RIFLE RANGE BOY

Kavalai Illatha Manithan (Man without worries, கவலை இல்லாத மனிதன்; 1960) That is what everyone is yearning for, for a life without worries, happy, without pain, of eudaemonia. From time immemorial, everyone has been throwing their two cents worth of sense into the cooking pot. At the end of the day, we still stay confused about what is expected of us.  We are still searching for the elusive happiness but what is it we are actually looking for? Can we be happy and what is happiness? Some swear that life on Earth is just a testbed for bigger things to come in the afterlife, so we are expected to live in a particular manner to ensure a place amongst the Blessed ones there. Then there others to profess that our time on Earth is a reward of sorts for all the aeons of karmic cycles of birth and the torture of rebirth of a lesser being. But wait, that is no reason to rejoice as our progress can be reversed if our conduct is far from the exemplary. And another viewpoint is that ...

You called me cheat and hurled me names, That I am self-centred, to fill my coffers, Surrounded by sycophants to blow my horn, Our race was epic, spicier than the Vedas. We raised our game to make Kurushetra a child's play, You took my dignity, I took your sanity,  tit for tat, this for that, we took politics to dizzying heights, I was in chains, you were behind bars. We were neck to neck, shoulder to shoulder, My swan song so sweet, To put on a pedestal, to the petals showered by the plebians, Sweet victory keeps on coming,  when you bow in humility to my lifeless cadaver, my soul sees you as asking forgiveness. I will clean the slate,  Now that I am a saint, I will set a duel, When I see you, in no time I will! Guess, I'll win again!

Two stories got me thinking this week. A paraplegic found out that humanity had not died. He was surprised to see that people went out of their way to appease his less fortunate self even though the last thing that the paraplegic wanted was self-pity and pittance thrown at him. Still, people obliged. It was much like the blind man who was forever taken over to the other side of the road just because he was standing at the edge of the road, not intending to cross or worse had just crossed the road. Then, there was another chap who had been taking care of his stroke-stricken mother for the past twenty over the years. In the initial few years, he was so high-spirited to give his mother all that modern technology could provide. Things were looking brighter until she was stricken with another episode of apoplexy, paralysing her so bad snatching away her motor and vocal abilities. What is left of a once robust chatty lady is just a faded rose, responding sluggishly to stimuli. Carin...

Muang Thai Chiang Mai Half Marathon 2016 18th December 2016 "Sir, you are representing Malaysia?" she (or ze), the volunteer at the registration counter asked with her heavily Thai-accented English. Till then it did not strike me. Wow, I am at an international participant attended by representatives from 53 countries, and three of us were there to hold our national flag! She handed me a racing bib with my name proudly printed against my multi-hued country flag. The Start I would like to believe I am holding the good name of my country on my shoulders and it is my responsibility to make my motherland proud. It just gives a lame justification to motivate me to try harder. That is all. Nobody gives two hoots, actually. There is no 'the other' that I need to satisfy, to compete with or to set an example for. It is all in my mind. But then, it feels good, though. In keeping with the sombre state of affairs in accordance to the recent demise of the much-belove...

A Unique Side of History http://historicalguru.com/33-images-show-a-unique-side-of-history-you-probably-didnt-know/35 During the pre-penicillin era, syphilis was a major disease that devastated many. This is a photo of a young boy whose face suffered from the side effects of Congenital Syphilis. This condition occurred when a mother who was infected with Syphilis gave birth.  During civil rights movement of the 1960s many suffered injuries from police brutality. This is just one of the photos of one of the victims. Pictured here a man is being attacked by police dogs in 1964, unfortunately not a rare occurrence for the movement. This is an iconic photograph of United State’s history when the Voting Rights Act finally passed in 1965. Here is President Lyndon B. Johnson photographed with Martin Luther King Jr.  During the 1920’s alcohol in the United States became illegal. People resorted to creating and going to speakeasies to get their fix of a...

The Secret Life of Uri Geller – Psychic Spy? BBC Documentary (2013) Director: Vikram Jayanti The flamboyant Mossad and CIA secret agent always liked the attention but led a mysterious life. He wants to keep his admirers guessing of his ability as he finds joy in doing his stuff under the radar, under the cloak of secrecy and the excuse of national security. Growing up in the 60s in Nicosia, he partook in the Six-Day War in 1967. After the war, he was a celebrity in the Tel Aviv entertainment circle as a performer performing spoon-bending mind tricks. He is said to possess psychokinetic powers, ability to do remote viewing and had psychic powers. His penchant for sticking around the wealthy and famous landed him in Mexico, doing a gig with a local TV and slowly building a strong bond with the first family. There, he is said to have done CIA's dirty work of erasing Russian floppy disks with remote viewing ability and psychokinetic skills. He then made his way to New York...

http://historicalguru.com/33-images-show-a-unique-side-of-history-you-probably-didnt-know The original design for Mount Rushmore, 1923 Mount Rushmore has become an American iconic piece of artwork. Many don't know the process it took to complete the masterpiece. Here is a photo of the original design in 1923 before the work was started on the actual mountain. When you think of public executions, usually people think of old history photos from the 1700s or possibly the 1800s. However the last public execution actually occurred a lot closer today than most of us would like to believe. This is a photo of the last public execution in the United States in Kentucky in 1936. The sinking of the Titanic is quite arguably the most famous sinking of any ship. From all the press it got at the time for being the “unsinkable ship” that sunk to the famous block buster movie, almost everyone has heard of the tragedy that took many passengers life. Here is the last photograph of t...