Category: Reading

Books, & links to all kinds of stuff I found interesting

We, Yevgeny Zamyatiev

I’ve been reading We by Yevgeny Zamyatiev, an acknowledged inspiration to George Orwell’s 1984.

It explores a dystopian society through the eyes of D330. Written in the 1920’s, classified as science fiction by the publishers.

The resemblance between society now & what he observed nearly a century ago is uncanny.

Read the book, if you haven’t yet.

& then read Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World.

& then, George Orwell’s 1984.

 

Tardiness

Much as I would like to write every day, the busy -ness of life seems to take what little energy I feel left in my body by the time I reach home.

The trains were delayed this morning, by all of .. hold your breath… FOUR minutes! Now, if it was an ambulance or a doctor, it could have been a life & death situation. For the commuters who, I don’t understand why, want to get to work at the precise moment every day, those four minutes must have seemed like an eternity.

A few reactions I overheard – well, actually, I heard, because those voices were as big & loud as their owners.

“Why the f*** can’t the service EVER be on time?”

“These govt. pr***s have no f***ing sense of time”

…you get the idea..

This, at 645 am on a beautiful spring day here on the Coast.

Whatever happened to enjoying the few minutes you get to yourself?

Whatever happened to being grateful to be alive & be able to hop on to a train that gets you to work safely, every day?

Whatever happened to.. whatever…

Boys & their toys

Public transport is a great way to get from place to place.

Helps that it is cheaper than driving. And safer. I’m less likely to be involved in a train crash than a motorway incident. Statistically speaking, of course.

An added benefit for me is that I get to see people, places & things en route, some of who, unsuspectingly help  me get from place to place, in my head.

I try to appear disciplined enough to take the same train every day to work.  Most days, I am successful. Sometimes, I appear dishevelled. But I digress.

School holidays are in progress. A break from tedium for the kids. And their teachers.

And a lesson in parenthood for the busy parents.

And a lesson in patience for fellow travellers.

A young Asian father, & his two young sons got on the train today. About 6, & 8, I’d say. The boys were very quiet. Yet, they made their presence known to everyone who was already on the carriage. Oh yeah, they had things in their little hands that had their full attention. The things you play games on, those things. Apparently, these had stuck volume controls. Stuck at maximum. The boys were quiet, their toys were not.

Drew my attention from my book to the little drama unfolding.

The father cajoling the boys to try to reduce the sound accompanying their “games”. Politely pointing out that people were being disturbed. Sure, the boys understood. Of course, their toys couldn’t.

Quite a sight, two little boys, poised over the  identical, little sized gadgets in their little hands, their fingers busy flitting on the screens & buttons. Mindful of nothing else but their reality of games.

Then, from the same seat, came the unmistakable sound of Windows 7 booting up. The father had his tiny netbook on his lap, his fingers busy flitting on the keyboard, providing the lead on the sounds coming from that one row of seats.

.

medicine

When money is lost, nothing is lost!

When health is lost, something is lost!

When character is lost, everything’s lost!

-unknown, oft repeated by my mother for the first 17 years of my life!

This news article today caught my attention today – of an 82 year old Indian yogi, who’s been living without water or food for the last 70 years!

As far back as I can remember, as a 14 year old I had a v