Having thought a bit, I think that the best thing in the universe is the human brain. Just imagine! As vast as the Universe is, this lump of soft tissue can encompass it all. And the packaging! Awesome! A trillion or so neurons packed in so tightly and so efficiently!
And, if I can manage to step out of it for a fleeting moment, I can realize it's all mine to use.
I've been reading this book about string theory - The Elegant Universe - by the theory's foremost proponents. I saw his interview on the Colbert Report, and i was relly taken by the passion in his voice.
I have known for a long time that this all too, too , solid flesh (encased in rolls and rolls of fat, more often than not) is all an illusion. But to have this idea validated is something else again. Imagine! Everything is virtual. We are sort of like holograms- so involved in our own little concerns - so unaware of the vastness of the world available to us. Wow!

I often wonder how I can really define myself.
Am I anIndian female who belongs to a respectable family, of 'high lineage', married to a respected doctor?
Am I the proud mother of children with superior life skills?
Am I a well-educated popular lady-of-leisure, who can afford the luxury of volunteering for various 'good works'?
The problem is, that in the final analysis, I am detachable from all of these, my 'claims to fame'.
So who I am really, is, my consciousness, or my spirit, that has all these wonderful resources to use during my time here on earth.
Among the equipment that I have at my disposal, I count time, health, a brain whose neurons are firing normally, and all the other stuff we take for granted. The very air I breathe comes special delivery. The food on my table comes from all over the world. And on and on and on.....
So what do I do with all this? Just fritter it away in mindless pursuits or give a thought or two-or ten-to the accountability commensurate with all these perks?

I think I'll think.

Individual empowerment

I read an article in the paper this morning about a village in sudan that had turned itself around. the area had become a desert due to mismangaement of natural resources, and of course, the ongoing civil war.
Somehow, someone in that remote village, got the motivation to DO something about about the situation. He mobilized the villagers to build an earthen dam and collect water for irrigating the fields. The effort has paid off.
What I am curious about is: where does this motivation come from? It is not the endorphin rush, because that comes after you perform an act, and you feel the pleasure. Ther has got to be some chemical in the neurons that triggers off thethought. I'll call it the 'interest-chemical'.
Has any neuro-scientist identified this chemical, I wonder. Is there a separate chemical for every thought?
In the Islamic system, it is called 'Taufeeq'.
Once that chemical is produced in someone's brain, there's no stopping him. We have seen it again and again.

Welcome to my blog!

My claim to fame is that I have survived five teenagers. One thing I have learned is that everyone needs to vent, perchance to whine, and what better place to dump into than the maw of the Internet.

Thanks!