Love Never Dies A Natural Death But...

Waves Gurgled and Giggled at Us

(From Anita Nair's book of Poems, Malabar Mind; Poem: A Brief Respite)

Dolphin Altruism

"Several years ago, in the Gulf of Akaba, a British tourist was rescued by three dolphins from sharks. Near the Sinai Peninsula, a ship captain had stopped his boat so several passengers could watch dolphins playing. Three of the passengers decided to swim with them, and one stayed a little longer than the others. To his horror, he was bitten by a shark – and more were coming. Suddenly, three dolphins placed themselves between the tourist and the sharks, smacking the water with tails and flippers, and drove the sharks off so the man could be rescued.

In 2004, a group of swimmers were confronted by a ten-foot great white shark off the northern coast of new Zealand. A pod of dolphins “herded” them together, circling them until the great white fled. There are several other examples from the area of Australia of similar incidences.

In another case in the Red Sea, twelve divers who were lost for thirteen and a half hours were surrounded by dolphins for the entire time, repelling the many sharks that live in the area. When a rescue boat showed up, it appeared that the dolphin pod were showing them where the divers were; they leaped up in the air in front of the rescuers, jumping toward the lost people as if to lead the boat onward – as, according to old stories, they often did with endangered ships in treacherous water.

Because we can’t talk to dolphins, we can’t really fathom what their motives are in these situations. It is, however, very possible that they are indeed trying to help and protect fellow mammals in the ocean to safety. If this is true, it means that they are the only animals, besides humans, which show true altruism."

Source here

Cher Ami

A brave pigeon -- Cher Ami -- bent on performing its duty in a human war -- the madness that costed us a total of about 16, 000, 000 lives and about 20, 000, 000 wounded or maimed. It should teach us a lesson.

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"It’s late September of1918 in northern France. The war will end soon on November 11, but one last massive battle, the Meuse-Argonne Offensive is raging on. It’s one of the biggest conflicts of World War I, lasting 47 days until the Armistice. Over a million Allied soldiers are involved and over 25,000 Americans will die by the end of this battle.

A group of 500 American soldiers led by Major Charles Whittlesey were trapped in a small depression of a hill, surrounded by Germans. After the first day, only 200 of Whittlesey’s “lost battalion” were left. To make the situation even more FUBAR, their fellow Americans didn’t know their location and had begun firing shells at them.

Whittlesey sent out two messages by homing pigeon asking the Americans for help, but both pigeons were shot down. A final pigeon named Cher Ami was released [...]

As soon as Cher Ami flew up out of the brush, the Germans fired on him. It took him 25 minutes to fly through a rain of bullets the 25 miles back to Allied lines. When he arrived at his coop, he bad been shot in his breast and blinded in one eye. One leg was so badly shot it dangled by a tendon. The metal case carrying the life-saving message was still attached to that dangling leg. The Allies stopped firing shells at the Lost Battalion, and they were eventually able to break out of enemy territory to safety.

The surviving 197 men, whose lives had been saved by Cher Ami made sure that their little bird received the best medical care and carved him a tiny wooden leg to replace the one that was blown off. The French army awarded him their Croix de guerre medal for his bravery. Cher Ami became a famous hero, and he was personally seen off by General Pershing on his boat voyage back home to the states.

Cher Ami died less than a year later due to complications from his injuries. He was stuffed and is kept on display at the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C."

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Dogs Help People With Their Grief

Sometimes during periods of grief, a nonjudgmental, comforting presence can be all it takes to lift someone’s spirits. A grief therapy dog is a specially trained dog that does just that: providing comfort in times of crisis, grief, or even disaster situations. They will offer individual care, emotional support, and compassionate listening to those affected by the loss of a loved one, as well as to responding workers or volunteers.

When tragedy strikes and people are working through their grief, the simple act of petting a dog can give comfort that no words can offer. They offer more than just a warm furry body; many dogs instinctually understand when someone needs comfort and offer it unconditionally. A grief therapy dog can improve therapeutic outcomes with calming effects, brightening of mood and increased motivation. These dogs have provided their care at grief counselling sessions in children’s schools or camps and, more recently, at funeral homes.

Source Here

Kalachakra (Cycles of Time)

The 33rd Kalachakra Festival, Ladakh - 3 to 14 July 2014

The word kalachakra means cycles of time, and the Kalachakra system presents three such cycles – external, internal and alternative. The external and internal cycles deal with time as we normally know it, while the alternative cycles are practices for gaining liberation from these two. Read more here.

Like, Love, In Love

...and being "In Love" is when you learn to walk that path between

the best and the worst either without expectation or with the hope that 

the worst will disappear and the best gets better; 

with the path becoming a stage of pleasant, engaging drama of togetherness

Mankind and People

Education and Experience: Difference

The Hand of Fate ?

Very Little Needed...

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Temptation

Temptation...

For some, it is a game to tempt and trap others. 

For others, with resources, being actively tempted is a way of life.

 For some, temptation is loss of innocence.

For others, temptation is painful lifelong learning.

For some, temptation is end of their career and future, their life.

For others, temptation is the beginning of renunciation....

Global Risks 2014

• Environmental risks feature prominently in this year’s list, with failure of climate change mitigation and adaption in fifth place. The World Bank estimates the cost of climate change adaptation for developing countries to be $70-100 billion per year through to 2050.
• Studies suggest that water scarcity – third on the list of global risks – could reduce grain production by as much as 30%. Food crises are number eight on the list..
• Youth unemployment and underemployment are ranked as the second most important risk. About 300 million young people – over 25% of the world’s youth population – have no productive work, according to World Bank estimates. Add low-paid rural and urban self-employed workers, and the estimates rise to 600 million.
• Demographic trends are flagged in the report, including the risk of being unable to deal with rapid population growth and the growing burden of an ageing population. While it took 115 years for France’s population of over-65s to double from 7% to 14%, it will take China, South Korea and Singapore about 20 years.
• More than half of the world’s population now lives in cities. By 2050, the urban population will have nearly doubled to an estimated 6.4 billion. This trend increases the impact of risks including the spread of disease, natural disasters and income inequality.
• If a new strain of avian flu were to spread globally through the air travel network that connects the world’s major cities, 3 billion people could potentially be exposed to the virus within a short span of time.
• The number of people aged 20-79 with diabetes is projected to rise to 591.9 million by 2035 (compared to 381.8 million in 2013).
• The decline of trust in institutions, lack of leadership, persisting gender inequalities and data mismanagement are trends to watch, according to survey respondents.

Picture Source
Read Risk Report Here.

Peace as Daily Practice

Forced Labour

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• Almost 21 million people are victims of forced labour – 11.4 million women and girls and 9.5 million men and boys.
• Almost 19 million victims are exploited by private individuals or enterprises and over 2 millionby the state or rebel groups.
• Of those exploited by individuals or enterprises, 4.5 million are victims of forced sexual exploitation.
• Those who exact forced labour generate vast illegal profits.
• Domestic work, agriculture, construction, manufacturing and entertainment are among the sectors most concerned.
• Migrant workers and indigenous people are particularly vulnerable to forced labour.

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Karma

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Trust

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Thunder or Lighting?

Pimple or Dimple?

What Direction?

All You Need is One

Existentially, often even that one person is not a part of your life!

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When We Forget How We Got Here

Virtue and Vice

Saying and Doing

A Reason...

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Who's Next?

Life is so uncertain...One moment we are around, another gone.

Keep your friends and love ones close to your heart.

Find time to be with them...Nothing could be more important than those moments.

Ripples of Heartless Time

Whoever Deserves Your Tears Will Not Make You Cry.

Gabriel Garcia Marquez, 1927 - 2014

To Be Born Again and Again...

Gabriel Garcia Marquez, 1927 - 2014

Wrong Kind of Silence

Knowing People

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Do Not Be One Of Them!

Our Origin?

Lately, I have been visiting temples (Hindu largely) for a number of reasons…And I get the feeling that I am at a place of “Origins”…In fact, the main idol in Hindu temples (representing power below it)  is in a place identified as garbagriha (“womb chamber”), a windowless, dark chamber, "representing" the power of the womb.  As you walk deep into the temple sacred space on the East-West axis, until you are under the main vimana, you get closer and closer to the "point" of Origins, a dedicated point…a point of undisturbed focus and attention, a point of  annihilation and cure, a point of energy and creation, a point of sound, light, consolation and hope...   

Of Masks and Honesty

"...sometimes we do not really change...just that 

our masks fall off...the cosmetics we wear 

peel off...the ideals we profess vanish....

revealing who we really are... 

allowing us a moment of critical self-reflection..."

(Source of picture)

Marooned Orphans

Extinguishing a Family Line

For many years, I thought I knew what ‘extinction’ was. I was so, so wrong!

I lost a person very dear to me some years ago. Fortunately, he left two children to continue him. But then, the all-mighty Time decided to snatch that two children too…Death followed Death followed Death…And, suddenly the whole family line was wiped out right in front of me: Isn’t that what happens in extinction...without any opportunity for continuity? How does any one even start to make sense of this kind of loss?

Plasti-Evolution...The Making of Plastic People

Human Existence...Endless Standing in Line !

Improving the Government, a Waste of Time

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People Die Young But...

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Protecting Illusions

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Grief

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We Die Many Times

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To Fall Where There is No Ground

There must be many of you out there in this situation...

May you see a way out and find peace.

Life Seems So Meaningless...

Meaning in Meaninglessness

We Are But a Brief Candle...!