The Future of Blind Navigation

Luxury Prisons Vs simple Homes

The temporary home for me these days is in Colombo suburb.The area is residential, well secured and luckily not absent from greenery too.Its a quite visible that 20perch blocks were sold to different people few years back. Still there are some bare blocks and its wonderful these blocks of lands were not "developed" by a land sale company before selling. Therefore few large jak trees and some coconut trees are around while hedges are full of small wild bushes.

New houses are building up day by day.When walking down the lane I have observed how luxury type houses emerged here and there within weeks. Now , after few months earlier bare lands were totally occupied by these massive houses. The walls surrounding almost all sides gives a look of fortress than houses to these homes.The height of the walls explained how in-secured the home occupants would feel.From the gates open rarely I can saw 20 perch blocks ware fully covered with cement. Few pots of flowers were here and there. Luxury vehicles come and go in the early morning and late evenings. A grandfather was seen inside the walls sometimes , just eagerly looking through the gate which is open slightly.School vans come and go every day. But kids nor adult was rarely seen outside. May be the occupants do not want to be part of the environment they live. But for me , its too difficult. After a busy day , when I come back home, the clear empty sky and the mild breeze invite me to stay little time outside. Some times I just walk out the large gate of my apartment and emerged silently in the blessing of the nature still felt around thanks to few bare lands around.

Next to the my lane I have noticed a big family lives in a traditional home. The grandfather raises a herd of buffaloes there so the house is not unnoticeable at all. The few bare lands by my lane is the feeding ground for these creatures.Initially I wonder how this old man occupy all these lands so freely with no hesitation - like the owner of all lands. But later I manged to see the things more clearly and how much he is integrated with the environment than many of us. He may not know the actual owners of the lands. He may not worry also. He would never want to claim ownership of these lands. He just feed his mighty army and let the field become more and more fertilized. With time I felt the most lively part of the environment is the herd of these buffaloes, the feeding , washing and milking of them. He is active and full of energy and walk like a king with his herd , allowing me to feel little jealous about the freedom he enjoys.

But soon I found more lively things.I was shocked by the giggling and screaming of kids around in a recent weekend. Through my window I saw some children, both girls and boys in simple cloths were having a nice time with a double swing hanging on Jak tree in a bare land nearby. Some kids were playing with sliders made out of coconut branches. The grandfather , the owner of the buffaloes, was keenly looking at the swing , and even from the distance I could figure out the satisfactory , proud smile on his old face ! May be he is really proud of his work or the proud of his grandchildren who are carefree and enjoying the life to the fullest.

I wonder who are people really enjoying life in my surrounding. This grandfather may be the poorest person in financial terms in this area. But what about his well-being & happiness ? Does the overall happiness is a direct function of wealth ? Anyway I felt sorry for the kids and grandparents locked up in luxury prisons and the life they miss just in front of their lives.

Seal by the south sea

After completing almost two days at deep sea, this lovely seal mother has came back to shore to have a rest with around 50 more companions. They rest for more than 12 hours , sleeping and sleeping like lazy pussy cats, while feeding the little ones time to time. But they are huge in size , close to the height of a average human being. Its amazing to see how nature has created such wonderful creatures as part of our planet earth.

They have a nice and secure colony alone the islands by south coast of Australia.By the time I write this, she might be diving deep in the south sea searching foods , waiting to see her kids after two more days.

Women Friendship

Our eyes met when I was searching the entrance of the conference venue, actually the exact room which i's going to be held. It was a surprise to see a smiling face in this unfamiliar environment. She was wearing a security uniform but the face was filled with kindness and warmth which is unusual for such a profession. I manged to find my way to the hall myself and we departed with just smiles shared.

We met as strangers during in next few days as well. Finally on one morning she came to me and asked politely " Are you also from India?". Well , I was not from India and I had to explain my origin. The conversation continued . She is from Fiji and speaks Hindi and celebrates Deepavali. She had left her country around 14 years back . However it was quite evident that she has not forgotten her Asian upbringing while earning her life as a security officer in Sydney.

There were many people I met in the conference, many nice people came from around the world. They all were sharing common interest - the theme of the conference. This lady knows nothing about the conference topic yet the nice way she treated us make her one notable character during the journey.

Later we shared some ideas about our lives and got to know she's a happy and proud mother of two kids. What challenges she might have faced while working as a migrant worker , then getting PR? Doesn't she miss her relations in Fiji ? Her guess of me being Indian might be due to the fact that Fiji is also an Indian Island.

How interesting it is to find friendship with a Fijian security woman in a technology conference held in Sydney ?

How small am I?

One evening last month , got a chance to spent some hours by the beach . It was just before the full moon poya day. The moon light on the waves gave a magnificent glory .The silver shadows moved up and down with the waves . The mother nature was blessing the sea with no greediness.

The mere emptiness of the sea and the sky stretched far away made my heart lighter in few minutes. How small am I; How small am I compare to this massive world; I questioned myself. May be not larger than a tiny stone in the beach.

The place was only an one hour drive from my home. However the last visit happened more than several years back. Were I that much busy ? How much of real life we are missing in our so called busy lives ?

"Where is the life we have lost in living? Where is the knowledge we have lost in information? Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge?"
T. S. Elliot

I am touched by your comment

" when childhood comes to our mind, our school is remembered
when love is what we seek, our mother is remembered
when we are in trouble , even now , its you who is remembered"

Few hours back, the voice of a youth who was a student of mine long time ago came over the telephone line , and while sharing struggles he and his colleges are going through with me, he just mentioned above few lines, which I never expected to hear but truly touched my heart.

Well, good listing might be helpful , but it was not me but you who had found your potential and moved forward all the time, whenever you turn to me for some help.you all have marvelous courage and energy as well as sense of humanity, all of which had lead you up to this point in your life. I know this little dark time would also pass soon; only thing is not lose the faith in yourself and keep on moving , although the steps are small.

Strange things in the world

As a little kid , whole universe seemed strange for me. How the sky get this nice shades of colours , I was amzed while spending spell bound hours gazing at massive sky view in front of my village home; from where these large folks of birds coming from and flying to ,daily in a routine basis in mornings and late evenings; Can snakes hear what we say or how are they talking with each other .... list goes on and on. Later I learned about tiny but mighty atoms , quarks, EMW s all which add more and more topic of interest to my thirst to know the world. Still , at adulthood even, I find the universe full of strange things. But there is a huge shift in the focus now. My focus in more inward than outward now.

As a kid I never felt how strange human beings were. but now , more and more things came to light regarding human beings . No wonder.We are also part of mother nature. Human relationships are one of the most difficult to define, strange and complex things in this universe; but who can negate the beauty of them?.

Quarks and black holes
Pyramids and Grate Wall
Taj Mahal, the Grand canyon
all remains strange friends of mine-
some unresolved beauties of the world.
But how nice it to see
my friend who share the cubicle at office
keep me shocking each and every day
being the most strange companion I ever met-
an unresolved puzzle of human relationships .