Absolute love

where absolute means the usual way, complete pure, perfect,  Complete & without restriction or qualification

Movie review : October sky

        This story is about a high school kid, from west Virginia who dares to dream big. This was the time when Russia launched the first satellite Sputnik and Americans were angry about that, but for this kid this sight of a satellite moving across sky came a big aspiration, a moment of connection with oneself when one realizes what exactly one is supposed to do in his life. The village was called coal wood owing to the main profession being mining coal and as the norm all kids were supposed to work as miners after their necessary schooling. As he watched the satellite streak across the sky, he had a dream of building a rocket which could take that satellite and put it in it's orbit. The aspiration was so profound that he made friendship with a nerd guy in his class with whom no one ever spoke or mingled. Thhey were a group of four friends, who managed to procure the material for their experimental rockets from unused rail tracks etc. They made numerous unsuccessful attempts. They used all lengths, all sorts of fuel etc. The rockets either flew to short distances or catch fire and burst. Failure are the stepping stones of success indeed. These experiments lead them to understand what makes a rocket actually fly. Apart from experimental failures, he had to abandon his rocket flying aspirations, as his dad got seriously injured while working in a coal mine and he had to work in coal mine for keeping his family financially well. Those innocent eyes always looked up the sky when going down in a coal mine elevator. In spite of all these hardships, due to the help and encouragement from his teacher he participated in a science fair, demonstrated his rocket building , flying fundamentals and won first prize too. This involved many schools and he came out in flying colors with that first prize and getting scholarship offers from various universities.
      I was especially moved by the advice his teacher gave him- "you don't have to prove anything to anybody, Now, go launch yourself a rocket". This kid was Homer Hickam who went to become scientist at NASA. He dreamed big, worked hard towards it despite all hardships, faced the numerous failures in experimentation with his rockets and learnt how to fly rocket correctly.

 So, a big dream needs lot of smart work, patience and recovering from failures too !
 A must watch for those who often use the term rocket science to imply a tough thing or tough science. You will realize rocket science is just awesome !

Moral science stories for kids 3: The one with becoming something in life

Part 3 :  On becoming something, someone in life
              As kids we all have have all the creativity to imagine ourselves becoming pilot, doctor, engineer, scientist etc etc. As life progresses we become aware of the various educations processes, career paths, then the picture is bit more clearer to choose what you wanna be in life. As a dialog in the movie Lakshya goes, You may become something or someone in life, important thing is to become a good person first of all. Have some friends and relatives who respect you for whatever you are and who will be there for you when you need any kind of help. Being nice is very broad term, you can be nice to people around you, create an cheerful atmosphere wherever you go. There is already enough of poverty, hunger, terrorism, professional tension, sorrow in the world. Why do you want to add to it by carrying a sad face. Whatever is your state of mind always carry a pleasant smile. Well you don't have yo smile all the time even if you are sad, but most of the times so carry that smile, it does not reduce the intensity of the problem but gives us the strength to face the problem boldly. My teacher said about a term he phrased himself - hopeful-hope probably compared to hopeless-hope. hopeful-hope signifies the  practical aspect of achieving things in life, career ambitions etc, where as hopeless-hope is merely false belief  of achieving things which may be beyond your capability itself. We have belief on our doubts & doubt on our beliefs, rather it should be believe your beliefs & doubt your doubts. Everything happens twice - once in mind and second time in actuality. Hence imagine strongly with passion what you wanna become in life. Its not enough if you dream often & do nothing about it. Everything has to be done by you. As the quote says : Success is hard work meeting opportunity.

     Do the best of what God gave you. Identify your strengths & weakness. American education system insists on building on your strengths, hence making you an achiever in your aspiring domain. Indian education system insists heavily on improving your weaknesses, hence making a normal person out of you. Well choose wisely & keep learning from mistakes.
Maintain a diary or journal to record your learnings from life. It may not be relevant in short term, but certainly useful in long term where you tend to forget the things and happenings in your life.

Moral science stories for kids 2: The one with apology

Part 2:

           English is a beautiful language, offers a wide variety of words to describe a particular feeling, situation or a context. Its important that you keep learning words everyday which help you communicate effectively.
An important part of leading a good life is say - Thanks, acknowledge a person for the thing or help or favor he has done to you. There is a depth in a sentence which starts with 'Please' and ends in 'Thanks'. Be willing to admit the mistake and say 'Sorry' if your conscious feels that you have done wrong to a person, hurt his feelings or crossed the line. A sorry has three parts, we usually do the first part and forget the remaining two or rather never care for the rest of the part of sorry. Here they are
1) Say sorry
2) Mean it truly, may be indicated in a tone or expression
3) What can I do to make you feel better, reverse the effect if possible- 'damage control' is filmy phrase here !

If you really care about a person, you should essentially do these three things, then there is no reason for the other person to be mad at you. Well this is the max you could do in saying sorry, if the other person is not still forgiving you, then there is nothing much you can do about it, right ?

Astronomy vs Astrology

     During the Kalpaneya Yatre @ JNP, there was a lecture organized on Astrology mainly with the objective to debunk myths. the audience was professional astronomers from IIA, ISRO scientists, Astrophotography enthusiasts like MR Ajay Talwar, amateur astronomers like me Naveen, & lots of BAS members, educators film producers, art enthusiasts movie directors etc, Shrusti school of arts folks etc. After the session which was on the basics of astrology, the debate & questionnaire was really insightful. this was sensitive topic from ages. As someone rightly put out to debunk myths about astrology we must understand the basics of astrology & explain to people that whats wrong in it, even the astronomy part of the astrology is wrong. someone had a nice argument about eclipse, they consulted  several top gynecologists to know the reason behind the pregnant women advised not to go out during eclipse. The reply came that we don't know the reason, but we advise precaution better don't go out during eclipse. Exactly, fear of consequence is what prevents us from trying out a thing thinking why the risk simply. I & Kiran were discussing: Somethings are under our control, we go to astrology or prayer to make the things which are not under our control to make them turn in our favor. we can study very hard for the exam all night to get good marks but the paper should come reasonably easy to score good marks. So a simple technique of a pooja in morning may save us from getting low marks , then why not try it, simply why the risk ?  similarly we apply same logic for bigger things in life. we buy a house investing all our life's hard earned money on that & that should be essentially on Auspicious day & the house should strictly follow at least basic fundamentals of Vaastu. At least i should not have argument that      IIA conducted a breakfast session during eclipse to disprove any beliefs that eating during eclipse will be harmful.         

    

  ...to be continued. 

Moral science stories for kids 1: The One with Accept & Adjust

Part 1: 

           In my school days moral science was not considered important subject, but later after many years I realized that this is the most important subject which needs to be taught in a way by which kids can imbibe the lessons & become good citizens of tomorrow. I think the Hrithik Roshan’s dialogue in Lakshya is very apt here in this context, whatever one may become in life, foremost is to become a good person. In this information era all info is available easy at hand. What’s important is to teach the values of living in society, the technology changes say for every 3/4 years. This series are written as imagining myself as moral science teacher to say high school kids

             Learn the difference between the words "Accept" and "Adjust". This is essential in living a good peaceful & happy life. We need to adjust some things in life & accept some other things. the real meaning of accept in philosophical sense is to whole heartedly come in terms with a person or condition or situation & never complain about the same in life, never ever. Adjust involves compromises stretched over a finite time in your life obviously & complaints when angry etc. Thats fine, but see there are some things which you totally cannot change totally cannot go away from them you have to live with them throughout your life. Accepting them that makes living, i.e coping with them easier. Acceptance means never arises the need to complain in entire life time. Give an example or illustration to make the point clear in children's minds. For example you wanted your parents to be millionaire or more sensitive or something you always wanted them to be but they are not. So learn to accept such a thing because its out of our control to change your parents. Your destiny has decided that you should be born to them, right ?  you may not like your job or say a house you are living, adjust with it for a while until you find a new job & a good house of your choice. Categorizing problems into accept and adjust makes life much simpler to live.

The Mystery

This post has been published by me as a part of the Blog-a-Ton 17; the seventeenth edition of the online marathon of Bloggers; where we decide and we write. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following Blog-a-Ton.

As I play with pebbles and shells on the shores of cosmic ocean

a mystery baffles me, dazzles me in my notion

As I make a futile attempt to understand the intangible infinity

only left with wonderment about my sanity 

As I wander in the archive of ages of knowledge

with a deep desire to measure and acknowledge

a creation so magnificent, so splendid 

a strange realization that we are as insignificant as a particle of dust

freely floating in fabric of the space & time

As I realize my home is so green and peaceful

the universe out there is chaotic than ever

violent volcanoes & collisions occurring around

this is a just periodic game of creation & destruction

with its own set of complex rules

Trying to find that unknown in that complex equation

guessing the magnitude of variables involved

mathematics has its own limitations to dare beyond

For those who have seen beyond are the enlightened

Those who do not have to seek answers for questions anymore.

As the universe plays a game of causes & effects

the flap of butterfly's wings causing a hurricane around the globe

there is a fine delicate balance of things around

trying to discover my purpose at last

as i let go of the assumption of reality and illusion

feelings of seeking for happiness and pleasures

i see the universe in a different form

with a heightened sense of things

and a higher level of consciousness

i see a beauty in the mystery of universe

this is not an illusion not a reality

this is something of the third kind

which you cannot digest

As I try to make sense of innumerable patterns all around me

from veins in a leaf to the shells on the shore

a smoother pebble resembling the yellow bands of Jupiter

and a sea shell having patterns as the milky way…

ascertaining the fact that nature loves symmetry

For there is a mystery in the elegance & elegance in the mystery

As I the see the source code of the universe

In its completeness across the electromagnetic spectrum
I exist as a mere impulse of heightened consciousness
I cannot be eliminated or terminated
I rejoice my being from inception till the end
In a state of being aware of itself
As I resonate in the cosmic symphony
I am a factor of an equation
ever trying to balance itself, coz i am still alive !
My physical body has constraints but my mind knows no limits

Life is nothing but an open ended string

living as vibrating randomly without knowing the meaning or purpose

with a deep restlessness to understand the ultimate truth

that transcends both the space and time itself.

From the cave paintings of animals resembling the patters found in sky

To the modern super computers modeling the faintest of galaxies

Patterns have fascinated mankind all throughout

We have come so far in an attempt to understand the unknown

Yet when I look up the sky, filled with wonderment

I see a streak of falling star passing by and wander in my wonder 

For men* may come & men may go

but the universe rocks forever

*men : By men I mean Amateur astronomers, professional ones can never love Astronomy more than Amateurs. There is a depth on missing love rather than being with it.

PS: The pic is a long exposure photo of the Milky way galaxy, our home as seen from being inside the same hence this edge on view. This is visible to us a band or patch of light across the sky, it appeared as if milk is spilled in the sky hence the name milky way. there are mainly two types in sky observing through telescopes. observing planets inside solar system & Deep Sky Observing(DSO) . In DSO, we mainly observe the galaxies which are of various shapes. We can classify the apparent view as face-on view & edge-on view. face-on view is one in which the axis of rotation of galaxy is the LOS of observer not exactly though. edge on view is the axis of rotation of galaxy is perpendicular to the LOS of observer. Consider galaxy as a disc to get an idea.

Another PS: This all started with recalling the quote of Douglas Adams, hats off to the him for this !
I know the poem doesn't rhyme but what to do god created universe which cannot be described rhymingly with ease ! LOL  pass on the blame to god himself, Here's another one on lighter side :

One one cold observing night due to lack of bedsheets one guy asks another to share bed sheet with him. but that was very small one & hence I suggested, may be if you can sleep on him Faceon or edge on you both can be covered by that bed sheet. This was definitely overdose of observing galaxies & needed sleep badly !

“There is a theory which states that if ever for any reason anyone discovers what exactly the Universe is for and why it is here it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another that states that this has already happened.”

  
-astrosunilnomy
Amateur astronomer
Council member
bas.org.in (the most active astronomy club in India)

The fellow Blog-a-Tonics who took part in this Blog-a-Ton and links to their respective posts can be checked here. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following Blog-a-Ton.