Category: Thoughts

Arm Candy!!

Candy is not sweet with sugar as main ingredients. Candies are loved by children. But there are also different types of candies formed by adding a word before the word candy. The famous 3 are

  • Ear Candy
  • Eye Candy
  • Arm Candy

The Ear Candy refers to any musical song which is easy. It sounds sweet initially but it is not long lasting. It’s popularity fades very soon. The phrase began with LP of same name in 1977 by Helen Reddy. It was termed as easy listening bland music.

Eye Candy seems obvious. It began with a review of TV show “Three’s is a company” In March 1978 by The Oakland Tribune a review which it derided for its gratuitous, sexually titillating content.

Arm Candy is the third. It is defined as an especially attractive date, escort or other companion to a special event. Called “arm candy” because one locks arms with their “candy” (valuable possession) when they enter. A popular connotation of arm candy is a date that someone is using not to enjoy their company, but simply to appear important, wealthy or worthy of attention

It started and refers to the role of Marilyn Monroe then a small time actress when she appeared in a movie called”All about the Eve” in 1992 opposite George Sanders.

The critic Marcia Froelke Coburn, of The Chicago Tribune’s about no other than Marilyn Monroe. In August 1992, described as “She’d already had mini-roles in eight movies when she turned up as George Sanders’ Arm Candy in the party scenes of this film.”

Some Examples of Arm Candy

https://m.rediff.com/amp/getahead/report/glamour-cfda-priyanka-was-micheal-kors-arm-candy/20170606.htm
https://therationalmale.com/2015/01/23/arm-candy/amp
https://therationalmale.com/2015/01/23/arm-candy/amp/

Shotgun Wedding

Shotgun Wedding is a wedding which is performed by a family to avoid the embarassment caused by pre-marital sexual relationship usually resulting in the pregnancy. To keep the pregnancy a secret and give it a legitimacy the girl’s parents has to resort to this kind of wedding.

Such a thing was considered a taboo almost all over the world for one reason or another. The marriage date if fixed is generally preponed by the unaware parents.

The wedding gets its name that boy in such a case doesn’t get away after becoming aware that the girl has become pregnant. So the father of the girl forced the boy under gunpoint.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shotgun_wedding

This step was also taken to give the would be child a legitimacy status. Different countries have different rules about this wedding.

Shotgun Wedding became the subject of the movie with same name in which Jennifer Lopez featured. Many books have also been written with this subject in mind.

Shotgun Weddings were prominent in older days when procedures like anti-pregnancy pills were not available. In those days, it was found for example in Japan as much as 25% weddings were shotgun marriages. Similar statistics were prevalent in Europe and America.

In present, these weddings have become almost obsolete. Nowadays in many countries girls having become pregnant before marriage are quite normal and tolerable and perfectly legal. There is a less social stigma attached to pre marriage pregnancies.

Cherry Picking

Cherry is a fruit which becomes the best part of whatever it is used in. Like the topping in the cake. It is the most desired part of the cake. When ripe they taste luscious and look beautiful. When not ripened they taste sour.

The term “Cherry Picking” means to select the best among the lot. It is like taking home the best value for the money. You shift through the lot and opt for the best and reject the one’s which are not the best.

Cherry Picking can be deliberate or accidental. For example, in many companies the results data is cherry picked. It means the management selects only part of the data which suits their assertion.

Similarly the politicians do the cherry picking of the data. They select only those portions of a report that is in the favour of their agenda. Many newspapers also do this for creating a bias among the parties.

Cherry picking is used in advertising. The results of a the studies like using a particular brand of toothpaste which protects gums are shown as “4 out of 5 ” doctors recommend it.

How does one know that the facts he is citing to back his claims is holistic not cherry picked? This is possible if he is owner of the data or the source from where he has gotten the data is trustworthy.

Nobody is sure about the origin of the phrase. Initially those ship workers which tried to get the easiest of the tasks on the ship were called Cherry Pickers. From their the use of the phrase must have been diversified over time.

Happy Cherry Picking!!!!

Good versus Bad

Some of Cartoons depicting clash of interests:

Grizzy and Lemmings
Tom and Jerry
Oggy and the cockroaches


It is all about Good versus bad. This is debated from the times immorial.


They are always out to wipe out each other
Like Rama and Ravana. All religions have this common thread of good versus bad. Goodness is always depicted as winner over the evil. But the win is not permanent. If it were so then evil would have long gone.

But can one exist without the other?

Or

Can any of the characters has any relevance without the other ?

In all these stories, characters of opposing nature are always trying to dominate the other. Tom is after Jerry and vice versa. They have developed their own abilities to harm the other or defend themselves.

But have you noticed that there are moments in these stories when one of the rivals is defeated and becomes hidden. The other begins to miss the vanquished. Goodness always seems seeks evilness. Honesty seeks dishonesty. Only when they juxtaposed they have the image they are entitled to portray. Otherwise they will be the normal beings living their own simple lives just like the general majority.


Everything exists in pairs complementing one another. Plus has its nemesis in minus, electron in proton, matter in antimatter, Ravan in Rama, Tom in Jerry, grizzy in lemmings and Oggy in cockroaches. It is not an accident that goodness chances upon evilness but it is indispensable for its own existence.

Counting the Sheeps!!!

Counting the imaginary sheeps in a herd crossing the fence of the pen one by one is one of the techniques for sleep induction.

There are so many people who don’t experience peaceful rejuvenating sleep. Main reason for sleeplessness in the modern world is workplace and at home stress, cutthroat competition to make a niche in the earning world. Another reason is the hectic lifestyle which leaves little time for exercise and relaxation.


Look at a peasant!! He works all day and fall asleep as soon as hits the bed. He eats and sleep without thinking about the calories. But many other professions especially in the urban areas which leave the people mentally exhausted.


Sleep is an mechanism made by God and fitted in the brains of humans. It is an safety valve to relieve the mind of the daytime stress, repair the body and rejuvenate us.


Insomnia is a big problem in the modern world. There are many types of sleep problems such as insomnia, snoring or sleep apnea, parasomnias, sleep paralysis and restless legs syndrome to name a few.


Many techniques are tried to induce sleep. Many are connected to the body like messaging etc. Others are mental devices. One of these which has ingrained in human minds is Counting the Sheeps.


This is not counting the actual sheep but imagining the sheep herd jumping over the fence one by one. You are counting them crossing. The theory behind the counting sheep exercise is that the simple, rhythmic, and repetitive nature of the visualization helps people sleep.

Counting the sheep


But does counting sheep actually put a person to sleep? Many experiments have been conducted which compare these techniques. Another is the imagining oneself near waterfall listening to the soothing sounds. The technique work only in few people. But when a person becomes frustrated, he will try anything.

There are many ads which tout their product winning over Counting the sheep.

Green with Envy

Envy is one of the emotions human beings experience. When a person is unable to achieve something which someone known to him has achieved, he feels Envy. Only the saints and yogis may not be infected with this malady.

In every culture, colors are generally associated with emotions. Red is generally similar to anger, white is for peace and black is the colour of mourning in many cultures.

Although green colour has positive traits as it is associated with greenery in Nature. But in Europe and United States a phrase is very popular. It is “Green with Envy”.

Origin of the phrase has its roots in Greek psychology. There green complexion is associated with sickness, jealousy. It is said that when a person feels Envy, bile production increase. As the bile is greenish is hue, it imparts a greenish coloration to the skin.

William Shakespeare used this phrase as Othello beseeches his lord as “Beware, my lord, of jealousy; it is the green-eyed monster which doth mock the meat it feeds on …”

Thus like other negative emotions, Envy is also harmful for health.

https://images.app.goo.gl/Qu2AdGpDAcv4j2z27Green with envy

This link gives a beautiful message to not become green with envy but become green or optimistic that the thing is achievable.

Battles and Wars!!

You can win the battles against your opponents by forwarding arguments, emotional blackmail, breast beating and crying but these battles do no good in the long run.

This means that despite knowing that you are at fault you are not inclined to admit them. The greatest impediment in resolving the problem is lack of introspection.

If we examine for a few minutes before going to bed what we have done or talked or what was our behavior towards others, was it justified really or was it the sheer refusal not to admit our faults, we can attain peace and serenity not only for ourselves but for those who we are fighting with.

Second most important fact is to possess the feeling of remorse and admit to the opponent that you were at fault but at the time anger and other negative feelings overpowered us.

By admitting the fault we can fill the opponent with a feeling of confidence and love. Otherwise the beast of mistrust will rear its head again after few days. In the end either of us will be decimated surviver will be left as a repentant fool.

A strange Food Chain!!!

To survive in this harsh world, one has to struggle and beat others. While in the world of animals the competition is really physical, the human beings take it to mental level.

Humans have the ability to hide their emotions, they store their grudges against others and thus compete on a very different level. Most of their actions are covert in nature.

Animals have very hard life that way. Most of them settle their scores on the spot. They don’t keep it for the future. They even do not seem to repent the loss of their near and dear ones in the struggle as the humans do. They seem to be resigned to their fate and take the events as they come.

Since they have to face a fierce competition for their food, they are masters at conserving their energies, they don’t waste it unnecessarily. Since they don’t get much for over eating, they don’t need to exercise for their fitness.

Since many days, I am observing a strange thing. In the early morning, scores of crows dive into the garbage in the ditch outside the boundary of our colony. They dive and come out with bits of parts of the dead birds mostly chickens.

With some morsel in their beaks, they sit on the nearby tree branches and many sit on the tops of the buildings of our office which is adjacent to the boundary.

I also invariably noted the presence of stray dogs standing below these trees and always looking up. I have the suspicion that dogs are waiting for the crows to throw away the discarded morsels and eat them.

They hope that since crows are endowed with power to fly, they will not linger on morsel in the mouth longer. They discard them after eating small bits and then fly to get the new better ones.

Then, I noticed dogs sitting on the top of the wall of the building where the skeleton of a hoarding is situated and which is regularly occupied by the crows. This wall is facing the highway and first I thought that these dogs are surveying the traffic on the highway!

But everyone knows that no animal will take the risk to go and sit on the ledges from where they can even fall down fatally. It dawned upon me that again the reason is the same. Getting the discarded and thrown away morsels of the offal.

This whole phenomenon seem to prove that even crows can feed the dogs. Thus a new food chain is created.

Thoughts

Writing does not come easily. Thoughts jostle with one another in the brain. Confusion abounds in the head. Everything is hazy. Threads of thoughts seemed to be entangled on one another. Incoherent stream of them is what comes out.

Inside there is overcrowding of thoughts, because the thinking process is unending, but it seems that they don’t want to leave the brain. They seem to be pushing one another out.

Occasionally, some thoughts come popping out and spill on to the paper. The ink hardly dries from pen because the words do not flow like torrents but just as a trickle. How I wish that floodgates of words open and words pour onto the paper.

I pray to Goddess Saraswati, patron of the arts to impart me this boon at least. Presently, both the Goddesses: Saraswati and Laxmi, have showered blessings which are just average. I don’t say that I have not been lucky.

I wanted to do doctorate in Chemistry but the time seems to have run out. My resolutions have been very weak. Had they been stronger, I would have satisfy my attitude for writing and knowing the mysteries of nature through science at least.

Indians as such are steeped in the metaphysics with umpteen number of Gods and Goddesses in the mythology of Hinduism. It seems that there are enough numbers of Gods for supervision of the activities on this earth as well as the higher world and also nether world.

Window to Vista

You are sitting in room enclosed in the walls. You long to know and feel the open world. You crane your neck but nothing helps. Why do you long to go outside? This is because you have created inside the room a world of your own.

You are the architect of that world. You have changed the ambiance of the room to make it to your own liking and comfort. But at the same time, you want to savor the nature or the world outside.

You open the window. Now a sliver of the nature is within your grasp. You can see an occasional person walking through the street, a tree along the edge of street. Now you are identifying yourself with the nature and its creator by appreciating the scene outside.

You become restless. You throw open the door and rush outside. Now you are under the limitless skies. You see trees outside, you see children playing in the streets. You see the toddlers holding the hands of their mothers and reluctantly walking along making efforts in between to climb into the lap of their mothers. You see people going for their chores.

Now you are one with the creation of the nature. You are a part of the grand scheme of the God. Now when you have dissolved your identity into the vista, you enjoy the nature. You have to lose your identity to be one with the God.

Exit mobile version
%%footer%%