Mr. Madras....

Name : Madras Prakash Prashanth

Fathers name : Mornapalli Subramaniam Prakash

Grandfathers name: Penukonda Venkata Subra Mani Iyer.

My granddad, his son and I, three of us have different surnames. We proudly declare ourselves Gults.

The first significant rendezvous with the M in my initial happened while my passport application form was being filled. A brilliant exhibit of sheer smartness from the agent which was conceded by my dad convinced him that “Mornapalli” which was plagued by controversies regarding the spelling and its actual existence must be replaced by Madras. And I was the victim of this confusion. I don’t have a choice either, but to take the name that has been endowed to me. Little did I realize then, the significance of my name. This appellation marks a precedence for the gulty surnames.

Gulties, men and women all over the world, beyond the mountains, beyond the oceans, beyond India, and all the corners of the world where thou have infiltrated. The first day of July, in the blasphemous portals of the US Embassy, I will hopefully join this deed that we have taken upon ourselves to percolate to all lands. Let you, who has the understanding, reckon the name of the beast. My name has bred a new string of gulties. This feat of mine is, no short of wondrous. My name on the passports marks the liberation of all us Gulties. We no more belong to the villages. We rule the metropolis. Break the hobbles and cogitate devoid of puerile illusions, thou shall envisage that day when gults have surnames Chicago, Vegas and so on..

Mr. Madras, that is me…… I can only laugh it off.

Signing off on Yahoo Messenger.

The latency period of this event is approximately 15 min. In an ideal end, say, one of them hints to leave. The time gap between “I need to go” and the actual signing off is substantial. This unintentional occurrence is more prominent in the long conversations. There is always a “kutty topic” that is to be discussed. Even a formal bye is followed by an exchange of atleast one other single word message- bye, again. The person broaching the topic is in a dilemma to do that, and also the other user on chat, is in a dilemma to respond. In some cases, both of them feel obligated to each other, one for having opened it and the other for closing it. This gives completeness to the chatting session.

Disclaimer: There is a law of conservation of conversation. On a big sample set, the number of time I do it to some one and the number of times, it happens me evens out.

I love my memory

I am amazed at the functioning of the human brain. The process of evolution has endowed us with a versatile memory sink that has an infinite storage capacity. Incorporating Moore’s law to the Darwin’s theory of evolution, a later version of human brain must take less that a nanosecond to calculate the square of a thirteen digit number. The jargon used is only an indication of my adoration for the human brain.

However it’s functioning, I would say, is rather biased. Ones ability to access the different memory locations in the brain is varied. I can remember every interaction that I have had with a specific person. Probably one night’s effort I can compile all the interactions in a chronological order with the minutest details incorporated. It sometimes scares me when I realize that I even remember, for example, if I look back at my “hostel night”, one of those zillion occasions…I remember the number of servings of Manchuria we had; the order of the songs that was played on my comp; the clips of the movie-“The Wonders” that we watched; the leaf cup in which the starters were refilled; the red top and how it was portrayed to me with that oomph; the gesticulations and the insinuations; the smell of the dress; basically every little thing that happened. For me it acts like a time machine that can teleport me to that day, giving a videographic experience, and I am able to relive every moment of it. I remember every minute of the last football game in my hostel quadrangle; my first night out in IIT; my first driving classes from my dad….

However, there are other things that are forgotten in spite of a conscious effort to retain them and also being repeatedly reminded.

The process of receiving and storing a piece of information, an event or a photograph; it is allocated and is written on different memory locations. However the recovery/ recollection of information is prioritized. It is all treasured in the brain and also can be retrieved anytime. One need not be a fanatic or a monomaniac to be able to do it. All that it takes is the drive and want for it

So can I use the degree of retention and recollection of my interaction with a person or a thing as an index to how much I love or value them in my life?

me not sleepy...

Is it possible for me to determine when I fell asleep? Is there a sequence of steps that I could follow and I am assured to fall asleep.

I go to bed; my thoughts scroll down an array of events and emotions, and then these thoughts unconsciously diffuse to sleep. But I could only vaguely sense the moment when the thoughts converge to dormancy.
Other days, I lie on bed for hours, trying hard to encounter the transition to sleep state. The harder I try, the greater the mind starts wandering beyond boundaries. I could also sense tending to the sleep state, but unable to make it in. And this happens a good number of times. Later, I device a mechanism to steer my path to accomplish that state. I try and perform two minutes of “non thinking” to get rid of the extraneous cerebrations. This scheme of action seldom helps. The suppression of thoughts only ends in a rampant proliferation of them.

I have tried to figure out, when it happened. I feel, I was never accurate and I think none could ever be. I am also amazed at how some people have the ability to sleep with their eyes open; also how some animals manage to sleep while standing. One needs to have a weird brain function like dolphins, where one hemisphere of the brain sleeps, while the other is active. Probably then, one can psychoanalyze all the stages till the REM.

ROAD TO PERDITION

Tetrahydrocannabinol- a polymer with 3 methyl groups, 2 hydrogens on either side of the plane, a benzene ring and a tetrahydrofuran and a phenyl group. Complicated or so it seems. THC works in a nefarious fashion to realize its potency. Its association with the brain is contingent on the presence of cannabinoid receptors, which is present only at specific locations. And once this ligandic association is established, THC gains its authority on the functioning of those brain locations and triggers an array of biochemical reactions which coerces the brain locations’ respective influences.

To translate this phenomenon to one which is corporeal- It sublimates to a state of existence, marked by perception of the fourth dimension- time and cognizance of the next six dimensions; teleports to a different time frame where the time perception can be modulated; amplifies senses and expedites emotions; love and beauty become quantifiable; juxtaposes oblivion and omniscience and gives an overlapping experience of the both; gives an unparalleled sense of well-being; enhances intra-personal communication, catapulting introspection to a level, which is otherwise unrealizable. The most significant of all-its entheogenic effects which endues a hallucinatory experience; gives a video-graphic memory of events and people. When everything around seems lost, with nothing fulfilled, you can say- screw the world and smoke the weed!!!

But all said and done, is this a mere visceral feeling, consequence of a chimera forged from plausible experiences? Will someone actually experience without he being told before?

Well..whatever it is, so be it. It’s a scourge which make you unfit for family, love life and society. You can ruin yourself, but you are responsible to the ones you are associated with.
SCREW THE WEED.

Permanency-does it exist.

Does permanency exist at all? Or do I need to use the cliché argument of relativity to define its existence. For which, I would have to try define a permanent plane as the reference, whose existence is essentially axiomatic, which is not justifiable.

Science is replete with theories which negate the permanency. The essence of existence and propagation dwells on the change, evolution and adaptation. This universal rule applies to all states and forms of matter. In philosophy’s quest of objects which could be classified permanent, many prophesies propound that the soul faculty of memory, the spirit and also the human emotions could possesses permanency. Memories and thoughts are eternal. The credibility of this claim, I would say, is strained. These abstract entities have the potential to induce durability for a state of existence, but permanency can never be achieved. Is love permanent? Love and other human emotions are based on perceptions. Human psyche comprises of two components- emotional and rational. Love and other feelings are predominantly governed by the emotional component, which again is based on perceptions. Perceptions are only the dynamic concomitants of a vicious interplay of parameters and stimuli from outside and within, either through association or reinforcement.

It is indeed parodoxical. Ones ability to accommodate a change; a transition will never be smooth, irrespective of how many ever times it may happen. In spite of accepting the absence of permanence and prevalence of change in all walks of life, and trying continually to learn and live with this, CHANGE will continue to be a roadblock for the most of us.

Adieu to you, " #325, Alak."