Hey. I was reading The Atlantic and they had an ad for the Templeton foundation. They caught you by putting the first half of numerous essays regarding whether the universe has a purpose. They are quite good. The link is http://www.templeton.org/questions/purpose/. If it just goes straight to templeton.org the first time, add the "/purpose" after that. Here is something else: There I was, sitting on an isolated dock with only the twinkling stars and the gentle lapping of waves against the dock to keep me company. This was a very peaceful spot, one to which I had come many times b [View Full Entry]

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So here is the blog of my writing... continuing from the other blog of my writing... hope you get it As soon as I entered the shadowy, narrow alley, I heard his footsteps. They were distinct. Their sound overpowered the light drip-drip of droplets crashing from second floor fire escape into murky puddles. It could be heard even among the domestically abused screams coming from an open window in the third floor of an adjacent building. I sped up ever so slightly, keeping my vision focused on the light emanating from the alley's end and my mind on the thought of [View Full Entry]

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Next chapter on community Community I have heard the claim that all of the six billion plus people on this planet are connected by a mere six degrees. Valid or not, I think it is fair to say that in the present age we are closer to people from all over the globe than ever before. This metaphorical shrinking of the world has now made the creation of a global community possible and has changed the way people think about community the world over. It used to be that the definition of community was easily agreed upon as ones family members, [View Full Entry]

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This is the promised rough draft of the security part... its a little long...but... idlike to thinkworth reading Security While cliché, mortality is truly the single most pervasive factor in all of our lives. Every living thing from the one celled amoeba to the greatest of all animals, the human, is going to perish, and, in the grand scheme of things, perish soon. This fact, however, does nothing to prevent life from clinging on as long as possible for, as my wise teacher Dr. Vengatraman says, “Everyone wants a natural death, no one wants an accidental death.” I will take it [View Full Entry]

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So... here I am... chillin as usual. Whats new? Really not that much. Im at an interesting juncture in time. At this point India is no longer the focus of my time. Well, it is because im still living there, but the emphasis is this project that I have to do. I've met most of the people I expect to meet and have come to conclusion that it is going to be impossible for me to retain tamil (could not find any tamils at ithaca or around nyack). Its really too bad but im l;ooking forward to gaining fluency in spanish [View Full Entry]

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This is the first draft of my project. What ya think? If one were to travel back in time even just 60 years they would find it a consensus, throughout Europe at least, that scientific progress would lead humanity to a more evolved, happier state. Medical advances, market economics, and an unending procession of inventions have indeed produced lives very far removed from the “nasty, brutish, and short” life Hobbes worried would befall those lacking a strict ruler. So far, in fact, have we advanced, that our present lives could perhaps best be described as “easy, civil, a [View Full Entry]

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This December I found myself in the quaint little village of Gokarna, Karnataka, situated on the south-west coast of India. “Lonely Planet”, every traveler’s bible, describes the place as “a sleepy, charming town with wooden houses on the main street and traditional houses in nearby alleys.” “Rough Guide,” all other travelers’ holy book states explicitly, “Watch out for the hippies.” I thought this to be a funny thing to write in a guide book until I arrived there myself. In Gokarna the most common hairstyle is dreadlocks. Tie dy [View Full Entry]

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Here comes another blog.. rapid fire action. This last week our group went on a 4 day trip to Tanjavoor, a district of Tamil Nadu about 5 hours to the northeast. It was a truly fantastic trip for a number of reasons, though mostly for unexpected ones. Firstly, an old art historian named Dr. V went with us on the trip as he had on all our previous 1 day outings to temples. "Ugh", I thought. Every time in the past he gave long lectures on iconography which has little interest for me. However, throughout the course of the trip I [View Full Entry]

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Hey all!!!! Its been more than a while, and, while noteworthy things continue to happen, I dont know if anyone is still reading/subscribed to the blog, or was when I stopped writing in December. So.... with that out of the way.... where to begin??? 1) Jellikatta- This is famous (I hadnt known about it) festival that takes place every January in a village outside of Madurai. It is the harvest festival, which means... sugarcane.... lots and lots of sugarcane. Basically, throughout the days surrounding the festival every major street in Madurai was lined with 10 feet tall stalks leaned up [View Full Entry]

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As many of you know I am writing a 80 page fieldwork paper here in India. Being such a momumental task, I decided to cut to thwe heart of the matter and write about what matters most to me: Happiness. basically, this paper is my manifesto about what I currently think the ideal manner to live one's life is. I plan on posting the different parts here so that anyone who reads them can critique (by comments people, by comments) and enjoy. This first part is my preface, or, why I find myself in India studying what Im studying. Ever since [View Full Entry]

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