Vitamin M

Fear not! No biochemistry here ;) :D The "M" i refer to here is money(and why I choose to do that you will know)..Well, i have been thinking about it just now and decided to pen (type :P) it down..

Now,is money essential? Oh,yes it is..It looks obvious isnt it,not a single day without it..in some form or the other.. But the best things that life offers us ,cannot be got by it (This is also obvious ..but may be not for all of us..) Be it fun,people,education,ambitions(and even sleep!) though it "seems" to be so..I don't understand why this fails some of us -people who are crazy about money,materialistic possessions.What do we need money for? to get "other things" in life..How can one buy these best things..they settle for something good (The toughest competition is between the good and the best --i guess whats good and what is best is very very relative) Desires leads to more desire ..oops ,did i get something wrong-Desires leads to more desire unless we desire to break free from it ! Money does give us a sense of independence or some sense of independence.It surely does for me (I guess its one of the very few things that can give me ...err..confusing..leave it :P)

Think about it,I have seen people say if only I was better financially placed i can live a better life,get better education,reach my goals etc etc etc...I does look seemingly right on the first look ,but on a little deeper thought it doesnt.Its just that our goals (personal , professional ,what so ever...) isnt strong enough.History has and the future will have people who have got what they wanted in their life,against all odds...Money gives us easier route (?!) ,but not the everlasting , satisfying one.

PS-vitamin becoz we definitely need them(essential) in the correct quantity !

Comments , suggestions ,arguments welcome as always :)

I guess it got more mokkai than i expected ,thanks for bearing with me! :)

The World As They See it....

Children are the most fascinating beings ! Recently my kutti cousins (mom's side,non identical twins, about two and half years old) visited my home..Lil mischievous rascals :) They raided the kitchen for spoons,the telephone and my room for pens stuff ,the computer..what not! Had a great time with them..

I was observing and admiring them - the way they look at us & the world.. Man,you should see the impact of media - they cant read or write..Still yet to know what words mean but you show them a hoarding -they can associate the music that comes with that particular ad (that even we may fail to notice).Great spacial and temporal memory.I guess its one of the most beautiful phase of childhood, where the child starts expressing its views ,starts asking questions in an earnest attempt to learn.The senses at its best! The instincts -the very root is quite explicit in them....

Well i can go on bragging about the kids :P ;) --but thats not what i intend to do here . What i observed was even at such young age ,the character & personality starts getting pronounced and its different for them both ,thought they are brought up in the same conditions (or "almost" same ) Though it maybe to young to predict - I found one was more much adamant than the other and stuff like that. So,I was wondering if some aspects of personality are hereditary ,what role does our genes play in it or the extent to which it does ...I did my lil bit of research .

Its a question of Nature Vs Nurture ,as it is referred to .The nature refers to the innate qualities -- genetic ,hereditary properties & nurture refers to the environment we are subjected to..These two are intertwined with each other, starting from the moment we were that single cell fusion product..It is very difficult for ppl to study the influence of genes or environment ,as it is difficult to separate one from other..The researchers create experimental conditions with twins (identical ,non identical ) and other cases like adopted children.

Genes contribute to rather than solely dictate our synaptic connectivity! Children have innate potential to learn ,to seek stimulation & to arrange experience into increasing order of complexity.It is the basis ,the potential or the risk they are bestowed with.... Environment plays a key role in establishing , strengthening and selecting the synaptic connections. Human brain is unfinished at birth ,the environment affects the unfolding of genetic programs ..The expression of genes & the phenotype ( expression-which genes are "on" and which are "off" ,phenotype--any observable trait ) depends on other genes (ie our genetic combination or genotype) and environment.Wow,such great plasticity!!And there is this new study of heritable change in genome other then the DNA sequence ,called the epigenome !! I am getting overly excited at this point :P Okay...So......

Whatever it is,the care-giver (primarily the parents ,siblings & probably even the kindergarten teacher)play such a major role in development of childs personality...Well,I know very little about parenting and all that...but it pains me when i see adults showing their anger , frustration to the kids & when they ignore or get irritated by the questions they ask...

Nurture them! :) is all I can say..

P.S- I am sorry for such a longgg post ,I am not sure if this sustained your interest .If you are more interested in this check out the book -Brain,attachment,personality :an introduction to neuroaffective development by Susan Hart (chk it out in google books ) ..I found it very good.

The (Not so ?!) Great thing called "Expectations"

Ok ,here is something which i have been wondering and thinking about for quite sometime..Expectation--we all have this mental notion about everything in our life ,the outcome of an action both from ourself's and from others. Expectation is basis of many emotion-sense of satisfaction, fulfillment or anger & disappointment.The latter ones arise especially when we expect something from others..

Its so common isnt it? Phrases like "I spoke to that person and he/she dint respond properly" Dint respond properly --> dint meet your expectation . Then we go on to assume things (Stuff like maybe that person is busy or preoccupied or whatever)..which i never prefer to do.There is another way out-Why expect in the first place?! 'Blessed is the man who expects nothing, for he shall never be disappointed' was the ninth beatitude. -Alexander Pope.

Can anyone live with out expecting anything ? I dunno..maybe great saints (?) Probably if we condition our mind - our subconscious to expect any outcome or nothing at all.Just fulfill you duty as student, child,friend parent , whatever without expectation of anykind ... It sure doesnt sound easy (atleast for me!) but maybe not impossible..

PS-I do expect comments and your thoughts about it ;) :P :D