Saturday, April 30, 2005

First Day - Evening Show - Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy


One of the very funny movies, I have seen in recent times. My favorite character is a robot called Marvin. Marvin has a head "the size of a planet" and he has "feelings", sad feelings :) The other highlight of the movie is the "hitchhikers guide" the guide reveals some really funny answers. A must see movie. Posted by Hello

Thursday, April 28, 2005

I Believe

Here is an inscription that I read during my trip to New York during the Labor Day weekend last year. It reminded me of Ayn Rand's books Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead. I am not sure if these books were pure fiction, but this inscription / speech by John D. Rockefeller, Jr, brings these books to life.


I Believe

I believe in the supreme worth of the individual and in his right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

I believe that every right implies a responsibility; every opportunity, an obligation; every possession, a duty.

I believe that the law was made for man and not man for the law; that government is the servant of the people and not their master.

I believe in the dignity of labor, whether with head or hand; that the world owes no man a living but that it owes every man an opportunity to make a living.

I believe that thrift is essential to well ordered living and that economy is a prime requisite of a sound financial structure, whether in government, business or personal affairs.

I believe that truth and justice are fundamental to an enduring social order.

I believe in the sacredness of a promise, that a man's word should be as good as his bond; that character -- not wealth or power or position -- is of supreme worth.

I believe that the rendering of useful service is the common duty of mankind and that only in the purifying fire of sacrifice is the dross of selfishness consumed and the greatness of the human soul set free.

I believe in an all-wise and all-loving God, named by whatever name, and that the individual's highest fulfillment, greatest happiness, and widest usefulness are to be found in living in harmony with His will.

I believe that love is the greatest thing in the world; that it alone can overcome hate; that right can and will triumph over might.



I was thinking of highlighting the parts of the speech that I like. I understood that I would have to highlight the whole inscription.

This inscription is in front of the Rockefeller Center in NYC.

My Source, John Davison Rockefeller, Jr. I really liked the tribute to his father under the section "Work with his father".

Monday, April 18, 2005

Language

Why do I find it so hard to express myself, when I am trying to translate something from Hindi to English or Gujrati to English or Tam to English :))

The other day I was trying to explain what my blog name "Dil-e-Nadan" meant. Some of us agreed on "Thoughts of the heart" the other better one was "The heart is innocent". Innocent, innocence still does not seem to be a good enough substitution Nadan. It is something more.

Maybe it is just that English is more of a matter of fact language where as Indian languages having been influenced by Sanskrit, Urdu and Farsi are more poetic.

Similarly, with songs, some English songs are just not "song - like". You can sing them once someone puts a tune, beat to it, other times they are just jarring and one has to go through the lyrics to understand what the singer is trying to sing. Hindi/Gujrati/Tam songs are not like that, you can hum them, sometimes just speak them and it sounds poetic. Of course not all Indian movie songs :)

Do you have a word/song you can think of which is like that?