A tribute to Robin Williams

Almost sixteen years ago, my earliest memories of actor Robin Williams date back to my sixth grade, perhaps in school, when I watched the movie "Jumanji". Juvenile as I was, little did I decipher the deeper meaning behind that fantasy movie where Robin could go into a fantasy world full of strange animals and unrealistic places, just by rolling some dice on a magical board, which could take him to a different time altogether. This movie showed his finesse in being able to make one laugh and forget the world and go into an imaginative, adventure-filled world and enjoy life like a child.

Almost a year ago, I watched his movie "Dead Poets' Society " which demonstrated his depth in being able to inspire with the gravity of a philosopher and poet, fighting to instill that spirit in juvenile students who were waiting for that "captain" to direct their sinking ship. And I, a student of poetry and philosophy, apart from other things, could connect with his finesse once again. Watch the scene at the link below:

My favorite scene from Dead Poets Society

And today, as I read about his sad demise, the poet and the child in me are both sad, but they speak to me something else too. Perhaps, for a soul like Robin, the child in him wanted to try something new and adventurous and in that attempt, transported himself to another world, away from the travails and troublesome realities of this world by the roll of dice, though the dice was rolled by destiny this time. To put in the worlds of Shakespeare, the philosopher in him realized that " Life is a tale, told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing"

In the words of Walt Whitman, He did indeed "sound his barbaric yawp over the roofs of the world".
I can hear it now, can you?


May his soul fly to uncharted galaxies in the other world and continue to shine beacon of humor and inspiration...

The whales who struggle with sounds

Hi,

If you read my previous blogpost, I talked about the idea of freezing sound as it may help to prevent harm to those who find it disturbing or deadening- equivalent to a noise.

Recently, I have been battling lot of noise concerns in my own residential apartment complex on campus.
And I realized that the walls of the building seem to lack reasonable sound proofing. I read that there are decibel meters which measure STC (Sound Transmission Class) ratings and most buildings only have a minimum STC rating of somewhere around 50dB.  So, there are many people who jostle with this problem in highly populated big cities where space is a problem and one finds apartments next to each other or sometimes, not having a good sound proofing. And the problem worsens, if you are on campus. The residential rooms will not assist in improving the construction or help with reinforcing sound proofing on any walls- and to add to the distress, one cannot by his own, modify or add any furniture in the room.

Since I totally love my current room except the noise sources which come up, I began to explore ways to block noise or reduce it. Getting noise-cancelling headphones, ear plugs, etc. Changing room was not an option I wanted to do as there was more risk associated with that too.

But then I realized that what I am going through is nothing compared to the daily disturbance which becomes deadening and even lethal to the marine creatures- particularly the WHALES.
I came across this news of many whales who rely on hearing underwater, have been found deaf and dead as part of ongoing naval efforts of sonar use and explosives for military training. It is predicted almost 1000 whales may die during the 5-year marine navy testing planned.




Read the article for the details:

http://www.nrdc.org/wildlife/marine/sonar.asp


I wondered how those creatures of the universe, majestic and gigantic as they are, are left at mercy of the navy and its ongoing efforts of military training.
I was so moved that I signed up a petition for this and made small donation.

Somewhere, in my heart I felt, perhaps I may in some small way contribute to prevent the sound (noise and disruption for whale- endangering their safety) of deadly sonars to reach their highly evolved ears,
because sadly, I cannot freeze sound and it has not been attempted too....

I thought what if the whales could be relocated or moved to another ocean! But that's something one can suggest but I don't know how practically possible it is. I remember having watched a movie (Salmon Fishing in the Yemen) where salmon fishes were relocated from Scotland to Yemen coast, but then salmon fish and whale size are on the opposite end of the spectrum.

This post is dedicated to the highly sensitive people who value the meaning of quietness and how crucial it is to have your own space and silence amidst the noisy industrialized world of today...

So Scientists froze light for a minute- and what about sound?

I read about this scientific breakthrough where German physicists succeeded in freezing  light for a full minute!

Read the news article here:

News article- Scientists freeze light for a minute


I wondered to myself- what if scientists also succeed some day in future to freeze sound?

Wouldn't it be amazing?  In fact, it should be possible as speed of sound is far less ( ~ 330 m/s) compared to light which travels at 3,00,000,000 m/s !!

Freezing sound is different from recording sound.

If we could freeze sound, we could make it halt, and it could help in cases when sound becomes a menace- becomes a noise...

Look for my follow-up blogpost as I am going to talk more about the sound and noise thing..

What a PIETY

Hi,

A Strange coincidence, or perhaps spirits messaging me:

I had joined PETA and recently signed a petition for some horse drug abuse few days ago

I had been reading about Michelangelo's majestic sculpture PIETA in Rome


And I had been eating PITA bread with hummus which I purchased few days ago..


What a PIETY!:)

SENSE OF SOUL

Sharing one of my poems that was one of the two poems selected for the Bards Annual Poetry Anthology (Long Island, 2014).  Here is the poem:

"These eyes of mine
Do not like the sight
Of people obese
Far from the beauty of the body
But inside, my mind is at ease
When it has a big fat ego
Inflated till eternity

These lait-colored hands
Of mine, do not like
To touch the black
Complexion and the race inferior
But inside there is a corner
Shamelessly black in the heart

These ears of mine
Do not like to hear
Words vilifying and not sounding
Joyful and encouraging, but
Every time I hear
Satan’s voice inside of me
Tempting, demeaning
Hiding the conscience and alluring
Directing to all fear

I do not like the smell
Odoriferous of rotten ground
And slums steeped
In filth and poverty
But inside, deepest crevices
Of the body, lie smells
Unsweet and hidden
Like the path less trodden

This tongue of mine
Does not relish
The alcohol and the drink
But inside the veins, flows
The wine of heaven on the brink

What these external
Organs of sense perceive
Is not dissimilar from
My core, now I believe

But today I want to
Place my greater faith on
That which is perfect
And without prejudice
That which perceives the outside
From the inside hole,
The perfect sixth sense
And they call it the ‘soul’"

-------------Shilpi, Dec 27,2009