Wednesday, August 23, 2006

Changing rules

Lets say you are playing some game. Soccer (I know I know... I should say football) for example. You have a team and you are scoring goals. The opponents are tough but you are winning. The game is nearing the end. 10 minutes to go. The refree blows the whistle and calls you and the other captain for a quick discussion. Yes you are the captain, dont forget, it is all imaginary. The ref says " We are going to have a slight change in the rules. The team scoring fewer goals will be declared the winners. Good luck!" Blows the whistle and the game has started again.
Consider yourself in this situation. What would you do? First reaction, naturally, WTF! It is going to take some time to sink in. What did he just say? You look at the other captain and you suddenly find a pal. You both stand biwildered while the rest of your teams are working hard to lose the game, as per the new rules. What do you do? Try to take the ball and score an own goal? Your team mates would think you have lost it. They would let you score of course, cause they cant imagine what you are just about to do. The other captain sees your scheme and tries to prevent you from doing it. There is mayhem. Nightmare eh?
You can kick the ball out and start conveying the messege to your key deputies about what the ref just told you. Will they trust you? Will they blindly set aside everything they have ever done and follow your lead? Not everybody of course.
Think about this. Cause whether you like it or not, you will be in this situation some day. Where you have to let go of all that you thought was right and begin working on a new set of rules, a new strategy. You may not acknowledge it, but you will be in this situation some day. Be prepared as our scout master would have said.

Friday, August 04, 2006

Light and sound show
















I saw two totally different light and sound shows two nights in a row. They were both highly enthralling experiences which pretty much covered the entire spectrum of visual pleasures.
First Night: Vegas Baby!
You have to see this place to believe it. I was looking down from the plane as we were approaching Vegas. I dont know what I was expecting but I certainly remember feeling disappointed. Wonder how that works: you may forget everything about an experience but the feeling sticks. Anyway, I rented a Crown Victoria (parents comfort is all a son can think of you see). When I went to pick it up, the sign at the counter said "Do not touch. May be EXTREMELY hot." I had to check if they were lying... you could have cooked an omlette on the metallic counter in 10 seconds flat. I still remember feeling disappointed. It was just begining to get dark when we hit the strip.
Man, by the sole desire to earn more money, has created a replica of every place you would want to be at. I was in awe. The strip, the Bellagio fountains, the casino interiors... the best light and sound show I had seen in many years. Moms comment "Atta dahaa varsha Dagdusheth baghitla naahi taree chalel" Dads comment "Vees". Basically meaning... they had never seen anything like this and didnt expect to see anything like this for the next X (No consensus on the value of X) years.
Second Night: The Grand Canyon.
This show was a lot quiter. Not that there was no sound. There was, the wind, the birds, the rustle of leaves, the "Jaasti pudhe jau nakos" or "Be careful" from the mom. It was definitely a treat for the ears beaten down by lot more irksome noises. Except the last piece ofcourse. I just sat there watching the show. It was quite unlike the one we saw in one of the casinos the earlier night. I was with parents to dont get ideas already. About the show in Vegas that is. The sun kept peeping through the clouds, and each time, the spot light was on some different form that nature had carved over 6 million years. It was quite unlike anything I had seen. I liked it so much, I offered to be back there to see what the sunrise does to this place. That is a lot, especially since the sun rises around 5:15 AM this time of the year. I was back the following morning. We did get to see some real wildlife. Mooses and cayotes. That does qualify as wildlife. I have a brochure that says that. I could post a lot more pictures but I am not going to give away my hard work just like that. You have to earn it.

Now to the moral of the story (Why??? cause thats me. It aint a story, or a blog for that matter, if there aint a moral)
All the money people spent in putting up Vegas, I still liked the Canyon more. So moral is, no money or man made grandeur can replace a 6 million year old meticulous work of nature. But since we aint got that many years here.. Vegas will do :)

Trivia: The first picture of the canyon is the sunset and the second is the sunrise, so was I on the south rim or the north rim?