Is it a Joke? Can you please czech again?

It was a quiet morning on NH4. Suresh, Mahesh and four SJCE students from Mangalore who all wore unbuttoned shirts, french beards and were "ManU" fans had somehow squeezed into Amit's Octavia.
"The sound of these lorrys that we are passing by is starting to sound like a lori", Suresh had observed. He wished that when somebody wrote this story they would note that the observation was both intelligent and funny. Amit's Octavia groaned but Suresh attributed it to the weight of the seven people sitting in it. Mahesh smirked. The four SJCE students from Mangalore resumed their conversation in Konkani, oblivious to all this.

It all happened so fast. Amit dozing off, the SJCE student yelling "Yo! Watch out" to the tune of "Aces high", Suresh and Mahesh finally realizing that they were brothers and this is how it was going to end and the Octavia's doors coming off the hinge. Amit swerved the car off the highway into a nearby field.

They got out of the car and gazed at the smoke trail that they had left behind. The Mangalorean SJCE students were discussing how they had managed to not fall out of the car when the doors came off, in Konkani. Nobody knew.

"Maga, I know why none of us fell out of the car when the doors came off", exclaimed Suresh. "Don't you know? Tumbida skoda tulukalla", he said as the Octavia exploded nearby.

Good artists borrow...

Great artists steal - Pablo Picasso

Thinking about the meaning of the song Lemon Tree (by Fools garden  Link), I looked to see if lemon tree has any special meaning. It was really interesting how an old C Ashwath favorite - Naa chikkavaniddaga appa heluttiddaru - also uses the lemon tree metaphor for love (Song, lyrics by B R Lakshman Rao).

T P Kailasam wrote Naanu kolike ranga and Nam tipparalli balu doora imitating Constantinople and It's a long way to Tipperary.
Turns out that Lakshmanarayara songu is in factu inspiredu. (Could it be the other way around?) A sixties folk song by Will Holt is the source of BRL's song. (Trini Lopez performing the song. Even Bob Marley released a version of this song).

I really admire B R Lakshmana Rao's poetry, his take on God is one of the classiest that I've come across (Link - Must write about this sometime); but felt cheated at how that old favorite now seems somehow less original. A consolation is that this version does offer a slightly more cynical view, especially towards the end. So it's not a blatant copy, after all.

Now I don't feel too bad about looking up that proof on Wikipedia.

On Shankaracharya and Tyler Durden

The similarity between the thoughts of Shankaracharya and Tyler Durden (Fight Club) amused me for some time today, so I thought I would share it.

Tyler Durden:
"You're not your job. You're not how much money you have in the bank. You're not the car you drive. You're not the contents of your wallet. You're not your fucking khakis. You're the all-singing, all-dancing crap of the world." (Youtube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wo-wkv8gW6k)

Shankaracharya:
Backstory: When Shankaracharya was searching for a teacher to learn from, he heard of Govinda Bhagavatpada. Govinda Bhagavatpada was meditating in a cave whose entrance was so small that only his feet were visible from the outside. When Shankara reached the cave and bowed at the guru's feet and asked him to make him his shishya, Govinda Bhagavatpada asked him "Kastwam" (who are you?). To which Shankara is said to have replied (in verse, now known as Nirvana Shatkam):

Mano budhyahankara chithaa ninaham,
Na cha srothra jihwe na cha graana nethrer,
Na cha vyoma bhoomir na thejo na vayu,
Chidananada Roopa Shivoham, Shivoham.

Neither am I mind, nor intelligence ,
Nor ego, nor thought,
Nor am I ears or the tongue or the nose or the eyes,
Nor am I earth or sky or air or the light,
I am Shiva, I am Shiva, of nature knowledge and bliss

Na cha praana sangno na vai pancha vaayuh,
Na vaa saptha dhathur na va pancha kosa,
Na vak pani padam na chopastha payu,
Chidananada Roopa Shivoham, Shivoham.

Neither am I the movement due to life,
Nor am I the five airs, nor am I the seven elements,
Nor am I the five internal organs,
Nor am I voice or hands or feet or other organs,
I am Shiva, I am Shiva, of nature knowledge and bliss

Na me dwesha raghou na me lobha mohou,
Madho naiva me naiva matsarya bhava,
Na dharmo na cha artha na kamo na moksha,
Chidananada Roopa Shivoham, Shivoham.

I never do have enmity or friendship,
Neither do I have vigour nor feeling of competition,
Neither do I have assets, or money or passion or salvation,
I am Shiva, I am Shiva, of nature knowledge and bliss

Na punyam na paapam na soukhyam na dukham,
Na manthro na theertham na veda na yagna,
Aham bhojanam naiva bhojyam na bhoktha,
Chidananada Roopa Shivoham, Shivoham.

Never do I have good deeds or sins or pleasure or sorrow,
Neither do I have holy chants or holy water or holy books or fire sacrifice,
I am neither food or the consumer who consumes food,
I am Shiva, I am Shiva, of nature knowledge and bliss

Na mruthyur na sankha na me jathi bhedha,
Pitha naiva me naiva matha na janma,
Na bhandhur na mithram gurur naiva sishyah,
Chidananada Roopa Shivoham, Shivoham.

I do not have death or doubts or distinction of caste,
I do not have either father or mother or even birth,
And I do not have relations or friends or teacher or students,
I am Shiva, I am Shiva, of nature knowledge and bliss

Aham nirvi kalpo nirakara roopo,
Vibhuthwascha sarvathra sarvendriyanaam,
Na chaa sangatham naiva mukthir na meyah
Chidananada Roopa Shivoham, Shivoham.

I am one without doubts , I am without form,
Due to knowledge I do not have any relation with my organs,
And I am always redeemed,
I am Shiva, I am Shiva, of nature knowledge and bliss
(Source: http://www.shankaracharya.org/nirvana_shatkam.php)

Just makes me wonder how similar trains of thought end up in such diverse conclusions.