind is the cause of much unhappiness. (Is Sai Baba buddist?)
Sai Baba teaches that man has forgotten the pathway to blessedness. It is to restore that pathway and indeed, turn it into a highway, that Sai Baba announced his mission in South India, in 1940.
Sai Baba says, if you take one step towards me, I will take ten steps, nay, a hundred steps toward you. Shed one tear, I shall wipe a hundred tears from your eye. I am closer to you that the eyelid is to the eye. Sai Baba offers the resolution of human misery. ( Sounds like the God of the bible, or the father of the prodigal son)

So anyway, I do not really know much about Sai Baba, except that they apparently have built a tomb for him and they have already come up with the time and place for his next incarnation.

Then my friend went on and on about how money minded the priests in the temples of India were and about how they were all just out to con them of their money. They even had one aiyar ,'priest' commanding them to 'offer' 200 rupees instead of the 100 they initially offered.He was also complaining about the countless guides who imposed their services upon them at every temple. The guide would come and say that he would do the tour for them and if they were happy with his services, they could give him whatever they felt like giving. With the employment of the guide, they bypassed the crowd in the temple and got some sort of a shortcut to do their prayers. He also brought them to a particular shop to buy garlands and offerings of sorts, though there were many other shops, also due to the commission he would get from that particular shopkeeper.The guide then hung around till he was remunerated for his services.Even their driver, he said attempted to cheat them of their money, claiming that he had a sister whose hospital bills he had to pay. This driver even tried persuading my friend's mother to invest in his automobile/transport business, claiming that she could be his senior partner if she bought him a vehicle.

So much for an Indian holiday, maybe it wasnt the alcohol that got him speaking of illusions, maybe, he is just disillusioned, of the temple business,of the Indian country.

Awesome Skill



I have taken to badminton again after a long time. This video is truly inspiring.

Book Review: Metamorphosis By Frank Kafka

In physics one would say, " You dont have to be an Einstein to figure that out." In literature, they say, " You don't have to a Kafka to figure that out."

I picked this book up from the library after someone recommended it to me. Its a very thin paperback, of about 70 odd pages. For a book so highly acclaimed it is really an easy read.

In this 70 pages, Kafka illustrates sharply, how some parents shrug off their responsibilty over their children, hiding behind their right to filial piety. These parents also have a tendency to believe that they own their children and that their children are really a insurance policy to cover their old age. In Singapore, everyone works hard, regardless of age. There are of course those with children though, who secretly covet an early retirement. Agreed, retirement is justified if one has worked hard enough or has amassed enough wealth to sustain their lifestyles or their children's hopes for a good future perhaps via a good education. This book however shows, the stark reality of some youth who find themselves with no support from their parents who start giving excuses about some physical ailment, at the slightest hint of their child showing signs of employability. To these youth, education becomes something you have to 'lucky' to get. They are told instead to go and work, after secondary school or a little after. I heard a shocking story of a girl who has now finished her degree. Her mother-the woman we are all told to revere deeply, due to the fact that she carried us in her womb for 10 months, told her to stop studying after secondary school. She was told to work and not bother with school, or go to school but pay all the fees herself. I do not understand these parents. It is alright for the poor to get married, but why have children when you cannot afford it? One should not expect his offspring to be bound by his limitations or desires or ablities or lack of abilities.

There is a thin line between respect for parents and utter subservience to them. In this book, after the elder son is debilitated, he loses all acceptance in his family. His sister though, is viewed with fresh interest, due to her 'young nubile body', and her marriageable age. Her marriage would mean that they are supported by their their in laws.

I don't understand parents who are lazy to work hard for the family's future. You want to be lazy and it affects no one but yourself, thats fine. But the moment you make a commitment to a family, a wife and children thereafter, you lose the right to consider your own preferences. You have to ensure the survivability of your children and do your utmost to ensure their potential does not go to waste. Children are not your insurance policy, they are not farm animals you rear to provide for you when you decide to call it quits. They take care of you not out of obligation but out of love for you.

Anyhow, this book is a good read. If you are interested, there are copies in most libraries.

2 Shrines and a Fun Night Out..

Marsiling Crescent, in old Woodlands, is the home of a roadside Hindu shrine side by side with a Chinese holy shrine. I went in search of these shrines with a few friends after one of them got excited after reading a newspaper article on it.We met up only at around 9pm and we had absolutely no idea where Marsiling Crescent was, though my friends stay in the Woodlands/Admiralty region.After dinner, we started our exploration trip on foot.

The trip started with a busride to the Old Woodlands interchange/ theater. I felt like I was back in the 80s. This place looks very different from all the modern housing estates and even the heartlands of Yishun and Ang Mo Kio. We went to the old Woodlands Theater, which is now an empty building, locked up with big grilled gates. Even a backdoor was nailed with plywood to prevent entry. A friend claimed that there were rumours that this building was an illegal red light district. But how I saw it, there was really no way into the building. We left the place wondering why the building was still dilapidated without any new occupants.

The next place worth mentioning was this street named something like "Admiralty West Street". This street was in the corner of a housing estate with apparently only 1 room units, the flats looked nothing like 1 room units from the outside; they were newly painted and looked just like a flat from Sengkang. When we were on this street, there was a long narrow road. Beside the road, on the right was dense vegetation and on the left was a waterbody. This water body which really didn look all that massive, was the only thing between us and Johor Bahru. We could see all the buildings in Johor and the causeway leading to Johor so clearly. There was a coast guard patrol though circling the waters, not that we were contemplating swimming across. We saw monkeys on the side of the vegetation and we were almost chased by wild dogs when we were exiting.

We asked a Taxi Driver where Marsiling Crescent was, and he told us he had no idea and when asked where the road we were on led to, he shrugged stating plainly that the road led to just some old factories. Just as we were exiting this road, we stumbled upon a signpost identifying the road we were on as Marsiling Crescent. The Taxi driver's answer about this road was thoroughly appalling. Fancy standing on Yishun Street 16 and swearing you dont know where Yishun Street 16 is!Not to mention being a Taxi Driver.

Finally we knew we had reached, when we smelled incense in the night air. The indians call it " sam bu ra ni". We crossed over to the other side of the road where the shrines were. We were greeted by this Indian man in probably his late 30s, who told us to remove our footwear and go closer to the shrine, which we did promptly at his compulsion.He went on to tell us about the deities.That they were very prompt in answering prayers. My friend seemed more in tune with the Chinese deities than Hindu ones even being Indian, offering josssticks to the Chinese deities. The Hindu Shrine had a great many statues, with Amman taking the centre. The were some pictures of Indian gods as well. I saw a rather big statue of Vinayagar, the elephant god, a size which we usually see in temples rather than roadside shrines. Beside the main Hindu Shrine, there were 2 other mini-shrines, one for Nagamma( snake goddess) and one for Muneeswaran. The Chinese Shrine had a even larger multitude of deities and there was soft buddist chanting being played.

The man who had greeted us, began to tell us that this temple was in Senoko for many years before it moved to its current location in Marsiling. He told us that he was the caretaker of the shrine and that he worked at the Shell company nearby during the day. He asked that we inform all our friends about the shrine and informed us that the Shrine was open to donations of any sort. I noticed a small plastic container, the kind which you would use to store biscuits on the alter, with some notes inside. Even saris and such offerings were welcome, he said.

I left the place wondering 2 things? 1. Why arent they playing Hindu worship songs in the background, would it not increase the religious fervour?2. The caretaker must be really pious, since he looked nothing like an Aiyar, an appointed priest. Frankly, he looked the sort who some Indians in Singapore would call a 'old timer' or gangster.This was suggested by my friend actually. So I guess we can never tell the religiousity of a person by looking at his appearance?

That was a fun night out though. If you want to pay this shrine a visit, you may take bus service 903 from woodlands interchange and get down somewhere in Marsiling, near a coffeeshop. You should recognise the place, it looks really old. Perhaps the bus driver could inform when you reach Marsiling Crescent. I can't, I reached there on foot.

Where did the Money Go?!

Three men went on a business trip and booked a hotel room to stay for the night.
After paying $30 for the room, they proceeded upstairs to rest. Thereafter, the hotel headquarters called and ordered the rates to be adjusted to $25. The hotel manager then gave the bellhop $5 and asked him to return the money to the guests.
The bellhop thought that since $5 couldn’t be divided among three persons, he decided to keep $2 for himself and split the remaining $3 among the three guests. In end effect, the three men paid $27 for the room and the bellhop kept $2 for himself. This totals up to only $29, where is the missing $1?!